Thinking out of the Box !!

All of us want to think out of the box but unfortunately only few succeed. It is natural phenomenon for people to think their actions are unique but hardly they realize they are influenced by society. By the way is it a must to think out of the box? Absolutely not unless you wanted to. Right from the dress we wear, movies we watch, food we cook if things are bit different then that attracts attention. In my language if I wanted to give an silly example, let’s assume we have made Veg Kurma and we find that it’s bit salty then regular person would pour water into it but one who thinks out of the box will add potato to it to absorb the excessive salt ..as simple as that. Let me take you through three classic examples where people thought out of the box and won many hearts

Cinema: I would call A.R Murugadoss as one who thinks out of the box for the movie ‘Ramana’ he made way back in 2002. Vijayakanth was known for action sequences, lengthy dialogues and family sentiments but director broke all of that and made Vijayakanth almost go ‘Mute’ in this movie. It is easily said than done but it needs conviction to make a movie like Ramana where you bring in a hero to do something others have not yet attempted and to bring a sad ending it needed guts. When Murugadoss penned script for the movie several names would have come to his mind but picking Vijayakanth was thinking out of the box.

Politics: People talk about Women empowerment everywhere but unfortunately it is seldom followed. Movies like Bigil talked about women empowerment but am afraid these movies will hardly have any impact on society since these are coming from larger than life heroes whose primary intent is Box office collections. But if you ask me I would say our PM Narendra Modi as one who thinks out of the box and who is really showing what women empowerment is to the whole nation. He gave Mrs.Nirmala Seetharaman three coveted posts – Commerce ministry, Defence and now Finance; She may be deserving candidate but to give such posts to the biggest democratic country in the world speaks volumes about our PM. Not just that he also gave Smiti Irani to contest in Amethi which is strictly considered Congress’s fort and to kick Rahul Gandhi out and win in Amethi speaks about her hard work and confidence PM had on her. Now Tamil Nadu’s BJP General Secretary is Mrs.Vanathi Srinivasan and I don’t have an iota of doubt that she is going to make it big in Politics. In a world where every household is seeing ego clashes between husband and wife here is a man who is thinking out of the box and empowering women along the way.

Food: How does having both Mutton and Brinjal at the same time sound ? You may think that is crazy but for the person who invented Dalcha (Saalna) he did not think the same way. For people who have done Bachelor’s in Biriyani eating they may be contented with Raita/Gravy but one who have done Master’s will definitely expect Dalcha along with Raita/Gravy; Mango which is added along with brinjal and Tamarind just elevates the biriyani taste altogether. So whoever invented Dalcha is someone who thought out of the box.

Seeing something that others have not yet thought and proceeding with full conviction is what makes few people special.

Q & A between a devotee and Mr.Wisdom !!

   Recently I happened to meet an elderly couple and the lady is a pious devotee of Lord Shiva. This person never misses to worship Pradosham no matter which part of the world she is. Seeing people like her and few others in my day to day life, reading Arthamulla Indumadam  I wanted to pen a blog on religious matters. I will present the blog in a Q&A manner and Mr.Wisdom is a fiction character I will have to respond to my questions. I will be asking questions from a common Devotee’s point of view.

Sundarbuddy: I have been worshiping pretty regularly and even observe viradham and involve myself in religious activities but unfortunately my requests are not answered by God ? Why ?

Mr.Wisdom: The same question is there amongst all young generation, people feel I have gone to padhayatra, I have observed viradham, I have offered pooja, I have taken Irumudi, I have taken Kavadi, Paal kudam etc., but nothing really works. The key is “Faith” ..no matter what you do but if you do not have full faith in god then that may not bring you desired results. Unfortunately today’s generation want everything fast right from food, dress etc., patience is something they have not experienced. Once you have faith and patience prayers are answered in fact answered in much better way.

Sundarbuddy: There is a construction going on in a Temple and really wish I can do for much for the temple but financial constraints are not allowing me to sponsor much. How am I to cope ?

Mr.Wisdom: I can understand your feeling, see not everyone can sponsor financially. If your intent is good you can try to do good in many ways. For example you can volunteer and sponsor time, refer friends and help temple for volunteering in different areas, you can bring guys on board who can cut down costs for the Temple by either selling their products or services; Bottom line there are many different ways you can help the temple. Almighty knows everything, many people in India are so very economically weak and lord blesses everyone and people can do to the best of their ability. If your financial status allows you to sponsor you should sponsor and consider yourself very blessed to do that.

Sundarbuddy: What is your take on VIP darshan?

Mr.Wisdom: Let us take Lord Athivaradar, he came and talk of the state was about him. Priest made money, temples made money, Kancheepuram businesses like hotels, lodges, restaurants, Transports all made money…but Lord Athivaradar came and went inside silently. Just to segregate crowds based on time availability for devotees there has to be mechanisms and one such thing is VIP darshan ….if Superstar comes in normal queue then how to control crowd ? I am not defending VIP dharshan ….if something disturbs you coming in VIP darshan then go in normal queue.

Sundarbuddy: Why do we have many temples nowadays?

Mr.Wisdom: In 1990’s Tambaram used to be Chennai outskirts but now it looks like it is in middle of the city. Such is the state of expansion and it is practically impossible for people to commute long distances to visit temples on weekdays; Hence we are seeing more new temples in every locality.

Sundarbuddy: I feel visiting Pazhani on Thaipusam day, Sabarimala on Mandalam day but scared about the crowd too …what am I to do?

Mr.Wisdom: There is no right or wrong thing ….You can choose to go whenever your personal space allows. God expects true bhakthi and he will always bless you whatever day you go; That being said if your schedule allows you to go on those particular days then you can very well go and you may just have to be prepared with huge crowd.

Sundarbuddy: Your take on Pariharam?

Mr.Wisdom: You take a course and then you score poor marks, your next step will be how to improve my scores. Pariharam is one such thing to improve things in life and unfortunately it is commercialized and some people start losing hope on it.

Sundarbuddy: Your take on Astrology and 7.5 years sani?

Mr.Wisdom: Astrology is a beautiful subject and it is like an ocean. Problem is middleman in the name of astrologers know 50% of the subject and try to teach us where we get only 30-40%; Overall we don’t get to understand things fully. 7.5 years Sani is law of nature, one must undergo that phase no matter who you are. It will teach you what life is all about and once you come over you will be a much matured human being.

Sundarbuddy: Some temples hold lots of significance but personally not able to go, what am I to do?

Mr.Wisdom: No matter which temple you go but always pray with Faith. Let me take Thirukadaiyur for example, this is one temple which is busy all 365 days in a year; It holds lots of significance and once you try to understand its significance you will start to appreciate more. Once again if your personal space allows to visit certain temples on the days you want consider yourself very blessed else pick any temple of your choice and pray with full faith.

Sundarbuddy: I see temples are too crowded and once people occupy spots they don’t move. What am I to do?

Mr.Wisdom: Yes ..this happens, people should be considerate and allow everyone to worship. Next time you face this situation try to worship and leave room for the next person and am sure you will have more sense of satisfaction.

Sundarbuddy: Your take on natural calamity and environmental damages?

Mr.Wisdom: This is purely due to greedy nature of human beings. If animals have FB account they would pose a selfie with a post saying people are occupying our land since now we see other way around. It is high time young generation take measures to improve mother nature since their future generation needs a good environment to live.

Sundarbuddy: People settle abroad due to several factors but some still care about where they were brought up and try to donate in every possible way; I see some completely neglecting their home country and it is very disappointing to see these folks? Your take

Mr.Wisdom: Desa bhakthi and Theiva Bhakthi are two things and it is like asking physics question in a biology question paper. So sorry this question is out of syallabus

Sundarbuddy: These days we see too much of competition even for religious organizations and we see so many people contesting elections, your thoughts?

