Now And Then, I Think Of Then And Now!

Vandhuamma · Feb 14, 2018

Cheeniya said: ↑

@Vandhuamma

This is your first visit to my blog and I extend a hearty welcome to you.
Sri
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I am having a fan moment right now.... You have replied me

Thyagarajan · Feb 14, 2018

Cheeniya said: ↑

Now and then, I think of then and now. Today is Mahasivarathri day. Till a few years back, I used to spend the major part of the night in a Siva Temple and watch the Pooja. As I am not physically up to it these days, I watch the night long ceremonies in Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Centre which is telecast on TV channels. I am amazed by the massive crowd he draws from all over the World for this night long ceremony. Ceremony is probably a misnomer as the night witnesses more of dancing and singing. Last year I was amazed by the jigs he himself danced which found our ace dancer of the tinsel world, Prabhu Dava woefully wanting.

I was just thinking of how much the celebration of Sivarathri has undergone a change. When I was in my early teens, there used to be special midnight shows of well known movies like Chandralekha to keep awake through the night. Keeping awake on Sivarathri those days was more important than visiting Temples! The midnight show would start well after midnight and would go on till the wee hours of the morning. At the end of the movie we would sleepily walk back home, have a hot cup of filter coffee and have a bath in half a bucket of water as there was terrible water scarcity in Madras (Chennai) then. We had a hand operated coffee grinding machine for grinding fresh coffee powder and it was my job to do the grinding. The hot coffee would be followed by a quick and simple lunch at 10a.m. There was no habit of having breakfast in our circles those days. We would sleep through the day till the evening and we would all be looking like zombies!

Jaggi Vasudev packs his religious chanting and discourse interspersed with a lot of music and dancing. Or should I say that he packs the music and dancing sessions with some religious discourse in between? As the chanting gets hysterical, people start dancing like possessed ones. This dancing will be more interesting than the ones that accompany the music and dancing sessions. We can spot celebrity film stars from Mumbai and Chennai dancing in gay abandon. Today’s singers include Sonu Nigham, Daler Mehndi and Sean Roldon. Over one lakh people have registered for the night of fun and devotion.

It is said that Winter at Chennai officially ends on Sivarathri day. This is just an old belief. Air conditioners in my house have been switched on a week back more to escape the marauding mosquitoes than to keeping ourselves cool. The summer fruits have already started crowding the pavements. Hotels will sell more Rose Milk and Buttermilk than coffee or tea. Tempers will be running high everywhere where people congregated for various purposes. Incidents that made people smile a couple of months back would make them mad now. The Sun’s transit from South to North is considered auspicious for dying but it makes living really tough.

It is a great pity that summer is the chosen time for examinations in schools and colleges. The educationists probably think that minds get sharper in summer. We underwent similar experience in our student days in our youth but Chennai was much cooler then with a sharp rainfall most of the evenings. Of the four seasons only Summer has two M’s in between. Does it mean anything to you? Of course, it means nothing to me!
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மோர் மெரினா are the 2 M’s comes to my mind.sun’s transit from Uttar to north perhaps significant in ecology and agriculture. Other parts are nostalgic thanks about watching 3 to four movies in a row.
Regards and God Bless Us All Always.

Srama · Feb 14, 2018

Dear Sir,

Me again! I forgot to share something I meant to earlier. So here i am!

Talking of two M's,

Cheeniya said: ↑

Of the four seasons only Summer has two M’s in between. Does it mean anything to you? Of course, it means nothing to me!
Click to expand...

just the other day my students go "Mrs.S "What comes twice in a moment, once in a minute and never in a life time?" I was all smiles.

Anyways, the only M's that come twice and are meaningless are

- not too much not too little...can eat only so much and not more! I love them

Thyagarajan · Feb 14, 2018

Srama said: ↑

Dear Sir,

Me again! I forgot to share something I meant to earlier. So here i am!

Talking of two M's, just the other day my students go "Mrs.S "What comes twice in a moment, once in a minute and never in a life time?" I was all smiles.

Anyways, the only M's that come twice and are meaningless are

- not too much not too little...can eat only so much and not more! I love them
Click to expand...

Mmmmmmmm.... that is delicious indeed. This mm NA here. I could associate 2 m’s in Tamil மோர் (butter milk) & மெரினா (beach) .

sonishah32 · Feb 15, 2018

Very interesting use of words at right place. You definitely took me through a tour of pooja in the boat of this article. Keep Posting!

Viswamitra · Feb 15, 2018

We have forgotten the most successful Eminem - Wikipedia.

jskls · Feb 16, 2018

@Cheeniya sir, it’s very good to read about your Then and Now, Now and then. Nice to know about how you spent your Sivaratri when young. Hand grinder for Coffee ? Wow never seen it. The smell must be wonderful from fresh coffee. I have heard that it’s beneficial to keep ones spine erect on that night when energy is abundant and simply receive it.
I Came across this video “Ganga - Rs/ 50000 and Cauvery - 500” what a ridiculous charge ? Maybe Jaggi will become richer than our Balaji (Tirumala) soon...

