Me- time na me-not-time

Oh yes, a moment came when I felt me-not. In a park, in the midst of bustling walkers and the cackling birds  the magic happened. While finishing off my walking routine I used to sit down in a bench in the park for a little bit of me time. Just sat there and absorbed life around me. It’s a pretty small park where I go for my morning walk. I would be just observing other walkers walking past me, speaking in multiple tongues but since I wanted to be just me I never paid attention to their conversations. Some loners, some in groups, some regulars . I have been doing this for the past few months. I made an habit of sitting for a few minutes taking deep breaths and sit quietly.  Initially , I felt I was being very refined and noble by not listening into others’ conversations and giving them space. As days passed I became aware of life other than people, the trees and plants and the flitting insects and birds. The trees standing there observing and absorbing life around silently. Silently? Not quite they have their own way of communicating, like their dancing leaves and creaking branches. Letting sunlight through their moving branches in a playful hide and seek. The birds and insects making their homes there bring in their own dynamics of lively conversations. Even the slightest breeze I can make out by seeing the dancing leaves. Can we human signal air and light passing by like these trees ?  Then after a few days I started wondering about what have these trees standing there for so many years have absorbed and stored in their memory ? How many life stories they have in their archives.? Slowly I forgot me and got absorbed into them, learned to be silent and humble  and just be there , letting go the me also. I look forward to letting go of me everyday , even though for only a few minutes, it feels more lively becoming part of larger existence.

 Trees are so much in topic now especially in the context of global warming.Relevance of local flora and fauna is being understood more to have anecologically balanced environment. All my life for the past six decades I haveseen trees , either a stand alone like a peepal or in groves like mango, date ,coconut and so on. I have always understood that trees stand apart since theyneed resources like earth, water and sunlight. In fact I have philosophically learntfrom trees that in our lives too we need to give and have space between eachother to have a healthy relationship. All that perspective changed during myrecent visit to San Francisco. There I was introduced to the giant sequoia alsoknown as redwood trees. So tall and majestic , standing for thousands of years.But when I got to know more about them they simply amazed me. These trees donot have deep roots but they spread out for their balance and stability. But theamazing fact is these trees stand close to each other , supporting and holding onto each other, sharing resources as they stand as a family. I saw in some treesthe trunk is burnt and carved out in the forest fire yet standing defiantly tall. Theircanopies towering hundreds of feet above supporting their own ecosystem andlife. These trees have added another dimension to my life lesson. Spacing out orin close proximity we can still share , respect and be self-reliant and beat theodds together. 

 Child is the father of man. That was Wordsworth. Many an interpretations have been attempted to understand that statement. That our childhood guides our adult life or that our children guide us. I prefer the second interpretation for I do think rather accept as we age at some point we stop learning , being curious and stagnate in our thinking. Our children show us the path to further progress, to take forward our learning. They hold our hands and guide us into experiencing new ideas, new places, new everything. Yes that’s what they do. All that’s required is to be open minded to hear them out , to trust them. Then an exciting experience awaits us. Not only us even our children enjoy the sheer experience of showing us the knowledge base that they have developed and working on. Children are like mirror to us , reflecting whatever they’ve absorbed from us and also what they’re now. It’s like seeing ourselves there showing us what more progression possible , how much further we can travel. For me I’ve learnt so much from both my sons. Reflecting back , I remember vividly my elder Aditya has always been an explorer, right from getting out on his own from his play pen as a toddler to finding new routes to his school on his bike. Now he is researching in antarctica. My younger Arjun more of a listener , even as a small child he used to listen to music sitting in one place. Listen to his elder brother reciting his poems. Absorb everything around him. Now he is researcher in futuristic technology . While growing up both have nudged me to let go and allow them to explore and experiment. Yes they were getting hurt almost every day while playing after school. But then they rushed home showed me their wounds allowed me to clean the wound and then immediately rush out to continue their play. In studies they both put effort to understand fundamentally the subjects . An easy companionship between them , their self reliance, have been an hallmark of their growing up. While Aditya intuitively senses any stress in and around him, Arjun always has good positive opinion of everyone around him. Both went to new places far from home and picked up skills of life, a good life. Yet both draw clear lines of boundaries while engaging with people. They’ve been showing me all along to go to your trusted ones when hurt, heal, and get back, move on. Explore , experiment, keep learning. Thank you Aditya and Arjun for for holding hands with me while showing me the path ahead. I thought I was holding your hands. No it’s the other way around. You both are my guiding lights, my sweet angels.

Travel is one experience that can be reminisced and enjoyed time and again. Every time we reminisce our travel experience we see a new information that we would have missed the previous time. I travelled to two different continents within a year to be with my  loving sons and their wives . Pacific Ocean is one common line of connection to both the cities I visited . Sydney first in my itinerary is a coastal city and Berkeley the second one in San Francisco is a Bay Area.  Different facets of the majestic ocean I could see and enjoy. In the coast it was an endless vast expanse of water. And the walk along the coast endlessly meandering presented varied moods of the pacific and also its magnificence marine lives like the humpbacks , sea gulls and other birds I know not. In the Bay Area the same ocean was a cool enchanting lady with her cool fog passing by me everyday. In the coast I had to go seeking her and in the bay she came to touch me everyday in the form of fog. It’s water water everywhere in the bay, she so close yet so huge and larger than life.

