workouts

yeah it has been a period of working out the workout schedule.Surprisingly this gym was not "cool",so one literally had to sweat it out.I was surprised that there are actually some people in this world,who thinks working out means literally sweating it out!yes, you guessed right,i am not one of them.so there was this period in the peak chennai summer,when there was constant struggle between the fitness freak and the comfort monger in me.Imagine the conscience speaking to sivaji ganesan in those old tamil movies!
Thankfully caught the secretary in a pleasant mood and got him to accept the proposal to instant an ac in the gym.And after just over 3 months it is in place one cool morning.
So you see now there is no excuse not pedalling away to the gym and at the gym!It must be a lazy person who invented the treadmill.I want to exercise but dont want to walk that far in the hot sun and weaving and dodging the traffic,must have been his logic.
and yes, the tv does give you choice of channels and you enjoy the songs and gyrations which in saner moments you would press the channel change button.
The gym is mostly left to me ,so i also have started humming and singing to myself.A public but a private gym,as it were.....

daughter , a bride?

A friend of ours called up last night suggesting a prospective groom for our girl!It was too sudden and jolted me and shook me up.It is a defining moment in a parent's life when the girl who was prancing about not so long ago(though you had every indication that she is having a mind of her own!)has arrived as a prospective bride.I would say this is a more defining moment than spotting a streak of grey hair and pretending it is the glare of the mirror that makes it grey!!
The call came to her father and that made it all the more sudden.She is too young for marriage,really.You remember the girl as a child entering school not so long ago.The house became suddenly quiet and different.Yeah,one did enjoy the breather as life had become endless with 24 hours rolling one over the other with no distinction between night and day.Then she wants you in school with hot and fresh lunch dubba whenever you can.But then before long,she is in her ninth standard and could not be seen with mommy.she will dutifully invite you for her annual day function but wish you to come but dont want to be near you.A bright hai from a distance and one has to get used to this for the next few years.Then the endless arguments about i am old enough to take care of my life(that she can't get her school books in place in the mornings is not relevant now).Time is spent between tv,computer and endless chatter on the phone.When you ask who was it and what is the news, you get an answer which defies logic."nothing"Very profound ,right.
Then college and she is really becoming an adult,you can feel it suddenly hitting you.she has an opinion on everything, and usually opposite to yours.She has also suddenly become very close to you as a person who understands you.You share a bond.The power shifts inexorably,imperceptibly.From the child seeking you out, you ar seeking her out.You feel incomplete without her person,and you reach out through all the mediums available today.
And while you are still struggling to cope with the changes, now this call. Adaptation has to be taken to a next higher level.

blurring of boundaries

There appears to be a distinct change in the way colleges and universities were functioning some years back and the way they do now.They have become more like corporates!And may we say corproates are turning more academic by learning and reskilling on a continuing basis!
Colleges are getting into giving an opinion on everything happeniing in the city/neighbourhood.For example the intense tidal activity on the shores of Tamil Nadu coast a few days back during full moon has brought a report from the university geological department.They have become media savvy and extremely sensitive to day to day events.Earlier they used to be in far removed from the environment;they will pontify on grave issues, of very little concern to everyday affairs and issues which concern the man on the street.They also seem to have credibility in the minds of the public,that they will be unbiased and their opinion is not based on the vote bank and power politics.
Corporates on the other hand are getting into the learning space and are collaborating with instittuions for distance learning or supplying finished products of candidates that they select in the campuses.
Students also seem to be crossing the countries borders like never before.There seems to be very high level of awareness about educational competitions and avenues for expressing their interest/talent in various streams of educational excellence.

