Dull diwali

This year diwali ended on a sombre note. The reasons being 2 Cs. Cash and climate were the culprits. Just a day before diwali,  the RBI, central bank regulator, hiked the interest rate in order to " tame " the inflation rage.  The housing loan got dearer. All edible oil rates had already hit through  the rooftop. The "must have" crackers for diwali was simply too expensive. In addition, the climate played the spoilsport,  which put the "prospective" buyers in a fix ----to buy or not to buy.

On the whole, the overall mood was dampened by extraneous reasons.

Happiness @ this age

Two mom-in-laws of two different families of same age, visited a leading diagnostic centres for an annual master check up.
       

Mom in law 1:  Every medical report was normal.

Mom in law 2 :  The medical report showed everything was above normal parameters.

Characterstics : Mil 1 is from orthodox family, suave,  docile at the sametime, exercise aggression as an option.
     
Mil 2 is also from orthodox family,  home grown, docile to the core.

They both exchanged their treatments they both get from their DILs. (daughter in laws).

Initially, Mil1 restrained herself  from confronting her DIL. But, her DIL misunderstood her MIL restrain as her weakness. To assert her position,  MIL launched her counter offensive, taking the battle to DIL's workplace and other women's forum.
Throughout the period, the son remained non chalant and neutral. Generally, sons switch sides,  dumping parents and moving to wife's camp.

Luckily,  for MIL her son's stated position had come as a shot in the arm. Meanwhile, DIL lost her job because of the pressure from the local women' s groups. DIL pestered her husband to lend support to her battle with MIL. He remained as cool as a cucumber.

Devastated by the turn of events, her BP level had shot up. Now the DIL is convalescing in a nearby private hospital next to the diagnostic centre. The irony part of the story is now MIL is taking care of her "recalcitrant" DIL at the hospital. " There are times to fight, There are time to serve.  Now, the time has come to serve my DIL. I never carry grudge in my mind I just let it go that is the secret of my happiness" says MIL 1.

In the case MIL 2,  the case is totally different. As there is no support from any quarters MIL 2 simply put up with her DIL's tyranny. Over a period of time, her bottled up emotions has started appearing in the form of pschosomatic diseases.

"MORAL " of the story:  In acupuncture, you don't have to treat the malfunctioned organ directly. All you ought to do is needle should be pierced on the corresponding energy point. Then, the disease will get cured. In other words, cut off the life support lines( MIL 1 just did the same with her DIL) . Ultimately, you see your adversary is brought to your knees.

Where are they?

It was in the early 80s that this city witnessed the explosion of TV viewers----All for one, one for all-----yes that time the entire city was watching only Madras Doordarshan. Almost every household had a three element antenna turned towards tv center. In those days, antenna robbers were on the prowl because the presence of aluminium in the three element antenna that could fetch them a few bucks in the " kaylon shop" .
The presence of antenna atop the building, gave a special "status". In the middle 80s, the craze for " ceylon tv" whipped up the passion of  tv viewers. As a result, multi element antennas were erected focussing "ceylon". To increase the"quality" of the picture,  people started using " boosters". To be very frank, signals of " ceylon tv " never the reached the northern tamil nadu. 
In order to maintain "status" in the society some "benelovent" minded people just erected antenna in the terrace without buying the TV.
Before I sum up, here I should mention some of the popular TV brands of that era.  Dyanora,Solidaire, televijay, telerama, mustang, hotline, weston, crown, BPL, philips, videocon, & last but not the least Onida. Almost majority of "indian TV manufactures" had vanished from the market after 1990. Except videocon and onida survived the avalanche.
Now, go to bed, lie down,  try to recollect the name of the first black & white TV, you bought in that era. Take it as a memory recall.

Be a Brrrrrrooooaaad minded person

Try to undertstand the food we eat, the information we get, the environmental change, particularly, our mind is spinning constantly without any rest. As you enjoy everthing comes in your way. Hence, you should not place small things under a magnifying lens. Life sans restrictions.

Why encumbrance?

