Love towards western music !

Love towards western music – a journey from 1960s’  

I could recall , when I started liking  western music !. In the year 1965 , when I was studying 9^th standard , we had a “ BUSH Baron “ transistor radio bought by my father.

In those time we used to pay license at Post offices  for this and also for a valve set radio “ GE “ make of 1950s’.  It  was a thrilling experience to listen western music in the early mornings at our Mylapore house terrace ; the radio Ceylon used to transmit half an hour instrumentals of good western music . In those days  “ Come September “ , “Shadows”  & “ Ventures “  and other instrumentals were so good to listen. I go to terrace for studies and by my side I used to keep the Transistor  in full volume. At that time an uncle , Mr.C.Ramanathan , Staff reporter of Indian express , lived in our house as a tenant . He is from Ceylon and talk on Jim Reeves songs . So the passion  on liking , loving and listening Western music inspired by him  started  and it never stopped till today… !!!!

I would like to share the great singers and musicians of my times in 1960s’ , 1970s’ , 1980s’ & 1990s’.  I am not much familiar with the later singers but keep listening the old timers for ever. Another information to share is I love opera and western classical and also eastern music. When my brother Ramesh gave me a good collections of his music cassettes of western & eastern when he came from USA for the first time. Beethoven’s symphony , Bach , Henry Mancini , Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake  albums were in the collection presented to me.

Off late when my friend Suresh Kuppuswamy and my brother joined with me in college days and they too love western and Hindi film songs . Another friend Gopal and Jaggu  (both are brothers ) who live in neighborhood were good friends of ours and  they had a good collection of LPs’ and EPs’ ( long Play and extended play records ) . Gopal was Suresh’s junior in School of Architecture and Jaggu is a furniture & interior designer. Some times we all go to their home and enjoy listening in their turntable cum amplifier. Then I started buying few LPs and later Jaggu gave some LPs’ which he cannot play in his new player. So I have decided to buy a record player and whenever I window shop at Music shops and see the price tags I simply walk out! It’s a matter of huge sum in those days to invest or spend for pleasure .

At last I bought a seconds , HMV1010 ( 10+10 watts  stereo speakers ) Record Player , in a discount offer @ Rs.1050 in a shop near Ajantha Hotel. Before that Suresh , whose father had a radio repair shop “ Maxwell Radio “ near Sri Karaneeswarar temple in Bazaar road, brought  a GRUNDIG Record Changer player to our terrace DEN to enjoy listening music and do a social service to the neighbours by blasting the Hindi pops of that time, at midnight !!! Some loved  it and some cursed us ! The famous filmy songs we played are – Kati Patang , Mili , Hum Kissi Se …, Yadon Ki Barat , Juli , Bobby , Jawani Diwani and others. Abba , Dona Summer , Samantha Fox , Neil Diamond , Bony M . Shadows  and many other western pops were in  our list.

When I started recalling the names of the singers and musicians , the list extended  to beyond 50 to my memory of today and may be many more , if I squeeze my mind. I wish to bringout the pics of the album covers of the famous singers here for our viewing pleasure and enjoy the richness of western music even today through youtube and other media ( as we are blessed with internet , a modern electronic media .

And on and on and on… the list goes ….

Try to listen of your favorite old songs and cherish the past music lives as immortal songs forever !

Now I listen Bhajan’s and chant Hare Krishna Maha Mantra daily. But  the liking of listening western music is still there for soft songs and not rocks !!!

I wish to talk on books in my next  blog !.

Should we vote in the election or boycott the election?

 

Should we vote in the election or boycott the election?

The reason for writing this blog is mainly based on how the recent Assembly Election of Tamil Nadu held last week and the campaign of all the political parties for more than a month before election. Secondly, a full page content in today’s Tamil daily DINAMALR , I found many people shared their opinions on ‘why they didn’t vote in this election’.

My views are based on a different perspective and not on the political parties, their policies, election manifest or contestant’s background check, whether they bribe the voters or not and any other philosophical ideas or linking to any religion and not even on my own personal opinions.

In the Mahabharath, Lord Krishna describes in 8.49.49 that nahi sarvam vidhiyate, there is not a rule for everything. So scriptures give us broad guide lines for how we need to act in lives but every individual has his own circumstances, his own psychophgysical nature. Accordingly every individual will have to act, taking into consideration his or her nature and circumstances. So there cannot be any standard legislative sort of answer for the question of whether one should vote or not.