Sydney is a city of universities. Wherever you’re in the city you are sure to spot a university or a college. The city full of milling crowd of students engrossed in their own world , always plugged on to their phones. Weekends buses are full of young people in beach wear going to the beaches for their sports activities. Water skiing, surfing is a major activity in Sydney. For outdoor activity there are many walking trails. A well connected city with pretty good public transport system we could explore the suburbs and even a little further on like blue mountain. 

Berkeley is more of relaxed laid back experience. People on streets had time to smile acknowledge and engage in exchanging pleasantries. Not plugged on to their phones, no definitely not. Soccer, cycling, sailing are some of the sports played here. A little travel  interior one can see the majestic sequoias, also called red wood trees. So majestic standing tall 300 to 500ft high for thousands of years. The resilient warriors facing the storms and raging forest fire with grit and grace have a lot to tell us about hope and life. Not great public transport system but well  connected road network allows one to explore the city and suburbs. Trip to Joshua tree and Yosemite national park is a memorable experience. 

Both the cities had their own charm for me mainly because my sons and daughters in law live there. Also I met long lost friends and relatives, made new friends. My horizon expanded a little more, really grateful to people who made this possible. Without the flying bird that I hopped on to I couldn’t have traveled this far. It’s more than a lifetime experience. 🌊

New Friend

 Many a times , a moment or an experience passes by and we hardly notice it. But later on we are hit by the richness of that moment leaving us mesmerized by the sheer unique experience.  I recently had such an experience.  A few days back,  on my regular walk in the park, I sensed somebody trailing me after some ten minutes into my walking. I turned around to look , and noticed a well grown dog with a collar around his neck. He also looked back at me. I thought maybe I had mistook the dog as my trailer and that he would go his way. To my amusement he continued to walk behind me. The park keeper tried to shoo him out, but he resolutely followed me. Now we both got into comfortable pace in our rounds. Other walkers were looking on amusedly and they too accepted him as one among them. After sometime I sat down to cool my feet and my friend also came and slouched down near my bench. He put his head on his paws and rested but ever alert , lest he didn't want to miss me. I got up to do some more walking,  my friend also joined. Time to go home, I met my hubby at the exit . When we stepped on to the road my friend also jauntily joined us. I told hubby about the doggy and we both thought he'd go on his way to wherever his place is. But no, he followed us right upto our house, sometimes running ahead of us, sometimes walking by our side. We opened our gate and entered, our friend stood near the gate. I kept the gate open,  he entered , smelled around, then turned back , went out head high his ears cocked up and then shot across and ran off into oblivion. 

Who was he, where did he come from, I have no clue. Why did he choose me that day out of so many people in the park . But the unique experience that he gave and the trust he had in me is cherishable. He taught me that total strangers can also share peaceful harmonious time. What experience he carried,  I wonder. If it's one of trust and companionship I would be happy. 

upcycling old glass bottle

there was this glass bottle lying around in my house for quite a long time. Then one fine day it dawned on me to upcycle this bottle and so I painted it with water-proof fabric colours and turned it into a vase. It looks pretty cool now.

Recipe for Kesari (sweet)

Rava ( Sooji) Kesari

Ingredients:

Rava - 1cup

Sugar - 1 and a half cups

water - 1 and a half cups

ghee - 2 table spoonful

Cashew - 10 numbers

Elachi(Powder) - 1/4 teaspoon

Saffron Food colour. - optional

In a thick bottomed vessel roast rava for just 5 minutes. See to it that the rava does not change colour. Add water to it slowly, mix thoroughly and then cover the vessel. Keep stirring intermittently. The rava gets cooked quickly and so the boiling process should take only 5 to 7 minutes. Check the mix for smooth- boiled consistency. ( by this time rava would have absorbed all the water that was added). Add sugar little by little to the mix , all the while stirring . After the sugar gets mixed thoroughly add ghee slowly while stirring. Allow the dish to cook for 5 minutes. Check the mix for round ball consistency i.e the dish should fall easily from the ladle. If the dish is still gooey add some more ghee and stir. Remove the dish from fire. Season the dish with a little ghee and cashew nuts and elachi powder.

If you want to add colour to the dish mix the food colour to one teaspoonful of water or milk and then add to the dish after adding the sugar.

Recipe for dhideer puliyogere

Recipe for 'Dhideer Puliyogere'

Ingredients:

Tamarind - a lemon size

Red Chillies - 5

Jaggery(powdered) - one spoon

Salt to taste

Gram dal - 1 table spoon

Udin dal - 1 tea spoon

Pepper - 1 tea spoon

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground nuts - 1 table spoon

Gingilly Oin - 2 table spoon

Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Curry leaves for seasoning.

Method:

In a thick bottomed pan roast half of the gram dal, udin dal, pepper, fenugreek seeds, pepper without oil. Remove the ingredients. In the same pan dry roast tamarind and salt. Remove the ingredients and keep separately. Now roast 2 red chillies in little oil. Allow all the prepared ingredients to cool. In a mixer bowl first powder the tamarind and salt, then add the other roasted ingredients along with jaggery and make a coarse powder. Now in the pan heat the gingilly oil for seasoning. Add mustard, then add gram dal and groundnuts, asafoetida and finally curry leaves. Allow the seasoning to cool and then add the powdered ingredients and blend all the ingredients together. Mix this puliyogere powder with cooked rice to make puliyogere rice.

