Me and my world

A budding business magnet!!

umaspeaksout — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 05:25:52 +0000

Last week, my kids had Children’s Day celebrations at their school. There were many competitions like Poster making, Collage, Handwriting etc. Karthik, in his usual style, participated with great enthusiasm and wasn’t worrying much about not getting prizes in any of them. That evening he came home and was beaming with glow to tell me about his newly formed thought. He couldn’t resist himself that he didn’t even bother to take off his shoes/uniform etc. He said he has torn some 10-12 pages from his rough note book and has written a comic and drawn all relevant pictures and coloured them too!! He wanted me to take around 25 colour xerox of the same. I asked him about the purpose and he said in a cool tone that he has planned to sell those copies to his teachers, fellow students as well as a few friends in our flat. He had already imagined of making money through this venture, and if this succeeds, he said he wanted to write more such comics!! A budding business man he is!! I think he might emulate his dad!!

Midterm test at School today!! Night show at Inox yesterday!

umaspeaksout — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:54:59 +0000

Vignesh is having his mid-term exams from last week. He is a movie buff, like his father as well as their forefathers!! He was waiting to watch Surya’s diwali release movie “7m Arivu” from Diwali itself. His dad was busy and somehow taking the kids to this movie was getting delayed. In between, Karthik who is an ardent Vijay fan was enthralled when Vythi had booked tickets for Velayudham for all six of us (Vythi, me, Vignesh, Karthik, and Vythi’s parents) two weeks back. After this movie, Vignesh was all the more waiting to go to Surya’s movie. Yesterday, the kids were having a great time with Vythi at home during afternoon, as I had gone out.

When I returned home, I found that Vythi had booked tickets for “7m Arivu” at Inox, for yesterday’s night show. I screamed stating that Vignesh was having his Social Studies exam today at school and hence it wasn’t ok to go to movie the previous night!! Vythi said, Vignesh has finished reading his lessons, and also added that “Vignesh says “If I watch this long pending movie, I would be even more enthusiastic to write the test”. Enna Koduma da idhu!! நாளைக்கு பரிட்சை, இன்னிக்கு சினிமாவா! என்று மனம் குமுறினாலும் வேறு வழியில்லாமல் சென்றேன்.

Tough to drive during rain in Chennai roads

umaspeaksout — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 07:19:50 +0000

It has been raining continuously for almost more than a week and the streets are waterlogged. I used to love rains as a child or even as a young girl but not now. First reason, it would be mostly accompanied by kids getting cold/cough/fever etc etc and the several doctor-visits that might follow. But the major reason, that I fear rain is while driving my car. When it rains, the surroundings become so dark that it resembles a late evening environment. Roads are filled up with water, especially a few stretches like Kathipara – Olympia Tech Park – Hilton Hotel. Water gushes out as if some river or lake is overflowing and you feel scared that the water might enter into your car. My earlier car, a Maruti 800, once was filled with water till my knee level or more. The thoughts of that one event makes me shiver with fear!!Every bus that passes on my side, would make my car shake this side and that side. I start praying all known and unknown Gods to get out of those places and feel relieved when I park my car at my home.

Today morning, when I started to work, the climate was pleasant sans rains. A few minutes down the road, a heavy downpour started and many were clueless as the rains severed. I couldn’t hear anything except the splashes of rain drops. Heavy rains, heavy traffic made my life miserable. I was encouraging myself to drive fast to work. Suddenly, an Innova car that came on the opposite side sped past me splashing water. For a moment, I couldn’t see anything in front of me. And the worst part was that, it was a low lying bridge upon the Adyar river, which made me even more nervous. I was just waiting for these few moments to pass by and thankfully, here I am sitting on a cosy chair at my workplace typing this post. Happy am I to have reached safely to work today amidst rains.

