journey-back to srirangam

friends: I have been taken for an easy ride on april 1 on a number of occasions from my early days.But my computer'Blue Light' did the trick on march 31 itself,when after blogging and while previewing the whole thing was off as it happened twice before, My friend tells me that the person(technician) who first loaded the windows 98 version and then the XP version over that had used an unauthorised and corrupt disc and consequently all the botherations.He suggests that I get a licensed version and use it.That is where the matter stands now.
When I blogged about early days of the great writer and engineer late Sri Sujata, one blogger'pistha'mentioned that I write more on Srirangam and ealy days.This has triggered my desire, to again share, with friends, my experiences,in this nostalgic journey.Earlier i carefully avoided writing about myself ,and mentioned only my association with people and places which I mentioned.Now I wish to elaborate a bit which might include my own part in this dramatic part of early life.
It was the year 1948 and I was in the senior intermediate of National college Trichy.We were a big group which included a few seniors doing their I. B Maths and IV.B economics and our cricket Association christened"Kamala Nehru Union" included a few from StJoseph's also.It was at this time we came to know that,Sri Jawahar Lal Nehru,our first P.M, was to visit Karaikudi to attend the marriage of Tmt Umayal D/O Dr.R.M.Alagappa Chettiar at Kottaiyur near by, and then Lay the foundation stone of CECRI.Dr.Alagappa Chetiar had made elborate arrangements, to receive him by creating an air field at Kottaiur,a huge pandal at Karaikudi,drinking water and buttermilk supply free for all visitors etc and we were very excited and decided to go in a group of 10 people.It was not so easy a decision, as we thought, since we required permission from our parents/guardians,funds to go and come,some wire pulling to be as near as possible to the rostrum.Some of us managed upto 4 Rs and some 2 to 3 Rs.We approached our physics lecturer
Sri Vedantha Desikan,whom all of us fondly called S.V and Sri Srinivasa Raghavan,our maths lecturer,known shortly as S.S.R( who became a principal later) who advised us to meet one Srinivasa Iyengar a D.T.S of S.I.Ry.Fortunately for us ,since my father was in a senior position in the signal and telecommunication dept, it was arranged,He patiently heard us and said that we could first go to kottayur by previous train,walk to and wait near the new air field,See Mr.Nehru and other dignitaries and immediately proceed to Karaikudi by the spl train, coming from Trichy
carrying the retinue of officials from Delhi,Madras and Trichy,with 2 saloons attached to the train.He insisted that we do get tickets and travel.He instructed a travelling Ticket examiner to accompany us and help.
We almost choked ,holding our breath when we saw a beautiful and youngish looking P.M with his
Characteristic 'sherwani' and 'achkan' alighting from the steps,There was a huge chorus of 'Bhaarat Maata Ki Jai' and ''Nehru Zindabad'people shouting with joy, though, only ,a small gathering of officials and people from Kottaiyur,Chettinad, and Karaikudi were present.
Since Sri Nehru was to arrive later at Karaikudi after atending the marriage, we left by the spl train to karaikudi and waited under the hot sun, eagerly.
He did arrive along with Dr S.S.Bhatnaakar,Secretary Science and Tecchnology who in his inaugural speech said, 'truely Dr.Alagappa Chettiar is a modern 'Bageeratha' in bringing water to Karaikudi which is dry and water starved'.He went on to describe how they were all pessimistic and even frowned when proposals came from Dr.Chettiar as the Chemical Research Institute needed enormous qty of water.He said,brushing aside the objections of scientists and officials Dr.Chettiar imported German rigs,shuttled between Delhi and karaikudi and finally at great depths tapped sweet potable water, and bring them out with 2 'Artesian' wells.
The whole gathering rose as one man to say "Alagappa Chettiar Vaazhga' 'Karaikudiyin Dhaagam Theertha Karnan vazhga'.Controlling his emotions Dr. Chettiar outlined his plans to make Karaikudi a 'learning city' with colleges and schools and also improve the civic conditions of Karaikudi.
Sri Nehru , who was garlanded with a huge rose garland, put the garland on Dr.Chettiar's shoulders and hugged him.He lavishly praised Dr,Chettiar for his interest in education and munificence.We were able to quench our thirsty throats but nothing was available to eat.Two small hotels in the town near'Kallukatti Theppam' had already exhausted their stock. The small IRR stall in the station also was closed.
We returned late evening to Trichy Junction and there 'surprise' was waiting for us.One of our friends SriP.Ranganathan, whom we all called fondly as 'Baabuli', and who was also the captain of our cricket team had, earlier, before we began our trip,informed his father, who was the manager of the I.R.R at Trichy Junction about our propable return time by train and he was waiting with hot meals for all the 10 of us.Starving from 6 am to7pm with only a few cucumbers to eat,it was a feast for us and when asked about the charges,my friend's father Sri Parthasarathy Iyengar replied that he has already debited it to his pay account.What great men are these!
(More to come) P.S. We learnt later that Sri Nehru had instructed his officials not to keep Dr Chettiar waiting for long and to inform him immediately whenever Cheetiar arrived to see him.Besides when once, Dr Chettiar, hurriedly tried to wear his hand gloves,when Sri Nehru suddenly came out of his room, Nehru stopped him, shook hands with his bare hands, hugged him, and took him to the guest house.Even today when I think of the bonhomie amongst our friends and the munificence and greatness of the people I saw,met,talked to I feel very sad to think where had they all gone to?What has happened o us?Are we so materialistic?Even admitting it is a fast world of competion and fight for survival, have we forgoten the humaneness inherent in our blood

