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

MY FIRST SURGERY

I have been having a small boil on my upper eyelid for more than two months and as usual I have been ignoring it. This small boil started causing discomfort in my vision over two weeks and hence I went to an eye doctor in Dubai who advised having it checked in Chennai.

I landed in Chennai Airport at 5 a.m. on 19th August 2011. I went to eye doctor Dr.N.R.Rangaraj at 3 p.m. the same day for eye checkup. The doctor looked into my eyes and said I have “chalazion” and it needs to be operated upon. He said “you come tomorrow evening I will cut open and scrap it off”. I said “OK Doctor. Thanks and see you tomorrow”. As I left the clinic I started having “butterflies in my stomach”. Until I met the Doctor the following day at 6 p.m. I was only thinking about the surgery. It is the first ever time that a knife is going to be put on my body by a Doctor. I have never had a surgery before and hence it caused lot of fear, excitement and nervousness in me.

On 20th August 2011 I met the doctor and he checked my eyes and said the “chalzion” is more defined and clear now due to the hot water fermentation. He then said “please go to Ashwini and wait for me I will come at 7 p.m.”. I went to Ashwini Soundararaja Hospital and waited in the reception. The doctor was delayed and finally arrived at 7.35 p.m. I was immediately asked to get into a room and made to lie down on a bed.

As I lay on the bed my nervousness increased manifolds and I was closing my fingers and gripping myself with fear. The Doctor said “I will give local anesthesia in your eye. It is a very small injection and not very painful”. As he poked the needle in my right eye just below the eyebrow, I felt acute pain and at that moment I thought how did “Periyavaal – Shri Chandrasekara Saraswathi” bear the pain of two eye surgeries that too without any anesthesia. My mind was only seeing the face of Shri Chandrasekara Saraswathi Swamigal and I started chanting “Jaya Jaya Shankara Hara Hara Shankara”. I kept doing that throughout the 10 – 12 minutes that the Doctor was working on my “chalazion”.

After the Surgery was finished when I got up and sat in front of the Doctor I told him that I was thinking of “Periyaval”. I said “I have read somewhere that Periyaval has undergone eye surgery without any anesthesia”. The doctor said “that has been incorrectly reported, in fact Dr.Badrinath performed both the surgeries on “Periyaval’s eye only after administering local anesthesia”.

I felt that the thought of “Periyaval” on the operation table and staying focused on chanting his name was remarkable. My first ever surgery went off very smooth without any pain – thanks to “Periyaval” Shri Chandrasekara Saraswathi Swamigal. It turned out to be a wonderful experience as I could regulate my mind and thinking process.


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

தனிமையின் கடுமை – அது ஒரு கொடுமை

பழைய திரைப்பட பாடல் ஒன்று நினைவிற்கு வந்தது -

”தனிமையிலே இனிமை காண முடியுமா நள் இரவினிலே சூரியனும் தெரியுமா?”.

என் அனுபவத்தில் இவை இரண்டுமே நடந்து விட்டது நான் 1992ல் ரஷ்யா சென்றபோது ஜூலை மாதம் இரவு 12 மணிவரை சூரிய வெளிச்சத்தை பார்த்து வியந்தேன்.

வாழ்க்கையில் சில நேரங்களில் தனிமை எனக்கு இனிமை கொடுத்திருக்கிறது. ஆக சில சமயங்களில் தனிமையிலே இனிமை காண முடியும் அதே போல சில நகரங்களில் சில சமயங்களில் நள்ளிரவிலும் சூரியன் தெரியும்.

பொதுவாக நான் தனிமையை விரும்பாதவன்.

ஆனாலும், சில சமயங்களில் தனிமை சிந்திக்க/சிந்தனைகளை விரிவாக்க உதவும். அந்த வகையிலே தனிமை எனக்கு பிடிக்கும்.

தனிமை ஒரு கடுமையான நிலை – அந்த நிலையை தினமும் அனுபவிப்பது மிகவும் கொடுமை தனிமையின் வாட்டத்தில் வளைகுடா நாடுகளில் வசிக்கும் தவிக்கும் பல்லாயிரக்கணக்கான இந்தியர்களில் நானும் ஒருவன்.

இந்த கொடுமையில் இருந்து மீளுவதற்கு பல யுத்திகளை முயற்சித்து வருகிறேன்……தொலைக்காட்சி நிகழ்ச்சிகள் பார்ப்பது; ஷாப்பிங் மால்களில் சுற்றுவது; காரில் நீண்டதூரம் செல்வது; டேப்/சீடி போட்டு பாட்டு கேட்பது;….. என் நிழலை நானே துரத்தும் கதையாக முயற்சிகள் தொடர்ந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறது…..விடை கிடைக்கவில்லை….

தி.பா. ஆன்ந்த்
துபாய்
ஏப்ரல் பதினோறாம் நாள், இரண்டாயிரத்து பத்து

NEW T.NAGAR

The sea of people that I see in T.Nagar is really mind boggling. It is impossible to walk freely on Ranganathan Street. Vehicles are prohibited on Ranganathan Street. There is a colloquial expression in Chennai "Cycle Gap" even that is not there in Ranganathan Street.

Inspite of the huzzle buzzle and crowd I choose to walk through the busy Ranganathan Street with my wife and what an experience it turns out to be. There are so many tall buildings which are disproportionate to the street. I was told that the height of the building can be only twice as much as the width of the road. This rule seems to have been given a "go by" in Ranganathan Street. As we walk from the Usman Road end to the Railway station end we take a good 45 minutes to reach the end. While walking back I noticed that there are 8 buildings on the street which is owned by "Saravana Stores". We walk into one of the stores and are amazed by the stock pile and the crowd inside the store. The number of employees and that too most of them being youngsters made me think of the film “Angaaditheru”.

As we keep walking on the street I suddenly realised that there are Electric Poles at every 15 feet on either sides of the road fitted with a ceiling fan. I also noticed Water Cooler and Butter Milk dispensers. I could not believe my eyes and was wondering whether I am in T.Nagar in Chennai or in some other country.

We then walk into Usman Road and find that the platform is very clean and there are no hawkers on the platform. In one stretch I saw the Corporation workers cleaning the platform with soap and bleaching powder.

It was a lovely experience to walk in T.Nagar and do shopping for Textiles, Gold Jewellery and Household Items with clean Platforms, very clean roads, water dispenser, buttermilk dispenser and fans blowing cold air. The only thing that was bothering me was the unmanageable crowd. But for the crowd everything else seemed very pleasant and lovable.

The pleasant walk suddenly ended when the alarm went off in my iPhone to inform me that it is 6.30 a.m. and I am in Dubai. I suddenly felt the chillness in my body and realized that it was a Dream. How I wish it becomes a reality in the near future………

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