Chennai trip
Day – 1
09:00 PM – Chennai touchdown time
10:00 PM – Night show – Woodlands theatre – ‘Kanaa Kandein’, with Giri, J and BK!
Neach! Vaazkaye vaaznthu thallaren po!
Day – 2, 3
Had a blast with my makkal – mama, mami, perimma, perippa, cousins Aarti, Abi and Kartik, my bro (!!!) and parents! Great time! There were ‘sillarai’ errands to run at home, which I did without even a trace of a frown and am now thanking almighty for the same! Other enjoyables were those sketches I helped Aarti with, for her fashion designing paper!Oh...and those choclates......'slurrppp'! Met Swetha just for getting hold of the ‘stupid dog book’ and our Coorg snaps! Have they come out well or what! My ‘ponnu paakara foto’ – perfect. And yeah, shouldn’t forget to mention J’s treat at Raam’s Milky Way – the idli manchurian, the paani poori, Nut-O-Delight was all ecstasy! As I told J, this treat will be remembered. I was actually smiling to myself because I was back at Raam’s within the next hour with Jenni, Prakash, Satya and other friends eating other flavors of ice creams! Worth remembering ain’t it?!
Day – 4
Today was wedding day – my cousin Karthik, who got married in Hyd, was hosting an evening reception in Chennai. Still the errands won’t cease, and I still managed a power-lunch-coffee with Swetha at Java Greens discussing ‘a bus journey and other issues’. ;o)
Then came the celebration of colors, people and great fun! And what color I chose for sweltering Chennai – a black Sherwani! Poor me, I was as drenched as Karthik, the wedding boy, was in his two piece suit when it was all over! The music band that played melodious numbers as entertainment was pretty ok. Little did I know when I invited Giri to the wedding that he is going to slip into their group so easily! He almost knew everyone of the song band, calling them mami and all! Master stroke of the day was when he combined with a mami to sing ‘Konja Neram’ from Chandamukhi for us! Neach! I should definitely mention my cousin Abi’s singing efforts, though Giri had a piece of advice for her. She rendered ‘Kannodu Kaanpathelaam’ from Jeans and the wind-up song of the day - our very own MS’ ‘Kurai onrum illai; Marai moorthi kanna’.
Some serious discussions were happening in between all the fun among my bro, Giri and me. But inevitably I had to be at so many places at the same time. So I decided to continue with it later and headed straight to Giri’s place from the mantapam!! Both of us slept at 3am after discussions that started at 11pm! The discussion put lots into perspective and I am starting to enjoy these ‘sessions’ nowadays!
Day – 5
With all the hulla bulla over and only couple of niggling errands remaining, I was preparing for a full rest day, having made plans for the latter part of the day. But Moore’s law held me today. New errands, some utterly pathetic, kept propping up and had to do them grudgingly. All plans from sleep in the after noon, distance-biking in the evening, watching ‘Bose – the forgotten hero’, all crash-landed for various petty and irritating reasons! Not the best 5th day I could have had in Chennai. Anyways, there was one more day left, and slept peacefully through the night looking forward to day 6.
Day – 6
Having nothing to do but for the last of errands, I dint have any plans actually, which is how I usually function too! And a trip to KK Nagar with Giri set the tone for the day, and a promising one at that! Both of us were literally stunned looking at the ‘Vallavan’ posters – dei Simbhu nee oru ‘yechai payyan' da! Anyways, Giri reminded me that it might actually be the last chance I get to really meet BK before his sojourn! Next thing we were at BK’s place cooling our heels when I just casually asked why the ‘Bose’ plan for yesterday dint work out. And immediately plans were made for all of us to be at Devi theatre at 2pm!! And what time are we doing this – 1 pm!! I rushed back home for a shower and lunch and actually got 10 minutes late for the show, faithful BK waiting for me outside.
I keep getting these comments from so many people these days that I think almost all films are good. I have been maintaining to my roommate that it might actually be that because I keep watching only quality films. And Shyam Benegal’s ‘Bose – the forgotten hero’ is a natural inclusion into my must-see list. This is hugely influenced by the mind blowing music / rerecording of ‘thala’ Rehman! Those who haven’t still listened to the songs / not got the cassette yet, I pity you! As I am writing this, I have listened to ‘Ekla Chalo’ 5 times, ‘Ghoomparani’ 4 times and am listening to Azaadi for the 5th time today! This was the first ever film I have watched in a theatre where the whole credits was rolled till the end. The song Azaadi started playing with the end of the film and lasted till the end of credits roll-up and the very few present in the theatre were all standing on their feet in total rapture, consuming the song and the original snapshots / reels of Netaji that were scrolling on the left of the screen. It was as if the National Anthem was being played, because each and every person stood for all of 5 minutes without batting an eyelid, engrossed by the music! Maybe Giri’s quote would suffice the feeling here for me – ‘Patriotism is a better feeling than Love!’. Every film lover, music lover please do watch this film!!!