airports makeover

wi_fi airports scream newspaper headlines!Chennai airport that too.We can take over laptops with us and while waiting for the boarding call(or even thereafter as we have seen on many occasions)you can browse the net and send mails at any place within the airport.How cool is that.Only it excites some of us,the bulk of travelling youngsters take it as a given.
Airports were glorified cattle sheds not many years earlier.And when you get off the aircraft,musty smell of decaying stuff used to hurt the nostrils.Of course the courtesies and comforts that we take for granted were non existent.Multiple counters of the airlines was not common.Long queues were.The counter clerks being casual and rude was common.A small courtesy of a whell chair for a handicapped person was taken as a big concession.Waiting lounges did not believe in providing chairs which were comfortable.And the public announcement system used to be so muffled and garbled.One never knew what was being announced.
Did you know that your hand luggage which goes through the x ray machine while you are getting frisked could be stolen?It did happen recently to a friend and the airport staff were not being friendly when they kept saying "nobody would take your bag away". But they did!It was frustrating to keep repeating the same thing and then when she said she does not have a single rupee or credit card on her person and all that is inside the bag; more than that the person will be in the concourse and well guarded.would not have vamoosed.Then they got their act together and thankfully by then the person who flicked(?) her bag returned it with a sheepish expression.Lesson drawn by this experience is that she carries a handbag which cannot be mistaken for any other handbag.It is made of fluorescent material and is bulky and not enticing anybody to carry it away even absent mindedly.She had a funny looking,funny shaped bag when i met her in the airport and this is the story she narrated!
So have an x ray eye on that precious bag of yours while you are being frisked.

Vanishing roads

There is a stretch of path on the way to my gym,which cannot be called a road.There are ever so many undulations in every inch of space on this stretch.It amazes me that so many diggings and fillings are possible in that one inch space.But then it is becoming possible.There are flats coming up on this "road" every now and then,and all the digging has to be to provide the inmates with water,sewage,electricity,cable,internet.mobile telephony,what have you.If this is the problem of migration,there is the problem of plenty of vehicles.So what happens if this road is parallel to the main road which is choc a bloc with traffic.Vehicles make a detour through this road,to avoid inhaling non pleasant odours from vehicles waiting at traffic signals.So this road has been battered by two very good indices of economic activity of the region.Perhaps it will add to the workshops activity of the region,by the amount of wear and tear the vehicles are put to.For me,the shocking repairs being done to the suspension assembly,gear assembly,and premature replacing of worn out tyres are directly in proportion to the number of visits to my gym!
It definitely has flattened the purse!

Sudoku magic

The new game which has taken The Hindu readers by storm.Yeah i took a while getting hooked on to it.But once you are in,you are in it for loooong.
They have these deceptive teasers with every game.They say "easy" and you walk in to the trap and casually fill in the blanks.And before long you are in a minefield and extricating it is quite impossible.You change 3 to 5 and 5 to 8 and by that time the whole sudoku looks like a battleground with numbers strewn and twisted lying all over the boxes.You give up only to be hooked on the next day.The next day says "hard" and you think you should be careful, so go over very slowly checking and rechecking as you progress.You are finally in the last blank slot and are gloating over the solution so easily arrived at,But then you spot the teaser.Your 7 is already appearing in the same row.How is it possible every other slot is filled and you have checked and rechecked ...Then you spot one more hidden 3 which should not be there...and you rectify and it takes you on a merry goose chase till you throw the paper in disgust.Only to attempt the next day.
Yes, the good news i have solved it today.It had said "easy" but i have solved it.My first!
So now i can say officially i am a sudoku convert.

evening in kamaraj hall

Had an invite to attend an evening of light music in kamaraj hall.Been quite a while since i attended any live music programme.So made a go at it.was quite happy i could make it though.The songs were quite popular ones(it has to be..)and the singers sang exactly as they do in the movies.Kural apdiye irundudu.Amazing.Such talent available for the asking.Chandramukhi film has a soft music ...Konjaneram konjaneram...that was rendered so well, i really felt i was listening to a cd!some old songs were also sung,mounama,mouname pesuma,which is SPB's fav.One hour passed quite easily with foottapping and clapping alternatively.

