Vanakkam Doctor !

Deepavali!!! It is once again, that time of the year. First 10 years: Oil bath, food, crackers, fire works, kites, friends, and lots of fun Second ten years: Fire works, kites, entertainment, television, movies, food, friends, girl friends and lots of fun Third ten years: Just the odd sprinklers or rockets, friends, Old monk, beers, Whiskies, dance, looking at kites, bladdered and lots of fun Currently: Very few drinks, friends, food, dance, and kiddies having lots of fun!! My earliest memory of Deepavali goes back to, when I was possibly four or five. Appa came home that evening with a big bag full of fire works, most of which were diverted to my uncles in Kanchipuram. Well, we were very young to fire them! The next one was when Appa got himself incarcerated in Chennai central prison!T his was in 1976, following a union strike at his work place which was also the emergency period in India . We were actually...

The kites came in different shapes and sizes. There was a tiny weenie one, the shape of the 5 paisa coin and sold for the same and the biggest of all the BAANA kite, which was sold for anything between three and twenty rupees depending upon the season and availability. Amazing names, they had. The lists goes like this: Tube light, Meesai, Thalai pattai, rocket, korai thalai pattai, rettai meesai, othai meesai, thai pattai with korai, and my favourite were tub light and rettai meesai. There were also similar patterns in Bombay kites, which had a funny size and shape to the local vannarapettai kites. They literally looked like an obese bombayite with a big tummy, whilst the local ones were very sleeker, especially the baana kites. Having said that the baana kites were mainly used for colouring the thread or the nool in Tamil, which is also called Maanja! The baanas were also mainly used by the big league players, who enjoyed showing of their prowess with a big kitche...

மகேஷ் ஸ்டோர்ஸ் - 2 In Chennai, the odd sprinkler of kite will appear on the sky, late July or August and soon it will occupy the entire clear blue skyline of Chennai or the old Madras, especially around North Madras, where I grew up. My so called Maa Niram (euphemism for brown skin) would become an African by the time the season was finished, which was the month of October or November, depending on the day Deewali falls. The last day of the season would roughly fall on the weekend after Deewali , as a kid, I would be loaded with tonnes of thread and stacks of kites, caught in our catchment’s area. Kite flying was a sheer delightful past time or a hobby and for some or most in North Chennai, used to be a pride issue. Neighbours became enemies overnight, thick friends became thinner, girls were won or lost, you become nomadic or forgotten in your own household, become thick skinned and in the process become a Delhi erumai or a bullock ! Wars were fought ...