ROTARACT CLUB

I was asked to revive the Rotaract Club of Madras Central in 1986. It turned out to be a wonderful opportunity as it helped me gain confidence in public speaking. It helped me get the organising skills as i had the opportunity of organising meetings, conferences and events. It also helped me move out of the CA circle and get aquainted with people from different walks of life.

I was the President of the Club and organised several events and programmes. The most memorable ones are the "Arts Competition" for school children and the "Bank Audit" Seminar.

The Arts Competition for school children was held in St.Louis School for Deaf and Dum in Adyar. There were 800 school children in that competition and nearly 500 of those children were physically challenged. It was a wonderful event which was very well organised and went through very smoothly without any glitches or hurdles.

The "Bank Audit" seminar was another big event that we organised. The day before the seminar i met with an accident. I was riding my TVS 50 with Sathyamurthy as my pillion. I skidded and fell and was injured very badly with bruises all over my body. With that pain i managed to conduct the Bank Audit Seminar successfully. The highlights of that Seminar were (1) We introduced the topic "Expectations of the Banker" for the first time and (2) I presented a paper.

We used to have the Rotaract Club Meetings in "Childrens Garden School". It was great fun to have those meetings and address the club members. We had Sabareeswaran of OMS Motors, my brother T.P.Ashok from I.O.B. and so many others in the club as active members.

I had one of the meetings in my office when i was working in Sterling Resorts and one of our members Shridhar Sampath walked through the Glass door in the reception. He literally and physically walked through the glass and brought down the entire glass with huge thunderous noise. The entire staff including the Management came to the reception because of the huge noise. To our surprise and shock Shridhar Sampath was standing there as if nothing had happened.

I used to go to Semmanchery Village on ECR on my TVS 50 to meet the villagers and help them through the community service programmes of our parent club. We used to regularly go to Mr.Kannan's house in West CIT Nagar to do "reading for the Blind". We did a programme on putting the "Bulls Eye" sticker on Motorcyles in Chennai. I went to Police Commissioner's Office to get the permission.

We had the support and guidance of Rotarian Jeyakumar of Raj Paris Civil Constructions - a wonderful person to deal with.

I still remember the meetings we used to have for the Rotaract Club with D.Sriram, Arvind, Sam, Karthik, Shridhar, Ashok, Sabareeswaran being very active and major contributors in the community service and other programmes. My memory is fading and i am not able to recollect all the members and all the programmes....

The two years that i spent with Rotaract Club was filled with lot of activity, responsibility, challenges, experience and thrill. It was a very rewarding and wonderful experience. I cherish those memories and feel proud to have got that experience at the right age...

T.P.Anand
Dubai.
16th December 2010

Ocean Receding Day

It was a lovely Sunday morning and as usual there was general laziness all over the house.

There was no hurry for anything as is normal for a holiday. Children were also relaxed as they were not having college. We all got up around 9 a.m. and I lazily settled down with my cup of coffee and “The Hindu” on my lap. The Hindu carried an interesting news on Ocean Receding Day. It was to happen on that night at 3 a.m.
I had been reading about Economic Recession for almost one year and this was the first time I got to read something on the great Ocean receding.

As a resident of Chennai I always admired the Bay of Bengal. A walk along the seashore is an experience one would relish everyday day after day for ever.
I told my wife and children about the Ocean Receding Day an that we should be there at the Beach that night to watch the “never before seen” great event at 3 a.m. I had office next day and my children had to catch their college bus at 7.15 in the morning. Still, there cannot be anything more important than watching that great event on the seashore.

We all went out for lunch and as usual we went for a long drive along the East Coast Road up to Mamallapuram.

It was very pleasant drive all along the sea coast. We came back home around 5 p.m. in the evening.

All through this time, I kept on thinking about the Ocean Receding Day. After dinner we went to sleep after setting the alarm to ring at 2 a.m. so that we would have ample time to reach the beach to watch the spectacle.
I could not sleep in the night as I was wondering about the Ocean Receding. It appeared mysterious to me especially since it was unheard of before. I could not wait till 3 a.m. to unravel the mystery.

