Thursday, September 07, 2006
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
What is is, what was was and what will be ?
The day Sweth and me let our grey cells run wild. I had though about this for a long time, but couldnt put it in words :) and finally I let it run lose in this mail chat with Sweth. Check it out at her blog
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Flight to The Apple
The below post is an account of my flight to New York. Its quite long and is a reproductin of what I wrote during the flight..Its just a rambling journal with no preambles and fullstops...
Well here Iam on the way to New York..the Big Apple. I was plucked away from the bustling, crowded and dirty Chennai Metropolis, and frankly speaking it did not require much of an effort :) !!
I had to come to the airport alone, as there was only my roomie and he would have to go back alone.
All the close friends I have made in TCS are great people, characters with their pluses outweighing their minuses. We were not able to do things together as often as we would have liked when we had the opportunity and now since we don't have the opportunity, its a bit fustrating. Distance does have its good points :) !! Each of us is discovering the others again. And its a nice feeling.....
........
The flight from Chennai to Bombay is over and the flight was not pleasant at all. We ran into numerous in flight turbulence. There were instances(when I was half asleep) when I thought we were travelling on road. The shaking of the plane only served to make me lose my sleep.
And worse I had a woman, who must have thought she was travelling on a bullock cart, as my co-passenger. Half the flight we were fighting The Battle for Armrest and the other half The Battle of the Legspace.
Just got into the AirIndia plane that is going to take me fom Mumbai to London and then New York. Theres a medieval air to the plane and worse the air hostess are a mistake. They blow away the myth about airhostess being glamorous. At least the Chennai-Mumbai flight had an airhostess whom you keep ogling at, for air india they give you cineblitz and filmstar :( !!
Hope this darned fligh goes well. My acco at New York is in a limbo at the moment. I thought I could move in with some guys, but that didnt work out. So not sure where my
stay is going to be. Hopeful that cabbie with a TATA sign does show up at JFK.
Man when is this flight going to start. Me feeling a bit let down coz I didnt get a side seat :| ! Maybe I should have specified this when I got the ticket booked by TCS :) ! Another time I guess...
Unbelievable !! The air hostess is fighting with one of the passengers, practically yelling at him. Unthinkable in any other airlines. But then in a Govt owned/run airlines, their job is not going to be on line whatever they do, short of bombing the plane. And moreover the average age of the airhostess makes them susceptible to assert their authority the smallest chance they get..hmpf...must miss their kitchen I guess. Wonder when AI will grow up. I guess not till the Indian public does. When will they ever equate quality with money and not economy. And when wil they ever stop allowing every other person to walk over them. I guess I would have to grow for them to change.
We have reached Delhi. Its morning out here and as far as the windows show, the legendary Delhi fog is in full form. Visibility, though is not very bad, but it would be scary to ride in such a weather. Do miss the bike :( ! Wonder when I will see it again and in what condition it would be in.
Feeling tired and hungry, guess the journey is going to be tiring. Maybe if I got some sleep it would be better.
We are on our way to London now. Right now we are flying above the clouds. To those who do no see this often, the site is amazing, its akin to travelling the antartic, minus the freezing temperatures. The suns out. I guess when you fly above the clouds the suns always out (of course if its day). Yesterday we had experienced certain inflight turbulences. Wonder how it would be today.
Just got some refreshments so settling down with that.
Shucks a girl on the flight would have been nice. Well good things in life are a bit hard to come by. Hmmmmm...good things ?? moot point :D !!
Hey I can see a medley of land designs now. The farms demarcated by hedges or surface variations. They look beautiful like the drawing in a childs drawing book. Wonder which country are we over. I dont think the middle east would have such waterways and adjoining farms as I am seeing, so I guess we must be over some European country. Wow, I see whole plots of blackish rock like structures, which must be fields with some sort of crops. It makes an excellent contrast to the rest of the light brown and green hues.
Theres smoke coming up from some place down there. Wonder whether they are spraying pesticides or if theres something on fire down there !!
I was right about the European country. We have been travelling over some eastern bloc states, places called, Lubov, Radom and we are going to pass Berlin on the way too. We are flying at an altitude of 38,000 ft (Wow!!), air temp outside is -61C (brrrr..) and speed of the plane is 884 kmph.
Finished lunch and boy it was bland. But guess you cant expect anything better in a flight.
Londons 466km away. We are going at 883kmph and we are at 12,200mt . We hve crossed Berlin and now we are passing through the Swiss countryside. We will be flying just south of Amsterdam and guess we should soon be in London. Am having a bad throat problem and I hope it doesnt get worse.
We are crossing the English channel and into England. We should be landing soon. . I saw a couple of ships moving aroun in the channel.
In case you are wondering about how I know so much about the route and schedule of the plane, its because Air India shows a graphic description of the route we are taking and current position .