Before you buy a  " transferable moveable/immoveable properties" it is
mandatory on the part of the " intended" buyers to look out for the " true" owner of the property. Because the properties are transferable,  given the price rise scenario prevailing in the country. Never ever try to raise an enclosure over the unattended property because the current situation is not condusive.

First of all, one should reconcile one's mind that no property is ownerless. We call ownerless property as porumpoke (in tamil). It is always to "buy" property from the true owner. Outright purchase is preferable. Paying in instalments would give a room for the "seller" to scout for "rich buyers". Before acquiring the property, see how many owners had " enjoyed" the possession of the land.
If it is an agricultural land look out for &quo"ploughed marks"s" on the surface of the land. Don'fret that you are not the "first owner " of the land. There is nothing called "first ownership" .
Whatever is in your posession today, will be possessed by someone in future. When you had arrived, you came empty handed.When you depart this earth, you will leave empty handed. This is the crux of the bhagavad gita.

Election cacophony

"India is the largest democracy of the world is a cliche we heard it in the media. To strengthen the grassroots of the democracy, the panchayat raj was introduced.
Just like parliamentary and state assembly elections,  panchayat elections takes place once in every 5 years.
Elections in India have as always received a curiosity world over.
But, over the last two decades, the hoopla surrounding the elections have been subdued,  thanks to stringent regulations laid by the election commission of India.
But, there is an exception to the above rule. The panchayat elections are held under a "relaxed" atmosphere. Some regulations are not strictly followed.To participate in the election process, is not an easy task. You need the mass support.
Once upon a time, the supporters of the political parties used to work in election camoaigns without expecting a favour from the party's high command.
Gone are the days of ideologies. Nowadays, everybody is indifferent. To win an election, you'll need the support of BBC( I'm not referring to the news channel). Here the BBC means Biryani, Bottle(liquor) and Cash. It is upto you to interpret whether BBC to be seen as a mass mobilising factor or a motivation force.

Reprieve or hell?????. . ..

All dogs are carnivorus (including bitches) by nature. The human beings have domesticated them for their own purposes. In my street,  an anglo indian family left chennai for domestic reasons. They had a labrador dog,  which was about five year old. Unable to take the dog with them. They didn't want to leave it as a stray dog. They were planning to kill the dog by administering a lethal injection. This action had caused a heartburn to my neighbhour.  He pleaded with the family not to proceed with their intention. He promised them to keep the dog as his pet. The departing family relenpted and left the dog to my neighbhour's custody.

Remember, the dog was raised by the anglo indian family. Everyday, non vegetarian food was its staple diet. But, my neighbhour can't even stand the smell of egg. In other words, he is a "pure" vegetarian. As a result, newly arrived dog became "vegetarian" by force.
Even human find it difficult to change their food habits. The poor animal, would have preferred a lethal injection, struggled a lot by eating thaiyir saadham(curd rice) and milk. For this hapless creature,life has become a hell, with this new master.
The moment the dog is unleasheid it is rummaging through roadside dustbins. To be precise, it is feeding on faecal matter. ......
L

Jeevan ke saath aur jeevan ke baad

Taking insurance cover is one of the best ways of protecting the future. But, that alone would not give a foolproof protection.
Invariably, ad promotions of all insurance companies, show head of the family(almost in all cases a male member) as an insured person.  The beneficiary will be his widowed wife. Why this gender bias? These days the womenfolk also share their space in family maintenance. I would like to see a widower husband receiving the insurance amount after the death of his wife. Let women cultivate the habit of securing future.
Moreover, in my personal opinion, menfolk are shown as " money savers"which is totally inadmissible.

Laughter, crying and the silence

There are three things to do : Laughter, Crying(shedding tears), and very important thing is silence.
As far as laughter and crying, we suppress it because we've been inculcated by the society around us.
For example, When you laugh whole heartedly the people around you can't tolerate it.  Likewise, when you start crying the immediate response will be don't cry like a child.
Actually, both laughter and crying are seen as an outlets to jettison one's tensions. If a person is filled with tension forever he can' t live peacefully.

