Radio

It didn't take too long for me to give up on TV - for watching TV is directly proportionate to the loss of multitasking abilities. The ad-time which is supposedly meant to give you a break from 'viewing,' turns into a magnetic fixation to the couch - getting us to watch the 'cinema-style' ads, surfing other channels or even worse, tune into the 'pre-channel' mode - which is the absolute weapon; available at the touch of a finger, aimed at promoting 

'couch-potatoism!' Breaks in each of these previously set channels are apparently timed in such a way that when one channel decides to take a break, the other is still on - quite complementary!

This, by the way, is no way a rant against TV, however is a tribute to the humble radio. Over the years, the radio has only changed for the better, with more FM stations being aired - not to mention the radio mobile app and internet radio. Luckily the periphery hasn't changed much unlike the TV. By and large, the radio has been the single most ambassador of music. While the visuals of the songs do the trick on TV, the radio is any day a better equivalent when it comes to promoting music - it reinstates focus on the beats and lyrics, something quintessential to music. With the PM's 'Mann Ki Baat' gaining popularity, it feels as if we are getting back to those lessons taught in school - of how the radio has a mass reach, especially in the deeper pockets of India. 

Our radio turns out to be even simpler with programmes on Vividh Bharathi remaining unfettered. Thanks to a few FM stations too, playing their part beautifully well, by consistently serving a daily dose of entertainment. 

Serendipity 

To me, radio is an absolute source of serendipity. Serendipity is a beautiful feeling and hence must be enjoyed sans compromise. Which is why I have a transistor through which I can even get the medium and short wave. Even as I write this piece, I am tuned in to the radio - listening to Mandolin U. Shrinivas on medium wave! Most of the Carnatic ragas are familiar to me, thanks to the programmes on MW and FM alike, all you need to do is the right tuning! The announcement done is consistent - with details like the raga, tala and composer told before every song. 

With all the technology at our disposal, we could have our own playlist to our heart's content. But that doesn't amount to serendipity! When the song you longed for is played on the radio, it is an inexplicably blissful moment. When the RJ announces anyone of my favourite songs, I often wonder what runs through their mind when the song is being played - are they enjoying it along with us, or are they busy lining up the next set of songs or are they just not at their seats for some reason? Whatever it is, they, I feel, are magnanimous - only because they spread so much cheer and joy in the minds of their listeners at different points in time of the day. I experience child-like delight when I phone in to these stations, requesting for songs - I thank them profusely and almost forget the reason for the phone call! And that's exactly what serendipity can do to you!

Manjal Neeratu

A large notice board in front of a marriage hall on OMR with the photo of a young girl. She'd be barely 12 or 13. Slightly plump, with an innocuously round face. Bejewelled, and wearing flowers, in a pattu pavadai - green and gold in colour.  The notice board reads : "Manjal Neeratu" for the girl; with a welcome note from her parents and other folks. Another board besides the board with the welcome note stands tall with a childhood picture of the young girl posing with her parents.

At the first instance, I mistook the event for a marriage reception. As a matter of fact, any sane person would have, for such was the grandeur of the event - with people flocking into the 'marriage hall' for the 'manjal neeratu' at 7.30 pm. Not to forget the amount of electricity that was being used up - lights stretching for at least about a 100 meters on the road (public service?)!

The girl or should I say kid, am sure would be oblivious about the whole drama happening around her. So much for having bled for the first time? By all means attaining puberty is a sign of life beginning to brim with all its fullness; albeit it is best when kept indoors without letting the whole world know about it.

A regressive sight to have seen on the so called IT Express Highway of Chennai. On the one hand, we have women walking with their chest held high on the IT corridors and on the other, we have a bunch of insensible people announcing the attainment of puberty. What kind of women empowerment are we talking about? As long as there are uneducated people, such things will go on, regardless. Encourage education, which will in turn lead to empowerment - be it male or female.  

Tracing the pieces

Being a person from a non-journalism background, it is sheer excitement each time I see my name in print. Especially if it has appeared in a publication like The Hindu, my family and friends reckon that I have every reason to flaunt it.

Tracing back all what I have written thus far, here’s a list of links to some of the articles that have appeared in print in the last 2 years – 2013 to 2015:

Please note – If you are unable to open the below links directly, please copy and paste the link on the browser and then try opening it; it should work. :)

Title: Gung-ho kolu. This piece appeared in The Hindu’s Open Page dated 6^th Oct’13:

o   http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/gungho-kolu/article5204947.ece

·         Title: Remembering those good old sepia tone images. This piece appeared in The Hindu’s Open Page dated 12^th Jan’14:

o   http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/remembering-those-good-old-sepia-tone-images/article5567953.ece

·         Title: Season for jackfruit tales. This piece appeared in The Hindu’s Open Page dated 8^th March’14:

o   http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/season-for-jackfruit-tales/article5764861.ece

