Right now!

I’ve been pondering what to write for the first post of #MyFriendAlexa In other words, picking the right bait to keep my new visitors hooked up with my words and/or posts.

Just when a beautiful idea started forming in the back of my mind… (Translation – Am staring out the window and postponing every other task I’ve to complete and call it thinking for my next awesome post) the climate itself took pity on me, or rather protected you all from another post of my ramblings…

The melancholic climate turned into a feisty downpour! I’ve heard from many sources that rain is sort of a gloomy mood. But when I’m traveling in National Highway, with my dear one(s), listening to my favorite tunes, a downpour is more uplifting than anything for me!

The road looks blacker, the greens around are greener, the surrounding looks fresh and free of dirt.. The dirt is sort of permanent fixture on these roads, so even the familiar road looks fresh. And the look is enhanced by the filter created by the tiny droplets on the window pane…

Nature’s filter!

As I was thus enjoying the travel, with a big smile on my face, I saw few kids going back from school, with a heavy backpack and drenched completely.

I felt sorry for them, till I crossed them and saw the bright glee on their face. There was not even a tiny bit of worry nor any other thoughts troubling their happy minds. I felt like the girl looking at the sparrow and wishing warmth with clothes, when it was already warm with its own wings!

In those happy smiles, I realised that happiness is not a by product or result of something else. It is being happy for the mere sake of being happy!

The lingering clouds!

The rain has stopped now, the climate has changed, the tunes changed, but not my happiness… Like the leaves drizzling long after the rain stopped, my smile still lingers on, without any cause, yet spreading cheer!

Hmmm.. So what makes you smilewithout a care in the world?

Oops.. The stolen mango!

Over the terrace, I mentioned in my last post, was a large mango tree. During summer, the mangoes were hanging low enough, from the part of tree spilling into the terrace.

They are low enough for kids to pluck them without much struggle. Yet, we kids were always reminded to stay away from the tree, for there might be tiny insects and I was so allergic to them.

Yet, the allure of those tasty raw mango are far more inviting than the constant reminders. So we decided to pluck it. And we did it.

No, there wasn’t any insect bite or any allergic reactions or no cause to question our safety.

But we, me and my cousin, didn’t dare to go into the house shouting our victory. Though we were safe, we were not sure that about the scolding we might receive. It was a small mango and we thought of finishing it in the terrace itself and throw away the seed.

When we were almost half through, grandpa came onto terrace in search of us. We were caught green-handed, I mean with mango in our hands and I sort of panicked for a moment.

As he was about to question about it, I volunteered that the mango fell by itself, as some squirrel or parrot might have nibbled and dropped them.

Though we were spared from any scolding, we were to give away that mango! For it might not be properly cleaned. Sigh! Our heart was already content from half of it and we parted with it. But soon afterwards, it was nicely cleaned up and cut into small bite sized pieces and given back to us!

Good Night or Good Knight?!

There is a secret handshake or something unique, each kid creates when they are young, and few sustain the time and others are lost. Those lost memories, when revived add a smile to the self and sometimes may earn the awkward reaction, from the listener.

My mother tongue is Tamizh, a language which doesn’t have the concept of ‘silent’ characters as much as English. And for a kid starting to spell the words, that is a bit complicated concept to grasp. One such complicated word for me was “Knight”. The word was introduced by the brand name “Good Knight”, the mosquito coil, before it was introduced to me by school.

So on that day of introduction, at night, I said, “Good Knight.”
But how do you differentiate between the night and knight, while saying it out aloud?
Hence, Good night was followed by “Gooduk night” (Yeah, that’s how the toddler me pronounced it!)

And from then on the following became my father’s and my Good night routine.

Good Night
Gooduk Night
GK
GN

And for years it was exchanged daily and with time it was forgotten, until my sister was in school. And by then, she knew how to pronounce “Knight” and lots more. Also, we have changed the brand of our mosquito repellent to “All Out”

So when we narrated this story, she asked why stop with one brand and created a new big series for exchange and she tells them in the same order every single time without any interchange. The List grew into…

Good Night
Gooduk Night
GK
GN
Good Knight
All Out
Mortein
Martin Cooper
Albert Einstein
Issac Newton
GOOD NIGHT

Wondering from where did all those people come? Or have you guessed it rightly that was the day, she learnt the name of those scientists and she started linking with the phonetics of Mortein-Martin…

And thus Newton and Einstein came into our everyday lives! Who would have guessed.. 😉

Cry for help!

