God Bless you, Sachin

I still remember the 82 Sachin made as a opener. The match was played in New Zealand and when I woke up early, it was announced that Sidhu was out of the match with the injury. New Zealand did not make a big score on a that pitch helped the swing bowlers a lot. At the break, I was thinking that if we lose early wickets, we are in for yet another typical Indian batting in NZ. 

Come Sachin as an opener for the first time. Boy, that was probably the best thing to happen for Indian cricket in a long time then (or was it for mankind since sliced bread). Before you could think what next, Sachin was blazing. Anyone who came to bowl, was in trouble. The fielders did not have to move, and the bowlers had no clue. A well set Sachin was in for a blazing century but fell short of it, and if i remember correctly, a pretty soft dismissal. 

I am sure that many people watching that match felt that here was an opener who will change the game for sometime to come. In fact, I hoped to see more injuries for other openers, so that Sachin can become a permanant fixture at the top.

A few years down the line, the desert storm happened. No one in their right minds would have given India a chance to the reach finals. Fortunately, Sachin that day did not belong to the group with "right mind" and blasted a beautiful century, the sand storm break doing little to break his momentum. That day, one witnessed two storms - the sand storm and the bat storm. He repeated the feat in the finals to win the cup for India. 

Many dreams followed, keeping people like me entertained, cheering for India, switching off the tv after he got out, marvelling at his bowling (sometimes frustrated that he was not bowling enough), despair at his captaincy and tenacity at keeping himself fit at his age to play 5 days of cricket.

It was not an easy journey for a fan like me. There were times when it pained to see Sachin dismissed by lesser bowlers or getting bowled repeatedly. It was frustrating to see him getting out to bowlers who he would dismissed with nonchalance at his peak. I truly felt that he should retire, rather than being reduced to a mortal by the bowlers on the field.. It was past his time,  may be, i thought.

For over 20 years he brought cheer to fans like me, despite several big and small issues in the country and in our respective lives. He made us forget all that for some time. For all the achievements, what made him stand out was his humility. The mark of a truly great man. God Bless you, Sachin.

Autorickshaws and Chennai - Part 2

A few years back I wrote a post on the autorickshaws in chennai. With the recent rule of mandatory usage of meters, and after a few interesting experiences, thought would jot them down.

With a lot of fanfare and probably a bit of fear of the court censure, the government revised the autorickshaw fares and made the meters to be mandatory. For about a month, drivers could use the old meters with a rate card giving the equivalent fare and they were supposed to have the calibrated meter by 15th Sep.

Was everything going smooth? I had my own doubts.

My first confirmation that things might not change came from a regular driver that I used to go with. I told him that he cannot bargain anymore and had to use the meter, the reply - " saar meter illama than ottuvom, athu eppadi enga ellarukkum theriyum " (we will ply without meters, and we know how to get around the system).

After about 2 weeks of announcement, I had to take the auto for a coupe of rides. With the first guy, the usual bargaining happened and when I asked about the meter, he said he was yet to get the rate card. :(. He also said, " saar neenga ellam meter ketta, naanga enga saar porathu (if people like you ask for meter, how can guys like us survive).

The second ride also was without meter, and this guy said the battery was down in the meter. I was in a hurry, he said no meter, and I had no other option but to bargain :(

In the meanwhile, my mother had both experiences - the usual bargaining once, and surprisingly the return journey the guy straightaway put the meter and the fare was about 60% of the usual bargained fare. 

Sometime ago, before the fare was announced by government, my brother had the opportunity to go in " Namma Auto ", a privately owned service wherein the auto not only had a proper meter, it was also cheaper than what is announced now. The best thing was that he was given a electronically generated bill at the end of the ride. :)

So, will chennai change.. I guess but it will change slowly. A lot of people have to wake up to using meters.

Being open to surprises during travel

During my recent travels, I encountered a few surprises, some very pleasant and others not so.

After my day's stay at nagapattinam, I moved out of the lodge to go to the bus stand with thoughts of either going to Thiruvarur and from there onto visit divyadesams on the thiruvarur - kumbakonam route or visit Mannargudi Rajagopalaswami temple.

I came out of the lodge and started walking in the direction of the bus stand in the hope of getting a share auto for the trip of about 2 kms. I asked a guy riding a bike if I can get a share auto to bus stand. He seemed to be pretty young (probably was not old enough to get a license), with a big can to get diesel. He replied stating I will not get share autos so early in the day (it was around 6.30 am). After travelling 20 metres or so, the guy turned and came back to me and said, " sir naan bus stand pakkathula than poren, ennado vaanga, anga erakki vittuduren". ( I am going near the bus stand and I will drop you there). I was bit afraid since he looked like a kid, but he insisted. He dropped me safely near the bus stand. 

In kumbakonam, when I checked in a lodge, the manager showed me the tarriff card and said these are the rates. He then added, since we just opened a couple of days ago, some of the facilities are yet to be done and he will give me a discount. I was bit surprised by this as generally these are not told upfront and you have to haggle later, after a few complaints. Later in the evening, when I came down to the reception from the first floor to get some drinking water, the owner, an elderly gentleman was there with his son (about 35 years old). He asked me about the room the stay etc, and they said that I could have just called the reception to get water. He then asked his son to fill water from the filter in my bottle and asked his son to go up to my room and give it there. 

