Ahobilam

The initial intent of this article was to share details about my experience and some pictures about Ahobilam. But when I started to write this blog, a brain wave suggested to share from the origin of how the idea to visit this place crept into me. So.......

On the day of Janmashtami evening, before the Pooja a thought reached my mind to visit this place and the next day I saw a FB post where my friend was tagged. This guy visits every month and I reached out to him to finalize my travel plans. This reminds me of Bhagavd Gita 10th Chapter sloka

   "aham sarvasya prabhavo;mattah sarvam pravartate

 iti matva bhajante mam;budha bhava-samanvitah”

“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me”.

To answer all those dear ones who asked numerous questions like why sudden plan? Any purpose? Isn't this place belongs to Vaishnavaites? etc etc.,

I believe this reflection of mine is only of HIS and able to finalize without any hesitation. He even paved way with help of FB in identifying Balaji(friend) who organized the trip.I have come across people who have planned for decades to visit this place.

Everything seemed to fall in its place, the itinerary was during the long weekend that facilitated the leave plans. I know this was in my father-in-law’s imminent list for several years, made an inquiry about his plan to join and he readily accepted so got a companion.

With help of Google gathered more information about the places and slowly got engrossed into it.

This avathar of HIS is significant and unique from others. Unlike Krishna or Rama avatars this one emanated in a flash and the duration is less compared to the successors.  The purpose of this one is to prove that HE is omnipresent in all forms.

It is firmly believed that Lord Narasimha was 'Svayambhu' (self-manifested) here, to answer the question of self-manifestation and his presence in all forms I would like touch in brief about Quantum physics and come back.

Quantum Physics is a highly specialized form of science that, unlike Newtonian physics, studies, explores and explains how everything in the tangible world comes into existence. For some, the word “Quantum Physics” may seem a bit overwhelming but it's really not as intimidating or hard to understand as you may think. Quantum Physics is the study of how and what everything that makes up the universe as well as everything in it, both the seen as well as the unseen, how it is derived.

Quantum physics goes a step beyond atoms and breaks them into sub atomic particles like Photons, Leptons, Electrons, Neutrons, etc., Albert Einstein contribution to Q.Physics was E=MC^2 which is nothing but Energy = Everything.

According to him the subatomic particles which collectively formed the atoms were pure energy and it's this One Energy which makes up ALL things. The bottom line is, everything that exists whether nature, sound, colors, oxygen, the wind, thoughts, emotions, your physical body, the stars, your ability to see, hear, smell, taste, touch, etc. etc., is only made possible as a result of this very same energy.

Energy consisted of waves and this discovery further proved that anything and everything that exists in our world once existed as a wave (spiritual) and through individual observation and expectation was transformed into a particle (made physical) based only on what they THOUGHT(which is again an energy) and BELIEVED( again an energy) it would appear in that form.

So a mathematical equation is
Energy +Observation+Expectation+ Belief+Thoughts = Physical particle

This is where when Prahalad said He will be in “தூணிலும் இருப்பான் துரும்பிலும் இருப்பான்” what he meant was He is present in the form of energy in all sub atomic particles and hence omnipresent. When Prahalad showed the pillar which was again energy and he believed and thought that to be The Lord,HE appeared in a physical form(consist of energy)

Now back to Ahobilam, will cover only the significant aspects rest anyway you can google to find more details.
It is believed that in Treata Yuga there existed a palace of Hiranyakasupu in this place and the other version is Lord appeared to Garuda who was performing penance in this place. Let us not indulge in analyzing the version, this place is blissful due to the fact that it is strenuous to reach by people.
There are 9 Narashimar temples that are special and another one in the name of Prahalada Varadhar. You need to start at a particular temple and end at one but this decree is diluted considering the availability of time. All the 9 temples are small in size but very powerful.
1.    Jawala – Here Lord is in fierce form and notable one is that all 365 days 24X7 there are tiny drops of water from the cave which lands only on his head to cool him down. No other part of his gets that water droplets. To reach this temple you need to pass through a water fall and during monsoon all chances of getting wet. Another significant one is the “Rathkund” in front of this temple.