draping and fitting cultures

A garment designer gave an interview and she had this to say:"I want to blend the two styles of India and the US which are typically "draping" and "fitting" culture.The expression was novel and attention grabbing!Are we still the draping culture,I wonder.Women draped sarees/mundus and men draped veshtis and lungis.Very little work for the tailor if you ask me.But this is long time back.I remember my aunt telling us that the full skirts that girls used to wear,used to be typically wraparounds.Minimalistic stitching there if you ask me.They did not have to travel in crowded buses and trains and hang by the strap precariously.So draping culture was ok.Now with more travel and more outdoor work draping is out and "fitting" is in.Two wheelers have revolutionised rang in the death bell for "draping" as far as women are concerned.But men do get into all sorts of contortions and innovations in continuing with the draping traditions in their outfit,more in rural and mofussil areas and less in urban areas.
The different styles of attire has also got to do with the weather also perhaps.IN hot and humid climates "draping" is definitely a good substitute for the AC!Very rarely people in cold climates prefer draping dresses even in India.They go for the "fit",close to the skin.
Draping culture also finds a reflection in the yards of cloth used for the turban in many parts of our country.While Rajasthan is at the pinnacle of this headgear being a very vital part of a man's dress,many other States also have their own unique "draping"style in vogue.
Draping culture is evident in comfort wear which strides across all continents.Yes i am talking about the tshirt which is not fitting while not draping either.You could compare the kurta being a "non fitting" but at the same time not a draping one either.But they take the middle path to comfort and convenience while not forsaking either.While tshirts and kurtas need a tailor,but they need not be "personalised" as it were.

independence day

It is very colourful on the roads.Every traffic signal had men and women selling colourful national flags.Every car and every vehicle sported a flag in its dashboard.Seems to be a resurgence of nationalistic feeling this independence day.School children in their best uniforms being escorted or pedalling to school is a common enough sight.
In the office flag hoisting ceremony had its usual crowd;top management team,with a few other employees and some family members.Weather being mild added to the feeling of de ja vu.When the national anthem is sung it brings a lump to the throat every time.A musical troupe singing,swagatham and later "maithrim bhajatha" was very moving.Some people dont care to take the trouble to attend flag hoisting ceremoney.It is only a ceremony they say.We feel quite proud to be an Indian.But ceremonys have their place and pride of place in our lives.More so in Indian way of life.
The resurgent Indian in the global market is making his presence felt.Having a President like Dr Abdul Kalam,who inspires by his power point presentations!!A technology savvy person and an academic as the Prime MInister.A country gets the correct leaders at the right time.Now it is such an occasion.
Couple of years back nobody could have predicted such a fortuitous turn of events favouring India in the global market place.
It is the best time to be an Indian and a young person at this time.Best opportunities are knocking at their doors and they seem to be gearing up to take it up.
It used to be said of technology.Previously people chased technology and with networking, technology chased people!Likewise till recently students chased employers and now employers are chasing students.More of this later.

home decor

been busy snooping into shops for home decor.Should say it is an interesting diversion.There are shops which sell stuff which is tooooo beautiful.Still not stopped looking at the price tag whenever anything catches my fancy.Pulling at the heart strings invariably means tightening the purse strings! sigh..
fabIndia has amazing collection of dhurries and huge cushion covers in bright shades.Spotted a new fangled moda/chair/easy chair.It is a three in one actually.It is made of moda material, and it has a back rest and it has a loooong stool jutting out almost like a diwan, where you can really stretch out.As kumar is one who looks for a spot to put his feet up before he settles down in a chair,highly recommended.Only issue is it does not have the stuff to be most mobile,to be dragged from one corner of the house to another.So a big decision has to be taken where to position it and the chance that it will remain there!
Dining chairs at long last.But they look really comfortable and good.With a classy tablecloth,the place looks very cosy.So much so a little wary of using it as a dining table,our usual casual and messy ways can be scary!sec 144 has been imposed on athai to not to use it as a table top for wiping the vessels!
Plan to look at design store today eve.
By the way went to poppat jamal ;the shop which used to ring class and out of reach of ordinary mortals.But this time around it looked sadly decading.Not that it is not classy,but then there are several other shops like this in chennai and there is no way this shop stands out from the clutter.Which was its usp earlier,remember?They sell audio casettes and they also sell crockery!

