Yeh Zindagi na mile dobara! Schoolmate's meet @ Lonavla on 23/24th july, 2011

The thought of meeting at Lonavla suddenly erupted when my childhood friend and classmate Raghu (1968, Pusa) called me to say that the weather and scenic beauty of Lonavla was awesome with clouds coming down the hills on to the ghat roads to give you a feel of floating amidst the clouds in the air!  Ravi Krishnaswamy (1968, Pusa) was ever willing to join the fun and accordingly booked his journey to Mumbai.  I travelled to Mumbai and the three of us travelled to Lonavla where Ramesh, yet another schoolmate from DTEA, Laxmibai nagar opened his gated community house to welcome us.  The heart and thoughts of Ramesh was big enough to provide us good food coupled with Somapanam- the Indian equivalent of liquor!!  R Balachander(1968, LE) joined us within minutes of our reaching Lonavla to be with us and give company.  Incidentally, Balu works for a Maritime school at Lonavla teaching Maritime studies to young aspirants.  There were a dozen other friends who had come from Mumbai and were friends of Ramesh and Raghu.

The party started in the afternoon with tasty lunch and music and went on till about 10pm during which time, songs from the 1950s till the 1980s were sung besides ghazals prompting the gathering for more guzzling of drinks!!!  There was a Dolak player who used to record with the famous O P Nayyar and a couple of singers who were at their best singing and entertaining the small gathering.  As if to compliment the moods and flow of songs, heavens opened up bringing down sheets of water and gave added value to the visual treats of green mountains all around with streams flowing from the mountain tops!

The singing session that lasted for nearly 7 hours ended only to begin a new entertainment of Rummy after we all had yummy food!  Some who did not want to or know how to play retired.  The game of cards went on till about 4.30 am when a batch of friends who had retired earlier woke up for a morning walk in the rains within the gated compound.  They finished both their walking exercise and the ritual of morning bath at one stroke and were ready for the next action by 7am on Sunday!  Ramesh had organised a couple of cooks who took care of our appetite well by providing tasty and quality food.  The bread/omelet breakfast was amazing given the cold climate and the Delhi Belly that we were blessed with?

The Mehfil gathered momentum by about 9 am and songs from latest and old films were sung by quite a few who by this time had gathered mental strength to raise their voice to be heard!  The big heart of Ravi opened once again by declaring the Bar-open!  Some who wanted to go for a walk or stroll did that while the others were entertaining their souls with Madira and songs that touched your hearts.  Lunch was served at about 2.30 pm where after the party was over and everyone dispersed exchanging hugs and bear hugs!!  It was a cool, entertaining re-union of friends and specially for the four of us who hailed from Karol Bagh, New Delhi. We could manage to recall those good old days and certain acts of each other which brought in memories of the golden past that lay deeply embedded in our thoughts and lives!

A special mention about our classmates R Hariharan(LB), K N Ashok(Pusa), Shivalingam(Pusa), M R Diwakar(Pusa) who were so thrilled to hear about this meet and wanted to participate but could not due to pre-occupation.  They all sent messages wishing success.    We remembered you guys fondly  during our sessions!!  Salamat rahe dostana Hamara!!

Gandhi Nagar Club, Adyar, Chennai

Gandhi Nagar Club is a much sought after club in the South Chennai area.  The club offers various sports facilities besides a good Restaurant and Bar.  The club is well managed by competent members and has grown in size and stature over the period of years.  Billing has been computerised and entry restricted only for members who swipe their identity cards at the reception counter.  The Club presents a reasonably dignified image in the city which could be gauged by the simple rush of people wanting to become members at any given point of time!  The club excels in presenting varieties of entertainment programmes week after week for the benefit of members and their families.  The club provides Lodging facilities and has reciprocal associations with clubs all over India from where guests keep coming in.  I went to the club on one after noon to pay my pending bills when I found a stray dog comfortably sleeping at the gate instead of a guard who should have been present there on duty!  These days, it is very common to find dogs loitering around the club premises and continue staying there for ever with families!!  Probably, the guard on duty finds the Dog a cheaper substitute to man his position  so that he could attend to his personal errands during the day?  Dogs are known to be very friendly and loyal animals but just in case if it chooses to bite the member without realising his identity, the honorary elected representatives of the club will be answerable and this may cause considerable embarrassment to the Executive committee!  Hope the President and the Secretary elect will have a look at this menace and order immediate removal of stray animals from the club premises and make it honourable for those who come to lodge in the club for a brief time?

