Singh Slaps Sree

Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has been handed an 11-match ban from the Indian Premier League (IPL) after being found guilty of slapping compatriot Shantha Sreesanth

Harbhajan singh famously known as Bhajji would be regretting that slap on Shantakaumaran Sreesanth ,

costly one what with him losing a fairly big amount and a ban for 11 matches .

Sreesanth broken face swollen cheeks and pouring tears did give the impression of a soft southie getting it from a rumbustous brawnie panjabi ,

what else could poor sree have done he thankfully didnt do a Gandhigiri of turning the other cheek ,The Bhajji would have made a mess of it !

the sardars are known for this kind of language while the mallu is more happier with sarcasm in words ,remember the loudmouth Sidhu who had killed with a blow ,thank God Sreesanth didnt face him or he wouldnt have had to cry .

but what made me write this piece is hardly cricket ,it is something else it is the reaction of Kerala to thier blue eyed boy getting it in the face .

The whole state is gleefully sending mails how he deserves it ! and has been asking for it for a long time ,

see the mallu psyche they have fun when somebody falls !

just imagine what the Tamils would have done ,

Karunanidhi would have wiped his dark glasses and declared war on Punjab in his gritty chenthamil ,

Amma would have become a Durga and made Sasikala tie her hair into a bun before her swearing a la Kannagi ,

Rajani the boss would have flicked a cigarette into air and said "dey naan oru dhadava sonna noorudadava sonna madhiri "and when asked what does this statement mean in this context he would have said this usually goes for all situations ! it was an universal statement he made !

Take Maharastra ,( forget the fact that the Singh led Mumbai team ), if Sreesanth was a Marathi the Thackerays would have roared .

The uncle would order all Singhs to be sunk just beyond the gateway of India and nephew would have opposed it saying that Haji Ali was a better place and they would have fought on that .

If Sree was from UP Mayawati would have tried to find out if Sree belonged to the scheduled caste knowing he isnt she would have asked for reservation for slapped cricketers !

Deve Gowda would have demanded some land in Bangalaru for sree to lick his wounds and would have promptly swallowed half of it

Lalu would have released a special train for Sree to go home to with blinds in the windows and loads of tissue for wiping his eyes

Some central leaders would have said there is a foriegn hand behind Bhajis hand .

BJP leader Jaswant singh would have recited in his baritone voice "Slapping is an ergonomically driven exercise that reeks of poor diplomatic skills and its practioners are deemed examples of poor upbringing and cultaral sereptitude "and hearing is Advaniji would have escaped into the nearest toilet .

One expected the Kerala leaders to voice thier grievances more appropriately ,for example Pinarayi could have reminded Bhajji of Kannur and given him a warning

Achumamma could have blamed the bouregaise game cricket and its imperialistic demanour as the reason for the slap ,he could have told this never happens in say ahem communist China all this in chaste malayalam with a shrug of his shoulders ,

Karunakaran could have pointed out that all this wouldnt have happedned if his son was the sports minister and somebaody else the defence minister ,Guruvyoorappa !

but not a word from any of them

forget all that

Kerala the land of Bandhs didnt even order one !

it was there for the asking ,a ripe reason if any

a state where shutters are closed for reasons like Achumammas constipation or the leaders relief from one did not take up this chance !!!I cant believe it !

why why ? did the architects of bandh fail to react when their own was slapped on his smooth cheek by that brute from the land of five rivers ?

An enignamtic question indeed

please write to me if you have any answers .....

House boat bliss

The last time I was in a houseboat staying for more than three days cruising in the languid waters of the famed Dal lake in Srinagar was in 1983 ,with my classmates in medical college .

Terrorism had effectively killed any future hope of doing the same with the family in tow .

With Kerala offering a similar fare these days we planned to do a houseboat this vacation .

The Muthoot group dream cruise was recommended by a close friend working in it and we took the offer never to regret .

We alighted into the spacious boat at Pallathuruthy just away from Allepey on way to Changanasserry after parking our car safely .

