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EDITOR'S DIARY FOR 2002
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Notices
January 2002 Diary
The highlight of January for me was that I shook the hands of Alvin
Toffler and his wife, Heidi. Most of you would have heard of him. He is famous for his books
'Future shock', 'The third wave', 'Powershift' and many others. His wife is co-author of many of
his books. They came to Mumbai to address a seminar organised by Xerox. I managed to get invited
to a dinner meeting of them with industrialists, CEOs and civil servants. The dinner was good,
but his speech and question-answer session was better. The seminar next day, which was attended
by over 2000 delegates was more or less a repetition. He expanded on his concept that the third
wave is powered by knowledge-workers ( First wave is agrarian and the second wave is industrial).
The very next day I saw on TV one of the best speeches I have ever heard. This was by Bill
Clinton in UK, which was telecast by the BBC. I saw it in preferance to the Australia-SA match.
I welcomed 2002 as I did the earlier year- in bed. Aarthi, Vidya, Nitya, Hema, Raghu and Amritha
were awake till midnight, playing cards. On 1st evening, all of us (except Hema) had a nice
get-together in Marina beach with my sister, Urmila, Radha and their families. Aarthi and
Vidya laughed so much as to get us worried. Of course, even we laughed a lot at all the anecdotes
that all of us could recall about various family members. It was also a full moon night with the excellent dinner prepared by Radha and Urmila adding
to the enjoyment. We were in Chennai till 5th and then returned to Mumbai via Bangalore (sixth visit
since May 2001) to leave
Aarthi there. We saw KKKG in Chennai. It was OK and not worth all the hype. Chennai was very
pleasant this time, as Mukund and Prema would have told some of you (Whatever has happened to
them?) Mumbai is also very nice and colder than normal. (minimum temperature this year was
13 deg.C, which for Mumbai is very cold).
India is back to cricket mania. It is always a wonderful sight to see Eden
Gardens with a lakh of specators. We were lucky to see two close matches within three days -
Australia-New Zealand on 29th, which Bevan won for Australia and India-England on 31st, which
Agarkar almost won for India. What will happen on 3rd Feb. in India and Australia? ( This is
written on 1st. See PS). Muralitharan has taken 400 wickets and may beat Walsh's record.
What has happened to Mahesh-Leander. They started well in Australia, but went out. In Bangalore
they lost to an unknown pair in the World Doubles tournament. The best match in Australian Open
was the women's singles final between Capriati and Hingis.
Aarthi is going on an educational tour to Pattamadai,famous for its mats. I hope she writes about
her visit next month. Since I spent a lot of time on computer, Newspaper and magazines and watching
cricket and tennis, I read only one novel- 'Cassandra Prospect' by Ludlum and Shelby. It
was good and frightening as bio-warfare is very realistically described.
PS: On 3rd, India lost and Australia won the battle, but lost the war.
Tailpiece
Who will be caught first, Veerappan or Osama Bin Laden? Are both dead?
Parthasarathy
February 2002
Diary from 1st February to 3rd March 2002
I have travelled more in the last 20 days than at any previous period. There are a lot of places to see on Central Railway and we were keen to see as many as possible. we also have the advantage of travelling by special carriage here.
Before I describe our tours, I must talk about one of the most moving speeches that Amritha and I attended. We normally have an outside speaker for our Alumni Association meeting, which is held every two months.This time we had a dancer by name Gauri Rao Mehta to give a lec-dem on Bharata Natyam. Her talk on her unknown illness and a miracle cure by Satya Sai Baba and the details of her training of handicapped children for Dance-drama were all very moving. Her demo of a Bharata Natyam number was also excellent. We really felt blessed to have attended the talk.
Cricket mania continued in India with Zimbabwe following England. Australia whipped SA in the first test and England did quite well in NZ. The performance of the hockey team in Kuala Lampur was unfortunate. But I feel this team has potential and needs more matches abroad. Anand also seems to have got the same jinx as the hockey team.