·         Title: Chewy treat from Kozhikode. This piece appeared in The Hindu’s Metroplus dated 12^th  July’14:

o   http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/chewy-treat-from-kozhikode/article6201938.ece

·         Title: Beware of that festive recklessness. This piece appeared in The Hindu’s Open Page dated 19^th October’14:

o   http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/beware-of-that-festive-recklessness/article6515540.ece

·         Title: On the Road with Strawberry Delight. This piece appeared in The New Indian Express dated 27^thDecember’14:

o   http://www.newindianexpress.com/columns/On-the-Road-with-Strawberry-Delight/2014/12/27/article2589762.ece

·         Title: Sierra Leone and those enjoyable journeys. This piece appeared in The Hindu’s Open Page dated 5^th May’15:

o    http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/sierra-leone-and-those-enjoyable-journeys-usha-ramani/article7171313.ece

P.S. Apart from the above pieces, there were quite a few that appeared in The Hindu’s Downtown (Sunday Supplement). While I am still in the process of retrieving those articles online, thankfully I have their hard-copies. A post to follow with pictures of the pieces. :)

'Ice Achar' : Tracing the spice route

Beach culture – come to think about it, beach is the commoner’s cultural milieu. It is one place where the air is absolutely free; with a wide and open welcome from the sky and the ocean at large, leaving it open for opportunities galore. The local culture instantly reflects on a beach as much as it does in other public places of a town. Whether it is to catch a glimpse of that one ecstatic moment of the sun setting or even if it is to feel the breeze or to take a stroll on the beach sand, how can anybody fulfill all that without completing it with a local delicacy? The fun is lost if everything was packaged and crisp paper tissues made readily available in a mall-like fashion. 

The classic thaenga, maanga, pattaani sundal (cooked peas tossed with diced raw mango and grated coconut), cholam (corn), panju mittai (cotton candy) and bajjis (spicy vegetable fritters made out of Bengal gram flour – some of the vegetables that are used for frying are –raw banana, onion, potato and large-sized chillies -'the bajji chilly' meant specifically for this purpose) are some short-eats that characterize the beaches of Chennai. 

Just about 600 kilometers away from here, there brews a completely different culture in the Calicut beach. Calicut, the land on which Vasco da Gama set foot, is a port town on the Malabar Coast. Vasco da Gama’s visit opened up trade links between Europe and Malabar. The city also prides itself of a strong Arabic influence in its culture. 

There is a peculiar fetish for vinegar – that establishes a pungent connection with the Malabar. Carrots, guava, the 'ber' fruit (also known as Jujube or Chinese date), pineapple, gooseberries and cucumber are sliced and soaked in vinegar and stored in tall glass jars. These glass jars adorn roadside pushcarts and are a common sight on the Calicut beach; serving as crunchy quick-bites. 

Something that should not be missed is the Ice achar – literally translated as Ice Pickle. The first time I heard of this roadside delicacy, there wasn't quite a palatable picture on my mind – all I could think of was a 'watery masala.' But eating the ice achar is an experience on its own. Two varieties are sold - one the sweet and sour combination and the other is just the sweetened version. Rectangular bars of ice is scraped and filled into paper cups, and is quickly mixed with fresh orange juice (orange is squeezed right then as you are awaiting your cup of 'ice achar'), beetroot, carrot, cucumber and raw papaya are finely chopped (vinegar - soaked). To this, a syrup of root beer ('nannari') and some pickled-garlic sauce-like mix are added and lo – your cup of 'ice achar' is ready to be eaten/slurped! As for the sweetened version - the mixture contains – sugar syrup, roasted gram and scraped ice. Due to its juicy composition, you tend to both drink your cup of 'ice achar' and also stop by to chew on the pieces of the vinegar-soaked pieces of vegetables or even the roasted gram in the sweetened counterpart. It takes about 2 to 5 minutes to prepare a cup of 'ice achar', with each cup costing just about 15 to 20 rupees. The 'ice achar' is a stomach-friendly concoction that makes you want to keep coming back to the Calicut beach. No unwanted 'masala' that can get it banned! 

- A bar of ice being scraped by the vendor

- The juice of fresh orange being squeezed for the 'ice achar'

- Vinegar-soaked gooseberry and raw mango

Ilayaraja

Suddenly the old times of Madras seem to get recreated. The times when Madras had the image of the Central and Egmore stations, the Ripon and LIC buildings, the vintage look of Adyar Park Sheraton, or even simply, the entire stretch of Mount Road - these images, straight-off the opening scenes of many a Tamil movie. 

I was deprived of cinema during childhood, thanks to a strict upbringing in a joint family. Dad had strict orders for my mom to not take me to the movies because of the endlessly 'injurious' tobacco circles in all cinema halls alike; there were no smoking zones then; or even if there were, the regulations weren't as stringent as today. However behind those smoke circles, was the making of the glorious years of Tamil cinema. Something that changed the way people thought, dressed, ate and romanced.  

