A day in the life of LIFE

एषा तु भाषा देवभाषा सुरभाषा गीर्वाण वाणी च ।

सम्स्क्ऱ्त पठनम् यः करिष्यति तस्य जन्मम् पावनम् भविष्यति ॥

The purest of all languages, the language of the Gods and Mortals is Samskritham and those who have an opportunity to study the language are truly blessed...


For those of you who have not even remotely heard of Sanskrit, it is the language that has had its foundation in the roots of the human civilazation.

The language has found mention in all the ancient and revered religious texts and scriptures of Hinduism and many also opine that Sanskrit has had a considerable influence on other languages of the world including Latin and German.
In fact I had received a forward on e-mail talking about the root level similarity between words of the various languages and their origin traced to their Sanskrit counterparts.

The topic of Sanskrit is often associated with only religion and saffronization and this I believe has been a major stumbling block in it achieving popularity for the same among the masses. The tough tongue twisting pronounciations have further added to it's non-acceptability.

My stand about the perfection in the language is vindicated by the fact that I communicate on Orkut, with a gentleman by name Carlos Barbosa from Portugal,in Sanskrit. Mr. Carlos speaks immaculate Sanskrit and does not know fluent English and neither do I know "fluent Portuguese". Talk about people from distant lands according such high status to a language that has almost become extinct in the tongues of the natives.


The Government's effort has been laudable in offering Sanskrit as a language of study in Schools, despite strong predominance of Hindi as the primary language other than English and the regional language. The reason for which many of my friends in school took up the languge was because of the easy scoring pattern and nothing beyond that. In fact many struggle to remember the shabdas and sutras of Sanskrit grammar, and often don't enjoy memories of the same.

For me, sanskrit was much more than scoring marks. Thanks to the high quality knowledge transfer from my gurus who imparted Sanskrit as my first language from class six to twelve. i often found myself using self composed Sanskrit subhashitas as opening four liners for all my debates and to find the judges mesmerized just by simple words fitting the poetic metre was truly a sight to see. The force of declamation in the language makes even the simplest of statements sound big and feel nice.

Interesting trivia is that the 14 sutras of Sanskrit grammar originated from the sounds of Lord Shiva's "Damru" [musical instrument] and Panini the reknowned grammarian ably noted these to give the language the grammatical structure that has been followed through ages, and is even till date accpeted by experts as the most perfectly coded grammar.

Allow me to illustrate one such grammatical peculiarity of words in Sanskrit. This was passed onto me by my teacher in class IX. The word in contention is :

चतुरंगतग्यः!

the end syllable is not coded in the right way since i could not find it in the transliterator software, online.

The uniqueness of this word is that it retains a congruent meaning even after each preceding syllable is deleted

Let me explain.

the word itself chaturangatagnyaha means one who is an expert in playing the game of dice also known as pagade

when syllable 'cha' is removed, we are left with turangatagnyaha meaning one who is an expert in the matter of horses.

Let's go a little further. the word minus "tu" leaves rangatagnyaha meaning stage artist. removal of "ra" gives angatagnyaha meaning doctor. deleting "an" gives gatagnyaha describing a person who knows the past. Subtracting "ga" we get tagnyaha meaning an expert, in whichever field that might be.

Hold on...it's not over yet...we don't have hanging syllables here. Finally removing "ta" we get gnyaha [jaanati iti gnyaha]meaning one who is conscious of knowledge.

In fact the reverberations of the language are supposed to awaken the latent sub conscious mind and lead to spiritual improvement. Technology is chipping in with its bit to save the language. Tools like the one I used to convert English to Devanagari are gaining popularity and I can only hope this leads to preserving and enriching the language further.

It gives me pleasure to note the fact that only village in the whole world where spoken Sanskrit is widely predominant as a means of communication amidst people of various strata and vocations, is Mattur, a village near Shimoga in the state of Karnataka, which incidentally is also home to a sizeable Sankethipopulation [the community to which I belong]. Mattur was featured on the serial Surabhi and I still am making plans to visit the place with such intellectual and liguistic evolution.

I dedicate this post to my "Gurus" and "Gurunis" who have gifted me the opportunity to pursue this wonderful language and they include Shri Sri Harsha Sir (class 6 and 7), Shrimati T.G. Karuna ma'm(class 8,9,10, VVS Sardar Patel High School), Shri Venkatesh K.S. Sir (class 11 and 12, MES college) and Srimathi Shree Srivatsa ma'm(class 11 and 12, MES college)and of course Shri Ganapathy Mahodayaha from Akshara the body that conducts workshops in spoken Sanskrit.