Now, to our travels. As I said earlier, we travelled a lot. When my transfer was known, Amritha said that we must definitely see a few places in Central Railway. Before starting on a CR Darshan, I had to go to Delhi for a day on 11th. On 12th Feb. , both of us left for Vadodara and returned on 13th. On 14th, we left for Bhopal, where we saw Rose Garden, Van Vihar (an animal park), Bharat Bhawan (an excellent Art Gallery and Cultural Center), Jain Mandir (which is approached thro' cable car), the big lake, Birla Mandir (all in Bhopal) and an ancient Shiva and Jain temple at Bhojpur, which is about 25 kms away. We also saw the Sanchi Stupa near Bhopal from the train (!). The next day afternoon, we reached Gwalior, where we first saw the Museum (which is perhaps better than Jaipur Museum). Later we went to Usha's (my niece) place and all of us went for the Sound & Light show in Gwalior fort. With the voice of Amitabh and Bhimsen Joshi, it was good. But I felt the show in Delhi fort (which I think I last saw with Prasad and Jagan. Was Mukund also there?) was better. The next day, all of us went to the fort, which apart from Museum, has a few nice temples (Saas-Bahu Mandir, Telia Mandir) and a Gurudwara. We also saw the Sun Temple built by the Scindias on the lines of Konark. The same night, we left for Jhansi by road. On the way we worshipped at a Devi Mandir in Dhatiya (which is supposed to give immunity from jail to Laloo Yadav). On 18th, we visited Khajuraho, which is about 180 kms from Jhansi. There are about 15 temples (out of the original 80 or so), some of which are architecturally very good. Though the place is famous for erotic sculptures, there are a number of other beautiful sculptures as well. On the way from Jhansi to Khajuraho, one crosses UP and MP three times. Surprisingly, UP roads are better. The next day, we went to Orchha, 20kms from Jhansi. This has a very nice fort with 200 rooms, built for Jehangir, who spent just a night there. The remnants of ancient paintings are still there in the harem. This is also distinguished by a combination of Muslim and Hindu architecture. There is also a temple for King Ram, for whom there is a guard of honour everyday. But the Temple Trust have spoilt it by painting the ancient stones in gaudy colours and fixing mosaic tiles everywhere.
The second leg of our CR tour took us to Matheran. All three of us went there. The Narrow Gauge trip in a special carriage, which had three seats to view the track from the rear window was good. We had long walks in the evening on Saturday (23rd) and morning on Sunday before returning to Mumbai on Sunday evening. Matheran is about 3500 feet above sea level and is unspoilt, as no motorised vehicles (except train) are allowed within the town limits.
The third and final leg of our CR tour took us to Solapur, Pune and Jabalpur. Amritha and I left on 26th. From Solapur we visited Pandarpur (Krishna temple, which is like Tirupati for Maharashtrians) and Akalkot (where the temple for Swami Samarth exists). That evening we saw a cultural programme in our honour. We reached Pune on Thursday morning, where we visited Harish's flat. All three of us left for Jabalpur. In Jabalpur, we saw the marble rocks on both sides of Narmada, for which you do boating in the river.There is also a nice waterfall nearby (appropriately called Duandhar). Friday evening, we went to Kanha national park, which is 165 kms from Jabalpur. We visited the park at 6.30 AM on Saturday in an open jeep. We saw a lot of barasingha,cheetal,wild bison, wild boar etc., but were told that sighting the tigers was a matter of luck. We were lucky as we could see a tiger from just 25 feet, when we were having the ride on elephant. The elephant ride in Kanha is more thrilling than Kaziranga, because of the more difficult terrain. We returned to Mumbai on 3rd evening after some more local sight-seeing in Jabalpur.
Click here for viewing the photo album of our visits in February/March 2002
In between our tours, we were happy to have important guests. On the day prior to our departure for Matheran, Kausalya came for lunch on her way back from Jaipur. We took her to the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, where a few Arts exhibitions in Max Mueller Bhavan, Jahangir Arts Gallery etc. were going on, in addition to open air shows. On the day we came back from Matheran, Kannan, Rajeevi, her mother, sisters and niece were here for the niece's (Chitra alias Soumya) Nichayathartham on 25th. The function went off very well. They left on the same day that we left for Solapur.
I am all set to leave from here. I am handing over charge on 8th and taking the morning flight on 11th to Chennai. I shall be staying in ICF rest house at Perambur on week days and with relatives for the week ends till I get a house.
Parthasarathy
March 2002
MARCH 2002 DIARY (from 8th March to 3rd April)
After returning from Jabalpur, I handed over charge on 8th March in Mumbai and came here by the morning flight of 11th. I assumed charge here on 11th. I am still in the process of getting used to Chennai. A few first impressions are penned here.
Chennai is more colourful with lot more posters, flags and writing on the wall than Mumbai. The retail stores are better here, with Foodworld and Subiksha practically on every important street. So are the browsing centres and the hotels. The quality of officers and staff is same except that my stenos were better in Mumbai in all the organisations.
