Entertaining guests at home - the new normal!

This year my son  decided to organize a dinner for the family members numbering 14 adults plus kids on the Diwali night at our home in Sastri Nagar. As I was getting tensed up about the arrangements for the dinner, he made it clear that he would take care of everything and asked me not to worry. Being a ‘tension party’, I was worried that even at 6.30 pm there was no sign of any activity – not even laying the table with necessary crockeries required for serving the dinner. What about the menu for the evening dinner? When I asked my son  he said he was waiting for all the guests to arrive and order the food of their choice  on swiggy/zomato/dunzo etc. I was shocked- it was going to be  a multi cuisine  `A la carte` dinner for the guests. Will it work? Will all the items arrive on time?

As the guests were arriving, while  my son was checking their  preference for food,

my daughter in law was busy serving the guests soft drinks and ready snacks. When my siblings said that they cannot take any item  with onion or garlic because it was the evening of Amavasya, he had a ready solution for them-Jain Thalis from the Agarwals. While, others had ordered for items ranging from Fried rice,  Cauliflower Manchurian, Veg .Noodles , Paneer butter masala with parathas and so on  my son in law & I got masala dosas  from A2B ( Adyar Ananda Bhavan ). All the items were delivered by the service providers within 45 minutes of placing the order on line.

While I was wondering how these items were  going to be consumed by guests, out came the disposable dinner plates and  water cups. The serving spoons and table spoons from the kitchen were also out in a jiffy and  the items were piled up on the dining table without any order and the guests were asked to have a go. The very senior citizens managed to squeeze some space on the table so that they could sit and eat and others picked up their items and moved to the drawing room. Though every guest got  the item of their choice, it did not stop them from taking  a bite or two from the items ordered by others. Every one seemed  to be enjoying the dinner as most of them got what they wanted and more!

In my long working career,  my wife and  I have organized several dinner get togethers for guests ranging from 10 to 30 people. The tension of hosting the dinner will start from the morning and will continue till every guest left home having enjoyed a home cooked meal served with a lot of love and affection. When we tried to get outside food on a couple of occasions , we were not happy. But today`s youngsters have  their own priorities. They don`t believe in wasting time and efforts on things they can get at the press of a button. Ultimately what matters is that the guests are  happy. My family members, majority of whom are senior citizens seemed to have enjoyed the dinner on the Diwali night.

I realised that it is time that I learn to live with the `New Normal` while entertaining guests at home!

My Safire Connection

During all my official travels to Madras,as a young executive,  I always felt that I belonged to the city. I dreamt of settling down in Madras, post retirement. I never imagined that it will happen when I was only 32. Madras welcomed me with open arms and in the last 46 years it has seen me grow not only professionally but also as a human being . Among the many interesting  memories I have of the city, my brief association with Safire theatre complex stands out. Before I elaborate on my story a few words about  the theatre.

 Started by the Veecumsee Family, the well known jewellers of the city, the Safire Theatre complex was India's first largest multi-theatre complex located on Mount Road (now Anna Salai) close to the old Gemini circle. The theatre complex was being  run by Mr. H.V. Shah & his sons. It was the idea of the eldest son Yashwant to start the multi-theatre complex and also Silver Sands — the first-ever Beach Resort in the country. The complex was an imposing building with parking space for about 40 cars. It consisted of three screening halls, viz. Safire, Blue Diamond, and Emerald.  Safire, the biggest with a seating capacity of 0ver 1000,  was also  the first 70mm theatre in India which opened to public in 1964. with the screening of Cleopatra. Many other block busters of the time followed. Blue Diamond had the unique concept  of continuous shows where you could buy a ticket in the morning  and stay inside the theatre throughout the day watching  the same film several times. It is another matter that most of the visitors, ,young and old couples,   came to the  Blue Diamond  not  to see the movie but to indulge  in amorous pursuits in  the dark, air conditioned comforts of the theatre. It was also patronized by  salesmen who were looking for a air conditioned resting place between appointments.

 

I came to Madras in 1974, to take  up a job with Grant Kenyon & Eckhart as the Resident Director. Since Grant was handling the advertising for both the Theatre complex and the Beach Resort, we were given an office space in the second floor so that Grant could be at the beck and call of the client. It  was a long corridor located adjacent to the projection room with two rooms at the far end of the office.  While the administrative offices of the theatre complex  were located in the basement, the first floor was used as the city office of Silver sands  and the third floor was occupied by one of the family members running his own business.