A certain radio station now plays only Ilayaraja's music, 24 hours of the day. Their plan is to play the maestro's music for the next 3 months – This may mean many things to every listener. However, for a person like me who hasn't a clue what movies these songs belonged to, I am left to the mercy of YouTube for their visual imagery. Looking up online for the videos of the songs provides instant gratification, but it simply lacks bonding with the yesteryears. It is just like looking up for the meaning of a word online and forgetting it later after its use vs. laying your hands on a dictionary and stumping upon other words alongside; yet getting to the word you were initially looking for – which is a wholesome and rewarding experience. Nevertheless, the radio can cure you of all the deprivation – for there is an element of surprise each time the songs are played. When you have your own playlist, you know what's coming next – it can be drab after the initial levels of excitement – the joy of possessing these songs in your drives can evaporate once you know you anyway have them. 

Listening to the songs of Ilayaraja during bus rides especially in the new air-conditioned fleet in the city, is even more exciting and soothing. It is like watching a new movie with a retro background score – witnessing the transformation from Madras to Chennai – with the brain remaining in Chennai and the heart belonging to Madras with abundant memories, melting with the songs that shaped the city. Enough cannot be said about his music for it evokes multiple emotions in you – the repertoire is never ending... That’s one of the excuses for me to leave this piece incomplete – it could be filled in with any of the songs from the maestro’s music.

Leaving this post with a song that is not played too often – one of my many favorites.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUwXYiHYDtk/ - Thendral Yennai Mutham Itathu in ragam Malayamarutham

Sierra Leone and a train story

'Sierra Leone' - was the answer to the question - "Where is Freetown?" Reading a copy of Granta, I found a page with a mention of Freetown and asked husband where it was. The answer came quite naturally from the mouth of a co-passenger on Mangalore - Chennai Mail. That sealed our connection with the co-passenger for the rest of the 12 hour journey. I don't remember the last time I bought/accepted anything from a co-passenger. We had tea and dinner together, helping each other buy cups of tea, asking each other what time we wanted to have dinner, what time we wanted the lights off so that the berths could be converted into neatly laid out beds with the warm, crisp and cosy blankets of IRCTC's Rose Bedrolls, of course not to forget the popular question - "what station is this?"This is very often the connecting question amongst most passengers. Despite taking notice of the stations passing by, we still ask/provide self-answers to this question (by thinking aloud). It is such a proud moment for many a train traveller. All this felt like a leaf from the pages of nostalgia for we hardly have time to talk to 'real' people. This one was a pleasant respite from the usual time-deprived, scurrying flight travel - right from the point when even our journey's ticket was joyfully the punched variety with a tiny grey font and thick paper as opposed to the printout of an e-ticket. 

As a child, I have travelled along with my grandfather who is a pensioner from the Southern Railways - one of the many joys of being with my grandad. Like every other railway employee, he was proud of his office too. The result - train rides, and more train rides for almost every travel plan. We made frequent short train trips from Kottayam, our native home to neighbouring districts like Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kollam, sometimes even Thiruvananthapuram to visit relatives. These were quite informative train rides - grandad used to rattle away names of stations with such ease - he knew them like the back of his hand. This is one of the reasons I still remember the fact that the station Angamaly shall always be told as Angamaly for Kalady. Kalady, the land of Adi Shankaracharya is located in less than 10 kilometres from Angamaly, and passengers who want to go to Kalady alight at the Angamaly station. Random quizzes by grandpa on what station would follow next, kept me on my toes, peeping out of the grilled-railway window seats with rapt attention for those broad yellow boards in every station that the train zipped past. To watch the fish plates forming the alphabets X, Y and Z was delightfully engaging. A pack of cards that I carried along with a Sony Walkman were good company too, of course the mercilessly oily “pazhampori” (banana fritters), and “parupu vadas” along with the tea and coffee from the “chai” and “kaapi” vendors calling their hearts out so that they could be heard amidst the sound of the train. The sound of the current train vs. the sound of passing trains almost blended with the music of A.R. Rahman playing through the earphones of the Walkman. A collection of his songs were reserved for train journeys. 

Those were the times when people of all classes didn't have problems in striking uninhibited conversations with the short-term neighbors - sometimes even by walking past the shaky vestibules on a moving train to make friends from the next compartment. No matter how economical flight trips get, train journeys are closer to the heart. The weather is directly experienced without any computerized weather updates - droplets of rain falling from the grills of the window. This is perhaps why the window seat remains the apple of the eye for every travel enthusiast. The fact that people on-board travel to multiple destinations, throws open a scope for discussing all things under the sun within the confines of the compartment; unlike a flight trip which has a boringly elitist set-up, of course with no stations to pause at, all - for 'saving some time.'

 

Hard copy of the train ticket which is a rare find these days

Dip tea bought from one of the stations