We are landing now and my first glimpse of UK is a complex flyover, a sure sign of a developed nation. I can see glimpses of the famed English countryside and boy isnt it beautiful :). There is always an added charm of seeing the countryside from so high up !!
The plane is banking to the left now and god that a behemoth like this can turn at such speeds by simple twirl of knos and switches is scary..hmm... what if the guy sets a wrong knob or fogets to turn a swithc ?? I guess my fears are unfounded...:D !!
We are in the clouds now, at least on one side. The other side has got clear blue skies.
And lo behold London !! I can see a river bisecting the sprawling mass of concrete structures. Is it the Thames ?
This is my first sight of a developed nation and isnt it a wonderful sight !!
I see a park with a bunch of trees at the periphery and a large pond in the center. Hey I just saw a football stadium with an advertisment of Qatar Airways printed across the stadium. This is the first time Iam seeing an advertisment for the people who are flying. Man isnt there any privacy in this damn world anymore ? :)) !! I had also seen vast tracts of land which were football fields and cricket fields ! You wouldnt find something like that in the whole of India. Any wonder why we dont have world beaters in football. What is the use of skill and talent if you dont have the faciilites and opportunity to hone and refine it :| !!
We have landed safely at heathrow. Not sure whether they will ask us deplane or not! But all the preparations seem to point to that :( !! Shucks I just hope that this does not mean another set of security checks and (shucks) another long wait in the lobby.
Right now Iam in the transit lounge in Heathrow Airport. Hmm..now this is called an international airport and a busy one at that. Iam not sure of the statistics, but I think Heathrow is up there in terms of number of flights and traffic.
People over here seem hardnosed and exude a sense of efficiency. What is surprising over here is the ethnic diversity. There seems to be all sorts of colors here :). Hmm..this just makes the bombing in UK a bit harder to take.
The airport is huge and it has got 55 (that i know of) gates. I wonder how much mumbai and chennai has :D !!
Suddenly I get bitten by the travel bug. Hmm...travelling would indeed be nice, but you need to be quite comfortably settled for that :)) !! Wonder when my flight is going to start.
Ok boarded the flight and as usual the air hostess are a big let down :(( !! We should be taking of shortly and this time managed to finagle a windows seat. Since this is a weekday the flight is quite empty :D !!
All right, we are on the move. The distance to new york is 5555km and estimated time to cover it is 7hrs..Hmmm lets c !
Havent seen any airhostess till now, damn dont tell me my aisle is going to have a male stewart :(( ! Thats worse than an old airhostess :((( !!!
Was watching Miss Congeniality on the airplane movie screen. Ok movie.
Right now we were asked to fasten our seatbelts as we are going to experience turbulent weather. I just checked the window, and its beautiful. We are flying over the Land Of Clouds !! As you keep on viewing this, you can clear picture of the spherical contour of earth.
This is like fairy land. The only thing missing are fairies, elfs and pixies, but you do have humans though :) !!
Suddenly a feeling of helplessness flows through me. I just wonder about where Iam going, the land I have to get used to and the foreign culture I would have to imbibe. And after all my assignment is of a short duration, and so have to come and get used to India again :) !!
We are going to land I guess. Cant see anything except that we have descended into the clouds !! Ok I have my first glimpse of America and the first things that strikes me are orderliness and planning. Right now I just saw a huge tract of land in which numerous cars are parked side by side.
And finally Iam in New York :) !! Thankfully the Taxi Person was there holding up a placard with TATA on it !! And after a weary and long ride, I reach Homestead, Secaucus. I just have a shower,fall down on the bed and pop off to sleep, a commodity I have had little of for two days !!!
Well here Iam on the way to New York..the Big Apple. I was plucked away from the bustling, crowded and dirty Chennai Metropolis, and frankly speaking it did not require much of an effort :) !!
I had to come to the airport alone, as there was only my roomie and he would have to go back alone.
All the close friends I have made in TCS are great people, characters with their pluses outweighing their minuses. We were not able to do things together as often as we would have liked when we had the opportunity and now since we don't have the opportunity, its a bit fustrating. Distance does have its good points :) !! Each of us is discovering the others again. And its a nice feeling.....
........
The flight from Chennai to Bombay is over and the flight was not pleasant at all. We ran into numerous in flight turbulence. There were instances(when I was half asleep) when I thought we were travelling on road. The shaking of the plane only served to make me lose my sleep.
And worse I had a woman, who must have thought she was travelling on a bullock cart, as my co-passenger. Half the flight we were fighting The Battle for Armrest and the other half The Battle of the Legspace.
Just got into the AirIndia plane that is going to take me fom Mumbai to London and then New York. Theres a medieval air to the plane and worse the air hostess are a mistake. They blow away the myth about airhostess being glamorous. At least the Chennai-Mumbai flight had an airhostess whom you keep ogling at, for air india they give you cineblitz and filmstar :( !!
