Varalotti Sir, you rock !

Thanks Usha, Vijee and Varloo!

Dear UVV,
while something romantic and heart-throbbing is going on else where it is heartening to note that you people have had the time to read and comment on the matter of fact story.
So Usha, yes we share some common traits as auditors. Or is it because our profession trains us like that, I don't know. When I was apprenticing and later during my first years of practice my training was intense, to pick out others' errors. Even a notice sent by a tax officer we used to dissect and find out any loop holes to hide. One thing I am happy about is that in professional setting I still have vestiges of human qualities left in me. And you also take care that Usha the professional does not take precedence over Usha the person. To be precise, fault-finding and pin-pointing are our occupational hazards. Take care, Usha.

And thanks Vijee for sharing your malarum ninaivukal. But you have left out one important detail which I am anxious to know. How did your kind Dad find the story? Kudos to your mother. Because it takes a lot to be an auditor's wife and at the same time an affectionate mother. My wife does that. And your mother had done that a generation ago.

And thanks Varloo for the nice words. Now the Diwali Malar story is kalyanakkolam. (there is a ik in between) But Anandha Vikatan had either inadvertently or deliberately omitted it. Your son is right. It is a sandippizhai. Or otherwise known as Otruppizhai. Sandhi is the letter that links the two words. In the case of the story title that sandhi is ik. that ka with a dot on its top. As is it omitted it is a sandhipppizhai. Otru refers to a letter with a dot on its top. So it is also called otruppizhai. Otruppizhai here is the perfect word. Sandhipppizhai is a more general word, though it is not wrong.
thanks all of you,
sridhar