Welcomed with fresh wet towels and cool tender coconut water we got into jùùour boat at 10am ,it had a portico with sofas ,table with a filled fruit bowl ,an AC bedroom ,a toilet fitted with a bathtub ,a small kitchen ,and upstairs two viewing balconies and a dining room .

There were three staff to cater to our needs , the chef was in his uniform and a wide grin ,two others were drivers and helpers ,friendly and at the same time giving us our privacy they were the epitome of service .

As we chugged away into the backwaters the sun was at its zenith ,appetising aromas drifted from the kitchen where Jose the chef was at his best as he concoted a typical Kerala lunch of Karimeen polichatu ,chicken ,sambar ,cabbage thoran spicy piclkes and crispy paapads .these were served with elan in the dining room ,we gobbled them up as the boat swayed in the wake of the waters .

After a small post lunch siesta we woke up and found a native boat anchored to the side of our houseboat ,it had fresh prawns for sale and we bought some and Jose took it into the kitchen to do his magic on it in time for dinner .

we later went in a small canoe along with other houseboat inmates to the smaller canals of the backwaters ,filled with green floating weeds the canoe traversed through the maze hidden from the sun bya canopyof trees ,houses and shops lined the canal so close to us and we could see people moving around ,toddy shops ,small schools ,children playing ,men going about thier work ,women cooking washing clothes .

how does it feel like people staring at you all the time I asked an old lady she grinned and said we dont mind it has brought us life and money .

True tourism has changed the face of Kerala to a large extent ,if only the Government creates a better infrastructure ,it would be a win win situation ,private enterprises have been doing thier bit though some of them do give substandard fare .the natural resources of Kerala is unique and God given but it has not been genuinely utilised ,countries with nothing much to show have better facilities .

We returned back to our houseboat and clambered inside .

We moved on to a wide waterway and anchored for the night as houseboats are not allowed to cruise after dusk for fishermen cast thier nets at night .

As the sun set gloriously ,rain was announced by darkening clouds ,we sipped our tea to the sounds of pelting rain ,breezy winds swaying coconut tops ,and the backwaters in the horizon of the fading light was a sight not to be forgotten .

the rains stopped ,crickets chirped ,waters lapped our boatside as we all sat with our legs dangling dowm watching the blinking lights of the houses in the coast ,the air was soft and romantic occasionaly broken bye the hum of the rare mosquito .

Jose announced dinner we tropped up like a starving army ,scenery sure creates appetite specially for people who dont need much to create that .

Dinner was exotic in candle light served by a hovering three ,the fried tiger prawns were golden and gorgeous chappatis soft ,dhal delicate and chicken crunchy .

Music wafted from the banks from a distant radio as Yesudas belted a very apt song of

ayyiram padaswarangal aluvapuzha pineyum ozugi as a lullaby for us to drift off to a restful slumber .

Morning saw us climbing to the viewing balcony at top to watch a crimson sun starting its day .

A hearty breakfast of fluffy white appams ,and spicy egg curry mellowed our disappointement as we forged back to our starting place .

It was a 24 hour delight indeed thanks to Muthoot dream cruise .

bigamous Baalu

Bigamous biographies of ministers in India does not make many heads turn ,

the penchant for polygamy goes down the ages with our kings outwitting each other in the size of thier harems ,thier wives and concubines were countless and faceless .

though with time things changed and we have settled down to monogamy with a monotomy bordering on the mundane ,our rulers still depict behavioural attitudes with vestigeal valour .

They need to perform like rulers of the bygone as they are todays princes .

In Tamilnadu particularly one cannot blame the angavastram clad poltician from following his thalaivars lifestyle and Baluus thalaivar has left no stone unturned in this matter ,so he can hardly condone someone following his pattern .

