Breaking News or Views!

Unlike many senior citizens who sit glued to a TV set whenever they have spare time (which they have in plenty), I hardly watch television these days. My television viewing is restricted to watching  the news channels an hour before going to bed. Most of the channels seem to be “Breaking (the) News” with the same news  from morning till evening, with every channel claiming  that they are the first to telecast that  particular news. When you get fed up of watching the same news repeatedly  on one channel and try to surf the other news channels-  you find the same breaking news being featured in those  channels too!

Nowadays most of the advertising clips are also the same at any point of time.  I am told that some whiz kids in the Ad Media world came up with the idea of broadcasting the same television commercials  in all the selected channels at the same time, so that even if the viewers skip a channel during ad breaks to go to another news channel, they will find the same commercials running. The ad guys surely know how to get the ‘eyeballs’ of their target audience!

 Then there are the mandatory debates on every Breaking News topic. It is most irritating to see the anchor becoming  the chief judge, conducting a trial by media, cross questioning a bunch of experts that his channel is  able to assemble at short notice. Most of the channels also have their favorite panelists  who appear in their programmes every day. I often wonder how the same experts appear live on different channels at the same time. I have realized that participating in any debate on a news channel requires special skills – to say what you want to say ignoring the constant interjections  by both the anchor and the fellow panelists! Some of the anchors are so obnoxious – they shout at the top of their voices, bulldozing their pre-conceived views  on the panelists,  aggressively  forcing them to agree to their own point of view.

I derive enormous pleasure when I find an articulate and intelligent panelist gives it back to the anchor in the same coin. Some even threaten to walk out of a discussion if the anchor does not allow them to express their views. Like what the late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Selvi Jayalalitha did in a  `Devil`s Advocate` programme on CNN IBN some years ago. Fed up with the provocative attitude of the anchor when she got up to leave midway, the `Devil` (Karan Thapar) tried to tell her “It was a pleasure having you in the programme”. She snubbed him, “ It was no pleasure talking to you” and walked out. Another person who was notorious for snubbing the anchors was that `enfant terrible` Lawyer (late) Jethmalani.

 Sometimes, the debates end up becoming shouting matches between panelists, especially when politicians from opposing parties are involved. While I hate the TV debates, I watch them ensnared by the eloquence of some of the panelists. I really admire their abilities to think on their feet or shall we say think on their seats!

 Like millions of people in this country I still prefer my morning newspaper for a comprehensive coverage of national, state and local news. Television can never give me the kind of joy I derive reading a newspaper as most of the times television is only giving views and not news!

 I was surprised recently to see a programme titled `Breaking Views` being telecast by NDTV immediately following their 8 pm news. I wonder how the channel got to read my mind!

Stories from our families

This Sunday I had the privilege of participating in the launch of a  book titled `Nammathu Kadaigal`( Stories from our families). It  was like a big family affair. The book is a collection of  61 short stories/essays in Tamil  by 34 writers, compiled by Dr.Sunderaraman Chintamani. He is  a corporate honcho turned digital Marketing consultant and  a popular professional  speaker  apart from his many other talents.

 I received the first copy of the book from Mr.Suresh, the Managing Director  of the Arun Excello Group of Companies,  a house of Engineering & Construction excellence, whose Senior Citizen facility `JIVA` near Mahabalipuram is becoming  favourite destination for many senior citizens. Other guests of honour on the dais were the ever popular auditor & philanthropist,  Kalaimamani J.Balasubramaniam & `the one woman army`  Girija Raghavan, the editor of Ladies Special magazine. The function which was held in the mini Hall of IIT Tech park in Taramani, anchored ably by Mrs Jayanthi Sunderaraman, was attended by some of the contributing  writers and their families.

The uniqueness of the book is that it contains stories of  families  with brahminical background with generous use of brahminical language/conversations, which according to Dr.Sunderraman is missing from most of the stories published in the last 20 years.  He felt the need for archiving such stories so that the younger generation is aware of the brahminical culture and traditions, which is sadly going out of fashion.  It took him almost five years to compile the book as initially there was resistance from some writers who were worried about participating in a venture which focused on a community. However Sundararaman`s persistence paid and his dream has become a reality.

