Music troupe and wedding receptions -- Inevitably married by society

You are in and around Chennai and a friend invites you for a wedding reception and you accept; entering the place, the first thing you will surely notice is a local music troupe singing hit tracks from kollywood. Whatever be the circumstances your friend is in…be it your friend is in financial crisis out of wedding arrangements or simply he hates spoiling the get-together mood brewing in the wedding reception, music troupe is a must.

Amidst the gossips and get-together hugs everything gets absorbed; even if the world falls apart or the bride and groom decide not to marry… everything… No one has an ear for this troupe except for kids who are generally ignored during such events, elderly people who are usually avoided and introverts who wish to avoid such events but are forced to attend. These are the only people for whom the troupe plays.

My friend’s parents were contemplating on whether to arrange for a music troupe for his wedding reception. His uncle was convincing enough for taking the music troupe off the task-list and helped the hour long discussion to end. Arrangements were on a full swing and invitations were ready in a fortnight. Upon seeing the invitation, many of the invitees called upon. Some of them expressed the need for a music troupe performance; many wanted to know if they had any financial crunch; only very few wished for the wedding and confirmed their presence. Now to keep rumors at bay, a troupe performance was finally arranged in a hurry.

Music performances were a part of the wedding in olden days when the celebration use to take place for more than a day and has no relevance in the present trends. The society we live in thrusts upon such obligations that may be contradictory to our thoughts and way of life yet we have to concede to the fact that we are a part of a larger society.

Wall posters and Chennai

Posters for all seasons and reasons: You can spot them almost everywhere in Chennai. Posters for political events, general wishes for the local politicians, strike announcements, condemning the ruling political party, birthdays, celebrity functions, anniversaries, house vacancies, movie audio release, movie 10th day, movie 25th day, someone going abroad, obituaries, music concerts … the list is endless.

Thanks to the metro-rail construction that’s been happening in the city whose steel barricades are utilized for sticking these posters. Sad part is that the metro-rail contractors employ 2-3 men for removing these posters on a monthly basis. Sticking of posters start once the hustle-bustle of the city roads starts to diminish and goes on past midnight. I often see guys carrying the poster material and a bucketful of glue in a bicycle riding the entire stretch of metro-construction. Huge mammoth sized posters are printed in separates blocks and are stuck in a matrix fashion. I got to know that there is poster creation software used these days for the matrix type huge poster printing.

Wikipedia states that the wall posters have 200 years of history and the modern day posters emerged in 1870’s. Pure textual posters were present during the time of Shakespeare circa (1600). Posters then evolved into an art form as well before they were used for political or commercial propaganda.

Posters are a good medium of propaganda, but how much is the achieved penetration of information in this busy metro-life, with most of the people hooked to their own ear pods, succumbed to their thoughts and their way of thinking?? Is the amount of paper and money that’s being put is worth?

Fake: Notes and people ...

Fake notes. We encounter them every day: be it with local grocer, tea shops, supermarkets, even bank tellers and ATM machines. Finance Intelligence Unit reports a 250% rise in the fake-currency circulation (click article-1) and the Excise department turns to public for support. This is a welcome move from the Indian government. The article quotes that private banks seizes the most fake notes. I presume the private banks are diligent in seizing fake notes compared to the PSU banks which either does not report its seize or does not seize at all. Practically fear grips us in reporting it to the nearest police station or bank.

We tend to check and recheck the higher denomination notes and leave the lower denomination notes unnoticed. Fakes of Rs 5, 10 and 50 and lots of punched metal are circulated engraved with one and two rupee coin designs. These lower denomination notes even fake the watermarks, the silver thread and many other safety aspects incorporated in the currency notes. Even ATM machines and experienced tellers dispense them everyday. Its no good complaining: Click article-2

I blame ourselves: our selfish society rather than the government or the officials, for the latter are we and we are the latter. Faking ourselves, faking notes!