I was restless and somehow managed to get some sleep around 11 p.m. Even before the alarm sounded I woke up at 2 a.m. and felt very fresh though I had slept only for 3 hours. I took a nice cool shower and then woke up my family members.
We all set out at 2.30 a.m. and reached the Marina Beach at 2.45 a.m.
It was a startling sight as the beach was full of men, women and children.
I had never seen such a huge crowd even during Pongal holidays in the last four decades. Everybody was watching the sea.

I stood there with my wife and children and it was very soothing and pleasant to look at the sea. When I looked at my watch it was 2.55 a.m. and I suddenly felt that the waves were becoming slow. Within the next couple of minutes the waves stopped and I felt as though I was standing in front of a lake and not Bay of Bengal.

I saw the water receding rapidly and within couple of minutes the water had gone back by a couple of miles – far away. There was pin drop silence in the Marina Beach with so many children, men and women standing absolutely dazed at the sight of the beach receding by a few miles. In that beautiful moonlight i saw a nice lovely Blue Castle which was glittering in the moonlight.

I felt that blue marble structure should have been built several centuries ago and would have got submerged in the sea. But why nothing had been written about this structure by historians all these years? I was amazed by the sight of such a huge Castle just few meters away from the Marina beach in Chennai.

I looked at my wife and children and they were also standing there with their eyes wide open not able to comprehend the whole scene. We were standing at Marina Beach and instead of the usual sight of the never ending waves on the sea we were witnessing a large stretch of land, almost like a valley, and in the middle right in front of our eyes was the magnificent Blue Castle. Where from did they get that blue marble? Or did it get the blue color because of all those years under the blue sea?

I kept looking at the blue marble Castle – what a spectacle it was. Huge Castle in the middle of the sea and now clearly visible under the moonlight because of the Ocean Receding.

Suddenly the thought of “what goes would come back” came to my mind. I felt the chillness all over my body at the very thought of the Sea coming back to its old position.

The sea will come back and it would come back with a huge force. I also dreaded the thought of the Castle again getting covered by the Sea. That would be a great disappointment. But, sea coming back with a hugeforce sent shivers down my spine. We had to run from the place rapidly. Thoughts of Tsunami came to my mind.

The mixed feelings of fear and disappointment ran in my mind.

I had to do something immediately. My mind started working out possibilities.
And I got up with a jolt to find myself in my bedroom in Dubai and it was exactly 3 a.m. in the morning.

….. T P Anand, Dubai
30th June 2009

முதல் ஓட்டு அனுபவம்

நான் என்னுடய முதல் ஓட்டு பதிவை நினைவு கூர்ந்து பார்க்கிறேன்.

என் தந்தை என் பாட்டியிடம்: ”நாங்க எல்லாரும் ஓட்டு போட்டாச்சு நீயும் ஆனந்தும் போய் ஓட்டு போட்டுட்டு வாங்க. ஹெச்.வி. ஹாண்டேக்கு ஓட்டு போடும்மா அவர் நல்லவர் அதுவும் அவர் ஒரு ப்ராமணர் செரியா?”
உடனே என் பாட்டி : ”யாருடா அது ஹாண்டெ?”

என் தந்தை: ”அவர்தாம்மா போன வாரம் வந்து நம்ப தெருவிலே ஓட்டு கேட்டாரே நம்ப ஆத்து வாசல்ல நின்னு கண்டிப்பா எனக்கு ஓட்டு போடுங்கோன்னு கேட்டாரே ஞாபகம் இருக்கா?”

என் பாட்டி: ”என்னமோ போடா எனக்கு சரிபடலே”

என் தந்தை: ”அம்மா உனக்கு புரியாது பேசாம போ ஹெச்.வி. ஹாண்டேக்கு ஓட்டு போடு.” (என் பாட்டியிடம்) “அம்மா! தேர்தல் சீட்டுல பேரு தேட கஷ்டமா இருக்கும் அதனால சேவல் சின்னத்த பார்த்து ஓட்டு போடு” (என்னை பார்த்து) ”டேய் ஆனந்த் பாட்டி கூட போய் ஓட்டு போடு”.