It is believed that after slaying the demon Lord washed his hand, even today you can find water with red color oozing into a crystal clear tub.

        2. Pavana – To reach this place you need to travel in Jeep for 3 hours and the raid is really spine breaking and during rainy season this route is closed and there is an alternative where you need to walk.

      3.Ahobila – This is the place Adi Shankara visited and have installed a Shiv Lingam and Sudarasan Chakram. Very few places you find Shiv lingam in Perumal temple.

      4.Chatravata – Chatra means Umbrella, the peepal tree will be as an umbrella and hence this name. The posture is in one hand he makes "Thalam". Remarkable thing about this place is if you clap your hands you can hear the sound of shruthi petti.

       Rest of the temples also has its own significance and purpose.

Finally Ugra Sthambham.

Though it is only 4Kms from Jawala you need to climb at a steep angle with no laid paths. Both onward and return will take 3 hours. It is believed that from this place Lord appeared from a pillar. On top you have a flag post and Sri Patham. You have to do pradhaksana in sitting posture considering the wind and the place available. Area of the entire place will be 5 feet and have to be very careful when landing.Chaitanya Maha Prabhu had visited this place.

More details about this place are available at http://www.ahobilamutt.org/us/information/visitingahobilam.asp

FYI – Photos are available in the below link and your comments are valuable to improve my blogging.

Photo Album Link 

Wimbledon 2015

 The Don of Grand slam tennis concluded for the year 2015.

This is the only grand slam venue holding back the old charm. Though there are some changes made during the last few years that includes the center court score board, retractable roof for the centre court etc., 

There are some parts which are still untouched like the white dress code, green tinge (not only the ground but the entire backdrop)etc,. these long-standing things certainly retain the authenticity of this event.

I am following this event from 1984 finals where McEnroe reached his 5th consecutive finals and won the event for 3rd and last time against Connors. 

Hush!!!!shh!!! Please do not use this to determine my age….

Whereas rest of the Grand slams I picked up from 1988 due to the dependency factor with DD , those days only finals and later on SF were added to the telecast list. 

Both YSCA trophy and this event will have same day finals and I have to run back home from cricket ground to watch Wimbledon finals. Memorable days…

Every year this event will have its own surprises like Steffi’s first round exit in 1994 and year 2015 was not an exception with Rafa’s early exit. All other top seeds in men from one to four reached last eight. Though we did have some threats from Anderson and big serving Croatian Karlovic. Association with Martina Hingis has yielded good results for Peas and Sania.

Being a big fan of Roger I have to admit that Novak’s game in the finals was like surgeon with a racket wielding with precision, otherwise it would have  been difficult to counter Roger who was at his best for the first 14 days. 

The other champion Serena has already won the preceding  three grand slams and was a clear favorite in this one too. She did struggle but did not disappoint her fans.

As an Indian everyone would have noted the triumph in mixed and women final where the Indians partnered with Swiss great and won the championship. Also Sumit’s, Junior doubles title but very few would have followed the match where Rohan Bopana’s outset of Bryan brothers in the men’s doubles QF where the duo played some exciting tennis to remove the No1 seed.

Personally to me the resurgence of Roger is a takeaway from this year's event and the assurance given by HIM that he would return to this event next year too will keep my hopes alive for his 18^th GS title. 

When everyone were talking about his retirement he dismissed all by an immaculate tennis against Murray that proved yet again that he is an eternal genius. At 30+, with no GS titles after 2012 anyone would have taken the retirement with both hands but this Swiss great is continuing with a charm and perhaps brings smile not only to his fans but also to his critics.

Great ambassador to this sport

Finally… thanks to Ananya for guiding Prathiba in recording the first 2 sets of finals which I was not able to watch live since I was returning from Chennai…..