Hope this darned fligh goes well. My acco at New York is in a limbo at the moment. I thought I could move in with some guys, but that didnt work out. So not sure where my
stay is going to be. Hopeful that cabbie with a TATA sign does show up at JFK.
Man when is this flight going to start. Me feeling a bit let down coz I didnt get a side seat :| ! Maybe I should have specified this when I got the ticket booked by TCS :) ! Another time I guess...
Unbelievable !! The air hostess is fighting with one of the passengers, practically yelling at him. Unthinkable in any other airlines. But then in a Govt owned/run airlines, their job is not going to be on line whatever they do, short of bombing the plane. And moreover the average age of the airhostess makes them susceptible to assert their authority the smallest chance they get..hmpf...must miss their kitchen I guess. Wonder when AI will grow up. I guess not till the Indian public does. When will they ever equate quality with money and not economy. And when wil they ever stop allowing every other person to walk over them. I guess I would have to grow for them to change.
We have reached Delhi. Its morning out here and as far as the windows show, the legendary Delhi fog is in full form. Visibility, though is not very bad, but it would be scary to ride in such a weather. Do miss the bike :( ! Wonder when I will see it again and in what condition it would be in.
Feeling tired and hungry, guess the journey is going to be tiring. Maybe if I got some sleep it would be better.
We are on our way to London now. Right now we are flying above the clouds. To those who do no see this often, the site is amazing, its akin to travelling the antartic, minus the freezing temperatures. The suns out. I guess when you fly above the clouds the suns always out (of course if its day). Yesterday we had experienced certain inflight turbulences. Wonder how it would be today.
Just got some refreshments so settling down with that.
Shucks a girl on the flight would have been nice. Well good things in life are a bit hard to come by. Hmmmmm...good things ?? moot point :D !!
Hey I can see a medley of land designs now. The farms demarcated by hedges or surface variations. They look beautiful like the drawing in a childs drawing book. Wonder which country are we over. I dont think the middle east would have such waterways and adjoining farms as I am seeing, so I guess we must be over some European country. Wow, I see whole plots of blackish rock like structures, which must be fields with some sort of crops. It makes an excellent contrast to the rest of the light brown and green hues.
Theres smoke coming up from some place down there. Wonder whether they are spraying pesticides or if theres something on fire down there !!
I was right about the European country. We have been travelling over some eastern bloc states, places called, Lubov, Radom and we are going to pass Berlin on the way too. We are flying at an altitude of 38,000 ft (Wow!!), air temp outside is -61C (brrrr..) and speed of the plane is 884 kmph.
Finished lunch and boy it was bland. But guess you cant expect anything better in a flight.
Londons 466km away. We are going at 883kmph and we are at 12,200mt . We hve crossed Berlin and now we are passing through the Swiss countryside. We will be flying just south of Amsterdam and guess we should soon be in London. Am having a bad throat problem and I hope it doesnt get worse.
We are crossing the English channel and into England. We should be landing soon. . I saw a couple of ships moving aroun in the channel.
In case you are wondering about how I know so much about the route and schedule of the plane, its because Air India shows a graphic description of the route we are taking and current position .
We are landing now and my first glimpse of UK is a complex flyover, a sure sign of a developed nation. I can see glimpses of the famed English countryside and boy isnt it beautiful :). There is always an added charm of seeing the countryside from so high up !!
The plane is banking to the left now and god that a behemoth like this can turn at such speeds by simple twirl of knos and switches is scary..hmm... what if the guy sets a wrong knob or fogets to turn a swithc ?? I guess my fears are unfounded...:D !!
We are in the clouds now, at least on one side. The other side has got clear blue skies.
And lo behold London !! I can see a river bisecting the sprawling mass of concrete structures. Is it the Thames ?
This is my first sight of a developed nation and isnt it a wonderful sight !!
I see a park with a bunch of trees at the periphery and a large pond in the center. Hey I just saw a football stadium with an advertisment of Qatar Airways printed across the stadium. This is the first time Iam seeing an advertisment for the people who are flying. Man isnt there any privacy in this damn world anymore ? :)) !! I had also seen vast tracts of land which were football fields and cricket fields ! You wouldnt find something like that in the whole of India. Any wonder why we dont have world beaters in football. What is the use of skill and talent if you dont have the faciilites and opportunity to hone and refine it :| !!
We have landed safely at heathrow. Not sure whether they will ask us deplane or not! But all the preparations seem to point to that :( !! Shucks I just hope that this does not mean another set of security checks and (shucks) another long wait in the lobby.
