BOBKANNAN BLOGS

Today is General Council Meeting of AIADMK at Thiruvanmiyur Chennai. Police movement started yesterday itself. Today morning after the walk sat in a small eatery where more than 20 policemen/women too had breakfast. As we are always in a hurry to paint the police black I was observing their behavior as they ate. They displayed normal courtesy to the hotel boys calling them as 'Thambi" and told them not to be in a hurry or nervous. After food they religiously went to the counter and recited whatever they ate and paid for it. They also conversed with the crowd when they chose to interact. They did mention the high frustration they fight thro but never sounded bitter. As I left I told them "today is a big day for you people, do well, all the best and good day ". They too appeared to be happy with the interaction and left. Since there is heavy overdose of negative news about police I thought I should share this experience. *********************...

It was a quiz program to test the knowledge of Tamil. Three schools participated out of which two had good brand value and were also from urban/metro areas. The third was from a small remote village near Kinathukadavu in Coimbatore district. I was delighted when the boys from this school won and earned handsome rewards in cash and kind. It is a middle school of less than 500 students and KPA of teachers include visiting homes of students and convincing parents on value of education to send students to schools instead of work. In others words marketing of a school which did not have brand value. The students wore new uniform for the program and were beaming with confidence to compete. The urge for knowledge and consequent respect and recognition it fetches ignited their spirit to be competitive. It was very pleasing to see the humble teacher accepting standing ovation equally humbly stating that NRIs from their district also have come to know of the school and are support...

It was 6 p.m. All the students in the hostel had assembled near the Badminton ground where there was a loudspeaker tied at the top for making announcements and also for radio broadcast. As the beep sound 'çook' 'cook' of the radio was on there was pin drop silence among more than hundred students who had assembled. There was anxiety as the news reader introduced himself and announced "headlines". "The Pakistani army surrendered to Indian forces in Bangla Desh" was the first heading and all the students roared. The other headings could not be heard as they got drowned in the roar even as saner elements appealed for calm to listen to the full news. "Lt. General Niazi of the Pakistan army surrendered   with his troops to the Indian army led by Lt. General Jagjit Singh Arora at 4.30 p.m. today evening at Dacca" was the news that remains till date one of the happiest. 90000 soldiers of the Pak army became prisoners of war and the...

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This blog was written by me ten years ago. while going thro it felt  like republishing. http://creative.sulekha.com/dress-code_133416_blog

Capt. R.P. Bhalla the Commander of the aircraft that crashed near Tirupathi was hero and Villain both. Hero to all passengers who saw live the action of the pilot in saving their lives and to the families who saw their relatives alive. The rules of air traffic and guidelines are manual by nature and violation of the prescription is an offence.  He was a villain to those who saw it as an offence as per the manual on their interpretation of the commissions and omissions of the pilot under tense and stressful circumstances. It was upsetting to learn that disciplinary proceedings were initiated against him and punishment imposed including reduction of his salary. Capt. Bhalla died and the news appeared on 20th June 2015 in the newspaper. When I telephoned it was his son in law who took the call and was very pleased that a passenger chose to pay respects. As I spoke he clarified that Capt Bhalla went to High Court and won the case and got back all the increments and benef...

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  "He is like my brother" is a statement very often I was referred to which I detested. This statement is often made under the presumption that brothers are like Ram and Bharat of Ramayana. The intention could be to express deep intimacy and confidence but it does not reflect whether both parties feel equally cherished by the warmth. Moreover in the present day materialistic worldly relationship such statements look more clothe than real and that makes me detest the statement all the more. It is not that I have my dislike only for the comparison with sibling but with any such relationship.  Basically I believe relations are imposed and one has no choice over it. One may fall in love with a girl and marry her to capture a relationship but what about the brother and sister in laws or the cousins of the spouse. One has no choice but to accept them as relatives and also invite them for social and cultural occasions of the family as warranted by customs and culture ...