Rulers all over the world have been doing this take Idi Amin ,Yahya khan ,and many other dictators ,there are classic examples in our own parliament Ram Vilas Paswan the great saviour of the scheduled castes also has saved two women by marrying them !

this is no breaking news

look at our Gods ,

Lord Krishna with his 16000 is often qouted by polygamists ,he could do all his leelas in spite of them !

one need to look at the pictures of most other Gods with one godess on either sides enconsed in comfort .They look as symbols of love and peace and we look up on them dont we ? ( now dont come up with the inner meaning of all this i know i know ,this post is on ministers not on Gods )

but for the law , bigamy is a surefire hit with everyone and everywhere ..

In the land of female infanticide where the venerated Amma the former C.M introduced cradles to save hapless female babies from suffocating on grain pieces ,marrying more than oneof the speices (if one could manage that ! ) was not a social anamoly at all ,on the contrary it is social service and the Ballus and Karunanaidhis have done precisely that by marrying often so why grudge !.

It is the duty of the ruler to leave fruitful progeny to continue the act of ruling

( plunder is another word used in recent times )so these leaders had to procreate in plenty for the future of the land and could one do this by restricitng oneself to one .

Gimme Red said one advt give me wives say they !

what is two when the wives dont object ? why should somebody else get envious ? grapes are always sour if you dont get them

Again if any favouristm has been done it is in the larger intrests of the shareholders according to the honble

minister ,how concerned he is to thier welfare specially when most of the shares are from the families of his two wives .

so dear Express o please dont do your expose act on matters before going into the depth of issues ,

we know that our leaders always do everything with a cause

even marrying twice ! you know ......

Acrobats in the air

Empees and MLA s of our country find their true form in the air ,the moment they fly up in an aircraft their souls go into action .
The rarefied atmospheres hold good for them .
It wasn’t long before a famous minister from Kerala known for his farming activities and penchant for singing in functions extended his skills of feeling in the dark .
Our politicians are full of feelings as we all know but here this feeling was of a different kind .he sent feelers for the future ,as the lights dimmed for takeoff his genes did a tumble and his arms stretched forwards to feel the fair lady sitting in front ,ministers feel it is their right to feel their subjects and a honour for the subjects to get felt and so did our man but the reaction was immediate and unexpected,disaster courted him and his face fell ,all because of a feel that wasn’t called for .
Our minister was an expert in rolling out of tight situations and he did try to roll out of this too but the odds were against him and so he left his mighty kursi and retired to his estate to lick his wounds ,courtroom battles followed now all stock from his bag of tricks like accusing the victim was over and the he is still regretting his aerial adventure .

Yet another aeronautical avarice was commited by an Empee recently again hailing from Kerala ( Gods own you know ) this man of the people wanted to ride in the cockpit ,nothing wrong like any politician he wanted to be in the seat of action and as a honourable empee he felt it was his right to act out his desires whatever they are ! he never expected the pilot to object how could he ? after all the airlines was sarkari which meant he and his colleagues owned it and the glorified driver ( ahem ) pilot had no right to do what he did ,the empee who was booted out of the flight fretted and fumed .
He too fights his battle from the wells of the Parliament .how they work for the nation !!
Long live our Empees and Emelles !
Jai Hind

music my love

Music has always drawn me whatever be the genre ,though never good at it futile attempts were made in learning carnatic vocal and later the guitar in my young days ,The famous music director Ilayaraja was a student of my guitar master at the same time as me ,( this goes to show it isnt the master who makes the difference it is the student !!)
my daughter Sruthi has more than compensated for this with her mesmerising singing ,

I believe Music rendered from the soul takes one close to our maker ,and the right music soothes us and is a salve for our ilnesses ,I did a small study on music for chemotherapy patients in Kochi and found melodies in the background did bring down the symptoms .

Dasettan our Gana Gandharvan too believes in this and has given his mite for research in this field ,

it is documented that music helps in learning in children specially the compositions of Mozart .

So I never missed an oppurtunity to listen to and attend music shows whenever possible .

In U.A.E I recently saw two of them .

One was Ishai Mazhalai in Dubai by the Tamil Mandram to which a friend was gracious enough to take me along .