Spread of infection through currency notes and coins

India is a land of diversity with numerous cultural backgrounds and way of life!  One common factor which knows no religion, language or Socio-cultural background and which travels  easily from one hand to another throughout the country is the official currency notes and coins.  While the western world is trying hard to remove currency notes out of circulation or keep it to the bare minimum, India has a totally  different theory & concepts! India  has a parallel Black money running the economy and dodges the government from recovering legitimate revenues  by way of taxes.  In India, rupee notes are freely used for anything from buying basic needs for the household to purchase of fixed assets like land, buildings or anything for that matter!

In a Metro Bus, the conductor gives you a ticket while holding the notes in his mouth and later circulates it back to people through various channels.  This may carry infection that may  harm one's health conditions.
 There is a custom of thrusting some currency notes into the palms of the new born child.  The child not knowing the value attached immediately puts it into the mouth as a natural reaction!  No one knows if the currency notes had any infection on it?

  Similarly, the coins are put on the forehead of the dead and passed on to the family as a token of legacy! 
 The small time shopkeeper counts the notes and frequently wets the tip of his counting fingers with his saliva and this is a common sight that could be seen throughout the country!  Some business men carry wads of notes in their undergarment for the sake of safety and protection from being robbed!  The currency notes get soiled and oiled when they enter the shops of oil merchants who sell edible oils.  The currency notes when traded for petroleum products get a tinge and coat of petroleum products at the hands of the men manning the petrol bunks. The temples, churches, mosques and Gurudwaras gets donations by way of cash which would have exchanged and experienced different hands at different times!
  The saga of this currency travel from one hand to another continues unabated!  What is the way to check spread of infections arising through this circulation of currency notes and coins?  The Government must seriously think about this and do something to avert spread of infection through the circulation of monetary currency.  One way out is to restrict the flow of currency notes for which the government should bring in some other form of acceptance.  Plastic cards in lieu of money is one such replacement which is largely followed all over the world restricting the usage of currency notes amongst the public.  India Government could think of this alternative at least for the sake of health of its people?  The W H O under the auspices of the United Nations will do well to direct countries which uses currency notes to a large extent to phase out and introduce plastic cards in lieu of currency notes so that spread of infection could be curtailed to a great extent.  It will be worthwhile to receive inputs and comments from leading health specialists in this regard for the welfare of human beings at large?

My best Buddy in the U S

                                                    Dr Subramanian & Prabha
My U S trip remains incomplete without a visit to Dr Subramanian's house in Palm Bay, FL.  while Dr Subramanian fondly called as Mani works for the Florida Institute of Technology in their Aero-space department teaching and giving education to hundreds of students coming from all over the globe, Prabha handles almost everything that a family needs for sustenance!  She is a walking Encyclopedia of what's where and economical to buy!  Brisk by nature, there is never a dull moment when Prabha is around.  She is an ace driver who drives all the way to Orlando International airport which is about an hour drive from where she lives,  to pick you up and keeps telling "we are almost there"?  She is so considerate that she packs some delicious  snacks knowing pretty well that we may be hungry and longing for some thing South Indianish!!  You name a product of interest and there she goes googling the best price for the product and its availability at a nearby store.  Even before you realise, she has ordered the item through Internet and which gets delivered at home in the next couple of days.  She ordered an I-phone and a Tele-Zoom lens for my camera which was at my doorstep even before I could realise!!  She does all these with such ease and pleasure. She is a local socialite and has popularity amongst the large Indian settlers in the area.  Whether it's Dussera or the Republic day, the function is well represented with Prabha and Dr Mani in the forefront.  She engages herself in organising Indian festivals and carnivals and is a person sought after by the locals.
On the household  front, Prabha's kitchen is a bliss for anyone visiting her as you can see her in action within the limited area of the pantry doing everything possible to make your Belly Happy!!  Her fridge will have a wide variety of food stuff sure enough to confuse a person!  She likes preparing fresh food everyday and likes to watch everyone eating and enjoying the food that she has prepared.  She is ready to take you anywhere at any time be it a Mall or entertainment park such as Disney world!  The concern that we may not get the food of our choice if we venture to theme parks, makes her pack food for everyone so that our appetite is well taken care of.  All these and more is possible only because of  her husband  Dr Subramanian who lends his appreciation and support for all that she does!
Our cruise to Alaska and all over the U S would not have been possible but for the immaculate attention and utmost care taken by Prabha in arranging our itinerary in such a manner that we don't loose time while grabbing the most economical fares on airlines that we travelled in.  I and my wife Sandhya will have to place our appreciation and acknowledgement  for this great woman in Prabha for looking after our entire stay in the U S and making sure that we are going in the right direction by calling us often and directing!  In fact, the moment we landed in the U S, she sent a local Sim card with which we were able to stay in touch with her 24X7 without any fear of getting lost.
The best part that I enjoyed being with the Subramanians is the dinner at their house with all kinds of delicacies and varieties of food on one side and listening to Mani who is a human library on Aero-space and the connected research.  Many times I felt that I have eaten more than what I do is because of the interesting conversation that Dr Mani has with us sharing his knowledge and on the other side, the delicious, fresh and hot steamed food that Prabha makes and serves with love and affection!
We call her our master and guide in the U S.  We roam around the U S without fear with Prabha just a phone call away to take care and tackle things.
God bless this couple and give them more and more to be of service to humankind.
Athithi Devo Bhava- a saying that is apt for Prabha and Dr Mani in FL, U S A

