Humanity wins !!

  Chennai floods that occurred this time made quite a bit of impact on the Imdian population across the globe. First my prayers to the families who have lost the dear ones ..it is definitely a big loss to the family and my sincere prayers for the departed souls to rest in peace. For people who were admitted to hospital and people in medically critical condition these floods are definitely bad timing. Looking into the Chennai floods I am touched about the humanity being exposed. It even makes me to think that almighty wanted to give a break to the so called ‘Busy’ people to look into life’s perspective even closer. There was a lovely posts in social media which said one has house but not able to live, one has car but not able to drive, one has money in ATM but not able to spend etc.,It is not the material that counts but it is the humaity that wins over.

   Mother nature wants attention of the general public and hence created floods of this magnitude and brought people closer. Look into the number of people who pitched in, how many non profit organizations came in for relief, how many celebrites shed their image and wanted to help, how many companies agreed to sponsor money, amount of prayers that occurred during this tenure, even poor and needy who were not affected by the floods did their part, people from low income did their best, rehabilitation efforts occurred, list goes on and on. But to summarize there was so much positivity in the air and people wanted to do their share of help to help the affected people. This is what makes human beings special ..Religious events brings the same spirit and it was absolutely fantastic to witness same kind a spirit during a natural calamity.

  People also have the tendency to point fingers and blame one another …I don’t think any government will be prepared for this calamity since the way system works in India. It is rights of every citizen to come and bring a change and that is exactly what happened in chennai. Youth poured in and proved they just don’t stop with  dance clubs but given a chance they also can help for a social cause.

  This could very well be a beginning of a new era ..people helping each other is the solace for any problem beyond medical advancements and technologies. The basic bonding that connects us is more important than religion, caste, etc., I just hope and pray that once the holiday season is over people still continue to help each other in rehabilitation efforts. End of the day Humanity wins !!!!

Ooru rendu patta koothadikku kondattam

  There is a proverb in tamil which says “Ooru rendu patta koothadikku kondattam” which means if there is a fight between two brothers it becomes an entertainment for others. As we grow and get to meet many different people and situations in life I am just wondering how true is this proverb. It could be the intensity of the fight or could be the way both parties are completely pre-occupied and one thing people don’t realize is this is a paisa vasool for people surrounding you. I would like to pen this blog to express my thoughts over this topic.

   In this modern world everyone is equipped with so much of information for the simple reason all of us are literates and more than that we are exposed to the outside world compared to previous generations. Here comes the difference of opinion since opinion always matters and opinions always differs from one another; At this juncture if there is a give and take between parties and no ego then things take a different route, if not we all know what happens. This is where things start to get worsen with news spreading around. It could be either people reached out to their peers for help or it could rumour mills spreading around. In one way or the other it gives so much of fodder for the ever hungry folks.

   Recently in Tamil Nadu there were elections for the Nadigar sangam for the first time and there were so much animosity between two teams and war of words was becoming a trend in kollywood. Aaccording to me media were the ultimate winners since it gave them so much footage to highlight their cover pages and definitely they made hay while the sun was shining. If we look back in our life there could be many such incidents.

   One thing which we have to be more careful is trust the people whom we share our personal things. Also it would be best to handle the situation directly with the person whom you are confronting rather than having third party involved. Last but not the least make sure nobody takes this as an oppurtunity to bring down both of you because that could be a major blow than the little flight that it all started with. 

Miscommunication

  In this modern era communication is made very simple – Big thanks to social media!! Information is passed much faster than velocity of sound. But are all the parties involved in a communication thread in the same page? Unfortunately answer is ‘No’. Communication and miscommunication are directly proportional to each other. The more social media we are accustomed to the more we become anti-social . In this blog I would like to barely touch the surface on the topic ‘Miscommunication’

  Interpretation: How a message is conceived by parties involved in a communication can sometimes lead to miscommunication. Many have the habit of beating round the bush when it comes to passing on unpleasant things. In such cases the other person can understand the meaning in many different ways and it just happens that nine out of 10 times he misunderstood what the person intend to say.

  Passing the secret: The game ‘Passing the secret’ is a real funny one in how the message gets personified. Likewise rather than hearing from trusted sources, message gets through many ears and when it eventually comes it is multiplied manifolds. This again leads to miscommunication between principal parties involved.

  Making assumptions: People are normally over-optimistic and assume things. Assuming things for granted can lead to disappointment as well as miscommunication.  

