Chithirai festival in Thiruvaiyaaru

 Thiruvaiyaaru is a small town next to Tanjore and it is an hour drive from Trichy. I don't prefer the Trichy Tanjore Highway due to traffic and usually take Kallanai route by that way its all green pastures on both the sides. Thirivaiyaaru is famous for music festival dedicated to saint Thyagaraja who is considered one of the greatest saint composer of carnatic music. There is a very famous Shivan temple called Aiyarappar temple which is categorized as paadal petra sthalam. Thiruvaiyaaru has five rivers around the city namely Arisilaaru, Vennaaru, Vettaaru, Kudamuruttiyaaru and Kauvery aaru. Temple is called as Dakshina Kailasam (southern abobe of Lord shiva) built on a very vast area. If you plan to visit this temple then I bet your Apple watch will break all your records in terms of number of steps. It is to be noted that Saivite saint Appar worshipped here and got the darshan of Mount Kailash. One lovely thing about this temple which I came to know was every day is considered to be auspicious and to emphasize this temple conducts wedding festival for mother is conducted on Ashtami nights. There is a common belief that Ashtami being eighth day of new moon or full moon is not an auspicious day. But with the graciousness of mother Dharma Samvardhini what we call inauspicious becomes auspicious. Sri rangam and Thiruvaiyaaru both considered holy places and people carry out the rituals for their ancestors on these holy places based on their preference. 

 When time permits I have this habit of visiting old temples nearby and on one such occasion came to know about the Saptha stana temples (seven temples) in and around Thiruvaiyaaru. These are seven temples which are geographically closer to each other and on my first visit I had darshan of Puvananathar temple at  Thirupanturuthi and on second visit I had darshan of Kandeeswarar temple at Thirukandiyur and Odhanavaneswarar temple at Thiruchotruturai. Now since my boys were off to my inlaws place for summer vacation I planned to cover two or three temple on my third visit. I had no clue that May 7, 2023 happened to be the chithirai festival in these seven temples. I directly went to Apathsahayar temple in Thirupazhanam and in that temple met a shivan devotee. She requested for a ride knowing my plans and I said its my blessing to give her a ride. We both headed towards Thiruvedhikudi to have darshan of Vedapuriswarar and since these are small temples in remote locations priest locked the temple and went along with pallaku. Nevertheless I went inside the temple had my darshan and went straight to Neyyadiappar temple in Tillaostanam. Over there I had darshan and the temple had a festive look. I slowly came to know the chithirai festival in great detail. Just knowing names of the temples is no good and knowing the religious significance makes you to enjoy much more so here I go ...

There is a temple in Ariyalur district called Vaidyanathaswami temple in Thirumazhapadi where Nandhikeswarar marriage happens every year [Panguni month, Punar pusam nakshathiram]. It is a faith that one who sees nandhi marriage, they will enter wedlock soon. Lord Nandeeswara bridegroom of Aiyarappar temple marries goddess swayambikai of Thirumazhapadi and Lord Aiyarappar along with his consort go to Thirumazhapadi on a glass planquin to conduct the marriage and on the same night Lord Aiyarappar along with the newly wed couples cross Kollidam and reach Thiruvaiyaaru. It is a saying that newly wed couples settle for 30 days and then start visiting places. But we live in a different planet altogether where newly wed couples go for Honeymoon, finish off the reception and travel to a different country in seven days. After 30 days the new ponnu-maapillai has to be shown to public hence Lord Aiyarappar along with his consort start from aiyarappar temple and visit other six connected temples along withthe newly weds. Lord and goddess all go on palaaku (palanquin) from one place to another and on each temple they are accompanied by respective planquins and will join the Aiyarappar plananquin. During Nandhi marriage each temple specializes in one area as follows:

Thirupazhanam: Fruits are brought from this temple for Nandhi marriage.

Thiruchotruthurai: Food/rice are brought from this temple for Nandhi marriage.

Thiruvedhikudi: Vedic priests are brought from this temple for Nandhi marriage.

Thirukandiyur: Ornaments are brought from this temple for Nandhi marriage.

Thirupoonthuruthi: Flowers are brought from this temple for Nandhi marriage.

Thiruneistanam: Ghee is brought from this temple for Nandhi marriage.

Thiruvaiyaaru: Celebration in Aiyarappar temple 

So from two palakku to start with from Aiyarappar temple they keep adding one palakku after visiting each temple. Lord aiyarappar is happy to show newly weds to all and finally in Thiruneistanam (thats my third stop in the trip) you will get to see all eight (7+1 palakku). I have to say this has been a truly rewarding experience to catch hold of the festive atmosphere. Trumpets all over, fireworks, men carrying children on their shoulders and shiva devotees on full swing. The breakfast I brought became my lunch and without worrying about my HBA1C levels had enough panakkams. The shivan devotee whom I gave ride asked me where were my kids and I said they have gone to inlaws place; She said oh ..you have so big boys that they have gone to their inlaws place and had to correct her saying they have gone to my inlaws place. For some reason this joke seems to be Minu's favorite till date as she bursts out laughing recollecting this one often. Slowly all palanquins started gathering inside the temple premise and around 3 pm was hungry and found a thatha selling cucumber. I thought that was the best bet for both health and hygiene and had one cut into four halves sprinkled with chilly powder and salt. I have to say it tasted delicious ....I was soon inside the temple where all eight palakku gathered and priest started aarthi for one palakku after another. To witness lords from seven different temples on a palakku along with goddess and also along with nandhi along with his consort all under one roof was overwhelming and overall atmosphere was so very good. 

