Thursday, June 29, 2006

Every dog has its day... and its road.

My little fellow has fallen in love with dogs. He wants to see them all over the place all the time. As soon as you lift him, he says 'Bow bow' indicating that "take me out so that I can have the pleasure of seeing a dog." And there are plenty on our street. Some stray and some pet dogs. Some are ferocious. Some are atrocious. A lot of cars, school vans and buses, Call-centre vehicles (usually a Sumo) comes to my street and all the stray canines just chase these out. But when the same happens to a 2 wheeler, it is very dangerous. It also happens to those walking. These dogs are posing problems for residents and 2-wheeler riders in parts of Malleswaram and Rajajinagar. It may be a problem faced by any Bangalorean, for that matter. These dogs bark at every vehicle or residents passing making life in the night an absolute nuisance. Especially, when driving in the dead of the night, one of things that most of us fear is being chased by a stray dog. The risk of meeting with an accident for a 2-wheeler rider is too high as you tend to accelerate to get the stray dog off your back. There have been number of such accidents in the past. Jurisdictionally stray dogs are the responsibility of local corporations or CMCs. Till a few years back, stray dogs being put to death in large numbers were not unheard of in the State. But given the awareness about animal rights and a 1994 SC ruling, killing stray dogs is not a solution to the problem. And when the corporation van does come to pick them up, they go underground! These dogs are fed by the residents on the pretext of being compassionate to animals. But when it comes to taking ownership for their road side pets, well the answer is best left unsaid. Like wise, inconsiderate neighbours house a few dogs which bark through out the night. It's a wonder how the owner sleeps. The laws of India don't protect the common man, from such inconsiderate neighbours. Thus we are left with the option of tucking our heads under our pillows to catch some peace... "Bangalore a Pensioner's Paradise" is a dream of the past, with such nice unstoppable music playing through the night. It seems the great dramatist TP Kailasam went to a friend's house who had a dog. Kailasam stood outside the gate as the dog kept barking. His friend told Kailasam, "Come in Kailasam, don't you know that barking dogs never bite" for which TPK said,"You and I know that. Does the dog know about it?" Got to go on a stroll now, my little fellow is saying 'Bow bow'.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Success is only skin deep

A few days back, I met a friend of mine who was visiting India after a long time for a short visit. It was an interesting few minutes where we caught up on many issues since we met last. We spoke of common friends in India and US, the price of Petrol, Land rates, hotels new and old, 24/7 news channels, films, increase in the rate of NRIs coming back to India and of Indians abroad. From what I heard from him and from others till today, it is a common knowledge that Asian Americans have done remarkably well in achieving "the American dream" of getting a good education, working at a good job, and earning a good living. So much so that the image many have of Asian Americans is that they are the "model minority" - a bright, shining example of hard work and patience whose example other minority groups should follow. However, the practical reality is slightly more complicated than that. Among the five major racial/ethnic groups in the U.S., Asian Americans have the highest college degree attainment rate, rates of having an advanced degree (professional or Ph.D.), median family income, being in the labor force, rate of working in a "high skill" occupation (executive, professional, technical, or upper management), and median Socioeconomic Index (SEI) score that measures occupational prestige. Yes, in these categories, Asians even outperform Whites. Asian Americans seem to have done so well that magazines such as Newsweek and respected television shows such as 60 Minutes proclaim them to be the "model minority." Asian Indians consistently outperform not only other Asian ethnic groups but Whites in several achievement measures, sometimes by a large margin. And of course, you'll find plenty of examples of Asian Americans who are quite affluent and successful, and Asian Americans should rightly feel proud of these examples of success.The point is that just because many Asian Americans have "made it," it does not mean that all Asian Americans have made it. In many ways, Asian Americans are still the targets of much prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. For instance, the persistent belief that "all Asians are smart" puts a tremendous amount of pressure on many Asian Americans. Many, particularly Southeast Asians, are not able to conform to this unrealistic expectation and in fact, have the highest high school dropout rates in the US. Ultimately, the process of achieving socioeconomic success among Asian Americans is very complex. There are many examples of affluence and prosperity within the Asian American population but in many ways, they still face the same types of racism, social inequality, and institutional discrimination that other groups of color face. Therefore, the image that the entire Asian American community is the "model minority" is a myth. Ultimately, success may only be skin-deep.
Also read: Spellbound

Friday, June 23, 2006

Lolalotte*

* What's the use Heard this word in 'Muktha' serial when Sri Vidhyabhushan (Anandabhushan in the serial) sings a song "Lolalotte, yella lolalotte'. Was at Sanjay's house on that day and asked him to see the meaning immediately. Thought it as an apt heading for this piece.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Thanks for Rejecting...

Ever since I can remember, I have been fond of drawing. All the walls of our house (ground level to a height of four feet) were covered with my scribblings and doodles of cat, fish, tree, house, bird, car, cycle, dog, alphabets written in a crooked line, a series of zeroes, from big to small, and what not. My teachers always reprimanded me for drawing in the sides of the textbooks and notebooks. And I remember teachers picking up my answersheet first while giving them back after class exams. The reason was to show it to the whole class how I used to fill them up with doodles of the exam hall and the invigilator or the caricature of the teacher handling that subject. My friends would enjoy the rebuke but they liked my cartoons and drawings. Only once had a teacher appreciated my drawings in the textbooks and answer sheets and told me not to waste my talent! After winning prizes for drawing, painting and cartooning in school and college, I was excited when I got an interview call from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. This was after I had made it through the entrance exam held at Chennai, then Madras. Seeking blessings from Amma, I made my journey to Ahmedabad where I had still to get through a written test, a GD and an interview. Although some names were eliminated after the written test and the GD, I was thrilled to see mine in the selected list for the final interview. I entered the interview room, confident yet nervous. The jury had my earlier works sent to them. They asked me about my education and why I was interested in a course at NID. I was then asked about my family background. I said that my father, a Postal employee, was no more. One of the interviewer asked if my mother was working. I said since she had heart problem, she was not working. A set of questions was asked about my drawing and cartooning style. All of them looked satisfied with my anwers. Finally, one among the jury told, "More than NID, your mother needs you". I wondered what made him say that. When the final list of candidates was announced, my name was missing. I was terribly disappointed and returned back to Bangalore. But I never gave up drawing. By now, I was submitting my cartoons to a few periodicals. My mother all through kept encouraging me in whatever I did. She remained the sole motivating factor in my life. She always made critical analysis of my creation and made a point that helped me progress in the field of art. Gradually, her health started deteriorating. The doctors told that there was a severe blockage in her heart. Chances of her survival were grim. It was sad to see her suffer during her last days in the hospital. She passed away quietly on this day, seven years ago. But the only solace for me will be that I spent time with Amma, which will be priceless than any Degree from any Institute in the world. Even today, I can never forget the interviewer who told me "More than NID, your mother needs you". How true it turned out to be!

Monday, June 19, 2006

Smell is a powerful sense

Scents bring memories, and many memories bring nostalgic pleasure. We would be wise to plan for this when we plant a garden. - Thalassa Cruso, To Everything There is a Season, 1973 Scent of newly mown hay. The fragrance of Jasmine. Aroma of sizzling hot Bhajji. Perfume of roses. The redolence of fresh brewn coffee. Sweet smell of biscuits and cakes. The nostalgic smell of an old paper turned yellow. The smell of boiling milk. Sweet smell of the soil after a shower. The fresh scent from a new notebook page. The holy smell of Sambhrani smoke. Smell of freshly washed and ironed clothes. Smell of shampoo. The combined smell of Plantain leaves, flowers and fruits before a festival. The combined smell of camphor, agarbathi and flowers in a temple. The smell of Oggarane*. The aroma of roasted Jeera.The combined smell of Ghee and Elaichi while making a sweet. The aroma emanating when you boil Butter before it becomes Ghee. The aroma while making Onion Uppitt. The scent of a fresh baby diaper. The raw smell of a leather ball. The healing smell of Vicks inhalation. The pleasant smell of Masala tea. The aroma of Pakodas emanating from a roadside stall. The strong smell of Petrol. And Dettol. The fresh smell of wood at a carpenter's workplace. Can you think of more? ****** ****** ****** I remember reading as a kid to blindfold a friend and hold a piece of Orange near his nose and put a piece of Apple into his mouth. Ask him what he is eating. And he says, "Orange"! I tried this and it happened exactly this way. Most people just think of the tongue when they think about taste. But you couldn't taste anything without some help from the nose! The ability to smell and taste go together because odors from foods allow us to taste more fully. Take a bite of food and think about how it tastes. Then, pinch your nose and take another bite. Notice the difference? It's just another reason to appreciate your knockout of a nose! Nearly everyone has experienced a moment when a faint fragrance brings a memory of a long-lost moment in time crashing back to the forefront of their minds. Often we will have forgotten about the event completely, yet it transpires our unfathomable minds have filed it neatly in some unreachable corner of the brain, primed for instant retrieval. It may be the perfume worn by a long-forgotten friend, the stench of petrol from a youth spent worshipping motorcycles, the smell of smoke coming from burning leaves or the haze of chlorine from summer months lazing by the pool. It is amazing that a few simple airborne molecules can trigger such vivid recollections. Your sense of smell warns you of dangers such as smoke and poisonous gases. It also helps you appreciate the full flavours of food and drink. I read that our sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than our sense of taste. Childhood memories represent times when we were free from the responsibilities and anxieties of adulthood, so we may redefine them in an idealised way, even though many of the experiences we went through were difficult at the time. Human beings tend to emphasise vision over all other senses, but our sense of smell is important enough to evoke its own form of déjà vu. Perhaps the foul and strange smells we experience today will be associated with fond memories in years to come. (By the way, Anosmia is the loss of sense of smell.) * Frying of Coriander leaves, Mustard, Jeera, Channa Dal, Urad Dal, Asafoetida (Hing) with Oil

