Impact of this year's edition of Chennai Sathamam, I mean, Chennai Sangamam

In this year's edition of Chennai Sathamam a.k.a Chennai Sangamam (my view of the previous edition is available here), Rock music and Sufi music - two of the most unique contributions that Tamil culture has given to human society - were included in their lineup. And since Elliots Beach still retains its urban appeal, the Rock music shows all seemed to be set only there. Needless to say, we have had a very quiet time in the last one week.

And this time around, the organisers advertised that the grand finale was also going to be held at the same beach. What this meant was absolute chaos in Besant Nagar. The traffic was way more than what this small neighborhood could handle. My street became a parking lot. One moronic SOB also parked his car right in front of my gate, thereby ensuring that the gate became a wall. I waited patiently for that scumbag to return and vented out mildly; mildly because he had a youngster with him, who was taller and in much better shape than I was.

And then the fireworks started. This resulted in the cat that is roaming around my house to take refuge under my new sofa!

I really pray to God that something happens to this goddamn event and it gets canceled!

A brief history of the events in my life in the last 3-4 weeks

* Picked up a neck sprain in the first week of October. Self-medication with pain relieving gels and ointments didn't work. An Ortho' prescribed tablets, but to no avail. Registered 5 days of leave in October alone. Second opinion took me to a scan centre for an MRI. After the wallet became thinner by Rs.5,500 an obvious fact was documented - I am fat! Doing some basic stretch exercise which have definitely alleviated the pain. I am better.
Root cause - posture while operating the computer and while traveling.

* MRI scan is a 15 minute torture on the ears. The noise that the machine makes is very loud and quite irritating. And while I was inside the chute, I somehow felt nervous.

* Have been going more often to the office closer home to avoid the long distance commute.

* Had a rather quiet birthday. Some friends and team-members did organise a cake-cutting event in the evening and I had a tough time convincing them to stick to my principles of not wasting cake by smearing it on the face.

* Celebrated a very quiet Deepavali, though the officials seemed to hold a different opinion. Either I became deaf or my town has been moved out of Chennai!

* Seeing many resignations in the company at all levels. 2 in my team have quite in Sep-Oct. I have a feeling that a couple of more are due.

* I cleared all the exams mandated at work for a promotion and have been given strong indications that there are no slots for my band of employees! If it is available, I am not eligible. If I am eligible, it is not available!

* Learnt that murungaikkai is used in an oorugaai.

* Attended an awesome spectacle called Annaabhishekham at the Ratnagirishwarar temple near home. Refer pictures here.





* The rainy season finally started in Chennai last week. Pretty heavy rain. Saturday was non-stop. Memories of last year, when we witnessed a similar incessant downpour, came up.

* Nothing else of any significance. Hope to resume blogging with earlier frequency at the earliest. Have been staying away just to avoid spending long hours in front of the computer.

சென்னை சத்தமம், I mean சென்னை சங்கமம்

With this காணும் பொங்கல் day today, this year's edition of சென்னை சங்கமம் is coming to a close.

This annual event which is the brainchild of the present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. Kalaignar Karunanidhi, is purportedly meant to bring the village culture to the urban masses of Chennai.

I can think of only 2 reasons why he came up with this event:
1. To siphon off Government's money into his family coffers
2. He got irked with the Carnatic Music festival season in December at Chennai and wanted to divert some attention here

One of the many venues for this event is the Elliots Beach at Besant Nagar. Apparently a stage has been setup at the skating rink and the cultural events are taking place there.

Since we Tamil folks equate good sound quality to loud sound, somehow a lot of sound manages to reach even my house which is around 2 blocks from the beach. The noise starts around 6 in the evening and goes on till 9.

And as part of the grand finale today, there has been a massive fireworks display for the past 20 minutes. Needless to say, this was not a tastefully done display. It has just been one blast after another for the last 20 minutes and there was not even a simple pattern like - all the sparking ones first, all the white ones next, then bunching the blue ones or the green ones etc. And honestly, I haven't heard such loud fireworks. The decibel level was definitely more than what one experiences during Deepavali.

Anyways, since today is the last day I am happy that this year's edition of Chennai Sangamam has come to an end. I hope the control of the State Government comes to ADMK as early as possible, because the political vendetta between DMK and ADMK would not permit them to continue with this event.

P.S.: Since when did a fireworks display become part of Tamil village culture?