Jannal - redraws the new boundaries of the next society!

 

K Balachander is a master story teller and he needs no introduction and hasn’t stopped surprising us with his themes, stories and characters on the big and small screens. I have watched his productions Kai Alavu Manasu, Rayil Sneham, Premi, Kadhal Pagadai, but missed out on his tele-serials Chitthi, Anni, and Jannal. A friend of mine suggested that I watch the Jannal serial.

 

Jannal is a family story where the director shines light on the greed, money, love, and insecurity and highlights patience and family values. The characters come with hoard of expectations from each other. When they see each other’s real sidethey lose their patience, often reach their flash point, and vigorously defend their decisions driven by their ego, desire and love.

As a result of their decisions, they go through experiences, while some learn their lessons and mend their ways, but often use society as a reason to purport their decisions. It is a drama of youth vs. old; love vs.greed; tradition vs. modernity, and my way vs. highway.

Be it in his movies or serials, KB definitely gives a message to the society and his unexpected climaxes expand your horizon of thinking, understanding and acceptance. It is not an over statement to say he often redraws the boundaries of the next society.

A peek into the main characters:

Kalyani amma - very kind and giving, extrovert, wants to earn her meal, and takes the moral high ground. She is often disappointed by how society and people looks at her relationship with GK. She weaves the social fabric, but is often disappointed when the fabric catches fire because of her widowhood.

GK - child like, lively, funny, patience, doesn't seem to bother much about society or his health!

Mahesh - leaves his parents to keep his wife happy, but is disappointed when she doesn't measure up to his expectations.

Priya - expects Mahesh to be his friend and a photo copy of her father. When he doesn't let her have her way it sets the relationship on fire.

Ramya - selfish, individualistic, and is very money minded even when it comes to her father.

Balu - is away making money and is absent for most episodes, but finally delivers the punch that pushes his mother out of his house.

The youth have their definition of life, and the elderly have their definition. And conflicts arise when the try and define how each other should live their lives.

Aptly titled, Jannal provides your view of the world, but it is often a small pixel of life. Jannal is a show window. It shows how the youth are driven by money and how success and money defines their relationships. The older ones seem to over ambitious parents, who worry too much about success, future and comfort of their children and ensure that they measure up to their expectations and expectations of the society. In reality, we often we use Jannal to make ourselves look picture perfect to society watching us from the outside.

The First 15 episodes can wear your patience with clichés, and the title song, but nevertheless it lends you a leaf or more to learn. Last 15 episodes brings people together, resolves issues and redraws the new boundaries of the next society. The You Tube has all 39 Episodes and I have posted the first episode on top for reference.

The Youth of India are watching

There was time when I used to come back from school and share all the highlights and happenings with mom and she would patiently listen and respond as I finish up my late afternoon snack. 35 years later, the setting is the same, we sit across from each other, but our roles have reversed. I come back from work and mom hands over the evening snack and she shares her highlights and happenings from her day.

With my nephew arriving from Delhi for his summer vacation, I get a lot less updates from mom. She is busy feeding, engaging him and growing the special bond with her grandson. I watch their interaction from a distance, and it is a big entertainment when I get back home.

Earlier this week when I got back from work and I looked around for my nephew. The swing was filled with his story books and toys, but he was missing. When I followed the waft emanating from the kitchen, I saw him seated on the kitchen counter, and mom was making fresh dosas and he was intently listening to mom and getting his dose moral education through stories.

And yesterday when I stepped into the house, my nephew was not at home. He had gone to play with kids in our apartment. When I called for my nephew my mother walked towards me carrying pride in her chest. I immediately understood that she had something good and interesting to share. Before I let her share, I asked her for a cup of coffee and went to clean my hands and feet. And as I entered the kitchen to pick up the hot cup of filter coffee, I found mom gloating in pride and words queuing behind her lips.

Come on let’s hear her.

So now what?

