Sanjay :(

Yesterday, when I was scanning through the channels in TV. I stopped a while for a wonderful song in SUN music. Vijay and Sanjay dancing together for the song "Naan (N)adicha thaanga maatta, Naalu maasam thoonga maatta" from the movie "Vettaikkaran". A sudden spark striked my mind to write a post in my blog about Sanjay (Vijay's son). Be it in school, college or even at office, all Vijay fans are ill-treated. They are not even allowed to express their views on anything. The worst part is that even an interesting arguement with a Vijay fan ends up with this dialogue "Nee Vijay fan dhane da.. Appo apdithan pesuva", which is totally irrelevant to the topic that is being argued upon. When this is the case of a person who is just a fan of Vijay, then think about Sanjay. I wonder if he'll even have any friends at school. Poor kid. Everyone knows that Sanjay is not responsible for this, but atleast his dad must act (not in movies) resposibly. He must see to that Sanjay does not uses his punch dialogues at school or with his friends (if any), to avoid problems.

I was worried if I would get any abusive comments from any of Vijay's fans for this post, so i decided to write this post in english.

Valueless, yet valuable

Recently I came to know about the Zero Rupee note which is used nationwide as an effective currency to eradicate corruption. This initiative was taken by a non profit, non governmental organization called 5th Pillar which is aimed at fighting corruption. The 5th Pillar website has the details about the organization and its goals along with the details about RTI Act (Right To Information) and how to use it. 5th Pillar has many success stories and also maintains a list of government officials who have been arrested for taking bribe. I was not aware of the Zero rupee note till I met one of its member in a friend's marriage. He briefed us about the usage of the zero rupee note in govenment offices to get things done without any delay or need to pay bribe to the officers. This is a good initiative to fight against corruption. Whether it actually kills corruption is something which we need to wait n watch, but the initiative is appreciable.

Disclaimer: The author of this post is neither a member nor a part of the organization mentioned above. The objective of the above post is only to share the information and does not directly or indirectly force its readers to become a part of the organization.

Beggar in disguise

I was waiting in the bus stop along with my friend. Vijay had come to my home that day. After roaming around for quite a long time, we were feeling a bit hungry. So we decided to have something. We went to a nearby shop and ordered for chenna masala and were waiting for it. Suddenly we heard a voice shouting at the shop keeper saying "where is my tea?". We thought that someone had ordered a tea and were waiting for it for a long time. But it was not so. A man with Kakhi dress holding a lathi in one had and his cycle on the other hand was standing behind us.

The shop keeper hurried near him with a cup of tea and some cash and handed them over to him. We were really annoyed on seeing it. After getting paid for the tea, the man proceeded with his cycle and went to a fruit shop near the bus stop and scared the old lady to remove the shop from near the bus stop. The old lady stood helpless and handed over a pack of grapes to him. The man took the pack of grapes and shouted back at her saying "the shop must be moved to some other place by tomorrow morning"

I have seen many beggars in the bus stop and railway stations. But this man was very unique. He gets paid for his undone job and also receives such incentives from roadside shops and auto drivers. Such beggars are found in many places in this singara chennai, wearing uniforms and spoiling the name of his very few colleagues who consider their job as GOD and respect it truly.

Disclaimer: The above mentioned story about the beggar is (un) real. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Where is an end to all these???

It was 9 am when i entered my cubicle in the office. Near mine, was sitting my team mate with a very unusually sad face. I have never seen such an expression on her face and tears in her eyes. I sat beside her and thought of asking what her problem was. Before which she herself began to tell the very bitter incident that happened that morning.

She used to come to the office by the MTC bus. (Un)Fortunately got a seat in a crowded bus near a college girl who was preparing for her semester exams on her way to the college. A woman with a new born baby(hardly 3 months old) got into the bus. Since the bus was too crowded, the lady gave her baby to the college girl and stood near by.

The baby began to cry after sometime, only then did the girl realized that lady who gave the baby was missing!! Everyone in the bus were searching for the woman who came with that baby and found that she had got down from the bus leaving the baby behind.

The girl was really tensed since she had to attend her exam that morning and an abandoned baby is crying on her lap. To make the matter worse, none of them inside the bus were ready to take the baby from the girl who had to get down in the next stop. Need less to explain her situation at that moment. . .

