Thursday, 30 September 2010
Portal of knowledge
Imparting priceless high skills
To share and prosper
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
சென்னை மைலாப்பூரில் பாகீரதி மாமியை தெரியாதவர்கள் இல்லை என்றே சொல்லலாம். அறுபத்தி ஐந்து வயதானாலும் சற்றும் பொலிவு குறையாத தோற்றமும், அந்த நாள் எம் ஏ ஆங்கில இலக்கியம் படித்த புதுமைப் பெண் என்ற பெருமையும் சேர்ந்த ஒருவர். அவருடைய பேரன் கணேஷுக்கு பாஸ்டனில் பெரிய உத்தியோகம் கை நிறைய சம்பளம். கணேஷின் பெற்றோர் பிள்ளையின் திருமணத்தை நடத்த வேண்டும் என்ற ஆவலில் கணேஷுக்கு கடிதம் எழுதி சென்னை வரும்படி அழைத்தனர். தாய் தந்தையரை விட பாட்டியின் செல்லமான கணேஷ் உடனே பாகீரதி பாட்டிக்கு தான் அமெரிக்காவில் ஒரு பெண்ணை விரும்புவதாகவும், அவள் அமெரிக்க பெண் என்றாலும் மிகவும் அடக்கமான குணமும் நம் நாட்டு கலாசாரத்தை விரும்பும் பெண் என்றும் எழுதி இருந்தான். கணேசனின் தந்தை சங்கரன் கடிதத்தை படித்து விட்டு பாகீரதியிடம் "பார்த்தாயா உன்னுடைய செல்ல பேரனின் காரியத்தை. இப்போ என்ன செய்யறது" என்று கோபமாக சொன்னான். சற்றும் கலங்காமல் பாகீரதி மாமி " சங்கரா, என் பேரனை எனக்கு தான் தெரியும். அவன் ஒரு காரியம் செய்தால் நன்றாக யோசித்துதான் செய்வான். சும்மா குதிக்காதே." என்றாள்.
பாகி மாமியின் காலேஜில் கூடப்படித்த ராபர்ட் என்பவர் இப்போது பாஸ்டனில் பெரிய தொழிலதிபராக இருந்தார். பாகி மாமி அவருக்கு உடனே ஒரு கடிதம் எழுதி, கணேஷின் அமெரிக்க பெண்ணை பற்றி விசாரித்து எழுதும்படி கூறினார். "Robert, my grandson is very smart and intelligent guy. He is my favourite too. He would not have chosen her unless she was really good, so I want you to do your research as confidentially as possible lest you hurt his feelings!" என்று கடைசியில் எழுதி மெயில் செய்தார். ராபர்ட் பாகி மாமியின் பரம விசிறியாக இருந்தவர். மாமியின் ஆங்கில புலமையில் பெரிதும் மதிப்பு கொண்டவர். இத்தனை வருடங்களுக்கு பின்னர் மாமியின் மெயில் கண்டு மிகவும் மகிழ்ந்த ராபர்ட் விவரங்களை சேகரிக்கலானார். கணேஷின் ஆபீசிலேயே அவனுடைய மேல் அதிகாரியாக அந்த பெண் வேலை பார்பதையும், டில்லியில் ஐ ஐ டி யில் படித்ததால் ஹிந்தியும் பேச தெரியும் என்றும் தமிழ் நாடு கோவில்களை பற்றி ஆராய்ச்சி செய்து கட்டுரை எழுதியவள் என்றும் அறிந்தார். மிக மகிழ்ச்சியுடன், பாகி மாமியை பல வருடங்களுக்கு பின்னர் பார்க்கும் ஆவலில் ஒரு சிறு ஐடியா செய்தார். மாமியின் ஆங்கில புலமையை நன்கு அறிந்தவராததால், பாஸ்டனில் உள்ள லோகல் யுனிவர்சிடியில் திராவிட மொழிகள் சம்மேளனத்தில் விரிவுரை ஆற்ற ஏற்பாடு செய்து விட்டார். தொலை பேசியில் மாமியுடன் தொடர்பு கொண்டு, முக்யமான விஷயம் சொல்லவேண்டுவதால் நேரிலேயே வருமாறும், பயண செலவிற்கு சம்மேளன கமிட்டி ஏற்பாடு செய்வதாகவும் சொன்னவுடன் மாமிக்கு தலை கால் புரியவில்லை. "அம்மா இது ஒரு நல்ல வாய்ப்பு , நீ நேரிலேயே போய் உன் பேரனை பார்த்து விவரம் அறிந்துகொள்ள அருமையான சந்தர்ப்பம், உடனே கிளம்பு." என்றான் சங்கரன்.
