Oh ! Calcutta ! … Now it’s Oh ! Kolkata !

 Oh ! Calcutta !   … Now it’s  Oh ! Kolkata ! 

Once upon a time , I was longing to visit  Calcutta  which has a nick name “ City of Joy” . Coinciding to this nick name , in 1969 there was a  longest running  musical show in Broadway and in London with 3900 performances ,  based on the controversial off-Broadway musical comedy revue.  It is a series of musical numbers about sex and sexual mores ! In Indian news papers the news of Oh! Calcutta ! was like a mirchi !  But I do not find any  link between the title of the musical and the city , Calcutta . Any way it was sensational at that time , when I was 17 !

Though I had travelled  to many places in India on official duties , Calcutta was missed out  for quite a long years. At last I had a chance to visit for an audit work to Calcutta in 2000 for my previous company , Greaves Cotton. I felt very happy on seeing the City of Joy. When I got down at Howrah railway station , the historical bridge welcomed me !

Calcutta is located on the east bank of Hooghly river and served as the capital of India until 1911 under the East India Company and later under the British Raj.

But in my first visit I could not move  around much to enjoy the richness of the city. Later when I joined Schwing Stetter , I got a good opportunity to visit many places in the city and suburb. The thrill of travelling in the TRAM , is a great pleasure , as the Tram services in old Madras was terminated  in 1953, I believe. It is a new mode of transport to see and enjoy travelling for me and every new visitor will love to go for a ride. It moves very slowly in a track along with other motor vehicles .

The places I have visited are  Victoria Memorial Museum , St.Paul’s Church , National Museum , under ground Metro train travel , Dhakshineswar , Belur Math ,  ISKCON temple  and  Birla Mandir . In the present Kolkata ( Calcutta has been renamed in 2001 as Kolkata ) , lot of infrastructure development is happening and a new city  has already come up in the suburb. The charm of old Calcutta  is still there in the present Kolkata in certain areas with hand pulled rickshaws and  cycle rickshaws. You can see all mode of transport in Kolkata , which you may not see in any other states .

On the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901, Lord Curzon, who was then Viceroy of India, placed before the public the question of setting up a fitting memorial to the Queen. He suggested that the most suitable memorial would be a "stately", spacious, monumental and grand building surrounded by an exquisite garden.This was to be a historical museum where people could see before them pictures and statues of men who played a prominent part in the history of this country and develop a pride in their past.The princes and people of India responded generously to his appeal for funds and the total cost of construction of this monument amounting to one crore, five lakhs of rupees, was entirely derived from their voluntary subscriptions.Sir William Emerson, President of the British Institute of Architects, designed and drew up the plan of this building, while the work of construction was entrusted to Messrs. Martin & Co. of Calcutta. Vincent J. Esch was the superintending architect.

St. Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral of the Church of North India - a united church which is part of the Anglican Communion - in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is the seat of the Diocese of Calcutta, and the incumbent bishop is the Rt. Revd. Ashoke Biswas.^[1]

The building itself stands on the "island of attractions" in Kolkata - beside the Victoria Memorial, Nandan, Rabindra Sadan theatre complex, and the Birla Planetarium.

Belur Math, sprawling over forty acres of land on the western bank of the Hooghly (Ganga), in Howrah district, an hour’s drive from Kolkata, is a place of pilgrimage for people from all over the world professing different religious faiths.  Even people not interested in religion come here for the peace it exudes.

It was at Belur Math that Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), the foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), lived the last years of his brief life.  He consecrated the grounds in 1898 by worshipping the urn containing the sacred relics of Sri Ramakrishna, which he himself carried on his shoulders to the place of worship. 