Friday, June 16, 2006

Delectable Dosas

Old hotels in Malleswaram may lack fanfare in their ambience and décor, but foodwise, they more than make up. The first place that comes to mind is Veena Stores, which I described in an earlier post. Last fortnight, myself and a friend had planned to go to CTR (Central Tiffin Room) for breakfast. But since we had eaten there umpteen times, we went to the newly opened Food Court on 10th Cross. Masale Dose was nice. But felt the price was too high. And moreover the staff were not customer friendly. While coming back, my friend packed Masale Dose for his mom from CTR. She liked CTR Dose, but not the place as she felt it was unimpressive looking. I faced the same problem with my girlfriend (now my wife) who just felt CTR was not the place where lovers met. And ate. Initially, I really had tough time making her even enter CTR. After seeing a few foreigners and my NRI relatives eating there, she became a regular client and now has no hassles coming to CTR for a Benne Masale. CTR is a part of what I like to call Old Bangalore, a place with a unique and gentle charm and unhurried pace. It has allowed time to flow around it and is not affected by the passage of time. So, if the service seems a tad slow, it is because of this rather than any laxity on the part of the staff. CTR is the best place to eat Benne Masale Dose. Period. They are heavenly bliss. It is a nondescript looking place that, surprisingly, has a board that reads ‘Shree Sagar’ in Kannada outside the hotel but retains the price board inside with ‘Central Tiffin Room’ written on it. It is situated on 7th Cross, at the corner of Margosa Road. I love the old pendulum clock and the Bhagavadgita sayings that is hung on one side of the wall. The furniture has that old world look to it. So is the Cash table on which is placed a small lit ‘Deepa’ and ‘Oodhinakaddi’. There is a ‘Family Room’ too but most prefer to sit in the main hall. CTR is open for just a few hours in the morning between 6.30 am till 12.30 pm and in the evenings from 4 till 8.30 pm. Unlike Janatha Hotel, which is closed on Wednesdays, CTR is open on all 7 days of the week. I have introduced many of my relatives and friends to CTR. After getting the taste, the ‘Initiated’ have been more regular to CTR than the ‘Initiator’. I remember once a friend of mine had eaten 13 Benne Masales as a challenge. As for the dosas, they are a lovely golden brown. The texture is crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. The flavour is yummy, all dosa and butter. The potato palya is wonderful -- well cooked, with the right mixture of spice and flavour. CTR gives two types of chutneys, unlike his competitors. One is the regular Kai-chutney. And the other is Karibevu chutney, which has a tinge of sour. The chutney is obviously the fruit of years of experience. The hotel is located at such a perfect place surrounded by Malleswaram Grounds, Malleswaram Club, 8th cross, Malleswaram Cooperative Bank, KC General Hospital and the Malleswaram Circle Bus stop surrounding it. No wonder the place is always crowded. I know some loyal customers who have shifted to other parts of Bangalore but still make a religious visit to See-Tee-Aar! At peak hours, if you are lucky, you get a table immediately. Otherwise, better stand next to the person having his coffee or who has just finished eating his Benne Masale. CTR's competence lies in its dosas. The Idlis and Vadas are passable. For a company to survive and thrive in competitive times, they must be the best in one thing; for the rest, they can be up to average market standards. So it is with this place. Follow it up with coffee and go away smiling at having experienced a piece of history. This really is the stuff of legend. Let me not talk more about it. Try it, to believe it!

CTR Noorkaala Baalali (May CTR live for 100 more years)

Last week, my friend’s mom broke her ‘Vratha’ when she ate at CTR for the first time. Myself and my friend were there too. And no prizes for guessing who persuaded her to eat there!

Design: RK

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Ideal length for a blog post: Is there one?

As my blog name suggests, I’ve a tendency to ramble. I’m easily fascinated by tangents; in writing, this is forgivable because I can read what I just wrote and rescue my chain of thoughts by hammering in the connective logic. Tangents are what makes things interesting. Tangents are as much a part of the writing as anything else. Tangents can create equal opportunities for exploring new lines of thought. But yes, I have scope to limit my meandering once in a while. The typical web reader has a short attention span when it comes to reading content online. Experts in Search Engine Optimization consider that both extremely short and long web pages are not ranked as highly as pages that are of a reasonable length. Of course no one really knows how many words are ideal - but the general opinion seems to be that a page of at least 300 words are probably a reasonable length. Similarly, many advise keeping pages under 1000 words. But in my case more than a few posts themselves have crossed the 1000 mark.
  • Post on 'Nostalgia': 3045 words
  • Post on 'The Hero': 1201 words
  • Post on 'Ashtavakra': 1998 words
I remember a friend saying that you should write enough to comprehensively cover your topic and then stop. Long posts for the sake of them are not a wise move - but so are short ones that don’t cover the topic well. I feel if you are going to be longwinded make sure it is so focused, topically relevant and interesting. I usually start with an anecdote or reference to an item. Personal anecdotes work very well. I feel each blogger needs to work out what length post suits their writing style and topic. The length of a post is truly a case of “it depends”. It’s like arguing about the perfect colour or the ideal layout (Yes, I always bring it back to design!). Maybe, the length should be just like a girl’s skirt; long enough to cover the subject and short enough to keep it interesting. Mark Twain once said: “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter so I wrote you this long one instead.” It is absurd to criticize someone for an economy of words. Forgive me, but in writing, size does not matter. Anyone with stamina alone can bang on a keyboard to reach some magic “300 words or more” length for a posting. I write really long posts on topics that I’m passionate about. So, how long should a blog post be? There is no one answer to this. The length of a post is dependent on its topic and depth of thought and text required to convey your message, idea or argument. In this regard there is no write or wrong: sometimes I can convey a thought better in 100 words than I can in 1000, and at other times vice versa. Sometimes it might be somewhere in between. As a blogger though I can only say to others that this isn’t something you should get hung up on: quality is not measured by length.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Soccer World Cup winner is predestined

This is an interesting piece giving the numerological basis for determining the winner of the FIFA World Cup. Brazil won the World Cup in 1994. Before that, it had won the title for the last time in 1970. If you add up, 1970 + 1994 = 3964. Argentina won the World Cup for the last time in 1986. Before that in 1978. And 1978 + 1986 = 3964. Germany won the World Cup in 1990. Before that, it had won in 1974. Look: 1990 + 1974 = 3964. Using 3964 as the base figure, let's see who won the World Cup in 2002: 3964 - 2002 = 1962. Since Brazil won the World Cup in 1962, it was the winner in 2002. So, who will be the winner of the 2006 World Cup? Let's see, 3964 - 2006 = 1958. And who won in 1958? Who else but BRAZIL. Going by this logic, INDIA also has reason to rejoice, as we will surely win the Soccer World Cup to be held in the year 3964. It is simple arithmetic: 0 + 3964 = 3964

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Who said I am nostalgic?

