MOTHERHOOD

It came as a pleasant surprise when RINN was missing from work spot ! On Searching she was sitting outside in the canteen bench. Her hair was messy, uniform crumpled and she was not her usual self. I approached her and reassured her that all would be well provided she told me what her problem was. I was thinking she might be suffering from ladies related issues, so did not press further. She was hesitant initially and later told me that she had stomach ache. I asked her to take the usual slip to attend medical help. As the regular clerk was not available, I myself wanted to fill up the slip. By then RINN had to rush out and on following her I found out that she was vomiting. It just took a few minutes to guess what was going on with her !!!

Here is one to celebrate her motherhood !!

As you set on the journey of motherhood

The most pleasurable phase in the life of every lady…

Congratulations!

It is time not just to make CREAM…But also to DREAM!

Dream a million names for the soon to arrive Angel..

Pet name, Nick name, Official name..In the company of your partner!

“Angel Boy” or “Angel Girl” only GOD Knows!!

Time to knit a pair of tiny gloves, a pair of lovely socks,

Snugger cap for the little one to crown and cover the head,

And nice, warm sweater!

Time to choose a crib…

Time to choose a pram…

Time to decorate the abode to welcome the little one!

It is the time of one’s life when you can indulge

In nice salivating, nutritious food not only for yourself,

But also for the one growing nicely in you!!

Time to slow down the hopping and fast strolling and

To take careful steps to reassure the junior!

It is time to enjoy the baby’s slow, steady kicks and turn

In your little tummy and smile in ecstasy!

Enjoy this lovely journey and do take good care

Not only for yourself but also for the little one in you!

Do keep us posted of the

Much awaited arrival of the “Prince” or ”Princess” Dear!!

AN ODE TO MY DAD……2

I was promoted from class V to class VI in 1968. The school was called as Moyar Camp Elementary School. The school had mostly students from working class who were laborers associated with Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and a few from the local village called as Undiyoor mostly belonging to Scheduled Tribe population. The standard of education unlike the plains was pathetic. But teachers who were mostly from Thirunelveli district were very good with mathematics and gave us a good grouting. English was poor. As we started moving from class to class the school, the school also started growing from Elementary to Middle school! In that school, I got moved to class VI. My father gave a very long sermon on that day about the emphasis of good education and importance of leading life which should not be a hand to mouth existence! That message got deeply embedded in me.

I remember one teacher there very fondly. Her name was Mrs. Amirtham a Catholic and wife of the local Health Inspector. Every year she used to get a baby and due to heavy pregnancy she used to mostly sleep in the class asking the monitor to take care of the class! For my fourth year birth day she gifted me a pack of “Glaxo” Biscuit and now I am, probably because of her blessing stuck to making biscuits!

We were taught Sanskrit Slokas by both parents. Thus we were fluent in Sri Venkatesa Suprabhatam and Vishnu Sahasranamam before turning 12. When MS Subalakshmi’s Sahasranamam was released as a LP record, we were taken to the local temple to listen to the same by my father. My father liked the speech in English by Sri Rajaji.

 Dad used to be very active in the temple and used to take to Saturday Bhajans as well as Markazhazi month morning Bhajans. People used to admire him for the way he used to sing the Bhajans swinging his head in simple harmonic motion!!

As Children we were often taken to the forests to get good Amla, Berrys etc. We also had the fortune of seeing wild animals swimming in Moyar river. Twin calves of a single mother elephant in Theppakadu. My father took to gardening in a big way as we had plenty of space for kitchen garden. Most of the time we spent on the guava tree! We also had the fortune to see deer population devouring our garden which had plenty of beans and other vegetables. Wild pigs used to uproot banana plants to eat the roots!

Dad used to be always to be very presentable. Good dressing sense was his hall mark. He always ensured that all the clothes were washed properly using 501 Bar soap or Sunlight soap! Tin opal a cloth whitener and Blue color used to be liberally used to make his dhotis and white dress shine and stand out! Sundays he used to spend in washing and putting starch for the clothes. Then all the dresses were ironed using an iron box which used coal! Habits which still my younger brother strictly adhere to every weekend, of course using an electric iron box and he has the company of TV to entertain him while ironing the clothes!