Graduation ceremony of New york University

My niece Ms Archana Gopalkrishnan graduated from the Stern Business School, New york.  A grand graduation ceremony was organised by the NYU at the Yankee Stadium.  My niece  had managed to get 4 passes to enable us to experience and get a feel of what a Graduation ceremony is like and the importance that it gets both from the University as well the families of students who graduate!  What an  amazing feel it was as We found ourselves amidst a spectrum of  Blues that identified with the NYU's official color.  A timid girl Archana who studied and passed out from Chettinad Vidyashram in Chennai has matured into a Stern Business School graduate and popular amongst her local friends as Arkana!!  The family is in 7th heaven to understand that this young little girl has found herself a platform that is shared by elites across the globe!

Archana's proud parents in Dr Gopalkrishnan and Shoba were in bliss and their happiness knew no bounds! Archana's parents were quick enough to respond to their daughter's achievements and presented her a Solitaire ring to add ornamental glitter to her little fingers which accomplished so much at such an young age!  Parties followed and there were more celebrations as Archana got herself admission into Yale University for her Masters in International Economics!!  Truly, she is a role model for all the children in the family to follow and realise dreams.  On the graduation day of  19th May, 2011 New york was cold with heavy showers that made us take out all our winter garments that we had taken to wear and feel nice.  The ceremony was at the famous New york Yankee stadium and the chief guest was none other than the former President of the United States Mr Bill Clinton!!

Mr Clinton known for his best abilities to talk and deliver mesmerised the entire crowd of students and the parents by his speech mostly centred around the need for Education and sharing knowledge! As a part of humour, he jocularly said that he spoke to Nancy the previous evening and hat she was in knowledge of his whereabouts!!  His speech that lasted about 40 minutes finally ended up on a note "Yes, We can do it"!!  Undoubtedly, Clinton still enjoys popularity amongst the people both young and old and he caries a charisma about himself!  The 3000 plus students who graduated from different schools of the NYU made their representatives parade to the cheers of those seated on the galleries.  There were a couple of Indian students who were recognised and awarded by the Dean of the University which needs a special mention here.  The carnival like function of the NYU ended in the evening with students and families exchanging pleasantries and hugs!  It was an emotional event, truly.

Proud moments for the parents of Archana and her aunt who were watching the ceremony from the stands.  The crowd was so disciplined and well behaved and disbursed quietly after the function was over.  The crowd of nearly 100,000 plus was well managed and taken care of by the authorities.  Yes, we carried pleasant memories of the beautiful ceremony in our minds and hearts to cherish these lovely moments for ever and wished our dear niece Archana many more laurels and awards in the days to come!

Alaska Cruise- an event to cherish and remember for ever!

I was excited beyond imagination and like a school going boy to assimilate the feeling that I was going on a cruise to Alaska to see, feel and enjoy the beauty of mother nature in having given us some of the most wonderful Ice-Glaciers that are still existing!  The cruise ship MV westerdam left the port of Seattle on the 21st May, 2011 to give us a memorable voyage of our life time to Alaska and to enjoy the magnanimity of nature that is keeping our planet alive till date balancing the ecological factors that  are invisible to human eyes or minds!

