KANAKAABHISHEKAM

The video above is a rare video of the Abhishekam to Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala which was shot in 1966. It is a very rare video.

Kanakaabhishekam is also a very rare function in the family. “Kanaka” means gold and “Abishekam” means sacred bath. “Kanakaabhishekam” means the sacred golden bath. It is a very unique and divine occurrence which happens in the lifetime of one in a million.

“Kanakaabhishekam” is performed for a person (who is alive with his wife) when his son’s grandson is completing one year. The fourth generation child’s first birthday – ayush homam will be performed by honouring the child’s great grand parents.

Husband and Wife will be made to sit and a brass tray (with lot of pores) will be held above their heads. Gold Coins will be placed on the brass tray and ladies would also keep their Jewellery on the tray. The sacred water will be poured with the chanting of mantras on the tray and through the pores the water will fall on the heads of the couple who have seen the next three generations in their life time. The couple would bless the fourth generation child – great grand child.

All relatives and friends of the family should attend the function and take the blessings of the great old couple. It is very rare and unique as there are several conditions to be satisfied to qualify for this:
(a) the great grand parents should both be alive
(b) they should have a son
(c) the first son of their son (grand son) should have a son
(d) the child should be a male child born to the grand son of the old couple
(e) All the three couples should be present for the function with the child, viz., great grand parents; grand parents and the parents.

My father’s uncle Shri.Gopala Iyengar had the rare distinction of celebrating the Kanakaabhishekam in Tirupathi in 2007. According to my father this was the first time in our family that there was a celebration with the three couples and great grand son. I was fortunate enough to attend the function with my wife and took the blessings of that great couple Shri. Gopala Iyengar and his wife. In my lifetime so far that was the only Kanakaabhishekam that I attended.

-T.P.Anand, Dubai, U.A.E.
29th September 2011

NAVARATRI

Navaratri is a very important Hindu festival. “Navaratri” literally means nine nights. It is a festival which is for worship of “Durga” or “Shakthi” over nine nights and on the tenth day we celebrate “Vijayadasami”. It is also known as “Dasshera” and is celebrated in a very grand scale in places like Mysore and Kolkatta.

In the olden days children used to be sent to school for the first time in their life on the “Vijayadasami” day. It is the most auspicious day to start the academic pursuit in ones lifetime.

Navaratri is celebrated all over India and in Chennai we call it as “Navaratri Kolu”. Depending on the space available and no of dolls available people arrange the dolls and other attractive decorative items in the house. There should be 3 or 5 or 7 or 9 levels in which the dolls are arranged. The number of steps or levels should be only in odd numbers. On the side of the steps people do garden, water fall and other decorative things. In some houses in those days one room will be dedicated for arrangement of the “Kolu”.

Each night they would make different “sundal” and we all used to go to each and every house in Triplicane in those days and ask for “sundal”. “Sundal” is a special dish made out of White chickpeas, black chickpeas ( generally termed as Kadalai Sundal ), butter beans (termed as "Mochakottai sundal" ), dried peas (termed as Pattani sundal ) and many more. The entire evening used to be spent in going around visiting various houses to see the “Kolu” and to take the “sundal”. We used to stand at the door and shout “maami ungaathula Kolu vundo”. It was great fun.

At home in those days my father used to take special care and attention in arranging the Kolu and decorating the steps. We used to store all the dolls (neatly packed) with the decorative pillars and steps in the loft. Me, my sister and two brothers used to assist our father for arrangement of the Kolu. It used to take two full days for us to complete the arrangement.

It is a very grand festival for ladies and girls. They get to visit various houses during the nine nights. They would glitter in the best of saris and Jewellery. They also sing devotional songs when they visit the “Kolu”. It is a great tradition of community living and togetherness. It is the longest festival in the Hindu tradition and is hence the most enjoyable period of the year.

With the advent of apartments and the space inroads made by various gadgets like Television, Washing Machine, etc. people started facing acute space constraints and slowly the tradition of having “Kolu” at every house diminished during the last couple of decades of the previous century.

