Close Encounter of the Third Kind!

This excitement of our meeting with the great OJ family will continue to exist like the primordial sound of OM that occurred at the Big Bang! Certain waves never die down. Forget OJ but that Aunt Dahlia from Kolkatta just won over our hearts with ridiculous ease! I do not want to use that cliched statement of who stands behind every successful man but if anyone writes a book on the making of OJ, Sankari would figure in every page.

It was not as if I had a disagreeable image of OJ in my heart before meeting him in flesh and blood though I did have a feeling of what they call 'heebeejeebies' as he emerged out of the airport as majestically as the aircraft in which he landed. But he had brought with himself ready-mix concrete to cement our relationship for eternity! I agree with you entirely that it was a 'double take'!

Expansiveness of spirit is indeed a factor in bringing these two ladies so close together. The story has not ended with their departure from Chennai but continues as warmly as Kalki's (now Varalotti's) Ponniyin Selvan! I have never had any doubt about the positive effects of social networking and we are happy to have given a solid demonstration of it. Thank you Priya for your lovely FB!
Sri

 

My dear Satchi
What a great relief it is to see you here responding to my report on the event of the century! I was worried sick why you were cold shouldering this report knowing how you adore stories of warm relationship blossoming. Now don't blame everything on Alzheimer's Keep it confined only to your eating for it will help you to maintain your trim figure!

I agree with you that OJ has given a detailed coverage of his visit to Chennai with delightful pictures of it. This was a travelogue with a difference in which people loomed larger than the places! It is no exaggeration that this wonderful couple have now become permanent fixtures of my family. We did try to extend it to Bengaluru at least in our conversations but the two ladies could not be separated even for a day to steal a visit to your place!

As you say, there is always a next time!
Sri

 

My dear Kamla
Thank you for being the cheerleader for one of the warmest and most unique stories of bonding that any social networking has ever witnessed. This was possible because of the duration of his visit and of course our age group. I am not saying that bonding of this magnitude requires a minimum of one month's togetherness but it does help us to consolidate our relationship you know. Every passing day brought us closer and closer together and we started missing each other even before they left for Kolkatta.

Secondly the aberrations of youth may play spoilsport in such bonding. Too many interpersonal factors come into play and to sail through such a tempestuous sea is extremely torturous. But at our age, we could be as open with each other as possible without any apprehensions. PriyaKathiravan rightly calls it 'the expansiveness of spirit that comes with age'. It does help most certainly. It is one of the most fruitful months that I ever went through in my life. God bless OJ and Sankari!
Sri

 

Dear PS
Two intellectuals hitting it out together is certainly a big wonder but fortunately OJ is leagues ahead of me in intellect. The other day I visited his website and was amazed at the range of subjects that he has covered there. For a prolific writer like him, it is no easy task to maintain such impeccable style, sense of humour and passion for the language right through. I am a literate too with passable writing skill but there is absolutely no comparison between the two of us. That is the reason for our bonding.

The bonding that took place between our wives is certainly more awesome than what happened between me and OJ. Talking of bonding, all bonding works on the basis of certain chemistry. This chemistry is absolutely age-related. The chemistry that gets active in the bonding of two children or two young people is not the same as that facilitates bonding at old age. Chemistry at our age is well rounded, non-complicated subject.

On the eve of Valentine's Day, I too join you in hailing virtual relationships that lay the foundation for a strong real friendship. May God bless such bonding!
Sri

 

My dear Viswa
You are absolutely right about the tenderness of OJ's heart. Needless to say it made my job of keeping him happy extremely easy. As I had written in a few posts earlier, my apprehension was not about the texture of OJ's heart but his never ending quest for perfection. If he started looking for perfection in the way I played host to him, I would have been a goner and he would have written a 'Requiem for an Imperfect Host'!

It was good for me that he left his quest for perfection back at home when he left Kolkatta. I give you an example of how accommodative he was during his Chennai visit. I once took him and Sankari to a saxophone concert in an open air auditorium. During the entire concert, a million mosquitoes were gleefully feeding on us and we could hear the smacking of their lips when they tasted rare blood from Sonar Bangla. I expressed my dismay to OJ about the mosquito menace. He looked blank at me and asked me 'Mosquitoes? Where, where?' and went under the chair pretending to be searching for them. It was a monumental effort on his part to put his host at ease.

OJ's meeting with my brother went like a song. In fact, Sankari virtually became his devotee. Whenever I see my brother interacting with people in his calm and serene way, I always wish how nice it would be if I could imbibe some of his qualities.

I wonder if any beggar is a singer any more in Chennai but I know that no singer is a beggar any more! Gone are the days when most singers sang for 'thenga moodi' (coconut halves). Now they are all in the high income brackets commuting in expensive limousines. Nor do I see any 'kukuduppaikkaran' any more. It is high time they are declared as 'endangered species'. Guindy road is still reasonably full of trees.
Sri

 

Dear Uttaraa
Starting with your psst first, my grandson used to call me as Cheenz until one day the paternal grandpa of his chided him for this irreverence. He himself was called as Rangudu by my grandson, a typical shortening of Rangaswamy! This old man was obviously very J that I managed to earn myself a very stylish nick name while he had to settle for the century old 'Rangudu'. It was probably weighing on his mind for a while until he could bear it no more and he blasted the child one day. But old habits die hard you know. I continue to be Cheenz but he had become Thatha!

Now coming to the main plot, you are very right about OJ's phenomenal narrative skills which can make everyone that he talks of, be it Cheeniya or the Opera Singer, come alive in vibrant colours. And what you know of the geniality of my family members is only through the kind words of this generous person. But what I have achieved through this month-long rendezvous with OJ is equally noteworthy. Have I not torn away his mask of a 'ruthless perfectionist' and presented him in his true colours of an extremely warm-hearted, fun loving soul?

I do not have to say anything more about him than mentioning the fact that the ones who always looked forward to meeting him were my grand daughters. The love and admiration that they have for OJ are the best testimonial for his character! 'He who pleases children will be remembered with pleasure by others' said James Boswell. Need I say more?
Sri