Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Brrrrr

What's up with the weather all of a sudden? Crazy chilly.
Thawing in the shower every morning!!!!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Madras in California

I've heard so much about this temple. Somehow, I haven't been here even once in 4 yrs. Maybe, its the distance. Or maybe, it was not until late that Livermore temple became commercialized.
Our 4th anniversary marked my first visit to Concord temple.
It is actually a church converted into a temple.
It can be a challenge to find this place, though. In no way it resembles a temple from the outside.
In fact, it does not resemble a church either. G had a borrowed Magellan GPS from a friend & he proudly says that he found the temple with the GPS. ahem...

It really was not that big a deal of a temple. That was my first impression. A small Vinayagar idol, A decent size praharam that was screened(6pm is marked for Shiva Murugan Abishekam) & a small Amman idol. That's about it. But when they opened the screen & I saw the way the Kurukal(pandit) performed the pooja, I was simply jumping with joy. It was all in Tamil, my mother tongue & he even performed archanai without a single dime.

The best part was after the pooja. He came over to all of us to give milk(from the abishekam), veebuthi, kungumam & santhanam. In most of the temples here, we will have to go to get it.
It might not be a big deal for many people, but for me, it reminded me of my homeland & the temples near my home. The place smelled camphor, oil & all the pooja items. Call me materialistic, but that's a good reason for me to like a temple.

I was so happy. I intend to visit this temple more often. It is very calm. Not many people(thank the distance).

All this happiness with a typical South Indian lunch & dinner made it an ideal weekend. I love my life :-)

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

So long!

Marriage is a space where two totally different people come together. They end up being together, thinking together and working together for the benefit of their family.

Its been 4 yrs together with G and this thought came to me only now :-)
It has been a pleasant 4 years & I sure do feel a lot more than 4. Its like I've known G for ever!!!
I wouldn't want to change anything in my life, including my husband G. ;-)
Love you G.
Happy Anniversary!

Friday, November 09, 2007

Frozen memories

I am one among the millions of people who have migrated from India for one of the many reasons. Until I left the country, I don't remember being away from family even for a short period.
My memory of Chennai, precisely:
-The best veggie foods available.
-lovely school with lovely teachers & of course, memory of a great childhood
-the same with college
-friends & extended family whom I last met at my wedding
-traditional & conservative society where I like some & hate many
-my scooty that took me places I knew not
-the bus & train
-the pollution
-Ranganathan st crowd
-the name change from Madras to Chennai
-geographically safe city

We had a get-together 2 days ago where we were talking about how we live in the past. Chennai(or any other city/town in India) is not the same as we think it to be.
We all have left Madras couple years ago & still think it to be as intact as it was when we left.
Subsequent visits over the last couple years have proved to be drastically different.
- good food is still available, but I lack the interest to eat oily food
- School is intact, but most of the teachers who taught me have retired; all new faces. What's the point in going back to school again?
- distanced out from college
- friends & extended family still are intact; only in weddings. After all, they have their lives too
- society is probably still traditional, but there seem to be a lot of accepted rebels. Girls are probably not restricted entry after 9 or so at night. Do I need to mention about the new night clubs that have popped up?
- my vahanam, long gone :-( but not dead. Hopefully in better hands!!! In any case, it would take me a long time to drive in those roads again
- the trains & buses are still there. But the people who use it have increased multi-fold. In my last trip, surprisingly, I started loving the buses for the simple reason, autos seemed nothing but a mini version of Lord Yama. But what's with the million Nokia phones, people? You don't know of a vibrating mode?
- aaah! the pollution- multi-folded if not multi-multi-folded.
- now its just not Ranganathan st that is crowded. I'd just stop at that!
- I had taken an oath that I would stick to Madras even after the name change. You cannot change a name just like that, u know! Now, everyone seems comfortable. A small satisfaction: Bangalore is Bengalooru. ugh!
- after 2 earthquakes & the Dec 26th Tsunami, I doubt if the place is as safe as it used to be. After all, what do we expect with an addition of a million more people to the city? Cleanliness & order. PLEASE!!!


Chennai is crossing cultural boundaries like never before. The pros are always welcome. But what is the result of all this westernization? Fear of the next generation.
Sitting on the other side of the world, we, the so called NRI's want to instill (lost) Indian values to our kids. I have friends who hunt down an Indian day care center so their kids could learn Gayathri mantra & yoga at 2!

Anyways, the point is, most of us have ideas of settling back in our home country. What if we do not find happiness there? What if we do not find what we expected to find?

Life is filled with complex choices & decisions. Be it what, but our country is OUR COUNTRY!!!
I really doubt if I will want to be a citizen of any other country.

Just a random blah blah...