I feel that Mumbai is better in five respects, viz., better weather, better quality of water, more disciplined road traffic, no power failures and no mosquitoes (in our house). Chennai is better in most other respects. Talking of road discipline, I must mention about the latest addition to Chennai roads- the three-wheeler goods carrier with motor-cycle wheels, which does not obey any rules and which Raghu calls the 3-wheeler Rakshasan. I do not know how a developed city tolerates this transport.
The period from 20th March has been a busy one for me. Immediately on hearing the news of Athimber's death, I was able to arrange for Amritha to come here by the next available flight, only due to help from my ex-colleagues. Thankfully she made it before the cremation. Raghu came on 22nd and stayed till the night of 2nd April. The religious rites were done from 28th March to 1st April in Besant Nagar (upto 31st March) and in Santhanam's house on 1st April. On 23rd, my mother-in-law, Amritha, Raghu and I moved to the Tiruvanmiyur flat after getting it cleaned up. We were there till 3rd, when Hema left for Ussoor. Jaya Akka (my mother-in-law ) is now in T.Nagar and Amritha is with me in ICF Guest House. She will stay with her sisters for a few days and we will leave for Mumbai on 12th. Officially also I was busy in meeting people and also since a lot of VIPs including the Minister visited ICF in March/April. After a long time, I am having 6-day (or rather, 5 and 1/2 days) week, as ICF works half-aday on all Saturdays.
Parthasarathy
April 2002
APRIL 2002 DIARY (from 4th April)
After 3rd April, when Hema left for Ussoor. we (Amritha & I) left Jaya Akka (my mother-in-law ) in T.Nagar and stayed in ICF Guest House. I also showed Amritha the house that I have been allotted. It is a big, but old (bhoot?) bungalow. There is also a newer house that may be available after July. But I was keen on continuing here, while Amritha felt the newer house would be easier to maintain. Aarthi, who was given the casting vote, declared ,' How can Amma not like this old house? The new house is so boring.' So hopefully we would live in a big bungalow till I retire in 2006, after which we will go to a small flat.
The big news for relatives was that Kausalya received the prestigious Altrusan Award, along with a well-known doctor.
Amritha and I left for Mumbai on 12th. I returned within a couple of days. Later I went to Bangalore on 27th to see Aarthi's works submitted for jury assessment. After seeing the output of all the students, I can only envy the students of Srishti. Weather-wise, Bangalore was the worst of the three cities, viz. Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai, with Mumbai being the best.
I was able to finish three novels in English and two in Tamil, the best of which was 'Acts of faith' by Erich Segal with 'The Testament' by John Grisham coming a close second.
Cricket has again become the national obsession after the absorbing second Test between India and Windies. Of course, the third Test was a dampener. Is it the resurgence of Windies or is it the familiar tale of India losing abroad? Time will tell.
Parthasarathy
May 2002
MY DIARY FOR MAY 2002 (upto June 4th)
One feels happy to occupy a big house. But it becomes a very big hassle when you are transferred.
The law for all Government (particularly Railway ) officers is 'Luggage expands to fill the space
available.' In 1973, Amritha and I started with things which could be transported in a jeep. Now
we have luggage that needs more than three 5-tonne trucks. So May 2002 was a hectic month for
Amritha and me.
Aarthi came with me from Bangalore to Chennai on 30th April and we left for Mumbai after spending a
couple of days here. I came back in a couple of days. I had brought 11 cartons and a statue of
Anjaneya (bought by us in Ujjain) with me in the two trips I made to Mumbai before the final
shifting. One of my colleagues thought that was 25% of my total luggage and was amazed when I
told him it was only 1% of my luggage.
After a week in Chennai, I left for Mumbai on 15th May.
The period frrom 16th to 22nd was very hectic, with a host of people performing different
functions in the house, which looked like a cyclone-affected area. Times like these, one feels happy to have joined the Railways, as our job was mainly
supervising and ensuring that things are done in an orderly fashion (of course you feel the
tension of a transfer) .Hats off to Amritha, who was making tea for all workers every day as well
as making all meals till lunch on 22nd . In between, we visited my cousin as well as some of my
colleagues for lunch/dinner.On 22nd, we loaded the major luggage in the wagon. We still had
about 50 pieces with us (TV, Music system, PC, jewels, silverware, clothes and 10 pieces of
Harish). We left by a special carriage by Chennai Express on 22nd, while our kit-wagon was
attached by Mail on the same day. Harish accompanied us upto Pune.The journey was uncomfortably
hot between Guntakal and Renigunta, but the carriage was ideal for carrying all the luggage.
