*From & To Sathish* - Thread 4 - Page 73

An airline introduced a special package for businessmen. Buy your ticket; get your wife's ticket free. After a great success, the airline sent letters to all the wives asking how was the trip. All of them gave the same reply, "Which trip?"

Husband was seriously ill. After thorough examination, doctor sent him outside to wait. Doctor to wife: Give him healthy breakfast, be pleasant to him and keep him in good mood, don’t discuss your problems, don’t demand new clothes or gold jewels. Do this for one year and he will be fine. On the way home, husband asked wife: What did the doctor say? Wife: No matter what we do for you, you are going to die!

Vijayadashami

Good morning. I wish you a beautiful day. All the best.

In all these years of my life, the only memorable and significant Vijayadashami day was back in 1983 when I was forced, cajoled and maybe sweetly bullied by none other than Rukmini Devi Arundale or " ATHAI" as she was called by most of us to take up dancing.

I had never worn a dhoti in my life leave alone the kind that the male dancers in Kalakshetra wore and there I was in the back row hulking over kids whose ages were from 5 to 12 and who stood between 2 and 4 feet in height.

I looked sadly in the direction of Kittu sir and muttered something in Tamil that cannot be repeated and began to sit in

an " Aramandi" pose and at the insistence of Kittu sir who I thought was a funny guy who spoke funnily although it was all real and not an act.

All through my life, beginning from my kutty days, one title has been constantly bestowed to me and sometimes on a daily basis although only a brave few and they are all my close soulmates that even dare to call me that today.

Adhigaprasangi, well there you have it. Innocent questions, queries, thirst to learn more and in detail were the good traits of my Adhigprasanga although it could turn sour and bitter when I was angry or moody and with me trying my best to sit in an aramandi pose, I was all that and I cursed loudly ' aramandi,aramandi, inge k...i Kizhinju poi arak...i aiyudichu.'

None of the kids understood what I had just said but Kittu sir looked at me and then laughed loudly and said sweetly something worse, I think and it was justified.

Well, Aramandi days ended with that tiny role I did or at least tried to do and with Art Festival over it was back to normalcy for me and for Kittu sir and everyone must have breathed a sigh of relief overseeing the last of me and my back in an Aramandi pose.

Enna koduma saravana.

But come on people, I did take my best friends, Sanjay, Praveen, Prakash, Raghu and went to take part in a dancing competition and came away with second place and in our first attempt at dancing.

Stop it, I really mean stop thinking for I know what you are thinking.

' If Satish & co could manage to come second, then there must have been only two teams competing or the others must have sucked so badly.'

Sorry, we were really good and the only reason we lost first place was that our moves were too westernized and did not include any Indian influence and the very same was spoke by the person who gave out the prizes.

Now, my wish and dream was and is to drag that sorry bugger and make him sit in a ARAMANDI pose for ten hours, no ten days and let him understand what life means.

Navaratri is a Hindu festival that spans nine nights (and ten days) and is celebrated every year in the autumn. It is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Indian cultural sphere. Theoretically, there are four seasonal Navaratri. However, in practice, it is the post-monsoon autumn festival called Sharada Navaratri that is the most observed in the honor of the divine feminine Devi (Durga). The festival is celebrated in the bright half of the Hindu calendar month Ashvin, which typically falls in the Gregorian months of September and October.

Celebrations include stage decorations, recital of the legend, enacting of the story, and chanting of the scriptures of Hinduism. The nine days are also a major crop season cultural event, such as competitive design and staging of pandals, a family visit to these pandals and the public celebration of classical and folk dances of Hindu culture. The final day is called the Vijayadashami or Dussehra.

Vijayadashami is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of our nation. In the southern, eastern and northeastern states of India, Vijayadashami marks the end of Durga Puja, remembering goddess Durga's victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura to restore and protect dharma. In the northern and western states, the festival is synonymously called Dussehra (also spelled Dasara, Dashahara). In these regions, it marks the end of "Ramlila" and remembers God Rama's victory over the Ravan. On the very same occasion; Arjuna alone decimated 1 lakh+ soldiers & defeated all Kuru warriors including Bhishma, Drona, Ashwatthama, Karna, Kripa, etc, thereby significantly quoting the natural example of victory of good (Dharma) over evil (Adharma). Alternatively it marks a reverence for one of the aspects of goddess Devi such as Durga or Saraswati.