 

My  introduction to Safire happened under unusual circumstances.I was to relieve HW, a pipe smoking Anglo-Indian, who was always suited and booted and spent more time in the Madras Gymkhana Bar than in the office. My  boss Vijay Menon from Bombay  who had come down to Madras  to install me in my new job, asked me to report at Safire theatre, at 9.00 am on a particular day. Instead of taking me straight into the office, Vijay asked me to wait in the Foyer of the theatre, as HW had not been told that he was being sacked! I was feeling bad and embarrassed.  After waiting for nearly 30 minutes, which seemed like eternity, Vijay took me  and introduced me to HW. Surprisingly he  was all geniality personified, as the sacking had come as no surprise to him. He seemed to be happy that the management finally had the courage to relieve him for non performance!

 

I was shocked beyond words to see the items on display on the table and walls of the Manger`s  office. Apart from finding several objects arousing sexuality, the walls were full of nude model pictures, used in the annual calendars which the agency  had produced for the liquor division of EID Parry.  While going around the office I was intrigued to find  a room behind the manager’s office with an attached bathroom, a cot and few other fixtures required for living. Later I found out that the multipurpose room was used by HW for his nefarious activities. Whenever he had a big fight with his domineering wife, who was obviously always questioning him on his philandering ways, he would spend the night in the office with some company. The facility was also offered to friends in need..

 

As we came out of the office, I told Vijay that I was not moving into the office without performing a puja It was almost a week before I actively took over the reins of an empty office with hardly any business. My tryst with both Safire &  Madras  had begun.

 

 

. Every morning I would come to the office by 9.30 am.. After working in a big office in Delhi  with a large  staff, it was quite depressing to be seated behind a 25 year old mahogany table (which  had multiple drawers  on both sides)  and find that I had no work to do!.Then it dawned on me that the challenge of the job was to revive an almost dying  Madras branch of Grant.and  that I had to start building the business from scratch. Based on a plan of action I started calling on prospective clients. In the next two years I had brought in enough business to ensure that the branch was self sustaining and I would retain my job! As the business grew I had to employ additional staff.  I decided to allocate the rear room to the copywriter, whom I had hired  so that he could work peacefully. But I didn`t realize it would disturb my peace because every visitor   to meet the copywriter had to pass through my room!

 

 

In the first year,  since the job did not keep me busy throughout the day, to kill time I would stand at the landing of the floor watching the traffic on Anna Salai through the huge glass panels  or find myself in the projection room of Safire Cinema, watching the movies through the glass panels. This was possible  thanks to the friendly Projectionists. There were two huge projectors. Watching the Projectionists shift from one projector to another, when the reel in one projector got over  was fascinating. It was done so seamlessly that the audience would not be aware of the change. The privilege of working in a theatre complex also gave me an opportunity to see block busters on the first day itself because of my closeness to ‘Appunni’, the manager of the theatre.  A diminutive,  balding,  Malayalee who would be a most sought after man during the first few weeks of any film release. Those days good  films ran for 25 weeks or more. Thanks to my closeness to Appunni, sometimes I could also oblige friends with tickets even for the  so called houseful shows in Safire.

 

While Emerald with a seating capacity of 300 seats featured Tamil & Hindi Films, Blue Diamond with a seating capacity of just  150 specialized in featuring old films both Indian and foreign. Sometimes when I was early to work, I would see couples hanging around waiting for the booking counter of Blue Diamond  to open. It was shocking to see some of them coming out of the theatre only around 2 or 3 pm when I was leaving in my car to visit some client. While they looked fresh waiting in the queue, they looked exhausted with crumpled dresses when they came out looking sheepishly around to ensure that they did not encounter any familiar faces. It was indeed a sight to behold! It was not unusual for me to catch some known faces indulging  in such acts.  To save them the embarrassment  I would act as if I had not noticed  them.

 

Safire cinema, like many other big cinema halls of the time, had Family rooms ( Boxes) above the balcony area which was patronised by rich and famous people including popular film stars. Many of them would invariably keep the Manager informed in advance of their visit  so that adequate security arrangements were in place for them. They would  come a little late and leave before the film ended  to avoid being mobbed by the crowd. Thanks to our connection with Appunni we would be tipped about the visit of   a celebrity star, enabling some of our star stuck staff ( some times that included me) waiting at the landing of the steps leading to the Box. Our day was made if we could shake hands with the popular stars.

