A lot has happened since I left for Cameroon in 2006 and returned end 2007. I have since decided not to go back into the rat race and have spent quality time with the family.

Will update sooooooooooooooon

The Omen

Today is an (in) auspious day, the 6th day, of the 6th month, in the year 2006 (i.e. 06.06.06).
The Chinese believe that the day is auspious and a number of weddings will take place today.

The Omen released in 1976 featured this inauspious number the triple 6 as being anti christ, but in numerology adding 6+6+6 = 18 and 1 + 8 = 9 and 9 is considered lucky.

The new release of The Omen is scheduled to open today with the hope that the picture will bring them luck on this (in) auspious day. Good luck to them.

Click Clock
Some of you might have noticed that there are 2 clock faces on my Blog. One shows the time in Kuala Lumpur while the other shows the time in Yaounde. Now where the hell is Yaounde and why Yaounde?
Well I have been offered a posting in Cameroon, Africa, and Yaounde is the capital city of the Cameroon.
I await my final letter from GMG, Singapore the Management of the Estate/Factory in Cameroon. If all goes according to plan I am to start there 1st August 2006 as Factory Manager of the Latex/Dry Rubber Factory.
As much as I would like to take up the position, the flip side is that I have to be away from the family for a good while. This is not what I want.
Have persuaded wife to let me go for max. 2 years and that she should join me as soon as we can sort out last daughter Syandya school arrangements. Shymala has agreed to look after Syandya and that is a BIG relief to us and we thank her from the bottom of our hearts.
Anyway I still await the final letter. As they say don't count the chicks befor their are born.

"Suresh weds Deviani"
We join the Kalayani amma clan celebrate the much awaited wedding of the eldest son of Sulochana and Balan Nair to Deviani of Ipoh.
Even though the marriage had its drama in the initial period, it ended with a strong gush of wind as the elligible batchelor alighted from his Mercedes to claim his pretty bride.
The Gods must have wanted to show their all presence as the wind died off and allowed the marriage to go on well in a cool evening.
The marriage held at the Rinching Estate Temple was conducted by a chindian priest and under the guidance of Ragavan Nambiar the Master of Ceremony.
We adjourned to the bride's uncle (SK Nair)'s house a stone throw away. Her as the Uncle wife has Bangalee blood, her side put up a barrier to demand entry money (toll) from the Bridegroom's side
before they were allowded entry into the house. After much haggling and money changing hands and also with Balan Nair's less RM200, the couple entered the house for the customery "palum & palam" milk & banana. Unknown to many, Suresh who does not like milk, managed to get the host family to use soyabean milk instead.
Vishnu who was to pick up Nisha and drive up to the temple from KL had car problem. His car refused to start and they had to wait along the lonely stretch of Jalan Raja Chulan. The EON mechanic arrived but could not sort out the problem and his car had to be towed to EOM Glenmarieservice centre.
So we rusged from SK's place to KL and picked up Nisha and took her back to Subang Jaya. Vishnu hitched a ride to Glenmarie on the Tow Truck and I later fetched him from the Centre around 11.30pm.
What a night it was.

Geetha's Brithday
My second daughter celebrated her 20th Birthday today. A quiet family affair. Vishnu bought a cake which she cut before we went out for dinner, a chinese meal.
She is currently having her Varsity break and will go back in early July for year 2 of 4 doing the Pharmacy program.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEETHA"

01.02.03.04.05.06

What will people think of next!

Apparantely somebody who did not have much to do came up with this combination that will never happen again in our life time.

Today 4th May 2006 precisely at 1 hour 2 minutes and 3 seconds after midnight the the magic number of 01.02.03.04.05.06 will strike.

It is said that who ever is concieved at that precise moment is a lucky child in the future.

I for one am lucky with a loving wife and three beautiful children, what more do I need.

Let some lucky guy tried hard to beat the odds of creating another life at that presice time.

