Online Hangouts

The excursion in the present day cyber savvy world is undoubtedly on the internet.We spend hours and hours of our time browsing on the internet and it has indeed become an indispensible part of our life.

It brings people together,

changes the future of people,

connects unknown faces,

shares information and so on....!!

From the cradle to grave all processes are getting computerised and available on the web.(like the SSN information in the US!!)

In this train of thoughts I want to just tread a path where I visualise the internet as an external world!!My present list of hangout spots are

1.www.google.com

2.wikipedia.org

3.Misc blogs of my friends

4.orkut.

5.Yahoo mail.

6.US news.com

7.esnips.com

8.Mohankumars.com

9.Formula1.com

There are more and more hangout spots to be added...!!These websites are similar to the malls and bus stations in our cities where we meet a wide variety of people everyday.Hit upon on old friends!!

If we could just have a system of meeting people who are using the same website at that instant of time..Though it might sound pretty ridiculous...But then I could not help imagining it :)
May be when we are googling for something we meet another person who is also searchingfor the same thing and may be we help each other!!We could run into our old friend or ex girl-friend while at google.

But then the rational part of my brain immediately tells me...

"C'mon stop hallucinating about improbable things!!"

Well I stop for now.....!!cause we still do not have a system for transmitting emotions :)

Humble Beginning
We hired an auto from the town of oppiliappan jovial-near Kumbakonam to my fathers ancestral village tell you the truth it was true to its name a "VILLAGE"(After a long fight with the authorities people in the village have managed to get bus services their small village.) The road to the village was as expected - Narrow,hardly maintained and a dirt track.After an excruciating journey we reached the village - POUNDARIGAPURAM.

Every south Indian Name would have to it a village name attached which was a part of my fathers name too.But this name stopped with my father after we severed all ties with the village after my grandfather migrated to the city of chennai in serach of greener pastures.As we walked through the village my father showed me the parts of the vacant agricultural land that was once owned by us.The He told "It extended from here till say about that post ..(Which was about 1 km away..)"That was a vast extent of land.I was never used to such open places after spending a large portion of my life in flats and small independent houses.As city resident I was always used to "CUBICLES","ENCLAVES","APARTMENTS" etc...!! The idea of imagining vast open spaces was a welcome change indeed.

It was like working on the sets of a barathiraja...movie..!!watch the prostine beauty of nature.I mean it was really pristine..!No truks,tractors..!People using bullock carts !Air without pollution and a noise free environment. Truly a welcome change.The cell phone was dead as it could reach any transmitting station.A relief for even a cell phone buff like me.

Rustic Beauty with the fragrance of the farm land..!Quite Amazing Indeed!..

Then he showed the old ancestral home,the adjoining mango orchard,the village post-office(an indispensible part of the village economy),a temple tank and a small dilapilated temple.We visited the temple and as soon as we entered ...A sudden attack by the Bats that took shelter there..The god there seem to like their company,Then the pujari performed a simple pooja to the lord there and gave us the prasad.The lord there had no flowers for any decoration.Then we bid adieu to the place and again looked at the village.A perfect Malgudi type environ..!
Quite a nostalgic journey...!!While returning back he told me these words..

"SON...Always remember about your humble beginning....!" (Even though this village will not be a part of my surname now :)
Quite a strong statement..Indeed!!!

LOST WORLD .....

I embarked on a journey to my visit my family deity at a village near the temple town of kumbakonam in south Tamilnadu.I thought I would write fragmented pieces of incidents from this trip may never have any concrete inter-connection to each other..But then I would like to concentrate on the specific smaller incidents of the journey with my parents!!..

Kumbakonam is also known as the banaras of the south,with temples every 1Km.Literally it is a feast for a person with an artistic incline and a paradise for the spiritual fanatic time we decided to explore the town as we had an expert guide amidst us - My father temples showcased amazing artistic and engineering talent of our ancestors brought to the forefront the engineering capabilities of our ancestors temple has a history worth being covered by the plethora of news channels have stood the test of time and force.They have stood floods,storms and even earthquakes..!Infact many of us will be surprised to now that these temples here are more than 2000 years old.

So naturally the following intriguing questions followed:

Why are we still not bothered about such places??

How many indian kids know about such historic locations???

Arent theses monuments a reflection of a glorious past and an inpiration for the future??

Can any present architect even predict a theory on how our ancestors bulit these wonder stuctureswithout steel,cement,simulation,modeling tools,cranes or lifts etc..???

These were a few questions that popped up in my mind from time to time..!!

Then I also made a small analysis...

Our ancestors have used temple as the centre of their social culture and built our cities around it.The artistic work in the temple illustrated about various aspects of our life ....From hedonistic pleasures to spiritual...!!This in itself is an amazing example of a vibrant and a tolerant society.The temple festivals gave a spring board for musicians to sing and the artisitcs to showcase their talents.The temple festivals gave an opportunity for people to socialise through dancing, singing..(we have a system even now in the form of parties and get-togethers)

But somewhere down the line we have got so short sighted and cease to appreciate our traditions or culture.We ardently follow traditions that are hardly 150 years old and have their roots in other countries.But what importance do we assert to our long-standing traditions.Years and years of wisdom have already been lost in transmission losses from one genration to another..If there is no transmission at all then ..??This is the situation now..!!With the flux of population to the cities.children are disconnected from these temple towns and tradition.

I am not averse to people exploring the world..But then first let us explore our glorious past.After all this region(India as a whole) has been called the cradle of human civilisation for more than 2000 years...!