earlydays.back to srirangam.

last journey of Sri Sujata aka Rangarajan

Friends:After visiting Chakkara sampath's blog, I sent an email to Sri Desikan( a bangalore based software professional cum writer cum Tamizh blogger who had known our dear writer,author,engineer, and a multifaceted personality late Sri Sujata,for about 15 years.Of course i had known the brothers from childhood, while studying at Srirangam, and since I was associated with vaali aka Rangarajan,in theatre,I had come to know Sri Sujata as a writer in 'Sivaji' a local paper which intrduced people like A.S.Raghavan,Akilan etc.After 1959 I lost track of his writings since I was not in the habit of reading 'Kumudam'.But when he wrote in 'Ananda Vikatan' I avidly used to read his stories. What bowled me completely was, with the help of Rajagopalan his younger brother, who is a retd Chairman of M.T.N.L,he wrote on 'Brahma Sutra'
by Veda Vyasa with such clarity and simplicity that I have to quote the adage"Where eagles don't dare' he dared.
very movingly Sri desikan was reciting the last but one of Andal's'Thiruppavai' which the Srivaishnavites chant daily during worship of Lord in their 'Saatru murai'(Methadology of rendition) starting as "Chitranj siru kaale vandunnai sevithu" while the great soul was departing to the abode of Lord Narayana.
Let us all pray and worship him since he had become one with the Lord.
Partha krish

என் முதல் தமிழ் போஸ்ட்

நண்பர்களே: வெகுகாலமாய் என் உயிரினும் இனிய தமிழ் மொழியில் உங்களுடன் உரையாட ஆசை இன்று தான் நிறைவேறியது.

ஒரு அரசுசாரா நிறுவனம், முதியோர்களுக்கு கம்ப்யூட்டர் கல்வி கற்று தருவதாக அறிவித்திருந்தது. அதை நம்பி நானும் தொலைபேசியில் தொட்ர்பு கொன்டென் ஆனால் அது முதியொரெல்லாருக்கும் அல்ல என்றும் அங்கத்தினருக்கு மட்டும் என்றும பின்னால் தெரியவவந்தது

Sorry.let me continue in English as it is time consuming.They put an Ad in press,saying that all elders(Seniors) will be taught computer usages and applications to make them comp savvy.I tried several times to contact them over phone but there was no response.Then I sent an email.Again no response.Finally i sent a pungent mail and after 12 days i got a mail that initially it is meant for members of that org and classes have already started.