அடிக்கடி அடி வாங்கினாலும் அடங்காமல் தீபாவளி கொண்டாட்டம்!!

umaspeaksout — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:07:14 +0000

இந்த முறை தீபாவளிப் பண்டிகை எங்களை ஒரு கை பார்த்துவிட்டது. தீபாவளிக்காக முள்ளு முறுக்கு செய்யும் போதே, எண்ணெயில் மாவை இட்டவுடனே பட்டாசு போல வெடிக்க ஆரம்பித்தது. மேலே தொடருவதா வேண்டாமா என்று குழம்பி, என்ன ஆனாலும் பரவாயில்லை என்று தொடர, கடவுள் புண்ணியத்தில் முறுக்கு ரொம்பவும் பிகு பண்ணாமல் அழகாக வந்தது!!

தீபாவளியன்று அதிகாலை பட்டாசு வெடிக்க நாங்கள் நால்வரும் செம ஜோராய் ப்ளாட் கீழ் தளம் சென்றோம். ஏற்கனவே இரண்டு குடும்பங்கள் இருந்தது எங்களை குஷி படுத்தியது. அனைவருமாக பல்வேறு பட்டாசுகளை வெடித்துத் தள்ளினோம். திடீரென்று ஒரு ஹைட்ரஜன் வெடிகுண்டுப் பட்டாசு வெடிக்க, அதன் தாக்கத்தில் அருகிலிருந்த கல் என் பெரிய மகனின் கழுத்தைப் பதம் பார்த்தது!! குழந்தை சில வினாடிகளுக்கு பேச்சற்றுப் போனான்! எனக்கும் பகீரென்றது! சில நொடிகளில் அந்த இடமே சிவந்து ரணமாகியது. தண்ணீரில் துடைத்து, பாக்கெட்டில் வைத்திருந்த மருந்தை போட்டோம். ஒரு அரை மணியானதும் தான் அவனுக்கு எரிச்சல் அடங்கியது.

மாலை மீண்டும் பட்டாசு வெடிக்கப் படையெடுப்பு!! யாரோ ஒரு 300 வாலா சரம் வைக்க, அருகிலிருந்த கல், என் வலது கண்ணின் மேல் அழுந்த பட்டதில் குபுகுபுவென்று ரத்தம் கொட்டத் தொடங்கியது! எல்லோருமே பயந்தனர். கண்ணிலா, அல்லது கண் மேலா என்று தெரியவே சிறிது நேரமாகியது! ரத்தம் நிற்க சில நிமிடங்கள் கழிந்தன.

அடாது அடி பட்டும் நாங்கள் அடங்காமல் வெடித்து இந்த தீபாவளியைக் கொண்டாடினோம்!!

My younger one’s dream at school became true, but was shortlived!!

umaspeaksout — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 06:02:04 +0000

Karthik is always known to be notorious wherever he is. His behaviour is the same at school too!! There have been instances where not even a single week has passed by without any complaints from his class teacher or other subject teachers… From this year beginning, he has been eying on the post of CLASS-PREFECT in his class. I asked him what it was, and pat came the reply that it was the post of Class Leader. I was trying to make him understand that the post would be given only to responsible kids. He immediately responded saying that there had been kids who were naughty but have been in this post..

At last, this Monday, K was extremely delighted to have this post Class Prefect awarded to him. His face was gleaming with joy…We all enjoyed that day. I was mentally preparing him to be more responsible in class, and reduce his mischief at least for the period he held his post etc. Tuesday morning was the most easy of all days for K to get ready for school. He started off very well behaved and was wearing the badge, “Class Prefect” and that too with a pretty smile. Things didn’t go smooth for him that day at school. That evening, when K returned home, his face was dull and he was almost about to burst out. He said his teacher had took back the post as he was giggling with his friends during one of the free periods that day when no teacher was around. What a tragedy!! I too felt bad for him and made him understand why the teacher had done so. K might have felt bad about the day’s happenings. The next day he had been good at school and as a result, the teacher had once again made him Class Prefect.!! Hope he continues to be one for a few days at least!!