Mr.Wisdom: This is very interesting trend that is happening …In a way it is good since people are signing up to volunteer their time. All this election, Title is like a fantasy …if you really want to service God title doesn’t matter; Some may say Title gives you more authority to pursue things which is true but God knows everything and you can render your service to God unconditionally and he is ready to accept.

Sundarbuddy: Unfortunately in this competitive world everything is considered as a race and Padhayatra is no different ..your take?

Mr.Wisdom: Well Padhayatra is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy mother nature and experience the bliss; Very unfortunate if people consider this as a race …You helping fellow devotees and having a nice conversations with fellow walkers spreading love can be a very memorable experience. Consider yourself lucky and blessed if your physical fitness allows you to reach the destination faster.

Sundarbuddy: I feel it is not fair to inherit bad karma due to my forefathers ? Your take on this

Mr.Wisdom: This is simple law of nature …You inherit both good and bad deeds due to you and your forefathers, like how we accept assets from forefathers we also have to accept  their wrong doings.

Sundarbuddy: I was very excited that we as a family was about to host a Pooja, but then realized my wife had Chums and it was very disappointing not to host the pooja? How to cope up with this?

Mr.Wisdom: No one can control everything beforehand, things like these do happen but your intent and Bhakthi is important. Be assured that later we will know that things happened for a better cause.

Though I have written the blog, I myself do not follow some of the things mentioned. Worship is all about faith and spreading love to near and dear ones.

Authentic Tamil Brahmin Food - New Maduraa Hotel, Trichy

   Being a foodie I love to try different types of cuisines as well as different types of restaurants. Being month of ‘Puratassi’ I wanted to try out authentic brahmin food and that is when I ended up with New Maduraa Hotel. I think I have been to this place three decades ago but I hardly remember anything other than the fact this place is known for good food. Okay now starting a restaurant or for that matter any foodie joint has become a trend and so many youngsters are jumping into this sector since this is one of those rare sectors where everything is cash and carry and no credit is involved. If you ask a youngster what are the main things one has to do to entice business he would say the following: nice ambience with lovely canvas prints, contemporary wooden work, imported chic light fittings, soulful music, swanky table and Chair etc., Let me say you something, New Maduraa Hotel does not possess any of those five mentioned rather they focus on ‘Quality’; I feel sometimes life is more beautiful when we keep things very simple; their ambience, table & chairs, everything is superlative of simple. In fact if you look into their walls you would see pretty much all deities. To run a restaurant for more than five decades is not a joke since management must have gone through multiple generations. In today’s world Labor is Number 1,2,3 problem where every Business face and to run a hotel keeping the old tradition as well as addressing all the challenges from current world deserves a special mention.

    Also we youth think we are over smart when we calculate carbs, fat, Trans fat etc., when we end up eating Idli, Dosa, rice etc., Well if you come here and look into some of these folks I bet you can learn how to carry out Irrigation, they literally sketch irrigation plan in their plantain leaf. Coolie workers after exhaustive physical work they just come and have ball of a time (Infact rice of a time); This hotel attracts people from all walks of life – elite, coolie workers, Bank staff, Government staff, College crowd, North Indians, Telugu people etc., Also you will spot folks with Horizontal and vertical lines, mamis in madisaar, maamas in panchakacham since this is their fort. Also being close to Bus stand and Bazaar there is always steady flow of customers.

   So what makes their food special? Before going into their food one key thing for people who serve food is they have to do that with love. Their policy is “Eat how much ever you like but please do not waste”; They are truly ‘Unlimited’ since most of the places they mean only rice as unlimited but they limit vegetables. Over here they serve three vegetables unlimited which includes one greens. Their sambar is special because it is ‘arachuvitta sambar’ as they blend fresh ground masala. Another dish ‘Mor Kolambu’ is very good since they use green chillies and coriander seeds when they prepare masala and they also end up using coconut oil during seasoning. Tomato rasam was too good since I believe they prepare their own rasam powder. End of the day anyone can bring in the taste if they learn and master the art but for the food to reach every common citizen is a blessing and it is only possible if people have good hearts. Owners want people to enjoy the food and they believe no one will end up with any problem after having food at their place. They neither serve Breakfast nor Dinner and just Lunch all the way from 9.30 am to 4pm;In fact everyday in the morning they post the menu in the front and also on their website and stick to that till 2.30 pm and only between 2.30 to 4pm they change menu items based on supply and demand. Now coming to cost – would you believe their unlimited lunch is priced just Rs.80 ..yes you read it right ..Eighty rupees in year 2019 where one liter of petrol costs the same. This clearly emphasizes their business model ..keep things simple …charge less…In fact when I read McDonalds biography founders followed one mantra “We want to keep menu very simple” and they feel that was the reason McDonalds was huge success back in those days. Nowadays menu card is like CBSE syllabus book where people had to have an index page with page numbers.

   Cleanliness is one thing which they may want to improve but that being said I feel there are quite a lot of positives they possess. When Business transitions between one generation to another there is always bumps across the road due to conflict of opinions but to overcome that and to retain the rich legacy is something incredible. They could have easily scaled up, got into Franchising mode, added more menu items rather they stuck to their core principles and made just minor modifications. I really wish the hotel do good and someone in their family keep carrying their rich legacy. If you happen to visit this hotel please don’t go looking with head held high since you will be surprised to see the building and name board ..everything is ‘Simple’ and that is their hallmark.

Hotel URL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgoeQcjynJ0

Their website:

https://new-maduraa-hotel.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral

System has to undergo Change !!

My goal for this blog is to highlight that if a Country or even for a city to change the whole system must undergo change. In India the very first thing people complain for everything is Government. Government as such can only do so much but it is up to citizens to embrace the change and take it forward. Change is inevitable and every damn thing in this world keep changing. I would like to present series of small incidents which I had to deal with in day to day life to highlight some of the pain paints.

Quest for Organic Eggs: My requirement was simple – “Need to buy Organic eggs” and I started visiting few supermarkets and to my surprise I could not get anywhere. I came to know an elderly couple in Puthur Market who sells organic eggs and I was able to get hold of them, I purchased few times but the problem was they always had limited supply and most of the times when I go they don’t have stock so I had no other choice but to skip them. I found another shop who dips the egg in dicoction water and upon time the color of the shell changes to light brown and they label it has organic eggs. My search continues ..Found another shop which I bet must exists even before India got its Independence…He informed me these eggs are called “Pannai Eggs”, now this was like trying to understand Duckworth lewis rules of cricket where people confuse you through new terms. I bought those and my maid said these are no way organic eggs and I was being cheated. Now I turned my concentration to villages since I knew my egg hunt (literally) would produce good results; Unfortunately when I visit my native hens don’t lay eggs and when hens lay eggs I end up not visiting village ..somehow logistics did not work out though there was genuine organic eggs available. Now I found general merchant store (annachi kadai) where they sell Organic eggs and each egg price was four times than that of a normal egg but since I was exhausted on my search I did not think twice about the price and bought only to later find out eggs get spoilt much faster and the shelf life markings are merely bogus. Now I am at a point no more plucking nails …….I wanted to bring this incident to highlight being a perishable item there has to be some mechanism to screen quality of perishable food items. So system needs some regulations in Consumer goods especially perishable ones from respected Food departments

Safety is question mark: Now after Subasri’s death there is lot of noise on Banners ..but there are not one or two things that has to be changed in Roads but a whole lot of things has to be changed. Let me share two incidents …

