Influencer No.4

 One of my earlier blog (Dada,Thala,Cho) written on May 4,2020 I wrote on some of the names who have an influence in my life. Sarcasm,Nakkal,self destructive humor and talking with some substance are some of the traits I love from Cho; Leadership, Guts are some of the characteristics I like from dada and finally speaking your heart out and being humble are the characteristics I like from Thala. I mentioned there is one other person but may need one full blog to go over him and he is none other than Actor Sivakumar sir. If someone challenges me to get on debate with Rangaraj pandey or Gopinath I don't think I have any issues provided I am given some time to prepare but if people request me to go and talk to a bride who has just tied her knot and about to bid goodbye to her parents before moving with her husband and in-laws then let me admit frankly that I will not be able to accept the request. It is such a big moment for every girl (change of her surname from her dad to husband) and when she is running with lots of emotions I don't think I can talk facing her eyes. It is Rosa-poo-chinna-rosapoo- sort of a  moment and I realized my emotional quotient is quite high when I read Actor Sivakumar's autobiographies. Around 2008 timeframe when I was a bachelor I used to read quite a lot of books and one of the best decisions I did was picking sir's "Idhu Rajapaatai alla" (autobiography of Actor Sivakumar) I should say this book had a profound impact in my life especially since I read it in my late twenties. The book may not inspire you but rather influence you to be more human since there are so many anecdotes where you will cherish the incidents and appreciate the humbleness. 

 Would the world believe sir is 80 years old? Just look at him and he is absolutely stunning at this age. Sir does not consume caffeine and does yoga pretty regularly. Cine industry is known for late night parties but sir defined discipline though belonging to an industry which exbibits glitz and glamour. He wouldn't allow wine shops to open beyond certain time in T nagar since he had two boys. He had an illustrious career acting around 190 movies as lead as well as supporting roles. He has also ventured into public speaking on topics like Ramayana and Mahabaratha on various forums and has got good appreciation. Sir is a great artist and had drawn numerous portraits of various celebrities and sir is also ambidextrous (one who can use both right and left hand equally well). Sir also acted in some mega blockbuster serials like Chithi and Annamalai. Have I met him and talked to him? No, I am not blessed enough to have met him but once I read his autobiography I started to follow him. Sir has a big influence on how to be a 'Human' in this materialistic world. When he wrote the book around 2007-08 timeframe he could have easily added a chapter on Suriya and Jothika and that would have been good enough for the publication to sell copies like hot cakes rather there was absolutely nothing written about his star kids - Suriya and Karthi. He said even after acting over 100 films his bank balance was pretty nominal which explains his character. Once after our marriage in 2009 I wanted to make a small donation to Agaram foundation run by Suriya and along with Minu we visited the office in T nagar and handed over the check for a very meager amount and when I was back to US I came to know that foundation did not encash my check rather they returned back to Trichy address citing they did want to take anonymous donations.  

  In the book sir talks about his village, death of his brother, shares fond memories about his friends Eswaran, Thangamuthu, Krishnaswamy, mannin mainthan Marappa Gounder, his admiration towards AVM chettiar and Sivaji ganesan; his childwood experience of climbing tree, shares his hardships and agony, his reverence towards Velumani ammal and Chinappa devar; his cinematic experience with his colleagues like Aruldoss, Ravichandran, Srikanth, Gemini ganesan, Director Sridhar, Gentleman Muthuraman, Comedy king Nagesh, Bold and elegant JJ, Bishmar KB, Achi Manorama, Kalaignar, Cho, Kavignar Vaali etc., Once you read the incidents it will definitely have a positive impact since these are narrated on how a 'Human' should behave. Given his current position would you believe that he was considered unlucky child when he was born in Kasigoundanputhur, a village 20 kms away from coimbatore. He was very determined to prove that was wrong. With his dad passing away very early it was his mom who stoically withstood the circumstances and managed to send him to school. He recollects that his mom used to say Diwali,Pongal are all only for rich people but for people like us we will get two pairs of shirts and shorts and even if that is torn we may have to stich and be happy with what we have. Sir recollects his dad's close friend Chinna Thambi Gounder who used to elaborate all the good traits about sivakumar's dad and also recollects how one of his friend named Raman used to watch all his films for 40 years from the income he earned through daily wages. When MGR and Sivagi was at their peak Siva kumar couldn't get meaty roles since both Sivaji and MGR were ruling the roost and when MGR was inclining towards politics and Sivaji started to slow down then came Rajini and Kamal as next set of superstars. Sivakumar couldn't hog the limelight once again but with his talent and hard work he was able to sustain his position in the industry. 

 KB once said if Sivaji Ganesan is role model in acting then actor Sivakumar is role model for how an actor should behave. Not even a single gossip about him just reiterates the fact he is very disciplined. It is to be noted that Idhu Raja paatai alla was included in the 91-92 curriculum of Loyola college. Though I do not follow many of his good habits but still sir has been a great influence in my life. 

Next Blog: Perils of buying Medicines 

Does Luck matter ?

  Discussions on Luck is one of those areas which is subjective in nature and it differs from person to person. I would like to go over some examples I have observed and give my perspective on Luck. Luck knowingly or unknowingly would have played a role in one's life which we may not have realized. Sometimes outcome of a cricket match is decided by Toss and we call the captain lucky to have got his toss right. When you are about to step inside an examination hall or attend a Job interview many would wish you 'Best of luck' and few 'All the very best'. Google defines 'Luck' as success that happens by chance. Now let us look into few examples

9/11 lucky fellas: 9/11 is one day no one can easily forget what happened in New York, one of those deadliest terrorist attacks which took away close to 3000 lives. There are few lucky guys who escaped and one of them was called George Keith who drove his brand new BMV on Sept 10,2001 and got it repaired. He got an appointment next day Sept 11,2001 at 7am with hopes of returning to work at 8am but the mechanics refused to work till 8 am and it took them just three minutes to fix the car and by the time the car was fixed and George was rushing back to work plane already crashed WTC, the place where he was heading for work. Kim John-Burns was another person who was three months pregnant and instead of having breakfast with her colleagues at Company's canteen @ 72nd floor she was lazy and decided to have quick breakfast at sixth floor canteen. She said this decision saved her life. In both the cases had the mechanics come earlier or Kim decided to have breakfast at 72nd floor it would have ended both their lives. 

