Jeet at our place

He couldn't figure out what this ajji next door is saying. Jeet is seven months old, lives in Davengere, and is now visiting his grand-parents and our neighbours in Mysore.
He is happy to be with grandma.

And grandma is delighted to have him.

The first thing he did with this toy is take it to his mouth for a bite. Jeet has a couple of teeth coming up.

You can spot them when he has his mouth open. The toy-makers, Fisher-Price , say these colourful rings, suitable for kids above six months, are washable and safe for teething kids.

Jeet is given to swift mood-swings. He is on a cry mode one moment.
And at the very next moment he feels fine and happy.

Now in a sober mood.

Jeet, all eager to go to Nikita aunty, as she reaches for him.
The seven-month old, though friendly with neighbours, is quick to recognise his family.

Trying out the red ring.

A ring in each hand.
Jeet, an earlier picture, before he had his hair cut.

Temple tour-4: Samayapuram

We happened to visit the temple during the festival rush. All along the way, we found groups of devotees, all ages, footing it to the shrine from town and villages scores of miles away. Walking it to the temple for darshan during festivel time is part of their commitment to Marriamman, in whom millions have unshakeable faith.

The deity is believed to have powers to cure chicken pox; and devotees bring their dear ones to the temple, where they are blessed with the theertham that cures them of the ailment. It is said that during off-festival times the temple management provides space for the stay of ailing devotees in a hall close to the temple. For the clinical-minded the temple environs may not look hygienic enough, but then the hygiene-conscious would take their ailing folk to a nursing home, rather than the shrine of Mariamman. However, most of the devotees in Trichy and its neighbourhood bring their folk to the temple after the cure, as a thanks-giving gesture.

There is , however, a crying need for maintaining public hygiene in the vicinity of the shrines. And absolve the temple management , and local authorities cannot absolve their responsiblity for proper upkeep of this place. A wikipedia entry says Samayapuram, in terms of cash offerings, is the second wealthiest shrine in Tamilnadu, next only to Palani.

On way to the temple (seen at the end of this lane) you confront hawkers flogging items for offerring to the deity. Further down this lane, closer to the temple we had to walk through, barefoot, over a water spill leaking from a public bath for the pilgrims.
Close to the temple entrance is a clutter of shops. This was where we ran into a 'guide' (or rather, he buttonholed us) who offered to take us straight to the sannidhi through a short-cut. His price : Rs.600 for the five of us . This was way too high, even for the most devoted temple-goers who wouldn't leave any temple without darshan, even if it meant tipping someone to have their way. The temple 'guides' are mind-readers .

As we argued over his rate, Raghu looked around and spotted the Rs.25 counter. We moved on, leaving the 'guide' high and dry, for a change. The chap's undoing was the he was much too greedy; and thought we were utterly gullible. Besides, he bluffed us about the entry ticket - Rs.100 per person. That was when Raghu started to look around, and found the Rs.25 counter.
As it turned out, our passage through the 25-rupee-queue was fairly smooth, and we were out of the temple within some 20 minutes.
The temple exit, where Raghu took our group photograph.

An afternoon with Bhagya athhai

My wife's Bhagya athhai in Salem retains a certain charm that comes with graceful ageing. She is 78, confined to bed because of problem with her hip and knee-joints. Moving about within her own house is a strain; she can't get into a car or auto-rickshaw on her own.
With such severe cramp on mobility she feels penalised by the very gods she worships. Sociable by temperament and a lively conersationlist Bhagya athhai feels she is condemned to lead a life of loneliness. Pushing days without anyone to talk to is a problem. Folks in her household - son,daughter-in-law and their children - can't be faulted. They have lives of their own; and umpteen things to attend to. They couldn't be expected to spend much time chatting with a 78-year-old who lives in her past. They have their future to take care of.

Athhai could do with visitors, particularly relatives with whom she could relate her past. As for her kith and kin, athhai wasn't complaining. If anything, Bhagya athhai was all praise for her daughter-in-law, who is athhai's prime care-giver. This, apart from cooking, doing domestic chores, and tailoring clothes for ladies in her neighbourhood. The daughter-in-law does it all with a smile
Like most widows, Bhagya athhai curses herself for having to outlive her husband for so long - he died in 1996. Her memory is phenomenal. She was the one who reminded me of my last visit to her place,1971. "Do you remember that Subbu and you came here soon after your wedding", she asked, reminding me of the context of our visit. We were on our way from Bangalore to Pollachi; and had a few hours' wait at Salem, where we changed trains. We visited Bhagya athhai,instead of killing time at the station.
Athhai rubbed this in when my wife and her sisters - Baby and Chitra - visited her in Salem recently. Her complaint with Chitra was that she and Babu (of SBI in Salem) didn't look her up often enough, even though they stayed in Salem. Athhai kept count of the number of their visits and she even recalled the dates of their previous visits.
Her way of putting it - 'slipping a needle into a banana', as a Tamil saying goes - was so charming and light-hearted that you can't take offence to her words. Besides, she has a rapport with nieces that cut across their age-gap. But then the eldest of her nieces, Paddu, was barely a few years younger. She recalled how they went to school together in Kadaiyanallur, where Paddu's father and Athhai's eldest brother was posted as a forest official.
Athhai recalled how she felt intimidated in the presence of her brother; and had her chinna-chinna aasais conveyed to him through Meenakshi manni.

