sudoku, crossword

There is a new routine in the mornings; clamour for grabbing the newspaper for sudoku and crossword puzzles. It energises one physically before doing the same for the sleepy mind! S has been a sudoku fan for over a year now and all his free time at home is spent with a pen and pencil; on weekends he will be clearing the weekly arrears if any. He had been trying to get the algorithm for sudoku as soon as it hit the Indian scene and has been a 'sudoku convert' ever since. Y has been a crossword fan and tries to finish the entire crossword in one sitting .Of course there will be a few clues which are intriguing; she will toss them around and the aam jan would pipe in. The joint venture will then effectively seal the crossword puzzle for the day.

I have been fed on a diet of The Hindu crossword and it used to be a family obsession. Elders at home including my grandfather used to refer to it as 'kattam poda aarambichacha?" In that environment it is not possible not to be infected with the crossword worm. A very dogeared Chambers dictionary used to be sought out and constantly referred to, for the right word.

The same bug has made a triumphant come back. It is as much fun solving the crossword as it is to wait for the next day's edition for that missing word.We of course blame the 'not so good word', or the author for the incorrect clue and rarely, yes very rarely chide ourselves for not cracking that beautiful word/phrase which was staring us in our face.

Sudoku does not evince as much passion as a team activity and it is more of an individual satisfaction for completing an exciting work. The different ratings set the pace as it were for what lies ahead. It is a very good companion, a slip of paper and a pen while we are travelling or waiting.
Once bitten by either of these bugs you stand infected for life. Happily so!

love birds at home

Between my first post about them arriving at home and now, I can tell you they are feeling very much at home and are thriving.We are looking at them and having fun at their games and leisure activities. You see they are in the idyllic stage where they dont have to forage for their food. They need not look out for possible predators also. Only job in life is to be spoilt brats and peck at the food supplied, shout, scream and make all possible noises at a very high pitch.They gossip endlessly with each other, jabber jabber jabber goes on for hours an end.They take turns on the swing and hiding in the small pot that we have kept for them to lay their eggs, whenever that happens.
K spoils them no end. He enjoys watching them play, so gives them innnovative play things. He leaves some coriander or greens stems on the roof.They immediately are up on the ceiling and turn themselves upside down and nibble at it and try and drag it down.Two of them pull in two different directions and a tug of war goes on.But they dont give up, this game goes on for a while. Yesterday he tried cabbage and made them into small circular pieces and left them on the roof of their cage. They were at it with full gusto.Two of them are aggressive, the third one is happy to nibble at it when these two are taking a break from hectic activity.Live and let live philosophy.
Last few days they have started tearing the newspaper that is spread on the floor. They used to do this trick only when their morning meal was delayed but now that they have become typical brats, they have started messing up the paper by evening.
They quieten down by evening and sit demurely on the small rod.They invariably sit sticking to each other.I have watched them sometimes in the middle of the night.They are sitting right there.I guess they are having a shut eye sitting.
It definitely is like having small kiddos at home; without the nappie changing!

amma's travel post

Amma wrote a very beautiful piece about their sudden mumbai trip.I want to upload it on my blog.