 

Though Grant had been provided an exclusive parking space, it was tough getting in and  out of  the parking area when the block busters were screened. At the end of every show there would be pandemonium both inside and outside the complex, with cars trying to enter or leave  the complex resulting in a big traffic jam on Anna Salai outside the complex. I had  to plan all my client. meetings keeping in mind this factor. In spite of all the planning, some times I would get stuck in the office unable to get out because of unexpected processions by political parties on Anna Salai.

 

I can never forget 2^nd October,1975. The day the popular Congress veteran  K.Kamaraj died. There was a massive procession on Anna Salai accompanying the mortal remains of the popular leader which took  more than four hours to cross the Safire point.. While I could watch the procession from a vantage point in the building,  I could not leave the office until the road was cleared for traffic.

 

Watching fights for tickets was another source of entertainment for me. But one fight I wished I had not seen. One Sunday morning I was shocked  to see a fight on some  family issue by the warring sons of Mr H.V Shah, in the foyer. The heated arguments between two brothers led  to fisticuffs, watched by a motely crowd. When the old man tried to mediate, he was also roughed up. This public humiliation affected the old man very badly. I felt bad because the old man was a good soul who was also one of  my well wishers.

 

Within six years of my taking over the reigns of grant Madras the business had grown that I had to appoint more staff. Apart from the need for a bigger office space, the problems posed by the  theatre complex to  my clients who wanted to call on me at the office necessitated my moving out of the Safire Complex to another more spacious office on Greams Road in 1980. Though my day to day association  with the complex had ceased I continued to keep in touch with Appunni so that I could get tickets at Safire whenever I needed it.

 

The complex was acquired in 1994 by the local All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam . which wanted to construct its new headquarters. The entire Safire complex was demolished, but AIADMK did not end up building its headquarters. 

 

Today the empty space where the Majestic Safire Complex stood looks forlorn, full of weed and wild plant growth and is  used by many as a public toilet. Every time I pass the area, I  am filled with nostalgia of the good times I had at the complex. I can never forget that it was at the Safire office complex  that the  seeds of my reputation as a rural specialist were sown.

Transformation of a cute little colony!

On my first official visit to Chennai in 1967, I had to visit Sastri Nagar in Adyar, responding to a dinner invitation from the Branch Manager of my company. I remember that we had to cross a narrow one way iron bridge over the Adyar river connecting Gandhi Nagar and the areas beyond with the city. A traffic constable was stationed to allow vehicles from either side to go over the bridge alternately. My Branch Manager’s house was one of the dozen independent houses in the area, with plenty of open space all around. I was told that during the rainy season the entire area would be flooded and Sastri Nagar would look like a lake dotted with houses! I never imagined that within seven years I would move to Chennai and settle down in Sastri Nagar, a beautiful little colony then with lovely houses built by retired bureaucrats, upcoming businessmen and a few professionals. By the time I moved to Sastri Nagar, the area had seen some development, with more independent houses. Besant Nagar, lying between Sastri Nagar and the beautiful Elliots beach , was fast developing, with a complex of Housing Board flats serving different stratas of society. For all our daily necessities we had to go to Besant Nagar or walk up to Lattice Bridge Road (LB Road). Laxmi Sagar, the Udupi Restaurant dishing out delicious South Indian snacks, was the only restaurant serving the entire area and it was located (and continues to exist) diagonally opposite Adyar Telephone Exchange. Today, Adyar has a choice of multi-cuisine restaurants offering Indian, Chinese, Italian, Korean, Japanese and Continental flavours You can get every thing- from `pin to elephant`- in Adyar today. In Sastri Nagar, the streets are not sequentially numbered; Eighth Cross St. becomes 5th Cross St., 14th Cross St. merges with 13th Cross St. and the other way around. 7th Cross St. runs parallel to 12th Cross which in turn runs parallel to 8th Cross St. 11th Cross St. cuts across all these streets! Confusing? Imagine the plight of a first time visitor to Sastri Nagar trying to locate an address without proper directions. He will be totally lost in the maze of ‘cross streets’. In the last two decades, greedy builders have managed to tempt the owners of the beautiful houses to go in for joint development of plots, with the result that Sastri Nagar has become a concrete jungle. Many of the streets are witnessing the appearances of commercial ventures in a primarily residential area, transforming the profile of the locality. My home, which is one of the few independent homes surviving, was a peaceful place tucked inside a small lane facing the colony’s only Corporation playground. Today, we are surrounded by multi-storied apartments on three sides leading to a feeling of suffocation. I will, however, not think of leaving Sastri Nagar because of its strategic location. Just a ten-minute walk from my home to the lovely Elliot’s Beach where I can watch the sun rise and breath fresh air every morning. It is another matter that I go for a walk in my car! This article appeared in Adyar Times issue dt.22-28 August,2020

