Removed the F1 bits from this blog

By popular demand (1 reader's wishes !) I am removing the entires with F1 as the topic of interest. The link for my spanking new F1 blog is http://f1tvm.wordpress.com/ The chellakili blog will be essentially for Trivandrum, IT etc......as the by-line above states - "just about anything that catches my eye"

Messiah

Today is Gandhi Jayanthi. The man who (in his unique non violent way) galvanised an entire nation in its struggle for independence was born this day 140 years ago.

Whilst today most Indians (especially the political class) pay lip service to Gandhiji’s ideals and beliefs, almost all of us have been in awe of the man and his life (at least in our youth) at some point in our lives

Two memories spring to mind today. The first memory is from 1989 which was when I visited Gandhi Smrithi (located in Birla house where Gandhiji became a martyr) for the first time. Having seen the small museum at Birla house, we were led to the spot where Gandhiji was martyred. Displayed there was a brief yet powerful quotation from the other great man of the 20th century - Albert Einstein “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth”. Standing at the spot and reading this, any Indian (or for that matter any human) would get a lump in his/her throat.

The second memory is of a Doordarshan public message that used to be frequently played (in the eighties?). It was a short ad which featured an animated caricature of Gandhiji and ended with a voice over (with a deep base) stating “The greatness of this man was in his simplicity”. This simple message was very effective and yet provoking.

We have progressed a lot on many fronts in the six decades since Gandhiji’s demise. Yet in these days of violence and hatred, the man and his message are relevant more than ever.

Many a time we feel we could do with another Gandhi, another messiah.

Yet we know that there never was one like him in the past and probably never will be too. Let us pay our respect / homage to him by applying his message of tolerance, love and duty in our insignificant lives.

Sudden Impact !

Earlier this evening, a small quake was felt around the Kazhakutam area.

It was so mild that I was in office and did not even realize what had happened. I felt (heard ?) something and guessed it was thunder (it was raining at the time). Later some folks reported it was a earthquake.

Small groups got together and discussed for a couple of minutes (referred to the breaking news on the Mathrubhumi web site) and then it was back to their respective desks and BAU (Business As Usual) !

A little bit of excitement on a Friday evening just before the weekend break !

Decent parties - Super hit block buster chalachitram ?

Have you ever wondered why every movie telecast on the Malayalam Television channels on weekends / primetime is always advertised as a super hit block buster movie?

The immediate provocation for this thought is something interesting that happened to us last weekend. We (wife, kid and self) had been to see a movie called "Decent Parties" starring Jagadish. In case you are wondering, the primary reason for narrowing down on this choice of movie was ease of parking in the theatre concerned! Also a couple of friends had indicated that Bhramaram (the competing choice) would be too scary for our daughter Nandu.

Arriving at the theatre (after leisurely parking the vehicle) I was pleasantly surprised to meet a friend (with family). Good I thought - they also favoured "Decent parties" - this ought to be a decent movie with some decent laughs at the least. However not too many Trivandrum-wasis seemed to share our opinion - there were only around two dozen folks in the hall when the show started. And the public opinion seemed to be right - the movie moved along at a laboured leisurely pace (like a TV serial) and soon half the people were dozing off.

Soon after the interval, the screen went blank - and stayed blank for over 10 ... 15 minutes. We were not sure whether we should feel irritated or relieved. Just as we were contemplating trooping off, the usher came in and asked everyone to move to the sister theatre where the rest of the movie would be shown. Half of the audience that had dozed off moved to the other theatre in search of better seats to settle in. The other half that had stayed awake decided to leave. We were in the latter category. Money lost, yet wiser for the lesson learnt we rushed back home!

I am sure that this movie is a candidate for a Super hit block buster chalachitram (movie) for Television in the coming months!

Mahabali @ Technopark

“Maybe Mahabali pays a visit only to Technopark these days” – the wife says to me tongue in cheek the other day.

To rewind … last week most of the Technopark companies celebrated Onam. There were Pookalam (Floral decorations) competitions, Melams (Drums), Sadhyas (Feast) and what not….

Every company has its turn – ours is usually the last in line. And may I add – it has the grandest (and loudest) celebrations of all. As usual the major highlights were the Pookalam competition and the Sadhya. We also had a Mahabali competition, a Pazhayam theetta (Banana eating) competition, a Chiri malsaram (laughter competition) and a grand Melam/Panchavadhyam accompanied by Theyyam, Kathakali and of course Puli Kali. The Pookalam competition was so fierce that some teams were practically up all night scheming their ‘designs’.

To come back to the quote above, this comment was made when I was describing in vivid detail the happenings last Friday. You know what? Maybe she is right – this was the first time in years that I have seen a live performance of Theyyam and Pulikali. These days Onam to most people signifies little more than a sumptuous feast (many a time a parcel feast ordered from hotels) and a host of programmes on TV (usually watching programmes of past winners of ‘idol’ competitions singing film songs, ‘latest super hit’ movies of ageing super stars and satire programmes with Mahabali (with way too much make up on) as the central character). How many people put Pookalam for 10 days? How many kids these days know about Thrikakarappan? (Why is that funny piece of wood sticking out of the floral arrangement, dude?!!?)

In this cyber age, every sport / celebration has to reinvent itself to survive. Cricket for instance first transformed itself from Nirma whites to pyjama cricket, today we have the ‘Twenty-Twenty’ avatar. It is admirable that while many aspects of Onam have now become commercialised, (case in point - the explosion of jewellery, clothing and consumer electronics ‘offers’) the techies of TVM remember Mahabali and celebrate his yearly visit in their own unique (traditional) fashion.

Long live the technopark Mavelis!

Onashamshakal ! And peace to one and all…..

Innovation at the oddest of places

Every Saturday evening for a few months now, I have been praying at a Shiva temple near my house. On multiple occasions, I have been there during ‘Deeparadhana’ time. As usual there is the accompaniment (‘kottu’) of musical instruments (drums and cymbals) while devotees wait for the ‘nada’ to open and for the ‘arathi’ to start.

Since there is a rush around Deeparadhana time, I had never actually seen the two chaps who play the drums and the cymbals. However my observation was that the quality has been consistent over the past few months – hence assumed that same chaps were behind the kottu.

Yesterday, I happened to make a ‘pradhikshanam’ when the kottu was on. Can you imagine what I saw? The kottu was being played by an electrical device which had two arms for the drums two more for the cymbals! The timing mechanism of the individual arms were adjusted to create the effect of a kottu! The whole thing was being amplified by a loudspeaker. As soon as the arathi was over, one of the chaps went and switched off the device!

I do not know if this invention was caused by necessity (unavailability of eligible/skilled persons for the kottu) or driven by financials (this is after all a small temple) – either way it was nice to see this innovation at the unlikeliest of places!!

Shiva Shambho!!

Shameful act - Kalam frisked at Delhi airport

Was shocked to hear the news item earlier today on ex-President Kalam being frisked at Delhi airport enroute to NY.

I am sure lots will be said on the national 24*7 news channels in the next couple of days (they will go on and on about this till they get the next scoop - then they will forget all about Kalam) and scores of articles (analyses) written in the papers this weekend. Let me limit my comments to one question - 

Can you imagine President Carter being frisked and asked to remove his footwear as he is about to board an international flight from D.C. ?