Madurai...The City that never Sleeps...

True to those words enga ooru thoongi nan enaikume pathathu ilai... It starts with the freshness in the morning when we go out and see people queueing to get milk, the small tea shops with hot milk boiling and chaya ready to be given... men squatting near the shops waiting for the tea.. apadiye cut panrom.. shot moves to the ladies who are readily with their kola maavu* to start painting their imagination in front of their house... This scene is really missing as we move out of the city to the metro life... omg.. how much i am missing being at home...


The hustle bustle life starts slowly, the milk man going from one home to another, the paper boy throwing papers, ammas preparing breakfast for their kids and the husbands and the family... Kids on cycles to schools, Men hurrying in their bikes... all these are regular morning plights in every city.. yes i agree.. but Maduraikunu oru Shtyle irukunga...

You should be very talented to ride a bike in Madurai. If you have ridden a bike here then you can ride it anywhere... apadi oru logic... god knows when the person going in front of us will turn, dono which side is he going to turn, though the right indicator will keep blinking he still will not turn at times, when the Green light turns on the signal people rush like they are participating in a F1 race... The steaming looks i get from my dad when i ride it along with the crowd... nowadays as we are turning into the wonder world of telecommunications, people drive/ride with cell phones on their ear (even the cyclist holds his mobile and not bothering about others but ride to his own glory) ...

Speaking about respect... Madurailathaanga kathukanum. Any person is treated with due respect here... After setting foot into Chennai the first thing that shook me hard was the way we were treated by the local automan... "Enga oorula epadi mariyathaiya pesuvaanga theriyuma" My friends should be tired of hearing this stmt from me all the time...

The "Manmanam maratha pengal". Western shtyle is trying hard to step into Madurai... Though u see women in jean or kurthas, the traditional manam is still there. You can see girls in half saree, Sarees mostly and chudidhars come next and a few % of jeans and others. What more do you want

More stories to continue later...

I want to dont want paal...

Kids these days ... i tell u .... imagine the same statement been told by our Amma Appas about us... if we had imagined ourselves to be smarter than our parents... here comes the shock of our lives.. kids are far far better now... they dont even think before they speak coz they have it all stored in them.. coming to the title of this blog.. My best friends 2 year old daughter says this statement to say she doesnt want milk :)

No more do we need to check the correctness of this statement, the message is clearly conveyed to us.. she doesnt want to drink milk... lol... i pity her mom... I happen to roam around with this bunch of family crowd, though i dont mainly baby sit the kids.. but enjoy playing with them, they have so much to tell us... They are stubborn in what they want, they know to gain attention, they bargain more than us, we need to bribe them more... and they are too fast in learning things... they dont lose energy... omg... This lil lady am speaking about is full of josh... as they say... a F1 racer loses 5kgs after a race, everytime iam with her.. i feel i have lost 1kg.. running behind her and playing with her.. but it is fun... as they grow i think we need to be all the more prepared to answer all their questions...

Had we been so much energitic or been this shrewd... god knows...

Chennaiiiiiiii......

So long Chennaila irunthuruken.. and whts up.. no blogs about it.. here i come with my new stories... Happened to be in Chennai last week during Valentines day and voila.. Chennai has undergone a great change... The moment i landed in Chennai i was in sheer joy, First am gonna meet my friends.. and the second thing was Shopping... Whats more than shopping for a girl..

Just put down my bags in my friends house and then started straight for dinner at a famous hotel in chennai. Velavasi eririchu makale... A once 200Rs Buffet was charged 700 that day... so on second thoughts we went to the other restaurant in the same hotel... 700 eee.. parava ilanu ... we felt finally... A plate of kal dosai was charged 250 Rs.. ammadiyov.. wht the heck.. just pay for it.. and have the not so so tasty kal dosai... and we barged out of the hotel by 10.30 p.m. Even after all those Val day threats, people were flooding into the hotel. Being three girls we just had to take an auto back home and with lots of talking, gossiping, we had to get back to sleep.. We had a big day coming up... yeow... shopping...