Adding insult to injury, they said they would consider me next time they start( without even mentioning about my request for application details, including fee or other biodata about me.

The sole Idea was to learn more about the theory aspects of the comp, since my knowledge is limited to my experience only.

I cursed my ill luck and got reconciled.What else can I do?

parthakrish

"Salute to mothers"-a tribute

Friends:in my last communication, I had briefly mentioned about the honour being done to the 'Mothers of India' represented by about ten ditingushed mothers,one of them being my sister-in-law, Mrs Saroja Parasaran.This function was arranged by Sri M.Murali and his brother, of the famous 'Sri Krishna Sweets', who have endeared themselves with the people of Chennai.Though there are a number of sweet meat stalls,eateries,restaurants, in Chennai, what has distinguished the brothers, is their social consciousness and yeomen sevice, in almost all fields whether helping poor children,encouraging the music talents of buddng artists,honouring the elderly musicians and dancers etc, to, helping the traffic police to regulate traffic by providing some infrastrutural fecilities.
To crown their efforts, this year, they thought of honouring mothers and as it is humanly impossible to invite all the mothers,though each one of them is a jewel in our society,by selecting a few representative mothers, who have done their best to bring up their children,nourishing their talents, and making them 'achievers. in their own fields'
The following is a list of happy mothers
1)Smt Angammal, m/o tamizh poet Thiru Vairamuthu
2)Smt Gomathi Subramanyam m/o Thiru Sukhi Subramanyam
3)Smt Hema ChinniKrishnan m/o C.KRanganathan,.MD CavinCare
4)SmtIndira Krishnamachari m/o Krish Srikant cricketer
5)Smt Maggie Amritaraj m/o Amritaraj brothers,Tennis trio
6)SmtPrema Srinivasan m/o Venu Srinivasan T.V.S
7)Smt Rajalakshmi Y.G.Parhasarahy m/oY.G.Mahendran
8)Smt Saroja Parasaran m/o Mohan parasaran Addl Solicitor General
9)SmtShanta Krishnamoorthy m/oSmt Indra Nooyi,CEO pepsi
10)Smt susheela Viswanathan m/o Viswanathan Anand,Grand master,Chess.
One more mother whom we all eagerly awaited to see was SmtBavi Begum Allah Rakha m/o
Sri Ustad Zakir Husaain,renowned Tabla player,but she could not make it.
The function was a grand success by all standards and there were standing ovations from the jam packed audience in Narada gana sabha with humorous interludes by cine actor Vivek known for his decent but punch packed humour in films.He conveyed a message, that, all that the mothers want in return from their children, is love and not old age homes.
The dances by young girls and boys who came in with sveral types of garlands for the mothers
with background music of Bala Murali Krishna and Sudha Raghunatan,was wonderfully choreographed by an eminent dance perfomer and teacher Smt Radhika Surjeet.
Vivek's mother who came to the function as a guest was also honoured.
There were emotional as well as poignant scenes with the children,grand children and great grand children of the mothers expressing their joy with sweet tears in their eyes.
The grand finale of the most pleasant function was,the entire audience,standing up in reverance when A.R.Rehman's "Vande Matharam" was sung, with children capping up their dance with an array of tricolor national flag with pieces of cloth, in a very diciplined manner.
The society owes its dues to the wonderful mothers and Mr.Murali and team,who deserve
kudos and encouragement.
Parthakish

sad end of a journey and arrogance of a club

Dear Fiends; Sorry for the delay.Two things put me off completely though normally I am a composed person.1) the young man, Subramanyam, died of renal failure, inspite of best efforts of th doctors and my wife as well as the prayers of all kind souls.

2)While we were busy atending on him we were invited for a party to celebrate the 80th birthday of my mother-in-law's sister, at a club in MtRoad and happily we accepted.

