The Deer And Stag of IIT, Madras

I travel past the IIT, Madras on my way to office.

When the auto races past the IIT compound walls, I strain myself to see whether there are any deer peeping through the grilled iron fencing. Invariably I find two or three of them. At times I can see only a snout or two pairs of upright ears or a pair of those majestic horns as the lower half is a concrete wall and the upper half is a grilled iron fence.

It was sometime later I realized that there were people on this side of the road, feeding them with fruits and bread pieces. No wonder they come out of their safe habitat at the same time each day expecting food from regulars.

They are so trusting of humans. Sigh!

It is such a pleasure to see them.

Mahalakshmi.

Picture coutesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institute_of_Technology_Madras

To Marry or Not To... Part 3

I had to go back in search of a blog I had written long time back on marrying the person you love.

I had written about 'To Marry Or Not To.. 2' on the 24th October, 2010.

Its about the same girl who remains unmarried to-date, whereas the boy got married and lives happily with his wife just next door.

I have been home for a couple of days getting a break from office. These two days were stressful as I could hear such outbursts from this depressed girl. She was fighting with her mother, father, her brother and his wife. The words she used were downright crass for all her close ones - the reason - they have all stopped her from getting married to her choice of man because he din't belong to their caste. I thought someone might call in the police to avoid any untoward incident as a result of all this free-for-all with so much banging of doors.

If the girl had married her man, despite whatever the family would have gone through, she may have been settled in her life.
The family ensured she din't go out un-escorted and the girl also din't have enough courage to walk out of her home to be with her man.

She is not allowed to go out much less work at a job. She is not allowed to walk around our complex. All this has made her life so miserable. She watches TV all day long. eats, sleeps and fights when she is upset about her life. Wonder whose victory is this and over whom?

How will they ever solve this perpetual problem. For now, they have packed her off with a relative for a few days but how long can this highly distressed girl remain in others' houses? One day she will come back home to the same story.

Its upsetting and truly disturbing. We are, yet we are not, part of it all.

Mahalakshmi.

The Satsang

Last Sunday my husband and I were invited to attend a satsang which means a public gathering where people to share their knowledge through spiritual discourses, have young and upcoming artistes with a chance to perform, some mantra chanting, etc.

There was a keyboard player who played popular raga based film songs, besides two speakers that day. One talked about Karma and quoted the Bhagawat Gita extensively and the other spoke on the Siddhars of Thiruvannamalai - the famed hill where Ramana Maharshi spent most of his life.

This was largely attended by retired Tambrams short for tam(il)-brahm(ins). There were about 70 of them hearing it all out for a good 3 hours from 5pm to 8pm. Nice way to spend time, share one's knowledge with an interactive audience. But will I be able to sit through each month's last Sunday, I truly wonder. Once in a while this seems OK. And 30th Oct. 2011 was their 6th anniversary of holding such satsangs without a single break. That's no mean achievement.

Cheers for their sheer perseverance for sharing knowledge with others.

Mahalakshmi

Bus Journey

Boarded the Deluxe bus No. 47A to get to T.Nagar to work on a rainy day.

Buses are better on rainy days as all roads are flooded with dirty water. Moreover we don't get drenched with the other passing vehicles splashing dirty water on our office wear.

Deluxe service tickets are priced higher so the buses are not crowded and the seats are comfortable too.

Was disappointed to notice so much trash obviously lying uncleared since many days (highlighted in red under the seaters in front) even though it was 10.15am. I thought buses are swept clean at the bus depot itself before starting on the first trip of the day.

Another bus I traveled was so over-crowded with young boys hanging on the window railings with one foot on the foot board at the entrance and another left dangling freely. These boys perform all kinds of stunts in running buses to impress the ladies and girls who have a view as the ladies' seats are allocated the left side in all buses! Some have had falls quite serious and at times fatal. When will they learn that their lives are precious to their parents and not at all worth these silly antics to impress all and sundry on the heavily traffic ridden bumpy Chennai roads.

May they get enlightened enough not to risk their dear lives for any reason or person.

Mahalakshmi.

The Making of Badam Halwa

Badam = Almonds. Halwa = Gooey Sweet. Diwali is a special time for us in our family. My dear mom was born on Diwali day in the year 1927.

I could not take her out on her birthday as there was office work to attend to. But I did manage to make the badam halwa day before yesterday. Well the process was the same. Only I wanted the sugar to be light so instead of 1:1:2 of Paste-of-Soaked-Almond-Ground-with-Milk:Ghee:Sugar I made it with the same ingredients but in 1:1:1 ratios.

It turned out to the right gooey consistency so I offered the first spoon to God and the same one to my mom for tasting. She pronounced the result which made my smile turn to a sour expression :( It was not sweet enough. I had no time to redo it as I was rushing off to office.

Yesterday before going to office I wanted to rectify the sweet, so added 1 more measure of sugar and had the whole thing going on fire again. The best thing with halwa is that you can put it back on fire and stir until you get it right even if you made a mistake the first time around!

This time it passed my mom's taste test. I was glad my mom did not want to compromise with lesser sweet in our traditional sweets like the badam halwa.

The wheat halwa is one of my all-time favorites. Its called the Tirunelveli halwa too. This has to be made with 1:1:3 of Milk-of-Wheat:Ghee:Sugar! This one is such an addictive sweet that you tend to have spoon after spoon of wheat halwa before you even realize you have had too much of it. Your teeth ache from it more so if one has cavities yet you want to go on eating it. The taste of sugar, wheat and clarified butter make it taste so very divine.

Cheers.

Mahalakshmi.

The Van Drivers Conference!

On the main road in Adyar, there is a stand for Carriage Vans. Though it is not a recognized parking place, the vans are stationed here all the time and people come here to hire these to transport anything locally.

Whenever I pass this road, I find a group of idle drivers chatting away to pass time. Two dogs also join this group. The dogs are treated as equals and food and tea is shared with these lovable creatures. One has a coat of salt and pepper all over with a white patch below, his eyes bright and defined as if with a black liner and another one has biscuit color coat of hair - both street dogs. The drivers love this pair. The dogs have the full freedom to rest inside any empty van if the sun is too hot or if it rains. At times I see these dogs dancing and wagging their tails so vigorously to the driver's endearments as if they understand every single word being spoken to them!!

This bonding between men and dogs is special and so very open. It makes me feel happy each time I pass that way. I look out for this conference of men and dogs at the venue - just opposite to the Vijaya Raja Kalyana Mandapam on the 1st Avenue Road, Adyar, Chennai.

I wish I could click a pic. Shall upload when I am able to.

Mahalakshmi

BMW and T.Nagar, Chennai

The other day while travelling down to office meant passing through the main road in T.Nagar - Pondy Bazar. Added to the usual rush was the Diwali festival shopping crowd.

My auto was inching from one traffic signal to another. Out of the blue, the latest model of a black Mercedes Benz drove across vehicles at a cross road. All eyes were on that black beauty. Heads turned, eyes transfixed to the driver and then the car. None moved despite a lot of honking of horns at least until it moved well beyond everyone's sight!

Definitely it does mean a lot to drive in the best one around.

Its been a long time wish to drive around in a BMW. This is yet to come true.

There was a time when I thought I should at least hire the BMW once and take a round of the city in it! That day will come very soon as I am a die-hard optimist.

Happy Diwali.
May this festival of lights brighten our lives and bring us a lot of cheer, peace, good health and prosperity.

Mahalakshmi.