JUGGLING LIFE

Speech by Bryan Dyson - Former CEO of Coco Cola:

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. They are work, family, health, friends and spirit and you're keeping all of these in the air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it it will bounce back. But the other four balls - Family, Health, Friends and Spirit - are made of glass. If you drop one of these: they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.

Work efficiently during office hours and leave on time. Give the required time to your family, friends & have proper rest.

Value has a value only if its value is valued.

Anands in America – Part 2

DAVID COPPERFIELD SHOW

When we were in Las Vegas we saw the poster of David Copperfield in MGM Grand Hotel which was diagonally opposite to Hotel Luxor where we were staying.

The four of us (myself, Hema, Raghavan & Sarasija) decided to watch the David Copperfield show and it turned out to be the highlight of our trip to Las Vegas.
It was a non-stop show by David Copperfield for 100 minutes. One of the best live performances I have ever seen in my life. He is a very handsome, energetic illusionist who performs every trick with so much ease and comfort. The tricks are so well performed that it seems very simple and easy.

He disappeared from the stage a few times and made a huge motorcycle and car appear on the stage in a jiffy right in front of the eyes of 1500 strong audience. He made 13 people selected from the audience to sit on a platform and they all disappeared from the stage and appeared from the back rows of the auditorium.

He made a small paper dance on his hand and converted that into a beautiful butterfly. Similarly he made a small piece of paper dance on his hand as well as one of the spectator’s hand. He folded that paper into a white rose and by lighting fire at the bottom converted that white paper rose into real red rose.

It was 100 minutes of non-stop magic and illusion which kept the audience totally glued on to the great showman David Copperfield.

This show will remain fresh in my memory for ever and it is no wonder that David Copperfield is the greatest magician of the world.

HOOVER DAM

We visited the Hoover Dam on the way back to Phoenix. The dam is just 28 miles out of Las Vegas and it is an engineering marvel. The bridge that is newly built to bypass the Hoover Dam road to connect Las Vegas to Kingsman is a stunning structure. The bridge connects two mountains and the pillars supporting the bridge runs deep into the valley making it a magnificent sight to look at.

Anands in America

I came into the United States of America on 7th October 2011 with my wife for a holiday. This is my second trip to the USA, the first was way back in 1999. It has been a wonderful trip so far filled with lot of travel, thrill, excitement and happiness. It has been a very special trip as I have taken a holiday with my wife after more than 20 years.

On 7th we celebrated the birthday of Sarasija (my wife's niece) by visiting the Iskcon Temple in Chandler, Arizona. It is a very quiet and nice temple. It was a perfect start to a long awaited holiday. We also felt the jet lag as the flight from Dubai to Atlanta was quite a long haul with 15 hours of flying time followed by a 5 hours flight from Atlanta to Phoenix.

The last two weeks were very hectic as we spent the first two days in Phoenix and then headed to New York. We were in New York for three days and visited the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Wall Street, Central Park and New York Opera House.

We spent the next two days in Niagara Falls. The "Cave of the Winds" and the "Maid of the Mist" was just fantastic and out of the world. The Maid of the Mist is basically a boat ride which takes you close to the Niagara Falls (the horse shoe shaped falls).

We went to Chicago and spent the next two days. We visited Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Chicago Art Institute, Shedd Aquarium, John Hancock Center, Macy's Shopping Center, Sky Deck on Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Towers), John Hancock Observatory, Devon Street (the little India and little Pakistan) and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicago is a very big and beautiful city. The view from the Sky Deck and the John Hancock Observatory are both different and stunning. Devon Street is filled with Indian and Pakistani restaurants and shops and makes one feel as though it is the sub-continent and not the USA.

We returned to Phoenix from Chicago and the next day afternoon drove to Flagstaff. We visited the Lowell Observatory. The sky was very clear and we could see so many stars. It is the first time in my life that I have seen stars all around in the sky. We were also fortunate to see a space ship pass by in the sky. The "Milky Way" was very clearly visible. Despite the chillness it was a wonderful experience gazing at the sky and looking at the several thousands of stars.

The next day morning we drove to the "Grand Canyon". For the first time in my life I travelled in Helicopter and the view of the Grand Canyon on the helicopter ride was simply superb. We saw the view of the Grand Canyon from the South Rim and the East Rim after the helicopter ride. We also ventured and did some hiking. True to its name the Grand Canyon is grandeur at its best.

From Grand Canyon we drove to Las Vegas. When we were about 20 miles away from the Hotel we suddenly saw the city emerging in front of us on the Highway. It is a big city and fully lit up in the night. It is amazing to know that only 30 people lived in this city 100 years ago. Each building is unique and is modelled on different country and different architecture. We stayed in Hotel Luxor which is modelled on Egypt.

We visited the Stratosphere the next day. On the 102nd Floor you can get a wonderful view of the entire city of Las Vegas. They also have couple of dangerous looking rides which needs lot of mental strength and energy. They also have bungee jumping from the 102nd floor. The Hotels in Las Vegas are really huge and the lobby of each hotel is filled with gaming. I tried my luck on gambling and lost all the money that I bet. I guess that would be the fate of almost all the people who sit in front of those gaming machines.

The last two days went in a jiffy filled with visits to various shopping malls in Chandler, Phoenix.

It was an exciting and very fulfilling visit. The entire trip was enjoyable and comfortable as the tour arrangements were nicely made by Raghavan and Sarasija. We also enjoyed their hospitality, attention and care.

T.P.Anand,
Phoenix Airport, 9.30 a.m., 21st October 2011.

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