Sudden bombay trip

A fleeting thought and a wish transformed into reality!That is how our Bombay trip can be explained.To accede to their father’s wish the daughters, son and grandson did things in such a quick way that we were in the plane in a matter of 7 hours.One daughter brought a suitcase and packed our things;grandson brought another suitcase and quick eats for the night, just in case; he also booked our tickets; another daughter filled in the necessary details for the trip and also reminded me of all the things to be done before leaving.We were mere spectators. Nice to have efficient children.The funny part was, I was supposed to be the executive, ordering about the subordinates!
Once we reached the airport we were told the flight was delayed, so we relaxed in the lounge. Our son had asked that we take the business class and hence we soaked in the luxury.When we asked for a magazine, we were given a magazine of unknown language!The attender also did not know what language it was.We had the funny experience of being wheeled into the lift and also lifted right up to our seat on the plane. No security check up, no checking in, no tagging our luggage; everything was taken care of by an attendant .The night scene of Chennai from the flight was most beautiful.We enjoyed the benefits of traveling business class. The solicitousness of the airhostesses, the number of magazines given to us and that too in a tray,the umpteen glasses of fruit drinks and tender cocoanut water that were offered and of course not to mention the capacious seats and leg space made our travel quite comfortable and memorable.
We landed in Mumbai and saw quite a few saffron clad swamis in the arrival lounge.I came to know later that Swami chinmayananda’s disciple was holding a meeting in Mumbai that day.The airport has been modernized beyond recognition and it can very easily compare itself with the best in the world.I was amazed at the sheer number of planes taking off and landing and taxiing in such a short span of time.Spicejet aircraft with their colourful tails were very prominent.
We reached home late in the night.
Mumbai is unique; there is very little parking space, so if you need to go somewhere, the driver will drop you and keep circling the area and pick you up when you call him on his mobile!
This trip was arranged as per KRR’s wishes .His next wish was to visit ahobila mutt temple in chembur.Kumar made necessary arrangements for the same. While traveling in the car , ‘’anda naal nyabagam nenjile vandade”.It was 1945, just after the Allies victory. My father had taken me to the VT station, which was illuminated with colourful bulbs of various hues and sizes.I can still recall the illuminated tram with the words ‘allies won year 1945’.This tram was the cynosure of all eyes on that day.As a ten year old girl I was also delighted to see this.Even after so many decades, this picture frame is etched green in my memory.So also, the memory of a ship explosion when we were crossing Bycullah, and its aftermath is still fresh.While passing through Matunga, the memory of Dec 1978, when we had come there after my daughter’s engagement in Pune, was fresh.We were now passing through Ghatkopar and I was busy searching for Chandra Shah hospital where my son was born. My brother Babu liked the food the hospital served so much, that he used to polish off the food given to me. I could not consume anything as it was very rich with ghee and I barely could manage the ‘pathiya saapadu’ that my mother used to bring.For the first time I saw mothers after a few hours of delivery, consume sweets like mysore pak and laddu. I was told that it is necessary for the mothers to regain strength and the nurse used to goad me to try some. She used to tell me, aap log imli ka pani letho ho, isliye koi takath nahi.I was still intrigued how they are able to digest these heavy foods and I was told that they are given a health drink of gum and some herbs, first thing in the morning; they are also given a special gum laddu which is supposed to strengthen the waist and uterus.
While I was traveling back in time wistfully , the car was busy covering lot of ground.
We did not witness any traffic jams.The roads were fairly clean and .broad and also had footpaths on which people can actually walk.In Chennai everyday we come across in the newspapers about traffic accidental deaths; but in Mumbai for the two weeks that we were there, I did not read about a single accident.
We reached Ahobila mutt after nearly one and a half hours .The temple as such is not a very imposing one.You can see the main sannidhi as you are entering the temple.In front of the main sannidhi, there are small sannidhis for periya thiruvadi and siriya thiruvadi and also enough space for doing pradakshanam. In the main sannidhi you have lakshmi narasimhar and Lakshmi hayagrivar.There is another sannidhi for mahalakshmi. The sannidhi doors are made of pure goldThe doors of lakshmi sannidhi were more elaborate and intricate than that of the moolavar. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and it was not surprising!There are other small sannidhis including one for guruvayooorappan.There is a big pond and we could see brisk business of puja articles on the banks of the same.I was happy to see kadambam being strung with malli dhavanam and Krishna tulasi.In Chennai I have never seen Krishna tulasi being used for kadambam.A group of ayyangar mamis were chanting sri sthuthi and Vishnu sahasranamam.I have usually come across bhajan groups which chant desika sthothrams and divya prabhandam but sristhuthi and that too by women was unsual.
Our return journey was fairly quick and we were back home in less than an hour.

