Ooh la la!

I am under fire from Señora for lack of exercise regularly these days. All my exercise is now only confined to the jaws and to an extent, the elbows and knees (for constantly shifting between the clutch, the brake and the accelerator and the gear shift in the traffic maelstrom of Bengaluru)

Not that I hate exercise, but its regimentation is what is off-putting and the binge afterwards that moves its net effect to negative. Right from childhood (you have always got those days to blame :-)), the maximum I have been able to bend my back forward with the knees straight is between 70-90 degrees. The hands would never go below the knee, forget touching the ankles or the feet. So much for flexibility! Compare that with Señora who can touch the ground with her palm at the snap of a finger (she is into yoga classes these days, so no dearth of āsanās) or La Niña, who despite being doubly slothful as me, can make a contortionist to cower. My genes do show up in El Niño to an extent with the back-bending (better than me though; he can touch his ankles), but then El Niño can grind 2.5 hours of tennis a day for four days in a week and in addition, some local cricket and badminton before threatening to "work" me out with the stretch exercises from his tennis classes. I do play a game or two of badminton now and then, but it is all hogwash to the powers that be, as an excuse to doze the noons off.

As the year-end exams loom, Señora is busy reading up on the wars of Indian independence, flits across countries and continents, brushes up on ethenes and polymerization, solving math equations, tackles a bunch of life science material and dabbles with Hindi and Sanskrit, as if she had to pass the exams, her Highness happily watches TV, growls on being asked to answer questions or to concentrate on her book rather than on the general chit-chat at home (she's got my genes here, I've to say), draws pretty ink designs on her hands and in notebooks, goes into dreamland regularly and blames Kapil Sibal on the way for the tests. I have had to devise question papers for El Niño, but the inconsistent scores reveal that I do a pretty bad work on testing him and too lenient in getting him to learn. Result, there is one less thing for me to do (not that I can escape it entirely)

So you thought I am reviewing 'Dirty Picture' looking at the title? I am just singing my blues away! :-D :-D

Chinnanchiru Kiliyae - சின்னஞ் சிறு கிளியே

Today, Dec 11, being the birth anniversary of Bharathi (born Dec 11, 1882), here is a translation of another of his well known poems.

Kannamma is seen in multiple forms by Bharathi, as a diety, as a lover and as a child. This poem's premise is that of Bharathi seeing Goddess Parāshakthi as a small child. He goes into a rapturous vent at the child with an outpour of emotions; happiness, longing, respect, love, joy, pride, pain, restraint, submission!

Bharathiar and Chellamma- Image courtesy - The Web
Montage courtesy - self, using Gimp :-)

கண்ணம்மா-என் குழந்தை

பராசக்தியைக் குழந்தையாகக் கண்டு சொல்லிய பாட்டு

சின்னஞ் சிறு கிளியே-கண்ணம்மா!
செல்வக் களஞ்சியமே!
என்னைக் கலிதீர்த்தே-உலகில்
ஏற்றம் புரிய வந்தாய்!

பிள்ளைக் கனியமுதே-கண்ணம்மா!
பேசும்பொற் சித்திரமே!
அள்ளி யணைத்திடவே-என் முன்னே
ஆடி வருந் தேனே!

ஓடி வருகையிலே-கண்ணம்மா!
உள்ளங் குளிரு தடீ!
ஆடித்திரிதல் கண்டால்-உன்னைப்போய்
ஆவி தழுவு தடீ!

உச்சி தனை முகந்தால்-கருவம்
ஓங்கி வளரு தடீ!
மெச்சி யுனையூரார்-புகழ்ந்தால்
மேனி சிலிர்க்கு தடீ!

கன்னத்தில் முத்தமிட்டால்-உள்ளந்தான்
கள்வெறி கொள்ளு தடீ!
உன்னைத் தழுவிடிலோ,-கண்ணம்மா!
உன்மத்த மாகு தடீ!

சற்றுன் முகஞ் சிவந்தால்-மனது
சஞ்சல மாகு தடீ!
நெற்றி சுருங்கக் கண்டால்-எனக்கு
நெஞ்சம் பதைக்கு தடீ!

உன்கண்ணில் நீர்வழிந்தால்-என்னெஞ்சில்
உதிரங் கொட்டு தடீ!
என்கண்ணிற் பாவையன்றோ?-கண்ணம்மா!
என்னுயிர் நின்ன தன்றோ?

சொல்லு மழலையிலே-கண்ணம்மா!
துன்பங்கள் தீர்ந்திடு வாய்;
முல்லைச் சிரிப்பாலே-எனது
மூர்க்கந் தவிர்த்திடு வாய்.