According to chapter 5 of the Bhagavad Gita, it recommends karma yoga, stating that anyone who is a dedicated karma yogi neither hates nor desires, and therefore such as person is the "eternal renouncer".

Let us not blame the party candidates bribing the people with material things for their winning vote.  We too experienced the cash offer from two opposite parties, as both the party workers are my best friends! But with folded hands we excused ourselves in accepting their offer and with a bright smile they left by reminding us to vote for their contestant!

You may not be excited about any of the candidates on the ballot. You may believe that none of them exemplify dharmic values. You may be right. But guess what? One of them is going to win. So you should ask yourself, ‘which candidate will do the least harm, be the least dishonest, and move society in a more dharmic direction?’ You may think that it doesn’t matter which candidate wins because your life won’t change either way. But voting is not just about me and it’s more than just a civic duty: voting is a service.  Service is an integral part of our eternal nature: everything we do is a service to someone or something. There is no question of serving or not serving, only of how we serve. On Election Day, A yogi serves by defending dharma, by taking a stand for simplicity, virtue, generosity, and truthfulness. Our local polling station is the battlefield and a ballot is our weapon. On Election Day, yogis are called upon to fight for the welfare of all living beings.

Anyone can put any number of reasons for NOT VOTING but there is only one reason to VOTE. 

Yes , I voted in this election of my choice, respecting the social responsibility, a civic duty and a service. Hope the eligible voters may know that, without boycotting the voting, they can use the provision in the voting machine to vote for NOTA (None Of The Above) to indicate disapproval of the candidates in the voting system! Even then one has to win and other one to lose, because the fundamental duality is inevitable. Everywhere life abounds in dualities – good and bad, pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, life and death, praise and blame, honor and dishonor, love and hate and we cannot escape from the cycle of duality.

 

My Personal Experiences on Environmental Impact of COVID-19

 My Personal Experiences on Environmental Impact of COVID-19

In the wake of pandemic, a virus, we call it COVID-19, jumped from animal to human being. I never expected any serious impact of the new pandemic on the environment, in the beginning.  As the situation prevailed from days to weeks and continued  to months, going on and on, extended to more than seven months, then I started realizing the veracity of changes in the environment for good and as well not good.

The prolonged stay inside our home, keep us engaged in doing physical exercise in the terrace and surprised to see a clear, smokeless sky and breathed easily.  I heard them first, I mean the pigeons, before they rose above the tree tops and sat on the buildings. Domestic chores has been increased, but I felt that it was for good health and the whole family joined to tackle the situation.

As we stopped going out for purchases, I saw the impact of less plastic covers accumulating in our waste disposal container and for sure it is good for the environment. The super markets were closed and no hospitality establishments functioning. So there is no bulk purchase and storing of vegetables in the refrigerators and we ate fresh vegetables brought to our doorsteps by the small vendors. Buying from them increased their livelihood. Air conditioners were not in use, as advised by the regulations and so the heat exposure from the climate control equipment was almost nil. But usage of consumer electronics, like mobiles and laptops has been considerably increased due to online classes for students and watching entertainments by elders locked inside the house!

Within our family and from different media, we came to know that there was decrease in Industrial activities resulting loss of jobs. But there were lesser road traffic and reduced industrial and transport emissions and effluents. There may be increase in energy consumption in the house, but a considerable decrease in the industrial house.

In villages, environmental changes due the unpolluted air and water, the soil become more fertile and there was increase in farm production like vegetables, fruits and others. But lesser sales forced the farmers to dump the surplus goods in the farm itself and incurred loss. This dumping increased the micro-organisms and the cycle repeats.  

Trees store carbon dioxide, one of the primary greenhouse gases contributing the warming of the planet and climate change. The impact of COVID-19 prevented human intervention in deforestation and the nature took its own course of afforestation.

 The arrest of complete diesel driven train movement and automobiles of small and heavy, stopped polluting the air, a benefit for all living beings. The stoppage of air traffic for many months saved costly liquid energy consumption. Ozone layer has been found to have revived to some extent.

Though there was a dip in tourism impacting the economy, pollution caused by tourist, empty plastic water bottles and other containers thrown in the tourist spots becomes zero. The pollution level in tourist spots such as forests, sea beaches, hill areas, etc. is also shrinking largely.