A wistful or excessively sentimental, sometimes abnormal yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition is called as Nostalgia. Most of us have quite a few nostalgic memories of our childhood. The memories of my childhood mainly centers around Radio, TV, Comics and Playing on the streets. Nothing unusual to most of those from my generation. But still, I felt I should pen down, rather key down my thoughts. As a kid, I used to sit with my ears stuck to the stereo of the Radiogram. Listening to the radio was a favourite past time. I used to get excited when I heard a Rajkumar song in 'Nandana' having breakfast or having dinner and listening to SPB in 'Brundavana'. Some of the gramophone plates we had were of Raghavendra Swamy songs by Rajkumar, Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall, Pt. Ravishankar, Siri Siri Muvva, Shankarabharanam, Bhadrachala Ramadas Keerthanam by M. Balamuralikrishna. It was in the same year that I entered school and Television entered Bangalore. The first movie it telecast was the Rajkumar starrer in triple role 'Shankarguru'. I watched it in my neighbour's house, sitting on the floor, eating chips. I remember watching many movies, both Kannada and Hindi, Cricket matches, Serials, Chitrahaar/Chitramala and Chitramanjari in my neighbour's house till we got a BPL TV only when Seoul '88 Olympics happened. I was too young to understand Buniyaad, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi or Nukkad, which my sisters used to follow. Moreover I didn't know Hindi. But I used to watch these and the Hindi movies on Sunday evenings just not to be left out. Ashok Kumar's style as the sutradhaar of 'Humlog' is still a legend and always will be. Buniyaad was Ramesh Sippy's baby. It launched Alok Nath into the big league. My neighbours used to give me and others who used to sit through all the programmes, snacks and never cursed us. At least that's what I thought! Actually, they treated us like one among their family, really. I used to wait for programmes on Saturdays and Sundays. On Saturdays, I used to wait for the 4 detectives to crack the mystery in Ek, Do, Teen Char. It used to be just after Didi's Comedy Show which was really hilarious. Saturday evenings was when Giant Robot used to come into our homes... rather our neighbour's. Giant Robot had a Japanese kid, who had an ultra cool watch, using which he could control the Robot. The Robot had rocket type propellers on his back so he could fly. What a relief it was for me and my friends when the Japanese kid activated the Robot! Those monsters were really frightening, to say the least. A Kannada feature film was eagerly awaited by elders and youngsters alike. (Especially, if it was a Raj starrer). In between the movie, there would be 'Vaarthegalu' and a few 'Adachanegaagi Kshamisi'. Actually, a few of us used to go into the neighbour's house well before the telecast started. I distinctly remember that the TV screen would be filled with multicoloured bars (or shades of gray in a B/W TV) and a high pitch whining sound. He-man used to be telecast on a Sunday morning at 9. He and his friends used to fight Skeletor and his gang every Sunday. An ordinary prince, He-man, used to point the sword towards the sky and shout, "I am He-man, I have the power" which made him the most powerful man in the universe. Mickey & Donald was another popular cartoon. 'Sunil Gavaskar Presents' was an interesting programme when Sunny would give tips on how to play cricket. At 11.30, national programme of music with a very catchy title music by some unknown fellow called A.R.Rehman would feature Yesudas or Bhimsen Joshi or some other musician. By noon, Rajani (Priya Tendulkar) and Charlie Chaplin would be there to entertain us. At One, a lady with chubby cheeks would come and make some gestures with her hand. That would be the news for the hearing impaired. At 1.30. an award winning feature film would be telecast. Would pray for a Kannada film. But it was usually Bengali, Assamese, Oriya or Marathi. So back to playing 'Ice-pice' or cricket. So we would be playing cricket on the streets till 'Vikram aur Bethal' came in the evening. Bethal always used to tell Vikram a story, which would end in the form of a puzzle and ask Vikram to choose the correct alternative. The stories were rather interesting and this serial was probably inspired from the series in 'Chandamama'. "Spiderman, Spiderman, friendly neighbourhood spiderman..." would come at 5. I remember my friend jumping from a parapet wall to another and breaking his leg trying to copy Spiderman. A Hindi movie at 5.30 was not I would sit through fully. My father would call me out and tell me to come and study. I liked the ads preceding the film though. Washing Powder Nirma, Amul chocolates - a gift for someone you love, Thums up (Fun, Food, Friends and Thums Up), Laxman Sylavania with Asrani and Rakesh Bedi, Goldspot - the zing thing, Digjam, Vicco Vajradanti, Tata ka OK, Bombay Dyeing, Onida, Texla, Binatone, Binaca toothpaste that later became Cibaca, were some of the regular ads before the film. I would be let to watch Siddharth Basu's Quiz Time at 9 and "What's the good word" by Sabina Merchant. Quiz Time was classy and involved the common man. It had the best combination of questions from every field and had generous rounds of audio and visual rounds that kept you riveted to your seat. After Quiz Time, Great expectations, Discovery of India, Street Hawk, Nadia and 'Bodyline' serials became very popular. And I loved Mr. Spock in STAR TREK. Later Kannada transmission on Sundays started between 8 and 9 in the morning. It had Munnota, Sutta Mutta and AS Moorthy's ‘Jigi jigi jigi jigi jim bam bam bam bambeyaata’. Also, there was Chitravali (an actor would talk through with film clips of his/her choice) which I never missed. By mid ‘80s, Ramayan and Mahabharath had become a national addiction. Cutting across all barriers, these serials made busy roads wear that deserted look. We lost many Jackfruits and mangoes, and clothes hung out for drying while watching these two serials. And it was not as if they did not deserve the attention they got. I had a strange habit when Ramayan was mid-way through. I used to write all the ads before Ramayan and then compare the earlier week's number of ads. Seems silly now. On week days, I remember watching UGC programme on holidays that would give some good basics of Chemistry and Physics. Our teachers told us this was a very good programme to watch. I feel now that for a channel which came to you free of cost, UGC indeed was a good attempt. Lucy Show was funny. This was the first serial that taught us when to laugh by playing bits and pieces of laughter at regular intervals. Honi-Anhoni and Khile ka Rahasya were scary. The most scariest music I have heard till date is the title track of Khile Ka Rahasya. And the liveliest music is that of Malgudi Days. And I loved those cartoons by one RK Laxman. I was yet to read RK Narayan or see RK Laxman's 'You Said It'. (TOI came to Bangalore in the '90s).The familiar faces in the serial and the fact that our own Master Manjunath was acting to the direction of Shankar Nag was what endeared us to this gem of a serial. And the locales (Agumbe and surrounding areas) were awesome. What fascinating stories. DD also had a motivating serial called "Udaan" based on the cop Kiran Bedi. I used to love this message on the TV in both Hindi and English: "Rukhawat ke liye Khed Hai" and "Sorry for the Interruption" because DD used to show the German program "Telematch" during an interruption. Also this was common when there was rain during a cricket test or football match. The most sacrosanct of them all, Samachar and The News was presented by Sunith Tandon, Tej Bahadur Singh, Minu, Geethanjali Iyer, Rini Simon (later became Rini Khanna), Usha Albuquerque, Komal GB Singh, all serious looking men and women who had to, well, deliver all the drab news. Among Kannada news readers, I remember Ramakrishna Upadhyaya, Krishna Galagali, Ishwara Dai Thota and Sabeeha Bhanu. 