Lord Murugan guards Batu caves.
Batu Caves officially got the Minister Samy Velu to Officially declare open the 140feet statue of Lord Murugan which was erected beside the steps leading to the Caves on the 29th Jan 2006.
The ocassion was held on a grand scale, with songs rendered by singers from India and local artists, a helicopeter dropping flowers on the statue and a final display of fireworks. Later after the event was over at 8pm, the event continued with a stage show by local artists.
We (wife and two daughters) were there on hand to see witness the ocassion and eventhough the event took 4 hours, up to the fireworks, it was an event not to be missed.














Understand the Temple Officails are trying to get it recorded in the Malaysian Book of Records, that this being the tallest Murugan statue in South East Asia.

The other large statue at Batu Caves is the statue of Hanamun, The Monkey God that helped Lord Rama in the Ramayana Epic.

Vishnu's 22nd Birthday
We celebrated our son Vishnu's 22nd Birthday on the 21st January 2006.
We threw a small dinner party, and our usual crowd were here to help celebrate the ocassion.
Suresh whose birthday was earlier on the 16th Jan was also asked to cut the cale along with Vishnu.
The usual smearing of the cake cream was not to be missed as the younger cousins and sisters ensured that the tradition were not left out.
Once again Happy Birthday Vishnu, may you have your wishes come true..
Happy Birthday Suresh, who turned 40.

WELCOMING THE NEW YEAR

31st December 2005, found us heading north to Ipoh. Our usual pre-New Year gathering usually held at Carrey Island had to be relocated as Vasu had moved out of Carrey Island. So this year Suresh Balan Nair, the most eligible bachelor, of the Kalayani Amma Family, invited the families to his place in Ipoh to help celebrate the arrival of 2006.

Our eldest and youngest brother in Law (Karunakaran and Mohan) and their families could not make it due to other committements. The children of Karunakaran could not also make it.

Vasu, currently working in Indonesia, managed to plan his leave so he could attend this gathering. He flew into KLIA on the 30^th December.

Present at the gathering were, Vasu and family, Viswan and family, Balan Nair & wife, his other 2 children, Vignesh and Suja and their families, and us wife, Geetha and Syandya. Vishnu is still in US and will be back on the 17^th of January. Invited guest were Suresh uncle and aunt from Ipoh and Esso Chandren and family.

The families wanted to prepare some dishes to take up, but Suresh had other things on his mind. His instructions were to bring ourselves and leave the planning to him.

Suja and family were there when we arrived; she took a few days at Lumut and was at Brother’s place a day earlier.

We were to meet up with Viswan family and proceed to Ipoh together. Having picked up Geetha from the University, we started to take a slow drive up North. On calling Shymala, found out that the children were still not ready. We decided to take the old trunk road making our way to Ipoh, hoping that they will catch up. While we were nearing Batu Gajah, we found that they were just reaching Rawang. We decided not to wait for them but to proceed. Stopped for a quick lunch at Ipoh. After lunch we called Suresh, and got directions to reach his place. Arrived at Suresh’s place around 2.30pm.

The others started arriving slowly afterwards.

Dinner was BBQ. Suresh had marinated the chicken wings & leg earlier and Santosh took the role of the Chef for the day with assistance from Nishant. Bedong sister in law cooked meehoon and the party got going.

The younger children, with Nisha taking the lead got the others to start dancing to great Indian music. What a sight to see Naviatha and Vishal dancing to the tune of Remo (of the Anniyan fame).

With the clock striking midnight, we wished one and all a Very Happy New Year.

The children (Nisha, Geetha, Syandya and Durgga) recollected the events of the past year. It is noted that with pride that Nisha graduated from MMU, landed a job with HSBC and after 3 months switched to Mearsk Lines. Vishnu had also completed a year at IBM/MAS while studying IT at NIIT, Nishnat is pursuing a course in Accountancy at Sunway College, and Geetha obtained a place in Malayan University to do Pharmacy.

Fondly remembered was our dear, Kalayani Amma (Mother, Grandmother, and Great Grandmother) who passed away now 2 years. As in the past a minute silence with the passing of a lighted candle to all members present was carried out.

