Rangarajan, the writer Sujatha

I was shocked to read that writer Sujatha passed away yesterday in chennai. I thought it was just a while ago that I had happened to pass him by in marina. He did look thin and frail. But then he had been writing scripts for latest movies and writing regularly in tamil magazines, so I brushed aside that image; my favourite column was about alwar pasurangal that he wrote for the vikatan.The migration from romantic writing to crime thrillers to science fiction to religion was smooth and pleasurable for readers.
He was gifted and with a unique gift in an unique time. It was the beginning of computer era and he demystified computers to the tamil language readers of popular magazines. His writing was racy and stylish and quite a novelty in tamil.We were all of us hooked on to his writing and to his style more than the story.The topic of conversation the next day in college would invariably be the unusual twist of phrases that would leap at you as it were and bring a 'wah' feeling.
His nostalgia pieces about srirangam were hilarious and gave a peep into the typical lifestyle of boys in those small temple towns. Kumar used to relate to it fondly and I am sure he thought of sujatha as a 'senior' from his 'ooru'.
It was just last week that shyamala was telling me that she is reading sujatha's novels in Sydney, having borrowed from a well stocked library in the neighbourhood.But then we will be only re reading his novels;no more new releases.
One of the poignant short stories that i have carried with me was about his visit to his father's bedside when he was sick. A masterpiece. Did his children feel something similar?

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tailors, past and present continuous

I had briefly lost faith in tailors and switched to ready made blouses. I was introduced to 'athreya' readymade garments by niru and I was hooked on. It was painstaking to go to this shop which was way beyond my 'pettai' and also quite outside our usual forays in the city. But then style and fashion dont come easy.This shop used to have designer blouses when they were not very common. No, dont get me wrong thinking it has any connection to khushboo's wardrobe and jackpot programme.It used to be stitched just right and they had a good collection. I used to pile up sarees and do a wholesale purchase.It became a biannual ritual for me.
But then, my niece su, introduced me to tailors in our neighbourhood. She is very fussy and if a tailor makes it to her grade, then it is fine with me. So it was Aartline tailors for some time .It was quite inconvenient to reach, in a small gully just off adyar signal.They believed in order numbers and mobile contacts. Their workmanship was very good. Waiting for my clothes to be delivered became a learning experience for me. I learnt that the pullus of embroidered sarees need to have a netting cloth stitched on the underside. How i wish i had known earlier, many of my embroidery sarees would not have caught the sharp edges of chairs and tables that my pullav would sweep across. I got introduced to choosing my salwar designs from a fancy book that he displayed. But then on one occasion i had to make three trips for collecting an urgent blouse and that did it. Days of Aartline tailor was over for me.
Asiatac on vannanthurai took its place soon enough. It was a tiny shop and had a mezannine floor with the machines hammering away. Not the best place you would want to spend your spare time; but then it was on the way to office( and duly recommended by su again), so that was just fine.But he never EVER had the clothes ready on the due date.I ignored it for a while, but after sometime it became intolerably late; he would be searching for my bundle with no clue as to where it was.So that sealed the issue. I was busy looking elsewhere.And spotted a brand new shop just across the colony on MG road. He was just setting up his shop and i was perhaps his seventh customer. I was received very well. But he wanted 10 days for stitching a blouse, which i wanted to wear the next day!He said he is yet to set up his shop and has to get it from TNagar. But ten days? No way.
This is the story so far, upto colourstitch tailors. They are very near home and have a good ambience and priced slightly high. But somehow one felt good going there and they also stich as per specifications. When my churidar set was delayed by two days, I told the owner of the shop tailor to watch out, or else i will shift my business elsewhere. He said if you want delivery on time, then you have to forever keep shifting, because tailors dont stick around and keep disappearing often, so we are stuck with delays.
Attrition in the unorganised sector; I know to stich , so is this time to go back to 'tan kaiye tanaku udavi' my mother's abiding motto in life?

Story of tailors, past and present continuous

I am constantly on the lookout for the perfect tailor. Yes, this is a quest that has been on since i remember. It is also an intellectual challenge; I seem to have hit the perfect tailor and before long, I am sure that I have made a terrible mistake. Is it that I do not communicate clearly and precisely to the tailor or that the tailors are pre programmed to do their own thing, irrespective of instructions given; is it their professional pride or artistic streak which makes them deviate and hand in their unique style and stamp on my clothes?

