Siva Rathiri

Like most Tamils the first thing that comes to my mind on a Siva Rathiri day is the "Siva Rathiri" song from the movie "Micheal Madhana Kama Rajan". All these years I was believing that they danced on a Siva Rathiri day. This year only I understood that they made their "Subha-Rathiri" a "Siva-Rathiri".

This year the Siva-Rathiri was on Feb 17. This year I decided to observe the Siva-Rathiri by keeping awake all through the night. Earlier I read in a book about the rituals to be followed on a Siva-Rathiri day. From the nearby Siva temple, I got to know that there will be five Poojas all through the night in the timings 7:00 PM, 10:00 PM, 1:00 AM, 4:00 AM and 6:30 AM. I decided to got to temple and participate in the Poojas at 7:00 PM, 10:00 PM and 6:30 AM.

Morning as soon as I woke up, I watched the "Siva Rathiri" song that I mentioned in the first paragraph three times. Then prayed to God in home and went to office. Came a bit early from office in the evening. I missed the Pooja at 7:00 PM. So, prayed at home around that time. I went to temple around 9:40 PM, and stood in a big queue. Reached God in about minutes and prayed. Got Prasadam and reached back home. After dinner, I started my Siva-Rathiri. Worked on office tasks till around 2:00 AM. After that I didn't know what to do. Just kept reading some blogs.

Every one hour I was hitting mosquitoes with the mosquito bat all around the house. In that way I was able to keep myself busy. I somehow managed till 4:00 AM. After that it became really difficult to be awake. But still I pushed and managed till 5:00 AM. From 5:00 AM, I started preparing to take a bath and visit temple. Around 6:00 AM, I went to temple again and prayed to God. This time there were not many in the temple. Prayed and came back home, but surprisingly I didn't get sleep. I laid down for sometime on the cot, but still didn't get sleep. So, I started my routine and went to office. I felt very tired in office, but still I was able to manage. But there was a calmness in my mind and a sense of satisfaction.

In the night after dinner, slept early and had a long deep sleep. Thus my first attempt to observe "Siva Rathiri" went successfully.

- SPGR. 

Republic Day Parade

On the 66th Republic Day I woke up at 9 AM. Somewhat early when compared to my normal waking time on a holiday. As soon as I woke up I remembered the Republic day parade that will be live telecasted from Delhi. Immediately switch on the TV and kept DD National. Around that time our President, Prime Minister and our chief guest for the 66th Republic day - Obama, the US President and the First Lady of US arrived at the dais for the function. I vaguely remember that the President used to come in a Chariot driven by horses. But now he came in a posh car.

I like the way in which Obama affectionately took Michelle to the dais. I think it is this love and care that every wife would expect from her husband, and Michelle is lucky in that aspect. When Obama sat on the chair allocated to him, I was happy and for a moment thought that he was seated in a chair in the hall of our home. It was raining and to some extent Mr. Obama got wet, though a person was holding a big umbrella for him. I think they didn't anticipate rain at that time and no arrangements were made to handle it. Some of the delegates got wet in the rain, as there was no umbrella for them. For sometime, I felt sad and indeed panicked upon seeing Obama getting wet in the rain. He is our guest!!! But it seemed that he didnt mind much about it.

[Pic: Obama and Modi]

I also had a tough time making my little friends Dhanu and Deepu standing in attention for the National Anthem. Also they wanted to see the "Motu Patlu" and "Ninja Hattori" instead of this program. I have to convince them saything they are given a holiday only to watch this program. Indeed in those moments I felt the belonging and closeness to my mother country. When the Ashoka  Chakra award was handed over to Mrs. Indu Mukunth, our PM Modi explained the situation to Obama. Mrs. Indu Mukunth was found bold and courageous while receiving the award.

[Pic:Ashoka Charka]

When the camera turned to the audience, I could spot Arvind Kejriwal, as usual with a Muffler around his head. Such a gesture in my home state implies that he has lost everything (thalaila thundu). I could also see Manmohan-ji with his wife. Sonia Gandhi was also present in the audience.

[Pic: Arvind Kejriwal, in his usual attaire]

Normally the Republic day celebrations in Chennai will be tele casted in DD Pothigai in parallel to the National Event. But this time, it was the Delhi event that was relayed in all the DD Channels. The Regional celebrations by the Governers of the State followed as a recorded program.

- SPGR.