We spent two nights in the Guest House, adjacent to our house. The house is excellent, though
there were initial problems.It has a living room, dining room, a smaller hall and two bed-rooms
(with attached bath) on the ground floor with two bed-rooms (with attached bath) on the first
floor. The room selected by Aarthi (and guest-room) is the biggest that I have occupied so far at
38feetX22 feet. There is also a big garden area, with a number of trees and enough space to play shuttle.The flip side is that pigs
(yes, PIGS) roam around freely in the garden. Our luggage came on 24th and was unloaded the same
day, though unpacking is still not over. For the quantity of luggage, the damage was minimal (Amritha felt sorry that the fish-tank broke). Again hats off to Amritha, who started making all meals
from breakfast of 24th.
We were reasonably settled when Hema and my mother-in-law came
on 28th, after vacating their flat at Tiruvanmiyur . Raghu also came on 28th. So we decided to host our
first-ever function with all (almost all) close relatives on 1st
June. Since we wanted him to be here, Harish came on two days' leave- by air on 1st and left by
train on 4th.
The get-together was good. The catering was OK. We had organised a few games
including Housie & Quiz and everybody enjoyed them. My brother brought my mother from the hospital to our house on 1st .
Raghu left on 3rd, Hema and Harish on 4th. Only from 5th or 6th (after most problems in the house
are over), I feel comfortable in Chennai and am not thinking about Mumbai. But Aarthi is still
unhappy about leaving Mumbai.
We have not been able to see much of world cup football due to the difficult attitude of cable operators.But Senegal seems to be a revelation so far. Cricket was
interesting in WI and let's hope India does well in England.
I found time to read two novels- one
by Alister McLean and another by Sue Grafton ( famous for all her alphabet novels).
As usual,
I am asking all of you to reply, though Prasad and Raghu are the only regular correspondents.
anbudan,
Parthasarathy
12th June 2002
MY DIARY FOR JUNE 2002
After Raghu, Hema and Harish left, it was the turn of Jaya Akka, who left for T.Nagar on 8th. Though cribbing about leaving Mumbai, Aarthi was enjoying her vacation. She and I saw Spiderman, which was good. She also spent a few days in Vellore/Bangalore with her friends and a few days with Neha. The cable operator started relaying TEN SPORTS channel from 7th. So we were able to see the World Cup football matches. Spain-South Africa, Senegal-Sweden, England-Brazil and Brazil-Turkey were some of the good matches. The final was also quite good.
Amritha and I are fully settled in Chennai and find it to be as good as, if not better than, Mumbai. However, Mumbai was much better as far as office-work was concerned. Amritha has the pleasure of plucking fresh jasmines and making garlands. We also got some 'nongu' and mangoes from our garden. And my mother is happy. Once a week or so, we take her around the house in the wheel-chair. We are in constant touch with close relatives. We met all of them in Triplicane on 16th when Athimber's 'Masyam' was performed. On that day, we went to Parthasarathy temple after a very long time. After three months , do I regret my decision to ask for a transfer to Chennai? Definitely not. In fact, we are now certain that we will settle down in Chennai after retirement.
Aarthi and I left for Bangalore on 28th night. I came back on 29th evening after leaving her. Her college reopens on 1st July. She has taken up Communications Design (which I understand is the same as Graphic Design) as her major.
I am happy to announce that one more relative has volunteered to contribute to the Newsletter. This issue has some nice jokes, quotations and quiz compiled by Mr. Sudarshan. Of course, there is a contribution by Prasad. Reading it brought back my own memories and I think I shall write in the next issue about the songs bookmarked in my memory. When he was here last week, Rahul promised to contribute an item- may be for the next issue.
Though I find a lot of time in Chennai, I have not found a good library so far. So my reading is limited to Newspapers and magazines. I hope I can get some good novels soon.
anbudan,
1st July 2002
MY DIARY FOR JULY 2002
Dirubhai Ambani's death, Kalam's election , Kapil Dev's selection by Wisden as Indian cricketer of the century and Michael Schumacher's winning the Formula-I world championship for 2002 with six races still to go were some important news of July. For us, more important was the fact that Jaya Akka's potassium level is higher than the norm. She is unhappy that she has been forbidden to eat any fruits and many vegetables. And she has to drink two litres of water every day. I read in the net about this condition, which is called 'hyperkalemia'. I hope her count of Potassium comes below 4.5 (3 to 4.5 is the norm) from about 6 at present.