  Above are some of the causes of miscommunication and all it needs is an open talk either in person or over a phone line between parties involved. This would put a full stop to baseless rumors and would settle down things in an amicable manner. Also remember someone has to take the initiative to talk to the other person directly. 

Deforestation

     Now that my wife is doing her Master’s in Public health I am forced to know some of the environmental impacts that is causes around the globe. One of the key concerns for future is ‘Deforestation’; In simple words Deforestation is nothing but permanent demolition of forests in order to make the land available for other uses. Main reasons of deforestation is to have land used for housing & urbanization and also use land for agricultural plantations. Now if we all think through this for a while this is quite a big concern for our future generation; It’s not just enough to have them a good education and a career it is equally important to have them live in a nice environment.

   Greed is a main reason in which human beings are never satisfied with what they have. Back in India with absolutely no qualification but by sheer luck and good public relations real estate merchants are born every day; As soon as they spot a barren land they convert into a commercial building and attach a price tag; All they promise is the place is about to appreciate in near future; If we just demolish all trees then the air we breathe has quite a bit of carbon dioxide. Its concrete all the way and people consider that full potential of the land is not made use of if they allocate certain space for garden.

   By cutting down trees we also cause soil erosion since tree roots anchor the soil. It is also believed trees are important for water cycle since they absorb rain water and produce water vapor that is released into the atmosphere. Also loss of plant and animal species is one of the main effects of deforestation. Also by emitting more CO2 the overall quality of life style is disturbed.

   It is high time world leaders and many bodies around the world take measures and get to an agreement to protect the environment and make the world a better place to live. Finally it all boils down to every individual how he/she wants to take care of the environment, since the time we get up in the morning till we hit the bed just imagine how many tissues of paper you have consumed, think about the energy costs revolving around you in a single calendar day. Let us all do our share of work to make the environment better place to live for our future generations. 

Salute to APJ sir ....

    APJ Abdul Kalaam …One name every Indian will remember in their lifetime. Every time his image flashes in your mind it brightens our face and enlightens our mind. As came in one of the media we have not lived during Gandhi, Nehru times but we can be proud we lived in APJ Kalaam era. No other politician or a public figure created this much of disturbance in the minds of the public. Any Indian should pay tribute to this man who dedicated his life to our nation..an artist drew paintings to pay his tribute ..TV channels dedicated programs to pay their tribute ….Bus companies offered free trips to rameswaram …I feel a small blog to the humble man will be my true tribute ….

  

  First and foremost I am indebted to APJ sir on a personal level since during my early days to cultivate reading habit I bought one of his famous books ‘Wings of fire’. This is where I started to enjoy autobiographies. There should be something struck in his mind which is why he loves Mother India so much and how lucky the nation is to have such a person dwell all through his life. He is one of the rare Indians who was born in India, brought up in India, worked for India all through his life. His accomplishments are just recognitions but his biggest contribution is towards the youth of the nation by creating a positive impact. He could have converted his talents into Euros, dollars or any currency but rupee is the currency he cherished.

    

 One of the amazing traits of APJ sir was he earned so much of good will and not even an iota of enmity; When you are the president of the nation there would have arisen number of occasions where you are forced to do something against your wish, on interview with media sometimes questions get tricky and the way it gets published would be with lots of twists and turns, when you are a scientist some tough decisions had to be taken keeping the bigger picture in mind, pressure from political parties is also one must go through. So it is never easy to please everyone when you are public figure like APJ sir and it is a daunting task to come out clean from all of this. Has APJ earned one enemy? Has he earned any betrayal? Has he earned any enmity with his peers? Even a kid can answer any of these questions.

    Now look at the house of APJ sir, his relatives, his wealth etc., It is difficult to believe how a human being can be so humble and simple. He gets only books as gifts, earned his living from his salary and patents, donated quite a bit of his wealth to charity. When the society is running behind Apple vs Samsung there are also human beings who doesn’t own a mobile. Every single politician should be embarrassed looking into APJ sir’s life. HE doesn’t even want a national holiday on his death instead he wanted people to work. Because he didn’t have any enmity he was able to address public gathering more freely without worrying about security protocols. His gesture to talk to Jawaan since he was standing in the gypsy as part of the security protocol touched me. He wanted his last breadth to be while teaching and naturally with no suffering whatsoever when he was addressing the students he collapsed and bid adieu to whole world. One of his wishes is to celebrate his brother's 100th birthday next year and hope his dream comes true. 