A big house, grand parents, two cousins, a game.

What could go wrong?

Nothing much, unless the game is to play police and thief, by a 5 year old and 3 year old. And the police decides to tie down the thief in an adult sized chair with real rope with real knot!

Oh yes, I did tie up my cousin and was not expecting to have tied a real knot and also was not expecting my cousin to start crying, because he couldn’t get out.

I started panicking as just one of the two is enough to land me into a good scolding and how am I going to resolve either of them?

And I too started to cry.. Don’t judge me! I was a helpless five year old!

And of course, eventually he was rescued from the knots and indeed we both had received scolding for the next hour or so.

Though till day, we haven’t discussed the instance as grown ups, it created a fear in me to get into games, from which I couldn’t rescue myself and it has also helped me to learn tying knots properly, to remove or to tighten.

And just like every crying memory of past brings a smile in the present, I do smile whenever I see any kid playing police-thief.

So what’s your smiling memory from your childhood?

The sweetest melody!

குறள் 66
குழலினி தியாழினி தென்பதம் மக்கள்
மழலைச்சொல் கேளா தவர் (66)

Kuzhal Inidhu Yaazhinidhu Enpadham Makkal
Mazhalaichchol Kelaa Thavar

‘The pipe is sweet,’ ‘the lute is sweet,’ by them’t will be averred,
Who music of their infants’ lisping lips have never heard [Couplet 66]

The innocence of kids is such a beauty.
The sweetest of the music is indeed the voice of their own kids, as mentioned in the above couplet.

But the voice of other kids is no less..

I have the fortune of being the favorite person for a cute little kid. In a conversation with his mother, I said, how long is he going to be this affectionate, it would eventually fade and when he grows up, he might not even remember me this well..

The reaction of the kid was priceless as he literally closed his eyes in a peculiar way and turned away with anger.

When I felt sorry and said sorry to him, he replied in a sweet way. It’s okay for you to say this once, but never again repeat it!

I was speechless with the sincerity and innocent beauty of it. And here it is recorded for eons to come and I selfishly wish that we stay so for that long.. 😉

Pillaiyar And Peter Jones

Kalaiselvan and Peter Jones were studying together in the same class since first standard. So when they shifted Peter Jones to another section of fifth standard, Kalaiselvan couldn’t stop his crying and he cried so hard and got himself sick.

Peter consoled Kalai, saying that, though we are in different sections, we are still in same school and so we could still go and come back from school together. Yet, Peter felt something amiss when he had to go to school alone on that day.

A small void. A tiny inconvenience. Peter felt as if he forgot something. So he stopped on the way, by a neem tree and checked his bag. His maths note, geometry box and everything else was in his bag. The only thing missing was his friend Kalai. He resumed walking with his bag till he reached the temple pond.

He stopped at the temple pond for some reason. That’s where his friend Kalai performs his morning prayer ritual of Thoppukaranam (Sit ups as a form of prayer) before the statute of the big bellied Elephant Lord Pillaiyaar. Peter dropped his bag nearby and went to kneel down before Pillaiyaar.

Shenbagam, who was fetching water from the pond noticed this and gently smiled. She said, ‘Dear Peter, this is not Christ, this is Pillaiyaar. Here the form of prayer is with Thoppukaranam and not by kneeling down.’ Peter hadn’t noticed her till then. But he just threw a glimpse at her and continued looking at the statute.

He said sternly that, he hasn’t come here to pray, as he opened his lunch box. He slowly opened it with bit of struggle and took few grains of rice from the lunch and kept it near the small ant hills next to the statute of Pillaiyaar.

Peter continued saying to her, ‘Kalai keeps food daily for these ants. If he doesn’t keep, the ants will be hungry right? To keep food for them only I came here.’