Last month, I said that Amritha and I were fully settled. I realised later
that we had not opened more than 10 cartons, mostly containing books. I got
a book-case made and all the cartons have now been opened. So now I can claim
we are settled. We had problems on a number of days with the day-time ayah for my mother not turning up. We had to fix two new ayahs in quick succession. But the present one appears to be good. Since my mother suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, she is totally dependent on others for sitting, toilet, bathing, feeding etc. and hence we are dependent on the ayahs.
The first week of July saw me fulfilling a long-pending desire. For more than an year, I wanted to own a domain, but was postponing it since I thought it was an unnecessary expenditure. Finally, I booked a domain, which is www.sparthasarathy.net Right now, I have only provided links to all my sites. But I have set a target of 31st December to revamp my home page and host it on this domain.
We saw 'Tenkasipattinam' in theatre after reading the good reviews and were disappointed. It was so-so. We also saw 'Panchathanthiram' on CD. It looked a masala of all Kamal's past comedies and was OK- a 'see and forget' film.
On 10th, we attended my father's Shrardh in the same place (in Triplicane) where Athimber's 'maasyam' was performed. I visited Mumbai for three days on 11th, 12th and 13th. Earlier, whenever the flight (or train) approached Mumbai, I used to have a feeling of anticipation- of going home. Though I was happy to visit Mumbai, that feeling was missing, which shows that home is where the heart (i.e., Amritha) is. Harish came to Mumbai on Friday (12th) night. We both saw India's historic win in the Rest House at Churchgate. Cricket mania has crossed to cricket euphoria. 'India do a Lagaan at Lords': 'Lagaan victory for India' were some of the headlines after India's famous victory on 13th July. Some even started comparing this win to 1983 World Cup Finals. Well, it was a great win and a fine performance by Kaif and Yuvraj. But England of 2002 is definitely not equal to West Indies of 1983,while the Indian team of 2002 is perhaps more talented. And restricting a great team to 140 is far superior to chasing 326 against a mediocre attack.So let's just say it was a great win and augurs well for next year's World Cup, though as Raghu says our bowlers may not be upto the task in South africa (In fact, these bowlers allowed England to score 325 runs).
July was a quiet month for us, except that we both won some money in Housie on Club Day.I read a lot of English (3 weeklies, 3 fortnightlies and 1 monthly) and Tamil magazines ( 5 weeklies, 2 fortnightlies and 2 monthlies), apart from reading and solving Crosswords in three Newspapers. Though we do not watch any serials, we see a lot of old Tamil songs after coming to Chennai. Our day starts early (5.15 AM) with exercise routine (20 minutes of walking, 12 minutes of cycling and 12 minutes of stationary jogging for me and walking for Amritha) in the mornings. And Amritha and I play shuttle for more than half an hour every evening. The PC is always there, if I still find time hanging heavily. So no novels in July also though I have started re-reading an old PGWodehouse.
anbudan,
1st August 2002
MY DIARY FOR AUGUST 2002
The news of the month for us was the fact that Jaya Akka's potassium level has come down from 6.4 to 5.2 to 4.8. It has to come down further to below to 4.5.
India's good performance in the Commonwealth Games, Anand's victory, the release (and the flopping?) of Rajni's 'Baba' after all the hype, Sachin's 30th Century and India's big win in a test abroad, the Big Fight between cricketers and BCCI over contracts, Veerappan's coming back to the media with a bang, another Big Fight on Gujarat elections were some of the other news for the month. I am repeating what I had written to Raghu about the Commonwealth Games. 'We saw a number of games in the Commonwealth games on DD Sports which was telecasting them live. Aparna Popat played well to defeat the top seed from your country. The women's hockey SF and final were both good. The final, however, left a bad taste though the goal was correct as per rules. Overall, it was creditable to win more golds than Canada, New Zealand and SA. In fact it is sad that the cricketers who won in a tournament which had three countries get far more attention and money than the players who did well in a tourney that had about 40 countries. But who said life is fair?' But the good thing is that the shooters and others got a grand reception and cash awards and this may encourage many more to try games other than cricket (like the Anand effect in chess).
August was a busy month for us. In Mumbai, we rarely visited people, though we were going out to dramas, films etc. But here we are busy visiting and receiving people. I also had to go to the dentist for five sittings. Since he was in Adyar, we took the opportunity to visit relatives in South Madras. We also went for the Grihapravesam of Amrith's cousin and 60th birthday of her class-mate's husband. Our daily routine of exercises, shuttle, newspaper, crossword and magazines continues. Jaya Akka came here on 8th. When Neha was here, all of us saw and fondled ducklings for the first time.