Over the last few years there has been an increasing number of houses which have gone back to the arrangement of Kolu at home. Since there are more number of femal workers in Banks and other organisations there is also a new trend of having Navaratri Celebration at business establishments including banks. I remember in 2008 the Mylapore Branch of Indian Overseas Bank had Navaratri Kolu and they invited the legendary singer Smt.P.Suseela to light the “Kuthuvilakku”.

These festivals remind us of the importance of community living which highlights togetherness and sharing the joy and enjoyment. I am glad and delighted that more and more houses have started again the tradition of celebrating Navaratri with “Kolu”. The arrangement of “Kolu” is catching up well and is spreading across the entire globe as we now have Indians (particularly) Hindus living in almost all the parts of the world.

-T.P.Anand, Dubai, U.A.E.
28th September 2011

GOOGLE THE GREAT

Google has turned 13 today and is celebrating birthday worldwide. Google is now a teenager. The most attractive, popular and most sought after teenager in the world. This teenager is liked by all the people in the world irrespective of sex, age, religion, region, country, education, profession, personal likes and dislikes. In the olden days (about 25 years ago) when we wanted to know about anything we used to refer to “encyclopedia” which was an information bank. Over the last 13 years people across the globe irrespective of age, education and background have resorted to “Google search” to find any information that they want.

I bought a pumpkin from the Vegetable store couple of years ago and when I cut it to make sambar I realized that there was too much available and what I needed for the sambar was only 1/6th of the entire Pumpkin. I kept the balance in the Refrigerator. Everyday when I set out for cooking dinner this remaining portion of pumpkin used to stare at me. On the third day which happened to be a Thursday, I decided to make use of the Pumpkin in my cooking. I told the visitor to my home that night Sundar to look through “Google” for pumpkin halwa recipe. Within the next one hour we were on the dining table having the delicious “Pumpkin Halwa”.

I was surfing the net today morning and by chance landed up on the blog of a company which had done some contracting work in Karaikal Port when I was working for Marg Limited. There were some pictures in the blog and I was shocked to see one picture which featured me on board the Dredger in Karaikal Port. I got excited and sent the picture to a friend of mine who used to be a Captain of a Ship. He wrote back “nice picture.. seems to have been taken on the bridge of the vessel”. I immediately went to Google and typed the words “bridge of the vessel” and in 0.14 seconds it gave 25.9 million results. I could clearly understand the meaning of the phrase in less than one minute.

In the olden days (about 30 years ago) we were made to by heart the lessons. We used to get up early in the morning around 4 a.m. to read the lessons so that it will remain in the memory for a long time. The present day children need not have to go through this difficulty. There is no need to remember anything hard and strain your brain. Any time any information needed can be accessed through “Google search”. In today’s world neither intelligence nor memory power is required. You can handle any situation and get clarification on any question by doing “Google search”.

The speed and variety of information that you can get on a “Google search” is truly amazing, excellent and fulfilling. Long live “Google”. I wish you a very very happy birthday and wish you many more happy returns of the day.

-T.P.Anand, Dubai, U.A.E.
27th September 2011

பாட்டு பாட வா - 2 கமல் பாடல்கள்

கமல் ஒரு மிக சிறந்த நடிகர். எந்த கதா பாத்திரத்திலும் சிறந்து நடிப்பார்.

எனக்கு பிடித்த கமல் பாடல்களை இந்த பாட்டு பாட வா தொடரின் இரண்டாம் பாகமாக வழங்குகிறேன்:

