Insomniacs

The importance of sleep in a human being`s life can never be underestimated.  It is a vital activity – shall we say inactivity -- without which a man can feel miserable.

“I could not sleep the whole night yar!” is a constant refrain of a good friend who is always walking around with red eyes because of lack of sleep.  On the advise of friends he tried to count sheep; silently  chanted  Ram Nam; tried to read a book before going to bed; watched the comedy channel.  Nothing worked!  Finally, on medical advice he has started having a sleeping tablet every night to go to sleep.  Though he gets some sleep, he says he always feels lazy to get up in the morning, feeling heavy  & drowsy.  A bad start for a working day!

I know of a legendary ad man – may his soul RIP –who was a chronic insomniac.  A handsome six footer who was a workaholic -admired and respected by his colleagues - he never slept in the night, throughout his life.  Neither could he sleep during  the day. 

Every morning he would be the first to arrive at the office as fresh  as he could be and start the day by distributing handwritten memos that he had prepared working  at home all  night, addressed to staff members.

Surprisingly he was a very healthy man who lived a king’s life and saw over 1000 moons during his life time!

Unlike one of my bosses who worked in the office during the night to avoid facing his troublesome wife at home, but slept during the day while she was away at work. The weird habit eventually cost him both his wife and the job!

Many others in the world suffer from temporary bouts of insomnia.  Often caused by excessive worry leading to acute stress eventually resulting in sleeplessness.  Constant pain in any part of the body can also deny a person the pleasure of embracing the beauty sleep!  Dishonest or scheming  people who are forever plotting someone`s downfall, cannot sleep!  There are also lovers who don’t get sleep because they are fantasizing about their heartthrobs, the whole night. 

Unlike the adman who led a normal life inspite of being a chronic insomniac, most of the others who suffer from  sleeplessness – temporary or otherwise – are often highly irritable and restless.  Making life miserable for their  near and dear ones!

Many people cannot get sleep in the night if they sleep in the afternoon.  I have no such problem.  On a Sunday, I can have a two hour nap in the afternoon and still go to bed by 10.00 pm- my customary sleeping time.

Even if I have major or minor crisis facing me, all that I have to do is start reading a book before going to sleep!  Within half an hour I would find it difficult to keep my eyes open.  Throughout my life I have found books to be the best sleeping pill I ever needed to  have. 

More than any sleeping pill or other forms of sleeping aids, I feel if you have a clear conscience and lead a healthy life without malice towards any one, embracing sleep whenever you need it, should never be a problem!

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wedding extravaganzas

An article in a weekly talks  about qualified graduates from Engineering and Management Institutes quitting their jobs to follow their passion for photography – not fashion ,industrial or commercial  but wedding photography!  It seems creative wedding photographs are in great demand and  photographers earn a few lakhs  of Rupees from such  assignments.

Thanks to technology and the use of photoshop, photographers play around with visuals and backgrounds in such a way that  the final photo album featuring glossy digital printouts is not only very heavy but also has interesting pictures of the young couple in all kinds of filmy situations. Gone are the days when the photo albums  had full size colour prints of the wedding pictures stuck with corner stickers so that they could  be removed from the album if & when  necessary. It was not unusual to find old Wedding Albums with missing photos in later years!

The latest trend, I read, is to hire a photographer  to accompany  newly married couples  on their honey moon so that he  can take candid shots of the couple enjoying themselves in various locations–instead of depending on some strangers to click occasional pictures of the couple in front of important & interesting  landmarks!

A successful business friend of mine  proudly informed   me that he had spent  nearly Rs.10 lakh on wedding photography alone for his daughter’s wedding held at a five star hotel!  What a waste of money! 

These days even  South Indian weddings,  which were traditionally  two day affairs,  are stretching to 4  or 5 days incorporating features like Mehandi, Sangeeth etc. which are essentially  North Indian customs. All these additions are sky-rocketing the cost of weddings .Conducting a wedding has become a nightmare for the bride`s parents!

There is a solution to this problem, as courageously expounded by the son of a good friend. While announcing his intention to marry his sweet heart from his school days he made it very clear to his parents that his fiancé and he had decided to have a very simple registered marriage without any kind of celebrations or rituals. Repeated pleas from my friend to have atleast a small reception to receive the blessings from relatives and friends were vehemently turned down by the couple.  The son told his father that all his friends and relatives can bless  the couple  from  wherever they are.

Though I admire my friend`s son for his courage of conviction, I do not endorse the stand taken by him because marriages and such pleasant rituals are occasions when families and long lost friends get-together. Even estranged sons, brothers, uncles and aunts use such occasions to bury their differences and get  back  into the family fold.

