Amul's India

Beautiful book-both content and design! Definitely not another coffee table book.This book tells the story of Amul girl in short. Its interesting to know that the design house was given free hands to choose the subject for its hoarding.I think thats the reason why Amul girl is so popular and so relevant.

Personally  i do not have any memory of seeing Amul hoarding anywhere near my home town or in chennai but i read about it in papers and books.Apparently many of the celebrities followed these hoardings for a long time it seems.Nowadays actors ,actress,politician and sportsmen take it as a prestige to come up in Amul hoardings.

Definitely this book is a keepsake and addition to any library.At the end , there is a poem by Manish Jhaveri which explains the whole ad-making process at Amul, really nice one!Another nice thing about the book is that it did not talk much about Amul brand or Dr.Kurien, its just talks about  Amul's advertising.Definitely the book has the flavors of India from Politics to Scandals,Bollywood to Sportsmen, all the important event and personalities had been captured beautifully.

Contributions from Harsha Bogle ,Shobhad De,Dravid,Amitabh  Bachchan and others made this book even better.All shared their experience with Amul's moppet.

A great book.

பள்ளிகொண்டபுரம் (Pallikondapuram) - நீல.பத்மநாபன் (Neela.Padmanabhan)

Another Tamil classic.So far i have never read any Tamil book which depicts the soul of a place with the soul of a man.Simply awesome writing. I really felt sad that i did not read this book earlier in my life, nevertheless its not too late.The first four chapters describes the beauty of the Sri Padmanabhan Sway Temple, i should say the author really takes the reader a tour of the temple with minute details .Awesome.When i read this book i felt i was in the temple.

Ananthan Nayar's emotion filled roller-coaster life was REAL. His wife Karthiyayini left(eloped) him and their two children (Prabhagaran and Madhavikutty) and married another man of money and stature.Ananthan Nayar with the help of Kamatchi Ammal took care of the children and gave them good education. He never thought of marrying another girl.For fifteen years the thought of Karthiyayini made his life a living hell.

The Beautiful Padmanabhan Swamy Temple,
Thiruvanathapuram,.

Prabhagaran Nayar decided to move with his 'mother' and Madhavikutty on the other hand was in relationship with a low caste guy - Tharmabalan.Ananthan Nayar never expected these things from his children but he gradually controls his anger and decided to listen to their stories.The last six chapters says lot about relationships.

Superb characterization... memorable characters

Ananthan Nayar's pain of losing his wife and the anxiety of losing control over his children and the burden of the society were described beautifully and captures the essence of human emotion aptly.There is another book "Poithevu" by Ka.Na.Su which tells the life of a man from birth, with different story line but this book is best in telling a typical family man's life and its intricate problems more beautifully than other books so far i read in Tamil..

Neela.Padmanabhan

More about the author  

A website dedicated to the author
Magizchi - a Tamil movie was based on Neela.Padmanabhan's another novel "Thalaimuraigal".

A must read !

My Favourite Google Doodles

Everyday irrespective of working in office or relaxing in home i use Google for searching.Over the years Google is creating these wonderful doodles.I always wonders how they are coming with these designs and concepts.There are so many wonderful doodles over the years.Here i'm listing my most favorite ones.

1.PacMan

To celebrate 30th Anniversary of PAC-MAN,an arcade game developed by Namco, Google created this wonderful doodle.It was a awesome design and interactive.

2.Les Paul

I do not know much about Les Paul, in fact i came to know about him only through this doodle.Again an interesting and interactive one.

3.Zipper

Google honoured the man  who perfected the zipper ,Gideon Sundback.Simply Awesome.Unzipping it reveal the search results of "Gideon Sundback".

4.Lunar Eclipse

Google used real time data to update the doodle every two minute using footage from camera in different locations.Google used astronomy site SLOOH to live stream the eclipse.Very interesting and informative.

5.Charles Dickens

One of my all time favorite writer.Google honored him on his 200th birth anniversary.The doodle populated Dickens characters including Oliver Twist,Pip,Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit.Click here for more information on this doodle.

I hope Google will continue to create these wonderful doodles. And im very eager to see some wonderful animations and interactions on these doodles.Go on Google!!

படித்ததில் பிடித்தவை -2

This week read some good poems.Some of these are taken from websites and some are from magazines and books.

1) I liked this sweet poem.

2)Stages...

3)Christmas

4)Who ?

5)To God..

The Tales of Two Women

I read two incredible books one after the another in short time.I should say the two main characters Lizzy and Savithri of these books will remains with me forever and they are the epitome of tamil women in modern times.

Putham Veedu -Hephziba Jesudasan

"வெறும் காதல் கதை இல்லை இது ;ஒரு யுக மாற்றத்தின் குறியீடு என்றுதான் சொல்ல வேண்டும் ."

In the foreword writer Ambai explains the book in those lines. I have to agree with her. The life of three generations told in a most beautiful manner.The story of Lizzy ,a young girl in a very conservative christian family.The author brings the emotions of a girl beautifully specially when Lizzy's sister Lilly marries before herself and the acceptance of her love by her family.The life of a girl in that era was told in a most interesting and emotive way.No need to say anything more about the book.

Hephsiba Jesudasan

Hephziba Jesudasan was born in 19-04-1925 in Pulipunam,Kanyakumari district.She studied in Burma(Mynmar) and in Tamilnadu.She received 'honors' in English Literature from Thiruvanathapuram University.She was fully supported by her husband Jesudasan in her writing.He was the man behind most of her work.
This book was released as "Lizzy's Legacy" in English by New Horizon Media (2007).She translated the Bharathiyar's poems in a book titled "Song of the Cuckoo and Other Poems (Women’s College, 1950)". She also compiled best of Tamil literature in a book "Count Down from Solomon" . Her other books are Doctor Chellappa,Anaadhai and Maanee but all of these books went unnoticed.


A.Ramasamy's view on Hephziba Jesudasan's writing

Jeyamohan's obituary 

Hephziba's tips on writing

Jeevanaamsam by  Si.Su Chellappa

This is a story of Savithri ,a young Brahmin widow and her struggle to get life support from her deceased husband's family.The complicated relationship and rituals were told in a such a beautiful manner ,at times you will stop reading and feel about the characters.

"இந்த உலகத்தில் தனியாக ஆசைப்பட  என்னதான் இருக்கிறது என்றே தோன்றவில்லை .இதுவரைக்கும் தான் மற்றவர்கள்  இழுத்தப்படிதானே வந்திருக்கிறாள் .அம்மா அவளை அப்பா கையில் ஒப்படைத்தாள் .அப்பா கல்யாணம் பண்ணி அவர்கள் கையில் ஒப்படைத்தாள் .விதி அவளை திரும்ப அப்பா கையிலேயே கொடுத்துவிட்டது .அப்பா அண்ணா கையில் வைத்து விட்டு போய்விட்டார் .இந்த அண்ணாவுக்கு அப்புறம் -"

The above paragraph summarizes Savithiri's mindset when she started living in her brother's house.

Si.Su Chellappa

Si.Su Chellappa was born on 29 September 1912 at Chinnamannur,Madurai.He was a founder of the literary magazine "Ezhuthu" which gave rise to new form of criticism .






The two lead characters in these novels are relevant still today. Lizzy's wait for her marriage and Savithri's life after marriage explains the problems faced by the Indian women in a most powerful way.Both authors captured the emotional and sentimental aspects of the society towards the female characters.

These two books are must read for Tamil readers.