None of us can detach ourselves from regular life but at times we must visit festivities like these to know and understand true meaning of life. While we may be crumbling for materialistic pleasures looking into the street vendors, seeing how people volunteer for a public cause, seeing how people help each other during padhayathras, kids seeing how parents sacrifice their day during thiruvizha times, how relatives convene during thiruvizha times and last but not the least seeing how villagers from seven villages mingle and coordinate the function was all too joyful. Ancestors truly had a purpose for Thiruvizhas and my experience during Saptha sthana thiruvizha in Thiruvaiyaaru was a very enriching experience. Now after witnessing Saptha sthana thiruvizha in Thiruvaiyaaru I love to experience Kallalagar getting down in vaiagai river, Thiruvarur Ther festival, Maha masi magam in Kumbakonam, Thiruvannamalai periya karthigai etc., 

Next blog: Chettinadu cooks - An overview !! 

My experience with Police Station !!

 Hi all !! I have taken a six month Sabbatical from Blogging to do plenty of reading and here I am refreshed with some good lineup of topics ....Thank you to all my readers who happen to remind me to write often. I would like to narrate my experience with Tamil Nadu Police station !! 

On May 18th Thursday evening I suddenly realized that my Bicycle was missing which used to be just next to our elevator. . Actually I pass my bicycle atleast ten times in a calendar day but did not happen to notice. I think it's high time I start to have vallarai green leaves because I can hardly remember when was the last time I saw the bicycle leave alone when I used it last. The more I think the more it becomes like "Naduvulla konjam pakkatha kaanum" ...fully blank. Then came my watchman at 7pm who changes from lungi to his uniform right next to my bicycle. I know he would knew it because my cycle used to be his hanger momentarily when he changes costumes. He said its been missing since Tuesday which is 48 hours past. I asked him why the hell he did not inform me and he said I would have noticed already. Then I thought maybe I should see CCTV footage. 

I dialed the CCTV person and he helped me to navigate and trace out the person. Our camera is pretty old and clarity was poor and footage reminded me of oliyum oliyum back in 90's. After patiently navigating for three plus hours I was able to trace the date and time the bicycle was stolen and it was a 12 year old boy who stole. Because of the poor clarity I couldn't recognize his face nut nevertheless got some leads through the footage. I took it to our tenant who moved in recently and installed CCTV cameras which would make PC sriram feel proud. Footage was very clear and we could spot the guy very clearly. 

Next day I showed the video to our maid, watchman, milk man etc., and everyone said this guy roams around everywhere but the sad reality is no one gave me any lead. I gave myself two days of time to see if I can find the guy but hard luck I could not. I finally decided to go to Police station. I have to say this before I went to the police station there was one section of group who said "Going to police station is utter waste of time, they ask bribe and drill you"; another section of audience said "Unless you raise a complaint there will be guys like these" and finally another section said "Your time is more precious than worth of the bicycle" ....Actually I thank the last section for having high regards of my time but I haven't got to a stage where couple of hours of time is more important than 10000 bucks. For me I would like to take this opportunity as an experience since police station for me is "Red bricks building, with tea glasses all over, fan running in high speed where we can count number of blades, snoring constable, echoing walkie talkie, inspector with x axis stretching horizontally etc., Watching too many tamil films this is how I painted a Police station. So I was all set to visit Police station for the first time in my life. 

I entered into Thillai nagar Police station which recently shifted to a new location next to Tennur bridge. I said the reason why I am here and the person downstairs asked me to go upstairs and give a written complaint. There was a mam and inspector upstairs and they enquired regarding my case. I said though value of my bicycle is only around 10000 and my aim is to catch hold of these boys and teach them a lesson. They saw my footage and said they will be able to catch hold of the guy. They asked me to write a letter in tamil ...I said sorry I can't write in Tamil ..they looked at me and their mind voice was like "Nalla Oothappam saaptu vanthutu enamo Shakesphere son in law madhuri scene podraan paaru". She was kind enough and I wrote the letter in english ...suddenly Tea came for them ....they asked me to have and I said No ....They insisted I should have one but I refused. In Tamilnadu whether people read news paper or not I am not sure but news paper is definitely used to soak the oil from vada. People enjoy having vada and tea together. It takes them to heaven in bypass and they relish to the extent if you ask them to sign a pathiram they will sign it. It is always Awkard to bribe people and with so much of hesitation (something similar to how a new daughter in law behaves to her mother in law for the first day - note the point your honor ..First day is the key phrase over here) I asked how much should I pay and they said no need of any money. I was stunned and returned home. 

 It was four or five days later I got a call from Police station informing me that they have found the bicycle and I can take it over. I was rejoiced not because of the monetary value but because my faith in Justice system was restored. Many a times we think stepping into a Police station is waste of time but here I am with a petty case but still found justice. I was given choices what to do with the boy who stole and requested them to warn him and let him go. The guy did not have one parent and other parent was not giving him the right living so here he is wandering down the streets and doing some petty thefts. All I wanted to say through this blog is never listen to anyone rather go with your conscience and always do what is needful for justice to prevail. Apart from police officers being courteous (not just because they offered me vada and Tea) they did not get single rupee from me. They said they did their duty. 

