July 13th weekly bore


  • Quotable quotes of the week

    The United Nations needs a reform so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth -- Pope Benedict XVI

    The poor pigs got infection from humans and not the other way around -- Maneka Gandhi BJP leader on the Swine flu -- Sri : I agree that there is always a another view for every issue !!

    I found him tough, shrewd, very unsentimental and very pragmatic -- Barack Obama US President on Russian PM Putin

    My party has too many spokesperson these days . All they are interested in is seeing their names in print and faces on Television -- BJP Leader L K Advani ( h..mmmm )


    The Music show by my Nieces
    Some bragging that i have to do ....
    This should have appeared on the last week blog but there were too many topics --

    My nieces ( wife's sister's daughters ) have been learning to play the violin ( carnatic ) using the internet for the past few years-- the teacher is in Chennai and they learn sitting in their homes in Minneapolis -- They visit us once in three years-- One of the agenda item for this vacation trip was to get them up on a stage and make them perform -- Things become easy when you have one of the uncles of the kids ( wife's brother ) hold the post of Treasurer of a local suburb music sabha-- It becomes more easy when they have a monthly program and as part of that, slot in one hour for kids and young talent alone -- So it all worked and the date was July 3rd for the arangetram !!

    The kids landed on June 29th morning and before they knew things like Jet lag , let me get some sleep and play , they were pushed off to direct rehearsals with the violin master -- The kids ( twins Jayani and Janani ) slogged on a daily basis from Monday ( first day in India ) and the practice sessions were like through the day -- On Thursday they were in for more surprise and change -- The accompaniments - Mrudhanagam and Ghatam (     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghatam ) came on board for practice sessions -- the girls were surprised -- It is one part playing the violin together but to play in tandem with others who they were seeing for the first time was a big ask-- Both the accompaniments were very seasoned people although very young as my nieces are -- It was also nice to know that the Ghatam artist was a girl-- Not many people take up this percussion instrument as a choice of instrument to learn -

    Again there was individual practice on Friday and then on Saturday just before the concert , they had one set of rehearsals with the entire group-
    The hall was packed with all of us ( the main concert was one hour later and so it was just us ( read all known and dear ones ) to cheer and support them-- We were all nervous ( especially my sister in law ) but the girls showed none of that and played well -- of course there were errors and things that could have been done better -- Key was that they has no stage fright and then could adapt to the situation and did exceedingly well for us all to be proud of what they did . They need to continue to practise with devotion and time..
    Here are links on the YouTube for your viewing and listening

    Valachi -     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1taRc_cKO8
    2. Sri Gananatham -     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVbwjqDoDME
    3.Manavyalakim -     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXi2LVTc9hw
    4. Manasaetulo -     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ien8FpSPXn8
    5. Thatwameruga -     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kAKmkbuX48
    6. Venkatachala -     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz44zXPVFE0

    You may have to cut and paste the link in to your web browser --


    The Anniversary Meeting of the Humour Club

    The anniversary celebrations went off great ( Sunday ) and with one hour session for each speaker ( there were four linedup ) , the laughter in the hall was unabated -- I managed to listen in to SV Shekar the comedian MLA who is now trying to find a party to fit his title and to Sukhi Sivam -- Both of them were outstanding in what they delivered -- SV Shekar sticking on to comedy and dry humour and Sukhi Sivam had humour for a part but focussed on the way to live and larger picture of how to live easy -- These are great sessions to listen to and not many times you get this opportunity -- I could not stay through four of the best speakers that were on stage -- missed Solomon Pappiah and Sivakasi Ramachandran --
  • Earlier the function was inaugurated by AVM Saravanan-- Saravanan 's speech was simple and neat as the man and the AVM firm stands up for -- It is difficult to imagine how people can be so humble , unassuming and live a simple life-- there is a learning here on simplicity in life !!
  • PS : More later the Ashes Test series and the German Formula one results ( Ferrari finally landed itself on the podium -- for the first time this season !! )

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