Ambimama - India

Shylock the moneylender insisted on exactly one pound of flesh as punishment of non-return of money. We all know what happened and the famous judgment passed on him by Shakespeare. Modern day doctors and hospitals cannot be even compared to the worst greedy behavior of Shylock. I have heard about many such experiences from my friends and relatives. But I always told them that there are the ‘good ones’ and the ‘bad ones’. So talking about the doctor profession in general will be a grave injustice. Of course let’s not forget the hand of the medical institutions (big or small) who go to any extent in the name of profit making.
It happened for real to me. I was suffering from an asthma attack and severe respiratory infection due to the unusual chill chennai climate now. My family doctor recommended admitting to a hospital and treated for a day or two with oxygen, nebulizer and IV infusion of anti-biotic. And the story starts now….
Initially, the doctor was calm and was going through the reports. But just wait for the super climax after he came to know that I was covered under medical insurance. He immediately jumped and asked “How much?” He asked few questions about the coverage and benefits and also the amount which was around Rs.30, 000/- reimbursement by the medical insurance company. And now the drama, he raised hue and cry that I was in a very serious condition. My family members were made tense. They were not allowed to see me. When I asked for some hot water to drink and said I wanted to take some food, as I was hungry, the doctor said I was behaving funnily and ordered all tests on earth to be made on me. And the sisters and Para-medics caught me and pierced every vein and artery available. And I was rushed to X-rays 3 times, ECG 2 times, ECHO, ENT, Eye-testing and opinion from cardiologist.
And when all tests proved that I was normal (which I was sure) they insisted that I should be operated for sinus!! And when me and my family members insisted that I should be discharged immediately as I was feeling fully comfortable, the doctor warned that I am discharged for social problem!! Oh!! Shylock – you are noble!!
Things got really out of hands when he started repeating that the patient’s condition is “critical” every now and then. Then I had to call my brother-in-law who was a lawyer by profession and had some high level contacts. He then spoke to the chairperson of the hospital who then rightly intervened and advised the involved doctors to discharge me from hospital. But still the doctors wrote a remark in my discharge summary that I refused complete treatment and chose to discontinue and get home early.
In spite of all this I respect modern medical machines, tests and doctors. But why use all these just for money? My sincere advice to who wish to get treated (even if it is emergency) is: Consult relatives, know about the hospital, doctor in advance and never say in advance you get reimbursed fully. Shylock can be called Jesus the savior but some Modern Day Doctors and Hospitals should be called HEY LALOO HELL!!

Many of us know that Pongal is a thanksgiving day to the Sun God. Farmers pay respects to their farm animals and tools which were reasons for the good harvest. I have heard that this harvest festival is celebrated even in Japan.

Geographically Sun starts moving north from Tropic of Capricorn towards Equator. And the Uttarayana Punya Kalam starts for which Bhishma was waiting to die on this day. Bhishma had a boon – Icha Mrityu (death at his chosen time).

You can browse here or here to know more facts about Pongal festival and the way it is (still) genuinely celebrated in the traditional way.

In cities the spirit of celebrating remains the same, though the cooking medium and vessels have changed. But how Pongal is celebrated in our good old chennai maanagaram (metropolitan city) is a different topic altogether.

When New Year begins, we pull out the calendar first and frantically search for Pongal dates, why? To check if it falls on a working day or not! If it falls on a Friday then nothing like it, if you are lucky then you may even get Thursday off for Bogi pandigai.

Most of the 5-15 year old of today don’t have a clue of what harvest means except that they imagine that to be done in the primitive times and not in the 21t century. For some set of adults/adolescents though it’s that time of the year when their thalaivar’s movie gets released. Some blog about the big break their hero’s career will get from the Pongal movie release. I still remember some one mentioning in their space about the movie “Ji” and how it will give a break to Ajith the same way “Nayagan” gave a break to Kamalhassan. Hah! We all know the ending of that hit story!

In the middle class/upper middle class families the parents get up early and go to the local area market in their two wheelers to get some Sugarcane and flowers. Back at home children are still sleeping cos it’s a holiday and they deserve to get up late. Of course, some unlucky ones still have their tuition classes at 5am in the morning. Once back from the market with sugarcane, the next major job for parents is to and get the children off the bed before the “auspicious time” to cook Pongal passes away.

After consulting with the next door Brahmin mami they confirm the exact time they should make the Pongal. Instead of earthen pots and firewood they keep their 4 burner LPG stove ready and some ultra-modern freaks cook Pongal in their electric cookers or microwaves too! But the gas stove is decorated with chandan, kumkum the pressure cooker is tied around with Manjal Kottu (Haldi – fresh turmeric) and Inji Kottu (fresh Ginger plants) and the rice is cooked with milk, jaggery and ghee. When the rice boils over we shout Pongalo Pongal!! It means everything should flow over in abundance – wealth, health, happiness and sweet words

Pongal is cooked. Finished eating. What next, switch on Sun TV and watch the “Pongal special programs”. Where is the hard work of farmers remembered here? Where is the prayers offered to the Sun god here? Where is the respect to farm animals here?

I am not trying to be cynical, but all that remains is the good feeling of a holiday and meeting friends and relatives. Of course, these things give us happiness. But is this the only connection that chennai has with Pongal pandigai? Not to mention the spectacular pollution activity the previous day of bogi and the highly disorganized public gathering in the marina beach the next day for “Maatu Pongal”

It was a social function and we used to visit relatives, friends, temples and farms and cut sugarcane and eat them. Now we sit in front of TV, become fat and dull in brains. And get irritated if some visitor comes!!

