Anna (Sailesh) Engagement (Post 1 of 2)

Posting the snaps taken in the Engagement Cermony of my anna (Sailesh) that happened on November 20, 2005.

The snap below has the groom, bride and parents with the pundit for the rituals. There was a 15 min puja followed by the formal annoucement of the wedding date by the pundit. The 'reading' of the wedding date is a formal statement that includes the family history information of the bride and groom's parents and the annoucement of the 'star of the muhurtam time'


After exchanges of clothes by the parents for the groom & the bride, the exchange of the garlands and the rings....


and the throne ...


and the exchange of sweets .... (i can say, a reluctant anna - shy to give vodhina the sweet & even more shy to accept one !)


Some side snaps:

Look for the matchmaker on the 3 row exteme left side (Pandu Anna) and his wife - Savithri Vodhina (Exterme right, second row). Sailu Anna is seen standing, right behind amma. In the centre of the front row - Pedaamma (Pandu Anna's amma) and on the extreme right side, Vodhina's mother.


This is a special snap of Dad's family:
Front row (From L to R): Durga Atha (First of 6 children of my grand father., a.k.a - 1/6), Sushila Bama (My Grand Mother's younger sister), Prabavathi Athaiya (a.k.a Papai Atha - last of the siblings, 6/6), Amma (no intro required - the jewel), Aruna aamma (the eldest of the family's daughter-in-law), nagalakmi pinni (the third & last of the DILs).
Back Row: Santha Atha (4/6), Santosh Mavaya (Santha Atha's husband), Nanna (3/6 - cannot be better said), Gandhi Pedananna (2/6 - Eldest Son of the family), Banu Babai (5/6 - youngest son)
Thus you would notice all the siblings of my father in the picture. The only notable absentees - Gopal Mavayya (Durga Athaiya's husband), Chukkarao Mavayya (Papai Athaiya's husband)


Another Special Snap:

Durga Athaiya's family: The snap includes two of her three sons, their wives and children as well as the children of her first son (Mavaya, Prasad Anna - her first son, his wife are the only absentees in the snap). Note the 2 kids of the family at the back - Banu Babai's son: Satish (the last of the 'sons' of the Chatrathi Family) and Raghava (The youngest of my cousins)

There and back again (!) ... once more

Quite a few people complained about the lack of posts in the blog that just surprised me no end. Thus the blog will be active for sometime, till the laziness creeps in again.

Hey, the legions of cousins and friends need to promise me that they will start leaving comments for this blog to survive for a long time.

Controversy is the best topic to kickstart the blogs again and so here goes article 1,05,764 of 1,08,199 criticizing Darrell Hair - the headstrong umpire from Australia. If anything, he is apt to be titled "The J---" of contemporary cricket. Be it the Murali no-ball, Inzy's run-out ruling (for once Inzy was not at fault) and yesterday, the ball tampering incident.

I remember a lesson in my english lesson of school days, where a bus conductor implements a rule on not allowing dogs on buses, but breaks the spirit of the rule. The same is the case with Darrell Hair. I am not going to contest, his decision on ball-tampering, nor awarding runs to England. The main fault of Darrell Hair is that he acted no mature than the young lads (ok, Inzy at 36, is no young blood!) of Pakistan. Pakistan was unhappy of the ruling and decided to stay indoors and they got the right treatment from the crowd when they emerged (boo-ed strongly). Had Darrell Hair walked onto the ground, the crowd would have cheered for him, appreciated that he held the post of umpire with dignity. Instead, by refusing to have Pakistan back, he showed that he is strong-headed, old-school person with the maturity of a 10 year old. Forever, the blame of the forfeited test will be put on the shoulder of Darrell Hair, a truth that he will carry on his soul forever - as it would seem wise for ICC to lay guidelines to its members to avoid such drastic action in future.

What happened yesterday, was not part of a gentleman's game (far from it!)

For Summers, memory so fresh!

Faces lit with expectation, destiny call know but to a few
As the exams finished, books stashed away
One meeting held, celebration galore for the batch
Six summers ago, a memory so fresh!

Looks of celebration, masking the anxiety
The path ahead unclear, the preparations incomplete
Future so diverse, calls renewed where planning lacked
Five summers ago, a memory so fresh!

As we departed, renewal of vows to stay close
Like the promises made to ourselves, some kept most forgotten
Time raced, work and studies paced, life sped
Four Summers ago, a memory so fresh!

Leader he was called, leader he was one
Saidreams was the vehicle, staying close the mission
Chatters & spams, emails and teases abound
Three Summers ago, a memory so fresh

Life's Commitments started, engagement here, a quiet marraige there, babies birth
our batches' eternal couples joy shared, for others love came from ashore
soon the tickle became a flood, leaving very few untouched, the ultimate bachelor, its latest prize scalpe
Two summers ago, a memory so fresh!

For some, the grind is still a way, daily homework for scholars not put away
research was the buzz word, Ph.D - the summit to attain
work called a few, twelve hour routine none the few
One summer ago, a memory so fresh!

Look back ever so ever, memories are all that's left
for after four years of fun, a lifetime of memories is but a steal
a smile on the face, when a batchmates thought arises, the greatest reward
This summer, a memory so fresh!

Rewind .... notes from my Kodai trip (couple of years ago!)

Disclaimer: This is a long blog!

