Until I write about this incident, I can't rest!
I was passing the Cenotaph Road on my way to office by auto.
Due to traffic congestion the auto had to slow down a bit.
I watched a dashing young man, alighting from his red car after parking it in the bay of Wescare Towers, a few buildings before the Padma Apollo Cancer Hospitals. This young man was very well groomed and was wearing a bright red shirt. He looked so handsome and dashing.
He looked at me and I could not place him at all in those few seconds. But he seemed so familiar and yet not from anyone I know personally. Only after I reached the Nandanam Traffic Junction, I realized he was the actor Riyaz Khan.
Then I thought of how show biz people always look their best. They are so presentable. They take a lot of care in good grooming. Their hair styles are just for their kind of face, the clothes which are among the best, fit them so well. They have a shine to their skin which they must be taking good care of anyways. They look fit as they gym or exercise to keep in shape always.
For quite some time now, I have been planning a movie script with actors Prakash Raj and Meera Jasmine in the lead roles. I have worked out a part for Riyaz Khan as well in the story, after seeing him that day, in passing. In my mind's eye I have seen the picture several times now. Prakash Raj is a powerful actor. Jasmine is tender and portrays her roles so sensitively. Added to her great acting skills is her beauty. Her eyes convey so much without a word spoken. Once I have my script ready I shall wish God to take care of seeing it come alive on the screen!
One of my three projects will be to start writing this script and that will be soon after I am through with the present one which ends on 15th July. The scenes are rushing through my mind, too often now. I have got to download it all on paper before it evaporates into thin air! I realize it's a long way to go before seeing my story unfold on the large screen. I do not know anyone from the film industry. As raw as raw can be!! Yet nothing prevents me from having stars in my eyes :D
I need all the luck and good wishes I can garner. God bless me.
Mahalakshmi
Friday, July 1, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Zha Cafe, Chennai
Zha is a slippery Tamil alphabet which is difficult to pronounce even among some Tamilians!
I pass by a newly opened cafe called the Zha Cafe, in Sastri Nagar, Adyar, Chennai quite often, but seldom got inside to have a peek. The sign board cleverly displays the name 'Zha', in Tamil too, alongside to dispel any doubts about such an unusual name.
A power cut in an office where a meeting was to take place got shifted to this cafe, giving me a wonderful reason to check out the place.
The meeting was interesting too, as the other 4 were all enthusiastic young men, raring to get started on a web company which is about to be launched very soon.
Each ordered his drink. I went for iced lemon tea. It came in a tall glass, all froth at the top. The taste was just right, light and refreshing for the humid noon time. Then came along a platter of hot, crispy, banana flower vada (Vaazhaipoo vadai, a Tanjore speciality). It was simply gorgeous. A melt-in-the-mouth with a slight hint of roasted sesame seeds here and there.
Tea and snacks later, went around the rooms in the cafe. This place has got that rare, homely feel about it. An old house, left undisturbed, except that the rooms have become separate dining areas with interesting and different types of backdrops for each, such as toys in one room, a table running down right from the false ceiling with a large snake and ladder board game displayed all over the surface along the length. Yet another room was done with things from the world of cinema; single chairs whose covers were embossed with labels such as, heroine, hero, director, villain, etc. and sitting on the shelves of this room were film roll cans, CDs, an old typewriter, etc. There's privacy, different styles of seating arrangements - High, low, boat shaped, all of which makes the place interesting and informal.
It scores high on taste too though it is just the tip of the iceberg.
Should visit another day to try out their special dishes. I am sure that will be very soon. :D
Cheers!
Mahalakshmi
I pass by a newly opened cafe called the Zha Cafe, in Sastri Nagar, Adyar, Chennai quite often, but seldom got inside to have a peek. The sign board cleverly displays the name 'Zha', in Tamil too, alongside to dispel any doubts about such an unusual name.
A power cut in an office where a meeting was to take place got shifted to this cafe, giving me a wonderful reason to check out the place.
The meeting was interesting too, as the other 4 were all enthusiastic young men, raring to get started on a web company which is about to be launched very soon.