Instant meals on line

What Amazon, Flipkart and a few others have done to online shopping, Swiggy, Zomato, Uber eats and others have done for the way we order, ready to eat food. A service  very popular among the younger generation. No problem entertaining  guests who  make sudden visits or even invited visits during meal times; with cuisines of their choice- Chinese,  Punjabi, South Indian,  Continental or even a`Combo`. All supplied at your doorstep within 30 to 45 minutes of ordering online.

The other day we got a call that a few relatives were dropping in to see my  resident grandson.It was nearing dinner time.  As a person who believes in entertaining guests to home cooked meals, I was wondering what to do. My son told me. ` Don`t worry, Appa. I will order food on Swiggy. Instead of wasting our time in the kitchen, we can spend it talking to the guests`. When I was concerned about laying the table and getting the serving bowls ready, he assured me that all the items come packed neatly in ready to serve containers. All that we have to keep on the table are  dinner plates, spoons , forks and a few serving spoons.  It is that simple .

My mind travelled back to the times when I would  host friends for dinner at home.  My wife  was good at cooking meals for even 20 to 30 people. On the day of the dinner the preparations would start from early morning. We would plan the menu based on which I would buy the vegetables and other items.  It was my responsibility to lay the table, get all the crockeries and other items cleaned and arranged neatly on the table- generally keep the house ready for receiving the guests while my wife would be busy in the kitchen. When it was dinner time, I would also help in filling up the cooked items in serving bowls and ensure refills regularly as the dinner progressed. I was not an MCP like most of the husbands of my time were but a 50:50 partner who believed in extending whatever help I could to my wife. Though it was  physically challenging, I used to enjoy what I was doing. At the end of the evening when guests left after thoroughly enjoying a delicious home cooked meal and praised us for the love and affection with which it was served,  our day was made. My wife, who would initially grumble about having to cook for so many people would be happy at the end of the day because of the appreciation she received  from the guests. We felt that all the hard work had paid off.

As we were growing older and our physical energy diminishing, we tried ordering food from outside  but we were not satisfied. We felt that our personal touch was lacking. We tried combining a few home cooked items with some items bought from outside. Since the passing away of my wife a few years ago, this is what I do whenever I decide to host High tea or dinner for friends.  I ensure  a couple of home cooked items on the table during such get-togethers. This makes the guests happy. I feel happy when I see them happy. The satisfaction that one gets in serving home cooked meals can never be matched by the impersonal act of hosting guests for meals using Swiggy or any such service.

 The stressed out younger generation with its own priorities may not agree with me.

Snail mails

 I met a friend at a get together recently. Our  conversation veered towards  the impact of Internet and  social media on the traditional postal system: a system providing a service which was popularly known as  `snail mails` as against the instant communication, across the world,  possible through emails and social media today.

Remember the times, not long ago, when all communication to your near and dear ones, staying near or far, was done through letters written by hand or typewritten on a self stamped  post card, or Inland letter  or postal covers. If we were   sending the letter in plain envelopes then we  had to buy stamps of different denominations  depending on the weight of the envelope and paste them on the envelopes using   some form of adhesive. Even grains  of cooked rice came in handy as an adhesive!. This  task was later made easy by the Post office  which provided  self adhesive  stamps and all that you had to do was to wet it  by using a wet sponge  or just lick it!.

We used the post card for open communication and Inland letters  or enveloped letters  for any communication which required some privacy. If we wanted to secure the delivery of letters or important documents we  had the facility of sending  them  by Registered Post ; with or without Acknowledgement  Due. When the electronic payment facilities or even basic  banking services  did not have the kind of reach it has today, Money Orders were the sure way  of sending money from one place to another. VPP was another service offered.

In the olden days, our elders believed in using  post cards more often with  information packed using every centimeter of space available in the post card.  It was not unusual to see sentences squeezed into the margins and even the address portions.   You had to wait patiently for letters from your near and dear ones,  living abroad,   sent by Sea Post.  They would take more than a month  to reach you. Later the waiting time  was reduced to a week when the letters started arriving by air mail.