இன்பக் கதைக ளெல்லாம்-உன்னைப்போல்
ஏடுகள் சொல்வ துண்டோ?
அன்பு தருவதிலே -உனைநேர்
ஆகுமோர் தெய்வ முண்டோ?

மார்பில் அணிவதற்கே-உன்னைப்போல்
வைர மணிக ளுண்டோ?
சீர்பெற்று வாழ்வதற்கே-உன்னைப்போல்
செல்வம் பிறிது முண்டோ?

and the translation ... Any translation will struggle to match this original and may never will, and this one too is no exception.

Kannamma - My child

An ode to Parāshakthi seen as a child

My little parakeet, dear Kannamma,
    My store of immense wealth you are!
To rid me of vice, you descend,
    And elevate the world you care!

Ambrosial darling, you are, Kannamma,
    An expressive painting of gilt!
For me to sweep you up and hug;
    Honey, You dance before me and flit!

As you rush to me, Kannamma,
    The heart of mine tingles!
Looking at you, play and drift,
    Embraces you my soul and mingles!

As I take a breath off you, up and close,
    Swells high my pride!
Extol the folks on you, when they;
    Shudders my body inside!

A kiss planted on the cheek;
    Intoxicated, is my heart!
An embrace of you, Kannamma;
    Rips me delirious, apart!

Your face turning crimson, I behold;
    Grieves my heart, dear!
A frown, I notice on your brow;
    Stirs my soul, with fear!

Pearls of tears in your eyes, shed,
    Bleeds red my heart!
You are the apple of my eye, Kannamma;
    Isn't my life yours, to part?

Child-speak, of yours, Kannamma,
    Away drains my pain;
Pearly laughter of yours, I hear,
    From rage I abstain!

Your tales of joy, recounted,
    Would the books ever near?
Your flow of love, shared,
    Would the Divine ever peer?

In my bosom to wear, like you,
    Are there diamonds to strand?
To live a life, straight,
    Is there wealth beyond you, as grand?

Here is a pointer to a rendition by Sudha Raghunathan. [You may need to click twice] I have not heard any rendition that includes the last 3 stanzas, which are beautiful too.


Another lovely mellifluent rendition by Unnikrishnan in his "Mellifluous Melodies" album

Vaendum - வேண்டும்

An interesting poem from Bharathi, from the collection ஞானப் பாடல்கள் (Poems of Wisdom), titled வேண்டும் [Vaendum, Need (or) Want, loosely translated]. The word வேண்டும் can be interpreted to be either a need, in a mellow sense (as in 'You need these') or as a pre-requisite requirement, in a stricter sense (as in 'You should have these').

வேண்டும்

மனதி லுறுதி வேண்டும்,
வாக்கினி லேயினிமை வேண்டும்;
நினைவு நல்லது வேண்டும்,
நெருங்கின பொருள் கைப்பட வேண்டும்;
கனவு மெய்ப்பட வேண்டும்,
கைவசமாவது விரைவில் வேண்டும்;
தனமும் இன்பமும் வேண்டும்,
தரணியிலே பெருமை வேண்டும்.
கண் திறந்திட வேண்டும்,
காரியத்தி லுறுதி வேண்டும்;
பெண் விடுதலை வேண்டும்,
பெரிய கடவுள் காக்க வேண்டும்,
மண் பயனுற வேண்டும்,
வானகமிங்கு தென்பட வேண்டும்;
உண்மை நின்றிட வேண்டும்.
ஓம் ஓம் ஓம் ஓம்.

The translation of mine is as follows. I blurred the distinction between connecting and separating clauses in the original sentences and hopefully kept the meaning intact. I have played with the dichotomy of the word Vaendum (வேண்டும்) to translate it, as some lines could be looked at in both ways.

Thou shalt

Thou shalt require
    strength of mind,
Thou shalt require
    pleasantness in words,
 Thou shalt require
    fairness of thoughts;
Thou shalt achieve
    what you set out to,
Thou shalt achieve
    what you dreamt of,
Thou shalt achieve
    ownership by agility;
Thou shalt possess
    riches and joy,
Thou shalt possess
    pride for this Earth,
Thou shalt possess
    an openness of mind;
Thou shalt value
    the belief in your work,
Thou shalt value
    the freedom of womanhood,
Thou shalt value
    the auspices of the Supreme;
Thou shalt have
    an impact [a use] on this Earth,
Thou shalt have
    a view here of the heavens,
Thou shalt have
    the truth to stand;
Om Om Om Om

The following is a rendition of this poem from the movie "Sindhu Bhairavi" by K J Yesudas in his own inimitable way. [You may need to click twice]

Nalladhor Veenai Seidhae - நல்லதோர் வீணைசெய்தே

This is an attempt at translating another of Bharathiyar's evocative poems, Nalladhor Veenai Seidhae. It has been sitting under translation for a long time and I managed to close it today. Bharathi is pained at his weakness (a projection of the country at that time) and begs God (Shiva-Shakthi) for strength of body and soul, character, belief, enlightenment.