Right now Iam in the transit lounge in Heathrow Airport. Hmm..now this is called an international airport and a busy one at that. Iam not sure of the statistics, but I think Heathrow is up there in terms of number of flights and traffic.
People over here seem hardnosed and exude a sense of efficiency. What is surprising over here is the ethnic diversity. There seems to be all sorts of colors here :). Hmm..this just makes the bombing in UK a bit harder to take.
The airport is huge and it has got 55 (that i know of) gates. I wonder how much mumbai and chennai has :D !!
Suddenly I get bitten by the travel bug. Hmm...travelling would indeed be nice, but you need to be quite comfortably settled for that :)) !! Wonder when my flight is going to start.
Ok boarded the flight and as usual the air hostess are a big let down :(( !! We should be taking of shortly and this time managed to finagle a windows seat. Since this is a weekday the flight is quite empty :D !!
All right, we are on the move. The distance to new york is 5555km and estimated time to cover it is 7hrs..Hmmm lets c !
Havent seen any airhostess till now, damn dont tell me my aisle is going to have a male stewart :(( ! Thats worse than an old airhostess :((( !!!
Was watching Miss Congeniality on the airplane movie screen. Ok movie.
Right now we were asked to fasten our seatbelts as we are going to experience turbulent weather. I just checked the window, and its beautiful. We are flying over the Land Of Clouds !! As you keep on viewing this, you can clear picture of the spherical contour of earth.
This is like fairy land. The only thing missing are fairies, elfs and pixies, but you do have humans though :) !!
Suddenly a feeling of helplessness flows through me. I just wonder about where Iam going, the land I have to get used to and the foreign culture I would have to imbibe. And after all my assignment is of a short duration, and so have to come and get used to India again :) !!
We are going to land I guess. Cant see anything except that we have descended into the clouds !! Ok I have my first glimpse of America and the first things that strikes me are orderliness and planning. Right now I just saw a huge tract of land in which numerous cars are parked side by side.
And finally Iam in New York :) !! Thankfully the Taxi Person was there holding up a placard with TATA on it !! And after a weary and long ride, I reach Homestead, Secaucus. I just have a shower,fall down on the bed and pop off to sleep, a commodity I have had little of for two days !!!
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Helmet Conundrum...sigh....
Indians have been notoriously lax in following safety measures, whatever be the situation. Only in recent times after a lot of propaganda and media exposure, have the Indians slowly understood that prevention is better than curer and safety procedures are a means to avoid hefty hospital bills...
Well in this scenario the attitude of puneikars on the proposed move by the State Govt is bizarre to say the least. Check this link .
Come on....you might as well make euthanasia legal (in fact that is not a bad idea...but thats later in another post...).Wonder how the same person would feel if
he was involved in an accident? I'm a rider and I know the importance of wearing helmets. I have been involved in two spills and in the second one I owe my life to the Studds Ninja helmet I was wearing.
What's even worse is the reaction of legislators or to not give those dumb people such a professional word I did rather call them the MLAs.
Of all the crappiest comments politicians could think of this should be the worst. I wonder who else in Pune is going to wear helmets ? Car drivers ?? Lorry drivers ?? Sheesh.....
Helmets are compulsory in certain states, though I do not all the states, I do know that Kerala is one of those. Immediately after the order stating that helmets are compulsory in Kerala numerous road side shops sprung up selling helmets for as low as 150/-....sigh....and boy these helmets are so flimsy that all you have to do is to tap it gently on the tank for it(helmet) to get a dent....sigh....
Sometimes democracy stinks......
Well in this scenario the attitude of puneikars on the proposed move by the State Govt is bizarre to say the least. Check this link .
While a section of the populace is questioning the legality of the move to make helmets compulsory on the grounds that it infringes on their personal freedom....
Come on....you might as well make euthanasia legal (in fact that is not a bad idea...but thats later in another post...).Wonder how the same person would feel if
he was involved in an accident? I'm a rider and I know the importance of wearing helmets. I have been involved in two spills and in the second one I owe my life to the Studds Ninja helmet I was wearing.
What's even worse is the reaction of legislators or to not give those dumb people such a professional word I did rather call them the MLAs.
....asked the state government to urge the Centre to bring an Act exempting the two-wheeler riders from using helmet.
Of all the crappiest comments politicians could think of this should be the worst. I wonder who else in Pune is going to wear helmets ? Car drivers ?? Lorry drivers ?? Sheesh.....
Helmets are compulsory in certain states, though I do not all the states, I do know that Kerala is one of those. Immediately after the order stating that helmets are compulsory in Kerala numerous road side shops sprung up selling helmets for as low as 150/-....sigh....and boy these helmets are so flimsy that all you have to do is to tap it gently on the tank for it(helmet) to get a dent....sigh....
Sometimes democracy stinks......
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Onam...