1. பூ போட்ட தாவணி போதையில் ஆடுதே
2. ராஜா கைய வெச்சா அது ராங்கா போனதில்லே
3. இதழில் கதை எழுதும் நேரமிது இன்பங்கள் அழைக்குது வா
4. சிப்பி இருக்குது முத்தும் இருக்குது திறந்து பார்க்க நேரமில்லடி ராசாத்தி
5. காலம் காலமாக வாழும் காதலுக்கு நாங்கள் அற்பணம்
6. வளையோசை கல கல கலவென கவிதைகள் படிக்குது குளு குளூ தென்றல்
7. வச்சாலும் வக்காம போகாது மல்லி வாசம்
8. புதுச்சேரி கச்சேரி எக்கச்செக்க பார்ட்டி ஒன்னு புடிச்சேன்
9. இஞ்ஜி இடுப்பழகி மஞ்ஜ செவப்பழகி
10. மேகம் கொட்டட்டும் ஆட்டம் உண்டு
11. சுந்தரி நீயும் சுந்தரன் நானும் சேர்ந்திருந்தால்
12. ஜெர்மனியின் செந்தேன் மலரே
13. தென்பாண்டி சீமையிலே தேரோடும் வீதியிலே
14. வாழ வைக்கும் காதலுக்கு ஜே
15. ரம் பம் பம் ஆரம்பம் பம் பம் பம் பேரின்பம்
16. என்னோடு காதல் என்று பேச வந்தது நீயா இல்லை நானா
17. காசு மேல காசு வந்து கொட்டுகிற நேரமிது
18. கந்தசாமியா மாடசாமியா குப்புசாமியா ராமசாமியா கல்யாணம் கட்டிகினாங்கோ
19. உனக்கென்ன மேலே நின்றாய் ஓ நந்தலாலா
20. பட்டு கன்னம் தொட்டுக்கொள்ள ஒட்டிக்கொள்ளும்

Super Singer 3 Grand Finale

The Airtel Super Singer 3 Grand Finale on 23rd September 2011 was a very long program. It lasted almost 5 1/2 hours and finally it was "Sai Charan" who emerged as a Winner.

The Airtel Super Singer 2 had Ajeesh being declared as a Winner despite the consistent performances by Ravi. Sameway we saw "Sai Charan" winning the title despite very consistent and brilliant performances by "Satya Prakash". The worst thing that happened this year is Satya Prakash was adjudged as the Second Runner up which was really shocking.

Santosh winning the Runner up position was a big surprise for everyone including Santosh himself.

I was very sad for "Pooja" for getting relegated to the 3rd Runner up Position. She deserved a much better positioning. Her song selection for the finale was not good. She sang the first song "Mannavan Vandaanadi thozhi" very well but the second song she chose was very ordinary song "gala galavena pozhiyum megham enna sollutho".

Satya Prakash sang "Oru naal poduma" and "Omana penne". He is a very versatile and elegant singer. He is very comfortable while singing and does not strain too much. He has a very bright future and will do well in life given his versatility and calm composure.

Santosh did well with "Auromale" and the second song is not a familiar song and I heard it for the first time. He was full of energy and put in lot of emotion while singing.

"Sai Charan" has been the shining star over the last few weeks. He rendered "Paattum naane bhavamum naane" and "Mazhai thuli mazhai thuli mannil sangamam". He strained himself and put in his best effort to render both the songs very well. He sounded from the start like a winner. The standing ovation that he got from the entire audience was the accredition and acknowledgement for his winning the title as "Airtel Super Singer 3". He was really outstanding in the finale and the song selection helped him a great deal.

Both Sai Charan and Satya Prakash did well with their song selection while the same cannot be said about Pooja and Santosh.

The Program could have been shorter and conducted with lot more seriousness. The compere "Siva Karthikeyan" in his enthusiasm exhibited his lack of maturity. You can take a dig at others once in a while but should not do it all the time and in every sentence spoken. That is very cheap and height of immaturity. He needs to be counseled and advised by someone as he is an intelligent and bright youngster who has a long future ahead of him.

பாட்டு பாட வா - ரஜினி பாடல்கள்

சினிமா பாடல்கள் எனக்கு மிகவும் பிடிக்கும். நான் மிகவும் விரும்பி கேட்பது தமிழ் திரைப்பட பாடல்கள்.