Next Blog: Chithirai Festival in Thiruvaiyaaru 

Growing Trend of Family Feuds !!

 Some time back I was watching Sai pallavi's interview in Youtube and she mentioned pretty much all the heavy dance movement songs she was choreographed she had periods including 'Rowdy baby'; I was stunned seeing her attitude and her guts to speak out the truth in public forum that too with an interviewer of opposite gender. I have penned some bold topics like 'Caste', 'Big fat Indian weddings' which brought me lots of accolades and today I am going to pen an important topic which is very much relevant in today's world. Family feuds are becoming more frequent these days just like your morning filter coffee. When I used to be in US I used to wonder why people fight? 99.99% the reason for fight is money and many think money come and go but relationships aren't hence we should not fight. Now that I have completed five full years of coming to India I think I pretty much nailed it why there are family feuds everywhere. I am going to list them and explain in detail. 

[1] Cash Transactions: If you think demonetization had made India into digital economy then come and have a cup of Soup. Cash dealings are always unofficial and though Government comes up with lot of rules and regulations people always find a way to find a loophole. Cash transactions becomes unaccounted and you cannot find a trace of it after few years. Real estate and Jewellery shops accept cash and people often use cash for these two things. If market value of a land is 2 crores whereas guideline value is 80 lakhs then the balance amount of 1.2 crores is settled in Cash. Now you might wonder what does cash transactions do with family feuds ? It does and it does big time. Assume there are two brothers where one live in US and one live in India then when both the brothers settle wealth do you think cash transactions will come into surface ? If at a year 2005 jewellery is bought through cash and at year 2010 land is purchased through cash will these two transactions come into the settlement table 10 or 15 years down the lane? If things are done in a fair manner then it should come but cash transactions will have zero trace hence these two transactions are discarded. This becomes advantage for the brother in India and the tendency in India is always "People in US are money machines" hence they may not be very particular on accumulating on all the wealth in India since the kids are all well settled in US. I am personally seeing many parents willingly asking one of the kids to settle in USA since they are aware of the problems that will arise if all kids settle in India. This is very pathetic and explicitly shows the parent is not being fair. Once again cash transactions are the root cause of many problems that arise in families. 

[2] Zero Transparency: I would say heated debate is better than silence; People keep all the information within themselves when it comes to inheritance of family wealth. Nothing is disclosed and people always find ways to execute things quietly. I am not saying one has to announce these things in a mike but healthy discussions has to happen when we talk about some sensitive topics. Parents tend to be partial with one of the kids and they deliberately don't reveal out anything. The more secretive they are the more curiosity it creates for the other kid. 

[3] Gender Disparity: Assume a glass of water and pot of water; One gender is given glass of water periodically whenever they are thirsty thereby quenching the thirst and the other gender is made to wait ..wait ..wait .....and then one final day given a big pot of water for the whole world to see how big the pot is. It is true pot of water is big but if you compare the glass of water at regular intervals to the pot given at the end then the little glasses of water will easily be to the size of a small pond. I leave it to the reader to decide which gender am I talking about for the glass of water and big pot. This point is again one of the main reasons for family feuds happening now. 

[4] Take NRIs for granted: I feel so sorry for the NRI community .....just because NRIs pose pictures in cruise ships, lavish birthday parties, luxury cars doesn't mean life is full of roses for them. Going through immigration, missing family reunions and the worst is rushing down to India after hearing the sudden news or in some cases missing important funerals are all tough nut to digest which NRI community has to go through in their lives. Looking into the lifestyle of NRI community I have many so many people in India comment following things 

 "They will not come down to India anymore ...they have plenty of wealth in USA"

"Both husband and wife work and wealth in India is peanuts to them". 

As Ex-NRI, I will voice out and explain the ground reality. I think its time for NRIs to voice out and start to understand more on India matters; If you think talking about these may raise eyebrows and create friction in the house then I am afraid when you want to raise your concern there will be no one to listen to your concerns. Always remember healthy argument is better than silence. Taking NRIs granted is also one of the reasons for family feuds since some people have started voicing their concerns. The big batch went abroad around 1995-2000 and those people are nearing 60 hence this is coming up in the last few years so going forward we will see more of these issues as number of people who went abroad post 2000 was on the rise. 

So I have explained all possible reasons for family feuds. One thing is for sure ..there is something called 'Karma' and those who act unfair by amassing wealth of others will pay the price and sometimes Karma is so very powerful that it will leave you and start to bug your next generation. 

Iraivanin Padaipu

I think nine out of ten believe that there is super natural power on top of us who orchestrate our script in the form of our lives. But God's creation is so very wonderful that humans seldom realize. I plan to go over some practical day to day examples of how God has given a space for each Individual to shine in her/his life. 

