Our Pollachi Clan

Photo Sunday:Computer

2011-02-13T18:32:00.003+05:30

Grandson Sidharth working(meddling with) my laptop.The desktop image is that of Sidharth's parents with kid brother Nikhil, photographed at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco.
Look up Photo Sunday for more on the theme - Computer.

Cross-posted from Bitten by the Photobug.

Sambu Sithi's Wedding Day 51

2011-02-12T10:26:00.000+05:30

We hadn't planned this ; frankly,I didn't even know that Tuesday last was Sithi's wedding day,until her daughter Vasanthi told us, during our recent Pollachi visit. That was when we thought of celebrating. Sithi-sithappa, have been married for five decades plus.
Shopping for a cake, Lakshmi found it at Kannan Departmental Store. We asked the shop assistant to inscribe this message - Sithi-Sithappa, Wedding Day 51. Raghav and Balaji persuaded grandma to cut the cake, and fed her a piece. So did Sambu Sithi's daughter-in-law Jayashri, and daughter Vasanthi. Son Babu captured the scene on his cell-camera.
Sitthappa - Padmanabhan - was not in town. He had a date with grandson Manikantan in Trichy. An engineer with Reliance Group in Bathinda, Manikandan was on official visit to Trichy, and he wanted his mother and grandpa to meet him there. We wanted Sithi to cut the cake, even though her husband wasn't in town. She hadn't done this ever before. Padmanabha Sitthappa had a cake-cutting birthday last year, his first in 78 years, at Sharjah residence of his eldest grandson Karthik.
Sithi who didn't go with him to Dubai missed out on the cake-cutting. So we thought of making her wedding day a cake-cutting affair.

Balaji's mango

2011-02-11T12:16:00.000+05:30

My young friend Balaji, with his cousins Raghav and Janani,tossed into the hedge in front of their house, the seed of a manago they had shared nearly a decade back.Balaji,then a school-goer in knickers,is now doing B Tech in computer science.The seed he sowed has grown into a full-fledged tree; and started bearing mangoes. On a recent visit to my native Pollachi in Tamilnadu I was pleased to see this fruit-bearing tree in front of my Sambu Sithi's house, and heard the story. Balaji (seen in the photo), his cousins Janani and Raghav are Sambu aunt's grandchildren.

Sister Baby in Mysore

2010-02-15T10:51:00.000+05:30

We thought we were on time, but the train - Cauvery Express - had arrived 20 minutes early. Sister Baby was waiting at a virtually deserted Platform 4. She collected her baggage and started walking (limping) towards us as she spotted me approaching her from the other end of the platform.

We - wife and I - got held up at the ticket counter which had long queue.Automatic platform-ticket vending machine accepts only five-rupee coins. Maybe they can upgrade it,to a ticketing machine that accepts higher denomination currency notes, and also dispenses small change by way of balance. I have seen such gadget at BART stations in California. And they have a bank of ticketing machines at the station entrance, to cater to rush-hour traffic.

If an upgrade in Mysore is not feasible, they could set up money-changer kiosks (allotted to the handicapped or other deserving sections), where one could exchange higher denomination currency for appropriate coins.
We could do with more such vans. Presumably, those who need the services of 'helpline cart' phone a designated number. The system assumes that 1)you have cell phone handy, and 2) you know the number to be dialed.

Couldn't the railway authorities (or those sponsoring the public service) arrange to have free house-phone installed at convenient points in platforms and other parts of the station complex? This would be a big help for those of us who don't use cell phone. And there are still a suprising large number of rail passengers who don't have cell phone.

A day out at the orphanage

2010-01-30T18:30:00.000+05:30

It was his idea - celebrating his birthday at the orphanage. It wasn't till the other day that his parents - Kalpana and Muthuraman - divulged to Mukesh they had adopted him from 'Families for Children' at Podhanur when he was merely three months old. Mukesh is now 11.
Reproduced here from the website are some faces of today's children at the Podhanur orphanage. They raise over 250 such children - from new-born till 5 years - and an equal number of those with varied physical and mental disabilities.
Mukesh was born among such children he met during his recent orphanage visit. They were not fortunate enough to have been adopted like Mukesh. His biological mother who had taken refuge at 'Families for Children' reportedly left the place after child-birth. It was left to the orphanage staff to name the new-born (Praveen) and nurse him for three months till Kalpana and Muthuraman came along to adopt Praveen.

They re-named him Mukesh and gave him a fresh life. Kalpana said during his birthday visit (Jan.26) to the orphanage they met the woman - addressed by everyone around as chechi - who had nursed Mukesh (as Praveen) for weeks after his birth. She also remembered the Muthuramans and his parents when they had come to the orphanage over a decade back, at the time of adoption.

Muthuraman's parents - Saraswathi and Vidyanathan - were very supportive of Kalpana's decision to go for adoption.And Mukesh got a set of parents, and also grandparents. On their part - Saraswathi and Vaidyanathan - the family seniors have had the joy and pleasure of raising a grandchild. They are at an age when people turn to divinity and pilgrimage.I don't know if Saraswathi and her husband realise this.Bringing up Mukesh, they can be said to be gaining punya on a daily basis, without having to do Kashi-Rameswaram in pilgrimage.
After he handed over sweets to them, the children at the orphanage greeted Mukesh with a chorus of 'Happy birthday to Mukesh'. "We were moved to tears," said Kalpana when we called her from Mysore. Recounting her orphanage visit, and the affection with which the children and staff there welcomed them, Kalpana told her Mysore mami that she wished her family had the resources to adopt some more children to grow up with Mukesh.

Kalpana (a school teacher) and Muthuraman (who works for a Coimbatore company making printing machinery) adopted Mukesh as an infant. He knew of no 'Amma' other than Kalpana till she told him of his adoption a couple of weks back. Now, after a decade, she and Muthuraman dicided to tell Mukesh, because they didn't want him to hear this from others. That he was not their biological son was widely known in family circles; and Kalpana was getting concerned about holding it from the 11-year-old any longer. Mukesh wasn't getting any younger, she said, adding that she felt a sense of relief of having unburdened herself of something that was weighing so heavily on her mind, for so long.

The birthday boys

2010-01-29T11:17:00.000+05:30

Though they had celebrated their birthdays last month - Sidharth and Nikhil - had it all over again the other day, if only to invite their friends home for cakes and juice, and to generally mess around in the play room for a couple of hours.

It is now Nikhil's turn to blow off his set of two candles, representing the two years he completed on Nov.16. The other four candles on the cake stand for Sidharth who finished four years on Dec.16.

Friends had the run on the playroom. And the birthday boys had their share of fun sharing toys with friends. Speaking of sharing, the brothers had their differences, with Nikhil often wanting the very toy his big brother happened to be playing with at any given time

Nikhil here appears unconcerned about a friend having helped himself to a handful of cars from the play-room.
Nikhil, usually,has the last word,rather the last spoonful.

Mukesh in Mysore

2010-01-17T20:00:00.001+05:30

Mukesh,11, with his mother Kalpana,, came from Coimbatore to spend the Pongal weekend in Mysore. The last time they were here was three years back, when we celebrated grandson Sidharth's first birthday with a family re-union.
Kalpana, with her husband Muthuraman, had adopted Mukesh from an orphanage at Podhanur,when he was barely three months old. It was not till recently that they decided to disclose to Mukesh that he is not their biological son. According to his mother, Mukesh wants to spend his next birthday,at the orphanage; and he would like his parents to distribute sweets among the children there. Mukesh completes 11 years on Jan.26.
Mukesh struck me as friendly, and helpful. He got along well with Aneesh and Ashika, who had come from Coonoor to be with us during school break. And they addressed Mukesh 'Anna', and looked up to him for providing the lead in the games children play. I sensed that, of the one week Aneesh and Ashika spent in Mysore they had most fun on the last two days they spent in the company of Mukesh.
I found him respectful towards elders, and receptive to their advice. Mukesh evinced keen interest in learning about the use of Internet in widening one's knowledge about the subjects he is taught in school. He has this urge to learn new things.
Their Mysore visit was so short that they could not go sight-seeing. The only place they could visit was the Mysore Palace.
Posing for a picture by his Mysore mami, who took Mukesh to the Palace.

Christmas time in Dubai

2009-12-27T17:58:00.000+05:30

Padmanabha chittappa, now in Dubai, is apparently having fun. His grandson karthick and his wife Madumitha are happy to have him. The latest photos from him were taken at the Ibn Battuta mall.

Chamundi children

2009-12-21T10:14:00.000+05:30

We had them over for cake and samosa on Sunday at our house - 20 boys and girls from Chamundi Children Home. Occasion was birthday celebration,in Mysore,of our grandsons in San Ramon CA.
Raghu, who is on the management committee of Chamundi Children home, took care of the arrangement to bring the children to our house and taking them back later in the evening.

We invited Dr Javeed Nayeem and family, Ashwin, our young friend and his sister. Raghu, Baby, Savitha with kids and Vinay were there.
Children had cakes from Ragevendra bakery and samosa from Mahalakshmi.
Sarah,Javeed's daughter sang some songs, which opened up the children.

Chamundi children sang Kannada numbers,and also recounted some jokes.
In appreciation of their performance Sarah and her brother Adnan distributed gifts to the Chamundi children.
Savitha's son Samarth, who looks a bit like Nikhil moved among the children, one of whom is seen here showing Samarth his gift.
As a finale the children formed themselves into a circle and sang happy birthday to Nikhil/Sidharth.
Nikhil is 2, and Sidharth, 4.

At Global Village, Dubai

2009-12-21T09:28:00.000+05:30

Of the lastest set of photos we received from Dubai my favourite is this one.
Pdmanabha chittappa retains, even at this age, a schoolboy enthusiasm for visiting new places, knowing about new things, as he is seen doing here at India stall of the Global Village.

This is incredible India, as seen from Dubai.
Entrance to the Global Village, of which India is a part.
Photo by Madumitha.
Sunset in Dubai.

Snow time in London

2009-12-20T00:04:00.000+05:30

My daughter, Sahasra, had fer first snow experience last week, when it snowed quite heavily in most parts of Britain. london too received its share and it was good to come out and take snaps in what could be our last winter here.

My wife was not able to take many photos as her hands were not working as per her wish. She had to pour some boiling water on her hands once she came back home, so as to get them start functioning again.

This place was supposed to be the playground where my parents and in-laws used to go for a walk.

Some more snaps of places near my office.

Last time when it snowed, it was so heavy that all public transport was stopped, and I was fortunate to get a day off. Lets hope that it snows again - heavily.

Chittappa's fun time in Dubai

2009-12-17T08:26:00.000+05:30

Those of us who haven't been there do not associate Dubai with monsoon. A video clip from Karthick shows what seems a downpour. It is the kind of weather in which you feel like a snooze on your living room sofa. Which is what Kannan is seen doing in this minute-long video. I wish I knew how to download the video-clip in this blog.
Anyway we have received scores of photographs showing Padmanabha chittapps having fun with daughter Vasanthi, son-in-law, and grandson Karthick and his wife Madumitha. They seem enthusiastic about showing chittapa Padmanabhan their town, its mall, and the metro rail.

Mr Padmanabhan appears to be having whale of a time in Dubai. When I phoned her the other day I asked Sambu chitti if she had ever fed her husband with cake on his birthday. Chitti quipped, they didn't buy those things in her household, so no question of celebrating anything with cakes - Ethu ellaam yaaru kanda daa.

The Govindans on Sabari yatra

2009-12-14T17:17:00.000+05:30

My sister Bhagya, with Govindan, fulfilled her long-felt wish to do Sabarimalai. She sent us these pictures on their yatra. It would have been nice if they had sent a brief note along with photos, giving us the benefit of their experience.

Sharjah birthday party

2009-12-11T18:05:00.000+05:30

Padhmanabha chittappa,who is on a month long visit to Dubai,sent us a the first set of photos taken at his grandson Karthick's residence in Sharjah.The occasion was his birthday,I don't know which year. He is 75 plus. Anyway, after a certain age you don't keep count of years.
I don't know if Mr Padmanabhan had his birthday celebrated this way before - with cake and partying .
But then the initiative came from his grandson Karthick and his wife Madumitha. After all, this was the first time their grandfather is visiting them in Dubai.
Mr Padmanabhan was equally pleased with the proceedings.He reciprocated their gesture by feeding cake to karthick.
Vasanthi, his daughter, and son-in-law Kannan are also in Dubai, visiting their only son and daughter-in-law.
Chittappa has a friendly nature and moves with his son-in-law like friends.
Madumitha and Karthick had invited a few friends to join the birthday party.
The Sampaths with father and daughter-in-law.

The Sampaths on 'facebook'

2009-12-02T06:24:00.000+05:30

When she saw Vasanthi and Kannan on Facebook, Uma in New Delhi left a comment - 'First time seeing Vasanthi Chitthi in Salwar Kameez... and Chittappa is completely unrecognizable'. I thought she might want to see Vasanthi in quite another attire.
You get to see only her face, but the photo gives you an idea of how they all wore the saree, nine yards, for a special occasion. The photo, taken in Pollachi, dates back to early 90s.