In Nepal, Dussehra is celebrated as Dashain.

The common theme of Navaratri is the battle and victory of Good over Evil. The festival also starts the preparation for one of the most important and widely celebrated holidays, Diwali, the festival of lights, which is celebrated twenty days after the Vijayadashami or Dussehra or Dashain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4IR_4pVHFM

Jannal Oram 363

When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries of life disappear and life Mark Twain

Each one of our lives is a world by itself existing along with other worlds inside this tiny speck of dust called Planet Earth. This tiny speck of a planet once started as a mote of dust along with billions, trillions of other dust particles and over eons collided, grazed, touched and grew with each contact and today exists as one among the other eight known planets in our solar system.

Eight, what happened to the ninth one, Pluto it was called? and you are right in asking that question for most of us grew up with nine planets in our solar system and now suddenly we have been reduced to just eight.

Man is driven in his need to have control and power over not only his very own mind, life, and surroundings but also all that is out and beyond his imagination in the known Cosmos.so, he goes ahead in classifying, tabulating and neatly placing everything in order for his petty and puny mind to comprehend its existence.

Take Pluto, for instance, a planet once and now termed as a Dwarf planet or Appu as Kamal was called in the film Aboorva sagodharargal and also is called by other names such as Trans-Neptunian object and Kuiper belt object.

Pluto, once known as a planet was discovered on February 18, 1930 at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh and downgraded as differently-abled or dwarf planet in 2006.

why, because the three criteria of the International Astronomical Union IAU for a full-sized planet are:

It is in orbit around the Sun.

It has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape).

It has "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit.

Pluto meets only two of these criteria, losing out on the third. In all the billions of years it has lived there, it has not managed to clear its neighborhood. You may wonder what that means, “not clearing its neighboring region of other objects?” Sounds like a minesweeper in space! This means that the planet has become gravitationally dominant and there are no other bodies of comparable size other than its own satellites or those otherwise under its gravitational influence, in its vicinity in space.

So any large body that does not meet these criteria is now classed as a “dwarf planet,” and that includes Pluto, which shares its orbital neighborhood with Kuiper belt objects such as the plutinos.

But sir, wait, isn't it the same situation for Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury?

See, what happens to a body that is Billions of miles away from earth when even educated men come together and decide to exercise control over their knowledge or rather the lack of it.

“The noblest work of God?” Man. “Who found it out?” Man. Mark twain.

This quote, saying alone is enough to shed light on what man is and how it operates as a species on this planet.

class overa,Kadhaikku varuvoma satish

“You can kill a person with your tongue,” Pope Francis

Spreading rumors is an example of “terrorism, of how you can kill a person with your tongue”, he said. “This is even more true for journalists because their voice can reach everyone and this is a very powerful weapon.”

While Raman was getting ready to leave the General Hospital to go with Bharat for the funeral of the late Vaidyanathan, Police Commissioner Vishwanathan was getting ready to meet the press to answer questions about the death and the manner in which the man had died and also about the bomb blast in the Government hospital.

It was at the request of the Chief Minister himself that this press meet had been arranged although the death of the minister had been announced by him personally the previous day but had been eventually lost in the blast radius of the real bomb explosion that had taken place in the Government hospital the previous evening.

The death of Minister Vaidyanathan had been confirmed by the Chief Minister as being a case of murder, and although the news was earth-shattering, the headlines lasted only until the evening and then lost its life as it was quickly replaced and drowned in the bomb blast that resulted in the deaths of many innocent people in the General Hospital.

Police Commissioner Vishwanathan was addressing the press in the Chennai City Police Commissionerate building on Poonamallee High Road at Vepery, Chennai.