The Hindu : Cities / Bangalore : Metro payback

The Hindu : Cities / Bangalore : Metro payback

Chapter - 7

It was study time for the children and both Adu and Ajju were learning new words. Grandpa had bought new erasers for them and the children were fighting over the same eraser for both liked its colour. Grandpa tried to bring in some semblance of order but the siblings were not in good mood to listen. Hence grandpa dangled the carrot in the form of a story and the children who were waiting to evade studies settled near their grandpa for the story.

Grandpa began thus: This story happened many thousands of years back. It's about great grandfather of SriRama. His name was Raghu , and he was a great king ruling over a vast region. Raghu was highly respected and loved by his citizens. He was also very virtuous and simple. He adhered to all the rules laid down in the dharma Shastras and ruled for a long period. Rama is also called Raghavan after his great grandfather Raghu. Raghu's fame lived that long and that is the reason Rama's rule was compared to that of his great Grandfather's.

A poor brahmin in Raghu's kingdom wanted to perform a vedic ritual called Soma Yagyam. It was a fire sacrifice ritual which demanded lots of money. The Brahmin approached a Rishi (so called since they possessed special powers) for help and the Rishi advised him to meet Raghu, since only a king is wealthy enough to spend on such rituals. The Brahmin had heard about Raghu - his mightiness and his benevolent nature. He set forth to the capital city of Raghu's kingdom. After reaching the capital the Brahmin went to the palace and sought audience with the king. The guards standing outside the palace directed the brahmin to the edge of the city. The brahmin was taken by surprise for he did'nt expect a king of that stature to be living outside the city.

After reaching the outskirts of the city he found a lone hut and a man standing outside filling a mud pot with water. The Brahmin went near and inquired the man about the whereabouts of the king. The man with the mud pot queried the brahmin as to why he was looking for the king. When the brahmin told him about the reason of his visit the man revealed that he was indeed the king and that he would help the brahmin. On hearing this the Brahmin was sceptical about the king's claim. The king had just performed a huge sacrificial ritual called Rajasuya Yagam in which he had given away all his wealth to the citizens of his kingdom and was now living in the hut. He asked the Brahmin to hold out his hand , poured water from the pot, and said, "I hereby sacrifice all the credits I've earned by doing good deeds. Please God accept my sacrifice and bless this Brahmin with money". The next instant gold coins rained down. The King requested the Brahmin to take all the gold. The speechless Brahmin with tears in his eyes prayed to the king, " Oh Raghu great king! Not knowing what a great soul you are I suspected your ability to help me. Please forgive me. I have no use for so much gold. I need only hundred coins for the ritual". The king said, "Neither have I any use for this money. I anyway requested money to help you and so please take all the gold".

Grandpa said, " See, children, how honest and simple were people of those bygone days. A king used to kingly lifestyle sacrificed all his comforts and lived a life of a commoner and a poor man refused to accept money beyond his need. So stop fighting , next time before buying anything for you I'll find out your preferences, okay?" and the children said, " It's alright Gramps we are happy with what ever you got and we'll exchange stuff whenever we wanted a particular thing."

Chapter-6

The boys after listening to the story about Auvai clamoured for a story about a 'strong boy' also. The ever ready grandpa this time wanted respite and so sent the children to grandma. The children woke grandma from her siesta with their vociferous demand for the story. Grandma sat up, pulled the kids to her side and started her story.

Nearly 2500 years back, in a village called Kaladi in Kerala lived a couple Shivaguru and his wife Aryamba. They were very rich, well respected, had hordes of relatives, yet were sad for they were childless. They prayed to Shiva, the presiding deity in Thrissur for a child. Shiva appeared in their dreams and asked " Do you want 100 idiots as children who will live long or one brilliant intelligent son who will live for eight years only?". The couple chose the intelligent son. With God's blessing Aryamba gave birth to a child after ten months and they named their son Shankara. Shivaguru passed away when Shankara was a mere toddler.

When Shankara turned five upanayan ceremony was done before he was sent for studies. Shankara was a brilliant student and learned one lesson per day(hence he is called 'ekasandagrahi' which means one who can grasp and understand at the first instance itself), thus completing his studies in just two years which would normally take ten years.