When I was in class 7^th we three brothers went on a trip to Chennai all alone. Father dropped us at Mettupalayam and we took Blue Mountain Express from Mettupalayam to Chennai. We were received by our cousin in Chennai. The trip to Chennai in hot summer was indeed a great experience as we got exposed to a city. But the hot climate took a toll on our health. When we were to return my Uncle did not know our names correctly. So he booked tickets in the name of TT Chari, TC Chari and TV chari giving approximate ages!!

For class 9^th I moved to Sri Shanthi Vijaya High School in Masinagudi. This Jain Institution was the only high school in Coodalore taluq of The Nilgiris District. My father asked me to go and get admitted to the school as he was very busy then. I was asked to pay INR 13.65 as annual fees and I told the head master that my father when free would come and settle the same. The Head master used to teach Maths. Some of the teachers were very good in English. I still remember one Mr. Bholan who used to drive the message hard  “Third Person Singular Present Tense one should add  “S” to the verb “!! When even highly qualified people make mistakes in this often, I get to remember the great soul!

I had to go to school in school bus run by the electricity board. The distance of 8 KM from Moyar Camp used to take 30 minutes. If by chance any rogue elephant that day we had to return mid way. So we used to chant lot of prayers if there was any tough test asking Ganapthi to save us that day!! We also got to see many Tamil, Hindi film shootings near the school.

In 1972, middle of the academic year my father was transferred to Ambasamudram and he was to take care of a Hydro Electric Power Project in Mundanthurai wild life sanctuary. We had to, in the middle of academic year get transferred to new school, new location where we had to set up a home and manage! The Nilgiris was a paradise, no house rent, free electricity, 24 hours protected water, security and what not!  Kallidaikurichi where we set up based was an over grown village and very different from our old way of life!!   

                                                                                                                ……………… To be continued…

   

AN ODE TO MY DAD.....1

AN ODE TO MY DAD!!

It was in 1978, probably in the month of May/ June. The place was Thirunelveli Junction Railway Station. I first saw my father crying uncontrollably. The event was nothing to grieve about. I was to be seen off from the station as I was going for higher education in National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana. We were not financially very well off then. Therefore instead of accompanying me and dropping me in the college he chose to see me off at Thirunelveli station itself.  Kanyakumari express chugged off from the station at about 5 PM. As long I was in his presence, I controlled myself and did not shed any tears. But once the train left the station and I could no longer see him waving good bye, until it reached Madurai I was also in tears all the way. There was a Muslim gentleman who was working with TOMCO (Tata Oil Mills and Company), who was in the same compartment and having seen us crying, he spoke to console me and then went and reported the event to one of our distant relative in Chennai as they were colleagues!

Being the eldest son, I had a bit longer association with my father and he also showered extra love and care on me! My earliest association with him dates back to the time we moved from Pykara to Moyar Camp in Nilgiris in a truck! I clearly remember the birth of my third brother in Jan’1964 when my father woke me up in the morning to see the baby as well as my mother in Moyar camp hospital. I saw my brother with lot of blood stains and wrapped in a bale of cotton. I was given a lot of sugar candy to distribute to my friends in school on my brother’s arrival!

The arrival of my youngest brother was very vivid in my memory. It was a Friday as usual my mother had done special prayers. We used to have a big rose plant in front of our garden. All the flowers were nicely plucked and a garland was made to adorn the photo of Sri Krishna in MAKKAN CHOR position. My mother developed bleeding and she was taken to Moyar camp hospital. From there to OOTY and my brother was born on Saturday morning after a cesarean section done by one District Medical Officer Dr. Sarala Krishnamurthy. Later she became our family friend and poor lady died of a road accident.

Our family was not very well to do then. Feeding four growing children with a single man’s salary was always an issue. Thus it was always hand to mouth existence. My second brother had some health issues. He was treated with Streptomycin injection every day on alternate bums in Moyar camp dispensary. Later he was taken for a biopsy test in Ooty and the results came satisfactory. My father then had taken a penance that he would conduct our Upanayanam function in our native god’s abode. The same was done in 1974.