In the past, people have written about their adventure trips, those long treks, those amazingly brilliant moments, nature scape overwhelming you ., amn't I right?

this trip of mine is less of that & more of emotions & memories
this trip was me ... diving back into memory
this trip was me ... third generation of friends visiting kodai (School - 12th Std, College - 3rd Year, now ... with work & other friends)
this trip was me ... rediscovering the joy & purity of simplicity all over again
this trip was me ... ENJOYING THE PRESENT, RELISHING THE PAST & LOOKING FORWARD FOR THE FUTURE
at some point, I did think .... will I come here again? what will I be then, will I be married, will I have a child ? how different / easy is it to have all these wonderful memories coming back ... can I regain the same old enjoyment & happiness in small things ever (this in itself is a long topic, a diversion if I start !)

sticking to nothing but facts ... this journey was different .. not only because I went with a new group of friends, but also since we decided to travel the whole way by CAR ... a new fiat palio of a friend of mine ... it had clocked just 650 kms before the trip ., the same vehicle we used for the mahabalipuram trip

we started as usual .. behind schedule .. 2 hours away from plan & reached Tiruchy at 3:00 AM ... our "overnight" halt ... which had just then become "dawn" halt ... we were treated to some OLD ECONOMY guest house pleasures .... good a/c rooms, nice breakfast, great hospitality et al ...

Tiruchy to kodai was 170 kms - plain land & 70 kms in the hills ... totally covered in 2.5 hrs for the plains & another 2 hrs for the hills ... some good views ., tempered by the fact that the waterfall that existed last time had gone dry (this is where we had landed up for our morning break during the college & school trips) .... also I didn't puke this time ... something I could not avoid the last 2 times

after reaching kodai ... & after getting used to the place (if you go round the town center .. 2 times before realizing that you have made a wrong turn .. u would get a hang of the town), some lunch ., some amazing ice cream (WHAT !!! in kodai of all places ? that too when it was overcast & was threatening to rain anytime ???) ... we hit the guest house

the guest house looked exactly like the dream house of mine ... long hall, nice, cozy tucked away dinning place ... an elevated sitting & chatting place before the bedrooms ... the only thing that was missing was the fireplace !!!

our next step was the most conservative ... we went to the lake & enjoying paddling away for 30 mins .... I was having fun watching some other group of guys going behind the boat contain 6 ladies (yours faithfully knows where his loyalties are & had a bemused look watching these people trying to capture the attention of the ladies) ., the best thing being that the last 10 mins of the ride was that it was accompanied by a slight drizzle ... just enough for the rain drops to kiss your clothes before vanishing into thin air ... leaving behind a glossy look to your clothes !!!

the cycle ride was much more fun ... why ?? watching the youngsters race each other .... watching middle age people trying to go back in time by proving to their kids as to how well they can drive .... watching the old people trying to get away from the firing line of the cycles ... & I for some time was just overcome by something called the CYCLE OF LIFE ... I did a leisurely photoops filled first lap (5 kms around the lake for those who forgot !!) ., & a real fast (according to me !) second lap .... 5 kms in 18 mins is not too bad for someone who hasn't ridden a bike for sometime (I suppose !)

the closure of day was in sight (7 PM) when we went off to the town center ... & bought loads of 'home made chocoloates' ... (very costly stuff ., something I couldn't resist buying !!) ... we even went to a cottage industry shop ... & I mentally figured out the huge bill round the corner though my shopping didn't happen till the next afternoon

a good dinner followed by some amazing time with my friend discussing pros & cons of various issues .... so fierce was the way we struck to our stands that fevicol could use the fact that by the time it was 3:30 AM (we started at 10:30 PM) .... we hadn't moved an inch from our stance ... exhausted .. only physically .. I went to sleep ... dreaming about the places I would see the next day

we overslept ... & by the time we hit Upper Lake View .. it was 11:30 ... but not before a great breakfast at Woody's (nice place ... should have meals from there next time around) .... apart from relishing the view, I lightened my pocked to buy loads of flowers .. not forgetting a single family friend of mine ... else I am as good as doomed ....

instead of the normal route .. we took a circuitous route .... the road circling the hill once .... great natural scenes ... the one that would be etched in my memory is driving thru a road, with dense forest of both sides, & the cloud (misty) sailing across .. some 20 feet from the car !! some more snaps (in deep forest, on a rock & near the car), walk into dense pine forest later, we reached Pillar Rock

3rd time unlucky ... I have never seen the view from pillar rock & green valley view (suicide point) .... I was hoping better this time ... but nature had its "third laugh" ... may be I will be fourth time lucky ??

while coming to pillar rock we had passed a place that I visited earlier in the college days !!! my friends insisted that we go there ... I had to reluctantly go .. this was the place called DEVIL's KITCHEN .... & at the entrance has a tomb of a person who fell into the gorge in 1955 .... the route was fenced off ... something that wasn't so 3 years back .... as I stood there ... they all came back ... one after another ... all the memories of the trip to the cave below when we last went there .... the HoD falling & breaking her watch, the girls afraid to come initially but later relenting, thivi & bulli standing at the edge of the rocks (after that it was just emptiness as the hill drops a 1000 feet into a valley), the snaps that we had .... all of them above the sound of the ever increasing volume of the crickets !!!!

skipped lunch to do some shopping ... my pace of spending money (something that parents would notice was the lightness of my purse) ... was matched only mother nature in the form of a huge lightning & thunder ... a thunder that literally could be heard some 100 miles away (according to a scientific study, a thunder is normally heard over an area of 40 Sq kms)
the return journey was uneventful !!! .... reached Tiruchy guest house at 9:30 after starting at 5:00 PM ... 20 mins in the swimming pool & a good dinner later ... tucked into bed .... only to be force fully woken up at 3:45 PM ... reluctantly got ready to go back into the battle zone called Chennai ... slept most of the time during the ride back to Chennai (or till about 8 AM !!!)

what does it all leave at the end !! some more snaps, some more memories, a blog 2 years down the line and the inevitable question - can we do it again?

