Variety is the spice of life

Over population has always been a topic of debate for a long time. In fact, during my school days in one of the subjects, it was mentioned as a critical area to be focused on coming years. Population has always been a ticking time bomb that has been largely unprioritized. I would use the term specifically as unprioritized because even though it has been touched upon briefly time and again, it has never been addressed on a war footing, simply because, it is not an issue that can be managed without raising ethical, cultural, and religious ramifications. People world over have always been divided in opinion over birth control. While there are increasing instances of fertility clinics and orphanages and people displaced due to natural/man-made calamities, the rate of increase in population has been so high that, it has outgrown and is rapidly overcompensating for any deficit that can be claimed by such disasters. No way I am stating that wiping out entire populations as a reasonable respon...

Ipdilaam tanglishla type panna seekramavay sethirum nu solreengala..rightu. Coming to the topic, the reason behind this post is the way in which the language is being introduced for my kid. Ever since the classes started, every single day has been more disappointing and irritating as a participant on those classes as I sit along with my kid. The reason behind those emotions being, the poor way of taking the kids through to something that is so special and wonderful. The alphabets have been introduced bang on day 1 and kids were asked to start practicing writing them. Most of them had no clue what they were doing and were mistaking it for some art form. The way the alphabets were introduced was also horrible. For the first letter, it was explained as a “laddu with a curve, intersecting with a sleeping line and a standing line”!!! And this on the very second class of the language getting introduced!! How the hell kids will follow this instruction!! And the worst part being, the entire me...

As the day broke, for a change, without any alarm or anyone beating/shouting, I woke up on my own!!! Yes. It was nothing short of a medical miracle that me getting up on my own, even after so many years of having gone through the. When your nervousness crosses an invisible threshold, body clock starts ticking in explosive sound that, you can’t keep your eyes close, even if try to shut them tight. I was fidgety to say the least and went on autopilot mode to get the morning chores completed. It was Junior’s first day of school re-opening. I was getting tensed as if I myself was the one, who was starting his school life, again!! Junior, though, was at his sprightly best and was all laughing and playing. He was extra chirpy and got ready in no time. All the way from home, I was holding tight on to the auto, with my wife mentioning something to junior, repeatedly, about which I couldn’t quite figure, for I was mentally elsewhere. We both took him inside, to his class room and he waved us ...

As the title states, this is a major milestone post in this space – having completed 1000 blog posts. What started as a whim, 12 and a half years back, when many of my peers where posting things left right and center, had outlived most of them, shows much about my producti”vetti”. Many a times in between, I had thought, this would be the end of this blog space. It has overcome restrictions in the form of proxy servers, mind blocks, lack of time and simply being lazy most of the times. All through, one person who has stood by through thick and thin and has commented on almost every single post of mine, ever since he started visiting this space. He is truly “aayirathil oruvar” and deserves special mention. I make it a point to mention him on every milestone post, to not just put “maska” for getting comments (aaiaioa unmaiya sollitene) but also as the only way to express my gratitude. He is like Sadayappa vallal to Kambar for me. When Kambar was writing his Ramayanam, he made it a point...

This year has been pretty good on the reading space with few really good books that I had a chance to read, courtesy Brags and other nalla ullams who share their loot. Keigo Higashino tops my list of thriller genre authors and have almost read all his translated books. Was super impressed with “Devotion of suspect X” and “Malice” and Peter Swanson conquers all with his masterly depiction of suspense genre. “Her every fear” still resonates with its effect even while reading the review and would await his next realase in 2018 with bated breath. The year was quite good on the movie front as well with quite lot of interesting movies in tamil. 2017 started off with Jallikattu protests, which tuned all of TN in same frequency, with the emotional outpour flooding the sands of Marina. I had firsthand witness to some really senti scenes on MRTS stations that would put any mass scene on movies to shame, even without the BGM. Politically, it was a watershed year for TN with so much of chaos and...