Let me start the long story. I remember T N P rao tailors on Selaiyur Road. We patronised him throughout our school and college days. Amma will come with us of course.She will give a 'alavu tuni' and then give these instructions; the sleeves should be atleast one inch longer than; the length of the blouse should be atleast one inch longer; and the neckline should be two inches shorter. The tailor used to listen patiently but do his own thing. He cant churn out a work of art which resembles a pillow cover more than a blouse. If he had faithfully followed her instructions, then atleast somewhere along the way there would be this perfect 'alavu tuni'.I would go and pick up the stitched cloth and when i wore it, amma would say that the tailor has not done her bidding;' what do you gain by exposing your arms in the sun, they will only get dark' she will add by way of explanation.I was secretly happy that this tailor did not follow amma's instructions to the T.But there was no question of shifting loyalty, as this tailor had absolute monopoly in our neighbourhood.Yes, he did expand from a small bunk to a big showroom, selling khakhi uniforms to the IAF clientele.People were not stitching so many clothes those days i guess, and one tailor was just sufficient.

The scene shifs to Pune to Deccan Gymkhana where i was shown a tailors shop; 'Vaishali'if I remember right. A posh one it was with stiched ware, displayed elegantly. It was almost like a textile showroom. My first visit there with a friend gave me a huge shock. The male tailors were taking measurements of girls. I have never witnessed it with T NP Rao. I never went there again, and all my stitching needs piled up for visit back home. It was also had a big revelation to me,that if you want slight alterations to be done, there were 'alteration specialists'; a series of bunks on the banks of mutha river, on the way to Lakshmi road. The regular tailors would not dirty their hands with them.

Tambaram sanatorium had its unique tailor. He was the same person who supplies fresh milk (karanda paal). He had a makeshift tailoring shop and was patronised for the ease and comfort of the entire process. He would be not be finiky to fashion a shirt for prashant from a left over 'bit' and would say he would 'adjust'.The shirt will appear alright, but with different textures and colours for the collar. But the kiddo will not mind in the least bit, and neither would we. He was also good in 'alterations'; he would readily agree and alter any cloth ; never mind that invariably it will have no connection to our specs. It will end up going back to him as donation.Everybody was happy.

'innum varum'.....

turtles and turtle eggs contd

For those of you who were sceptical that i was pulling a yarn about the turtle walk and turtle eggs, here is a visual. That was a bright pen torch shining near the hole.The ecstacy and excitement of the first lot of 5 eggs which were fished out from the nest could not be captured; so sad.

On closer look, it looks more like a picture flashed from Mars.But i am proud of it anyway.

saarang contd

Gajendra circle transformed in a riot of green and electric blue, was magical and other wordly. This pic could be retrieved from my mobile only yesterday.Yes, I am slowly getting tech savvy; forget the 4 different trips to vinod cell centre, nokia showroom in besant nagar and fiddling with non dextrous fingers to pull out the memory card and put it back again into the tiny slot only kids can handle.

Vensons

It is one of the shops in the neighbourhood and a very friendly one at that. It cannot be easily classified and that is its charm. It actually started as a bread and pastries shop at a time when such shops were not so common. It used to stock Adyar bakery bread and it was premium stock in those days. I used to hunt for adyar bakery brown bread and many a time it would have been sold out. Of course someone at home used to be quite happy(quietly!). The modern bread makers never believed to stray beyond, sweet bread, sandwich bread and family size packs.So, the health conscious mother that i am, i will search far and near for those elusive special breads, which have 'everything for good health but leave out the crucial appeal and taste';quote unquote.
Later the shop metamorphasied into squeezing in two tiny tables and one could go there for a quick bite of samosas, vegetable puffs and cutlets. I have seen students patronise this shop mostly in the evenings and of course retired men who want to cheat on the wife with regard to calories!
With the IT boom and chennai taking on a 'north indian' flavour, chat shop has sprung up on the front portion. Paani poori, bhel puri,pav bhaji and the entire range is being offered.One more tiny table is added, but the customer activity is actually outside the shop, spilling onto the pavement.It is very convenient to have a pharmacy just next door, so pop in a gelusil after s lip smacking channa bhatura!
In between all the change in clientele, they also started stocking ' grand sweets' products. It was a big advantage for me. They will have a select range; 'what the chef desired, i guess.You go looking for seedai, but you will get ribbon pakoda instead. But i never complain; a snack by any name is still grand sweets product and that will do for me.I was a little upset that the grand sweets products occupy a very obscure corner and other non branded products have prime space. But then he is savvy i guess, pushing products that needed to be pushed!
The owner is a very sweet natured person and you feel very relaxed and nice to go to that shop.The other day i noticed his wife too at the counter and she was also quite pleasant mannered.I wonder if their pleasant dispositions are independent or dependent variables?
And the most crucial point. It closes well after the entire area has gone off to sleep. I tend to believe that the owner is actually happy being there and meeting up and serving the customers.
It is a pleasant cheerful shop and i should watch out not to become 'too satisfied' a customer.