Papanasam

Off late I have seen dumbaku movies.... so to evade the sins (Pavam).....

Watched Papanasam twice during the first few days of release. There is a purpose for this, being a diehard fan of Kamal, thought I should watch more than once during week 1 since I did watch Dhirshyam once during its first week. If not it will be injustice….so watched Papanasam back to back.

In the past I have seen back to back movies of Kamal like Guna, Anbe Sivam, Kuruthi Punal..those are real back to back, immediate show after the previous. Those are unforgettable glorious days….from Deviparadise to Udhayam or to Kasi…using my bi-cycle as a racer bike.

In the above list I have watched some all alone ( esp Anbe Sivam), just to enjoy the performance and dialogue delivery with minimum disturbances around. Having seen the original version I was sure Papanasam will also fall under the above list, so ventured out all alone on Saturday and accomplished the task.

In the past I was never perturbed by this act of venturing alone since all those are during BM period ( Before Marriage) where as this one is in AM…makes a huge difference to your life style.

To reduce the ruffle took everyone in the family the next day so that I get perpetual food at home and this appended my back to back movie list of Kamal

Now to the movie….

Normally in his movie you will see his touches but in this one I think he let Jeetu to be independent except in choosing Gautami, I personally feel Meena would have added more charm to the role. Some changes to the original like adding the emotional element in the climax, more dialogues for MS Baskar since he is native of that place, language (Papanasam tamil) difficult to follow at some places, TVS XL Super replacing bicycle etc.

One notable change to the original version was the police character played by a comedian Shajon whereas in this one by Mani, only similarity between these two is that they hail from Kalabhavan. Mani created the Mahanadhi Thulukanam impact to this film. Big salute to Jeyamohan for his dialogue, some of the best ones are

1. கசாப்பு கடை கட்டறத ஆட்டு குட்டி வேடிக்கை பார்க்கறது
2. எங்க போறீங்க இன்னு கேக்கலாம்..தப்பு இல்லை
3. Entire climax dialogues both from Ananth Mahadevan and Kamal are super

No big change to original one and you will dare to make if the original was a clear winner in all aspects.

Reminiscence

Recently happen to see the movie Manal Kaiyru. 

When I come across 2 tamil movies in any of the social media, one person comes as a flash in my mind is my Grandma Kamalamma.

 Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai released in 1979 whereas the other one is Manal Kaiyru was released in 1982.

In those days I used to accompany her as a bodyguard. Yes I am able to hear your inner voice, how can a 6 year old child be a body guard for an elderly women. 

That even surprises me now!!!!!Could be that was a defense used to shield herself in getting permission from her son.

AAV – was released in Kamala cinema, I remember it should be first week of release. Her first attempt for Noon show ticket was a failure and we stayed there for a matinee and she somehow managed to get tickets. Great perseverance.

MK – was released in Krishnaveni cinema, we both were successful in getting tickets in first attempt. This one was night show, we stayed at Mangesh street which was near to the cinema which made life easier for our late night return.

Both cinemas are still in Chennai with big change to their infrastructure but when I pass through them sometimes this incident flashes with a little smile in my face.

Not only I used to accompany her to movies but also to lot of temples that used to be a herculean task in those days considering the public transport. Two such temple visits bring that iron lady to my memory immediately are

Nanganallur Anjeneyar Temple – Year 1989 Lord Hanuman
was installed but the 

Kumababishekam was performed only in 1995.  During 1989 there was nothing in the vicinity, We both took couple of buses from DMS(teynampet)and reached the temple and saw the mighty hanuman standing tall in an open area. Yes it was all open those days. It was my first experience of seeing something that big. 

The picture below depicts the evolution of this temple 

Vallakotai Murugan Temple - The powerful lord Murugan in this temple is the tallest ( 7 feet) in Tamilnadu. This one is situated between Singaperumal koil to Sriperumbudur on the Oragadam high way. Imagine in 1987 travelling to Oragadam from Tambaram. I will faint if I am asked to go to this place by public transport even today. But at that age she traversed to these places with great determination. 