As junior takes baby steps towards schooling, all those dormant fears about that “place” raises its ugly head again. Reading books like “Malice” which talks about bullying in school didn’t quite discourage that thought process and the more I read news, more scary it becomes as to the kind of world my kid would be entering into. The more I observe school going kids, the more I get confused that where is the innocence that is usually associated with childhood!! Words that were once taboo for us as kids, are style statements for present generations and nothing seems to be sacred. As news about pollution causing institutions to shutdown, rains causing havoc and summer getting more and more intense, the next decade could very well be witnessing scenes from sci-fi movies I guess. We may soon start living in underground bunkers. With ever increasing trend of greedy and imbecile people lining up for usurping powerful posts in politics, anarchy is just around the corner. The biggest challenge...

Some years back I had posted about finding purpose in the below post. Or rather how I didn’t knew anything about having a purposeful life. http://supershanki.blogspot.in/2012/08/vedikkai-manitharai-pol-veezhveno.html Vedikkai manitharai pol veezhveno?? supershanki.blogspot.in A blog about movie,music,book reviews and on every topic under the sun Do I know the answer now? May not be a resounding yes yet. But slowly there seems to be a pattern appearing in horizon. After certain stages in life, things get into a routine. There is only an extent to which you can rebel against and keep deliberating on what’s, how’s and why’s and thinking about why not’s. End of the day, the routine that is called society catches up with you and wears you down to conform to its norms. May be that is why it’s called “settling down”. Like a dead weight tied to your limbs so that you don’t keep fluttering your wings and drags you into what is exactly called as “ocean” of life. It’s not drown...

At times, when I am more than bored, I skim through my posts from years back. As I see my own ramblings post after post, it was intriguing to understand what the trigger for all these posts was. I definitely didn’t had “Big Boss” Shakthi anywhere near me for sure. There goes my vow not to mention about that damn show in this space. It all boiled down to the very first appreciation I ever received. As a follow up from the previous post, during school days, I was the elephant in the room, literally and figuratively, about whom no one spoke and spoke to as well and neither did i. It was a dull, excruciating, monotonous and ordeal for me, day in and day out. I was never active and never partook on any events. Whenever I was leaving from school I would see my classmates practicing for sloga competitions, oratorical, skits and dance and what not. I would simply walk away for I would never be invited for such things and I was way too timid and shy and would be terrified to even stand near s...

There was a scene from a recent tamil movie, in which a boy goes to class and gives chocolate to his class teacher. The teacher takes the chocolate and enquires the occasion for which he replies it was his birthday. She wishes him and asks who he is. The query raises sporadic giggles in the class and that stunned looking birthday boy, slowly tells the teacher that he belongs to her class. I stopped watching the movie after that scene as it hit way too close home. I had the exact same scene happening to me in real life. During a PTA meeting, I accompanied my mom, who visited my class teacher and asked about me and my performance. She looked at me quizzically and asked are you in this section. I couldn’t quite fathom that question then as she quickly twisted it as a feedback, telling my mom that I am very quiet in the class. She then gave some very generic feedback on my studies and the discussion was closed. Till date I could never forget that incident and whenever I am reminded about...

Whenever there is talk of a new political party being formed, the first thought that runs in mind is what difference these guys are going to make which the others haven’t tried before. This could be due to the fact that, none of the newbies, for that matter even the existing ones, ever share a detailed plan on how they will accomplish whatever they are claiming. They could say that due to the fear of the rivals copying their approach, they may not want to share it. But even after coming to power, the secrecy (cluelessness maybe) remains. Even if they are open, the lingering doubt anyone willing to throw in their hat into the political arena is mainly due to the fact that, how will they identify 200 good candidates who are honest!!? Most of the major parties always have a figurehead around whom they rally. So it is, for the newcomers, say for example, if, at all, Rajini decides to start a party, unless he opts for an unconventional way of selecting candidates, in all probability it’s ...