The book  has the cover designed by auditor and part time artist Sridhar Seethapathy who  has  also done  the illustrations used in every story.

The four dignitaries on the dais offering their felicitations to the author  congratulated him and wished him well.

As a part of the programme, using the power point presentation,  the author gave a brief introduction to all the writers featured in the book .Those present in the audience or their representatives received their first copies from the guests of honour.  This ambitious book  of the author is  self published  by Jingyashika, a company owned by the Sundararaman . The project has been supported by a few sponsors. The 450 pages book is priced at Rs 450/- and is presently available with the author who can be contacted on 9840923764.

 

A DREAM HOME FOR 40 YEARS!

It was 1980, the year when my son  was born  that we decided to buy a plot of land in Sastri Nagar, a beautiful colony where we were staying in a rented house since 1974. I had to opt out of my PF account completely and pay for my share of the cost of the plot (3000sq ft). So  when we started building the 1100 sq.ft. house in 1982 I had no money. A few  friends were kind enough  to lend me the money in  the initial stages.  The generosity of the then Manager of the Walajah Road branch of Standard Chartered Bank who offered me a revolving loan, until I got a housing loan from LIC, also helped!

 After a bad experience with an engineer, I decided to seek  the services of Sheila Sriprakash, the wife of a Tabler friend and a professional architect to give me a new plan. She is today a big name in the world of architecture. The plan she came up with was unique, making effective use of the limited space. A contractor was appointed to build the house. It was going to be the first architect designed home among my family circles.

 I remember the great joy Prabha and I felt, standing on top of a make shift  ladder to  see the roof with freshly laid  concrete by a battery of workers. A roof of our own!

 After performing the necessary puja, we moved into the house on 12^th December,1982. Exactly forty years ago. I was then forty years old. Another milestone in my life and another dream come true since not only did I have a separate room for my parents with an attached bath, but I also built extra toilets to ensure that nobody had to wait in the queue for use of  bathrooms in the mornings! The two bedroom  house had three toilets, with one of them being a common one which could also be used by guests. It was an unforgettable experience for a guy from a Chawl in Bombay who lived in a 250 sq ft room with a family of six, sharing two common toilets with 5O others every morning for 26 long years!

 Over the next 10 years, brick by brick, I added a floor and extra bedrooms to satisfy the demands of my growing children for separate  bedrooms for each of them. Keeping the future in mind  I ensured that the first floor layout was exactly as per the ground floor with provision for an independent kitchen, so that it could become an independent unit when the need arose. In the process of adding facilities, I tried to realize some of my dreams for the house.  A small terrace garden with a small fountain at the first floor level and also facilities for holding parties on the terrace on the second floor were added. The small sit out adjacent to the main drawing room with French doors was later converted into a study with attached bar. This became a multipurpose room where, post retirement, I have my office and also meet friends when they visit me.

The small terrace garden on the first floor was first converted into a study and later into a small guest bedroom. After the renovation necessitated by flooding problem inside the house during the recent rains and the elimination of  the extra guest toilet for the same reason the home now has five proper bedrooms with attached toilets

At its peak of occupation the home had seven people staying –my family of five and my parents. The first to go out was my elder daughter Kavitha  who got married in 1994. The same year, my father passed away just a month before the marriage when he was 79. My second daughter Sowmya got married in 1998 and left home and my mother passed away in 2000 when she was 82. My son Balaji also left  for USA to do his Masters in Industrial Engineering in 2002.

Now the five bedroom independent home had only two people staying– Prabha and I. It was around the same time I was going through tough times in my business. So we decided to rent out the upstairs portion  to a tenant with independent access from outside. The arrangement continued until my son who had  returned from USA  in 2008 and got married the same year to Tulse. After  a brief stay in  Trichy after marriage he decided  to shift to Chennai and set shop  on the first floor of my home. Right from the beginning Prabha and I were clear that we will not merge the families. My son would have his own space and live the life that he wants to live and we will have our own space.