Vasanthi in Dubai

2009-11-28T16:29:00.000+05:30

Pollachi Padmanabhan's daughter Vasanthi and her husband Sampath (Kannan) are visiting their only son Karthik in Dubai, for three months. This is their second visit to Dubai,but their first, after Karthik's wedding last year.Vasanthi emailed this picture, taken during their visit to Al Ain. Al Ain, which means "the water spring", is called the 'Garden City of The Gulf' . It is said the authorities do not allow construction of any building higher than seven floors, in order to maintain its image as a place known for its greenery - a rarity in Middle-East.
Vasanthi's father Mr Padmanabhan is expected to join her in Dubai early next month. Apart from being his grand-father Mr Padmanabhan has been a mentor for young Karthik.

Nikhil is two

2009-11-16T16:23:00.001+05:30

It is Nikhil's birthday today, November 16. He is two. We took this photo in Mysore when they Skypes us from San Ramon C A a couple of days back.

Chittappa for Sharjah

2009-11-14T13:11:00.000+05:30

Our Padmanabha chittappa is all set for a Sharjah trip next month, to visit grandson Karthik. His grandson works in Dubai, commuting there from his residence in Sharjah. This is Mr Padmanabhan's first trip abroad. He is scheduled to leave December 9 from Coimbatore, which has a direct flight to Sharjah. He didn't have to go to Chennai even for visa. Chittappa could get his ticket and visa from his own town Pollachi.

For someone his age Mr Padmanabhan is very active and a doer - accomplishes whatever he sets out to do. And he still has the urge to travel, visit places , and meet new people. We look forward to a load of stories on his Dubai experience on his return from month-long trip abroad. Meanwhile, he could ask Karthik and his wife to e-mail photos on chittappa's trip for publication in this family blog.

His grandson Karthik has been inviting Mr Padmanabhan to visit him in Dubai for a while now. He couldn't go with daughter Vasanthi and son-in-law Kannan when they made their first trip last year. They are leaving again later this month for a three-month stay in Sharjah with their son and daughter-in-law. This time Chittappa Padmanabhan would join them on a much deserved holiday in Sharjah. He is due back at Pollachi early next year.

Faded family album: A wedding and a poonal

2009-11-12T12:54:00.000+05:30

Faded pictures take you back in time; trigger memory into recalling events and incidents that you would not have otherwise remembered, or have even forgotten.
This one is dated 1974. Apart from the bride and the groom one can spot in this frame at least 10 persons, many of them partly visible. Recognizing them all is a challenge. I can make out no more than four faces in this photo.
Bhagya's wedding and her brother Sridhar's poonal were held at the same venue - Kozhumbu Chattiram, Palani. It was a two-in-one event, and cost effective from our parents' point of view.
Our family picture, taken after the wedding.The kids here now have children of their own. And two of those in the picture are no more - father and Murthy mama.
This group has had a casualty as well - Govindan's sister (wearing dark glasses).
Most members of the Pollachi clan are here. The photo, like other group photographs, was taken at the backyard of the chaultry, located just a street away from the shrine. Many relatives attended the marriage because we held it at Palani.
Father had reason to feel happy and relieved at having fulfilled, what he saw as, the last of his family responsibilities. Someone else, unrelated to us, and far away in Dehradun, was
equally happy at seeing Bhagya getting married. He was my father's boss in the finance ministry, Shivnaub Singh.

Mr Singh wanted my father to move with him to Dehradun as his personal assistant.My father, who shifted from New Delhi to Pollachi on retirement, had expressed his inability, saying he wouldn't take up any commitment on retirement, till he was able to perform Bhagya's marriage. Now that she was happily married, Shivnaub Singh lost no time persuading my father to join him in Dehradun.

Sahasra, London

2009-11-11T11:54:00.000+05:30

Who does she look like ? That chubby face, chappai nose points to her grandma Bhagya, says her mother, as she knew her when Bhagya was Sahasra's age.
Seated over her father Shankar's head. Already ?

The Govindans wedding anniversary

2009-11-04T16:43:00.000+05:30

Yesterday (Nov.3) was their wedding anniversary - the Govindans. It was on this day 35 years ago that my sister Bhagya married Govindan, at Palani.
This is the only photo of the occasion available with us in Mysore, though, I presume, my sister has the album, containing pictures of the wedding ceremony and of the relatives who were present on the occasion. Would be nice if she could share some of those photos with us on this family blog.

The marriage was held at a chaultry - Kozhumbu Chattiram - close to the foothills of Palani shrine. The occassion attracted most of our relatives not merely because it was Bhagya's wedding but more so because it was being held at Palani. The chaultry, arrangeged by our Chettipalayam chittappa Ramaiar, didn't cost us anything by way of rent.

And the marriage expenses, excluding the value of gold ornaments and things offered to the bride, added up to Rs.13,000 at 1974 price-level. I remember this because I heard my father V Gopalan telling chittappa that he got Rs.30,000 by way of provident fund on retirement from the government service. Of this he had spent Rs.17,000 in building our Pollachi house, and had kept the rest for Bhagya's wedding. My mother had saved, by way of ornaments and silver vessels, for the wedding. Gold price those days was around Rs.150 a paun (eight grams).
The Govindans went through a second wedding ceremony, this time in New Delhi, two years back (Sept.2007) after he turned 60.

Faded Family Album

2009-11-02T18:08:00.001+05:30

Here is a selection from our collection of vintage photos that we thought you might want to see.I am sure every household has such photos to be shared with others in the family, before they fade or get lost.
A group photo of relatives at our wedding in Mysore,1971 (I guess) . Double-click on the image to see an enlarged version.
We were so many in our Pollachi clan that they had to split in two groups for the customary post-wedding photo session. This and the earlier group photo was taken on the terrace of Udupi Krishna Kalyanamandapam.
Wife's mother Meenakshi with a grandchild at their Forest Collage bungalow in Dehradun. Vintage - 1965
Shobi with a baby on a two-wheeler parked in front of her grandma house in Mysore.
In New Delhi, my wife's family with her uncle Ramasami Iyer, aunt Kalyani and cousin Shyamala.
A family outing with other relatives in New Delhi, 1956 .

We would like to carry more such photos in the Faded Family album series. You could scan and mail photos to gv.krishnan@gmail.com

Remembering Bitsy

2009-10-31T18:43:00.000+05:30

My wife's sisters, all but the eldest, are mad about dogs. Before her marriage,in early 70s, her family had Bhutto, the dog named after the Pak.leader. After their marriage the Sulur sisters brought up dogs of their own - Geetha had two in the house before 'Punch' died some time back.

The thing about these pets is that they are treated as family. My wife Lakshmi is 'periamma' to Chitra's Joey; and Geetha's 'Shadow'. Baby, my wife's Mysore sister, lost her 'Prince' few weeks back. Rajesh's 'Tuffy' died a few years back.
Our own Bitsy died in 1993, on this day (oct.31). He was picked up from the street, when he was only a few days old. Our son, then a schoolboy, brought the puppy home in early 1980s when were in Bhopal. We named him Bitsy, a dark chap who grew up to be sturdy brat. He grew up to be a terror to hawkers and door-to-door salesmen. We had to shut him in one of the rooms whenever we had visitors at home.

Bitsy particularly disliked khaki. He once chased our postman all over the front-yard of our apartment block in Chandigarh, until the terrorised postman managed to climb up a tree. Where he stayed till our office boy Dinkar coaxed Bitsy back inside. If at all Bitsy obeyed anyone, he was Dinkar.

Bitsy moved with the family, from Bhopal to Chandigarh, and then to Chennai, where he died, after prolonged weakening of his hind-legs. He could barely stand in his last days. It was on this day (Oct.31) sixteen years ago we took Bitsy to Veterinary hospital at Egmore. The doctor who examined him declared Bitsy was anemic and referred him for blood transfusion.

Bitsy had been, for some weeks, weak on his hind-legs, showing signs of fatigue , and been totally uninterested in taking a walk. He had to be carried by my wife to the car.In his earlier days, there was nothing he loved more than a ride in our car. And Bitsy occupied much of the back-seat. We had taken him on car ride a number times to the Marina beach, and to my wife's sister's, and Bitzy's 'periamma's', place in Kotturpuram.

On that October day in 1993 Bitsy was very reluctant to get into our Dolphin car. Presumably, he sensed we were taking him to hospital; and that he wasn't going to return home. Dogs, they say, could sense when their end was near. We drove Bitsy to the hospital, where they gave him blood-transfusion. After they were through with the drips on the table, Bitsy stood up on the operating table with renewed energy.
Seeing him springing to his feet, I thought for a movement Bitsy would be up and running. It was just for a flickering moment that I sensed a new-found energy in Bitsy. For in the next moment he collapsed on my wife's shoulder, as she tried to get him off the table. I can't forget the sight of Bitsy, his sorrowful eyes pleading, as it were, not to let go of him. We watched him go helplessly, with our eyes welling up.

We chose to leave him there, at the hospital. It wasn't an easy decision to make. The doctor said they would do a postmartem, if we donated Bitsy to the hospital. And we wanted to ascertain the cause of death. It was kidney failure.

'Public Service' Padmanabhan

2009-10-30T18:49:00.000+05:30

My neighbour in Coonoor G V Raman refers to him as 'Public Service' Padmanabhan. Because of his reputation to reach out to those who need help in dealing with government departments, banks, municipal authorities. As a retired judicial dept. official, who has worked in various courts, from the munsif to district courts , my chittappa Mr Padmanabhan is fairly well-versed with rules and procedures in the functioning of offices at panchayat,taluk and district levels.

He has a way of getting things done, partly because of his resourcefulness particularly on his home ground Pollachi, and mainly because of his familiarity with the ways of the bureaucratic system at work in public dealing offices - nationalised banks,the municipality, treasury and courts. Most of us having to deal with folks in these offices have no clue to rules, procedures,and the paperwork involved in getting something as basic as a bank account transferred, or obtaining death and heirship certificates. This is the plight of Siva who has lost his father Raja in
Coimbatore.

Knowing how ignorant Siva is in such matters my chittappa has vounteered to help him. For someone in his mid-70s Mr Padmanabhan is hyper active. When Siva approached him with his predicament chittappa went to Coimbatore, from his Venkatesa Colony home in Pollachi, to take him to the relevant offices and help him with filling official forms and drafting various applications.

I must mention here how much I looked up to chittppa for help and guidance when I lost my father in Pollachi over six years back. I wasn't there when father died; and couldn't even make it to Pollachi until a few days after cremation. Not only did Mr
Padmanabhan organise everything for us, he got all the post-death paperwork done for us. He still helps my mother, who is with us in Mysore, with her bank transaction relating to her family pension account held in Pollachi.

Farewell my friend, Raja

2009-10-30T10:26:00.000+05:30

My cousin Raja, 76, died with an unfulfilled wish. He wanted to visit Mysore to spend a few days with us. I spoke to him last before we left for the US in June last. My fault was I didn't get in touch with him on my return. And Raja, appears, had been talking about his plan to visit Mysore to his son Siva, daughter-in-law Anandhi, and even his neighbours at Lokmanya St. in Coimbatore . He would have probably made it, if only he knew that we were back in Mysore; and if only I had phoned him on my return from the US, more than a month ago.

Raja died on Monday (Oct.26) during his afternoon snooze. Siva reckoned his father had premonition; for Raja had mentioned to his son earlier on Monday morning that he preferred to go in sleep. "I even chided him," said Siva sobbing, " for talking silly things as I was leaving for work". A day earlier, when Raja went for a routine medical check-up he mentioned to the doctor that he felt he would not be around for long, even though the doctor didn't find anything wrong or life-threatening in his patient. But he died within the next 24 hrs.

Anandhi, who went to serve him coffee on Monday afternoon, found him dead in his sleep. Siva said his father had expressed preference for the traditional firewood cremation. Arrangements
were made by Gomathi's people. Raja had told me about Gomathi, a spirited woman who runs a Brahmins cremation agency in Coimbatore. Raja had engaged her services on the death of his borther-in-law Chandrasekar a couple of years back, and that of his sister Jayam a few years earlier.

As we watched Raja's body being taken away to the cremation ground I remembered his expressed desire for visiting Mysore, and I blamed myself for not making it happen. I felt guilty of having failed to stay in touch with Raja, particularly during recent weeks when he had felt the need for our company. Raja and I were close during my school days in Coimbatore. We re-connected during my posting in Chennai as Times of India correspondent in early 90s.

My wife and I used to visit him whenever we had occasion to pass through Coimbatore, on our way to Coonoor or Pollachi. After we settled in Mysore, nearly five years back, Raja came to spend a week with us, along with his grandson Mallikarjun. We also maintained telephonic contact, despite his deafness. Our phone conversation was mostly one-sided, with him doing
much of the talking. However when Raja was in Mysore I engaged him in conversation, with a notepad in hand. I jotted down my thoughts for him to read and this set Raja going for a while, till I wrote out something else for him to talk about.

