THE WEEK THAT WAS…..
I don’t know if you have
ever watched an episode of “the week that wasn’t” aired in CNN NEWS 18 Channel,
compeered by Cyrus Broacha, and ably supported by Kunal Vijaykar.
The latter in
fact, is more of a food writer than TV actor, one of his famous books being
In case you are nterested, please watch the latest episode on YouTube. (Click the link below)
The UK Channel Sky 1 also airs a program of the same title.
Here, I am making an earnest and sincere
attempt to pen about the happenings during the week that WAS,
and
NOT the week that WASN’T….
Sometime in July last
year, I had published my blog on “Senior Citizens’ Day”. If interested, you may
go to the link below:
AND NOW FOR ‘THE WEEK THAT WAS’ …….
Starting last Monday, 11th
March, ‘Kavasam’ TV had organized Bhakthi Utsav at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai
for 5 days from 5.00 PM to 9.00 PM. We tried for the passes, but were told that
they were sold out and maybe we can try at the hall on the day of the program. Thankfully,
‘Kavasam’ TV was streaming the program live on YouTube. Suited me best, and I cast it to my TV, and
watched the entire proceedings live on my TV in the cozy, comfortable ambience
of my home, with occasional servings of namkeen, nutties and what not !!
The paper ad below will
give you the details of who all contributed for the excellent extravaganza for
all the 5 days, with their own eloquent and captive renditions. To cut a long
story short, I was glued on to the idiot box for almost 4 hours on all those 5
days. The channel has announced to start their telecasting from April this
year. They would be re-telecasting these programs for sure.
On Saturday, it was an
altogether different experience at our Sabha. The occasion was to remember and
pay respects to that cruel villain of yester year movies, Sri. M N Nambiar. It is
public knowledge that once out of the shooting sets, he is a gem of a person, and
such a humble and philanthropic personality. The speakers who paid rich
tributes to the legend included
‘Sowcar’Janaki, ‘Kumari’ Sachu, Directors, P Vasu, SP Muthuraman etc.
He was a total
vegetarian, never had any vices usually associated with most of the film
fraternity. An out and out family oriented person, so much so, he set an
example as to how a husband should be caring and loving to his wife. All the
speakers and the large audience were choked with emotion when some of the
speakers spoke about their experiences with the veteran actor. The highlight of
the evening’s program, however, was the drame “Dronacharya” staged by the son
of that famous theatre personality R S Manohar, who had specialized in
glorifying the negative characters of our epics. He himself had the notorious garb
of another terrible villain of Tamil screen. It was thus only apt that Manohar’s
legacy was followed by the lavish tributes paid by Tamil filmdom.
The highlight, however, was
the experience at my favorite spot, namely the Elliot’s Beach.
Sunday mornings at Elliot’s
Beach have become generally miserable, of late. There is one procession or
other in the name of ‘creating awareness’ or there are marathons of all
varieties – the maxi, mini, symbolic etc, etc, again, with all kinds of
messages one can imagine from importance of ‘Vegan’ food to bringing back Modi.
The most pathetic part of all the above in addition to creating untold miseries
to the peace-loving morning walkers like me like near-rupturing the ear drums
with cacophony of very high decibels, hundreds of plastic water bottles, carry
bags, and paper are littered all around. Once I requested a youngster sweating
and relaxing after completing a mini marathon to highlight the dangers of
plastic in our daily lives, to please put away the plastic water bottle under
his feet in the nearby waste bin. Prompt, came the reply that it wasn’t him,
but someone else who has put it here. Quietly, I took it and put it in the
nearby waste bin.
Last Sunday morning, I went with my dear wife for our morning walk at the beach front, There weren't many cars and bikes. I felt a little sanguine that today was going to be different. My complacency, however, was short-lived. Because, a little distance away, there was this group with white pants and white shirts. One of the banners read "World Sleep Day". I googled for the Tamil translation of the word, and it said,
உலக நித்திரை தினம் for ‘World sleep day’.
Vahh, I thought this is really interesting. I asked one of the members
what was the name of their president. He said 'Kumbh Karna' - No wonder.
Later, saw them going on'walkathon' through the 1+1 km stretch of the
beach front. Fair enough.
Oldies like me, after all, can't engage ourselves in any form of marathon.
But walkathon is fine.
A little away, there was another group in yellow
caps, with some hundred yellow hydrogen
balloons. On enquiry, I was told that they belong
to the ‘Down Syndrome Federation of India’.
Apparently the idea was supposed to break the
myth and mis-conceptions (concepts?)on
the syndrome, show their support and interact
with the affected kids and adults. World Sleep
day, and Down Syndrome Day – two ‘days’ on
a single day. Not bad.
These days, every other day, you have some
day or other at Elliot’s Beach. I am not talking
about that, ‘Take care, and have a good day.
I am talking about the various‘days’ celebrated
throughout the year, at times even two ‘days’
on a single day as I was mentioning …..
In our childhood days,we knewonly 3 days, i.e. New Year day,
Republic Day, and Independence Day.
‘May Day’ and all comes to our lives much later. We liked those three
days, because school declares holiday on those days.
And of course, we knew ‘Birthday’ though there wasn’t much to
go ‘ga gaa’ about it, unlike in the lives of kids of present generation,
I mean, getting new dresses, loadsof gifts from friends and well wishers,
not to mention the plethora of birth day wishes from various
whatsApp group members in all forms & styles.
I was doing a bit of due
diligence, and found the following:
There are quite a few
‘days’ in this month. Starting with women’s day on the 8th, we had World Kidney
Day on the 14th, World Sleep day as well as Down Syndrome Day on the 17th,
World Story Telling Day on 20th, World Forest Day on 21st, World Water day on 22nd, World Weather Day on 23rd, etc., etc. The list goes on and on and on.
I do not know whether “Men’s
Day” is celebrated in any part of the world. We ‘Chennaites’ are different – as
always. We celebrate “Men’s Day” every year, not for one day, but for close to
90 days…! Starting from April first. Only thing is, people here proudly call
the days as “ DOGS’ DAYS ”
As for the proverb “Every
dog has its day”, you can have more insight on my blog which was published some
6 years back.
And, I think, that’s all
for the week that was. See you all later.
Enjoy......................
a n a n d . . . . .
for ever..........
Friendship isn't about who you have known the longest.
It's about who come and never leave your side.