Recently one of my friends had asked us for a write up on Onam , as his mother wanted to celebrate Onam at Frankfurt and so wanted some details about the festival. So I sat down and put all I could think of about this festival in words. I have reproduced it here.
Before I put in my post, Sanjesh had given a small write up on why Onam is celebrated. I will put that in first as I guess that would be the correct chronology.
Sanju's Post
A long long time ago, an Asura (demon) king called Mahabali ruled Kerala. He was a wise, benevolent and judicious ruler and beloved of his subjects. Soon his fame as an able king began to spread far and wide, but when he extended his rule to the heavens and the netherworld, the gods felt challenged and began to fear his growing powers. Presuming that he might become over-powerful, Aditi, the mother of Devas pleaded with Lord Vishnu to curtail Mahabali's powers.
Vishnu transformed himself into a dwarf called Vamana and approached Mahabali while he was performing a yajna and asked for alms. Pleased with the dwarf brahmin's wisdom, Mahabali granted him a wish. The Emperor's preceptor, Sukracharya warned him against making the gift, for he realized that the seeker was no ordinary person. But the Emperor's kingly ego was boosted to think that God had asked him for a favor. So he firmly declared that there is no greater sin than going back on one's promise. He kept his word.
The Vamana asked for a simple gift — three paces of land — and the king agreed to it. Vishnu in the guise of Vamana then increased his stature and with the first step covered the sky, blotting out the stars, and with the second, straddled the netherworld. Realising that Vamana's third step will destroy the earth, Mahabali offered his head as the last step.
Vishnu's fatal third step pushed him to the netherworld, but before banishing him to the underworld Vishnu granted him a boon. Since he was attached to his kingdom and his people, he was allowed to return once a year from exile. Onam is the celebration that marks the homecoming of King Mahabali. It is the day when a grateful Kerala pays a glorious tribute to the memory of this benign king who gave his all for his subjects.
My Post
Onam is indeed the festival to welcome Mahabali. There is a saying in Malayalam regarding Onam "You should feast during onam, even if you have to sell your house" . The whole point being, that when Mahabali comes to visit you, you should not be unhappy and hungry (This is a gala time for beggars, suddenly you have them in all shapes and sizes :) !!! ).
The celebrations or the preparation for celebrations start a week back. All the children in the house are woken up early in the morning. And each of them is given a flower basket and set free to roam the countryside :) !! They go about collecting as many flowers of as many different hues and colors as possible. During our time...there used to be a flower called rice flower(i am sorry i don't know the english name for this, rice flower is a literal translation from malayalam, i will see if i can get the name.), which grows like a thorny hedge..scars obtained while gathering this rice flower are displayed proudly among kids and especially in front of girls :) !!
The children come back, empty their basket and indulge in the most enjoyable part of onam celebrations. They create the flower carpet...the children start drawing the outlines and to fill in the interiors of the carpet with elaborate details, the young auntie ( who is also supposed to be a beautiful girl ) is coaxed and cajoled.....then this lady sits down and starts to draw a most beautiful design. This arrests the attention of a handsome young hunk. He is drawn to the flower carpet like a moth to fire and is engulfed within the elaborate designs and patterns drawn by a now very conscious and shy girl.....The seeds of love are sown and the natural and rustic beauty of a kerala village carries these two love birds on a new journey similar to the intricate patterns, which had begun the mischief in the first place.....
ahem...now to get back to the point....:)....
More importantly Onam is actually the harvest festival of kerala. This is the time when the monsoons are receding and the rice crops, sown just before the monsoons, are reaped. All throughout Kerala, farmers and their family's go to the farms (how else would the love birds ever get together :) ) and make sure that the farm work is done in full gusto....The harvesting is accompanied by songs called pulluvan pattu which adds to the enthu while harvesting... (you can hear this as a backdrop in quite a lot of malayalm films.)
In addition to this, a particular caste of people dress up like thaiyams (technically they are not, I just mentioned them so you could understand.) called Baeden, thats the closest pronunciation i can think off and no its not got a german touch ;) !) and they go from house to house and retelling the times of Mahabali. They talk about how life was during Mahabali's reign. There are some very good poems on this. But I am zero on malayalam literature so cant give you an insight into them :( !! In short, during Mahabali's reign there was no robbery murder or poverty. There was no beggar or homeless person....
Towards the south they have another folk ritual. This is the famous Thiruvathirakali, where a group of girls, dressed in the traditional mundu-veshti or set-mundu (this is what sanjesh was looking for, and is a sari like dress, or to be more clear consider it as a sari. The sari is white and the border of the sari matches the blouse worn. And to be frank this is one of my weaknesses :D ) dance to the tunes of a song. The dance is executed in a circle, in the center of which there is a traditional brass lamp and a small statue of Mahabali made of cow dung (I am not sure of the cow dung part, I thing they use wet soil too !!) The song is slow and the tempo rises and falls depending on the particular song. The unique aspect of the dance is the intricate steps that these lady's execute all the time moving in a circle. Its beautiful :) !!