Back & Back Again

It has been a lifetime (according to Internet Standards) since my last blog (August 2005 to be precise). There has been quite a lot of action since then and i shall bring the blog to speed on all of that in the next few weeks.

First things first, our family welcomed a new entrant taking the size from four to five in February 2006. Sailesh (my elder brother) got married to Komaravolu Nagamallika Radha Manohar. The wedding happened on February 19, 2006 and i shall post some snaps on the same very soon.

More 'random thoughts' to follow!

Bowled over by Taj

1. Before entering the Taj, we made a trip by Humayun's tomb & Akbar's tomb. Both these would have been beautiful & splendid in their own rights.
2. Humayun's tomb, smaller of the lot is also the neglected of the lot.
3. Akbar's tomb is well encased in one of the best kept lawns that i have seen. The greenery was so pleasing to the eyes.
4. The light was off, when we entered Akbar's tomb; making it more impressive that earlier. Also, the sheer simplicity in the tomb chamber impresses.
5. The moulvi showcased the resonance of the chamber and it made me wonder; How impressive would it be, to sit there and get an opportunity to hear the recital of the holy books.

Taj Mahal:

1. The most impressive thing of Taj, is that it needs to be seen to believe. The marble structure is not what impresses, but there is something in the air that just does not allow the eyes to be removed off it.
2. For something designed to be as symmetrical by the great emperor, he himself is the only exception as well. With the Taj being built for Mumtaz, she was placed in the center. When Shah Jahan passed away, he had plans for a BLACK TAJ, an idea that was abandonded & Shah Jahan laid to rest on the side of Mumtaz, thus shattering the symmetry of Taj.
3. It is said that Taj of today is but the marble skeleton devoid of the gold & diamond that was encrusted in the structure. Made me wonder - if this structure was so beautiful; eyes would dazzle when we were to come in contact with the previous structure.
4. It is hard to miss the fact that the marbles in Taj are multi-hued. If the Taj was made a pure white marbles, the beauty would have been completely lost.
5. When the sun was coming down, Taj was just warming-up. The marbles seem to glow in the beauty of dusk & i have decided that i need to go back; to see the beauty of Taj in dawn & in Full moon night.
6. I have been to some natural & man made wonders in US. The way, these are packaged and marketed always aims to enhance customer satisfaction. On the other hand, in India - selling of Taj was so low that i was just stunned. The road from Delhi to Agra is passable

• The road from Agra into the city & the Taj was filled with cows, potholes and crazy traffic. Just missed the main ingredient called ROAD.
• Fleecing of guests is something that i touchbased sometime back. Agra was not as bad as Mamallapuram & that is only because the guests afraid of the man handling, decide to cough up a few hundred rupees to save their skin
• Lack of good infrastructure - restaurants, parks, family spots, boat rides, entertainment centers built around the theme of Taj. All it takes for the GoI is to invite some good multiplex owners from Delhi & Mumbai for good ideas.

My complaints with GoI remains, but with Taj - none will ever exist.

The Beauty of Taj!

I went to Taj for the first time that i can remember of. I shall let the beauty of Taj to be seen & leave my random thoughts for the next blog!

Onto the stunning beauty of Taj Mahal -

The 2 Hs - Harry & HAHK

First things first, the sports of the weekend - Ind lose to SL & wins against WI. Nothing surprisingly, except that the batsmen sans Dravid & bowlers are having a great time. I like it that way (bowlers in full flow at season start), a formula that always ends up with India having a great season - remember 1985-86, 2002-03, 2003-04. Kimi won over MS & i like that as well. ESPY awards was telecast (at last!) & it was the kind of ceremony that India needs to kickstart to promote sports.

Also, I watched a debate on CRICKET being of NATIONAL IMPORTANCE & hence private broadcasters should share the feed with DOORDARSHAN. Just the statement written down sounds silly, that a Group of Ministers (GoMs) has been constituted, making me believe that this government is seriously believe that they have misplaced priorities.

On to Harry Potter VI - though being a HP fan, i was not one of those who rushed to the stores: Reason is this - From the first one to the HP V, i have always read it from a borrowed book & that has somehow become a practice with HP. Not that i don't own one, it just happens that i own the entire set & i shall get VI now. As i went through the book, i reminded me of the famous Indian Movie of the 90s - Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (What am I to you). I avoided the movie for a long time because i couldn't stand to see Madhuri Dixit's elder sister Renuka Sawhaney being killed. The same reason why i, after I read a few reviews and knew of the impeding death in HP VI, i wanted to avoid it.

During the heydays of HAHK, i was finally forced to relent & remember making it to a nearby movie theater with my classmates from school & boy, did I enjoy the movie! Throughout the first 30 mins, i was kind of reflecting on the character whose fatality is but sealed & a good reels into the movie, i finally realised that enjoyment lies in davouring the present than to brood of the future. Same was the case with HP; while the first 50 pages of the book was read with regret of the climax, i soon realised that the feeling needed to be shed for me to enjoy the book.

In HP VI, i think i was glad that the humour of JKR is back; something that Order of Phoenix missed. Also, the way the plot thickens, makes me believe that the path she is on, was set way back and she is not trying to improvise to suit the current needs. Terribly funny Chapter I, well thought out plot of You-Know-How , neatly plotted Snape's negativity, maturity of Harry & the increasing wall of seperation between HP & his friends (was surprised that there was little of Neville in this story!).