பாஸ்டன் ஏர்போர்டில் பாட்டியை வரவேற்க கணேஷும் ராபர்ட்டும் வந்திருந்தனர். பாட்டியின் இந்த திடீர் வருகையை சிறிதும் எதிர் பார்க்காத கணேஷ் மிகவும் மகிழ்ந்தான். அன்று மாலை யுனிவர்சிடியில் ஒரு நல்ல லெக்சர் இருப்பதால் பாகி மாமியை அதற்க்கு அழைத்து சென்றார் ராபர்ட், "Gods of India" என்ற தலைப்பில் பேசிய ஒரு அமெரிக்க பெண் எல்லோரையும் மெய் மறக்க செய்து இந்திய பண்பாட்டையும் கலாச்சாரத்தையும் பற்றி அவ்வளவு அழகாக விவரம் கூறியது பாட்டியை மிகவும் கவர்ந்தது. ராபர்ட் நான் இந்த பெண்ணை சந்திக்க விரும்புகிறேன் என்று பாட்டி சொன்னதும், புன்முறுவல் பூத்தவாறே, நான் எதிர்பார்த்தேன் என்று சொன்ன ராபர்டை ஒன்றும் புரியாமல் நோக்கினாள் பாகி மாமி. அந்த பெண்ணை அருகில் கண்ட பாகி மாமிக்கு அவளின் அழகும், நளினமும், அடக்கமும் மிகவும் பிடித்துவிட்டது. ஆவலுடன் கை குலுக்கிய மாமி , "My Dear, Whoever marries you is the luckiest guy on earth! You are a rare combination of exceptional beauty and a brilliant mind. God Bless you" என்று வாழ்த்தினாள். அருகில் இருந்த ராபர்ட், "Baagi do you like to see that Lucky guy, he is right here." என்றவுடன் மாமிக்கு ஒன்றும் புரியவில்லை. பக்கத்தில் நின்று கொண்டிருந்த கணேஷைக்கூப்பிட்டு, "Baagi, Meet Ganesh.B.Tech.M.B.A, the Fiancé of this brilliant Lady!" என்று அறிமுகம் செய்தார். மெய் சிலிர்த்து போன மாமி கணேஷையும், லாரா பார்கரையும் கட்டி தழுவி முத்தமிட அருகில் இருந்த அனைவரும் பலமாக கை தட்டி பாராட்டினார்கள்.
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Selfless sacrifice
Pristine expression of love
Sacred for worship
For Haiku Heights
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Perhaps as the Mahatma, who transformed the world
Fighting a lone battle without a shred of violence
Perhaps as Mother Theresa whose kindness cured
A million suffering hearts sans invasive surgery
Perhaps as Swami Vivekananda whose sheer brilliance
Stole a million hearts despite the untimely early demise
Perhaps as the great mathematician Ramanujam
Whose exploits stunned the world at such an young age
Perhaps as myself for the opportunity to avoid the mistakes
I committed in this birth and be a better Human Being
Which could perhaps make me raise up to the level
Of those illustrious examples albeit by a tiny percentage
For those of you who are not very familiar with Indian traditional methods of choosing a bride and the functions appurtenant thereto, here are some hints to follow. The prospective bridegroom visits the bride's house to see if she meets with his expectations and will give his consent to marry her if he is satisfied. This visit is a great occasion in the life of the bride and her parents make massive arrangements to welcome the prospective groom (with his army of relatives!!) with food and everything. Despite the enormous progress in technology and the views of younger generation, this practice is still prevalent among the orthodox section of communities! The welcome change that I see is the shift in Male Chauvinistic dominance and increased importance for mutual respect. Now read the article:
It was a fateful day in November and it was raining heavily in Chennai, erstwhile Madras, India. A costal region, Chennai had principally one season throughout the year, Summer, barring a few episodes of some rain which the people enjoyed greatly. As an eligible bachelor, Engineering Graduate with a good job in an MNC, I had everything a prospective groom would aspire for. Coming from a not so rich background my habits were well grounded and I did not care much about socializing or indulge in smoking or drinking.