Degree from high profile university and a street vendor: Let us assume guy named XYZ is born in an affluent family and gets to study from a reputed business school. He studies pretty good and get placed in a MNC company as a starting package of 12 lakhs/annum; Now take another example of ABC son of a cobbler who is not privileged enough of going to school since his parents cannot afford to pay for his education. He rather sells samosa/vada is a busy bazaar street; So here we are with two examples from two different backgrounds. Now read further ...Guy XYZ makes 1 lakh/month and his take home is roughly 80000; There is lot of expectation from society/community on his next steps so sometimes he had to take decisions due to peer pressure. He has to work long hours, travel often, have plenty of outside food due to his work culture. Now coming to ABC he starts his day around 2 pm where he does preparation for all the stuff he will be selling in the evening. He starts selling from 5pm and because he is in such a busy spot he is able to sell 500 each of samosas, vadas, bajjis and pani puris. He prices each of them at 7/piece and that is 2000*7=14000; Raw material, labor and other overhead expenses will be 50% so that is roughly 7000 profit per day and assuming he works 25 days in a week that is approximately 1,75,000 and even if you consider dull days, police bribe, other unexpected expenses for 75,000 it is still 100000 rupees. I may sound little exaggerating but trust me this is happening. All I wanted to say is XYZ and ABC pretty much earn the same amount of money though the society look both of them in a different way. Rich is blessed to be born in an affluent family but is it mistake of poor to be born in an economically back family ? If there is a will there is a way and God though made XYZ born in an affluent family still makes him work for it and made him cynosure of all eyes whereas ABC has no expectation from society but has to sweat and work hard to earn money. The point I am trying to make is not to say street vendor is better than job from MNC company but want to emphasize on how God has made a level playing field for everyone to prosper.

Vitamin and Iron Supplement: Vitamin and Iron deficiency is becoming very common these days and pharma companies are coming with a seperate sub division called Nutraceuticals where they focus on supplement drugs. Doctors have started to prescribe these drugs where some are available over the counter and some are allowed to be purchased only with valid prescription. People have started to buy supplements as they don't want to take chances but these drugs are expensive. Some can afford to buy whereas many cannot. Once again god's creation is beautiful - rather than having Vitamin C supplement tablets if you consume Guava it can make up for it. In fact one Guava contains twice the amount of recommended Vitamin C intake per day. By the way myself and my two boys are big time consumers of the fruit and our love towards the fruit can easily surpass Surya's love towards Jo. Iron deficiency is becoming very common these days and supplement tablets are available in plenty of brands but easy solution is moringa leaves. If you buy moringa leaves for 20 rupees that is good enough for family of four but unfortunately in this zomata era no one has the patience to pluck leaves of moringa. 

Iraivanin padaipu is amazing - He made earning very difficult and spending very easy, if its other way round things will be chaotic. He makes you inherits wealth at the same time also inherit punyams/paavams from ancestors, God make elders like kids in their older age to help remind the kids this is coming soon for them too. There is always checks and balance and his creation is designed in such a way that he wants people to be humble and grounded all the time. 

Next Blog: Growing trend of Family Feuds 

Ponniyin Selvan

 I was super excited to watch this movie during opening weekend but couldn't get tickets on the desired theatre I wanted to watch hence waited for some time. Though was just a call away from getting tickets I don't want to obligate my friends every single time when a new big movie releases. Then once I was able to get tickets I couldn't get tickets on the type of seats I wanted to watch - balcony, center row seating and it was like as soon as seats show up in internet someone booked the entire row. I still had to wait and finally second weekend booked tickets but then my nose was like Ponni nadhi and even cetrizine couldn't rescue me hence had to skip watching the movie. Finally third weekend booked my tickets and finally watched the movie. If I cannot have patience to wait for 14 days I can imagine amount of patience or should say perseverance for Mani Ratnam to wait for 40 long years to make his dream come true on his dream project. I deliberately did not attempt reading the novel nor listening to audiobooks because I want to go with clean slate and not influence my background on the story have a saying in my liking towards the movie. 

I plan to do a complete post mortem of the movie going over the movie in detail. First let me go over a short narrative.

Farmer and Neem tree as a narrative: Once upon a time a farmer called Govindasamy lived in a small village and cultivated crops on his native land. He gets up early in the morning and starts watering his crops followed by applying natural fertilizers. Then he ploughs the land using a tractor and then his loving wife helps him in cutting the weeds and pests control. His children at times comes and plays in the farm and family is contented with the way they lead life. Family always rests under the neem tree and either having food or taking a nap always happen under the neem tree. 

Now if you read a narrative you imagine characters and incidents on your mind and depending on the author on how he establishes the characters it gets into a new world of imagination for every reader. Novels are like slow poison and it takes ample time to establish each character and once author hooks you onto the characters then story revolves around the characters. Ponniyin selvan is five volumes book spanning close to 2000 pages. Story has been widely read by public and it has reached people across all walks of life. Now imagine taking the same narrative through mainframe cinema 

Farmer and Neem tree as mainframe cinema: Beautiful sunrise happen and farmer with folded hands hum a song and enter into the field. Rain comes and he is overjoyed and thanks nature for all its help and then one fine day while applying natural fertilizers realizes his crops have been affected by pests. Not knowing what to do asks help from his wife who agrees to mortgage her jewels in order to save crops from further damage. Family always eat, sleep and play under neem tree and one fine day snake bites farmer's son and farmer is put into lot of pressure both on professional and personal front. How farmer recovers from this situation forms rest of the story. 