On systems and tailors

I got an sms from my tailor sometime back. It said that my clothes are lying with him since december and could I be please take the trouble to collect them.Yes, this is my first ever sms from my tailor and I just could not remember leaving any of my stuff with him since December.I thought long and i thought hard on this subject and was definite that he has made a mistake.I went over to his shop one evening on the way back from my walk. I was quite definite that I will politely tick him off for using his mobile to give such wrong messages to me. I was even going to tell him, that while i appreciate his customer centric initiatives, would he get his data right.I remembered several such instances from my work life, where eager beaver workers got me into problems when they did not take the trouble to check some simple facts.

The owner was available ( he is one Vasu , by the way) and I told him i am here in response to his sms. He welcomed me and said can you give me the acknowledgement slip. I said i would if i have one and would he please check up how the sms got to be issued. He said he had sent that sms as part of an arrears clearing service.He showed me the bundles of stitched clothes blocking his shelf space and he said they have been with him for the last few months. Customers seem to forget to collect them once they have given it for stitching, he said.

He searched his records and when nothing emerged i was having an expression, I told you so, written large on my face. He then asked me if i have given any material under some other name.It was then it struck me that vini had given some material when she was here. I said yes, but we have collected every one of them. He then proceeded to take out a parcel and there I saw a brand new salwar suit stitched and ready since december. I recognised it as the material Rama had given to vini on her birthday.

Sheepishness replaced smugness.....

Olive ridley

Every now and then there would be a mention of Olive Ridley,a turtle species,in the newspapers.The uniqueness of the name used to be a riddle to me.In adyar times I have also found mention of 'turtle walk' where a group of interested people explained the turtle walk adventure and readers were encouraged to participate in the same.While I have had no idea what this is about, it used to stick in my memory as something out of the ordinary and hence worth trying. Recently, i had gathered it has to do with conservation of a special species of turtles and the walk which has something to do with that objective starts at Neelangarai beach at midnight and takes the route along the beach and reach besant nagar beach early morning!I had immediately made up my mind that i wanted to do it NOW. February is the season for this activity and when pops said her arun anna is organising it from her school, we made definite plans.

Yesterday at 11 pm we were heading for neelangarai beach and sharply looking out for shanthi hospital, where we need to turn left and head straight towards the beachfront.We were the first batch to arrive.Some excitement was provided by our driver who tried to take an u turn in the sand and got the car nicely boxed in there.Slowly the place began to fill up with olive ridley enthusiasts and pops spotted arun anna in a sailor cap and the adventure was flagged off.A bunch of students of journalism from a city college were the last to arrive; they came by a share auto and actually 15 of them emerged which could actuallys seat not more than 5!

We sat in a circle in true KFI style and were briefed about the vision and mission of the exercise. Ask questions arun anna said. And questions flowed easily from the kids who formed a sizeable portion.There were former and present senior kfi students who were actually the SCOUTS, trained in spotting the nests;parents(and aunts and cousins!) of KFI students, and an assortment of conservation enthusiasts.January to march is the nesting season of these turtles and hence on weekends these trips are organised to spread awareness and also collect the eggs. Orissa is THE place where the ridleys come in tens of thousands.Interesting fact was these ridleys come to the exact place to nest where they were born!They travel all the way from Sri lanka to come and lay their eggs here as it is her birthplace.

We were warned that we could have a dry run as it has happened last few days. But before we as much as shook our limbs and started our walk, the scouts let out a shout and were crowding around an area. The first nest was spotted. The methodology was to look out for the ridley's footpath; it resembled very closely that of the truck tyre marks starting from the sea.Another path going back into the sea was also noticed. The exact spot where it would have dug a deep hole about 18 inches to 2 feet to lay her eggs, needs to be devined by use of special sticks. They keep tapping the place and zoom in on the exact spot. Then the digging starts and we found 141 eggs from that nest. The methodical and scientific group that they are, they duly counted the number of eggs, carefully put them in a bag, measured the nest and also the distance from the sea and managed to close the nest and also the path.Photos were taken and the journalist batch managed to note down all details in their notebooks(very clever, they can see and work well in the night). Pops was excitement personified and she was right there were the action was.