I remember Abaswaram Ramji in my college days conducting a light music troupe ,he is the brother of Padma Subramaniam the famous Bharatanatyam exponent ,

with a penchant for sarcasm he called himself Abaswaram and used to hand over aspirin tablets for headache and ear plugs to people who came for his shows but all this negative publicity made him popular but his shows were professional and had good singing so they were a sucess ,with a career which included catering ,conducting music shows and stints in film industry ,AIR and TV Ramji kept his magnum opus for his later years .

He started a professional music troupe of children from 4 to 14 years in the year 2000 .

he screened more than 800 children to select his dozen and has never looked back ,the small ones growing up and conducting more than 90 shows in and out of India ,recording for ace music directors like A.R.Rehman ,and becoming experts in track singing .

I was stunned to hear the children singing song after song from old to new with verve ,oru naal poduma the old hit of Balamuralikrishan to Sivaji the Boss were renered with professional nonchalance

Ramji with his peppy walk shaking his salt and peppered head was everywhere in and down the stage ,

it was a real feast indeed .

The next show was the philharmonic orchestra in Al Ain ,classical western music has to be appreciated with some knowledge ,for a novice like me it was just a huge collection of well dressed people with massive harps ,drums ,trumpets ,sweet violins and melancholic flutes ,all this moved by a master pupeteer ,the conductor ,whose posterior was visible for most of the time expect when he turned around with a grin and bowed to the applause ,

the music itself was less appealing to me ,a western classical music illiterate ,while the well dressed opera special audience specially the gentler sex was a better attraction and so were the excusite dates handed over by traditionally clad Arabs in the fine Al Jahili Fort .

The crescendo came when the lights blew out leaving a silent audience looking at the desert sky .

The conductor made his bow and slinked away with his team for a much needed break and I took it as an oppurtune moment to make mine !!

Dr Ahmed Ali

This blog is about one of my revered teachers ,it is about one of the persons who had directed my life to a certain extent and about a person I have admired a lot .
Even before I joined medical college ,in my preuniversity days when I was at Secretariat colony ,Kilpauk ,Chennai ,Dr Ali was our family doctor .
He was then an young surgeon in Kilpauk Medical College ,with a healthy practice in family medicine and I remember occasions when I was one of the patients who lined up in his waiting room with trivial complaints of a fever or a pain here or there ,

one never grudged the long wait as Dr Ali was a busy person ,

I still remember his baritone voice giving instructions to patients in his chamber as we waited for our turn ,seeing him would melt away most of our troubles as he made small of our complaints and with his characteristic light hearted banter making us at home .
He probably was one of my many inspirations to become a doctor ,I longed to dismiss patients like him with a hearty laugh ,
but behind this his keen clinical acumen never ever missed anything and he would arrive at the diagnosis unerringly .
and then the day came when I too got into medical college and that too in the very same medical college where he was the teacher the Kilpauk Medical college Chennai .
He had a soft corner for me then as he knew I was a father less boy staying with my mother .
In college I came to know more of Dr.Ali ,he was far from a humble general practioner we thought he was ,he was a surgeon known for his excellence and a great teacher .
It was only from our third year when we had our clinical postings that we started attending
Dr Alis classes ,huge crowds of students flocked to listen in his OP days ,
here too he was brilliant in teaching with excemplary skill and in a very intresting manner ,he was quick ,agile and smart in all his actions .
One never missed an occasion to be in the theatre when he operated as his skills were superb and a delight to watch ,cracking jokes he would go about the most complicated ones with practised ease ,
so time flew ,and I had the luck to be in his unit for surgical postings in my internship too ,at these times he would occasionaly take me home in his car enquiring about me and my mother on the way .
On call days we usually had a makeshift dinner in the unit with one of us bringing dinner for all and we used to have fun late in the night over the exotic fare .
Once it was the turn of my friend who today is a leading surgeon owning his own hospital in the south of India , 'J' i would call him was a hostelite those days and had arranged for an excellent biriyani prepared specially by his hostel mess ,it was all ready and we were all waiting with bated breath in the small room waiting to begin ,
Dr Ali came and sternly looked at' J ' and said ," I find you didnt do the postoperative dressing for that patient in bed three "
'J ' trembeled ,he hadnt ,he had forgotten it in the confusion of arranging food .
Dr Ali was all fun except when it came to shirking your work and then he was a terror ,
"You go now and do it ,we shall wait for you ",
poor J ran and came back after his job and then it was Dr Ali back to his happy self .
Once my internship was over he called me and said " Hari you look after my clinic for a few days as Iam going out of station ,and also ,do give insulin injections to my mother everyday ",
a budding me was wary of the big responsibility then ,and I hesistated