Signing off on this post, let us all contribute to the development of the language that has given the world the most expressive medium of communication, i.e. SPEECH...

जयतु भारतम् । जयतु सम्स्क्ऱ्तम् । जयतु मनुकुलम् ।

The Hype is back…with the percentage season setting in, the stock market is not the only place where you would find numbers being thrown around.

The Media sensationalism is back with most news channels interviewing principals and “children” in the reporter’s lingo. [most of the blokes look like overgrown giants unless of course Oxford dictionary has gone ahead and redefined the definition of children] of top schools and asking them what they feel about the results and though the sensex seems to be plummeting the net marks scored are only on the rise. 487 out of 500, gloats one student. And the reporter is quick to ask him, “kya aap ney socha tha ki aap ko itney marks aayengey?” and the “dude” replies “ haan lekin mein ney 487.2745 expect kiya tha pata nahin baaki .2745marks kahan gaye…


Rep: So how do you feel now?
Stud'dud: [adjusting his spectacles that more resembled the concave mirrors with refractive indices much greater than 1] Well, I am satisfied but not happy. I just want to repeat the boards so as to obtain 501/500.

Rep: Is that not absurd? I mean even if you repeat the boards, you cant get 501/500
Stud'dud: So what, 11 out of 10 people don’t understand fractions

Rep: now confused : What would you like to say to the people who helped you?
Stud'dud: Well, I would like to thank my mausi, chacha, nana, bunty, cheeku and last but not the least, special mention of the oodles of Pepsi that Mallika had with me which coupled with Apsara platinum pencils and Dodla dairy flavoured milk are the secrets of my success..

Rep: MALLIKA!!? did she have a cool drink with you? By the way, Doesn’t Mallika endorse 7 Up?
Stud'dud: Oh! No. I am talking of Mallika, my neighbor who prepared for the boards with me and helped me through the night, every night for months before the boards.

Rep: Nidhi, the mood of the students is pretty somber..our children study so much but still are disheartened that they missed out on thirteen marks,... Nidhi?
The Studio: Well, Juhi, we hear crackers in the background.. Are these jubiliant relatives of other successful and satisfied students?
Rep: No Nidhi, This is actually the rally of one of the political parties who have advanced their poll campaign to gel with the “feel good” factor of the CBSE students and their parents as a fallout of the good results.

Studio: Nidhi is lost for words…Well would you please get the response of a couple of other “children” near you?
Rep: Okay Nidhi. [turning to one of the other students]…Aap ko kaisa lag raha hai?
Stud'dud 2: “Arjun Singh hai hai… Hamari maangey poori karo”
Rep: [now totally stumped] Nidhi this is breaking news..Arjun Singh must have introduced reservations in CBSE schools too, can you ask the correspondent at the Parliament House to bring in the information?
Stud'dud 2: you’ve got the wrong person ma’m,I am a doctor from AIIMS. I am a student too…I am here on a mission to educate the school children that their marks are of no use for future endeavors…”Arjun Singh hai hai”…

Rep: [Juhi who is lost for words]… Nidhi, as you can see, the results have evoked mixed reaction from parents and students alike and the trend of getting maximum totals is going to continue on the lines of cricket records being broken. It’s MS Dhoni season after all..

Nidhi: Well that was Juhi there, reporting live from the scene of the action and we would like to remind our viewers that tonight we will be focusing on the causes that are responsible for students not getting centums in subjects. And whether the solution to the same is to have affirmative action in that the teachers of the respective schools [even better if we have the class teachers ]correcting their own students’ papers and then we shall ensure a non-centum free India.. So don’t forget to tune in at 9:30 p.m. tonight…on ....[Ashu pitching in]: India Doesn't Matter....[atleast about centums affecting the Indian economy]

Ashu: Are Examinations meant to cause Paralysis of Analysis? Point to Ponder…

No. that's not a problem with Blogger...

The system admin guys in office have blocked blog uploads and viewing owing to some Security Audit that is to happen on a scale as big as the cricket world cup. The company wants the auditors to earn every penny and dont want to provide freebies for them to hang on to. so till then, blog buffs like me are going underground and I have figured out a loophole to bypass the firewall thanks to my sinister Computer Engineering skills. Who says techies are nerds..They are of use some where atleast...

But this act of mine is detected and the loop hole is plugged...

The Illuminati strikes back...[read as Dan Brown].

Please bear with sporadic post frequency...

