530 RupeeS Fine

yes. I paid 530 fine on Friday night in cheran express . For Deepawali I was leaving from Chennai to Coimbatore on 9th Nov . as the month of November started people were all set to welcome deepawali. but as the reservation started by July almost all the tickets were blocked . so I was searching a way to reach home . that time one of my friend said there is an extra ticket as the concerned person is going in another train . so I told my friend that I will make use of that ticket. we had travelled early like this and paid fine too. but this time I said I can manage. but only at 5 pm I rang to ask for Rinaldo s proof. by this time his train has already left. so i had not much choices. so went to station . boarded the train. Ttr came. we showed tickets. all was well. we slept. suddenly by 12 vigilance people came. asked for my ticket and proof. I said I dint have proof and acted as if I am Rinaldo. so obviously was caught. he asked me to pay fine or get down. I paid 530 rupees. I slept and reached home by mornin.

The thing is
I dint travel in reserved coach with an unreserved ticket.
I dint occupy another person s seat.

so I am not arguing what I did was right. but booking a ticket half a year before is not a good methodology for all. if the facility is surplus the post is of utter waste. Or least in my case if the concerned person is not able to travel the same ticket must be capable of re used. not in all cases. but a maximum of 1 ticket. I travelled with a wrong proof. accepted. but its not fair to charge this high. IRCTC is doin well in many aspects. but this is my individual view on such a thing .

one supplementary is I booked a tatkal return ticket for Sunday night. but was not able to come. if I cancel the ticket also I won't get any refund . then why should I cancel. the ticket was left open till the end. so if there had been a scheme that if yo cancel a tatkal ticket yo may get a minimum of 33 percent. some people may cancel and the people waiting in pipeline may benefit.

Praveen
14th Nov 2012

Coimbatore

Coimbatore. I grew up here. I crawled here. cried here. a piece of land that knows everything about me. I am going to leave from this land for time being to Chennai. it was my father who came here in search of job from his village in a southern part of Tamil nadu. he rooted here. then he married my mother and they came here.then I was born and then my sister. my mother for the first twenty years lived in tirunelveli. the next twenty years at Coimbatore. she was too attached to this place as like most of the people in this city. she don know anything about Chennai . there are streets that I walked more than hundred times. I did my most part of  schooling and college here. now I am working in Chennai for two years and in these two years I was tryin here and there for opportunities to come back to Coimbatore. but some one some where some how wanted me to be in the capital of the state. don know why. so we are in the process of vacating from the Manchester of South India . The city has given us many good times. Our life style was induced by the city. child hood days were given to the city. some pets from nearby houses. dogs cats and few kuti papa s. I wish to come back to this bud in the Western Ghats as soon as possible. so the mystery is gettin folded and unfolded . I am writing this post from a place in our house in Coimbatore where I saw 2003 world cup match between India and Australia. India lost the match. In 2011 when we again reached final against Sri Lanka I came home just to see match from the very same place. Likewise there are many stories that makes me to say my blood group is not AB positive. but also ABC positive along with the land which brought up me.
Praveen
4th November.

Merkku Indhiya Theevugal

West Indies

Clearly my second favourite cricket playing nation for years.

Its very happy to see this wonderful nation play in a final . I think this is the first time I am seeing WI team play in a final . They have won a ICC Championship some years back. But I this is a World Cup . Today they play  in the Finals of the Fourth Edition of ICC T20 WorldCup against SriLanka.

If not Sachin, it will be Lara, may most favourite sportsperson. I don’t know the exact reason why I like him. May be his style , may be his nature. It started from him, my thought towards the Indies in the West. I ve seen some old matches played in 1970's-80’s. It’s clearly this team that ruled the entire globe in cricket. But It was 1983 world cup finals that sealed their fate. It was till the first innings that were clearly the Champions for the third consecutive time. But it was time for the East. So from then their graph took the downfall.

At times player used to roar with some individual performances of Walsh , Ambrose . I used to fear when Walsh came to bowl and the same for the other “Black Magician Ambrose”. Chandrapaul and Hooper shine in some matches. Then I think around 2006-07 where most of the team was restructured with senior players going out and youngsters making their way in lights of Gayle, Samuels, Edwards, Bravo. Once when India played against them I wished Windies to win that ODI. I can never forget the match in India when Marlon Samuels smashed a century and took a pink cloth from his pocket and showed the world. One other thing is they had the first even women commentator in international Cricket.

