Booscuthalaa - Untying the Knots

the Parvati-Beas sangam Originally uploaded by jganesh84 This is the point in Kullu where 2 rivers - Parvati and Beas merge into one. You can actually see the color difference in the snap. Towards the left is the pure Beas river - greyish blue in color and the brownish tinge on the right is that of river Parvati. It was an amazing sight. The point of contact is the place where the raft can be seen. The place is close to Kullu. It's really cold out there.

This post is a tribute to all the great souls who have taught me music and continue to be my inspiration in life. Music has always been my passion. One of my significant childhood memories at Vikaasa is that of my music sessions with Mrs. Lakshmi Parthasarathy in a huge "Interest" hall, next to the KG block at school. I used to love the wooden staircase in that building, which by this time, has been demolished and transformed into something else. As a 3rd std. kid, I looked forward to that one interest class we had every week. If I can still sing today(tolerably), it is only due to Mrs. Parthasarathy's rigorous training sessions in those years. Not everyone in m y class liked Carnatic music. In fact, I was one among the very few who could sit through class without getting restless. Ma'am would teach us small songs very rarely. Otherwise, it used to be just swara lessons all the time. Soon, we entered senior school and Vikaasa gav

This post will be followed only by Vikaasites who have spent a couple of years at Madurai. Had some wonderful teachers at school. I'm just documenting their names here so that I can always return to this post and remember being tutored by them long back. Will keep updating the list as and when I remember more people. Class teachers: LKG - Mrs. Shanthi Bala(now with TVS) UKG - Mrs. Goldein(no idea), Mrs. Joseph(in Australia now) Class 1 - Mrs. Pinto(no idea) Class 2 - Mrs. Gale Wooldridge(still with vikaasa) Class 3 - Mrs. Ahrestani(now in Australia) Class 4 - Mrs. Kamala Menon(now in chennai) Class 5 - Mrs. Renuga(no idea) Class 6 - Mrs. Chandra Alexander(still in Madurai, but not vikaasa)) Class 7 - Mrs. Chandra Alexander Class 8 - Mr. Srinivasan(now in chennai) Class 9 - Mrs. Uma Subramaniam(with TIME, Madurai) Class 10 - Mrs. Vijayalakshmi(still in Madurai, but not vikaasa) Class 11 - Mrs. Uma Subramaniam(with TIME, Madurai) Class 12 - Mrs. Uma Subramaniam(with TIME, Madurai) S

Loads of hardwork goes into the preparation for a wedding. It is heartening to see your cousins and friends getting married and stepping into the next phase of their lives. Suddenly, so many people around me seem to be tying the knot. Over the past 3 months, 2 of my first cousins got married. Last month, my batchmate at college was the one who entered wedlock. The trend continues at work too. There are only 3 bachelors in my team now, which originally boasted a good number(6) less than a year back, when I joined. Things don't end there. I just heard that one of my classmates from college has got engaged and is getting married very soon. Marriage, according to me, is an overdose of responsibilities. It's fun to attend a wedding, not to be part of it(the bride or the groom!, atleast for now!!!) A big NO No. Funny it may sound, however, I've witnessed a lot of people changing a ton (life takes a U-turn, nothing but a NA

Have you ever seen people eating idly with 2 spoons?..No?..Welcome to Bangalore. Even the slightly decent eateries here offer a spoon with every dish served, even for a dosa. Now, are we still in India? ..Very much indeed, in the IT capital of the nation. Being a relatively newcomer here, I really am unaware of when exactly this practice of eating SouthIndian dishes with Western cutlery originated. Initially, I used to put the spoons away and eat with my fingers but oh, I turn around and see every other person(even an octagenarian couple)cutting(!) their idlies with spoons. This is not the only thing with this city. Everything about the place is overhyped. Simplicity and thriftness are just shown the backdoor anywhere you go. I must mention the public transport rates in this context. A normal bus ticket(normal, because there are deluxe buses) for an approximately 6km distance costs Rs.10. Also, this I think, will be the lone city in the country to have diff

After almost 17 years at Madurai, I had to shift to Chennai for my college education. It was a huge transition for me but I loved it, the main reason being FREEDOM. Moreover, I just wanted to get out of Madurai for a while(17 years in one place is a long time !!!). The CEG hostels (Block 2 room 39, if I'm right) welcomed me with their shabby cobweb-infested rooms and to make things worse, I had to share a room with three other fellow-cegians.However, very soon I realized that hostel was a great place to be and thanks to my roomies( I think they would have had a bad time with me around :-)...., and wingies( if there's a word like that, one row of 10 rooms is called a "wing").., hostel turned out to be a melting pot of intellectuals, gossip mongers and most importantly,great friends. With several relatives in Chennai, I would visit one each weekend(wonder what a nuisance I must have been to them) during my first few months at the hostel. Bu

It is a pleasant surprise to see television artistes like Swarnamalya and 'Pattabhi' M.S.Bhaskar in convincing roles in the silver screen after a long time, thanks to Mozhi. Meaningless stunts, dialogues with double entendre, glamour that often crosses the border into vulgarity, melodrama - all these get a big NO NO in Radha Mohan's "Mozhi". Rather, it is subtlety that reigns supreme throughout. However, there are several moments that almost move you to tears . This movie certainly does not belong to the 'art' cinema category. It is pure, delightful and humorous. This can be a very tough subject to handle but Radha Mohan, the seasoned director he is, has crafted it with elan. The best part of the movie being that, the protagonist never lets anyone sympathize with her. On the contrary, she is shown as a confident, self-reliant, well-educated person. Jyothika as Archana is just brilliant, delivering an exemplary performance that is extremely memorable. Prith

I am an ardent fan of Maniratnam and always eagerly look forward to the release of his movies. Mindblowing screenplay, excellent camera work, brilliant performances and refreshingly thematic music score are some aspects that characterise an offering from the MBA graduate(Mani himself!). And "Guru" is certainly not a letdown in any of these categories. However, does Mani have to refurbish his repertoire? Is it time to come out of the "Mani" image and start thinking out of the box? These were some of the questions that popped up in my mind when I walked out of Satyam after watching the movie a third time. Now that it's quite some time since the movie got released, there is no reason why I should keep rambling on about the story of "Guru". Clearly, this is one of Abhishek's outstanding performances to date. Every hero of Mani underplays and so does Abhishek. The Herculean effort that the superstar(today, he is one!!) has put in for this movie has gone

Vikaasa , - the best place on earth, perhaps next to home. My memories of my school always offer deep solace whenever I'm down and help me move ahead in life. I would always love to go back to school and bask in the warmth of its campus. The coolest thing about school was that we always worked as a family and were extremely passionate about anything associated with the school. I made some really nice friends at school and would always like to keep in touch with anyone even remotely associated with my school. Our annual trips to Ambas vikaasa are just unforgettable. I've been to ambas fiesta every yeat right from Class 4 till Class 10. The Madura Club at Ambas is just fabulous. The otherwise sober Ambas(amudram) used to wear a festive look for 3 days and one might even mistake it for a school in Chennai. Our secret night meetings at the hallowed wooden corridors, paste(ing) 'on the face' sessions at night, ragging juniors(at school, haha!)...what not - We've had a ba

That is a pic that my roomie(housie rather!) Balaji took the other day!!...at our home in Bangalore My most recent photograph... is this!!!.