Ask the man who sends little circles from his cigarette; the answer would be who cares. It is time you did, one of them could become the noose around your neck !
A passive smoker is at equal risk as an active one to get cancers and all other diseases associated with tobacco use. Legislations have come aplenty but implementation is scarce. The heavily hyped ban against smoking in public places has had little effect. At every street corner, parks and other public places young and old puff away to glory. The passive smoker has a passive stance. He is bound by decency, fraternity, magnanimity & serendipity. This passivity has to go and the passive smoker has to actively outcaste the active smokers. When this happens the smoker gets pushed out and at least quit smoking in public. Smoker is like a suicide bomber, he kills himself and others. This realization should come this World No tobacco day, 31st May 2010.. That is the sincere wish from the Vasantha Memorial Trust.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Growing up with pradeep 2
“stop Stop Stop “
During his initial days with me at coimbatore ,pradeep would stay home most of the times . On some errands he would accompany me. One such time we were off to Nilgiris , the popular dept store. We bought all the groceries, loaded them in the car & were off to the somewhere else. Slowly he asked me whether I would stop the car somewhere , I said not now . I asked him why .he said nothing. Minutes later he asked again, I enquired he was hungry, I had just bought him a cold drink at the store..he said he wasn’t . In a few minutes time he again asked the same . Slowly his request became more frequent and transformed to a command and at point of time he shouted “niruthu niruthu niruthu ( stop stop stop ) “ . I screeched the car to halt. In seconds he jumped out of the car and ran towards the edge of the road. I was taken back and wondered what happened. But in seconds I burst out in laughter, he was taking a leak !After he came , I scolded him for not telling me the reason and taking a piss in front of hundreds! Eppadi solarathu ( how to tell u ) i was feeling shy he said. And added It was the air conditioning at the store ,then the cold drink that did the trouble and it is impossible to control ……………he justified himself and crouched back in the seat in a deadly silence.
During his initial days with me at coimbatore ,pradeep would stay home most of the times . On some errands he would accompany me. One such time we were off to Nilgiris , the popular dept store. We bought all the groceries, loaded them in the car & were off to the somewhere else. Slowly he asked me whether I would stop the car somewhere , I said not now . I asked him why .he said nothing. Minutes later he asked again, I enquired he was hungry, I had just bought him a cold drink at the store..he said he wasn’t . In a few minutes time he again asked the same . Slowly his request became more frequent and transformed to a command and at point of time he shouted “niruthu niruthu niruthu ( stop stop stop ) “ . I screeched the car to halt. In seconds he jumped out of the car and ran towards the edge of the road. I was taken back and wondered what happened. But in seconds I burst out in laughter, he was taking a leak !After he came , I scolded him for not telling me the reason and taking a piss in front of hundreds! Eppadi solarathu ( how to tell u ) i was feeling shy he said. And added It was the air conditioning at the store ,then the cold drink that did the trouble and it is impossible to control ……………he justified himself and crouched back in the seat in a deadly silence.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
My first encounter with cancer
I was about 5or 6 years old and we used to live in Ghatkopar , a suburb in Mumbai. we were in the ground floor of bldg "L" and on the second floor lived Mr.Pandurangan. He had two daughters - Manju & banu. Manju was my classmate and Banu was about 4 years senior. Banu took ill and after some time manju told that her sister wouldn't come to school anymore as she developed a swelling inside her stomach. I didn't understand what it meant and soon the whole bldg talked about her illness and it was progressing. Repeatedly we would watch her go by the ambulance to the hospital. Invariably she would be wearing a royal blue long skirt & blouse , her head would be bend down and eyes full of tears . She would look terrified. Manju will be left with us,when her sister wen to the hospital and she would relate all that happens to her sister at home. I cannot recollect what she told me but i remember her crying when she described what happens.
My granny told me that one day her abdomen will swell so much that it will burst and she will die. Although i did not know exactly know what death meant a, i could perceive it as something terrible !
Once i learnt this , whenever i saw banu , i would look at her tummy and try to measure her abdomen visually to assess how much it was grown. this I would do even if she was covered with a bedsheet.
Soon the inevitable happened , banu had died at the hospital and they were to get the body home. All Children in the building were housed in one flat from where body cannot be seen when it is transported to the crematorium. But all of us wanted to see at any cost. We sneaked to the kitchen from where we could get a view. When we looked at the body that was carried , the only thing i wanted to see her abdomen and it was still swollen .. this disturbed me badly
Moment we were released from this temporary prison i ran home. I thought a big mistake was made and banu was wrongly declared dead. I rushed to my mom and burst out" banu 's abdomen was swollen and it didn't seem to have burst , she can't be dead. .....
She probably had a cancer ,either a teratoma or lymphoma. Fortuantely today children like banu need not die. They can get cured with good chemotherapy and surgery . But what is sad that our prception about cancer has changed little
My granny told me that one day her abdomen will swell so much that it will burst and she will die. Although i did not know exactly know what death meant a, i could perceive it as something terrible !