We also visited Tirupathi after about 8 years. We went by train on 28th Afternoon and returned on 29th evening. All readers of this, PLEASE VISIT Kapileswar (or Kapilateertham) in Tirupathi (4 kms. from Govindaraja Swami temple) and the Meditation Hall in Tirumala when you go to Tirupathi/Tirumala next time. On 28th, we visited The temples at Tirupathi, Tiruchanoor and Kapilateertham. The last is an ancient temple and very nice (no crowds also). Next morning, we left at 4.00 AM from Tirupathi for Tirumala and had Darshan at about 6.00 after waiting for more than an hour for Archana Anantha Sewa. I have written a limerick on my experience in the Tamil section. The Meditation Hall came as a nice change after all the crowd and the noise. Since we had time, we also visited the factory of Amara Raja batteries, who make industrial as well as car batteries. Chooda was kind enough to take care of our house (and her mother and my mother) during Amritha's absence.
Harish has arrived to attend Shoba's wedding. He reached just a few hours before and will leave back for Pune on 8th September.
anbudan,
31st August 2002
MY DIARY FOR SEPTEMBER 2002
September was perhaps the busiest month for me after moving to Chennai.
It was a month in which a lot of things happened- Harish came for a week, Shoba got married, I was away to Goa and Mumbai for almost a week with a lot of cricket, Davis Cup and the US Open thrown in.The Asian Games have also started. (Raghu, you can skip the following paras as this is an abridged version of what we already wrote to you in our weekly letters).
First a report on Shoba's wedding. I had taken two days' leave for Shoba's wedding. The reception had a light music concert with 5000W speaker. So there was a lot of noise and we had to raise our voices for conversation. Some songs were sung well by them. The tiffin that evening (Kasi halwa, Bonda, Sevai and vegetable Upma) was excellent. The tiffin (Badam halwa, Idli, Pongal, Vadai, Chutney and Sambar) next morning was again good. Ice-cream was (unnecessarily) served with all meals including breakfast. Neha was very cute and wanted to know when was her marriage. Overall, The wedding was grand.
Santhanam and family left for Arunachal Pradesh on the evening of Shoba's wedding. I left on 7th and Harish on 8th. We had an IRAS Retreat in Goa for three days. I went to and returned from Goa via Bangalore. I spent 1 hour with Aarthi while going and more than two hours while returning. The Retreat was a good idea with about 35 officers at all levels participating in the presentations and discussions.Our stay and food were also excellent. Since we were free in the afternoons, I visited all the beaches and temples for the second time in my life. Goa is really a nice place.
When Harish and Hema were here, we went to 'Signs', Manoj Shyamalan's latest film. He has a knack for suspense and music like Hitchcock. But this film was difficult to understand in the end. I felt 'The sixth sense' was better.
I was to go from Goa to Mumbai for arbitration meetings for three days. But one of them got postponed. So I came back again via Bangalore. I was glad I came back to Chennai. Otherwise I'd have missed the excellent and moving programme by handicapped children for the Annual Day function of 'Karuna', the school for the handicapped children of Railway employees. At the end of the programme, one could see tears in every eyes. When you see such children, you wonder what is the design of God, why should some suffer more than others. We normal people get challenges once a while and get flustered , while for them (and their parents) everyday is a challenge.
Two important pieces of news for the month for us were that we have started getting vegetables from our garden and that we have, thanks to KVIC, arranged a bee-box in our garden. It will help in pollination and we may also get some honey in April/May. It does not need any maintenance. One has to give some sugar solution for the first four days till the bees start honey-collection in full swing. ( Harish wanted to take leave of Gopal on Saturday as Gopal normally does not come on Sundays. He told Harish that he would be coming on Sunday as he had to give 'theeni to theni'. We all had a good laugh.)
As Anand felt odd in visiting every relative for a meal (they only went to Kannan's (T.Nagar) house as it was fixed well in advance), it was decided to host a common lunch by all Pushpa's siblings to Shoba & Anand and Pushpa & Parthasarathy. The venue was Hotel Mathura in Tarapore Towers, Mount Road. It is a nice place which we have gone earlier also. All brothers and sisters of Amritha (and their spouses and children and Neha) who are in Tamil Nadu came, except Radhika who had her exams next day. There were 21 in all (17 hosts and 4 guests) including Neha. It was a nice and cosy get-together.