The government in its wisdom has been providing this as a subsidized  service. India can proudly claim to have one of the best postal systems  in the world. We have 1,55,000 post offices to serve the 6,00,000 villages of India of which 1,38,000 are located in villages.  In many of the villages the Post Offices are located in the home of a prominent  resident of the village, even today. I have heard that my maternal grand father  was operating one such Post office from his home  in our  village in Tamil Nadu

With the growing popularity of Social media , when the Postal Department found reduced patronage for its services, making huge losses, it had to reinvent itself.  It had to think  of  non conventional services using its wide network  connecting the remotest villages of India. IPO has  one of the best distribution networks available in the country for any product or service. No wonder that Post Offices diversified into  offering services like Life Insurance, Postal savings . They even offer their Network to Corporates for selling their products.  The latest  is the Indian Post Payments Bank which promises to take Banking services to the doorsteps of households, especially rural households.

While Postal Department is trying its best to stay relevant, it is sad that a whole generation  of Indians  has grown without having any idea of the Postal services. The other day I was asking a school  boy if he has heard about Post offices. His response was `What is a Post Office!`

This article appeared in the Adyar Times issue dt  07-13, July,2019 under my column `Rajan`s Random Reflections`

Feedback welcome on rvrajan42@gmail.com or 9840392082

Typing –an essential life skill

   Learning to type was considered an important life skill for anyone in the olden days. Especially among the middleclass. Even if one did not pursue a college education, knowledge of typing could help a young man  get a job as a typist in any company. In addition, If he learnt shorthand he could be a stenographer leading to better job prospects. A whole generation of Tambrahms from Kerala, popularly known as `Palghat Iyers` migrated to Bombay in the mid forties qualified as  stenographers to start their lives as personal assistants to big bosses. Most of them did very well in life.
 

My first job, was also as a PA to a Gujarathi businessman. In addition to a B.Com degree I had passed the `Typewriting Lower` exams. Since I did not know shorthand I used to take dictations in long hand. My boss was not good at dictating resulting in several drafts before a letter was typed and signed by the boss.

The manual typewriters those days came with different brand names. Most popular was `Remington`. The more sleek looking was the `Olivetti`. The electronic versions of typewriters followed much later.

There were several typewriting institutes in every area of the city having scores of typewriters on which the trainees used to be busy learning the skill. `Clickety clack` sound of the multiple typewriters in an institute accompanied by the bell ringing sound warning the typist that the he had reached the end of the typing space on the paper was like music to the ears. The first lesson one learnt was to type `asdf` with the left hand four fingers followed by `lkjh` using the right hand fingers. This lesson would go on for a couple of days before you were taught to type all the alphabets from ` a to z`. Starting with small passages you typed long passages without looking at the typewriter, picking up speed in the process. When the Instructor felt that you had reached the speed limit of 40 words per minute you were allowed to sit for an exam to earn your certificate.

If you wanted extra copies of the typed matter you used carbon papers between sheets. Every time you made a mistake, you had to retype the whole matter. It was very frustrating. Though later on white correction fluids were available to mask the  mistake and overtype the correct word, it was messy. Typing was undoubtedly a laborious process those days.

On the other hand it amazes me to see the youngsters of today, who never went to a typewriting institute, type furiously on computers using only their two index fingers or using the two  thumbs to key in the messages on their mobiles. I don`t know how they do this. I find even the key board of a PC,  which is  touch sensitive, a  challenge! I tend to overlap the letters  when  I attempt to type with all the fingers. So, like millions of people I have also learnt to type on my PC using the two index fingers.  Keying in messages on my `over smart` mobile phone with only the right index finger, however, continues to be a challenge- with the prompter facility in the phone often  deciding to use words which I had not intended to use. Again like millions I have forgotten the lessons I learnt in the typewriting institute. No wonder the traditional typing institutes have almost vanished from this earth!

This article appeared in the 24-30th September, 2017  issue of Adyar Times under my column `Rajan`s Random reflections`

Brindavan Express

Traveling by Brindavan in the A/C chair car between Chennai and Bangalore, used to be my favourite mode of transport to visit Bangalore. This was before the two A/C coaches were detached from the train,  a couple of years ago to promote the use of fully air conditioned, less expensive  `Double Decker` trains.