Here is ambimama’s plan for Pongal. This Pongal I will watch only Patti Mandram and then visit some friends and share their joys. And course eat sugarcane!

Happy Pongal

Hyderabad Heroes Cricket Ke Ustad ICL Video

All of us know for certain where we stand today, and how we reached where we are today. But what none of us can ever know is where we will be tomorrow and what pleasant/unpleasant surprises the future holds for us.

Should we plan for the future? Rather “Can we plan for the future?”

Going by binary logic, this question could have only two possible outcomes.

Either a YES or a NO.

If you say YES, then you’re arguing that you should plan for the future. Obviously, you plan for the future based on assumptions of your future needs. Does it mean you know what exactly what you would need in the future? How would you support that fact that your predictions of future requirements won’t fail? No one can be so arrogant that they can claim they know everything about their future. (Assuming you are not stupid enough to believe some local palm reader).

If you say NO, then you state that you would not plan at all for the future. This is the best stand to take for winning this argument. But practically, this won’t fit in.

Sometimes “Future Plans” sounds like an oxymoron to me! Cos if you can’t have control over your future then what does “Future Plan” mean?

This leads to another related question, Should we believe in fate?

Going by binary logic again, this questions has two possible answers.

If you say YES, then it means you have lesser belief in your abilities to control the future and give more control to fate in deciding your future.

If you say NO, then it means you have confidence in planning and shaping your future but you also have the over confidence in assuming that your plans will never fail. Of course you can have backup plans, but again, they can fail too!

Next question would be; does God exist?

Ok now, I am not going to question the basic faith in god and confuse myself and you. Lets leave that aside forever. Let’s safely lock that discussion up in the Pandora’s Box and mess with it when we are 60 and got nothing productive to do.

One argument would be, forget about the future, forget about the past and enjoy the present before it becomes a part of the past. Those who have their dad’s business doing extremely well or with bank balance in excess can easily follow this philosophy. Buddy, this is not for you and me!

For us real people, we need to plan our future. And we start with planning our monthly expenses and goes on till investing for your child’s future post-graduate college fees when you are still in your early 20’s! This is how most of us plan! Don’t we? But look at the “If”s and “But”s in this. We have one answer to all questions “God knows”. Ok so if God knows all these then why are we trying to plan for it? Why not God plan it for us? (Hmm… Can I get any more stupid?)

So does this mean we should never plan for anything? That’s stupid.

Some go to the extent of framing 2 or 3 backup plans for one instance or incident. Does it mean these guys are so confident about the control that they have over the things around them? Now, what more can I say? Does it mean they don’t believe that fate can easily come in and screw up their plans upside down and leave you stranded and/or pleasantly surprised?

Ok, so there is no definitive answer to this. But one thing is for sure, better not to take that “fate factor” in to our future calculations. Best bet would be to Plan and then expect surprises! As ambimama rightly says here in one of his posts.

The chennai book fair is back. If one cannot make time out of their always busy/lazy schedules to attend this, you will repent later when you hear stories of amazing experiences from your friends and colleagues. Chennai Book Fair 2006 is happening from 6th to 16th of Jan. Some argue that tamil literature and tamil as a language is losing its identity with modernization and western influence. Yes, no can practically avoid English words these days in every sentence they speak. Book fair and other such events would rejunuvate the charm of tamil litereature. The last few years have witnessed a phenomenal increase in the sales of books in the Chennai Book Fair. You can call this “Puthaga Kan kaathci” a “Puthaga Thiruvizha”.
I heard several works of Sujatha is getting released this year. Also releasing this fair are some very interesting book releases including S. Ramakrishnan’s Vizhithirupavanin Iravu and Jeyamohan’s Aazhnathiyai Thedi.

[EXCERPT from http://bookfair2006.blogspot.com/]

இவற்றுள் புத்தகக் கண்காட்சியை ஒட்டி வெளியிடப்படவிருக்கும் நூல்களின் விவரம் வருமாறு:

1. நிலமெல்லாம் ரத்தம் (இஸ்ரேல் - பாலஸ்தீன் பிரச்னையின் வரலாறு)
2. அல் காயிதா - பயங்கரத்தின் முகவரி
3. ஹமாஸ்- பயங்கரத்தின் முகவரி
4. கண்ணீரும் புன்னகையும் (சந்திரபாபுவின் வாழ்க்கை)
5. ஹாலிவுட் அழைக்கிறது.
6. அயோத்தி: நேற்றுவரை
7. ஆப்கனிஸ்தான்: அழிவிலிருந்து வாழ்வுக்கு
8. ஜப்பான்: ஒரு ஃபீனிக்ஸின் கதை
9. மார்க்கெட்டிங் மாயாஜாலம்
10. ஆதவன் சிறுகதைகள்
11. புத்தம் சரணம் (புத்தரின் வாழ்க்கை)
12. 18வது அட்சக்கோடு (அசோகமித்திரனின் நாவல் - செம்பதிப்பு)
13. ஓப்பன் டிக்கெட்
14. மார்க்ஸ் எனும் மனிதர் (என். ராமகிருஷ்ணனின் புகழ்பெற்ற நூலின் மறுபதிப்பு)

[/EXCERPT]

I would say the best time of the year to be in chennai now. So if you are in and around Chennai, then don’t miss this chance.

For more details log on to the official web site here