He came back home to be with his ageing mother. One day Aryamba was not well and was too tired to walk up to the river for bath. Noticing this Shankara prayed for the river to change its course and flow in the backyard of his house. Aryamba was surprised to see the river flowing near her house. Shankara helped his mother to reach the water for her bath. After her bath, shankara entered the water for his bath. The little shankara was playing in the water with his mother supervising him from the bank. Suddenly she heard Shankara shouting for help and noticed that a crocodile had caught hold of little Shankara's leg. Their relatives and friends rushed to the river on hearing her cry for help, but no one dared to enter the water as each feared for his life. As time passed by, people started leaving as lunch time was nearing. Shankara told his mother" Mother you trusted that relatives would help. But now you see no one is left by your side. Pray to God for He alone never leaves us". Aryamba cried" Oh God, as you promised have you come now to take away my child as he is eight now? Please spare him". On hearing this Shankara inquired his mother about God's promise and was told by his mother about the dream she and his father had before his birth. Shankara then told his mother" If that is so, as per fate an eight year old Brahmachari has to die now. Suppose I leave this Ashrama and become a sanyasi then there is a chance that I might survive. I can become a sanyasi only with your permission mother. Think carefully before giving your consent for I can not continue to live in our house once I become a Sanyasi". His mother gave her consent for she would prefer him to be alive rather than lose him totally. In a small ceremony, by chanting certain vedic mantras Shankara removed his sacred thread, took a ceremonial bath and embraced sanyasa ashrama. The crocodile left his leg and disappeared and Shankara came out of the river. Everything happened as though a drama was being enacted. Aryamba rushed to him, embraced her child and then took his hand in hers, pulled him towards home. But Shankara resisted, gently reminded his mother that he could no longer live in their home. With a promise to his mother that he'd be by her side during her last moments, this brave little boy of eight years walked out of his house into the big world outside.

He later met his Guru and was given proper sanyasa ashrama by his Guru. During Shankara's period more than seventy two non-vedic religions were being practised in India and most of them were misguiding people. Shankara wanted to reform and re-establish vedic religion. He travelled all over India from Kanyakumari to Kashmir by foot not once but four times to establish Advaita philosophy.

As promised, he reached Kaladi just in time to be by the side of his mother during her last moments. Shankara lived only for thirty-two years, but his accomplishment in reforming religion in our country is immense and his guidelines are still followed by hindus in India.

Adu and Ajju were speechless after listening to the story of the brave intelligent little boy , who from eight years of age lived outside under sun and moon , embraced the whole world as his home, entire humanity as his kin.

chapter-5

chapter-5

Adu and Ajju soon after coming back from school went in search of grandpa wanting to share their day at school. It was an exciting day for Ajju for the little girls and boys in his class had wrestling time to establish superiority over each other. Ajju told grandpa with a glee that the girls lost to the boys , since according to him boys are stronger than girls. Grandpa helped the children to change from their uniforms and took them to the dining table for their evening snacks. While eating he started telling them a story.

"Boys, strong boys, do you want to hear about a little strong girl who lived long ago" asked gramps.

" Yes , Yes, " chorussed the boys. " Very very long ago, nearly 1800 years back lived a little girl by name Auvai , pronounced as 'au' as in audio and 'vai' as in vain. Auvai's parents were very proud of their beautiful little girl as she was very intelligent and showed interest in learning. The girls were allowed access to education in those days under the supervision of their parents. When Auvai turned thirteen or so her parents started looking for a groom for her, as it was a custom in those days to marry young. Auvai did not want to marry and lead life like everyone else. She wanted to learn more and wanted to tour and meet the uneducated and poor. She wanted to spread awareness about education amongst people. Her parents opposed her proposal for women were not allowed to remain unmarried. They told her that it was not safe for young beautiful woman to stay single. Auvai tried to convince them but then her parents were horrified at the very thought of Auvai's idea of travelling for women did'nt travel much in those days. Friends and neighbours advised Auvai not to go against her parents' wishes and they literally called her a fool after hearing about her proposals. As for Auvai all her efforts in convincing her parents went in vain. The little girl was also very religious and she sought help of her favourite God Ganesha. She prayed fervently to Him seeking His guidance and help. In her prayer she also requested Him to remove her youth and beauty as she felt that with an aged look no one would want to marry her. And the next moment her skin started drying up , her hair turned white and she even lost stability needing the support of a stick to stand and walk. Ganesha had heeded to her prayers. Auvai's parents understood her determination and supported her in her mission. From that day Auvai's mission was to travel widely all over south India which was ruled by Chera, Chola, Pandia kings. Even though the three kings were rivals she was welcome in all the three kings' courts. She was held in high esteem by those kings and she used that influence to help the poor people by creating employment opportunities. She enjoyed the status of a intellectual friendship with the kings. She lived amongst the poorest of poor bringing in awareness about basic ethics, cleanliness, lifestyle, education and so on. To her, Kings' courts and homes of poor peasants were same. She loved children and was of strong view that good values should be taught when young. Hence she composed many poems for children through which she taught them good values and ethics. Singing is part of any culture, you'd find farmers ,weavers, potters, priests of yore good at composing and singing while going about their routine jobs. Children also followed suit, they were also good at composing songs spontaneously while playing . Some of those compositions have survived till today. She was and is lovingly called 'Auvai Patti' , meaning grandma. If she had married as her parents had proposed she'd have got only a small family to call her own, but now you see she is patti to millions and she will remain patti for centuries to come.

Now what do you have to say about this little strong girl" asked grandpa.

" Amazing grandpa, girls are stronger" said the kids.

chapter-4

chapter-4

It was TV viewing time at home and there was the usual scuffle for the remote between the two kids. While Dittu wanted to watch wolverine Ajju wanted some other cartoon channel. Grandpa tried to forge some peace but understandably failed. As a distraction grandpa announced that he was ready with a story for any willing listeners. Both the kids raced to reach grandpa throwing TV remote somewhere along the way.