எனக்கு பிடித்த தமிழ் திரைப்பட பாடல்களை இங்கே தொகுத்து வழங்கப்போகிறேன்:

பாகம் 1 - ரஜினி பாடல்கள்

1. பேசக்கூடாது வெறும் பேச்சில் சுகம் ஏதும் இல்லை வேகம் இல்லை லீலைகள் காண்போமே
2. மலயாள கரையோரம் கவி பாடும் குருவி
3. காவிரியே கவிக்குயிலே கண் மணியே வா வா மனம் தாவுதடி தவிக்குதடி தளிர்கொடியே வா வா
4. வெள்ளை புறா ஒன்று ஏங்குது கையில் வராமலே
5. மாமா உன் பொண்ணை குடு ஆமா சொல்லிப்புடு இது சாமி போட்ட முடிச்சு
6. வா வா வசந்தமே சுகம் தரும் சுகந்தமே
7. முத்து மணிச்சுடரே வா முல்லை மலர் சறமே வா கண் உற்ங்கு நேரம் ஆனதே
8. சூப்பர் ஸ்டாரு யாருன்னு கேட்டால் சின்ன கொழந்தயும் சொல்லும்
9. அம்மா என்றழைக்காத உயிரில்லையே அம்மாவை வணங்காது உயர்வில்லையே
10. என்னம்மா கண்ணு சௌக்கியமா
11. ரா ரா ரா ராமைய்யா எட்டுக்குள்ள உலகம் இருக்கு ராமைய்யா
12. மாசி மாசம் ஆளான பொண்ணு மாமன் எனக்கு தானே
13. நீலக்குயில்கள் ரெண்டு
14. கண்டுபுடிச்சேன் கண்டுபுடிச்சேன் காதல் நோய கண்டுபுடிச்சேன்
15. ஒரு மைனா மைனா குருவி மனசார பாடுது மாயங்கள் காட்டுது ஓஹோ

தி.பா. ஆனந்த்
துபாய்

RETIREMENT

The life expectancy of a human being has been increasing steadily over the last few decades. When I was young and studying at school the Retirement age was increased from 55 to 58. Over the last decade there has been enough said and written about increasing the retirement age to 65. By the year 2020 I feel the retirement age will be increased to 70. The life expectancy has increased over the last twenty years from 70 to 85. People are able to live longer thanks to the advancement in the Medical Sciences over the last couple of decades.

The last two decades have seen much more inventions and the technical advancement that we have seen is really mind boggling. The inventions of the last two decades which will much more than what we have seen as sum total in the last two centuries.

With the advent of Internet the source of information and intelligent is at finger tips. During my school days we used to get up early morning and read the lessons to know them by heart (mug up). The memory power and intelligence was constantly under test during those days. Nowadays the children do not need to have such enormity of memory or intelligence as everything is available at the press of a button through “Google search”.

I feel by the year 2020 children would start doing most part of their studies through internet and “eLearning” will catch up in the next ten years and become the norm of the day. The children are ready to start living their own life from an early age, say 18 or 20. Their working life would start around 18 or 20 and they would have to work till they reach about 70 or 75. The working life which used to be 35 years before will now increase to 55 years in the decades to come.

In the ever changing dynamic world there is also a burning need for all of us to update our learning and have the open mindedness to learn new things. When I was a student there were no calculators. When my children were at school they were using Computers. The present generation of school kids are using Laptops and iPADs. We have moved rapidly from Desktop to Laptop to Palmtop and with the convergence of technology we have one device on our palm which has Watch, Phone, Calculator, Compass, Organiser, Computer, Video, Audio, Camera, Radio and many more.

The demands from a human being are far higher and complex now compared to what it was couple of decades ago. Life will get more complex and in order to endure the adversities and complexities one would have to adapt very quickly and continuously learn.

Retirement is thus getting further away and eluding those who are right now in their 50s. The folks who are nearing 50 and have crossed 50 recently are the ones who have to watch out. There is a need for a real stretch and broadening of thinking as we go through this transitional phase.

With the shift in the Retirement age by further 10 years or more we need to prepare ourselves for a tough phase of working life. Having said that I must say the work-life balance is also equally important for us to stay motivated and fit.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
15th September 2011.