'The World This Week' with an unbeatable title track which made Prannoy Roy and NDTV achieve superstar status had terrific viewership. Remember seeing international ads of Cathay Pacific, Singapore and Malaysian Airlines for this programme. I have even recorded the jingles of some of these ads. As for the ads, Pan Parag and Bajaj used to be popular then. Not to forget Kapil Dev's "Palmolive Ka Jawaab Nahi". The hottest ad in the early 80's used to be of the LIRIL girl drenched under the falls wearing only bikini. The Rasna ad featuring a popular girl and Umpire Swarup Kishan was also unforgettable and so was "Gale mein kich kich" ad having a star-fish kind of germ in the throat. Remember the ad where the school teacher asks pointing to a set of teeth drawn on the black board, "Bachho yeh hai hamare daanto ki banavat...." The Godrej shaving cream ad where Vivek Vasvani asks, "Sir which shaving cream do you use?" to a Clean Shaven Guy who tells "Great shave, cologne fragrance, Wife loves It!" Oh, by the way, does any of you remember a chocolate called "Double Decker"? It tasted like "Perk" (much better), and it came in an orange wrapper. There were these two ads with Sunny and that baseball bat-wielding guy, another with Sunny and a young lady in a Egyptian museum, where she gets all dolled up as Cleopatra for Dinesh Suitings. And this ad is unforgettable for me because I had got one on my butt for asking "what is Nirodh?" (I must have been a 10 year old then) after seeing the ad saying "Sukhi aur vaivahik jeevan ke liye...Nirodh. Sirf 30 paise mein". Dada Dadi ki Kahaniya used to rock. Mungerilal ke haseen sapne, Byomkesh Bakshi, Mr. Yogi and Wagle ki Duniya were not to be missed. Later in my teens, when I became an avid fan of RK Laxman, got to know that Wagle was none other than Laxman's Common Man. Byomkesh Bakshi was a take on Sherlock Holmes, done really well. The stories were brilliant and the acting superb. 'Ajithana Sahasagalu' in Kannada was also a detective serial I cannot forget. Other good Kannada serials were Sihi Kahi, Namma Nammalli, Crazy Colonel. Some very known faces were Vishwanatha Rao, Sihi Kahi Chandru and Geetha, Ramesh Bhatt, Girija Lokesh, Nagesh Yadav, Prakash Rai and Tennis Krishna as the conductor saying "AlKannanno" in his typical voice, among others. I was a kid when TV in most homes home was a B/W and chances were it was a EC TV/ Keltron/ Dyanora/ Texla/ Uptron or Solidaire. When Remote control was something James Bond used to activate a bomb through his watch. The heroes in Hindi were Amitabh, Jeetendra, Dharmendra and Mithun Chakraborthy. The heroines in Bollywood were Rekha, Hema Malini, Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman. Govinda, Chunky Pandey, Rati Agnihotri, Poonam Dhillon were considered newcomers. In Kannada, The top 1- 10 hero slot was Rajkumar. After that it was Vishnuvardhan, Ambarish and others. Top heroine was Arathi, Lakshmi, Manjula and Jayamala. Shivarajkumar and Sudharani were the new face of Kannada Cinema. I was a kid when people earnestly watched TV commercials. When people wore a HMT, Seiko or Citizen watch.When the Indian cricket team had names like Yashpal Sharma, Madan Lal, Roger Binny, and newcomers like Azharuddin, Sadanand Vishwanath, Arshad Ayub, Sivaramakrishnan and Narendra Hirwani. The West Indians Gordon Greenidge & Desmond Haynes were the top opening pair in World Cricket. I was a kid when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister and Narasimha Rao a Cabinet Minister. Gundu Rao was the CM. Then it was Hegde. (At one point of time, all the three Southern states: Karnataka, TN and Andhra had CMs whose name had 'Rama' in it. Ramakrishna Hegde, MG Ramachandran and NT Rama Rao). Rajiv Gandhi was on payroll of Indian Airlines and used to fly domestic flights. The word 'Bollywood' had still not stuck to the Hindi film Industry. Probably Margosa Road and Sampige Roads were the only ONE WAYs in Bangalore. If you had a telephone at home, it would in all probablity be a black one with a dial, which needed a finger to be inserted and rotated.(Mobile phone? Are you from Mars?) I was a kid when Kishore Kumar was the top male playback singer in Hindi films. Lata Mangeshkar was the top female playback singer in Hindi films. The top news magazines in the country were: India Today, The Illustrated Weekly of India, Sunday, Probe and Onlooker. No english newspaper had color pages except a couple of supplementary pages on Sunday. All English newspapers had 8 columns except The Hindu which had 6. DD was the only channel that you could watch in the evening. Later in the morning (24 hours Channel? What's that?). A Two wheeler meant an Atlas or Herculas. BSA SLR was a stylish bicycle and Enfield Bullet, TVS 50, Vespa, Lambretta and Bajaj were the in thing. A favourite past time for most boys used to be counting the number of Ambassadors or Premier Padminis passing by. I was a kid when VCP-VCR, Akai and Dubai were all synonymous with each other. We used to hire one along from a near by shop. The shop fellow connected them for a day and charged 100 bucks. And we watched a wedding of a relative 3-4 times before returning it back. For many, going to an English movie was a status symbol. Bell bottom pants, step-cutting and large 'cooling glasses' were usually seen on a single person on MG Road. Air conditioners were for super rich, Cinema theatres or 5 star hotels. There were numerous rumours of so called one-upmanship between Kapil Dev and Gavaskar. And of relation between Ravi Shastri and Amritha Singh. If you wanted to know how the Indian team was doing overseas, the only source was the DD news (besides the newspapers). Some other images that I remember of the '80s is Indira Gandhi's funeral 'LIVE' on DD, a Sri Lankan military guy trying to hit Rajiv Gandhi, Maradona's hand goal and Argentina's victory in Mexico '87. And the most memorable of them all: Kapil running behind to catch Viv Richards off Madan Lal! And I have preserved the SPORTSTAR issue of June 1983. And yes, Ravi Shastri and the Indian team riding the Audi at the MCG after winning Benson and Hedges Cup. After remembering this, I remembered Miandad's SIX off Chetan Sharma at Sharjah. Coming to other things apart from TV that got me hooked in the '80s. I loved TINKLE with several short comic stories and where readers could also contribute their own. I especially used to like Suppandi, Anwar, Hodja, Tantri the Mantri, Kaalia the crow and TTT: i.e. Tinkle Tricks and Treats. Learnt to do lots of fun things from this page. On and off, I read Asterix and Tintin. Loved the glossy pages and the drawings by A.Uderzo and Herge. Amar Chitra Katha, I suspect for millions of Indian children, including me, has been the biggest source of knowledge of Indian mythology and history. Between the time when we were not yet ready to read extensive treatises on these topics (not that we do now) but had started to read, this was an ideal tool to whet our imagination and quench the inquisitiveness that starts to permeate within us during those early years. Amar Chitra Katha is still the best way to educate oneself. Learnt all my classics from that. Talking of comics, remembered this cartoon animated filler on DD. You can hardly find anyone of my generation who has not seen the “Ek Anek aur Ektha” animated movie. It was a short animation film targeted at National integration and was used as filler by DD at that time and, thanks to the fact that satellite TV wasn't even there, was immensely popular. Other DD fillers that are popular to this day (not aired) are Mile sur mera tumhara, Baje Sargam (It featured both celebrity and the common man alike) and the one showing us not to spread Rumours. There were a couple of National integration songs made by Kannada DD like "Navellaru onde jaathi" and "Molagali Molagali" featuring most actors of serials and a few film stars like Vishnuvardhan, Bharathi, Sundara Krishna Urs and Shivaram. Summer holidays meant that Carrom boards, Chowka-bhara, Pagade all saw the light of the day. Also, since we had a huge mango and jackfruit tree (as you might have got to know after reading here), myself and my cousins were up on the branches playing 'Mara-Kothi' (Monkey and the Tree) half of the time. Going for a movie meant a gang of nothing less than 15-20 of us. And we used to walk to the "Talkies" and munched groundnuts on our way back. Looking at the posters before the film was my hobby. It still is. One of the most memorable movies in my childhood days was the 3D film 'Chota Chethan.' How things have changed. Although now, we can watch the latest movies on our laptops and mini TV/DVD/Video combo units, that sense of joy of watching TV programs and movies on DD/ Theatres have gone forever. I am feeling lighter after putting down my thoughts of my childhood and the days as it were in the '80s. Hope you enjoyed reading this post. I am not able to remember if I have forgotten anything from the '80s. If I have, the readers are welcome to post it in the comments. As life takes us through lots of ups and downs, memories are something we hold on to and cherish as we grow up. Even as the world around us changes, there are times when we love to sit back and think of the innocent kids that we once were. It sort of puts us in touch with the child in us.