While conducting marriages based on the respective religious rituals of parties involved cannot be wished away by parents , they can certainly cut down on wasteful expenditure. One can begin by restricting the list of invitees, cut down on the multi cuisine menu with a mind boggling  choice which only confuses the guests( nobody eats 10 sweets that are served!) and not wasting money on expensive photography and other  non essential items!

Remember, the most expensive  and dazzling Sari that you bought for your dear daughter is  worn by her only for the wedding reception- never again ;  the heavy Managalsutra loaded with expensive gold that was ceremoniously tied around her neck by the bridegroom finds its place in the safety of the family locker the day after the marriage ceremony is over. When the parents express their displeasure, the girls say, `It is such a nuisance Amma. Besides it is out of fashion to wear the Thali(mangalsutra)every day. I will wear it on special occasions`.

How many of us have the courage to break away from traditions and be practical in conducting marriages? According to a report appearing in Times of India,  a  community living in some villages of Rajasthan have displayed this courage. They  have announced a uniform code  for conducting marriages and limiting wasteful expenditure. The code talks about the number of dhol players and  lights  one can use for the Baraat; wedding spread to have not more than two sweets ; an evening reception after sunset is banned etc. The families breaking the rule are boycotted from attending any events organized by the community and no one will attend events organized by  such defaulters!

I remember during my student days, when there was acute shortage of rice & wheat in the country, there was a `guest control order` under the Essential Commodities Act  restricting  the number of guests who  could be invited  to a wedding. Probably we again need such Laws banning wasteful expenditure at weddings.

Feedback welcome on rvrajan42@gmail.com or 9840392082.

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Down ‘Hairy’ Lane

 In trying to locate a particular photo, I was wading  through mountains of old photos – two trunk loads to be precise! A collection of  photographs taken when I was a three months old baby in my birth day suit to photos taken until ten years ago when digital photography replaced  conventional photography.

I was surprised to see a photo of mine taken in a studio when I was four years old. I was wearing a pyjama & baby kurtha sporting  long hair pleated and tied with a ribbon with flowers tucked in. Looking like a girl in a boy`s dress! It seems ,because of the delay in visiting Tirupathi for my first mandatory mundan(mottai), my parents had allowed my hair to grow!

Soon enough I had before me a series of my photos taken during various occasions or no particular occasion. What struck me was the amount of hair I had on my pate as a student in school and college.  There I was  sitting in a group photo taken of my class of 58 on the last day of my school.  I had wavy hair flowing from right to left, with a parting on the right.  In  some photos  the hair was flowing from left to right with a left parting.  I remembered my attempts  to have middle parting  too.. but alas there were no photos available of this.

As a youngster when I was beaming with pride about my wavy / curly hair  I was exposed to a  catchy advertisement for Brylcream- a famous brand of hair cream popularized by sexy looking models.  I thought the cream would make me also look more sexy as the ads promised to give a bright sheen to my hair. By now I was a  teenager  and  I had started imagining that any girl who  was friendly with me was in love with me.  It took me almost three years to  realize that the cream had not helped  in any way with the girls, but I  was slowly  and  surely losing  my hair as evidenced by the loose hair strands that were stuck to my comb every morning when I combed my hair after a bath.  Before I took the decision to discontinue the cream, I was already on my way to joining the world of `baldies`,  with a small,old rupee coin sized,  barren patch  on the back  of my head. That made me worried.

 The problem now was how to hide the small barren space whose circumference was growing  day by day. I found a solution- I started growing long hair, like many musicians of yesteryears – the `Bagavathar` style they called it!   For many years I never went to a saloon and managed to hide the bald patch with the long hair. As an Ad man in a creative business I could get away with my long hair! During this period I also got married. I wonder if my late wife would have agreed to marry me if she had known that I was a potential baldie!

After marriage with growing responsibilities and worries, a new problem arose. I began to lose hair above the temples on either side of the front of my head.  The receding portion in the front of my pate was fast trying to catch up with the empty space at the rear of my head, creating almost a barren patch  in the middle.

Though my wife assured me that her loyalty  and love for me will not diminish  because of my receding  hair line  I became panicky.  As a person who believes  in facing every problem  squarely- taking the ‘bull by the horns’ as they say, I found a solution to cover my bald pate in the middle.  I once again started growing long hair  but this time on one side of the head and while combing my hair stretched  the same to the other side of my head trying to cover the baldness in the middle.  While at that time I was happy with my looks , seeing the photographs taken during the period now,  I feel I looked   really funny. How perceptions change with advancing age!

When I was in my late forties I was introduced to an ayurvedic hair oil which promised not only to arrest the falling of hair but also helped in growth of new(!) hair., I have got hooked to this hair oil for over two decades now! When comparing the old photos  with some recent ones I am sure that I have some  new hair in the middle portion of my head now.