One enduring memory I have of the Brindavan express, as a foodaholic ( I was one in my younger days!) is the parade of vendors from the pantry car, selling a variety of mouth watering snacks, which I could hardly   resist! While in  the Shatabdi,, where the caterers mechanically serve you fixed items, often unpalatable, at appointed times with clockwork efficiency; the vendors in Brindavan were more human, friendly and very hard working. Imagine having to walk up and down the aisles of the coaches hundreds of times in a day, holding the tray of snacks on one hand and balancing themselves, by holding on to seat tops with the other hand. That too in an undulating train, running at high speed .And doing this day after day, for a living. Great guys! Hats Off to them.

Now coming to the food items …If you were catching the morning Brindavan from Chennai to Bangalore, the first items to appear would surely be the traditional breakfast menu: Idli or Pongal with Vadai (invariably cold and hard because the items must have been prepared the previous night), served with insufficient, watery and sometimes stale coconut chutney.

If you have the patience to wait for the next round of snacks, which could well be “Hot Masala Dosa” or “Hot Bread Omelet”, then you are assured of a better fare. But the chap would insist on serving a minimum of two dosas at-a-time, with a generous serving of fresh chutney. My favorite was Omelet and Bread with a packet of tomato ketchup; my second breakfast in two hours.

Obviously there are many more hungry people like me on the train, who were not satisfied with even two  breakfasts. So from about 9.30 am there would be  a parade of vendors selling Vazhakai (raw banana) Bajjis, Chilly Bajjis, Cutlets, Masala Vadas, Garam Bondas or Samosas  not to forget ready snacks, like biscuits, Lay’s chips etc.

They kept  coming back  again & again until I was  tempted to try just one Bajji or one Cutlet, just for tasting them,  you know?! But the smart vendor  insisted  that a plate came  with a minimum of three Bajjis or three Cutlets. They had a target to meet, you see!.Needless to say, I invariably fell into this trap and had my third breakfast.

I always admired  the guys who went  around selling tea or coffee in the train. The way they balanced the hot steel containers between their legs, leaning on the side of the seat, adding a spoon of Nescafe and sugar into the cup and then filling it up with the watery milk from the container to give you a hot cup of a concoction called Coffee! No wonder the term “train coffee” or “train tea” have become synonymous with bad coffee or tea!

Though the food items continue to be available on the Double Decker trains, its cramped seating makes it one of the most uncomfortable trains to travel.  Shatabdi, though fast & comfortable, provides no choice when comes to food items. Any day I will vote for the re- introduction of the two A/C chairs cars in the Brindavan Express. It had a charm of its own!

The Corner “Annachhi Kadai”

                After nearly two months I was visiting Mahalaxmi stores, a grocery shop which has been in existence for over 40 years close to my home. I was pleasantly surprised to see the complete transformation of the shop. From a typical  `hole in the wall` kind of shop with an open counter manned by the shop owner and his assistant , it has now become a closed  air conditioned shop. Instead of the crowded interior with products lying haphazardly, it now had all the products stocked & displayed on neatly laid shelves offering an opportunity for the customers to help themselves. But the customers can have a choice of only the pre packed items in different SKU`s (pack sizes) and pay the MRP mentioned on the packs. 
 

In his earlier avatar, the assistant would take the order, weigh the exact quantity required on a weighing machine, pack it in a portion of a newspaper converted into a conical paper bag, close it and wrap it around with a white string pulled from a bundle on a rod hanging from the roof. Once all the ordered items were assembled he would list them on a white blank sheet held in a pad with a clip, mark the prices and add the amounts using a pocket calculator lying next to the cash counter. Even if there are only two items, he would use the calculator. He would exchange  this `Bill` for cash and hand over the items in a plastic bag.

 One of the advantages of shopping in such a store was the facility to touch and feel the products, be it  rice, pulses or any other item which needs to be felt, before you were satisfied with the quality and place the order. The shop also accepted orders on phone with assured door delivery and monthly payment  facility for those who opted for it.

Today the calculator has been replaced by a computer with the necessary software suitable for retail operations, which also helps  in getting  printouts of  the bills for the customers. The small 200 sq.ft shop also has four CCTV cameras which are monitored at the cash counter by the owner. While the air conditioned shop offers shopping convenience, the flip side of the self help system is that you tend to buy much more than what you came to buy. Good for the shop keeper , not so good for the customers. This is probably one idea adopted by the small shops to counter the onset of many branded department stores in and around our area.

 I remember,  my visits to such stores on Sundays  when on my return home, I was guaranteed  to get admonished by my wife for buying many items  which were not in her list. She would bitterly complain about my wasting money and also adding to her workload. All the joy I derived from shopping would be dissipated in no time.