Monday, June 12, 2006

The Hero

1982. The kid is asleep after waiting for a long time. He has come with his mother and sisters to the Town Hall to have a glimpse of his 'Hero'. And when the hero finally comes, there is a huge cheer. Our kid is woken up by the whistling and cheering. In his sleepy eyes he just gets a passing picture of whom he had been waiting to see all evening. And when the Hero is on stage, there are plenty of people obstructing the kid's view. 1984. He starts collecting pictures of his Hero from magazines and newspapers. 1990. The kid now is a little boy. He is with his Akka-Bhava at a marriage hall. And again he is anticipating his Hero. The boy is not interested in anything other than meeting his Hero. The Hero comes finally. When he gets to see him, the little boy speaks to his Hero and manages to get an autograph. This is his prized possession and shows it off to anyone and everyone. A month later, he is excited to see his picture with the newly wed couple and his Hero published in a magazine. 1991. The boy and his mother at a public gathering. The Hero sharing the stage with a Swamiji and a Cabinet Minister. The boy gets to hear his Hero sing 'Live' for the first time. 1992. The boy has managed to do a scrapbook of his Hero. 2002. The boy is an adult and the Hero has aged. The young fellow has borrowed a Video-cam from a friend to shoot interesting shots of the city. Accidentally, he comes in front of his Hero's house. And as luck would have it, the Hero is about to leave in his car. And the young fellow is all the while shooting his idol. The Hero calls him and asks if he is from the 'Press" to which our fellow says that he is just a 'fan'. The Hero and our boy have a 2 minute chat and a shake hand. Our chap has made a few scrapbooks, collages and collected rare posters of his Hero. 2003. He has designed a poster for a famous Music Recording Company that brought out his Hero's cassettes on his 75th birthday. But the young man's desire to show his collection of pictures, posters and scrapbooks to his Hero and get them autographed remains unfulfilled. 2005. The young man is now married. But he is lucky that through a relative, he gets to meet the Hero. And has an audience for a couple of hours. He shows his collections. The 'Hero' patiently takes a look at the collages and books made on him. He remarks that the fan's collection surpasses his own. He narrates a lots of anecdotes and stories related to the pictures in the scrapbook. He tells his experience as a hostage. And tells that he enjoyed his days in the forest. The fan listens quietly. The Hero asks about his guest's profession. And as the young fellow describes his job at an advertising agency, he is surprised to know that his Hero knows a lot of things about ad agencies. The Hero's better half joins the chat and appreciates the collection. She goes around the house showing the fan's collection to all the members. The Hero's daughter and son are over-joyed seeing some rare snaps in the collage. The fan sees that his Hero is unable to walk comfortably, finds it difficult to move around with ease. He finally accepts that his Hero, RAJKUMAR, has aged. Until then, for the fan, Rajkumar could run, dance and fight with élan. But the fan, i.e. Your's truly, is simply shocked to see Rajkumar struggling to do simple things like sitting with folded legs. But still, he is happy that ANNAVRU can humourously chat and has so much to share. I have a look at the room. The wardrobe is open and all I see is sparkling white silk panches and silk shirts. The room has a huge painting of his parents. There are a few kids playing in the drawing room. An hour has passed chatting and munching snacks with Annavru. A doctor is waiting to treat him. And sitting next to his bed, I get to see how much difficult Annavru is finding it to do what the doctor is telling him. Still, he does all the exercises and the doctor checks his pulse rate. Everything fine. Annavru shows the doctor my collection. The doctor has a word of praise for me. He takes a snap of me with Annavru. And another with Rajkumar and Parvathamma. I get my scrapbooks, posters and collages autographed by the hero. I get up to take leave. He gestures me to sit for some more time. He asks me about my parents. And feels really sad that I have lost them at a young age. And we chat for a while about music and philosophy. Another hour has passed. And I say it is time for me to leave. I put my hand forward for a hand shake. But he opens his arms for a hug. What more can you ask for than a hug from a person whom you have worshipped all your life? And how many fans get this privilege? "Saarthaka aaythu kanayya Ramakrishna Annavra abhimaani aagiddakke" I say to myself. Rajkumar walks with me till the gate and has that lively smile. He waves his hand and bids me goodbye. I am overwhelmed after coming home that my dream has finally been realised. I realise that Rajkumar is first a gem of a human being, only then a gem of an actor. A few days later, the government arranges 'Saarthaka Suvarna' to honour Annavru. I shoot a few pictures of the entrance having attractive close up shots of Dr. Raj from his popular films. Bearing the pain, he manages to get up everytime someone comes up to wish him. And he is totally tired at the end of the programme when he has to speak. I buy the book brought out by the government on this occasion titled 'Bangarada Manushya'. I finish reading it in two days. 2006. Nine months after I met him, on April twelfth, at around two in the afternoon, as I am busy designing a web portal, I get a call from my wife’s brother in Hyderabad saying Annavru is no more. I simply close my eyes and remember the day I met him for a few hours. And pray for his soul to rest in peace. I visit The Hindu, which is next to my office to confirm the news. And the reporters tell me that arson has begun. What unfolded later, you all know. It is exactly two months since we lost a fine human being, an actor non-pareil in the demise of Rajkumar. Very few actors will get the variety of roles that Rajkumar got in his career. And perhaps he was the last hero from the Actor-Singer era. I can hardly think of any hero who won a national award for singing. Rajkumar certainly deserved a peaceful farewell. But, as the saying goes, 'Man proposes, God disposes'.

Friday, June 09, 2006

A son need not be like his father

On a walk last week, I met an old friend with whom I had a long chat near MES College. My son, whom I was carrying, got restless that I was 'standing' instead of 'walking'. My friend saw him and jokingly asked, "Yenappa, nim appana thara neenu Graphic Designer aagthiya?" (Will you also become a Graphic Designer like your father?) for which I replied that a son need not be like his father. On the way back home, I remembered the story of 'Ashtavakra'. When my son asks me to tell him a bed time story, will certainly tell this one. I had read about Ashtavakra in C.Rajagopalachari's "Mahabharata". Worth recollecting the story (Rajaji's version): While the Pandavas were wandering among holy place in the forest, they came one day to the hermitage of the personages immortalised in the Upanishads. Lomasa told Yudhishtira the story of that place. Uddalaka, a great sage and teacher of Vedanta, had a disciple named Kagola, who was virtuous and devoted, but had no great learning. So the other disciples used to laugh and mock at him. Uddalaka, however, attached no great weight to his disciple's lack of erudition but really appreciated his virtues, devotion and good conduct and gave his daughter Sujata in marriage to him. The couple was blessed with a son. A child generally inherits the characteristics of both parents, but fortunately the grandson of Uddalaka took after his grandfather rather than his father and knew the Vedas even while he was in his mother's womb. When Kagola made mistakes, as he often did in reciting the Vedas, the child in the womb would twist his body with pain, and so it came to pass that he had eight crooks in his body when he was born. These crooks earned him the name of 'Ashtavakra' which means eight crooks. Kagola, one ill-fated day, provoked a polemical contest with Vandi, the court scholar of Mithila, and having been defeated, was made to drown himself. Meanwhile Ashtavakra grew up to be a towering scholar even in his boyhood, and at the age of twelve he had already completed the study of the Vedas and the Vedanta. One day, Ashtavakra learnt that Janaka, the king of Mithila was performing a great sacrifice in the course of which the assembled scholars would, as usual, debate on the sastras. Ashtavakra set out for Mithila, accompanied by his uncle Swetaketu. On their way to the place of sacrifice at Mithila, they came across the king and his retinue. The attendants of the king marched in front shouting: "Move away, move away for the king." Ashtavakra instead of moving out of the way said to the retainers: " O royal attendants, even the king, if he is righteous, has to move and make way for the blind, the deformed, the fair sex, persons bearing loads and brahmanas learned in Vedas. this is the rule enjoined by the scriptures." The king, surprised at these wise words of the brahmana boy, accepted the justness of the rebuke and made way, observing to his attendants: "What this brahmana stripling says is true. Fire is fire whether it is tiny or big and it has the power to burn." Ashtavakra and Swetaketu entered the sacrificial hall. The gate-keeper stopped them and said: "Boys cannot go in. Only old men learned in the Vedas may go into the sacrificial hall." Ashtavakra replied: "We are not mere boys. We have observed the necessary vows and have learnt the Vedas. Those who have mastered the truths of the Vedanta will not judge another by mere considerations of age or appearance." The gate-keeper said: "Stop. Have done with your idle brag. how can you, a mere boy, have learnt and realised the Vedanta?" The boy said: "You mean I am not big like an over-grown gourd with no substance in it? Size is no indication of knowledge or worth, nor is age. A very tall old man may be a tall old fool. Let me pass." The gate-keeper said: "You are certainly not old, nor tall, though you talk like all the hoary sages. Get out." Ashtavakra replied: "Gate-keeper, grey hairs do not prove the ripeness of the soul. The really mature man is the one who has learnt the Vedas and the Vedangas, mastered their gist and realised their essence. I am here to meet the court pandit Vandi. Inform king Janaka of my desire." At that moment the king himself came there and easily recognised Ashtavakra, the precociously wise boy he had met before. The king said: " Do you know that my court pandit Vandi has overthrown in argument many great scholars in the past and caused them to be cast into the ocean? Does not that deter you from this dangerous adventure? Ashtavakra replied: "Your eminent scholar has hitherto not encountered men like me who are proficient in the Vedas or Vedanta. He has become arrogant and vain with easy victories over good men who were not real scholars. I have come here to repay the debt due on account of my father, who was defeated by this man and made to drown himself, as I have heard from my mother. I have no doubt I will vanquish Vandi, whom you will see crumple up like a broken-wheeled cart. Please summon him." Ashtavakra met Vandi. They took up a debatable thesis and started an argument, each employing his utmost learning and wits to confound the other, and in the end the assembly unanimously declared the victory of Ashtavakra and the defeat of Vandi. The court pandit of Mithila bowed his head and paid the forfeit by drowning himself in the ocean and going to the abode of Varuna. Then the spirit of Kagola, the father of Ashtavakra, gained peace and joy in the glory of his son. Sage Veda Vyasa instructs us through these words put in Kagola's mouth: "A son need not be like his father. A father who is physically weak may have a very strong son and an ignorant father may have a scholarly son. It is wrong to assess the greatness of a man on his physical appearance or age. External appearances are deceptive." Which shows that the unlearned Kagola was not devoid of common-sense. ****** ****** ****** I was fortunate to have attended Swamy Paramahamsa Sri Nityananda's lectures on 'Ashtavakra Geeta' held at Bangalore's St. Joseph's auditorium (next to Mallya Hospital) in December 2005. After hearing the lecture, I was eager to read the book 'Ashtavakra Geetha'. And I could do it only a good 6 months later. Recently, I purchased the book Ashtavakra Geetha (The Song of the Self Supreme). The book opens with this paragraph: Ashtavakra Geetha is a unique text among the world's contemplative classics dealing systematically with the mystical experiences of the Self on its way to transcendence, peace and bliss. There are few ancient treatises in East or West which evince such profound and lively concern with the Supreme Self as the ultimate reality, embodied in mystical insight and experience, and written with such spiritual imagination and poetic fervour. It may indeed be compared with the Dialogues of Plato, the Tao Teh King and the Bhagavad Geetha that all record universal insights and experiences of meditation which belong to the heritage of entire mankind. A verse in the opening chapter of the Ashtavakra Geeta says that he who considers himself free becomes free and he who thinks he is bound remains bound. This goes to establish the proverbial saying, "As one thinks, so one becomes.'' Such a shift in focus can be brought about only when the identification with the body-mind-intellect personality is transcended. The mind is the instrument for receiving Self- knowledge. Due to ignorance it identifies with the body which is transient. One who wants to abide in the Self (Atman) has to get over this mistaken identification by rooting out everything that falls in the category of the non-Self. By constantly identifying with the Self the seeker manifests his spiritual nature. After Ashtavakra defeated Vandi, king Janaka accepted him as his preceptor and was taught this Samhita by him. 'Ashtavakra Geetha is exclusively related to matters regarding the nature of the Self, means of realising the Self, state of mystic experience and the state of realisation in the embodied state. Throughout, it insists on detachment to worldly objects as essential to Self-realisation. One striking feature of its style is that it mostly weaves the words of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Geetha into its verses. Adi Sankara in his 'Viveka Choodamani' says that the body should be shunned as one would a disgusting object. This is only to reinforce the truth that the body is only an instrument and hence it should be cared for only to the extent of keeping it fit for higher pursuits. Any more attention than this will amount to obsession. The Bhagavad Geetha also points out that it is difficult to meditate on the formless Absolute for one who is centred on the body. How is it possible to overcome the identity with the body? When we do something for someone we love there is so much spontaneity and involvement that we forget the strain on the body. So the mind has to be charged with a higher value for it to transcend identification with the body. In spiritual life the path of selfless action is a powerful tool to transcend the body identity as thoughts get vitalised when the mind is selfless and the vision then expands beyond the body. This path requires one to perform actions that have to be done but without the motive for the result. Then there will be acceptance of the outcome as divine will. There is only a thin dividing line between the attitude of escapism and acceptance. Selfless action is not escapism but total acceptance of the divine will. There is another Geetha called 'Udhava Geetha'. It is a prose rendering based on the Sanskrit classic and Bhagavatha. Works of this kind may be needed more in future based on the other Geethas as well, as there is a great deal of interest among youth at present to go deep into Indian thought and tradition. Udhava was an intimate friend and minister of Lord Krishna. In addition, he was a reputed student of Brihaspathi and was a great intellect. He acted as a messenger to Kamsa. Since he was aware that the Yadhava clan was going to be wiped out, he took the opportunity to clear some of his own doubts and put up about 21 questions to the Lord who answered them with clarity and authority. This portion forms the major part of the Udhava Geetha. It has about 1043 verses, which are presented in the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata. I was surprised to know that as many as 45 Geethas exist, apart from Bhagavad Geetha. In the Mahabharatha, there are 16 Geethas (Manki geetha, Utathya geetha, Vaamadeva geetha, Rishabha geetha, Shadaja geetha, Sampaaka geetha, Bodhya geetha, Vichakhnu geetha, Haareetha geetha, Vritra geetha, Paraashara geetha, Hamsa geetha, Brahma geetha, Anu geetha, Braahmana geetha and Hari geetha). Those found in Puranas - There are 20 Geethas here (2 nos. of Kapila geetha, 2 nos. of Rama geetha, 2 nos. of Brahma geetha, 3 nos. of Yama geetha and one no. of Hamsa, Bhikshu, Vaasistha, Soorya, Devi, Sootha, Shiva, Eeshwara, Vyaasa, Rudra and Ganesha geethas). Independent works not found in any other works referred above - 4 Geethas in total (Ashtavakra geetha, Avadhootha geetha, Uttara geetha and Paandava geetha). Those which glorify the greatness of the original Bhagavadgeetha and these come under category of ‘Geetha Maahaathmya’ - There are 5 in number and can be found in Yogavasistha, Agni Purana, Padma Purana, Vayu Purana and Varaaha Purana. Like this there are 45 Geethas in Total other than the great celestial song ‘Srimadbhagavadgeetha’. Gita Jayanthi for the year 2006 falls on Thursday the 30th of November.