Each ordered his drink. I went for iced lemon tea. It came in a tall glass, all froth at the top. The taste was just right, light and refreshing for the humid noon time. Then came along a platter of hot, crispy, banana flower vada (Vaazhaipoo vadai, a Tanjore speciality). It was simply gorgeous. A melt-in-the-mouth with a slight hint of roasted sesame seeds here and there.
Tea and snacks later, went around the rooms in the cafe. This place has got that rare, homely feel about it. An old house, left undisturbed, except that the rooms have become separate dining areas with interesting and different types of backdrops for each, such as toys in one room, a table running down right from the false ceiling with a large snake and ladder board game displayed all over the surface along the length. Yet another room was done with things from the world of cinema; single chairs whose covers were embossed with labels such as, heroine, hero, director, villain, etc. and sitting on the shelves of this room were film roll cans, CDs, an old typewriter, etc. There's privacy, different styles of seating arrangements - High, low, boat shaped, all of which makes the place interesting and informal.
It scores high on taste too though it is just the tip of the iceberg.
Should visit another day to try out their special dishes. I am sure that will be very soon. :D
Cheers!
Mahalakshmi
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Mr.N.Murali of The Hindu
Today's The Hindu, put up a photo plus news about Mr.N.Murali getting elected as President of The Music Academy, Chennai.
Reading about this great man brought back pleasant memories of a meeting with him, (he is now the Senior Managing Director of Kasturi & Sons) in the mid- 1990s and came back feeling so good about this gem of a person. He was such a thorough gentleman and listened so patiently to what I had to say, though I was meeting him for the first time and knew nothing of him or his background at that time at all.
The meeting lasted about 20 minutes and he asked another person to guide me to their newsprint section to get more details for a project I was doing then, for a market survey company called MARG.
Very rarely do we come across people who treat women with so much respect. His family, culture and class showed in his simplicity and humility. Such are self-realized people for whom outward shows do not matter. They wear their titles and positions so lightly without any airs about them. What struck me the most was his treating others as humans despite his position in one of India's leading newspapers.
Though more than 15 years have passed by and the meeting din't last more than 20 minutes, yet this memory has lingered on for me as a most cherished one, though I must have been one among the so many, meeting him that busy day. Yet I came away feeling so good about myself. I think it's all about the respect the other gives us that makes us feel so good.
Alas! God makes such gentlemen in limited editions.
Mahalakshmi.
Reading about this great man brought back pleasant memories of a meeting with him, (he is now the Senior Managing Director of Kasturi & Sons) in the mid- 1990s and came back feeling so good about this gem of a person. He was such a thorough gentleman and listened so patiently to what I had to say, though I was meeting him for the first time and knew nothing of him or his background at that time at all.
The meeting lasted about 20 minutes and he asked another person to guide me to their newsprint section to get more details for a project I was doing then, for a market survey company called MARG.
Very rarely do we come across people who treat women with so much respect. His family, culture and class showed in his simplicity and humility. Such are self-realized people for whom outward shows do not matter. They wear their titles and positions so lightly without any airs about them. What struck me the most was his treating others as humans despite his position in one of India's leading newspapers.
Though more than 15 years have passed by and the meeting din't last more than 20 minutes, yet this memory has lingered on for me as a most cherished one, though I must have been one among the so many, meeting him that busy day. Yet I came away feeling so good about myself. I think it's all about the respect the other gives us that makes us feel so good.
Alas! God makes such gentlemen in limited editions.
Mahalakshmi.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Auto Driver Part 2
Yesterday's auto ride was the worst of its kind!
I was busy chanting the morning prayers but the auto driver was applying too many brakes and with sudden jerks. I got alert and watched what made him jerk the auto to a halt all of a sudden and so many times.
This driver was clearly not for women riding scooters, cars or walking along the roads!
He would drive the auto dangerously close to the ladies walking along or close to a lady's scooter or car and watch her frightened and at times angry reaction. I could feel that he was getting cheap thrills by doing this but it was plain harassment for women drivers.