On Sunday Kumar took us to Malabar Hills. There was hardly any parking space. So we found some space for sitting while Kumar parked the car. It was very very chilly in the garden area and so we were not able to enjoy the sylvan surroundings and ambience. We had to return soon. After coming back we took a taxi to Banaswadi Balaji temple. The road leading to the temple was one way so we had to get down and walk some distance. Kumar was most careful leading his father in law, holding his hand. I was lagging behind because the road was not good. This temple is almost like oppiliappan koil, with the temple situated amidst residential buildings. Most of the temples in Tamil Nadu are situated far away from the street with a big compound wall of imposing length and width.
We were happy to see Prakara valam of Devaraja Perumal with chamaram kudai, theevati and a shenai was also being played instead of the usual nadaswaram. After sometime there was a recorded nadaswaram music. This temple has undergone vast improvement.The entire gita has been inscribed on the walls as also the pictures of the 108 divya desams. The temple was well maintained and spotlessly clean.The Bangurs of Calcutta built this temple and the archakas have been provided residential quarters inside the complex itself. After a satisfactory darshan of Lord Srinivasa and Alarmelmangai thayar,we hired a taxi in front of the temple itself and returned home.
I told Kumar that there need be no more outings but Vasu’s father after 2 days of walking inside the compound wanted to go to Gateway of India. Once again there was no parking space and the driver Francis asked us to have a leisurely and he would pick us up after 20 minutes. There was a wedding in the Taj Hotel and we saw a beautifully decorated white horse. The baratis were standing on the platform and waiters were serving them cool drinks and cookies. A car with orchids about a foot wide and shaped in the form of a n S was standing.This itself must have cost a fortune. Renovation work was going on in front of the Gateway of India and we could not go anywhere near it. There were lots of boats of various sizes and my mind flew back to the time when we went to elephanta caves as a group. I was able to touch the sea from the boat and was thrilled beyond words.
From Gateway of India we went to Cuffe Parade and saw the President hotel and the park where we used to have our evening walks when Raja was there in Mumbai. In the mornings we used to go beyond Hotel President and walk upto M FHussain’s flat situated in a big complex. On the way back we saw lots of fishermen repairing their nets and the entire space was very dirty.
The next day was Satyanarayana Puja in kumar’s office. We went down by 11 o clock and the puja was going on and on. The marathi priest was saying the mantras in a sing song voice and it took some time for me to understand what he was saying.Towards the end the priest drew a kolam on a plate. There was a maharashtrian couple doing the puja. The wife was conspicuous by her loose hair. It was strange because we in south India don’t keep the hair loose as it is considered inauspicious. The office staff were informal and it was very nice. They were chatting and joking.When the priest started a bhajan everyone joined and clapped hands keeping tala. The priest went on adding one camphor after another and it took more than 15 minutes. After which the karta was asked to do sashtanga namaskaram which he tried to avoid. But all the others egged him on.All of us put flowers and aashtadai.
There was another function in which emplouyees who have put in more than 10 years of service were honoured. We came home and refreshments meant for us were brought by an office boy. Our going to this function resulted in lot of people exchanging smiles and greetings whenever we were having our walk. The watchmen used to get up and say salam sir. Generally the people were very courteous and were very respectful.While going in the lift the other occupants used to open the door and come out to make way for us.
Exactly on the 15th day we started on our return journey.As the flight was scheduled to leave by 7 am we had to leave rather early.We got up at 4.30 am . Much to my chagrain Kumar came in to find out if I have got up. By the time we started it was 5.35 am. It was a very nice drive on empty roads and cool air blowing. While we were on our way to the airport, Kumar made a remark that my efficiency level has come down as he thought that I would wake him up. Ageing process! During the flight we had pink colour upma with big raisins and cashew. The breakfast was very heavy and I had to refuse some dishes.
Thus we came back home ; home sweet home after an unforegettable fortnight in Mumbai.

Besant nagar humour club

Adyar times, the neighbourhood newspaper has been regularly carrying this programme in their engagements of the week column for several years now. They schedule it on the first sunday of everymonth.I have always read it with interest and would file it away in my mind that i would like to go and participate in one such meeting.An uncle of mine is a member of a humour club and he has been going strong about it for several years now.But then the timing is the issue; 4 pm on a sunday evening is quite difficult to keep an appointment, however tempting the programme.But then I got around it and landed in the premises well before the meeting began this weekend.

