¡ Feliz y Prosperous Año Nuevo!

Finally , this year has come to an end with the addition of a new member in our family (just like the last year :)). My brother had his 2nd girl kid this December and as usual , I am in Coimbatore to be with the family and my New Year will be here again this time. Time is so tight with the new born and the almost 2 year old that I hardly find time to anything else other than my official work and looking after the 2 year old.

I wish all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year. Since there is so much hype over the 'famous' 2012 let us see how it goes by. I know for sure that it will be a good one as always

See you all soon.

Tamil poems

Here are a few of the tamil poems and a few haiku's which were there in my diary. I dont have the author for any of these. Sorry about that. I have a quite a few of them more..but they are slightly lengthier.. I have listed only those ones which are short and sweet and are my favorites.


தோல்வி
எனக்கு
தோல்வி பிடிக்கும்

விழும் அடிகள்
அனுபவமாக மாறுவதால்


எனக்கு 
தோல்வி பிடிக்கும்


மீண்டும்
ஜெயிப்பேன் என்பதால்


காதலும் கடவுளும் 
கடவுளும் காதலும்
ஒன்று தானோ


புலப்படாமல்
புலம்ப வைப்பதால்!!


இல்லாமை 
கால் வலிக்கிறதென்று
ரிக்ஷாவில் ஏறினேன் 
மனம் வலித்தது

ரிக்ஷா ஓட்டியவனுக்கு
ஒரு கால்
மரக்கால்

வித்தியாசமானவள் 
நிஜங்கள் என்னை
அச்சுறுத்துவதில்லை
நினைவுகள் என்னை
அலைக்கழிப்பதில்லை

கனவுகள் என்னை
காதலிப்பதில்லை
கடந்த காலம் என்னை
காயப்படுத்துவதில்லை

நான் நேசிப்பது
நிகழ் காலம் மட்டுமே !
நான் யோசிப்பது
எதிர்காலம் மட்டுமே !

ஆம்
நான் வித்தியாசமானவள் !!

சிலந்தி வலை 
விருந்தாளிகளே
விருந்தாகும்
வீடு

காலண்டர் 
துகிலுரித்தும்
துக்கம் காணாத
நவீன பாஞ்சாலி

தியானம் 
மனதை
ஒருமுகப்படுத்தும்
காதல் கூட

குழந்தை அல்ல
கவலைகள் - உன்
கைக்குழந்தை அல்ல
அதை தூக்கி திரிவதற்கு !!

Haiku without headings

ஆகாயமும் அழகு
பூமியும் அழகு
என் கையில் ரொட்டி துண்டு

ஆபாசச்  சுவரோடிகள்
பார்த்துச் சென்றனர் மக்கள்
கிழித்தெறிந்தன மாடுகள்

வாழ வழி 
நம்பிக்கையே
மூலதனம் !!
உழைப்பே
அசல்
வெற்றியே
வட்டி !!

கன்னிப்பெண்
 தவறு ஏதும்
செய்யாமலே
ஜன்னல் சிறையில்
கைதியாய்

தன்மை 
உனது
கைகள் மென்மையானவை
என்பது
எனக்கு
அன்றே தெரியும்!

ஆனால்
உனது செருப்புகள்
இத்தனை கடினமானவை
என்பது
இன்று தான் புரிந்தது!!!

தன்னம்பிக்கை 
ஏற வேண்டிய படிகள்
ஏராளம் என்றாலும்
நடந்து வந்த
பாதையை பார்
உனக்கு பின்னே
பலர்
தளராதே !!!

வித்தியாசம் 
இதயம் விரிந்திருக்கிறதா ?
மனக்கூற்றுப்படி அது நல்ல உள்ளம்.
உடல்கூற்றுப்படி அது ஒரு வியாதி,
இறைவன் ஆன்மாவிற்கும் உடலுக்கும்
வைத்த வித்தியாசத்தை பார்த்தீர்களா ?

காதல்
என் காதலில்
பெருமைப்பட ஒன்றுமில்லை
சுவசிப்பதைப்பற்றிச்
சிலாகித்துச் சொல்ல
என்ன இருக்கிறது.

சந்தித்த பின் 
நான் சிந்தித்த  போது
கவியானேன்
உன்னை
சந்தித்த பின்
கவிதையானேன்


Hope you enjoy these.. 
Ciao... 
மீண்டும் சந்திப்போம் !!!