Long time since I wrote!!

umaspeaksout — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:11:11 +0000

I had thought several times during the last two months to write about “this”, “that” and many such things. But, seriously, didn’t find time to make a blog post. I could have written about “my younger son’s complaints about his school and of course the vice-versa too!!” or “about the new flat that we purchased” or my latest venture into “Yoga classes” or “my office shifting from Velachery” and “Oh! I miss Velachery” etc etc.. Will soon start writing about each of these.

என்ன கொடுமைடா இது!!

umaspeaksout — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:48:45 +0000

டைட்டில் பயங்கர ‘கிக்’கா இருக்குல்ல!! இப்போ கொஞ்ச நேரம் முன்னாடி என் பசங்க ஸ்கூல் முடிந்து வீட்டிற்கு வந்ததும் நானும் வராத காரணத்தால் (உள்ளுக்குள்ள ஒரே குஷியாய் இருந்திருக்கும் போல!!) என் கைப்பேசியில் என்னை அழைத்தனர். சின்னவன் கார்த்திக் அவனது வழக்கமான பள்ளிப் புகார்களை வாசித்து முடித்த பின் நான் எப்போது வருவேன் என்று கேட்ட பிறகு தன் அருமை அண்ணனிடம் தொலைப்பேசியைக் கொடுத்தான். அண்ணன் தன் முறைக்கு தான் தன் வகுப்பில் கணிதத்தில் இரண்டாவது அதிக மதிப்பெண் என்றும் கூறினான். அதைக் கேட்டு கண்டிப்பாக நான் அவனைப் பாராட்டி இருக்க வேண்டும். அதிலும் நான் அவனோடு துளியும் உட்காரவில்லை அவன் பரிட்சைக்குத் தயார் செய்யும் போது.!! மேலும் என் தாய் தந்தையர் இருவருமே என்னையும் என் அண்ணனையும் ரொம்ப “டார்ச்சர்” செஞ்சதில்லை! என் தந்தை நாங்கள் கொண்டு வரும் விடைத்தாளை என்ன மதிப்பெண் பெற்றிருக்கிறோம் என்று கூட பார்க்காமல் கையொப்பமிடும் ரகம். அவருக்கு மகளாகப் பிறந்தும், நான் விக்னேஷிடம், “என்ன இருந்தாலும் ஒரு கணக்கு வாத்தியாருக்கு மகனாய்ப் பிறந்தும் நீ இப்படி முதல் மதிப்பெண் வாங்கத் தவறியிருக்கக் கூடாது” என்றேன். அவன் ஒரே போடாக, “அம்மா! நீ எழுதி முதல் மதிப்பெண் வாங்கவில்லை என்றால் அர்த்தம் இருக்கு! எனக்கு நான் வாங்கிய மார்க் போறும்” என்றதும் நான் ஆனேன் கப்சிப்.!!

The joy of being a teacher!

umaspeaksout — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 07:04:10 +0000

Right from my childhood, I’ve always dreamt of becoming a teacher by profession. I’ve always had the feeling that moving around with young brains always makes me feel young too. I could even relate my younger kid Karthik being more active when compared to my calm elder one Vignesh, to the fact that I was working at SRM Engineering College for the entire term I was pregnant. I used to always be among the cheerful students and that had a very positive impact on the baby inside me too! Coming to the point of writing this particular blog is that, during the past one week, I suddenly came across three or four students to whom I’ve taken classes at SRM almost some 8 to 10 years back. The other day, after having a tough time to go all the way upto Maduranthagam(around 130 kms up and down from Chennai) for a wedding, me and two of my friends were dining at Vasantha Bhavan, Tambaram. A guy was glaring at me for quite some time, and suddenly he came and wished me and started talking fluently about those days at SRM where I had taken him First Year Maths classes. I was very happy to meet and was quite moved too, when he spoke about those days at college. Two days later, something similar happened while I was traveling by train to Tambaram. I met a girl who did B.Arch at SRM. Generally, teaching Maths to Architecture students had always been a nightmare as they were mostly weak in that subject. This particular batch I took it as a challenge to bring them up and had done innumerable extra classes. This girl called Ramya Moorthy started talking about those days, where even their lunch period was not spared by me. But the hard work that we all had put then paid us all very well, and that batch was one of the best batches to have very good results in Maths. It had been very heartening to meet my old students…I love my profession!!