Nothing can beat chennai when it comes to shopping... whao... Pantaloons, West side, City centre, Regal shoes, Landmark, omg... lots and lots.. My friends are never tired of me when i say shopping, though they give me this weird look of god-when-is-she-gonna-stop. West side had a great collection of kurtis, though my so so not shopping friends (who just got 3 sets of kurtis) said the collections were less. Managed to grab a few sets after one of my friend gave me this signal of are-u-going-to-try-them-or-do-i-leave look, we headed straight to the Regal footwear shop and brought down the whole store trying all the slippers, again after few hundreds lost from our purses we managed to enter city centre. The big sale... All the indianised kurtis and skirts that you dont get abroad... man it was a treat for me... trying all of 'em... watching all the beautiful girls... now i understand why there is a big lot of guy crowd just roaming around in city centre.

All sorts of crowd in city centre, from people who are seeing escalators for the first time in their life, the not so interested salesman, kids who are left alone when parents shop, the excited women, bored men (mainly husbands) say what.. i miss chennai a lot... With lots of shopping done had to leave chennai with a heavy heart..

Lifes Exciting Moments...

Many great excited moments comes and goes in everyones life... Am not spared too... Sharing such moments would be great fun and so here it goes. It starts wayyyy down when i was in my school days. Every sunday we used to go to our grandparents house and after lunch we (four of us, the brats down home) used to wait for the dairy milk that our grandpa used to give us. Those days cadbury used to come with different animal moulds in the chocolate. Getting one of our favourite in the chocolate was a real excitement. Those were the innocent days where anything and everything excited us...

Then came the day when i got my bicycle. A real excited me... Those days going out to an icecream parlour with friends was really exciting. Our parents never used to let us go out of the neighbourhood line, but every last annual exam we used to get permission and go for our much awaited parlour visit with our full gang... and going in the new cycle, used to get an elated feeling.

College was always fun, participating in the culturals and getting prizes everytime, was a real excitement. Practising for culturals, participating and winning was the real one... And finally getting to hoot and cheer for our team, was the greatest joy i had ever felt.

When i got my Lakshmi(My bajaj sprit) i really wanted to go round the city as much as i can. I felt like i had got freedom all of a sudden. When i wanted to go shopping, or just go to a place i just need not wait for some transport or depend on someone to come and pick me...

We were a gang of 7 in our office. We used to hang out lots after work. Whenever we used to go out, try new dishes, every moment i remember. The surprise parties with my room mates, Planning for a surprise party, getting gifts, and waiting till the person sleeps and brining the cake with all candles on and no lights in house. We sure did enjoy those moments.

But anyday, whenever there was a break and when returning home to meet mom, dad and my bro had always been fun. Being with them, just lazing at home and doing nothing but just eating mom made food and roaming out, nothing in life can match it...

Socially Responsible Ads

Found a few good ads through mail. Thanks to my friend for sending it across. The pictures convey the meaning so clearly.

இன்னைக்கு நம்ம பிள்ளையாரோட பிறந்தநாள்

இன்னைக்கு நம்ம வீடுகள்ள எல்லாம் விசேஷமா விநாயகர் சதுர்த்தி கொண்டாடுகிற நாள். எல்லாரும் ஒழுங்கா கொழுக்கட்டை பிடிசீங்களா ?

என்ன எல்லாம் வடிவத்துல நம்ம பிள்ளையார வரையறாங்க பாருங்க, திடீர்னு ஒரு இலைல இருக்காரு, சின்ன கோடுகள் போட்டு வரையறாங்க, ஒரு ஆப்பிள் பிள்ளையாரு மாதிரி இருக்குனு சொல்லி அதுக்கு சாமி கும்பிடறாங்க. "Computer" உலகம் வந்ததுல இருந்து எப்படி எல்லாம் வரைய முடியுமோ அப்படி எல்லா கோணத்துல இவர வரைஞ்சு பாத்திருக்காங்க.
இவர் யாரையும் துன்புறுத்த மாட்டாருன்னு ஒரு தைரியம். இதே வேற கடவுளுக்கு பண்ண சொல்லுங்க, மாட்டாங்க... ரொம்ப நல்லவருங்க நம்ப பிள்ளையார்.

எந்த வேலை தொடங்கினாலும் அதுல முதல் பங்கு அவருக்குத்தான், பரிட்சை எழுதும் போது ஆரம்பமாகி, பிறகு எல்லா பிற வேலைகள் தொடங்குவது வரை... இந்த நாளில் அவரை மறக்காமல் கும்பிடலாம்.

R we aware of Global Warming...

The so called "Global Warming" seems to be a buzz everywhere we turn around, where everyone just takes in a minute to read it and then forget about it... Are we as the habitants of the planet, the so called beings with the power to think care about the world ? Are we really taking part in protecting the world other than reading about it and trying to empathise the situation...

Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century, and its projected continuation. Also refers to the warming in recent decades and its projected continuation, and implies a human influence

I once had a chance to watch a movie called "An Inconvenient truth", which is when i realised the impacts of what the planet is really going through. To have an insight of the movie here goes the link http://www.climatecrisis.net/.

How can an individual play his part in saving the planet...

Earlier were days where we used to go out and play, watch less of the television, Air condition was of a term not used by everyone, mobile phone... what was that new term. Why am i speaking about these all of a sudden, coz these are things that we can do from our side to protect the planet. Remove the chargers when not in use, switch off the television when no one is seeing... Usage of less plastic, instead of having to bring back what we got from the super market in plastic bags, why not we take in our own bags and try using less of plastic. There is always the first step to be taken, once it is done, there is no looking back guys... these are few things that i know and i have shared, (Efforts each individual can give from his/her side)

This effort of saving the planet will not happen if just one person, or is it just the president thinking about it.... naaaaa.... its a combined effort, i am posting this topic coz, i wanted to share the thought of saving the planet to people i know...

What did we do for our planet, which has given us so many things without expecting anything back from us... just garbage... Let us think guys... This planet is where our future generation is going to live... so actions speak better than words...

Once upon a time...

Long ago.. long long ago... Nobody can say how long ago... ஹேய்ய் ஸ்டாப் ஸ்டாப் அப்படினு நீங்க எல்லாரும் கத்தறது என் காதுல விழுது... சரிங்க கொஞ்ச வருஷத்துக்கு முன்னாடி நான் கல்லூரில படிச்ச கதை தான் இது... நீ படிச்சது ஒரு பெரிய விஷயமா அப்படினு கேக்காதீங்க...

நான் படிச்சு டாக்டர் ஆகனும்னு எங்க அப்பா அம்மா கனவு, ஹ்ம்ம் எனக்கு கூட இருந்தது அப்புறம் என்னோட மார்க் கொஞ்சம் கம்மி ஆகி, மதுரைல இருந்த ஒரு பெண்கள் கல்லூரில படிச்சேன். சேர்ந்த கொஞ்ச நாள்ளையே எனக்கு நெறைய நண்பிகள் கிடைச்சாங்க... (பொதுவா நான் கொஞ்சம் வாயாடி). வகுப்புக்கு ஒழுங்கா போவேன் ஒழுங்கா படிச்சிருவேன் ஆனா அதுக்கு ஏத்த மாதிரியே சேட்டையும் இருக்கும்...


இதுல குறிப்பா சொல்லனும்னா என்னோட மிக நெருங்கிய தோழியும், இன்று வரை என்னோட சண்டை போடாத அவள் இன்று ஒரு குடும்ப தலைவி, இரண்டு பெண்களுக்கு தாய்... இவள பத்தி நான் கண்டிப்பா சொல்லியே ஆகணும்

எல்லா சேட்டை பண்றவங்க மாதிரி நாங்க கடைசி பெஞ்ச்ல தான் ஒக்காருவோம், நாங்க பயப்ட ஒரே மேடம் "வித்யா". இருந்த மூணு வருஷத்துல எனக்கு இப்ப வரைக்கும் அப்படியே ஞாபகம் இருக்கற விஷயம் நாங்க அடிச்ச காப்பி. லேடீஸ் காலேஜ்ல அதுவும் எங்க காலேஜ்ல காப்பி அடிக்கறது பெரிய விஷயங்க. இத ஏன் சொல்றேனா நான் "College Secretary" வேற. இதுல இது வேறையா... பின்னாடி யாரோ சொல்றத கேட்டுட்டு தான் இருக்கேன். முத "internals" ல நான் தான் முதல் மார்க் கிளாஸ்ல, ரெண்டாவது "internals" ல காபி அடிக்கும்போது மாட்டாம எப்படியோ தப்பிச்சிடோம், ஆனா பரீட்சை பேப்பர் வந்தது, கிளாஸ்ல எல்லாருக்கும் பேப்பர் கொடுத்தாங்க ஆனா எங்க ரெண்டு பேருக்கும் கடைசில தான் பேப்பர் கொடுத்தாங்க, பேப்பர்ல மொத்தமா அடிச்சிட்டு "0" அப்படின்னு மட்டும் இருந்தது. எங்களுக்கு மார்க் பாத்து ஏதும் கஷ்டமா தெரியல, எப்படியும் அடுத்த "internals" இருக்கேனு ஒரு நெனைப்பு, ஆனா எப்படிடா "Vidhya" மேடம் மூஞ்சில முளிக்கரதுனு... ரொம்ப அவசியம்னு நீங்க எல்லாம் கஷ்டபடறது தெரியுது... என்னோட பதிவுகள படிக்க ஆரம்பிக்கறதுக்கு முன்னாடி யோசிச்சிருக்கணும்... இப்ப ஒன்னும் செஞ்சிக்க முடியாது :-) செஞ்சிக்க முடியாது...