Home price and Luck factor: There is a system in place to fix a price of a house in US and factors such as Schools, proximity to malls, highways, airports, train stations, crime ratio, foreclosures, neighborhood sales determine to fix a price of a house. House is sent for appraisal and appraiser comes up with a value of the house. Assume one particular house comes for sale and the house is pretty red hot in the market since it has way too many advantages. Unfortunately the couple who own the house are planning to end their relation and heading towards divorce, they want to quickly close the deal and willing to settle for lot lesser. Their aim is to part ways sooner by expediting the settlement process. Guy who buys the house gets a good deal but the sad part are the neighbors who are planning to sell their houses. Couple's personal matters which has got nothing to do with the market trend pretty much skews the price and brings down the value of neighborhood homes by some extent. 

MK Stalin and Luck factor: MK Stalin has been in public life for 40-45 years and had to wait a very long time before he became chief minister of the state. He had every thing to his advantage - son of one of India's senior politician, political heir of Karunanidhi, MLA multiple times, Mayor of chennai, Opposition party leader, Minister of Rural development etc., Now state is witnessing one of the best governance in its history and though it is way to early to comment on the government but the news from all round the state is he is doing a wonderful job as CM of the state. Until Karunanidhi was alive he was always 'Thunai Mudhalamaichar' and he carried that tag for a long time and he was insulted many times from many different people and people always felt Stalin will never be the CM of the state. When it comes to qualification I don't believe there is any better person than Stalin since he has come from very basic levels and slowly climbed up the ladder. He was also president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and as a Mayor he was instrumental in significant growth of Chennai city. Having everything in his kitty still he had to wait till his chance finally came up in 2021 (he was 68 when he took over as CM). People like EPS took the coveted post from nowhere but luck never favored Stalin. 

Luck and Cinema: Since my last blog was on Apples vs Oranges, I want to make sure I pick examples from similar background. Sivakarthikeyan and Actor Prasanna both had humble background and both hail from Trichy and one made it big in Kollywood whereas other is not able to make a mark. If you take Sivakarthikeyan, Vijay TV was his trump card and he capitalized on Family audience particularly women and kids and translated into Box office successes by picking simple and commercial scripts suiting his image. Most of Sivakarthikeyan's movies would be average but they tasted success. Actor Prasanna is pretty good looking and his movies like Kasturi maan and Kanda naal mudhal are decent ones and his acting was good too. Unfortunately he didn't have anyone to groom and with lack of glossy factors like Anirudh's music he couldn't make it big and move on to next level. Actor Rahman is absolutely dashing and acts well but he is better known as AR Rahman's co-brother; If Ilayaraja has endorsed someone then I don't think anything can get better than that but still Karthik Raja couldn't make it big on Kollywood. I love his music in Ullasam, Dum Dum Dum, Ullam Kollai Poguthae etc., I feel Actor Prasanna, Rahman, Music director Karthik Raja all were unlucky. What would you call Mike Mohan ? There was times where many of his movies were superhits and thanks to Raja sir music and SPB voice which fitted him very well and he himself said in an interview that he was at the right place at the right time. 

As you can see Luck plays a role in one's life. It would not be wise to say that one has to rely on luck to grow further but all it takes is some luck to push you attain greater heights. If India has crappy reservation system which favors some castes on education/jobs then US has crappy Immigration system which overlooks deserving candidates thereby favoring individuals based on nationality. But if you are at the right place at the right time then even these so called crappy systems can do a huge favor. 

Next Blog: Influencer No.4 

Apples vs Oranges !!

 There is a tendency amongst people of comparing two extremes and this happens very
naturally. When I say people it includes “me” since I make this mistake often too. The idiom
“Apple vs Orange” rightly captures the essence. Two siblings would have straight opposite
characteristics though they inherit same genes, two students learning the art from the same
teacher may prove to be completely different from one another. End of the day each individual
is different or unique and each situation/context is different from one another, people seldom
understand this or I should rather say they don’t make an attempt to understand.

Covid crisis in India during Second wave:
India was literally devastated during end of April and May in the form of second wave and
personally it was very chaotic environment; I received calls from all round the globe asking for
Remdesivir and Tocilizumab; Opening Whatsapp was getting scary because there were steady
flow of condolence messages. Worst thing was India was running short of Vaccine; Bed and
oxygen availability were the talking points and hospitals were overloaded with Covid patients
and watching Ambulance was becoming more and more common sight. No vaccine, No O2
beds, limited supply of oxygen and no availability of life saving drugs made the equation as
challenging as possible. World media literally torn India’s image to low levels and COVID
situation in India was highlighted is many dailies of some of the world famous print media. One
thing which many forgot was India’s fight against COVID-19 was bigger than many nations put
together. Population of Madhya Pradesh is equal to Germany, population of Rajasthan is equal
to UK, Maharashtra’s population is equal to Japan, Telangana’s population is equal to Saudi
Arabia. USA’s population is 33 crores and Tamilnadu’s population is 8 crores (roughly 1/4 th ) so it
all boils down to Population. Social distancing is said to be a vital criteria to stop spread of virus
but population density plays a vital role in following this restriction. India stands at 403 people
per square kilometer whereas if you take developed nations like US it is 34, Russia is 8, Canada
is 4, and Australia is 4; In lay man terms I have seen many homes around 800-1000 square feet
in India where four people live and that is roughly the amount of space used for car garages in
US. When it comes to Literacy rate, Germany stands at Rank 8 in the world, US at 7, Australia at
16, Japan at 32 and India at 128 th rank with roughly 75% of the population being literates. When
people don’t have the fundamental basics in the form of education how will we communicate
importance of washing hands, social distancing and wearing masks especially when it is turning
out to be a herculean task to communicate the same to so called "educated people". Considering
India’s population, population density and Literacy rate I would say India did exceedingly well in
crisis – it exposed the healthcare system and made Governments work like hell, made people
realize the proverb ‘Health is wealth’ is no longer a whatsapp forward, made India major
powerhouse in Pharma Industry and finally small businesses no longer treat expenses 
related to hygiene as an overhead expense. So bottom-line when people or media compares India's covid situation with other nations they should understand the basics. 

Price of a Juice:
For anything and everything there are always different sets of audience and Business try to lure
audience from all walks of life. I love having fresh juices but many a times I find myself
disappointed with the way juices are prepared. Now let me go over with an example –
Assuming one kg of Chiku (Sapota) is 80 rupees and let us assume you get 10 pieces for one kg
which makes it literally 8rs/piece; In order to prepare a fresh juice for 200ml you need to
squeeze at least 5-6 pieces, along with sugar and other overhead expenses fixed costs easily
comes out to 60-65 rupees and with profit margin included is sold for 80 rupees; Problem with
people (7 out of 10 atleast ) is they feel 80 rupees is on the higher end for a 200ml juice and this
is why most of the juice shops add milk to bring down the costs to 40; I hate adding milk to juice
especially when I know that I am having a fresh juice and not a shake. Problem is we are mixing
up with apples and oranges – "definition of juice" if different for different sets of people. 