In the next few seconds, neither Peter, who had been walking back gloriously, covering all the void, nor Shenbagam, who had gone speechless and stood like a statute with his reply, or even the ants, which were busily dragging the grains to their homes, did not notice, that the statute of Pillaiyaar was kneeling down in the sand there!

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பிள்ளையாரும் பீட்டர் ஜோன்சும்…

ஒன்றாம் வகுப்பிலிருந்து ஒன்றாகவே படித்த உயிர்த்தோழன் பீட்டர் ஜோன்சை தன்னிடமிருந்து பிரித்து ஐந்தாம் வகுப்பு ‘B’ செக்‌ஷனில் போட்டுவிட்டதைச் சொல்லி அழுது அழுது காய்ச்சலே வந்துவிட்டது கலைச்செல்வனுக்கு.”செக்‌ஷன் மாத்திட்டாங்கதான் ஆனாலும் நாம சேர்ந்தே தானே ஸ்கூலுக்கு போகப்போறோம் ? மறுபடியும் வீட்டுக்கு வரும்போதும் சேர்ந்தே வருவோம்” என்று சிரித்துக்கொண்டே சொன்ன பீட்டருக்கும் இன்று தனியாக நடந்து பள்ளிக்கூடம் செல்வது கொஞ்சம் வருத்தமாகவே இருந்தது, ஏதோ… ஒரு வெற்றிடம்,மனதிற்குள் ஒரு சின்ன உறுத்தல்.எதையோ மறந்துவிட்டதைப்போன்ற ஒரு உள்ளுணர்வு.பக்கத்து வேப்பமரத்தடியில் பையை இறக்கி வைத்து கணக்கு நோட்டு,ஜாமெண்டரி பாக்ஸ் எல்லாவற்றையும் எடுத்தாகிவிட்டதா என்று சரிபார்த்தான் பீட்டர், எல்லாமே இருந்தது இல்லாதது அவன் நண்பன் கலை மட்டும்தான்.மீண்டும் பையை மாட்டிக்கொண்டு நடக்க ஆரம்பித்தவன் ஏனோ அந்த கோவில் குளத்தைக் கடக்காமல் நின்றுவிட்டான்.

அங்கே தினமும் கலைச்செல்வன் தோப்புக்கரணம் போட்டு கும்பிடும் தொப்பை கணபதி சிலைவரை வேகமாக ஓடிப்போய் பையை கழற்றிவைத்துவிட்டு மரத்தடி பிள்ளையார் சிலைக்கு முன் முட்டி போட்டுக்கொண்டான்.இதை பார்த்ததும் கோவில் குளத்தில் தண்ணீர் எடுத்துக்கொண்டிருந்த செண்பகம் மாமிக்கு இதழோரமாய் கசிந்தது ஒரு சின்ன புன்னகை“ஏண்டாப்பா பீட்டர் இது கர்த்தர் சிலை இல்லடா கணபதி சிலை,இங்க் தோப்புக்கரணம்தான் போடணும் முட்டி போட்டு கும்பிட வேண்டாம் ” என்றார் மாமி.அவரை அதுவரை கவனிக்காத பீட்டர் இப்பொழுதுதான் கவனித்தான் ஆனாலும் ஒரு நொடியில் மீண்டும் சிலையை நோக்கி திரும்பிக்கொண்டான்.வேகமாக தன் சாப்பாட்டுக்கூடைக்குள் கையை விட்டு துழாவிக்கொண்டே “நான் இங்க ப்ரேயர் பண்ண வரல” என்று தீர்க்கமாக சொன்னவன் டிபன் பாக்சை வெளியிலெடுத்து மெதுவாக தன் பல் இடுக்கில் வைத்து நெம்பி அதிலிருந்து சில பருக்கைகளைக் கையிலெடுத்து அந்த பிள்ளையார் சிலையைச் சுற்றி இருந்த சின்னச் சின்ன எறும்புப் புற்றுகளுக்கு முன் வைத்துவிட்டு மீண்டும் மாமியிடம் சொன்னான் “கலை இங்க தினமும் சாப்பாடு வைப்பான், இன்னைக்கு வைக்காம விட்டா எறும்பு பாவம்தான? பசிக்குமே,..அதுக்குதான் வந்தேன்”.அடுத்த ஐந்தாவது நொடி வெற்றிடங்களையெல்லாம் நிறப்பிக்கொண்டவனாய் எழுந்து நடந்துகொண்டிருந்த பீட்டரோ ,என்ன சொல்வதென்று தெரியாமல் குடத்தோடு குளத்தருகில் சிலையாகிப்போன மாமியோ,அவ்வளவு ஏன் ஒரு சோற்றுப்பருக்கையை கூட்டுக்குள் இழுக்க பிரம்ம ப்ரயத்தனப்பட்டுக் கொண்டிருந்த அந்த எறும்போ கூட கவனிக்கவே இல்லை இப்பொழுது மண் திட்டின் மேல் முட்டி போட்டிருந்த அந்த பிள்ளையார் சிலையை !

