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

DESIRE

    All of us in this world want to lead a happy and successful life; Every one of us have a goal in our life and we see life from our own perspective and make moves in such a way which would help us to lead a life the way we intend. After marriage it becomes ‘Our goals’ versus ‘my goals’ and we work as a couple to raise family and give them all the right ingredients like proper education, proper habits in order for them to lead an independent and successful life.

    At any given stage desire is something which keeps growing. This is both natural as well as forceful behavior which arises every now and then. If we earn 100K we buy Acura and say salary is not sufficient whereas if we earn 200K we buy Tesla and still end up saying salary is not sufficient; Have we ever said my salary is good enough? Maybe we felt one day until the very next day you see your counterpart buying a beautiful single family home; our mind is deceptive and looking for ways to exploit our thoughts. I see so many proverbs these days and just wonder why everyone is able to relate to them. When desire ends happiness starts to nourish and maybe flourish too. It is just how we control our desire in this materialistic world.

    Everything is based on relative scale ….rather than comparing yourself with your counterparts just look at the population who still eat one meal a day, have very few clothes and barely have a shelter. I personally feel some diseases may get cured automatically if one practices the wordings in the proverb “Pothum endra maname pon seyyum marunthu” !!!

Price tag for Home

     Home sweet home is part and parcel of our life…whether we rent/lease/own a home is always a home and close to our heart. In fact I have stored my land line number as ‘Home sweet home’. No matter which place we go on earth for vacation we always want to come back home after some point. I still remember our home back home where I played garage ticket, my study room where I burnt midnight oil, terrace upstairs where I enjoyed sunset, backyard where I used to help mom pluck drumstick and curry leaves since she always considers me tall no matter how small I am J

     If we look closer home becomes emotionally attached to our lives some point or the rather and the best thing is this happens without our conscience. We keep adding fond memories which lasts for life long. At some point we may have to spread wings and move out of the house but we always love to go back to our home. What once built with the help of cement and mortar grown tall in stature and sees us grow through different stages.

    These days some people attach a price tag to the house; I am not here to deny when the house appreciates in value we do feel great but what is that you are gaining by knowing the news? Are we realtors on a constant lookout to swap houses? Market volatility keep changing and house value may oscillate but why do we even care; Even if the economy is great, job market is too good still you are running a risk of having your house depreciated due to legal troubles your neighbors had to go through and hence they sold for a lower amount which in fact affects price of your home since it is all about comparable. For things beyond your control I personally feel no point in breaking your head. I would rather enjoy each day at my house without attaching a price tag because not everything has to be evaluated and calculated every time.

Supply Vs Demand

      What would happen when there is whole lot of competent candidates in Job market but economy is very poor or what would happen when there is whole lot of demand for water but there is hardly any rain? Supply and demand has to match or at least reach to an optimum level where one doesn’t dominate the other ….If supply and demand matches then that’s ideal and that’s the perfect world we are talking about!!!

     I am basically working in Supply chain and know the consequences when one overtakes the other; Companies are spending lots of money to have a system in place and have all controls and processes to make sure neither it carries more inventory which reduces the cash flow nor sees that demand doesn’t increase significantly which would potentially mean you may lose business to your competitors. It is a balance where companies are striving for by adopting industry best practices and also by investing in sophisticated technology.

    One bizarre thing in medical world is the supply and demand are poles apart; In India look at how many public institutions we have for medical schools, privatization is this field is dangerous too since it would overkill the market. But if there is a constant demand amongst students for medical field then the amount of public colleges has to increase. In today’s world student pays a hefty amount to get into medical school and even larger amount for a master’s degree. At the end when he/she comes out to serve public obviously one of the goals would be how to get on track with financial goals because there has already been significant amount of money involved and also the number of years since high school. All this would be taken into consideration before someone makes a move.  Al of us cannot be a Gandhi ..that is not practically possible !!! Medical students should have a choice to serve public without having the burden of the money they have spent upfront.

    
   One thing always remains true …Karma will find its way and it is way too clever to interpret our human behavior and give us the right judgment. So do your duty and leave the rest to almighty.

Productivity !!!