Chapter-4

Grandpa begun thus: In Tamilnadu during fifth/sixth century B.C there lived a Saiva saint called Manickavachagar. He was a devotee of Shiva and has sung in praise of Shiva many hymns. But before he turned a total ascetic he was a minister in the king's court. A valiant minister was he , had led armies on many wars and have won almost most of them. He was well appreciated and respected by one and all and the King also held him in high esteem. Though he was a valiant soldier he was deeply devotional and would spend all his free time in visiting temples and other religious places. He was slowly being drawn towards an ascetic way of life and was spending lots of money on renovating temples. Sometimes he would divert even taxes that he collected from chieftains of villages. The other ministers who were jealous of manickavachagar's close proximity to the king took this opportunity to alert the king about the tax diversions. The king ignored these complaints as the amount involved was small and since the king himself was also religious manickavachagar's diverting money for religious purposes did not anger him much.

Once since the army was in need of good breed of horses the king told manickavachagar to personally go and procure good breed of horses. Manickavachagar set out with a small army for he was carrying lots of money to buy horses. On the way he saw a temple in a very dilapidated condition and stopped there to enquire about the temple. It was a shiva temple and the locals said that they were not getting any financial help from the king to maintain the temple hence the poor maintenance of the temple. Manickavachagar halted there and started renovation work of the temple with the money that he was caryying. His change of plan reached the ears of the king and he got furious for this time a huge sum of money was being spent without his approval. He sent for manickavachagar and sought his explanation for spending money on some other purpose other than what it was meant for. manickavachagar told the king that he had ordered for horses to be delivered and they would arrive next day. The king did not believe him and ordered for his imprisonment. The minister went to jail without any remorse and spent his time in prison singing hymns on shiva.

The next day a very handsome young man came to the palace and sought audience with the king. The king met him and the young man informed that he had come to deliver the horses that manickavachagar had ordered and paid fully for. The king was taken by surprise and came out to inspect the neatly turned out herd of horses. They were all of highly excellent breed and the king was extremely happy , ordered for release of manickavachagar. The young man left immediately after delivering the horses. When night set in , everyone were fast asleep in the kingdom and suddenly people started hearing howling of pack of foxes. Everyone in the place woke up and the soldiers went in search of the source of the howling and to their horror found that the horses that were delivered that day had all turned into foxes in the stables. They ran to the king's chamber and informed him. The furious king sought explanation from manickavachagar and the minister told the king that he had lied about the horses and he also informed the king that he had indeed diverted money meant for buying horses for the renovation work of a temple . He also told that he had not paid money to anybody for delivering horses.

In the meantime the foxes freed themselves from the stables and started running on to the streets. The soldiers chased them and to their chagrin saw them all disappearing into a shiva temple. On hearing this king and all the ministers entered the temple and to their dismay did not find even a single fox there. Instead they heard a voice from the sanctorum addressing the king. The voice said thus" King, manickavachagar is an ardent devotee of mine and I played this drama to bring him fully into asceticism. Maintaining places of worship is also duty of the king during peace time and you failed in that duty. Hence this drama was also for teaching a valuable lesson to you". The king and the others realised the saintly nature of manickavachagar and sought his pardon. Manickavachagar renounced his wealth and status to turn an ascetic and his hymns on shiva are sung even today in all the shiva temples.

" Children, this story is called "pariya nariyakina kathai"- Pari means horse, nari means fox, hence this story is about horses turning into foxes, somewhat like the wolverine story, is'nt it?" asked grandpa. "yes, grandpa, but this one is more thrilling", chorussed the kids.

chapter-3

chapter-3

Grandpa was taking the children to the park in the evening. The children were almost dragging him for they wanted to reach early so that they wanted to beat other kids to the the swings in the park. On the way they saw an elderly person trying in vain to croos the road as the traffic was quite heavy. Grandpa told the children to wait on the pavement and then helped the person in crossing the road. When grandpa came back the children chorusly complained to him about the delay in reaching the park. As expected, the swings were ocupied by the time they reached the park. Grandpa's attempt to comfort them went in vain. At last grandpa told the children that he'd tell them a short story to lift their mood. Some of the friends of Dittu and Ajju also joined and formed a small group around grandpa. His story went thus -

In tamilnadu there is a town called Madurai which is famous for beautiful Meenakshi temple and a big river called Vaigai. Once during monsoon Vaigai was in spate and there was danger of water flooding the town. The king ordained that one person from each household should volunteer to work in building a bund at the banks of the river. Bund is a term for raised bank and it is built using sand/ stone. There lived a old lady in this town all by herself and she had no one else in her house. Hence she had to come as a volunteer as otherwise she would have to face the wrath of the king. She was pretty old and frail and she was not able to do the hard work of carrying loads of sand. The supervisor sent by the king was very strict and he was shouting at her for being slow. The old lady prayed to Lord Shiva for help.

A handsome young man was walking by and he approached the lady and told her" Patti (Grandma) shall I carry this load for you?" and she replied saying" No young man. I've to carry this as the king has ordered that one person per household has to volunteer. Since you are not a member of my household I can not allow you to do this job". "See how honest people were those days " said grandpa.