The ground floor of the building houses the public grievances redressal hall, passport verification zone and a reception area. Alongside the cyber crime lab, the elite special unit of the city police, the CCB with its 17 departments, occupy the first and second floors.

The third, fourth, and fifth floors house various administrative wings of the city police manned by deputy commissioners. An anti-terror cell (ATC), with specialised personnel from the Central crime branch working in coordination with the city intelligence unit, to monitor and tackle extremist activity in the city, is housed on the fifth floor.

The sixth floor houses the intelligence wing of the city police. The seventh floor houses the traffic police control room and another control room with children, women and senior citizen's helpline.

The topmost floor is occupied by the commissioner and the four additional commissioners and joint commissioner (intelligence), alongside a large conference hall.

It was in this large conference room that Police Commissioner Vishwanathan was going to talk about both incidents that had taken place the previous day and he was in his room when his personal assistant Sub-Inspector Keshav knocked and then entered and informed that everyone were waiting for his arrival.

Commissioner Vishwanathan nodded and said ' Thank you Keshav, I will be there in a minute' and got up and then reached for his mobile when it rang and he saw the callers name displayed as " Kavita."

Good morning. I wish you a great day. All the best you beautiful souls.

You look at the bowl of apples hungrily and just as you are wondering whether to take one or just have a slice of one, other hands have reached for them and all the apples are gone and all that is left are a couple of soft Bananas.

I came back from the gym tired and really hungry and decided that an apple milkshake would be really satiating and outcome the mixie that has been strangely making all kinds of noises the past few months and particularly when you push it from 1 to 2 speed. Of course, me and my mixie share the same whining and moaning as we are pushed to our limits. Age and manufacturing defects.

Cold milk, water, honey, konjam soya milk and then I reached confidently for that sole remaining apple and sliced it open and rather than cream, a sick and rotten brown flesh revealed itself.

I picked up both the bad pieces and turning them over stared intensely at the shiny red skin, waxed and polished by the seller whose heart must have been the same rotten brown as the inside of the apple.

' Was that TMS?' I strained my ears and memory and the diluted lyrics of a song emanating from some old analog mobile became louder and the opposite of the Doppler effect.

Unnai solli kutramilai

ennai solli kutramilai

apple seitha kolamada

kadavul seitha kutramada

I smiled, stepped on the foot of the garbage bin and dropped the rotten pieces of apple into its open gob and just calmly gave a few seconds of stirring to what was in the mixie and then gulped it down and went about the day and without any lingering thoughts about the apple.

Age, getting old, and less time all mean that I have learnt a bit about letting go and importantly compartmentalization of what I cannot let go or will not let go of me.

I learnt very late in life that things always don't go your way and that there exist people who hate you for no reason and although that was very tough to accept and swallow for my Ego that came alive from my large dose of Inferiority complex, I eventually did and did it over many decades. (o..a neeyella oru manushan).

One step at a time, one task at a time and one thought at a time are actions that really made sense to me and I have imbibed them into my every act of my daily life.

Whether at the gym, whether at work with people who are having a bad day and try to sneak it on you and also importantly in traffic, compartmentalization has worked for me and worked wonders for my psycho psyche.

Anyway, I am just sharing these thoughts about myself in good faith and stress on the word sharing.

I have slowly but steadily been cutting down on sharing my thoughts for sometimes it does not go down well with people who are having a rough time and tough time in life and the last thing they need is my kirukkal about rotten apples.

Ego. However you see it and whatever way you see it, it comes down to this one word, Ego.

I think Ergo Ego. Dei, life enbathe think panrathukku thaanda sati. Adhula ethukku intha saniyan Ego.

I think Ergo I live. That sounds better.

Lots of love and best wishes. Have a great day.

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

Whenever I feel depressed in life.. I open my G-Mail inbox...I find:

1) 6-7 banks are giving me easy loans.

2) 10-15 banks waiting to deliver my pre-approved credit card.

3) I have won £ 10000000 and USD 500000 for unknown reasons.

4) 8-10 Job companies have best jobs for me.

5) 3 matrimonial sites have most suited matches for me.