Language vs Knowledge:

Main aim of an Indian parent who lives abroad is to see their kids talk/sing/read in their respective mother tongue and if their kids does so especially in their relative circle during their India trips then the glow you see from mom's face is enough to lit up MA Chidambaram cricket stadium; If you take Indian parents then their number one aim is to make their kids cousins of William Shakesphere; They want their kids to talk like Macbeth characters whereas they watch vadivelu memes. In summary parents give paramount importance to language which is fine but they interchange between language and knowledge. An teacher can teach well but her linguistic skills may be poor and parents make the mistake of judging the teachers through language. Comparing language and knowledge is definitely like comparing apples and oranges. 

 As human tendency we tend to compare two different contexts but if we dig deeper both may be two extremes. As long as people acknowledge the fact that we are comparing apples and oranges it should be fine. 

Next Blog: Does Luck matter ?

Opposition is critical !!

 Opposing one another is nothing new in today’s world and opposing happens in every single field:

(a)   Husband opposes wife and vice versa

(b)   Coach opposes players

(c)    Manager opposes workers

(d)   People oppose government

(e)   Home maker opposes maid 

(f)     Traffic inspector opposes Violators

People have a wrong impression about ‘Opposing’, so before I get into actual examples I would like to come up with a silly example of a conversation between husband and wife in today’s world. 

 Mitta Mirasu[Husband]: What are you going to make for breakfast?

Neelambari[Wife]: Cereal is in the shelf and milk is in the fridge ..so help yourself

 

Mitta Mirasu: It’s Sunday ..why can’t you make Poori and potato curry?

Neelambari: Its Sunday for you ..not for me ..every day I have been toiling in the kitchen and no holiday for us

 

Mitta Mirasu: Stop your cliché dialogues ..you have been spoilt by mega serials ..see our neighbor Swapna ..she makes yummy dishes and there is always nice smell emanating from their chimney …my colleague’s wife Anitha prepares awesome dishes and my colleague always open his tiffin box with pride ……

Neelambari:  How dare you compare me with our neighbor Swapna ? Her husband is like a swiggy employee who often buys food from outside ….I heard through our maid that her husband bought her a chain with peacock pendant for their anniversary and this is on top of the lotus pendant she had before ….Don’t even talk to me about Anitha ..She couldn’t even smile at me at the birthday party last week and she is full of attitude because she owns a Business and the food coming from her house is always cooked by her Maid Amutha who happens to be our maid’s first cousin

 Mitta Mirasu: Amma swamy ..I don’t want your Poori …..even upma will do ..sorry I will have bread and Jam …..

Neelambari: We can have Poori but need help from you. Boil the potatoes, peel the skin and smash it; Take two cups of wheat flour, some salt and add water and prepare the dough. Finally add some oil and knead lightly to smoothen the ball.

Mitta Mirasu: Follows all the instructions and finally family is able to enjoy awesome pooris by collective effort.

 Bottom line opposing or healthy arguments between two parties brings the best of results as the conversations give room for more productive results. Now that I have gone through the silly example let’s get into business by real world examples.

 

  Issue No.1: Central Government of India refuses to procure Covid Vaccines on

  Behalf of the states and tells state governments to procure Vaccine themselves

 

       What happened next: State governments started to raise global tenders to procure  

       vaccines and realized there were no takers; Kerala Chief Minister Pinrayi wrote a  

       letter to all Non BJP states chief ministers that they should get their act together

       and pressurize central government to procure vaccines. Supreme Court got involved

       and questioned Central government on rationale behind spending 35000 crore

       rupees allocated for vaccines and asked explanation by a certain date. This is when

       Central government intervened and suddenly announced vaccine rollout plan

       Thereby taking responsibility of vaccine distribution to states. So opposition from 

       the states was the key on determining the final outcome which turned out to be the

       best solution.

 

Issue No.2:  India Backs out of RCEP agreement after opposition from Congress

 What happened next: Let me go over RCEP (Regional Economic Comprehensive Partnership)  .      RCEP is one of those Free Trade agreements covering almost one third of global population and  includes members like China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Newzealand and 10 members of the  South east Asian nations (ASEAN). India was about to sign RCEP but Congress  opposed it          citing that Indian farmers and MSME sector had genuine unaddressed concerns on Circumvention on rules of origin to dump chinese goods due to reduced customs  duty thereby increase the massive trade deficit. Finally India backed out and BJP said decision was taken considering national interests. 

Issue No.3: Jallikattu protest that shook the entire Nation

What happened next: No one in the wildest of dreams would have expected such a protest in Marina Beach ..what started as a small protest gained momentum and slowly but surely became mother of all protests. The chief  motivation of the protest was against the Supreme court's order to ban Jallikattu which is traditionally a bull taming sport held during Pongal season. One of the demands was to declare  an ordinance to remove Bulls from list of performing animals as per the PCA (Prevention of cruelty to Animals) act. Protests were so huge and literally attracted entire nation and finally Tamil nadu government passed a bill that overturned the supreme court ban on bull taming sport Jallikattu. 

    

      Above examples show when you oppose with substance you yield results. I am sure many may think the word 'Oppose' may not be morally correct instead terms like healthy conversations can be used to bring out the desired results. See I am a person who call a spade a spade and sometimes reality takes precedence over diplomacy. It would be absolutely foolish to Oppose for every damn thing but when you see something wrong and have gathered enough proof to defend your stance then I would definitely oppose no matter who the other person is. Eight out of ten times when someone is opposed the party who is being opposed look into 'Who' is opposing rather than 'What' he is being opposed for. If you look into any leader (can be Career or Non profit organization) one who handles opposition in a matured manner is the one who will be able to survive and sustain his role. Opposition plays a vital role in a democracy and for a Ruling party to offer best governance and not take things for granted we need a good opposition party. 

Next Blog: Apples vs Oranges 

Bay Area

 Bay area is a part of California State in US and rightly called as Silicon Valley. Pretty
much all the tech giants like Google, Apple, Face book has their HQ in Bay area. If you
have happened to live in Bay area for a while trust me it is extremely difficult to move
somewhere. So what is special about the area? I am going to walk you through some of
the highlights about Bay area from my personal experience. God has been kind with me
by giving few contract assignments in Bay area but at the same time rude by not having them
convert to full time assignments. I have worked for Tesla Motors in 2008 (Unfortunate
that my stint was before Obama took office and Tesla became altogether a different
company once Obama became president) and Applied Materials in 2014 -15. To give you
an anomaly of how does it feel when you leave Bay Area after living for quite some time
– An independent girl enjoying all the freedom with her parents is suddenly married and
asked to settle down with her Mother in law and co sister(s) all in one roof. That being
said let me go over Bay area from my experience where first three are common features and last
three areas are from personal perspective.