BHAVNA BOTTA – A GREAT ACHIEVER

Is Bhavna Botta, who has Athetoid Cerebral Palsy, the world's first student to have completed a Bachelor's degree with the use of only her eyes?

The first thing that strikes you when you meet Bhavna Botta is how full of smiles she is. Not surprisingly, she was voted Miss Smiley — and Miss Final Year — at her B.A. Corporate Secretaryship department farewell party in Ethiraj College this year.

It has been a remarkable journey. Bhavna was born with Athetoid Cerebral Palsy, which means she is unable to walk, write by hand, or communicate verbally. Yet, she has defied all odds to complete her Class XII exams from a mainstream institution, Lady Andal Venkatasubba Rao Matriculation Higher Secondary School, and now her Bachelor's degree from Ethiraj, all using a unique system of communication by ‘eye-pointing'.

“She is definitely the first person in India — and possibly in the world — to have finished a college degree using the eye-pointing system,” says Kalpana, her mother. With this system, Bhavna communicates — and writes her exams — using a chart of alphabets in numbered columns, spelling out what she wants to say by pointing at the columns with her eyes. The chart was developed specially for her at Vidyasagar (a voluntary organisation that works with children and young adults with cerebral palsy and other neurological disabilities), where she studied until Class X. That's what she uses during this interview as well, spelling out her answers so rapidly at times that Kalpana can't keep up.

Foremost on her mind is her emotional parting with M. Thavamani, her principal at Ethiraj College who retired recently, and whom she went to college to say goodbye to. “It was a very unique feeling,” says Bhavna, “something I've never experienced before.”

Thavamani describes the meeting in touchingly similar terms: “It was a very emotional moment for both of us; I can't begin to express the kind of affection Bhavna's shown me, the department and her classmates.”

She adds: “When I first met the child, I did wonder if she would be able to manage. But today I can say that having been Bhavna's teacher — I taught her accountancy in her first year — is something I'm truly proud of in my career of 35 years.”

Like any youngster, Bhavna's fondest memories of her three years in college are of the friendships she formed and of all the fun she's had. The word she spells out most often is ‘fun', amidst plenty of laughter, as her mother talks about her adventures in learning to wear a sari and her insistence on going to the beach even though the salt water plays havoc with her wheelchair.

Is she signing up for a postgraduate degree? Her family is trying to convince her to do so. But her mind's made up and it has been since she was in Class VIII — Bhavna plans to start her own business. “She's geared all her decisions towards this, whether it was taking accountancy in Class XI or choosing Entrepreneurial Development as her elective in college,” says Meenakshi Subramanian, member of Vidyasagar's Disability Legislation Unit (DLU), and Bhavna's close friend and scribe.

She's already decided on the sort of business she's like to do — a socially responsible venture selling organic cotton and ahimsa silk saris and dress materials — and she has friends and family collecting information for her on different aspects.

But when Kalpana talks about family funding the venture, Bhavna protests vehemently — she's determined to start her business with a loan from the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC) instead. Her answer to my question “Why business?” was simply to spell out “independence”.

“What's the next step?” earns a similarly simple response: “Launching the business.” With this plucky young woman's track record, you've got to believe it will happen, sooner rather than later.

(Source: The Hindu, 5th June 2011)

Please visit the website http://www.saahaagika.co.cc/

LOGOS HOPE

I visited this vessel "Logos Hope" when she called on Dubai in January 2011. It was a really wonderful experience to go into the Vessel and see the "largest floating book fair". The collection of books they have onboard the vessel is very wide and truly interesting.

I also attended a cultural evening on Logos Hope and was very entertaining as the volunteers who work on the vessel gave a variety performance. The compere said that there are volunteers from forty different countries who work on the Vessel for 2 years. Each of them has a different way of doing things and hence onboard the Vessel there is nothing called "right" or "wrong". For example some volunteers get up early and start working early in the morning whilst there are some volunteers who get up late and start working only around 11 a.m. He said starting at 8 a.m. or 11 a.m. is "different".