As you can see in mainframe cinema you have the ability to tweak things as per your wish but it is important to retain true essence of the story. So biggest challenge for Mani Ratnam must have been on how to adapt a novel into mainframe cinema retaining the true essence of the story as well as adding fictional elements and dramatical moments to cater to normal audience. For example climax fight would have been very average if the fight took place in land but drama was added by having rain, thunderstorms to make it bit cinematic. Devarattam must have been a dance form in the past era but that has to be communicated to modern day audience through a song choreographed. 

Ponniyin selvan story is 70 years old and stalwarts like MGR, Sivaji, Kamal, Rajini attempted but couldn't make it. There were multiple challenges like huge budget requirements, big star cast and making of two parts. Mani Ratnam said in one of the interviews that this was his dream project and he has to wait as many as forty years for making his dream come true. Remember Mani Ratnam is a heart patient and people tend to take things easy once heart diseases scare you. Corona was a major roadblock hampering the shooting schedule. People working with PPE kits and N95 masks just shows the passion they have towards art. During 2020, vaccines were not readily available for citizens and to shoot during this period considering how Corona shook the entire world shows the character and commitment people had towards this project. Multi star cast in Tamil Cinema is like serving sambar vada in muniyandi vilas ...simply not possible 

In Trichy there is a sentiment - anything with the name Kaveri will be a sensational hit, be it school, college, hospital, supermarket everything is doing extremely well. Ponniyin selvan is doing tremendous box office collections and making small kids and all the way upto elders at home to visit nearest theatre. Photography and art direction were simply outstanding, and this should be one of AR Rahman's best work. At times I felt music was bit contemporary but then music when faceoff between Trisha and Aishwarya happens was too good. Beauty with brains holds good for both Trisha and Aishwarya as they both got meaty roles. Dialogues were good and rather than taking us to ancient language the one used in the movie helped people to understand. I heard it took one year to come up with the screenplay of the movie and great job by the dialogue writers. I was happy VFX works were limited since story is not a fictional one. 

I have never seen Mani Ratnam market his movie this much as he has always maintained low profile towards movie's promotion. But this movie marketing done through cast of the movie were bit overwhelming but it paid rich dividends. Good movies has to be appreciated and hats off to Mani Ratnam for a wonderful movie. I knew before its release that it will be compared to Bahubali ..this is sick attitude from audience, Bahubali is more of fictional story and had many larger than life scenes but PS is based on a true story with some fiction around it. One need not degrade one film in order to appreciate other instead both movies are good in their own way. Bahubali has to be given credits because it let directors know that even with period film one can make commercial blockbusters.  PS has given new lease of life to Tamil industry and soon we may see many novels coming as mainframe cinema and one who adapts it well will be successful. So finally writers will get due respect augurs well for writing community and will not be surprised if novels like Partiban kanavu, Sivagamiyin sabatham turn into movies pretty soon. 

Next blog: Iraivanin Padaipu 

Pilferage

 'Small waters make mighty oceans' is a very famous proverb and am going to illustrate how 'Pilferage' is carried out in today's world in various Businesses. I have picked handful of Business typically my community chooses and highlight the challenges faced in today's world. My community is a very conservative one and are good traders but off late since second generation is not coming into the family run Business it is all advantage for other groups and especially for the employees in the respective firms. I truly believe challenges are more of internal in nature (mainly due to employees) and not because of Modi ji, GST or economic climate. Our community chooses Businesses very wisely and below list are five common fields we are currently associated with: 

Example 1 - Medical wholesale Business: Medical field is one of the fantastic field to be associated with and Corona has just explicitly highlighted the same to the whole world. Whether you are into Medical practice, own a wholesale/retail, run a hospital/pharmacy, own a Lab (scanning services) or into Surgical trading or run a C&F everyone in the supply chain is a beneficiary of the prevailing life style and food habits of fellow citizens. Since we are into medical wholesale business below are some of the ways pilferage happens:

(a) If a Customer is known for his poor finances then best thing to do is to stop business with him. But people voluntarily places orders to this customer. Let us assume this bad customer has this habit of paying back only after 90 days (90 days credit is slowly becoming common) then our staff hands over the money only after 120 days. So thirty days staff uses money for his own personal expenses and returns 30 days late ...Imagine number of customers our staff deals ?? 

(b) If company requests stockists to provide offer then we are obliged to do; Imagine company XYZ asks us to provide '10+2' offer for a new product launched meaning for every 10 numbers we sell then we are requested to provide 2 numbers free of cost; Our staff uses this formula and rather than providing two strips free of cost to customer they sell two strips to the shops they know and collect cash. Many retail pharmacies will know the formula but some shops due to poor manpower they don't know current offers, and these are the shops people take advantage. 

Example 2 - Paper Industry: Just like how medicines get consumed paper is one commodity which we keep using every single day. Paper manufacturers are facing slew of challenges like raw materials shortage, costly coal and Russia-Ukraine standoff. Wastepaper is one of the raw materials for paper mills and since wastepaper is of much demand staffs inside the mill trade wastepaper with other mills in order to fetch money. Also, rough formula is one ton of coal is required to produce one ton of paper. Since coal is most sought after for electricity needs, coal is again being traded to thermal plants for higher costs by the very own employees. 

