Our wanderings and perceptions

During our trip to Nairobi we made a historical trip, yeah to the museum. That too, to the Railway museum. This museum comprises of locomotives and photos of ships which were part of the East African Railways which operated the railways and the harbours of Kenya and Uganda. As soon as you enter the museum campus, you can see its walls painted artistically. At first it is the art museum that welcomes you, numerous young art students are seen jamming and painting, what talents! Next is the reception to the museum. Entrance ticket is 600 shillings each for non-residents. In the same building we can go through the photographs of the locomotives and trains belonging to the early 20th century. All related items belonging to the British era can be seen as exhibits. We can also see the railway routes of East African Railways (EAR), Tanganyika Railways and Kenya Uganda Railways (KUR). Many artefacts are carefully chosen and can be seen here only. The bicycle designed for r...

Malls - a western culture which has caught on to our side of the world and has been a craze since its existence. With cinema theatres claiming their spots in these malls, the crowds seem to just pour in, paving way to closure of cinema halls through out the country as multiplexes have cemented themselves victoriously. The only hazardous issue with watching movies in malls is the parking charge levied, worse than taxes to be paid. Most of the malls seem to set their own charges for 4-wheeler and 2-wheeler without any norms from the government. Of course modern architecture provides ample parking space for thousands of vehicles during weekends but still cannot justify the charges.   The orthodox population which came out of their huts just for temples and marriages have long vanished. Even older generation now prefer to break the age old boundaries and dine out in these huge malls. Unlike restaurants catering to specific cuisines the malls offer different types o...

கல்யாணத்தை பண்ணிப்பார், வீட்டை கட்டிப்பார் says an age old Tamil saying denoting the tedious nature of both as duties. The house warming ceremony denotes the culmination of building a house and entering into it for living. In a typical Tamil house hold, buying or building a new house is a pride and a dream. Building a house involves lot of rituals. First comes the 'Adikal naattu', laying the foundation stone. On an auspicious day, Just before the sunrise Bhoomi Pooja is done and the first stones are layed by the family and the builders involved. All present are given Prasad or sweets from the Pooja. This marks the kick start of the house building project. Once the building skeleton comes up with walls built and rooms differentiated there comes a time to fix the frame and threshold of the doors. This requires Vaasakaal Pooja to bring up the Vaasal. A team of married ladies in odd numbers form the main part of this ceremony. Navaratnas are buried below the Vaasal and e...

தீர்த்தனை, சிவனை, சிவலோகனை,  மூர்த்தியை, முதல் ஆய ஒருவனை,  பார்த்தனுக்கு அருள்செய்த சிற்றம்பலக்  கூத்தனை, கொடியேன் மறந்து உய்வனோ? asks Devaram in praise of the Lord Sivan. Entrance While entering the temple premises we see a ground where music sessions happen during festival occasions and serves as parking lot during non-season. Through the main entrance of the temple we are greeted by the ancientness of the temple and the modern flooring. The outer praharam starts with Pillaiyar in the left most corner and Murugar in the right most corner. While walking further from Murugar, the outer praharam also houses Adi Sankarar, Anchaneya and finally a separate shrine for Ayyappan in the right side.  Kailayam carving Once you enter the inner sanctum, Kachaleeswarar gives his darshan long side Soundarambhigai in a separate shrine to his left. The navagraha are in the left side and in the path around this praharam we can worship Panchamuga Pillaiyar, Urcha...

In today's fast moving competitive world we have no time to even stop and look around us. A deluge of selfish tasks keeps us secluded from the outside world. Very few come down to fight for common cause and not many willing to participate in legal proceedings benefiting society. We need to go out of way sometimes for betterment of mankind. Our country has numerous social activists who are the above said few. Dont we need more people to join them at least on a part time basis? Every citizen of this country need to join hands with these like minded people for the betterment of our society and the greater India. Recently two of such citizens from our very own Chennai caught our attention for their selfless work.  Are we not capable of planning our work and provide enough time to the society? Arun Krishnamurthy who runs his own firm and does election analysis is an activist for restoring lakes.  Environmentalist Foundation of India is the NGO which does thi...

Lake Malawi trip becomes the culmination of our places of visits in and around Blantyre. One cannot leave this country before making the trip to this UNESCO's world heritage site. It is around 365 miles long. Sun & sand At 5 AM from Blantyre we left via Chichiri - Limbe and drove through Zomba - Liwonde to reach  Mangochi by 8:30 AM. Few kilometers to Mangochi we could see the Shire river to the right, it leaves the lake and drains in lake Malombe. The lake is clear, deep watered and appears as a beach in the Monkey bay located in Mangochi district. Temperature is high here compared to Blantyre. Lake view Like the ECR in Chennai where the resorts facade the beach the Malawi lake can be seen through the resorts here. We entered one such resort called the Sun & Sand providing accommodation and dining facility. Lake Behind the resort we can see the lake Malawi as beach with a giant mass of rock behind looking like a small island in the beach. The at...

Trip to Blantyre will not be fulfilled until we visit 'St. Micheal and All Angel's church' and the 'Mandala House' is what we were told. So just set forth to witness the magnificent structures. Stopped by at the Shri Hindu temple before going in search of the above two. Its a small temple just opposite to FMB bank in Mt.Soche. Lord Vinayaka here blesses the visiting devotees. During Hindu festivals all are treated to good Indian food here it seems. Mandala House This is Malawi's national monument also called as Old Manager's house. It is the oldest building in Blantyre having been built in 1882 with dried grass,bricks and mud. This was built for the Managers of African lakes corporation to stay. Later became a bank too. Now it houses - La Caverna Art Gallery in the ground floor. Malawian handcrafts are displayed here for sales. 'Society of Malawian library and archive' with a vast collection of Malawi books and journals of the 19th century...