In 2007 , they had an opportunity to conduct the World Cup . The event was not that received, as India and Pakisthan exited early from the tournament. That time as far as I am concerned I was very glad to see that people over there celebrate Cricket. Play cricket mostly on beaches. Have lots of fun.The same year also had the first ever T20 coming into picture and the introduction of IPL.

From then onwards, the players started gaining respect around the world. With each of the Players playing for different teams and shining individually. Pollard for Mumbai. Bravo for Chennai. Gayle for Banglore. Narine for Kolkata. Then they had the salary issues going in their home country. So most of the players boycotted some games. Now with all settled and these players coming together as a Team is a very positive thing.  

Their opponent, Sri Lanka. The have home support as an added advanatage in this match. Some say they are the favourites. They have few exceptional players. This Cup is needed for their country. As they give the first place to Cricket putting Cinema and Politics behind. That’s why u can find Jayawardane and Sangakara photos in most of the shops banner.  But I want Windies to win the Cup and perform their dance in the ground. I ll consider myself unfortunate to miss this show as I will be travelling, but I ll never stay away from scores and updates on mobile.

So as an East Indian I wish the West Indies to bring home the Cup and Glory

Nandri ,
S. Praveen Kumar,
07.10.2012

Super Singer Junior

Yes .
I hate super singer junior .
I don know why exactly. but i feel some of these may be the reason.



Running the program for a longer duration. I think its nearly 15 months.

The program has gained many good reviews across the state, but using that factor over the limit for merge popularity and money is little bitter.

Initially reality shows were new to people over here; and i too was fond of it. but now its a different case. Many are bored of seeing reality shows in almost every number remote buttons show.

Making the parents dance or perform is unacceptable . And they make fun of their activities on the same screen itself.

It has brought in a situation where most of the Parents of this age, push their children to a singing class or a dancing class. Its a good thing to get away form book and develop a talent. but it should not come to a stage where go and learn music , so that u can be on tv before u are 15.

What about the childhood of these kids. getting fame is ok. but what about the normal childhood life that other kids get. this factor should not sit in their mind and heart. They are prone to be adamant or unruly. Till now children here have not faced such a situation. More importantly, don make the remaining 1 crore children of the state to feel as if they are unlucky as these kids are enjoying .

The culture . I am worried about the crying or shouting culture. Its just a damn show. The main aim behind this is to increase the TRP rate of show and not to get family united or share sorrows. No one should tell the kids that if u loose something u should cry . At the same time if u achieve something u should get something that makes you happy. My perspective is the if anything happens just calm yourself first and stay stable.

Daily one hour of your time is spent before TV compulsorily. Good or bad??? cant say.

I am not going to say that you should learn anything new or do interesting stuffs from that one hour. If you do what you wanted to do, that is really good. Why have the constrain of sitting before screen at that particular hour. Hurrying up in Traffic, Hypertension to not to miss, stopping people at home to see other channels, getting angry if somebody tunes to other.  If you are enjoyin the program for the music its different thing. I just want to bring the negatives out.  

I am in no way against the Channel or the Program. I was also a fan for it . But now,  when the content and effects of the Program are not acceptable to me. I just stand .

Perai Sollava!!!

How do u feel if there is a person with same name as yours.

It s an awkward question to me. Actually i don feel comfortable. If some one calls
my name and i am turning towards them, but they are looking for someone else worthy.
The next stage of this is they when someone calls your name and u knew that u are
not the concerned person and you have stop yourself and not turn.

What if that person is in your same class or team, and he is more charming, fun to
be with . Ya the identity of your name goes to them, the fact is we don own it. But
it s thing that pricks me a bit.

It s more complicated "When you call person with your name". I do it very rarely .
may 1/50 days i ll do. Its hardly possible to tease them with their name. I smile if
i see a new person with the same name. Would be eager to know how their roads were.

Once i gave lift to a seventh standard guy and was talking to him regarding his
studies for some 5 odd minutes and was happy to drop him . But he never asked what
my name was. Still i said.