For past few years, I’ve been so much bogged down by negativity around me, especially colleagues whose professionalism, or the lack of it, drove me nuts. I was having trouble to fathom how people can be so irresponsibly idiotic and so callous at the same time. One common thread across all those characters I could find was that they were all connected to someone seriously higher up on the echelons and had their backing and blessing for no reason obvious to me. I decided to quit fighting the shadows and reset my priorities and opted for something that I didn’t want to do in first place. I had to shelve a lot of my ambitions and goals and literally kick myself into being someone I hated and like a soldier simply following orders without bothering on the logic, I forced myself into a different routine. Needless to say the pinpricks and ego bashing were severe and took a toll on me with stress levels shooting up to stratosphere. I seldom manage to compartmentalize issues and till the time m...

Romba kadupula edachum karuthu solalamnu paatha..aaru varusham munnalaye same karuthu told. Was listening to the song from Mayakkam enna movie and thought of doing a translation. Thedi paatha already postiruken!!! Original song “Ennenna seithom inge” from the movie. The things we do.. The places we go.. Blaming it all on fate Living a life full of hate Drowning in the sea of sadness Loosing calm mind to madness In search of a safety pod To reach the lotus feet of God Amidst reality so gory Seeking the divine glory To cross the sea of pain The destiny we strive to attain Searching for the meaning of life Living on the edge of a knife Lost in the concrete Jungle Where good and bad mingle Longing for elusive freedom To reach thy divine kingdom Where fire breathes coolness and air relishes its stillness Where smoke settles and solidifies and falls, that gravity defies Throwing the key in the dark Hoping it would reach its lock Forgetting the helping hands Joini...

For a series that I started with ARR, co-incidentally, ending with his album, Z la vera topic thedrathuku somberithanam apart. Somehow I felt, this is one album of ARR that never got its due. I don’t find people singing this movie songs on any reality show or even mentioning it in their favorites. May be because its not his best or may be not technically upto their mark, that I will never know. But I love all the songs in this movie. “Dheeme Dheeme” song might have been slightly lucky as compared to other songs from the movie as it got mentioned on top ten songs for a while. My favorite are “Meheki Meheki raahen” where Udit Narayan would’ve oodu katti adichified and “Dhoor kahin aam ki bagiyaan” which will literally lull you to sleep. Another chirpy song would be “Mehndi hai rachnewali” with Alka yagnik at her peak. I remember one FilmFare award when all five songs under nomination catergory where hers. “Sogaye hain dil ki afsaane” is all sad and melancholy while “Mein albeli” is what ...

“Write about the person who is very special to you” gave our English teacher, the assignment for that day. I wrote about Napoleon Bonaparte, for some reason I idolized him like anything once upon a time. Maybe because I read some war story where he defeated the British, who were my least favorites. I ranted my head off on how brave he was and about some battle and his courage, valor. It was more of a historical anecdote than a personal post. Some of my friends had written about Sachin, one guy wrote about Superman. But there was this guy, who made us all feel bad about ourselves by writing about his dad. “Adada..ithu namakku thonamaa poachay” was our honest feeling. “Ithulaam sellathu..of course, every parent would be special for everyone..you cheated” were the cries from other folks who felt bad for not thinking of their own while submitting their entry. This guy who wrote about his dad, was probably the shrewdest person I ever knew for his age. Even as a school kid, he was probably t...

Fear of unknown – Possibly the most common and strongest of all phobias to conquer. It might be the single biggest factor for rising suicide rates, psychiatric centers raking money big time, depression being the most used word of the decade and potentially linked to many other terminal illness as well. All for what? That the victim may never know. It’s probably the single most severest reason, cutting across all eras and generations, that the eagerness or curiosity to know the future, that has set the case for soothsayers and prophecies to survive for so long. Even today there are so many lives sacrificed on special days based on some magician’s forecast that such a kill might earn them power or benefits. So many students who take rash decisions before even their exam results are confirmed. And god knows how many lives are lost for love. The unifying thread for all these have always been one single thing – fear of the unknown. Had people been positive enough to think of a good scenario...

