After a long hiatus, I am back in Chennai. Had been in my native for a fairly long time, since my engineering days. Sometimes, village life is a pure bliss. With nothing to distract, life goes on as smooth as Aishwarya’s cheeks. Saw the raising sun after a long time…Got to feel the dew in grass- it’s a superb feeling to walk in the paddy fields after harvest, thrashing the dry but hard paddy plant under your feet. It can hurt, but with careful practice, it is joyous. Pump set bath- an awesome experience. With almost uninterrupted power supply and the main stay being paddy and sugar cane, the pump sets would be available all time and so nothing stops you from bathing for an hour or two. There is a huge temple near my place. Its called Thiruathigai. If one remembers the Thirugyana Sambhandhar’s history, it would be a familiar place. It is the place where, his sister- Thilagavathiyar was married. The temple is a “Paadal Petra Stalam” and also, one of the “Asta Veereta Stalam( one of the eight places, where Lord Shiva did “Samhaaram”- meaning, killed the demons) and is in war footing. Here, he is the “Tiri Puram Eritha Sivan” the place where Shiva burnt the three forts- of Gold, Silver ad Copper of the Demon. The temple at sunset is a soothing and refreshing place to be. I repeat- its bliss.
I guess the cable TV operator in my native is a DMK sympathizer. Except for the solar family, (read Sun TV n its Cohorts), nothing else is available. DD is provided thanx to the directive from the government. Otherwise, one is left to the mercy of the Sun, K, Sun Music, Sun News, Surya and Gemini. But the happenings there leaves no complaints..who would complain if he gets a chance to watch classics like, Thillaana Moghanaambhal, Mouvnam Samadham, Kadhallikka Naeramillai, Punnagai Mannan, Pudhu Kavidhai, Sindhu Bhairavi etc. Some times, lack of choice is also a blessing. But to say the truth, it becomes boring after a couple of weeks. So, switched to my bell weather hobby- reading. Read some amazing classics like Ponniyin Selvan, Sivaghamiyin Sabhatham, Paarthiban Kannavu. I finished Sivaghamiyin Sabhatham(1280 pages) in 10 hours. Think my reading speed had gone down. I should have finished it in 8 hours. It’s a brilliant book…
My native being an Internet draught place hadn’t given many chances for me to blog. Occassionaly I would browse, but then browsing centre isn’t that great a place to blog. Infact I tried posting, and typed a rather long post…but before I finished my post, the entire system hung up…and my post was gone. That was my last attempt to post anything from a browsing centre. But in Chennai, I don’t have any problem posting… I type everything offline and just copy paste it to post…simple.
Couple of surprises for me in Chennai….first and foremost is the changed layout of The Hindu…it isn’t the old Hindu that I grew up reading from my 7^th standard. In its new avatar, it is just as good(or bad) as TOI. Plainly uninspiring. The two leader page articles had been cut to just one. The cartoon occupies the second article’s space. Hindu seems to have lost its originality. Even the headings for the features like Religion, This Day That Age etc resembles TOI. Time(s) is catching up with Hindu- Is it?? Second Surprise is Renu…would keep it offline.
Would be in Chennai for a week. Got some purchases to make and some treats to receive and give. One such had already been received. Other treat to receive would be that of Palavesam. Would have to speak with Raj and Venky for the date, venue and time for that. After that, would go back to native. Got some marriages and Upanayanams( the Sacred thread wearing ceremony) to attend.Would be leaving to Hyderabad on May 2^nd.