Techy Freaks !!
If tamil folks meet for lunch there are sure shot four topics – Thala vs Thalapathy rivalry,
Whistle podu CSK’s form and Dhoni factor, Vadivelu’s latest memes and Television’s
happening show like Big boss/ Cook with Komali / Airtel Super singer; Bay Area is one
place on earth where suddenly the same old guy who had Oothappam in his childwood
suddenly talk high funda stuff and use terms like ‘Startups’, ‘Bootstrapping’, ‘Venture
Capitalists’, ‘Prototype’, ‘Dry run’, ‘Penny stock’, ‘IPO’ etc., Jokes apart the work culture
is amazing in Tech companies; I took a tour of Google through my friend and it was
amazing to see facilities to take power nap, pool , board games next to your cubicles
etc., On top of providing healthy meals, laundry and fitness facilities company also has
generous paid parental leave and on-site childcare. Best thing I liked was 80% of the
work you do what company requires you to do and remaining 20% you choose what you
do for the company. This is how the creativity is tapped in each individual and would
you believe the median age of Google employee is around 30-32 years!! Most of my
friends who work in Bay Area wake up late and go to office only around 10 or 11am and
they take Brunch straightaway and it is great sight to see folks take their Bicycles for
work and Google infact encourages bike riders by that way it reduces the crazy traffic
and also promotes green revolution. There are big time startups companies in Bay Area
where guys put very long hours sometimes even to the extent of sleeping at office. The
success percentage of startups is around 2% but if you are part of a STARTUP team, that
experience during infant stage can take you places because your whole learning has
been expedited. Innovation, out of the box thinking, likeminded people, venture
capitalists all make Bay Area a paradise for people in IT industry. If a building has 5 floors pretty much any floor you get down from an elevator you will see an IT company with Indian folks. 

Nature & Tourist attractions !!

Bay Area is one place on Earth where you open your bedroom curtains you may get to view the beautiful Mountains. Some of my friends have alarm pretty early in the morning just to shoot the sunrise. People who love trekking, hiking and Biking I don't think you will find a better place than Bay area. Seeing the interest amongst public some Indian restaurants even open for Breakfast on weekends - trekking for 10 miles and having sambar idly is an awesome feel. Golden gate is a must see attraction especially for Indian couples who try to find exact location where Suriya romanced Sameera in Varanam Aayiram through Google coordinates. Fisherman's wharf in San Francisco is a great place to hang out since place is always happening. Napa valley is another attraction that will please tourists and be close to nature. If you can watch couple of Balu mahendra movies then you do have patience and that makes you eligible to visit Yosemite national park and enjoy Nature; Half moon Bay, Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Gorgeous 17 mile drive are all so beautiful and you realize only when your memory card runs out of space. Apart from this taking a tour of Googleplex, visit to Lombard street, visit to Standford university, Intel museum, Facebook HQ and visit to Tesla Motors can just create great memories. 

Travel & Bay Area:

When you live in Bay Area it makes travel look very easy (road trips in particular); Southwest has a flight between Bay Area and Los Angeles on Friday evening and trust me CEO of Southwest airlines may seriously consider changing its name to Desi airlines ....you will find all the spouses working in Bay area travel to LA for weekend and vice versa. Not just that Bay Area is located in such a way where it is mandate to take parents from India to Las Vegas and Arizona which makes it a triangular trip. The long road trips would mean that you catch up on the old stories with your parents on what happened to coconut tree of your Indian neighbor. Also to make things politically correct the same trip has to be repeated for your wife's side too thereby making you a seasoned tourist guide in Las vegas and Arizona. Lake Tahoe can be a day trip too from Bay area and a lovely place for tons of activities. You can even drive to places like Los angeles from Bay area through Highway 1 and am sure that drive will top all of your drives in your entire life. Crater lake is another tourist attraction you can drive from Bay Area and if you have enough Raja sir songs then I don't think you will mind the drive. 

Above three can be applicable to anyone and following three are my personal preferences

Temples & Bay Area:

Obviously I visit temples wherever I go and Bay Area is no exception. Right from early days I used to visit Vidhya Ganapati temple in San Jose. In the year 2009 I called my friend whether we can visit this temple, he said yes but then he got some work and we couldn't go on that day and both of us went next day. It so happened the day we went was Thai poosam and both of us were asked to carry Kavadi inside the temple ...its just a coincidence that our names happen to be Saravana and Karthik and guess what both of us got married within the next few months. I just love this temple and there is great positive vibration and it is always nice when you can do abhishekham to lingam through your own hands. Concord Murugan Temple is very famous for its padhayatra during Thai pusam and once such year I happened to be local and decided to participate in the yatra temple organized. It was so very well organized and such a great experience that my spirits were high all throughout the day. After coming home I couldn't sleep because of the excess caffeine I took on that day and decided to write a blog on my Padhayatra experience and named it "Thai Poosam - Amazing experience" and blog became viral and I started to take blogging seriously. Shirdi Sai Darbar in Sunyvale is another temple that I used to go every Thursday when I was in Bay Area and the disciplined crowd and bhajans were something I enjoyed. 

Food & Bay Area:

I haven't been to Malaysia but for me best malaysian food is served in Banana leaf,Milpitas. I have tried lot of items offered in their Menu and thoroughly enjoyed their food. When Anjappar opened its first branch in 2008 a bunch of us were invited to test the food and provide feedback. This was like giving money to eat sugarcane case !! I provided mine and guess what owner called us second time to again test the dishes after taking the suggestions into account. Since then this Anjappar next to one of Cisco's building has been a constant one in my list of places to eat. Now coming to a road called 'El Camino Real' ..Omg ...if you visit this road you wouldn't know whether you are in Biz bazaar street or California ....Madisar mamis, Panchakacham mamas talking about their lazy Daughter in laws, Balram Naidu and Reddy garu talking about their hardworking Son in law so on and so forth. I got to a point where I knew what menu items were available in Madras Cafe; Komala vilas a typical brahmin type of lunch served as per schedule (each day they have a fixed menu like Monday - Potato poriyal, Tuesday - XXX) is another restaurant I enjoy. Aapa Kadai is one restaurant served in two places on the same road - one in Sunyvale and another in Santa Clara - since I visit both the places often I knew how sweet is the milk served for Aapam in both the places. Since I take United nonstop flight from DC to SFO I don't get to enjoy my breakfast so my Lunch on Monday's is usually at Ananda Bhavan and I take the 10.5$ lunch which is ideal to eat at the same time work post lunch versus the grand lunch served where we can build paathis and carry irrigation in the plantain leaves. Likewise there is Indian pastry shop, places where you have have Indian sweets, sugarcane juices, Indian chat shop etc., If you visit Nameste Plazas in Bay area you will realize how men take care of kids at the same time how good in buying groceries. Swathi Tiffin is one place where I used to hangout often since it was very close to the Applied. The 1$ masala tea is a great one to quickly refresh yourselves and food is good over there and televisions screening Telugu programs in non stop manner just shows USA stands for United states of Andhra pradesh. There is Saravana Bhavan, Sangeethas, Pesarattu (andhra meals) and Madurai idli kadai all of which I visit often especially Madurai Idli Kadai since it was geographically closer to where I worked. I promise idlies are softer than cotton buds and literally melt in your mouth. Actually some of these restaurants I developed a rapport with the management/staff in such a way that I was wondering whether I should send them friend requests. 