The Dakshineswar Kali Temple (Bengali: দক্ষিনেশ্বর কালী মন্দির Dokkhineshshôr Kali Mondir, Sanskrit: दक्षिनेश्वर काली मन्दिर) is a Hindu temple located in Dakshineswar near Kolkata. Situated on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, the presiding deity of the temple is Bhavatarini, an aspect of Kali, meaning, 'She who liberates Her devotees from the ocean of existence i.e Saṃsāra'.^[1] The temple was built by Rani Rashmoni, a philanthropist and a devotee of Kali in 1855. The temple is famous for its association with Ramakrishna a mystic of 19th Century Bengal.
The temple compound, apart from the nine-spired main temple, contains a large courtyard surrounding the temple, with rooms along the boundary walls. There are twelve shrines dedicated to Shiva—Kali's companion—along the riverfront, a temple to Radha-Krishna, a bathing ghat on the river, a shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni. The chamber in the northwestern corner just beyond the last of the Shiva temples, is where Ramakrishna spent a considerable part of his life.

Kalighat Kali Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Hindu goddess Maa Kali.^[1] It is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas.
Kalighat was a Ghat (landing stage) sacred to Kali on the old course of the Hooghly river (Bhāgirathi) in the city of Calcutta. The name Calcutta is said to have been derived from the word Kalighat. The river over a period of time has moved away from the temple. The temple is now on the banks of a small canal called Adi Ganga which connects to the Hoogly. The Adi Ganga was the original course of the river Hoogly (the Ganges). Hence the name Adi (original) Ganges.

Apart from the above land mark places I have travelled  around  and seen the co-existence of rich and poor  in the old city. A barefoot rickshaw puller and a rich man in a luxury  car  move together on the streets.



Rich & Poor contrast !



Convoy of rickshaws



Another way of transport ?



Joy ride for whom ?



Famous Haldiram Sweets are made here!



Sharma Tea House - for delicious samosa and tea



Flyover to new city



yellow taxi on the bridge



Indian National museum Estd.1814



Road side economic shave !

Merging of Tram and Taxis in a busy street



Superfast roads to Delhi and Mumbai



Tender coconuts on two wheelers !

There are many photos I took in my last trip during March 2012 but could not share all here. Hope you all will have the pleasure of viewing Kolkata through the lense of my Blackberry ! A seperate story line is  getting ready on my trip to Mayapur , the International Head Quarters of ISKCON , a holy Dham , about 130 KM north of Kolkata. Chant hare Krishna and Be Happy .



It's Festival Time in Mylapore ( March - April 2012 )

It's  Festival Time in Mylapore

In this auspicious tamil month of Panguni ( Mar-Apr) , in Mylapore , a 10 day utsavam  in Sri Kapaleeswarar temple. It is a coincidence for Sri Rama in the same month this year to celebrate His avatar day – Sri Rama navami. So in Sri Vishnu temples too a 10 day festival is going on . In Mylapore Sri Madhavaperumal temple and Sri Adi Kesava Perumal temple celebrate it in a big way by taking the utsava murthy twice in a day , morning and night in mada streets . The same ritual is being followed in Siva temple for Panguni utsavam.

The famous utsavam of Sri Kapaleeswarar are – 3^rd day morning – Adhikara Nanthi. The main daities , Shiva & Parvathi will be taken on a silver Nandhi vahanam and Pancha moorthis’ ( Vinayagar , Shiv Parvathi , Muruga & Chandigeswarar ) follows in procession on the streets. 5^th day night is Rishaba vahanam , which comes out of gopura vassal at midnight. 7^th day morning will be Ratha ( ther thiruvizha ) and 8^th day afternoon , the arubathu moovar (63nayanmars)follow Lord Kapaleeswarar. Both the days there will always a big crowd in the mada streets and diversion of bus route will be announced regularly.

Thanneer Pandal , more & Juice pandal you can see around mada veethi. Panagam will also be served sometimes. When we were young and active in Scouting  , me and Gopi, my brother  do social service through Ashoka Scout Group . We help the devotees to from a circle around the Ratham for safety and all the scouts  form a human chain to protect public from the ther chakras ( Ratha Wheels ). Similarly for Arubathu moovar festival and Rishaba Vahanam  we do service along with other  Bharat Scout groups.