அப்புறம் "department" ல எல்லா "staff" முன்னாடி இனிமே இப்படி பண்ண மாட்டோம்னு சொல்லிட்டு வந்தோம்... கிளாஸ்கு வந்து ஒரே சிரிப்பு, அடக்க முடியாத சிரிப்பு, சிரி சிரின்னு சிரிசிட்டே இருந்தோம், இதெல்லாம் பெரிய சாதனையான்னு எல்லாரும் யோசிக்கலாம் ஆனா, ஒரு லேடீஸ் காலேஜ்ல படிச்சு பாருங்க அதோட கஷ்டம் தெரியும்... ரொம்ப கஷ்டபட்டுருக்கோம். அப்புறம் காலேஜ்ல "Class bunk" அடிச்சது , "Ma'am" a கிளாஸ் எடுக்க விடாம சும்மா ஒக்காந்து கத பேசுனது, இதெல்லாம் வேற எப்பயாச்சும் சொல்றேன்...

சரிங்க உங்கள எல்லாம் பாத்தா ரொம்ப பாவமா இருக்கு... இப்படியே உங்களை எல்லாம் விட்டுருறேன்... மீண்டும் சந்திப்போம்

நான் ஏன் பதிவு எழுதுனேன்

எல்லார் மாதிரி நானும் ஏன் பதிவு எழுத ஆரம்பிச்சேன்னு சொல்லறேன்...

எனக்கு கல்லூரியில் படிக்கும்போதே ஒரு ஆசைங்க, பெரிய journalista வரணும்னு… அதுக்கும் பதிவு எழுதறதுக்கும் என்ன சம்பந்தம்னு கேக்காதீங்க. Journalistna, இந்த ஜோல்னா பைய தூக்கிட்டு வருவாங்களே அப்படி இல்ல, கேமரா எடுத்துட்டு எதாச்சும் பிரச்சனை நடக்கிற எடத்துல போய் படம் எடுத்து அதுக்கு ஏத்த மாதிரி ஒரு டைட்டில் போட்டு ஒரு சின்ன கதை எழுதுற அளவுக்கு ஆசை. ஆசை யார விட்டுச்சு. அப்புறம் அந்த நெனைப்பை தூக்கி ஓரமா வைச்சிட்டேன். எனக்குனு ஒரு கேமரா வாங்குனதுக்கபரம் எனக்கு பிடிச்ச மாதிரி படம் எடுத்து தள்ள ஆரம்பிச்சேன்.

ஆனாலும் உள்ளுக்குள்ள எழுதனும்னு ஆசை மட்டும் இருந்துகிட்டே இருந்துச்சு... ஆனா எப்படி ஆரம்பிகறதுன்னு தெரியல. சும்மா ஒரு பேனாவ எடுத்து எழுதலாம்னு சொல்லாதீங்க... எடுத்து எழுதனும்ல...

கிரின்னு எனக்கு ஒரு நண்பர் இருக்கார். அவரு நெறைய எழுதுவார். பதிவு தான். சிங்கை வந்த பிறகு அவரோட பதிவுகள் படிக்கற வாய்ப்பு கிடைச்சது... அவர்கிட்ட கேட்டுகிட்டே இருப்பேன். எப்படி கிரி இந்த blog எழுதுறதுன்னு... தினம் கேப்பேன் இத... அவரும் விடாம நீ எழுது வித்யானு சொல்லிட்டே இருப்பார்... அவரோட எழுத்து நடை ரொம்ப நல்லா இருக்கும்... அவர மாதிரி எழுதலைனாலும் ஏதோ என்னால முடிஞ்ச அளவுக்கு எழுதனும்னு இருக்கேன்.