     I always wonder what is the relationship between number of working days and Productivity. Is number of working days directly proportional to productivity or indirectly proportional? What should be the optimum level in which one’s mind can do productive work? Several countries follow different work standards and even within countries there are several regions and several groups who follow different standards according to their needs.

     Back home we have six working days and my dad always double checks with me even after so many years that do we work only for five days in a week. But the number of working days also depends on the nature of the business – some business may not add more value by opening during weekends whereas some business thrive during weekends and holidays. But when we say working hours are 8 – 5 pm how does our brain recognize the time period and how do we prepare our mind to focus on something very intense? Sometimes during the workshop sessions my brain is completely drained where I got to watch out for every single question thrown at me and at times my mind tend to relax a bit if my role is just to be as a listener in a conference call. The way we control our mind and concentrate on stuff on our plate is definitely an art. I could control my mind for some time but for prolonged concentration I definitely need to get into something which would help me sustain my mood for an elongated period of time. Maybe I should try Yoga or some meditation.

     Sometimes work becomes pleasure where we don’t end up calculating the amount of hours we spend on our work; Sometimes we tend to work long hours simply due to obligation or even at times due to peer pressure from our counterparts. But the question is it is not the amount of hours we work but the amount of value we add to our work in a given period of time. I heard a power nap in the afternoon helps to be more productive, I saw one of the fortune 500 companies in Bay area having all sorts of activity to avoid boredom to its employees. The more productive the mind is the more relaxing it can be for yourself and more value you add for your employer. 

Thamizhan Da!!!

      Being proud of your where you come from is something we enjoy at times!! Over here in US, Sports plays a major role in making people bind together and feel proud about their place of origin. When Eagles win a game in a NFL playoff game the whole of Philadelphia erupts in joy. It is just a way of connecting towards something which is close to your heart and a sports event is just an occasion to celebrate. Back in India there are always two things that bind us – one is cricket and other is cinema. Cinema being my favorite would like to embellish on something which made all the Thamizhans across the world very proud.

      

     I want to talk about the showman of Indian cinema – Director Shankar. He is absolutely outstanding..Looking at his track record is just amazing. 20+ years but just 10+ movies. On an average he takes 2 years per movie. Every movie he takes a topic but never gets preachy in his presentation instead sugarcoats with lots of commercial ingredients – I cannot forget the scene in Endhiran where he created a scene in the screenplay where Rajini appears as Amman with several swords, scene in Mudhalvan where the entire traffic is halted with Arjun carrying the media coverage and there are people who play crosswords in Hindu newspaper etc., Just envisage if his movies bomb then two years of time goes for a toss and there is so much risk associated but he is so very confident on his product that he makes grandeur movies with so much of ease. Arnold coming onto stage and asking him to direct for his movie just speaks volume about this man. I think it is just about time that he spreads his wings and goes to Bollywood or Hollywood where his creativity is more acknowledged and he also finds producers who can meet the big budgets his movies are demanding. But wherever he goes he is from Tamil nadu and we should be proud of him….

      

    Aascar Ravichandran is another person who continues to puzzle me. Is this person epitome of modesty? He says in an interview he neither made the tune nor wrote the script so why should he boast in front of media….Man in tinsel world where every dick and harry who do so little but give hundreds of media appearances to promote their films should definitely take a leaf from this man’s book. He brought Jackie chan and Arnold to Tamil Nadu for audio launches and hence put Kollywood on the International map. His argument is if a small film called ‘Conjuring’ can release in 169 countries why can’t a good product like ‘I’ release in multiple countries. I think he has a point and in order to spread new territories we need to bring in celebrities to endorse our products worldwide and he is making right moves. He is one other person who makes us feel proud that our Tamil cinema is truly becoming global phenomenon. 

It all boils down to Quality through efficient Operations!!!

     Off late I have been traveling quite a bit and so naturally tend to eat outside quite often. I believe seven months back when I first stepped into one of my favorite restaurants in Bay area I did not realize that I will visit more often to this place. The location is in a very prime area with lots of offices around and desi population in California is like counting number of sugar molecules in sugarcane, so they got all the basics right in the first place. The place wore a decent look and nothing extraordinary and the menu is very standard with pretty much the regular south indian items. I was thinking why the menu would be so simple. Now after my ‘n’ number of visits I can say it is neither the appearance nor the menu choices that drives a successful restaurant but is the quality trough efficient operations which brings customers.