Agatha83 · Feb 16, 2018

Cheeniya said: ↑

Now and then, I think of then and now. Today is Mahasivarathri day. Till a few years back, I used to spend the major part of the night in a Siva Temple and watch the Pooja. As I am not physically up to it these days, I watch the night long ceremonies in Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Centre which is telecast on TV channels. I am amazed by the massive crowd he draws from all over the World for this night long ceremony. Ceremony is probably a misnomer as the night witnesses more of dancing and singing. Last year I was amazed by the jigs he himself danced which found our ace dancer of the tinsel world, Prabhu Dava woefully wanting.

I was just thinking of how much the celebration of Sivarathri has undergone a change. When I was in my early teens, there used to be special midnight shows of well known movies like Chandralekha to keep awake through the night. Keeping awake on Sivarathri those days was more important than visiting Temples! The midnight show would start well after midnight and would go on till the wee hours of the morning. At the end of the movie we would sleepily walk back home, have a hot cup of filter coffee and have a bath in half a bucket of water as there was terrible water scarcity in Madras (Chennai) then. We had a hand operated coffee grinding machine for grinding fresh coffee powder and it was my job to do the grinding. The hot coffee would be followed by a quick and simple lunch at 10a.m. There was no habit of having breakfast in our circles those days. We would sleep through the day till the evening and we would all be looking like zombies!

Jaggi Vasudev packs his religious chanting and discourse interspersed with a lot of music and dancing. Or should I say that he packs the music and dancing sessions with some religious discourse in between? As the chanting gets hysterical, people start dancing like possessed ones. This dancing will be more interesting than the ones that accompany the music and dancing sessions. We can spot celebrity film stars from Mumbai and Chennai dancing in gay abandon. Today’s singers include Sonu Nigham, Daler Mehndi and Sean Roldon. Over one lakh people have registered for the night of fun and devotion.

It is said that Winter at Chennai officially ends on Sivarathri day. This is just an old belief. Air conditioners in my house have been switched on a week back more to escape the marauding mosquitoes than to keeping ourselves cool. The summer fruits have already started crowding the pavements. Hotels will sell more Rose Milk and Buttermilk than coffee or tea. Tempers will be running high everywhere where people congregated for various purposes. Incidents that made people smile a couple of months back would make them mad now. The Sun’s transit from South to North is considered auspicious for dying but it makes living really tough.

It is a great pity that summer is the chosen time for examinations in schools and colleges. The educationists probably think that minds get sharper in summer. We underwent similar experience in our student days in our youth but Chennai was much cooler then with a sharp rainfall most of the evenings. Of the four seasons only Summer has two M’s in between. Does it mean anything to you? Of course, it means nothing to me!
Click to expand...

Dear Cheeniya Sir,

I remember those times, where my 80 year old MIL a devout, pious lady, used to observe a strict viratham on Sivaratri, partaking fruits only once and chanting Shiva sthuthi the entire night, with an offering of Vilva leaves to Lord Shiva.
But nowadays Shivaratri has become a celebration replete with singing and dancing, with no trace of an iota of Bhakti. I came to know that this centre collected large sums of money from devotees, who had gathered from far off corners, just to have a glimpse of Aadhi Yoga. So why this farce of turning a religious event in to a commercial one.
Another ritual is that of offering milk as abhishekam to the God which simply goes down the drain. This happens in a country where scores of kids stay hungry, without their daily share of milk.
I only wish we celebrate festivals with more devotion and less of pomp and entertainment. God help us. Shiva Shiva!

Regards,
Agatha83

Thyagarajan · Feb 16, 2018

Thyagarajan said: ↑

மோர் மெரினா are the 2 M’s comes to my mind.sun’s transit from Uttar to north perhaps significant in ecology and agriculture. Other parts are nostalgic thanks about watching 3 to four movies in a row.
Regards and God Bless Us All Always.
Click to expand...

With apologies - in above quote please read " dhakshin to utthar" instead of "uttar to North".
Regards.
God Bless Us All Always.

Thyagarajan · Feb 16, 2018

Agatha83 said: ↑

Dear Cheeniya Sir,

I remember those times, where my 80 year old MIL a devout, pious lady, used to observe a strict viratham on Sivaratri, partaking fruits only once and chanting Shiva sthuthi the entire night, with an offering of Vilva leaves to Lord Shiva.
But nowadays Shivaratri has become a celebration replete with singing and dancing, with no trace of an iota of Bhakti. I came to know that this centre collected large sums of money from devotees, who had gathered from far off corners, just to have a glimpse of Aadhi Yoga. So why this farce of turning a religious event in to a commercial one.
Another ritual is that of offering milk as abhishekam to the God which simply goes down the drain. This happens in a country where scores of kids stay hungry, without their daily share of milk.
I only wish we celebrate festivals with more devotion and less of pomp and entertainment. God help us. Shiva Shiva!

Regards,
Agatha83
Click to expand...

God bestows enlightenment about feeding the hungry poor babies only to those who are steeped in Bhakthi and not to pseudo bhakthi syndicate. as extension to abhishekams to Lord now fans of cine stars like Kushboo Rajinikant etc perform abhishekm to giant size colourful flex - boards or banners erected on scaffolds. Fans are bestowed by God to even construct temples (in Trichy} to cine actress Kushboo!!!!!!!!!
Regards.
God Bless Us All Always.