Returning from the movie, it was almost time to start back to Bangalore. But another rendezvous made it a definitive evening to remember! I was smiling to myself in the bus, as I am doing right now writing all this up! Here I would repeat what I told my cousin Lakshmi yesterday when she asked how my life is going – ‘naa ennoda vaazkaye vaaznthu thallindu irukken, fully enjoying every moment of it’. Indulgence is heavenly!:o)
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Thursday, May 12, 2005
A whiff of freshness!
The people who visit this place already know my inclination towards travelogs. And basically being a person who likes to travel, you could expect more and more travelogs from me, just like this one. This happened when I was on my way from Bangalore to Hyderabad to attend my cousin's wedding.
The instance:
This cute looking girl in her teens bubbling with energy, boards the train with her mom after waving 'bye's to couple of male species who accompanied her to the station. That’s when ‘that’ eye contact starts and it goes through the typical I-look-when-u-not-looking routine. But this time I decided I ain’t letting go, and kept looking only towards her!
Anyways, this coy exchange lasted from 6pm, when the train started, till when it was time to sleep! She is on the side-upper berth and me on the upper berth, right angles to her. So still the eye contact doesn't suffer, but for the glances her mom was throwing in my direction from the side lower berth!
The incident:
Some fellow, don’t know who, drops a crumpled visiting card on her seat. She picks it up and doesn't seem to grasp anything. With a quizzical looks in her eyes, she just passes the card to the person just an arm-stretch distance away, looking at her, me! I just shrug and return it back. She simply shreds the whole thing into some 15 pieces and throws them away. This nothing moment sets a rapport between us, and I don’t intend leaving it just with the start. So when some guy just walks across, I jus look at him and then her with a question on my face. She just nods a 'No-i-dont-think-so' look on her face! So now we ain’t no more stealing looks at each other, but proceed to linger on on 'that' look. I top it with a curl of my lip every time I think appropriate! :o)
The charm:
She tries to sleep and she can't which is evident from how many times she sits up, holding the small pillow of hers. So there she is reclining with the pillow on her lap, hair loose on her frail shoulders and I immediately pull out a small paper I had in my bag and put down a sketch of her! From her angle, all she can see is I am incessantly staring at her!! She just asks me 'what is it?' with an upwards tilt of her head. I just silently pass the piece of paper across... which has gotta pen-sketch of a girl reclining on a train seat and a 'you' written below it! Ha...! You should have been there to see her eyes light up at that very moment! Now fully encouraged, I ask her name which she writes on the piece of paper as 'Abhinaya'(Sweet name!) and passes it on to me. We continue this silent 'conversation, she asks me my name, and I give it in writing in the same piece of paper. Then with a killer smile she returned the piece of paper, but I said she can have it! I had a hard time taking eyes off her lips from where she mouthed a silent 'Thank you'. ;o)
Just then I was reminded of the song,
'paarvai rendum pesi kondal, baashai oomai aagiduma?'
(When the eyes talk to each other, does language go speechless?)
The twist:
She had a slimy string running from behind her ear to somewhere inside her collar, because she is partly hearing impaired. And she is also as speech-deprived as Rani Mukharji was in 'Black'!!! So even when language ceases and sound is cut off, I just realized there is so much else to live for!
The other things I found out from her through actions were that she was the third child and she was waving 'bye' to her eldest brother. And she is in her 12th standard. Immediately pulled out my mobile to make a note of it all, for later blogging! Also was reminded of the recent rendezvous Girish ran into. Life is to be remembered by the moments that take your breath away! Ain't it?
The instance:
This cute looking girl in her teens bubbling with energy, boards the train with her mom after waving 'bye's to couple of male species who accompanied her to the station. That’s when ‘that’ eye contact starts and it goes through the typical I-look-when-u-not-looking routine. But this time I decided I ain’t letting go, and kept looking only towards her!