The eggs were white in colour and exactly the size of ping pong balls. The scouts told us in hushed tones that the eggs appear freshly laid, perhaps less than an hour ago.

The scene kept repeating 4 more times during our walk and we had a good harvest of eggs, 141, 141, 152, 128 and the last nest was spotted on besant nagar beach, just before we called it a day(night actually).The scouts carried the harvest to a hatchery and after 40, 45 days when they hatch they will be brought back to the sea.The size of the baby turtles will be that of a forefinger. They have been programmed to go towards light. But due to bright light on the coasts, they walk towards land and hence get killed .The scouts stand in the water with torch lights and coax the baby turtles to come to the sea. And once they are let into the sea, they are back to nature and they have as much chance of survival as god and nature planned for them.

I am a sure candidate for the 'back to sea' adventure a few weeks from now!

Came home by 4 pm the richer for a unique experience and hit the bed , of course after depositing the entire collection of beach sand from neelangarai to besant nagar on the porch!

One hour went quickly by

Spent a wonderful one hour in Kalakshetra today evening.No, not to attend a performance, but to accompany my kutty niece who is learning bharatnatyam there.She goes there thrice a week in the evenings and i have gone there once earlier.This time I just wandered around and could feel the presence of Rukmini devi and the other pioneers and great people who thought about this place and made it what it is today by their painstaking effort blended with lots of love and affection.Rukmini devi's penchant for grace and beauty can be felt everywhere.The way the small cottages are built and maintained, there is nothing ostentacious about them and they blend in beautifully with the surroundings.There are simple and beautiful kolams and floral patterns adorning the steps and the verandah of each of these cottages.You can feel the care and delicacy that they portray. Nothing is mass produced here. Nobody is in a hurry for anything. I saw students going from one class to another with a leisurely gait and a happy countenance.

Tha ka dimi, tha kita tha kita nattuvangam sounds were coming muted from the classrooms.I could see a dance rehersal in an auditorium nearby and the vocalist was singing really well and i stopped my walk and listened to the music.It gently washed over me.Time stood still. Gentle breeze was blowing and a lone koel was singing from a nearby tree;the evening sun was casting slating rays on the mud roads.

Kalakshetra from inception has got a tradition of male dancers and i could see that the trend is continuing till today.

I almost felt like being in valmiki ashram as depicted in ramayana!

I said a silent prayer; let time and tide not take away these heaven feel-alike places from Chennai.

technology "yes", customer needs "NO"

We had gone to the neighbour konica colour lab on MG road, adyar yesterday. I wanted to print a picture taken when we had gone to Singapore. I had copied the picture from the camera to a cd and I prided myself on my technology savviness.

The showroom is quite jazzy and modern. We were shooed away from the order booking counter towards the far end of the showroom. It was then we spotted a counter which said 'media to print'; Q please. Prashant positioned himself near the counter, as there was no queue. I spotted three people there, animatedly looking at something on the screen in front of them and discussing among themselves.After sometime they quietly got up and came out. It was then that Prashant showed them his cd and asked for a print. They feigned surprise and said they were themselves customers and were not getting their job done!

So back to order booking counter and the sales clerk now took Prashant to yet another counter which said, "Self service".One is supposed to do everything oneself and hand over the printed order form to the booking clerk, and he would then once again key in something and give us yet another order print out. I wanted a large print, but the sales clerk kept saying parrot like that we have to choose from the options on the self service kiosk.I could not make any headway.
I was looking around in frustration and spotted a tiny pulley going up and down, taking prints and copies from ground floor showroom to the lab in the basement and the booking clerk was busy with that.This is a new labour saving device which i have not seen earlier in this shop.This and other technology interfaces were meant to make the customer touchpoints painless and if possible pleasurable.
But without any investment in people who man the customer touchpoints, I left the shop with a feeling of frustration.
I am seeing this new trend in several shops in our area. Every now and then the shop will have a board which says, shop under renovation. And after renovation the intereiors look very inviting; but the sales people have absolutely no clue about the merchandise available nor are they trained in the simple operations on the terminal which is newly installed with expensive software.
Wait for more stories!

chinese garden japanese garden

Chinese garden is one of the mrt stations in singapore. I have seen it from the train many a time.Huge lakes, large tracts of greenery and meadows fringing the lakes and quaint towerlike structure jotting the landscape. It was a pleasant view after the city ride with its underground and overground areas surrounded by buildings and more buildings.It is as though the city takes a deep breath after the concrete and cranes and gives in to sheer bliss of open spaces and green meadows.