Since we were living in Mudumalai wild life sanctuary, we were devoid of any great entertainments. The number of residents was a few and all of them used to work for electricity board. There were a few people from forest department. All the adults used to take to alcohol, playing cards etc. to while away the spare time. My dad was a total exception. To him always family came first. He used to be back from office, go for a walk with likeminded friends or all alone. After that evening prayers and then he used to sit with us to help us in our studies. We never had the luxury of Radio, Transistor, TV etc. then. Thus each one of the family member used to be so close to the other person!!

During the Indo Pak war in 1964-65 our country was passing through severe crisis for food grains. Nilgiris used to be very badly hit without adequate supply of rice. We were forced to switch to Millets as staple food. A ball of Millet (Ragi ) and Sambhar the same used to be so delicious, I am still salivating thinking about that delicious food. Our parents would not eat that on Saturday as commanded by the then Prime Minister Lal Bhadhur Shastri. Those tough days had profound impact on my mind. I can’t at any point of time ever waste any food stuff and as a value system practice this even today.

                                                                                                                                To be continued ……. 

MIGHTY MAY MONTH OF 2017

MIGHTY MAY MONTH OF 2017

Being a book worm has got its own advantage! You can be on your own where ever you go, mind your own business and even if there is no company of friends or relatives, you have your COMPANY in the form of a book in hand.

This year in May we were in the US. Though we traveled a lot to nearby places in and around Washington DC, New York etc., I could finish reading six books on diverse topics. They were stacked especially for me by my daughter and son-in-law knowing my taste. It used to be a routine to get up early in the morning sit and read. This followed by breakfast and reading session. Then visit to local sight-seeing and then in the night the reading session continued. Americans are found to be so fond of books wherever you go you may find a few glued to books- be it the metro station, airport, hotel, bus stop etc.

The first book was by one George Orwell with the title “Homage to Catalonia”. This one was about communist up-spring in Spain. Nothing so spectacular to mention !  

The second interesting book was by one Gilbert King with the title “Devil in the Grove” which was about Mr. Thurgood Marshall. A very interesting book about Thurgood Marshall who struggled for equal rights for Afro-Americans. I was terribly moved by the struggles faced by natives and the atrocities committed on them by KKK. What we see now as a free world with equal rights and liberal America happened because of the tireless efforts by these stalwarts. When we paid visit to Arlington Cemetery we visited the cemetery of Mr. Thurgood Marshall and paid our homage to him very fondly. 

The book “ The looming tower AL-Qaeda & The Road to 9/11” by Lawrence Wright was too good I hardly put it down when reading the voluminous book. Total Communication break down between two intelligence agencies of the super power of the world, due to tuff protection and office politics allowed an instance like 9/11 to happen. When we visited Pentagon we could relate to the events of 9/11.

“ A long way gone Memories of a Boy Soldier” By Ishmael Beah of Sere lone made an interesting reading from the point of view of the sufferings of innocent children who get exposed to war and how they lose their childhood, innocence and get conditioned in this cruel war torn world. What good an exposure to a new country like America does to them is revealing.

I am a fan of God Father. The book made a lasting impression in me since college days. A sequel to the Original God Father by Mark Winegardner  “ The God Father’s Revenge” made an interesting light reading. Though nowhere near the original, it came as a breeze of fresh air amidst all these serious reading.

I was a small lad when Bangladesh was formed. Though living in South India meant little exposure to war time effects, we were fed with lot of information on the print media. The book by Salil Tripathi “The Colonel Who Would not Regret- The Bangladesh War and its unique Legacy” made me nostalgic recounting childhood memories of Bangladesh war. War time crimes, atrocities on women, Loss of lives, Balant betrayal by trusted military commandants etc. were looming in my mind for days together!