"Sir clinic Iam not very confident ,and your mother is it OK ? "

"of course you have to learn havent you ? "
Well that was the trust he bestowed on me ,

I took the challenge and finally I sat in his hallowed seat and saw his patients and unerringly gave the injections too !
It was Dr Ali who made me take up radiotherapy ,he told me oncology is a good field and you could go into that ,somehow whatever he told I felt was sacrosanct and I have never regretted the descision till day .
Dr Ali never stopped studying as he rose up ,he joined for Mch gastrosurgery at an age any other senior consultant in his position would have laid back and enjoyed life ,he did it in Madras medical college at the same time I did my DMRT and came out in flying colours which was expected with his skills and experience and immense academic knowledge .
The best part of him like all great persons was , how he could relate to every patient rich or poor ,old or young and we all had a lot to learn from him .
I moved to Kochi in kerala but kept him abreast of all the happenings in my life good and bad ,to me he was always a mentor .
Dr Ali rose to become Director of Gastroenterology Dept in MMC a coveted post before he retired .
I went to meet him in Chennai recently before I came to UAE to get his blessings ,and he was still the same jolly person with a warm smile on his face ,he was in Mehta hospital in his chambers and he welcomed me profusely ,he was as active in his profession as ever .
Today he keeps in touch with many of his students with his enlivening e mails and forwards ,
Dr Ali never ages he becomes younger at heart and mind day by day and keeps others too the same with his positive attitude .
May I wish him and his family long years of prosperity and health .

navamukundan

This post came about after I watched amrita TV programme on temples and tradition called pradakshinam .

An excellent very watchable one indeed .

this one was specially intresting as it was about my most favourite temple that of navamukundan in tirunavaya near tirur my fathers place.

About the temple

Navamukundan temple of Tirunavaya is located on the banks of Bharatapuzha river. The presiding deity here is Navamukundan and Malarmangai Naachiyaar thayar. It is one among the Malai Naadu Divyadesam of SriVaishnavas in Kerala state.

Tirunavaya is located in the Chennai-Calicut route of Malappuram district of Kerala, close to Trissur. Edakkulam station is the nearest station to the temple and is located on the Palakkad-Mangalore rail route. The temple is 8 kms from tirur which is 43 kms from Kozhikode. By bus, one can reach Kuttipuram and take another bus to Tirunavaai.Nearest railway station: EdakkulamNearest Airport: Calicut

Specialty of this temple is that thayar has a separate sannadhi as compared to other malai naadu divyadesam in Kerala. Lord Navamukudan can be seen only from the portion above knees. The lord is also called Nava narayanan since it is believed that nine sadhus prayed to Lord Vishnu here and attained moksha. It is considered equal to Varanasi since temples of the three lords- Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva are present here. Maasi Makam is an important festival here.Pushkarni and VimanamThe pushkarni here is full of lotus flowers and hence known as sengamala saras, sengamala meaning lotus.The vimanam here is known as veda vimanam, derived from the vedic knowledge of the nine sadhus who worshipped here.
SannadhisNavamukundan in ninra thirukolamMalarmangai Naachiyaar (Periya Pirattiyar Laxmi)GaneshaBhagavatiSearch TermsTirunavaya, Thirunavaya, Tirunavai, Thirunavai, Tirunavaai, Thirunavaai, Navamukundan, Nava narayan

Though often associated with the emotion of grief as I have visited the temple many times mostly for doing rituals after the death of someone close but even in these occasions when our vision is blurred by remembrance of the departed loved ones one could but not escape from the serenity and beauty of the temple .