அப்படி எழுத ஆரம்பிச்சது தாங்க இந்த பதிவு... இதோட இப்ப 3 பதிவு வந்திரிச்சு, நீங்களும் படிக்க ஆரம்பிச்சிடீங்க... எனக்கே என்ன நம்ப முடியலைனா பாத்துகோங்களேன் :-)

Friends - Part I

I once read somewhere; God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers and mother cannot be everywhere with the child and so he created friends”. What a lovely thought and how genuine is that meaning. Caring, thoughtful, possessive, understanding, loving, sharing; they come in all flavours

There are issues that can’t be shared with our parents but can so easily be done with friends. They just listen to you. Getting back advices comes back though. The world cannot be a happier place without friends. Friendship does mean a lot in terms of, to share, to roam, to gossip, to get advice, to get a helping hand at the time of mess, being comfortable with each others company even during silence. My friends have always been there. Right from schooldays till now, and earning more friends has never stopped in me. Every friend has a different thing to share with you.

Different titles did we have for each friend. From best friend, close friend, sweet heart, to not so close friend, acquaintance the list goes on. Days did pass on with getting angry when someone speaks to your friend and then getting to know that person and forming a big gang. Bunking classes and watching movies, going to friend’s house for dinner, lunch, clueless about future. All we know was fun, fun and fun. The bus travel till college, the loud chatter that was non stop, even after getting a glare from the fellow passengers, the single samosa and the tea enjoyed by all after college, running to get a seat in the bus, bunking classes together for culturals the major fun event, chatting the only non stop entertainment we had, in bus, under the tree, during class hours (even after getting punishment for talking), during lab hours, waiting for bus, on phone… phew, never knew what we actually spoke but those were really happy memories. As I always say “Memories have wonderful ways of bringing back favourite yesterdays”

As we grow the friendship matures, now the discussions on serious affairs. Life, what to study more to get into another company, about marriage, about moving to another company, about socialistic issues… much more mature topics. But still it is really wonderful to have friends to discuss all of ‘em.

To be contnd…

Hakuna Matata

Hakuna Matata – What a wonderful phrase

The phrase “Hakuna Matata“ was captive enough to sit in my heart for a long time, when I first heard it in Lion King… Hakuna Matata… what a wonderful phrase… I used to sing not knowing the meaning then.

One day, when I found the meaning. “It means no worries” I got hit to know this is the solution for all problems. In Lion King, meerkat and a warthog, named Timon and Pumbaa respectively, teach the main character, a lion cub named Simba that he should forget his troubled past and concentrate only on the present.

When I chose this to be my philosophy, I started finding things really change. Just forget the past and live for the day. Live life as if it is the last day of humanity. Appreciating things around me really helps me appreciating what I do.

Still remember the days when I used to be worried of appraisals, of presentations in front of a crowd, of what others will think of us if we do the job our way, of talking to the client, of friends who have not called me so long… Am sure most of us would have faced any of these issues. The list goes on. But think the other way. Why worry. What if the presentation is appreciated by all, what if I do it properly without any points left out, what if I prepare properly for the presentation, what if I think everyone attending the presentation does not know anything on what I speak, and the presentation is done well. And the magic began…

I learnt this through a very close friend of mine, who is a fashion designer and used to be my room mate. She never used to worry. For anything… Whenever she used to travel… to London, to Delhi or anywhere in the world, no worries to what time the flight is scheduled, she will any day finish all her work at last minute, pack her bag at 11 in the night for a flight at 1. Leave home by 11.45… Many a times I used to think she would miss her flight, but she had made it. Though I din learn how to be late I learnt how to be with less worries.

Worrying makes a person unhappy. Other than making the person unhappy it also passes the negative aura to the other persons as well. It’s just how Pumbaa and Timon just live life for that time. They just eat worms from barks of trees and also teach Simba to eat worms, jump into a pool, sing along and the happiness spreads around. A very positive attitude. Many have asked me the meaning of Hakuna Matata and so here goes these for them.

So many things makes me happy, the tender leaves on trees as spring moves in, the rain that floods the entire city and the sun that appears immediately, friends the most beautiful part of life god has given us, Colours of flowers, Green grass, chatting for an hour with mom, memories that flood in when you find an old friend through mails, humor in life, of the technology that enables you to speak to a friend in a different corner of the world. (From Nature to Technology) Appreciating things paves way to less worries.

Don't worry be happy is another way of saying Hakuna Matata…

Hakuna Matata – What a wonderful phrase…