Updates and an anniversary

After a discussion with my father, I have a few corrections to the previous entry and a few updates. The first 'P' in 'PPKT' is PathaMuthu Aiyanar who is our 'kula deivam'. The next 'P' is Ponnappa nadar, not Ponnaiah Nadar. Now, there is no straight evidence that Ponnappa nadar was the one who moved from the 'karisal' lands to the 'tharisal' lands of Sivakasi. Also it looks like the houses in Sivakasi (one for my grand father and one for PPKR) are purchased by our great-grandma Avudai ammal with her savings from selling milk everyday.

Yesterday was our marriage anniversary. I took the day off. It started off with sending Sibi to school. As a sidenote, Sibi actually loves to go to school now-a-days and likes his 'miss' Srimathi and his new friends Aswin and Vishal. He also likes to play around and tell us tales about his exploits in school. Its amazing to watch him talk non-stop. Then me and Jeysri went out for shopping. After buying clothes and other stuff, we brought Sibi back to home. Had lunch and a little nap. We had guests in between and my brother took the afternoon off to be with us. In the evening, went to Parthasarathy temple. Here is the conversation between me and Sibi (translated from tamil).

Me: Sibi, did you see this God?. He is Aranganathar, see he is sleeping..
Sibi: Sleeping? (thinks a bit) but why the lights are on?.
Me: errr..just so..see he is 'saami'
Sibi: will he get up at 6'o clock?
Me: probably..
Sibi: ok..(looking at Arangan) Good night..

Sometimes, his questions are so unexpected, it bowls me over!.

After a good dinner at Amaravathy, returned home. And as usual, Ambals has sent the wishes already!. Happy anniversary to you too man!.

And a happy 'Janmastami' for all those who celebrate, otherwise enjoy the long weekend..

Gopallagrammathu makkal and a walk down the memory lane!

Its been a week since I blogged. What with a long weekend followed by a busy week in office, I am unable to even log into the site. Anyway, last week was spent in MGM Dizzee world and in the beaches and restaurants of Singara Chennai. Nothing much to write about that.

Sibi knows my mobile number and dials it by himself and calls me. How cool is that?.

I am reading 'Gopallagramatthu makkal' by Ki. Rajanarayanan. The date on the book tells me I bought it in 1996. Now, what interested me in this book is the chapter when Ki.Ra explains the day in the life of 'oor panai eri' sammuga nadar. Now, my grand father, father's father, used to tell us a hundred times that we are 'panai eri's. i.e my ancestors have lived off the palm tree in the karisal regions around Tuticorin, till one of them, I think it was Ponnaiah Nadar, decided to come to a small village called Sivakasi and settle there instead. He and his son (who is also a Ponnaiah)lived in Sivakasi with a small shop for their sustenance. I don't remember whether he had more than one son or any other details. By the next generation, which is the generation of Kaliappa nadar(around 1940s-1950s) the family climbs the social ladder with a small 'palasarakku' shop. He and his wife, Avudai ammal, begets five children, two male and three female. One of them is my grand father, P.P.K.Thangamani Nadar. He moves to Madurai sometime in the '60s to start his own shop and the elder brother, P.P.K.Rathnam Nadar stays back in Sivakasi and starts a small fireworks factory. We are still referred in Madurai as the 'PPKT family'. So much for a little family history. Now back to Ki.Ra. So it naturally interested me to see how my ancestors lived. And Ki.Ra explains very clearly what sammuga nadar does in a day. He drinks, brings the 'pathani' and eats 'oru padi' rice with 'netthili karuvattu kozhambhu' and goes around the village selling the 'pathani'. I contrast that with a day in my life today!.

I still remember the trip I took to Eral with my family during one of my school holidays. There is a tomb temple on the banks of Tamiraparani for 'Chairmakani nadar', I dont know the history of it but I also remember going to the 'Arunchunai kaatha Aiyanar' temple nearby. The road was reddish in color (chemman). And there was a lotus pond and it was a grove. But you come outside that area, you enter the 'karisal kaadu', where water is scarce and not many crops grow. It is the same from there till the Madurai district. Sivakasi is another wasteland (till Ayya nadar and Shanmuga nadar brought the fireworks industry) with no cultivable land and no rain.

I cannot even comprehend the leap of faith that my great, great grandfather took when he took the decision to move to Sivakasi. What a difference it made in my life!.

Sun and Moon

When I was a school-going kid, I used to go to the terrace and stare at the sun. I still remember the bright yellowish ball with flares in the edges. It was a fantastic sight. I remember thinking a lot of silly thoughts while doing that. About how we can fly towards the sun without hurting oneself, or what it would be like to be in sun. I even remember doing a diary entry while watching the sun. Today, when I was coming to office, I noticed sun again. Bright, far and with a fantastic yellowish glow, it has not lost the beauty to my eyes yet.

For the past week, Sibi was not well. He was down with cold and fever. Is there a way to treat cold completely?. I am so sick of it and its hard to see my son suffering from the same. Anyway, he is OK now.

Yesterday, had a team dinner in the rooftop restaurant in the new Residency towers. The food was just OK. But the view of the city it offered was breathtaking. That along with a 'pirai nila' and the soothing flow of water was all that is needed to make it memorable. Beautiful place to go for dinner (if you are not particular about the food!).

Favorite Historical Novels (Non-Indian)

1. 'Masters of Rome' series by Colleed McCullough. This is actually five novels tracing life in Ancient Rome (110B.C till the ascendency of Octavius in 31B.C). It is a fantastic novel which traces the end of the Republican Rome and the start of the Empire. In my opinion, this is probably one of the best historical novel which uses hundreds of Roman sources (from Cinna to Cicero to Ceaser) and constructs the events skillfully. I still read the novels now and then and it is still interesting. The best of the series is 'Ceaser' Which traces the rise of Julius Ceaser and his death followed by the revenge taken by Octavian and Agrippa. Its mind boggling to read of such great characters like Marius, Sulla, Ceaser, Cato, Cicero and many more. If you are a history buff, this is a must read.

2. 'Julian' by Gore Vidal. This is not available freely and I had to order it through the Atlanta central libarary to get it. But it is well worth it. It follows the life of Julian the Apostate one of the emperors of Rome who rallied Rome against Christianity for one last stand and failed.

3. 'Creation' by Gore Vidal. Another rare book. It traces the travels of Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of Prophet Zoraster, from Greece to China in around 440B.C. Another meticulously researched novel and Cyrus visits India during the time of MahaVira and during the reigh of BinduSara(in Patliputra). It is a very interesting novel in that it attempts to describe the social life as well.

4. 'American Empire' series by Gore Vidal. I haven't read all the novels but it traces the history of America from 1776 to around 1960's. I have read '1876', 'Burr' and 'Lincoln' from the series and because it is recent history, the novels are researched well and interesting.

5. Ofcourse, can't leave the master, Alexandre Dumas, from this list. Greatest romance writer and ofcourse, his novels are more stories than based on historical facts.

6. 'Over the Edge of the World' - Laurence Bergreen. A very interesting novel about the circumnavigation of the world by Megallen and his crew.

Then, there is 'Gates of Fire', Jeffrey Shaara's series on the American Civil war, Leon Uris and many more.

There are another set of crappy novels which I have vowed never to go near. But thats for another day.