The original ...
நல்லதோர் வீணைசெய்தே-அதை
நலங்கெடப் புழுதியில் எறிவதுண்டோ?
சொல்லடி,சிவசக்தி!-என்னை
சுடர்மிகும் அறிவுடன் படைத்துவிட்டாய்,
வல்லமை தாராயோ,இந்த
மாநிலம் பயனுற வாழ்வதற்கே?
சொல்லடி சிவசக்தி!-நிலச்
சுமையென வாழ்ந்திடப் புரிகுவையோ?
விசையுறு பந்தினைப்போல்-உள்ளம்
வேண்டிய படிசெலும் உடல்கேட்டேன்
நசையறு மனங்கேட்டேன்-நித்தம்
நவமெனச் சுடர்தரும் உயிர்கேட்டேன்
தசையினைத் தீ சுடினும்-சிவ
சக்தியை பாடும்நல் அகங்கேட்டேன்,
அசைவறு மதிகேட்டேன் இவை
அருள்வதில் உனக்கெதுந் தடையுலதோ?.

And the translation ...
Crafted a Veena, exquisite
Cast away to rot, would I?
Tell me, ye ShivaShakthi,
Having molded me, radiant and wise;
Endow strength, wouldn't you?
For this hallowed earth to prosper;
Ye ShivaShakthi, Realize, do you?
Being encumbered, living off the land;
Like a ball propelled - I beseech,
A body, to follow the heart's quest;
A mind shorn of desire, I ask;
Anew each day, for a soul shining, I pray;
On flames that singe, regardless
A spirit to extol ShivaShakthi, I implore;
Unwavering intellect, I bid;
Hampered to bless these, Are you?

Here is a link to a rendering by Rajkumar Bharathi, the grandson of Bharathi, in a different raaga than the other renditions.

Another moving rendition of the same poem from the movie Bharathi by Mano and Ilaiyaraaja. It plays in the background during his funeral.

Suttum Vizhi Chudar Thaan - சுட்டும் விழிச் சுடர்தான்

After a long time ...

One more translation of a 'soaring poem' from Subramanya Bharathi.

If emotions had arms and legs of its own, they would be dancing a perpetual ballet to the way Bharathi plays with them and his use of words of imagery.

Kannamma is his muse and there are quite a few poems addressed to her.

Here is a rendering of this poem by Hariharan in Kandukondaen Kandukondaen, with the background score by A R Rahman. It is an external link to Raaga, which may or may not work.

சுட்டும் விழிச் சுடர் தான் கண்ணம்மா சூரிய சந்திரரோ
வட்டக் கரிய விழி கண்ணம்மா வானக்கருமை கொலோ
பட்டுக் கருநீலப் புடவை பதித்த நல்வயிரம்
நட்ட நடுநிசியில் தெரியும் நட்சத்திரங்களடீ

சோலை மலரொளியோ நினது சுந்தரப் புன்னகை தான்
நீலக் கடலலையே நினது நெஞ்சின் அலைகளடீ
கோலக் குயிலோசை உனது குரலின் இனிமையடீ
வாலைக் குமரியடீ கண்ணம்மா மருவக்காதல் கொண்டேன்

சாத்திரம் பேசுகிறாய் கண்ணம்மா சாத்திரம் ஏதுக்கடீ
ஆத்திரம் கொண்டவர்க்கே கண்ணம்மா சாத்திரமுண்டோடீ
மூத்தவர் சம்மதியில் வதுவை முறைகள் பின்பு செய்வோம்
காத்திருப்பேனோடீ இது பார் கன்னத்து முத்தமொன்று

And a translation below, that evokes maybe no more than a quarter of what the original does.

The blazing radiance of your eyes, Kannamma
    Do the Sun and the Moon derive thence?
The round black pupils of your eyes, Kannamma
    Do the dark skies imbibe whence?
The silken saree, hued a midnight blue,
    With glittering stones embedded bright;
Are the twinkling stars seen,
    In the darkest hour of the night;

A bright floral garden,
    Reflects in your lovely smile.
The blue waves of the sea,
    Resonates like your heart.
The gay koel's notes
    Likens to the sweetness of your voice.
On you, the young maiden, Kannamma
    Envelops my encompassing love.

