The tale of 2 cities within Chennai!

This post is all about the tale of 2 cities. Cities which are completely different from one another. Cities which are a part of same city i.e. Chennai. Yet they continue to baffle and surprise me. For starters, i hereby declare that i have shifted from the Pallavaram-Chromepet belt to the Mambalam belt.
            One can keep on writing about them. One feeds the OMR - IT junta while the other feeds the government apice Mount road oldies. Rewind a couple of months back, on any weekend which falls immediately after the salary day, i will be working as a loadman , buying monthly groceries at a supermarket such as reliance fresh/spencers/nilgris. Rice costs 65 rs per kg in my old city and there will be lot of people standing in queue. The length of the queue will be more than the length of the queue in PDS shop which sells rice at Re 1 . Only cards and sodexo coupons will be exchanged.
          Fast track it to last week, the same loadman i.e. me, searched for reliance fresh in google map and went there on the  same weekend falling after salary day. No prizes for guessing, there was not even a single person there. As usual, the loadman did his job and returned home. Later, i came to know that the street side veggie vendors and our famous annachi shops sell the same items at very much lesser price. Good quality rice starts at 50 rs i learnt.
          Another thing was traffic. The worst traffic i had seen earlier was Velachery signal traffic. Any day you start early from office at 5 30, you can reach home early. After shifting to new home, this appavi software engineer tried it once and was royally screwed at every signal starting from tidal ,madya kailash and all other signals.Traffic experts told me later that government offices close at 5 and any travel around 6 o clock on mount road should be avoided. Another day, another lesson learnt. Try to reach velachery signal by around 8:30 and all of the 1 lakhs of software engineers will gerao the junction. With same feverish feeling, i started at 8:30 few days back and what greeted me on mount road was near empty signals(by chennai standards :) ) . Thank god, the pondy bazaar crowd don't have night life shopping habit!
      Street knowledge tells me that maids cost less here compared to the OMR belt. Mambalam neighbours give you the strange-what-creature-are-you look when you say that you work in OMR. They are more curious to know who are the members in the house while i didn't know my next door guy in my previous city.The patti next door is more curious to know whether the old lady in your house  is your mother or mother-in-law. You will find that lengthy train-like houses where you can see the toilet door from entrance and you will be amused to find a TVS 50 standing in front. Every small shop you will find some mama  bargaining for something. Inner roads are narrow and one guy jokingly said, any 1 inch deviation while walking will make some 2 wheeler to ride his bike on your back.
           Life throws up surprises and teaches you lessons even though some times, you don't have intention to learn. In one way or another, this has thrown me out of my comfort zone which i have been enjoying for years.

      

Kannadasan

One of my favourite poems. I remember reading this poem for the first time in 12th standard.  I was searching this online for quite long time and after almost 10 years, i found this again.

Still i remember this poem and my favourite lines

புகழ்ந்தால் என்னுடல் புல்லரிக் காது          

இகழ்ந்தால் என்மனம் இறந்து விடாது!         

கொள்வோர் கொள்க குரைப்போர் குரைக்க           

உள்வாய் வார்த்தை உடம்பு தொடாது

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                         காலக் கணிதம்

                         ===============

கவிஞன் யானோர் காலக் கணிதம்
கருப்படு பொருளை உருப்பட வைப்பேன்!
புவியில் நானோர் புகழுடைத் தெய்வம்
பொன்னினும் விலைமிகு பொருளென் செல்வம்
இவை சரி யென்றால் இயம்புவ தென்தொழில்
இவைதவ றாயின் எதிர்ப்பதென் வேலை
ஆக்கல் அளித்தல் அழித்தலிம் மூன்றும்
அவனும் யானுமே அறிந்தவை அறிக!
செல்வர்தன் கையிற் சிறைப்பட மாட்டேன்
பதவிவா ளுக்கும் பயப்பட மாட்டேன்

பாசம் மிகுத்தேன் பற்றுதல் மிகுத்தேன்
ஆசை தருவன அனைத்தும் பற்றுவேன்
உண்டா யின்பிறர் உண்ணத் தருவேன்
இல்லா யினெமர் இல்லந் தட்டுவேன்
வண்டா யெழுந்து மலர்களில் அமர்வேன்
வாய்ப்புறத் தேனை ஊர்ப்புறந் தருவேன்
பண்டோர் கம்பன் பாரதி தாசன்
சொல்லா தனசில சொல்லிட முனைவேன்
புகழ்ந்தால் என்னுடல் புல்லரிக் காது
இகழ்ந்தால் என்மனம் இறந்து விடாது!