Incident 1: People who build houses buy steel rods from steel merchants and these rods are carried on an open vehicle and one end point towards you if you happen to be on back of that vehicle. This is very scary considering the fact how sharp these rods are. Now the steel merchant has lot of ways to send this in a safe manner but it will cost him more and he agrees upon a price (including freights costs) with the buyer just to be competitive in market. Now who is the victim – “Public” ? Transport laws should avoid these risky freight movement

Incident 2: Once I was driving around MGR statue and since the roundabout was quite a big one I was looking on one side completely neglecting other side. There was one mid aged man who came in two wheeler and accidentally I dashed him and he fell on the road. Without hesitating for a second I had my hand brakes on and rushed to see the man ….I said I am very sorry and I did not do this intentionally ..He was a nice person ..he accepted my apologies and said no one would do intentionally and asked me to drive carefully. Though I can take the blame partially still constructing such a big roundabout in heart of the city is so very dangerous and all residents of Trichy are aware of this. Political parties make sure their political leaders Statue show up in prominent joints to gain more mileage. If at all statues are moved then that becomes big time Politics. We need all possible safety measures on roads

Mobile shops: I am not talking about the phone mobiles but am talking about the shops on the move. Considering average width of a street to be 30 feet on a normal residential street these vehicles occupy 5 feet on one side (ex: egg noodles shop) and another guy has some shop occupying on other side occupying another 5 feet and public is left with 20 feet. Within that 20 feet we may have to learn to drive our cars and not to forget the road is two way and we may see movement on both ways. We may also see a lady selling Flowers in one corner, man selling groundnuts in another corner making the road even more congested …..now we can neither move these guys as their living is based on this nor afford to have these guys as this will create public discomfort. Somehow concerned authorities has to find a solution to make peace with all parties concerned. 

Judiciary system: Our office is in a prominent part of Trichy and there cannot be a peak time compared to 6.30 pm in the evening. Medical representative came inside our office to meet us and when he went outside he was shocked to know his bike was stolen. All this happened in matter of 30-45 minutes; He raised a police complaint and we all know how it works. Police took the case and did some investigation ..they even visited our office to get some CCTV footage. After few months I met the Rep and asked whether he got his bike and he said though he got his bike he wished it was stolen. He had to make multiple visits to Police station and he suspected link between them and person who robbed. In simple words …This is how he sounded ….Robber takes away bike ….Sets up deal with police …Police does investigation and gets money from owner of the bike for taking up the case ….Police finds the bike and hands over to owner …Robber gets money from police….Police makes money from owner ….Owner to some extent is happy since he at least got his bike …Judiciary system role ? India needs to setup fast track courts to look into the Judiciary issues since only when we control law and order issues we can progress forward.

As we can see there are lot more things within the system that has to be changed to create a better tomorrow. Complaining Government is not going to take us anywhere ..People has to change, laws has to be changed, regulations has to come into effect, lawmakers has to enforce rules and not just advice, need proper governance, government authorities and last but not the least good stable Government to lead the state. In short whole system has to undergo “Change” ….

Pure magic of Ilayaraja BGMs !!

It gives me great pleasure to write yet another blog on Ilayaraja sir – this time my focus is going to be on BGM. I was blessed to have witnessed my fourth Live in concert of Ilayaraja sir and this time it happened on my home turf. Trichy witnessed rainfall yesterday, side screens did not work due to technical glitch, audio output was not proper due to rain but still as a fan we know nothing can dampen the spirit of a Raja fan. At times people even had to use umbrella and we as Raja sir fans truly witnessed “Isai Mazhai”. There are quite a lot of blogs on Raja sir and I just wanted to take handful of his BGMs and want to go over the tune in context to the movie.

 Now for anyone in the music industry knows that there is always ego between music and lyrics of a song, Music will try to dominate the lyrics and vice versa. But when both music and lyrics complement each other that is where we get to see a chartbuster. This happens with Raja sir songs where both music and lyrics go hand in hand. Now modern-day music composers visit Theatres on release day and they make a note on Fan boy moments of Mass heroes and they make sure music is loud in the name of BGM since they know fans will erupt in joy for a particular scene; I love mass masala movies too and definitely enjoy large than life scenes from mass heroes but I somehow feel music should complement the overall proceedings of the movie and not just please the gallery. Raja sir is just the opposite as he uses “Silence” in so much of his BGM and still bring out the best scores.

 Now from what I heard from Director Balki this is how Raja sir works out his BGM scores – each movie is roughly 7 reels with each reel running for approximately 22 minutes. Raja sir watches one reel at 7 am and then asks folks to come back again at 3pm; Meanwhile between 7am and 3pm he works on the BGM score for those 22 minutes. This is what is called as “Music direction” since 22 minutes would have so many emotions and somehow music should make sense and do justice to what Director had envisioned. That being said I will go on with some of the best BGM scores of Raja sir.

Number 1: Thalapathy [Rajini & Mamooty meeting the Collector]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbGPa9Hy_5s

Context: Thalapathy as we all know is loosely based on Mahabarata; Mamooty and Rajini rule the town with their sense of justice but they are considered antisocial elements in the eyes of the government. Both of them meet the collector and conversation goes ….One room with most of the folks in the scene in white color dress with black as the background. Santhosh Sivan moves the camera in circular motion and notice there is no music in the background at all to start with…slowly exchange of words gets intensified …a tiny bell is what we hear to start with …When Arvind swamy voice gets firm and Mamooty got the final answer, Raja sir uses Saxophone and pitch goes higher and higher and music has the final say.

Number 2: Mouvna Raagam [Karthik being chased by Police when he is all set to marry Revathy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvI9RzS_hKk

Context: Life is so cruel because it doesn’t punish us when we do wrong things but instead when we realize our mistakes and start going on right path karma hits us. This is exactly the case for Actor Karthik in Mouvna Raagam and when he wants to marry Revathy he is caught by Police. Suddenly he spots a chance to escape and jumps out of the jeep and runs …Raja sir uses Violin extensively with beats at regular intervals ….This continues and violin is intensified as Karthik gets closer to Revathy. Once Karthik spots Revathy music is mellowed down, once police shots down Karthik the same tune is dragged. Once Revathy realizes Karthik may be dead music conveys the meaning by the wonderful orchestration

Scene 3: Devar Magan [Panchayat scene]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdOjf2wnDdM

Context: Revathy’s dad is pissed off that groom who was supposed to marry her daughter runs away from village. Raja sir music conveys the agony of the bride’s dad through his music. Silence is used appropriately too …Bride’s pain, Kamal’s guilt and father’s anger everything is conveyed through music. When Kamal finally asks the question “Will you marry me?” …Raja sir brings the true emotional connect of the scene and elevates the scene to a different level.

Scene 4: Punnagai Mannan Theme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA-Z84Uhg7c

Context: Kamal dances to Revathy ….It starts with Percussions and then moves onto Flute and finally Violin kicks in ..Kamal keeps dancing solo until Violin and second part he dances along with Revathy.

Scene 5: Anjali Climax

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVhT6waWrjk

Context: Mani Ratnam is just a genius ..just when siblings, mom, dad everyone gets to adapt with special child there comes the trauma ..Baby Anjali is dead ….Raja sir music sets in slowly ..it is dominated by Silence for most part and then I believe chorus is used ..Flute is so beautifully used and may even bring tears.

All Fazil movies are so emotionally driven and Raja sir BGM had a big influence to convey the mood of the scene especially in movies like Poovae Puchudava, En Bommu kutty ammavuku, Varusham 16, Arangetra velai etc., just that I could not find a short clip in Youtube.