Earlier in the day, an elderly resident in our apartment got stuck in the elevator. The alarm in the elevator had failed and she had to use her vocal cord to get attention. Since it was early noon, people had retired for a short snooze in the swooning heat and none other than my nephew heard her call.  He rushed towards the main door in the house, unlatched it and tried to find the source of the SOS call. And when he identified where it came from, he quickly went back into the house and got my mother.

My mother immediately established verbal contact with the resident trapped in the elevator and asked her try out a few things to get the elevator to the nearest floor. None of the tricks worked and manual intervention was the only way out. It would take a minimum of five minutes to get the key and move it to the nearest floor. While my mother went downstairs to fetch the key and carry out the next set of procedures, my nephew stayed in contact with the woman in the elevator.

During the next 10 minutes, my nephew tried to console and assured her of immediate help and diverted her attention by narrating the Cinderella story. Very soon mom got the elevator moving to the floor above and the woman was set free.

A hero by the afternoon

Drenched in sweat, the woman stepped out of the elevator. She was moved when she saw the 6 year old kid who kept her fear and anxiety at bay by giving her periodic assurances and diverting her attention by narrating the Cinderella story.  She took him up in her arms, showered him with a volley of kisses, and blessed him for his presence of mind and assuaging words. Very soon the tale spread across the apartment like a wild fire and that afternoon all the other womenfolk came over to our house to see and bless my nephew.

At the age of 6, my nephew was already swarmed by women and was showered with their appreciation, admiration and kisses (something we all need to be afraid of). He had no idea what he had done, but enjoyed till it all lasted and soon disappeared into his world of cars, cartoons and bi-cycle.

And that night, I interviewed my nephew like a journalist. I wanted to know who had asked him to keep speaking to the woman in the elevator and how did he get the idea of engaging her by narrating a story. He said, “Grandma always shares a story when I am sad or upset and so I decided to do the same to this woman who was sad and upset.” And then I went on to ask why he chose the Cinderella story. He said Cinderella is a girl and thought the woman would enjoy girly stories. His answers to my two questions were simple, plain, honest, instantaneous and unpretentious.

Every time he comes over for a vacation, my nephew doesn’t fail to amazes us with a new trick or talent. Two years ago, one evening, he effortlessly rendered a few krithis of Muthuswami Dikshithar and Shyama Sastri krithis in difficult ragas and made our heads turn and jaws drop. He was not formally taught those songs, but picked it up while he accompanied my sister to her music class.

While genetic science traces back a lot of qualities we exhibit to genetic material, psychological science attributes a lot of our qualities to the ambience we live and grow-up in. “Avar nallavar aavathum, theeyavar aavathum annai valarpiniley…” goes an old Tamil film song.

Kids are like sponge, they may not have the capacity to distinguish what is right and wrong and they tend absorb all that is around them. So, beware how you behave in front of your children and what you teach, share and show them. If you haven’t watched Behave yourself India, The youth of India are watching campaign by The Hindu Newspaper, watch it now and remember the future of this nation are growing up watching you.

 

Marine Mammals – Part 3

The killer whales belong to the oceanic dolphin family and are highly social. May be like our Mamis? Read on and then you can’t stop admiring them, I mean the killer whales! 

The MB showed the photograph of 137 and pointed at the killer whale. The picture had a curved dorsal also had a distinct fluke. She explained to us the distinct color patches: black back, white chest and sides, and a white patch above and behind the eye and how they can be recognized from their dorsal fin and tail fin.

They are indeed a chatter box
The killer whales like to communicate and depend heavily on underwater sound for orientation, feeding, and navigation. They produce three categories of sounds: clicks, whistles, and pulsed calls. Clicks are believed to be used primarily for navigation and discriminating prey and other objects in the surrounding environment, but are also commonly heard during social interactions.

Males are momma’s boy for life
Killer whales are notable for their complex societies. Only elephants and higher primates, such as humans, live in comparably complex social structures. Males live with their mothers for their entire lives. These societies are based on matrilines consisting of the matriarch and her descendants who form part of the line, as do their descendants. The average size of a matrilineal is 5.5 animals. The killer whales are also found to adopt orphaned calves and care for them throughout their life. Because females can reach age 90, as many as four generations travel together.