My cute little car has completed 10,000kms

umaspeaksout — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 08:07:26 +0000

Hurray!! It is not even 10 months since I got a Maruti A-star, silver gray colour…And it has covered 10,000 kms and the best part is that it has been 99.99% of the time, me behind the wheels…

Loved every bit of it, my dearest companion A-star!! I know recall those days the same time last year, when I hadn’t even made up my mind as to which car would be my next car after driving the entry level Maruti 800. We had got my Maruti 800 in September 2005 and it was already 5 years old, and had driven more than 80,000 kms.

I had a few cars in mind like Chevy Beat, VW Polo, Ford Figo etc. Went for a test drive of Beat. Suddenly my husband said, why not we check with the latest cars from Maruti like Ritz or the New Wagon R etc. I half-heartedly agreed to it and went to our regular Maruti dealer ABT Maruti Guindy. There was a bright Sunlight Orange A-star car in the demo section. I loved the first look of it and started reading reviews about the car. On the day of test drive, it was a full packed car, as I was behind the wheels, the sales person seated next to me, and my husband, Vythi and our two kids were at the back. I never drive the car when my husband is next to me or inside the car that I drive.. That nervousness killed me to the core, and I found it extremely difficult to drive the A-star in spite of the fact that it was a more sophisticated car when compared to the one that I owned.

I had a big frown in my face and wasn’t even sure whether I should go for A-star. Vythi was clear that I wasn’t able to drive peacefully in his presence and hence asked me to test drive all by myself. That really made a difference!! I loved the feel of the car, its interiors, the super good dashboard and to top them all, the big smily in the front of the car…I fell in love with the car and we decided to go for it.

It was on August 27th 2010, we got our car and till date, it has been my favourite companion. I’ve driven through most of the roads in Chennai and its suburbs. Five stars to you my dear A-star!!

My cute little A-star

Kiddo talks!!

umaspeaksout — Mon, 16 May 2011 06:12:09 +0000

It has been a long time since I found time to write about my kids’ and their enjoyable talks. Recently happened to hear a few:

Karthik: My younger one Karthik, has now got a regular habit of grazing through the newspaper, daily morning, once he is back from his regular cricket class. Last week, newspapers were carrying the front page news of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister’s flight missing, and the possibility of his being kidnapped due to political reasons. Suddenly Karthik came to the kitchen where I was engrossed in my own work and thoughts. He interrupted and asked me in a serious tone, “Amma, can elders too be kidnapped?” I replied, “Why not?” . He instantly told me that “I am thinking the word kidnap came because it could be thought of as something related to ‘kid’ and hence only kids would be abducted or taken away from their parents. I never knew big people too can be kidnapped!! ” In spite of my hectic work, I enjoyed his thought on kidnap…

Vignesh: He has been roaming with me, ever since our plans to buy a new flat materialised. He used to come to say suggestions to the site engineer, to the bank for loan application purposes etc etc. Last Saturday, my husband and myself were discussing about some existing loan to be closed and how to go about the same. We were discussing what could be our immediate difficulties etc. Vignesh suddenly enquired as to what does it mean when we say the loan is to be closed. Something in his facial expression made me ask, “What do you think that phrase could mean Vignesh?” He replied, “I think, if we go and plead with the bank, that we are under great difficulty and are not able to repay, the bank would then automatically close the loan. Is that the way, Amma?”. I replied, “It isn’t that easy as you think my child!”

Kids have their own way of interpreting things or phrases.!!