Raja sir studies the scene and understands mood of the movie and then with his expertise in Music picks up Raaga, writes notes and picks what instruments must be used. He also uses Chorus quite a bit if that is going to add value to the overall flow of the scene. If you take out Raja sir music many of the scenes would fall flat …Raja sir is a genius ..I have paid my tributes through yet another Blog on his music.

Human Psychology

   I just want to tap into Human Psychology. If you ask me what recession proof job is for next generation I would say three career options – Priests, Entertainment business and Psychologists. The way world is shaping up I have 100% confidence these three careers will be safe bet. Rise of temples, priests, Poojas; Gigantic rise of standup comedies like Evam standup Tamasha; Steady rise of Physiatrists, Counselors in every place are just standing examples to reiterate my above statement. Okay now coming to Human Psychology it is very interesting aspect and want to pen five little aspects which I have come across in my day to day life

[1] Keeping watch faster than actual time: Almost all of us do this…we tend to keep our watches 5 or 10 minutes faster than actual time. Now the million-dollar question? Is it going to make any difference to do that knowing you have kept 10 minutes faster? Looks like human mind is prone to be more effective once it sees time nearing deadline. So when actual time is 7.50 am and you have kept as 8 am it is going to drive you to be more agile and effective and mind may not interpret about factual information. But for lazy gooses no matter you change AM to PM it won’t make any difference.

[2] 999 INR versus 1000 INR: It is so funny when the price tag quotes 999 rupees only and not 1000 as if one rupee is going to fetch you an apartment in R.A Puram, Chennai; But this practice is an age old phenomenon and the very act of making the customer say “Nine hundred and” versus “One thousand” makes a psychological difference amongst buyers since it sounds cheaper. This is like a team scoring 299 in 50 overs versus making 300 where commentators end up saying psychologically it is a positive thing to touch 300 score.

[3] Success and its perspective: I watched movie “Vinaithaandi Varuvaaya” on the day it got released and liked the movie but many felt other way round and once the movie was declared success the very same people said movie was good. I just think the success of the movie had an influence in their thought process. Same thing happened for me with ‘Kaaka Kaaka’ which I watched way back in 2003 and completely did not like the movie but once it was declared blockbuster and me watching the movie second time I had a different taste altogether. So human mind gets influenced sub consciously based on history.

[4] Mind and Occurrence: When you see something that is out of ordinary then automatically message goes to brain prompting us to take a picture. Take for example, you spot Mr.Obama on the roadside and it is very natural for you to take a picture alongside him. Now let us say you spot Mr.Obama almost daily would you still take a picture? It is the same person but you may not be prompted to take one since human mind may not value it the same way like the first occurrence. All I can think of is when I used to trip India for my 3 weeks vacation and end up eating in Plantain leaves I used to give my phone and have a stranger take a pic of me since it used to be a rare occurrence but nowadays I don’t even carry my phone when I am in pandhi. On a different note nowadays if I end up having a sandwich then I do want to take a picture.

[5] Message and not the messenger: People like Rajinikanth or Sachin have attained heights of success, name, fame etc., but still appreciation is something they love to have. Rajinikanth has habit of disguising in public and visits theatres in Chennai to enjoy his own movies amongst fans since claps, whistle is something that keeps him going. Similarly Sachin requested BCCI to shift venue of his final international match to Mumbai as he wants to sign off from his home ground and enjoy the love, appreciation from his fans. But when it comes to criticism nobody wants to take it or people atleast do not have the mindset to take it. I would point out because they focus on the messenger and not the message. When someone is criticizing if people look into the message that would take it to the next point of discussion but if people focus purely on messenger then it just creates enmity. Once again I feel it is the mindset in how people handle criticism and work towards betterment of their own self.

Divorce !!

   ‘Divorce’ is one term which used to be an alien word in those days is become a very common term in modern world. Even conservative community like mine is no exception. I wanted to pen my thoughts on this topic especially after seeing Soundarya Rajinikanth marriage recently.  Misunderstanding, Difference of opinion are not something new but it existed in the past too; Only thing is people used to have a mindset of letting go things easily in olden days or at least one of them tend to take things easy. In modern day number one question is who is that person who tend to take it easy? Husband or wife ? Problem starts there…..”Who” comes before everything. Also the society we live in has something to do with Divorce – the movies that we watch, the serials we see, celebrity we love has an indirect impact in how we see relationship.

    Now let me shift focus to Soundarya Rajinikanth’s recent marriage. Whole of Tamil Nadu was going gaga over her marriage, electronic and print media had wonderful time making headlines, so many people congratulated her on her bold move to come out of the shell and express her happiness over second marriage, she gave Interview which was well received, etc., Well as a human being I wish her happy married life and definitely congratulate her on her move to shed inhibition and come out bold. Now my only question is was there a single soul who thought about Ashwin Ramkumar who was her former husband? Again I have no clue why did they seperate and that is not the scope of my blog too. But let us not forget Ashwin Ramkumar is the biological dad of Ved. I wish both Ashwin and Soundarya happiness on their second innings but what Soundarya cannot hide is she is daughter of India’s superstar. If Rajinikanth endorses a brand the company may go public, anything and everything Rajinikanth does becomes news. She was fine to move on with her life with second marriage but she trying to make a statement in public is what I think is wrong as I believe she may mislead some people with humble background. How many people we know who had second marriage and they kept things very simple by having a low key ceremony. The love and affection from media is all overrated and one has to come to a consensus that true love and affection doesn’t need any media attention. Ashwin also got married but where was all the media ? I feel sorry for Ashwin since it must be emotionally tough to be away from his son. So setting everything aside I wish Ashwin as well as Soundarya-Vishagan a very happy married life. Let Ved get all the love he deserves …

 Now coming to general public, top two reasons I hear reasons for divorce:

(a)    Girl too independent: People say girls earn these days and they want independent life and cannot adjust with inlaws. My opinion is this differs case to case ….People evolve through time. Comparing everything to those days may no longer work …Look at Nirmala Seetharaman, if her hubby thought that way we wouldn’t have got a lady Finance Minister; Modern day girls are ultra smart as they can multi task, they tend to have MK handbag as well know how to make Milagu Kolambu. It is true that with knowledge and freedom comes Stubbornness and attitude but if that can be handled internally within husband and wife with no intervention from both parents then that should be a decent ride with little bumps.

(b)    Boy is impotent: This is one strange thing that people come up with. Just like if you have no time to cook a dish then you come up with either Upma or Maggi ..similarly if they have no reason then they take this one as an excuse. So should boy show Testosterone test results ? This is ridiculous and spreading these sorts of rumors are disheartening.

   Now Finally why am I coming with this blog? Well as being part of society let us respect folks who are undergoing this emotionally draining process called ‘Divorce’. It could be the Bride/Groom, parents of both sides, siblings etc., If we are closer to the party in question we can offer help else we may just have to leave them alone and maybe pray for them to come out of that stage. It is very natural that Boy's side complain girl and Girl's side complain Boy but only God knows the truth. Problem is folks undergoing the process should co-exist in the same society and they are prone to meet people from all walks of life. Sometimes little things like lending a helping hand, taking them out for a movie, giving some moral support without touching the subject can inject so much of life into their life. Remember one thing – doing help alone is not help, wanting to do help can also be help.