Almost all the grocery stores run by Nadar Annachis or  the Muslim Bhais in my area  continue to exist  serving  the poorer people who shop  on a day to day or weekly  basis buying  items in smaller quantities, while the well-heeled citizens patronize the more up market department stores or even buy online; a trend catching up in a big way with the younger generation.

Does the Corner grocery store have a future? Only time can tell.

This article appeared in Adyar Times Issue dt. 6-12th August,2017 under my column `Rajan`s random Reflections`

Down `photo` lane

   The old photo album is a  treasure trove of memories. The other day I was going through an old family album featuring photos of my siblings & I in our childhood. There were the mandatory photos taken when we were three months old, just after we had learned to turn on our stomachs. All of us staring at the camera with a frightened look and with a  black `kajol` dot on our cheeks to ward off the evil eye. For the same reason that   parents were not allowed to take photos of kids until they were three months old.

The next one showed all of us standing at different angles, probably when we were one year old. Except for my sister, who was wearing a `jaddi`,  all the male siblings were in our birthday suits! I also discovered separate albums for each one of us tracing our growth from childhood to our marriage. Marriage albums those days were with black sheets of paper bound in  black hard cover featuring black & white  photos pasted in position with four corner stickers. If you wanted to remove a picture from the album, it had to be torn off as it was not meant to be removed from the album.

I was thrilled to see a photo taken when I was four years old, clad in a pyjama /kurtha with my long hair tied  into a bun with flowers tucked in.  The photo was taken a couple of days before my family`s visit to Tirupathi to have my first `Mottai ( Mundan) , as was customary in our family. I also found thousands of loose photos taken on various occasions packed in different envelops or as inserts in transparent plastic albums.

Fast forward to modern times. Though I could not find any of the albums featuring my children`s photographic history ( as they were thoughtfully given away to them by my late  wife after their marriages) I did find a few photos taken during the time when my eldest daughter presented us with our  first grandson. There were  pictures taken showing my daughter lying on her back in a maternity hospital with a big protruding  tummy; the new born baby in the hands of my son-in law and a  beaming picture of my daughter with a deflated stomach  with her child next to her. This was twenty years ago. These days it has become customary for young parents  to record on their mobile cameras the minute to minute action before & after delivery of a baby and instantly share the same on their `Whats App` groups. I shudder to think of the day when some over enthusiastic young father (who is  allowed inside the delivery room if it is a normal delivery) decides to share the photo of the child coming out of the womb.  

Even the marriage albums with the accompanying video CDs have become lavish affairs. I am told that some families with deep pockets hire a photographer to accompany the newly married couple on their honeymoon so that the memories of the young couple cavorting in different places and situations can be captured for posterity.  Seems fine so long as it does not include their bedroom! 

 As an old timer I feel that the sheer  joy of browsing through old albums and going down memory lane can never be replaced by the thousands of instant photographs taken on mobiles which are forgotten after they are shared on` Whats App` groups`!

(This article has appeared in Adyar Times issue dated 23-29^th July,2017 under my column `Rajan`s Random Reflections`. If you like it please share it with your friends)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have you ordered for my new  book of short stories titled `A Difficult choice`?

Containing 15 short stories dealing with contemporary issues, the book is priced at Rs.199/-only and  has a Foreword by the legendary Novelist and Playwright  Shri Indira Parthasarathy.  The proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards the activities of Prabha Rajan Talent Foundation

 You can order your copies on amazon.com : http://www.amazon.in/dp/8185987130 or write to me for your copy of the book (rvrajan42@gmail.com). The book is  also available at  Words & Worth, Besant Nagar and Odessey at Adyar/Tiruvanmiyur in Chennai.

Fantasies

To  fantasize is to imagine something that you would like to happen. Another word for it is day dreaming.

 `Day dreaming helps the mind unwind, connect the dots and get creative` says a report in a leading daily. The author of the report recommends that when children complain of boredom, instead of overloading them with all kinds of  activities,  give them time to daydream. When they have nothing to do they are likely to indulge in `day dreaming` about what they want to do in life ,  which is good for them . The same report also quotes Sabu Cyril, the well known Art director; “ Day dreaming helped make me what I am today”. 

All of us have been fantasizing  or day dreaming about something or the other right from our childhood.