    The way they operate is very good – Idly at 9.30 P.M comes very hot and fresh because they make sure they prepare that upon taking the order, with sambar they have one for Thalis and one of tiffin items. The sambar that comes with tiffin items are maintained in a separate temperature I believe since its served pretty hot. When it comes to mint chutney restaurants more often find ways to dilute stuff since it could be expensive by that way they can bring down costs but here they make sure the authenticity is maintained. Serving food after taking the order can win customer’s goodwill for quality but on the downside customers got to wait bit longer to taste the food. But eventually customers may wait bit longer to have a nice food versus settling with mediocre food in quick time.

    Also one of the mantras for restaurant business is to keep the menu options simple. I came to know about this after reading McDonalds book. This restaurant or many such south Indian restaurants in Bay area keep the menu extraordinarily simple and they do roaring business because their model is to focus on limited items, serve fresh food, focus on quality through efficient operations and win customers appreciation which gets translated into multiple visits. Way to go these South Indian restaurants!!!

How easy modern day Television influences people’s mind

    I am just getting tired of TV shows showing something just to gain attention of audience and to boost their TRP ratings. They package the program in such a way that even a layman’s emotion is kindled. What is more disturbing is that even those who are educated are blindly believing the TV show just because it is coming from a reputed TV personality. This is neither the first time this is happening nor the last time this is going to happen.

    I am talking about a leading private Tamil TV channel where one of the shows is very popular going from strength to strength every passing year. Administrators are on a constant lookout for new ways to mint money since everything is based on TRP ratings. More the viewership more the audience and more sponsorship for their respective shows. They want to spice up their shows by either bringing in celebrities or by bringing in some topics which may very well be controversial. They say facts without proper reference, they edit the footage based on how they wanted the show to appear on screen and more importantly they tap the emotional quotient of the general audience by having their camera focus on tears rolling from one’s eyes.

    Why do they want to generalize just because few people from a certain community demean their respective profession? Current world is a cut throat world where currency bills will take precedence to honesty. But the thumb rule remains the same – only hard earned money will stick and the rest will evaporate just like a vapor.

    For most of us brought up in India we tend to have a common weakness called as emotional weakness. We tend to believe certain things at the face value - example a shabbily dressed man asking for money. It could just be an act of cheating us but we tend to believe the person and basically we are deceived. My sincere request to the educated community is not to believe these shows just like that since the motto behind these sort of shows are TRP TRP TRP!!! Remember this person hanged his brains before Shah Rukh Khan and did a jalra in an awards function because he is so loyal to his employer. 

Social Media

    Well social media has been part and parcel of everyone’s life. Unless we go to a remote area where there is no signal we tend to use the gadgets all the time – whether we eat, drive, work or even at times during nature’s call J. Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp ..the list goes on and on ….something may keep supplanting through acquisitions and new innovations but the message is loud and clear that the whole world is a victim of social media.

    Well as always there are wonderful nice things – people use social media for brand marketing, politicians use social media heavily for their campaigns, Nonprofit organizations use to their benefit to reach a message across breadth and depth of their intended audience, religious organizations use this as a communication medium and almost all of us use this medium to socialize. The amount of time spent on a single calendar day varies on individuals but all of us spend quite a chunk of time – thanks to smart phones which makes it more accessible.

    Though this may sound cliché but social media kills family time ..it absolutely kills. People who are bit old luckily has passed this modern era of social media but the current generation especially the newly weds and teenagers have fallen a prey. The amount of quality time spent is derailed and it has also become a fashion quotient to be active in social media. I really feel envy to those who do not have smart phones. Anything that happens on the spur of the moment has to be shared and people don’t have the luxury of enjoying the joy of the moment since no one has the patience to withhold their emotions.

    As always the balancing act is the best way to deal this chaos. Trying to inoculate some discipline may be the ideal way to bring back good old days. This is easily said than done but with practice everything can be possible. I hope government brings some regulations and governance towards this whole social media thing since it’s a bug pretty much bugging everyone. But that being said end of the day it is YOU who is responsible for YOUR own way of living.