V.PAL - Crazy Mohan of Nagarathar Drahma world

    There are people who go behind publicity but have you heard of Publicity go behind people ? That is “V.PAL” for you. Since many of my readers outside Nagarathar community may not know who V.Pal is I am going to give a brief summary about him. V.Pal (Venkatachalam Palaniappan) is residing in Toronto, Canada and is a very prominent figure amongst Tamil community in Toronto area. He has got natural talent when it comes to Directing Tamil Skits/ writing Poems/ Kavidhais etc., Nagarathar Retreat is something that happens once in two years during Independence day weekend and nagarathars all over US and Canada try to attend the gathering. V.Pal’s skit is much sought after and there is always sky level expectation like a Thalaivar movie and still he manages to deliver blockbusters skits every two years. For this reason he is super popular amongst Nagarathar community in USA and Canada. If style and Thalaivar go hand in hand then popularity and V.Pal go hand in hand.

    Now let us know about V.Pal bit closer. He started his career in India in Banking sector and when he was Regional Head for a leading private bank opportunity knocked his door and he migrated to Canada in early 2000’s. He is currently working as a Marketing Manager in Toronto area and those who have seen him would you believe he is into his later 50’s ? Both his daughters are married and he also has two grand children. If you look at his Whatsapp profile picture it may look like a freshly passed out M.S candidate who wants to pose with sea as the background purely to impress Girls ? No kidding …How does he look youthful ? Well he does Yoga, Meditation and he also uses ‘Powder’ quite a bit. Power naps are also one of the secret for his Youthfulness. Nagarathar community is quite small community and as far as my knowledge goes there are roughly around 40000 families throughout the globe. There are many prominent personalities in many different fields but if you take ‘Live Drahma’ (not Cinema) I am not sure whether there are people who are equipped with more talent than V.Pal; V.Pal has got some raw natural talent and since my wife has got more stampings (Canada Visa) than how much Senthil got from Goundamani I was lucky to be part of many such gatherings and enjoy his company whenever I visit Minu in Canada. Life and Stress looks like are directly proportional and apart from enjoying Raja sir music as my companion one other thing which I love doing is to watch his skits in bits and pieces in Youtube to bring that curve on my face. So according to me he is Crazy Mohan of Nagarathar community.

     So when did V.Pal start doing skits ? It all started in Detroit Retreat in 2007 and no looking back since then. Also during events like Tamil New Year, Mother’s day, Pattimandram, Father’s day, Diwali, Pillayar Nombu his presence is felt and he has done some impromptu performances and brought the house down which just reiterates the fact this man has been blessed with natural talent. His skits are played at various locations – Centenary celebrations at Coimbatore Nagarathar Sangam, Reception in Chennai etc., Just like how Sun TV was a pioneer in privatizing television channels in Tamil Nadu, V.Pal’s skits were pioneer on so many Nagarathar drahmas that took place all over the globe. People took his template – characters, dialogues, Context and made minor changes only to become a hero in their own group.

 Now million dollar question ..What makes his skit work big time amongst the audience? Here are my views

[1] Break the Stereotype: On a circular playground if everyone walks clockwise it is very natural that you are bound to be back of one another and this could hamper your pace. How about you walk anti-clockwise ? This is what V.Pal does as he gets the basics right. When every drahma group think about Appatha, Aiya characters which has become very redundant these days he comes up with a plot which is still nagarathar oriented but injects freshness into the plot. Also very natural for drahma groups to have recorded voice in background and have characters just come and act but V.Pal is one person who insists on Live drahma ..In fact one of the Retreats he declined to stage his drahma since there were technical difficulties in getting the mics for everyone, organizers had to re-schedule his skit to a different day

[2] Make Lady Character strong: This is a simple Thumb rule ..give Lady character a meaty role and your skit is bound to reach masses. “Appatha” character in ‘Ponnu Pudichiruku”; Sindhu Senthilnathan, Vasantha Valliappan,  Dr.Muthulakshmi characters in “Enga Appachi Sandhiki.... Ellarum Vaanga”; Valli Adaikappan character in “Ikkaraiku Akkarai pachai” are all so very well written.  

[3] Camaraderie in Group: V.Pal drahma makes sure real and reel spouses are shuffled …bachelors are turned senior achis …People not getting bothered about their ‘Image’ in Stage are some of the features. Long story short people get into skin of the character ..

[4] V.Pal and Spontaneity: If you carefully observe his plays many magic moments are created then and there …when people laugh loud at auditorium V.Pal goes crazy and he comes up with many dialogues which were not there originally in the script ..this becomes challenge for other characters in the frame as they are unaware of how to react to his counter dialogues but people somehow manage. One classic example is Dining scene in “Enga Appachi Sandhiki.... Ellarum Vaanga”

[5] Slice of Life: V.Pal also does pull real life examples and once audience connect and relate to the dialogues smile becomes laugh. Example: The dialogue when he says “Vadai Vellai Paniyaram ellam eppo pichu pichu podraanga” garnered so much laughter since audience related to what happened on that day and also when he says “Eppo evunga ellam nenaichadhu maariya ponnu kedachudhu ..kedaicha tha vechu evlo santhoshama illa” it brought whole house down and in fact skit was almost paused for few seconds for people to complete the laugh.

    Now coming to Challenges …well V.pal’s skit gets so much attention and this could even bring down the potential due to the pressure. V.Pal puts in so much of effort since he feels with no close up shots, and technological restrictions the only way he can connect with audience is dialogues and how people deliver on stage. He religiously practices and is always a tough task to pull people together for practice sessions. Moreover he has to write characters based on who is participating in Retreat. The way he comes up with Characterizations for Mr.Balan, Annamalai annan, Mr.Subi are incredible and just shows he has good creative mind. Also none of his drahma members have prior experience acting in drahma and it is wonderful to see him give dialogues for every single individual attending Retreat from Canada.

   Stage is set for his drahma in July 2019 which promises to be Grand mother of all Retreats. Am looking forward for his drahma …..In fact whether a young mom who wants to feed her child or 60 + who want to take Crestor/Metformin everyone would finish off their task before Canada play. If at all there is one empty chair during his play I can guarantee there is some mechanical issues with the chair. I just wish if a Psychologist can be able measure the happiness in an environment through some instrument since I bet a place where V.Pal skit is running is a place where Happiness index would be saturating.

For all friends who haven’t seen his plays, here are the URLs of his Blockbuster Skits (Knowing Nagarathar community to some extent will help you relate more to the dialogues )

Detroit Retreat : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_8qTrHUFgU&feature=youtu.be

New Jersey Retreat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm2t0UXyq7M&t=295s

California Retreat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWFye85N_KU

Boston Retreat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1Rfk2Petpc&t=871s

This space reserved for D.C Retreat …….

    

Trichy Ayyappan Temple

   For people who belong to Trichy this blog may not provide any new information but for people who have not been to Ayyappan Temple in Trichy this blog may be informative. This temple is pride of Trichy and is a great testimony for the city. “Silence” and “Cleanliness” are two things that make this temple an unique experience for devotees. There is always bunch of volunteers roaming around in the temple to make sure silence is maintained throughout the premise, if a toddler runs around suddenly you will see a volunteer rushing towards you asking to take care of the kid. Cleanliness is something which is very hard to enforce in India with the sort of population we have but people can come here and do a case study on how to keep the premise clean. This temple hosts so many plants and it is wonderful to see so much of greenery in a Temple. Now let me walk you through the temple…As soon as you enter there are volunteers who take care of slippers; Outside India it is very natural to have people volunteer in Temple in different areas like Kitchen, Religious activity, Logistics etc., but in India norm is people sponsor money and there are always laborers to take care of different departments. But this is one temple that breaks the conventional wisdom and have common people volunteer in different departments. Temple does not have Undiyal, no money for priests, Archanai is done in the name of the lord, there is absolutely no commercial activity in the premise. On behalf of your company even if you want to make a huge sponsor they will not entertain to advertise your business whatsoever. Dress code is something they strictly follow and they will stop you right there if they find your dress inappropriate. People make fun of Indian standard time but temple’s punctuality is something similar to military standards.