cricket; chinmayi; corporates

weekends and cricket match relays on tv are deadly combinations.Doing nothing and enjoying others sweat it out,is great fun.As it happened they really sweated it out yesterday.Match was well poised and interesting and the tension was gripping.
Chinmayi on tv in the pothigai programme was refreshing.She spoke as she does at home,and appeared also casual.She has said her future is going to be on bridging the divide between hindustani and carnatic music in the classical format in a kutchery.she got interested in film music listening to "netru illada matram" from pudiya mugam movie and "e rama e kya hua" from rangeela.It is great to see chinmayi that you know from her 6th standard as your daughter's friend blossoming into a confident girl appearing on the tv and magazines.Her voice continues to be amazing.She has given a audio clip in her blog where she sings in hindi to a singalese folk song.
Corporates had various stories about the july 26th mumbai downpour.LIC top brass were stranded for over 12 hours that eve as they were getting back to the city from Borivli.Staff cars withstood the brunt of the fury of 91 cm rain and did not buckle under;neither did the officials marooned inside and kept captive throughout the night!

changing face of chennai

Coaching classes have always been a part of chennai para educational landscape.But of late with the frenzy of recruitment spree by IT companies,this has taken new contours.Recently a training institute has advertised that they have the format of pre placement interview of leading software companies as also the personality profiling tests that they conduct to assess the "Fit" of the student to their company.So even the "Fit" is getting tailored now by this institute.Modern organisations will thrive not on money power or materials power but only brain power of employees.And the brain power it appears can be duly "tutored".This is an interesting business opportunity in para educational field.There will be intense action and only the fittest will survive till the next year..
One took the view from the adyar bridge to the backwaters,theosophical society dense foliage and sea beyond for granted.Only when it was obstructed by giant sized pipes that one felt at a loss.Still a sneaking view is available for a fleeting second when one enters the bridge soon after andhra mahila sabha.
Was wondering why there appears to be a sudden depletion of husband and wife team on two wheelers on their way to office.TIll recently it was a fairly common sight.What has changed that it has become a rarity.No prizes for guessing though..
Are women more comfortably taking to their own mode of transport
Are jobs dispersed widely across the city that it is no longer just a trip to the arterial Mount road to deposit the lady and for the man to proceed further on the same road.
Have such pillion riders taken voluntary retirement in the spate of such offerings by several organisations in the last few years?
Have they all migrated to small/medium cars with the liberal loan schemes available?
have they migrated to coming to office by a van?
Have the jobs become more demanding that it is no longer possible to squeeze two persons in the same time slot?
Another change is the increasing competitiveness of school children.They are participating in every single competition imaginable.Aloha is creating lot of ha ha among young mothers.It is rapidly spreading to every school and pre school.
Reputed brands are moving away from business district to prominent localities.Either they are in huge shopping malls or are available in your area.That seems to be the logic.

some more and some more

I have a niece who has this habit of saying "some more and some more" whenever we play a game which she particularly likes and would never want it to be stopped.So i am borrowing this phrase to go on and on about sights/smells/sounds of chennai.
Onyx,the company which introduced cleanliness to the city.You can see their ubiquitous lorries/vans/pick up buckets everywhere at all times of the day and night.Yeah in the night they have fluorescent strips on their uniform which goes blink blink when they are pedalling away to their work spot.When they were first introduced in the city amid much fanfare and of course dose of criticism,there was this news item which focussed on the different work cultures in singapore and chennai.The CEO remarked,they had never factored in a provision for late arrival/non arrival of employees!It does not happen in Singapore and for us ,late coming and bunking office are birth rights,which we exercise with full rights!
But things have stabilised and Chennai has got used to being clean,albeit with great reluctance and pain...
Multiplexes and megaplexes are the latest new sights dotting the city.While earlier theatres were being pulled down with great regularity to put up commercial complexes,there seems to be a change in fortune and format for theatres now.They have to be several smaller theatres,with better ambience and infrastructure;what you can call a total experience.It is surprising that they are being patronised by young, old families,groups like never expected.The tickets are expensive but it is the cool thing to do so money does not matter.That it is also the hang out joint for youngsters does not hurt the complex owners one bit.No serpentine queues.almost a 24/7 culture prevails here,any time any counter...