Sidharth & Nikhil at Pheonix

Sidharth & Nikhil, with their grandparents at Phoenix . The four of them appear to get along very well; and, presumably, have a shared interest in watching cartoons on TV. They are no less entertaining , acccording to my son Ravi. I have heard him say that S & N make a comedy pair, like Laural/Hardy, Kaundamani/Senthil. My wife protests at such comparisons.

These pictures, taken during their recent holiday in Phoenix with grand-parents - Jagannath and Uma - and Sidharth's favourite aunt Lakshmi, give us an idea of what the kids have been up to . Their mom Meera says Sidharth and Nikhil had a whale of a time in Phoenix and our young friend Sidharth doesn't feel too pleased to be back in San Ramon. He goes to a new school from April 1.
At their grandparents' place the brothers appear to be planning their day over breakfast. Nikhil is all ears, and sharply focused on what his brother is saying. Sidharth is his role model. And Nikhil is the copycat in the family. Folks around him are well aware that whatever they say or do in Nikhil's presence is liable to be copied back to them.
Nikhil at his yoga routine, with aunt Lakshmi and role model Sidharth.

With a friend in Phoenix.
With a younger friend. Brother Nikhil appears to be on loose ends.

In a happier mood.
The brothers , dressed for a wedding reception. Sidharth danced through the reception, they said.
Sidharth & Nikhil, at a photo op. for the benefit of their grandparents' guests.

Temple tour-3: Srirangam

I was allowed, even encouraged, by a priest in attendance to linger on at the Sriranga swami sannidhi for a minute or two longer than the permissible 30 seconds, that too, during rush hour. The queue was long and chaotic. My wife tipped the priest for the previlege. I don't feel comfortable with the arrangement, but I couldn't bring myself to protesting against the idea of having to bribe our way to a hassle-free darshan.

That there is corruption even at the abode of God is bad enough. What's worse is its social acceptability; we tend to condone the practice on grounds of expediency. How many of us would want to go through the hassle of time-consuming dharma darshan, when there are options for those prepared to pay. Every other major temple has ticketed darshan, as a fund-raiser for the temple upkeep. At Srirangam we paid the official entry fee plus 'a little something' to pujari for hassle-free darshan of Sri Ranganathaswami.
You go through seven such gopurams to reach the presiding deity. Srirangam temple, covering 156 acres, is said to be the world's biggest and fully-functioning Hindu temple. The biggest is Angkor Wat, Cambodia, but it is non-functioning.
It is a pity that non-Hindus aren't allowed in beyond this gopuram. And the temple management has blatantly put up notices, banning non-Hindus from entering the world's biggest Hindu temple. I recall Rajiv Gandhi, once on election campaign in Trichy, sought the blessings of Sri Ranganathar. He couldn't get in. Instead, he was met at the temple entrance by the priests, who accepted his offerings and gave him prasadam.
The ban on non-Hindus isn't the only anachronism one finds in this temple town. The agrahara and its residents appear decades behind time.
This house on the street close to the temple belongs to the previous century; it is typical of the dwellings you find in the vicinity. This building houses an coaching centre - Sridhar Institute of Commerce, specialising in typing & shorthand. Wonder who would want to go in for shorthand in this computer age; and if there is market for those trained in shorthand/typewriting nowadays.
Across the street from this typewriting institute is a pay-and-use facility, patronised mainly by visitors to the temple. Local residents can't be expected to shell out Rs.2 for use of the public facility. Neighbourhood traders, hawkers,auto-drivers and beggers are found using an open stretch adjacent to the pay-and-use facility, despite a public notice threatening them with a Rs-100 fine.
I heared someone saying that the the corporation put up that notice at the instance of the contractor who runs the pay-and-use on lease. Contractors have only profit in mind, not public convenience. Why can't the temple management spend part of their hundi collection on maintenance of a free and properly functioning public toilet ? It is in their own interest to do so.

Temple Tour - A matter of belief
Temple tour-2: On road to Srirangam

Diya, Samarth at Subbu patti's

It was a weekend treat for Diya and her six-month old brother, Sai Samarth, from grand-parents, Baby and Raghu - breakfast at Ramya's, followed by a social call on Subbu patti's place. Diya and Samarth have both sets of grand-parants settled in Mysore. Besides, they have host of other relations in the city. Subbu and I are their 'bonus' grandparents on the maternal side.

At Subbu patti's place they have a super-patti. The kids have special affinity towards Subbu, who knows how to humour them. She drops in at their place atleast twice a week, whenever Diya and Samarth come to Vidyaranyapuram to spend time with their Baby-patti. (I don't know if they call her that, for they have another Baby at their other grandparents' residence in Gokulam).

Her mom Savitha, a bit on the strict side, would like to see Diya doing the right things, properly, particularly when they are visiting someone. And Diya is growing up to be a sociable girl. She is seen in the photo being helped by her mother in taking out a note-book from her bag, so that she can show me how ' A B C D' is written.
And she is good at making conversation. Finding me seated in my customery corner in the living room area, Diya came up me for a chat. She told me she had dosa at Ramya's , and Raghu thatha had gone to get her chochlete or something. We talked about her school, Eurokids, and her three teachers.
While Diya and I were having this little chat her mother Savitha joined in.

Diya, fooling around with her mom's dupatta, entertains her super-patti.

Meanwhile brother Samarth appears quite happy doing his own thing.



But then he won't be left alone, on the floor for long , by his mom and a host of others in the house, who pick him up every now and then for a cuddle.