Instant Karma 2017

On 13^th January 2017, I experienced Instant Karma. Not the music band, but Karma in its purest form, delivered instantly, unlike the traditionally slow pace it takes.

On that day, my mother and I visited Vishranti, an old age home for destitute women. Every year, my mother makes a donation on her mother’s death anniversary and this year, we opted to do it here. We had made a prior appointment and the Home asked us to come there around lunch. We did and after completing the donation formalities, they took us around the campus.

It was quite an experience to meet so many old ladies coming from myriad backgrounds, housed in a good and calm environment. They had a dorm like setup for the elders who could take care of themselves and we were told that there is a separate area for those who need full time attendance. We even met a sprightly 102-years old paatti, whose claim to fame was that she worked in Vaitheeshwaran Kovil, as a kolam artist, till she was 80!

We were then asked to wait till lunch was served. And once all the ladies assembled a common prayer was chanted and the list of donors for the day was read out. Then, we were asked to partake in the serving of food. Now this was a little unexpected and I felt very happy doing it. It was a feeling that doesn’t really come, when we simply write a cheque as a donation. Not that it has changed me into becoming a “volunteer” type of person, but I think I can understand why some genuine people do it.

Now, during this lunch time, we were joined by a family of 3 comprising of a vociferous husband (they do exist), a wife and their gawky pre-teen kid. They had brought a box of sweets and they served it along with us. Turned out that they were quite regular in visiting this place and that day was the husband’s birthday. 

Then the same lunch was served to all of us as well and we finally came back to the office to say goodbye. The husband, we learnt, was an advocate in the Madras High Court. In the office, the caretakers asked for some feedback and the advocate’s wife was filling out something and I was awaiting my turn. The staff-in-charge was talking about events that took place recently, like some known Carnatic singer performing there, the Home arranging for some of the pattees to be taken to a concert etc. 

They then mentioned that only a couple of days back, fans of Vijay had come there and sought the blessings of the elders for his movie Bhairava. The Staff had requested them to arrange for a screening and these guys sent tickets the next day. They had also arranged for transportation.

Now, me being the usual quiet guy (at least in public with strangers), thought this was a good moment to portray a different image and decided to crack a joke, on the commonly accepted comedy-piece called Vijay. “After all that these old ladies have experienced in life, why do you want to make them watch a Vijay movie? Don’t you have any other option?”. Well, at least that was the dialogue I had in my mind and quite literally opened my mouth to utter the first syllable.

That’s when the advocate took over (his nature suited his profession) and told them that his son had acted in the movie! A gamut of thoughts ran through my head ranging from WTF to Thank God I am not a loud mouth. The advocate went on to add that even he had starred in the move as part of the villain’s legal counsel.

Now imagine what level of embarrassment I would have caused if I had said the dialogue that I wanted to. It may have even lead to unnecessary heart-burn and ruined what was otherwise a very peaceful and satisfying experience. I feel that all the punyam I earned with the donation and more importantly, the serving of food to elders, definitely came back as Instant Karma to save me.

The Anniversary that coincides with India’s Republic Day

Today, on the 12th Anniversary of a great event in my life, the time has now come for me to officially document it in this blog. Some of you have heard me narrate the story and for the benefit of the few who haven’t, here is that very interesting event.

We first rewind to India’s first Republic Day of the new millennium – 26-Jan-2000. I was well into my 2nd year at work and it was also just more than a month since my family had purchased our first car – a Cyprus Blue coloured Maruti Suzuki 800 DX. I hadn’t gotten my permanent driving license as yet and was still on my learner’s license. Also, my car driving experience by itself was only 2 weeks more than my car owning experience. Given this situation, I used to drive the car at every opportunity, within my neighbourhood, to gain more experience and confidence.

On the date indicated above, two of my friends from school had dropped home. We then decided to go to the beach. Though the beach is barely 300 metres from home, I opted to take the car. And for reasons I just don’t remember or fathom, those two guys decided to take the bike and not come with me by car.

For such a short distance, it is always faster by bike and those two reached the beach first. I tried to get a parking spot near where they were standing, but couldn’t find one. So I had to drive down a little further, take a U-Turn and park on the other side of the road. When I reached the other side, I was driving slowly, looking for a parking spot. Also, I had my windows rolled down, probably because I didn’t want to use the AC for such a short distance.