6) Dr. Batra has claimed that he will cure my hair fall.

7) 5-6 universities are giving me degrees in random subjects.

And

8) Approx 20-25 mails from Riya, Priya, and Neha who are feeling lonely and want to meet me.

What more you want in life?

Jannal Oram 364

The moment the screen flashed Kavita's name as the caller, Chennai Police Commissioner Vishwanathan knew he had to take it even though there was a press meeting that waited for him along with several dozen members from the press for he owed that much to her for he had seen with his own eyes and felt the pain that she was going through after losing her brother.

He slid his finger across the screen and said ' Hello Kavita.'

Kavita's voice though filled with panic was clear and concise in its reply ' Hello sir, I am sorry that I am keeping you from the important press meeting but this is more important than that.'

Commissioner Vishwanathan feeling the same panic infecting his already infected mind asked ' What is the problem Kavita? where are you ma?'

' In the hospital sir along with Raman's entire family sir and it is he who is creating the problem.'

' What? enna Kavita solre. Raman and problem?'

' Sir, Raman is leaving the hospital to go with Bharat for the funeral of Vaidyanathan.'

Commissioner Vishwanathan felt a severe migraine coming up and looked up as his room door opened and his secretary Sub-inspector Keshav peeped in and he waved him in and said ' buy me ten minutes for I have a very important call to make.'

Keshav's face reflected his dilemma and Commissioner Vishwanathan seeing it slammed his right hand on the desk loudly ' Just do what I tell you to do and lie if you have to.'

The door closed behind his secretary who beat a hasty retreat and he told Kavita not to worry and that he would call Raman immediately.

Raman was in the bathroom washing his face when he heard his mobile phone ring but ignored it and slowly bean to towel his face and came out to see Jeeva holding his phone and she said ' Commissioner sir' and he took it and answered it.

' Ram, you are in no condition to leave with Bharat. Please stay back and rest your body for a few days son.'

Raman's eyes quickly glared at all his people and then centered on Kavita who looked away guiltily and he knew it was she who had called the Commissioner.

' Sir, I am perfectly okay and am able to walk and function normally. True, and I will admit that there is a bit of pain and discomfort but I would rather go and be with Bharat and his family than lie like a patient in this bed.'

Commissioner Vishwanathan's voice softened and spoke in a slow and deliberate tone ' Raman, you are one of the most Intelligent persons that I know of and probably are on top of that list and yet here you are acting against all that which is you.'

Raman in a puzzled voice asked ' Sir, whatever you have to say, just say it please and I will not take offense because both of us know each other rather well and we are way past all those petty sentiments.'

' Ram, you are the eye of the storm son. For you, everything is clear and calm but it is the world around you and those who exist in it who are in trouble and in danger.'

Raman remained silently and Commissioner Vishwanathan who knew him well also knew that even the silence was out of respect for him and his thoughts for in these trying and testing times, Raman would have in the least, said something like ' please come to the point' and so the silence showed the immense faith and respect he had in him and realizing this fully, he spoke ' Ram, this whole problem began with you and Bharat and its flames have consumed many innocent lives from your families and has now begun to consume others from the public and who are totally innocent in this matter. And yet here you are going to a funeral.'

His voice was filled with the bitterness and pain that lay in his soul when he answered ' funerals and that is all that I have been doing these past few days sir, attending funerals when maybe everybody will be better off attending my funeral.'

Commissioner Vishwanathan's voice reflected his own pain and frustration and his voice said sternly ' It might just come to that Ram and all this might end with your own death and it could happen today if you go to the funeral. But, many, many more might die along with you and is that what you want.'

Raman's head began to sway and he desperately clutched at Jeeva for support and she held him using both her arms and steadying himself he asked in a trembling voice even though deep inside his mind he knew the answer.

Commissioner Vishwanathan spoke like the super cop that he was ' This killer who we are all so desperately hunting could place a bomb to kill you and we know he is the least concerned about collateral damage. Think of the consequences, if a bomb does explode during the funeral and visualize the impact and the deaths and then tell me if you still want to go to the funeral. We are talking about the same killer who did not hesitate to place a bomb in a hospital and killed many and for what, to get you.'

