where i lay my head is home

you know the water.stream.current.7 feet deep. just about right. water clear as crystal. small fishes around. no one near. absolutely no sound. not even of the water flowing. thats what surprised me. two streams joining and yet no sound.  and as you let go and just surrender yourself to everything, just spread your limbs and you naturally float. the power of the water, just carrying you gently along . its just green. you see rubber trees. jack fruits. coffee. cocoa. and sunlight. and sunddely the sun dissapears. poof. and there is rain. and you hear the rain drops from under neath the water. thud thud. really weak small thuds. more like a beat. and you are still floating. with no effort. and you are still being carried along. of course the water level has increased. and then the sun comes out again. the sky is blue. and you are still floating.it takes real effort to just float. to let go of fear and all. trust the force of water. and the feeling ,ah .and i realize that my poonal has been washed away. the best part? no its not the second breakfast of freshly baked bread with home made pineapple jam after the swim. no its not the first breakfast of appam with honey extracted from the gardens. the best part is there are no bounds. no timelines. no plans. for quite some time i wanted to take off like this.

less than a days notice juju and me took off. first stop trivandrum. roamed nicely. then roamed kollam district. a lake larger than chennai and opens upto the sea. we caught the ferry luckily and some beautiful stuff there. then roamed alapuzha district. the day we reached there hartal. total shut down. so we left our luggages in the cloak room and walked to a small farming village some 8 kms away. large farms on the banks of the backwater. then we walked to a beach another 8kms away. and then went kottayam district. the plan was to have no solid plans. start from bottom most district and roam upwards based on proximity. no time limit. no budget. it was really nice. in kottayam stayed in my ex-roomie house. a village in the hiils. rubber plantations. a river flowing through they very house. as calm as it could get. pamperred royally. and every thing was home made and from the farm. coconut oil, jam, jack fruit stuff, pineapple vine and more, we were taken to his grandpa house and uncle house(where a stronger wider river and a grander feast was waiting). it was at this point, one week into our trip that juju got his joining order. worst timing. idiots they could have called someone else. surya and all dint get call. if juju dint get the call i woundlt be typing here confined in this room in mylapore. rather we would be roaming. we could just finish three districts. 7 more left. i intend to finish it. once my position becomes clear i intend to start from where we left off. iduki district. i wish for one more company. someone who can travel in general and stay in low end shitty roams like we did. the last week was really range. like my appa put it like an english movie. matter is. this being life it got cut. i really hope i get to resume it in a week.  this was one trip where i enjoyed like hell and clicked very little. so no pics.

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pandiyan kondada patarbiran vandhan yendru..

note-unless you have a decent net connection this page will take loads of time to load. many photos.and as usual adjust quality. so wait slowly for it to load or free it

me has been off for the last week.first four days in kodai. biggest cliche. theres this bunglow,called meenakshi bunglow.. on the banks of the lake. one of the first built there. so its pretty old. and big. i have spent six summers there. every summer. mostly the last one. i love that place.





and everyone has this usa cousin nah. mine came over. she is studying film production there. and is younger by a year. sema entertainment. she declared she wont marry but will have many relationships. and that she was going to move in with her boy soon. amma gave me a new look i couldnt read. and now some photos strictly for the gents-from the bunglow








and beautiful weather in kodai. full mist. with sprinkling rain. and my fascination with spider webs resumed.







kodai for four days. then called juju(old roomie). bro joined. we roamed madurai. first nayakar palace. just been renovated. whoa. beautiful.






then the madurai temple. was dissapointed a bit. fulla illuminated with tube lights and all. and suddenly current went off. me was thrilled beyond measure.





if there is one mythical creature i want for a pet its the yazhi. fascinated by it. and it was all over the temple.







and then back to naykar mahal for the light and sound show. was range.







after that went rameshwaram. island. many people think its just a pilgrimage. its actually a beautiful place. just because the main area around the temple is dirty..the temple is beautiful. we roamed a bit early morning. then went it that temple..



then the dhanushkodi beach. once a town. now fully under the sea after the 1980 cyclone. no one is here. imagine like 20 mts wide land for about 10 kms... white sand so fine and pure.you wont get a single piece of plastic here...and of course blue water..





and then came back home.and yeah the famous bridge which connects rameshwaram and main land




anyways i have never shot 10 gb worth photos in a week. i did this time. dint have enough patience to upload everything here.so first 100 sorted and uploaded in this album.laterstill about 300 left. god knows when they will be sorted. i know it wont be. and now that i have learnt post processing decently am trying to strike a decent balance between editing and leaving at that. just back from footy and bloody tired. write more later

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prima donna

1969 is never a good year to be born in. contrary to popular beliefs it is not because that chick james blunt sang about it. its because 'humble' sethuraman was born in 1969.