Example 3 - Transport Business: Just like how medicine and paper are consumer products transport is one industry which public uses every day since common public with 8000 rupees salary package cannot own a Bike/car especially with the sort of petrol price in the market. Private Bus owners give incentive to bus operators based on the 'collection' and this is primarily done to increase footage on a particular route. So rather than carrying 55 guests if bus carries 70 passengers, then bus operator gets incentive for the extra 15 passengers, so he is encouraged to accommodate more and more people (now you know why private buses are crowded). Now let us assume one passenger regularly takes one route daily and becomes close buddy of the bus operator then bus operator rather than giving ticket to him gets cash. Ticket price may be 20 rupees but passenger offers 10 rupees and both bus operator as well as passengers gets mutually benefitted through this deal at the cost of the owner who looks into the bigger picture of 'collection' in a day and not collection for a single trip. 

Example 4 - Estate Business: Estates and nagarathars go a long way since cultivation of crops and being in harmony with nature always suits well with my community. With 100 or 200 acres in their kitty it is not an easy job to be on top of things. Most of the people appoint managers and handle the overall operations of the business but may not be hands on with day to day operations. 'Yield' is a very important term in Estate business and in order to fetch weight tamarind seeds are added as part of coffee seeds and papaya seeds are added as part of black pepper. If you are handling 100 tons of merchandise how in the world will you find out these ? These are planned at the field level and either adulteration is done at the estate or during transportation. But end of the day in the name of food adulteration people make money and its a network of people who gets associated. 

These are just some of the examples of how pilferage happens in some common businesses. Older generation since they have gone past years of hard work they overlook these just to keep them going. With proper technology in place and suitable business process at every step and more importantly second generation getting into the groove can only curb these and put an end to the pilferage activities carried out by the own staff. 

Next Blog: Ponniyin Selvan

NAP

 Not everyone is blessed to fall asleep as soon as they lie down in the bed ....Sleep is a blessing and those who don't get to sleep peacefully at night know the pain of what it takes to do your daily chores. The fact is pharma companies are selling sleeping tablets more and more and am afraid sleeping tablets are becoming as common as Iyengar bakery puffs. So why is sleep becoming a problem ? Answer is 'Stress' ..Stress is playing a predominant role these days in everyone's life ...I can bring some examples why people are stressed so much these days :

1) Co-sister's blouse is more grand than mine and tailor messed up mine hence stress level shoots up 

2) Branch of our mango tree full of mangoes falls into our neighbor's whereas neighbor's thengai mattai keeps falling in our house hence stress level shoots up 

3) Scoring less marks on midterm tests shoots up stress levels for parents

4) When you have rasam rice in plantain leaf and realize rasam runs in all four directions, you shout at the person for pouring more rasam 

These are some of the basic silly reasons why people get stressed out which in turn disturbs your sleeping pattern. 

Recently I plotted an analysis where I figured out those who take a nap in the afternoon are much more productive at their work than people who don't take a nap. In IT world you don't get the luxury to take a nap in the afternoon but for people who run their own business they have the option to take a nap and extend their office hours in the evening. Taking a nap in the afternoon gives you that extra strength for your mind which in turn results in a productive evening. I believe in Japan young children are allowed to take a nap in order to increase attention spans. Because one is deprived of sleep it takes extra time for brain to translate visual input into conscious thought. It is even said with good nap it removes toxic waste from brain. There is a theory that napping improves creativity as right side of the brain remain active during napping and is associated with creativity. 

Staff at NASA, Google and Samsung have one thing in common that of taking a quick nap during your work hours; I have been to Google office in California and amazed to see the specially designed sleep pods called 'Metronaps' where you get into the machine and outside world is shut by a large visor playing soothing music before it gently wakes up its occupant by switching on light patterns. 

One of the biggest factors people are afraid of taking a nap is that they are afraid they will put on weight by doing so. People spell out fancy terms like 'Carbs', 'Calories', 'Diet' but they seldom realize how do temple priest live with Pongal, sambar rice, lemon rice, tamarind rice but still maintain their fitness. How many priest had heart problems ? They are constantly on the move running in and around the temple and many tend to take a nap in the afternoon. Many senior doctors in India take a good nap in the afternoon for a productive evening session; 

So what are you waiting for ? Go take a 30 minutes Nap every afternoon !! 

Next Blog: Pilferage 

My adventure

 As far as my memory goes, I have never been part of any adventurous stuff except the fact that I have been to some thrilling rides in theme parks. I have never been part of serious trekking, scuba diving or sky diving. Only thing I can remember being adventurous to some extent is while being part of some white water rafting and ice skating. December 31,2021 had different plans for me and by far this was the most adventurous ride I have experienced and going to share what happened that evening. 

There is this train called 'Lokmanya express' which stops at Thiruchirapalli junction and goes to Kanchipuram directly so my Mother in law had this train reservation on a Friday evening. Train leaves trichy 6 pm + so we left home around 5.30; It was cloudy and was thinking whether kids should come but since it didn't rain all four of us decided to go to the train station. We went all the way to the platform for the train to arrive and my son was like "Appa enaku ucha varudhu" ..I took him all the way to the main entrance and realized landscape of Trichy junction is very badly planned. So we are standing at the platform for the train to arrive and train arrived few minutes late. All four of us went inside the train and as soon as we spotted the seat we were searching for plug point to charge her phone. Suddenly we realized train started to move ..man I came running to the door and train already picked up speed. If it was just me I could have jumped but since I had kids with me I was wary of the consequences. I just had to be wise and realized train may stop at Sri rangam; and could always take a taxi and come back to junction. I was shocked to know this is an express train and does not have frequent stops. Not even lalgudi or Perambalur and next stop is all the way to Vridachalam. I have no clue where Vridachalam is and how far it is from Trichy. I realized Vridachalam is 120 kilometres away from Trichy and easily couple of hours away. 

