The early morning sights, sounds and smells of Kochi.

My heart's a'flutter and the doctor has advised me to work out more and as a follow through, I've begun to go on a morning jog/brisk walk over a stretch of six and a half kms in addition to my evening work outs.

And today's was my first outing before sunrise. As the sights, sounds and smells of the city hit me with an electrifying intensity - the contrast to that of the Delhi Cantt premises is drastic but, every place has its 'USP' - and I shall try to list them out, at random, as I can recall:-

(a) The chanting of prayers and mantras, accompanied by the clanking of bells and recorded devotional songs wafting from the music system of the temples.
(b) Believers making a beeline to the places of worship to pay obeisance to their gods.
(c) Strong smell of burning incence sticks and camphor(was pleasantly surprised that quite a few auto rickshaw drivers and taximen resorted to this activity - perhaps, praying for anticipatory bail from their gods for the fleecing they'd do on their customers during the course of the day!).
(d) The aroma of fresh, crisp dosas being made on the hot metallic plates with the accompanying smell of the gruelly 'sambar'.
(e) Thick plumes of cigarette smoke accompanied by the smell of burning tobacco, especially at street corners where the auto rickshaw stands are.
(f) Children - many of them accompanied by parents - pouring into the numerous pick up points to be in time for their school buses.
(g) People making a beeline to hop on to the early morning buses/autorickshaws and taxis - depending on the quantum of luggage and their levels of affluence, strictly in that order - to catch the first train, RTC buses or even flights to reach their destinations.
(h) Gentlemen and ladies in fancy jog wear(I was amused by a portly gentleman with his 'mundu' at half mast, huffing and puffing on his flashy pair of Reeboks, with an umbrella tucked under his left arm. However, hats off to his spirit!)
(j) Senior citizens, who move in dignified groups, in serious discussions.
(k) The tea stall vendors, dotting the roads, busy making the 'one yarder tea' while spinning a yarn to the listeners (usually drawn from the attendants to the patients admitted in the nearby hospitals).
(l) Hordes of blabbering migrant labour - with a generous sprinkling of Tamilians - awaiting their transport that will fetch them to their working sites.
(m) And surprise of surprises, with rapid urbanisation and consequent depletion of livestock being maintained by the people, the calls of a faraway rooster and the 'caw caws' of the insistent crows made the atmosphere a trifle noisy yet assuring!

Today, thus, there was no scope for reflection as I was taking in everything as they came by. Probably, as I get used to them I'll have time to reflect!

At the end of it, I felt light, fresh and was raring to go. Moreover, pangs of hunger had set in!!

A day of howlers!

I'd gone to the service station this afternoon to pick up my Cruze that had undergone repairs after the narrow brush that I'd with a Maruti 800, last week, on my return from Thiruvananthapuram. It was a week, to the day, after I'd handed over the car to its mentors and they'd done a very good job.

As I was driving away from the premises, there was an indicator that was playing truant and the guys - Sinod and Linimon - who'd worked on it, were summoned to have the errant one to behave. It was a socket connection that had worked out loose and had unfortunately, missed their eyes. As I drove out a second time, I was witness to a weird howling sound as I'd picked up to my usual cruising speed of 80 kmph and returned to the servicing station to report about the matter. As I stopped and called for the duo, I realised that I'd left one of the rear windows open and the howling sound was courtesy the highspeed winds that blew into the car!

We did go for a test drive, yet again, but heard no abnormal noise and I'd to apologise for my faux pas but the youngsters were gracious and did further trimminging of the beading of the windows - just to save my face!

I shall remain indebted to them for their act of kindness!!

Ingenuity?

A youngster, studying Engineering, had found a unique method to repay his educational loan. He facilitated his clients - those fond of watching human beings in various stages of undress and into sexual activities- to have a peek into such clips (which he'd downloaded from sites) that provided this sort of entertainment for a nominal fee. And the fee was to be paid, online, into a bank account of the youngster!

Reports say that the kid had almost finished repaying his loan. What ingenuity? And as I'd said earlier, we Malayalees are never found wanting either in creativity or ingenuity.

And what about his poor parents who used to brag to their friends and relatives about the computer wizard their son was? They're crestfallen as the 'cyber crime cell' of the Kerala Police has caught up with the apple of their eye.

My take.

I'm not trying to be a prude. If someone wants to watch porn, it's his or her personal freedom to do what one likes. But when that one person initiates others into it, what does one call it - online pimping?

Panchamda - the late RD Burman.

He gave us 'Mehbooba', 'Chura Liya' and 'Dum Maro Dum'. Rahul Dev Burman is, perhaps, the only Indian composer whose creations are loved and sung by all generations.