Here are some of the features of the temple:

(1)    Temple donates Buttermilk for common citizens from March 1 to May 31st of every year since that is peak summer

(2)    Balar School: Temple enrolls young kids and teaches so many religious stuff, wonderful sight to see kids in white uniform on Sundays

(3)    Devaram-Thiruvasagam classes happen on Saturdays

(4)    Every 2^nd and 4^th Sunday Blood camps happen and this has won so many accreditation in the state

(5)    Educational assistance to those who secured good marks but economically backward

(6)    There are so many Herbal plants in the temple premise – 356 herbal plants, plants for all 27 nakshatras, 368 trees etc., A walk around the temple looking into all these plants can be refreshing

(7)    There are Yoga classes, Hindi classes, Religious yatras, Eye/Organ Donation awareness camps etc., which happen at regular intervals

 One of the thing which I really love about the Temple is the writings all over. They have so many granite stones and you will come across beautiful phrases which may enlighten you. For regular visitors ‘Moral story’ written on the wall every week next to book stall is something you will look forward to. There is one spot in the temple where the famous song from Mannan “amma vendrazhaikkadha uyirillaye” is written on the wall and you could also play it. So many people come and pay respects to their moms by doing a sashtang namaskaram in front of the lyrics. There is also one spot in the temple near the big dyana mandapam a place where they have instilled 1574 holy stones from many different temples. Temple management also has one post box just back of Ayyappan sannidhi where one can write a letter requesting lord to help. Every month during Lord Ayyappa’s nakshatram day (Uthiram) they present the letters under the feet of lord Ayyappa and priest does archanai for “Genuine” requests to be fulfilled. Then they discard the letters using paper shredding machine.

   Temple attracts 20000, 30000 or even more devotees on English new year, Tamil new year etc., Anyone organization who wants to know how to deal with massive crowd but at the same time ensure the purpose of each one’s visit is duly met then they got to visit this temple on those days. On Tamil new year day I went around 8.30 – 9 am and they said we already crossed more than 8000. There is so much of planning which is fully backed by wonderful execution by volunteers. There are no major barricades, savukku kambu or big sticks involved in crowd management but just a plain simple white thread is what it takes. Temple is just at the heart of the city but the way crowd is handled is something that is absolutely amazing. If you have not visited the temple I would highly recommend you to visit Ayyappan Temple, Trichy and get lord’s blessings. Give yourself enough time to be in the temple for you to experience the divinity and make sure you check Temple timings and plan your trip accordingly.

Election 2019

  Stage is all set for counting which will begin in few hours. Election 2019 witnessed highest voter turnout all over the country. I was that typical guy who used to say “Politics is all crap…full of corrupt people” but you know what I developed interest towards Politics by reading many newspaper articles. One thing which I always love during my childwood was sipping Bournvita and reading ‘The Hindu’ daily by turning straight back to sports column, Friday review, Metro plus etc., Now I do the same until my six months old stare at me “Appa ..time to change diapers” Only thing that changed was I started reading more of Political articles. I was curious to know myself how did I develop interest into Politics but then realized I witnessed Politics among 100 + families in close quarters recently and that could have played a role since I was able to observe and draw conclusions on so many aspects. So basically the more you try to decode and analyze the moves it would fascinate you. When nothing at stake and still so much drahma is involved imagine what all goes into the making of MLA seat, MP seat, Chief minister post, Prime minister post. Moreover right from the toothpaste we use, car we drive, Tax we pay, House we live, Food we eat anything and everything boils down to Governance which is turn depends on the Government. If you are running Business, many factors like Government schemes, policies, Taxes play a role in how well we can run the show. I read the Election Manifesto and tried to be a responsible citizen by casting my vote. Guess what I even helped EC officials on how to find voter ID through an app for few citizens.

    Now coming to TamilNadu Politics – I would say state is literally in ICU …Political instability has been a big problem. Many Industries have preferred neighboring states due to lack of ease in doing Business in Tamil Nadu. I am afraid Tamil Nadu is no longer Detroit of Asia as many industries are moving away and existing industries are not setting up second phase. ‘Porattam’ has been the key thing and we see protests for anything and everything. I have no clue who was ‘H.Raja’, ‘Tamilisai Soundarrajan’, ‘Selloor Raja’ few years ago but these are household names now due to all the negative publicity they gained through their speeches/actions. JJ’s death, Collision between EPS-OPS camps, RK nagar chaos, Sterlite police firing, Salem-Chennai highway, Vijayabaskar scam etc., just to name a few were making headlines. State also witnessed some heroes who were born – RJ Balaji become a sensation, Hip Hop Aadhi became overnight hero which I realized only when I saw crowd for his latest movie, Karu Palaniappan became karuthu Kandasamy for his bold speeches. I don’t have any doubt that it would be cakewalk for DMK in Tamil Nadu since the state government themselves made life easier for DMK folks. Mr.Thirunavakarasu in Trichy area representing Congress will literally win by huge margin and my home which is sandwiched between K.N Nehru office and his home will witness wallas of crackers tomorrow.

    Now coming to Mr.Rajini-Kamal entry into politics. I would rather say it is very late ..I know age is just a number but Politics is a different ball game and am afraid both of them are not even mentally ready to take plunge into Politics. If Kamal gets one brownie for contesting then I would take half a brownie away since he himself is not contesting. It just shows he wants to test waters before getting his hands wet in 2021. He talks as if he is coming straight from PHD classroom but just being intellectual alone will not make you as a Politician. Million dollar question is where is Mr.Kamal getting money for his campaigns? Mr.Rajini is making fun of himself ….(I love Thalaivar but in Politics he will be Mr.Rajini); He is at all time high doing Movies and am not sure why does he want to enter Politics. He is worst as far as addressing media and has not even started a political party. Does he believe being a mass hero will fetch him votes ? What happened to Mr.Chiranjeevi? I would rather have Rajini do more and more films. Many make fun about Mr.Vijayakanth but hats off to him to venture into politics when two Dravidian stalwarts were present – J.Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi. In fact one person whom I personally feel has good political acumen is Mr.TTV Dinakaran – he is one person who gives interview in such a convincing manner and I like his attitude in how he carries himself. He is someone whom I believe will make an impact in TN Politics in future.

   But tomorrow is not about State election. By end of tomorrow we will get to know who will be Prime Minister for one of the biggest democratic countries in the world. Biggest drawback for Congress is who will be their Prime minster Candidate…BJP has polarized saffron quite a bit and has created problems for Communal Harmony. Demonetisation and GST has been the biggest talking points during campaigns and N.E.E.T has become a raging topic in Tamil Nadu. There is a clear divide between North and South not just in terms of food but also in terms of picking Congress or BJP. EC has also been receiving quite a lot of flak for its conduct over Elections. I can just think of one man ..T.N Seshan, he was one person who brought in so much of discipline into Electoral proceedings those days. In Summary BJP has an edge but interesting thing whoever wins it may not be a convincing win.

M.A.M Palaniappan Aiya - Celebration of life !!

   Nagarathar community is aware of M.A.M Palaniappan Aiya of Rayavaram – 105 years old chettiar who resides in Rayavaram. In 2014, though I was at Bay area  when Aiya visited California and I missed seeing Aiya since I had booked tickets for whale watching. I felt guilty of missing a golden opportunity and from that point  was looking forward to meet him and my luck finally came in 2018 when I personally made efforts to meet him in his place at Rayavaram. Aiya was aware that guests are bound to come and seek blessings from him. I went along with my mom, wife and kids. We introduced ourselves and nagarathar community is like solving sudoku puzzle of level one. Third minute into the conversation we will realize there is whole lot of mutual friends between two families.

