Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!

What is wrong with these people? Why can't they talk about something else?

Dam, dam, dam dam.. damn!

The above lines may go through the minds of anyone else, but not a single Keralite, even if he now resides in the North Pole.

Frankly speaking, I have never seen Kerala united in such a manner!

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FDI in Retail in India

The debate rages on.
This is one area where ringing in the new may not be quite what the nation needs....
Instead of the friendly neighbourhood, dhoti-clad grocer selling you rice, atta and dal, you will be piling up all sorts of mostly superfluous items on to your shopping trolley and get checked out of store by young, suited and booted, extra-polite MBA degree holders.

Read the rest of this entry

I bellow my flames: An incident of fire

‘Hey, get down!! Get down NOW and head out to the front. We’re trying to control the fire.’ It was a Police Officer with his flashlight. As I rushed inside to let everyone know, my heart was throbbing. ‘Quick, fire, evacuate.’ What do you take with you?More..

Art and Wine

http://parayilat.blogspot.com/2011/11/art-and-wine.html
What is art? What is the connection between art and wine? These were some of the questions a few of us discussed some days back. It was at the Art & Wine event at Ramada Resort that was promoted by Paul George (on the right in photo), a well known art connoisseur and business man of Cochin, and Sulu Wines. The opening lamp was lit by Mr. K. Ramachandran Nair (on the left in photo), who has contributed so much for the promotion of art with his galleries.....

Is Team Anna a threat to democracy ?

Britain’s academic and a Labour peer Bhikhu Parekh, in a recent lecture on the crisis in Indian democracy, is reported as saying, a growing public support for Anna Hazare-style protests, led by unelected campaigners, bode ill for Indian democracy...More..

Indian Govt. Mulling Institutionalization Of Community Policing

It is undoubtedly a very significant development. It is now an established fact that appropriate involvement of community always enhances the quality of the governance. This explains why it has now become such a popular practice for governments across the world to partner with local community members for carrying out various tasks and activities (one notable example is that of “Community Forestry”). More

Talking books, unread & reread

The bookshelf in front of my desk has often had me wonder, ‘would I ever be able to read all those books before my time is up’. I am 73 . Browsing the Net and channel surfing have pushed reading books to a back-seat in my re-ordered daily routine...More

Shine On, Shorn Or Long!

Long or short, women are fascinated with the styling and grooming of hair. If it is curly, we want it straight. If straight, we want it wavy.

I used to long for wavy hair, I remember, and hated it when the ends of my plaits stuck out like broomsticks. While as children we suffered the weekly oil massage and following wash, we now realise now that it helps bring a rush of blood to the roots and stimulate them. During the days I was growing up, there was a biweekly ritual of massaging the head with coconut oil.I still do it, though the biweekly massage seems to have become bi annual! Well almost.

Thalai Diwali

This year’s Diwali was Danielle-Kartik’s Thalai Diwali, the Diwali they celebrate as a couple for the first time. I sent them a mail from which I quote two or three sentences:
“In those days – I am talking about 75 years back -- newly-married couples used to wait eagerly for Diwali, the reason being they had to wait a year or so to start living together as man and wife.

Gin and Tonic http://parayilat.blogspot.com/2011/11/gin-and-tonic.htmlGin and tonic

The midday drink of the sahibs when they ruled India was gin and tonic.... The British had a purpose in taking that drink other than alcoholic aspect. The ‘tonic’ is quinine water which prevents/cures malaria and is health wise beneficial in several ways

Petroleum products manufacturing and pricing policy

Three years back I had written a post titled Tackling the oil crisis. One point I failed mentioning then was that the vehicles should be kept in good condition. Anyway, let us have a look at what could be done to handle the situation:

Ms. Manusmriti Of India Becomes The 4th Generation Cop, Makes World Record

And now Manusmriti has lived up to the legacy of her family by joining the IPS. She has joined the Union Territory cadre. She and her father have also made the record of being the only serving father-daughter IPS duo. A bright student, Manusmriti is an alumnus of Delhi’s St. Stephens College and London School of Economics. More

The gentlemen of the highways...

I’ve been traveling extensively since I was a kid. When we were small we rarely spent a weekend at home. Weekends were synonymous with travel. We hit the road every weekend and I went to school on Mondays with a note to explain missed weekend homework. Karnataka has something called Dussehra holidays that comes as a welcome break during October. Dussera hols lasted ten days and we traveled a little further like Darjeeling or Jaipur or Kashmir. Summer break usually meant a holiday in Kerala or abroad. My Dad’s love for driving has seen us driving through pitch dark jungles roads, getting a puncture in deserted places and getting stranded on a mountain with a ruptured fuel pipe. But he was an experienced driver and had a remedy for every eventuality...more

AN EXPERIENCE

The young man just looked at my face and gave the girl a ‘thumbs up’ sign. The girl walked back and after a short time came back wearing another pair which did not suit her at all.