All the people working on the Vessel right from the Captain of the Ship are Volunteers and they work for 2 years on board the vessel. They are assigned to work in different departments and work for a minimum of 8 hours a day. While they do not receive any salary to work on the Vessel they do get food and a decent room to stay onboard the vessel. Above all they get to visit different countries during the 2 years which is the greatest bonus for the volunteers. I am very much inclined to work on this Vessel as a Volunteer for two years. Right now she is docked in Penang, Malaysia and will be departing on 27th to call on Port Klang.

No.24 Car Street, Triplicane

I grew up in No.24 Car Street between 1970 and 1975. Those five years were glorious years as I played lot of cricket. I had lot of friends and had a wonderful time. That is a corner building owned by Shri.S.D.Krishnamurthy Rao. He used to be Head Master of Hindu High School (the famous school which is in existence for more than 150 years).

This house was at the junction of Singarachari Street and Car Street. Next to our house there is "Gudirai Vahana Mandapam". There is a huge place at the corner which was convenient for erecting temporary stage for Political Meetings. Though I did not understand much of what was spoken I used to stand and listen to all speakers in those days. We had seen some eminent political personalities like Periyar, Sivaji, Karunanidhi, etc. in Car Street during the elections.

Car Street is one of the four Maada Veethis of Sri Parthasarathy Swami Temple and hence there was always good amount of activity.

It was a long house with one entrance in Car Street and another entrance from the back street. Shri.T.R.Rajagopal, Science Teacher of Hindu High School used to stay at the back using the entrance from the back street.

There were another six families which stayed in the front portion of the building having entrance from Car Street.

The first portion was on first floor with stair case right at the entrance to the building. That portion was occupied by Mr.Ramachandran & Family. They used to own couple of Lorries in those days. There was enough space to park their lorries outside our house.

The second portion was on ground floor occupied by Mr.Parthasarathy and family. He was working in AG's Office (Accountant General's Office in Teynampet). He was a genius and the only man that I have seen in my entire life who could total two digits with ease. Today we are all using Calculators and Computers and in early 70s when there were no calculators totalling was done manually but only one digit at a time. Shri.Parthasarathy had the unique ability to total two digits at a time that too with ease and at a fast pace. His wife Janaki Maami was a very kind hearted nice lady. They had four sons - Suresh, Kumar, Sekhar and Ravi. The most notable member of their family whom I think of very often is Baagi, the sister of Mr.Parthasarathy. She used to sing very well and had a fantastic voice. I still remember the sweet voice and the way she used to sing all P.Suseela songs. Over the last three decades whenever I hear a P.Suseela song I think of Baagi.

The next portion on the ground floor was occupied by Ganga & Family. After the death of Ganga's father they moved out and Srinivasan & Family came to that portion.

The next portion on the ground floor was occupied by our family. My father, Mother, Grandmother, sister and two brothers lived in that house. It was quite a spacious portion with a large kitchen.

Next to our portion was another staircase which lead to another portion occupied by Narasimhan, Ragothaman and family. These two brothers though much older than us used to play cricket with me and my brothers. They had two sisters and one of them was working in Reserve Bank of India and the other sister was studying.

The last portion on the ground floor which was at a slightly lower level was occupied by Shri.Chellappa and family. They had two sons Ashok and Sai who were also my cricket mates. Shri.Chellappa was working as a Sales Representative for Borosil and used to give us lot of free gifts during cricket matches.

Shri.S.D.Krishnamurthy Rao used to comes once in a month to collect the rent. If I remember right we were paying initially Rs.140/- per month which was later increased by Rs.10/- every year and finally when we left the house in 1975 we were paying Rs.180/- per month. It was a very lucky house as most of the tenants left the house to occupy their own house. Shri.S.D.K was very proud of this and I remember he once told my father "Whenever you are shifting from here, Mr.Parthasarathy, I want you to shift to your own house".