When you like a girl so much and fortunately u get chance to speak and as the
discussion goes, if that person says i knew few other people with your name. How to
react to this. You will be almost buried if this is one side.

You have the right to be angry if u are not able to create an account on your own
name and the culprit who has stolen that right is also same named.
Some people come to you and say "Enda intha per vechavangalae ippadi thana " .

"One last thing is an incident - A school friend of mine was bonded with a girl for
3 years. As usual Time played a Nambiar role and u guessed the end. One day we were
watching a song in sun music and suddenly we saw message scrolled below ; a Guy (of
his name) conveying a love message to a girl(of my friends's favourite name)". I don
know what that girl replied , but my friend reacted with a smile in his face.


Praveen Kumar,
25/7/2012
Chennai

Purali

Two people talking about you when u are not there:

This is mostly taken in the wrong sense when read first.
Cause most of the people like talking bad about others when they are not there and good when the concerned person is in front of them. This happens to most of them and i am not an exception.But the fact is how do u feel when they speak good about you .

I was put in a critical situation when i came to know , that ,a friend of mine was talking to another friend of his about me. he was telling a better part of mine and when they both revealed to me , i was stunned at the very first moment ,as it was one of a rare occasion i came accross this.

But happy that there are a few ppl who talk about me and fortunately it was good and more importantly that i came to know about it. It makes one pride. and may or may not u like that person , but if such incident happen u are left with only one choice.

ParuvathaMalai Trekking Anubavangal

Paruvatha malai, Thiruvannamalai
June 13th 2012

Hi Friends,
My name is Praveen Kumar,
One among the thousands of IT employees dwelling in OMR.
To get rid of normal weekday and weekend activities i was thinking of doing something that i have never done before.It was at this time i came across Chennai Trekking Club through my friend VijayRaj.
When i was seeing the pictures and posts by them i eventually saw one member suggesting a place called Paruvathaimalai near Tiruvannamalai for a day's trek. And while browsing for the same in internet, seeing the videos and blogs related to it , i knew i will be there the following weekend(June 9th 2012).


So after collecting all the statistics to complete my trek i started to SanjeevaParvathamalai.
Before explaining the experiences i would to sum up some stats.
*Bus no 148 reaches Polur from Chennai in 4 hours.(CMBT-uthiramerur-Vanthavaasi-Chetpet-Devikapuram-Polur)
*From Polur bus towards sengam drops u at Maathi Mangalam which is another 20 min travel along the district roads.
*Then the wheels ended there, then the walkathon begins.


I started from Navalur by 5.45 and reached perungalathur by 6.30 by bike and parked it in a safe place, where they warned me to return by 10 or the shop will be closed and i cannot take the bike for that day and has to come again the next day to take the bike with a fee of 40 rupees. Agreed to what they said i walked towards bus stop where 148 was waiting to move and i rushed to take my avourite place in a bus which is next to driver with a complete front view of the road.The first thing i did after getting in and made me comfortable was to sleep for some time. After few short naps and viewing the small small bus stops in the way and taking pictures i reached Polur by 10.15.

The sun was set and seeing the shops nearby i searched for a hotel to have my breakfast . Had some stuf that ll not make me hungry or that ll not make my tummy full.Got another water bottle that ll help my cause, Few energisers like(Glucon +) and came to Polur bus stop and started enquiring few of the few of the locals of how to get to Paruvathamalai.Found a Vazhipokkan called Mr.Krishnan who is around 50 and told me lots of stories of the district and small small hills nearby. He also waited for the same bus as i was waiting . And seeing Chinna Gounder movie climax and Vaanathaipola starting in the shot bus travel of 20 -30 mins. I got down at Maathi mangalam bidding goodbye to him .


One important thing is this is my first trek and fortunately or unfortunately i was going alone. So the first thing that was in my mind was the safety  (eventhough i had nothing to be robbed) . So with tons of doubts i started to wak enquiring al the passerby " Vazhila entha prachanaiyum ilala" . The response was absolutely positive and they even advised me to carry sufficient things to complete as the things get costlier as u go higher and higher. I was contented with what i had and had enough three digit money to help me getting things if i needed on the way.Walking for 1.8 miles i reached a temple at the starting place of the hill where i took a stick , which i was told to take , by a person. This was to keep me away from the only animal in the hill beside human. That is our close relative , MONKEY.The temple had a archagar and he tied me a rope . With a stick, Red bag , some nerves and adrenaline i started to move up.