Inside the train ...

So we four of us were stuck inside the train without knowing what to do ...TTR came to me and I pleaded to him that he has to take our case as emergency and drop us at some station. I said I was ready to pay fine as much as 5000 and expressed my willingness to pull the emergency chain ...He pleaded or I should say begged asking me not to do so as that will put both himself and me under police case. It will also make his job into trouble as there are legal ramifications for allowing passenger to pull the chain. He sat next to me and made me understand "Emergency" is defined when person is suffering from chest pain, stroke etc., and me stranded with kids will not fall under emergency and this is example of carelessness. Well I think he has a point but somehow I was not convinced. Blame game started between me and my wife and we both realized we need to get back home safely.

7.55 pm Vridachalam Junction ...

Here comes Vridachalam junction and we got down from the train and went into reservation counter to see whether there are trains going back to Trichy ....December 2021 was the timeframe third wave was picking up and IRCTC closed unreservation tickets as they don't want people to be crowded in one compartment. I was looking for plain seating, 3AC, 2AC or even Tatkal bookings and nothing was available as it was new year's eve and all the train where booked pretty much in full. So train option was ruled out. 

8.15 pm 

Next option was to take a taxi ..I was trying to approach taxi drivers and each of them were like Telugu cinema villains getting down from Tata sumo not having time to shave for the last six months. One gentleman advised me to go to Vridachalam bus stand which is few kilometres away and can get reputed taxi from there. So we got onto to Auto and went to Vridachalam Bus stand. 

8.30 pm 

I was trying to look out for taxis like Ola or Uber by that way I can keep accountable of the whole trip. Since it was new year's eve we don't want to get into some unknown taxis which is unreputed because there is a good chance drivers could have been drunk. There was one medical shop next to bus stand whom we supply medicines but the staff was like the person whom Kajol gets to meet before marriage in Minsara kanavu ...for anything and everything "owner a kekanum" ....time was running and we are getting into the night ...With Train, taxi ruled out only option was to take a Bus. I spotted a Trichy Bus and when I was trying to catch I realized my fitness is at a very bad shape. Finally I got hold of a bus and reserved seats through the popular method of placing a cloth in the seat and in this instance my hand ker chief. My wife and kids got into the bus and all three of them went to sleep as soon as the bus started. With so many windows and natural air flowing in it was a new experience for my boys to rejoice the bus travel. Half way through the journey my MIL landed in Kanchipuram when we were returning to Trichy. Around 11.35 pm we got down at Chatram Bus stand and got hold of an Auto and came home around 11.55 pm to light the lamp in time and offer prayers just before the year turned to 2022. 

Last six hours of 2021 was definitely adventurous and it was an experience. In life some things are planned but many things are destined to happen and this one incident makes me nervous these days to get inside a train in order to send off people. 

Next Blog: Nap

Vanjaram Fish - Shocking Truths !!

  Food adulteration is an old topic but when you get to see it through your own eyes then you are in for a shock. Sunday afternoon is not complete without a Non vegetarian dish in India and when lockdown was imposed on Sundays in India you should see the crowd in front of poultry and fish markets on Saturdays for you to believe whether corona really existed. Often our class teachers used to comment "Why do this class behave like a Fish market?" Fish market is a happening place and I love shopping in these markets because I missed this for over a decade. I usually visit Puthur Fish maket in Trichy and since the place is about to be renovated, I switched to Woraiyur market. My first choice would always be Vanjaram and there is big, medium and small categories; You have to go pretty early like 5.30 am to get Big Vanjarams as the restaurant business and Catering chefs come early and pick all the big ones. I usually go in at 7 to 8 am and I get to see only medium and small ones. Vanjarams are fleshy and ideal for both frying and Fish Kolambu and the best part is it has got little thorns. Suddenly one fine day I see the newspaper with an article that in Woraiyur Fish market, FSSAI authorities has seized 650 kgs of fish since fish was laced with Formalin. 

  Everything is sensitized in India for unknown reasons so I did my exploration to know what the inside story of this episode is. First and foremost, Vanjaram belong to "Sea food" meaning it can be found only in oceans. So, for places like Trichy, Madurai, Tanjore, Coimbatore and basically Noncoastal areas it has to be transported to local markets. Assume fish is caught on Wednesday in places like Rameswaram or Kadalore and it is consolidated on wednesday and by Thursday it leaves the source. On Friday it reaches destination to the big wholesale merchants who control the local market. Bidding happens on Friday and local retailers buy from wholesale merchants based on their level of Business. On Saturday and Sunday local merchants have all the fish they need. Now if you note the fish that was caught on Wednesday is what you buy on Sunday. Tamil Nadu is hot at least eight out of twelve months and for the fish not to decay for four days there is whole lot of things that happen. Western countries are able to retain the shelf life through Cold storage and other latest technology available at their disposal but over here 'Cost' plays the role in how food storage is handled. 'Ice', 'Ammonia' and 'Formalin' are three methods adopted by merchants to retain shelf life of the fish. When I say 'Ice', merchants usually have a thermocol box and have loads of ice on all sides of the fish to make sure fish does not get spoilt. But do you think mineral water was used to make Ice? Ice is usually bought from ice factories and on many occasions ice is prepared from unhygienic condition. Other method merchants deploy is ammonia is mixed with water and the water is freezed  to preserve the fish which is again dangerous. 