But the highlight of the book was the vulnerability shown by Albus Dumbuldore. In life, over the last few years - i can associate this character to a few, i know in my professional & personal life & as time passed, the aura of invincability surrounding these people has plainly vanished shown some interesting personalities, a truth that would have been unimaginable earlier. That's a singular good enough reason why i will still go with the brilliance of JKR & HP.

Random Thought: Music maketh Movie!

4 Movies, 2 langauges - 2 classics, 2 contemporary, 3 telugu, 1 English (with a few telugu dialogues a la Hyderabad Blues). While Sankarabharanam & Morning Raga had a running music theme, Anand & Gitanjali relies heavily on music to complement the storyline.

Sankarabharanam has stood the test of time & delivered a resounding board to the movement of promoting telugu classic music, not only in the Disco era (late 70's/early 80's) but also across times of rap, remixes and pop music. A scene in the movie illustrates its stand on telugu & western music. Somayajulla (The telugu singer) is disturbed during sleep by the cacophony called music by the yuppie crowd next door. The yuppies challenge him to repeat their tune & while the classical singer easily surmountes their challenge, they can't repeat a raga he challenges them to. Instead of taking the moral high ground, he educates them that no music is inferior to another; there is beauty in each of them & that's what makes the differnce.

A wane set in the mid-70s & early 80s taking the crowds from classical music towards disco culture & the way the southern region movies attacked it, produced some of the best movies compared to intellectual duds from Bollywood during the time. Swati Mutyam (Pearl produced from 'Swati Karthe' rain), Sagara Sangamam (Oceans Meet), Srutilayalu amongst others from the stable of K Viswanath stroked the interest in Telugu Movies. The wheels of time now turn the other way around & it looks more inwards, towards Indian culture for inspiration than outwards. Morning Raga is a documentation of the same Gen X trend towards classical music (more so, as a disgust from remix that anything else!); It also shows that fusion music is very much possible & will go well with music lovers.

Anand is that fresh whiff of air that Telugu moviemakers have got from the stale megastar, adrenalin pumping, macho action & pseudo regionalist patriotism. The dialogues are very realistic & the accent reflects the trend of the time rather than following 'filmi style'. It is apt to say that not only the dialogues but also the whole movie (except the climax) had a good narration on how an independent girl comes to accept the proposal of a rich guy. Gitananjali is the only Telugu movie made by Mani Ratnam (all others are dubbed from Tamil) and despite the weak plot, stands amongst the best narrated romance stories (2 terminally ill patients - one with cancer & another with heart disorder fall in love & rest, as they say is history!). The only thing that differentiate Anand from a Gen X movie to greatness is that the songs don't gel well with the story & therein lies the difference between a 'Anand' and 'Gitanjali'.

As much as i enjoyed these movies, i felt that musicals in movies are something of an ancient past & unless you have an innovative music director & a great director/narrator, the movies will be hard to digest for the audience.

Weddings!

I have the good fortune of a wide range of friends & having made a promise to myself that attending the weddings of the close ones, i have had such a great experience in these weddings. There have been multiple posts on friend's wedding snaps on my blog & the experience in each of the weddings is a thing to rejoice.

• Muslim wedding are quite short & apart from the weight of yellow, on the bride's neck - it could pass off as a gathering of family & friends. In fact, there was this gentleman in our friend's wedding who lamented the loss of the good old days - when he got married in the morning, took his wife home in the afternoon & she started cooking that night.
• Malayalam weddings, follow the same timelines as that of a muslim wedding. Be late, of say 10 mins & you would have missed the entire cermony. Ask me, i did miss a
  colleague's wedding like that.
• Tamil (Non Brahmin) weddings are one of my favourite for their show of togetherness & family bondings. There are endless circles of middle aged women, chatting & gesticulating loudly & the raw emotion on display, is what is quite interesting. Of late, this has been supplanted by loud & garrulous music bands playing endless amount of latest film songs.
• Tamil Brahmin weddings are the longest & is marked by a pomp & class - that mortals like us, are more likely overwhelmed by the sophistication that anything else. Moreso, these weddings start a little before, the Sun wakes up & by mid morning - all traditions are done with & all mamas & mamis retired before noon.
• Telugu Non Brahmin weddings, typically Khamma weddings are the other of my
  favourites. All topics of the wedding are typically commercial in nature. What did the bride wear & how much does it cost? What was the dowry? How many cars did the groom get? Is that a diamond necklace or it is an imitation? Uff., the list is about endless.
• Telugu Brahmin - Do I have any option? Make your own judgement. They are as complex as the Tamil Brah community & you get 2 options - morning (in comparison to early morning!) or late night! Apart from it - all ceremonies are dedicated to mostly the elders and the bride & groom are more likely a sideshow that anything else.
• Aryan Samaj Wedding - Mridumesh's wedding was of this type & the wedding ceremony will be remembered for 2 things. The simple nature of the ceremony & the way the Panditji engaged all of us with wit & humor to teach the various ceremonies and their importance. It was short, cute & educative.
• Marwadi Wedding - Aditya's wedding was anything but simple. From the pre-wedding
  rituals to the wedding itself, it was all about making the right statements. The wedding itself is clearly divided distinctly into 3 or 4 parts intersperced with a lot of gap to recuperate. The highlight i would say, is the Baraat - a 1.5 hour statement of intent of enjoyment with everyone either showing off their dancing skills or making a naked attempt to look good when dancing (like me!, who can't dance for his live's worth)

Weddings are beautiful in terms that it brings 2 people & their families in their best manners to learn about each other & that is why, each one is special! The more i think about it, the more clearer it is to me - wedding celebrations typify the culture and the amount of enjoyment that people seek from these events.

