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October 28, 2004
Night Patrol!!!!!!!!
Nanganallur is always renowned for its Night Patrol by the residents... Any news channel which covers night patrol will never fail to mention about the night patrolling done at Nanganallur (Am not sure whether this is being done in any other place or not)...
It's a very unique concept by which the residents in co-operation with the police patrol around the locality at nights. A pool of volunteers consisting of an individual from each house in the locality is identified and seven batches of them are created to man each day. A batch typically comprise of 5 to 10 persons. The patrol starts at 11 pm and goes till 5 am in the morning. The patrol is normally done on a shift basis where the first shift is for 11 pm to 2 am and the next shift is for 2 am to 5 am.
Believe it or not, Lakshmi Nagar in Nanganallur has been doing night patrol for the past 15 years without any break which, I think, is a marvelous achievement by any standards. It's slowly catching up in other areas of Nanganallur also where residents have started to go on night patrol...
I am sure and everybody would agree that people wouldn't mind sacrificing 3 hrs of sleep in a week for the safety of the entire locality (of course including yours).. We cannot always depend fully on the police department to protect us because their resources will not be sufficient to cover the entire locality and we necessarily have to supplement their resources for better protection of our neighborhood.
Some may argue that it's their job to take care of us since their salary is paid out of the taxes we pay. Even though I fully agree with this argument, we may probably look at this from a different perceptive that the 3 hrs of our sleep is a sort of tax paid by the residents to their own locality.
Whether night patrol would fully eliminate the threat of burglary is anybody's guess. But, I think, it would certainly cast a doubt in the minds of the thieves since they stand the risk of getting caught. This, thereby, reduces the chances of thieves going in for any adventures in a locality which has a night patro1!!
Posted by Vasanth at 10:21 PM | Comments (1)
October 19, 2004
Chennai Test!!!!!!
What a test!!! But what a damp finish... It was all an anti climax... What should have been an enthralling final day turned out to be damp squib. Everybody thought that India will square the series and will play with a new vigor in the Nagpur test.. But I personally believe that it was a blessing in disguise for India! India had to score 210 runs on the final day, on a turning pitch, Warne at his best ever Indian tour, the Indian top order at its worst!! The best ever 4th innings successful chase by any team in Chennai was 155-8, which was in the India-Australia series of 2001 where India marched home with 2 wickets and won the series 2-1!!
It was a sad day for Karthik also, since he had planned to go to Chepauk for watching the final day's play.... But it was nevertheless a blessing in disguise for Brooks!!!!!!
Posted by Vasanth at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2004
Is This The Trurth About Taj Mahal???
The Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal built the Taj Mahal. It was built in 22 years (1631 to 1653) by 20,000 artisans brought to India from all over the world. Many people believe Ustad Isa of Iran designed it.
This is what your guide probably told you if you ever visited the Taj Mahal. No one has ever challenged it except Professor P.N.Oak, who believes that the whole world has been duped. For more, visit Big Time
Posted by Vasanth at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2004
NavRathri @ my place
Guest Blog by Karthik
It’s now the Dhashara season. We spent the whole of yesterday evening arranging dolls and decorating. Gholu as it is called in the south is really entertaining. The function is mainly for girls and female members in the family. Evenings are real fun. Thinking of 12 years back…. My sister and me go around to friends and relatives place inviting them. The best part was the song we normally go and sing in all the places (Lambodara lakumikara). That was the period I started learning carnatic music and that was the only complete geetham I learnt. I really miss those lovely days.
I am seeing the Navarathri festival after close to 6years (1999-2004). It somehow looks more modern nowdays. Those days we decorate the display with color papers etc.. I see more of serial lamps now, I used to setup a theme park or play area with mountains etc (what a combination right?) but I very hardly find all that nowdays.
Posted by Vasanth at 04:52 PM | Comments (1)
October 14, 2004
NavRathiri At Nallur
Dhasra, as it's called in North or NavRathiri/Gholu as it's called in South or Durga Puja as it's called in Bengal, brings cheers to all and especially it is a great fun for the kids.
I still remember those days where we eagerly look forward to NavRathiri because it will be Chuti to school for 10 days and also it used to great fun arranging the ghoul and the park and ofcourse Sundal, can anybody forget about that!!!
It's very difficult to describe the Excitement of going to as many houses as possible every day!!! But it was absolutely thrilling and full of entertainment for 10 days.....
As usual, this year, Navrathiri started off yesterday with much fun fare and here is the Gholu at our place for those who will not be able to make it this time to the Gholu.....
Posted by Vasanth at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2004
"Ardhanareeswarar" Temple at Nanganallur
In the 1960s, the Paramacharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam discovered a old temple when he was performing a morning puja at an abandoned temple tank in the area.
He also spotted an ancient Lingam in the tank and named it "Ardhanareeswarar". He directed some of his bhatas to place the lingam on the banks of the temple tank and asked them to perform pujas on a regular basis. The devotees fulfilled his wish immediately and retrieved the lingam and installed it in a makeshift thatched shed on the banks of the tank on the Fourth Main Road in Nanganallur. Soon a small shrine was constructed according to the stipulations of the Agama and the parivara devatas were put up around the sanctum sanctorum. A life-size idol of Sri Ashtabhuja Shanthi Durga, similar to the one in the ancient Pattiswaram temple in Thanjavur district, was installed in a separate shrine. Regular pujas were conducted after consecrating the idols. It is believed that the deities fulfil people's wishes and hence the temple is crowded most of the time. The Kumbaabhezam of the temple was recently done in the month of March 2004 which was well attended by the devotees at large and also graced by Sri Sankarachariyas of Kanchi.
Posted by Vasanth at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)