I have continued the same policy even after Prabha left this world in January,2013 when she was only 61.. As of now I live alone on the ground floor and my son whose family has expanded to four members  with the arrival of a son and daughter in quick succession, lives on  the first floor

As long as Prabha was there, being a house proud woman, she would slog to keep the house spotlessly clean. Though I cannot  maintain her standards, I am happy when some guests tell me that the house, particularly the kitchen and the Pooja room  are maintained well.

In the last 40 years I have had some wonderful  moments living in this house. Apart from hosting several memorable get togethers of  family and friends. I had to conduct the engagement ceremony of my elder daughter Kavitha at home, at a very short notice, attended by over 60 family members. The house also witnessed the arrival all my 6 grand children. The four grand children  through my daughters spent their first three months in this house being looked after by their proud & loving  grandmother Prabha.

Arul, my first grand child, born in 1996, was special. I had the energy and inclination to indulge in all his games, as I was still in my fifties. I remember I even recorded his activities for a whole day on video and called it a `A day with Arul`. After the arrival of Uthara, Nila and Keshav  between 2001 and 2003 in quick succession, it was fun when all of them came on a visit during family get togethers. My big `thoppai` was their play ground. Lying on my back in my bed I would allow them to do what they want with my big madhya  pradesh! Oh what fun it was!. Unfortunately I neither have the energy nor stamina to indulge my resident grand children through my son Thavam (4.5yrs) and Bakthi (1.8yrs). At 80, while the spirit is willing the flesh has become weak.

While I have gone through the aging process, hopefully gracefully, my home of 40 years is beginning to show signs of wear and tear.  Should  we go for major repairs or go for redevelopment of the house, as has been done by many house owners in our colony, is a question that is cropping up often these days.  I will leave that decision to my son  as I am beginning to develop a detached attachment  towards all near and dear ones including my beautiful home! I can always live with the memories of this  home just as I have been celebrating the memories of 40 years of my  life with Prabha!

Time to Let go!

Over the years I have been associated with several voluntary & professional organizations.  In some of them  the original founders refused to give up control or refused to `Let Go` which resulted in such organizations’ collapse after the exit of such founders due to natural causes.

I was a trustee in an NGO which was  being run by a dynamic but aging friend, I suggested institutionalizing the organization so that the NGO continues to flourish even after the exit of the founder. My idea was accepted and a retired professional from the corporate sector was appointed to run the NGO on a day-to-day basis. But the founder refused to let go of his control and encouraged staff to come to him with any problems they faced thereby undermining the position of the professional who quit after a couple of years. As expected, the NGO ceased to exist after the demise of the founder.

In a Rotary Club which celebrated its Silver jubilee last year, the original founders, all past presidents now, have dominated the running of the Club so much that they are not able to attract new members resulting in a Past President taking over as the Silver Jubilee President. Unless this club ropes in some new, young members and encourages potential leaders to take over the mantle of the club and empowers them, I will not be surprised if the club ceases to exist after a couple of years.

I also know of a company started by a friend, which grew by leaps and bounds, got into serious trouble when he was immobilized due to a major accident and could not run the company. In the absence of an identified successor to run the company, his family had to sell the company.

Whichever organization that I have founded or in which I  have occupied leadership positions, I have always ensured that there is a lineup of potential leaders to take over the mantle after me.  Wherever possible, I  also tried to institutionalize the running of the organization so that the day-to-day functions ran smoothly, irrespective of the caliber of its leaders.

I have always believed in the power of the youth and encouraged them to come up with new ideas so that the institution continues to grow and stays relevant to the times. There is no point in past presidents constantly harping on what happened during their times and interfering in the affairs of the institution concerned preventing the younger teams to function. Instead, they should provide advice and help only when sought and generally encourage the new teams.

I am proud to say that this is what is happening now  in the Rotary Club of Madras South of which I have been a member since 1977. A  62 years old club it has over 26 Past presidents out of a membership of 75. Thanks to the constant induction of young blood it has become such a vibrant club where the old and new members work hand in hand bonding like a big, happy family!

It is time leaders know when to let go so that not only the institutions survive them but also do better!