Lord Sri Jagannath Ratha Yatra – ISKCON Chennai - a self realization

Lord Sri Jagannath Ratha Yatra – ISKCON Chennai  - a self realization

Hare Krishna .

On January 14^th , a week before ,  Chennai ISKCON  organized   Ratha Yatra carrying the Deities of Sri Jagannath, Sri Balaram and Sri Subatra in the usual grandeur  way . The scheduled time of start fixed at 2.30 pm from Sri Kapaleeswarar temple , Mylapore. As I am living in Mogappair  I wish to join the congregation near Chetpet  at the  closing venue , Kuchalambal Kalyana Mandapam , to have darshan , prasad  and to attend the Bhajans . So I had been there by 6.30 pm in anticipation of catching up the Ratham at Sterling Road. But to my surprise there is no symptom of the yatra on the road and when enquired  police personnel , posted near the closing venue , no one could guess the location of the Ratham.

At that moment a small BOY approached  me and asked me whether I know where the Ratham is . It seems he has come with his parents and waiting near Chetpet like me to have to glimpse of the Deities and  Ratha Yatra . Both of us enquired a ISKCON devotee standing nearby and he too  waits there like us and the boy left me.

I am just thinking what to do and how to join the procession and no idea struck me . Suddenly the  same BOY  called me “ uncle “  and approached me  and told me , “ uncle , please take bus no.29 C in the opposite direction and go to Mylapore to have the darshan as the Ratha yatra just leaving Mylapore and the delay is due to Mr.L.K.Advani’s visit to Chennai it seems”. He disappeared immediately. I was delighted on his fond advice when I was struck with no idea . Immediately I crossed the road and got the bus, waiting for me, to go to Mylapore .  

When I reach the V M Street junction,   I could hear the  loud sound of Nama Sankirtan and saw the Ratham with folded doom coming in the narrow street . At the junction of V M Street and Radhakrishnan Salai , I had a nice darshan and bought a tamil version of “Back to  Godhead” book from a devotee. Kesari  prasadam  was distributed to all and I too got it . The yellow marigold flower thrown by the Prabhus  from the Ratham to the devotees.

 I am blessed to have the great darshan of the Three Deities and Srila Prabhupada’s life like statue in the front of Ratham ,  by the grace of  Sri Krishna who came as a little BOY at Chetpet  and directed me to Mylapore . Of course the time was already 8 p.m there and took a bus back to Mogappair via Parrys as  the procession may reach the final venue after 10 p.m.  This is a strange  but pleasant experience for me and I wish to share with you all.

The following link may be cut pasted in the browser and that will take you to view the video of the Chennai Ratha Yatra 2011 of ISKCON ( Last year  video , which I missed ) . This year I could not take video due to dark night procession.

http://www.iskcondesiretree.net/video/iskcon-chennai-ratha-yatra

Hari Bol.

Chander.M.D.

Memoirs of a Mylaporean on Mottai madi cricket !

Mottai  madi  Cricket  in our old Mylapore  House – memoirs of a Mylaporean

Everyone loves cricket  and that too in Madras it is  a fever  that catches the fans and players of younger age  once a year during the summer holidays .When we were  studying in  high school and college we used to play cricket in our house terrace ( mottai madi ) at 16 , Thiruvalluvar Koil Street , Mylapore , Madras 600004.

The terrace concrete  pitch  / ground is of 20 X 30 feet ( 1950 construction ) and I would like to list out the names who played , scored centuries , got many wickets in our mottai madi cricket ground!!! They are now old enough to watch cricket ! The great persons who played a solid game of cricket in our terrace are now in big positions in our society .

Myself ,  a retired Sr.manager and  now working as a Consultant to Schwing Stetter ( India ) Pvt. Ltd., a German Company manufatures concrete machineries at Sriprumbudur , near Chennai.

Gopinath ,DGM ( HR )  , Hinduja Foundries ,Chennai,( my younger brother )

Capt. Dr.V.R.Vijayaraghavan ,  Leading Opthalmologist  and a visiting faculty lives in Coimbatore ( Gopu’s brother )

S.Chandrasekaran , Retired manager of IOB , who served in Singapore also.