I enjoyed chatting him up about our Coimbatore days. His father and my periappa Tirumurthy Iyer was a school teacher and later head-master of Veerasami School in Coimbatore. I was doing my schooling at R S Puram Municipal school , staying with grandparents at Telugu Brahmin Street.

During his Mysore visit Raja kept us engaged in chat about old days. And my mother, to whom Raja had special regards, joined in our converstion. I relished Raja's company for his story-telling skill and his anecdotes pertaining to our relatives and also the Telugu Brahmin Street charecters we both knew, and could relate with - such as primary school principal Ramarao, street-corner shop-keeper Kuppusamy, Nagappa Asaari (goldsmith), Ramamirtham vadhiyar, our neighbour we referred to as 'German Doctor' , and the chief priest at the Rajarajeshwari temple, at the far end of Telugu Brahmin Street.
Our street has since changed beyond recognition. Our grandfather's house, sold by my periamma, has changed so much in appearance that I couldn't make out the house where I had spent a part of boyhood.
The only structure that still remains unchanged is the primary school run that used to be run by headmaster Ramarao.

Though he was five years elder , Raja treated me as an equal; and this, at a time when even relations barely an year older sought to asserted seniority, and entitlement to be addressed with respect. He was always Raja, and never Raja-anna for me.

A stroll through Trafalguar Square

2009-10-21T23:32:00.000+05:30

I have read a lot about this venue in many novels. In fact it was my father who had first expressed desire of visting this place of which he had heard from so long. Unfortunately, we could not make it while Appa was there, but went later with Amma one weekend.

Trafalgar Square is a square in central London. With its position in the heart of London, it is a tourist attraction; and one of the most famous squares in the United Kingdom and the world.

At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base.

Statues and sculptures are on display in the square, including a fourth plinth displaying changing pieces of contemporary art, and it is a site of political demonstrations.

Though at the time when we visited, there was some magic show going on in the middle.

The southern end of the square was the original Charing Cross which to this day is considered the heart of London, from which all distances are measured. The square in itself is surrounded by important buildings

As per wikipedia, Trafalgar Square ranks as the fourth most popular tourist attraction on earth with more than 15 million annual visitors. I had taken a video of the surroundings which though not the best, does certainly show the importance this place holds among tourist.

At Mysore ISKCON temple

2009-10-18T16:27:00.000+05:30

Raghu told me on way to the temple that he can't recall the last time he celebrated his wedding anniversary. This year ISKCON temple offered to perform special archana on the occasion. As ISKCON life member, Raghu had option to choose one special occasion in a year when puja would be done at the temple.Raghu chose his wedding anniversary - Oct.17. It was Diwali day for some southies.
Their daughter Kavitha came from Mangalore for the occasion. She is a dental specialist at the Hedge hospital.Dr Kavitha is also a consultant for some other hospitals in Mangalore.ISKCON puja was scheduled at 7.15 am. The Raghus left their Vidyaranyapuram home 6.30 a m.

It was a misty morning in Mysore. We were the first of visitors to ISKCON temple on that Saturday morning. The temple, manned by a group of young ISKCON volunteers, clad in kavi dhoti-kurta, is located on a spacious, and yet to be developed, patch of land in Jayanagar. They have plans to develop this place into an ashram-type complex. Mysore is known for its ashrams .
The red-brick building, unlike temples of the Hindu traditional kind, could be taken for a library or a community hall. It is refreshingly clean and well-kept, which cannot be said about most of our places of worship. But then ISKCON isn't a temple in a strictly traditional sense. It is more a place for celebration of Lord Krishna, place for community prayer and discourse.
The forecourt of the temple is planted with tulsi. The hall of worship (didn't photograph it,in deference to the sensibilities of devotees engaged in spirited prayer) is functional. Its spaciousness and high ceiling could as well be an architect's design for a warehouse or even an aircraft hanger. The high walls of the prayer hall are covered with paintings, depicting ISKCON's prime deity and its founding devotees offering prayer.
They have developed a grass-patch all around the temple. The little girl seen in the picture is Diya, the young lady who gave me company during the hour-long prayer meet. I can't say we were fully into the spirited proceedings of an ISKCON prayer meet. It went on a bit too long for us to stay focused. So Diya and I decided to explore the surroundings.
Diya led me to an imposing image at the temple lobby, and also showed me around holding my hand. Diya told me she had been to ISKCON thrice. Which made her knowledgeable about the place. This was my first visit.
The encased painting at the lobby (didn't take picture) depicts young Krishna tied to a pillar with a rope. Diya explained that his mom Yadhodha held him tied to a pillar because Krishna ate too much butter. When I mentioned that his mother, perhaps, thought Krishna shouldn't eat so much butter because it was bad for health, Diya disagreed, saying eating butter in fact made one strong. Her sense was that Yashodha should not have punished Krishna for eating butter. Diya has no concept of stealing. She wasn't aware that Krishna was punished for pilfering the stuff.
After the puja Raghu did souvenir shopping at the temple sales counter. What struck me about the place is its functionality and the orderly manner of conducting community worship. Must concede that I found the way they prayed to be somewhat demonstrative, and I couldn't see myself emulating it. ISKCON devotees raised their arms, and swayed gently as they sang bhajans.

At times, the devotees moved a few steps back and forth, clapping hands loudly, and chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Rama. ISKCON believes in participatory prayer. During archna printed sheets containing 108 chants were handed out at the prayer hall, to encourage participation of even those who might not be familiar with the relevant sloka

A Saibaba shrine on farmland

2009-10-08T19:02:00.000+05:30

My wife and I first heard about this Saibaba shrine from her sister Baby, who, in turn had heard of it from her daughter Savitha's in-laws. Word-of-mouth is the only way you get to learn of this temple, located on a private farmland near Bididi, some three km off the Mysore Bangalore highway. After our car crash near Bididi on our way to airport earlier this year, my wife believes that our lives were saved through the grace of Saibaba.
She reckons it was not a coincidence that the accident and our miraculous escape occured on a spot not far from this Saibaba shrine. And she has been wanting to visit the place ever since the accident. This we did, along with Baby, Raghu and my mother, during our recent Bangalore trip.
Among the paintings on the walls of the main prayer hall was this imgage of Saibaba you don't get to see in other Sai temples. What struck me about the painting is its creator's perception of Saibaba. The message it conveys is that even a saint needs his afternoon rest. And the setting in which the Baba is cast is so absorbingly down-to-earth.
The Saibaba shrine is located on the farmland owned by a retired Air India pilot, Capt. V V Mahesh. It was his wife Samyuktha's idea to portray the Baba as a person, not a deified entity placed on a pedestal; as someone with whom the poor and the humble among his devotees can relate. She conveyed her thoughts to an artist who put them on canvas. Maybe Samyuktha was motivated by what she read, and, as her husband put it, she has read almost everything nearly everyone has written on Saibaba.

Shirdi Diary by G S Khaparde, they say, describes the life and times, and daily routine of Saibaba in his later years (1910-18). Though his birth and early life remain remains a mystery, Saibaba's death is recorded history - Oct.15, 1918. Wikipedia refers to his taking samadhi on the lap of a devotee, at 2.30 in the afternoon.

A Saibaba devotee since the age of 12, Samyuktha spoke of a dream that prompted her to build this temple. She consulted her husband, who agreed to do it on their own farm near Bangalore 'although he wasn't then a Saibaba devotee ike me,' said Samyuktha. Their three sons, one of whom is also a pilot, helped them with with funds to make their mother's dream a reality.
Capt.Mahesh says the shrine has been there for seven years now.The main prayer hall and a smaller one for meditation, apart from landscaping work has been completed. What remains is Nandadeep - a cluster of 108 brass lamps to be placed in enclosed space in the temple courtyard.

They have fixed a timeline for its completion - by January next - whether or not they raise funds through donation. "We are confident of meeting the requirement,'observed Capt.Mahesh, adding that the project is estimated to cost Rs.6 lakhs. The architect were taking measurements of the Nandadeep site when we were visiting the temple. Samyuktha was modest about whatever her family was doing. She referred to an anonymous devotee who has donated Rs.62 crores for infrastruture improvement to facilitate visitors to Shirdi. "What we are doing isn't much in comparison," says Samyuktha. The couple also run a special school for 40-odd mentally challenged children. They have a house Bangalore's Richmond Rd.,but they find it worthwhile spending much of the time in their farmhouse. "the city traffic being what it is,cummuting is hassle," says Capt. Mahesh.

We visited the temple shortly before the mid-day prayer. Capt. Mahesh persuaded us to stay till aarthi,followed by prasad, biscuits and a piece of laddu. Which gave us time to interact with the Mahesh couple. The setting was conducive to contemplation. A visitor to the prayer hall tends to sit in silence for a while. Capt.Mahesh has thoughfully placed plastic chairs in the hall for the benefit of the aged and the handicapped.
At the far end of the courtyard across the main prayer hall is a smaller hall where they keep an eternal fire going. The sanctity about it is that this was lit with the embers from a piece of firewood brought from dhuni in Shirdi. "We couldn't bring it by train; they wouldn't allow it on a plane," said Capt. Mahesh, adding that the sacred fire from Shirdi was brought by road in a hired van.

The dhuni is the perpetually burning fire that Baba had going in his abode. The fire is today much bigger and is enclosed in a wired cage. It is said that Baba, when asked why this fire, replied that it was for burning our sins, or karma. It is reported that Baba spent hours sitting in contemplation by the dhuni.

Chittur Kavu: A two-in-one temple

2009-10-03T10:22:00.000+05:30

This is the older of the twin temples dedigated to Bhagavathi. We chose to visit Chittur Kavu on a Friday evening, because we were at Pollachi only for two clear days, and the other temples on our must-do list - Sulakkal or Masaniamman - were far too crowded on Fridays.
Chittur temple didn't have too many visitors, for a Friday evening. Which gave us a chance to get good darshan. Unlike in so many other temples, the priest here doesn't exert himself, carrying out rituals - chanting of archana or doing frequent aarthi everytime a devotee hands in an archana slip. All that the priest does here is read out names from the slips you give him, and he then places them at the feet of the deity.
At the main temple, across the lane, we were told the aarthi was not scheduled until 7.15 pm - when we could have payasam offered as prasadam. We were there an hour ealier, and could smell the flavour of prasadam in the making, at a corner of the temple compound. We moved on, satisfied with with a jar of pre-packed payasam, earlier offered in arthi at the other Bhagavathi temple .
This is the back entrance to the main temple. Visitors use a side door, and they have to cross a knee-high threshold to enter the sannadhi. Not particularly visitor-friendly, is it ? Especially, for devotees with knee trouble. Mine hasn't gone bad enough, not yet. So I could manage to cross the threshold. Male visitors need to remove their shirt before entry.
Chittur main street, leading to the temple. We can claim family connections with Chittur. Had we explored the agraharam after the temple visit, we could have run into someone remotely related to my mother's mother or my wife's elder sister Padhu. Chittur was the native place of Padhu's in-laws. Her husband Ramanathan was born and did his early schooling here.
The Ramanathan family was among the town's reputed residents. His father used to run a bank, and as a wealthier resident of the town he sent his only son Ramanathan to Madras to study law. When family fortunes took a turn for the worse, young Ramanathan, now married to Padhu (my wife's sister), settled in Madras and took a job as law officer in the Amalgamation Group. As a loyal employee, Ramanathan stayed with the same company till death.
After her husband's death, Padhu splits her time between Chennai and Los Angeles, where her only son Shivakumar is settled. The photo, of Padhu and daughter Shobi, was taken when we Skyped during her last US visit. She has since returned to Chennai. Following our Chittur visit, my wife phoned Padhu. She had fond memories of the place, of Ramanathan's ancestral house, which was not far from the temple.
My wife regretted that it didn't occur to us to go the extra-mile on this road, if only to bring back pictures of Padhu's family house. Ramanathan had sold it during his lifetime.
The temple, located in the town centre, is a convenient meeting place for elderly neighbourhood residents. The temple management have thoughtfully provided seating space, by way of concrete slabs laid along the front wall of the temple.