என் பாட்டி: ”நன்னா இருக்கு நீ சொல்லரது – சேவலும் வேண்டாம் கோழியும் வேண்டாம் நான் போய் சூரியன்ல ஓட்டு போட்டுட்டு வரேன். நீ வாடா ஆனந்த் நம்போ ரெண்டு பேரும் போய் ஓட்டு போட்டுட்டு வரலாம்”

நானும் ஏதோ பிரமை பிடித்தவன் போல என் பாட்டி கூடவே போய் ஓட்டு போட்டேன்.
என் பாட்டிக்கு 80 வயதுக்கு மேலிருக்கும் அப்போது (கிட்டத்தட்ட 23 வருடங்களுக்கு முன்னால்). இப்படித்தான் இந்தியர்களில் பெரும்பாலோர் ஏன், எதற்கு, யாருக்கு என்று தெரியாமலே, யோசிக்காமலே வாக்களிக்கிறார்கள்.

என் பாட்டி சொன்னதால் சூரியனுக்கு வாக்களித்த அந்த முதல் வாக்குக்கு பிறகு, இன்றுவரை நான் என் வாக்குரிமையை பயன்படுத்தவில்லை. இதில் பெரும்பாலும் வெளிநாட்டில் இருந்தது என்பது, பல காரணங்களில் ஒரு காரணம்.

ஆனந்த்
April 2009

Cinema in Chennai

I watched couple of movies in the new Express Mall when i visited Chennai in November 2010. Express Mall is the latest mall to be added in Chennai and they have a nice cineplex on the third level called "Escape". I was reminded of the good old days.

Three decades back there were very few theatres which had multiple screens in Chennai. Devi Theatre (Devi, Devi Paradise, Devi Bala); Saffire Theatre (Saffire, Blue Diamond and Emerald); Sathyam Theatre (Sathyam, Santham, Subham).

In those days there were only three shows 2.30 p.m., 6.30 p.m. and 10.30 p.m. Some of the theatres would have 11 a.m. show which was popularly known as the Morning Show. The 2.30 p.m. show was called Matinee; 6.30 p.m. was known as Evening Show and the 10.30 p.m. show was called Night Show. Later they started having four shows 1, 4, 7 and 10 p.m. Anna Theatre which was opened next to Shanti Theatre (behind GeeGee complex) was the first to start 4 shows with 1, 4, 7, 10 timings.

I did not see any film in the night show as my parents would never allow us to go for night show (which is what i practice now with my children as i also do not allow my children to watch night show).

Blue Diamond was the only theatre to have continuous shows and hence you could get in anytime and watch the movie from the middle and you could get out whenever you feel like (even after watching the movies several times). I heard that was a cozy and comfortable place for lot of young lovers in the 1970s and 1980s..

I remember watching my first English Film in "Children's Theatre" which later became Kalaivanar Arangam (recently it has been demolished). I watched the film "Its a Mad Mad Mad World".

Paragon Theatre in Walajah Road used to be my favourite as they used to always screen old films. I have seen Pasamalar, Pava Mannippu, Rathakkanneer, Then Nilavu, Thiruvilayaadal, Aalayamani, Bale Pandiya, etc. in that theatre. I used to go with my school days friend Ramesh Babu. We used to watch the same movie two or three times.

Noorjahan Talkies near the Saidapet Bridge was a theatre i dreaded the most. While you are seriously watching the movie you would feel some heavy crawling on your foot. "Peruchaali" used to run over the legs. When i went to that theatre for the second time i kept my feet on the seat throughtout the film as i was scared of the peruchaali running over my feet.

Plaza Theatre next to the Devi Theatre (you have to walk a good 500 meters from Mount Road to reach the theatre) was another popular theatre as i have watched a few Jaishankar films there with my father. I have seen Thunive Thunai, Jambu, etc., in that theatre with my father. After watching Thunive Thunai we came back home and my mother was very curious to know about the film and she kept asking my father "padam eppudi erunthathu". My father has enormous sense of humour and he quipped "padam nallathan erunthathu peru thaan seriyille". After a few minutes he said "thuniye thunainu peru vachirunthaalna nanna erunthirukkum".

