Sibi goes for a vacation...

Today, Sibi completes his first term in school. As much as it sounds exciting, I cannot but imagine the monotonous repetion of this cycle for another 15 years of his life. Makes me sigh!. But hey, he got a 'V.Good' with a star from his Srimathy miss yesterday and was not very enthu about it anyway. I think he just takes that for granted!. Anyway, he is going to DG for his holidays and it will be difficult to think of living alone in the flat for another 10 days. Tough!

Anyway, Started 'Prathaba mudaliyar sarithiram' by Mayuram Vedanayagam pillai. This is the first novel written in Tamil and although at times, reads like a bunch of anecdotes than a novel. But its hilarious, interesting and informative. And completed another fantistically hilarious novel 'Three men in a bummel'. If you've loved the trio in 'Three men in a boat', you'll love the same here. Especially the digs they take at the Germans, you should read it to enjoy it. Available as part of project gutenberg.

Yuvan

I was listening to this song from 'Arinthum ariyamalum'. Dont you think this is a fantastic remix?. Or 'Kathal enbathu' from 'Oru kalluriyin kathai'. Both are by Yuvan sankar Raja. I think he is the one who is going to carry Ilaiyaraaja's mantle from now onwards. He has a unique way of capturing the mood in his beats and rhythms and translate it into some good music. Its really fantastic. The music is not only catchy but also captivating. May be a little early to suggest this. But definitely he is better than the other son, Karthik Raja.

Anyway, I've been meeting some old friends here and its actually good to talk about some of the fun we used to have in those days. Nothing like that.

Sibi's quarterly exams are starting next week. Nothing much but some oral recitations of rhymes and things. And following which he has a 10 days of leave. Funny to even to think of it.

Tamil inscriptions and Updates

I came across this fantastic article about the tamil inscriptions found in Southeast Asia. The most fantastic piece seems to be the 13th century shiva temple in the Quanzhou port in China.
Read more - 'The medieval Tamil-language inscriptions in Southeast Asia and China'
Also, ' EARLY CONTACTS OF SOUTH INDIA AND CHINA: AN EXPLORATION OF THE
PHENOMENON OF HINDU DIASPORA' - Refers to the siva temple in Quanzhou. And finally
'The interactions of the Chola empire in the Chao Phraya delta' .

Based on the readings, I am finding that some of the inscriptions are housed in the
1. Museum Nasional in Jakarta.
2. Museum at Wat Khlong Thom, Krabi, on the west coast of peninsular Thailand.
3. Wat Mahadhatu at Nakhom Si Thammarat, south of Chaiya on the east coast of peninsular Thailand
4. Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional, Jakarta
5. Wat Naramiang temple , Takua-pa, Thailand

Sibi Update
Sibi is doing new things on a daily basis now and it is a sight to watch him start karate-ing or his fantastic dance. In fact, he loves to dance so much that we are seriously thinking of putting him in a dance class. His school days are moving with lots of daily fun and we (me and wifey) discuss about how well he is gel-ing into the school. He has made friends in school and in the apartments and plays with them and loves to tell me everything that has happened on that day when I reach home. Probably the happiest moments of our, otherwise routine, daily lives I guess.

Started reading a bunch of books and finding that I have a lot of ground to cover. Lets see. Currently reading Akilan's 'Vengaiyin Mainthan' (hating it already, but had to finish), and read a chapter in Samuel Butler's 'The way of all flesh' and a couple of chapters into Jerome.K.Jerome's hilarious 'Three men on a bummel' (which is terrific, by the way!).

Vanathy

I consider Vanathy as one of the most complex and intriguing character ever created in the Tamil novel world (OK, I still consider Yamini of Mogamull to be the best, but may be just above!). One character that will bear any comparison with Vanathy is Ophelia. If you have read 'Hamlet', you would have read about that girl who loves Hamlet and her father being killed by Hamlet, goes mad and ends drowning in the brook. Again personally, I consider 'Hamlet' to be the masterpiece of Shakespearean writings and it is no wonder that the best heroine he has produced is found in this play.