My wife's cousin phoned up to say since the club adopts strict dress code, we should cooperate.When I asked him to elaborate, he said,'jubbas'(round necked or shortcollared), dhoties whether north Indian or south Indian style of wearing,sandals(especially hawaiyans)T.Shirts,Pyjamas are all prohibited.This included even long coats with short collars.I was shocked.

More than that,I felt an indignation.It brought memories of the struggle Mahatma Gandhi had in South Africa against racialism and aristrocracy and segregation.I wondered in what age are we in India, which boasts of having ended colonialism with the racial segregations put an end to.The elite clubs have slowly been vanishing and yet it has reared its head again.

I decided firmly that I am not attending the function though this decision brought me into clash.

I wanted to share my feelings with fellow bloggers but some how it has been so disturbing my mind, I did not even go near the computer.

Since happy tidings erase stains of sadness, so is the case now with a happy news that tomorrow(23rd march)my sister-in-law, Mrs SarojaParasaran,w/o Sri K.Parasaran,former Attorney General of India,is to be felilcitated in a public function,at Narada gana sabha hall,as outstanding example of an ideal mother, along wih 10 others, as a tribute to mothers and salute them.

I have known my sister-in-law from 1950. A very noble lady who, inspite of several odds,brought up her 5 children and they are all well settled,some of whom became famous for their achivement in their respective fields.Of all her exemplary qualities,she is very well known as 'Anna Lakshmi' for having fed many a stomach without even batting an eye lid,without any discrimination.May the generes of such mothers increase, so as to make the future of this country bright.

With best wishes

Parthakrish

a different journey

Friends:I am a firm believer of God.I have already indicated in my blogs about the divine interference in men and matters.Now a different kind of journey has been ordained by Him, not for me but for my wife who makes the journey to the general hospital, to try and save the life of an youngman aged 32,married,and with a girl child.
Some of you, who had followed my 2005 blogs, may know that my wife aged 72,has to her credit 3 professional lives like the proverbial cat,at first a lecturer,then an announcer and news reader in All India radio, and now an alternate systems doctor with 17 systems to her credit, some of which she did at U.S,when she was 63.She was also the dean of an institute founded by me for Yoga and naturopathy in Chennai which is a regd body.She is a very good teacher and practitioner of 'Reiki' having been tutored by the Grand master William Rand at Detroit who is an authority in the lineage of 'Usui' Reiki Foundation.Now she also excells in 'Sujok' acupressure
in the hands.
Coming to the reason for her journey,on saurday night the brotherin-law of our family friend who is in the coast guard service,on transfer to Vizag,met with an accident in his two wheeler while coming home, due to a trench on the road, where there was no light also.Some good samaritans arranged to take him to the G.H and phoned his sister in the early hours.His condition was very bad with a bad injury in the 'medula oblongata' since he did not wear helmet.
Within an hour of admission, the neurologists performed a surgery to remove a clot.But his breathing became very difficult as the command nerves have been damaged and he is on ventilator.By sunday evening my friend's wife phoned up to my wife and requesed her to come immediately and do something.With, prayers in mind,and energy equipment in hand she went to the G.H with her son 'Thennavan'.According to her though his condition was very critical,yet,she could sense that his 'Praana' has not waned.Ofcourse he was unconscious and the docs felt he may slip in to coma.She did 'Reiki' intensively,and did 'Sujok'acupressure on his fingers and palm with the permission of the docs and came back ,night with a worried face.She was requested tocome again on Monday and she did th same.There was some perceptible improvement in that there were certain reflexes in his hand and legs.
Today ,they came and took her to G.H and she gauged his energy level,did her best, prayed to God and came back.Just now, an hour back, his wife phoned to say he is breathing well without much difficulty(confirmed by docs) and that they are with renewed hopes.
This jouney of hers for 3 days were very useful,purposeful and also merciful due to the greatness of Him.We hope and pray he gets up and becomes normal.
I have a fervant request to make to my fellow bloggers:Pl pray for him,his name is
Sri Subramanyam.Pl pray very sincerely since prayers made without selfish interests are always heard and remedy coming to him from Him.
Thank you
Best wishes
Parthakrish