  Now coming to 'Formalin' - it is a cancer inducing chemical used illegally to preserve fish. Formalin may be injected deep into the fish so unless you cut deep into the flesh you will not know the smell of the chemical. In many cases on Government hospitals Formalin is used to preserve human bodies in mortuaries. Regular intake of formalin even in small proportions just increases the chances of Cancer. There are plenty of articles in the internet which helps us to detect presence of Formalin in the fish but I don't want to do fire fighting with the merchants rather I want to go back and choose wisely on what fish to buy. It has been almost a year now and I stopped buying Vanjarams (though I consume in events and Restaurants since it is beyond my control). I am buying local varieties now and these are caught locally and sold the same day. Blood splashes when they cut it in front of my eyes. On the down side it takes ever to take away the thorns from the fish and if you have toddlers then you are running a bigger risk of burning your Sunday afternoon doing nothing but removing thorns. 

So it is simple, ask yourself "Is point of sale far away from place of catch"; If answer is Yes stop buying Vanjarams rather buy local available fish. In other words make a switch from the modern classic to local Dappan kuthu !! 

Next Blog: My Adventure

Religious beliefs & Marriage !!

 My blogs on religious topics have always been well received in the past and realized it has been some time now since I wrote one on religious topic. I am going to go over Marriage and religious beliefs in Hindu religion. Marriage is a very important step in one's life and there is a famous tamil proverb which describes marriage as "Aayiram kaalathu payir" meaning as we see yield of crops in a particular season, marriage is similar to a crop where it has to overcome all seasonal challenges and come out strong spanning generations and give us plenty of yield. My community is one of the most conservative community and it is absolutely painful to see marriage failures and parents bearing the stress in their old age. Just like Covid has introduced the term 'New normal', 'Divorce' has become a very common term people are coping with in modern world. There is always prescriptions to anything and everything and Hindu religion has given a way to lead life no matter what your life situation is. There are so many rituals and temples which helps bride/groom to enter wedlock upon worship in their respective shrine. I am going to list out the ones which are not that common (since people may already know the common ones). 

1)Nandhi Kalyanam: There is a saying "nandhi kalyanam mundhi kalyanam" meaning one who witness nandhi kalyanam will get married soon. 

When: Panguni month, Punar poosam nakshatra day 

Where: Vaidyanatha Swamy koil, Thirumazhapadi 

Belief: Marriage happens between Nandeeswarar and goddess Swayambikai and it starts in the evening and festivities go till late in the evening. If groom or bride witness this marriage it is said their marriage will happen soon. 

2)Thadikombu - Soundararaja Perumal temple

When: Five consecutive Thursdays 

Where: Soundararaja perumal temple, Thadikombu

Belief: Performing poojas to the deities Rathi and manmadhan on five consecutive thursdays will help unmarried people enter wedlock sooner. 

How exactly it works ? Men need to pray and put garland for Rathi and women need to pray and put garland for manmadhan. This has to be followed for five Thursdays. Once you get married you have to come as a couple to offer thanksgiving. If you call priest he will explain you very clearly on the options you have. For some practically coming five Thursdays may not be possible and priest is the best person to advice you on the options. My intention is just to let you know that there is one such belief exists and worked wonders for many. 

3) Thiruvidanthai Nithya Kalyana Perumal temple:

Where: Chennai East Coast road, 24 kms from Chennai

Belief: Those who are yet to enter wedlock will soon get married

How exactly it works? Unmarried Boy/girl has to take a holy dip in the kalyana theertham, take cocunuts, fruits, beetel leaves and garland and offer prayers to lakshmi varahar by doing archanai. Priest will give one garland which you have to wear around your neck and basically do nine rounds around temple premises. Once you get married come as a couple and bring the garland and do an archanai and offer prayers for varahar. Before the garland get dry there is a belief one will enter wedlock. Once again call temple priest for up to date details. 

4) Thirupainjeeli Shivan temple

Where: Close to Manachanallur in Trichy 

How exactly it works? Doing archanai for both lord Gneelivaneswarar and goddess (Note: there are two goddess shrines in the temple) and offering prayers will help groom/bride to enter into wedlock sooner. 

5) Vedhapuriswarar temple, Thiruvayaru 

Where: Near Thiruvaiyaru

How exactly it works? This sthalam is one of the dosha nivarthi sthalam for marriage; People who need to enter wedlock can come and offer their prayers by singing devaram songs. Once they get married they can come as a couple and offer their thanksgiving. Saint Sampanthar mentions lord's mercy on all those aspiring for most auspicious wedding 

Literal meaning of the lines are "The whole hearted wishes of boys and girls are most auspiciously fulfilled. 

I just want to reiterate the fact that some of the things I mentioned above can be outdated so please kindly contact priest of the respective temples and get to know the complete details and see whether it aligns with your schedule. My intention is to just highlight the temples which helps people on marriage aspects.