The first path i had to take is to through well built seps. I dint have any idea of how many are there . There are totally 1236 i hope. With excitement as i was going faster, and that was the thing that turned as a giant barrier to me. As i was fast in the beginning it took most of my energy and i had to sit for 10-15 times in the way.  Thank god there are around 7 - 10 shops selling waterbottles, biscuits, jiuces, keppakkool , ezhaneer and few other things. So its better to walk to 15 min and sit for 5 min to avoid getting tired soon. It took nearly 1 hour for me to cover these steps. By now i have come 50% of the entire hill .


The secod way. Now comes the hardest path, now i have to cover the way which is not well built, but has many stones that are put in such a way they form a way.  so have to step on each stone which are slightly bigger than the size of a cauliflower. As this route is more challenging more number of shops are here . and i had to sit in a small shop run by a women over 50 who gave me two ezhaneer and i enquired about the remaining time and distance i had to cover. I almost disheartened when i heard ti need to travel more than a hour which i never imagined to be that long. After some time resting my soles i was able to gather some energy. Then after walking for sometime i again sat in another place to have some refreshing drink. Somehow after spending 45 min in this path i was over this way also. now i can clearly see the other
small hills in the nearby locality . It was with good sunny so it was not cool or misty. so had clear vision.


The third way started. Other important aspect is, initially i started with fear of place, then the tiredness was bothering me longtime. But now its a different aspect. Excitement back again, cause at this time i was able to see the other side of the hill, it means that the hill is almost covered and the temple looked to me almost like a bunch of grapes hanging for a fox. Now this energy has made me move faster. But it was heartening to see the third route. Roks that are almost half a palm tree height are need to be climbed. They have made it easier by setting up steps circling the rock. The most important factor is steps are at 85 degree to each other. So it was the most thrilling way i had. There were steel chains to catch and climb , it helped . all shops end before, starting of this place. There are 3 to 4 huge rocks need to be climbed in this manner.


The fourth way. 95% of the way is done. Then an interestin way. Two big rocks, but this time we have steps between them. so we need to catch these rocks and step it up. Almost this place resembles a recent famous song from KO(a bit) You can have nice snaps at this place. Then you walk in pathway which is so so scary. almost heart tumbling place to cross. but u can cross it easily is a fact. If u cross this and the temple is very clearly in your sight. And u can get there in five minutes.


Finally we are at the top of a Parvatha Malai by 2.45 . You can see a huge Vel in this place and a meditation centre , and a place where at times u can see some deities performing poojas. Another new temple is being built, which may be completed soon. Then i went around the places and took few pictures of the places. There was another team of 10 people who came for a night stay . Had a chat with those new friends, there were from Vellore. Spending some some talkin with them, we were guided to a meditation place by a deity and he started telling about the pictures of the people . Then they were sharing their experiences about the time they took to come up .


One important thing is, it too 3 complete hours for me go up. It may vary for people, The other crew who were there took 5 hours to come up . Some experienced people may take less than 2 hours. Women explorers may take some different time spans if they doing it for the first time. Suddenly few ppl in their crew wanted to get down. the deity calculated the time for them to get down and he said u may reach down by 8. So better stay there and start going doen by tomo morning.

But i had different ideas. In other way, The words of deity made me think why cant i get down much faster than he said. Mean while my imagination took me to perungalathur bike stand where the stand incharge told me to be back by 10. I sat down and calculated whether it ll be possible for me to reach there in time. Somehow First time maths was in my favour a bit. If i get down by 5 to Maathi mangalam. i can reach Polur by 6. If i get bus by 6 i can reach Perungalathur by 10. This was the thing running in my mind. But the deciding factor is getting down the hill. time was 3.30.  that means in 1 hour 30 minutes i should be able to get down.  If i should make this happen i should go twice fast as i came up. Then i decided i have 50% chances of doing that beside skipping my lunch. I bid bye to those friends and started to get back to my
 downhill shoes.