It was heartening to also note that Balan Nair, Suresh father made it to this gathering. He is so busy with others affairs that he finds it difficult to attend the numerous gatherings we hold as a Family. We hope to see him more at our future gatherings.

Children slowly started to go to bed and we too hit the sack by 2.30am. Understand some of the men were busying playing cards until almost 6.00am.

Welcome 2006, may you give us plenty of joy and brighten our lives as we also say a silent goodbye to 2005.

Tsunami Day (26-12-2004)

Today we say a silent prayer to the thousands who perished in the Tsunami of last year. It was estimated that about 230,000 died and 1.8 million are homeless. A year has gone by, thousands still do not have a roof over their heads and the relief that were expected is still not forthcoming.

May all those who have lost a loved one find inner peace. The trauma that one undergoes cannot be described in words, we pray that they overcome this tragic event and go on with their lives.
Life must go on.

My son Vishnu having worked for 16 months took his first long break. A well deserved holiday, guess what it is not to Penang, or Cameron Highlands, or Genting Highlands. He is flying 21 hours to New York, USA. He met a friend at the PC Fair at PWTC last year and he kept up the friendship through e-mail. The friend invited Vishnu over and that is where he is going to. As I write this he still has not reached NY. They have one stop at Stockholn before they head for NY. He will be back on the 16th of January 2006.

CHRISTMAS DAY
The last festival for 2005 is here and today as usual we visited my younger sister, Radha and her family at Taman Tun. Her 2 boys Joshua and Joel were down from Australia where they are studying, on their Christmas break and to help pack the household items. This is their last Christmas in Malaysia, as they migrate to Perth, Australia on the 14th of January 2006.
My other brother in law from Perth, Mohan is down in Malaysia attending to personal matters. He and his parents and elder sister and her son were there at my sister's place, prior to our arrival. My mother, elder sisiter and her elder son were there a day earlier. By the was Vignesh, my eldest sister's son, took part in the recent Astro's Atam Nuru Vagai (Dance a hundred ways) competation and their team managed to get a 4th placing. Congratulations Vignesh.

Later that evening we were at my nephew Chandran's place to welcome him and his family back from Kota Kinabalu, where they were stationed for a number of years. Chandran got transferred back to Subang and he decided to rent a place in SS14 near to our place and that of his parents. School and kindergarden being close by was a major factor for him renting here. The usual Kalayani family members were there to wish him and his family"welcome back" and all the best for the new year.

Welcome to Subang Jaya - Chandran, Nanda and their 3 girls (Nameetha, Nitisha & Nilasha)

LOVE

My daughter's friend, Diymitra sent us (wife & self) this sms which reads:

"To love is a Duty,
To be loved is a Success,
To be with someone you love is an Achievement,
To be with someone who loves you is Life.
So live a life full of Love,”

I remember a movie where Indian Movie Super Star, Rajinikant used similar words, when he said that it is better you marry the girl that loves you than the girl that you love.

If we sit and ponder these wise words, there will be fewer fights between lovers, husband and wives and lesser divorces.

So let us all “LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE”

I should thank Diymitra and Rajinikant for reminding us these phrases, and let us all not merely read it but we should all practise it.

Ps. Diymitra is currently in one of the Local University doing Medicine.