My first Bowling

Today after so many years, I went on a outing....with my team to a bowling place. I have never been to bowling and man, did I like it.. I just loved it... It is nothing like my Wii bowling game. It real..and the balls were heavy..but I think I picked it up. I played two rounds. The first one sucked , got just 42. The second was good.. got 94 :). Bad that I didnt do a single strike. Did a few spares though.. The concept is the same as the Wii game, but here you have to make your angle ..what ever it was, how ever I did that.. I loved it.

I should try it sometimes. 

You might have heard it somewhere....yet

Recently (3-4 months ago), I got back my books (which were almost lost to me.. don't ask me why or how, yet... will tell you sometime when things are really over) and among them was my diary in which I used to write all the songs which I used to sing ( movies, bhajans and some poems). When I was very young, I loved to sing.. but will not be able to remember the lyrics of the song.. so I would use just lalalalala...imagine using the same word for the whole song. Guess my dad would have got real sick of it :) because he called me one day and said.. if you really want to sing.. why don't you memorize the song or write it down and sing it. It was really a long long time ago..And that is how I have got almost 3 diaries full of songs :) two of them are with my sister in a very bad shape (termite problems) and one is with me. Then I started writing down the poems and also small texts from books/papers which I liked. When I saw this diary recently, I was so overwhelmed. I thought I will share some of my favorites here


Poison Tree (I think this was in a class text book, if my memory serves me right..but I love this poem)


I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.


I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.


And I water'd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears,
And I summoned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.


And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright,
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.


And into my garden stole
When the night had veil'd the pole:


In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.


-William Blake


To A Friend (This is something which my best friend in school wrote in my diary and she had a beautiful picture along with it..She used to draw very well.)

When someone is as much
a part of someone's life
as you are of mine,
its all too easy 
to take them for granted,
But, I don't want to do that
I just want to tell you
how grateful I am
for the million and one
little things you do to make
my life so much nicer.
You have always managed
to remain loyal to me
even at times when
other people would have
thrown their hands up
in despair.
You have been willing to make
yourself look silly in order to
coax a smile our of me
on a bad day.
You've lived my joys
and heartaches
as if they were your own.
For these and all 
the other wonderful,
caring qualities
that makes you 'YOU'
thanks.
I'm glad you're in my life
and will be in my life
forever.
  
Miss you (This was written by one of my colleague in my first organization...and it got published in our internal journal..I liked it a lot, so I had this written down..)

I turn to my side to share a joke
Bubbling with laughter and joy
Alas to find a stranger staring at me
I laugh at a joke that we shared
I remember the times that we spent
Those fun filled moments I cherish
All these things make me realize
How very much I miss you


There were times that I feel
I took you just for granted
Those loving words of comfort
Those embracing hands of love
Those loving eyes of concern
All these things make me confess
How very much I need you


Having you with me again
Is all that I look forward to
Every second of which I have planned
To enjoy to the fullest
I wish and hope from the depths of my heart
That my dreams would be fulfilled
I'll take that opportunity to say
How very much 'I Love You'


[She was so much in love when wrote this.. I wish she had a happy ending to her story :) ]


Tears
......It is strange that tears should be considered a sign of weakness. They often mean the opposite.... Humans weep at mental and emotional hurts as well: Tears in us are a sign of sensitivity, which is strength to anyone at all affected by poetry.....


When I die (I probably have written this in my earlier post...its one of my favorite by Kamala Das)

When I die
Do not throw the meat and
bones away
But pile them up
and
Let them tell
by their smell
What Life was worth
on this earth
and what Love was worth
in the end.


Precious

"All precious things in life are less in number", explained one disciple to the visitor, giving him examples of gold and iron, diamond and coal, good and bad traits.
The Master overheard the disciple's sermon. He remarked,"All precious things are not less in number in this world, but all things which are less in number become precious. And that is the tendency of the human mind".


The Suicide (by Kamala Das)


I tell you, Sea,
I have enough courage to die,
But not enough,
Not enough to disobey him
Who said: Do not die
And hurt me that certain way.




Many more are in Thamizh.. May be I will have a separate post for it sometime. :) Bye for now.