A visit to Tirumurthi hills

2009-09-26T11:23:00.000+05:30

Mr Padmanabhan (my chittappa), his daughter Usha and her son Balaji represent three generations of our Pollachi clan. They joined us on a trip to Tirumurthi hills. No trip of ours to Pollachi is considered complete without a visit to Tirumurthi hills.
This was our umpteenth visit; have been coming to this place since my childhood. We have done it by car, bus, by bike part of the way, and by bullock-cart, all the way from Pollachi. It was during early school days when I was still in knickers when made the trip by bullock-cart. We were on road through the night.If I remember right, my thatha Chakrapani Iyer was with us. So were my uncles, chittis and cousins.
On a more recent visit with my chittis, we got nostalgic, with Sambu chitti, guiding us through the temple complex that she and Sita chitti were re-visiting after several years. Recalling our bullack-cart trip Sambu chitti said we had then brought with us rice, pulses, vegetables and things to cook our meals. Nothing was available near the temple those days.
The temple priests came from Dhali, nearest town about 10 km away.They brought everything needed for puja from there. No one stayed the night in the vicinity of the temple, fearing movement of wild animals. Even now the temple closes at 6 p m, though no wild animal frequents the place.
Prayers are offered at this huge rock. Legend has it that this massive boulder had rolled down , when one of the Trimurthis - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - taking a stroll on top of the hill stumbled on it. Devotees believe that the Trimurthis show up on the hills daily after dark.
After I had taken these pictures, a temple employee on security duty told me that photography in the temple vicinity was permited, only on payment of Rs.51 as camera fee. When I mentioned that I hadn't heard of such constraints on any of my earlier visits, he said it was part of the temple regulations.

Station master Ramaiyer

2009-09-23T17:21:00.000+05:30

On a recent visit to Tirumurthi hills I remembered a trip I had made with my late chittappa over 50 years back. He was then a station master at Pollachi (or was it Poolankinaru ?). We made it to the hills by bus and bicycle - by bus from Udulmelpet to Tirumurthi Nagar, from where we hired bikes to cover the three-km distance to the temple.
We bathed in the stream that flows by the side of the temple.
Took these photos during our recent trip. Not much has changed in decades since my trip on a hired bike. For which, I believe, chittappa paid eight annas as hire charges.

Station master Ramaiyer, as my chittappa was known among his wide circle of friends, had served in several places in his career in railways. He made friends wherever he went. Besides, a lot more people knew him for his propensity to cure snake-bite with mantra. Snake-bite cases were not uncommon those days and villagers had more faith in my chittappa than the local doctor.
I was then a schoolboy in New Delhi. On my trips south during vacations I had spent some enjoyable days with Sita chitti and chittappa in exotic little places such as Thirukkadaiyur, Rameswaram Road and Chettipalayam . The days were spent watching trains and hanging out at the station master's office whenever chittappa was on duty.

His son Balu and I, on occasions, took the last train to Tranquebar (at the end of the line) to watch a late show at a tented cinema house. There was no cinema house in Thirukkadaiyur. After the show, which ended well past midnight, we walked to the railway station to spend the night, awaiting the first train back to Thirukkadaiyur.
Sita chitti now lives alone in the house chittappa built for them at Pollachi in 1975. Sadly, he didn't live long to enjoy a happy retired life in his own house. He died in a road accident. Chitti remembers the date - May 15, 1983. She had lost her only son Balu, decades earlier, that too in an accident, by drowning at a village temple pond in Thirukkadaiyur. Not a day goes by without Chitti remembering her dear ones. "Balu would have been your age, had he been alive," Sita chitti tells me this every time I visit her in Pollachi.
My wife and I owe it to chittappa for having brought us together in marriage. Chitti and he were the ones who initiated an exchange of our horoscopes, and followed up the proceedings that led to our union. The jaded blow-up from a group photo gives an idea of how the Ramaiyer couple looked at our wedding, in 1971.

Jaya 'in Nikhil's shoes'

2009-09-22T08:46:00.000+05:30

Two-year old Jayalakshmi is the daughter of Chitra, who took care of my mother at Pollachi during our recent US trip - June-Sept. 2009. We had shifted my mother from Mysore to Pollachi, where she owns a house. Leaving her alone in Mysore during our absence was not an option. We opted for Pollachi on assurance by Chitra that she would take care of my mother on 24x7 basis.
Bringing up her two-year old Jayalakshmi was challenge enough for Chitra. And now she had on her hand a 90-year old woman as well, and two cats to take care of. The cats, thriving on left-overs, always hovered around the kitchen door. Keeping those cats away from slipping into the kitchen in an unguarded moment added to Chitra's concerns.
When she is not crying for something or upto some mischief, Jayalakshmi was fun to be with, and apparently a source of cheer for my mother, whose great-grandchild Nikhil is of the same age. We happened to bring with us some clothes and things that Nikhil no longer used. Jayalakshmi wearing Nikhil's outfit looks a bit of a tomboy, doesn't she ?
Chitra said her daughter loved the pair of Nikhil's shoes Meera had sent so much that she refused to take them off even when she went to bed at night.

Back to school

2009-09-17T07:25:00.000+05:30

Getting Sidharth ready for school has become less of a chore for mom after they advanced the show-timing of Caillou. The PBS Kids telecast of this half-hour serial starts at 7 a m nowdays, leaving parents of Caillou addicts reasonably ample time to get the children ready for school.
Sidharth/Nikhil wake up to Caillou, which, till early September, used to be telecast 7.30 to 8.00. The only thing you can persude Sidharth to do during the telecast is make him drink his milk in bed. His mom had less than half-hour to get Sidharth to brush his teeth, breakfast and to get him dressed for school, starting 9 a m.
It is a 20-minute drive to the school. And his mom (and occasionally Sidharth's daddy drops him) couldn't make it there by 9 a m, without driving Sidharth, a fast-forward mode, on school days. And he goes to pre-school thrice a week, for three hours and a half. There would be no scope for flexibible timings, to suit parents, when Sidharth starts going to regular school next year.
The Child Day School, set on a hillside, provides a setting that reminds me of a location shot in The Sound of Music.
But then Sidharth isn't on a school-going mood every morning. A Long weekend between school days,and visiting grandparents, may have been the factors weighing on Sidharth's mind on this morning, as he is led into the school by his daddy.

At Taekwondo

2009-09-15T05:57:00.000+05:30

Master Koo doesn't encourage visiting grandparents to watch Sidharth during Taekwando class. Visitors distract his students, he says. On an earlier occasion, grandparents of a classmate of Sidharth were politely asked to wait in the car.
Prospects of sitting it out in the car didn't deter his patti and me from joining Sidharth for Taekwondo class, just once, if only to get a 'feel' of what it is all about. We must admit we were not familiar with this Korean version of martial art.

We were impressed by his outfit. And we had witnessed his spins, swings and his punches in the air, accompanied by the intimidatory battle-cry Taekwando practioners raise during a workout.
Watching Sidharth doing his things in the house, kid brother Nikhil gets into the act as well. On occasions when his mom takes him to Sidharth's Taekwondo class an observant Nikhil is quick to copy his brother.
This was as far as I could follow Sidharth with my camera. We did,for a few minutes, step into his class, conducted in a hall as spacious as an aircraft hanger. It was only for few minutes, after which we gracefully left the hall to wait out Sidharth's Taekwondo class in our car.

A ferry ride to Sausalito

2009-09-08T00:45:00.000+05:30

If you hang out here,at Sausalito,long enuogh,they say, you could run into Andre Agasse or even have a word with Steffi Grafi.They live here. But then we needed no excuse for spending time.Our ferry back to San Francisco was still nearly an hour away.

Spending time was no problem. For Nikhil and Sidharth could so many things, such as ....Watching cars
Hanging out on the seafront.
Running around in the park by the pier.
Taking a piggyback ride.
Even feed a white parrot. The bloke in white who owns the parrot can mimick the bird.He appears to have found himself a lucrative means of employing himself. No mean achievement in a recession.
He has a way with children.Sidharth,fasciated with the proceedings was asked to look through a white tube called 'The Quiet Baby Machine'.I couldn't figure out what this was all about;asked Sidharth what was it he saw through the tube. A white bird, said Sidharth;the same bird the rest of us could see without having to look into the white tube.We ended up tipping the man for the privilege.

On the ferry Sidharth went out on the open deck with daddy to take in the sights.Sausalito is 30-minute ferry ride from San Francisco. A quiet bayside town with the trappings of a resort Sausalito is where the millionaires live.
Hollywood clebrities come to stay at The Inn Above Tide. The cheapest room here is priced $400 a day. But then everything about this bayside town appears pricey.And town's residents make no bones about retaining a classy look.I don't know if this is true, but I heard the residents have resisted Macdonald from setting up a burger shop at Sausalito,presumably, because having a Mac in town scales it down.
Bikes appear to in fashion in this town. Green-minded tourists hire bikes at Sausalito, or bring them from San Francisco for moving around Sausalito high street by the bayside.
Bikes parking is free at designated areas in town.

Doing San Francisco

2009-09-02T00:56:00.000+05:30

They were excited about Saturday's San Francisco trip though Nikhil/Sidharth have done it several times. The little one wanted his father to take him straight from his swim-class, from where the boys were to come home and shower before driving from San Ramon to San Francisco, along with thatha/patti. Mom wasn't coming this time, as she needed a much deserved sleep after an overnight shift at the hospital (she's a doctor).
Puja, Annakutty mama's grand-daughter, joined us for lunch, ride on a double-decker bus and a taxi ride in downtown San Francisco. Puja is here to pursue a master's programme in sports-related physio-therapy at the SF State University. We haven't been in touch with Puja, and her parents (in Baruch, Gujarat) for a long while; we got re-connected through Sreedhar (Puja's uncle) in Edison, New Jersey, who told us about Puja's atudies in San Francisco.
It was well past his lunchtime and the waitress at the restaurant was taking time in bringing Nikhil's mac & butter with French fries. Once their dish was on table Nikhil and brother Sidharth were quick to say, 'I'm done', after only a few bites, and go out to play near the fountain.
They were the first to finish lunch. And conveniently for Nikhil/Sidharth, Il Fornaio, the Italian place at Levi's Plaza (headquarters of the jeans makers) had plenty of space around for the children to explore.
The restaurant is on the quiet side of the city on weekends, when offices are closed and not many tourists visit this part of the city.
As we move towards Union Square we find movement of cable trolley, a major tourist attraction for visitors to San Francisco. Cable cars, which are museum pieces on wheels,date back to 1873.
Tourists packing these noisy and slow-moving public transport vehicles should be thankful to a citizens
petition that defeated a move by the city mayor to close down cable car service in 1947.
Sidharth's must-do list included a ride on a double-decker bus. The buses operated by private tourist agencies do sight-seeing trips that start from Union Square. We got on a bus that left Union Square at 4 p m, and travelled for about 30 minutes to give Sidharth a feel of a double-decker ride. The bus tour was for two hours. Our plan was to get off on way and take a cab back to Union Square.
The bus took us through China town, and the Italian district.
San Francisco's is said to be the oldest of China town in North America.They have China towns in several other cities such as New York and Los Angeles. The tour guide on our double decker bus observed that early Chinese immigrants, who came here as labourers in mid-19th century, were confined to a designated area. The going daily wage then for Chinese workers was 10 cents and a handful of rice. And out of the wages many Chinese saved to send money home.
The tour guide pointed to a building where Francis Coppola, who made Godfather, had his movie production office, as we passed through the Italian district. We got off the bus at Fishermen's Wharf.
Sidharth who has been here before pointed to where merry-go-round was. And Nikhil and he lost no time making it there.
Sidharth's trip to San Francisco is never done without a ride in a yellow cab. And no taxi-driver would take us all in one cab - four adults and two children. We ended up taking two cabs for the $10 dollar ride (plus tip to the driver) from the Wharf to Union Square, from where we picked up our car to drive home to San Ramon.
It took us a while - nearly a half hour wait - in the queue at the Wharf to get a cab. We could have done the Wharf in our own car, but Sidharth's fancy for a taxi ride prompted us to park our car at Union Sq. and take a double-decker to Fishermen's Wharf, only to take a cab back to Union Sq. I asked Sidharth why he fancied a taxi. "Because you don't have to sit in a car seat in a cab," says Sidharth who would be four in December. Use of car-seat is mandatory for those below five. San Francisco cabs are exempt from the car-seat rule.

Bathing Ganapathy in milk and honey

2009-08-24T22:46:00.000+05:30

Mom said Nikhil/Sidharth could give Ganesha a bath for Vinayaka chaturthi, if they shower and get dressed first. The brothers were ready by 10 a m. Which was rather early for a Sunday morning.
It was patti who delayed the proceedings; she wasn't quite ready, with milk,honey,sugar,yogurt and ghee. Sidharth and Nikhil had to wait for the elders in the house,who appeared to take their time.
Sidharth and Nikhil could use a lollipop for time-pass. Besides,it helped silence the younger one, getting restless and wanting to get rid of his silk dhothi. Sidharth no longer had any issues with going desi on special occasions. In his younger days (when Sidharth was two-year old) he used to protest, saying he preferred GAP to kurtha.
Speaking of going desi the brothers changed into glitzy shervani for a dinner outing at their friend Drhuv's place in Dublin. But then their thoughtful mom carried a change of clothes , for Sidharth/Nikhil couldn't wait to take off their dress after posing for this group photo. Dhruv appears to have a jolly time with Sidharth.
At the puja Sidharth and Nikhil took turns in giving Ganesha a bath.Sidharth started it by pouring honey.Thick and sticky,honey wouldn't flow switftly; and Sidharth is helped along in giving Ganesha a honey shower,as Nikhil awaits his turn with uncharecterstic patience.
When it came to his turn to pour it on Ganapathy's head, Nikhil had it easy with sugar, and milk.Sidharth rounded off the bathing ritual with yogurt and ghee.
After the ritual bath of Ganapathy at puja room it was time to shower him at the kitchen sink.
Back at the puja room, Ganapathy is taken back to be dressed up and worshipped with offerings of flowers, before managalarthi that marked the end of the rituals.