Living in a chawl in Mumbai in my early years where  50 people shared two common toilets every morning  ( what a nightmare!) I would dream of owning a home with toilets for every  member of the family.Today I have a 6-bedroom independent  home with  seven  toilets ( including the one located outside the house  for servants)- The irony is that we now have only three members living in the house.

As an adolescent I would dream of cavorting with the beautiful actresses of the time. Later in college, I would imagine that any girl who talked to me nicely was in love with me – the number  of one sided love affairs I had would have been  a record. Ofcourse,  like everyone else I was also in search of an ideal wife who would satisfy all the features and qualities I was looking for in my future partner. Since I could not find one on my own, I dutifully married a girl of my parents’ choice. Over a period of time she acquired all the qualities  I wanted in my wife ( I don`t know if I satisfied all her expectations) and we became an ideal couple in the eyes of  the society.

At seventy I dreamt of taking up `Vanaprastha` as prescribed by our Sastras and lead a carefree life without family responsibilities.  I imagined  that by doing so I would be  allowing total freedom to my wife so that she could  enjoy doing the things  that she always wanted to do, without me breathing down her neck. The sudden departure of my wife from this world four  years ago made me change my plans. Today I fantasize that I am still living with my wife;  feeling her presence in every room and every object in the house she passionately looked after!

I find  that age is no barrier for fantasizing. These days in my dreams I go back forty years in time and imagine  eating all the mouthwatering dishes I enjoyed,   indulge myself with  drinks   that made me  extra spirited, travel to countries and places I have not yet visited, doing all the things that I know I cannot  do because of my age and related health issues.

It is fun to indulge in day dreaming and go after such dreams , irrespective of your age. You will never get bored with life!

This article appeared in the 9-15^th July 2017  issue of Adyar Times under my column `Rajan`s random Reflections`

Photography- as a hobby

Technology  has made a huge difference to photography as a hobby. Today  anyone can claim to be a photographer. You not only can capture interesting moments  in your life on your mobiles but also instantly share the same with your near & dear ones spread  across the world  through `Whats App` : the latest fad being taking `selfies` on  mobiles.

My mind goes back to the time when I would click black & white  pictures  using a `Gevabox` camera presented to me by my uncle.   I  shot these pictures on 120 mm square format. The film rolls  had 12 exposures. After  clicking every picture  I  had  to move the film forward using a lever provided in the camera. When the roll got fully exposed ,  I  had to remove it from the camera and load a  new roll to carry on shooting. It was not unusual to find the film getting stuck in the camera and  I  had to use force to pull it out damaging the roll and some shots.   I would have no idea of how the shots had come out until the rolls were` `developed`: first as negatives and later as prints from negatives. 

 I was a regular customer of Harish  at Zenith Photo Studio in Matunga, Mumbai, who always developed & printed the pictures taken by  me.  Waiting for Harish to tell me the results of  my  efforts was like waiting for the news of the birth of a baby  outside a labour room in a hospital.  

Once I started  earning,  I took up photography as a serious hobby. From black & white to colour, from 120mm  to 35mm film rolls, from colour prints to 35mm colour slides, from  simple `aim & shoot` cameras to sophisticated  SLR cameras- I went through all the phases that any photographer  went through those days.

Shooting pictures on 35mm slides and using them in my presentations to clients became a regular feature of my life.  I also used my talent to produce scores of  A.V presentations  promoting the projects of several Round Tables in the country which  helped the  Clubs raise crores of Rupees  as donations for their projects.

I have had  some interesting and some nerve racking moments shooting pictures. Like the time I was  taking a shot of  an `Open Heart surgery` being performed  on a 17 years old girl by doctors at the Railway Hospital in Perambur, Chennai.  Wearing the mandatory blue uniform and mask  and standing on a stool next to the operating table I had to take the action shot. I was scared of falling off the stool. Two room boys were physically holding  me in order to prevent me from falling.  On another occasion my camera caught  the  dying  moment of a baby girl  as doctors were trying to make last ditch efforts  to keep her alive. It was a very disturbing experience.

On the lighter side there were many occasions when  after shooting a  roll of film I would find that the numbers on the counter in the camera had moved forward without the film itself moving. Resulting in an unexposed roll at the end of a painstaking shooting session. Similarly , a  fully exposed film roll revealing no pictures when developed was also a possibility!

 I stopped indulging in this hobby 10 years ago. I am not complaining because I spend the same time  ` writing` which I find  equally creative &  interesting   without being physically taxing.