The last book in the month of May was totally unrelated to all the above, but something on parenting. My daughter was going crazy while going through this book. “This Chinese mother is this, that and all that”. I had earlier read a review of this book in The Hindu. When I got a soft copy of this book I was very happy to finish the same in a few sittings. The book “BATTLE HYMN OF THE TIGER MOTHER” By Amy Chua is about the agony of parenting. Amy Chua’s narration is interesting. Though some of her actions may e mistaken to be going to too extreme, We should also listen to the two poor girls born to a Jewish father and Chinese mother. May be one day they will publish their stories !!

In all these reading was possible due to total absence of any distraction from the idiotic TV !

 

TV- The Idiot Box or " Idiot's box"

TV -THE “IDIOT BOX” or “IDIOT’S BOX” !

We are very crazy household! We feel proud of that fact! We did not own a TV for most part of our parenting. We had taken a very conscious choice at the insistence of our daughter.

As long as I was in college those were the days of black & white TV. There used to be a single channel Delhi Doordharshan which was beamed back from Dehradhun Kendra. Though, there were hundreds of addicts for even such black and white programme with ghost images and what not, I made a conscious decision to be away from TV. My timing of watching TV was limited to Fridays for Regional “Chitrahar” when we may get to hear one or two regional songs from South India. If Tamil songs were telecasted , that day there may not be any Malayalam songs and like that. So the crowd used to boo the state which was deprived of a song that day. 

I had a roommate from Himachal and he was a confirmed TV addict way back in 1978-82. He used to straight away get into the common room from college. He used to start with Krishi Dharshan (Farmer’s Programme) and end his stay there when the announcer bid good bye with a Namasthe at 10 or 11 PM.

Poor guy could manage like that and with my notes hidden below my pillow till the last year final semester. In the last paper he got a repeat and had to waste one full year to clear the same.

After college and during my first job I had no TV with me. During our marriage we were gifted a black and white TV which was used by us. Later the same was handed over to our parents when we had to move away from Chennai to Madurai. Then in Malawi we had a TV locally bought with VCP etc. only to watch movies during weekends and to see British Council cassettes.

In 1999 we had to return to India and our daughter gave us an ultimatum that we should not buy a TV as she wanted to stay focused on her studies. Thus we had adhered to our promise and stayed away from the IDIOT BOX till 2005 when we moved to Thailand. By then our daughter was already in professional course and we never felt the need of a television as we did not miss anything.

In Thailand, there was a TV and CD player arranged by the company as part and parcel of the perks. We had the pleasure of watching CNN & BBC. All other channels used to be of in local Thai language. We could watch Thai Royal channel to admire their tradition and reverence for the Royal Household. CDs of Indian movies Tamil, Telugu and Hindi used to supplied by my neighbor and colleague as he was so fond of TV Channels he used to have a own satellite antenna for his use !When we returned from Thailand we bought a 56 “ TV which proved to a neighbor’s envy and owner’s pride investment ! We could use this for two years and then started moving far and wide.

I did fall flat for Mahabharat which was telecasted a few years back and looked forward to watching the same. But unlike a few of my own kin who start the day with all and sundry devotional channels at 4 AM and end the nights with many family dramas- mother-in-law vs. daughter-in-law I can hardly sit glued to the idiot box. 

As a family we used to visit a household where the bread winner was in final stages of his life as he was terminally ill. One day when we had gone to his household, he was away in a hospital and his wife was sitting with a few neighbors watching “Sant Thukaram” a Marathi movie. Having understood the fact that they were not going to move their eyes from the TV screen we excused ourselves and wanted to move out. We were also politely told to sit and watch the movie!

In another case, a close relative of our family had lost his son-in-law. As we were staying near their household we would visit them during weekends to commiserate with him on the recent bereavement. Once we were told politely that we should make our visits during working days. I told him that we were busy on working days and asked him whether he had any issues on weekends. Pat came the reply that the family did not want to be disturbed when watching movies on weekends!!

Recently, I was speaking to my mother. She has a friend who has gone to the USA to be with her children. My mother when asked stated that all was well with her friend, but only issues was she called on Tuesdays and they speak for two hours. I told my mother that she must be happy that her friend has not forgotten her even after moving to the US. My mother expressed her anguish that she has to watch serials in Tamil in mute position for two hours every Tuesdays!