Aditya's Wedding

The Wedding day was unusually slow till mid afternoon/early evening. Sarin did not show
up but Shalabh did, with 2 of his batchmates from IIM-B & boy, did we have a good time
together. Now, my belief in the theory, that all MBAs hit together and exchange war
stories, is complete.

Even today was as sultry as yesterday. If Aditya's wedding extended over 15 days & in this weather - i would have lost atleast a few good inches off my waist. I strongly believe that the sweat glands are going to demand a extended vacation from all the efforts of the last 2 days.

The Bridegroom's dress deserves a special mention. It was designed by his sister - Megha, who recently completed her NIFT bachelor's degree. Mark my word, if the bridegroom's dress is any indication, she has the potential to go quite a distance in her profession. The embroidery was complex & stood out of the grey sharwani material. With the embedded stones responding to light in the most positive fashion, the Sherwani made a great statement.

The baraat started at about 1930 about a good kilometer away from the wedding location & there was much hesitation from the party to move fast. They wanted to make the most of the baraat, as this was the first wedding in 15 years in the family (a snippet from the horse-ridden bridegroom).

As we progressed, i could not help notice the amount of road space that we took & there were very few vehichle owners who were upset with this fact. Maybe, they were enjoying the baraat, or being polite to the ritual - there was very little honking from the traffic.

As the party winded into the hotel, i noticed that there was 2 'Aditya' weddings in the hotel. A good amount of navigation was requried to get the party into the right slot. Soon, there was the second baraat - but believe me, their's was no comparsion to ours. There was less music, lesser dance, no stunning fireworks and they moved too quickly.

After the groom happily relinquished his horse & made way to the mandap, quite a few of them - hit the refreshment stalls & returned in time when the bride arrived at the mandap. A few minutes later & half a dozen attempts to garland Aditya (held high by his cousin as well pushing himself to the limit for some time!), the groom was conquered. A frank remark here Adi, the bride is as tall as you are - i guess she could have garlanded you without much effort, but she was being nice to you.
When Shalabh & i compared our snaps - we found that his coverage was wider but his snaps took a little toll from the videographer's light source. Now, rejuvinated from their attack on the refreshment stalls, the elders came up to congratulate the new couples & take snaps with them - recording their presence in the wedding, while the younger lot hit the dance floors.

An hour later, all of us (save the bride, groom & a few others) hit the dinner room downstairs.At about 0100, Sunday morning - Adi, Reshmi & their close ones retired to the dinner room, a small stop before the completion of the wedding vows. While i wanted to join them for the cermony - the train back to Chennai would not wait. This was quite an eventful wedding & my enjoyment in this lasted the whole time.

A special note here of Aditya's parents - Uncleji when he came to greet me on Friday Morning told me that i was now a family member and being a good friend of Aditya, gave me this special status. Till the end, i - Kalyan, was called 'Aditya Bhiayya ke dost' and the treatment was on par with what was accorded to Aditya. I guess, i am hunbled by this gesture and can but thank them for this honor. It was a pleasure knowing all those cousins and his relatives.

Evening Show

I have never been to a Marwadi/ North Indian wedding and it was quite nervous in the beginning - moreso to avoid mistakes than to enjoy the show. But as things settled, the show (Engagement & the Dance Night!) was quite enjoyable. A few action worth note -

1. The biggest 'enthu' with most numbers is the immediate relatives of the groom. Hey, they control the program and it shows! There was however this girl from the bride's side who was just magnificient when she danced for about 5 of the latest tunes.

2. The sweetest thing on display is the elder grandmom, filled with pride as well as leaded legs, grimace any pain & walk upto the stage to 'nakar uthar' the good performance. It shows that age & seniority does not come in the way of enjoyment.

3. The second best thing of the evening was the 'Welcome Dance' by Auntyji to her Bahu. It was such a delight to see the mother-in-law take the stage & efforts to show the Bahu, the love & affection that she has on display.

4. The best thing of the evening is usually reserved for the father of the bride. His dance is always much watched & enjoyed by all sides. Remember, the song "Doli Sajake Rakna" in DDLJ & everyone has a smile when Amrish Puri breaks into a dance-song jig towards the end. Something of the same scale happened yesterday when the bride's father took to the stage to do a complete number as a show of his happiness towards daughter & Son-in-law.

5. A few notes here; When a dance is performed by the bride & groom - it turns into a Must Watch & 'Nakun Uthar' for almost all elders; When the tiny tots - 3 feet in length; take to entertaining Bhaiyya & Bhabhi - it alwats is cute; the final section of 'free for all' is for non-shakers like me. Just get lost in the crowd & fling your hands & legs & you can pretend to be a good dance.

6. I recently had a email on why the Balajis, Venkatarams & the Ponnuswamys of the
world are unglamorous compared to the Kumars, Saxenas & the Agarwals. There is a geniune reason - there is no occasion in the family to shake the legs down south compared to the North & that steals the thunder when trying to make an impression. That seem to be my last word on the Balaji/Saxena mail that quite a few of my North Indian friends seem to have the pleasure in forward-ing to me these days.

