A lot of rain and a few updates..

Finally a couple of days without rain here in Chennai. It has rained heavily throughout TN this time and it was sad to see the plight of people all around. Living in suburbs submerged in water, it is not easy to see your dream home drowned in water. All the encroachments and unplanned building is taking its toll.
Went to the Guildy Children's park yesterday. Although my wife takes Sibi every now and then, this is the first time and I was surprised to see that it was maintained well. So, there is scope that people will put trash in trash cans and keep a place neat. This gives some hope for the other 99% of the city looking like a huge dumpyard. Thats a little exaggeration but close to truth.
And the Cooum and Adyar rivers are in full spate and it was wonderful to see something other than sewage running in Cooum. But I also noted that the saidapet kuppam along cooum is fully submerged now and cannot but imagine the misery of the people living there. All the things that they value, the assets, are washed away in one flash flood and kind of hard to imagine the resilience it will need to re-build the lives again and again. Sad, but reality.
Another effect of the non-stopping rains is that Sibi's school is on leave and in the months of october and november, he has had school for about 5 days. Even he is bored and is incessantly asking when the school will re-open. Keeping him entertained is in itself a tough thing these days but he takes fun in playing all by himself and that helps a little.
Anyway, Sibi is becoming a lot more playful and talks really well and asks so many questions these days, it is getting difficult to answer him. He just makes me feel so good at times but also so mad some times. Yesterday we watched 'The bourne identity' together and he loved 'Home alone' the other day. He likes dancing and it was lot of fun to put on the music and start dancing with him. He has some good/strange moves.
And ofcourse, take time to visit this site on the Big temple in Thanjavur. This has a lot of interesting links and information.
I bought a bunch of books sometime back and am still to start even one of them ('Green Dwarf' - Charlotte Bronte, 'Double' - Dostoevsky and another one by Elizabeth Gaskell). Need to start sometime soon.

Aiyanars and Viral fevers!!

After a long stint with a viral fever and a couple of marriages and receptions (not for me!), it certainly tires one out to think of the trials one has to go through. The most interesting part of the last couple of weeks is the trip to Tuticorin and the marriage reception of Hari.

First the trip to Tuticorin. Not that tuticorin in itself is a good place, but we went to Thiruchendur, Eral and the Arunchunai katha Aiyyanar temple. It was raining all along and combined with bad roads, I am still recovering from the body pain it has caused. But the route was beautiful and with villages names like 'Thanneer panthal', the trip lent a wisp of poetic air also. The coastline of Thiruchendur has changed after the Tsunami but the temple remains the same. The seas have become rough and there is little resemblance of the beach that once was there. Eral has a temple on the banks of Tamirabarani (or a tributary of it, not sure) and it is a fascinating little temple. The most fantastic one is the Arunchunai Katha Aiyyanar temple in Ammanpuram beyond Thiruchendhur. Located in the midst of three 'sunais' or ponds, the temple houses the Arunchunai katha Aiyyanar. The sand is completely red in color and the surroundings exquisite. But the temple is crowded these days and on a sunday afternoon, the temple was brimming with people. There is a huge statue of the Aiyyanar mounted in a horse in the temple and a lot of other minor gods with names like 'Munnodi Murugan', 'Bairavan', 'Isakkiamman', 'periya natchi' etc are around. Aiyyannar worship in real terms is ancestor worship and what it means is that these are real people who lived a while ago and did something to merit being worshipped as gods. 'Arunchunai katha' is a clue but unfortunately, the real story is not known to many and I am still ignorant as to how the Aiyyanar saved the 'sunais' (although heard that the Aiyanar is actually a palayakar who saved the area from the foreigners and from religious conversions, not sure how he saved the 'sunais' yet). Here is a story on how he saved the sunai, but not sure how true this is. There is another temple for Karkuvel Aiyyanar (in Therimedu) which we couldn't visit for want of time. This is the family ancestor temple from my maternal side. Per my maternal grandfather and paternal grandfather, my ancestors were originally from these areas (therimedu and surroundings) and what it means is that my ancestors worshipped these same gods as I am doing today. And most of all, by exploring these areas with Sibi gives a totally new sense of learning about our roots together. There is still so much to read and know.

The marriage reception of one of my college mates happened and I went there in the hope of meeting some old friends. I did met a lot of them but there was absolutely no sense of happiness or a rush of adrenaline on seeing so many friends. Is it just that I dont treat them the same way as I used to do 8-9 years back or just that I have moved on with my life?. Puzzling.

Other than that the past 10-15 days is one of suffering from viral fever and taking heavy antibiotics and sleeping. Now am feeling a little OK. Sibi is doing fine and a gala time in his school children's day celebrations. He has grown a lot but Jeysri still stays at 21. Another puzzling thing!!!

Diwali, Sibi and Konastai

Its been a long gap since I last wrote. Anyway, belated Diwali wishes. We had a great first family diwali in India and Sibi enjoyed so much of it that he took to fire crackers very well. Anyway, it was rains, flooded roads and closed offices for most of the past 1 week. It was really good to see all that rain but it was boring to end up sitting in house all day without doing anything. And did a lot of shopping in the weekend and had a great Diwali!!

And Alliance books has republished all novels of Vaduvur Duraisamy Iyengar. I remember reading the detective Tigambara Samiyar's exploits at my grandma's house in Sivakasi long back while in school. But I never got to read a complete novel during that time and I am planning to get this set soon. It will be interesting to read the entire novel. BTW, anyone has heard of Konastai, who wrote in the 1940's?. I am searching for his novels also after reading a sample in my grandma's house long back.