No incest in their world
Males separate for only a few hours at a time, to mate or forage and come back to their mothers. Closely related matrilines form loose aggregations called pods, usually consisting of one to four matrilines. Unlike matrilines, pods may separate for weeks or months at a time. DNA testing indicates resident males nearly always mate with females from other pods.

Activities in water
The killer whale activity consists of foraging, travelling, resting and socializing. Killer whales are frequently active at the surface, engaging in acrobatic behaviors such as breaching, spyhopping, and tail-slapping. These activities may have a variety of purposes, such as courtship, communication, dislodging parasites, or play. Spyhopping, a behavior in which a whale holds its head above water, helps the animal view its surroundings.

 

But they are apex predators
These whales are regarded as apex predators and feed on salmons and other varieties of fishes. They also go for mammals such as sea lions, seals, walruses, and other smaller whales in the pyramid. There have been a few instances where they have tried to kill humans.

They are intelligent too
They are also regarded as the most intelligent species among marine mammals. Killer whales imitate others, and seem to deliberately teach skills to their kin. Adults sometimes pull seals off the shoreline, and then release them again near juvenile whales, allowing the younger whales to practice the difficult capture technique on the now-weakened prey. The killer whales use dialects and pass on other learned behaviors from generation to generation, thereby forming a culture.

Yet their population is shrinking
They may be apex predators in the marine ecosystem, but we are sitting on top of them in the ecological pyramid and creating havoc to their world. Pollution from large-scale oil spills, letting in untreated sewage, chemical leaching, and disturbance caused by noise and conflicts with boats are currently the most significant worldwide threats to the marine mammals. The impact of sonar waves on killer whales is potentially life-threatening.

I don’t care even if we don’t have such rides along our coast, but atleast let us not pollute their world and kill them for food and other monetary gains.

Marine Mammals – Part 2

 

The marine biologist confirmed that the passenger was indeed right and the v-shaped shower came from the blowholes on the top of the whale’s head and that he was a lone male traveling back from the Gulf of Mexico after the breeding season and feeding crustacean rich waters along the coast of Monterey.  She looked through her binoculars to confirm the species. She spotted the gray-white patterns and scars left by parasites which drop off in its cold feeding grounds and confirmed it to be a gray whale.

Gray whale is an endangered species on the west coast and there less than 200 surviving today. They travel approximately120 kms/day and cover 16,000-22,000 kms during the annual migration. They are spotted between mid-December to early January at Monterey during their journey South and found along with their calves between March and May on their journey back North.

Bio-magnification

Biopsy of Whale blubber found high levels of PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls) in their body. PCBs are found in flame retardant chemicals used in lot of upholstery and home fabrics have found their way into the ocean and into the marine ecosystem. The marine biologist pointed out that whale calves were found to have high levels of PCBs in their system and many of them died young. She also confirmed that the PCB levels were found to decrease as the off springs increased. So, more the offspring better was their chance of survival.

We were in the middle of the Ocean and the marine biologist (MB) asked the captain to shut off the boat. The waves rocked the boat back and forth while the MB asked us to keep a watch out of other cousins of the gray whale. Bala found warmth under the sun, I took a nap inside, not sure if it was sea sickness or exhaustion. I suddenly woke up to a loud noise, did something happen to the boat or did they spot something exotic in the ocean? Come along...lets go deeper.

The MB spotted a humpback whale and when she pointed the crowd towards its direction the entire crowd went gaga watching the whale taking a plunge and showing off its tail fin. While we waited for another show, the MB shared more information about its social behavior and singing traits.

Unsociable but singing humpbacks

 

The humpbacks social structure is loose-knit. Typically, individuals live alone or in small, transient groups that disband after a few hours. These whales are not excessively social in most cases. Groups may stay together a little longer in summer to forage and feed cooperatively. Longer-term relationships between pairs or small groups, lasting months or even years, have rarely been observed. Some females possibly retain bonds created via cooperative feeding for a lifetime.