The third thing is being silent which is the most important thing. Hardly we follow it in our life because our mind is constantly bombarded with thousands of thoughts everyday. But, persistent practise of remaining silent could bring about a postive transformation in one's life. It is easier said than done. . .

Life is full of (colourful) tablets and capsules

Recently, I had been to Ooty. As a typical native of this land, no journey would be completed without befriending the co-passenger of the journey. Yes!  my co- passengers came from Mumbai. An elderly couple, both got retired from government services, earning handsome pensions.
Our bus stopped at a motel, enroute to Ooty for dinner. My co-passengers both husband and wife started taking out strip after strip of capsules and tablets. Wait a minute! This was just a pre- meal session. Both husband and wife ordered south indian meals since they came from western part of the country. They couldn't relish the food because they were wary of oil content in the food. They somehow finished the food. After finishing, they once again started taking colourful tablets and capsules.  The elderly lady was taking more tablets than her husband.
Now, it was time for some lamenting. The lady started the story of upbringing her children " when they were children we were engrossed in our work. Now, they are adults, we are old and free, they have no time to look after us".

Jealousy galore

Even to feel jealous one has to have competence. These days jealousy is a common syndrome. You never know from which quarters you'll encounter jealousy. There is a term called " peer jealousy" which emanates out of inabilities. By hook or crook one has to succeed, without honing one's skills,  unable to stomach fellow human being's rise. If you look at jealous people  they are always restless, indecisive and greedy. These people are susceptible to life style diseases everytime they emit jealous feelings their LDL.

Inadequate preparations

The word contentment is missing. AS a result, you see the restlessness in the society. Before aspiring,  one must introspect oneself to see whether one is competent or not. The aspirants always over estimate themselves thereby they fail to read the reality. The aspirants, often surrounded by the cronies, swayed by the encomiums. For any aspiration to be fulfilled one has to collect relevant informations, teaming up with the like-minded persons are the prerequisites. By doing so, one could easily overcome the problems or one could mitigate the negative factors coming their way.

Occup(ied)y Ranganathan Street

Just a couple of decades ago, this street was just having two or three textile shops, one or two "pure" vegetarian hotels, one or two vessels shops.
The buzz started in the 90s,  now, the street is tied with ever lasting or witnessing milling crowd.
This street has become a must visiting place for the tourists. Now, every nook and corner of the street is "occupied" by the hawkers.
Sensing the crowd problem, some well -known establishments, doing business, in the street have started their branches either in the outskirt or in the other parts of the city.

It's alright, we live on takeaway!

Surging inflation and skyrocketting essential commodities have left housewives with a fewer options. Even today, there is an "elitist" gang (housewives) out there which thrives on takeaway foods.
They are trendy in nature. To them, the art of cooking is a reminiscent of "woman slavery". Even to sweep the floor, they can't bend their backs. It is an insult to do household chores. But, at the same time,  they spend hours together at gym to " maintain" their " shape" (if anything called " shape" left in their body). No menfolk dares to take on their spouse. The womenfolk  harp on or raise the bogey of women's emancipation. Generally, they are focussed in life as they strive hard to get to the "top".
By the way, if you happen to check their handbags (I know it is a forbidden act to rummage through a lady's handbag) you stumble upon insulin vials. The vials are not meant for her alone, its for her kids too.
This only shows how health conscious they are.  No way they feel the "pinch" of LPG cylinder hike because in everyday's life they feel the" pinch"of insulin injection.
Long live their "takeaway" culture.

Oh! My sweet heart

Recently, I had attented a function on the occasion of world heart day. The speakers at the function said that indians are at the greater risk of heart disease.  Already india has earned the dubious distinction of " diabetes capital of the world".
A couple of decades ago,  indians were eating less thanks to the GDP growth, nowadays, urban indians are eating more than adequate.
The departure from traditional dieting practice, untimely eating habits had compounded the heart problems.
Any blockage, be it drainage or heart, is undesirable, as they both pose health problems.