Charukesi- A sixth Anniversary tribute

On this day six years ago - 30th January 2019 -my good friend Charukesi, the veteran bilingual writer/author passed away after fighting a losing battle with cancer. He opened up a whole new world of literature to me. Encouraged me in my writing efforts. Translated my autobiography in Tamil. In many ways, he became an integral part of my literary life in the last decade of his life. I miss him a lot. I presented an A/V that I produced tracing his life story at a memorial meeting organised by Tamizh Puthaga Nanbargal ( Tamil Readers Forum) of which he was one of the four pillars. I had less than seven days to produce this video, which was made possible with help from Charukesi`s family.

 

Tamizh Puthaka Nanbargal  promoted writers and novels at its monthly meetings. At the meeting, an avid reader reviewed a book of a living author in detail in the author’s presence. It was followed by a question and answer session between the author and the audience. Charukesi was responsible for selecting a worthy novel, identifying a suitable reviewer, and drafting the invitation  . The other three pillars were R.T Chari who conceived the idea and sponsored the meeting,  Ravi Tamilvanan the MC who conducted the meeting in his inimitable style, and yours truly in charge of the overall coordination including mailing the invitations and follow-up.

 

For every meeting, I would give him a lift in my car to and from Tag Centre, the venue of the meetings. I would also offer this facility to anyone else who wanted this service provoking Charukesi to say in jest that `Rajan`s CAR SEVA` is now available. I continue to offer this service in Nana Nani where I am staying now

 

After Charukesi`s demise Kizhambur, the editor of Kalaimagal became the fourth pillar. Thanks to TPN not only I got close to CharukesI but also got to know several award-winning Tamil writers. During the pandemic, TPN was dissolved, never to be revived again.

 

I am sharing the A/V once again as my tribute to a great human being on his sixth death anniversary.

https://youtu.be/BxSScsbroTU 

 

Scams Galore- Don`t be one of the victims

 The excitement of getting a brand new mobile in a lucky draw on purchasing a new SIM card turned to sadness after a software engineer lost Rs.2.5 crores. Our media is full of such scams every day. Most of the affected people are educated and many of them are well-to-do. Despite getting enough tips about how to avoid falling into the traps of scamsters who are using mobile phones as their weapons, why are such scams happening? That made me think.

One of the important reasons is man`s greed for getting something free or getting much more than what he deserves. The news item mentioned in the first part of this article is an example of such cases. Remember the time when fraudulent NBFCs used to cheat the common people by offering crazy returns on their investments? Greedy people continued to patronize such Ponzi schemes despite negative news about such schemes.

The second reason is fear syndrome. Most of the scamsters have done their homework and mostly attack people with enough money in their bank accounts. When the scamsters accuse a person of some crime they have or have not committed and threaten dire consequences if their demand is not met- the fear of facing public humiliation makes people succumb to the threats. Maybe many of these affected are having something to hide. Out of fear, instead of reporting the matter to the cyber cell, they respond to the caller and find themselves wiped of life savings. The number of such calls all of us receive every day is mind-boggling.

Though I don`t have a huge bank balance, I am very cautious about such calls. Apart from the warning I get about spam calls from Airtel, I also don't respond to calls that are not in my contact list, unless I am expecting a call from a service provider I am familiar with. I also don't respond to calls starting with 804. I am sure they are spam calls. Even by mistake if I respond, I disconnect the call the moment I realize that it is from a scamster. All of us have received detailed instructions about spam calls through WA. Let us try to strictly follow them and save ourselves the tragedy of being taken for a ride by the scamsters who seem to be relentless in pursuing gullible people.

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Death Cleaning

  I came to know about `Death Cleaning` through a Forward I read in a WA group. The contents appealed to me as an Octogenarian. Since I believe I am on the last lap of my life journey and my 42-year-old independent home in Chennai is going for redevelopment, the idea assumed a sense of urgency. I learned that death cleaning is a method of decluttering your home before you die to lessen the burden on your loved ones after you have passed. So that they don't curse you after you depart from the world for making them go through all the junk you have accumulated over the years.

During my recent trip to Chennai, I decided to extend my stay for a month so that I could get rid of things that have lost their use or relevance and also donate useful items to deserving people or institutions, which otherwise would go under the bulldozer when the old building is being demolished.

I had already started the process by giving away my dresses, clothes, electronic waste, etc. to an NGO collecting such items during a campaign they held a few months ago. I have also identified an institution to which I propose donating my huge book collection.

During the current clean up I found leather-bound appointment diaries, old bank statements, statements of accounts, old income tax returns, used cheque books, etc. covering a period of 50 years. Shocking but true. I discovered many press cuttings carefully filed in folders, not only covering my original articles on my profession but also many which I thought would be useful to me at a later date. I had also retained hundreds of magazines in which my articles had appeared. Getting rid of these and many other unnecessary files and folders was the easiest decision. While most of them went to the raddhiwala, many sensitive documents were burnt.

Going through the old photo albums covering 82 years of my life was a pleasure, It helped me go down memory lane and remember the things I did with family and friends. I have always found going down memory lane therapeutic and a great stress buster. Something which I experienced when I was writing my autobiography. Fortunately, I did not have to take any action on this item as my children wanted to go through them before they were junked.

Clearing the loft in the kitchen area I discovered scores of old brass & steel utensils that were used by my mother when she was active in the kitchen. Two big ceramic Jars in which my mother used to store pickles prepared by her stood out in the collection. My elder daughter promptly claimed them as she saw their potential use in her terrace garden. Once a decision is made about what utensils to be retained by the family, the rest would go to the Kabadiwala who has promised to give cash based on the weight of the different types of utensils.

I think I have managed to identify and get rid of items that I had collected over the years. I am leaving the decision to deal with the rest of the items like furniture, fixtures, gifts, mementos,curios collected during my several foreign trips and other paraphernalia in the house to the family.

Through this process, I am hoping that I will get less or no curses from my near and dear ones after I pass away.

A 12th Anniversary Tribute

Time flies. It has already been 12 years since my life partner left me to join the Lord in heaven. This is a small tribute from me on her 12^th Anniversary.

Prabha was a fast learner, who overcame several of her initial inhibitions to become a wonderful partner, good daughter-in-law, lovely mother, doting grandmother, and above all a great homemaker! In the last two decades of her life, she acquired an identity of her own as a writer and as a socially active person. She walked tall in our social circles! I was certainly proud of her achievements.

She called our memorable trip to Kashmir in April, 2012,  a `childhood dream come true`. Unfortunately within six weeks of our return from that dream holiday her world came crashing down. We discovered that she was being consumed by the dreaded crab disease, and metastasis had already set in. Exactly seven months after the diagnosis of the disease she was gone on 5^th January,2013. She was only 61. My `Kashmir ki Kali` left me after being my life partner for 40 years.

Instead of mourning Prabha`s death, I have been celebrating her memory for the last twelve years. I am involved with many activities to identify and bring to limelight talented women writers in Tamil under the auspices of  Prabha Rajan Talent Foundation. In the process, not only am I keeping myself active, but also trying to spread happiness around,  Hope that keeps my dear Prabha`s soul happy!