Commissioner Vishwanathan heard the clear and loud reply from Raman, which was a no and he ended the call by saying ' I am sorry Ram for being so brutally frank and harsh with you but I am liable son, to you, and to all the citizens of this country who I have sworn to protect and defend and all I wanted to do was to tell you not to put yourself and others in danger. Bye.'

White against brown

My eyes are always seeking for new sights

from tiny near stillborn waves crashing on the shore

that send no tremors to even tiny crabs that ignore them

to wilted flowers that lack water and light

to spinning leaves dropping to earth

My eyes are always seeking

White against brown soil

nearly dark by its recent dampness

it flashed and shone with its

white ceramic sheen still unsullied

all but for stains of the soil

I bent and picked it up

and saw that they were two of them

intricate and intimate

forever locked and lost in their own

world of love and bond

I brushed them both

and whispered to them a question

which came first, the egg or the chicken

which came first, mother or child

the child was stuck with its

mouth full of milk and nipple

so the mother smiled

it matters not satish

for me the child always comes first

and that is enough and that will do

I placed them both back in a better place

away from soil and dampness

and in a bed of leaves and twigs

and walked away thinking

God is surely a woman

and all mothers are made in her likeness

Good morning. I wish you a beautiful day. All the best.

Early to rise, early to bed and you bet, early to the shooting location too. Parked the car inside the seminary that is just before Poonamallee bus stand and slowly wandered around the massive campus and reaching the gate saw the many tendrils of smoke dancing like snakes and rising to the music of the pungi or Magudi of a snake charmer.

I stood and watched fascinatedly as the the tendrils suddenly merged into one solid column and again spread out in various shapes. They danced with every gust of wind and lull of a breeze and always rose their heads out of the smouldering embers and headed up into the trees as if they were seeking a new place, a new refuge and away from their old, dead and cremated selves.

I thought, ' someday soon, I too will lay myself on a pyre, blaze briefly and end up smouldering like these dry and dead twigs.'

I felt the slightly warm touch of the morning sun and looked up as God shown himself as the Sun and blazed his aura all around me and spellbound by his light and calling, I whispered ' forget the pyre but I hope that I rise like these tendrils of smoke and reach you and reach a new meaning.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXs3oYFGZ8o

Paarthaa pasumaram

Paduthuvitta nedumaram

Serthaa veragukkaagumaa

Gyaana thangamae

Theeyilittaa kariyum minjumaa

Gyaana thangamae

Theeyilittaa kariyum minjumaa

Jannal Oram 365

The pain and guilt on hearing the Commissioner's words weighed heavily on Raman and threatened to swamp his remaining strength and unable to stand any longer, he slowly sank to the floor and sat leaning against the single cupboard that had been provided for the patient's belongings and closed his eyes in frustration and hurt.

Both Bharat and Jeeva hurriedly knelt by his side to see if he was okay and Raman with his eyes still closed mumbled ' okay. I am okay and nothing to worry.'

Bharat gently gripped Raman and said ' Sir, come let me help you to get up so that you can lie down on the bed and rest.'

Raman smiled ' I am okay Bharat, really. Just that, hearing the Commissioner's words were like taking body blows from a heavy-weight category boxer.'

Shaktivel could not bear the sight of his only child in so much pain and turmoil and he too came and sat next to his son's feet and asked Raman what the commissioner had said that had left him so disturbed and in such obvious pain.

He slowly opened his eyes and glanced towards everyone that stood before him and then like a laser beam aimed his stare straight into Kavita's eyes who turned away unable to take the intensity of his accusing look.

Raman looked at his dad ' it is not what the commissioner said or did not say but why I, your son did not think about it in the first place.'

Bharat angrily gripped Raman's arm ' sir, why do you torture yourself like this? Why do you take upon so much on your shoulders and please why do you have to judge yourself so harshly?'