Ideology, that you talk, Kannamma,
    You need it not!
For those in a tearing haste, Kannamma,
    Credo is sought not!
With the elders assent,
    The wedding rites, we shall follow yonder.
How can I wait till then?
    Look here!, a kiss on your cheek, I wonder.

The Class

First, wishing all a good Ugadi, that is passing by today.

This post is not a recap of the novel of the same name as the title from Erich Segal (which incidentally I liked), but just a remniscence triggered from a mini reunion of six of us from our class last weekend (from a class of 40) over lunch. Two of my colleagues came in from Canada to Chennai, and took time to come down to Bengaluru, meet the motley crowd here (six of us are here, out of which four made it to the meet). I had written sometime back when I started to blog, on the topic of  "The home that wasn't" on my observances on college hostel life.

I saw 4 of them again only now after leaving college an eon back (நாமளும் ஒரு காலத்துல படிச்சோமான்னு ஆயிடுத்து!) Lots of changes in physical appearances, but once we started to talk, the college days were back. There was constant and non-stop prattling, the flashbacks, our teachers, growing up topics and poking fun around generally. I had met three others and talked to a few more when I was in the US a few weeks back. After our meeting, I was trying to recollect all the 40 in my class, but couldn't move beyond 37. :-( I have asked for help from one of my colleagues to fill in the gaps. Each one of them kindles a tagged memory, which is something academic or something funny or some incidents at college or their nick-names :) and it is nostalgic walking through the disjointed and hazy memories of almost 3 years together before we went our paths. And while browsing our class' Yahoo! Groups archives, dug out a scan of three photos uploaded by a colleague back in 2004 of the undated old photos which were taken at the end of our academic lives before we dispersed to do our final year projects. Those were the times!

The class is now spread between the USA where the majority is, Canada, Bengaluru, Chennai, Malaysia/Singapore and Australia. A few of them are randomly in touch with the others, few more regular, a few incognito with almost no trace in the past few years. Some are entrepreneurs running their own companies, some are in regular jobs (like me) and some have chucked their jobs for the most difficult and demanding job of all, parenting.

We are still a long way from our silver jubilee re-union (the premise of "The Class") if it happens, but we have crossed around two-thirds of the way.

Memories, memories and memories! The more you stoke it, the more its embers glow! The four hours that we spent together over memories, priceless!!!

Shame!

Whom are we sending to our Parliament?
Rogues, thugs, uncivilians, indecent scoundrels and what not!

Looking at the ruckus caused in the Parliament by our gender-threatened politicians on the women's reservation bill, I can only feel sad at their antics. Isn't there a scope for decency in disagreement? I am no fan of reservation, having studied in Tamil Nadu where it has been carried to an extreme as a state sponsored casteism and discrimination. Definitely there needs to be a quota based on economic status, one for the repressed classes (time bound, say 20-30 years, for all the stomping that has been done on them in the name of caste by the so called upper castes). What is all that layering of casteism everywhere (scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, backward caste, other backward  caste (as if it was more backward) and more castes wanting to go backward rather than forward, and all this in the name of flattening the society of layers? We have made politicking an art of self-proclaimed morality out of caste and should never even talk about a discriminatory society in any other country.

There is definitely a  merit in getting a better representation for women in Parliament, but make that clause time bound (again, 20 years or 5 terms of elections). In the space of 4-5 full terms of a government, we can anyway see if the women's reservation is making any sense and if it yields any benefit.

There is an 'oath of secrecy' administered when our MPs enter Parliament. I have no clue what it is or what secrets the MPs uphold to keep, but I would also want those appointees to take an oath of decency. We stick to an already half-obsolete and murky  constitution and there can always be an amendment to it to recall MPs with indecent behavior and ban their candidature again. That could drill some sense into their bull-headed filthy behavior. It is time that some of the bigger parties work together for some decorum and bi-partisanship rather than bickering over protocol and on issues of non-importance.

Hmmm. Look at me ranting at noon. (As they say in Tamizh, uchchi veyyil mandaikku aerina maadhiri, the overhead hot sun playing with your brains)

Demographic targeting

One of the things that I noticed about the uninor outdoor ads is their positioning at youth rather than an all-inclusive demography. The ads are targeted at college goers and those in their first jobs and at an urban audience. Most of the faces that grace the print/outdoor ads look serious, but show confidence or contentment. Probably only two models actually smile/laugh in the ads. Interestingly, not much of jingoism which the others like Tata DoCoMo or Reliance seem to be drumming up. I have not seen any of the TV ads though. Not sure how uninor fares with a rural audience. More females than the males in the ads.