This temple started becoming famous in those days for the quote

 “ இழந்த செல்வங்களை மீட்டு தரும் அருள்மிகு கொடையாண்டவர்” translation  “He who restores all that is lost”.

When we both visited this temple in 1987 it was as small as what they

have now for peacocks. No big gopurams and the temple had asbestos running along the circumference. 

Agree...yes the prayer was answered by HIM..HE did restore, that was lost and the generation X Y and Z of the family can vouch for that along with her sons and daughter in laws..... To be continued.....

Australian open - 2015

Tennis curtain for 2015 unfolded with no surprises when it comes to champions of Australian open. To the delight of the players and fans, this year the temperature at Melbourne (Flinders) Park was normal whereas this used to be a tennis event in an oven. 

 

Djoker and Melbourne is now what Rafa and Paris used to be, high-quality tennis for a fortnight from Djoker. Change of coach from Ivan Lendle to a woman/ Gay Mauresmo did not work for Murray but bettered his dismal year of 2014.

 

Sad part for me was the exit of Roger which I am used to for couple of years. He entered the event as No:2 seeded and also won a tune up title before this event. If this kind of performance is going to repeated in the next two majors, I would guess Tennis will see what Cricket saw in 2014. The exit of another sporting GOD.

 

Even before the start of the ladies final, Sharapova was defeated mentally by the  statistics  where she was facing an opponent whom she was not able to conquer in her last 15 outings and this 2015 Aus open final loss made that count to 16^th straight loss.

 

There is a cohesion between Williams sisters and Waugh brothers, In both the cases not only the letter W is common but one who came later to the sport shot to prominence. Mark was the one who surpassed his twin by elegance and all round ability whereas Serena with her number of Grand slam wins. Serena needs  another  4 more GS wins to surpass Steffi which might be possible if she adds another 2 this year else it will be demanding ask considering her age. 

Scene stealer on the men’s and ladies side are the 19 year old sensation Nick Krygious and Madison Keys. Nick has got lot of flair and charisma. On the other side the ferocious striker of the tennis ball has hit the scenes of women’s tennis in the name of Madison Keys. Based on the performance from these two it is hard not to envision a success for these two in the coming years.  

Finally on Rafal, It is now a pattern for Tomas Bredych to upset someone with some great tennis on a given day and go down in the next match. He played some scintillating tennis against Rafal and in the next match lost to Murray.  

TT - Technology Trail blazer

Normally everyone who has kid will also have a designated pediatrician who will be part of the family and come all along the way till the kid grows and in some cases he will be the same person to whom our parents would have taken us some decades ago.

Similarly I had some in the area where we lived in the past, currently we have adopted Dr Srinivasan in Ashok Nagar.

Some months back saw a big change in his clinic and had a discussion with this doctor. He dropped himself into the patient’s shoes to solve their problems and embraced technology to help in his service. 

Mostly a female lady will manage the appointments and will not change for some period and in his case also the same. More the tenure the dirty 3 letter word EGO comes in and these assistants some times behave as surgeons.

Personally I have seen different phases of managing appointments in his clinic

• You need to go there physically to get token from assistants ( made out of hardboard)
• With the growth in telecommunication we can book appointments over phone was the latest method and in turn she provides a number and also writes the same in a diary  

Some of the hiccups to the existing system are

• Discrimination made by the assistant in providing the tokens
• Malfunction of telecommunication devices and bad signals etc
• Punctuality of Assistant, they have to be there in advance to distribute tokens or take calls

To overcome all these glitches Dr. Srinivasan embraced technology as his partner and solved the appointment issues faced by his patients

There might be several products available but he choose Neroor which manages his appointments. http://www.neroor.com/appt-mgr-servlet/

All we need to do is send SMS from our mobile to a 10 digit mobile number and the message should follow the guidelines to make life simple for all.