Movies, Entertainment and Bay Area

Since Bay area has got a sizeable Indian population we have celebrities who come directly to Bay Area for the weekend, do a show and leave back to India right away. Pretty much every weekend you will have some concerts, music shows, stage drahmas, stand up comedies happening and will never make you miss Home. There is one theatre called Towne 3 cinemas closer to the SAP convention center which is truly a fan's corner. All the videos which people see before Thalaivar movie - fun and euphoria which fans rejoice are from this theatre. Theatre gives full freedom to fans to celebrate the occasion before movie release of superstars like Thalaivar, Mahesh Babu, Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan, Allu Arjun etc., Cutting cakes, throwing paper, music, cutouts, posters, train rally all can be witnessed in this theatre. Though Theatre may look ancient and outdated for current times it is camaraderie between fans and theatre management makes this a great choice for movie buffs to come. Probably this is one theatre where I must have watched maximum number of movies in USA. I still remember seeing movies like Vellai illa Patathari  with a crazy crowd .....On one instance when I went for watching Kaaki sattai a friend of mine came with his expecting wife and asked him when is the baby due? He said it is pretty much time and she may go to labor anytime ..I wondered they may even go from Cinema theatre to Operation theatre. 

  On the east coast of US I have tons of friends and great memories and on west side basically the Bay Area I just love the place by itself. By writing this blog I was able to reminiscence some of my experience with Bay Area. 

Next Blog: Opposition is critical 

The Pen is mightier than the sword

 One of the best habits one could ever possess is reading books and if the person happens to pick right ones on top of gaining knowledge it can also trigger the whole thinking process. Books can literally influence your way of life; For example if a person is very religious and happen to pick a book on Atheism by  a good author there is a good chance the person may stop worshipping altogether. One of the reason why Malayalam cinema is proving to be class apart is because the industry possess lots of good script writers. If you take one of Tamil cinema's evergreen blockbuster movie 'Basha' the dialogues are written by Balakumaran sir and even Rajini has said that he tried to rope him for many of his movies but he politely refused saying he is inclined towards literary work. If you take dialogues out of Basha, film may not have been very captivating. Similarly Sujatha sir has been a great source of strength for Director Shankar, Mani Ratnam himself is an excellent writer and off late Vetrimaran is able to produce magic in celluloid purely due to the script. Recently Director Mari Selvaraj who made Karnan said in an interview that he is okay to compromise as a director but as a writer he cannot compromise. 

I am going to pull some examples of some scenes which has pretty much etched into my memory merely due to the brilliance in writing. 

Raghuvaran's story to Ajith in Mugavari:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVmssTHyw4Y

Mugavari is one such movie which was very practical and highlighted hardships faced by a youngster who wanted to achieve his dream. Raghuvaran tells a story to Ajith on perseverance and though the story is nothing new but still it leaves a a positive impact on the audience as it was used in the right context. So what's the big deal in writing may be the question ...Director has shown Ajith in failing on many attempts ..he has established his characterization well and upon the process he adds this scene to reinstate motivation .....So a rather preachy scene becomes more impactful through his writing.

Old Kamal's piece of information to Manisha & Suganya in Indian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdXo66yYNPY

Old kamal comes in search of Chandru to his house and Manisha pleads not to kill him saying 'Budhiku theriyudhu aana manasuku therila" and older kamal replies enaku manasum budhium ellam onnu thaan and when older kamal almost leaves his house he looks at Suganya who is seen worshipping and Kamal says "Budhi salithanama rendu perum uyir ooda irukananu vendikaadha". Sujatha sir has been absolutely brilliant through his writing ....

Interview scene in Mudhalvan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_te-QMC_tso

Arjun grills Raghuvaran on the interview ...He picks Election manifesto and goes over the list to Raghuvaran and suddenly you see Raghuvaran saying "Ellorukkum elavasa Kalvi ..kalavi nu achaagiruku ..lanala pulli podala" Once again Sujatha's sir dialogues were brilliant and many regret the movie would have gone great heights had Superstar acted in it but personally am happy Arjun acted because if Rajini would have acted superstar would have stolen the show completely. Since it was Arjun audience was able to enjoy the writer ....another dialogue where Arjun's parents feel had life had a remote control they would rewind and go back into the past just shows dialogues can be simple enough to reach masses too. 

Best scene from Anbe Sivam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ABrdY5xITo

When Madhavan is disturbed on seeing misery around him he questions existence of God and that is when Kamal opens up ...writer excels on coming up withthe scene and title ..

Basketball scene in Pursuit of Happiness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZb2NOHPA2A

When daddy advises son that nobody should let him say that he can't do something and not even him ...Dialogues such as "You got a dream? You gotta protect it. You want something? Go get it. PERIOD." "People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it." are just so beautiful and it was impactful only because director has established Will Smith's character well enough going through all the hardships he has to face from career as well as family life. 

There are so many more movies where dialogues form the backbone of the movie. Spider man movie series were celebrated by kids and adults and apart from all the graphics there are so many sweet little dialogues between hero and granny which connected well within the audience. Bahubali was a phenomenal hit not just for the graphics but also for the lovely story and wonderful screenplay written by Rajamouli. Drishyam 1 and 2 are classic examples of what a pen can do in this modern world by Jeetu joseph. You have a story, you create characters and situations and finally marrying all these elements through your writing forms the screenplay. 

Next Blog: Bay Area

TN Politics: Election Results

 

Before I go into TN election results the news that capitulated entire India was victory of Mamta mam; I think this is victory of democracy, victory of determination, victory of women power, victory of hard work etc., BJP phased out Bengal election in eight phases just to give more room for campaigning and to concentrate more on pockets, BJP went with ‘Mission Bengal’ as they badly wanted to capture Bengal from Didi and did whatever they can to push Mamta. They used authoritative force of ruling party, they had all VVIPs do a detail campaigning all over the state, they pulled back experienced ministers from TMC and Mamta who can be termed as Iron lady took everything that was thrown at her and emerged as a victorious leader. God knows what happens in Nandigram and her little speech in the evening once TMC was cruising through just showed she is a leader and one person who can oppose Modi-Shah camp in 2024. With JJ no more, Chandrababu Naidu out of picture it is Didi who is emerging as tough opponents for BJP.

