Thank you :)

This is from my dad...

Hello everybody..
Thanks for agreeing with me in the 'bloggers vs tea-stall assistants' post.
World will be better off if atleast a few of you intelligent people move on to active field to atleast make small changes to inculcate a change in the right direction ; and I did enjoy the various comments. Thanks a lot.

******************************

Thanks to you all for sharing ur thoughts with me.
Have a great day :)
Sree

KIDS QUOTES & PROVERBS

Never trust a dog to watch your food.
Patrick, age 10

When your dad is mad and asks you, "Do I look stupid?" don't answer him.
Unknown kid

Never tell your mom her diet's not working.
Michael, 14

Never pee on an electric fence.
Robert, 13

Stay away from prunes.
Randy, 9

Don't pull dad's finger when he tells you to.
Emily, 10

When your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair.
Taylia, 11

Never allow your three-year old brother in the same room as your school assignment.
Traci, 14

Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic tac.
Andrew, 9

Never hold a dust buster and a cat at the same time.
Kyoyo, 9

You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
Armir, 9

Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
Kellie, 11

If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse.
Naomi, 15

Felt markers are not good to use as lipstick.
Lauren, 9

Don't pick on your sister when she's holding a baseball bat.
Joel, 10

When you get a bad grade in school, show it to your mom when she's on the phone.
Alyesha, 13

Never, ever, try to baptize a cat.
Eileen,9


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First Grade Proverbs

A first grade teacher collected old, well known proverbs. She gave
each kid in her class the first half of a proverb, and had them come
up with the rest. These are great:

As You Shall Make Your Bed So Shall You... Mess It Up.
Better Be Safe Than... Punch A 5th Grader.
Strike While The... Bug Is Close.
It's Always Darkest Before... Daylight Savings Time.
Never Under Estimate The Power Of... Termites.
You Can Lead A Horse To Water But.. How?
Don't Bite The Hand That... Looks Dirty.
No News Is... Impossible.
A Miss Is As Good As A... Mr.
You Can't Teach An Old Dog New... Math.
If You Lie Down With The Dogs, You'll... Stink In The Morning.
Love All, Trust.. Me
The Pen Is Mightier Than The... Pigs.
An Idle Mind Is... The Best Way To Relax.
Where There's Smoke, There's... Pollution.
Happy The Bride Who... Gets All The Presents!
A Penny Saved Is... Not Much.
Two's Company, Three's... The Musketeers.
Don't Put Off Tomorrow What... You Put On To Go To Bed.
Laugh And The Whole World Laughs With You, Cry And... You Have
To Blow Your Nose.
None Are So Blind As... Helen Keller.
Children Should Be Seen And Not... Spanked Or Grounded.
If At First You Don't Succeed... Get New Batteries.
You Get Out Of Something What You... See Pictured On The Box.
When The Blind Leadeth The Blind... Get Out Of The Way.

There Is No Fool Like... Aunt Eddie. :))

bloggers vs tea-stall assistants

During the recent 'bandh' in TN..the only good thing that happened to me , thanks to our beloved CM , is ..I got to spend a few uninterrupted hours with my father discussing a wide variety of topics.

Since there were no public transport...but the flights were still operating, we had to drop a friend off at the airport .

And the topic we were discussing....yes..u guessed it rt..Politics and atrocities by politicians.

Thoroughly fed up with the situation...I blurrted 'I wish the law was amended to allow only educated citizens , eligible to contest in elections.'

I went on to explain how ,many bloggers keep track of current affairs
and express their views and then again there are the others like me
who promptly start nagging ppl around for more info and start a volley
of comments , discussing and dissecting the subject.

I was sooo angry and said that the intelligent bloggers I see on the net could rule the country in a better way than those stupid politicians . The next instant , my dad put me in my place.

He said "An uneducated tea-stall assistant who expresses his opinion publicly and protests , contributes more towards the running of the Govt. than u bloggers , who keep bashing around ideas till ur interests die a natural death ".

I protested saying that I learnt so many new ideas and am aware of current affairs...and it makes me think...thanks to these bloggers.
But, he did'nt budge an inch and was firm in his opinion.

It made me think though...and for a while as an act of clearing mental cob-webs...I refrained from commenting on similar issues.

Later , I asked him to give me reasons supporting his stance.

Here is what he said

**********************

A single act of kindness is better than the greatest grand intention.

In my perception throwing up any number of problems to thread bare theorital beating , will only create frustration in those who are at the receiving end of the problems.