WIFE TAKES A BREAK
Back home after sending wife and 2 daughters to Pudu Raya to catch the bus at 11.59pm (Friday 9 Dec) for Sungei Petani, Kedah. We left Subang Jaya after a quick dinner at Sukumaran Restaurant and left around 11.20pm. Thinking that the journey will take approx.20 minutes, we still will have plenty of time before the bus departs.
Took the Federal Highway and approaching PJ Hilton, traffic was at a crawl, inching forward very slowly we reached another 100 meters to see 2 accidents one on our side and the other on the opposite side. There were the usual "Malaysian' attitude of people slowing down to have a peep and others obviously to note down the car numbers. People were also parked on both sides of the road and they were there not to help but to be busy bodies.
Having crossed the 100meters sped as the time showed that it was already 11.40pm. I knew that if I did not speed I could not make it to Pudu Raya.
So I switched from normal driving to A1 (not Formula 1) driving, took the roundabout at the start of Loke Yew and into Loke Yew towards Shaw Road. Passing the Pudu Jail and making a left into Pudu Road the traffic was again heavy with buses and taxies coming in and out with passenger cars dropping of people all over. Inching forward managed to come along Pudu Raya informed my wife and children to quickly take the bags and make a dash towards the bus platform. As I could not park and not wanting to deprive others of a place to drop off, I moved forward towards the Pudu roundabout heading towards Brickfields. On the way made an illegal call (without hand free kit) to my daughter to find out if they caught the bus. What a relief to hear that they were on the bus. Their other Aunties, Uncle and cousins were already in the bus wondering what happened.
They are all attending the wedding of Baskaran's daughter Shalini on Sunday at Sungei Petani. (Baskaran is the brother of my wife sister’s husband.)
Wife and children will stay over a few days with my wife sister's place at Bedong. Children wanting to look up old classmates and wife to spend quality time with her elder sister.
They should be back on Friday.
So yours truly is a bachelor for the next few days and also keeping house for my son who is working.

THE POWER OF 9
Over the past week The Star newspaper had captions of the number "nine" in various places of the newspaper eg. The cat has 9 lives, Beethovan's 9 Symphoney, 9 hole golf course, etc etc..
We were all wondering what is so great about this 9 when today's paper gave us the answer.
Apparantly the Star was born on the 9th of September 1971 (9-9-1971). If you add up the numbers 9+9+1+9+7+1 = 36 and adding 3 + 6 gives you 9 (NINE).

Today is also my eldest sister's Birthday. She turns 57. Happy birthday Achee. May you have a good life.

PM's wife Endon Mahmood passed away this morning at 7.55 am after a long fight against breast cancer. Heard this sad news on Hits FM on my way to work. All you women folk out there, do go for your Mammogram checkup, there is no shortcut other than early detection, through self examination, going for regular check ups and follow through treatment if need be. Endon's twin sister also died from the same problem a few years earlier.
MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE AND GIVE STRENGTH TO OUR PRIME MINISTER AND HIS CHILDREN AT THIS TIME OF THEIR GREAT LOSS.

Birthday
Today is my youngest daughter's 14th Birthday. She was born at 10.02pm on the 10.10.1991. What a lot of 10, I should have got the nurse at the time of birth to fix the time of birth to 10.10pm, but in all the excitement of watching a new life coming out into this world, I too forget the time until the nurse told me the time of birth. I liked the name Syandya, which in our language means the time between evening and nightfall. So we named our daughter Syandya.
Syandya is going through her teens when life is just booooooooooooooooring. Being the youngest, she gets bullied by her elder 2 siblings.
Syandya is closest to her cousin Durgga who is 6 days younger than her. Actually Durgga was to have been born earlier than Syandya, but Syandya wanted to see the world first and decided her time was up and came 6 days earlier. When ever they meet over the weekends, the two cannot be seperated. What a whole lot of information is exchanged is anybody's guess.
The cake that my elder 2 children bought for Syandya, carried her name and mine, as mine was earlier on the 5 Oct and I did not get a cake. So we had a double celebration with 1 cake and 2 pizzas for dinner. Syandya was made to cut the pizza saying that we forgot to buy a cake. Later after the pizza was consumed, the cake came out, my son's favourite, American Chocolate cake.