I was fortunate to have an unexpected and lovely visit to Thiru Mandangudi (Thondarapodi azhwa's birthplace). I was traveling to Thiru Pullaboothankudi by auto and saw a board indicating mandangudi. The auto driver to my query responded that the temple is about 1 km out of our way. I went there after bargaining for a total fare of 80 Rs. The big surprise at the temple was the bhattar (priest) gave me a big leaf with curd rice prasadam offered to the Lord and asked me to have it there and then proceed. Lovely prasadam, with no expectation in return.

When i got down at pullaboothankudi and gave the driver 100 note. He simple pocketed and said it covered the fare. Autodrivers, will be the same everywhere i guess...

Besant Nagar Beach - my Bodhi Tree

Besant Nagar beach has always and will always be a place that I go, when I want to be alone,  or I need to take a step back from my daily life. 

This is one place where you can view life in full - you can see old couples walking together, young family with the kids playing in the sand with a ball, group of young guys in the water having fun, couples some sitting bravely in the open others crouching in the dark behind an empty stall, groups of college / young office goers with a frisbee / volleyball / foot ball sweating it out and many more such scenes.

But to me, the beach experience is divided into 3 categories - the walks as part of my excercise regime (cutting myself from the outer world with ilayaraja on the earphones), the chat sessions with one of the very few friends with whom I regularly share the beach and every topic under the sun, and finally my long visits at the waterline with Velukudi Krishan (religious / spiritual discourse) and the vast ocean for company.

I have had some strong debates with friends, or silence alone. Sometimes i see a lot of scenes and feel happy or sad or whatever other emotions; at other times my mind is just blank concentrating on what I hear and contemplating on it, especially if it is a devotional discourse. At times, I am completely mesmerized by the beauty of the beach, the sun rise or the full moon. 

But every time I visit the beach, never do i fail to listen to Nizhalgal song especially ' pon maalai pozhuthu '.. and the as the line goes ' vaanam enakkoru bodhi maram, naalum ennakathu sethi tharum.. '

The vast ocean and the skies, never fail to make me happy. the vast emptiness - my bodhi tree.

In God we trust to take us through the day

In God we trust to take us through the day, with our values intact

During my recent trip to Hampi & Badami, there were a few incidents which made me believe that people in small towns / villages still have not lost their humanity or their trust in God to help them through with their life.

The first incident (made a post on facebook about this) happened in a restaurant. There were 8 people in our group and we went to a dinner in a mid-size hotel in Badami. We sat in groups of 4 across two tables. We gave our orders and had our dinner in a pretty good mood as the trip that day to Aihole and Pattakdakkal went very well. Once we finished our dinner, the waiter presented a bill of Rs 402. One of the persons in the table next to ours gave a 500 rupee note. The waiter came back and asked for Rs 2 change. He gave it to him.  The waiter then came and gave back a 100 rupee note. I noticed this and was very surprised. The normal tendency with the waiters I have seen is to ensure that they bring back change, so that the patrons can tip them rather than search for change. The person who paid looked at the 100 rupee note and asked for change so that he can give a tip. By the way, the service was very good and we were pretty happy about it. The waiter said it is fine. Somehow, he found a 10 rupee note with a friend and gave it the waiter. The waiter was extremely pleased and thanked him profusely.

One of the persons in our table watched all this, and before we left tipped the waiter another 10 rupees. At first the waiter refused stating that he was tipped already but finally was forced to accept this. He was extremely happy, making me wonder that a person like this could find CONTENMENT.

The next two happened in Aihole. A friend and I after completing our trip around the monuments were extremely thirsty. There was this village lady selling curd in small pots charing Rs15 per pot. While I was not too keen to have it, my friend bought one after bargaining for 10 rupees. She gave it to him, after collecting 10 rupees, but with a lot of disappointment written on her regarding the price. She added sugar into the pot and gave it to him. He was not too keen to have the curd with sugar and asked me to have it. I did not want it to go waste and obliged. He got one more pot for himself. After i finished mine, I gave her 20 rupees, not wanting her to lose 10 rupees due to bargaining. When she received this, she broke into a big smile and which I could not forget. Here was a lady, who from disappointment in one moment went to a completely happy state just with 10 rupees.

While we were waiting for the driver, a small girl came and asked me for a pen. Unfortunately, I did not have one. I asked if she was going to school and replied that she was in 5th class and learning in kannada medium school. She kept pestering me for almost 5 minutes to giver her a pen and would not take a no for an answer. What was surprising during the entire duration was that she never asked for money. Finally the driver came and as we were ready to leave, she asked me if you don't have a pen at least give me a chocolate. Thankfully, I had a coffe bite given inlieu of change in a shop the previous day and I gave it to her. She had a big smile when she took it from me. 

These three incidents were clear indications that people from small town / villages still have their values and humanity. They trust God to take them through the day...