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This is a story written by my friend Kavi Ilaval Tamil and posted as Facebook Update. He writes amazing Tamil verses and has a published book “Yaathumaagi ninren” to his credit.

I liked the story and I couldn’t resist sharing it. Hope you too enjoyed the story. Do post your views in the comments.

Will you give away?

Once there was a tiny girl living happily in her little world. She had a beautiful doll as her companion and the doll had accompanied her to every single place she had been to. One day, she was strolling in the aisles of a mart, with her mother on her trail. Of course, her doll was accompanying her as always.

At the other end of the trail, she saw a kid and just as a kid could do, she went and poked him to get his attention too. He was rather busy trying to control his tears flowing freely down his cheeks. Without any thought of hesitation, she wiped away his tears and asked ‘why are you crying?’

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There is a whole new world in the twinkling eyes of a kid!

A post shared by Aadhirai (@i_aadhira) on Feb 7, 2016 at 7:37pm PST

He looked around as if he was looking for someone. Then he softly replied to her, “My dad says my sister won’t come home from the hospital. I don’t want her to leave me. I love her so much. You know, She looks beautiful than you. She is just tiny like your doll. But she smiles at me and winks at me, you know.”

The talk about the sister seems to have stopped the tears and even brightened up his face with a smile. The smile was reflected in the little girl’s face. She said, “Really? Your sister smiles and winks? My doll never does that to me, even when I give her all she asks for. But my mom says, she is just a doll. So really a baby smiles?”

He replied, “Yes, she also cried lots and pukes food. But I like to play with her when she smiles.”

The girl said, “My mom says, there is going to be a kid in our home too. Will the baby smile and play like your sister?”

“Yes, all kids do that, my friend said so”

“Then I will play with the baby too.”

He went back to near tears again and said, “I can’t play with her anymore”

She too looked sad and without any reply, left and went to her mom. She asked, “Mom, can I give my Pinky to that boy?”

The mother was astonished at the request to part with her most favourite doll. She asked, “I can’t even get it away from you while you sleep, now you are asking me to give it away? What happened dear?”

“Ma, he said that, his sister has gone away and can’t play with her anymore. He is crying for her. We will have a baby soon in our house right? I will play with the baby and he can have my pinky.”

She was baffled by the compassion from her little toddler and was speechless for a moment. Then she said, “Come let’s find out whether he will take your pinky home.”

The Oxymorons!

No Bro, it is not about you.. Now be at peace and continue with my most favourite post’s translation.. This original post was published in Tamil very long ago and yet got its first like just yesterday.. Since I am too fond of this, I am giving it a makeover in English.. And if this post has put a smile on your face, do record it on comments and spread the cheer.. 🙂

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The Oxymorons!

There are some noises
Which defies the term noise..
The lapping of waves of the ocean
Does not disturb the serene silence..

There are some mistakes
Which looks poetic to our thoughts..
A toddler teaching the parent
Does become much more than a kid..

There are some silences
Which are deafening..
The silence in lovers’ tiff
Does belong to part of their conversation..

There are few poetic things
Which look utterly wrong..
The insults from a dear friend
Does never ever mean insults to either..

Are these due to
Wrong Words,
Wrong Meanings,
Or Wrong Interpretations?