In India with ARPU being low, it is always a tough fight to get a loyal mindshare. With mobile number portability coming in, it will become even more messy. Seems like they have got a decent start in their first month of operations and I hope these folks succeed as I have been associated indirectly with both the companies that form uninor. (Unitech was assisted in setting up all the operations and billing infrastructure and software by my earlier company and Telenor is a customer of my current company (though not here, but in Europe)). Their web-site could be a tad better.

And I like their logo in blue!

On Pongal, Makara Sankranthi and Lohri

 
A paean to the faceless farmer 

Rice, wheat and cereals, we take for granted; Is from the blood, sweat, love and tears of someone wanted. Yet, do we remember you proper and right? The unknown, unsung farmer, without whom our life is a blight. Hours and hours of work in the fields, you vest; Day in and day out, with no break or rest Whether it is sun, rain or drought, you sow and reap; The crops nurtured with care as we sleep. To you, the men and women true; We owe you a thanks, from our heart anew. As you celebrate your harvest festival, We respect your effort and wish you well. As you thank the sun, the rain and your stock, By boiling rice, milk and jaggery in a pot. For all the work that you have done for us, May the future for you be prosperous

Images courtesy: Wikipedia

Hope horizon

What is in it, the new year, as the clock strikes the hour?

That everybody hopes, the year will bear, and to hold maybe forever

For a theist, it is to face God, transcendent
For an atheist, it is to prefix an 'a' to the theist dement

For a student, a few more months to deliverance
For a teen, to rid their parents' talk - nonsense
For a parent, to have their kid(s) see some sense

For the folks in love, an year to progress
For the folks not so, to fall in or fail in one
For the betrothed, a few days remain to call
For the wedded, a better vacation and no walls
For the expectant, a few weeks to tears and joy sublime

For a historian, the start of a new epoch
For a scientist, an year for a discovery true
For a politician, more words to spin and money to mint
For a soldier, an year to peace than a year to war
For a doctor, to rid some of suffering and some their vain
For a firm, profits to achieve and show a gain
For a farmer, better weather and crops this time
For a worker, more money in their hands and less to whine

For the entrepreneur, a few ideas to start
For the salesperson, to exceed their targets
For the IT engineer, more long weekends to pass
For the job-hunter, it is a job to land into
For the job-hopper, it is a job to stick to
For the healthy and the not so, more miles to go
For the indolent, an year to end the laze
For the resolute, positions to hold or break
For the irresolute, to be steadfast some day
For the hopeful, a year to hope forward to
For the hopeless, a year to hope forward too
For the adult, to have their dreams come true
For the child, they worry not, of all these goo

And ye, who may fit any of these
And yo, who may not fit any of these
In days that you have, try to be happy and content
For this year too will pass by, with no big hurry or intent.

Blah blah blah

I am not a conversationalist. You talk 100 words at me and I reply back in maybe 5 or less, sometimes in mono-syllables. I hopelessly go out of topics to discuss when in a crowd or a group. My brain is tuned to listen, listen and listen more. If I blabber, it is either when I have a fever, or it is travel time (the excitement peaks and I talk nonsense, it seems! and I am asked to shut-up and give a helping hand), or when I don't relate much to the topic being discussed, but asked for my views :-)

Some people are a mirror opposite of what I am. They can keep a conversation going no end, talk on everything under the sun, sometimes very witty as well. Envy those folks for that. :)

Went on Sunday to visit my cousin's farm beyond Kolar for a function at his place. Took my parents along and also my aunt (mom's elder sister) and her son. The trip took around 2.5 hours each way.

The chatter started once I picked my aunt up on the way, between her and my mom. Picked up momentum as we moved towards the grid-locked Old Madras Road with all kinds of construction happening around that place. The dialogue continued all the way till we reached the farm, save around a 10 minute break for breakfast. The return trip was no different. Started off once we moved out of the farm-house and ran in a non-stop fashion till it was time to drop my aunt off.

The chat (almost everything in Kannada) covered topics about relatives and their brood, bouquets for some and brickbats for some, their childhood (aunt was born in Kolar, my mom in Mandya, facts I never knew), their parents (long stories), people they knew from childhood, the never ending stream of people at their childhood home, places visited long back, those who are no more and those are still hanging in, memories of their sisters and brothers, bright times, sad times, neighbors, luck, Gautama Buddha, the changed cityscape, weather in Bengaluru/Singapore!, topics on TV these days, their temple (non) visits and their commercialization, health and a few more. All this even when both of them are regularly in touch.