Anyways, this coy exchange lasted from 6pm, when the train started, till when it was time to sleep! She is on the side-upper berth and me on the upper berth, right angles to her. So still the eye contact doesn't suffer, but for the glances her mom was throwing in my direction from the side lower berth!
The incident:
Some fellow, don’t know who, drops a crumpled visiting card on her seat. She picks it up and doesn't seem to grasp anything. With a quizzical looks in her eyes, she just passes the card to the person just an arm-stretch distance away, looking at her, me! I just shrug and return it back. She simply shreds the whole thing into some 15 pieces and throws them away. This nothing moment sets a rapport between us, and I don’t intend leaving it just with the start. So when some guy just walks across, I jus look at him and then her with a question on my face. She just nods a 'No-i-dont-think-so' look on her face! So now we ain’t no more stealing looks at each other, but proceed to linger on on 'that' look. I top it with a curl of my lip every time I think appropriate! :o)
The charm:
She tries to sleep and she can't which is evident from how many times she sits up, holding the small pillow of hers. So there she is reclining with the pillow on her lap, hair loose on her frail shoulders and I immediately pull out a small paper I had in my bag and put down a sketch of her! From her angle, all she can see is I am incessantly staring at her!! She just asks me 'what is it?' with an upwards tilt of her head. I just silently pass the piece of paper across... which has gotta pen-sketch of a girl reclining on a train seat and a 'you' written below it! Ha...! You should have been there to see her eyes light up at that very moment! Now fully encouraged, I ask her name which she writes on the piece of paper as 'Abhinaya'(Sweet name!) and passes it on to me. We continue this silent 'conversation, she asks me my name, and I give it in writing in the same piece of paper. Then with a killer smile she returned the piece of paper, but I said she can have it! I had a hard time taking eyes off her lips from where she mouthed a silent 'Thank you'. ;o)
Just then I was reminded of the song,
'paarvai rendum pesi kondal, baashai oomai aagiduma?'
(When the eyes talk to each other, does language go speechless?)
The twist:
She had a slimy string running from behind her ear to somewhere inside her collar, because she is partly hearing impaired. And she is also as speech-deprived as Rani Mukharji was in 'Black'!!! So even when language ceases and sound is cut off, I just realized there is so much else to live for!
The other things I found out from her through actions were that she was the third child and she was waving 'bye' to her eldest brother. And she is in her 12th standard. Immediately pulled out my mobile to make a note of it all, for later blogging! Also was reminded of the recent rendezvous Girish ran into. Life is to be remembered by the moments that take your breath away! Ain't it?
Monday, May 02, 2005
Rivertree
The night was young, we sat on a rough-hewn stone bench under a small parijatha tree, this Adept and I, outside a small village shrine. He was a young man, but on whose shoulders rested the wisdom of seers. The night was brilliant with starlight; the small range of mountains loomed dark and quiet in the background. Some distance away shone the light from the village electric street lamp, casting pools of light into a beautiful night. We sat in silence, the Adept in perfect ease, and I, used to city noises, fidgeting in the silence. We took the silence in for a few minutes and heard the sounds of the night coming from the jungle nearby. Then in a quiet voice he asked me, "How are you?" I replied in what I thought was a learned manner, "God's in His Heaven and All's right with this world". He looked at me, smiled and gently asked, "Where is this Heaven of His?" This rattled me and I muttered a vague reply hoping to put him off.
"In the Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna 'I am everything and everything is me'. Meaning that all of the creation is the Lord and the Lord is all of creation. If that be true, doesn't the Lord reside in you, me and the tree above us?" "You mean the Lord is also in a lowly worm like me?" I asked in false modesty. I did not get a reply immediately; he was staring straight ahead into the middle distance lost in the silence around us. "Look at it this way", he suggested, slowly turning towards me, "since the time this whole universe was created, there has been only one version of you. If He had wanted He could have created a million copies of you, yet since the Big Bang to the end, He created only one of you. If that is not a manifestation of the divine, what is?" and fell back into silence.
The enormity of his suggestion did not immediately sink in; slowly I came to notice my breath had become quieter and the silence was enjoyable. As I heard the breeze playing through the fronds of the coconut trees, it slowly came to me - He was part of me and I a part of Him. "It is not egotistic", he said, as if reading my mind, "to say He is part of me. In fact, it is a very humble statement to acknowledge that Iswaran is a part of you. Then you become a part of all creation." I felt so different, I was so special because there was only one of me in several billion years and yet I was that which made up every thing.