More here

THE LETTER I DID NOT SEND

We are back after spending six months with our children in Seattle and Newport. Our return trip on October 17, a Monday, from Seattle was also via London – a British Airways flight with a one hour stop. One hour to make the connecting flight to Chennai! When I realised that, panic master that I am, I started worrying about it – will we make the connection or not? What would happen if we did not? Read below

What actually happened

Two months of silence – relocation and cataract operation

Well, my keeping quiet on the blogosphere for two months was not because of any mouna vrutha. Such noble undertakings are only for people like our present day ‘Gandhian’ in creaseless clothes.

Hang Out There!

 

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) is a World Heritage site.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee describes it thus:
"The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is the first, and still the most outstanding example of a hill passenger railway. Opened in 1881, it applied bold and ingenious engineering solutions to the problems of establishing an effective rail link cross a mountainous terrain of great beauty. It is still fully operational* and retains most of its original features intact."

Hello, darkness my old friend!

For some years now, I've enjoyed taking a solitary outing at nightfall. All those years ago, the loneliness was as frightening as the darkness. Over time, a love of solitude replaced the fear. Silence and darkness can become a rich environment for those who like to wander about in the spaces of the mind.

Three Weddings - Part 2

A wedding in the family and that too in Trichur, was carrot enough for me to decide to go there. So it was for Raji, Muthu and Raja. And we were off to Trichur; we had a grand time enjoying the ceremonies which lasted two days. Yes Rajesh’s wedding was a typical South Indian one with the vritham and the kappu kettal for the bride done side by side the morning before the day of the wedding, and the reception the same evening.

SINGAPORE RECENT EVENTS - SNAPSHOTS

http://mymysore72.blogspot.com/2011/09/recent-events-singapore.html

Three Weddings

In June, there was such a wedding in Chicago. My grandson Kartik got married to Danielle, his friend of five years. It was a perfect wedding in every sense of the word, a pot-pourri of two cultures. There was no Mappilai Azhaipu, no vritham, no Kasiyathirai, no Mallai Mattal, no oonjal. There was a Sasthrigal (priest) who conducted the wedding in a very dignified manner with the bare essential rites such as the Vinayaka Poojai, the Kappukettal which the Sastrigal himself did both for the bride and the groom, the Kannika Daanam, recital of the Gothram and then the Mangalya Dharanyam or Thali kattu,( the ‘Mundru Mudichu) or Three Knots.

HURRICANE POWER

A couple of weeks ago, when Hurricane Irene was not even thought of, we went with my son Sriram and his family from Newport, New Jersey for a short vacation to Corpus Christi in Texas, to join my son Sankar and his family for his birthday celebrations at his sister-in-law’s. Two days into the holiday, Hurricane Irene came into being and took on great significance, since it was predicted that it would hit just where we resided, bang opposite the river from New York city. Initial relief at having escaped the fury of nature, turned to alarm as we realized (a) our return flight was cancelled. (b) our apartment could be in one of the areas most affected by the hurricanes, with rains pouring into the 10th floor balcony and entering the rooms. My son narrates what happened next….

Earthquake!

We were shaken and rattled about. The lights went off at once. The noise was frightening. Once we made it outside we stood together holding one another at the door. We knew we should be running down the stairs but we couldn't move. The building was rocking violently. It felt as if everything would come crashing down any second.

About Pencils

As young kids we yearned to get promoted from the slate and chalk (baLapa) level to the pencil and paper level.  The newer generation urban kids begin with the latter and they may not even be aware of the slate and baLapa though they know the blackboard in schools.  There used to be a 'slate baLapa' in the form of a pencil!  I used to write with ... Read more.....

Butterflies in my yard

Who does not want to stop and watch a colourful butterfly flutter by?  If you have a few flowering plants, shrubs and trees in your yard, the butterflies find them. It is for many reasons butterflies are great attractions to children and I grew up watching them in our yard, which hosted much greenery.  I still do.  Earlier we just watched them without observing much.  Read and see more images...

Toy Cars and Buses

Often, we young boys did not need a toy bus or a car to play the game of driving.  Just some running space was enough!  What a pleasure and feeling it was to 'drive' barefoot, making the most pleasant sound of the engine using the lips - 'brrrr brrrrrr'  and sometimes 'bbrrrooooom', when we sped!  While we had to make a horn, the engine had to 'stop'!  The 'vehicle' can be made to turn in sharp angles as well without changing gears.  When there was an opportunity to travel by..... Read more....

A strange coincidence of WTC 9/11

It is already ten years now since that fateful day which came to be referred as “9/11”.  The US has got rid of its mastermind (OBL) recently.  I don't need to decipher.  I would like to share a strange coincidence I came across in relation to this infamous terrorist act which has stuck in my memory.  I was in Chennai for a cricket engagement.  Read more...

Greetings

“No Pillows, No Blankets”

Yesterday (Aug.23) I took an early morning flight of a major Indian airways from Cochin to Chennai.. Usually there would be the airline chaps to help needy passengers with baggage and checking in. I required assistance because of a back problem. Looked around for support staff. No luck. 

Click on the title to read on.

A Few Thousand Words

Flanked by its belt of defensive jungles is that city
Whose doors are never closed to those who seek the prize
Lovely like the pericarp of the many-petalled lotus
The navel of the dark-hued Lord.....