We could see the rivers flowing in crystal clear and conducive to survival of aquatic life. Reduction in animal slaughtering results the life of livestock blooming.

Ecosystems are being greatly recovered and witnessed environmental changes by all of us. The original seasons we lost to witness, year by year, may revive.

More and more awareness campaigns on the COVID – 19 by government bodies, NGOs’ and common public in all media opened the eyes of the people to look into the environment seriously for the future, as still a vaccine of remedy is not found yet.

As the novel coronavirus continues its rampage, scientists have warned that the threat posed by new bacteria and viruses cannot be taken lightly anymore. Climate change, they say, is likely to throw up more such unpleasant surprises and severely overwhelm our ability to respond to and manage disasters such as flood, draught, and other extreme events.

To conclude  my personal experiences on environmental impact due to COVID-19, certainly an enriched health in the lives of human body, mind and soul. I had never been to a doctor for the last six plus months for any ailment. In the cases of others also I have seen the same, except people with symptoms of corona. Overall enhancement has been seen geologically, botanically and zoologically but resulted in global socio-economic losses.

Train Travel - Sacrifice for the Nation, A False Pride and Sacrifice for a family!

Train Travel - Sacrifice for the Nation, A False Pride and Sacrifice for a family!

Sacrifice for the Nation

In May 1893, while Gandhi was on his way to Pretoria, a white man objected to Gandhi's presence in a first-class carriage, and he was ordered to move to the van compartment at the end of the train. Gandhi, who had a first-class ticket, refused, and was thrown off the train at Pietermaritzburg. Shivering through the winter night in the waiting room of the station, Gandhi made the momentous decision to stay on in South Africa and fight the racial discrimination against Indians there. His sacrifice to the protection of the people is the starting for the freedom of our Nation.

A False Pride

In the year 1988, if I remember the year correctly, I had an experience of questioning by the TTR (Train Ticket Reviewer) of a train bound to BINA from KOTA, where I boarded with a valid first-class train ticket, during my official trip, when I was working with Richardson & Cruddas (1972) Ltd. It was nearing midnight when the train touched the deserted platform of Kota railway station. I was about to return back from Kota to Chennai and the route suggested by my client that I need to travel  from Kota to Bina to catch up Chennai bound trains from Delhi. 

Those days no reservations were made as the nature of work is like that. I was little perturbed to find the first-class coach, as there is no such one but found a couch with painted as I Class at one end and II Class in the other end! So I jumped into the first-class entrance and found no one is there and only a dim light was burning and I found a partition which separates both the classes. With a little fear I took a corner seat and waiting for the signal to depart. Suddenly a person with muffler clad around his neck and covered head except the eyes and wearing TTR coat. Then I was a bit happy to have a company.

 The moment he entered, he asked me in Hindi, who I am and why I bought a first-class ticket. I understood his question and answered in English about my company and where from I am coming and my destination. He then asked me, why I bought a first-class ticket. I explained to him that it is the travel privilege given to officers by the company. Then without any further talk, he closed the door and locked it and asked me to shut all the windows fully. When I gently asked him, what is the reason, he said the train from Kota to Bina passes through a desert track and likelihood of dacoits stopping the train and loot the passengers belongings in a short time and flee and so for the safety we need to be in a tightly closed compartment. To my surprise, he went to sleep and told me to wake him on reaching Kota station. He warned me again to be careful in not opening the windows or doors for any reason!

I couldn’t sleep throughout the journey due to fear. At last the train screeched the Bina Railway Station. But before I attempted to wake the TTR, he woke up and said good bye to me with a caution again that in future I shouldn’t venture to travel in first-class in that route!

It’s a one-time experience for me, in travelling in a train with valid first-class ticket but not thrown out of the train! But I am ashamed of my  false pride to travel in a first-class train compartment .The rest of the story may not be relevant to this blog!

Sacrifice for a Family

 

 

Coming to the train travel of my dad, who, by virtue of his work, always on the move for more than 30 years by train, since 1945, from Madras to many cities and remote places, for servicing refrigeration equipment supplied by his company, the same Richardson & Cruddas, where I joined in 1971. He was eligible to travel in II class in Train at that time. But he used to travel in III class only and from the train fare amount difference he saved, he used to buy dresses, shoes, play things, taking us to hotels and cheer up us to forget his absence from us during his long trips. His sacrifice for our family cannot be concluded with a single reference of this train episode. More and more are there to share.