"Modern science says 'Matter is energy and energy is matter' and this energy is everywhere and in everything. Isn't that what our ancient seers had been saying?" he added, giving my modern mind something to think about. My mind took a few minutes to digest such radical thinking; I kept watching the stars as a few bats flitted past catching insects.
The stars, the bats, the insects and I were all part of the same thing? My friend sat in his quite reverie, plainly comfortable with himself and the whole world. He gave me a drink of water from his water bottle and said, "You don't take Iswaran from some place else and bring Him in to you. He is already there, you just have to increase your awareness of His presence within you."
The top of the little shrine near us, seems to shine by itself, as I struggled and came to terms with this beautiful idea. I became connected all at once with this universal energy and all of creation. There was a great secure feeling of being one with everything and seeing myself as part of this universe. I have, like most people, worried about the future and feared about past mistakes coming to haunt me. Life seemed to be a big burden, whenever I felt so lonely, so small and lost in this world. In an electric wave of relief, all those nagging worries, fears and doubts fell away (at least for the moment) and there was only sheer bliss; pure delight in realising that I was a part of Iswaran and not apart.
"Now tell me," he said, breaking the silence "Where is His Heaven?" My voice came out in a croak as I barely whispered, "Iswara! You are incredible". The wind rustled through the leaves above and the night fell silent as if all of creation was in agreement.
P. Raghunandan
.......
This is an article from one of the many brilliant 'Folio's that The Hindu brought out between 1998 and 2001. Though there might have been so many other really impressive articles in all of them, i still remember this article from the Folio named 'Faith'. Bringing out such stuff is exactly why i like The Hindu... it is just 'non-pareil'!!
"In the Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna 'I am everything and everything is me'. Meaning that all of the creation is the Lord and the Lord is all of creation. If that be true, doesn't the Lord reside in you, me and the tree above us?" "You mean the Lord is also in a lowly worm like me?" I asked in false modesty. I did not get a reply immediately; he was staring straight ahead into the middle distance lost in the silence around us. "Look at it this way", he suggested, slowly turning towards me, "since the time this whole universe was created, there has been only one version of you. If He had wanted He could have created a million copies of you, yet since the Big Bang to the end, He created only one of you. If that is not a manifestation of the divine, what is?" and fell back into silence.
The enormity of his suggestion did not immediately sink in; slowly I came to notice my breath had become quieter and the silence was enjoyable. As I heard the breeze playing through the fronds of the coconut trees, it slowly came to me - He was part of me and I a part of Him. "It is not egotistic", he said, as if reading my mind, "to say He is part of me. In fact, it is a very humble statement to acknowledge that Iswaran is a part of you. Then you become a part of all creation." I felt so different, I was so special because there was only one of me in several billion years and yet I was that which made up every thing.
"Modern science says 'Matter is energy and energy is matter' and this energy is everywhere and in everything. Isn't that what our ancient seers had been saying?" he added, giving my modern mind something to think about. My mind took a few minutes to digest such radical thinking; I kept watching the stars as a few bats flitted past catching insects.
The stars, the bats, the insects and I were all part of the same thing? My friend sat in his quite reverie, plainly comfortable with himself and the whole world. He gave me a drink of water from his water bottle and said, "You don't take Iswaran from some place else and bring Him in to you. He is already there, you just have to increase your awareness of His presence within you."
The top of the little shrine near us, seems to shine by itself, as I struggled and came to terms with this beautiful idea. I became connected all at once with this universal energy and all of creation. There was a great secure feeling of being one with everything and seeing myself as part of this universe. I have, like most people, worried about the future and feared about past mistakes coming to haunt me. Life seemed to be a big burden, whenever I felt so lonely, so small and lost in this world. In an electric wave of relief, all those nagging worries, fears and doubts fell away (at least for the moment) and there was only sheer bliss; pure delight in realising that I was a part of Iswaran and not apart.
"Now tell me," he said, breaking the silence "Where is His Heaven?" My voice came out in a croak as I barely whispered, "Iswara! You are incredible". The wind rustled through the leaves above and the night fell silent as if all of creation was in agreement.
P. Raghunandan
.......
This is an article from one of the many brilliant 'Folio's that The Hindu brought out between 1998 and 2001. Though there might have been so many other really impressive articles in all of them, i still remember this article from the Folio named 'Faith'. Bringing out such stuff is exactly why i like The Hindu... it is just 'non-pareil'!!
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