    My next visit to Rameswaram I will visit the temple and also definitely visit his burial place and pay my respects. Any recognition we do for this man like a national holiday on honor of his birthday, stamp release, having his face embedded on indian rupee, Museum dedicated towards his work for nation etc., will not be sufficient. His dream was to make our nation superpower and if the nation can work towards that goal especially the Youth then I am sure he will be a happy man. May his soul rest in peace and am sure heaven is much more glorified now upon his entry. 

Disclaimer !!

     Disclaimer basically means “a statement that denies something, especially responsibility.” These days disclaimers are very prominent be it an event, movies, official documents, agreements, contracts, bills etc., Since awareness has become more common these days disclaimers are getting very common too – big thanks to social media and Google for the amount of awareness people are abreast these days. Sometimes disclaimers are lawfully enforced and sometimes it is just informational.

      I am just wondering what is the use of disclaimers when the message is purely informational and not creating any impact…for example let us say we get an email from an official ID and there is a disclaimer written at the bottom saying computer viruses may be transmitted through email. Well the sender is adhering to the rules of the organization and hence keeping the disclaimer in the email communication but the receiver from his/her end also may be compliant by proper maintenance with the PC. So if a virus is transmitted by any chance who is held accountable?

    I am trying to think it through how can disclaimers create a positive impact; May be along with the disclaimers have a link to download a piece of software which can do a quick scan to your PC. There are statutory warning messages in the films which appear whenever the hero is in toxic mode. This is becoming more of a formality rather I would increase the price of cigars exorbitantly high on bringing more control to the whole process by linking smoking habits with driver license renewals etc., In contracts, Terms/agreements the wordings are very clever in such a way people either overlook or misunderstand – maybe a quick video giving more awareness to what people are signing for may be a quick first step.

    All being said I would like to see Disclaimers creating more impact than what it is doing in current world. Any change which has to evolve needs its sweet time to get settled and it needs a conscious effort from everyone to be more informed because end of the day information is wealth. 

IBCN 2015: It is "Bahubali - The beginning"

    I was always waiting for a kick ass event to happen by that way I can pen my thoughts and here comes IBCN 2015 which according to me will go in the annals of Nagarathar events. First what does ‘IBCN’ stand for? It stands for ‘International business conference for Nagarathars”; What is the objective of the meet? It is to promote entrepreneurship. It started in Singapore in 2013 and group of individuals from Coimbatore who attended the conference in Singapore got enthused and wanted to take it over to Coimbatore for the next two years. Group of Coimbatore Nagarathars have something called as NEU which stands for Nagarathars Entrepreneurs Union and they are the one who took over IBCN 2014-15 term under the eminent leadership of PL.K Palaniappan annan. Ok that’s some basic background information. Now being a person passionate about Cinema let me bring one example …All of us must have seen the move Minnalae directed by Gowtham vasudev menon …it was a nice movie and Vivek’s comedy was one of the major highlights..now the director’s second directorial venture everyone in the cine industry as well as audience must have expected a nice meaty role for actor Vivek ..but the director did not even cast Vivek and did an action movie ‘Kaaka Kaaka’ which was a runaway hit….I just want to bring this small example to elucidate when people expect something from you but you change gears and bring something extraordinary it will just mesmerize everyone. When IBCN 2013 was a roaring success the Coimbatore team took over IBCN and produced cracker of an event on July 25th and 26th 2015 which is going to be remembered for a very long time. These days when so much of importance are given to Culturals and some petty things arise out of those performances this event is a trendsetter in how people can envision and look beyond.

Every time we grumble about Technology …I have even written couple of blogs highlighting negative side of excess use of technology but now I would like to thank technology for being able to see the live telecast of the IBCN 2015 event sitting at my house ….Though I did not attend the event in person I cherished the following which caught my attention from speeches as well as my reflections on the two days conference: 

v  Organizers juggled delegates in the seating arrangement by that way people get to network as much as possible

v  Youth were given front row seating  - beautiful sight to see them writing notes when delegates speak; They were also given 2 hours workshop session by Murugappa group

v  Topics – the range of topics like TED X talks, panel discussions, resolving conflicts in family business, how to take care of sweetheart, follow your passion, plunge into business, beyond the borders, Career choice in 21^st century, Funding your business etc., were truly inspiring