On the last day, i.e the main day of Onam, the patriarch of the house rewards all the workers who have worked for him, by giving them clothes and a token amount (varies depending upon the capability of a household) !! The workers are usually farmers, but other classes of laborers are also rewarded. Then everybody in the house is given new clothes which is called Onakodi. The children love onam most for this, and trust me it is a sight to see them all dressed and decked up and going to the house of friends and relatives to check up on the flower carpets. You should see the look on their young faces trying to be modest, but knowing inside that they are looking very good, and ultimately what is evident on their face is the remains of a lost battle against the knowledge that you are looking good : ) !! And boy it looks heavenly on children !!!
Now you usually the panchayat also has a panel of judges who go around the locality and rate the carpets of each household. Also a new funda that is doing the rounds now, are a group of people dressing up as Mahabali and Vamana, collecting from each house. Since the rains have now gone, this ensures that the local clubs now have enough money to buy bats and balls to keep them busy during the summer :D !!!
Hm mm... I think I have covered what I know : ) . There must be other small and lively rituals, but I don't know of them...... !!
Before I put in my post, Sanjesh had given a small write up on why Onam is celebrated. I will put that in first as I guess that would be the correct chronology.
Sanju's Post
A long long time ago, an Asura (demon) king called Mahabali ruled Kerala. He was a wise, benevolent and judicious ruler and beloved of his subjects. Soon his fame as an able king began to spread far and wide, but when he extended his rule to the heavens and the netherworld, the gods felt challenged and began to fear his growing powers. Presuming that he might become over-powerful, Aditi, the mother of Devas pleaded with Lord Vishnu to curtail Mahabali's powers.
Vishnu transformed himself into a dwarf called Vamana and approached Mahabali while he was performing a yajna and asked for alms. Pleased with the dwarf brahmin's wisdom, Mahabali granted him a wish. The Emperor's preceptor, Sukracharya warned him against making the gift, for he realized that the seeker was no ordinary person. But the Emperor's kingly ego was boosted to think that God had asked him for a favor. So he firmly declared that there is no greater sin than going back on one's promise. He kept his word.
The Vamana asked for a simple gift — three paces of land — and the king agreed to it. Vishnu in the guise of Vamana then increased his stature and with the first step covered the sky, blotting out the stars, and with the second, straddled the netherworld. Realising that Vamana's third step will destroy the earth, Mahabali offered his head as the last step.
Vishnu's fatal third step pushed him to the netherworld, but before banishing him to the underworld Vishnu granted him a boon. Since he was attached to his kingdom and his people, he was allowed to return once a year from exile. Onam is the celebration that marks the homecoming of King Mahabali. It is the day when a grateful Kerala pays a glorious tribute to the memory of this benign king who gave his all for his subjects.
My Post
Onam is indeed the festival to welcome Mahabali. There is a saying in Malayalam regarding Onam "You should feast during onam, even if you have to sell your house" . The whole point being, that when Mahabali comes to visit you, you should not be unhappy and hungry (This is a gala time for beggars, suddenly you have them in all shapes and sizes :) !!! ).
The celebrations or the preparation for celebrations start a week back. All the children in the house are woken up early in the morning. And each of them is given a flower basket and set free to roam the countryside :) !! They go about collecting as many flowers of as many different hues and colors as possible. During our time...there used to be a flower called rice flower(i am sorry i don't know the english name for this, rice flower is a literal translation from malayalam, i will see if i can get the name.), which grows like a thorny hedge..scars obtained while gathering this rice flower are displayed proudly among kids and especially in front of girls :) !!
The children come back, empty their basket and indulge in the most enjoyable part of onam celebrations. They create the flower carpet...the children start drawing the outlines and to fill in the interiors of the carpet with elaborate details, the young auntie ( who is also supposed to be a beautiful girl ) is coaxed and cajoled.....then this lady sits down and starts to draw a most beautiful design. This arrests the attention of a handsome young hunk. He is drawn to the flower carpet like a moth to fire and is engulfed within the elaborate designs and patterns drawn by a now very conscious and shy girl.....The seeds of love are sown and the natural and rustic beauty of a kerala village carries these two love birds on a new journey similar to the intricate patterns, which had begun the mischief in the first place.....
ahem...now to get back to the point....:)....
More importantly Onam is actually the harvest festival of kerala. This is the time when the monsoons are receding and the rice crops, sown just before the monsoons, are reaped. All throughout Kerala, farmers and their family's go to the farms (how else would the love birds ever get together :) ) and make sure that the farm work is done in full gusto....The harvesting is accompanied by songs called pulluvan pattu which adds to the enthu while harvesting... (you can hear this as a backdrop in quite a lot of malayalm films.)