The Bharatapuzha curves sinously and laps on gently on the ghat steps which in the mornings are filled with people wet in thier dress and thier hearts doing thier duty for thier lost .

there are several priests and one can buy recipts giving ones preference or by precedence but unlike in benares in the north the priests dont knaw at you for lucre and custom .

after the customary dip and letting go of the physical remains one goes into the temple with a heartful of only memories .

kerala temples have a unique style entirely different from thier southern counterparts they blend so well with the surroundings .

simple in design they give a sense of peace and serenity ,the shantis ,ambalavasis who string the flowers go about thier job in studied silence and sincerity .

an air of cleanliness pervades most of the temples and there is no tinge of commercialism polluting the atmosphere .

in the evenings as temples light up the glow is etheral and divine .

navamukundan temple has a huge banyan tree in front of it facing the river and one could sit here for hours far from the maddening crowd caressed by the winds that sail across the river .

the movie by jayaraj desadanam has lovely composition by kaithaparam damodaran nampoothiri and the song navamukunda hare by manju is a treat to listen .

one can find this in raaga.com ,malayalam song section ,desadanam.( tried to give a link but not working )

The temple is supposed to have five mystery questions which are enigmas without answers ,

they are

1 which direction does the water in the river nearby flow ,it appears in one direction but it isnt in that .

2 the pazhuppu mandapam is a part of all vaishanvite temples and this is for the utsava moorthy to be placed during ritual processions so that devotees can pray to him ,but the pazhuppu mandapam here looks as if it is outside the wall from inside and inside the wall from outside

3 a particular family has been given rights as kolathiri for ages ,the kolathiri is always the senior member be it a woman or man ,the question is who is the kolathiri now a women or a man ?

4 the banyan tree in front does not have a half where did it disappear ?

5 the idol is only from the knee ,the rest of it is below the ground .

most of the priests in the area have all built good houses in the road leading to the temple ,as huge crowds throng to the temple every day in the mornings .

good for them as many of the temples in kerala and the employees are ill paid by the government which strangely continues to have a stronghold on hindu temples and dare not try it with churches or mosques ,this is the reason for the dilapidated state of many heritage sites and lack of facilities for devotess though millions of rupees fill the government coffers from temples like sabarimala and guruvayoor ,one really wishes the kings were still ruling us instead of theses selfish politicians .

legend has it that Markandeyan escaped from Yama and came to Navamukundan for protection ,the lord opened his backdoor and asked him to run to Shiva across the bank as only he could sabe him and also promptly closed the door after markandeya left so yama could not follow him .

The mammankam of the Samoothiri took place once in 12 years very close to this temple ,it was where a chance was given to the velathirs who was given the right to rule when the perumals departed but usurped by the samoothiri,the samoothiri would give a nilapadu once in twelve years to the velathiris to avenge him if possible a band of marital panikker families well versed in kalaripayyitu called chevers like our present suicide bombers would make thier way through the huge army of the samorin ,

one uncle and his young nephew manged to cut thier way to the samorin almost ,at that time the uncle fell to a sword attack by the samoothiris men and called out to his nephew

" thavazhide mannathe katholanne monne ! "

" njan nokkikolam ammama "said the brave young man as he swished his sword on the samorin ,who cried out "narayana ! ",the nephew hesitated hearing the name of the lord which gave enough time for the samorins men to cut him into pieces and thus the samorin escaped death that day .

after this in 1775 the samorin never tried out mamankam .

there is an excellent book on kerala temples called thulasimala written by the trivandrum maharani which goes on to describe each temple so intrestingly .

my dream is to visit all those temples one day .

samosas with Shanmugam

I caught the Trichy express from Cochin that saturday night at 9pm as I had been regularly doing every fortnight to travel to Vellore CMC as my wife was there with my child for her training .( this was some 14 years back )

I would get down in the wee hours at 3 am in Erode and wait there till 7 am to catch the West coast express to get down Katpadi and then on to vellore .