I saw many of them glaring at this fellow. quite a few times it would have ended in an accident if the auto's brakes were to fail at the nick of the moment. My wrists and hands started aching from holding on tightly to the iron bar to prevent my nose or teeth from breaking a few bones here and there!
When I asked him to be careful while driving he started a never-ending argument and I had to shout at him several times before I reached my destination. Whew! Was I relieved and thankful to God that I reached safely in one piece!
After a very long time I saw such base tendencies like this at close quarters. Wished I was never seated in such an auto ever.
May God put some sense into his head for good.
Mahalakshmi.
I was busy chanting the morning prayers but the auto driver was applying too many brakes and with sudden jerks. I got alert and watched what made him jerk the auto to a halt all of a sudden and so many times.
This driver was clearly not for women riding scooters, cars or walking along the roads!
He would drive the auto dangerously close to the ladies walking along or close to a lady's scooter or car and watch her frightened and at times angry reaction. I could feel that he was getting cheap thrills by doing this but it was plain harassment for women drivers.
I saw many of them glaring at this fellow. quite a few times it would have ended in an accident if the auto's brakes were to fail at the nick of the moment. My wrists and hands started aching from holding on tightly to the iron bar to prevent my nose or teeth from breaking a few bones here and there!
When I asked him to be careful while driving he started a never-ending argument and I had to shout at him several times before I reached my destination. Whew! Was I relieved and thankful to God that I reached safely in one piece!
After a very long time I saw such base tendencies like this at close quarters. Wished I was never seated in such an auto ever.
May God put some sense into his head for good.
Mahalakshmi.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Conversation With Auto Driver
Daily I have to engage an auto to commute to work. Spend nearly 40 minutes for one trip of which 20 minutes are spent in finishing my prayers for the day. In the remaining 20 minutes I catch up with the life and times of the auto driver of the day.
Yesterday's had a picture of Kalaingar M.Karunanidhi, ex-CM of Tamil Nadu, stuck prominently on his auto's wind shield.
I informed him that in the day's newspaper, the topic of how every auto driver in town is busy sticking pictures of the present CM J.Jayalalithaa and her political mentor, MGR in place of DMK chief and ex-CM now that he is out of the hot seat.
He said the reason for him retaining that picture was due to his really liking Kalaingar. I asked him the reasons for liking him - whether for his policies or film scripting or film dialogues or poetry. He said the ex-CM had done a lot for the common man and improved the state to a new high during his tenure. He cited the samacheer kalvi, solving the water crisis for Chennai, providing benefits to the poor, low cost rice and grocery items through the public distribution system, the 108 free transport service on call for accident victims as well as for emergency cases. He mentioned that president Obama acknowledged that this was a great free service which is not available free of cost, even in the United States. Besides he felt that the Kalaingar should not have allowed A.Raja to get arrested for a mere 200 crores when other parties at the centre have done off with a 5 digit in crores!
I laughed and pointed out that the law has done what it should do, whether the person is high or low in rank.
20 minutes went past like one minute. As I alighted, the auto driver wanted to keep on talking about his favorite leader, not allowing me to go into the office so quickly. I had to excuse myself as it was getting late for office.
Mahalakshmi
Yesterday's had a picture of Kalaingar M.Karunanidhi, ex-CM of Tamil Nadu, stuck prominently on his auto's wind shield.
I informed him that in the day's newspaper, the topic of how every auto driver in town is busy sticking pictures of the present CM J.Jayalalithaa and her political mentor, MGR in place of DMK chief and ex-CM now that he is out of the hot seat.
He said the reason for him retaining that picture was due to his really liking Kalaingar. I asked him the reasons for liking him - whether for his policies or film scripting or film dialogues or poetry. He said the ex-CM had done a lot for the common man and improved the state to a new high during his tenure. He cited the samacheer kalvi, solving the water crisis for Chennai, providing benefits to the poor, low cost rice and grocery items through the public distribution system, the 108 free transport service on call for accident victims as well as for emergency cases. He mentioned that president Obama acknowledged that this was a great free service which is not available free of cost, even in the United States. Besides he felt that the Kalaingar should not have allowed A.Raja to get arrested for a mere 200 crores when other parties at the centre have done off with a 5 digit in crores!