The huge ship has a passenger capacity of over 2000 passengers and a crew strength of over 800 to serve the guests.

The State Room where I and my wife were booked looked pretty decent enough to be compared with any star hotel room with basic amenities. Room service facilities made us feel important and royal too!!  One can not but appreciate the way the rooms are designed to give enough space for the travellers to sit and talk over a cup of tea while watching the T V programs.  The beds are quite comfortable and sometimes when the sea becomes rough, it gives you a kind of rocking cradle effect to quickly fall asleep and dream the future!!

The top deck of the ship was open and vast enough to go for a regular walk and also provided sufficient chairs to relax and ocean watch!  The other facilities that were available on the ship was a heated and non heated swimming pool, a modern gymnasium besides Library and lounges. One good thing about the ship was food & Beverages were available 24 hours and there was enough and enough for everyone. The temperature dropped considerably once we set out on sail and the sight of pacific ocean was quite breath taking and awesome!  The ship provided good entertainment for the guests throughout the day and most of them conducted at well designed theatres that could accommodate huge numbers.

The best entertainer that we had on board the ship was Minu, the cute little daughter of our friends Rekha and Gean who sometimes behaved more maturely than many of us standing all around her to catch her attention, always?  She seems to be exclaiming"whats there in a glass"?

The ship anchored at the first port of call named Juneau which is the capital of Alaska.  The sight was adorable and serene.  The ship was right in the midst of the small tiny town of Juneau which comes alive only for 4 months in a year with the incoming tourists and it was quite cold even during the end of May when it is like 42 deg Celsius in most parts of India!! The best part of sea port in these places is that right besides, you  can spot a sea plane taking of and landing carrying tourists to various destinations of interest for a charge! we had the fortune of being in there and seeing Mendenhall glacier, one of those few glaciers left to fight the global warming all alone?  The feeling was unique and tranquilising as I had never seen such huge glaciers of ice reflecting blue color through the ice!!  Upon enquiry, we were told that from the spectrum of colors ice absorbs all the colors except the blue which is reflected and the reason for us to see Blue ice!  I could see small bergs falling off into the water and floating all around us reminding us the grave need to conserve and preserve nature?  The climate was so nice and bearable that we could muster courage to walk miles without getting tired.  The Captain announced  that the ship would sail without a break to the next Glacier wonder named Hubbard which was mightier and bigger than Mendenhall glacier and that would be approximately a 24 hour voyage!!  As we neared Hubbard Glacier in yet another part of Alaska, there was enthusiasm amongst the tourists who tried to take the best possible advantageous position in front of the ship as the doors to the front of the ship deck was thrown open.  Not wishing to miss out revenues, the shipping company put up counters right on the deck to serve hot chocolate with Vodka, Brandy and other liquors of choice.  The ship was inching its way towards the glacier not willing the disturb the nature and surroundings that were fragile.  The captain took us very near to the mighty glacier to enable us to have a feel of its size and  volumes of water that it holds within itself!  What a sight!!  God has been so kind !!

The next stop of our voyage was Sitka in Alaska.  Sitka used to be the old capital of Alaska when it was under the sovereign control of the erstwhile U S S R or the Soviet Republic who sold the entire Alaska to the U S A evaluating the price @17cents an acre without realising that they were parting with unaccounted huge wealth of natural resources like oil and other minerals and gold which are yet to be explored or tapped?? Sitka is thought to be the most scenic and beautiful South east cities of Alaska! It is majestically flanked on the east by mountains covered in Snow and mighty pacific ocean on the west. For wild life lovers the place offers plenty of interests and for those who are lovers of sea food, there is plenty to look for.  The Solmon fish is very popularly hunted and available in plenty but there are restrictions on fishing by the local administration which is followed meticulously with discipline by the people of Sitka! However, the most popular sport followed by the tourists coming to Sitka is Hiking and Biking  and one can find many people back-packing on bicycles pursuing their own interests.  I wanted to try out some local brew and visited a local pub where I tasted some local ale beer.  Most certainly, it was a delight to sip beer from the window of the pub overlooking the snow covered Sitka mountains and our own ship anchored at a distance!  It was a great sight and experience!!

When we departed the port of Sitka, the captain announced that we could spot many whales in the ocean.  I was ready to spot and shoot some of them and could spot many of them diving into depths lifting their tails up which was something we have seen only on geographic channels!