All the while, I was keeping myself occupied at the wheel with my listening antennae up. The three gents in the car talked maybe a total of 15 minutes throughout the entire to and fro journey!

Women and their small talk!!! Mmm... :-)

All copyrights for the image acknowledged.

Nandha Laala - நந்த லாலா

One of the most evocative pieces of short poetry from Subramanya Bharathi and also which is very famous.

Today being Bharathi's birth anniversary (he was born Dec 11, 1882), this is a tribute piece from me to him.

This song comes as a part of Bharathi's collection of worship songs on Krishna who is referred to as "Nandha Laala" here. The original raagam on which Bharathi set this song is Yadhukula Kaambodhi with Aadhi Thaalam. Don't ask me about the raagas, but it is more for a classical music-lover's consumption.

தோத்திரப் பாடல்கள் - நந்த லாலா

காக்கைச் சிறகினிலே நந்த லாலா! - நின்றன்
கரியநிறந் தோன்று தையே, நந்த லாலா!

பார்க்கும் மரங்க ளெல்லாம் நந்த லாலா! - நின்றன்
பச்சை நிறந் தோன்று தையே, நந்த லாலா!

கேட்கு மொலியி லெல்லாம் நந்த லாலா! - நின்றன்
கீத மிசைக்குதடா, நந்த லாலா!

தீக்குள் விரலை வைத்தால் நந்த லாலா! - நின்னைத்
தீண்டு மின்பந் தோன்றுதடா, நந்த லாலா!

The image above is courtesy a dear blogger friend Srivats and he owns all the rights and shows a sunset in Bali. I have picked this image because I feel that a sunset evokes the closest feelings to what the poem conveys in its last stanza with the fiery sun setting into the cool ocean and hence a suitable metaphor.

Here is the English translation to my best effort. The song is very evocative in Tamil.

In a crow's plumes, Nandha Laala!
Appears thy ebony hue, Nandha Laala!

In trees beheld, Nandha Laala!
Blends thy green tint, Nandha Laala!

In sounds heeded, Nandha Laala!
Resonates thy melody, Nandha Laala!

In flames fingered, Nandha Laala!
Feels thy caress, Nandha Laala!

There are multiple raagas in which this song has been sung and one version was sung by K J Yesudas in the Tamil movie 'Yezhaavadhu Manidhan' (Meaning "7th person", released in 1982 and composed by L Vaidyanathan, the brother of the famed violinist L Subramanian), probably one of the only two movies in Tamil where all the songs are Bharathi's songs (the other being the biographical Bharathi movie which came in 2000).

Click on the Play button to hear the song sung by K J Yesudas with a lilting melody. (At times, you may need to press the Play button twice to start the song play)



I have been searching for a rendition of this song with visuals when it used to be aired by Doordarshan a long time back. The raagam used was not any of the ones I have heard singers singing this song (Unnikrishnan, Bombay Sisters, Bombay Jayashree, Sujatha, Rajkumar Bharathi (great-grandson of Bharathi). The song used to start at a high pitch and sustains throughout and at the end, the visuals are something like what is above. I don't know who sung it (a female voice), but that version had such as mesmerizing effect on me that time stood still and tears would well-up in my eyes. Another Bharathi song that used to get played along with that, with soft visuals was "Kaani Nilam Vaendum". Hope I chance upon those again sometime from some kind soul to whom I would really be indebted. There are only weak references to it on a Google scan.

A poem of a lifetime from Robert Frost

One of my most favorite poems ever. Beautifully evocative, and with a hauntingness to it, like Wordsworth's The Solitary Reaper. This poem was hemmed into me since middle school. I studied at Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Coimbatore before moving to Mani HSS and interestingly the correspondent for both these schools at that time was Chinnaswamy Naidu, a person of wonderful elocution. He used to end each of his speeches with the last 4 lines of this poem which are just engraved into my brain. Whenever I read this poem, my eyes well up for no particular reason and which I let be.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Needle in a Haystack

Search for a Needle in a Haystack. It is an common axiom, but how do you experience that?

Copyrights acknowledged for above C&H strip

My father (now retired) was a Professor in Agricultural Economics at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) at Coimbatore. There were international students studying there and he had one such student studying/working under him from Nepal doing his Masters. He had come with his wife as well. I recollect faintly that they used to come to our house in the University staff quarters on some occasion or the other. Around 20 years later, after the student had moved back to Nepal after his studies, my parents went on a North India tour of religious places like Badrinath, Kedarnath, Varanasi, Prayag etc. This was a few years back. As a part of the tour, there was a visit to Nepal (Kathmandu).