London Murugan Kovil

2009-08-22T00:40:00.000+05:30

After being in the middle of all Sikhs of Southall (the place where we currently stay) my parents were very much surprised to have a traditional South Indian Murugan Kovil in London.

The temple is situated in the east part of London (East Ham) which is around two hours of journey by train from west part of London where we stay.

East Ham is inhabited mostly by tamils, both from India as well as from Sri Lanka.

Murugar, Vinayagar , Ayyappan, Chandiran, Sooriyan, Durga Devi, Bhairavar, Natarajar, Shivalingam, Dhakshinamoorthy, Navagraham, Anjaneyar, Perumal, Lakshmi and what not !

We also got Ellu sadam (Sesame rice) and Ven pongal as prasadam (No wonder the smiles on our faces). Pity we got only one plate per person as we reached very late to the temple.

So to compensate, we went to Saravana Bhavan, where though food is costlier than at most other places, but it had the same quality as the one in T Nagar.

The restaurant was decorated with Pattu sarees as wall posters and classical music was played in the background.

Seems even Sahasra enjoyed the trip.

A walk through Berkeley

2009-08-19T22:23:00.000+05:30

These guys know not how to walk;they run, wherever they find open space. And there appears no dearth of it - open space - on the Berkeley campus.
Chasing Nikhil could be one way to work your calf muscles.If you don't want him running around all over the place,carry him.
Karthik posing for picture,with Free Speech Movement Cafe in the background. The cafetaria close to the university library has a political background that is inherent to this university. As its former chancellor Berdahl said: "Inherent in Berkeley's excellence in the postwar era has been the free and open expression of ideas by all members of the university community, an assumption that many of us may take for granted. No one would disagree that the Free Speech Movement had a significant role in placing the American university center-stage in the free flow of political ideas, no matter how controversial."Dedicated to the memory of Mario Savio,a leader of the Free Speech Movement,the cafe that figures in wikipedia opened in 2000.Organic food and beverages are its speciality. Mario Savio was among those who led during 1964–1965 academic year a student protest unprecedented on the campus of any university those days.
Sidharth and Nikhil settle for glass of juice at the FSM cafe, to which we were guided by Srinivas,Ila's father, who is a research scholar on the Berkeley campus.
Visitors to FSM cafe, with flair for international news, get to read Page One headlines from an assortment of US and foreign newspapers,including Irish Examiner, Haaretz, Gulf News and Washington Post.
Karthik with Subbu periamma. They form a natural pair at any outing,if only because they never seem to run out stuff to talk about.
The clock tower on the campus,said to be the third tallest in the world, has its spire under repair. But visitors are allowed upto the viewers gallery at the base of the spire.Looking down from the clock tower, one gets a bird's eye view of Berkeley.

Bisibelebath at Palo Alto

2009-08-18T00:37:00.000+05:30

Raju, my wife's Chamarajanagar cousin, was delighted to hear that we were bringing along Karthik to lunch at his son Ashwin's place in Palo Alto.Karthik, doing MBA in Tucson AZ,is visiting us at San Ramon, and his presence evoked in Raju memories of Karthik's mother. He recalled, for the benefit of young Karthik, that his mother Chitra as a toddler had won a chubby baby contest.
He told Karthik that his grandfather - mother's father - as a forest officer had an eventful career. Recounted his encounter with a wild tusker in Topslip ; and how he came to bring home a couple of new-born tiger cubs that had apprently been separated from their mother in Cumbum forst.Raju said Karthik's grandma Meenakshi used to bottle-feed the cubs and nurse them as a baby. When they grew up to be old enough to bite, the tiger cubs were gifted to the Madras zoo.
Raju and his wife,now settled in the US,split their time between Palo Alto, California, where their son Ashwin works for SAP, and Philadelphia, where their daughter,son-in-law, and their grand-daughter live.

The Rajus are a hospitable couple who relish meeting relatives and friends.They had lined up for lunch a feast that included vada, payasam, bisibelebath, rasam morecozhambu,and a couple of curry items.

More on Raju - Raju banega greencard holder

Raju comes to Mysore

Where to study College???

2009-08-16T14:14:00.000+05:30

Though the above thought keeps on playing on my mind with respect to Sahasra, it had no bearing on why we went to Cambridge on a weekend. We were interested in knowing of a place which has featured in various movies and novels as one of the most sought after place to study, along with us wanting to spend a day outside London to view the countryside.

It was an hour's journey from London by train. Appa found the journey somewhat similar to his numerous train journeys in India and was enjoying his stroll in the intermediate stations much to Amma's despair.

From the station it was around one and half mile walk to the Town Centre where all the main activities / shopping centre are present.

The main attraction in cambridge is a Punting tour, with a guide across all the important colleges within the town. Though we could have taken a boat for ourselves and did the punting, but none of us where confident enough on each other's punting skill. Moreover none of us knew swimming.

From the boat we could see a glimpse of most of the beautiful colleges within Cambridge. No wonder, students from all across the world aspire to be a part of the university

Post the Punting tour we had our lunch break, wherein we had our regular Puliyogarai and Thayir sadam and Appa had his afternoon nap.

Post Lunch, we travelled through the streets of Cambridge which very much reminded me of Gali's in Kashi, though a much cleaner Kashi.

I and Purnima visited King's Chapel, a very famous chapel built alongside the King's College. Amma and Appa were very tired of the walk and rested outside with Sahasra for company.

A view of King's College.....

And then we returned to our three mile walk back to station (extra miles because I took a wrong route back to station :-))

What car did Krishna drive ?

2009-08-15T19:54:00.000+05:30

It all started with their patti telling Sidharth/Nikhil that Lord Krishna was coming home to San Ramon for Krishnajayanthi. To give the theatrics a visual touch, and to make the proceedings child-participatory, their mom asked the boys to soak their feet in rice flour solution,and walk around,so as to leave footprints of the Krishna walking up to their door.
Nikhil ran up the doorfront, chanting,Krishna coming, Krishna coming,with ISKCONist fervour. Meera's idea was such a big hit that her children went up and down their door-front, doing re-takes of the soaked-foot routine.The resulting mess was evident from the footprints. And Sidharth,as chief bell-ringer,rang in Lord Krishna into the puja room as well.
As rituals got under way the focus of the boys turned to the eats on offer. And they couldn't wait to have their patti do mangalarthi.

After Krishnajayanti puja,at the dining table we talked about Krishna. Sidharth wanted to know what car did Krishna drive.

Another leading question: Why did Sudama live in a cave near Gaya, Bihar? In his reckoning, caves are only for wild animals. Sidharth isn't the one who would let you off, without you answering his questions. I tell him that in Sudama's times they didn't have houses, as he knew them.
Couldn't he live in a castle, as his friend Krisha did? I tell him Sudama had no money.
Sidharth: "Why? Didn't Sudama go to work?". Sidharth knows enough to realise that people get money if they go to work - making burrito, delivering pizza, or checking e-mail (that is what he thinks he daddy does for a living).
Sidharth believes that people who don't go to work got money from mom or daddy (as he did, for his piggybank). And Where were Sudama's mommy and daddy? Sidharth's line of questioning was getting out of my depth. I put an end to our chat,assuring Sidharth that Sudama did get money from Krishna,who had lot of it and shared it with friends.

A Sunday afternoon with Ila

2009-08-13T01:05:00.000+05:30

Her parents had asked us over to Berkeley Marina to picnic with 16-month-old Ila. On a clear day,they say,if you look hard, and far enough into the waters, you could even catch a glimpse of San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge from the spot where we picnicked.

To be precise,the picnic invite was for my grandsons - Nikhil,18 months, and Sidharth, three years - and I tagged along, as live-in cheer leader, always at hand to marvel at their playfulness.
On this Sunday afternoon,however, the person I came to marvel was Ila - her ever-smiling face, her observant eyes,indeed, her very presence among us on the outdoors. The last time I saw her,nearly an year ago, Ila was no more than a breathing bundle of tissues and bones, with a smile nonetheless,sustained by medicines,and sheer tenacity of her parents. Her father Srinivas attributes Ila's remarkable recovery to "too much fight in the little girl to let adversity,unspeakable pain,and a constant threat to life interfere with her sense of fun".

I had little knowledge of Ila's medical condition till I read her father's blog. Last updated in April, the blog gives a perceptive account of Ila's state of health and the state of mind of her parents.When she was barely eight weeks old Ila was diagnosed, and she went through a five-hour surgery for Biliary Atresia, a medical condition pertaining to malformation of the gall bladder and bile duct.The liver fails to drain the bile salts into the intestines,resulting in cirrhosis.

The surgery Ila had to go through,when she was no more than two months old,was a “frighteningly long (5 hours) marvel of medical procedure" with an intimidating name - Kasai’s portoenterostomy. As she was undergoing this surgery Ila's father, waiting it out at the lobby,'went through a thousand kinds of hell' at the thought of her pain and heartbreaking predicament.

And a million more hells were to be endured yet, in the coming weeks and months. I recall Meera, my daughter-in-law and a doctor, telling me that during the weeks following the surgery Ila’s fluctuating health condition necessitated frequent spells of intensive care at the hospital. She showed signs of mild jaundice at the age of 5 months, and also ‘a sub-optimal growth’. This was an unmistakable pointer that Ila needed a liver transplant.

What followed in the lives of Ila and her parents is best described by her father:Ila’s condition deteriorated at record speed...Maya and I were told we needed to be assessed to be live donors. Ila was admitted to the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital.After scores of tests done on Ila and her parents Maya was chosen as the live donor of the left-lateral lobe of the liver.Dr.Waldo Concepsion came out of the examination room describing 'how gorgeous Maya’s liver is'.

Dr.Carlos Esquivel,who did the transplant, pronounced Ila's 'the sickest liver I have seen in a long time'.

Of the team of surgeons Ila's father had this to say - I would gladly surrender my ego to these Gods and offer them my life long servitude if I did not know it would only embarrass them.

Memo to blogger Srinivas:Those concerned with the ongoing healthcare reform debate would benefit from Your perspective on the functioning of the prevalent system.

Trip to Tower Bridge and Greenwich

2009-08-05T16:23:00.001+05:30

For a change this time its not Shankar, but myself Purnima who wanted to write this blog. Our next weekend trip was to the famous Tower Bridge and Greenwich. Being the fourth time to visit Greenwich Shankar was no less than a trained guide for his parents.

We started off to see the Tower Bridge and then headed over to Greewich to see the Prime Meridian of the world.

It was a dream come true for me to have a snap on the Tower Bridge

On the way to Tower Bridge we also saw the Tower of London which is said to be built in a span of 400 years by the kings and queens of England.

However amma was quite exited to visit Greenwich. She took interest to click some shots herself and told that she would show it to her classmates of Astrology class back home. I guess this place holds such importance. At lunch we had our routine but delicious puli sadam and tayir sadam. Appa also had the oppurtunity to have his afternoon nap at the Greenwich park.

The interesting thing in this trip was that we reached our destination in all kinds of train travel available in London viz the national rail, Tube rail and the DLR.

We enjoyed our return trip on a cruise on Thames river. All in all it was a tiring yet memorable trip.

Varalakshmi Vrataham in London

2009-08-03T14:21:00.001+05:30

On the occassion of Varalakshmi Vratham, we also performed the Kaappu function for Sahasra.

She was netaly dressed in Pattu Pavadai for the occassion which was stitched from her patti's blouse piece.

All the jewels were from Delhi. Her Athay presented her with Bangles and Kaappu, Grand parents gave her a chain while her Kollu patti presented her with ear rings.

Patti is seen dressing Sahasra with the Jewels...
while she poses for the snaps.
As for the Puja, that was performed later ......

while Sahasra slept.

The neivadyam offerred to the goddess was a combination of both traditional as well as western bhakshanams. So on one hand we got to eat Appams and Vadaiys along with Apple Muffins which was specially prepared from the apples of our garden.