The young man told patti " Al right, in that case you employ me and I'll work for you. You pay me whatever you feel like". Patti said" I am a poor lady and I can not afford to employ you". The youg man said "Patti, what have you brought for lunch? Give half of that as wages to me. That's enough". Old lady agreed. Since the young man said he was hungry and he'd eat first and then work, Patti gave half of her lunch which was just puttu. Puttu is a steamed rice powder mixed with jaggery and coconut. After eating he asked the old lady to sit and rest and that he'd take care of her share of work. He went near the site of work found a nice shade under a tree and lied down to rest. The supervisor spotted him and came near him and then shouted abusively at him for taking rest. But the young man continued with his siesta unperturbed. The supervisor got furious and took out his whip and lashed at the young man. Lo for every lash that he attempted on the young man five lashings were felt by all around including the king in the palace excepting the old lady. People started to run helter skelter in pain while the young man watched with a smirkish smile on his face. The king rushed to the work site and learnt from the supervisor about the reson behind lashes. The young man and the old lady were brought before the king. The supervisor accused the young man of indulging in black magic. When the king enquired the young man said" Your majesty, this is no black magic. I wanted you to understand that as a king you should be sensitive and sensible before issuing any order. There are a few like this old lady who is not fit for hard work and by your order such people have been put to hardship. I also wanted all the citizens of this town to undergo punishment for nobody came forward to help this old lady. When there are many able bodied men sitting at home because of your one person per household rule some like this old lady have been put to hardship" , so saying the young man disappeared from there. The old lady cried out saying that Shive Himself had come in the form of young man to help her. The King and the others realised their folly and begged her pardon and also that of God.

" Now do you realise, if nobody comes for help, God Himself comes down to help those in need" said grandpa. Dittu replied" In that case you should'nt have helped that person on the way. At least then we could have seen God for He'd have come to help". Grandpa replied smiling "that's true, but we also have to face His wrath. Are we prepared for that? Anyway all of you run and play".

chapter-2

Chapter-2

Dittu and his younger brother Ajju had just come back from school. They were having their evening snack and milk when grandpa also joined them with his tea. Ajju excitedly told his grandpa that his teacher told a new story in the class- "The hare and the Tortoise" . Grandpa listened to him and then asked the children " do you know ,a similar story happened in Kailasa between Ganesha and Subramanya?". The children wanted to hear the story. Grandpa promised to tell them the story during bed-time.

In the night both the children reminded grandpa his promise. Grandpa started to tell the story.

Once in Kailash Ganesha and subramanya were happily playing with their parents Shiva and Parvati. Shiva's attendants were also enjoying the happy moment, when Narada came visiting Shiva. Narada paid his obeiscence to Shiva and placed a mango in front of shiva saying" Pranam Parameshwara, please accept this mango. It's a special one and that's why I brought it to you as a gift". "Long live Narada, I am pleased with this gift of yours" said Shiva and gave the mango to Parvati and told her to give equal portion of the fruit to both the children. Narada intervened saying" Eswara, this fruit should be consumed wholly and not to be cut".

Both Ganesha and Subramanya wanted the fruit. Parvati was bewildered and told Narada to suggest a way out since he was the one who had come with one fruit when two children were there. Narada suggested to hold a contest and then gift the fruit to whoever won the contest. Shiva smilingly told Narada to hold the contest. Narada suggested that the fruit could be given to whoever came back first after going around the world. Both the children agreed to take part in the competition. Subramanya who has a peacock as his vehicle immediately left on the mission. Ganesha, who is pot bellied and plump has a small mouse as his vehicle and he was sure he could'nt beat his brother in the race. Instead using his wisdom he went around his parents three times and asked for the fruit.

Shiva asked him as to how he could claim his prize as he had'nt fulfilled the condition for the race. Ganesha replied" Father, the vedas say Shiva and Parvati, who are universal father and mother are equal to all the worlds. Hence by circumbulating you both I've fulfilled the condition and so the fruit is mine. Please give it to me". Shiva had to agree to his claim and gave him the fruit. Subramanya came back from his mission with a gleeful thought that his fat pot bellied brother would be far behind. When he saw Ganesha eating the fruit he was furious and no explanation from his parents could pacify him.

"So you see just like hare and tortoise, here also there were two unequal contestants, but with wisdom the inequity was won over" said Grandpa.

Grandma's stories

I have planned a series of short stories for the young generation which has grown on a diet of Harry potter and eragon and other such stories but not that much on our own traditional stories. I have nothing against our children reading or getting exposed to stories from other countries but I feel they should also be introduced to stories from their native land so that they can connect better with the land and its people. Again here since I am familiar with only stories from South India and that too from Tamilnadu the series will contain only stories belonging to this region.

Chapter-1

It was raining heavily through out the evening and towards early night rain-god decided to take a break and Grandpa wanted to go into the garden to check on the plants. Armed with a torch Grandpa stepped into the garden with his elder grandson Dittu, aged nine, in tow. They had a small but beautiful well maintained patch of garden. The trees and the shrubs all looked fresh and clean after the heavy showers. Grandpa noticed that the jasmine creeper was'nt that lucky this time and the rope with which he had guided it to the balcony above had snapped and that the creeper was lying down. He tried to tie the two ends of rope where it had given away but failed in his attempt as the rope had frayed.

