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.