For a change India snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against SA. Most of the ICC Trophy matches among the senior 9 countries were good. India-Sri Lanka Final was what ICC wanted and got it without any fixing. It is a pity the final got washed out on Sunday. Aravinda got another chance to do well in his last match at home. He is out for 27. Maybe he may do better with the ball. (This Newsletter has been posted at 16.30 hours IST on 30th September, as the match is going on.) The US Open final between Sampras and Agassi must have been a dream come true for the organisers. I missed it since the sports channels were not coming in Goa. Davis Cup matches between India and Australia were one-sided as expected, but was not a total rout. I shall write about the Asian Games next month.
Otherwise life is quiet, but busy. Our routine of getting up at 5.15 AM and going to sleep by about 10.30 PM continues. We got the net for the shuttle fixed and play every evening for about half-an-hour. We continue to read a lot of Tamil and English magazines and watch sports, music and quiz programmes on TV.
anbudan,
30th September2002
MY DIARY FOR OCTOBER 2002
Another busy month. I spent more than 200 hours in October in front of the computer (you may ask what's new). It was more than double my normal quota. The reason was my own bravado. A few months back, the top man in IRAS (Mr. Murali) asked me to recommend a few good Vaishnava sites as he knows that I surf quite a bit. In a fit of bravado, I told him that instead of a list of sites, I'd give him a CD with a lot of info on Vaishnavism. I had forgotten this conversation when he asked me in September about it. I promised that it would be ready before his retirement(which is on 31st October). In September, I also told my sister-in-law (Mrs. Rajeevi Narasimhan) that I'd collect info on 108 Vaishnava Divya Desams. So I started learning about Divya Desams, which led to Azhwars and other aspects of Vaishnavism. I was lucky that one of my colleague's husband makes interactive multimedia CDs for TTD Devasthanam and I had bought two CDs on Tiruppavai and Suprabhatham in June. In October, he also made one on Vishnu Sahasranamam. I was able to put everything together and the final output is top-class (even if I am saying it). It has 550 MB data. I have uploaded the non-multimedia pages (about 10 MB with about 120 html/Javascript files and nearly 190 images) in a new site. Please visit this site and give your feedback. The address is http:\\www.oocities.org\knowvaishnavam. I found the experience very uplifting and have got interested in Tamil writings of Azhwars.
Urmila's husband Ravi skidded while travelling in a two wheeler on 12th night. He has been immediately operated upon at Kaliappa hospital as the optic nerve was affected. The operation is over successfully. Let us pray for his speedy recovery.
Jaya Akka's potassium and urea levels went up to 5.8 and 89 which are near-panic levels, as the acceptable limits are 3.5 and 20 respectively. She was immediately put on a saltless, fruitless(?) and many-vegetable-less diet, as well as increased medication. The blood test taken on 29th shows a better result at 5.2 and 62. We hope it comes to acceptable levels
A major news for the month was (no, not that monsoon has hit us or that Tamil Nadu finally got some Kaveri water or Rajinikant's fast, even though they are all NEWS) on Shoba - her clearing MCA and of course her departure to US. Our congrats to her. She and Anand visited all relatives on 2nd October. Amritha and Hema met her before her departure to US. Shoba was supposed to have written a letter to all relatives after she reached the US, but we did not get any letter. Maybe she sent it to the wrong e-mail address.
On 1st, Amritha and I saw 'Run', the only Tamil film that was a hit in the recent past. The film, which had Madhavan and a new heroine called Meera Jasmine, was good though the end was very filmy. Move over Jyothika and take over Meera. That seemed to be the reaction of the audience to her with a lot of clapping and whistling when she appeared.
It was a pity that the Champions Trophy finals got washed out twice. The second time they should have played it as a day match, in which case we would have got a result. Srinath was brought unnecessarily and showed the selectors in a poor light.
The month saw a number of VIPs to ICF, including the Chairman Railway Board and my top boss (Mr. Murali). When the CRB came, there was a splendid Bharathanatyam performance by a railway employee.
On 31st morning, I left for Delhi for a meeting and farewell dinner for two top officers of IRAS. I was in Mumbai on the morning of 1st November.
Though a lot happened in the month, I shall remember October 2002 for the Vaishnava CD and the web site that I made.
anbudan,
30th October2002
MY DIARY FOR NOVEMBER 2002
There is a nip in the air and the weather here is excellent. The early morning walk with some shuttle  and cold water bath to follow are very invigorating for the body, while the brain is exercised by ET and Hindu Crosswords. We are fully and happily settled in Chennai. We may enjoy the weather better if the mosquitoes were absent.
The news of the month was Jaya akka's hospitalisation on 19th. She is under observation for over 10 days. She is much better and more cheerful now than when we saw her on 19th. We hope she'd be discharged soon.