Our family astrologer visited us on that rainy day with his inseparable umbrella which he always carried with him, rain or shine! My mom offered him a seat and enquired what was the purpose of his visit. When his breathing settled to some level of normalcy, after running in the rain, he said that he had found an excellent girl for me and that all the planets and stars in her horoscope perfectly matched mine, which is a rarity. Knowing the astrologer's habit of getting excited for anything, my mom did not show any visible signs of excitement. He was very hurt and hastily pulled a photograph from his bag along with a piece of paper containing the details of the girl's planetary positions at the time of her birth. My mom looked at the photograph and her eyes widened with pleasure and it was very obvious that whatever she was looking at pleased her enormously. He added that the girl had completed her MCA (Master of Computer Applications), she could sing and dance like a pro and trained well in all the household chores. Yes, it was a pity that despite a good education and artistic traits a girl was expected to be mainly a housekeeper attending to the needs of her husband and kids.
It was agreed that we would visit the girl on next Sunday at 6PM. Attired in a simple traditional style of Dhoti (White cloth measuring 8 cubits in lenth and about 6 feet in width) and a Shirt I set out on my journey not knowing the surprise in store for me. The girl's family comprised of her parents and a younger brother, a real devil, and an old grandmother. They had invited the entire neighbourhood for the function and all the ladies were looking radiant in their silk sarees and glittering jewels. After the traditional high tea and sweets the talk turned to specifics! My mom was boasting about my academic pursuits and how I was offered the job by the MNC in campus selection etc. The girl's mother politely asked my mom if she would like to hear her daughter sing. My mom said ok and Shreya, that is the girl's name, started singing. The entire gathering was stunned into silence with the exceptional quality of her singing and the gifted tonal quality of her voice.
Her father showed the innumerable certificates and accolades she had received during her academic life and everyone was satisfied that she was the perfect match for me. When my mom was about to say something, Shreya spoke in a clear voice saying that she would like to have a chat with me before she could give her acceptance. This move shocked my mother. She was brought up in a culture where no one bothered to know what the bride thought or felt about the bridegroom. It was the opinion of the bridegroom and his family that always mattered. Seeing my mother's embarrassment I volunteered to have a chat with Shreya and joined her in the next room.
Shreya asked me several questions about my views on Marriage, Gender discrimination, Raising Children and my religious views etc. I was so impressed by her vast range of knowledge and intelligence that I just kept answering her . As she finished questioning me, Shreya felt a bit uneasy about the way she shot so many questions and was very happy that I answered them clearly. Then she asked me if I had anything to say or ask. I asked her whether she liked me and would she accept me as her Husband. Hearing this tears rolled down her cheeks and she said "I Do, I Do"
Short Fiction
Friday, 24 September 2010
Check your Resolve
Please verify whether you have a deep rooted resolve to do something Exemplary in your chosen area of study. These exams are not for the 'also rans' or 'mediocre' students. They are meant to select the best of Talent;
Are you Ambitious enoughDo you have the fire in your belly to achieve the greatest of recognition. Thirst for doing something special or innovate in your chosen field. Well if you are not then this is not for you.
Are you willing for Hard Preparatory workThese exams call for really good standard and the aspirants are expected to put in substantial hours of study in preparing for the tests.As the questions are expected to be difficult, there is no way a student can try to solve it if he /she confronts it for the first time. What I mean is, he should have done enough exercise / preparation to have some familiarity with such type of questions.
Time Management
It is not only important to answer the questions correctly but also to do them within the time span. In case of difficult questions just move over to the next one and continue answering as quickly and as correctly as possible. You can always comeback to re-visit the difficult ones later because there are negative markings for wrong answers.
Social ResponsibilityIf you are the chosen one to get selected in these examinations, pursue your goal with your whole heart and come out with flying colours. Remember for every one of you selected there were thousands who did not make it and you have no right to fritter away your opportunity. A brilliant person like you can make a lot of contribution to the society. Do not neglect your responsibility by running away to a foreign land for greener pastures deserting your country.
What if you did not make itIt is perfectly alright if you could not get selected by these institutions. Celebrated they may be, they are not the only means to achieve your goals. After all there are very few Einstein's or Graham Bells in this world and still we go on!. Choose a line that is close to your heart. It is not as much as what you do that is important as how happy you are doing whatever you do. Remember there are several very successful businessmen among us who are Billionaires and they had never been to business school or even college! GO ON! Make your choice and give your heart out!