V.R.Gopalarathnam , Sr.Advocate , who served in Banking sector as a Legal expert .

Dr.Suresh Kuppuswamy , Professor & Dean , School of Architecture & Planning, Chennai , who had his own firm (DKR ) with partners and landmark buildings in Chennai to his credit. He was an inspiration to my daughter from her childhood to choose Architecture for her graduation and she has become a Post Graduate in Architecture in Iowa State University and works for an American firm there.

S.Gurumurthy , Charted Accountant , journalist and renowned economist . A popular person and was one of top ten Indians to name . He was two years senior in Vivekananda College to me and junior to  Arunachalam and  classmate of Rajagopalan of Kambar Vilasam,Mylapore.

K.Muralimohan, Retired manager of UCO bank & International Arbiter for Chess tournaments

                                                                  ( Suresh Kuppuswamy’s brother )

Rajagopalan (  fondly called by all as  Appuchi Raja ) , Retired Accounts Manager, lived in  Kambar Vilasam ( neighbor ) - Photo not available

S.Arunachalam ,  A Charted Accountant and a retired General manager of Indian Bank,Chennai

S.Aravindan , Retired

Manager of EID Parry ( brother of Arunachalam ).

Mostly under arms bowling nicely done by the bowlers and the 4 line is the straight hit on the parapet wall and if the ball goes out of the pitch without a bump , it is declared as “ Howzthat?” . Smash hitters were there and I  also played  without knowing how to play cricket ! Vijayaraghavan  always bowls well and hits hardly allowing the ball to reach the our road junction. There were ball picking kids , who waits for their turn on the road.

Gurumurthy’s comment of Raja’s batting position is always in memory and very recently Raghavan recalled it to me. “ Enna Raja, Battai kathi mathiri pidikiriye ? “ and when  he hits the ball, “ Raja , Plumn yah , vaa veliye !!! “  Whether Gurumurthy remembers this or not, I do not know. But the thrill of playing cricket by  all the above 11 never erased from my memory and very few  of them may  also cherish the past.   Raja , Arun and Arvind are tall figures and many times  they push the ball outside the terrace. Raghavan and Sekar hit hard and the sound of the tennis or rubber ball on the parapet  for every 4s’ comes like a thunder . Torn rubber balls and tennis balls were many . Raja shows us his talent by throwing the ball 90 degree to the height of two coconut tree and we love to watch it.

Some times my kid brother Ramesh , who now lives in USA , will not allow us to play  in the terrace. He will be bribed by our friends to clear the pitch !!!

Many  positions will be filled in the  terrace pitch , like slips &  wicket keeper  . Of course we play without  leg guard , gloves and helmet !!!!

When the great players run for runs , the thumping sound disturbs the elders  and tenents in the ground floor of my house.  Occasionally my dad used to call to call off the game . But he is a good company to talk  with all of my friends.

Diagonally opposite to our house in door no. 3 ( Moonam number veedu ) , Chettiar’s house first floor , there were three college going girls , always standing in the balcony and watch us playing. Many of us were thrilled to show off  and  more unscheduled matches we played just for fun !

On the sad side , the terrace cricket ground is no more exists since the new millennium . My father was an ardent admirer of cricket and just an hour before he died of cardiac arrest he was watching the Sharja cricket match , on 20^th April 1994. My memories recall many past events and many I forget due to aging.  However I thought this one may interest the listed players !.

I close with this to continue with some other interesting news to share later .

Excursion memory !

Excursion  memory – when I was in class 3 ( Year 1957 )

Excursion – a joyful time in everyone’s life , particularly in their childhood days.  It is a picnic with a purpose of teaching  about nature’s beauty , natural wealth , nature’s power and the God’s gift to us. But there is no age limit to have the pleasure of picnic . We go for picnic with friends or family or with loved ones! The enjoyment has no limits and all will agree with me. When reading this blog it is sure that the reader’s mind would quickly travel to their own good times. We plan for such picnics well in advance and decide for the gadgets to be taken and food , dress , play things etc.