Other than that, things are going as usual and Sibi is getting naughtier every day and I am not sure where to start on this. But of course, he has taken a liking to stories and everyday in the bed, instead of rhymes, we tell stories to each other till he dozes off. We had his head tonsured in Palani in the 2nd week of October and he had a musical toy which was grabbed by a monkey (he cried a river for that!). So, you should watch him explain the story of the monkey and the hat-seller. So funny and always with a reference to the 'monkey in palani'. Nothing like that. The long leave for rains, diwali and Ramzan has made him yearn for school and he wants to go to school now to avoid boredom at home!!

Death of Sundara Ramasamy @ Pasuviah

I remember reading 'J.J. Sila Kurippugal' when I was in college and got mesmerized by the writing. There are few novels in Tamil that deserves comparison with a novel of J.J's stature. Terribly intelligent and casually tragic, the novel can be read from anywhere and will still make a lot of sense. Thats how I got introduced to Sundara Ramasamy.

When Meyappan & Co (our college seniors) arranged for a 3 day literary workshop in Nagerkoil, I was lucky enough to be part of it. Apart from eating some wonderful food in Arun's house, I got the chance to meet Sundara Ramasamy during the meet (we also met Thoppil Meeran, Mangai and others). It was a up-close conversation with him and I listened a lot enamored by his towering personality and literary genius. Today, when I look back I think of all the questions I could've asked him and didn't.

Then, when I read 'Oru puliamarathin Kathai' I realized that he is not just good in writing intellectual novels but also a good story-teller. Then the collection '108 kavithaigal'. I read it when I was reading vorociously the modern poems in Tamil. It is the period I read Vikramathithyan, Pramil, Kalapriya, Kalyanji and many others and probably thats why I couldn't really convince myself that he is a great poet. Good but not great.

Of course, 'Kalachuvadu' is part of the small magazine world where it took part in its own share of controversies and discussions. Latest being over the 'Pillai keduththal vilai'. But I realize now that I have moved away from the left ideologues who still dominate the small magazine landscape but still buy the mags just to keep me posted on the thought process as well as the wonderful articles written (Did you read the 'Thamizhar food special' of Kalachuvadu?).

I cannot forget Sundara Ramasamy for the beautiful novels that has influenced me a lot (for good or bad!).

Palani, Sivakasi and Srivilliputhur

Last week was a long long weekend and so we went to Palani to have Sibi's head tonsured. This is his second 'mottai' and he cried a lot this time. But he was OK immediately and now enjoying the mottai days. Anyway, Palani was a surprise. Somehow, they have cleaned the city to a good extent. Still, the roads are bad but the adivaram is very neat and more surprisingly, for Re.1 the public toilets are well maintained and no stench (near the rope car area). Anyone who has just walked by the public toilets can attest to the state they are in. So it was a pleasant surprise. And the temple itself is maintained neatly and the monkey are menacing the visitors as always. In fact, one monkey grabbed the toy in Sibi's hand and it took about 20 minutes to calm him down. He wanted to go to the monkey and get the toy back but I was not that fearless anyway.

And went to Sivakasi and Srivilliputur the next day. Sivakasi remains the same. Nothing much has changed. Roads, streets and even the people. The temples have changed beyond recognition and I still remember the dull interiors and it is fantastic to see the marble and granites and the big lights in the temples. Even the sand outside the Bathrakaliamman temple is paved now and somehow I miss the old days. And then the Nachiyar temple in Srivilliputhur. It was fantastic to read Thiruppavai written on the walls with Jeysri (Sibi was sleeping!) and kind of mesmerising to see Andal in the sannathi.

The rest of the days are spent in just shopping around and the north-east monsoon has started with rains from Madurai to chennai. So while the weather is wonderful, the roads have become death traps. Its horrible in OMR with the sewage overflows and the wastes floating around. Its pathetic to see that the corporation has gone into hiding when it is needed badly and the quality of life (if there is anything left) for those in Kanthan chavadi to Navalur is close to the negative maximum these days.

Moral polices and Mann Vasanai

All Tamil nadu is currently going through the moral policing(literally!) wave. There is the episode in the Park hotel and then came the dress code followed immediately by the Kushboo episode. It just goes to show that we, as a race, are a hypocritical lot and the morality hype is just to just convince ourselves that we are superior to other cultures/races. Now, I do not have the comment on the party in the Park hotel or what Kushboo said. I consider that a free speech issue and if a group of guys want to rub bodies with the girls in a private space, thats nobody's business. I dont think the police commissioner ever visited the Marina beach in the evenings (sometimes in the middle of the day) or Eliot's beach for that matter. What is he going to do when he does?. Shut down the beaches of Chennai?. These are public spaces which are made into staging ground by the so-called lovers from the schools and colleges of Chennai. On the other end of the spectrum, talk to these liberal feminists (do you hear Ms. Kanimozhi, Vanathi Thirunavukarasu, Arulmozhi et al?) about removing the censor board and see the reaction?. I think it will be fun. The common argument against a dress code is if the student of 18 years can be asked to vote, why cant he wear the dress he wants?. I ask the same question. Why do you need a censor board if a 18 year old can handle sex and violence maturely?. Thinking of it, except me, the whole bunch of Tamilnadu are hypocrites. No point arguing this anyway.

Anyway, watched 'mann vasanai' last weekend. Probably the best of Bharathiraja's movies. It also reminds one of the simple life and common values we have lost in the crowds of chennai (Kanthimathi on seeing Pandian coming home with a punjabi girl "Entha kaatu sirukkida ava?"). The sports, kootanchoru, ayyannar vazhipadu, I don't know whether Sibi will even read about it in his days. If you look at the movies of Cheran ('Pandavar boomi'. 'Autograph') or Thankarpachan ('Azhagi'), we can notice that the director is trying to record something that has lost its place in the hustle and bustle of our lives. These guys miss that life as much as their protoganists do in these movies.

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.