Every day and night many Mylaporeans used to visit temple festival for all days and some for the big events mentioned above. The road side platform shops  will be busy in selling  their toys , pasi mani mala by Kuruvikara ladies ( with their young ones tied  in their hip ) , pericham pazham ( dates ) , pala pazham ( jack fruit ) ,  nannari sarbath carts , thapoosani ( watermelon)  carts  etc. will flourish in their business.

For young and old Mylaporeans , this festival is an important one and many non-residents of Mylapore  and who lived earlier in Mylapore will never miss this festival and make it at least a day or two with colourful cloths.

On arubathu moovar day , Thiruvalluvar Nayanar & Vasuki Ammaiyar , Big faced amman ( upto neck only ) from our old house neighbourhood  used to join  in the procession behind Lord Kapaleeswarar. Vaira sevai ( Lord Muruga wthl diamond studded dress and kreedam ) from Chintadripet is a special attraction. Vana vedikai ( fire works ) from China ( china petti – where many dolls comes out one after other when it glowas with colour fire )  is a highlight show.

When we  were  young  we enjoyed with parents and periappa( father’s elder brother )  , and later in our college days  with street friends .

Similarly Ramar utsavan comes daily in morning and night from Sri Madhava perumal temple and we were fortunate that our street was mada veethi for Perumal. Pushpa pallakku ( Floral Palanquin ), Ther ( Ratham ) , Hanumantha vahanam , Garuda vahanam  were star  attraction . We stand to show arti to the deity in front of our house in both times.

I feel great in sharing my old times of Mylapore festival here and many who read could recollect their old times  and cherish the past. My blog  is created to cherish the past and I love the good old days .

Chant Hare Krishna  today ,” Sri Rama navami day “  forever and be happy.

3D Society of 16 TV !!!

3 D Society of 16 TV , Mylapore

A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations,  and dominant cultural expectations. Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members.

The above statement is taken from WIKIPEDIA  about Society !

In ‘70s’  a Society is formed by only three constituent  members  through persistent relations and dominant cultural expectation . So  to serve the society  the 3D Society is established by  only three life members : M.D.Chander , M.D.Gopinath & Suresh Kuppuswamy !!! Don’t be surprised ! The thought struck  to start a society , when we were sitting on the parapet wall on the terrace of  16 TV ( our house at 16,Thiruvalluvar koil St., Mylapore ) and  watching the people passing through the our street and  few  looking ahead to see our crazy posture on the wall .  So we three have decided to do something for the passing society in cultural aspects ( LOL)!

A sign board saying “ 3D Society “ painted in a black background with white letters  and fixed on top of the front door frame in  upside down  position , just to attract the passing crowd . The very next day we could see the results ; that is the comment of the public and wondering why  such a board is fixed in that position and who are the  society members and what  they are going to  do and many other matters behind their mind. We felt  that  people have their own curiosity  in looking into other people’s business  and  so a black small notice board is made and tied in the steel grill of our house verandah without any writing . Again watched passers  whose   head automatically turns towards our black board and disappointed  , as there is nothing to munch ! Next day we  started wring silly slogans , just for fun . That also attracted people and they were looking forward for more daily !Like that the 3D society started to serve the Mylapore  society !!!

Any society should have an office and a meeting place.  In our house backyard ( thottam ) we had many bamboo sticks of 5 feet long each , belongs to our scout group. I was the quarantine master for that and started to make a makeshift tent with that and old thick bed sheet to accommodate three of us to sit, chat and sleep.

The tent is well equipped with power supply , a bulb with shade , a transistor of Giri’s ( Nelco brand , flat deck type ), Coke can pen stand , few posters and an ORIENT multi- purpose fan of Suresh’s , Cut pieces of coconut tree to a height of  2 ½ feet  were bought  from nearby Thiruvalluvar Koil  thottam  by us at cost and  used as stool to sit and watch the road  from terrace .