In addition to this, a particular caste of people dress up like thaiyams (technically they are not, I just mentioned them so you could understand.) called Baeden, thats the closest pronunciation i can think off and no its not got a german touch ;) !) and they go from house to house and retelling the times of Mahabali. They talk about how life was during Mahabali's reign. There are some very good poems on this. But I am zero on malayalam literature so cant give you an insight into them :( !! In short, during Mahabali's reign there was no robbery murder or poverty. There was no beggar or homeless person....
Towards the south they have another folk ritual. This is the famous Thiruvathirakali, where a group of girls, dressed in the traditional mundu-veshti or set-mundu (this is what sanjesh was looking for, and is a sari like dress, or to be more clear consider it as a sari. The sari is white and the border of the sari matches the blouse worn. And to be frank this is one of my weaknesses :D ) dance to the tunes of a song. The dance is executed in a circle, in the center of which there is a traditional brass lamp and a small statue of Mahabali made of cow dung (I am not sure of the cow dung part, I thing they use wet soil too !!) The song is slow and the tempo rises and falls depending on the particular song. The unique aspect of the dance is the intricate steps that these lady's execute all the time moving in a circle. Its beautiful :) !!
On the last day, i.e the main day of Onam, the patriarch of the house rewards all the workers who have worked for him, by giving them clothes and a token amount (varies depending upon the capability of a household) !! The workers are usually farmers, but other classes of laborers are also rewarded. Then everybody in the house is given new clothes which is called Onakodi. The children love onam most for this, and trust me it is a sight to see them all dressed and decked up and going to the house of friends and relatives to check up on the flower carpets. You should see the look on their young faces trying to be modest, but knowing inside that they are looking very good, and ultimately what is evident on their face is the remains of a lost battle against the knowledge that you are looking good : ) !! And boy it looks heavenly on children !!!
Now you usually the panchayat also has a panel of judges who go around the locality and rate the carpets of each household. Also a new funda that is doing the rounds now, are a group of people dressing up as Mahabali and Vamana, collecting from each house. Since the rains have now gone, this ensures that the local clubs now have enough money to buy bats and balls to keep them busy during the summer :D !!!
Hm mm... I think I have covered what I know : ) . There must be other small and lively rituals, but I don't know of them...... !!
A New Party in the Horizon......
The congress in Kerala has undergone another split....this time the split was under the aegis of veteran Congressman K. Karunakaran..and guess what they named the new party ...
It would be hilarious to see the party workers going around holding placards with the abbreviated party name.......:D
Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran
It would be hilarious to see the party workers going around holding placards with the abbreviated party name.......:D
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Katrina and its aftereffects
Katrina has been touted to be the worst natural disaster to hit USA. The mayor of New Orleans ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city...
Its the aftermath of a disaster that is disheartening. The numerous amount of people rendered homeless, the life they would have to rebuild, the threads they would have to again pickup... For some its easy, provided that they have already planned for such circumstances, but for others who live life king size, its going to take a lot of effort and pain.
What saddens even more is the circumstances the children would be a witness off. They would be pulled out from familiar and comforting surroundings and pushed into a state of chaos. It would toughen some, but it would also break some !!
As is seen everytime, the aftermath also brings out the latent survival instincts in man. He suddenly forgets his civilized upbringing and resorts to the easiest way known to him to attain something. Looting !! With the avenues suddenly open, I guess everyone is susceptible, but nevertheless it is disgusting, that man cannot keep his greed in check even during such tragic circumstances !!!
It seems to be a jinxed year we are living in. It has been a succession of disasters one after the other. The new year was heralded by the tsunami, the destruction and lives laid waste by it pushing the new year celebrations into the background.
Following this was a series of earthquakes in various parts of the world, each bringing with it a fear of a tsunami. Everyone was on tenterhooks, though thankfully the disaster did not repeat itself.
Then came the floods in Mumbai.(also check thislink) The floods in Mumbai brought in its aftermath, water borne diseases. That some relief workers succumbed to this only added to the somber tone.
The list is not over yet, but I really don't wish to continue in this vein. Wonder what more does this year have in store for us......
At a news conference 10 a.m. on August 28, shortly after Katrina was upgraded to a Category 5 storm, New Orleans mayor C. Ray Nagin, calling Katrina "a storm that most of us have long feared", ordered the first ever mandatory evacuation of the city. He established several "refuges of last resort" for citizens who could not leave the city, including the massive Louisiana Superdome, which housed over 9,000 people (A National Guard official said on Thursday Sept. 1 that as many as 60,000 people had gathered at the Superdome for evacuation along with 550 National Guard troops as Katrina came ashore. (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina)
Its the aftermath of a disaster that is disheartening. The numerous amount of people rendered homeless, the life they would have to rebuild, the threads they would have to again pickup... For some its easy, provided that they have already planned for such circumstances, but for others who live life king size, its going to take a lot of effort and pain.