Aditya's Engagement (Party)

Reethi (Traditions) & Reewaj (Rituals) are the buzzwords that keeps blowing out to me in the last 2 days. I am here at Aditya's wedding & today's culminated the end of activities of Day 1 - Engagement & 'Sangeeth'.

When i arrived here, in Gwalior - i was escaping the heat of Chennai & landed right in between 2 spells of monsoon in here. The good news is that it is not raining, the other (not so good!) news (more felt than the previous one!) is that it is so sultry that 4287 nanosecond away from a fan/cooler/AC and the sweat glands are on overdrive. So sultry that, a bath is followed by another - with perspiration.

The hotel of stay as well as Aditya's house has a great view of the Gwalior fort & it is pretty majestic. With a few gurudwaras and temples, the fort looked to have a self sustaining look. While i don't have time & more importantly energy to visit it - from this far, the sight of the fort seems to provide a soothing feeling to me. I wonder how it felt 200-300 years back. Invincible, is the closest that i can describe.


While doing rounds & checking on relatives with Aditya, i was a little puzzled to hear topics of discussion with Aditya on empty slots, dance practices, chances of sneaking into a dance etc. I was quite foxed by it - when 50% of time spent on discussion was on this topic. Innumerable explanations from Aditya & they were of no satisfaction. Come evening & when i saw the passion with which people tried overcoming any dance shortcomings to entertain all - it finally went to this small brain. Weddings at our end revolve around rituals & prayers with participation from one & all (only married folks, unmarried people are totally un-welcome). The Sangeeth show yesterday showed me that this is their way of introducing the bride & groom to the family members - it is very entertaining, full of energy & everyone is welcome (to dance).

Made me realise a few other things: I understood why rich folks up north spent a fortune trying to bring anyone from superstars to starlets into the wedding and make them perform on Sangeeth. The rationale still belies me.

'Sport' Weekend

What a weekend of Sports, it turned out to be? If i was into betting, i would have lost everything including the $138 billion of the GoI forex reserves. It didn't seem too bad to start with, I went up to the British Council Library and forked some good greenbacks for a membership and spent the next 1 hour, a little disappointed with the book collection. As I checked the library, i noticed that most of the good books were out for a long stroll.

Saturday evening & i tuned in to watch the Ban Vs Aus match. I joined late & watched the Bangla reply begin & was quite surprised to see Aussies score only 249. I was stunned & thought it was a good batting pitch & when i tuned in, a batsman lost temper and Bangla were reduced to 49/2. I thought, there go the minnows and when i returned after a 'healthy' after dinner snack (subject of another blog), there was a match on hand (70+ required of 60+). I enjoyed the chase & it was incredible to see the Aussies lose. The same was the way, they lost 3 quickies in the England Australia match. One minute, it was a good song & Aussie were 57/0 and when the song ended (Shaun's Tanha Dil), it was 58/3 and it was soon followed by a blinder from Collingwood. That sealed the fate of the Aussies and did not tune in for the rest of the match

I was focused on the US F1 GrandPrix and it numbed me that there were only 6 cars that came on the track. Shame on the F1 management! My notes on the US Grand Prix Fiasco-

• Culprit 1: Michelin Tyres - Your business, as contracted is to build tyres, not reengg circuits. I mean, how can you not bring in reliable tyres for the GrandPrix & you certainly have no right to speak on what others contributed to the confusion
• Culprit 2: F1 Owners - How can you suggest that a chichane be added in the 11th hour. Anyways, what is the logic on veto voting. I guess, a 7/10 is sufficient to implement any decision taken
• Culprit 3: Bernie & Max - Please come down from the ivory towers & mingle with the fee paying crowd. If you knew about the tyres earlier in the weekend, it was your responsibility to fix the issue and not blame everyone but you.
• Culprit 4: Jordan - Proved that a few points in the bag are more important than agreement with others. Suits fine with me. But consider this, if you did not take to the race, Minardi would not have & that would have left Ferrari all alone on the track. Wouldn't that force Ferrari's hands?
• Culprit 5: Ferrari - While i do understand Ferrari's stance. It is like everyone in class asking the one student who is prepared, to agree to alter the format of the exam because they were not well prepared. However, Ferrari have won no friends and lost any, with their attitude. Please remember, there is something called following the spirit of the rule

If i was there, i would have given the choice of changing the tyres during the race (suspend the rule of the year) as well as impose a 4 places/ change drop in the qualifying of next race. That would mean that Bridgestone tyres can go around without change in tyres while Michelin fellows would change tyres (lose time in the current race as well as lose place in next race)

Another thing, while the crowd were justified in feeling bad, it still gives them no excuse to throw objects on the field. What if the tyre burst on impact and caused harm to the driver. Remember the Concorde accident was caused by debris on the runway puncturing a tyre. A punctured tyre has a potential to lead to catastrophic results on a race circuit.

A few thoughts on the race & such:

• What was MS doing, putting RB on the grass. It was downright bad & could have led to a retirement if RB did not yield. Some good luck used MS & you don't pull tricks like these on teammates
• As per my last blog, F1 Gods are out to see a 8th title from Schumi. Why else the Michelin fiasco happened?
• Ferrari are the only winners of the US grand prix and it would be such a disaster for other teams, if Ferrari go on to win the constructor's championship. If Ferrari can do in such a bad year, nightmare of 2004 domination will resurface again in forthcoming seasons.
• Any titles to MS, Ferrari in this season & the focus would be on the points gained in US GP. That will not add to the glamour of the game
• The big losers are Alonso & Kimi. MS has caught up with you folks & he looms larger than where he was 2 races ago
• This championship is turning out to be the best since i started following the game in 1997.