All this so I could finish my clinic on saturday evening which I would miss if I travelled by cochin Express which left at 4.30pm .

I would spend my time in Erode chatting to the cofee shop vendors in Erode platform and I became a familiar figure to them .

That day also I caught the west coast Express from Erode and got into an empty sleeper coach and got a berth ,slept for some time and woke up at Salem ,there was some commotion in the platform and I saw a rotund dhoti clad figure getting into my compartment ,he seemed to be an important man as a retinue of servants followed him with some big bags full of vessels .

He ordered some of them to get back and told his driver

" Thambi vandiyya nera viddu ,madrasla pakkalam enna "

strange I thought .".(.which meant go straight to madras I will meet you there ),

then why cant he too go in that ,shortly I had the answer for this question as he plonked right opposite me even though the whole compartment was empty .

His man friday came along and arranged the luggage and sat on a corner .

I stepped out before the train left and bought some samosas as nothing else was availabe and I was feeling hungry ,and came back and sat in time for the train to chug out of the platform .

Dhoti looked at me and the packet in my hand ," enna thambi sappadu ivilo thana ? "( is this ur lunch ?)

"well what to do nothing else here "I answered

he laughed heartily

" ayyo enna pa nee ,nariya irukku namma sapidalam va ,"

(I have lots lets eat )

and looking at his side kick he bellowed

"dey elaya poduda !!!"

that meant put the leaf for serving food ,

I was riled "oh no please have your food ,iam happy with this ,"

"ha ha thambi naan yaru theriyuma ?

( do u know who i am ? )

such questions are difficult to answer if one didnt now the answer !

i just smiled

"naan than shanmugam ( name changed of course )

" kali paal theriyuma kaali paal ? "

( name changed again ,yes I knew it was a famous brand of milk whcih was competing with the state owned one called AAvin ,I knew it came from Salem too ,o this was the owner .ok .)

" hmm theriyum "I murmured .

"ama adhe shanmugam salem shanmugam ,"that sounded like Rajinikanth

"thambi en wife nallla cook ,

neriya samaipaa ,

neriya irukku nammaku sappadlam vaa

antha samosa thuki eri "

( my wife cooks well throw away those samosa and eat with me )

"vendanka " I told

"summa iru nee "

( keep quite )

he also told me he was suffering from a spinal problem and he couldnt travel in a car for a long distance and so he would go in a train while his car drove to madras !

my luck !

"Salem vandha vitukku vaa ,periya panna ,elaam newzealand maddu nanne vanginathu ."

( when in salem come to my house I have all new zealand cows bought by myself from there )

"Salem erangina udene kali shanmugam apiidinu sholu ,onne thukittu varuvanga " ( tell my name and they will carry you home )

God save me !

"dey ennada paathukeite nikkira thambikku pasikkudu da '

( hey you idiot what are u waiting for serve the food ,this to his servant )

And so the servant cleaned the seat in front of me kept a neat paper and spread a green plantain leaf

He put portions of so many items like in a marriage feast in both our leafs ,and for the grand finale took the big vessel which I presumed was for the rice .

I was right there but I was wrong too as no rice came and the servant blinked hard ,

" iyya ,iyya ,manichunga iyya ,amma shoru vekka maranthutanga polirukku "

( sorry sir i think mistress forgot to keep rice )

disaster indeed !!!!

Shanmugam went into an apoplexy of rage ,

"ennmanatha vangitye daa thambi enna ninakkum "

( my honour is lost what will this boy think of me now ? )

that was vintage Sivaji here

"paravallanga " ( it is ok i said )

"phone podren paa adutha stationle "

( i will phone next station )

this was the pre mobile era ,

"dont worry "I said ,

"I have an idea let us crush the samosas and eat it with all these side dishes ",

"appidiya ok "said shanmugam by now having lost his demanour .

and so we had a delicious samosa mixed lunch and strangely shanmugam relished it

"nallathanmpa irukku ! '

( it is good indeed )

thus ended my samosa with Shanmugam