Let me go over TN election results in 20 points:

ü  DMK won as expected and as a single party they crossed 117 mark comfortably which will augur good for the party making them cross the  line with absolute majority. Stalin has done quite a bit of groundwork between election and when results were announced. Four secretaries for CM is definitely a master stroke who can split up the work and come up with productive stuff working along the CM. Out of 34 ministers, 15 ministers are debut. New Ministry for water resources (water resources was part of Public works ministry) is a good move and stalin's rationale behind changing the portfolio names made sense. For example he says 'Ministry for Environment' change to 'Ministry for Environment and Climate' is because climate changes make an effect on environment and similarly 'Ministry for labour welfare' is changed to 'Ministry for labour welfare and skill development' since skill development is the key to produce effective workforce. Overall well etched out plan and looks like Stalin wants to make his CM role as effective as possible since he has waited for a very long time to occupy the chair. 

ü  MK Stalin’s hard work through Grama sabhas, hiring Poll strategist, election manifesto and stupendous Maanadu in Trichy all paved way for the success. 

ü  Clean sweep by DMK in Chennai, Trichy, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Karur and most of Tanjore and Pudhukottai will do a world of good for the central districts and delta region

ü  DMK will be more happier on margin of victories on many constituencies (average winning margin for parties in DMK alliance is 25051 and there were many places where margin were greater than 50k)

ü  Vidulai siruthaigal, Indian National Congress, CPI  all won decent number of seats under the Sun rise symbol and will be excited to get into Assembly hall

ü  AIADMK lost the election but am glad defeat is not as bad as expected and they will emerge as a strong opposition party in the state.

ü  EPS though was accidentally handed over the CM post had surprised most of Tamil Nadu and by his good governance he has earned huge amount of respect from public. I read a headline which says “EPS loses Tamil nadu but wins AIADMK” summarizes the whole picture

ü  AIADMK owns Kongu mandalam with resounding victories in Salem, Coimbatore, Thirupur reiterating the fact western belt belongs to AIADMK

ü  BJP and PMK both won seats under two leaves symbol and will get into assembly hall after a long time

ü   Apart from the loss AIADMK will have to reflect on the margin of loss and losing some of the key constituencies (Ex: Srirangam is JJ’s fort and losing in Srirangam is not a good sign for AIADMK). Sterlite protests, Sathangulam incidents all went against ADMK. 

ü  2021 TN elections just reiterates the fact that when it comes to Tamil Nadu it is always Bi polar nature – DMK and AIADMK are the major parties and anyone wants to show their mettle has to partner with one of these parties; Emergence of third front is like serving chutney in Muniyandi vilas – simply not possible

ü  One of the major highlights in TN Assembly election 2021 was Actor Kamalhaasan’s MNM and I got it wrong as far as his performance. I know he will not sustain but thought he will win and get 6% vote share but not winning in one seat and with negligible vote percentage (2.62%) MNM will soon run out of battery. Note MNM contested in only 180 constituencies. 

ü  TTV Dinakaran’s AMMK was a damp squib and hardly made any noise, he himself lost in Kovilpatty and that will dampen his confidence. Personally am unhappy with his loss since I definitely see a leader in him

ü  Seeman’s Naam Tamizhar Katchi put up a great show and surprised many pundits with its vote share of 6.58%; NTK is also the third biggest party as far as vote percentage though it couldn’t win a single seat. Note it stood all by itself with no alliance with either DMK or AIADMK

ü  Feel very bad for Vijayakanth – he had the guts to face Karunanidhi and JJ and he as the opposition party in 2011 but now party had a crushing defeat and party’s future looks very bleak

ü  Celebrity like Kushboo losing just got to show politics and celluloid are two different arena and people are not ready to endorse just because you are a celebrity

ü  Out of 234 candidates we have just 12 candidates from Thai kulam which is just 5% and that is very poor representation as far as women representatives. 

ü  Education and Finance are two important portfolios and am happy young guns like Mahesh Anbil Poyyamozhi and PTR Palanivel are handed over these posts. I expect great show from these two.

ü  DMK winning in TN, LDF winning in Kerala, TMC winning in Bengal just got to show regional parties hold a upper hand and even giants like BJP cannot make much impact (Punch line: BJP is like pista in North but when it comes to TN they are mere Sundakka)

ü  EPS wishing Stalin on his tenure and Stalin replying back asking for collaborative help is something Tamil nadu had not seen before and nice to see the gestures from both sides. OPS attending the swearing-in ceremony and tea party just shows Tamil Nadu is turning a new leaf as far as ethical behavior .

    I pick topics on food, cinema and religious aspects and Politics was something very new to me. Just like everyone I used to think politics is all crap but little did I know Politics is damn interesting once you try to understand more. During childhood I used to be fond of reading sports column in The Hindu and now sipping my morning coffee and reading through various political articles was a great feeling. Politics brings everything on to the table – Education, Healthcare, Economy, Industrial growth, Tax structures, Agriculture, Infrastructure etc., and local government play a pivotal role on one’s standard of living. If one does not find time to cast his/her vote then I am afraid they have no right to talk about Government and governance. On April 6, I had to go to native to attend a funeral but still made a point to cast my vote by standing in the line very early and Minu who hardly shows interest on Politics made sure she got her Election ID in time after fighting for it for months. She along with both the boys went and casted her vote and we are happy as a couple we did our part and obeyed the constitutional right. 

Next Blog: The Pen is mightier than the sword   

Let me say a kutty story

 Let me write a kutti story ..Pay attention listen to me

If you want take it ..or else venam tension leave it baby …

 Just imagine what I am describing ….There was one person who was caught in a vast thick forest which was inhabited by lions, tigers, elephants etc.,The person became disturbed and frightened and went hither and thither to find out some place of refuge. He did not succeed and while he was running around the forest he fell into the pit and caught himself hanging from a branch of a big tree. As he was hanging from the branch he witnessed following:

1)      Huge elephant catching hold of the tree

2)      Snakes below the person who was all getting ready for him to fall

3)      White and black rats sitting on one corner of the branch which are slowly but surely eating the branch

4)      Honey comb with honey drops falling on top of the person and bees flying around

 Interpretation of Elephant: Elephant catching hold of the tree represent past karma; If you have earned good karma elephant can pull the tree over from the pit and escape you from falling directly into snakes; Instead if you earned bat karma elephant can expedite you falling into the pit and make things miserable. Karma plays a huge role in one’s life and many a times when people face hardships for which they do not have any control the reason can be bad karma inherited from past.

