Sri Sriiganesha Mahima, a book by Maha Sweta Devi - a great read..!

Maha Sweta Devi, the great Novelist Philanthrophist... Sri Sriganesha Mahima.. A great read. ..!

Small book of about one hundred and ninety pages with the yesteryear Bihar and its villages drawn up in simple words.

The little girl 'Lechima' touches our hearts as of all other could have been souls in that stature in that part of the world. The old 'zemindaari' is drawn up in such clarity that the effects will make an imprint on all readers who goes through their pangs in simple detail. In between is slight traces of Government and authority as it was seen and felt by the author on her several interactions and visits to the various villages.

Lechima is engaged by a village elder to look after her house hold. The girl is got from her guardian on payment of little money and some articles and the girl starts working in the house of 'Medini Singh'. As his two wives could not give him a boy child the house lord Medini Singh marries for a third time and this poor girl gives birth to a child with a tooth in the mouth at birth itself, which is taken as a prominence of 'devamsh' a belief in that part of the country, in that people believed the child is partly divine. Meaning that the child has a part of Lord Ganesha in him.

The mother of the child dies of shock after seeing the child, immediately after the child birth.

Lechima who was the house keeper, who also had to give in to the wishes of the house lord, Medini Singh, has now got to bring up the child till his marriageable age of ten years, a custom in olden times. She does it with great love and care and hopes to get released from the bondage of the house after the boy child gets married. 

Her hopes are belied when the house lord tells her that even after the child gets married she just can't leave as she has to look after the household until the newly married girl comes home after his son Sri Sri Ganesha reaches the age of eighteen., which is the custom. Lechima is crestfallen as her plan to set up home after getting married to the village barber youth will have to be thrown away now. She slowly reconciles to her fate and once again looks after the household during which time the house lord Medini Singh slowly fades away due to paralysis, exhaustion and old age sickness and the new house lord, 'Sri Sri Ganesha' takes his place with new vigour and makes a name for himself in 'Zemindari' and leadership, which his father had earlier, in which the poor people around the place are much more harshly affected.

One has to go through the book to get a real feel of the story as the whole story can be understood and only through a cover to cover to read.

The Morning Newspaper....!

The morning newspaper comes early in the morning if it is on times. At times it may not arrive on time with the vendor-distributor and then it may get late affecting all of us readers badly. But mostly, by and large, by all means it falls at our door at five thirty in the morning, by the grace of the enterprising youngster who finishes distribution by six thirty in the morning to start his regular work of running his shop till noon to go to college in the afternoon ..! That is some enterprise. But he does it.

Once he distributes he may have more people who waits for him, especially those in retirement and old age, wanting eagerly to know what has happened to the world the day before, and also to know what will happen to the world tomorrow as visualised by the newspaper houses. A fair paper we read is one with a large circulation and once in hand we are appeased. The front page shows us the two faces of the Galaxy (of course not the real Galaxy but the mobile phone called Galaxy) and we are enthralled and we are told we can get it on flipcart. I will not write the price, mentioned, here..! Many consider it a great price if not a big price.

Times have changed these days. These are new times. Oldies will never understand. We used to stand in line to pay the telephone bills which cost us two hundred Rupees or more and started a conversation with the next man or woman in line about the exhorbitent charges ..! Now no body talks about the exhorbitent charges or the price of the phone. A telephone had to be booked in advance remitting one thousand Rupees and had to wait for installation. The line men came and fixed the cable line for the phone and fixed it at a place we mentioned and also gave us a directory which contained almost all the names and numbers of the users in the city. That is unheard of now. We could find out a long lost friend or acquaintance from the telephone directory, if he or she had started living in that city by merely chasing their name in the directory which had all the names arranged in the alphebetical order.

Those cute huge directories found their way to the 'accri' shop (The shops which buy residue materials and used items including old newspaper etc.) owner and since trees are not to be cut any more, no more directories are coming out.

After the whole page of 'Galaxy' next turn over is to show us the availability of parathas, ready to eat available in the local super market. The convenience quoted is that you don't have to make it but can have it and just warm it to eat! Great items. Then starts the news I was waiting for avidly.After the name and date of the paper and iits emblem I have the four urgent needs little bits just below them mentioning about the next would be American President and something about the top cricketers' achievement which is equal to another top cricketer. Then the flip flaps in various parties in the nation and other troubles elsewhere. Below before I t a turn over I have hope for home loan by a major bank and a top ditergent liquid.!