My friend burst into tears while saying this. No way could i console her, cause even my eyes got welled up.

When there are many child care centers and ashrams available in the city, the mother of the baby must have been really cruel enough to leave a small baby inside a bus.

Very sad to know that people have started losing even the very basic form of humanness.

Where is an end to all these???

Love

'How long will you be poring over that newspaper? Will you come here right away and make your darling daughter eat her food?'

I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter Sindu looked frightened. Tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with Curd Rice.

Sindu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age. She has just turned eight. She particularly detested Curd Rice. My mother and my wife are orthodox, and believe firmly in the 'cooling effects' of Curd Rice!

I cleared my throat, and picked up the bowl. "Sindu, darling, why don't you take a few mouthful of this Curd Rice? Just for Dad's sake, dear. And, if you don't, your Mom will shout at me.'

I could sense my wife's scowl behind my back. Sindu softened a bit, and wiped her tears with the back of her hands. 'OK, Dad. I will eat - not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this. But, you should...' Sindu hesitated. 'Dad, if I eat this entire Curd Rice, will you give me whatever I ask for?'

'Oh sure, darling'.

'Promise?'

'Promise'. I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with mine, and clinched the deal.

'Ask Mom also to give a similar promise', my daughter insisted. My wife slapped her hand on sindu's, muttering 'Promise', without any emotion.

Now I became a bit anxious. 'Sindumma, you shouldn't insist on getting a computer or any such expensive items. Dad does not have that kind of money right now. OK?'

'No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive'. Slowly and painfully, she finished eating the whole quantity. I was silently angry with my wife and my mother for forcing my child eat something that she detested.

After the ordeal was through, Sindu came to me with her eyes wide with expectation. All our attention was on her. 'Dad, I want to have my head shaved off, this Sunday!' was her demand!

'Atrocious!' shouted my wife, 'a girl child having her head shaved off? Impossible!' .

'Never in our family!' my mother rasped. 'She has been watching too much of television. Our culture is getting totally spoiled with these TV programs!'

'Sindumma, why don't you ask for something else? We will be sad seeing you with a clean-shaven head.'

'No, Dad. I do not want anything else', Sindu said with finality.

'Please, Sindu, why don't you try to understand our feelings?' I tried to plead with her.

'Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice'. Sindu was in tears. 'And you promised to grant me whatever I ask for. Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you who told me the story of King Harishchandra, and its moral that we should honour our promises no matter what?'

It was time for me to call the shots. 'Our promise must be kept.'

'Are you out your mind?' chorused my mother and wife.

'No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honour her own. Sindu, your wish will be fulfilled.'

With her head clean-shaven, Sindu had a round-face, and her eyes looked big & beautiful.

On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school. It was a sight to watch my hairless Sindu walking towards her classroom. She turned around and waved. I waved back with a smile. Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and shouted, 'Sinduja, please wait for me!'

What struck me was the hairless head of that boy. 'May be, that is the in-stuff', I thought.

'Sir, your daughter Sinduja is great indeed!' Without introducing herself, a lady got out of the car, and continued, 'That boy who is walking along with your daughter is my son Harish. He is suffering from ... leukaemia.'

She paused to muffle her sobs. 'Harish could not attend the school for the whole of the last month. He lost all his hair due to the side effects of the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to school fearing the unintentional but cruel teasing of the schoolmates. Sinduja visited him last week, and promised him that she will take care of the teasing issue. But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of my son! Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as your daughter.'

I stood transfixed. And then, I wept. 'My little Angel, will you grant me a boon? Should there be another birth for me, will you be my mother, and teach me what Love is?'

The other face of chennai

Sky scrappers, BPOs, Shopping malls, Drive-ins, Multiplexes, Coffee shops....

The most familiar sight in chennai. Very busy 24/7. Spending more time and money for luxurious living. But these things still remain sky high for some people in parts of the so called developed metro CHENNAI.
It was really shocking to see this article in the HINDU dated 3rd September 2007.
The study says that slum residents in parts of chennai live in sub-human conditions. Most of them did not have access to quality water, drainage and even electricity. Lower literacy rate and unemployment prevailed in those areas.
This news was published in the very first page of the newspaper. Will definitely the grab the attention of many. But will remain unchanged like other such cases in the city.
The next time when you have an inverted curve on you face on seeing curd rice in your box, just think of these people.