I have watched "Anna Poorani" first day first show in Bhuvaneswari theatre in Tiruvottiyur. I went with my parents and we had to change two buses to reach the theatre.

I watched Yadon Ki Bharat in Star Theatre on Triplicane High Road. Every now and then i was pestering my father to tell me what was happening. He was terribly bugged by me throughout the film as i did not understand any of the dialogues. When we came home he tole my mother "Yadon Ki Bharat cinema pakkanum". My mother said "eppothane paathuttu vandeengo". My father said "Naan enga cinema pathen ethu en pakkathula okkanthundu thonakkottinde erunthathu".

Alankar was opened in those days and i have seen "Raiders of the last Ark" and few tamil films there. Some of the other theatres that i have known are Midland, Geity, Odean, Chitra Talkies, Broadway, Mekala, Ram.

I have seen some horror films those days like Exhaursist, Omen, Friday the 13th. There were lot of Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin films those days which was real fun to watch. We also used to see the "Carry On" series which was again fun.

I also remember some of the great films like Mackenna's Gold, Enter the Dragon, Bees, Kramer Vs.Kramer, Three Mosquiteers. The tamil poster for some of these films used to be very funny - "Mackennavin Vairam"; "moondru MGR Veerargal".

We had a choice of English, Tamil and Hindi movies to watch in those days in Chennai.

Good old days..........

Grand Sweets Sweats

Whenever I am in Chennai I go to Grand Sweets in Adyar. It is a great shop to visit and purchase mouth watering sweets and savouries. They also have some ready made stuff like Pulikachal, Tomato Thokku, etc. You can also treat yourself to a hot Adai or Kuzhi Paniyaaram or Sambar Vadai and offlate even hot jelabi.

I visited the shop just before Deepavali and found lot of renovation work being carried out. One of the staff members informed my wife that the sisters who bequethed the shop are now splitting the business into two.

I went to Grand Sweets today and found the whole place in a chaotic mess. The shop has been divided into two and there is a 9 inch wall in the middle to separate the two divisions. The staff, customers and onlookers are all sweating. It is sad to see that the same set of staff and same set of customers, were transacting with so much ease just a few weeks back, when it was a unified shop and today when the shop is divided into two there is still lot of sweet and lot of sweat. The same old staff are struggling now to cater to the customers, do the billing, delivery and there is too much confusion and chaos in the whole place. Some of the popular items that "Thattai" is not available in both the divisions.

Regular customers like me will have difficulty going to Grand Sweets as we do not know which division to walk into and what to expect??? I was rather disappointed with the shopping experience i got today at Grand Sweets. The sweets are still there in two divisions under the same roof but the Grandier and Comfort of buying the sweet is not there any more.

19th November 2010

Sigarangalin Sangamam

True to its name the function "Sigarangalin Sangamam" was a congregation of great personalities who are each a Sigaram in their own way. On stage we had P.Suseela, T.M.Soundararajan, P.B.Srinivas, K.J.Yesudas, Balamurali Krishna, Vani Jayaram, L.R.Eswari, A.L.Raghavan, Chitra, Mano and Hariharan. RMKV organised this programme in Nehru Indoor Stadium on Sunday, 14th November 2010.

P.Suseela Music Trust honoured three legends - TMS, PBS and Yesudas.

P.Suseela started the show with her old song "Unnai kaanadha kannum kannalla". It was very soothing to listen to that song after a long time. This was followed by another P.Suseela hit "Unnai ondru kaetten unmai solla vendum" rendered by the great Chinna Kuyil Chitra. L.R.Eswari rendered one of her all time super hit songs "Kaathodu thaan naan paaduven". While the pallavi was sung well she found it hard to sing the rest of the song due to her old age.