Browsing on I find beautiful poetical advertisements with interspersed news on flight tickets, eye testing, health improvement and fertility enhancement. They are followed by cars and computers with new additions here and there with matching poetry with prices which or ok for the advertisement and for well erning youngsters but not to the interest of old people with old mind sets who saw them as simply an object for simple movement to be sparingly used. In between there are troubling news, happy news, do goodders' news and philanthropical news!

An area of one of the pages show a lot of obituary photographs which throw us into down memory lane to think what all those in the photographs would have studied and worked at, whom all they would have helped etc. Etc. These are followed by matters of taxes and savings, a bit of climate which of course interest us to see, if we have to keep an umbrella while going out! The views and cartoons really help us to find a balance in the whole reading directing us at the proper directions we have to take. The cartoonist does it in the most simple way by telling it all in a small area which covers the entire happening of the day..! Kudos to them, the cartoonists who tell so much through so little and enthuse any one with amind to enjoy them. They are followed by more news of the day before and interspersing pointers are about investments invitations to various states. The paper comes to the conclusion of its first section now with the ubiquitous advertisement in colour and poetry for scooters and motor cycles which we are told is a great presentationwith economy, mileage and celebration, you know it all..! Wow. The paper of the morning is a great enjoyment satisfying our hunger for news and views these days. So I pack of my paper to read later at ease, starting from page one again, this time I shall have to ready a few additional pages called metro plus (this is additional to the main paper) and some other small trivia sectiion along with a city section.

Let me stop writing now, and proceed to read it early complete it as I wish every day, as I have to read tomorrow's paper tomorrow..!

Traveling to Chennai!

Traveling to Chennai is a nice experience always. The wait at the station has become better with WiFi at the station. The only hiccup is the evening mosquitoes which come unannounced to bite us to fill their tummies with blood. They are blood robbers. The earlier the train comes the better for the travellers.
During the day they do not come out for fear of the day light.
The WiFi told the train is 34 minutes late. It rolled in at the newly stipulated time.  The coach was two coach behind than announced. We took to our heeks with our luggage and scrambled.

The compartment was pretty neat amp

The old man and the little baby!

The palm leaf horn was lying on the centre table. There are a few palm leaf fans with their stock in place ready to turn with sight wind lying around. A small baby coconut twister, used by little boys to play was also lying around. They will all dry up in course of time.

They were all made to enthuse the little baby of the old man's son whom he used to play with. The little one definitely understood the old man and he waited to see dawn to play with him. The old man lived in the village and his son and daughter in law had come down from the city a nights travel away, with their baby boy to spend small vacation. Now they have travelled back. The toys and their left overs are lying around to be removed.

In the city, children get Chinese toys and plastic stuff which does not have much of natural things in them. Mostly nylon, plastic, electrical writing, and together combinations of light and sound to keep little ones happy.

The little family of the old man's son left the day before by train which came half an hour late. The old man worried about their position in the train which was next to the entry. Warned his children again and again about looking after the baby and their luggage etc. to the extend of making them mad! The old man was well used to the trains. That is why he wanted to warn the children. But his children were well used to travel themselves but the old man was anxious about the baby whom he considered his friend now! Old people are like that. They slowly move away from the grown ups and moved towards the little ones who interact better with them!

The train moved away slowly leaving a vacuum and a lot of dust in the Station. The old man checked his phone if it was properly 'on' to receive a call from his children to say everything was all right.  Of and on he picked up the phone from his pocket to check if a call has been gone unheard.  'No.' No calls.  He drove his car silently manouvering the on coming traffic with high beams on. Once in heavy traffic he forgot about the phone call.  His mind raced to the times he used to go by train generally been seen of by any of his family members.  There were no phones like mobile phones in those days.  A land line phone was a rarity.  The normal mode of communication was an 'inland letter' which could be purchased from the post office and written and posted with the village home address on it.