I have been badly affected by mouth ulcers and am writing this post amidst tremendous pain. All the time tested remedies seem to be failing on me, and i have had quite an experiece trying to gather berries and other paraphernalia for "desi" medication. Incidentally i was reading the National Geographic Magazine - a special on Africa and visualized myself as an arboreal primate, stealing his berries from a fellow competitor.

I'd like to enlist the applications that i have used/heard thus far.

1)Honey/Ghee/Butter

The ubiquitous commodities that ought to adorning the shelves of a "family" seem to be obviously missing from the racks of a bachelor's house, such as mine. But yes, we have the honey. The only thing missing a honey to apply the honey.(one of the many sad pjs to follow suit. I am actually inspired by Girish and Mr. A, my colleagues to participate in the Great Chennai PJ challenge)

2)Copra with poppy seeds.

Thank goodness I am not residing in the 'Gelf' (mallu style)or the far east. else I should by now have been arrested and tried for the dope called poppy a by-product of opium extraction. The thought of Mitsuhirato injecting Rajaijah poison into Tintin's neck in the Blue Lotus sends the shiver down my spine.

3)Coconut milk

Courteous Ranjini, a colleague offered me a drink of coconut milk since she had a blender at home. This was the first time i was having the beverage, and it was quite delicious and filling, I must say. Ranjini has infact been one of the most thrilled colleagues off late, owing to the fact that I have eventually managed to speak the bare minimum in office and the absence of my chatter has set off rumors that i am being tight lipped and dignified as I had been considered for the CEO's role in organization. Whoa! I dont need to pay to dream, do I?

4) Masa kai

Mr. A was gracious enough to draw out directions to 'Dabba Chetty' and sons who sell "country drugs" in Mylapore, Chennai. Yes, it indeed sounded like a name that would even turn away the most desperate customer. Even as i was hunting for directions from the Kapaleeshwar temple yesterday morning, with my half mutilated Tamil, I found some stranger patting my back and I discovered that it was none other than Mr. A himself who had infact given me the directions the previous day. I remarked, " This is a one in a million occurrence to bump into each other at the same split second timing" for which a due response was received " No that's too small: It ought to be one in a trillion ha ha ha ha...." yes that was a joke...I had no luck with the Dabba Chetty guy as he was closed for 3 days and had probably gone away to write poetry amidst the tribals of the Andamans as no one wanted to buy his medical concoctions.Or maybe election fever gripped him too.

5) Tender kokonut H2O

Anyone wondered why there aren't many tender coconuts available for consumption in Kerala? It's probably because 120% of the 100% available produce is used for making voil, voil and more voil for the hair illey monney?

Well, never mind, Chennai is hot, all for the wrong reasons...only the weather seems to be hot, nothing else...The Tender kokonut seems to be quenching my thirst and also treating my ulcers.

6)Eating chewing Gum?????

Well, I know the root cause of the problem. Some days ago, I was feasting on chewing gum for over 5 hours and I am told this causes gum aberration resulting in ulcers. So much so for the Orbits and the Happydents who stake their claim to sparkling teech and pH control...Someone a lawyer reading this, please keep me posted. i am planning legal action once I am able to utter and speak the Queen's Language.

7)Curd Vadai, with H2O Melon juice anyone?

I am just back from Meenakshi Bhavan after having thair / curd vadai and a H2O Melon juice. In chennai you donot get 'food' as in 'meals' at night. so you ought to help yourself with tit bits. I asked the bewildered waiter to get me two plates of the dish and he wondered if I had got the cravings of Priety Zinta in Salaam Namaste ...well never mind..Little did he know that I was ordering the 'delicacy' for the copious and generous topping of thick curd and not the vadai per say, to cool my body and tongue..The curd, though has the dubious distinction of associating itself with the oily vada, serves the samaritan purpose of maintaining body balance.As the Sanskrit saying goes - "Pushpamaalanusangena sootram shirasi dhaaryate" translated as -"Along with the flowers, the string gets the honor of adorning the head". So also is the parasitic relationship between the vada and the curd. i think it's drawing the analogy too far...all in the name of poetic license.

Hmm...that's about it. Before I take away my Grandma's job and expertise in home remedies, let me close the post with ah! yes, B complex tablets with Dentogel to be applied at regular intervals as recommended by Sister Stella of Bangalore's Radio City.

Anyone wanting to add to the list of suitable medications is most welcome to do so. i am planning to become a quack anyway...

Meanwhile i am getting ready to cast my vote in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections tomorrow. Hope my name still remains in the list by the time i go to cast my vote. Till then, Oo Aah Ouch !!! It's those ulcers again...