DEEPAVALI - The Festival of Lights

Deepavali is around the corner and we made a bee line to Klang, the famous Little India in Jalan Tengku Kelana to do some shopping.
We (wife, younger daughter and self) arrived at Klang around 11.00am after picking our elder daughter from MU. The place was filled with Deepavali shoppers, cars parked all over, shops overflowing with human traffic, pavements overfilling with sundry goods for sale and music blaring aloud with the latest songs. This has been our 1st time out during the Deepavali season to do shopping; normally we don’t have fixed time to buy apparels. We buy when we need them. This time as we have a few weddings around the corner we thought we will try and catch some of the bargins and also see what happens during days prior to Deepavali.
Parking was a problem, most of the parking lots were taken up by little traders but we finally managed to find a spot beside the Chattier temple. By the way this temple celebrated its Maha Kumba Abigasham on the 8th of September 2005. Apparently they had a helicopter flying overhead during the final prayers showering flowers at the crowd below. One would have thought that the Gods were showering their Blessings.
Having parked and making our way towards the main street, shop attendants were calling out to passerby to take a walk through their shops to view the apparels offered for sale.
Shops were crowded with eager shoppers looking for bargains and the latest trends worn by Bollywood & Kollywood artists.
Around 1.30pm thought that it was a good time to break for lunch, the 10 odd restaurants were filled, we had to stand around and await an empty seat. With a hurried lunch, it was more shopping by my wife and two daughters. I found a quiet spot beside the famous Gayathrie store to take a much needed rest.
Around 4pm, I was summoned by my daughter to bring my credit card as they completed their shopping. Signing the credit slip, I caught glimpse of other shoppers exchanging quiet a lot of money for goods purchased. Thankfully my wife and children did not burn a large hole in my pockets.
Business is so good no wonder Gayathrie Store from a double shop lot have taken over almost 6 shop lots. This is the same for the Madura Stores, the MAP Store and others.
My son finally came around 4.30pm having spent the previous night celebrating the 21st birthday of a college mate. We adjourned to Vasu’s place for tea. Left Klang finally around 7.00pm for home. What a day, shopping is no fun.

Being 54 years young seems a long time in one's life. What did I achieve so far. Well I am still happily married to the one and only girl in my life. We are going through 22 good long years of married life and we have 3 wonderful children that we are proud off.

When I was retrenched from Kumpulan Guthrie end 2003, I had put in 33 years, rising from a junior clerk to that of a Factory Manager. My last posting was at Bedong, Kedah at the Rubber Processing Factory. The excuse they gave for retrenching me was that they could not find a suitable job for me with my experience within the Guthrie Group. What a lot a rubbish, from the HUMAN RESOURCE DEPT, giving this sort of crap answers. Well I thought that it was high time to take a break from the rat race.

My last 1 1/2 years was spent at home enjoying pre-retirement and dabbling a little in KLSE.

Since 5th September 2005, I have again joined the rat race, helping a former colleague in Administrative work, enjoying life and a bit of work.

84th Birthday at TTDI

My Mother’s 84^th Birthday

Mother cannot remember her actual date of birth and that in India where she was born is common. They follow the Indian astrological sign and due to this the actual birthday changes year to year due to slight differences from the normal calendar. This year mother’s birthday fell on the 28^t September and we decided to hold the function on Saturday the 1^s of October at my 3^rsister (Radha) place at TTDI.

My elder sister Prema with her son Murali, my younger sister Bhargavi with her sons Vijay, his wife Suja and daughter Jenanie and Prem, were also there to help celebrate the occasion.

We (Usha, Vishnu, Geetha and Syandya and self) were the only family in full force. Joyce, Radha’s daughter played the gracious host in serving the drinks around. The occasion was a quiet family affair, with dinner served followed by the cake cutting. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMMA.

CARREFOUR
This hypermarket market near my place in Subang Jaya is French Owned.

Today my wife and I had to do some marketing and decided to pop in at the hypermarket. On entering the hypermarket, the theme that strikes you is that Hari Raya is nearing and the message is very clear, come celebrate Hari Raya with shopping at Carrefour.

By the way did Carrefour forget or is this their policy to ignore the feelings of Indians. We the Indians do celebrate Deepavali which falls on the 1st November, followed by Hari Raya on the 3/4 Nov. How come a total disregard towards Indians and their feelings, or should we Indians boycott this hypermarket in future.

October is the 10-month of the year in the Gregorian calendar.

October begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Libra and ends in the sign of Scorpio. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Virgo and ends in the constellation of Libra. The name is from the Greek Word “ octo” for “eight”.

Why am I bringing up this month, when I have not highlighted others months, it possible because I am a Libra and so is my youngest daughter together with a whole lot of relatives to share this happy month.