The only satisfaction the bloggers seem to recieve is that they can call themselves to be aware of problems and let their combined effort at an indepth analysis ; ofcourse no light is seen at the end of the tunnel.

An illiterate tea shop assistant who is able to nibble at any one problem atleast to his ability is far better than half a dozen ppl who discuss and discuss the problem and arrive at a decision as who ought to have tackled the problem.

Normative approaches to problems are never pragmatic and are useless.

A large piece of masonry /debris was lying in the middle of the road , probably fallen from a truck. Everybody driving a vehicle suddenly braked and turned around it , cursed and blamed the authorities only one auto rickshaw driver stopped , pushed the offending piece to the side of the road..

So we have a number of street-bloggers who produce no results but one pragmatic individual who produce results. This seems to be the difference between blogging and practising .

The adage "an ounce of practice is better than a pound of preaching ".

***********************

Well..it defenitely makes me think......
though I can't resist commenting on issues that interests me ,
its done with a tinge of guilt .

Now , my friends , I would like to know ur opinion .

A thing of Beauty is a Joy forever !

Bala has tagged me to do a post on six things I find beautiful.
And here is the invitation..

"...நான் அழகு சொல்ல அழைக்கும் மூன்று அழகான நண்பர்கள்,
1. அனைவரையும் சிரிக்க சிந்திக்க வைக்கும் Sree..... "

Thanks for the nice way you have put it ,Bala.
(Now you all know why I have copied it here :P )


I understand beauty as something that brings a surge of happiness the minute our brain registers an image.

The indisputable list would be our Mothers ,babies ,our mother-tongue , rivers ,falls , hills , hill stations ,dew-drops ,half-saree clad girls ,handsome men ,an object d'art, flowers ,green fields ,birds ,butterflies ,bees ,teddy bears , an aritists hands at work , our 'Singaara Chennai' and the list would go on...afterall beauty is definitely in the eyes of the beholder.

I was thinking about subtle beauty..something that brings a flutter of elation....that which is not tangible..but leaves a lasting impression.

1. A Sashtiaptha poorthi couple.

I make it a point never to miss a 60th wedding celebrations of elderly couples.
Its sometimes mistaken as the 6oth wedding anniversary..but infact its another wedding ceremony celebrated when the husband turns 60 and he marries his wife all over again.
The very happiness , pride and contentment seen on the faces of the 'to be married couple' cannot be described in words.
The function is celebrated by the offsprings of the couple and its picture perfect with all the grandchildren hovering around them.
This is the celebration of two strangers who were brought together by chance ..lived together..shared good and bad times...raised kids ,fought with each other
..patched-up ...adjusted , sacrificed and finally arrived in life.

2. My friend 'K' at work.

K is a childhood friend and we were in the same class at school . She is an architect working for a reputed building firm now.
A brief intro abt her..she belongs to a traditional tamil family with a political background (they are always traditionally dressed) and was brought up in a complete tamil culture environment. Her attire is the unmistakable saree with her hair braided into a long plait with jasmine flowers and lovely 'jimkis' dangling in her ears.
When she goes to the sites on work....I join her too so that we can chat uninteruptedly during the long drives .
Once in the site , she climbs those make-shift steps not giving a tght to its safety while at the same time rattling off orders to the masons , giving instructions to the supervisors and then , would spread the plan on some crude platform and in a matter of fact tamil tone would reel off a lists of tasks for the workers there. The way she handles the carpenters ( who can give u a run for ur money) is admirable.
I usually wait in the ground floor ( am petrified of unprotected heights) and look in awe at the way she conducts herself.
I see beauty in the contrast. Her gentle looks and her work that involves not so gentle efforts.

3.Men and children at play.

I like to look at men when they are with kids. We see a completely different side to them..their business face is replaced with a softer , carefree look . And god forbid if its the grandfather of the child. He becomes marshmallows in the hands of the naughty little brats.
And that a real beautiful thing .
And usually these men are in such great mood that u can get ur way during that time :P

4.Brides .

Is there anything more beautiful than a bride ? The soft smile , the shy eyes and happiness written all over her face.
Added to that all the finery she wears and the grace with which she carries herself , is something that should not be missed. She basks in the glory of being the center of attraction and is a real-time heroine on her big day.
And in the tamil traditional weddings , the bride's hairdo is a heavy flower arrangement. The way she turns around , moving her shoulders instead of the neck is a real beauty.
Be it a bride of any religion...I think there is a glow in their face.