...And Thomas puffs away

2009-08-02T20:45:00.000+05:30

For today's children comic-book charecters - Elmo, Barney, Caillou,and Thomas the tank engine - are living entities. Nikhil and Sidharth wake up to Caillou, the serial telecast around 7.30 am.
And they usually go to bed at night, listening to their mom reading out a book based on their current favourite among the cartoon figures My familiarity with Thomas the tank engine stems from nineteen-month old Nikhil.
Sidharth and brother have been waiting for a week now, for this weekend trip on the train pulled by Thomas. It was a four-hour drive - to and fro - from our place in San Ramom, for the 25-minute train ride on Thomas train in Santa Cruz.
Thomas pulls out of the main station.
Nikhil and Sidarth taking in the sights and sounds as Thomas puffs away into the wooded hills on the narrow gauge track.
A rail official on board - controller of narrow gauge - drops in for a chat; but Sidharth and Nikhil were not all that thrilled to meet him. For they had just been told that they couldn't meet Sir Topham Hatt (cartoon-character), as he had left for the day before we made it to the train.
The spot where Sir Topham received children, to pose for pictures and sign certificates for them was deserted. Every child that travelled the Thomos train is given a certificate of participation, signed by Sir Topham.
Passing by the yellow train, presumably, a friend of Thomas.
Another 'friend' of Thomas stops by, to pose for a picture with sidharth and mom.
Close to the railway station is this play area. Elsewhere, at the amusement park themed on Thomas and friends.
Things on this train table were orderly before the San Ramon brothers weighed in to mess them up.

Varalakshmi Puja in San Ramon

2009-08-01T21:10:00.000+05:30

Their Mysore patti tends to get tensed on the eve of a puja at home. Varalakshmi puja is a major one, for which Sidhath/Nikhil's grandma woke up at pre-dawn hours.
But there was no way she could have started the puja without the presence of Nikhil and Sidharth, who had to breakfast, bathe (do Kakka in between), and get dressed for the occasion.But then Nikhil, smartly dressed in colourful kurtha - a hand-down from Sidharth - appears not too comfortable. He kept saying, 'Remove my betta'.
Puja got under way, eventually, shortly after 10 am.
The kalasa bearing the face of the deity needs to be brought into puja room before the rituals start. And the role of Sidharth and Nikhil, as 'bell-boys', was indispensable, for ringing in the deity into the house.
Sidharth leads the kalasa's passage into the puja room.The boys would not stop ringing the bell even after the kalasa is held in place.Nikhil, besides ringing his bell vigourously, welcomed Varalakshmi into the home with a loud chant of a popular Bollywood number - Balle, Balle; Shava, shava...
Sidharth was more appropriate with his choice of the chants. He has picked up from his mother a few slokas that he recited,with surprising clarity, for the benefit of the deity. The children are facing a wall in puja-room, instead of the idol, because of space limitation.The puja-room is small, and peculiar in shape because the real estate developer had designed this space for a wine-celler.
Later in the evening Sidharth/Nikhil had their parents line up a festive meal,including pongal, vada sambar.
Sidharth with a guest, Shankari.Nikhil Socialising.At the play-room after dinner.
Sidharth with young Vidhit - happy to play gracious host to his favourite aunt/uncle - Priya/karthik - and friends - Dhruv and Vidhit.Nikhil, doing his own thing, likes people around, but is not so 'hosty'as his brother. He,however,wanted to go babba with uncle karthik as they were leaving. Like brother Sidharth,Nikhil is bit of a car freak and wanted a ride in Karthik's BMW.

Next week, the children have another puja to look forward to. As Sidharth says, that is when Krishna would have a bath in milk. He is all ready to do the honours.

Off to London - Trip 2 - MAD TAS

2009-07-27T00:16:00.000+05:30

The next stop was 'The Madam Tussauds'.
Though I and Purnima have visited this place thrice now, but we dont want to miss the chance of being with so many famous personalities, that we invariably turn up every now and then.

We are seen posing with the imaginary idol of Sherlock Holmes, Appa is actually touching his feet !!!

Once inside, Amma and Appa were quite confused to see so many people taking snaps. Only later they understood that some of them were actually Wax Idols. Though they were impressed, unfortunately they had not seen many of the personalities, let alone know their names to recognise them.

It was left to me and Purnima to make them pose with actors whom we thought were quite famous and worth taking snaps with.

Amma did recognise the Titanic star and wanted to take his snap for Uma (my sister)

As often happens with people visting Mad Tas for the first time, Appa was also confused how to pose with these personalities. He tried to copy the poses which people were giving. Unfortunately, the girl before Appa who took the snap with 'George Clooney' was trying to hug him and Appa also tried to do the same.
He very soon understood his mistake and was more formal later.
Except for this one !!!

Amma and Appa, though truly in awe of the place were not very much impressed with the statues of Indian personalities, who as per them were not looking very real.

Next in line were the Sports personalities ...Appa was truly looking uncomfirtable posing with the tall Becker.

Amma though was very happy to have been able to take a snap with Diana, who ( as per my obervation) is much more popular in London than the entire Royal family.

Though they were very much excited to see Indira Gandh and Mahatma Gandhi in the midst of world's famous personalities, Amma and Appa were not happy with the colour of their idols.

Sahasra also was interested to have a snap with Gandhi thatha...

Purnima was of the opinion that Indira would never have had wore such boring shades of Sarees in her life.

Off to London - Trip 1 - Buckingham Palace

2009-07-26T23:43:00.000+05:30

Last week, first of the places that we visited was the Bucingham palace to see the "Changing of Guards". Amma and Purnima prepared Rava Idli and Upma for breakfast and lunch and off we were by 8:00 in the morning.

We travelled through several modes of transport, first of them was the bus. Amma and Appa seen waiting for the bus.

Next in line was the travel in the famous underground tube of London.

Changing of Guards is a ceremony that is held every day by 11:00 at the Buckingham Palace grounds. We should be at the place much before that time to catch a favourable place to view the proceedings.

Amma Appa seen in front of the Palace before the crowd gathered.

Very Soon, people were cleared of the way and place made clear for the guards to arrive.

Right after that, Guards were seen performing their march-past with enthusiasts cheering them and enjoying the ceremony.

Band seen perfroming for the huge crowd gathered.

Well, though the cermony was continuing, we had seen what we had wanted and moved on.

Tirupathi mottai

2009-07-20T22:07:00.000+05:30

Gautam had his parents take him to Tirupathi, where he parted with his hair to be offered to Balaji at the hill temple. His mundan follows Gautam's first birthday, celebrated recently.
With didi saranya before Tirupathi.After the mottai
Gautam on his first plane trip. Didi Saranya is a veteren in this department.She has even been on an international flight.On her flight to Singapore Saranya took her grandma Bhagya along,on her first foreign trip.Both did their sight-seeing while Uma had to attend office at Singapore. Her job with Macgraw Hills,New Delhi,entails foreign travel.
After mundan at Tirupathi Gautam and family went on an extended pilgrimage that included a visit to Sucheendram temple,near Kanyakumari.
Gautam's grandparents at Kanyakumari.
With daddy on the wind-swept seafront at Kanya Kumari.
With a great-grandma, Govindan's aunt, at Trivandrum.
Next stop:Pollachi, where mottai Gautam and didi Saranya pose for this picture with their great-grandma Mangammal.Saranya has great-grandma to herself in this photo.
With Padmanabha thatha,Sambu patti,and Raghav anna at pollachi.
With a cane (madikole)in hand Sita-patti could as well be cast in a movie role as Avvaiyar,now that K B Sunadarambal is no longer available for the role.
Mom who can read Gautam's mood says he had such fun on the trip that he didn't want to return home, to New Delhi.

Puja for San Francisco

2009-07-20T07:08:00.000+05:30

Following our post on Annakutty mama's family we heard from his daughter Maheshwari in Bharuch, Gujarat; and from her daughter Puja, who is joining San Francisco State University to pursue her Master's in Kinesiology and Exercise science. (its a dual specialization related to sports physiotherapy).This ought to make Annakutty mama proud. Incidentally, we believe, Puja is his second grand-daughter to go abroad for higher studies. Annakutty Mama's son Shanmugam's daughter Arthi is in Australia for a degree in mass communications.
Maheshwari with husband Dr Krishnamurthy.The photo was sent to us by their daughter Puja.
None of the Pollachi clan seniors in Annakutty mama's generation had been to college, let alone pursue higher studies abroad. His decision to move to Bombay from Pollachi after schooling enabled all of Annakutty mama's children - three sons and two daughters - to acquire college education and more.
Puja is expected in San Francisco on Aug.9. Learning of our presence nowadays at Ravi/Meera's place in San Ramon (an hour's drive from San francisco) Maheshwari e-mailed us,saying it was 'a big relief to know that somebody from our family is there for Puja..'. On their part, Meera and Ravi conveyed to Puja that they would be happy to have her over to their place in San Ramon before Puja's academic session starts on Aug.17. They see it as an opportunity to be able to make contact with Annakutty mama's family.

Ravi and Puja haven't met. And if it is not for this family blog,they woud not have,perhaps,even heard about each other.

The London Apples

2009-07-20T01:14:00.002+05:30

The first thing which amazed my mother in London was not the London roads or the airport or any building, as I had expected, but its the small Garden which my house owner has in the backyard.

My mother has been so much impressed of the Apple tree that drops apples every now and then that she showed childlike enthusiasm in taking snaps of the tree with apples and sending it across.

My house owner's mother, an old lady in her 70s, takes much care to keep the garden clean. She cleaned the Garden by collecting all the fallen apples and keeping them separate, much to Amma's displeasure.

Amma also was not left far behind and again collected all the Apples and spread them below the apple tree.

Purnima who also ably assisted her mother in law in collecting the apples, is seen having her morning coffee below the pear tree....

while father in law is looking after Sahasra.

The other thing which interested or I must say hurt my parents was how old furniture was being wasted in London. After seeing the old sofa kept at the backyard of our neighbours, Appa already was planning how to take the Sofa to India......

Bhagya/Govindan in London

2009-07-19T23:31:00.000+05:30

Bhagya sent us this picture she has uploaded in Orkut. It was taken, presumably, at a London Underground train station. In an earlier mail, sent soon after her arrival in London, Bhagya mentioned that the locality where her son Shankar stays - Southall - is peopled mostly with Punjabies. In London she finds herself at home, with easy availability of desi food items, that too the North Indian dishes to whiich the Govindans are accustomed to, back home in New Delhi.
Sahasra, Govindans' London-born grand-daughter.With her daddy.

Monterey moments

2009-07-13T22:37:00.000+05:30

Settled in bed at Monterey Plaza hotel, ater a busy day sight-seeing, for their favourite cartoon serial on TV. Sidharth and Nikhil went on a trip to Monterey, California coastal resort. Initially planned for two days, the trip had to be extended by a day because Sidharth didn't want to go home, to San Ramon, yet. Nikhil endorsed his brother's proposal, saying 'Me too' (don't want to go home).
One shouldn't go by the innocent look; if you look into Nikhil's eyes, you can read mischief written all over.
Got the picture ? When Nikhil sets his mind on a thing he fancies - such as jumping about in bed - no one or nothing can stop him.Even a 'time out' from mom. Nikhil got timed out twice for jumping about in bed.
Sidharth on phone - long distance - to his Ajji in Bangalore to report on the day's headline news - Nikhil kicked a puppy held on leash by a passer-by on the sidewalk near the hotlel.
The fountain at Monterey Plaza, where Sidharth made a wish after tossing a cent into the water. Posing for a picture after tossing a cent into the fountain. Sidharth said he made a wish for his mommy, though he wouldn't say what it was about.
Looks a movie star - Bollywood style.
Window-shopping on Cannery Row.

Trolley ride on Cannary Row wasn't much fun for Sidharth; he said it was too slow and made a disagreeable noise. Another reason why Sidhath wouldn't get on a trolley - 1901 vintage - again was that he didn't want to have his grandpa stumble on the footboard, as he did the first time.
Back at the hotel Sidharth has the run of the lobby.
So does Nikhil, who coudn't wait to cut himself loose from his daddy's hold.
Drawing for his dinner. At the restaurant they hand in blank sheet and a box of pencils to children, to keep them busy while waiting for their meals.

Nikhil, flanked by daddy and......mommy at the dining table.
At the Monterey water front.
Moonlit night, a view from the hotel-room balcony.

Gautam cuts the cake

2009-07-12T19:17:00.001+05:30

His parents may have celebrated Gautam's birthday earlier, with all the rituals. But it didn't interest our toddler friend. For him and his didi Saranya, a bithday is not a birthday, unless you get to cut the cake.
This was what his parents - Uma and Rajesh - laid out for the earlier celebrations. No wonder Gautam wasn't impressed.
Besides the cake Gautam got presents.

Gautam's grandies at the gathering.Grandma Bhagya gets to attend two birthdays within as many weeks - of grandson Gautam, and her only son Shankar. Soon after her grandson Gautam's birthday ar Mayur Vihar, New Delhi, Bhagya and Govindan flew to London, to be in time for Shankar's birthday, July 12.

Annakutty mama for the US

2009-07-06T20:35:00.000+05:30

We have it from his son and daughter-in-law - Sreedhar and Geetha - that Annakutty mama is likely to visit them in the US later this year. Sreedhar, a chartered accountant based in Edison, New Jersey, has been asking his father over to thier place, ever since his family moved to the US from Seychelles some years ago.

