Hearing Aids or Diamond Earrings?

Hearing aids are becoming necessary for senior citizens who continue leading active lives as I discovered two decades ago when I was in my early sixties. My association with Wan -IFRA, a

newspaper body with headquarters in Germany used to take me to Frankfurt every year to attend the Annual meeting of all the Country Heads for a review meeting. Thirty managers from different parts of the world would be seated around a rectangular conference table in the conference hall. There would be no public address system. While I could hear speakers with

loud and clear voices, I found it extremely difficult to hear anyone with a soft voice. Sometimes during a discussion, the Chairman of the meeting would ask me about my opinion on issues raised by some speakers whom I could not hear. It was embarrassing to tell the chair that I had no opinion as I could not hear the speaker.

I had no problem in India, as we use the public address system for meetings with less than 25 people. After I faced the problem in Germany on a couple of occasions I decided to go to an ENT specialist who referred me to an audiologist who recommended Siemens hearing aid. Those days expensive hearing aids using high-end digital technology were yet to make an appearance. I went for an inexpensive set which was not very effective. As soon as I wore the hearing aids the first sound I would hear would be the `Caw.. Caw` of the crows followed by other noises drowning the voices of the people I was conversing with. For this very reason many senior citizens do not wear hearing aids and continue to live with the hearing problem much to the annoyance of the near and dear ones. I have seen several movies in which the scriptwriters have exploited this problem to provide some fun moments. Let me tell you that it is no fun being hard of hearing.

Research has shown that one of the causes of depression in senior citizens is the hearing problem. When they find that they are hard of hearing and hearing aids are not giving them the expected solution, they tend to withdraw themselves and avoid socializing for fear of making fools of themselves. Idle mind is the devil`s workshop and such people lapse into self-pity and depression.

Today hearing aids using high-end digital technology are available which not only eliminate unnecessary sounds but give precise tuning of the system to suit every user. I found this out

seven years ago when someone recommended me an American brand of hearing aid called `Starkey`. When I wear this brand of hearing aids not only am I able to hear people talking to me but also can hear the voices of people talking away from me. I feel very confident in engaging in any conversation individually or at meetings. This has improved my confidence level. Without hearing aids I am as good as deaf.

Such hearing aids, however, are expensive. They cost a bomb. Each piece can cost anywhere from Rs.50,000 to a few lakhs. Mine cost me Rs.1,00,000 each. I tell people in jest that I am

wearing `Vaira Thodu` (diamond earrings). If you want to lead a quality life and if you can afford it, do not hesitate to go for such hearing aids.

One warning. If your hearing faculty is very low, even the most expensive hearing aids will not

be of any use.

A postponed Trip

 I had planned this short trip from 9^th to 14^th October to Chennai, primarily to attend my late mother`s 24<sup>th</sup> anniversary (shrardham) and the marriage reception of a friend`s son. My return flight was booked for Monday 14^th October afternoon.  A friend suggested that I postpone my return by a day so that I could attend an important event hosted by the well-known writer Sivasankari in Chennai.  It was being held to confer the Surya Award to a socially conscious and award-winning writer Ambai and the Akshara Award to another writer Nagarathinam  Krishna under the auspices of  Sivasankari Chandrasekaran  Charities.  Sivasankari, in her welcome address, called it a dream come true project for her. The Award consisted of a substantial cash prize, a memento, and a citation.

 Since I have great regard for both Sivsanakari and Amabai who are also my well-wishers I postponed my return trip by a day without losing any money as Indigo does not charge anything for one postponement. However, as there was repeated news from the authorities about  Chennai getting heavy rains between the 14^th and 16^th of October, I was worried about its likely impact on my return trip. Though there was no rain during the day on the 14^th, as I was nearing the hotel where the function was being held it started pouring and I became anxious about the possibility of my home being surrounded by water. So while I attended the well-organised function,  with the Governor of Tamil Nadu as the Chief guest, and met a lot of friends from the Tamil literary world, I decided to return home without attending the dinner following the meeting. To my surprise the rain had stopped and I had no problem reaching home. Until 9.30 am the following day (15^th) it was raining in fits and bursts without any water logging in front of my home. I booked a taxi at 11 am to take me to the airport.