With F1 turning to farce, Cricket pummeled by Aussie bad performance, i was looking to football for some action & lo, behold - Mexico defeated Brazil

What a sporting weekend!

Buttoned Up

Michael Schumacher had the Canadian F1 'Buttoned Up' for him - literally and figuraratively. The F1 gods (not all the gods; A nice article on why Gods don't influence Games - It is a long article and you need to go deep to find the above mentioned topic) wanted to reward Michael - for what? My guess, for being a nice kid who did not crib when his luck was down.

From the beginning of the race; Fischicella & Alonso jumped MS & Button and Montayo & Kimi saw this opportunity and slung past these cars. For 30 laps, status quo and the F1 gods grimaced and thought that some action needs to taken. Nope, the thunder and lightning bolt would have been used if MS was 20th and last. For this occasion, this was what happened:

• There was the retirement of Fischicella with a failed what, I don't know and at the momemt, apart from my apologies - it could be the engine fell down!
• Alonso is Alonso, not Karthikeyan. How could you hit the wall of all things? That's reserved for a rookie, not the future F1 champ
• Button. Same dialogue for you, but you could be excused for coming under the pressure of MS as well as helping MS come 2nd & Barrichelo 3rd. They should send a crate of champagne to your camp!
• Why are you such a hothead, Montayo. It is a Level 1 F1 trivia that you cannot overtake under a safety car. Yeah, Yeah - I know that you were black flag-ed for using the pit lane on the red light, but you would anyway had been a non-factor for MS as there was a drive thru if not for the black flag

And lo & behold - MS was moved from 6th to 2nd in no time! A place, he was forced to keep by Kimi.While I know that MS did not win (the race ended about 3 mins ago!), but when he was 6th and was about 35 secs, any MS fan would have settled for 2nd to him & 3rd to Reuben. I would not have rejoiced a MS victory had he overtaken Kimi; He was so off the pace, he really did not deserve such a high bump!I am more interested in what he says in the post race conference - for the F1 gods will also listen in interest as they need to judge if he deserves more than what they did to him

While i devoted all time to MS, what about Reuben - He brimmed the tank at the beginning of the race and was lucky that the Button incident happened when he was on a pit stop! That can either be called fate, providence or for the harshest critic - some plain vanilla good-ol' luck!
As an after thought, the race win of Kimi was also decided up there by the F1 gods, for he was not sulking after the last race.

I do know that there are no such things like F1 gods (or are there any?), but for a change, it seemed that the world was rooting for the bad luck guys of the season - MS, Reuben, Kimi. It is the chance of Fischella, Montaya in the next few races.

PS: Wanted to note - the near disaster of the last race. Nope, i am not refering to the tyre & front end loss of Kimi, but the inches miss that Button had from the out of control Kimi hitting him. I wonder, what Button was doing at that particular momemt. If he was watching his mirrors - that would have been a heart stopping sight! The race leader, losing a car and aiming to hit you around the mid-rib. Button, some good luck used!

Bees & Counts

I am sure that there are quite a few people that have heard of the US National Spelling Bee & there are quite a few Indians in that competition. It even has seen its share of American Indian winners in the last few years.
The one that i heard for the first time today was the Mathcount 2005 competition that was conducted in Detroit, WA. I was looking for the F1 Canadian Grand Prix to start when i saw the telecast in ESPN. I logged in late, saw only from the quaterfinals. There was not one American Indian but there was 3 Asian semifinalist and the finals was an all-Asian lineage. This is one competition that the American Indians need to now focus on & provide a higher level of competition.
Also, the format was a written test followed by only 4 one on one competitions to win the championship. I like the format of the Spelling Bee with a time limit that keeps decreasing after every 5 rounds. That would look good on television - a trait that is very important in the United States.
PS: This is one of the questions: A ball bounces 75% of the original height at every bounce. When dropped from 160 ft, what is the height at the end of 3rd bounce. I got this one in 1.2secs about a 0.5 secs after the contestant hit the bell. He was a seventh grader, & boy - was he good!
PPS: Just as i completed the blog, there was a winner - Neal Wu.

Of Mani, Anjali & Amruta!

First things first, I am gonna stop the backdating of blogs as the laziness in me is better & thus it is not that there is a rule to have a blog a day. The last blog day was not a week back, however with the backdating it longs longer than that.

Enough of the rumbling & on to something back to a thought that struck me when i was watching the movie Amruta (a dubbing of the Tamizh movie: Kannathil Muthamithal - She Kissed me on the Cheek). Directed by my favorite director, Mani Ratnam - it's been a long time and a long way from his previous movie with a kid being the center of attention. Anjali (1990) was a phenomenal movie about a disabled kid and how the siblings & the society around has reservations initially, before accepting her and giving her a few warm last days. KM (2003) is about Amrutha adopted by her parents from a Srilankan Tamil militant & the three of them search for the real parents taking them to the battlezone Srilankan Land.

While there is no doubt, of the current generation - Nandita Das (Natural Mother) is the most awesome actress on the subcontinent, Simran (Adopted Mother) matched the intensity of Nandita. Simran hailing from Punjab made hereself a name as a leading glamour actress in the southern land and to see that she could match Nandita speaks a volume about her abiliities and the shortcomings of the regional directors who are pleased as long as simran makes a few dances, a few tears and be a faithful sidekick to the super hero. Surprising that the directions of these 2 ladies are at the opposite end of the career spectrum right now, with Nandita on the high after being on the Cannes 2005 jury and Simran out to have a baby. I can't wait to see Simran come back to do some meanigful roles but not the 'run of the mill' & 'running around trees' roles.