And Annakutty mama,who has a 10-year US visa he acquired over two years back,hasn't yet brought himself to making the trip. Whenever I have raised the matter mama has been telling me that his US trip was very much on the cards.
At our last meeting in Pollachi,in early June,he told me,"God willing,we would meet in the US".

We -my wife and I - have been in the US since mid-June. When I phoned Sreedhar, from my son Ravi's place in San Ramon, California, his wife Geetha said she planned to go to India with her daughters - Anjana and Anushree - later this month, and, on their return to the US in early September, Annakutty mama might join them. Geetha mentioned that her daughters planned to spend their school vacation doing community service in Mumbai. Both girls are known to be service-minded. I recall Geetha telling us about how her daughters gifted their lock of hair at a fund-raiser for cancer research.
Geetha and Sreedhar said they would very much want Annakutty mama to spend time with his grand-daughters in the US. Speaking of grand-daughters, Annakuttty mama would have occasion to visir another grand-daughter - Puja - later this year in California.Puja,who is Annakutty mama's daughter Maheshwari's daughter, is joining the university in San Francisco this August to pursue higher studies in physio-therapy. She has graduted from Mangalore medical college.

Maybe, Puja's presence in California would bring Annakutty mama to visit Ravi, Meera and grandsons - Sidharth and Nikhil in San Ramon. And Puja, during her stay in San Francisco, would have someone to visit when she feels like a weekend with family or some home-made food. Besides the southie food, Puja can count on some Punjabi dishes made by Sidharth/Nikhil's neighbourhood nani Preetam Kaur.

Super-senior Balanna is no more

2009-07-06T19:44:00.000+05:30

My mother's cousin and, perhaps, the eldest of the surviving super-seniors of the Pollachi clan died at his son's place in Podannur on Sunday. He was 94; and has been bed-ridden for the last many weeks, as a result of multiple complications caused by a hip fracture, pre-existing ailments and sheer ageing.
When we visited him in January last, Balanna,though confined to bed, insisted on making his way to the living room (with considerable assistance from his son Kalyanam), to be able to receive my mother Mangammal and share a few moments recalling their early days spent in Pollachi.

The e-mail informing us about Balanna's demise said he had been ailing for some weeks due to a nasty fall he suffered at the entrance of their Podannur house. Balanna, who was staying with son kalyanam in Podannur, had spent most of his working life in Sathyamangalam as head constable of police.

In an earlier blog post on him we wrote that Balanna moved in to live with his son because of ill health associated with ageing. Besides, he didn't have much going for him in Sathy, following retirement over three decades back. Balanna lost his wife Muthamma 20 years back. Many of his police colleagues and cronies in Sathy were gone. A conversationalist with a flair for political gossip, Balanna used to be lively company, sought after by friends. And the worst thing that could happen to such a person was losing friends, and being left with no one to relate to in the very town where he had spent a life-time.

Chasing soap bubbles

2009-07-06T08:06:00.000+05:30

Aunt Lakshmi brought Sidharth and Nikhil a bubble-making kit, with which the kids had fun at their backyard during July 4 weekend.
Lakshmi - Sidharth tends to swallow the 's' in pronouncing her name - is less an aunt than a pal to the children. Even the 18-month old Nikhil is on first-name terms with her, and he and Sidharth can often be seen buddying up with 'Lakhmi' in the playroom,as they would ,their favourite cousin Anusha.

The Govindans for London

2009-07-04T00:03:00.000+05:30

My sister Bhagya and her husband Govindan are due to leave for London on July 11, to spend time with their grand-daughter Sahasra. The Govindans are expected to spend a couple of months in London, where their son Shankar of TCS is posted.

Vijay is no more

2009-06-26T23:27:00.000+05:30

Vijay, teenage grandson of Rajappamama, is no more. He died in a bike accident in Chennai. We heard the sad news through e-mail from my sister Bhagya in New Delhi. She had spoken to the grieving parents, jayam and Vishwa.Bhagya,in her mail, said Vijay had gone into coma after the accident; and doctors could not revive him.

When we phoned Chennai,Vijay's mother said his heart,kidneys and eyes have been donated; a very noble gesture, and highly unusual for a conservative Bhramin family. Jayam told us vijay's heart had been successfully transplanted on someone in Bangalore; one of his kidneys went to a doctor admitted in Apollo Hospital in Chennai.

Our recollection of Vijay, an ITI diploma-holder, was that of a toddler, in the 90s, when we were staying at Parson Towers on Pantheon Rd. Vijay and his parents lived closeby. As an year-old child, Vijay endeared himself to us and our son Ravi,then a schoolboy, delighted in teasing the toddler. A particular prank Ravi used to play was pull down Vijay's shorts, if only to annoy the playful toddler, with mischief in his eyes. It was delightful watching Vijay darting around the house,dodging Ravi from reaching for his shorts.

My wife and I last met Vijay a few years back at his Ambattur house. He was then in the 10th class,and he made fond enquiries about Ravi anna in the US, still remembering his pranks when we were neighbours on Pantheon Rd.,Egmore. On receiving the news of Vijay's death couple of days back my wife and I remembered our last visit to his place; and pictured Vijay as a schoolboy who , on the asking of his mother, had escorted us to the neighbourhood scooter-stand at Ambattur to see us off.

Drawing for Dad

2009-06-23T22:58:00.000+05:30

This was Sidharth's gift to his dad on Father's Day, June 21.Flipside says it all,"Ravi, Dad Day, Ha,ha,ha", if you have the artistic sense to figure it out.
"Me too," says Nikhil, and does his own piece for daddy.
The artists at work in their play-room.

Diya's birthday

2009-06-23T22:20:00.001+05:30

Not all kids always relish school. But no child would want to miss going to school on her birthday.That is the day she gets to share her sweets with her friends in the class. Diya was out at Eurokids, her school in Mysore, when we called her grandparents on Monday.
With grandpa - Raghu thatha - on their recent visit to Subbu patti's place.Being watched with admiration by Diya's fan No.1.
Diya turns to Baby patti who has infinately more patience than mother when it comes to responding to Diya's whims and fancy, such as making herself a saree out of Savitha's dupatta.

Gautam is one (nearly)

2009-06-23T00:09:00.000+05:30

It was a working day;and not even his birthday (June29), but Gautam's parents - Uma and Rajesh - celebrated his first birthday on June 19 - the day of the asrological star - Bharani - under which Gautam was born nearly an year ago. A birthday doesn't seem to interest our friend. He would rather be in bed playing with our camera cover. But it was his parents who seemed all steamed up for doing the puja marking Gautam's ayushoma.

Gautam in bed biting into the camera cover.
His mom Uma is decked up in a fancy saree, wearing it in a cumbersome way. She and daddy were so engaged in the rituals that they wouldn't even let Gautam have his milk in peace.
Puja materials that caught Gautam's attention, after they took away the camera cover from him. 'My parents wouldn't let me handle them', says his mother quoting young Gautam, whose noises and gestures only his mother can make sense of.
Gautam's grandparents, whose presence at the puja was mandatory. Grandma Bhagya.
Kumar, one of Gautam's favourite uncles, stood in at the rituals for Shankar mama, who is in London.
Meanwhile Saranya appears to be having fun with Ramesh chacha
A rare moment during puja when Uma could bring together both kids to stay at one spot.
A ring for Gautam, for the special day - a present from patti-thatha.

Sidharth/Nikhil at Soccer

2009-06-20T05:55:00.000+05:30

If it is Friday morning, it is soccer time. Nikhil and Sidharth are enthusiastic about it because they get to wear their soccer colours - Nikhil makes do with what his elder brother wore last year, while sidharth has graduated to the 'red' class.
Sidharth poised to score. Sidharth is a veteran when it comes to kicking the ball around.Nikhil appears in a quandary; for he often can't decide on which ball to kick around. On his turf they have as many soccer balls to go round as there are players.

After the last session they gave his daddy a certificate of achievement. Though It was in recognition of Nikhil's performance at the soccer,the San Ramon sports centre know well that it is a certificate in recognition of the time and energy his parents devote to bringing the boys for the coaching sessions.Nikhil is at the centre, in case you can't figure him out from his team mates.

Back home from soccer Nikhil gave us a display of his footwork - by putting it in his mouth.Presumably, he relishes his food less than his toe.

Drive to the park

2009-06-09T09:59:00.000+05:30

Sidharth loves to drive Nikhil in his red Ford Mustang to the neighbourhood park in san Ramon. It takes him five minutes to drive up an incline,involving a couple of hairpin bends,to the hillside park.

Sunday outing

2009-06-09T00:27:00.001+05:30

It was nice knowing that Sidharth and Nikhil were as excited about meeting patti-thatha as we were about spending time with them. We felt very much wanted,and flatterd to be so recieved. And the children were quick to fill us in on what all they had been up to these seven months,during our absence,away in Mysore.
Sidharth demonstrated his bicycling skill for our benefit. He can ride a bike the way newspaper delivery boys do, says Sidharth's daddy.
Nikhil wouldn't want us to get the impression that he was any less proficient in the cycling department.

Nikhil has penchant for playing copycat.You get an action replay from Nikhil, of Whatever Sidharth does. And they usually do things together.
Such as feeding ducks at the Blackhawk shopping complex;
Trying to grab Daddy's attention during play-time.
Working their phones together.
Doing things at the park.
Sketching.
At a concert in their play-room.
Helping Meera with her shopping.

And then there are things they do by themselves.Sidharth has grown out of the backyard basketball.
Nikhil doesn't appear enthusiastic about following elder brother at the spiralling slide.
Nikhil's T-shirt has a message that reads - Someone who loves me very much went to BOSTON and got me this shirt.

Car crash on way to airport

2009-05-18T07:39:00.000+05:30

Viewing this image you would not hold out much hope for its passengers. I wouldn't,either, had I not survived the crash. This was the vehicle in which my wife and I were going to the Bangalore airport to catch an early morning flight to Dubai/San Francisco. It happened near Bididi, nearly two hours after we had left Mysore, at the dead of night. Our Tata Sumo had a brush against a bitumen laden truck, taking a 'U' turn on a high-speed highway.
Pictures of the bitumen truck and the crashed Sumo were taken after they had brought them to Bididi police station from the accident site.
We were at the rear-seat, asleep.I didn't know what hit us, as I woke up to the crash; my wife had passed out on impact. Stranded on a highway in pitch darkness, I felt futile and helpless. For a few agonised minutes I believed it was all over, as my wife wouldn't respond to my frantic calls, and efforts to shake her awake.

It must have been minutes, but seemed an eternity, before she regained consciousness. She was dazed, and kept asking what had happened,and why;and where we were heading and what for. Whatever I told her didn't register, for she kept repeating the same questions,to a point when I lost patience. I found myself utterly at a loss as what to do next.

Our driver Mahadevan knew the drill. He informed his travel office in Mysore; called the police, and the ambulance service. Meanwhile a crowd gathered, even though it was past midnight. Feeling embarrassed, and somewhat irritated at our becoming a spectacle for curious passers-by, I gave vent to my frustration, asking the driver why he wouldn't try to stop a passing vehicle to take my wife to hospital,instead of wasting time answering silly questions from inquisitive onookers.

I didn't know at that time Mahadevan, hurt and bleeding from his right ear, was doing his best, unmindful of his injury. I learnt later that Mahadevan had a slashed ear. A few minutes later a policeman showed up on a bike, but there was no sign of ambulance.

Under stress I get clumsy at handling things, even a cell phone. I managed to call co-brother Raghu in Mysore. I had a credit card, but not much cash. He called his co-brother Narsimhan in Bangalore, who, with wife Gita, was the first to turn up at the hospital at the crack of dawn. Gita and Baby - my wife's sisters - stayed at the hospital bedside, all through. As it turned out, I didn't need cash. The ambulance ride was free; and I used credit card at the hospital.

Incidentally, it came as a relief to learn that the Karnataka government has a free ambulance service in place on the Mysore-Bangalore highway. So dire was its need for us that I would have readily paid a thousand rupees, if only I had the cash. It was,I believe, nearly half-hour ambulance ride to BGS Global hospital at Kengari. The approach road to an otherwise well-equipped hospital is bumpy, and bad for fracture cases. And the multi-speciality hospital, located close to the highway receives mainly accident victims. I see repair of potholed patch of road to the hospital as a medical priority.

Emergency service was prompt, and efficient. Dr Venkatesh who attended on my wife stitched up a nine-inch cut on her neck; had her right shoulder x-rayed for supected fracture; and kept up a conversation to calm our nerves. At my request he agreed to take a call from my anxious daughter-in-law, a doctor in the US.I found Dr Venkatesh a multi-tasker with reassuring way with words in dealing with patients - the kind,I believe, would be an assset in any medical emergency room. I wonder why a hospital that claims to have world-class infrastructure, including helipad for air ambulance, can't fix its bumpy driveway.
On our way back to Mysore, after a day in hospital,I stopped by to see, for the first time, our damaged vehicle. The scale of damage may spell death for others. But I associate life, my reality of it, with that mangled mess on wheels, if only because my wife and I are still alive to see the wreck. The image of the wrecked Sumo tells me that at times a split-second or sheer hair-breadth is all that is there between life and a pointless death.