I studied the members present; quite a few greys, as can be expected. A good number of ladies mostly middle aged; I was pleasantly surprised to see some children. It was only later i realised that they had a competition for children and that is the reason some children and their mothers were with them. It made me think that the mothers seem to be keen to enter their kids in any programme as long as you label it 'competiton'; not otherwise. Never mind that there could hardly be a few entrants and the prizes at best could be a pencil box which the child would have in plenty already.

There was just one young boy who looked like a college student. He was keenly interested in the jokes that were shared, though he kept very much to himself. I can imagine him remembering and narrating some of the jokes to his friends the next day and score a few brownie points.

Some members come as far away as Madipakkam; they must really be sold on 'humour' to travel so far on a hot chennai summer afternoon.

The format was like this; select members were asked to come on stage and share a few jokes. Most of them used a sheet of paper as a reference; some of them referred their palm and scribblings on it ; some of them were extempore and they actually reeled off more than 20 jokes at one go. I was amazed.The timing and presence of mind were crucial as I could see. We were also introduced to members of laughter club. They assemble everyday at 6 am in besant nagar beach.

I was narrating this to my niece who has just given her 12th exam, and she said she was not amused. She said her colony had a laughter club and when she would be rushing to school on a monday morning more so if there is an unit test and while getting into the bus, the forced laughter of the laughter club with no apparent reason used to be jarring. Different folks, different strokes....

The chief guest spoke on the topic, 'ethanai kodi inbam vaithai iraiva' and generously spiced it with thirukkural, bharatiyar songs and vivekanandar's life. My favourite topic and it was 'paisa vasool'.

Maybe i wont go there regularly; it is difficult to sit through more than two hours of 'humour'.But they do invite very good guest speakers and I might occasionally be tempted.
Yes, I have become a member.

chepauk, cricket, coffee and more

When something is addictive immediately after tasting it, it is not good for you is what experience has taught me. Watching a cricket match from the chepauk stadium easily qualifies for that sentiment, is what i realised yesterday. I took it for granted that I will be going for the next day after the heady experience of my first date with cricket! Day 2 promised to be much more fun and fulsome experience than the first. I witnessed Sehwag making 300 runs and I was part of that history!

Now for a bit of market place view before entering the stadium. I got the best tickets that money cannot buy and if you cannot be SPIC muthiah then i was the next best. The Terrace tickets as they are called and my chair was bang below Muthiah's box and he was of course sitting there.

Rs 5 for 'rendu pakkam' is what the vendors kept screaming before one entered the stadium. I wondered for a minute and immediately realised what it was;to paint both cheeks with the Indian tri colour.I was reminded of the vendors in Tirupati who would be moving around the queue asking if you need 'namam' on your forehead; for a small fee of course.The footpaths were full of mendicants selling huge Indian flags, little flags, conical hoots (in the hands of a young cricket enthusiast can literally pierce your ears),hats and placards showing 4 and 6 . I saw any number of interesting custom made placards on the stands; one said 'dada I will die if you retire' and the other ' camera, please focus on me, I told my friends so'. Who said Indians are not innovative?

Security was very heavy and one got to see actuallytwo horse mounted riot police every 100 yards. Nothing else can navigate the narrow Triplicane streets was Prashant's take on this.I felt like seeing a still of 'Indian' movie, the pre independence days part.

With Sehwag blazing away, I saw the men behind the "numbers" not taking their hands off and were in a state of perpetual motion. Yes, I am talking about the backbench guys maintaining the giant score boards on the stadium.After a while one actually thought that Sehwag had grown roots in the pitch and did not know how to pull himself out. It was amazing cricket and amazing crowd which applauded every run, every gesture, every event on and off the field. They applauded when Sachin was shown on the giant screen waiting for his turn; they applauded when select audience was shown for a second.The wave motion of the spectators kept going on and on whenever there was a lull on the field.This was 'nilaya vidvan isai'of AIR!