We've failed to find our feet in football

If India really wants to become a good football nation, the need of the hour is to work at grass-root level. We need to open more and more academies with top facilities. The way All India Football Federation runs football in our country, it is highly unlikely that we will ever own a strong national team. Maybe, we will always remain the game's romantics who become a Brazilian or an Argentine once in every four years! Loved these two cartoons related to the World cup. First one shows a big fish (football) eating the small fish (Cricket ball) by Surendra in 'The Hindu'. The second is by Unny in 'The Indian Express'. Trivia: In 1950, India withdrew because FIFA would not let them play in bare feet. So only 13 teams participated in the final tournament. In 2006, 32 teams from across the globe make up the field for the FIFA World Cup. By the way, who said India is not at the World cup? So many Cabinet ministers, Ministers in State Governments., bureaucrats, officials in the sports federations are all going at the tax payers expense. And we the salaried people have to give details of expenses in IT returns.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Idli-Vadas are HOT here

One reason why I wanted my wife to deliver at Lakshmi Maternity Home, apart from the fact that it had a very famous Gynaecologist, was because it was very next to Veena Stores. It proved to be very convenient for me and the visitors to have Idli/ Vada early in the morning or keep a flask full of hot Coffee ready for those who visited to see the new-born. Veena Stores is quite an unlikely name for a hotel, but that’s exactly what it is. The name is synonymous with fluffy Idlis, crisp Vadas and Pudheena Chutney. It's a small but very popular vegetarian restaurant in Bangalore. What started as a condiment store in 1977 has morphed into a popular eatery much sought after for its soft melting in the mouth Idlis served with only Chutney in unlimited quantities, huge crisp Vadas, spicy Shavige Baath, Uppit and Kesari Baath. Kesari Bath, though very tasty has an overdose of ghee accounting for the rich taste. Unfortunately today we do not exercise leading a sedentary lifestyle and any extra helping or overdose of unsaturated medium gives the jitters. But you can still have all of this without forgetting to lick the fingers and you will not be poorer by even 30/-. Wash down the above with a small serving of Coffee/ Tea or Badam milk (I prefer Coffee) one goes home feeling heavenly. This unassuming address, (Opposite the Telephone exchange on 15th Cross, Malleswaram) is on a one way zone. Every morning and evening, for years, the regulars and the visitors savour yummy Idlis standing on the footpath. Don't worry, no pedestrian will grudge this encroachment. Usually, the clientele slowly increase in numbers in the evening (after 5 pm) as the fresh aromas entice them for a stop over before proceeding home. You can see the dough being freshly grounded. The chutney is warm to touch as mixies are not made use of. Ground in stone rollers the taste is superb. Reach here on a Sunday morning and all you can see is the board which says ‘Veena Stores’ and a throng of people under it thrusting their hands in, bringing food out! Chances of meeting your long lost friend in this crowd are very high. As I said, the Idli-Chutney-Vada trio are mind blowing. Of course the small vadas are good as is the Puliyogare or the Vangibhath, but don’t miss the chutney. The Idlis are small, fluffy ‘melt in the mouth’ types. If you are looking for a place to sit down and eat, this is not for you. But if it’s charm (and chutney) you’re looking for, you know where to go. It's also a haunt for the joggers and office crowd. There are some regular chaps playing Basketball at Beagles and coming to Veena Stores every evening. Can say this with authority as I myself was a regular for a few years. I am eating here from the days when a Idli cost 40 paise. Now it is Rs.2.50 an Idli. I remember reading long back about Veena Stores in India Today and many other magazines and newspapers. Veena Stores becomes a habit for my sisters, brothers-in-law, nephew and nieces when they are visiting India. This might be true for many in Malleswaram also! Simply goes to show that people look at quality and not the size of your eating outlet. Who knows, I may be having a sip of coffee with my son at Veena Stores after seeing my grandchild! Veena Stores Noorkaala Baalali (May Veena Stores live for 100 more years) Veena Stores 183, 15th cross, Margosa road Malleswaram Bangalore 560 055 Phone: 080-23344838 Open from 6am -11am and 3.30-8 pm [Photo: RK]