           

A Family Reunion and a Pilgrimage to Rameswaram

A Family Reunion and a Pilgrimage to Rameswaram

What better gift can we give the departed than prayers for the soul. To pay respects to our Anna Nagar mama’s soul, we all fifteen close family members went to Rameswaram on 21^st December, 2019, on the culmination of  Mama’s first death anniversary, falls on 28^th December 2019.

Our group includes the closest relatives of Mama: His wife (my elder sister), two younger brothers with their spouses, two sons with their spouses and their children, myself and my younger sister. A family reunion is a time to remember, a time to laugh, a time to share old stories and make new memories. In fact this reunion is a coming together that strengthens the bond of our family and reminds us the gift of belonging. A family is like branches on a tree; we all grow in different directions and even with different faiths, yet our roots remain as one.

Mama was the eldest member of our family and with due respects everyone of us voluntarily joined in the pilgrimage to Rameswaram.

To say about the trip, it is a well organized one by Mama’s eldest son and the cooperation was extended by all to him in making the trip a grand success. All of us assembled in Chennai domestic airport on  December 21, 2019, early morning and took the IndiGo flight, an ATR 72 craft, enjoyed by all, the 85 minutes journey to Tuticorin airport.

We were welcomed by nature’s drizzling weather and proceeded to Thangachi Madam, just beyond the Pamban bridge, by a mini A/C bus equipped with TV and Disco lights!  But the joy of singing competition of film songs by two groups of young and old, during the bus journey was enjoyed by all.

A short break we took at a Forest Guest House arranged by our Mr.Sambasiva uncle ( who was in US at that time), a retired IFS . After lunch, we went to Agni Theertham, the sea shore of Rameswaram, near the famous  Sri Ramanatha Swamy Temple. After the formal rituals, we  all dipped our legs in the sea waves coming to the shore and sprinkled the holy water on our head.

The darshan was so good and we were allowed to have it very close to the presiding deity’s sanctum sanctorum. The deity, Sri Ramanatha Swamy is in the form of a Lingam. We have also seen Sri Parvathavarthini Amman and a unique Vishnu shrine in a Shiva temple, Sri Pallikonda Perumal. But few of us missed the world famous Third Corridor with 1212 pillars and bathing in many thirthams!

To catch up the Rameswram Sethu Express at 8.15 pm, we took dinner in a hotel nearby the railway station and back to Chennai on 22^nd morning at 7.00 am. 

We missed the rail bridge view as we crossed the Pamban bridge in dark night. 

Many of the first timer for Chennai Metro enjoyed the short travel from Egmore to Thirumangalam station and we were back home with lots of memories.

 My sincere thanks to all for making the shortest pilgrimage trip, a memorable one. Let our prayers take Mama’s soul to reach the abode of his favourite God, Lord Muruga.

Wish you all A Very Happy and Prosperous New Year 2020.

Satyagraha Lifestyle for the Youth of Today A perspective of yesteryear youth

Satyagraha Lifestyle for the Youth of Today

A perspective of yesteryear youth

According to Gandhiji:  “Satyagraha is not the weapons of the weak, but the weapon of the Strong willed”.

Satyagraha literally means “hold onto the truth”.  Gandhiji coined this word for nonviolent resistance.

Truth in speech, as opposed to falsehood; What is real, as opposed to falsehood; Good as opposed to evil.

Today’s youths consider themselves as ”modern day Satyagrahi” and actively engaged in a force action against corruption of any kind; conflict and violence at all levels; harm to animals; and the destruction of environment. But they harbor hatred or even anger against their opponents. Gandhiji didn’t emphasized these actions as Satyagraha. Satyagrahi is dedicated to truth force against himsa.

We may recall Gandhiji’s stand in the first Satyagraha event in Champaran movement, hundred years ago. He was very clear that the opposition to the injustice must be anchored in a cold and confident determination to end and not by the heat of anger.