Both male and female humpback whales vocalize, but only males produce the long, loud, complex "songs" for which the species is famous. Each song consists of several sounds in a low register, varying in amplitude and frequency, and typically lasting from 10 to 20 minutes. Humpbacks may sing continuously for more than 24 hours. Whales within a large area sing the same song. All North Atlantic humpbacks sing the same song, and those of the North Pacific sing a different song. Each population's song changes slowly over a period of years without repeating

Before 1966, the humpsbacks were almost at the verge of extinction, and subsequent protection laws and enforcement has helped to improve their population. There are now close to 80,000 humpbacks seen along the coast of Australia, New Zealand, US, Canada and South America.

Three hours had elapsed into the trip, and by then some of the passengers were excited to catch another species in the top of the marine pyramid – the killer whale, while some passengers got sick from staying out long in the rocking boat went in for a nap. Suddenly the MB yelled 137 and pointed passengers towards eleven o’clock. What do 137 refer to? Was she referring to serial killers? Did we get a glimpse of killer whales? Come back next week.

Vist the link to view the pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/108289564546757100555/MontereyBay#

Marine Mammals – Part 1

 

The Indian peninsula (surrounded by ocean on three sides) and our rich coastline (over 4671 miles) are often mired in controversy than pride. Time and again we've read stories about Sri Lanka and Pakistan army taking away our fishermen for trespassing their waters and Olive Ridleys by getting caught in the trawler rudders and meeting their fate during the breeding season. The recent incident where the Italian marines opened fire at Kerala fishermen mistaking them for pirates the relationship between Italy and India dived into troubled waters.

Are oceans really calm waters or have we turned them into troubled waters making death and imprisonment along the Indian peninsula? To this Interesting question and I found a few parallels in the marine world during my recent trip to San Francisco, California, US.

My friend Bala, took me on take a boat ride along the Monterey Bay. During the boat ride, the two marine biologists onboard explained the behavior of mammals in water, their aggression and territorial fights, their migration patterns, and the impact of human behavior along the 870 mile Californian coastline.

We boarded the boat at 9 am, the sky was blue, the sun was shining bright and gentle breeze was blowing towards the shore. To our surprise we were welcome by two friendly dogs who wanted to play and be petted, but was restrained in the upper deck L of the boat. I had no clue how my body was going to react to the constant movement of the boat, high velocity cold wind and but was anxious to explore the marine world. Once we began the journey, I realized that Bala was damn right to get me a monkey cap at the Wharf. The thick layer of acrylic covered my bald pate and kept my ears warm. And we stood in the sun to keep ourselves warm.

Within 50 meters from the shore, we spotted sea lions, otters, few other sea birds, seagulls included. The mammals were basking in the warm sun, while the birds were busy collecting sea weeds to build their nest. While we humans fell trees and mine below the ground to get raw materials to build our homes, these birds were merely using what is easily available in the nature without causing any environmental hazard. Though some of them migrate across the globe and build new homes to breed, they still keep it small, simple, sturdy and eco friendly. There is so much to learn from nature and its creations.

Soon the shore looked very distant and suddenly the marine biologist asked us to look to the right of the boat. There were a dozen dolphins jumping out of the water and expressing their joy, excitement and social skills. The marine biologist explained that the dolphins were closely related to whales and porpoises and are the most intelligent animals in the marine world.

Sight, touch and smell: Most dolphins have acute eyesight, both in and out of the water, and they can hear frequencies ten times or more above the upper limit of adult human hearing. The dolphin's sense of touch is also well-developed, with free nerve endings densely packed in the skin, especially around the snout, pectoral fins and genital area. However, dolphins lack an olfactory nerve and lobes, and thus are believed to have no sense of smell. They do have a sense of taste and show preferences for certain kinds of fish.