sethuraman was never bright . in school he was called 'muttal' sethuraman(idiot sethuraman). he could never spell owvaiyar. he dint know that buunsaldihyde had six bonds-achu achu achu achu achu achu. he dint know that crushed is not cursed. poor sethuraman. the fact that he was a brahmin made it even worse. he just had to study well, for he was a brahmin... ivan porakumbodhu saraswathi thungeendha polaraku-his amma used to say(saraswathi was sleeping when he was born)

sethuraman was deemed as useless as a cow with one leg. so he started helping his amma with house hold works. he would daily peddle from masudhi street in mylapore ,all the way to the PWD building near the cheapuk palace. the PWD building over looked the marina beach. the road was wide and smooth. engleeshkaran pota road. this is where his appa worked. his was a private office overlooking the beach. daily sethuraman would start at 2 in the afternoon cycle in the madras heat to the pwd office. he would give the flask to his appa,take in the daily flak. then he would hang around in his appa office , lazily watching people move around the marina. his appa would be busy in his work. it was sethuramans happiest time of the day.

one monday he went to his appa office as usual. "dei udhavakarai, go to egmore and get me a first class train ticket to dilli da. i have given you two rupee extra.one for transport,one for you". sethuraman had never travelled by the train. he had never been to egmore station either. he was very happy. he decided to pocket the other ruppe too and cycle to egmore. it was the best day of his till now misreable life. he got the ticket and ate the bajji,vadai,dosai and samosa in the station. he had never eaten so much in a single day. he still had 8 annas left. he decided to save it and come here again tomorrow after giving kaapi to his appa. this place had more people than the marina beach.

the next day he went to the pwd at 3pm as usual. there was chechu mama standing. "vaada sethu.yenaku oru othasai pannu. apidiye egmore poitu yenakum dilliku oru ticket vaintvandhudu. farst class".."seri mama. ana poitu varadhuku oru ruba,yenaku oru ruba.sariya?"..."yenada pichu un paiyan dhadhi na,gettikarana dhaan irukan.pozhuchupan da.seri da ambi rendu rooba tharan.ticket aathuku yeduthundu vandhuru".."seri mama"..(chechu maama asked him to get ticket.two rupee changed hands).that day he was happy again. he went egmore. he filled his stomach. stood in the queue and got the ticket and gave it to chechu mama in his house. he had saved 16 annas at the end of that day.word spread around. no need to go so far and stand in queue in this soaring madras heat. as ambujam maami told to ranganayaki "call sethu and he will get it.one rupee per ticket he charges.dont stand in this heat. you will loose calar". sethu's life transformed

daily he would get up,laze around. then he would bath have lunch and go and give kaapi to his appa. he would sit in the pwd for about 15 mins. then he would cycle to the egmore station. he would fill the form,book the ticket. eat for 8 annas. anything he wanted. he would find a nice spot on the platform and sit and watch the people as they go on. as the busy crowd moved as fast as srinaths fastest ball(which was slower than kumble's) he would sit and watch placidly.

he was able to save three rupees per day. in his second month he made 100 rupees. his amma was now treating him better. no he still had to take the kaapi to his appa. the treatment was actually the prospect of marriage. it was every indians belief that marriage would help a man grow up. become more responsible. so sethuraman got married. susheela was the "lucky one".

times changed. sethuraman changed with them. he still booked rail tickets for others. he also became a lic agent. but for everyone he was known as railway sethuraman. but his lic visitng card said 'humble' sethuraman. no one knew why. no one asked. sethuraman had a daughter-ambika. in due time she grew up. susheela somehow managed with whatever money sethuraman got home.some times it was quite low. but she never complained. many advised her to leave him and go back to her appa's house. she dint. in due time ambika got married too. susheela had given away all her jewels.

it had been nearly 45 years since sethuraman had first bought the railway ticket for his appa. he had missed exactly 12 days. all the other days he was in the railway station filling forms and buying ticket,eating molagai bajji. since the internet booking had come his income had halved. but there was still loyal customers. now he became tatkal sethu. he would go to the station at 6.45am. always the first at the counter. he would always get the ticket. never failed. when he was free sethu started hanging out in the woodlands hotel. he would introduce himself to small groups as ''humble'' sethuraman and explain to them various policies and ask them to buy it. somehow he managed to bring home something for susheela to manage. it was at this low point that ambika got pregnant. she dint want to come since there was no space or money. she was well off and asked her mother to come to madurai where she lived."kadasi varam vandha porum.adhuku munnadi vandhu yen kazhutha arukadha.andha aala mudinja veittutu vandhuru".(dont come before last week). "yendi avarukum perano pethiyo konjanumnu aasai irukadha? varatume.assami madras vittu vandhadhe illa di".(let your father come too)."seri yedho onnu.vandhu tholaikatum.inga vandhu yarkitayavudhu policy kilaci nu pesinaru avlo dhaan"...."nan pathukuren di"..(dont let him sell policies here)