5. Regional folk dances.

I love those colorful folk dances danced to catchy tunes. The beauty is that its not a solo , and coordination is very important. And since it is in a large group the dancers throw each other meaningful glances as if they are sharing a secret ..giving each other secret smiles . The dance steps are usually repetitive and easy. The costumes are very colorful and accessories are local ones.
They portray a joint celebration and the happiness is passed from one to another and the entire gathering present is exhuberent.( Remember the party scene in 'The runaway bride'..now that's real fun :P )

6. A chef's face while explaining his work.

While ordering at restaurants , if a chef is called to explain how a dish is prepared...the way he (its always a 'he' ..I see lady chefs in TV shows only ) talks about the dish , abt the ingredients and the process ...punctuating it with heavy gestures...is so beautiful.
Its is more beautiful when the chef does not speak any English and has to act it out to explain everything.
A look more beautiful than this is the happy one that he gets when u call him back to pay him a compliment appreciating his culinery skills . I have seen this look on many people's faces when appreciated for some work well done.

Hey Bala...can I have a 'Kosuru' ? please ?
I really think the 'Syam and associates' party that has recently come to power where every member has a 'lucrative' portfolio is a great beauty :)
I really admire the deep friendship and easy comedy that this group possess. I feel their interactions bring out the beauty in blogging :)

One thing I noticed is , almost all male bloggers who have done this post , have mentioned "half-saree, lehanga clad girl" . Oh there is nothing to beat that dress ...esp the 'Pattu Paavadais'.

For my part..I want to say that I miss the 'Lungi' clad men of yore.
Except for the older generation , I only see shorts and sweat pants as casual wear these days . Whatever happened to our checkered 'Sangu Mark' lungis ?

These are a few beautiful things that came to my mind . I am sure there are many more like Surya , Vishaal , Saif , Akshay, Richard Gere, Tom Cruise and
Bruce Willis ;-) :))

I look forward to you ppl sharing what you think is beautiful :)

Wives and Section 375 IPC

Just a funny post and some of you may need parental permission to read it ;-)

Last week..when a bunch of junior advocates and wannabe advocates were idling at the office , the conversation turned to sec375 IPC.

For the purpose of this post..I will give a brief intro to secs 323,324 ,325,326and sec 375 of The Indian Penal Code .

Sections 323 to 326 deals with causing bodily injuries and the degree varies according to the weapons used and the gravity of the injury.

In Sec.375 ...The main aspects that constitute rape
1. is 'against the will' of the woman
2. and 'without her consent'
3. or fraudulently obtaining consent misleading the woman to believe that she
is his wife
4. with or without her consent when she is under sixteens years of age
5. or with a girl less than the age of fifteen if she is his wife.

It clearly says that the husband is protected from sec375 if she is his lawfully wedded wife (consent is granted) .

Almost all the women felt that the section shd be amended to include wives too . That is, the husband needs the consent of the wife...and it shd not be assumed that the wife has given her consent. Its either the wife be protected by sec375 or the husbands should be excluded from secs 323 to 326 IPC.

And as expected , the argument would be what if the wife agrees and then out of some other spite files a case against her husband...what defense would the husband have..what proof would he produce ? (There were jokes like..he shd keep a stamp paper ready to get her express consent :p :)) ).

Well...lets see the legal implications if the section is amended...the husband is in no better legal position than a man having an affair with any other woman . In affairs, the man is definitely exposed to sec.375 , if the lady decides to give the guy a difficult time . If a man is charged with rape and he claims he had her consent , the onus of proof is on the accused. Ofcourse he can always prove that they were going out together and she was his girl friend etc . But , its a hassle , and a major one.

I remember watching a movie where a high-school girl files a case against her school-mate for rape .She has an affair with him but subsequently breaks up with this guy..after the break-up, one late evening in the school premises he rapes her in his car and his current girl friend sees that. It would be argued in the court that since she previously went out with him , it would not amount to rape. But finally the girl friend becomes a witness and gives evidence that she heard the girl scream , saw the girl protest inside the car and she knew even at that time ,that it was rape.Finally the boy would be convicted . That was one new angle to the whole picture. (I really did'nt pay much attention to the name of the movie..).

Back to our topic..if the section protects wives..many husbands would rather lead a life of celibacy than get into trouble . The argument from the wives is that since they are not protected u/s375 IPC, (as it is now) , the only option for them would be to resort to violence . The sections that protects all from bodily injury are secs 323 to 326 IPC .(Men have no protection under Domestic violence act ).