I laughed and pointed out that the law has done what it should do, whether the person is high or low in rank.
20 minutes went past like one minute. As I alighted, the auto driver wanted to keep on talking about his favorite leader, not allowing me to go into the office so quickly. I had to excuse myself as it was getting late for office.
Mahalakshmi
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Chain Snatching
Here is the picture of a design drawn for Monday.
Gold chain snatching has become a growing menace in Chennai. Rise in gold prices are also partly responsible for this.
Many women and men are continuing to lose their gold chains and other jewelery to daring daylight snatchers.
There are so many such cases reported each and every day. The common factor is women walking alone on deserted roads. Even if they were to be accompanied by their husbands, it does not deter these dare devils.
Men on bike watch women who wear gold chains and approach them as if to enquire about some vague address and commit this crime.
The trauma of such incident apart, many complaints to the police have not led to recovery of jewelery nor do the culprits get caught.
How can we stop this menace?
Only one solution can be there.
The women and men should cease to wear gold. There will be no gold to snatch so this crime will come down if all women unite in taking this precaution for their own safety.
How can the government or police help in protecting an individual's gold chains? Also how careful can anyone be all the time for their valuables. This will result in some kind of paranoia.
It is the individuals who can definitely rectify this situation.
Mahalakshmi.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
The Sick And Nos(e)y Dog
A street dog on our very busy street is quite sick. His desperate need is to find some calm and shady place to rest.
He keeps shifting from this to that side of the road trying to avoid direct sunlight.
His senses have become sharper trying to find an open gate through which he could sneak into any of the numerous flats lining our busy street. Many a times he has surprised us with his presence under the staircase, in the backyard, near the motor room...
Ours is one of the widest with grill gates. Though we use only one entrance which has a bolt to keep unwanted visitors from coming in.
Whoever finds him tries to shoo him away but only for while until someone opens and just closes without bolting the gate. I wanted to know his modus operendi and watched him in action for a couple of days. He would sit at a distance, strategically across the road facing our gate. Whenever someone is at the gate, he watches and waits until they are gone. Then he slowly ambles his way to the gate and noses it open and lets himself in!
It was as if he was trying to punish anyone for being careless or lazy in not bolting the gate.
I found there was no use trying to chase the dog away, getting nervous about his presence. The only solution lay in educating people to latch the gate after them. Only that would deter the dog from entering our premises effectively. Alas we do not have a watchman to do it for us either.
Since I am off work for a couple of days, I took it upon myself to do something about it.
I have trained my ears to pick up the sound of opening of the gate and rush to our road-facing window through which I ask people to latch the gate after them so that the dog does not come in. This is my new job. Our complex has six flats and I have requested all members big and small besides regular visitors like the flower vendor, milkman, newspaper man, servants, salesmen, postman... who have all got to be reminded of this new activity. The dog knows that it is not welcome inside our premises, finding the gate closed, yet this one is a patient animal which keeps trying to get in!
Stray and irritable dogs are allowed to roam around freely on most streets. At times they chase cyclists who have to lift their legs high up to avoid getting bitten and yet have enough balance to cycle away fast from such a menace. At times you find a pack of them chasing innocent citizens. Their barks become unbearable at some times and you can deduce that some rag pickers are in the vicinity with their dirty sacks flung over their shoulders and a stick in hand to rummage the garbage.
Stray, sick and vicious dogs are a health hazard for us humans. They could harm unsuspecting people walking on roads. The municipality seems to be preoccupied with better jobs than these.
I feel bad for such dogs. I feel bad for all of us who could be their next target.
When someone rings up the Blue Cross for taking away such sick animals, they have always come up with a stock reply that they do not have enough space to take in additions right now.
It is indeed a sad plight for all us creatures.
Mahalakshmi.
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