It was like one large happy family in that house though there were six different families. There was lot of affection, concern, help and joy which was shared by all. We have also had our share of fights every now and then. But the beauty is we used to forget the fights and become pally with each other the very next day. There were no Television Sets, No Mobile Phones, No Calculators, No Cameras and No Computers. We all had a Radio and the only entertainment was listening to Radio which we hardly did as there was so much of fun and entertainment within the family and friends.

If there was a fight between Mr.Chellappa and his wife Suseela then all the other families knew about it. If there was a shortage of Sugar in our house then all the other families knew that we have taken on loan basis "one karandi" sugar from Janaka Maami to be returned when we buy the ration on the 1st of the following month.

It was true community living and very happy living experience. I am glad I enjoyed it for atleast about 5 years in my entire life so far. I am very sad that I am not able to enjoy the community living for ever.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
7th September 2011

TEACHERS AND THEIR TEACHINGS

Teachers play a very vital role in the life of every one of us. After our parents the most important persons in our lives are Teachers. They have a tremendous influence in a boy or girl's mind. A Teacher can make a child grow into a well rounded wonderful person through his/her teachings.

A child grows in the first 2 to 3 years under the personal attention and care of a mother. The child is pampered and always surrounded by immediate family during the first few years. When the Child starts going to school Teacher becomes the first outside contact for the Child. The influence that a Teacher can have on the Child’s mind is enormous.

It is very important for us to remember the teachers who have taught us so many things over the years in School and College. In addition to imparting the knowledge on the subject the Teachers also inculcate a sense of discipline in our minds. We learn discipline, right attitude, passion, culture, behaviour and many more important traits from the Teachers. Teachers at school adopt a “Carrot and Stick” approach and that teaches us to know the difference between good and bad. Both appreciation and punishments comes in public in front of the entire class or sometimes in the presence of the entire school.

We like some teachers and we do not like some of them. Mostly the ones that are showering the students with appreciation and accolades are liked by students. The strict disciplinarian teacher is not liked by most of the students. I have come across teachers who mix both and have a tactful way of impressing on the students the need for discipline.

I have been attending Arabic Classes in Alliance Française and my interest in the language has increased tremendously because of the Teacher. Mr.Ghassan is the teacher who is taking the classes and the enormity of patience and perseverance exhibited by him in the classes is a great inspiration for me.

Rolling back into the years I recall Charumathi Teacher who taught me Tamil when I joined for 3rd Standard in Bharathi Bala Bhavan. A small school in South Mada Street in Triplicane. I went for private tuition to her house in the evenings as I was new to the language. She was a very kind hearted teacher with a smile on her face all the time. I have never seen her getting angry or upset with any student. She remains the best teacher in my life for her dedication, passion, kindness and that everlasting smile.

The second best teacher in my life is Shri.Sampath Iyengar, my father’s uncle. He was a genius in Mathematics. He taught me Mathematics for more than 2 years on weekends. I had never scored more than 80% in any subject in my life until I started going for tuition in mathematics to Shri.Sampath Iyengar. After learing the subject from him I was consistently scoring over 80% but centum kept eluding me throughout. He used sit in an easy chair with eyes closed and teach the subject without using a black board. I have developed my analytical skills only through his teachings and I am indebted to him.

Shri.P.Anand taught me Commerce in School. Being a Chartered Accountant himself he was the first teacher to appreciate me in front of the Class. He also identified the true potential in me and advised me to take up Chartered Accountancy. I will remain grateful to him for ever for unleashing the potential in me at the right time. When I went to meet him after clearing my CA Entrance Exams he was thrilled with my marks and he introduced me to everyone in his office and proudly said “my first student from Hindu High School”. That was a great moment for me in life.

During my CA days I have had some wonderful teachers who have taught me the subjects and I distinctly remember Prof.Sheshadri from A.M.Jain College. He taught me Accountancy in Davar’s College of Commerce where I went for coaching for the CA Entrance exams. He taught Accountancy without using the black board. Very rarely he used to go upto the black board. He taught the subject very nicely with conceptual foundation and made it very simple to understand and learn.