After four days or a week, the village post man brought that letter home and mother waited for the elder children to come home to read it.  Father was told that the letter has come and everything is well.  They were people with brave hearts, who have left for their heavenly abodes.  But not this old man.  He has seen a few of the phones and their transition into mobile phones.  Once he thought of the old times he became brave.  No need to worry.  At home he and his wife had a silent meal and prayer before hitting the bed.  Next morning he got the message:  "Well, in car towards home" !  The old man was appeased! He heaved a sigh and murmured:  "The new times"

A Morning in Chennai..!

The morning in Chennai was cold after the rain and thunder of the night! There was no sign of any rain in the evening before, but all on a sudden the whole of it started when it was time to go to bed and it sent me straight into deep sleep. The off and on lightning and thunder only had minimal effect on me as I mistook them for possible late comers driving over lose cement slabs of the condominium and their lights. They came in all hours and at times there is a terrific motorcycle maniac shooting off or shooting in after his day's tiring work.

In the dream I dreamt of the book I was reading, a fun book by one Bryson, a humorist, which my son had brought for me to keep me in good humour! A book of humour is always welcome with me. My gratefulness found no bounds. But when I opened the book, the first humour was that the first thirty pages are gone and I had difficulty completing the immediate morning ablutions, in hand. I took it as part of making humour at the beginning of a book, of course, the Author and Publisher do not know about it as it happened with constant use in the library. The book I had inspected well reading the back cover first as always, watching the front cover and the immediate inner page which said many things including the small letters on piracy policy etc. This made me think of a great feast of reading, when I really set to it. And here I am with the first thirty pages missing. The thirty first page onwards did not dishearten me as the writer also seemed to be having all kinds of difficulties which I too had been facing in life. He lived in London and its suburbs and I lived in my place in Chennai. Occasionally I went to Kerala or Delhi to re-enter Chennai or any of the other two places anew!

This gave me a great feeling even though travel is tedious! The author Bryson spoke about parking difficulties, finding street names, the normal to be expected from cabbies etc. Etc. These things change here according to people and climate. We never could enjoy parking difficulties earlier, but now we are progressing and we get good parking difficulties and loss money on that count in most of the places! Scratches, accidents or cruel looks are bonus in this exercise! Earlier there were times we never could enjoy parking difficulties and any body parked any where as only a few possessed the four wheel running machines. In the villages the running machines were only bullock carts which were only walking machines usually. Once in a while when the driver is a youth or youngster and in his mood, he made the cart to run by beating at the bullocks or showing a show off to the bullocks to terrorize them. Not any more, now the animal protection groups are in place, and no driver or assistant would dare to beat a bullock!

Now every body travels light and in cars, not the bullock carts, the four wheel contraptions with fire in side.!

I have no inclination of describing London or 'the underground' as we have our own city and various kinds of stuff to complicate or simplify morning and evening life.! Everybody faces it every day and some of them write it down in news papers which help us in the morning ablutions. Those who do not understand the news are a happy lot and they live life king size and enjoy. Those who understand are always anxious, if the satellite will reach on time, whether the signals will decrease phone charges, a new system of rule will decrease petrol charges etc. Etc. Some even look for the down trend in the vegetable prices, home prices et al. But the only price coming down is the TV price and with every TV it is a new connection for the cable net work which will be another monthly bill..!

Once we come out and catch the OMR life begins in strict earnest.  We are spaced properly by the various red lights, police posts and the ultimate good will of all the road users who generally cooperate and go well with one another. at the Sholinganellur red light one can catch up with the head lines of the newspaper but not the deep news as one has to keep moving to readjust one's position and be ready to move when the red light changes into green. A couple of toll booths on the way re-arrange your speed and have your road test done as one has to pass through the narrow lanes paying the toll booth dues!

After the driving tests at the toll passes you are ready to take on Chennai proper by taking the Adyar road giving a right turn just before Tidel Park and then making a number of lefts and rights.  If one is patient enough and have enough petrol, it would be wise keeping behind a bus going in the direction one wants.  After a number of turns and narrow but well done roads (one has always be careful of pot holes which may creep up in-spite of the best efforts of the authorities) the Marina Beach will welcome you with its nice breeze and you are near the main city.  There after the drive will be better.  The roads are more straight and one has to take occasional turns as one wants.  But still, it will take some time to get acclimatised with the roads and the place.!