Today, on Panchamda's 72nd birth anniversary, here're some interesting trivia on the legend:-
(a) He was nicknamed so because, as a child whenever he cried, it sounded like the fifth note(Pa) of the Indian musical scale. The word Pancham means five in Bengali.
(b) He composed the tune of his father's hit song 'Sar jo tera chakraaye' when he was a kid.
(c) For 'Chura Liya', he actually used the sound of a spoon hitting a glass.
(d) He was nominated for 16 Filmfare awards of which he won only 3.
(e) Once he spent a whole night in his house's balcony recording the sound of rainfall for a song!

Truly an awsome personality who was a powerhouse of talent. My humble bow on his remembrance.

Tailpiece.
I'm grateful to the youngster who'd sent in these nuggets. Thanks indeed!

Is this the Indian prowess?

It's sad to read about the collapse of three spanking new river bridges of Jharkhand in the ongoing heavy rains. A statistical information regarding the bridges would let the readers understand the details of the loss and the true horror:-
(a) Jologhat Rs. 5 cr commissioned in 2010.
(b) Dumri Rs. 1.4 cr commissioned, again in 2010.
(c) Balghat Rs. 3 cr commissioned in 2008.

Is this the famed Indian prowess of setting up infrastructure? Doesn't these guys - the engineers, contractors and the others involved in the projects - have a sense of patriotism and loyalty to their state and the country? Is making money so important even if it were to be at the expense of the well being of their motherland? Don't they understand the simple fact that the well being of their country is essential for their survival even if they've loads of money?

The guys responsible for the catastrophe, according to me, are traitors and need to be shot!

Another pantomime that we're familiar with!

The prices of diesel and cooking gas are being hiked and naturally, reactions have erupted from every section of society. While the political parties in power justify the price hike saying that it has been brought about by the global market pressures(?), the ones in opposition have come out strongly against it, not because of any valid reason except for the fact that they need to oppose the government in whatever they do.

The farce being played out - and I call it the pantomime - is that the opposition would have done the same thing if they'd been in power! In other words, the price hike was inevitable and the resultant discomfort that it's gonna cause the common man be damned!

A couple of doubts that come to mind everytime such a situation arises are expressed below:-
(a) If global trends are the cause, how's it that the prices of petroleum products the highest in India even when the price of crude in the global market is at an all time low?
(b) If the government justifies the hike in prices how's it that it's oblivious to the attendant effects on the other services?

Transportation is going to get affected instantly and the shooting up of prices of essential commodities is just a matter of time making life for us difficult!

In Kerala, the private bus owners have asked for raising their ticket rates and are going to go off the roads with effect from Wednesday - probably, it's posturing to derive maximum mileage from the government - that's gonna cause hardship to the general public. As a layman, I too have wondered as to how student concessions at ridiculously unreasonable rates are being maintained, to cite just one aspect of the problem. Hope all concerned come on the negotiating table to find an everlasting and amicable solution to the vexed problem, at the earliest.

It reminds me of the ridiculously low cost of bread in the erstwhile Soviet Union before it crumbled thanks to the inherent contradictions!

The cosmic connections.

Ramakrishnan and his mom, the 96 year old Ammini Amma are inseparable. I'd written about them earlier on this forum. I also find it difficult to believe in horoscopes and cosmic connections but a few recent happenings concerning the two have put my mind into a tizzy like a windmill in gale!

Ramakrishnan's mom was discharged from the hospital last week as her doctor felt that she was deteriorating and her end was coming in a matter of time. Unfazed by that, Ramakrishnan went to an astrologer to find out as to what he could do next for the sake of his mom's longevity. She seems to have told him about an unfulfilled wish of his mother which was required to be satisfied. The story goes something like this.

About 15 years back, Ramakrishnan was badly mauled in an accident when his scooter had rammed into a lorry and after what seemed to be ages, he came out of the hospital fit as a fiddle thanks to his mom's constant prayers. She'd made a vow then,that Ramakrishnan would do the 'sayanapradakshinam'(side roll) around the Gurvayoor sanctum sanctorum as thanksgiving. Over the years, she'd got fed up asking him to undertake the ordeal as Ramakrishnan showed no inclination to do it saying that it would be detrimental to his health!

But this time, on hearing the astrologer, Ramakrishnan set off for Guruvayoor and carried out his mother's vow around 7 in the morning last Wednesday. Thanks to cellphones, his attendants passed on the intricate details of Ramakrishnan going through his 'adventure' back home to his wife and relatives. Ramakrishnan's mom who'd not had clear bowel movements for the previous days was relieved and she also had more food than what was being had in the preceding days on his completing the 'parikrama'.

Are these incidents related? Do they've a cosmic connection?

I do not know but it's touching to see Ramakrishnan's love for his mom and I wonder as to whether my love for my mother matched his, in intensity?