Social skills: Dolphins are often regarded as one of Earth's most intelligent animals. Dolphins are social, living in pods of up to a dozen individuals. In places with a high abundance of food, pods can merge temporarily, forming a superpod; such groupings may exceed 1,000 dolphins. Individuals communicate using a variety of clicks, whistle-like sounds and other vocalizations. Membership in pods is not rigid; interchange is common. However, dolphins can establish strong social bonds; they will stay with injured or ill individuals, even helping them to breathe by bringing them to the surface if needed.

Slowly the boat ventured into deep waters of Pacific Ocean and the marine biologist was hopeful in sighting some whales today. And at a distance a fellow passenger spotted a shower in the middle of the ocean and asked the marine biologist to take a look towards two o’clock position. Was it a grey patch of cloud? Did we get lucky? Come back next week for more interesting stories, sightings and also find out if I lasted the entire trip.

Critical Insurance Policy

In today’s age and time it is critical to have medical insurance alongwith critical insurance rider before we plan our investments, vacations andcommit to EMIs. A few weeks ago my friend’s colleague was diagnosed with braintumor. He went to bed fine, but woke up with a splitting headache and swollenface the next morning. Doctor visits and subsequent tests revealed that he had a gold ball size tumor in his head. Such is life, the darkest of the hour comesat the brightest of the times.

Imagine you have a young family with 2 school going children, awhopping home loan and monthly EMI with a floating interest rate, a running carloan, credit card loan from last year’s overseas vacation with family, and everincreasing inflation. And when you just began to pay up the borrowed capital, terrorstrikes in the form of illness. How would your poor wife manage the situationif you were bed ridden for six months and the income from work stops?

Friends may come forward to help, but to expect them to help whenmajority of them are neck deep in home EMIs is being too ambitious. Relativeswon’t help and even if they do they would want you to draw up a guarantee or anagreement for repayment. The saddest part is that, Indian employers and the socalled MNCs will not pay if you go on a medical leave. They will pay you forthe vacation days you have accumulated and will unsympathetically turn theirbacks when it comes to help. So, humans what does life leave you with?

Illness doesn’t come with old age and time. Disease and desireshave conquered the population while they are still young. Today, we haveyounger people who are first time home owners as we have younger patients withstroke, multiple sclerosis, heart attack and other cardiac issues.

That brings us to the most critical part of this blog, how doesone meet the expenses at home and medical expenses from the illness at a timewhen work will not offer you a few extra pay checks? And the answer is CRITICAL INSURANCE POLICY.

The critical insurance policy pays a lump sum if you get diagnosedwith any of the listed illnesses (Cardiac arrest, stroke, paralysis, multiplesclerosis, kidney failure, cancer) and a few other surgeries. Sometimes it canbe purchased along with the medical insurance and many at times it can bebrought separately. A friend or family can be a good insurance, but none canbeat the critical insurance policy.

We don’t know when our bodies can give away and when things canfall apart. I am a living example of congenital heart issue and I could havebeen a bit more relaxed if I had a critical insurance rider. But don’t we alllearn our lessons?

Today medical care is becoming unaffordable and hospitals andillnesses can gobble up your 5 Lakh rupee policy in a week. If you have notthought about a critical insurance policy, here is a good starting point: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/how-to-choose-the-best-critical-illness-insurance-plan/1/188491.html

 I haveprovided links to policy for your reading, comparison and research.

 HDFCERGO - 1800 2 700 700

BajajAlliance - 1800-233-3355

HDFCCritical Care - 1800 2 700 700

ICICICrisis Cover Plan - 1860 266 7766

RelianceCritical Illness - 1800 3002 8282

Some providers like Reliance offer family floaters, and some like Bajaj Alliance offer special policies targeting women (Breast, Cervical cancer, etc.) Based on my comparison and research, I find HDFC Critical Care tocover major illnesses of the day and age. Also check to see what kinds ofailments run in your family before you make a decision. Except Reliance, noneof the other providers give you “No claim bonus”. “Only HDFC Critical carecovers Brain tumor. You can call the toll-free number with your questions orpurchase the policy online.