This quality is the most essential one for today’s youth, to observe Satyagraha. But it is difficult to follow because of today’s social media. Present day social media promotes aggressive expression of anger, resentment and hatred is celebrated. If any small flash news sparks in social media, created by anonymous person, on social issues, without verifying the authenticity, youths assemble in flash mob, to express their opposition. It creates law and order problems and affects common people to the extreme level. Because of their mass action, they never think to resolve the conflict, even if the news is of genuine nature, very rarely! They behave simultaneously in a similar way but individually and without coordination. Then where are the Gandhian values in today’s youth?

Gandhiji gave us the lessons of tolerance, nonviolence, satyagraha and of belief in one’s own faith.  Today’s youth can learn to be resolute and focus towards their “purpose’ despite all hardships. Here, the “purpose” should be for all the living beings and not one’s selfish.

Gandhiji’s vision should not be lost in religious, political and emotional fervors.  Satyagraha does not depend on the outside help, it derives all its help from within. However, if the energy of youth can receive honest and selfless motivation and direction from the experienced, then surely they have the ability to transform the lives of many people from sufferings to happiness and peace. Let us be part of changing the lifestyle of youth from their mundane lifestyle to Satyagraha Lifestyle.

To explore further, today’s youth may go through the qualifications of a Satyagrahi as defined by Gandhiji in ‘Harijan” issue dated March 23,1939.

To conclude, in Gandhiji’s own words: A Satyagrahi is nothing if not instinctively law-abiding, and it is his law-abiding nature which exacts from him implicit obedience to the highest law, that is the voice of conscience which overrides all other laws. (SW, p. 465)

Presented by : M.D.Chander, Gandhi Peace Foundation, Madras.

Date: 10^th August 2019

Sri Athi Varadar Perumal, Kancheepuram

Sri Athi Varadar Perumal , Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu - Miracles Do Happen

Devotees from neighboring places around the temple town of Kancheepuram had darshan of Sri Athi Varadar 40 years before without any big news event about this deity. But now , this year , the news of bringing out the idol from temple tank spread like a forest fire and all media covered this once in 40 years event, in a very big way. 

This increased the curiosity of the devotees in all states of India to witness the idol, a once in a life time darshan and the footfall of them increased from one lakh on the first day  to two lakhs a day. More VIPs’ made a visit to the temple and our Prime Minister, Sri.Narendra Modiji also planned to visit this week.

Athi Varadar is a nine-feet idol made out of the fig (Athi pazham in Tamil) tree and is brought out from the Anantasaras (the temple tank) in Kanchipuram Vardharaja Perumal Temple once in 40 years. Though there is no written history of when the ritual actually began, people believe it is many centuries old.

Given that the waiting time is a minimum of three hours, the government has issued a warning advising senior citizens, pregnant women and people with health ailments to avoid visiting the temple. So, myself and my wife have decided to have the darshan daily through TV channels and not planned a visit in person, for the above reasons. But felt that we will be missing an opportunity of once in a life time to have the darshan of the deity with naked eyes. 

Why this blog is written is that, by the mercy of Sri Athi Varadarar Perumal,  today HE came to our home in the form a special release of Postal Cover commemorating the appearance of HIM after 40 years, through our regular Postman. He selectively asks the residents, whether they are interested in buying the special envelope.So we got one.  It is a miracle for us. God visits to your place, if you are not in a position to visit HIM, even though HE sits in everyone's heart.

Once in a year in Puri, Odisha, Sri Jagannath, Sri Balabadra and Sri Subadra comes out of the temple and give darshan in separate temple chariots for blessing the devotees. This annual event is a mega event and devotees from around the world pay a visit to have darshan. In all the temples in India and abroad, it is a practice to bring the deities outside the temples for the benefit of all , whether a devotee or non-devotee.

The Tamil Nadu Postal Circle has brought out this special cover to commemorate the ‘Athi Varadar Festival 2019’ in Kancheepuram based on a proposal from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. A total of 1,000 special covers have been printed with special UV printing and each cover is priced at ₹50.

The Department of Posts has also printed one lakh non-UV special covers. These covers are available at ₹20 each at the Anna Road Head Post Office Philately Bureau as well as at the special stalls, which have already been put up near the Devarajaswami Temple at Kancheepuram. 

We are blessed by Sri Athi Varadar Perumal to have HIS darshan in the form of a postal cover with HIS present sayana state in the temple’s Vasantha Mandapam.

Miracles do happen and it gives more strength to our faith on God.

Hare Krishna.