v  Personalities – we saw people from religious front like Jaggi vasudev, politicians like Nirmala Sethuraman, K.Shanmugam, Pal.Karupaiah, Industrialists like Karumuttu Kannan, Murugappan, Entreprenurs like Dato Palan, K.Pandia rajan, Manikam Ramasami etc., Since all these people are very well established they were crystal clear in what they had to offer to delegates

v  Selfie time – No pictures but selfie time to digest information and pen your thoughts in a notebook for the audience

v  CD with all contact information – Everyone attended were given CD with all contact details of speakers to ask questions about the session

v  No Ponnaadai, sandana maalai – welcome relief !!! Absolutely no waste of time on these stuff to please guests ..rather they were given memontos after they came down the dias which saves time

v  MCs – Hats off for picking two wonderful M.Cs …these days in many events MCs get carried away by grabbing so much attention  but here were two people who talked in pure tamil as well as English. Their intro about the guests as well as announcements were short and sweet

v  Time management – Everyone should take a leaf out of their book …whole 2 days is driven by speakers and hence time management is of paramount importance and the way time was managed was exemplary ..they made feel every minute count …

v  PPT presentation – This was in alignment with every speaker and set the mood for the discussion; The detailing was evident on this front as technical glitches is one thing which spoils the momentum in many meetings

v  Entertainment – Thank god there were no overdose of entertainment …it was just there to relax the environment during awards distribution ….it was planned in such a way that there were one standup comedy, one dance and one singing performance …

v  Live Telecast – Oh boy ..the company who did live telecast deserve over payment …..it was very professional  and made people like me enjoy the coverage …

v  Awards function – This definitely was one of the major highlights of the event. The way the whole awards selection process worked is so meticulously planned to every inch of detail. There was a protocol in place, open application to public, selection panel to interview folks, video footage of respective shops and announcing the awards during the function. Any organization who wants to present awards can do a case study now on how IBCN team went about the process. Also icing on the cake was one of the awards ‘Women entrepreneur’ award was given to my Mother in law

v  BPC – Nagarathar event hosting business plan competition on a public event …just to hear this makes me feel proud ..well executed show by the three finalists

    Whomsoever I had a conversation who attended the event had one thing to say in common –it was very professionally organized; Many speakers who spoke also had high praise about the organizers for the amount of detailing that went into the making of the 2 days event. Basically value of time was honored considering the fact people flew from as many as 9 countries on top of everyone taking time off from their busy schedules. Also the team introduced lots of new initiatives in their term and one amongst them is the EOTW (Entrepreneur of the week) award presented every week ..This is very well received from people across the globe since it made everyone realize that Nagarathars are into all walks of life and not just struck with one industry sector …

 

   The NEU team did some great marketing ….many promotional events by touring many cities, inauguration event and also made full use of social media …when content is average and marketing is good it is like simple interest calculation..but when content is great backed with great marketing then that is like compound interest calculation which is exactly where IBCN 2015 falls under …

   When so much is talked about the event we definitely have to talk about the Team …Any good organization will function well based on the visionary of its leader ..and PL.K Palaniappan who is a jewel among our Nagarathar community showcased an outstanding event with his dedicated and passionate team who have worked tirelessly. The team deserve big round of applause for coming up with an event that is one of its kind as it was promised during the promotional events.

   Now after all this what is the motto of the conference – it is “Inspire to succeed”; Without any doubt whoever attended the conference or even catched glimpse of the event must have got inspired. So the team did what was expected from them and that alone deserves a standing ovation. Verdict of  'Blockbuster' was already out even before the event concluded ... Well done NEU team …you have set the standards very high now for the UAE team who are already promising …..

Biggest blessing of Mankind !!!

    I feel ecstatic to write this blog as I was waiting for a long time to pen this particular one. It is about me and Minu getting into Parent wood and getting the coveted title of ‘Appa’ ..Wow ….giving birth to the child is definitely the biggest blessing one can receive ….After some setbacks was definitely lying low but the biggest challenge is me being a public person have to disguise myself in a different manner though I was going through a rough patch ….in a way I feel everyone going through lean patch but being cheerful in public are very big Ulaganayagan like Kamal haasan. Anyway gaining enough wisdom at a young age is something intangible so I took it in the positive stride. Appa is a very big perumal devotee and maybe lord Balaji wants me to follow my dad’s footsteps ..When my kid was in the first trimester I visited Perumal temple on all Saturdays during Purataasi month to gain more courage and also listened to Vishnu saharsha namam whenever I got a chance ….

