Barbarism in the name of caste. Two thoughts

Yesterday I got an opportunity to see the way politics in Tamilnadu works. It is based on sects, caste, religion and all things that make no sense when it comes to well being of the people. It was a birth anniversary of a leader , a freedom fighter and parliamentarian, though remembered so strongly only because he belongs to a particular community, dominant in Southern Tamilnadu. It seems like they want to prove that they are getting stronger. The traffic jam due to garlanding of his statue in Anna Salai lasted longer than last year. Probably in the years to come the government might have to declare a holiday. I wonder if the youth who participated in the procession would even remember their parents birthdays. They not only wasted their time but of so many others going to work.
The government could bring a ban on celebrating anniversaries of leader in areas where it cause disturbance to public. But I doubt it. They also need the votes. This brings me to two very confusing conclusions.
First, the situation is created by the people themselves. People want their community / caste leaders to be respected. The way of showing respect is explained above. And they complain about mismanagement of every thing. So I guess people are really strong opinion builders and they control the psyche of politicians.
Second, there are simply too many people and the loud and dominant get heard and things happen their way. Others who are complaining are soft and docile. Probably like me.

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, when the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile but you can only sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest, if you want, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns, as every one of us sometimes learns.
And many a failure turns about, when he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -- You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out -- The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -- It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

I like this blog thru' e-mail facility. Why should I say this?

The last three posts were made through e-mail. And I most certainly like this utility. The reason why I say this is in my archives list. The last activity was during May. It took me as long as 5 months to re-enter the blog world of mine. In this intervening period I did send out a lot of e-mails to people I know. I can do the same for my blog also. However signing in and creating a blog was simply too much for me. This mail your thoughts to your blog works for me in another way too. I'm more of a spontaneous blogger who finds it difficult to prepare a post to blog. Now its just my thoughts, plain & pure. So I like it.

Tambaram - Tindivanam Expressway

Today I had to go to our village for a function when i experienced the goodness of a well laid road. The 93 km stretch they call Tambaram - Tindivanam expressway is excellent. It is a part of NH 45 constructed in about 2.5 years on BOT basis. The toll collected is Rs.40/- for a single trip and will be continued to be collected for another 15 years. Though it was originally built to reduce congestion in traffic between Chennai and southern districts we are using it regularly to visit our native village in northern TN itself. While traveling in night, the road is a sight. Now they have come up with reflectors, white for straight road and yellow for curves. I wonder if that is an international standard or just something tried here.

Check list - For visting a drive in theatre.

We are becoming regulars for the Drive-in Theatre in Chennai. We are 3 movies old now and would like to offer a few tips & tricks.

There are certain essentials you need to take.

1. A large mat. The floor has lot of smaller stones and this really improves the movie watching experience.
   
2. Bedspreads, we usually use a razai.
3. Pillows, for a group of three we usually take 4.
4. Snacks, the problem there is the options are quite less but can't say the same about price.
5. Water.
   
6. Take a foldable chair, if anybody in the group is not comfortable sitting down.
7. A hand fan. We are planning to take the rechargeable fan next time.

It really helps to book the tickets in advance. It's quite large and can accommodate about 300 cars. But still it is better that way. We even have an experience of going all the way only to return without watching the movie. It's quite far away for and takes about an hour to reach. The shows are only at 1900 hrs and 2000 hrs, which eliminates the option of doing something else too.

We have seen 3 movies there. Imsai arasan 13th Pulikesi was the first and we all enjoyed it. The next was Vettaiyadu Vilayadu, not a movie for drive-in theatres. The recent one is Lage Rago Munna Bhai. These are the kind of movies that suit best because a drive-in theatre is not just about the movie. It's a family outing and we don't want t get all that serious by the movie.

There is a restaurant nearby. I might write about it later.

Running away…

I don’t know how people manage to run away from their home. They certainly don’t know the pain associated with it. One has to be in that situation to know how it really feels. I had an experience, something close to that. One of my batch mates went missing for a day, the anxiety to family and friends was not really proportionate. When he was not reachable through phone for most part of the day and that he had left his mobile at home added to the voes of the family. They got suspicious and started making calls. Having exhausted the ringing list we were forced to explore the tougher areas like police & hospitals. Before we could go any further there he was. Seems like he had some issues with the family and office. Tried to have a go at both of them. Did pull it off at office as he got a transfer to a place he wanted. I can't really comment on the home front. I think I’m straying off. The point is the few hours till he was back was really difficult for every one of us. Thinking of the possibilities was unnerving. I could not talk to his wife fearing I would say something that could make them emotional. So anybody who contemplates running away should think about the anxiety they would be causing, even to those they never even thought could get involved.