Vaalpaarai - an impromptu journey

I was supposed to write this post in August when we had been to Vaalpaarai on Independence day. But one thing after the other happened and I just left it as is. Today I was just going through those pictures and was feeling very 'green'. The Monday was a holiday and I had been in Coimbatore (as usual) for the three day weekend. So on Sunday , during our usual visit to my sis's home, we decide @ 9 pm that the next day we can make a trip to Ooty or Vaalpaarai. Since we already had been to Ooty recently, we decided on Vaalpaarai. No one had been there yet and we did not have the slightest idea of what to expect there. We did not want to be @ home for one day.. That was all. So called up a few people, and got a car for the next day ready and both families with kids (8 adults and 2 mini kids and a driver). We started @ around 6.30 (after a slight delay because of non availability of water in overhead tank surprisingly) and stopped in Pollachi around 7.30 or so for our breakfast where my brother and brother in law showed their patriotism by buying the flags and pinning each other :) and then the climb started. Stopped in the 5th or 6th bend to feed the kids... The location had a proper view of the Aazhiyaar Dam

After that we had the 40 hairpin bend climb. We had to stop in between because my sis in law was 4-5 months pregnant and she couldnt take it for long :) ( I should admire her courage to go on a trip like this with her health , but she thoroughly enjoyed it)

The first place we went was the Balaji Temple. The car had to be stopped in a place near a school. It was supposed to be a private one in a estate. But we couldnt see the temple anywhere.. We checked with a person and he said, it is just round the corner. We were so skeptical about it. Then leaving my sis's father in law and my sis in law along with my niece (who was fast asleep), we all started off. I took my nephew with me and we marched ahead. I had to guard that kid from all the girls who were walking in that route, coz he was so cute everyone wanted to hold him and he seemed to be enjoying the attention too (baduvaa paya). It was too steep  , my mom and dad were literally out of breadth.  The temple was a nice one but no photos were allowed as it was a private one. After that, we were wondering what to do and where to go and then decided on a place called Nallamudi Pooncholai. It is supposed to be a very nice viewpoint. So we decided to see the view point before going for lunch. We had to detour to reach the place, as the road was being repaired. In the other road which we took, almost for 2 kms, there was no road, but the view as good.

 
And after reaching Nallamudi Pooncholai, we had to stop at the check point and then had to walk a km to the view point. The 1 km walk was a very steep one and almost all of us made it , with elders walking slowly. I took my niece with me and we reached the view point second (first was my dad, at times, he forgets that he is older :) ) It was an amazing place. It was so steep, that while going through the tea estates, you will never guess how high the location is. This is how the view point looks like

It seems that what we see is the Munnar side of the western ghats. It was so amazing. I was stunned by the view. It was so cool...We have such places near by and still miss it.. so sad isnt.. We were waiting for others to join us and once everyone was there, took photos, spent some time and headed back down to find a place for lunch. It was already 3 pm and all the elders were very hungry. So we decided to come to Sholaiyar Dam area and find us a hotel. We did not have time for the dam but stopped to see the Dam and then went to the place nearby the dam. It was much..actually it wasnt a mess or resturant at all. It was a small house where they served food to outsiders too :). They had to cook urgently to satisfy the meal requirements of our team. Kids were fed and elders had their meal and then we started our descent to reach back to Monkey falls. We came via the Sholaiyar dam (again a little slow to help my sis in law with her throw up) and stopped in between for Tea in a place among the tea estates. They serve very good tea. On the way we saw a small falls and stopped for a while, because we were sure that by the time we come down to Monkey falls it will be beyond 6 and it will be closed.

So decided to stop here, played for a while. I took my niece and she was happy to wet her feet :) and then we reached Monkey falls and Aaliyaar dam around 6.30 and they were closed. We were bit sad to miss it, but it was overall a good journey..We reached home by 8.30 for dinner.

The place is full of tea estates, and is so "Green". It was so nice to see this place and so many waterfalls. It was a good time too. It had rained in the previous week and all the falls were full. The best part was the view point. And it was done in a day. The kids were very helpful. At any point of time only one was awake. That gave us enough time to manage them :). They took turns to sleep. (Very good kids). If we had it planned well, then we might have been able to cover a few more places, if possible. But even though it was a sudden one, it was worth it. It is a place where people nearby should visit.