    We took blessings from Aiya and spent few minutes chatting with him. Aiya gets up very early in the morning and reads Devaram and other religious books. He watches Cricket and an ardent fan of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Aiya also does Stock Trading every single day and has the habit of writing accounts. Aiya maintains a balanced diet and has the habit of walking. These facets of his life are familiar to many nagarathars. I would like to illustrate few more …We were served Biscuits and Aiya was particular my maid also has some. Not just that when we all took our seats Aiya noticed my maid standing and insisted her to sit. Now that is humanity. Humanity has to be part of your system ..it is basically your behavior through your instincts. I asked Aiya one question “What should one do to be Happy?” Aiya replied ...”Don’t worry about anything…What is bound to happen will happen…” . One other things which is so impressive about Aiya is his positivity towards life. It is very common to see people of his age or even closer to his age say “I would like to leave the world without disturbing anyone” ….Though we can comprehend the sentence but still hearing this sentence from people kind of disheartens us and disturbs us emotionally. Unfortunately we live in a world where Tit for Tat is the order of the day – You attend my event and I will attend yours, You make a dish for my pot luck and I will make a dish for your pot luck, You ‘Like’ my photo and I will ‘Like’ your pic …etc., But here is a man who never misses any Invites and always makes sure he blesses everyone. It is very easy for him to turn down the invite citing his age instead have the bride and groom come to his place but at this age he makes sure he physically attends the marriage. One such marriage he attended in Rayavaram today and was lucky enough to get blessings from Aiya second time. He entered and sat on the chair and suddenly army of people start lining up to get blessings from Aiya.

    Life on its course throws lots of surprises every now and then but eventually life comes only once. I grumble so much about Indian summer but Aiya lives at Native which is burning hot …..Aiya does what he likes and likes what he does….Aiya’s humanity is what makes him a great person. Apart from indulging in quite a lot of philanthropic activities and donating so much for charity, Aiya treats and respects every single person as a human being. Aiya is a celebration of life. In a world where Psychiatrists and Priests (except Mr.Kamal Haasan everyone is turning to be religious these days) are ruling the roost here is a man who can rub positivity over you and make you understand love and empathy towards fellow human beings is the way to lead life. Palaniappan Aiya – We all Love you !!

Petta - Hits & Misses !!

    When Rajini movie is just released your emotions seems to be brimming especially when you are a Thalaivar fan so want to give myself some time before I pen this blog. I just want to go over hits and misses of Petta – Thalaivar’s latest offering which turned out to be a huge blockbuster. First thing first – Let us not forget Thalaivar is almost 70 and many in his age are learning to tie diapers for their grand kids but here is a man who is literally ruling the box office. Many actors in 70’s have completely retired or doing character roles per their age. So delivering a movie at the age of 70, playing a mass hero and still able to compete with younger stars alone deserves huge round of applause. During January I attended series of marriages and at one point all I was looking for was a simple curd rice made the traditional way. Similarly Rajini fans have seen Thalaivar in different avatars like Kockadaiyaan, Kuselan, Enthiran, 2.0 but there was this plain simple “Mass Masala Rajini Film” that was missing and Karthik Subburaj being an ardent fan all he did was just delivered a pucca Rajini film. Karthik basically made sure that the movie is a crowd pleaser – Thalaivar’s uttering of “naan veezhven endru ninaithayo” already made throats go dry in the beginning, “Sirappana tharamaana sambavangala inime dhan paaka pora” was kick ass dialogue. Thalaivar and VJ Sethupathy opening the doors simultaneously was absolutely MASS especially with Ani’s BGM…Similarly every now and then there was mass elements throughout the film and “Kola mass” dialogue in the movie was aptly written. I loved the romance portion with Simran – though it was brief but it was sensible. 

   Now coming to Marketing of the movie …Sun Pictures and Kalanidhi Maran can teach you Marketing than what Stanford can teach you sitting in a classroom. Many may wonder after Sarkar and Petta why is Sun Pictures producing/distributing Kanchana 3 ..well there are reasons. First by agreeing to distribute movie like Kanchana 3 they give big boost to the movie which then prompts the makers to give a nice product and then it increases the business value of the movie. Now they also negotiate with the Theatre owners in such a way that if you agree to screen Kanchana 3 then we will give you rights to screen Sarkar and Petta ..something like a 2+1 deal ….now after all this numbers come into equation and they show losses on the small movie and take home big profits earned from Sarkar and Petta. Kalanidhi Maran is an absolute smart person and he is a pioneer in whichever field he ventures into. Can you name a single person after incurring losses owning an aircraft company but still able to overcome and shine in other endeavors?

      Now coming into the minuses of the movie ….I thought the biggest drawback was the way characters was established and how scenes were hurried. As a writer it takes few scenes for audience to sketch a character and by taking through few scenes slowly but surely audience get connected to the character and the overall story revolving around the characters. Take Ramya Krishnan for example in Padayapa, Director was able to show her as arrogant woman by series of events through the story. The way the flashback episode handled in Petta and the whole incident of shootings was very loosely written and the main culprit was Karthik was too quick in jumping into this scene where I personally felt he should have taken some more time in allowing the audience to go back to the past. Gun shooting was like “Pottu vedi” and it did not create any awe. Rajini’s biggest plus as a mass hero have been kids and lady audience enjoying his movies especially the humor portion. Now there was far little humor but where is the emotional quotient which is another main ingredient in a mass masala movie ? Mass movies like Annamalai or Padayappa had a good emotional quotient. Another big drawback was gun shots ..I thought it was way too much gun shots in the movie and unfortunately gun shots mean very little to the overall proceedings but it is used just to give an image that it has got some heavy action sequences. My opinion was Vijay Sethupathi’s role could have been much longer and he could have donned the main antagonist. Karthik’s take on villain being in North and being medically unfit did very little to prove his body language as a baddie. After seeing Trisha’s role I was very disappointed especially after her performance in 96. I can understand that she wants to pair opposite Thalaivar to make her career full but as an actress she had every right to demand one or two scoring scenes to director. A writer can create any situation to make actors perform and there should have been 1 or 2 scenes to highlight her acting prowess.

    Overall Petta was good ..I enjoyed the movie. Within span of 6-7 months Thalaivar had 3 releases and I believe Thalaivar realizes the only ay he can make fans happy is by making movies. I am sorry to say but his political career may either not take off or he may fail miserably in Politics. I took my son for 2.0 and he enjoyed the movie and I just hope Thalaivar makes more and more movies and continue entertaining us through generations.

Marriage between Egg & Parotta !!

   I just love trying new restaurants and being a foodie my taste buds is always on a lookout for yummy dishes …One thing which I missed very badly was ‘Mutta Parotta’ or in other words Kothu parotta made the traditional way. This is one signature dish which is very famous in all night kadais in Tamil Nadu …..The same dish can be made in many different ways but the local flavor in which it is made is simply awesome and am going to take you guys over this dish the way it is prepared. There is one such shop near my place and I believe this guy has been in business even before India got its independence and I bet you he has wealth to buy 50% of POES Gardens, Chennai. All being said he is still considered to be ‘night kadai’ owner. Whenever I visit the shop he greets me ‘enna pa romba naala kaanom’ and orders his staff to lookout for a seat for me; My feeling at that time would be as if name was adjudged for Oscar nomination only to realize later he pretty much does the same ritual to every person visiting the shop. Then without any doubt I order ‘Mutta Parotta’ every damn time I visit this place.