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Euro English

I have this habit of taking a print out of anything interesting I come across on the net. Maybe not a good idea because every nook and corner of my house is piled up with papers and books. There are so many paper clippings and articles to be pasted into the scrapbook. I am worried that once my 9-month old son starts walking, what will happen to all those pieces of paper? I also have this habit of preserving newspapers and magazines which is of historical importance or which has my article/ letter in it. My prized possession, among other papers, is the one that my grandfather had of the Indian Express dated January 26, 1950. But, in this blog, I want to share the contents of one the earliest e-mails I received a good decade back. It was mailed to me by a friend who is now in USA. I remember the joy of holding the printout of this mail. (Still in my collection, and the paper has turned yellowish). The Mail I thought you might find this article interesting. The News Standard has received this bulletin fresh from our Brussels based News Service... The European Union Commissioners have announced that agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as Euro English (Euro for short). In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c". Sertainly, sivil servants will reseive this news with joy. Also, the hard "c" will be replaced with 'k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters and keyboards can have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced by "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20 per sent shorter. In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent "e"s in the languag is disgrasful, and they would go. By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" by "z" and "w" by "v". During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou", and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters. After ze fifz year, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech ozer. Ze drem vil finali kum tru.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Soccer? It's at my fingertips.

Soccer fever will grip some of us temporarily. I came across these pictures and suddenly thought with Bangalore's shrinking open spaces and playgrounds becoming totally unavailable for recreational facilities, soccer in the future might be played like how it is shown in this picture. It is really worrying parents that children remain indoors and become obese and get addicted to TV or Computers. If the kids do come out and play, people complain about children obstructing traffic movement or broken window panes. The reason for both complaints is the lack of playgrounds in the city. Builders concentrate on formation of more and more apartment blocks, ignoring the basic necessity of playgrounds for children and elders as well. As a result, open space in the city is shrinking day by day. Playgrounds become totally unavailable for recreational facilities at least for a couple of months in a year, barring the rainy season. During the Ganesha festival, they become the venues to install the idol and conduct various programmes. When there is a public meeting, playgrounds are taken over. During Deepavali, playgrounds are the place to sell firecrackers. (Malleswaram grounds comes to mind immediately.) What lovely time the kids will have if the corporation bothers to provide a playground in every layout.

666: The number of the beast (and, gulp, today's date)

Good that Dhoni is not batting today. If he had hit 6,6,6 in an over, god knows what ill luck it would have brought on him or the Indian team. If you are still ignorant of this number, let me tell you. On the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year, a combination of theology, mathematics and good old-fashioned superstition is bringing a controversial passage from the New Testament into the 21st century. Today is 06/06/06; devilishly close to 666. June 6, 2006, or 6-6-06, yields the dreaded number 666, known in the Bible as a sure sign of the apocalypse. Here's another diabolic number: 7734. Remember as a kid punching the digits into a calculator, then turning the calculator upside down, so they spelled "hell"?. Fear of the number 666 is called Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. "Let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six." (Revelation 13:16-18, New Revised Standard Version) The number 666 -- the "number of the beast," according to the Book of Revelation -- conjures devilish images for many, so forecasts of evil, even doom, are rampant regarding dates or places where the number occurs, including today, June 6, or 6-6-06. No surprise, then, that someone has found a way to make money off all these fears: coming soon is a remake of the 1976 horror film, "The Omen," the story of a modern-day birth of an Antichrist figure in the form of an evil boy named Damien (the original starred Gregory Peck and Lee Remick). Producers have scheduled the movie's release date for -- when else? -- today, June 6, 2006. (multiplexes are slated to play the new film, releasing today, at 6.06 pm.) Maybe the tickets are priced at Rs.66.6. I read that expectant mothers are delaying labour so that they don't give birth on the date associated with Antichrist. Famous persons born on this 'dreaded' day are Sukarno, first President of Indonesia, Sunil Dutt, Indian actor and politician and Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player. I think their moms didn't know about the 666 phenomenon. 666 SIGHTINGS Among many coincidences that occur with numbers, life itself is based partly on these three: Carbon atoms, key to life as we know it, have six protons, six neutrons and six electrons in their most common form. It seems the world's most expensive mobile number is 666 6666. The sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is w - so www. shows how evil the internet is! And, Viagra has a molecular weight of 666.7g/mol. Whether by superstition, strange happening or clever intent, 666 has become a cultural phenomenon. Here are a few more examples: ٠ In 1999, the Crystal Palace in London opened the Tower Building for meetings of the Fifth Parliament of Europe. The membership totaled 679; yet, the galley held 680 seats. Seat No. 666 remained empty. ٠ Heavy metal group Iron Maiden released its album "The Number of the Beast" in 1982. That same year, while touring, producer Martin Birch was reportedly involved in a car accident. When the bill for repairs came to 666 British pounds, Birch insisted on paying more. ٠ After his presidency and until his death in 2004, Ronald Reagan resided in a Bel Air house at 666 St. Cloud Road. Shortly after moving in, his wife, Nancy, had the number changed to 668. ٠ In 2004, some Rome, Ga., moviegoers were outraged when they discovered 666 printed on their tickets for a showing of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." Management explained that it was a prefix for a series of numbers that a computer randomly assigned. ٠ When added together, the numbers on a roulette table (1 to 36) total 666. ٠ In the movie "Pulp Fiction," the number was the code used to open a briefcase. ٠ In Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" the famous chandelier is lot 666 in the opening auction. ٠ The first Apple computer, Apple I, had an official list price of $666. ٠ The book "Unexplained! Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences & Puzzling Physical Phenomena" by Jerome Clark has 666 pages. ٠ When Intel introduced the 666 MHz Pentium III in 1999, they decided to market it as the Pentium III 667 claiming that since the actual speed was 666.666 MHz, therefore 667 was the more accurate approximation.

٠ The sum of the squares of the first 7 primes is 666: 2² + 3² + 5² + 7² + 11² + 13² + 17² = 666

But despite dire warnings from the Bible, conspiracy theorists and Iron Maiden about the beastly nature of "666", numerologists really love this number. Six is about the energy of co-operation, love and beauty. Then if you add six, six and six, you get 18, which then adds up to nine. Nine is the most spiritual number - it contains the energy of all the other numbers. So there's nothing to be afraid of - nine is the number of the soul and there's nothing in any way that's sinister about it.

Monday, June 05, 2006

'Muktha Samvada' with a difference

Right: CSP's USP is his middle class-ness Below: A rare shot: (from left) Adarsh, Srikanth, Sanjay, Shruthi, Chaitanya, Bellur Ramakrishna, Girish Hampali, Usha and Mrs.Lalitha (Sanjay's mother) with TNS and Dev Anand. On June 3 (1880), Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first wireless telephone message on his newly-invented 'photophone'. It was on June 3 (1966) that one of the finest fast bowlers of our generation, Wasim Akram, was born. A famous writer and politician, K.Karunanidhi, was also born on this day. Why I am giving you so many details about the date is because another fine human being, Sanjay, someone whom I have known personally for just over a month but through his blog for a longer period, was also born on this date. And it was his birthday that made June 3 a very memorable one for me and others who met at 'Bugle Rock' this Saturday afternoon. And we had a Yorkshire-like weather to revel in. The get-together was being planned for a long time. Finally, we were all ready to meet at Bugle Rock in Basavanagudi at 1.00 pm. On our way, we got messages from a few saying they will not be able to make it. And a few asked for the directions. Sanjay 'The Common man' was skeptical about the number that would make it. As we parked our car in front of the Bull Temple, I recognised Girish Hampali (having seen his picture on his daughter's website). When we went to the 'Rock', no one had turned up yet. Sanjay, his mother, Girish and myself kept chatting surrounded by huge trees. There was no sounds from vehicles and no polluted air. The atmosphere was literally COOL. Chaithanya joined us a little later. It was past 2 and all of us marched towards 'Kamath Bugle Rock'. We had good South Indian meals. Srikanth joined us and gifted a peacock feather to the birthday boy. Shruthi, who had earlier messaged that she would not be able to make it, finally showed up. Most of us wondered whether we were having any 'Hallucinations'! All of us went to the 'Rock' again and got to know each other better. Usha came in after a while. She and Girish seemed to know the place(Bugle Rock) like the back of their palm. Girish suggested that we could invite TNS as we had a decent crowd. He called the ace director and told about the Common Man's Blog. TNS agreed for the EXCLUSIVE SAMVADA. And this one's rights was not with E-TV. Before the Mukhamuki began, we had a good view of the park from atop the watch tower. It was greenery all around. And looked great. It was fun watching a few kids sliding down a few rocks. In the next few minutes, we were seated in front of Muktha's CSP. He was accompanied by a couple of his assistants, one of whom was Devanand (the cop who arrests Rane and Chabria). Seetharam was very happy to know about the Muktha page on Sanjay's blog. He said that he had not yet seen the blog as he was not a computer literate. When I told he had to just Google for 'Muktha', he told he could not even Start a computer, let alone finding Google page. Had a good laugh at that. All of us had a wholesome chat with TNS. We spoke about Muktha, MNCs, CET, Politics, Mrs. Mukhyamantri, Muktha-The magazine run by TNS. All through, it was raining like mad. And we were lucky that the 'Samvada' was happening at an odd place and an odd hour. Five in the evening in a pretty new restaurant when it is pouring outside is an unlikely place when you can find a celebrity, let alone chat. We took pictures with TNS and got his autograph. We wished him luck for his future projects. All of us were beaming with joy at the end of the chat session. People in the hotel, customers as well as staff were staring at us as we came down with TNS till the entrance. I saw one guy agape with a piece of Dosa in his hand. It was still raining and TNS hopped in to his car while we waited for the rain to stop. All the while when we were chatting with TNS, there was another celeb quietly having coffee at the other end of the room. By the beard and the attire, no one could miss him. It was Pavagada Prakash Rao (Philosopher and Commentator) whose 'Satya Darshana' on DD has been immensely popular. As the rain stopped, we thanked each other for making the day a memorable one. And as we bid adieu, we had a lot of pleasant memories of June 3. Picture Courtesy: Sanjay Mysoremutt Design: RK