He asked Dittu," Dittu, you have a skipping rope don't You? will you bring it? I want to use it to guide this creeper on to the balcony". "Oh, no Grandpa, that's my favourite one. I can't part with it. We can buy a rope tomorrow for the creeper" said dittu. "Hmmm, you can't part with that rope is it? Do you know that there was once a king who parted with his chariot for a creeper?"asked grandpa. "Really, tell me that story Grandpa" pleaded Dittu.

Grandpa started to tell the story-" In tamil Nadu there once lived a king called Pari. He was a very good administrator and a benevelont one too. People in his kingdom respected and loved him. They lived without fear as the King took good care of the citizens in his kingdom. Pari used to visit different area in his kingdom everyday enquiring people about their welfare, their problems and passed orders immediately if any action was expected from him.

Once Pari was riding on the chariot and he noticed a jasmine creeper lying on the ground. He told the charioteer to stop and got down to inspect the creeper. There was not any tree or pole nearby so that the creeper could be guided on to. His heart went out to the creeper and he told his charioteer to bring the chariot near the creeper. He then tenderly lifted the creeper and guided it onto the chariot.

The charioteer was amazed by the king's act and told" Sir, How would you return to the palace now? Please get on to the chariot and after we reach the palace I'll come back with a few bamboo poles and build a supporting structure for the creeper".

"Let's walk back to the palace. We can not take any chance for by the time you come back what if someone had trampled on the creeper and the plant is destroyed? I can not allow such a thing to happen to anybody or anything in my kingdom. It is my duty to protect one and all in this land" said Pari and started walking back towards the palace. His charioteer follwed the king with admiration and awe in his heart. The king earned a title"Mullaiku ther kodutha Pari" which literally means "Pari who donated a chariot for a jasmine creeper".

So you see Dittu, help should come forth spontaneously for anybody in distress. This plant is in need of help and timely help will save it from distress. Don't you think so?"

Dittu ran inside and fetched his skipping rope and grandpa and grandson together helped the creeper to be back on the support of the rope.

The Honourable Guests

It was a sunny afternoon around two or so. I was standing outside our house in the garden. Hubby was leaving for office after his lunch. He was near the car and that’s when I saw this ahem… our tiny guest a rodent or I’d rather use a more effective term ‘ rat’. Mr. or Mrs. Rat appeared from nowhere ( my guess is from under the car) and stood short of two feet from me. I was paralyzed into standing still. After giving me a cool look for about five seconds or so Rat turned to retrace its steps, but half way down realized my husband was standing there. But after an encouter with me a five footer (5.1’ to be exact) the rat got bolder for after all it has to handle a few more inches of height only. My husband didn’t notice the rat and so technically there was no encounter. Then the Rat slowly moved realizing that the shelter under car was ruled out, crossed the road towards a house diagonally opposite ours. Their car was waiting there with an offer of plenty of shelter for Mr. Guest. But lo on its way a dog with its litter of tiny puppies was seated. The puppies got curious at the sight of some movable thing and stood with their ears raised. The mother dog lazily got up and sat on its haunches looking at Mr. Rat who had stopped a mere foot away from the dog. I shudder to think of what would have happened if only Mr.Tom was there instead of the Doggy . Mr.Jerry got lucky this time around. Both the rat and the dog gave soul searching look at each other and then our bold Mr.rat scurried past the dog into the opposite house. After the encounter I was at my wits end trying to understand the terror that grips us (at least most of us) at the sight of rats or some insects. Is it because we connect plague with rats, malaria and dengue with mosquitoes and other epidemics with various other animals and insect. Do we ever notice the perseverance with which rats build their tunnels. Try dismantling one , you’d find a new one the very next day. Ask me, I have a lot of experience. Or the perseverance with which the mosquitoes return to for some more blood after we have shooed them away . Maybe it’s the fair game of nature in providing each one with some potential weapon for self protection. But what right do we have to complain about these uninvited guests, as we are the ones who generate and mismanage garbage, have unkempt roads choking drains and squalor all around. So its high time we start to behave with decorum to our guests.

Incredible India

I had been to this year’s “Aero India 2009”, visited the various stalls and also witnessed the spectacular display by the pilots of warplanes and helicopters. This year the event was better organized and there was not much hassle in terms of traffic flow till the venue and parking facilities as well. The security check was a bit more stringent maybe after the Mumbai incident the organizers had to tighten security, In fact I am visiting the air show for the fourth time and every time the acrobatic skills of the air force personnel with their machines leave me enthralled. Our own Sarang team came out with thrilling acrobatics with a team of four helicopters and there were F-16s and Migs adding to the thrill. The crowd not minding the hot blazing sun stood rooted to the spot through out the spectacular show. This year I had a special moment to cherish. I had an opportunity to witness a simple sales ceremony organized by a major PSU. My spouse being part of the team, I could understand the overall feeling of pride that prevailed amongst the employees, as this was their first overseas sales call in that segment. What impressed me about the whole occasion was the simplicity with which the whole function was conducted. Above all the presence of our national flag beside the table where the dignitaries sat gave a sense of inclusiveness to all those who were present there. It may be a protocol for the PSUs to have the national flag there but it had so much significance to every one of us and each one felt proud at that moment to be Indian. At that moment it struck me that companies in private sector in our country should also follow this protocol to instill respect and love for our country. The respective national anthem and the flag are the uniting medium for any countrymen. Acknowledging our achievements in the name of the country whether in private or public sector will unite all the citizens of the country and this feat can be easily achieved by the solemn presence of our our national flag.