sethuraman was really happy. he was going to be a thatha. and better he going to go out of madras for the first time. to madurai. "yenna rendu ticket maduraiku vangeendu vango"..."aiyo waiting lista la iruku di.rendu nalaiku munnai poi tatkal vankindu varen".(no availability for madurai.will book two days before in tatkal) on june 8th sethuraman,for the first time in his illustrious carrer, over slept. he hurried to the station. it was 7.50. it was 8.30 by the time he reached the counter. the familiar counter maami was surprised. and she informed him that all the tatkal tickets to madurai were full. sethuraman dint know what to do. he couldnt speak. he went home. susheela dint say anything when he told her he couldnt get tickets. the next day after 30 years of marriage susheela filed for divorce.ambika's child was still born.

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raja i love you

17 violins. 3 double bass. 1 cello. one man. ilayaraja. i cried

so back in 1985. raja wrote 6 pieces of 15 mins each. he wrote each piece in about 30 mins. he couldt find a flute player who was able to play the notes he had written down. so a certain hariprasad chaurasia was called in. mr.chaurasia felt the notes were too simple and dint play. he was persuaded to try once. for the next seven and half days hariprasad chaurasia struggled to finish even one song. raja had written it in 30 mins. and now a guy called navin iyer played this flute part flawlessly (trust me i have listened to these tracks literally thousand times.know every up and down note) . and in just three practise sessions he perfected it. not just him. raja had lost the notes he had written for this album. i mean who will keep so much notes? so prabhakaran (raja assistant) just listened to it once and wrote down the notes. perfectly. and the crowd. omg. perfect. small. fanatic. they knew every note. the crowd were so good that the orchestra gave the crowd a standing ovation. unless you were there you wont get it.


and after the performance. about 30 mins debate.uttam singh argued that raja was the greatest indian composer ever. this from a guy who has worked with every damn great composer in india, who usually doesnt speak much. of course raja said no. then he blasted present tamizh music. he spoke out my mind and heart. and as i looked around i realized something. i dont belong to this time. i should have been born in 70s atleast. and not with the friends i have in chennai. not a single soul shares my areas of interest or my taste. so i roam every where alone. feels lonely a bit. but its ok. if its means concerts like this am ready. this 200 mins is the best ever i have had as a human. thank you raja sir. there is no one after you sadly(no not even arr when it comes to completeness). i hope he comes

and the album "nothing but wind"












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ps-if you inferred anything from these tracks let know
pss-still spell bound.i dint even click much.like i said first time this is happening.
pss- i hope one day india has a good symphony orchestra and i see it play.that would be the greatest thing after india playing in the footy world cup

margeeuana dreams

i love you

i love you too

i got a job too.am going to be a pilot.

am happy.let me take you to meet my friends
.........
we are going to get married.

oh you both would make an adorable couple

but what makes an adorable couple?adorable guy or girl or both?either way am struggling to understand that comment of yours

ssshh.dont be rude

its ok am used to people hissing behind my back.always jealous.she can say what she wants.i have him.

oh this is not how it should be.lets play our game.should cheer everyone up

what game is this?and am approved by your friends or not?

dont be silly.she always says things like that.they love you too.and this game.you learn.cant be taught.here hold this

what do we do with these baking pins?poke cakes and see if they are baked well?cant we do wine tasting

dont be silly.lets play a game

ouch.why did you poke me with that thing.it bloody hurts.ouch

well thats the game.poke others.get away from other poking you.

is this what pokeman all about? i thought it was some card game

you are funny.now get along before others poke you

ouch

ouch

ha i got you

ouch

ouch

my eye!

ouch

no i cant open my eye.dont poke me

weeeeeeee

ouch

i think my eye is bleeding.where are you?

what a dork?dont fake it.move around man.be a sport

ouch

ouch

have some pride brother

ouch

ouch

he is not a sport at all.how will you live with him?

ouch

...............
am sorry

sorry? my left eye is gone

you dint know how to play.what can we do

i dint know to play?you were all poking each other with steel rods.what sort of game is that?

dont tell anything about the game or my friends

fuck them

i think you need to cool down.here have this bajji

btw your right boob is looking bigger

oh thank you

but you dont have any left boob.thats weird.where did your left boob go?

i think we need to talk
..................................
you broke up?but why? we said you both made an adorable couple

yes.but he is not a good sport.and he said mean things about you all.i couldn't take it.

oh we are sorry

btw is my left boob smaller than my right boob?

what nonsense.both your boobs are small

lets play the game

yeah lets go