I had seen lonely old people keeping TV on just to have a vicarious feeling that there are a few people at home. I have also seen people after watching horror serials scratching their head and waking up at odd hours screaming!!

I and my wife used to watch a Tamil talk show which we were happy to watch a few episodes. Later we decided that the programme was brining more negative energy and thoughts as everything was revolving around illicit relationships, mother neglecting children, husband complaining about eloped wife etc. Consciously we have a put a stop to this and TV is only for weekend if we have any good movies or some children’s music or some dance programme.

Regarding TV news less said the better!!

CATCH THEM YOUNG !!

“Catch them young”  watch words to inculcate a sense of purpose and direction in the mind of young ones- So true and profound thoughts. What is sown in a young mind as a seed develops and grows in to a dream! May spread its wing and grow to glow!

Let me recall my own case. Being the eldest in the pack of four, I grew up in a middle class household where the level of aspiration inculcated in all of us was very high! Expectations of parents were very high. We are shown role models from actual living legends of our time.

Looking back after a span of thirty five years of working career, I found a small hobby of my mother which had shaped my vocation and thereby my occupation. When I was in school, we used to live in Nilgiris. As the place used to be far away from nearest town, Ooty, we used to get our provisions and supplies very late. Thus our supplies of Biscuits used to be erratic and after arrival we used to find them to be old, broken and of poor taste.

In a household with four growing children, biscuits and cookies used to be good items to indulge during snack breaks. Thus my mother, after a little deliberation chose to make cookies at home. Those were the days when the remote place in Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu did not have Gas supply to homes. We were not having any electrical oven to bake. Though electricity was available to cook that would not suffice the heavy need for baking. So with a tin smith who used to work in my father’s department a oven was designed by her. It had two decks. Sliding plates used to slide inside the oven on racks.  The oven was having a bottom portion to accommodate three fourth of an inch sand. The oven was placed on a burning coal bed and the lid of the oven was also having provision to spread burning coal so as to get uniform heating for the plates. There were four such plates. Two inside the oven undergoing baking and two ready with unbaked biscuits to get inside at any time.

We had great excitement on the first day as my mother would start baking that day. The whole backyard of the house was full of smoke due to burning of fire wood. The oven was pre heated and ready. My mother was busy kneading the dough as there was no electrical kneader. We were assigned the task of cutting shapes of biscuits using the lids of “Horlicks” bottle. Thus uniform round pieces of varying thickness were spread on the plates to go inside the oven.

Being the eldest, I was charged with the responsibility of “Quality control” that is to reject non-uniform pieces of wet biscuits. Later on seeing my good work mother assigned me additional responsibility of layering the trays uniformly, which till then she used to d meticulously to perfection!

When the first lot of cookie was out of the oven “wow” the euphoria in the household was palpable as the aroma that filled the smoky back yard is still vivid in my memory. There was the smell of Cardamom, as we did not have Vanilla we used freshly powdered Cardamom in the cookies. Despite a few burnt cookies the first attempt of my mom was a great hit! For the evening tea session my father had brought a few guests who were all praise for the cookies.

After a few mores sessions, my mother had perfected the process conditions like mixing time, quantum of water in the dough, thickness of dough sheet, spacing in the tray and baking time. As usual in our house hold I got the official privilege of being the TASTER, be it Puliyodharai (Tamarind Rice), Pongal or Cookies as my mother always had unassailable believe in my taste buds! I also fancied this role as I had learnt about the expertise of Tea Tasters and Ice-cream tasters. I loved that role.

What started as a hobby of my mother (which she later gave up on account of growing family demands and easy availability of various packed options!) became my profession for the past 35 long years! Each day is unique as no two products are the same!  Each batch is an enigma as dependence of human being in this industry is high, despite this product consistency is the hall mark!  Each product development is like giving birth to a baby- But not a day is boring as each day comes loaded with its own Challenges!!