When they were there, my father thought he will check out if he could find his student. All that he knew was the name and that he would be working as an economist. There was no idea of whether he worked for the University there, or the Government or in any other body. With just basic information, he did a name search across directories, called up people, talked to different departments he could have been in and traced him out. The student was so happy on getting to know that my parents were there in Nepal, immediately came down to the place where my parents stayed, along with his wife and children, spent a long time with my parents, got some home made food as well. They gave a gift to my parents before they took leave.

I cannot even imagine doing like what my Appa did there. He did that without the resources that we are all used to like Google blind searches, Names database etc and relied on plain old people networking. When I go out driving to some new location, I don't ask for directions even if we think we are off-way :-), but take a gut-feel route and then try to 'recover'. Though I have a few of my Masters' classmates in Bengaluru, I rarely talk to them and at times feel bad about it. Early this year when I had to go to my company HQ in Sunnyvale, got hold of a few classmates who were around there, met and talked old times. All of us are settled in our own ways and in our own cocoons.

Appa goes every year with Amma to the University Pensioners Association meeting that is held yearly where it is a kind of re-union and they get to network again with people they knew well for lots of years. This year, they went there a couple or so months back and there are large portrait photographs as memories in front of the landmark building at Coimbatore, with those who had come in there with their spouses.

Hats off for an attitude and network like that and to Appa and Amma for all the wonderful memories.

The what-meter

Students have their own creative way of passing time in classes, especially if it was boring. In those non-cell phone days, doodling, passing chits around, reading something else, playing some paper game or gazing out of the window (or at the opposite sex)  etc, and it still is! :-)

While doing my UG course, I had a Physics teacher, say X (no name out of respect), who had a quirky mannerism. X used to use the word 'what' in almost all spoken sentences. For example, You know Bose-Einstein statistics, what?, The equation for relating inductance and capacitance is what, inverse of 2 times PI root (LC) what. The relation between joule and watt is what ..., What are you doing there, what? etc

I used to be a quiet, attentive, "teacher fearing" lad and in the good books of most of the lecturers including X (was anonymous for the rest :-)). To get over boredom during X's lectures (each class period was around 50 or 55 minutes), used to divide that time into intervals of 10 minutes each on the notebook margins and measure some of X's most frequently used words like 'tell me', 'what' and generated statistics out of it as 'whats per minute', 'whats per hour', peak 'what' intervals, plot a running graph and see the shape of the 'what' curve. I called it the what-meter and shared it with close friends. It used to be fun doing it and the counting used to be on hand and then transferred to paper once the count gets to five. The margins of my lecture notes from X's classes would have lots of dashes and crosses.

Obviously when you do it more, your attention will be on the 'whats' and not on the class. One fine day, X was discussing some serious topic, quantum mechanics, I think and when someone in the class asked a question, X shot a volley of 'whats', like 'what what what what what what what, repeat it' or something like that. I just couldn't control my laughter and burst out laughing aloud. The whole class was stunned and X ordered me to get out of the class and not to get into any of X's future classes because of my lack of seriousness.

After the class ended, scared out of my wits at his outburst, went begging behind X saying sorry and making promises not to repeat it again. After walking behind X two floors down to X's desk, X said that it was not expected of a student like me to behave that way in class and I was pardoned and warned not to repeat it again.

And thus ended the saga of the what-meter!

Remembering a teacher

If history was a subject that I never worried about in secondary school, it was all because of Velmurugan sir at Mani Higher Secondary School, Coimbatore. It is a long long time since I passed out of that school, but the memories remain like the Cheshire cat grin. When I first joined that school, the name Velmurugan was quaint to me (the first time I heard that name ever) and somehow by the way my classmates pronounced it, I thought his name was 'Belpuri sir'. For a few months, I was so intrigued by the name even though I knew that the name must have been wrong. :-) I was too shy to ask others what his proper name was. :-)

His classes used to be generally in the afternoons, typically the post lunch periods. He never used to look at the book for history, but would start off from where he would have left in the previous class. No books from the students would be open during the class. He was a wonderful story teller with a soft spoken voice and used to have us spell-bound by his description of Indian empires ranging from the Mughal, Chalukya, Chera, Chola, Pandya, Pallava, Rashtrakuta, Vijayanagara, Satavahana etc. Then came the British, the French, the Dutch and the Portugese and the saga of Indian Independence and the two world wars. Dates and names used to flow effortlessly from him with a narration that visualized what might have happened in that time period.

His geography classes used to be drab, but I remember him for his command of history. I missed History and Geography very much when I moved into 11th standard and to a different town as well.