Major time pass after studies  and a round to Luz , Shanthi Vihar for Alu tikki channa , with Gopal ( Jr. To Suresh in School of Architecture ) , Jaggu ( Gopal’s brother ) ,  was  late night listening to music .

Music   treat to the  neighbors of 16 TV in 1970s’

Does this  seems to be a weird ?  By whom ? By what means ?  For what reasons ? Did the neighbors enjoyed the treat ? How it was given ? From where the  music treat was broadcasted ???  All these questions comes to everyone’s mind with eagerness  to know what it conveys ! to be frank I wish to write about the fun we  had on the terrace of our house , I would prefer to call home .

 Suresh’s dad , who was with Post & Telegraph  ,  had a Radio service  shop “ Maxwell “  near Sri Karaneeswarar koil and  Suresh’s  elder  brother was also working in late hours along with father after his office hours . He was with  Nelco , a trusted name for Radio &  Transister Radio .  There were many  music system comes for repair and unclaimed also. One such Turntable cum Record changer “ Grundig” of Germany , we took to our tent for entertaining us and the neighbours !

Lot of LPs’ ( Long Playing Records ) was with us and we blast  the music by keeping the player in the centre of the terrace and the speakers nearer to the parapet wall.  Famous  hit records of those times –

Mili , Jawani Diwani, Yadon ki bara hat , Hum kisee se Cun Nahin , Kati Patang , Mera naam Joker , Bobby , Kurbani and so on in Hindi.

Ossibisa, Kenny G , Pink Floyd , Bony M , Abba , Neil Diamond , Tom Jones , Shadows , Ventures , Beatles Tina Turner , Carpenters , Madonna , Samantha Fox and so on in English .

The record changer holds 10 LPs at a time and once started our hands are free to change the records. Of course it disturbed some but attracted many .

On the terrace of our house , one late  night ,  a film – Kulebagavali of MGR’s  was  screened on the next door ( Sathy’s ) house first floor wall . The nearby slum people graduallu gather in late night on the street junction to watch the film, as it was viewable from road too. Some have creeped on Arvind’s house roof and came near the parapet wall of ours and  assured that they will quietly watch. MGR’s fight with a lion was a highlight of the film. These are all unforgettable memories of 16 TV and 3D Society’s charity show !

After the music treat to ourselves and others we three used to go out for a cup of tea  at midnight  in BROTHER'S TEA STALL opposite to Sanskrit College , in the junction of Sullivan Garden Street , next to Malabar Saloon. It is still there !

After retreat to our DEN , we go to sleep , of course we used to have a sound sleep , for a fresh next morning .

This is our life style in teens . Our Den life was great and  we are really good boys as we never had  any bad habits.  We were proud when our Suresh got a gold medal in B.Arch. , University first rank and also a gold medalist in MTP in School of Architecture and Planning, Madras. He is now the Dean  of the same institution and Estate Officer of Anna university . I had a chance to attend his graduation convocation in University of Madras . Me and my brother also got graduated and  took employment in three years interval as he is younger than me.

Life and times at Mylapore of mine with Gopi and Suresh cannot be forgotten and the reason for writing this episode is Balaji Sethuraman , my good  next door neighbor kid  and of  my brother Ramesh’s  classmate , who is  14 years junior to me. But he could still recall the terrace life of us at  our home , 3 D Society’s fun loving days ,  though he was too young at those times.  He mentioned our dress style of bell bottom pants and jeans pant and long hairs of Suresh’s and more and more. My brother Ramesh also could recollect the good times from his childhood memories on us.

More of  Mylapore times will feature to cherish the past , which the present day kids could not enjoy !

Think Krishna and thank Krishna for the good times he gave us and Chant Hare Krishna and Be Happy.

In the year 1965 - '65 ...to be or not to be ...yes to Hindi or no to Hindi !!!

In the year 1965 – ‘65 …. To be or not to be …  yes to Hindi or no to Hindi !!!