These unanswerable questions
Are like the tides of the ocean,
They make us admire,
They become the content of poetry..

Yet,
The answers are never revealed,
Just as the tides never rest!

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 Transliteration

muRaiyum muraNnum

sila OsaigaLum
nisabthamaai kaetkum..

alai kadalin
iRaichal yenO
sapthanNGaLil saervathe illai..

sila kaatchi piZhaigaLum
kavithaiyaai thOndRum..
thaGappansaamiyaai maaRum
kuZhanthaiGal yenO
kuZhanthaiGalaai therivathe illai..

sila mounanGalum
pAeriraichalaai kaetkum..
Oodal paesidum
mounam yenO
mounathin inam saervathe illai..

sila kavithaiGalum
kaatchip piZhaiyaaga theriyum..
nAesamiGu natpin
kObam yenO
kObathil saervathe illai..

ivai chorkutRamaa?
porutkutRamaa?
alla
paarkum paarvaiyaaLanin kuttRamaa?

vidaitheriyaa
intha kaeLviGaL
aaZhiyin chella alaiGal pola..
rasikka vaikum..
kaviporuLaaga maaRum..

aanaal yenRume
vidaiyum therivathillai..
alaigaLum Oyvathillai..

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 முறையும் முரணும்

சில ஓசைகளும்
நிசப்தமாய் கேட்கும்..
அலை கடலின்
இறைச்சல் ஏனோ
சப்தங்களில் சேர்வதே இல்லை..

சில காட்சிப் பிழைகளும்
கவிதையாய் தோன்றும்..
தகப்பன்சாமியாய் மாறும்
குழந்தைகள் ஏனோ
குழந்தைகளாய் தெரிவதே இல்லை..

சில மௌனங்களும்
பேரிரைச்சலாய் கேட்கும்..
ஊடல் பேசிடும்
மௌனம் ஏனோ
மௌனத்தின் இனம் சேர்வதே இல்லை.

சில கவிதைகளும்
காட்சிப் பிழையாகத் தெரியும்..
நேசமிகு நட்பின்
கோபம் ஏனோ
கோபத்தில் சேர்வதே இல்லை..

இவை சொற்குற்றமா?
பொருட்குற்றமா?
அல்ல
பார்க்கும் பார்வையாளனின் குற்றமா?

விடைத்தெரியா
இந்த கேள்விகள்
ஆழியின் செல்ல அலைகள் போல..
இரசிக்க வைக்கும்..
கவிப் பொருளாக மாறும்..

ஆனால் என்றுமே
விடையும் தெரிவதில்லை..
அலைகளும் ஓய்வதில்லை..

Is routine the rhythm?

With the summer holidays coming to a close and the opening of schools, comes back the routines..

The mornings are again filled with;
The urging last minute homework,
The search for a schedule given last week, to be brought to school today.. (In spite of being reminded two days back),
Commands to eat up fast and all in plate, followed by whining of ‘Tummy full, mommy’,
Packing of lunch packs zipper closing matching the horn of school bus,
A big phew when the bus is boarded at last..

The melancholy of afternoon, soothes the screams and shouts of morning and also recharges for the upcoming chaos of the evening..

The evenings are not filled with speed yet filled to capacity..

It starts off with a light snack,
Chats on what happened to whom and who told what,
Then it shifts to the list (a very looooong one indeed) of homework and assignments..
Whatever is taught at school, kids really learn to prioritise their homework..
Though, the priority is the level of scolding / punishment for non completion from the teacher..
Then comes the assignment of assignments to family members..
Wow, the kids do learn a lot… I’m not saying just about the curriculum…
They have become expert on which job to be assigned to whom..
Some are for mom alone and some for dad..
There the family starts bonding together with the whole load of assignments..
Which is punctured with a dinner and lots of small talks..

There went away the evening and night in a wink..
And the next wink lasts for few hours in the name of sleep..

Phew.. Back again to the start of a new day, yet the same routine..

Amidst all this chaos, lies the rhythm of life..
The tune being set by the kids of the home..
Though not a musical maestro, they give out joy and memories..

For what else is the joy of life, but for the tiny smiles and happy laughs amidst the chaos?