      Roughly three weeks before the delivery my In laws (Minu’s dad and grand ma) came to help us …Minu’s grand ma quickly adapted to the US culture and took control of the proceedings in the house ..During one of the final visits to the doctor’s office I asked the doctor “What is the signal that should inform us that Minu is in active labor and it is time to get admitted?” Doctor replied saying contractions should happen less than 5 minutes and she should not show her teeth ..wow what a great reply …Minu into medicine and having a person who is a seasoned lady we were kind of tranquil but still when things happen for you it is a different story ….The best part was we all went for Cherry blossom in DC few days before my child was born in fact that was the weekend where DC has seen historical crowd compared to the past years to see the Cherry blossom season …..we also had Malabar aviyal with rice and chips sitting in the lawns of DC ..nice sweet little memories. Couple of days before the delivery we all went to Kids workshop an event something very close to my heart and in fact right after the event mild labor started to transpire …maybe this guy was all excited hearing the sounds of so many kids ….

     Now comes morning of April 21^st ….Minu periyappa came to attend conference in DC so I had to drop him at Metro in the morning ..Once I came back Minu was in all pain and we decided to leave to the Hospital right away …..we checked in the hospital, labor started to happen ..I was asked to count 1-10 during Labor ….I did so and typical me was also reading a prayer at that time seeing my I-phone ….Though this is cliché but still woman go through quite a bit during labor both physically and emotionally ….but that is how almighty designed the whole process ..all we men can do is respect and feel thankful for the enormous amount of pain Thai kulam go through ….anyway once Labor started to gain more momentum I knew it is just matter of minutes now …..Then came the Kodak moment ….as the doctor pulled the child out I happen to see the baby ….I don’t think Oxford dictionary has the words for me to express that moment  ….I was given scissors to cut the umbilical cord ….Human reproduction remains the same but when the process gets translated to a human being in the form of a baby we cannot but just admire God’s power ….So April 21^st 2015 our child was born on akshaya Tritiya day …We named him “Skandan S Muthu” ..My long time dream to name my kid with a Murugan name hence got fulfilled ..also my father’s rich legacy has to be passed and hence the last name of Skandan will be my dad’s name. One bonus was the next day April 22^nd happened to be Minu’s birthday and we cannot ask for a better birthday gift …so spending birthday in a hospital can also be joyful. 

    Spending couple of days at Reston hospital was a memorable experience and I was shocked to see Nurses during all three shifts were super busy since the hospital had a record number of births on that timeframe …Later upon talking to the nurse I came to know that was the busy season …Oh boy ….everything in this world is seasonal J …anyway after couple of days we were on our own ….Take the baby home and as a first time parent anything and everything we do by having questions on back of our mind …it’s definitely a whole new world ….right from driving the car, setting the temperature at house we do things keeping the little one on mind ….we were blessed to have a seasoned woman in the form of Minu’s grand ma to take care of the baby.

    Me being a person who relishes a cup of tea sitting in the balcony feeling thankful this was a very big milestone personally for me and Minu ….We just cannot be more indebted to almighty .. ….We sincerely pray for everyone to experience this feeling as this is the biggest blessing one can receive ….

Thai Poosam – Amazing experience !!!

    February 7^th 2015 will always be a special day in my life due to the Concord Murugan temple Padhayathirai. There is so much to share so thought will pen my thoughts in a blog. Concord Murugan temple is located in Bay area around thirty plus miles away from San Francisco and this walk has been started 4-5 years ago and every year it is gaining so much popularity and the count has been increasing significantly every year; I heard this year they stopped registration when the count reached 1200 and there were good number of people who come on the day without registering like myself; Not everyone can go to Pazhani or Malaysia every year due to number of reasons like availability of leave from your work place, travel restriction, stamping concerns, ticket cost and many other valid reasons; This is where this padha yathirai is so comfortable that you just got to make a domestic  round trip. Organizers did an excellent job and let me elucidate by each department. 