 A SUDDEN THOUGHT - I recalled from my memory ,  the happenings ,  in the year 1965 in my school days !  Many of my age and elders could recall the tragic happenings in that year . Yes. It is about  the Anti – Hindi agitation  . To recollect the happenings I browsed internet also !

In January 1965 ,  I was a student of class 9  , my sister  Vasanthi in 10^th and my younger brother Gopi was in 6^th std. ( my other siblings  Ramesh and  Vidya were not born  in 1965 ) . In that year beginning  in Madras a big agitation started to protest the national Congress government’s  imposition of  Hindi language  as an official language throughout the country. This was planned when the constitution was written in 1950 , that after 15 years , the bi-lingual , English and Hindi , will be changed to Hindi only , it seems. All the non-Hindi speaking people made a strong protest for this policy. Particularly students community of Madras state were seriously  against Hindi and many deaths were recorded officially and unofficially . Self immolation by students in Madurai sparked and spread  throughout Madras . Later when I grow I could understand the political gain made by a party with this background , influencing the students to far ahead in the protest!

Why this topic is selected  for my blog is , whole of last year I travelled throughout  India and crossed almost 18 states and felt the need of Hindi speaking skill and regretted  for my weakness and inability to converse.  I can  read and write Hindi, by the   mercy of the concessional policy of the government  at that time, after the anti-Hindi agitation,  to continue with Hindi in schools. At that time  the annual exam score in Hindi is not considered for the total marks for school final ,    even though we wrote Hindi exam as one of the paper for 50 marks.

My school is so close to my house . I studied in P.S.Secondary School , Mylapore Madras. Myself and my classmates used to come to our terrace after the classes , when Police were targeting students gathering in group on the road and lathi charge them. On  a fateful day , tear gas  shell was busted in the junction of our street, Thiruvalluvar koil st.,  and Mundakanni Amman koil st., and we were watching by hiding behind the parapet wall with terror in our eyes. My mother shouted at us to come down . S.Balasubramanian , Ramesh , and few others of my classmates were with me .  From the  busted shell  in the junction, gas was fuming out and irritated our eyes. It was the first time we young students witnessed  such acts of police. Of course no one injured.  But we were so thrilled to watch police with shield and steel cap running on the roads in front of our house.  We have seen  many  war movies , where people running for shelter and the sounds of gun and rifle echoed in our ears even after coming out of the theaters ! But the live action of police force was seen by our naked eyes during the Hindi agtation.

The agitation went on for few more months . But in the curriculum of ours Hindi was not taken out .We wrote Hindi exam also in our school final ( 11^th standard in 1967 ) . DMK came into power with the supporters of anti-Hindi in the year 1967 and the education pattern was changed . But when Mr.Bhakthavatchalam was the Chief Minister during the agitation period , he was very stubborn  on students community and he only gave the shooting order on the students. Because of that Congress miserably failed in 1967 election and never came as a ruling party in Tamilnadu.

 Many sign boards of Central government and other bearing Hindi letters were tarnished with black paint or tar ( bitumen ) by the agitators. Mylapore and Santhome post office sign boards remained many years in the same condition.  In 1967 a new policy was formed by  national  government to continue with the bi-lingual policy as long as the non-Hindi speaking states wishes.

Today many people  of my age and the next generation feel the importance of Hindi when we move out of Tamilnadu. Comedian  Vivek  sarcastically speaks  in movies that Tamilan cannot survive in other states without Hindi.

So, the year 1965  went  like that  , by the  self sacrificing students ,  self immolation for anti-Hindi.  I cannot comment of those who were against Hindi but I felt the need  even after so many years and being a senior citizen now , I wish to  speak in Hindi to my own colleagues in 20 other states on business.

Learning a language is a gift and let us learn more languages. Mahatma Gandhi learned Sanskrit only to understand   Bhagavat Gita and practice .  Let us learn a new language and guide our next generation to learn Hindi  to live in any corner of  India and any other foreign language too for a comfortable living abroad !  Be Indian and Love all Indian Languages !

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 !