The family was on a flat-buying spree in November. We (Harish and I ) paid advance for a flat in Arumbakkam in Chennai. Hema and Raghu are jointly buying one flat in the same place. Both the flats are 3-bed room with a plinth area of about 1200 sq. ft. Kannan (Narasimhan) has bought a flat in T.Nagar in November.
The first 10 days of November were very busy for me in Mumbai and Chennai. On 2nd, I left Mumbai by the afternoon train. Harish and Aarthi joined me at Pune and we reached Chennai in time for Deepavali. But the festival was a low-key affair due to my father-in-law's death. Hema had also come on a week's leave. All the five of us first went to Dakshin Chitra, an excellent place, which has re-created old houses of Tamil Nadu (agraharam, chettinad hiuse, weaver’s house etc,) and Kerala (Syrian christian house, Hindu house etc.). One house each of Karnataka and AP are also available. As soon as one enters, there is a CD show. It takes more than 2 hours to see the whole place. There are also activities like making pots, painting, basket-weaving etc., which can be done by the visitor. We only tried our hand at pottery. Two days later we went to Pondichery, Auroville and Vakra Kali Amman Koil. The visit was OK. But the East Coast Road is very good. It is good to think that in 3 years,when the PM's golden quadrilateral Project is completed, entire N-S and E-W roads will be as good. We also visited all relatives. Harish, Aarthi and Hema also went to Ritchie street, where computer and electronic goods are available. All old Tamil and Hindi songs are available in MP3 CDs at just Rs. 60/-. Aarthi and Harish also bought some video and audio CDs. We also played 'mail' every night till Harish, Aarthi and Hema left (All of them left on 10th at different times). We had heavy rains till 10th, after which it stopped. But Chennai has already got its annual quota of rain.
Otherwise the month was spent in visits to the hospital. We attended a wedding reception on 14th (my cousin's daughter) and another on 24th (son of my colleague in Kota in 1980).
Bill Gates' visit in November was a big media event here. I think he and Clinton will command greater media attention than even Bush.
The month was also spent in watching the seven one-day matches between India and WI. While the first three were marred by crowd behaviour, all the matches were good. The series does not bode well for India's chances in World Cup, as it is clear that we do not have the bowling to get any team out.
Raghu went to Thailand and Malaysia in November. Congrats to Vidya and Nitya who are busy giving concerts all over Sydney.
anbudan,
30th November 2002
MY DIARY FOR DECMBER 2002 (upto 5th January 2003)
Aarthi was here and was unhappy with me. She was unhappy since She wanted to visit the backwaters of Kerala and I took her. Then why was she unhappy? You will know when you see this picture.
Cartoon by Shekhar Gurera
December was an extremely busy month for us despite the fact that I had holidays from 25th December to 1st January. The first fortnight was spent by Amritha in hospital visits till her mother was discharged on 13th. She is in Santhanam's house and is almost normal. On 12th, I went to Mumbai for a couple of days. Harish also came there for the weekend. From 22nd, it was a busy schedule. On 22nd, Kannan (T.Nagar) performed Sudarshana Homam in his newly acquired house. The house is extremely good and the function was also nice. As usual, Neha was the centre of attraction there. I became unpopular as I took her away to Adyar to my brother's place during the function.
Aarthi came on 23rd and on 24th, we went to a hotel in Adyar for the birthday celebrations of Dipti (my niece, Usha's daughter), I conducted the Housie there and was accused(?) of aiding Amritha to win two prizes, a line and full house. Harish came on 25th on two days' leave. We went to the Marina beach twice. We also visited Jaya akka and other relatives. My niece Usha, her husband and children as well as Geetha (my nephew Mohan's wife) and her son visited us for lunch on 28th. Later all of us went to marina beach where my sister , nieces and their families also came. We had a nice time and were reminded of 1st January 2002 when Raghu, Vidya and Nitya were there with us on the beach. Harish left on 29th Dec. and Aarthi on 4th Jan. 31st Dec. and New Year's day was a quiet one for us.
On 4th Jan., we went to T.Nagar to wish Rajeevi (Kannan's wife) a Happy 60th birthday.
We had some other guests also in December. As I wrote earlier, I spent a lot of time on the Archives. We also spent (wasted) a lot of time in watching the miserable Indian performance in New Zealand. The only consolation was we had company in England and Pakistan, though they were playing superior opposition.
Before I sign off, let me wish all a Happy Pongal.
anbudan,
5th January 2003
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