Options:

   Organizers had all options available to gratify from kids to all the way to senior citizens; Some people walk from Fremont which makes it around 44 miles padhayathirai; People start Friday morning and basically with this option you have to plan to take a day off from your work; They walk around 24 miles on Friday and stay in San Ramon for the night and then resume the next day; There was pouring rain in Bay area on Friday and hats off to the folks who walked from Fremont. Other option is to walk from San Ramon which I believe was the one majority of us took and also the one I opted for. This is a 20 miles walk. I got a note from one person that there is also one another option which starts all the way from Evergreen San Jose which is further south; with this option you are roughly talking about 65 miles so you have to plan to take two days off since you got to start Thursday morning. I came to know there are one or two people who walked from Evergreen both last and this year; Well all I could could say is incredible gentlemen and wish you many more to follow in the coming years. There are other options like 12+ and 7+ miles respectively to cater overall audience since elders may not want to walk for a very long distance. So long story short you pick and choose an option which works best with your schedule/fitness etc., 

Safety:

  Safety as always is the number one concern especially with this much overwhelming response; I think the team had a well laid out plan in addressing this number one concern. They had volunteers in patrol dresses who both walked and rode a bicycle to make sure everyone is doing fine. They had Vaseline and other stuff necessary in case anyone needs anything. Also with California weather it is very natural for general public to walk, jog, run or take their dog for a walk and the volunteers made sure the general public is not affected due to the large number of people walking. Also at every road crossing they had two people on either sides to coordinate the walking traffic. It was wonderful sight to have many teenage volunteers helping for a good cause.

Food:

  This was the best part ..Oh my god …let me go one by one ….They planned a stop every 3 miles approximately; Breakfast was served hot with upma, chutneys, bananas and Tea/coffee; In next three miles we had a snack place serving badam halva, Gatorade; In another three miles we had sukku coffee, rose milk, oranges; In another three miles that was the lunch place where we were served sambar rice, curd rice, banana bread etc., In two miles there was another snack place for Tea/Rose milk; Then came a final snack place before the temple where we were served Ilaneer, butter milk, rose milk, panakkam, veg puffs, salad, sundal; Also to make sure kids have something during the walk they had kids juices and candies for them too at many snack depots; So basically the grinder was running or I should say rotating pretty much all the time and to liquify the grinding there were lots of liquid snacks. Finally at the temple they served sambar rice, curd rice, vada, sambar, sweet, Tea/coffee etc., There were lots of sponsors and it is basically a tradition for people to sponsor food for devotees and that was wonderfully planned and executed.More than the food when we see a snack stop we feel elated that we have reached another milestone.

Toilet facility

  With a long day like this nature’s call is something we got to keep in mind; They rented mobile toilets and it was kept at appropriate junctions for the public to use. Also there were shopping complexes which we passed so people could very well make a quick visit to the shop.

Shuttle services

 They also arranged a school bus for shuttle service and they made sure people who wanted rides are directed to appropriate people; There were dedicated volunteers who took care of transportation department and the way team worked was amazing to watch as an outsider.

After all the walk our goal is to have a darshan of lord Muruga and it was a great feeling to sit inside the temple and offer our prayers. With very little real estate inside the temple again the volunteers did a great job in controlling the traffic inside the temple. Also as part of second day celebration we have Kaapu kattudhal, Kavadi, Paal kudam, Abhishekam, Thiru kalyanam etc., So for outsiders plan your visit in such a way that you are in town till later part of Sunday afternoon so that you don't miss anything. 

The main architect behind this Thai poosam walk is a man called Solai Alagappan …Hats off to this gentleman ….What a rich legacy this man has earned ….He has a great team of volunteers who were incredible in executing the well laid out plans. Not an easy joke to arrange an activity of this magnitude ..May he and his family be blessed always. Also it is wonderful to see people helping each other with so much of positivity in the air; Competing with each other, jealousy , hatred are all like passing clouds in life but the true love and affection and being good at heart is what makes us human beings special and when a religious activity does that you are definitely on high spirits. I personally had a wonderful experience and my purpose of this blog is to encourage you to consider this padha yathirai in the coming years which is one of the very well organized events.

                                                             
                            Concord Muruganuku arohara !!!

Some tips:

1)      Start early which is important and always be with a group of people

2)      Take Vaseline with you and make use of it on all snack stops

3)      Shoe is advisable with some nicely padded socks

4)      Taking food and water is not necessary in my opinion due to the   number of snack stops but still if you want have something and travel   light

5)     Take ponchos with you so in case if there is a rain it will help you and also it is pretty light weight.

6)    Have murugan songs in your phone by that way you can keep playing them during the walk