 Interpretation of Snakes: If elephant represent past karma then snakes represent future karma. If you have done good things and inherited good karma then there is a chance these snakes can be non poisonous; In case you have committed many sins then these snakes are all ready to bite you. That is why it is very important to inherit good karma as much as possible not just for the well being of oneself instead well being of the whole family.

 Interpretation of white and black rats: Black and white rats represent day and night respectively and slowly but surely they eat up time and take you closer to death. Whether you are in purple patch or going through a rough phase time always ticks. Days and nights keep rolling by and as they say ‘Time and tide waits for no man’.

 Interpretation of Honey comb: There are so many dangerous signs for the person hanging from the branch instead he relishes the honey drops that are falling which are nothing but the materialistic possession. Human beings always have this love towards materialistic world though they may portray otherwise. 5 series BMW for a male, diamond necklace for a young lady, bike/Ipad for a teenager all brings in so much of happiness. Desire never ends and people keep running and running to buy more and more assets (movable/immovable). Person forgets about everything that is happening around him since he is carried away by the sweet drops, even bees fly around and try to wound the person but still the joy of having honey drops makes the person in intoxicated state.

 Lord Vishnu: Lord Vishnu extends his hand to help the human to give him Moksha and release him from the cycle of rebirth but the person is so engrossed in the dripping Honey that he fails to see the helping hand of Lord Vishnu. In life when God is ready to help us we humans give paramount importance to worldly pleasures which people derive from materialistic world. People pray with full spirit but when they get to experience materialistic world they get carried away.

 Summary: Corona has given us all free tuition on philosophy and help us understand life is very uncertain. It reminded us that no matter how much bank balance you have in the end it will be transferred to some other name, all pathiram/deeds are mere legal A4 sheets of paper; In this Corona period all of us must have lost at least one person in our near and dear circle. When someone leaves this world you are reminded of two things: 

(a)You are reminded of the good time spent together 

(b)Humanitarian based work the person did etc., Basically the good deeds(dharma kariyangal) you do is going to stay in people’s mind. 

Look at Vivek, almost entire Tamil Nadu mourned for his death. More than his movies people remember him for the number of trees he planted. From what I understand embracing with religious activities and earning good karma by associating ourselves in as many charitable causes should be our goals in life. 

Next blog: TN Election results (already have few punchlines ready - BJP is pista in north whereas in TN it is mere sundakka, MNM party can be proud of their feat and deserve some M&M)

Banana Tree

 Vaalai maram is nothing but Plantain tree and is considered to be very auspicious especially in Tamil Nadu. In any function we will see vazhai maram in the front entrance and there is a rationale behind it – plantain tree has a special feature that of producing baby plantain tree from the root and that is why they say 'வாழை அடி வாழை’.It basically means family should be prosperous and produce more offspring. Also within my community there is a tradition when relatives meet for an occasion plantain is cooked signifying unity of the family. Also Banana is one among the two fruits which is considered to be sacred as far as Neiveidhyam since they do not grow after throwing the leftover part. If you eat banana and throw its peel nothing will grow out of it. Our ancestors made Banana as one of the prasadam items which had good nutritional values and medicinal values on top of being sacred. It is also readily available and very affordable for people from all walks of life.

   Let us look into some of the health benefits plantain tree has to offer. The stem (Vazha thandu) is an effective method to combat renal stone problems. The potassium content and the diuretic properties in the stem help to stall the formation of calcium lumps or crystals from the kidney. Banana stem also helps in treating Urinary tract infections due to presence of Vitamin B6. Banana flowers (Vazhai poo) is loaded with fibre, protein, potassium, calcium, copper, phosphorus, iron, magnesium and Vitamin E and the beauty is it is affordable for all. Banana flowers are loaded with antioxidants which battle free radicals, they inhibit growth of pathogenic bacteria thereby keeping infections at bay, and for women they help in increasing progesterone levels in the body thereby preventing excessive menstrual bleeding. Thanks to the person who invented Vazhai poo vadai - he deserves a diamond ring; Banana leaf (Vazhai elai) virundu is always special and no costly plate can come close to a meal served in Vazhai elai. Leaf has got polyphenols which contain natural antioxidant. On top of that it contains Chlorophyll which helps in treating ulcer and skin problems. After its use once you throw it either becomes food for dogs/cows or becomes natural fertilizer for plants.

   Hindu religion always had relation with plants and animals and had a nice bonding with Nature. The plants and animals have direct relation with gods and goddesses and are considered important due to specific qualities. According to Hindu Mythology, Rishi Durvasa had cursed his wife for interrupting his sleep, He cursed her to turn into a banana tree and upon receiving the curse, she pleaded with her husband for a wish that she should be treated special and as a holy plant. Rishi fulfilled her wish and since that day the leaves of banana trees are considered auspicious. Also tree is considered equivalent to 'Devaguru' and planting the tree is equal to having a guru or Brihaspati at home. Tree is devoutly religious which symbolizes Lord Vishnu and worshipping it every thursday one gets benefits of planet Jupiter. 

  Hinduism is always famous for old rituals and practices. Based on Astrology bride or groom may have mangalya dosham. As per birth chart this may bring issues in their respective marriage life and hence the couple may be deemed incompatible. So if the bride has Mangalya dosham then bride is married off to a banana tree in order to break the curse. It is believed that mangalya dosham causes problems only in first marriage. Then the tree is uprooted and destroyed which symbolizes husband of the bride is no more. Upon nullifying the mangalya dosham then the bride is married off to a real groom. 

Next Blog: Let me say a Kutty Story 

C-A-S-T-E

 

‘Pariyerum Perumal’ was the main reason to come up with this blog and missed watching this movie earlier which definitely had an impact on me on ‘Caste’ based issues. I was very particular to watch Director’s second venture KARNAN as soon as it hit theatres which is once again based on caste but this time the protagonist had the guts to face the society versus Pariyerum perumal where the hero just had to succumb to reality. Both the movies are the driving factors for me to express my views on Caste. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed Karnan as the movie conveyed pain and agony of the oppressed people. Dhanush was brilliant and every time he raised voice in support of oppressed, audience went crazy just because they could relate to the dialogue. One of the dialogues “Kandaiyya mavan Kannabiran aagalam, Madasamy magan Karnana iruku kudatha“ just got reception as much as a Thalaivar intro and my favourite dialogue in Pariyerum Perumal was the climax dialogue “Neenga Neengala irukura varaikum, naan naaya thaan irukanunu neenga edirpaarkura varaikum inga eduvumae maaradhu". These sort of dialogues are slice of life of oppressed people and people tend to think we live in 21^st century and talking about caste is outdated but little do they realize Caste plays a significant role on so many different facets of life in a place like India where we have slum as well as Bandra next to each other. In other words people who reside in Mount Road, Chennai or M.G Road, Bangalore may not know about caste whereas the working class who commute daily to these places from different parts of the city know how caste discriminated them.