333 < Date> < Kids name> < Father’s Name> for Morning appointment

999 < Date> < Kids name> < Father’s Name> for Morning appointment

In return we get an SMS with token number and appointment time from Neroor, also the product gives message if you fail to provide any information as per the above guideline. In case if he exceeded his patient's quto it also informs that the appointments are not available. Messages like asking the patient only to be there before 30 mins will also be generated for better floor and time management. Show this SMS to the doctor and you are in and out in quick time.

By embracing this technology he not only delighted his existing customers and also ensured that they are retained, even if I move out of Ashok nagar, I will send a SMS and be there as per the time provided by none other than is remote assistant called Neroor.

If we start thinking like Dr Srinivsasan in our respective arena, imagine the delight we will be providing to our customers and also these things will act as that extra mileage in our retention program. Finally we will be the service provider by default.

But for this to happen some of the parts in our body should be open like eyes, ears, tongue, and finally the skull cap to search, listen, to win the battle of arguments from negative influences and finally accept…..

Even in his case his peers influenced him not to adopt and invest in this new technology since it will stop those people who do not have education, but he went ahead with his idea and I do not see any drop in such crowds. All you need to know is to operate mobile or if not then those who know how to operate in your vicinity…......hats off to these kind of Trail blazers. 

Dhirshyam - Visual Treat

There was a hype on the latest Malayalam movie “ Drishyam”, eagerly waited and finally saw it on 11^th Feb, immediately thought of sharing. After several years, have a feel that I watched a film worth every element.

There is a proverb in Tamil “ Poovodu serntha naarum manakum”  similarly the association with Lal epitomized others performance. Some of the performance are

1. When his elder daughter is being interrogated in school
2.  Varun’s father in the climax
3.  Lal’s reaction to his assistant when his routine is being questioned. And many more
4.  Even Lal’s eyes plays crucial role in couple of close shots

This movie has got all flavor a bit of family entertainer, lots of thriller element and tons of visual treat. Initially you will relax during the first 30 mins and slowly come towards the edge and last 30 mins only on the edge. All those nail biters please carry plenty of pop-corns during break else will suffer like me.

All through 2013 he was no where and suddenly at the beginning of 2014 the entire country is talking about his film and wants to remake in their regional language.

Die hard fans of Kamalhassan please do not watch Dhrishyam. Now Mr Lalettan has set a huge bench mark for Kamal to climb and people who have seen Malayalam version will not be able to digest if fails to touch the scale set my Lal.

The success of the remake also depends on the choice of other characters and especially the one who is going to play Kalabhavan Shajon. For those who are not aware of Shajon is a comedian and in this film his portrayal is different and every one will hate this character. Kamal should find a person like Mahanadhi Thulukanam.

Two things surprise me

1. How can Mamutty reject such a project? FYI He was approached first and due to dates it went to Lalettan and he grabbed with both hands.
2. For the Tamil version Rajini was approached and as usual he wanted to change the script and hence Kamal was approached.

First one it was a blunder by Mega star whereas it would have been a mistake if Super star had accepted. If one person who can match Lal in his performance is none other than Kamal.

Though the glimpse of the script is from Tamil movie "Vazhukku Enn 18/9" but different in all aspects and a clean entertainer. Value for Money.

Enough said about this movie..it is time to go and watch in the screens..

Double Dhamaka

Most of you are aware that 27^th July 2012 is Varalakshmi pooja and it will be celebrated in grand fashion. As part of the grand, my wife insisted that we should polish the Goddess face that is normally made up of silver.

So we both went to GRT and inquired on the polish and we were redirected to a vendor. Upon reaching there we were told that it will take 2 days and the charge was Rs 300, I want to get this done on Sunday else I need to step again on any one of the week days to collect.