I felt so happy to have seen so many whales/otters in their natural habitat!  It was a trip worth the time and money and probably of a life time?

The next port of call was Ketchikan, Alaska.  The small township was a treat for visuals!  The beauty of the port was that our ship docked right into the town and you have to just walk across to shop for gifts and souvenirs!  This place is famous and known for Diamonds which are mined in the state.  You are in for a surprise when you find yourself greeted in Hindi and Tamil by the shopkeepers and their employees.  Indians are everywhere!! One of the main business in this peace loving town is diamonds which are guaranteed and mined from the state of Alaska.  They say that its a lot cheaper to buy diamonds from here which are certified original! This announcement both on board the ship and by the shopkeepers in Ketchikan created interest in a portion of the tourists to invest in the glittering commodity!  Those who ventured into these shops were a few! Most of the shops are owned by Indians from Gujarat  and you are in for a pleasant surprise when you are greeted in your lingo by the shopkeepers and their staff!  The winter garments are attractively priced and lure you to try and eventually buy!  These places are exotic for those indulging in adventure tourism/fishing sport/trekking and hiking etc.  The vegetarians have to be satisfied with some delicious coffee and selected eatables.  As the ship provides food 24 hours, the tourists hardly spend any time for eating or drinking beverages and utilise the entire time sightseeing places.   The next port of call was Victoria, British Columbia in Canada. This is a cute little port of Canada, so neat and clean with a mighty Canadian flag welcoming the tourists fluttering atop the immigration building.  One thing that I realised during this trip is that Patriotism develops and gets deeply embedded in a national if there is only one national flag which is allowed to be unfurled everywhere unlike numerous flags of political parties that are allowed to be hoisted on top of everything right from the bonnet of a car as in India!  The ship docked in the Canadian waters at 4.30 pm and gave us time till midnight to get back to sail back to the destination in Seattle.  we engaged a van that could transport all the 14 members of our family.  The place had some mystic effect in the hearts and minds of most of us.  It was so clean and tidy and the temperature was 12deg Celsius which was perfect for outing.  There are gardens everywhere and most places have peacocks and peahens roaming freely with humans.  You can find ducks, flamingos and swans wherever there is a water body! Everyone stops to admire this nature's beauty.  Probably, Asoka Vanam in Ramayana would have been something equivalent to what I saw in British Columbia as I have never seen such a natural beauty in abundance anywhere?

 One has to give credit to Chinese as they have planted themselves everywhere in the world that is beautiful and have gone ahead to fort themselves naming them China-Town!  These people have worked hard wherever they went and have made a niche for themselves in the demographic chart of the country that they live in.  One such China town captured here!

 One of the landmarks of Victoria is the 5 star hotel named Empress which forms a part of tourist attraction and visit.

 One famous Pub that we visited was Bard & Banker in downtown area of Victoria.  It is said that this pub used to cater exclusively to Bankers in the area!  In other words, elite bankers after a days hard work came here to chill? The Pub was filled with people and it was hard to find a place to seat 4 persons!  Ofcourse, the youngsters do not want to sit and spoil their evening fun and were seen standing everywhere with a drink in their hands!!  The Pub was doing brisk business, I guess?

 our family in front of the sailing vessel M V Westerdam @Victoria port

We departed Victoria at midnight to reach our final destination to disembark from the ship.  The management of the ship checked with everyone about their preferred time to disembark and facilitated their safe exit without any commotions!  Our ship contained nearly 2000 plus passengers and there was one more ship named Golden Princess which came along with us and got back at the same time which also had 2000 plus passengers!  All the 4000 plus passengers disembarked from these two ships without any tension or a problem and quietly got into their respective pick up vehicles to head home!  The management of the ship had also vans and buses to transport passengers directly to the Airport for their onward journey for which they charged a fee.  The entire trip was a memorable one and could be easily termed as Holiday with Pleasure!  The seven days of voyage left lasting impressions in our minds.  I was so happy and relaxed after this amazing trip.  There were also lessons learnt about the importance of preserving nature for the welfare of our future generations! I was very happy to realise that India and Indians are far away from these amazing glaciers and mountains as  otherwise, We Indians would have built some kind of temple on top of each mountain and glacier naming it after some god or goddess, polluting the water flowing from the glaciers and beating nature mercilessly!!   Congratulations to Holland America liners for organising such a lovely, pleasant and memorable cruise to Alaska!!