Fraction of moment -- mighty sea

The same beach, the same wavy waters that knocked me down two weeks earlier welcomed me with an unknown affection this time. An affection that rises out of familiarity, an affection that ebbs out of understanding. Waves lashing me knee depth, i stood gazing the eastern sky weeping hues of bluish-orange for the west setting sun. 

My thoughts rolled back two weeks to when Bengal sea at Eliott's beach took me by surprise. Already the water had flooded till below my knee cap that a new wave formed right in front of me knocking me down. A fraction of second before I was standing firm on the sand enjoying the salty gale, a fraction later my fingers were grappling the sea sand to resist the receding wave. I stood up and found that Uma had also fell right next to me and that she had gobbled sea water out of exasperation.

I gathered my thoughts and rolled back into the present hearing to three school girls who were enjoying the caressing sea waves by laughing their guts out. After all nothing is permanent . . .

I am Ck...

I am the steam, wafting from rice bowl
I am the cofee, brewing in the mug,
I am the salad, sauted in olive oil,

I am the feel, in food and in music,

_Ck.,

Unfriendly coins -- The Indian Rupee

Hassle free money transaction in our daily life is possible by the fine imprints on coins and currencies. This fact has been agreed world-over and is in practice from time immemorial.

Recent series of coins issues by the Indian mint seems to be break this easiness of use. The Two rupee and five rupee coins with the new rupee symbol weigh almost the same and feels like erstwhile fifty paise. The impressions are very smooth and indistinguishable.I got furious when the crowded bus conductor handed over the change which I felt was of less value. The same coin caused confusion to a old woman selling newspaper.

Rising material cost, depreciation of the Indian rupee has rusted the sheen of the rupee coins albeit crowned with the new symbol.

The Chettinad of things

Chettinad cuisine is known for its mix of spices and pulses. It all started with the cuisine and now it has affected anything that is food. Any restaurant in Tamil Nadu has to be christened with 'Chettinad' or it will not sell... this mindset has forced even buttermilk vendors to name their product as Chettinad buttermilk.

Any chicken is Chettinad chicken, even when its prepared in the Chinese way. Even sandwiches are named so ... did sandwiches originate from Chettinad? Companies marketing pulses and grains boast the name ... and so on

The sad part is when my friends order the 'Chettinad' christened dishes and my taste buds refuse to acknowledge that this is the extent of marketing that prevails.

Good songs that lacked the hype - 1

All songs from the movie 'Raman Abdullah', the 1997 Tamil movie were short-time hits. I heard one of them while browsing for some other song in youtube ...

Chemparuthi pen oruthi ... is a songs that starts off with the drums and guitar getting into full rhythm.

Beautiful lyrics, well pronounced and sung by SPB and Chitra. Excellently scored by Illayaraja, the song has some unusual repetition of verses in different scales where the song slows down.

Amazing !!!

Pizza box for thirty people!

You told you have designed a pizza-box-system and this looks a pretty big for a pizza-box! -- exclaimed the visitor from my company ...

Instantaneous response was "Well, this is a pizza box that can hold a family-pizza for a family of thirty"

Felt a streak of humor telling this and was laughing my guts out ... :)

Local bus fares and the three-word-services -- its time for a fare-hike

Local bus fare in Tamil Nadu is kept unchanged for more than ten years in the past. Though government has ruled out the deregulation of diesel prices in the near future, the price has doubled in the last decade. TN government should seriously consider a fare hike in lines to the rising trend of diesel prices at least now and send out a clear message to people on city-travel optimization. Among all states in India, TN is the only state where the local bus fare is less. In fact the base fare in Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh is thrice that of in TN.

In major cities, the TN transport corporation plies various schemes of buses that charges a higher fare compared to the so called normal buses. There is an air-suspension deluxe service, limited stop service, many other three-worded service buses plying across the city. It actually confuses the traveller and grabs the high fare. Though this tactic of the government is laudable on account book terms, we worry ourselves remembering the junk three worded services and their fares, when we can utilize our potential for some productive causes.