Mangammal in Pollachi

2009-05-12T06:12:00.000+05:30

My mother Managammal has moved to Pollachi. She plans to be there for the three months we - my wife and I - would be away from Mysore.

We are leaving for the US early Thursday, to spend time with our grandsons Sidharth and Nikhil in San Ramon, California. Moving establishment, even if it is for a few months, is always a hassle. While your daily routine gets upset, it becomes increasingly difficult for you to adjust to a changed environment as you get older. My mother is 90; underwent surgery for fractured leg; and she moves about with the help of a walker.

The house where my mother would spend the next few months has been rented out on compassionate grounds to our Pollachi neighbour Anusiya, who runs an informal school for the mentally challenged children. We had no intention of renting out our house to anyone; and I told Anusiya as much when she first approached us. It was only after seeing the schhol kids under Anusiya's care that my wife and I relented.
Our house, at the far end (painted green) and barely visible, is located in what is left of my grand-father Chakrapani Iyer's farmland. The houses in the foreground belong to Mangammal's sisters - Sambu and Sita. Having your sisters for next-door neighbours is a major consideration that prompted my mother's move to Pollachi. That she is in good company during our absence from Mysore is a comforting thought for us. What isn't so comforting is that all three sisters are ageing and ailing to varying degrees. But then, if they apply their mind to making the best of their situation, the Pollachi sisters can view their stay together as an opportunity to learn to be supportive of each other, focusing on their commonalities, rather than harping on petty differences. They can become a source of strength to each other.
My chittappa Padmanabhan is agile and active even at this age. He has always been there for us whenever we needed his help and support. For instance, we got Sun TV and phone connections for my mother's place with chittappa's help.

We had agreed to rent out our house to Anusiya on the understanding that my mother would have access to a portion of the house for a period of stay, whenever she needed it. She agreed to this arrangement because 1) Anusiya desperately needed additional space; and 2) we would not have rented the house on any other terms. We - Anusiya and I - worked out this mutually acceptable arrangement.
A class is in session at our place. This photo was taken after my mother moved in to occupy a room next to this class-room . Incidentally, the boy with his teacher, is Gogul. He was somewhat difficult to handle when he first came and we found him in a cry mode when I visited last some months back (click here to view earlier post).
Sangeetha, a teacher, stays here and uses this room after school hours. She now has my mother for company.
Chitra, a former and reliable maid of ours, has returned to the household to be a live-in help for my mother.

Muthusamy's Sathabhishekam

2009-05-11T07:50:00.000+05:30

Muthusamy is a first-generation clan member who worked all his life and retired in Pollachi. He is 81,and is about to 'get married' to Swaranambal, all over again later this month. They call this marriage Sathabhishekam; it is to be performed by their children.
The long-wedded couple - Swaranambal and Muthusamy Iyer - ready for re-marriage.I took this photo specifically for this blog, when my wife and I visited them during our recent Pollachi trip.

To be entitled to re-weddding, you need to have been happily married for decades, till the husband attains the age of 60. Muthusamy said he didn't have it done at 60. Now that he is 80 plus his son Giri and his wife want to celebrate sathabhishekam . And Muthusamy and his wife are pleased to oblige them. For them it represents an occasion for a grand family re-union. The family priest was consulted and an auspicious date fixed - May 25. Formal invitation has been sent to relatives and friends.

Though he is elder to me by a decade, our relationship have all along been so friendly that I address him as Muthusamy, as I would any close friend. My earliest recollection of him is that of a tall, lanky young man on a bicycle, who visited my many uncles at our house. I was then a schoolboy in Coimbatore, and used to visit Pollachi to spend vacation at thatha Chakrapani's spacious cottage-like house, located at what was then the fringe of the Pollachi town on Coimbatore Road.

Muthusamy's father - Krishna Iyer - was my thatha Chakrapani's elder brother. Speaking of him Muthusamy mentioned that his father spent his retirement years in Tirupur with Venkatanna, Muthusamy's elder brother.

Incidentally, Venkatanna had been instrumental in initiating our matrimonial alliance. He was a neighbour of my wfie's Senu chittappa, a sub-registrar in Tirupur, in early 70s. It was through the good offices of the Tirupur neighbours that our horoscopes came to be exhanged between parents, and our wedding was made possible.

I must recall here a touching incident relating to Venkatanna, whose face I remember because of distinctive pock-marks left by a severe attack small-pox in his younger days. As newly marrieds, on our way from Coimbatore to New Delhi by train, we were pleasantly surprised to find Venkatanna at Tirupur railway station with a parcel of my favourite jelabi. We were touched by his gesture . Venkatanna , being so elderly, thought nothing of the trouble he had to take for such a brief meeting with us at a wayside railway station. The train halted barely for a few minutes at Tirupur.

My wife's Sulur cousins

2009-05-06T18:08:00.000+05:30

My wife Subbu's Sulur cousins are a close-knit group; they belong to the third generation of the family of Lakshminarasimhan, her father's father. He was a revenue stamp vendor in Sulur. My wife's father Venkataraman was the eldest of the four Sulur sons. With four sisters, theirs was a large family.
After schooling and marriage the brothers and sisters drifted away from Sulur to places as far apart as Salem, Chennai, Dehradun and Jamshedpur. Their children, now married with grown up children of their own were losing touch with each other. And this was when my wife's cousin and Hyderabad-based Govindarajan organised Ramanavami celebrations last month at Sulur. It was a family reunion that revived decades' old memories and my wife returned from Sulur with resolve to stay in touch with her cousins.
She didn't expect to have another family re-union so soon after her Sulur visit, when we had a surprise meeting with some Sulur family members last week at Coimbatore. Those we met included my wife's two other cousins - Kunju and Vijaya. The occasion was Vijaya's son's poonal.

Rangarajan, Shekar and Raghu at the poonal of Vijaya's son. Raghu and his wife came from Chennai to conduct their nephew's poonal, held at Ayyappan Puja Sangam, Coimbatore. It was a community ceremony at which poonal was conducted for nearly 50 eligible boys by the local Shankara society.
The community hall was packed with relations and friends of families celebrating poonal. And the ceremony was conducted by priests engaged by Shankara Society. The society charged a modest Rs500 from each family; and besides conducting the ceremony they held a community feast for the participant families and their guests. For the purpose of economy and because of space constraint each family was requested not to invite more than 10 or 15 persons.
My wife and I were there, courtesy my niece Kalpana and her husband Muthuraman, whose son Mukesh had his poonal at the Ayyappan Samajam. And we were unaware of the thread ceremony of Vijaya's son, held at the same place, same time.
It was not until after the ceremony that Raghu and Shekar noticed me taking this picture. They were thrilled to meet my wife again, so soon after their Sulur family reunion. Raghu even complained that Subbu had failed to inform him about her Coimbatore visit when they met at Sulur.

But then he quickly realised that we could turn around and hold him guilty of having neglected to invite Subbu for their nephew's poonal. Raghu and his wife were the prime-movers at their nephew's poonal. The boy's mother relied on him to conduct the ritual; and Raghu, on his part, was glad to be of help to his Coimbatore cousin.

Vijaya (right) appears pleased at the way the proceedings went; and her sister Kunju (wearing a similar saree) stood up in excitement as she spotted my wife in the hall. My wife has little recollection of when ,and how long ago , they had met last.
Another person she met after decades , though both live in the same town (Mysore) was Bhavani. I am not sure of how they are related, but I have heard my wife referring to Bhavani's father who used to run a radio shop on Mysore's Sayyaji Road during the days before television. Radio Mani mama, as he was known in family circles, is no more. So is his radio shop.
Pattu sitti was perhaps the senior most member of the Sulur family to bless the poonal boy. Conspicuous by his absence was her son Govindarajan who hosted the Sulur Ramanavami celebrations.

He told me on phone that the Sulur family has been conducting the yearly festival at the local Ram temple for generations. And he wanted to hold the 60th year of the celebrations on a grander scale. Govindarajan made it a point to invite everyone associated with the Sulur family; and expressed , in passing, his hope that they would be liberal with donations. I couldn't make it to Sulur, and I don't know how much, if at all, my wife contributed.

Mukesh's thread ceremony

2009-04-30T07:24:00.000+05:30

It was a big day for schoolboy Mukesh. He may not realise this, but his parents - Kalpana and Muthuraman - do. And these past few weeks, they were under stress, running around inviting relations and friends, and organising themselves for a big event in their life - their only son Mukesh's poonal. It was held at Ayappan Puja Sangam's community hall in Coimbatore.
Presence of super seniors on the occasion made it special. Notably, several invitees at the Mukesh poonal were senior citizzens. Relatively younger relations such as Mukesh's mamas and athhais from out of town - Chennai and Pollachi - had arrived a day or two earlier to help Kalpana and her husband with the chores. Their residence at Ganapathy, Coimbatore, buzzed with relations and became a lively venue for a grand family re-union.
A represnetaive group of invitees (seen in the picture) included Mukesh's great-grand parents - Annakutty (from Mumbai), Mangammal (Mysore), Padbhanaman (Pollachi), grand-mother Saraswati, mama Raja (Chennai), athhai Jayashree and her husband Babu (Pollachi).
Jayashree, Babu and Raja(seen in action) were members of what one could call the Poonal Working Committee. The thread-ceremony is a social occasion that entails participation of every invited person in rituals. Seen below are pictures of their offering bhiksha (a fistful of rice) to Mukesh.

Kalpana was a more visible master (or is it mistress) of ceremonies, though the role was shared by husband Muthuraman.
Mother and son appear to be having an intimate talk on how Mukesh should do abhivadhaye (pay ceremonial respects) to elders in the family.
Father Muthuraman plays role model for young Mukesh, being initiated into a new phase of life.

" SAHASRA " - A New Beginning

2009-04-26T01:59:00.000+05:30

Last friday, we had the conventional Namakaranam ceremony of our daughter 'Sahasra'.

We had called a priest, from the nearby temple to perform the function along with shudhi of the house on the 10th day after her birth.

In fact, we had the naming ceremony thrice as "BhagyaLakshmi", "VasanthaLakshmi" and "Sahasra". The priest was a little baffled to have to do the proceedings thrice, for the same child. As traditions go (as per my mother), a girlchild should get her grandmother(s) name and boy child his grandfather(s) name.

My mother in law, changed the custom a little by changing the name of the child as VasanthaLakshmi instead of VaraLakshmi(her name) as she thought the name suited the child better.(Child born on start of Vasantha rithu).

Sahasra, means 'New Beginning' and not 'Thousand' as many speculate. In fact, it was a little test for us parents to search for a name, which is neither common nor old fashioned but simple to tell and has some good meaning. Not sure, how much we succeeded in our test.

From my side, my only consideration was that she should not have a name starting with alphabet A, thereby having to be first among the roll numbers in school.

After seeing the initial photos, my father was very happy with the technology which made him see the photos of his grandchild the next day itself, when during olden days, he had to wait for more than a day to see his own daughter, though born in the same country.

Jeet - the boy next door

2009-04-24T17:13:00.000+05:30

We posted earlier a bunch of photos on Jeet's first visit to our place, a few weeks back. He is in Mysore to spend time with his grand-parents. Jeet and his mother will return soon to their home in Davengere.
With his mother.

With his mamaji.

With senior grandma, Jeet's grandpa's sister.
With his best friend Kavitha, who takes Jeet out around our apartments block.

Dressed to visit our neighbourhood Jain temple.
Jeet, after a shower.

Brand new parents

2009-04-15T07:19:00.000+05:30

Shankar, my sister Bhagya's son, has become a father. Wife Purnima gave birth to a baby girl at a clinic in London, on Tuesday, Chitravishu. My wife, who is good at remembering notable dates, mentioned that Bhagya, the new-born's New Delhi grandma was also born on a Tuesday. So was Saranya, said Bhagya, referring to her eldest grand-daughter and Uma's first-born.

Purnima's parents from Vizag are in London nowadays to be with their daughter at child-birth.The new-born's paternal grandparents - Bhagya and Govindan - based in New Delhi may well make the trip to London in May or June.
Whom does the new-born look like? Purnima, according to super-patti in Mysore , going by the baby's expressive eyes.

Gautam & Saranya

2009-04-13T17:56:00.000+05:30

My niece Uma doesn't say it, but it appears that her younger one Gautam is getting naughtier by the day. This is evident from the photos she sent us.

From the look of it, Gautam appears to be in good hands - his didi Saranya - when it comes picking up new acts to baffle their parents with. Together - Gautam and Saranya - synergise well to make their home a lively, if somewhat disorderly, place.

Didi is on her own, with her picture-book that appears to have been (man)handled by by brother Gautam.
It appears Gautam doen't need his mother or didi when daddy is at home.