The month starts with my elder sister’s 1^st born, Vignesh who will turn 20 today. “Happy Birthday Vignesh”..

This is followed by Suresh on the 3^rd (my wife’s sister Sulochana/Balan Nair’s 1st born), then on the 5^th is yours truly, followed by my daughter Syandya on the 10^th, with Avilash, (my wife’s twin brother Mohan/Latchmy’s 1st born on the 11^th, followed by Durgga (1^st born to my wife’s other brother Viswan/Shamala on the 16^th, then its my younger sister, Bhargavi/Prabakaran’s 4^th son, Dinesh on the 26^th, followed finally by my younger sister herself, Bhargavi ending the month with her birthday on the 31^st.

My mother’s birthday is in between Sept/Oct due to her following the Indian calendar. Her birthday this year was on the 28^th of September, her 84^th Birthday, which we plan celebrate today with Vignesh at my younger sister Radha’s place at Taman Tun. Menu is POT LUCK . I hope to be lucky, as my tummy is empty.

So my advice to all my nephews, niece & daughter - "Live a good life and Life will take care of you" as PCK says don't "PLAY PLAY".

TWINS ARE A RARE BREED. There are several "types" of twins, but the two most common are fraternal and identical.

During my primary schooling days way back in the Nineteen Sixties, in La Salle Sentul, we had a pair of Monozygotic (Identical) twins named Peter and Paul. They caused a lot of mischief pretending to be the other and it made our lives miserable, not knowing who was the other. I lost in touch with them after finishing our Primary studies and moved to the Secondary School.
I know of another set twins later in life. This pair of dizygotic twins was born to this woman (Kalayani Amma) in her prime. Mohan & Usha, the twins had a tragic beginning. They were born 10 days after their father was involved in a tragic road accident on the 24^th of February 1959, while cycling to buy breakfast for the family. These twins were born into the world having the misfortune of not knowing their father. The family was forced to move out of Guthrie’s Sengkang Estate, where their father once worked. They were lucky that their elder brother by then was employed at the Rubber Research Institute in Sungei Buluh. The mother, twins and 3 other children took shelter with this brother, in the house provided by the Institute. Mohan and Usha looked up to their elder brother, who was 23 years older than them, more as a father figure than an elder brother.

I married one of the twins way back in 1983, you guessed it not this bald one. He is my bro-in-law, Mohan Nair I married his twin sister Usha.

Ours was an arranged marriage. As our marriage discussions in 1982 was progressing then, I had an offer to work with the Guthrie’s Rubber factory in Liberia, West Africa. I called up this girl, who was then employed at the Malaysian Sheet Glass Factory at Sungei Buluh, and informed her that I was interested to take up this offer and that if she was willing to follow me there. As it was written in the Stars, we got married, moved to Liberia, started a family and returned after 7 years with 2 children (Born in 1984, 1986). Another child followed later in 1991.

The other twin boy, Mohan worked with CCM, and currently works for the same company his twin sister worked i.e. Malaysian Sheet Glass at Sungei Buluh. Was that coincidence or fate, I wonder. He too is married and has 3 boys.

SO WHAT ARE TWINS? There are several "types" of twins, but the two most common are fraternal and identical.

FRATERNAL TWINS – medically termed as dizygotic twins – occur when two offspring are born of the same pregnancy and develop from two separate ova that were released from the ovary and fertilized at the same time. Fraternal twins may be of the same or opposite sex and will differ genetically as well as in appearance.

IDENTICAL TWINS – medically termed as monozygotic and they result from the fertilization of one egg by one sperm which splits after fertilization and results in two babies being formed. Each twin develops from the identical half of one fertilized egg.

Identical twins always have the same features since they have the same genetic makeup. Their hair, eye colour, blood type, body scent and dental impressions will be exactly the same. Some identical twins are also called mirror twins because some of their features are related in a mirror-like manner.