The demand is if wives are not included in sec375 then husbands shd not be included in sec 323 to 326 (Its only against their wives..its applicable when the offender is anyone other than his wife).

They either get the consent or get beaten up . They have no legal help if they are bashed up by their wives .Ah..what a solution !

But all this would only lead to marital discord. And the next step is usually the family court or some marriage counsellor..and what would the advice be...'Concentrate on some activity that engages you or learn something new'...yeah and in the situation....the wife would opt to go to 'karate' classes and the husband shd attend 'body-building' classes :)

And all would be hunky-dory between them.....the women protects herself and the man can have fun too..whether he has his wife's consent or not.

Now , do you get the point ....that its the height of absurdity to ask for wives to be protected under sec375 IPC ? The very idea behind the institution of marriage fails if this is done . I strongly feel things should be left as it is .

இனிய புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள் !

இந்த இனிய நன்னாளில் உங்கள் எல்லா கனவுகளும் நினைவாக வாழ்த்துக்கள் !

Potpourri

When I spoke of 'Magizhampoo' in my summer vacation post, I was reminded of some other flowers that have become rare to find these days. All these flowers have such sweet fragrance .

'Kodi Sampangi' is one..these are bell shaped green color flowers and blooms in clusters...the plant as the name suggests ('Kodi' means a creeper) is a creeper with just one hardy twining trunk.The petals have a light yellow tinge and the flowers cannot be tied into a string like jasmines...they have to be threaded using a needle .

'Oosi malli' ('Oosi' means 'needle' and ofcourse Malli is Jasmine) the flower resembles a needle...atleast 2 inches long and has a long stalk too. When in bloom the petals droop down and when stringed together , they look like a bunch of white thread.

'Soundarya Kanakaambaram' ..Oh the color ! Its a deep saffron color and the petals are more sturdy than the regular ones . Even a six inch stringed piece of this flower can add a dash of color and looks attractive.

'Manoranjitham'..Atleast this flower can still to be seen here and there and I know many ppl who loves its fragrance. Intoxicating is what it is.
(Incidentaly , this is close to me bcos I was chosen to be this flower , in a flower dance we did in school when I was in 4th class :P ....now , I dont want anyone associating the tough look of the flower to me being selected ;-) ....just take my word when I say it was random selection :P But I was disappointed during the actual dance as all the 'jasmines' and 'roses' were all decked up with those flowers from head to toe while the teachers had to go from pole to post.. to collect manoranjithams..unfair eh ? :( )

'Changing rose'...this is one magic flower ..it's white in color in the morning and as the day progresses , changes to pink to deep pink ..then majenta and becomes red by the evening...oh what fun it was to watch its color change during classes in school :P

'Paneer Roja' this is dark baby pink in color..if there is something called 'sweet fragrance' it is this. It blooms in clusters of three or four and unlike the regular roses is very delicate and has less petals with a yellow centre ,the pollen very visible. These are not the pink hybrid variety..(hee hee..the petals taste yummy too :P )

'Nagalinga poo' Though I see these in some parks in Chennai , it used to be one of the regular flowers for pooja a few years back .I like to take the little lingam out of the flower after the pooja :P

'Sentu Malli' ...A variety of jasmine that has a deep jasmine scent but looks like a miniature white rose.

'Thaazham poo'.. This is a flower with a peculiar shape and strong fragrance and can diffuse an entire room with its smell. It was used in 'kadambam' previously ...but is missing now. During summer vacations it used to be a ritual to decorate the plaits of little girls with this flower ... it is called 'thazhampoo jadai' .

'Thumba poo'...this plant is a wild one and the flowers were very special for poojas. They look like 'baby's breath'..tiny and sparkling white in color.

A couple of flowers my dad misses.
'Neel Kamal'....My dad claims to have seen Blue lotuses on the Chennai-Kanchipuram highway when he was in his teens. But there is always an argument bet. us about it. I say that there is no blue lotus and he is talking about blue lilies. He is still in search of some place where there is 'Neel kamal'.

'Kadamba poo' ..when he talks about this he always says 'Kandhaa...Kadambaa' and he described the flower to me...a great smelling , ball shaped fuzzy flower that grows on med. height trees. Once when I found a similar tree somewhere , we walked there for half an hour and both of us were very disappointed to see it was a diff. one...but this one was cute too.

Its nice to see the asters , gerberas, tuber-roses, dhalias , chrysanthamums ,
orchids , gladioli , carnations etc (the cut flower ones) stocked up in lots of places....but I miss the flowers I mentioned too .