Guest post by Raji who blogs at Arakatrika . To describe her would be very simple if you are a follower of the “minion” cartoons. Especially the double braided one :D A very sweet little friend blogger who pitches in regularly in this space. Thank u Buroos. Nope. This is not a tribute to the famous Katy Perry song of the same title. Although it is of similar thought process. We all would have had this huge crush during school or college times. Depending upon what sort of school/college you studied in. It greatly shapes up your perspective towards romance at a later stage. Almost like how Premam unfolds. That movie was such a huge success because it did not make the hero a drunkard or anything after his failure (somehting most movies does) He just goes on with his life, exactly what all of us do. I had one huge school crush. So much so that while the teachers restricted students from getting into relationships there were a couple of them who would even tease me about it, while I w...

March being the month of appraisals and ratings and hikes and bonuses, its always a tense month with each day carrying electrifying atmosphere ala Ravi shastri quote. Again, the month varies as per the cycle of each org but since majority follow March as THE month to release THE information, I've taken that as example. There used to be a time, when postman was delivering class results and it was not even in an INLAND letter, but open post card (pakki school management) that if left unnoticed, one may end being be the talk of the apartment for any negative results. More than the exams, however confident one may be while submitting the answer sheet, as the day of results approach, it always sent a tingle down the spine. And depending on how far or close you are from school, your friends may end up receiving their letter and any call from them on the same would up the anxiety quotient. What if, despite our best efforts, the results came negative? Or delivered wrongly by mistake? the...

Bharathiyar quoted "Yaam arintha mozhigalile tamizh pola inithu engum kaanum". Major Sundarrajan stylela solanumna "Of all the languages I know, tamil is the sweetest" (imagine doing attention pose like body jerk, with both legs firmly on ground to complete the scene). Of course, anyone can alter the quote to suit their tongue, but what makes Bharathiyar's one special is the fact that he was well versed in so many languages. After going through the rigors of each of them, he made that quote as a fact statement and not a hyperbole. Even though my level of knowledge is nowhere in the same league as him nor have I travelled to that many cities and places, considering utmost prejudice and bias that I carry, I would safely say that "Yaam arintha (ariyatha) anaithu oorgalilum Mylapore pola sirappanathu engum kaanom". If Kerala is God's own country, Mylapore would very well be his most favorite ooru, for HE himself would be spoilt for choices here. If y...

What is the starting point for identifying your passion? Does it start from childhood? Is it a matter of co-incidence that makes you stumble onto it? Or is it sheer fate that leads you to it? Even if you figure it out, how to start believing? Off late one question that rings in mind non-stop is on the topic of trust. How does people begin to trust whoever the other person maybe? To have trust in one's own abilities and backing themselves is a totally different aspect, over which at least we can have a semblance of control. But how or when does one start trusting another person? Does it start with the other person doing things on expected lines? Does it get strengthened in one’s ability to predict the reactions and responses of the other? What happens when the other person on whom you base your trust happens to be your spiritual guru?!! I got drawn into a conversation by accident that set the stream of questions raised above. It was between two of my colleagues who are also absolu...

Epdi start panrathu..hmmm...When i was in US of the America i stumbled on this blog group called CBC - surukkama Chennai bloggers club. Chennai vantha epdi pozhuthu pokrathunu balatha sinthanaila irunthapo it was a pleasant surprise to find so many like minders in one group. Antha groupla silar became friends for life. The best part about that group is, any one can become friends with them. Such a warm bunch of people who would go to any length to keep the people around them feel secure and happy. This guy, is bit more special amongst that bunch. He is much more mature for his age and lot more child like in his approach to life - two best qualities anyone will cherish to have in their repertoire. Added to his amazing social skills, he is an inherent leader, which is quite obvious from the heights the club has reached under his administration. Needless to say he is well supported by equally dedicated fellow admins, but i would stick my neck out and say he would surely be the first amo...