Wishing you all a healthy and happy future!

Salute the British Airways Pilot aboard flight BA 036

 

From airplanes overshooting the runway, (the recent one was at Bali, Indonesia, where the Lion Air flight overshot the runway and landed in the ocean with 100+ passengers), flying closely to each other on the air to landing without clearance from the ATC (the Air India flight at Mumbai) questions the skill, discipline of the pilots and safety in our skies.

With increasing air traffic and human movements it is not a rarity any more to read about air plane accidents. Be it a pilot or a passenger one must be prepared for such incidents and not just be an unprepared optimist. And despite preparedness there are always surprises for prepared passengers, skilled pilots, and family and friends back home.
 

When I boarded the BA 036 flight from Chennai to London on April 12, I murmured a small prayer to Hanuman, the monkey god, for an incident free flight. And whenever we came across turbulence and the seat belts fasten sign came on I repeated the prayer a few times on behalf of my fellow passengers (even those in premier economy and business class), and crew members.

Shrouded in a cloud of mystery

Forty minutes before landing, the captain came on the PA system informed about the descent, weather at destination, Expected time of arrival (eta) and asked us to finish our moving around business within the next 20 mins. The announcement didn't bring me any cheer and the Weather at London wasn't brisk and bright. It was overcast, breezy and 10 deg c. And for a transiting passenger, getting the connection flight and catching up on sleep was higher up in the priority list compared to local weather.

I looked out of the window to survey the city its traffic, planning and green cover but the thick cloud cover created a mysterious impression of London. May be the sky was mourning the passing away of Britain's former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher? To kill time, I turned on the in-flight map service and kept tracking the movement, altitude, temperature and adjusting to the change in pressure and clearing up the air blocks my ears.

And 20 mins before landing, the seats belt sign came back on and the cabin crew came around to ensure all window shades were up, seats were upright, seat belts fastened and all bags and belongings stored in the over head bin. May be the ATC (air traffic controller) gave us the clearance to land?

Rumble in the belly

The flight was making a fast and steady descent and I confirmed that when heard a rumble from the belly of the aircraft, the tires opened up for landing, and the cloud cover was still keeping London shrouded in mystery (like the Queen who wears gloves and is afraid to revel her beauty or imperfections). And finally the nose of the aircraft was ready to touch down and I could see buildings and air bridges outside my window. But before we realized the engines roared once again loudly, the cloudy scene returned outside the window and the aircraft made an emergency take off. Just when everybody including the pilots and my friend tracking the flight was traveling on, the aircraft soared up the sky again. Not sure how many of my fellow passengers realized that before the pilot announced the lack of clearance from ATC. I asked myself if it was another violation trying to land without the ATC clearance or was something skillfully averted.

We circled the cloudy skies of London for another 10 mins before we finally touched down. As we taxied on the runway, one of the pilots came on the PA system and shared the reason behind abandoning our earlier landing. He said they were trained and prepared for eventualities and this is second nature to them. What was behind the roaring engines and another aerial tour of the mysterious London and second nature to the pilots?

5m from meeting our fate

The aircraft was hardly 5 m from the ground and The ATC noticed a puddle aviation fuel on the runway dumped by the earlier aircraft. They immediately asked the pilots of to get back on air. Once he shared the incident I expected the passengers to give the pilots a standing ovation, but the aircraft turned noisy and conversations laced with both surprise and relief. Without wasting time, I took a piece of paper and wrote a thank you message for the pilots and the guys at the ATC tower. If the ATC staff had not averted and if the pilots lacked skill we could have skidded off the runway or our aircraft could have caught fire from the dumped aviation fuel on the runway. Thanks Hanuman!

 

While media reports and sensationalizes mishap stories, I felt this was an opportunity to celebrate and applaud their skills and also continue say your prayers next time you board the aircraft. Some last minute prayers and split second decisions tests skills of some pilots and extend our fate lines. And that morning 200 of us were 5m away from igniting our fate.