Jeeva gently brushed away the hair that had fallen on his forehead while he had been washing his face and said ' Baby, you have been through so much the past few months and it has been nonstop tension and stress for you more than any of us and then take into account the injuries that you suffered last night.'

She gently lifted his chin and looked at him ' you, are a gifted human than most of us but still remain human like the rest of us in body and spirit and don't let your ego rule your head for even you have limits and so are limited in your strength and spirit.'

Bharat looked at Jeeva in shock and stared at her for being a bit cruel with her judgment and then hearing Raman's laughter, shook his head in confusion.

Raman looked at him and then everybody and shook his head in defeat ' trust my wife not to set her husband down gently but with a harsh and necessary crash landing.'

' Bharat, I am really sorry but I will not be able to go with you right now for there are too many security risks involved, both for me and those that are around me.'

Raman patiently explained everything that had taken place since they had last met in Minister Durai Murugan's house to pay respects to Vijay's body that had been kept there.

Kutty Jeeva pushed her dad away and said ' Kutty appa, what is important right now is for you to rest and recover completely. If you do not look after yourself properly, then how will you take care of all of us?'

Raman and Bharat both looked at her and Jeeva and Kamakshi mumbled ' It looks like all those who are named Jeeva are not only bold but honest to the core.'

Jeeva looked at her mum in anger ' dee Kamakshi, I am fighting not only for my hubby but for your son-in-law too. Remember that.'

Raman looked at Kavita and with a smile said ' It is okay Kavita. I am not angry with you for calling the commissioner and requesting him to talk to me. In fact, I am thankful for the call as it put some much-needed sense into my head.'

Kavita looked at him with a sad smile and only her soul spoke to him through her eyes ' Ram, I don't give a damn as to the world around me or my own feelings for you. For all that matters is that you are safe and well and for that, I am willing to sacrifice everything, my life, and my love.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjRs0KjYzbo

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHF0x7H5TaU

Poi Kaal Kuthirai

An hour, gone and gone like a breath

taken among thousands of others

it went away and the blisters on both feet

whispered ' sit, rest and chill,

us, your soles and your soul'

Removed the shoes and socks

and drowned both feet in the cool

sands and waited for Ra to come up

and blaze away, the towering clouds

that held sway over the sea

The white came first followed by a smaller brown

and it was followed by another beige

shores of the Arabian sea I thought

as the colt, mare, and stallion

slowly passed me with their muzzles

muzzled in the same sand as my feet

Not Arabian shores but the shores of the Bengal sea

and not steeds from those foreign shores

and just namma madras kuthurainga

Grazing with intent

not on lush grass but castaway corn cobs

overwhelmed with empathy for the horses

I brought out the two packets I had kept

safely and secretly for lost puppies

and the colt lifted its head and stared at me

No whinnying, no Neighing from me

for the rustle of the biscuit cover

was enough for the steeds to hustle

towards me

Even the colt towered over me

and I wondered what or how I would react

if they decided to play rough and truant

' Narayana' I said and fed

all three and all three fed

quietly and with delicate table manners

they nibbled and gently kissed

my fingertips with the tips of their lips

and took each biscuit with care and tenderness

A moment, gone and it went like that

like a moment among thousands of other moments

and the sun came up

and we went our ways

Black against beige

it shimmered under the sunlight

and I made my way towards the object

wondering what could be so black

Narayana, who else

'You called while feeding the horses

so here I am satish' he seemed to say

with that Mona Lisa smile of his

and all I could say was

காக்கைச் சிறகினிலே நந்தலாலா-நின்றன்

கரியநிறந் தோன்றுதையே நந்தலாலா;

பார்க்கு மரங்கலெல்லாம் நந்தலாலா -நின்றன்

பச்சைநிறந் தோன்றுதையே நந்தலாலா;

கேட்கு மொலியிலெல்லாம் நந்தலாலா - நின்றன்

கீத மிசைக்குதடா நந்தலாலா;

தீக்குள் விரலைவைத்தால் நந்தலாலா-நின்னைத்

தீண்டுமின்பம்ந் தோன்றுதடா நந்தலாலா.

--பாரதியார