It was one of those hot december afternoons only singapore can boast of. Vini was sure that there will be showers in the evening. So we set out to explore the gardens.It is very close to her place and we took a stroll and were in the midst of pleasant surroundings. What a relief from the forced holiday spots and theme parks!We felt as though life just stood by watching, as we felt ourselves unwind.

Slight drizzle was wafting around us now and then and i was trigger happy and took several beautiful landscape pictures. We did come across a place which proclaimed it has the largest collection of turtles in the world. We had to go in, but then yasas quickly took a back step as she just could not handle so many creepy crawlies. But prashant and me gamefully went through it, just so that we dont miss out on anything.

After a leisurely walk, we sat around the lake for a while and let the world mind its business!

Trade Fair in Island grounds

Trade fairs are a regular feature in chennai and the mega variety in Island grounds starts end December and carries on for a few months thereafter. This event in the city has long since dropped off the radar and stays firmly as a 'not a must see' and there it remained confined till yesterday. The trigger obviously was the feature article in The Hindu metroplus section, a few days back and obviously the reporter had weaved a bit of magic into it.

Stray clouds had suddenly gathered on a lazy saturday afternoon and that gave us an added incentive to venture out .

The crowds were everywhere.We tried the train ride first. Wanted to get somethings correct before we get lost in the wilderness. We were patiently waiting for the toy train to appear, but were told it has derailed enroute and could we wait for another half an hour! A mini riot broke out and the visitors had a thing or two to say to the 'station master' and he was flustered and hard pressed to explain over which he had scant authority and information. Refund of the ticket of five rupees sparked another melee and we quietly slipped out not before asking the booking clerk that we could come back later(after the derailed train is restored back of course)

We went for the big rides now. There were any number of them;two big giant wheels, any number of roundabouts;roller coasters making one hell of a noise; dashing cars;a tiny ropeway;children's inflated play area, where they went in and bobbed up and down and shrieking all the time.Yes, I did feel little queasy about the safety aspects, but the festive mood and jostling crowds swept that aside and we were making quick selections. Settled for an innovative roundabout for kiddos and pops was making a beeline for it with a great deal of familiarity. Then there was the 'duck ride' which was a heady mix of roundabout, roller coaster and a giant wheel, but in small portions. So we plumped for it and the elliptical ride did make one queasy and I kept getting tossed within the teeny two seater.Pops was unfazed of course and grinning ear to ear. That is the end of 'rides' for us.

The giant papads invited us along with 'mulaga bajjis'. I asked for one papad without chilli powder.For the next half hour i was carrying it around for others to take pieces of it, while we were busy looking for that elusive buy in those stalls selling everything that you dont strictly need. Panju mittai, of course had to appear.Pops had seen it perhaps for the first time, so was quite curious about how it is made. We bought two and immediately ticked off one more 'must do, must eat' item.I was looking for the stalls sellling every conceivable vegetable shredder.I remember the cabbages and onions used to be piled high and you cant resist buying one. yes, I spotted one, but the vegetables were not piled high this time.

We went to a few govt stalls all the time lamenting that the trade fair has become more shops and less stalls.Perhaps,the govt has the tv to showcase its achievements and need not wait for the annual trade fair.

It was time to leave, but i was not sure that i wont want to come here again; to hang around shops selling 'genuine cotton sports socks' for ten rupees; foldable laundry bag for twenty rupees;every conceivable 'cooling glass' for ten;eucalyptus oil from kodaikanal and toys of every colour, shape and texture including the soap bubble maker.

Yes, trade fair is our own namma chennai concoction and a heady one at that.Yes, cooum is there with you keeping company; how you wish it did'nt.

Chennai sangamam 2008

We had gone to besant nagar to witness the fireworks at the end of a weeklong chennai festival, called chennai sangamam. The roads to the beach were quite clogged, so we stopped by at mom's place.Fireworks will definitely light up the sky so we might as well watch it at a 100 metre safe distance, rather than be on the beachfront and crane our necks and generally get discomforted.