வளமார் கவிகள் வாக்குமூ லங்கள்
இறந்த பின்னாலே எழுதுக தீர்ப்பு
கல்லாய் மரமாய்க் காடுமே டாக
மாறா திருக்கயான் வனவிலங் கல்லன்
மாற்றம் எனது மானிடத் தத்துவம்
மாறும் உலகின் மகத்துவம் அறிவேன்
எவ்வெவை தீமை எவ்வெவை நன்மை
என்ப தறிந்தே ஏகுமென் சாலை
தலைவர் மாறுவர் தர்பார் மாறும்
தத்துவம் மட்டுமே அட்சய பாத்திரம்

கொள்வோர் கொள்க குரைப்போர் குரைக்க
உள்வாய் வார்த்தை உடம்பு தொடாது
நானே தொடக்கம் நானே முடிவு
நானுரைப் பதுதான் நாட்டின் சட்டம்!

- கவிஞர் கண்ணதாசன்

Chit Funds & myself

 

One fine winter morning, in Chennai, I got a call from my Dad saying he is on the way to Chennai. He didn’t explain properly why he is coming. After couple of frantic calls to my family back home, I figured out the reason. We have fallen to the familiar ploy again. The Chit Fund Scam. My cousin has been running the chit business for nearly a decade. Few days before he ran out of the town, he showed up at our door step asking for money to fund his new-built house. He promised around 2%  interest and said he will return the money in 2 months. A couple of days later, he escaped and the total amount he swindled was close to 60 Lakhs.

 Rewind the incident and a couple of years later, I was mentioning this incident to my friends. I was shocked to know that almost all of them through their family had put a chunk of their savings in some chit fund which was run by their near and dear neighbours or friends or relatives. All of them are quite confident that their money is 100% safe. The irony is educated people with proper access to banking system are falling for it.

 Another famous scam which was doing the rounds a couple of years ago was the Gold Quest Scam. A whole lot of my friends got tricked into it. At first time, I was tempted to join it, thanks to their brain washing. However, I got out of it but lot of my friends got into it and lost their money. I was undergoing training with around 500 guys at that time and the gold quest guy got rich dividends. At least 50-100 people got enrolled for that multi-level marketing scheme in my batch. Even though I made up my mind not to get into it, I attended a couple of their sessions out of sheer curiosity.

You must get out of this stupid middle class.

It’s time for you to raise and reach your goal.

And a couple of inspirational quotes from Vivekananda and Mark Twain. 

And you are brainwashed to swipe your card for a lump sum and you are gone.

I don’t know why such scams always chase me. After some period, there was insurance-multi level marketing type scheme.

Some other day, a guy in my company whom I barely knew came and talked to me about the new business he is working on. Same inspirational quotes and when-you-will-settle-in-life kind of talk.

I asked him whether it is Amway and he hesitantly said yes. I promised him I will meet him after 6 months and told him I am damn sure he would have lost his money.This amway thing happened to me a couple of times from unknown guys in my previous company .

Their tagline goes like this:

You should change your spending pattern

MNC's are looting you. It's time for us to loot them.

if you change your consumption pattern, you can retire early in life. 

After an hour of mokkai , they will last utter the word "Amway"

The one good thing that happened to me is i have become hit-fund/multi level marketing expert in this and i can identify these guys by the way they start their conversation:):)

 Fast forward, a couple of months later, I was visiting a flat which came up for resale. My friend was interested in buying it and we asked the owner why he is selling the flat. The answer we got was stunning.The story goes like this.

