இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துக்கள்

As a mark of strong defiance to the govt announcement, I celebrated the விரோதி தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு with the usual flavour and smack. It is one of the festival to be associated with nature and seasons, welcoming the arrival of summer, how can one forget the age old practise of dedicating the summer delicacies to the god and pray for the prosperity of the family in the tamil new year?

So what, if its not a declared holiday? I have taken off to celebrate the festival and I did it. Tasted a lot of stuff including new year specialities like Sakkarai pongal, Paanagam, Neer moru and ofcourse the philosophical veppam poo pachchadi. what a way to remind people that bitter and sweet are the two sides of a life coin !. Ofcourse, one need not say how good these things are during the scorching summer ! It would only be a cliche! Lets go to the after meal stuff.........

TV programs! quite an eye opener, Iwould say, Enlightened to claim TV is not an idiot box always. Enjoyed the programs on the " chithirai thirunal kondattam" ( ushhhhhh.... you shouldn't call the day as Tamil New year, its the order of the govt!@$). Stuffed myself in front of the TV media (after Yaavarum Nalam, "media" is the most suited name for TV) almost the whole day, the justification.: trying to search for the best program by using the magic stick called remote !

The best three are:

1. The interview with A.R. Rahman ( நம்ம ஆஸ்கார் ரஹ்மானேதான்) by Vivek.
It was interesting to watch Rahman watching. He was wearing a smile ( natural, not plastic) through out the interview. Atleast to me it was a packed one, as it added dimensions to vivek's question. Vivek also sold his poetry about Rahman during the program, which he wrote once the Oscars were announced.

2. The debate ( பட்டிமன்றம் ) adjudged by Solomon Pappiah. How people choose the topics of such debates? its a topic by itself for research for doctorate. The topic is " In the present scenario, which one is best, truth or diplomacy". The speakers were the usual Pappiah team including the star speakers. Speaker Raja gained more popularity by his acting in Sivaji and it was quoted very often by the other speakers. There were jokes and comical scenarios. The judgement was in order to protect the truth, diplomacy is required. There is a sense of diplomacy in the judgement too it while being a fact !!!!

3. The discourse by (former?) Actor Sivakumar on கம்பராமாயணம் titled as " கம்பன் என் காதலன்". Quite unexpected, such a flow of literature from a cinema actor. Ofcourse, he is an expert in terms of recitation. But this one was quite a passion towards the epic and its characters.
The best part is he has delivered the lecture to college students. His year long practise of memory and modulation helped him a lot in a seamless delivery of the prose. While he made the audience spell bound in poem delivery, he associated himself with them by his down-to-earth tamil dialect!.

Decided to watch more such tv shows in the new year (if its available!). Lets hope, the beginning spirit sustains!