I wrote this for Ezine Articles
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
I still remember the day, June 20, 1957, the place, a tiny village near Chennai, erstwhile Madras - India, where a brilliant teacher was narrating the verses of the exquisite poem "Daffodils" written by William Wordsworth in his own inimitable style. His grasp on this wonderful Language, English, was so good that he virtually created a scene of those "Fluttering and Dancing Daffodils" right before our eyes. We could see William Wordsworth wandering lonely like a cloud getting spellbound by the beauty of the Daffodils swaying in the breeze. When one of the students asked the teacher what is the meaning of the word "Jocund" used by the poet the Teacher smiled and said that he would show us what 'Jocund' meant. For the next 10 to 15 minutes he made us all sing our favorite rhymes and sway to their tunes so that we got into high spirits and lively mirthfulness. He then asked us how we felt. All of us said that we felt heavenly. He then explained that we are in a JOCUND company!! Believe it or not, till this day we can recollect every single word of that poem along with the accompanying gestures and presentation of our teacher and it has left an indelible impression on our minds.
When we heard about his demise a decade later we felt very sad but were sure that he could now float over those Vales and Hills and enjoy the sight of his favorite daffodils in his bliss of solitude.
Here is a link to Daffodils
I wrote this for Ezine Articles
Further to my earlier post on the problem of tweets not appearing in the #inditweetmeet window due to low speed of internet connection, twitter has also confirmed that it could also be due to their own resource constraints. Still our tweets will appear in our account timelines as well as the recipient account timelines though not visible under the #Tag group only. Given below is the transcript of my interaction on this subject:
Are some of your Tweets in search?
First, please check to see if any of your Tweets are in search.
Go to Twitter Search and type "from:username" into the search box, but replace 'username' with your username. For example, here's how @ginger searched for her Tweets:
If some of your Tweets are showing up here, then your account is in Twitter search! Yay!
Still missing a few tweets? Due to resource constraints, not every tweet can be indexed in Twitter Search. Our engineers are always working to index more updates, but we can't force individual, missing Tweets into search. Rest assured that your followers will still see all your updates and @replies, and we'll update on this page as we improve this issue.
Sunday, 19 September 2010
What if I can't Blog anymore...!
I shudder to think.. God Forbid, what If I can't Blog anymore. The source of immense happiness, intellectually stimulating and keeping my grey cells from getting into dementia, Blogging has been a boon to me. It would cast a penumbra of despair over my life if I could not continue blogging. It has been a Mirror reflecting my thoughts and views and a medium through which I could paint my world the way I want it to be. It was my transport to travel to those far regions of my mind and an Elixir to all my worldly ills. It is my stage where I enact my stories and plays and it is my privileged club where I can meet my favourite authors like Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Tennyson or Peter F Drucker at will and savor their priceless creations. It is not possible. I shall go on for ever nonstop.
For Sneha's What If....? - Indistream
Saturday, 18 September 2010
Ma Vie est bonheur
J'aime juste chaque moment
Vous vivez juste une fois
For Haiku-Heights
Il semble beau en français !
N'est pas?
Life is gift of God
Each moment is too precious
Savor divine bliss
For Haiku Heights
Monday, 13 September 2010
A pat on the back
Makes even John a Hercules
Encourage and see
For Haiku Heights
Saturday, 4 September 2010
Pristine Snow Blue sky
Twilight dawn and Dusk display
Nature's Beauty
For Haiku-Heights
I had faced the problem of my tweets not appearing in the #inditweetmeet window and was desperate to find a solution. When Experts like Mohan BN , Renie could not help I was going mad!! Then I thought perhaps it is just a simple case of my Internet connection speed doing the trick. To establish this I tried to check my connection speed using speed.io. When the connection was fast I got the following results:
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Presto! My tweets were appearing very nicely. So please check your speed and if it is slow get the speed increased by complaining to your ISP and chat happily everafter! You can see my tweets appearing in the indistream window with my speed data, if you log on to indistream now.
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Nature's precious gift to Africa
Invaluable for livelihood of many
Longest river to cross land
Eternally flowing with bountiful grace
For Acrostic Only
Careless acts of revelry
Risking life and property
Asking for trouble
Zest for kick goes foul
Youth's view of liberty
For Acrostic Only
Utterly devoid of variety
Slog of daily routine
Usual acts of monotony
Aspiring for a change
Longing to be different
For Acrostic Only
Legal wizard
Able advisor
Wise guide
Yearns to win
Earns well
Raring to go
For Acrostic Only
Shun those bad habits
Harness your precious resources
Aim for lofty ideals
Make your life meaningful
Endeavor hard without shame
For Acrostic Only