Although Kalki tells the events in flashbacks and as reminescences, the first time Vanathy meets Arulmozhi is when he comes in an elephant and rescues a nestful of birdlings. I still consider this the best chapter in the entire PS and the most romantic. After this high start, her life goes downhill, she realizes soon that the mahouth was Arulmozhi, the prince and faints the first time. Her love for him and the realization that there are many a princesses who are vying for his hand are so conflicting that she becomes physically weak and faints regularly. Her conflicts with Poongulazhi stems from the same thought process, where she tries to prove that she loves Arulmozhi no less. She even drowns herself in the process (in kudanthai). We see her gaining strength as soon as she starts realizing that Arulmozhi also loves her. Infact she even rescues Poongulazhi during this time.

I think she is more like the teen age girls. Emotional, thoughtful, sensitive and a bit confused to know whether Arulmozhi loves her or not. There is nothing much to deduce here. If you read PS closely, you will realize that Vanathy does not do anything other than thinking of Arulmozhi and all her actions are focussed on his welfare and ways to impress him, which I think is very normal for a girl in her late teens or in the starting 20s. Whereas Kundavai or Poongulazhi has other aspirations, Vanathy's only thought and actions are towards achieving her love. You can even call that obsessesion.

Ophelia bears comparison because she is in the same age group as Vanathy and she exhibits all the characteristic of Vanathy. She loves Hamlet, but when it is not reciprocated and she was treated badly, she goes mad. Hamlet is older and more mature and although cannot be compared to Arulmozhi in temper and other aspects, he is a complex hero himself. Just like Vanathy, Ophelia's love is tragic in the sense that she never get to know that Hamlet loves her (at least Vanathy does in the end!). The only deviation in their otherwise fanatical love is that Vanathy realizes her love and Ophelia does not.

I cannot really comment on the historical Vanathy but literarily, I think she is probably a masterpiece of Kalki. There is no similar character that can hold a candle to what she is. It is either because of the complexity of describing the innocent love. It is so pure, it usually ends up consuming oneself. I would even say once Vanathy realized her love by marrying Arulmozhi, she lost the will to live as she had her love and died prematurely at an young age. Nothing like it.

As an aside, when we ran a tamil magazine during my college days in Tirunelveli, I used to write under the pen name 'Vanathy'!!.

Kite flying and Katrina

We went to Jeysri's aunt's house yesterday. It is in Rayapuram. So in the evening, we took to the terrace for some kite-flying. It was amazing to see so many people in their terraces with a large 'gandu' or roll of thread, flying kites. Haven't seen anything like that in the south Madras. And it brought back memories of the old kite-flying days. I do not have a vivid interest in flying kites. But we were 2-3 boys in the same age group and we used to buy the kites and fly them in the evenings. As in Rayapuram yesterday, there used to be lots of people on terraces flying kites in the evenings. I think its during september-october time of every year and there used to be competitions as to who flies high etc. Of course, the preparation of 'maanja' for 'dealing' the kites is quite famous although I have never done that. Jeysri's nephew yesterday explained how the 'maanja' is prepared and his exploits in preparing the same during school days (he is married now!) like using pressure cookers or the 'ammi's for mixing the toxic ingredients etc. It was fun.

'Kalachuvadu' has come up with a issue on the food of the tamils. There are some very interesting articles. The online issue is not updated yet. Look out for it. Do you know that the sangam book 'Sirpaanatrupadai' describes mutton biriyani as 'oon soru'?. Amazing stuff. I was thinking of all the stuff we used to have and probably my son will end up hearing only from me.

One of the things that you notice on OMR while going down is the removal of trees and buildings for the new IT corridor that is coming up. While it is good that we are getting a 6 lane highway, it is equally bad that so many trees have to go for this?. Isn't there something called 'sustainable development'?. And this is supposed to be a eco-friendly development. Hmm.

And Katrina. Watching 'BBC world' New Orleans was looking surrealistic. I am more amazed by the slow response by the Federal government. I think it even made me realize that lot of wealth does not mean that a lot of effective people are with you. In comparison, I think the response to the Tsunami was quick and swift and the TN government and the NGOs were quick to respond. Its just tragic to see all those dead bodies strewn around the superdome and the desperate people asking water and food. It probably exposed the soft underbelly of the FEMA and I hope something is learned in the process.

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!.