Even as I was looking for a spot, some 2-3 guys ran across the road into the lane and appeared to be headed towards my car. One of them reached my car faster than his friends and punched my face! I just had no clue what was happening. Then they all asked me to step out of the car. I did and in a completely disoriented and nervous state, was asking them why there were hitting me. One of those guys was holding me by the scruff of my shirt/t-shirt and another one gave me one more slap.

I was barely aware of what was happening, when a crowd gathered around us. The 2-3 guys were hurling abuses at me and primarily accusing me of trying to run over them! I tried reasoning with them, but I think my voice box refused to pass on to the world, the words that my brain was sending to it.

All this while, the crowd around us was just enjoying their free entertainment for the Holiday. Thankfully, mobile phones especially those with cameras weren’t sold for dime a dozen, else, I would by now be on You Tube.

Anyways, out of the blue, two policemen, on a TVS Champ, came towards this gathering. The crowd finally swung into some action and dispersed. The 2-3 guys also ran away. Being the major சமத்து (innocent) guy that I am, I suddenly got worried that the cops would ask me for my license and on seeing my learner’s license, would probably take me into custody. So, I ended up doing a non-innocent act and fled the scene in my car. 

While you may be engrossed in the narration, feeling sorry for me (or more likely be ROFL), your attention should now be directed towards the two friends of mine, who have been absent from the narrative for the past 2000 words. They now make a re-entry.

When I reached home, I stopped a few meters short my gate, primarily to examine the damage to my face. Just then, my two friends came nearby on their bike and asked me what happened. They patiently heard me narrate the incident. With their support, it was now easier for me to enter my home. My parents obviously got the shock of their life seeing their son with a big blue patch around the right eye and a completely reddened face. We went over the story once again and that is where, I found out more about what happened.

Apparently, after I crossed my friends at the beach, they saw some 2-3 guys walking near the road in a very inebriated condition. A blue coloured car had gone past them and they were miffed by the proximity it had with them. These guys had seen the car go further down, couldn’t track where it really went and when they suddenly saw a similar (similar; not same) coloured car (mine) in the opposite direction, the alcohol in their blood stream made them decide that it was me who had almost run them over.

You would still be wondering why my friends didn’t come over to help. Basically, they first saw me go by; then saw this near-accident and then, they were just chatting and looking elsewhere (at someone I suspect). They saw the crowd gathering a few seconds/minutes later and had no clue that I was there in middle. In fact, they seemed to be looking out for me in some other direction. Only when they saw the crowd disperse and spotted my car also speeding away, did they realise that I too had something to do with that gathering!

Needless to say, they were continuously chuckling while narrating their side of the story.
I was then taken to the Doctor, who gave me some medicines and did some basic cleaning of the external wounds. My colleagues at work had a tough time in accepting that someone as innocent as me could get such beatings, though my boss strongly suspected (in front of my colleagues) that I got whacked by a girl’s sandals.

So there it is; Yours Truly has been a victim of a public beating also known as தர்ம அடி. 

Thuglaq annual function

On 14th Jan., I attended the 40th Annual Function of the Tamizh weekly magazine Thuglaq. I have been wanting to attend this for the past couple of years, but have stayed away primarily due to the seating problems that are reported everytime.

This time around, my friend Raj was able to procure special tickets (reserved ones that were 2 rows from the stage), through his contacts. Yet, we had to be in our seats some 2 hours before the program started!

This year around, there were no special invitees, but one could still see lot of famous faces in the auditorium. I saw BJP leaders L.Ganeshan and Pon.Radhakrishnan. Ramagopalan of Hindu Munnani was also present. Then there were writers of Thuglaq like Paza.Karuppaiah, Indian Express Gurumurthy, I.A.S (retd.) Murugan and Advocate Vijayan. Singer Aruna Sairam was present too. So was cinema director K.Balachander.

The event started off with Cho addressing the gathering in his inimitable style. The whole evening witnessed speaker after speaker launch into tirades about how callous the entire system - administration, judiciary, economy and of course politics - had become. Many of this has been written in many editions of the magazine itself and hearing it in person from these illustrious people was an amazing experience.

Probably because this year is not an election year, there was no new rhetoric, but I am waiting to attend the event next year.