I am out of touch with Coimbatore with rare visits. I still swell with pride on hearing the school name. Velmurugan sir must have retired long ago. Wherever you are, sir, this is my humble way of saying a big "Thank You" for you being a piece of my history.

First impression = best impression?

I am trying to ask myself this. Is the first impression, the best impression? It is "yes" with a probability of 99% according to me. For example, if I have a positive impression of a person on a first meeting, that holds for a long long time. If the person doesn't live up to expectations later, I always tend to forgive it and give them another chance. But if my first impression is negative, I tend to color most of the transactions with that person, though I wouldn't call it prejudiced (which is harsh and not what I do). It takes a really, really long time to get over that and the negative aspect somehow gets lodged strongly in my mind.

Ditto with songs. First time I hear a song, the tune has to be attractive for me to get hooked. I have a corner for soft melodies, though, so it is usually a black brush from me on noisy/dappanguthu songs unless the tune is damn catchy. There are people who swear by songs 'growing' on you as your hear them, but for me it isn't 99.9%. A likable song/tune grows on me, but not the one I didn't like on a first hearing. The first few lines, if catchy enough, cloud my judgement for the rest of the lines even if they are garbage and so it is for the tune. :-)

How about you?

Wordsworth - His words are worth it

There are some poems which bring a visualization of their content right before you. William Wordsworth's 'The Solitary Reaper' is one and takes you far, far away. I have always wondered and imagined what may be there when I see wisps of smoke from a house, sheep grazing in some pasture, a farmer tilling his field with oxen, a solitary tree in a vast meadow or a lake / temple far away. The feeling is more intense especially when they are far, far away.

The Solitary Reaper

Behold her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.

No Nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travellers in some shady haunt,
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard
In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?--
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again?

Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o'er the sickle bending;--
I listened, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.

தேடிச் சோறுநிதந் தின்று

Another Bharathiar classic poem. This is a part of a poem collection "Yoga Shakthi" in which he commands God (himself?) to give him a few boons.

தேடிச் சோறுநிதந் தின்று

பல சின்னஞ் சிறுகதைகள் பேசி

மனம் வாடித் துன்பமிக உழன்று

பிறர் வாடப் பல செயல்கள் செய்து

நரை கூடிப் கிழப்பருவம் எய்தி

கொடுங் கூற்றுக் கிரையெனப்பின் மாயும்

பல வேடிக்கை மனிதரைப் போலே

நான் வீழ்வே னென்று நினைத்தாயோ?

நின்னைச் சில வரங்கள் கேட்பேன்

அவைநேரே இன்றெனக்குத் தருவாய்

என்றன் முன்னைத் தீயவினைப் பயன்கள்

இன்னும்மூளாதழிந்திடுதல் வேண்டும்

இனி என்னைப் புதிய உயிராக்கி

எனக்கேதுங் கவலையறச் செய்து

மதிதன்னை மிகத் தெளிவு செய்து

என்றும்சந்தோஷங் கொண்டிருக்கச் செய்வாய்!

And here is the attempt at translation.

Searching for and having food daily,

And chattering with lots of small talk,

With the mind suffering in pain,

And your deeds making others suffer as well,

Then you age and become old ,

And face the grim reaper in death.

Like lots of other people,

Do you think I'll fall down?

I shall ask you a few boons ,

You shall directly grant me those.

Any evil deeds in my past and their effects,

Shall not come back to life again.

Hereby shall I be given a new life

With no worries for me.

Give me a clarity of thought ,

And making me happy forever.

This poem (in part) also comes in the movie Mahanadhi, which is a powerful movie that parallels life and the course of a river. Not sure if the movie was a commercial hit. Sad, if it wasn't.

What a poet!!! Bharathi's poems swing across all kinds of emotions from ecstasy to despair, commanding to weak, happy to sad.

Ad(t)tractive

I notice her at least 3 times daily at different places daily on my drive to/from work. Very difficult to ignore and stands out (literally) from the crowd.

The woman is, needless to say, very pretty, with lovely eyes and a mild smile (Mona Lisa-esque?), gazing somewhere, casual (dress, hair) and looking mildly amused (or is it interested). The lighting is natural. Looks zero percent garish (unlike the other jewellery ads where the woman is bedecked with jewellery at every possible place in the face and torso and dancing around with all that for God's sake, Grrr.. when I see Tamanna esp. with a silly expression and not to mention the nasal twang of a song.). The only jewellery visible on her is the necklace and it isn't prominent and she actually overshadows it with her presence.

Very apt tag line "VERY RARE. VERY YOU". Hats off the ad agency that commissioned this and to the beautiful lady gracing it.