 So did I , when I was at the age of 6 , studying in class 3 in Senthamarai Vidyalayam , my  then primary school  in a dead end lane off  VSV ( Vadagur Selva Vinayagar)  Koil street , Mylapore. It is just behind our old house , parallel to Thiruvalluvar koil Street . A stone throw away distance at that time. Now we cannot throw stones as there are many high rise buildings has come in between!  The pity is my old school   is  no longer  exists in that street’s small  lane. Ok let me come to the excursion part .

My fond mother dressed me up well with new (1/2) pant and shirt tucked in with two  straps holding the  trousers , for the great first excursion !   Still I love that attire and  when we become old now it is necessary to hold our full pants with two straps, which is an English style of dress. We were told that they are going to take us to Red Hills ( Puzhal lake) for an excursion along with other kids in a bus. I could recall faint memories only. But wish to write because  that was the first time an outing with  other kids and I do not know the meaning of excursion at that time. English language was not till class 3 in my school. My elder  younger brother Gopi , my close cousins Thangam and Ravi  have studied in Senthamarai vidyalayam and to name a few others who continued study in P.S.Secondary School from 4th standard till 11th. : SB, Varadhu, Jayachandran,Ramadoss ( who later was my HR Manager in Greaves Cotton ). I may miss to recall names because of the timeline.

I do not know about others , whether all  could recall their class 3 memories ,  but I still have that good old memory of the excursion for two reasons ! First reason is , during the trip in the  bus  I was sitting on the lap of my class teacher ( so sorry that I could not recollect her name , may be Nalini ,  but the  faded picture of her lean structure , tall ,   fairer complexion  is still in my memory ) . Second one is the lasting memory ! We enjoyed the trip by walking on the bund of the lake . But when we sat for eating at noon , under a big tree ,  I was bitten by a big red ant in the leg  and soon there was a big swelling. I cried and my teacher took care of me till I return home. My mum got worried on seeing me crying with pain and immediately took me to Dr.Chdambaram , who was our family doctor at that time. An injection made me to cry more and later it was OK, I think.

The importance of writing this memory lane is , I have come across a group photo , of a  junior ( a friend of mine )  , who studied in the same primary school , shared through his mail . My headmistress , Ms.Malathy teacher , I could identify in that photo, another teacher ( name ? )  and  my   friend  also  standing along with his classmates. Though that photo is not of my batch , I had the opportunity to see my teachers  in the rare photo  after  54 years. My sincere thanks goes to my dear friend whom I met recently in an old boy’s association organized by  Balaji Sethuraman ,1982 batch mate of P.S.High School ( North ).

My school junior  friend standing in the top row .Malathy teacher ( HM) and another teacher ( from left )

I studied from class 1 to 3 in that school and  one  classmate  of that school , Jayachandran  studied  with me in P.S.Secondary School from 4^th to 11^th standard . His house was in the same lane where my school was . But after moving from Mylapore to Mogappair I missed all my old schoolmates, collegemates, neighbours and friends.

One thing I wish to share on the excursion of my son ,when he was in Montfort Preparatory School , in his class 4 or 5 . He had been to Bangalore and bought  small gifts to us. He gave a KumKum Chimizh to my widow mother and she was moved in tears on the innocent love of her grandson .              I cannot forget that moment.

 As I grow old I often look back how all these years have passed .  Many people says , look forward for opportunities and look back for lessons  ! Yes. It is true  that we learn more from past and correct whatever   mistakes  we did and look  for a bright future. This is a  lesson not only for us but also for our kids in the years they grow.

It is always good that whenever we find time we have to think Krishna .Though  thinking of our own past is just to have a temporary happiness ,  I pray Krishna to keep my memory strong on the past , to share , cherish and show a  practical life lessons learned by us  to our generation .  Without our past there is no present for us. Guiding them for a permanent happiness is by only one way . Tell everyone to Chant Hare Krishna and Be Happy  and let us  practice what we preach . 

7^th Jan 2012

It's me in 1957 !