There were a lot of teachers during my school days and college days. Some of them were very good and some were not so good when it came to imparting knowledge. Some of the good teachers whom I recall are Shri.R.Srinivasan (RS); Shri.D.Mani; Shri.L.S.Sivakumar; Prof.K.L.Nagarajan; Shri.R.Bhupathy; Shri.Govindarajan (he taught me Operations Research for my CA Final).

When I analyse now and look back I feel the teaching profession is a very good profession but unfortunately it does not attract the best of the talents. A bright student never ends up with teaching profession. Most of them go into the Industry or start their own business. If the Teaching Profession can attract the best talent it will help the students a great deal in their life.

I am very fond of Teaching Profession and have been engaging myself in delivering lectures and conducting workshops. I have had my moments of satisfaction during the days when I was teaching in the CA Institute in Chennai. After a long gap I have again started engaging myself in teaching since the beginning of 2011 and it has been a very wonderful experience.

Long Live the Teachers. Their Teachings have made all of us proud individuals. I salute them all. Happy Teachers Day.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
5th September 2011

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

I did schooling in Chennai and studied in the State Board wherein we had English and Tamil as languages to study. There were several protests against Hindi in those days (70s) by the regional political parties. Despite the political outcry against Hindi every household particularly the middle class families encouraged their children to study Hindi.

I joined for Hindi Classes (Prathmik) along with my brother T.P.Ashok about 35 years ago. We used to go to Akbar Sahib Street in Triplicane for the Hindi Classes. Every day while we were waiting for the Teacher we used to hear the Prayer from the Mosque which was right opposite the Hindi Class. Over a period of time I started remembering that Prayer as I have heard it repeatedly. I was actually checking if any of those words that used in the Prayer is from Hindi. Later I came to know that the prayer is in Urdu/Arabic. I used to think it will be nice to learn that language also.

My stint with Hindi ended with Prathmik and I got through the exams with Second Class. My brother continued his Hindi Classes and went on to complete the entire set of exams upto Praveen.

In 2001 when I came to Dubai I felt the need for learning Arabic as I thought it would be easier with discharge of duties. In my day to work I had to go through documents which were in Arabic and always needed help from someone. Though the need was felt I did not make a serious attempt to learn Arabic until 2010. It was only towards the end of 2010 that I took this up seriously and went to Alliance Française to enquire about the Arabic Classes.

I finally joined for Arabic Classes in January 2011 and it proved to be a wonderful experience. Learning a foreign language is very difficult but it is also very interesting. The words and the context in which different words are being used is really very interesting to learn. The Grammar is the toughest part of any language and Arabic it is not an exception. In English we say he came, she came, I came, you came, they came, we came – but in Arabic there is a different word for each Jeet, Jeetee, Jetoo, Aaja, Ajat, Ajoo, Jeena.

The script is also very difficult to follow and reading and writing is quite difficult in Arabic. There are similar letters but they vary with dots. There are two dots, three dots, dot above the letter and dot below the letter. For instance if the dot is below it is “Ba” and if the dot is above it is “na”. If we are not careful while writing then the word itself will change and thus the meaning as well. There are also strokes for vowels “aa” “ee” “oo”. Even if these punctuation strokes are not used in the real text one has to read the word with the vowel. For example when they write Dubai the vowel stroke for “oo” is not written in reality. But when we read we have to read with the vowel sound and read as Dubai and not Dbai. The pronunciation of certain letters is also very difficult.

After eight months of learning I have still not got the confidence to speak in Arabic. My recollection of words is very poor and hence the lack of confidence. I intend to continue with the Arabic Classes until I get the confidence to comfortably speak, read and write. I do not know how long it is going to take.

It is now my desire to learn at least five foreign languages over the next five years (2011 included). I have chosen “French” as my next Foreign Language. Learning a Foreign Language helps us not only to learn the language but in the process it helps us to learn the culture, values and customs.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
3rd September 2011