A famous school in South Chennai is planning to build 2000+ flats within their school campus. They have come up with a superb offer. The offer states that you can buy a 60 Lakh flat which will be delivered in 4 years at 30 lakh rupees today. You have to make 30 Lakh as one-time payment (50% discount on the cost of the flat ). If you do not need the flat, you can invest 30 L which will be returned will 4 years as 60 L . The interest offered will be around 24%. Since there is a school within campus, the owner we met is selling his flat and buying a flat there. “Chances” are that this may end up in some other scam in near future.

As far as I know, it is illegal to collect deposits from people. All well-educated IT parents are flocking the school for bookings. SEBI has cracked down Sahara, Saradha and a lot of other companies for doing this.

The thumb rule is if anyone in any form offers more than 13% interest rate, I wont invest. Another thumb rule in most of the cases is the scamsters have got a lot of reputation in some field and when they try to enter into another unknown sector, they get trapped.

As thalaivar says in the movie Arunachalam,  ஏமாத்துறவன விட ஏமாறுகிறவன்   தான் குற்றவாளி  (The cheated is more guilty than the cheater).The famous tagline of some tyre company can be changed like this , “The roads are This country is filled with idiots” . Idiots ready to lose their money again and again.And again. Examples: Chit funds, gold quest,Anbhav plantation,Emu scam, Rice pulling.

                                   

43 Rubees

After quite long time, i happened to travel by train by Sleeper Class.

As usual, the train was filled with IT folks and students who are going home on long weekend.

 A smart ,good looking guy boarded the train . He had some Samsung galaxy or some android phone which i could not recognize, thanks to my company which prohibits camera-cell phones.

The ticket examiner came and checked the tickets. He asked the guy for tickets and after checking the tickets,he asked him for 43 rupees. 
The guy told he had taken proper tickets and why should he give him 43 rupees.
The examiner told him ticket fare has been increased in railway budget and he should pay the extra amount.

The guy got furious and started fighting with the examiner. He told him that they should message him once the fare is raised or they should display message in the irctc site.

The examiner told finally "Either pay the amount or get down in next station"

The guy now asked the examiner " How do you expect people to carry such amount in trains?"

I was like ":O" . The guy didn't have the amount. He has only 20 rupees. One stranger in the compartment 
offered him the 43 rupees and the problem was solved.

After the examiner left, the guy was chatting on his phone ,may be via whatsapp/facebook.

Seeing the incident left me with many unanswered questions. Crazy people and a crazy country!

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Do share your thoughts in the comments section.

THE EELAM PROBLEM

THE EELAM PROBLEM

We must support the UNHRC solution and strengthen it by including strong words.

Ok. Good. What do you do after that.

UN will condemn the mass killings and set up war crimes commission. They will try SL president for war crimes in International Court of Justice.

Fantastic. What do they do after that.          

He should be put in jail. There should be a plebiscite on whether the Lankan tamils need a separate nation or not.

Good idea. What can we do if SL reject that plebiscite thing ?

We should force this on SL.

What if they don’t do ?

You should force SL.  Force it down the throat.

What if SL don’t do that.  Did india ever conduct plebiscite?

Why should india conduct that

UN asked india to have a plebiscite on Kashmir issue some 50-60 years ago.

Will any sane country after winning the war, agree to separate the nation into two and give it to the rebels (when there are none)?

Can any external power such as UN divide a nation into two  , given the fact that China, with its veto power will oppose any move against SL.

Unless otherwise you are living in some fantasy world and expecting some body from heaven to do that,Tamil Eelam is dead. Period.

The whole world knows that except some poor souls who are expecting some miracles .

Chances are that you may be angered by now, your fist asking for justice for the killings of thousands of people.

Justice Shall be delivered promptly and swiftly if oil is ever found under the Tamil Land or the lankans blow off some towers in the New York city.

So, nothing will happen as usual except our beloved politicians getting some brownie points . All parties which shouted for the UN resolution are now taking rest in their pavilion and media has jumped to another sensational news

The whole problem confirms the fact that South Indians, in general and Tamils in particular are a emotional lot. The simple fact that the film fraternity rules the land for the past 50 years is a typical example of that. Just like a film hero bringing down the villain in climax, people are expecting  instant solution.Reality is always bitter and harsh.