Once i learnt this , whenever i saw banu , i would look at her tummy and try to measure her abdomen visually to assess how much it was grown. this I would do even if she was covered with a bedsheet.
Soon the inevitable happened , banu had died at the hospital and they were to get the body home. All Children in the building were housed in one flat from where body cannot be seen when it is transported to the crematorium. But all of us wanted to see at any cost. We sneaked to the kitchen from where we could get a view. When we looked at the body that was carried , the only thing i wanted to see her abdomen and it was still swollen .. this disturbed me badly
Moment we were released from this temporary prison i ran home. I thought a big mistake was made and banu was wrongly declared dead. I rushed to my mom and burst out" banu 's abdomen was swollen and it didn't seem to have burst , she can't be dead. .....
She probably had a cancer ,either a teratoma or lymphoma. Fortuantely today children like banu need not die. They can get cured with good chemotherapy and surgery . But what is sad that our prception about cancer has changed little
a cactus flower in bloom
a beautiful flower was on bloom on a cactus plant at the terrace of vasantha memorial cancer centre. A rare event that lasted only for a day !
Monday, May 24, 2010
Growing up with Pradeep 1
It has been quite an experience watching pradeep grow. He hailed from a place called bitherkad midway between Gudalur and Sultan battery , deep inside nilgiris. His exposure to the world was limited . He could speak and write English but they sounded different . He had some weird pronunciations and he rationalized them too.
" Landry " was the word that bamboozled me for the first time. I corrected him , the word is laundry is pronounced as lawndree. No Saar it cannot be he replied emphatically. Dhobis wash clothes and put them for drying on rocks, they dry clothes on land that is why landry ! I was left speechless
Oh Shruti !
Yesterday we went shopping for a fridge to T.nagar. The vehicle was parked by Prashant gold tower and we walked towards the shop. At the junction a huge crowd had gathered to witness a street fight. The moment this was sighted Shruti my niece virtually sprang to watch the show. With great force we witheld her from progressing close to the actual scene of fight. She broke the hold my hand and burst out" We went to triuenelveli we didn't see, we went to madurai and didn't see and you never took me to royapuram to see one in chennai: it is happening now and you wont let me watch it "
What a reason ! before i could gather my thoughts and give a reply : poilce came in and ceased the fight ! She had seen fights in so many films and she wanted the reel world o be real ! She didnt want to know the consequences of a real fight and she didnt care what they would be !
But the same girl was different at 8 years of age. We had visited Bekal fort in 1999,the site where uyire uyire song was shot for the film Bombay. I wanted to fool her and took about an hour to convince her that Arvindsamy and Manisha Koirala are present there and will break out into the song any moment . Though she nodded ,every corner of the ramparts she will ask me are they really around and i repeatedly said yes. I was thrilled that she was convinced and continued to build her excitement . We went to back to hotel and she related to my Father , all along in the fort , mama tried to fool me , but i didnt get fooled, it happened in the film then and how can it happen now . The innocent knew the truth and the adult now wanted to be fooled !
10 years & going strong
23rd may 2010 marks 10 years of pradeep subramanian alais bidarpradeep alais pradee alais snf0ian pjq0irj0qj winonoinw oinionoqiwv nO Nm . Oh so many names the boy has !
He entered our residence 10 years wearing brown coloured trouser and a moss green shirt that was buttoned wrongly , a koodai full of hairs on his crown, paasi paruppu kann ( tiny speck like eyes ) a slant on the neck and rubber slippers. That night he let out wail seeking his mom and desperately wnated kanji for his dinner. A panic call was sent to his uncle the next morning and he visited him three days in row.
A week later he attneded his event of the trust world no tobacco day and found his confidante - Narmadha. He existed like a zombie for next few month and started opening up on 15th Aug 2000 when we started the sorting business for our first jumble sale.
10 years down the line and now he is the most sought out person of the trust ! Coordinates activities of Coimbatore & Chennai and has 10 employees working under him.
Valanthatu aanaa paiyan !
Saturday, May 22, 2010
begining to blog
Ha
It is shruti's vacation and i am compelled to watch movies with her. There can be no greater punishment. I had sit with her for a movie called Kutti . I think something is grossly wrong with all the people involved with the film. As if this wasnt enough i was made to watch Ekan - a grand daddy romancing with a nymphet and a bunch of nincompoop students. I donno what i am going to be sujected to tonight
It is shruti's vacation and i am compelled to watch movies with her. There can be no greater punishment. I had sit with her for a movie called Kutti . I think something is grossly wrong with all the people involved with the film. As if this wasnt enough i was made to watch Ekan - a grand daddy romancing with a nymphet and a bunch of nincompoop students. I donno what i am going to be sujected to tonight
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