Half the fraternal twins in the world are same-sex and the other half is male-female. One factor relating to the incidence of fraternal twins is age. The older a mother is when she conceives the more likely she is to have fraternal twins. This is especially prevalent after the age of 35. My mother-in-law gave birth to her twins when she was 41years old.
New fertility drugs called Pergonal increases the chances multiple births. So those out there if you are keen on twins, triplets or more you need to see your Gyne, quick quick quick.

I WAS FIXED

Customs DG confirms he was the unidentified Dept Head in the RM5 Million controversy.
His replies to the allegation, read on....
1) RM5 Million lavish farewell parties - Usual amount spent on any retiring DG.
2)Son awarded AP's - Son bona-fide car importer.

What a lot of Crap.

ONASADHYA - FEAST FIT FOR KINGS.

Today we had to go collect our medication from Selayang and Sungei Buloh. We also had to fetch home our daughter from the University.

Our eldest sister- in- law(Adathie Amma) to all of us, graciously invited us for Onasadhya at her place. Who in their right mind can refuse her cooking.

Syandya had to attend school so she stayed behind with Vishnu, who had to go to work at 4pm. Vishnu drove Syandya to Adathie Amma's place and after Syandya had her Onasadhya, Vishnu sent her to school.

After collecting all the medication and fetching Geetha we arrived at Sis-in-Laws place around 1.00pm.

Sis in Law was still busy in the kitchen with the last of the dishes.

What a spread of food. From the Sambar, Avial, Kalan, Olan, Thoran, Erissery, Banana Chips, Parapu/Semea Payasam and Banana, of only we had 2 stomach.

After the meal was over and had to leave, we thanked Adathie Amma for the wonderful meal. We are blessed that we have Adathie Amma, a mother/sister like figure to all of us, who look forward to all her in-laws coming over the weekend, ever smiling and keeping the family together.

THIRUVONAM ASHAMSAKAL TO ALL MY FELLOW MALAYALEES.

God has blessed us with a good year and we pray the coming year will be even better.
Onam is the biggest and the most important festival of the Malayalees from the state of Kerala and those Malayalees living around the globe. It is a harvest festival and is celebrated with joy and enthusiasm by people of all communities. According to a popular legend, the festival is celebrated to welcome King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam.
Onam is celebrated in the beginning of the month of Chingam, the first month of Malayalam Calendar (Kollavarsham). This corresponds with the month of August-September according to Gregorian Calendar.

The Legend
Story goes that during the reign of mighty asura (demon) king, Mahabali, Kerala witnessed its golden era. Every body in the state was happy and prosperous and king was highly regarded by his subjects. Apart from all his virtues, Mahabali had one shortcoming. He was egoistic. This weakness in Mahabali's character was utilized by Gods to bring an end to his reign as they felt challenged by Mahabali's growing popularity. However, for all the good deed done by Mahabali, God granted him a boon that he could annually visit his people with whom he was so attached.
It is this visit of Mahabali that is celebrated as Onam every year. People make all efforts to celebrate the festival in a grand way and impress upon their dear King that they are happy and wish him well.
Of all these days the first day Atham and the tenth day Thiruvonam are the most significant ones.

10 DAYS OF ONAM

Tomorrow Onam is celebrated by all Malayalees irrespective of religion. Malayalees in Kerala celebrate the Harvest festival for 10 days. Times are hard, so in Malaysia, Onam is celebrated for a day. That too many find it difficult to take leave to be with their loved ones and to have a good Onam saadhya.

What are the 10 days about.

The first day of Onam is called Atham and is of great significance. People start making Pookalam from this day and wait for Maveli to visit their house. A colourful procession Athachamyam is also carried in Kochi to mark the arrival of Onam.

The second day of Onam is called Chithira. There are no major customs for this day. Girls add more flowers to the already existing Pookalam and give it a more colourful design.

Third day of Onam is called Chothi or Chodi. People indulge in shopping on this day and make every effort to see that nothing is left undone for the day of Onam.

Fourth day of Onam is called Vishagam or Visakam. With a few days left for Thiru Onam excitement is palpabale amongst the people. Women get busy in making prior preparations of the grand meal called Onasadya.