 Caste and Politics:

Caste and politics are interlinked and candidates rely on caste based votes. Let us look into one recent example. Current Tamilnadu Government passed a legislation granting Vanniyars 10.5% internal reservation in Education and Employment within the reservation for MBC (Most backward Class) and DNC (Denotified communities). ADMK’s alliance partner PMK (Paataali Makkal Katchi) is a primarily vanniyar based party and their demand has always to see reservation of vanniyars to see the growth and improve overall livelihood of vanniyars. PMK was asking for more seats from ADMK but once they saw this bill been passed they settled with 23 seats. To dig deeper we will have a category of MBC (V) which will include Vanniyar, Vanniya, Vannia Gounder, Padayachi, Palli and AGNIKULA Kshatriya sub-castes that come under the Vanniyakula Kshatriya community and this is the group which will enjoy the 10.5% internal reservation while the other 25 castes under MBC and 68 castes under DNC (overall 93 castes) will be allocated a reservation of seven percent. There is still 22 castes which fall under MBC and will enjoy the remaining 2.5%.  So in summary Mr.Karunanidhi’s move of allocating 20% reservation to 108 communities (MBC & DNC) is further itemized by EPS government. Similarly TTV is eyeing Mukkulathors in Kovilpatty, Mr.Raghupathy relies on nagarathar community in Thirumayam though community is a minority one. In districts such as Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Thirunelveli and Kaniyamumari we have so many minorities (Christians and muslims) who once again determine who rules the state.

 Caste and Education:

Every now and then we see some hot topics being politicized and NEET is one such topic which is being heavily politicized recently in Tamil nadu. On top of MBC and DNC we have seventy six scheduled castes and thirty six scheduled tribes. Now let us look into how the present practice of reservation in Education system. If there are 100 seats then top 31 seats are awarded based on ranking and the remaining 69% of the seats are based on reservation system. Backward class is allotted 30% quota, Most backward caste is allocated 20% quota, Scheduled caste is allocated 18% and scheduled tribe 1% quota. Within the backward class (30% quota), Backward class Non muslims is 26.5% and backward class muslims is other 3.5%; Within scheduled caste (18% quota), Arunthathiyar is allocated dedicated 1%; According to Supreme court order reservation should not exceed 50% but Tamil Nadu is always an exception and state got its 69% reservation based on authentic records and a law passed at legislative assembly. Education is a key element in building a nation and creating bright citizens but when bright is deprived of quality education due to outdated caste system then how can you expect individuals like Sundar Pichai to settle in India?

 Caste and Job:

I am not going to speak about figures instead I am going to pull some examples of how caste and career go interlinked. Before the supermarket culture came, all of us must have seen grocery shops in our neighbourhood in other words Annachi kadai; primarily people from Thirunelveli settled in various parts of Tamil nadu and got into Grocery business. We are into Medical wholesale distribution for over four decades and pretty much all throughout cashier has always been from our Nagarathar community; No prizes for guessing the unwritten rule is if you want to get selected into Tamil nadu cricket team and eventually into National cricket team, One of the leading private bank in India which is performing very well is based out of Kumbakonam based from a particular community, in Tamil nadu when it comes to Bakery business you will find one ‘Iyengar’ bakery in every kilometre and one of the largest drug manufacturers in India is named by its caste. When you approach for a loan though collateral and other formalities are seen in those days caste did play a role on ‘Trust’ factor and once again caste played a role on who gets a loan and how much one gets. Across the border if you take Kammas they are one of the richest castes in entire India and cream of Tollywood belong to this caste. They had vast landholdings in and around Krishna-Guntur area which is blessed with fertile lands thereby making them financially stable. If you take Marathi Brahmins they are into Political circle and similarly caste plays a significant role in shaping careers for many people. 

 Caste and Matrimonial services

 I have taken Hindu paper (Dated April 11,2021) and let me go over few highlighted areas - 

Fair/Mudaliyar seeks groom, Pillai seeks grrom, Velakatala Nair seeks groom, Wanted Tamil Iyer boy, Arunththiyar seeks groom, Gavara-Naidu seeks marriage, Saiva Vellala seek groom, Hindu SC seeks groom; Under Elite Matrimony column: Brahmin looking for a match, Thevar looking for a match, Mudaliyar looking for a match, Arya Vysya looking for a match, Viswakarma looking for a match, Vanniyakula Kshatriyar looking for a match so on and so forth ...Trust me these are wordings from last Hindu edition. 

Looking into all of these I have couple of questions: 

1) If a person from Caste A marries person from Caste B then the kid from both of them belongs to which caste ? How will they determine the eligibility criteria for the kid as far as education or career purposes ?

2) If a particular caste in shrinking and there is gender imbalance within the caste, who is the governing body to make decisions as far as sustenance of the community? 

It is easy to say Caste system has to go and pave way for deserved candidates rather than reservation system but  unfortunately Politics is involved. We need young blood and a dynamic leader to make ground breaking decisions with respect to Caste. 

So what am I upto?

You might wonder I started with two movies based on caste and slowly went over how caste played a role in different aspects of one's living but not sure what exactly I am coming to say. Well I am just expressing my views on caste and believe caste is here to stay for few more generations before it  gets wiped away. India started its IT revolution from mid 90's and there was a golden era when Mr.Chandrababu Naidu in AP, Mr.SM Krishna in Karnataka, Mr.Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu along with help from past US president Bill Clinton paved way for India's tremendous IT growth. Economic liberalization started in huge proportions and we started to witness standard of living get into new paradigms. Assuming those who got married in mid 90's then those are the people who would have kids ready for marriage now in 2021. Since these kids had good education and got used to sophisticated living and getting exposed to more people we are seeing intercaste marriages starting to happen more now in India.We have three sets of people - Grand parents, People who got into the IT revolution from mid 90's, kids who are teenagers now. Grand parents belong to old school with traditional values whereas the middle generation is a sandwiched generation where they both have old values from the past along with the cosmopolitan culture from their 30's, teenagers are all Hip-Hop tamizhas !! In another couple of decades once we will have all three generations adapt to the new cultural environment that is when we will have lot of people with forward thinking. Until then caste will make its presence felt in some way or the rather. 

 இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள் to all my readers. 

Next Blog: வாழை