Friday, June 02, 2006

Spellbound

By the time he had got the spelling for the word 'Heiligenschein' wrong, 13-year-old Rajiv Tarigopula had gained so much of respect for his ability to spell complex words with a serene disposition that he got a standing ovation. - Rediff.com Over the years, whenever I have seen the results of the Spelling Bee contest I have always noticed that there were quite a few Indian kids in the final rounds. It seems like other people have also noticed this. "Indians are very good at spelling and mathematics." You might have heard this many times. We should be proud that many people in our community are smart but yes, it would be good if the general public would understand we're not all alike. I once saw a hoarding in a small town: Lurn Inglish inn too weaks. So, what do we have that extra bit compared to other ethnic groups that makes our kids spell 'Gallinaceous' in a jiffy? A major contributing factor for our edge in Spelling Bees is the "Ratta hodi syndrome" (to learn By-heart) from our school days. (The fairer sex are masters of "Rote learning".) This way, memorizing gets ingrained in us. Also, we have an advantage because we are very bookish and our children read a lot. Parental support or lack of support is a big, perhaps crucial, factor in the child’s success/ failure in a competition. Next, our kids have some particular advantages when it comes to mastering spelling. Their parents or grandparents are usually educated, often as Doctors or Engineers. The kids' parents generally speak English and appreciate the power of education. And, we are comfortable with the rote-learning methods, the kind needed to master lists of obscure words that easily stump spell-checker programs. Rote learning means memorizing something "by heart", or exactly as it was presented to the student in the textbook or teacher's lecture. Common applications of rote learning are spelling lists, mathematical rules, historical dates, and chemical formulas. After the students have memorized the given material, they are tested by repeating the material exactly as it was originally given to them. Rote learning is well suited for foreign language vocabulary, history, and spelling tests. And mind you. It is not memory alone which can win you spelling competitions. You need to analyse. The best spellers take the things they know -- root words and spelling conventions of different languages of origin -- and figure out how to spell words they don't know. Memory is a crucial component of these intellectual activites we think are so important. In ancient India, "Rote memorisation" was necessary to preserve the original text in the absence of means to print and publish works of knowledge. It was vital in a place where religious institutions were destroyed by foreign invaders. Since books were burnt and temples were destroyed, the only way was to memorize the sacred texts. But today, "Rote memorisation" will not get you into any elite institution in India. Be it the IIT-JEE, GATE, CAT or the UPSC, entrance tests demand a very well developed ability to understand, interpret and analyse problems and issues. Nowhere is education so much valued as in India. It is the only way to get out of your economic misery. There is a fine balance between parents wanting what they consider the best for their children and pressuring them to fit into their perception of what is best for them. Their actions and words, thoughts and unsaid expectations, do create paradigms for their children to meet. And, sometimes, perhaps that pressure to exceed causes stress and actions that are not healthy. Parents try to fulfil their own unfulfilled achievements and their need for recognition through their kids. They insist that the child excel in some field or the other. That way not only will the child be famous, but the parents would also enjoy their moments of glory through the child. In today's competitive world there is too much of emphasis laid on excelling in some field or the other. Pressure from the homefront just adds to the already existing stress. This in turn leads to severe depression and insecurity. Each child has his or her potential. The parent should respect it. It is important to communicate with them openly so that the child is free to voice his or her likes and dislikes. But the extent to which some Indian parents goad and force kids to be successful in spelling competitions, I feel, is so maddening. Neither the parents nor the kids might be having any life beyond the spelling competition. And I am sure not many kids are interested to know the spelling of Heiligenschein, Ursprache, Gallinaceous, Zebu or Phalarope.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

MS: Music Sublime

The sun was beating down with full gusto. It was a bright day in Chennai and the mood was upbeat in the hotel room where I was staying. I had for company the Secretary of Sri Lalithakala Academy, Mysore. The then Minister for Kannada and Culture Smt. Rani Sathish (who later acted in TN Seetharam's 'Muktha' as a judge) was to join us in a few minutes. All of us were excited as we were to present an award. I repeat. We were to present an award and not receive. And we were EXCITED. We reached the peaceful locality of Kotturpuram and searched for the house which had 'Sivam' and 'Shubham' on either side of the gate. We found the house and as we entered I could hear the sound of a thousand Tamburas. As soon as we stepped inside the drawing room, I was thrilled to see a legend in flesh and blood, whom I had admired since childhood, in front of me with folded hands and welcoming us. I was seated in front of none other than MS.(I have purposely not used any of the titles her fans have showered her with because she was simply 'MS' to both connoisseur and lay man alike). I couldn't believe that the voice that awakened millions of Indians in India and abroad, in temples and tea stalls, in all seasons, was enquiring about my well being. I was still pinching myself to believe this was happening. She looked like any of our Ajjis, clad in a cotton saree, reclining on a bamboo chair with a pocket-sized Vishnu-Sahasranama book, with oily pages. The initial pleasantries over, a cook got us hot steaming coffee. In a corner of the room, a Tambura and a Veena stood silently. I wondered the glorious times MS might have sung playing them during her rehearsals and Kutcheris. Today they were just mute spectators. Furniture had been kept to a minimum, comfort never transcending into luxury. The alcove of the living room where she used to practice had portraits of Lord Venkateshwara and Satya Sai Baba.The walls of the room were adorned with pictures of famous personalities. I saw Kanchi Seer Sri Chandrashekara Saraswati, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, RK Narayan, Rajaji, Gandhi, KM Munshi and many more next to each other. All of these personalities were very close to MS and Sadasivam. MS narrated how she got to learn from the maestros like Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Papansam Sivam, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Alladiya Khan and others. At that instance, I mentioned that Bade Ghulam Ali Khan addressed MS as 'Suswaralakshmi-Subbulakshmi'. She just folded her hands and told "Periyavar"(Elderly person). After her husband's death, MS had stopped performing. Her health was deteriorating too. But I still found that she had the Tejas (Radiance) in her face and was as excited as a child. She was all eager to hear me when she got to know that I could sing. I felt really shy to sing in front of a person who breathed music. She particularly asked me to sing a Purandaradasa Devaranama. As I sang, tears rolled down her eyes. I prostraterd before her and sought her blessings. She insisted I sing another song. I sang a Thyagaraja krithi. She seemed very happy and told me not to lose touch with music. She told me, "Atmartha Sangeetha is the supreme form of singing. First you should love your music, only then will others love it." The Sangeetha Rathna award was presented to MS by the Academy. And it was farewell time. As we were about to leave, she rose and told she was very happy to have met us. And we couldn't stop taking our eyes off her ever-glowing smiling face. It is a different experience to see a performer on stage and off stage. Most of them are inaccessible. But there are few exceptions like MS. I had read umpteen articles where she was described as a very humble and down to earth person. I was fortunate to have seen her off stage at such close distance. As we were driving back, the feeling was yet to sink in that I had spent priceless moments with a legend. Listening to the stereo which was playing MS's Bhavayami Gopalabalam.... I realized that because MS conveyed the meaning of devotion that the audience came to her. And came in millions.