What saddens even more is the circumstances the children would be a witness off. They would be pulled out from familiar and comforting surroundings and pushed into a state of chaos. It would toughen some, but it would also break some !!
As is seen everytime, the aftermath also brings out the latent survival instincts in man. He suddenly forgets his civilized upbringing and resorts to the easiest way known to him to attain something. Looting !! With the avenues suddenly open, I guess everyone is susceptible, but nevertheless it is disgusting, that man cannot keep his greed in check even during such tragic circumstances !!!
It seems to be a jinxed year we are living in. It has been a succession of disasters one after the other. The new year was heralded by the tsunami, the destruction and lives laid waste by it pushing the new year celebrations into the background.
Following this was a series of earthquakes in various parts of the world, each bringing with it a fear of a tsunami. Everyone was on tenterhooks, though thankfully the disaster did not repeat itself.
Then came the floods in Mumbai.(also check thislink) The floods in Mumbai brought in its aftermath, water borne diseases. That some relief workers succumbed to this only added to the somber tone.
The list is not over yet, but I really don't wish to continue in this vein. Wonder what more does this year have in store for us......
An article in frontline
Hmmm...after my post regarding the Gaza pullout, I read the following article, which came in the latest issue of frontline. The story talks about the cruelties perpetrated by the Israelites when they occupied Gaza.
Blinded by the gesture of Israel, I forgot for a moment that war leaves no victors, it leaves behind only the dead.
The article raises some pertinent questions regarding the motive behind evacuation of Gaza. Since I'm in no way a competent enough to comment on what could possibly be the outcome, I guess I will just wait and watch what happens in that volatile region.....though I do fervently hope that the outcome at the end would indeed be good....
Blinded by the gesture of Israel, I forgot for a moment that war leaves no victors, it leaves behind only the dead.
The article raises some pertinent questions regarding the motive behind evacuation of Gaza. Since I'm in no way a competent enough to comment on what could possibly be the outcome, I guess I will just wait and watch what happens in that volatile region.....though I do fervently hope that the outcome at the end would indeed be good....
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Gaza Pullout
The ongoing evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza has been officially said to be complete. The cartoon by Keshav in Hindu sums up situation quite well. There have been soldiers consoling soldiers, soldiers consoling the people, people consoling each other. It makes me wonder how strong must these Jewish people be, that they move out of the land which they believe is rightly theirs and which they have earned after being homeless for such a long time. I wonder what would be the case if the country were India and an Indian Govt had made such a decision.
The first thing that would have happened is that the opposition party and the local party present would have called a series of bandh and hartal thereby granting the license for the baser elements of society to indulge in their vandal tendencies; conduct competitions on who would break the most number of windows, who would be the fastest to set a vehicle on fire and go about destroying the local shops and public services and utilities. After they have been give enough time for all this, the police gets into the picture and invariably there would be a police-locals confrontation with casualties on both sides. Then there would have been the usual political oneupmanship and drama and what not and.....and finally the strip gets cleared. Welcome to the largest democracy in the world !!!
The Jewish people are an interesting race and I some how like them, although I don't know any Jew. Theirs have been an eternal struggle to establish their place in this world. They have constantly faced ridicule and hatred throughout history, but they still survive. They fought for the land which they believed was rightly theirs and even won it. And now they have relinquished a part of that land for peace. It is a gesture of some significance for I believe that they expect to be "paid" in full for this token of peace.
Whether this helps them achieve a "hard earned" respite from violence has to be seen....I hope they do.....
The first thing that would have happened is that the opposition party and the local party present would have called a series of bandh and hartal thereby granting the license for the baser elements of society to indulge in their vandal tendencies; conduct competitions on who would break the most number of windows, who would be the fastest to set a vehicle on fire and go about destroying the local shops and public services and utilities. After they have been give enough time for all this, the police gets into the picture and invariably there would be a police-locals confrontation with casualties on both sides. Then there would have been the usual political oneupmanship and drama and what not and.....and finally the strip gets cleared. Welcome to the largest democracy in the world !!!
The Jewish people are an interesting race and I some how like them, although I don't know any Jew. Theirs have been an eternal struggle to establish their place in this world. They have constantly faced ridicule and hatred throughout history, but they still survive. They fought for the land which they believed was rightly theirs and even won it. And now they have relinquished a part of that land for peace. It is a gesture of some significance for I believe that they expect to be "paid" in full for this token of peace.
Whether this helps them achieve a "hard earned" respite from violence has to be seen....I hope they do.....
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