sights and smells in chennai

Speed breakers or Spine breakers.
Unique feature of chennai roads,especially inside colonies away from main thoroughfares but very near to VIPs houses (they could be politicians,ministers or judges or former celebrities) is their unpredictableness.It is really a spine breaking experience.Right in the middle of a avenue laden quiet colony,last thing you will expect is a near vertical speed breaker;no i did not say there were indications before the speed breaker warning the motorist;no there are no mandatory markings in yellow and white splashed all over for even the faint sighted to spot and beware; no it does not conform to the specifications of a speed breaker;it rises vertically,sharp at the summit and ends ubruptly.All that a road layer could visualise and execute when his boss told him that his boss told him that there should be a speed breaker in front of this celebrity's house.How is it that they are always in the light-shadow region of any road?
Any other city boasts of such unique features?
oh yes, smell of jasmine.You will get it in many places;parking your car at a signal,sweet and heady smell of jasmine will tickle your nostrils;yes you still get the real pink roses here at times and not the very perfectly made bright hued show case variety.The smell of pink roses is so gentle and so soothing when you pass by a florist on your way back from work.Yes rajniganda is another flower which is conspicuous in the city.NO i am not talking about the one florists use.But the ones used by the small time flower vendor while stringing it along with maru kozhundu and dhavanam for the ubiquitous kadambam.That smell surely is heavenly.
The smell of vibhuti and incense and camphor inside kapali temple specially on pradosham;yes in several other temples too.but kapali temple is unique for me.
The different smells and sights the beach welcomes you with;on a monsoon day,the dark almost black colour of the waves,thrashaing on the sand and the smell of sea which can at best be said "primitive"
On a spring eve the gently wafting breeze ,tossing a low tide to reveal frothy milk white fringes
and a soothing blue enveloping your entire being.Feel one with nature and water,wind and sand.

chennai then and now

Sights of chennai
whats in :
engineering college buses blocking roads in the morning
IT company buses in competition to pick up where those buses left off!
Clean streets
No footpath to walk even though every other footpath is being relaid
Two wheeler mafia of the zig zag variety
Ladies and young girls in two wheelers giving a complex to young men and boys in their attempt to dare other road users.
Everyone with a mobile phone wherever they are whatever else they are doing and talking endlessly
elderly ladies forming morning clubs and having their chat sessions on the beach
for all festivals roads become extension of shops
deccan chronicle screaming from bill boards
staggered timings for schools/colleges(but still traffic jams outside schools)
Everyone who has passed out of plus 2 wants to get into an engineeeeeering college.
Every six months a visit to TUCS for ration card mahotsavam
Silk sarees of 50,000 hues and 40,000 outlets
Aadi discount.
gyms and beauty parlours
bill boards of massive proportions/everywhere there is a skyline
What's out:
churidars among girls/ladies below age 50
school buses(replaced by the ubiquitous vans)
youngsters on the beach,during weekdays(have all them vanished inside bpo/call centre cubicles?)
Passport hassles for new,renewal anything
Airport delays for custom/immigration/baggage clearance
elegant and old worldly charm of bungalows
cycle rickshaws other than in bylanes of mylapore and abhiramapuram
power problems
Typical mylapore mami
eating at home all 24/7
waiting list for landline,gasline,two wheelerline

mumbai catastrophe

Unabated downpour in Mumbai since yesterday is severely testing even the indomitable mumbaikar's spirit.Insurance companies are gearing to face catastrophe losses being reported.Hectic parleys with reinsurers is also on.It is trying time for industries which face unprecedented loss due to inundation of stocks and machinery.
Individual cases of heroism is reported regularly from various localities.
Have there been cases of politicians at ward level being seen helping out the stranded and suffering?Where are the entire political machinery which we see when huge meetings are organised or leaders want to show trial of strength in amassing numbers from hinterland on road roko and other protests?
It has so far been the faceless common man.A servant who was in charge of a 10 month old infant and a 3 year old child,looking after them for 48 hours by staying on duty when both parents were stranded in their work spot;or neighbours who took care of kids and elderly when the parents/householder could not come back home;or the school authorities who kept the kids with them rather than shelve responsibility by sending them home and taking care of them;of men and women trudging enormous distances and over 10/12 hours on the road,without any pain of looting or untoward incidents;of jain temple throwing open its doors to passersby for food water shelter and even medical facilities.
In all these where is the name of one politician,small and big and their coterie.conspicuous by their absence and deafening silence.