Unni Menon sang with P.Suseela "Kaalidasan Kannadasan kavidai nee nerungi vaa padikkalam". P.Suseela's daughter-in-law Sandya then sang "kaalai thendral paadi varum raagam oru raagam". I am listening to Sandya for the first time and she has a very good voice.

Hariharan sang two songs "Ennai thaalatta varuvaala" and "Aayiram Nilavae vaa".
Hari did not practice this SPB hit and could not render justice to the song. Mano came on stage to sing the great TMS song "Ado anda paravai pola vaazha vendum". While he was struggling to reach the high pitch notes the audience was recalling the TMS original in their minds.

TMS, PBS attempted to sing and could not succeed in singing well due to advanced age. They have given such great numbers and the audience enjoyed their presence on stage. When they were singing the great old numbers the entire audience would have rolled back a few decades into the real time when those songs hit the big screen.

A.L.Raghavan surprised everyone by singing the song "Enginrunthaalum Vaazhgha" and it was a treat to listen to him. He sang with ease and voice was excellent despite his age.

Vani Jayaram also sang very well the great P.Suseela number "Aalaya maniyin osaiyai naan kaetten".

Balamurali Krishna sang very well despite his advanced age. He sang the song "Thanga Ratham Vandadu veediyile" with P.Suseela. It was a fantastic presentation by both of them. Balamurali's singing was the highlight of the evening - what a fantastic performer.

Harish Raghavendra got a chance to sing with P.Suseela "thuyilaatha pen ondru kanden". It is a great honour and chance for this young budding singer to perform with the legend in front of other legends. The joy, pride and happiness was all over the faces of his parents.

Yesudas came as the last performer and stole the show with with two great hits "vizhiye kadai yezhudu" and "poove senpoove un vaasal varum".

Staying in Dubai has its own advantages but nothing to beat the advantage of staying in Chennai where one gets to attend these musical nights and other programmes at regular intervals.... I do not miss any of these programmes whenever i am in Chennai.

Vaali 1000

I was really fotunate enough to attend the programme "Vaali 1000" last night at Narada Gana Sabha. It was a twin function to celebrate the 80th Birthday of Vaali and also to release a compilation of 1000 songs written by Vaali for tamil films. He has written several thousand songs and is soon to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for penning maximum number of songs for films.

The programme started with a few memorable film songs of Vaali which was presented in Bharata Natyam. The dance arrangement for Dhasavatharam Song - Mukunda Mukunda - was terrific.

The book was released by Kamal Haasan. Felicitations were offered by Cho Ramaswamy, P.Suseela, Nalli Kuppusamy Chetty, Saroja Devi, M.S.Viswanathan, S.P.Muthuraman, Director Shankar, Surya, Kamal, Rajini, Vairamuthu, S.P.Balasubramaniam, Palani Bharathy and others.

The auditorium was full and several people watched the programme by standing. I was fortunate to get a seat around 7.30.

Super Star Rajini stormed into the Auditorium at 9 p.m. with Vairamuthu - he surprised everyone including Vaali. SPB was rendering some of the super hits of Vaali and had to abruptly stop singing when Rajini walked into the stage as there was a thunderous applause to welcome the Super Star on stage. SPB must have felt humiliated and insulted as he was forced to stop singing due to the applause for Rajini. After the super star storm settled SPB continued to sing as if nothing had happened. What a great singer he is. At 64 his voice is still the same as what i have heard 30 years ago...

Vaali dedicated his entire success to M.S.Viswanathan and honoured him with a momento and cash of Rs.2 lacs. Vaali's thanks giving speech was excellent and when he spoke i really felt like listening to a youngster. He is 80 years old and is still very young at heart. The kind of songs he has written over the last 50 years is testimony to his youth which is still continuing.

Vaali's songs were one of the key factors that helped the great MGR to become Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Vadivelu, T.M.Soundararajan, P.B.Srinivas, Vaani Jeyaram and Krishna Sweets owner are some of them who came on stage to honour Vaali.

Overall it was a very nice programme and a great feeling to see such great achievers on the stage.

14th November 2010