If you can think of any other flower that is going extinct..please write about it.

Art of War

There are some books which you can finish within a few days..some you keep by your bedside and keep reading a page or two just before dozing off.
The present one in the second category for me is Art of War by Sun Tzu .
Some parts are beyond my comprehension but some are very interesting.
I found some good advice in these points .

" If not in the interests of the state, do not act. If you cannot succeed, do not use troops. If you are not in danger, do not fight "

" A sovereign cannot raise an army because he is enraged , nor can a general fight because he is resentful.For while an angered man may again be happy , and a resentful man again be pleased , a state that has perished cannot be restored , nor can the dead be brought back to life ."

" Therefore , the enlightened ruler is prudent and the good general is warned against rash action. Thus the state is kept secure and the army preserved. "

like it ?
Have a happy week !

Childhood vacations :)

Bala has asked me to write about eight summer vacations I have enjoyed..yeah..I enjoy vacations..period..be it summer or any other season :)

I am not writing it chronologically but I will just start from my childhood vacations .

Most of my life was spent at my grandparents place and it was the meeting ground for all of us cousins :)

I am very lucky to have a cousin of my age and we used to be the best of playmates. My cousin L was living in a joint family and so used to visit us only during weekends..(this was our maternal grandma's place ) .

Our grandpa's place was a huge big house surrounded by a well planned garden with lots of trees and we used to treat it like one big play area. L used to come up with novel games that involved mud , clay , water ..everything that my grandma disapproved of ...but very exciting for us kids :)

L's house had a water boiler ( the traditional one made of copper with the chute in the middle where u put the fuel..twigs, coal, dried cow dung mixed with god knows what all stuff). Yeah..u can see these in tea stalls even today :)
L taught me how to prepare 'boiler urundai' (original ones are made with cow dung+ all stuffs mixed and shaped into balls and sun-dried) using clay , mud and water :)

oooohhhh !!! I tell u there is nothing akin to the pleasure of dipping ur hands in cold wet clay and mud mixture. She was a good tutor..taught me how to knead it and make it into perfect spheres. But where we went wrong was the place we chose to dry it....right on the newly painted window sill of my grandparents bedroom :(
Oh that was the greatest crime :( the ball sat there alright...but the muddy water dripped all over the place and created a big mess.

Then she taught me how to do 'patties' (virati) out of the same stuff...haa haaa...this is a great skill where u need to slap the mud mixture real hard on the wall to make it stick. We used up the entire East facing wall to dry our 'patties' .

In the evening when my grandmother opened the windows , one by one the boiler urundais were rolling out :(
I need to tell you that my grandma is skilled in caning and always had a cane handy
:( . Had it not been for my lovely grandpa..we wld have been history by now :) After our chores were over..we'd walk into the hall , on the carpets..with our muddy feet and hands and plop ourselves on the sofa ....I think my grandma became a BP patient because of us :P

Then , once we had entrepreneural ideas and wanted to start our own business. We had abundant goose berries (not the big round ones..these were the small indented Amlas) in the garden and both of us picked them from the ground and took it out near the gate and made piles of those on a neatly spread towel :) we have experience going to fish markets with our ppl and so know how to haggle :) . Believe me...our first venture was a utter flop as not a soul came to buy them...it was our neighbour's ( who happens to be my grandpa's brother) gardener Kannan..again someone whom we know rt from our birth ...who bought some taking pity on us. Later as the sun went up , we gave up, putting our failure down to bad location and donated all the gooseberries to Kannan and closed our business..atleast we had'nt invested much :P

This was the time when we were into games like 7 stones , 5 stones , Paandi (Hopscotch) and lots of games with little shells ( cowrie shells). Evenings would be marked with grandpa taking us to the beach and we would fly kites there.....the kite vendor had to pull the kite up...but later we got the hang of it...and its such a pleasure to do it in the beach even now :)

There was another adventure..where we'd go flower picking :) We used to love 'Magizham poo' I just dont know what its called in English....its a light brown...tiny flower that blooms in a huge tree and it has a natural bore in the center so that it can be threaded and worn as a string. Oh ! Its fragrance is heavenly...in Chennai you can see that tree in woodlands drive-in restaurant right across the the parking lot, adjacent to the play area. Its one huge big tree and luckily the ground below is paved so its easy to pick flowers there :P
L and I used to go to the third house from ours and there were two huge trees there...while we were picking flowers from the pavement...the aunty from the house invited us to pick from inside the house too :P That house had all those fancy accessories like fountains. We gladly obliged and got ourselves wet by going near the fountains and were so happy to come back home and thread the flowers. But it was not a happy ending ...that aunty had to call my grandma praising (?) our flower picking skills and u know what happened after that :(