T With regards to the whole show there were food court and star hotels catering to the visitors but much was left desired in terms of handling the trash. Loads and loads of plastic trash must have been generated during the whole show. If the caterers had planned ahead they could have served food in biodegradable material rather than using plastic. On the lighter side, a jeep carrying a team of commandoes with Ak-47 et al was parked near the air display area and they became an instant hit with the crowd. I suppose people were reminded of the recent terror attack in one of our major city and having had an overdose of the visuals of the commandoes in action in television media they started crowding around the jeep curiously quizzing the commandoes, but then the commandoes kept advising them to maintain a safe distance. There were small children who were not content with just witnessing the display demanded a ride in the fighter aircrafts. Parents had to console them by just taking pictures of them standing beside the parked airplanes and choppers.

Good News

Communication technology has come a long way. Gone are the days when we got the news only through newspapers and Radio. Now there are innumerable ways by which one can communicate. the modern technology lets one to combine, bundle and what not . Take the print media, number of newspapers and magazines dish out columns and columns of news to satiate news-hungry readers. Same is the case with television network with plethora of news channels vying with each other to offer attractive content to the viewers. With so many options is one really happy with what he reads or views? The other day my younger son asked me ‘Amma why do we get to hear only about bad things like corruption, communal tensions, bomb blasts and so on. Can’t somebody report good things happening around us?” That set me thinking, what he said is true. The trend has set in with most of the news that qualify for reporting are either sensational or gory. Honestly, is’nt there a corruption free politician or an official who dispenses his duties with honesty and integrity. Agreed, only those who deviate and flout norms have to be reported and I also understand that there is no need to reward those who do their job, for after all they are duty-bound. But this sort of negative reporting has gone a little too far with every television channel worth its name waiting with bated breath to be the first one to be Breaking News. As for the print media the front page is devoutly dedicated to sensational news only.

Post Independence everyone wanting his share of good life in free India outsmarted each other while building his life. Corruption thrived at every level with the over ambitious nurturing it to get their things done. Now after nearly five decades we are hit by its malignancy and we have given up hope like a terminally ill. Those of us who were born after Independence have grown in an era of negativism and communal disharmony accepting all this without as much as a whimper. But today’s youth are different altogether. They are assertive, confident and want to be heard. They question, are cynical and practical and they want change. The tech-savvy youth of today cannot accept delay and are intolerant to religious extremities. With their global savviness their contribution to nation’s economy is impressive. We saw the power of youth during our struggle for Independence. The same youth power is arising today with resurgence demanding fairplay and a good environment to live in. We cannot deny them their right to good peaceful life and I dream of our India emerging as corruption free. I am waiting for the Golden era and I am sure our younger generation will bring in the Good News of that India.

Clean City

Bangalore with its phenomenal growth since IT boom has attained A-1 City status and it has also earned the credit of being called world city. But for the average citizen of this city these things hardly matter as he has to live in a city sporting dirty jammed roads, clogged drains, uncleared garbage and the list can go on. An erstwhile pensioner's paradise has turned into dirty hell. We cannot blame the corporation alone for our woes. The garbage collectors come at specific time everyday to clear the city's garbage. But since Bangalore works 24/7 garbage is also generated 24/7. Hence we find people leaving their garbage bags outside their house anytime convenient to them. Some leave these bags not in front of their houses but near any avenue trees that they find in their area. Mind you, people who work in their houses are smarter than them, for they throw these bags in open grounds or still better hang them in the welcoming branches of the trees. I've heard from my grand parents that people of olden days used to tie in branches of trees bundle of food for hungry travellers. Trees were worshipped and are still worshipped in India and they were never used as garbage holders. Man with his super bloated ego assumes that every creature around him has been created to serve him and him alone. So he feels free to jam a few nails onto the avenue trees and hang his dirty garbage bags there. As long as the bags are out of his compound and away from the gates in the front he is happy. His world ends with the compound walls around his house.

So how should this matter to anybody? Absolutely no problem till some stray dogs get the scent of these bags. Once they are on their scent these bags become public property, the bags are torn, the contents strewn on the streets. As long as quiet obliging neighbours are there, nobody gets any sermonising on not to display their love for canine population so conspicuously. Also children in the neighbourhood benefit a lot for they get free lessons in Biology. It’s very easy to explain to them how wind and animals help in seed propagation. Show them the wind carrying all the plastic from these torn bags all over the locality and the dogs and birds carrying away bits of whatever they fancy from these bags. If the areas has freshly littered puppies still better. They get lots of stuff from these disowned properties to help them go through their teething stage breezily. In fact I have seen cows pulling down the garbage bags from the branches of the trees and pilfering through to find some edible stuff in them. Mention has to be made about the rodents getting attracted to the left over food in these bags and multiplying in numbers as there is no dearth for food supply. So what if the diligent neighbours have to clean their front yard twice or thrice a day. If somebody consoles us by saying that the street will be cleaned by the corporation next day Beware for the army will land with the brooms next day only to sweep most of it into the storm water drains since we have not carpeted our streets. And the chain continues unbroken with the storm water getting clogged and so on.