No political party in tamil nadu has shown any real interest in the rehabilitation of tamils or bringing any changes to the 13^th amendment of the SL constitution.

Devolution of power to the north-east provinces is the only solution and india should engage with SL and make sure it is done. For india to do that, the tamil parties, the so-called saviors of Lankan tamils should do something.

India should invest heavily in the north-east provinces by building infrastructure, schools and other stuff. These things are not new to India since they are doing the same thing in Afghanistan now.

If India do those things meticulously, chances are that things may turn around in another decade.

Fulfilling the basic needs of the people and giving them equal rights can solve the problem.  Dravidan parties did the same thing in Tamil nadu in the 1960’s and stopped the migration of tamils to north india. The famous slogan “வடக்கு வாழ்கிறது தெற்கு தேய்கிறது “  ( North lives while south erodes) doesn’t hold good anymore.

Below 2 things describe the state of the problem and how people are tacking the problem.

1)       State of tamils in Srilanka: My  friend’s friend got a  job as Engineer in the Colombo International Airport through some consulting company. When ever the SL president comes to the airport, he will be granted one-day leave, thus barring him from entering the airport and the company will make sure he doesn’t enter the airport. This is a “decent version” of house arrest. FYI, he is an Indian.

 2) State of leaders in Tamilnadu:  I heard on TV some leader saying “LTTE chief Prabakaran is still alive and he will come out one day and claim Tamil Land. Still that , we should support Tamil Eelam”

LTTE is the effect of the problem the Lankan state created and not the cause. Until the cause of the problem is solved , we may see a modified version of Kashmir issue in SriLanka.

JUNK , JUNKER, JUNKEST

                              

Nowadays, you walk into any super market in the city and you will find people buying

loads of items for their monthly grocery shopping.

Grocery shopping has become monthly event where you go out and spend time and money.

In fact, it has become a hobby and a source of entertainment for the rising middle

class.

Any retail chain, you will find people comparing the prices of various items, their

nutrient contents and finding the best.

And then there are Junkies. That’s how I name them.

Junkies can be differentiated from the mango man(aam admi) easily. If you see the

shopping cart of the junkie, you will find all kind of packed foods such as maggi,lays,

chocolates and the most important of all, 2L Coke bottle bought on 5 rs exclusive offer.

And if there are more than 2 members in the group, you will find each one of them

throwing items in to the shopping basket just like ricky pointing hitting the stumps

from silly point.

I must shamelessly admit i was a junkie once. I will go to buy "N" number of items and

while  returning, i will find my bag filled with N^N items provided N <> 1.

Everything that is sold in the name of offer will inevitably end up in your shopping

bag. whether you need it or not is not a question.

Another typical quality of junkie is when billing, the guy in counter will ask whether

He should charge for the carry bag, they will frown upon him like they were born

and brought up in a carry bag(i.e. silver spoon).I find same set of people coming

again and again to the same shop without carry bag for reasons best known to them.

The English media calls them  "The sprawling middle class", “the face of india”. Yes, the rising middle class with 5% GDP growth and 8% inflation.

Some call it Excessive consumerism .Whatever it is, the consumption pattern of this country is changing slowly.

To overcome this non-sense buying stuff, me and wifey nowadays put a list which contains

what to buy and what not to buy. We now have a list of banned items at home.

THE JAIL

The gates were wide open once our bus carrying 60 people came to a screeching halt. Everybody started getting down and formed a queue. Whoever you are, you are expected to form a queue here. A thorough checking was made and after all our bags were checked, we entered the premises which contained heavily protected buildings. I was expected to enter the first building. I entered the building and took the place where i was supposed to sit.
The clock struck 12 in about 3 hours.I went to place where lunch will be served. We all stood in line with plates in hand. After the food was served, we sat in groups and ate the food. I was asked to return urgently to my place.
It was 7 o clock in the evening. I ran to the entrance gate and there was a bus standing full of passengers. I got into the crowd and got diminished. I worriedly starting looking at the sign board which read "Welcome to IT Park"

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