We waited a while and were getting slowly restless, when the sky burst forth in a riot of colour and splendid keleodoscope patterns.It kept up steadily increasing in the range of colours and reach and sound accompaniments.It kept going for over half an hour and after a while, we felt quite satiated with the rich fare dished out by the organisers, as a fitting finale.When something is so beautiful, we can take it only for a while.I remembered amma telling us that her patti used to firmly hold the view, that we should always have little less than satiation, be it in bakshanams or special dishes made during festival times. Amma never believed in that as far as eatables go, thank god. But otherwise there is sense in kollu patti's home truth.
Prashant, amma and athai were with me witnessing the event, while appa stayed in the front balcony and said he had a good view from there.

I remembered all the while the new year fireworks in Singapore and yasas and me staying up to watch it and usher in the new year.

saarang

It is a ritual with me and a pleasant one at that, to make a pilgrimage to IIT madras, during their annual cultural festival in January. It started during my college days when one of our friends was doing her masters in chemistry. Later Raja did his undergraduation there and we were officially invited to select programmes.
IIT quiz programme used to be unique and a must see;must hear event,participation of course was out of question.I remember the huge lecture theatre with the teams sitting near the dias and the hall bursting to capacity. I witnessed audio/visual rounds only during that quiz programme. They played a soulful number of talat aziz and asked that the singer be identified.Quiz took on a multi dimensional and high intellectual quotient after that experience. Their just a minute programme was legendary. Many versions used to be heard; how one should not repeat, one should not be irrelevant and the viewers/other participants will be literally on their toes to point out fine points of error in those JAM sessions.One of our cousins used to be an avid JAM participant and would boast to us that she walked away with the prizes;grrrrrr.

The concerts in the Open Air Theatre , again had a charm and aura of their own and it is this which kept me going year after year. Students used to come with their pillows and generally lounge on the steps; it was not so crowded then as it is now, with the jazz and rock concerts.

I have enjoyed balamurali krishna in a jugal bandi; ustad amjad ali khan's melocious renderings;ganesh kumaresh violin;inter collegiate light music;inter collegiate dance contests.The place and the people have a magic , no doubt about that.

This year it was mainly to soak in the ambience; Gajendra circle was decked up in unusual colours of green fountain and glittering blue string lights. The food stalls; the village theme; lucky ali relayed off site near the food stalls gave us a peep view of the inside of OAT(Entering the same was well , impossible)But we pacified ourselves that the music was average at best and hence we did not miss anything.

Took a stroll deep into the campus and relived our MCC days.We dont need an excuse to slip back to Tambaram days and mcc campus.

So long saarang...we shall be back.

lectures, nobel laureates, stem cells

Nobel laureate David Baltimore was giving a lecture in the city and immediately i was sure i wanted to be there. The theme of his lecture was 'challenges in modern health care'.I am always eager for a chance to hear and meet up with achievers in any field and this particular event had an added incentive for me. It was in the field of life sciences and i wanted to grab any chance to have some idea of a subject from a nobel laureate. It is really the well learned who can make it simple to a novice, i guessed.I also wanted some talking point with yasas i guess.

The CLRI triple helix auditorium was full and i cooly walked into the invitees enclosure and sat comfortably.As it happened it was a challenge for the organisers to seat dignitaries who came in late and makeshift chairs were provided for them.

The lecture was very simple and clear to laymen like me for the first half. Later, he was addressing the serious students of his subject who were assembled in large numbers, so it went right above my head. But the point is, he was explaining the challenges in the entire process of drug delivery and how it easily takes a couple of decades from start to finish. I remember yasas telling me once, 'it is life and you cant speed up the process'. So it appears. Stem cells, proteins, molecule, cells, immuno suppressants and of course rna and dna were the words one heard continuously; and for an hour of lecture, English language was effectively reduced to these five or six words!

HIV and cancer and malaria/TB were the diseases that were challenging the medical/scientific community for a vaccine/cure/treatment, he said. He also mentioned that research on HIV was heavily funded by Gates foundation, as the US govt was against funding stem cell research. Maybe malaria and TB might not get much funding as they are tropical diseases and not much money for drug companies.

Came back with the feeling, ' katradu kai man alavu kalladadu ulagalavu'.