Went to another Jewelry show room and the guy over there gave us a contact of another Vendor, called and checked with him if he will be able to return us on the same day and he readily obliged. With a big smile and some sort of achievement I marched towards the shop. He had a good look and said it will take 1 hour as it requires effort and asked us either to wait or come after 1 hour and the charge for polish is Rs 450.

My better half immediately pounced on the opportunity and requested for a window shopping at Chennai Silks which was near to this place. Hmmmm after a deep thought my head nodded and foot followed hers.

We both went in and came out after 2 hours with a bill of Rs 2000/- and reached home after collecting the polished idol of Goddess. Later in the night realized that my lazy attitude towards returning back to Usman road has burned my pocket with an additional Rs 2150 that includes premium amount paid for 1 hour service and expenses at Chennai silks

Big Lesson Learnt……

The Shift from One to Many

Let me start with a question that is familiar to all us.

What is the similarity and difference between Sachin and MSD?

Both of them are brilliant cricketers and icons of Indian cricket with fans all over the world. But have a significant difference; let us see what it is.

Sachin exhibited his individual brilliance in batting and have established records that will not be touched upon for several decades. He was able to elevate his performance YOY

But as a leader of a team he had limited success and not able to shine as a leader, that required special skills.

Whereas MSD is smart and was able to get the desired results in all versions of cricket starting with T20 WC victory, IPL, Champions Legue and World champions. He is being proclaimed as “Our Lovable Captain” by millions of fans and whatever he touched turned out to be Gold.

Will anyone forget the six he scored in the WCFinals….or the six he hit for CSK in final over against Kings XI at Dharmasala

You can see similar kind of results among the people you meet every day in your office, where someone will exceed in their assigned tasks and exhibit individual brilliance. Also you will come across those people who will take a stride with a team and succeed. These people will get respect and will be considered as role model.

Is it possible to transform from former to latter?? Question to ponder?? and the answer is Yes.

Yes possible, but need to use an inverter technology. What is this all about?? Is this something like Nano-technology, No it is all about applying 3 steps and conquering the world around you.

Three steps to invert M to W….Me to We

Step1 :-  Always feel proud about your brilliance and the way you achieve the results. Feel this differentiator and ensure that you do not drop this character.

Step 2:- Gradually shift from step 1. Always add “ We” in place of “ Me”, that is replace “ I did it” with “We did it”. You can feel the difference.

Step 3:- Now transfer your responsibilities to others and also ensure that everyone gets a part to contribute. Closely follow and provide directions if needed. Encourage them to provide results, by this you are not only motivating your team but you yourself moving away from “Me” factor.

These will help you in shifting yourself from Me to We and thereby a leader will evolve.

Now going back to our original discussion ..Focusing only on creation of records Sachin failed to move away from Step 1.....

Reunion

2nd Week end of July 2011 was something special.

Before proceeding further will throw some light on what is all about special.

Six of our posse’s association started way back in mid 80s when we started sharing our school bench which went on perpetually till our Graduation.

Unfortunately we have been separated by career, family etc., and have to disperse ourselves to various part of the Globe. Each one us would have added to our existing list, a numerous additions to our connections but always cherished the bonding we had with each other and all believed something special about our group.

In both 2007 & 2009 edition everyone was in Chennai for some occasion and we all had a lunch together with respective families and recollected good old events and shared some censored version during the event with our better half and kids.

Though this year only 4 of us were able to reconvene we want to do it differently due to reasons like grown up kids and want to spend quality time etc.,

Meticulous planning was made with respect to accommodating everyone’s calendar priorities and choosing a resort. We zeroed down to a resort in Mamallapuram, we found this place to be a decent one with nice sea facing cottages and good food too. More importantly no overpromises made by the resort people and set our expectations.

Although we all stay connected by technology this kind of reunion is required once in a while to energize the battery.

We also made sure that each reunion happens twice, one with family and other one without any hindrances…

Eagerly waiting for the next one…….Photos are available @ link

https://picasaweb.google.com/gbramy16/Mahabs#