Then came the phase of moms putting us in several summer classes...out of all the classes I attended , I only learnt swimming and fell for it hook ,line and sinker (literally) :P

Later during teens we were more into reading , watching movies and learning driving . Most of the time we would be together doing our girly girly talks.
My grandpa used to take us fishing regularly...on retrospect I think its to make us help him with winding the reel ... with the knots and run general errands :)
But small games were fun and we have caught little fishes ( koduva) . Sometimes those were used as baits for big games . Big games were nothing but a big bore where u cast the line and wait , wait and wait for the baracuda to come and bite :P

When I was around fifteen my mom wanted me to learn sewing and type-writing...and at the end of two months I had one crooked hanky and a trapezium shaped pillow case to talk of my sewing skills . As for typewriting , I could flawlessly type asdfgf ;lkjhj while use the correct fingers at the same time :))

But our summer vacations had generous sprinklings of card games (rummy) , cycling , visits and travelling :)

I think more than anything its the innocence that really made us enjoy those vacations...no exotic holidays, foreign travels or luxury cruises can bring back those times and that happiness.

Thank you very much Bala...for making me take a trip down memory lane to those wonderful times :)

Ravi , Pegasus , Just Words , Adiya , Harish , Syam (Natamai) and KK !
Would you like to write a post about ur childhood summer vacations ?
It's fun , I promise !!! :)

The Other Side of Parking and Police

Last week on a weekday I had an unusual experience.

I had to go to a bank on a main road and parking was alloted on one side of the adjecent road. There was a 'No Parking' board on the other side but there were some cars parked there.

Right near the entrance of the A.road , there were a bunch of police men relaxed and settled...sitting in cosy chairs under shady trees and enjoying the gentle afternoon breeze ...looking very much at ease .

Seeing the other cars parked in the opp direction , I too encouraged by another erring driver , parked my car there. But very cleverly :P asked the policemen there , if I could park it in that area.. One of the cops said "Oramaa podumaa" (park it close to the pavement)...and I proudly showed them how close to the pavement the vehicle was and with a big smile of gratitude proceeded to the bank :)

After half an hour when I came back , I saw a rectangular metal frame and a big lock fastened along the driver side wheel :(

Imagine my shock and I turned around to give the policemen an accusing look and only after that did they realise that the car had been locked :(
They were very apologetic and then told me that they were there for the CM's
security and had nothing to do with the traffic (!!!) .
I said "But when I asked you..you never told me" and they said "Its very rare
to lock cars in this road".

But even before I asked them , they called the traffic police who had the key , and asked them to come over. Apparently they were having lunch and I had to wait under the trees :(
They offered me a chair (!) but I preferred to stand there...and was listening to
their conversation about Tamil Nadu politics (very interesting :P) . Then one of
the SIs elaborated an accident that had taken place a few hours before in Ambattur and was very disappointed with the general public. He said that not one person came near the victim and it was only the auto drivers who came to the victim and took him
to the hospital..(but the case was fatal) . The SI was all appreciation for Chennai
auto drivers saying they are the ones who always come to the rescue during crisis.

Then the conversation turned to general cribbing about their odd duty hours , their kids schooling , their respective native places etc. all in their own unique accent .They told me about their kids and what they are planning to study and also
enquired me about my schooling and family.

Meanwhile another person came there asking them "Can I park my car here?"
and there was a chorus of "vendaaaam!!" from all and pointed to me and my car :(
The guy said "I am related to the CM" for which they said "Neenga traffic police
kitta sollidunga" .
Dont know what made me ask that guy if he likes standing under the shady trees in that area :P. He took his car and drove away promptly .

Finally , the traffic police came in their crane like vehicle and the SI requested them to remove the lock and pleaded (yeah..I heard him request) that it was his fault :)

By the end of this half an hour I had seen another side of Chennai police and was quite impressed with their attitude and outlook.Inspite of the inconvienience I felt the experience was worth it .
Once the lock was removed , they gave me a nice send off .

I never dreamt that there'd come a day when a bunch of policemen would be relieved to see me leave :))



BTW...I found this post http://shocking.wordpress.com/2007/03/30/funny-answers-written-by-students/
by Pegasus absolutely hilarious..check it out :)