I had ample time and inclination to observe the spectators. I had a lady sitting a few seats near me. She was the picture of Triplicane iyengarhood. Middleaged with a long smoothly plaited hiar with good amount of oil; kadambam flowers perched on her head fairly high;a polyester saree full of flowery motifs and pullav neatly tucked in; diamond nose rings and ear studs of course; and a 'wire bag' which all of us have tried our hands on during our school holidays just to please mommy that we can do 'kai velai'.During lunch she took out her lunch dubba and the delicious fare was actually beginning to hurt and I rushed to the canteen, never mind that I did not feel all that hungry then.Her knowledge and appreciation of the game was very good and she used to get up and clap wholeheartedly whenever it was called for.She left just before tea after receiving an urgent message. So sad.

Another interesting neighbour couple of rows ahead of me was a silver haired gentleman. He went out fairly early in the day and came back with a jumbo finger chips plate and two cutlets for good measure. He shared the cutlet with a small boy, but tucked into the finger chips with great gusto . He was labouring towards the end but he made it finally and crossed his hands behind his head and settled down to enjoy the game. When Sehwag hit his first six, he got up and clapped long and hard.

I am refraining from any mention of cricket on the field as I know pretty little about the game and everything that can be commented upon has been filling up pages in the newspapers and viewertime on TV channels.

I pronounce that the stadium experience has much more to it than cricket. Ahem.

chepauk, cricket and coffee

CCG

Yes, I have finally made it; to the Chepauk cricket grounds; to watch the India South Africa cricket match. I have only heard about the great experience and the sporting crowd of chennai. Yes, it was good fun and I enjoyed the drama much more than the cricket. I felt the cricket is just an excuse for the spectators to have a good time and let their hair down.And they did it in style.I saw small boys, big boys and elderly men, buy the india colour stickers and paste it on their cheeks. I saw many of them sporting hawaiian t shirts; i am sure they would not be seen dead wearing them anywhere else but here.Chennaites are stuck up and stodgy and the cricket gives them an excuse to let go and loosen up.Which is what they did in good measure; just as i was entering i was greeted with deafening noises of trumpets, cymbols and what not. The cacophony was unbelievable. But then the disbelief lasted till I reached my seat. Thereafter I became part of the holiday atmosphere and the noise ceased to be unpleasant anymore.
I spotted some interesting spectators; what I saw was little, I conjured up the rest. Take this father daughter combination, come with packed lunch. It was just like vasu in her undergrad days with her father.It is quite difficult to see father daughter combination having such a good time these days.There was another father son combination; the son must be around ten years old and he had a huge india flag and kept flapping it at every excuse; it was only later I saw the father egging him on. Oh, I got it; the father was reliving his childhood all over again, peanuts spilling all around them included.One elderly gentlemen preferred to go it alone. He had a spotless white mull jubba and ditto mull veshti nicely folded. He had a huge popcorn in one hand, an iced water bottle in the other and his precious 'zip bag' tucked under his arm. Perfect for cricket watching, what?Oh, how did I forget the two silver haired gentlemen who had some comment for every ball bowled and not bowled.They appeared to have shared many a cricket match in the CCG stands. I could not spot them after lunch and I decided they had thought it is enough and went home for a siesta. It was towards the end that I spotted them at another corner, obviously it was less hot there. The strange bonding that men have with cricket was reinforced, if any proof was at all needed.
Sachin was fielding close to our stand and the madness of the crowd was seen to be believed. Sreesanth also got almost similar demi god status.The crowd cheered when the umpires came out to the ground after lunch;they cheered when Sreesanth made a gesture of throwing at the wicket; it cheered when a four was hit; they cheered when the South Africans hit a 50; a 100; and a 150; they cheered when there was a good save and also when there was not.
There were other collective sounds as well; Suddenly there will be a huge sigh; and I would have missed the moment and wait for the replay on the big screen and would know that it was a near miss at the wicket. I remembered watching an English movie during school days and would laugh after the entire theatre would reverberate with laughter at a joke I would have just missed.
The weathermen had predicted rains today, but thankfully it did not rain but the heat was unbearable.More than the heat it was watching the grounds aglow with the best chennai sun. Just after 1.30 pm the first gentle wind brushed me by and I knew the sea breeze had set in and it will soon get cool.We were just a stone's throw from marina and hence caught the first wiff of sea breeze for the day!
Innum varum