Around 9.30 am the Varuna Bhagwan decided to prove the weathermen right by coming down heavily accompanied by lightning and thunder.  Within one hour my home was surrounded by water. The water level started rising and I shuddered at the possibility of the water entering my home. as it usually happens every year. One of the reasons I had decided to move to Coimbatore was that I did not want to face another flooding of my home.

In the meanwhile the taxi driver called to say that though the roads were flooded, he would `somehow` take me to the airport provided I agreed to pay him three times the normal fare.   Since there was the possibility of the flight being canceled or postponed indefinitely because of bad weather and on the advice of the family I decided to cancel the trip. My travel agent informed me that the cancellation at the last minute would mean that I would not get any refund.  I said my safety and security were more important than the monetary loss. I also have no regrets about postponing my trip and the loss of money as I got the opportunity to greet both Sivasankari and Ambai in person.

As I have always believed in the saying that `everything happens for the good `I am waiting for some good reason why the lord above made me postpone my trip. Om Sairam

PS. Though the water around my home has receded completely overnight, the possibility of more heavy rains from this afternoon is keeping me on tenterhooks. However, the Tamil Nadu weatherman`s forecast that the cyclonic depression has moved away from Chennai and is on its way to AP, gives me some hope. God willing, I plan to be back in Coimbatore this Saturday.

Nostalgia- Navarathri Golu

My daughter Kavitha`s recent post on her FB page showing pictures of the grand Golu she has arranged this year with the Ramayana theme triggered memories of the simple Golu that my mother used to arrange in the small one-room tenement (250 sq.ft) at the Chawl in Bombay where we were living.

 A few weeks before the start of the Navarathri celebrations she would pull out all empty tins and other containers stored in a small loft above the `Mori` (washroom)in the house. The day before the start of the Kolu she would clear half of the front portion of the house which was both the drawing room cum bedroom. She would start placing the empty containers and other items which could help her assemble a five steps `Golu padi`. This would be covered with a white cloth and some colourful festoons to make the arrangement attractive. Then she would pull out the boxes containing different kinds of dolls, mostly featuring different idols of popular gods, and arrange them neatly on the steps ensuring that dolls conveying a particular theme were displayed in the same padi (step). Dolls featuring different characters in Ramayana would occupy one step and another would feature a potbellied trader, popular as Chettiar, with all his wares. She would make a special effort to dress two -one-foot-high `Marapachi` dolls of a man and woman made in rosewood, appropriately attired to occupy either end of the top step, displaying all the comparatively bigger dolls. The dolls would become smaller as she came down the steps.

 One of the important items on display in front of the steps would be a small pond assembled using a round plate with water. She would pack the sides with mud and sow some `Nava dhanyam` on the first day. These would start sprouting leaves that would grow bigger every day of the nine days of the Golu. As a teenager and eldest in the family, I would assist my mother in making the arrangements. My main contribution was to make a small garden in a corner featuring small dolls of trees, birds and animals. At the centre would be a small hut made of cardboard and paper. One particular year I managed to light up the hut with a battery operated bulb, which became a hit among the visitors, consisting mainly of ladies in the chawl complex.

Since the room was small my mother would invite a fixed number of ladies for receiving the `vethalai pakku` ( Haldi -Kumkum )and prasadam. The children in the community would visit our home every day to get the different tasty prasadams mother would prepare. On the ninth day, the Saraswathi puja would be celebrated with the display of some of our school books and a few other items to represent ayudha pooja. On the tenth day ( Vijaya Dasami) after the puja, the books would be removed and we would be asked to read something to denote `Vidyarambam`.

 On the whole, while it was backbreaking work for my mother managing the house and taking care of the festivities related to the Navarathri celebrations, it was a fun time for the children, although there was no place for grown-up children like me to sleep inside the house, on those ten days. I had to find a suitable place, along with children with similar space problems, in the common passage or the terrace of the building to sleep.

Considering the kind of high-tech grand Golus that are arranged these days, it was a simple Golu which brought great joy to all those participating in the festivities.