Whether others agree or not  I am happy  that while some cousins of my age group have  all become `mottais` with not a strand of hair on top, I at least have some hair left on the  top of my head. You may call it sadistic pleasure. So be it!

Like all  baldies with some or no hair I always carry a comb with me to ensure that whatever hair is left on  my head is kept in place and I look well groomed!

                                    Feedback welcome on rvrajan42@gmail.com or 9840392082.

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online shopping

Last week, I was surprised to see a delivery van stopping in front of my house and unloading a set of four or five  well packed items. I was curious to know what they were .  My son who was present to receive the delivery asked me to wait till the item was assembled.  After half an hour when he led me to his bedroom on the first floor of our home I was surprised to see a well designed  Queensize wooden cot (bed!), the colour of which was matching  the rest of the wardrobe in his bedroom. My son  told me that he had ordered the cot online!

Online shopping, as per a recent article in a newspaper, is fast catching on.  I can vouch  for it judging by the number of things that my son has acquired in the last couple of years, through online shopping. Like a digital camera,  Laptop, LCD TV, Multiple charger for mobiles and now the cot.  I understand that my daughter -in -law even ordered some fancy clothes online!

I asked my son why he prefers online shopping to physical shopping.  His answer was typical of the modern youth, “it is so convenient to shop online, appa.  I go through the websites of all the portals selling items on line and order the ones that give me the best bargain”

A typical old timer that I am, I asked “what if the item is not to your liking after you receive it or it comes with some defect?”

“No problem, appa.  If it is a genuine complaint, the portal will take the defective item back and replace it with a new one!”

He also told me how the online shopping helps him save on time & expenses  wasted on visiting various shops selling specific items. “ You can also pay cash on delivery of the item and  even buy vegetables and groceries online!”

Online sales of retail goods in India totaled $2billion in 2013 and is expected to reach $ 76 billion by 2020. I learn  that there is a big upsurge  in the sale of items online even  in Class I and Class II towns of India.  Our folks in the hinterlands of the country who are increasingly becoming tech savvy and who today have more  purchasing power in their hands, are using online shopping instead of wasting time, effort, money visiting the nearby cities to shop for high end products. I think the importance of `Touch & Feel`  and  `demonstration` of the products considered so vital to sell products in rural India is no more an issue in rural marketing -atleast among the well-heeled folks in rural India

No wonder Flipkart, one of the fastest growing  online shopping portals started in 2007 by two friends in Bangalore has  fetched a valuation of $ 7 billion making it not only India`s largest start-up but also one of the most valuable companies in the country. Flipkart is posing a major challenge to  Amazon- the biggest online retailer in the world, who themselves are expanding their footprints in India to exploit the  fast growing  online shopping market cutting across all product categories. Jumping on  the band wagon are IT tycoons Narayan Murthy & Aziz Premji who have invested heavily to provide back end support to Indian companies online. They are soon to be followed by Ratan Tata one of the most successful industrialists of modern India.

And there are also variations  of the idea . Portals like  olx.com, quickrr.com , etc. help  sell   second hand ( used)  items – like cars, two wheelers, fridges etc. at prices  equivalent to market rates based on online auction of the items. All that you have to do is to take a picture of the item, display it on the website of the portal with a brief description of the condition of the item  and lo and behold the sale is effected online.  No question of releasing an advertisement in the paper, waiting  for potential customers to visit your house for inspection of the item, negotiation of price, etc. Everything is done online. The portal takes a small cut in the sale price as their commission for handling the deal.

While online shopping  or e-commerce as it is also known,  is making such strides I was wondering what will happen to all the established retail chains selling multiple brands.  I got the answer in the news that one of the oldest retail chains with headquarters in Chennai - VIVEKS  has partnered with `eBay` to launch its brand store on the portal. I am sure many other chains will follow suit.

 Online shopping may be a boon for the hard pressed modern youth who are for ever busy with their smart phones/tablets. But  as a senior citizen with an old mindset, I would any day prefer physical shopping to online shopping for vegetables,or  groceries or any other household items that I need!  There is a great joy in visiting the vegetable market, physically checking out the quality of items you want and bargaining with the vendor about the rates before you buy the vegetables. And the sense of achievement you get when you manage to get a little extra quantity (Kosuru) is something which you have to experience!

It is perhaps, this old mindset that is also making me carry on with my 20 years old refrigerator and 17 years old top loading washing machine even today – having  over the  years replaced every part of these machines except the compressors  to keep them going . Because the service mechanic assures me  that the compressors ( the heart) of the machines  that I own are original pieces !

`You don`t get such sturdy machines any more sir, Keep it .don`t dispose it. Any problem, just give me a call on my mobile and I will come & fix it sir`. With a gullible old customer like me he is assured of some  business at regular intervals.

Feedback welcome on 9840392082 or rvrajan42@gmail.com. You are welcome to share this article with your friends.