Remember the blog on Helen and how she for a few moments bought the old charm of her 60's dance. When i was watching Amrutha, it occured, in my eyes Mani isn't the same as old. Gone was the equality that he showed to all the kids in 'Anjali' and replacing it was the spotlight on just the kid starin 'KM'. While in all the songs and the sequence in Anjali, the star kids were one of the neighbourhood and the focus was on the overall activities of the group, Amrutha was the ceaseless effort to provide focus to just one kid and all others were to only add more attention to the central character. Something that doesn't happen in real life.

Inspite of this drawback, KM was one of the good movies of the year & Mani Ratnam's position as the premier director of the Tamizh filmdom remains as strong as before.

PS: While i was unable to recall the song in Mohabattein a couple of weeks back, i saw the movie on Sony and promptly recalled the song - the climax of which has us travel in time to see Helen dance. It goes like Aankhen Khuli Ho Ya HoBand (The eyes may be open or shut ...)

Doze Off!

Chachu & kids left today for Tenali and once i dropped them off in the Station, attacked a few dosas, finished a Sherlock Holmes series, i decided to rest a bit. Just that, 'a bit' lasted a heavenly 18 hours. From 1030 on Sunday till about 0500 on Monday, it was slumber that occupied 'my inert attention'

It was quite refreshing and it has been quite a while since i have done it. The most memorable 20+ sleep session was way back during School when Parthu anna was visiting. If i am not too wrong, it lasted between 0900 on the first day and 0600 on the subsequent day during school break!

It also felt nice to hear the chirping of the birds as you wake up (not that they don't do it daily, but i am not out of bed till the Sun cranks up the heating system!)

Dakshin Chitra Revisited

Took mom's sister to the place that constantly keeps growing on me - Dakshin Chitra. I felt it was quite important for the 'Citizens of tomorrow' - the kids to know and appreciate the culture of India. That way, when they come into contact with people from different cultures, they would be able to appreciate & learn from them

First things first, ECR is cool. But i still think that the NH5 i saw in AP as part of the Golden Quadrilateral or even the NH45 (Chennai to Tiruchy/Madurai) is a better road to drive safely. Primarily because there is little civilization that gets tempted to jum in front of your car. I know that ECR lovers would point that i hadn't ventured far into ECR but my feedback is based on what i have seen till Mahabalipuram

Once we hit Dakshin Chitra, it was hectic sightseeing, photograph sessions, shopping for my cousins and by the time we were ready to leave in the evening - purses were lighter, car heavier, spirits wilder. I would definetely recommend that all visit this place as i wonder how many kids these days get to see their native village and learn and appreciate the kind of art forms in Rural India. The only disappointment for me, was the Glass Artist who had an impressive collection was absent and i was looking forward to making some purchases there

I guess i have to wait till the next time!

Travel Notes!

I enjoy travelling and be it in a bullock cart (admit, that was a few years ago), harassing the road traffic with my driving skills, taking dad's bike for a spin or the long & 20 hour conversation with my soul called, aircraft travel; i have always enjoyed it. Maybe that comes from Amma, who would plan for a good 6 week trip during my childhood days to her sister's places and the endless prep for travel is something that i look forward always. A disclaimer though is that unlike Amma, i dont plan for travel till the final seconds of the 11th hour. There is fun in there too!

The Boston to Franfurt flight was crowded beyond my comfort zone (that means, every single seat was taken & my strategy of asking for the last seat didn't work good. Apart from having someone in there, you lose the pocket size recline that the coach class offers you) and when i walked to the gate in Franfurt, my spirit soared when there were too few people from the Boston flight. I was counting of a repeat from my March travel, when the plane was nearly empty. I was so wrong, by 0900 - there was a huge crowd and the only good thing was that there were only 2 of us, across 3 seats and that gave an opportunity to unload some stuff in the vacant seat

Talking of travel, a few examples of the lack of aircraft etiquettes/consideration for others displayed by a few countrymen

• There was this young guy, about my age sitting behind me who used his knees to prevent me from reclining. What's more, it was quite intentional as the more force, i used to try and push back, the more resistance it would meet up with. More so, when i turned a couple of times to have a word with him - very disgustingly! he would pretend to sleep and that forced me to stay upright the entire journey. I have definetely heard this happening with a couple of more people with the culprit usually being my countrymen!
• Getting drunk & high in a party is something that i don't feel right & if someone does that in the flight, it get much worse. Also, the requests for more alcohol was accompanied by request for more food, in a tone that was anything but a request.
• Even a request to the cabin crew, was not accompanied by a thanks or a cordial smile. I wonder how many of the cabin attendants like coming over to India
• As remarked earlier, the rush to de-plane is baffling. There is atleast a 10 min queue at immigration and another 15 min wait for baggage and hence cannot understand standing over someone, typically couple with kids or elder couples, and rushing to get out. Please, engagement with the President/PM if any, can also wait for a couple of minutes
• Baggage; while i am guilty of it first time, i have made a consious decision during the last 3 trips. Just because you are allowed one hand luggage and a lapto doesn't mean you can have a small suitcase, a laptop, a video camera, a leather jerkin, a couple of bags from shpping on the flight/intermediate stops. There is only so much space in the passenger area for hand luggage!

It might take Indians sometime to get used to relaxed travelling on aircrafts, and till then they would continue to be quite a burden on their fellow travellers in dealing with queer habits