I came out of the temple and started to get down. i took 30 odd steps and realised that i left my stick in the place where i sat and ran back to pick it up. Now al set for a Ride which has time limit also.
Started to roll back. But a unique barrier . I had some energy cause i rested my soles for 45 minutes . but my legs were trembling . so it was not easy to come fast also. so had to keep my steps carefully. Cause if i miss a step i may land 600 meteres away rolling. But i have an advantage which ll tell a bit later. Had lemon juice in my first shop i saw in the returning way. Then i took my camera and recorded a video for five minutes about the entire  trip. Then had a Keppakool in the same shoppe where i had my 2 ezhaneer. Then its time for the monkeys to make some noise. Then i bought 2 Kadal Packets for ten rupees and throwed towards them. Around 15 to 20 monkeys gathered to fetch that. Happy to see their activites and
proceded to walk further. Now comes the my favourite span of trip. The thing i skipped to tell earlier. Now i am at the verge of 1236 steps. No tremblings in well built steps. I took my mobile , put a song of Rajinikanth, with the enthusiasm it gave, i started to run as if 5 dogs are chasing me. One song followed by the other. at the end of 4th song i have crossed the steps. This means i am at plains.


Time is 5. So far, So good. Then as i proceeded towards the bus stop , Stick factor. I went back
for 5 min and handed the stick and a lady over there, she shud be around 60 . She saw my tired ridden face and told me to wash my face, legs, especially back of legs. I was taken aback by her overbound care . Thinking of that great women i took few steps where another group of stopped me. They stopped me and left me only when i agreed to eat some food as a part of their Annadhanam. In one aspect i was very hungry, more than that i had to catch my bus to way back home. But i choose to eat. They gave me more than i needed. I ate as much as i can and the remaining was kept for Bhairavar, a pet dog for the deities of the temple. Then i went inside a temple where saw the idol of the lord Veerabhathrar. Who had a savuku in his
hand and i asked the history why he had it, The Archagar told me the story but it was a bit long so i was not able to concentrate on what he said towards the end, cause Bus waitingla....


I changed my sweat dipped tees and wore a new one and walked thru the village roads where i was given a lift by a local Swami. He is one of the incharge of the temple and while i was eating he was on phone talking to many people for developing the facities at temple. He dropped me at bus stop and i waited for 30 minutes for the bus. finally got one and reached polur by 6.45. Where a big twist was waiting for me. There weer no buses to Chennai at that time and the next bus was by 7.30 . So had to wait for some of the longest minutes. When the bus came it was more shocking that the bus will leave Polur by 8.15 and surely i cannot reach the place before 10. So i decided to lay back and enjoy the unevittables. Rested my legs, Felt the blood rushing to my soles. Mostly busses at this this route at this time are night services so u can almost occupy
the entire 3 seater.


In 4 hours i was in guduvancherry, the next stop is perungalathur, but another twist. i was awake in guduvancherry, but not in perungalathur, Still i got ticket till Prngtr. Suddenly woke up at Tambaram and then realised that i missed to get down . But its also for good. Anyway the shop would have been closed and i had to fine my way to Navalur. Somehow i got down at Tambaram and crossed Tambaram Railway station to Bus stand where a Lord or Fate sent T51 was waiting for me. Its 12.15 when
i got the bus and got down at Shollinganallur by 12.40 . Normally its very rare to find any public transportaion after 12 in OMR . When i crossed signal and walked towards aloft suddenly a White Indica stopped near me. And he offered me a drop till navalur. I was expecting him to aska minimum of 100 to a maximum of 200. He asked just 20 rupees. Ya he was a cab driver who dropped people working in a IT company which is a ETA technopark and returning back. With not much doubt i got into the car without sun screen and got myself dropped at Navalur in front of my residencial place.

It was a treat to my eyes . but i was hard on my knees and soles. Completing my first experience over a hill was truly amazing and it was a great scene around 6 pm, when i was walking towards the bus stop and turned back to look at the hill behind which the sun was hiding and the picture i saw was so memorable and its a special piece of land to me .

 I am really thankful to those people who encouraged me durin, pre and post hill times. The bus drivers conductors, Shopkeepers, Passerbys, Friends and more importantly the unknown friend who suggested Parvathamalai .I forgot one.


Yeah. Its You My friend , For patiently read this .
 Nandri,

Praveen...