Fifth day of Onam is called, Anizham. The major highlight of this day is the grand race called Vallamkali which takes place on the banks of the river Pampa at Aranmulla.

Sixth day of Onam is called Triketta or Thriketa. A large number of cultural programmes are organised in various parts of the state as a general atmosphere of excitement and mirth prevails.

Seventh day of Onam is called Moolam. Markets are abuzz with activity on this day as a large number of people do their last bit of shopping. Pookalam gets an even more interesting design with fresh flowers.

Eighth day of Onam is called Pooradam. On this day people make clay idols in the shape of small pyramids called a called a Ma. As the idol is created on the day of Pooradam, it is also called Poorada Uttigal.

Ninth day of Onam is called Utradam or Uthradam. This is a significant day as it is a penultimate day to Thiruvonam. In some places celebrations begin from the day of Utradam only.

Tenth day of Onam is called Thiruvonam. This is considered to be the most important and auspicious day. People believe that it is on this day that the spirit of King Maveli comes to visit his people in Kerala.

KOLAM - Religious Floor Art.
"Kolam" refers to decorative artwork drawn on the floor in front of houses and in front of deities in puja rooms.
The most common rangoli or kolam designs start with dots which are connected to form lines and other geometrical shapes.
Kolams are drawn on the ground with white powder (usually ground rice or powdered stone). They must be drawn unicursally (in one continuous line), so it is considered a skill to be able to complete one without pause.
The kolam of the Peacock, was that drawn at the entrance of the wedding reception hall we attended on Sunday 11 Sept or should I say on 9/11.

Krisheila Wedding Reception
Attended the wedding reception of Krishila d/o Krishnan and Leelavathi (Leela is the sister of Bedong Balan Nair) at Stadium Juara, Bukit Kiara this evening. Our families had a night out and as usual were one of the last to leave.
This trend is ever present when ever our families meet at functions even when we are not the host, we leave after almost all have left.
Any way it is good that we can gather around and spend quality time with our loved ones.

TOP GUN



On Merdeka day this year, I took these shots of our TOP GUN fighter pilots in action The shot turned out exceptionally well against Putrajaya’s streetlights.
These boys flying at top speed, dog fighting each other, always thrills the crowd. They ensure our skies are protected against foreign invasion.

This reminds me of my 1st nephew from my wife’s side. Major (Ret.) Chandran. He was with the TUDM, (Malaysian Air Force) based at the former Australian Air base at Butterworth until he completed his Service Contract and decided to come out of the forces to pursue greener pastures. He is currently flying for Transmile, and is based in Sabah.
During his time with TUDM, one incident I cannot forget was in 1995, the time Chandran was co-flying with his Major, on a routine group flight doing maneuvers over the skies of Butterworth. During one such fly past, another fighter aircraft’s front nose hit the back end of my nephew aircraft causing the plane to go out of control, into a tail spin. My nephew and the Captain had the presence of mind by to eject out of the tumbling fighter, saved both their lives. Both landed safely on rice fields in the Butterworth region, despite a number of facial wounds from the explosion cockpit, otherwise they escaped unscratched. The Hawk Jetfighter was a total write off.

Tomorrow is

Ganesha Chaturthi, the day Ganesha was born, is celebrated by Hindus all over the World.
Ganesha is the Hindu elephant-headed god, is known (by various names in different parts of India and on different occasions) as the Remover of Obstacles, the god of domestic harmony and of success. He is the most beloved and revered of all the Hindu gods, and is always invoked first in any Hindu ceremony or festival. He is the son of Parvati (the wife of Shiva, the Destroyer, the most powerful of the Hindu trinity of principal gods). There are many stories about how Ganesha got his elephant head, and about his exploits and antics. He was created as an ordinary boy, but was decapitated in battle. Shiva's emissaries were sent into the forest and told to get the head of the first animal they found and to fit that head onto the boy's neck. They found a little elephant, and it worked!

The Ganesha Mantra:

Vakratunda Mahaakaaya Suryakotee Sama Prabha
Nirvighnam kuru mey Deva
Sarva kaaryeshu Sarvadaa