   Let me go over the marriage that happens between Egg and Parotta. Consider ‘Egg’ as bride and ‘Parotta’ as groom …for any marriage venue is the key …in all Night kadai the big round black aduppu is pretty much lit by wood and once it is lit around 6pm then goes to bed only after midnight. Basically it is hot all the time due to the non stop dishes made on it. This plays a role since all fancy restaurants they use LPG and it is switched on only based on need. So venue is ‘Adapu’ where we first call both the parents – onions and tomatoes …Chef is affectionately called as ‘Master’ and he sautés onions and tomatoes along with chilli powder, garam masala powders etc., Tomatoes are not cut by the way ..they are literally squeezed like how a middle class does to the colgate paste in its ending stages. To add more spice to the proceedings he adds green chilies which can be the Nathanaars ….He sautés them well and in every marriage pangalis and relatives play a significant role and he adds fresh curry leaves and coriander leaves. Unlike chefs who may have curry leaves refrigerated these guys just take absolute fresh curry leaves. Now the bride comes in ….Master takes egg in one hand and gently taps couple of times only to see the egg joining the party ….now comes groom ..parotta is torn apart just like how every grooms are after marriage and then added to the gang …….Festivities happen and this is where gravy is poured into the ingredients. Now it is Master all the way …he takes two tumblers upside down and he goes with the rhythm which can even make drums Shiva mani proud of the sound produced. Normally master makes multiple quantities and he then segregates into different plates. Finally mutta parotta is served on plantain leaf red hot. Trust me marriage between egg and parotta made the traditional way always taste better and creates lasting impression.

     I see many Indian restaurants abroad and over here have a category called ‘Street food’ section where they have this dish. I think for people who do not want to step into Night kadai then they can enjoy ‘Kothu Parotta’ from restaurants but for people who do not mind visiting occasionally to such shops I highly recommend they should try this signature dish from Tamil Nadu.

Nakshatra Temples

Every single human being born in this world will belong to any one of the twelve rasis which in further categorized as 27 Nakshatras. So based on the time and place one is born rasi and Nakshatra is calculated. So let me go over few things which are beyond our control

•  You stepping over an ant ..I have no clue whether stepping over an ant accidentally account     towards bad Karma but know the fact by stepping over an ant we destroy a member in its           family
•   Our Grandfather, great grandfather wrong acts in the past which may come back to us accounting for bad karma
•   Your own wrongdoings in the past jenmams
•   Unfortunately you are being a curse by a section of people which you are not aware of

My main intention is to bring there are lots of things which are completely beyond our control. I feel very sorry for Singer Chitra and Comedian Vivek on what happened in their personal life. Fortunately or unfortunately the bitter truth is we have to face the harsh reality and mature person will only seek strength to face the consequences due to bad karma inherited from past jenmams. There is whole lot of worship practices which one can follow to get blessings from lord and lessen the ill effects of purna jenma bad karmas and one such practice and an essential one is visiting Nakshatra temples based on your Jenma Nakashatra. Now if someone asks just by visiting these temples if one can overcome all bad karma, answer is ‘No’ but with faithful prayers one can get the confidence to face the hardships thrown at you. If you can plan your visit on birth star day that is great but if you cannot at least try to visit on a normal day and get blessings.

     

Here is the list of various temples pertaining to each Nakshatra: 

Now just to let you know some of these are small temples and they could be on outskirts of a city. There is good reason priest manages more than one temple in that area and just to avoid disappointment try to contact the temple before you go. Also on birth star days you could see mad rush and priest could very well make use of the opportunity by demanding you to do certain rituals. I leave up to you to decide what you want to follow. If you happen to be living abroad it is very difficult to plan your trip on your birth star day hence just try to visit whenever your schedule permits. Also sometimes the birth star lapses two days and in those cases you may want to check the calendar. 

For further information on temple history and contact information for each temple visit following URL:

https://temple.dinamalar.com/en/StarTemple_list_en.php

Vijay Sethupathi - My Hero !!

   With or without my conscience I am becoming a huge fan of Vijay Sethupathy. I just feel he is an effortless actor or to put it in simple words a very natural actor. If you take Tamil cinema in the last 7-8 years it has seen some cult classics like Pizza (whole array of ghost films started to release post Pizza), Sudhu Kavvum, Jigarthada, Vikram Vedha, 96 etc., and no prizes for guessing what is the common factor in all these movies. If we take a close look at his films you can see that he acts in every category of films. He is one hero who introduced whole new bunch of youngsters into mainstream tamil cinema (Karthik subburaj, Nalan Kumaraswamy, Balaji Tharaneetharan) just to name a few. Also he doesn’t follow a template that one should act in so many number of films in a calendar year as he believes content will take care. One other major advantage with Vijay sethupathi is he does not have ego in appearing for cameos in films like Jigarthanda, Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam, Traffic Ramaswamy, Imaika Nodigal etc.,  

   Now let me do a deep dive into some of his films.  Though he has acted in few movies before Pizza but this was the movie that put him in the limelight due to the freshness in the script. Film was just over 2 hours and audience liked the slick presentation. NKPK was absolute cracker and every tamil speaking people throughout the globe enjoyed this movie since it gave a complete new flavor to comedy genre. If anyone would have narrated Soodhu Kavvum script to any hero they would have laughed saying it was not even fit for short film but VJ trusted the script and had confidence in Nalan which became one of the most widely celebrated movie in those times. Pannaiyarum Padminiyum is one movie which I liked very much and knew few of my friends who liked the movie very much. The penchant towards car was poetically shown in celluloid. Naanum Rowdy thaan  and Kadhalum Kadandhu pogum were wonderful movies once again due to the fresh content. Sethupathi was a very good cop movie with brilliant performance from VJS. Dharma Durai and Andavan Katalai are great choices for an actor to be associated and no wonder VJS was approached for these movies. Vikram Vedha was an absolute cracker of an movie and VJS performance was literally awesome. Though his role is limited in movies like Imaika Nodinal and Chekka Chivandha Vaanam VJS made his presence felt. Now coming to ‘96’ ..where do I start ….I just loved the movie so much that I can write series of blogs on the movie. ‘96’ will be one of the best romantic tales Tamil cinema has ever seen. The interval scene where VJS meet Trisha after 2 decades, the scene where VJS hesitatingly asks Trisha to come home before her flight are all so well etched in my memory where I don’t think I can do a shift+delete from my brain.

    Every actor wanted to be part of good movies and they are in search of good scripts but unfortunately they follow a template. Take for example Vikram who is a brilliant actor but still he acts in movies like ‘Saamy’, ‘Sketch’, ‘Kanthasamy’ which are pure masala potboilers; Even Suriya after giving great performances goes back to Hari for Singam franchise, actor Sivakarthikeyan goes with Anirudh or Imman for Music, Ponram or Durai Senthilkumar for direction; But VJS chooses every movie based on ‘Fresh content’ and never ever follows a template. Some of his movies bombed in Box office like Rummy, Junga, Orange mittai, Iraivi but that didn’t stop him from experimenting. Some movies like Dharma dhurai may have been simple but it perfectly fits the “feel good” category. I think his intuition is based on content and trust he has with the director. His acting is also very natural like fluid state and nowadays I see so many whistles for him whenever he appears in Trailer/Teaser for an upcoming movie.

     I wish him good luck and I cannot believe I still haven’t watched Seethakaathi. He has some terrific line of upcoming movies. Though I am eager to watch Petta for Thalaivar am equally excited to see VJS opposite Thalaivar and I believe for the first time I may also scream for Thalaivar’s rival on screen. If Tamil Cinema has grown in the last 10 years then VJS will be one of the main reasons and if Tamil Cinema has to grow in the future then again he will have to play an important role in endorsing new scripts and talents.