CHAIR

Chair is very important in our life! From 'Walking Chair' to 'Easy Chair' we occupy a chair almost from the infant stage till we call it a day!

Imagine a job without the chair. Such a job would be very difficult and arduous to perform. Even a lift operator or a security personnel to be provided with a chair, if he has to be effective. In most companies, chairs and tables are given to employees according to their category or positions. People get emotionally attached and tend to identify themselves with their chairs.

I know a person who has occupied one chair for over 3 decades in his office. Even when the entire office was refurbished, he refused to change his chair! Some people will never leave their chair, come what may! But some will sense trouble in between and run away! Well, does it sound like something that we heard from Egypt and Tunisia?

In a meeting you rise to make a point with the permission of "The Chair". Nothing in a company moves without the approval of the Chairperson! Human beings are so attached to their chairs that they would go to any extent to retain it! We also observe people who occupy their chairs day and night and, throughout the year, thereby their bodies take the shape of their chairs! Now with the invasion of computers and laptops in every day life, even children refuse to move away from their chairs in front of the computer! They also develop neck and shoulder pain and other funny problems like Corporal Tunnel Syndrome!

In the living rooms, the chairs in front of TVs are never unoccupied, unless the TVs break down!

At Corporate Board rooms, you have many battles for occupying the coveted Chair! Whatever be your position or social status, we can give only one simple advice: Please choose your chair which will suit your back! In literal as well as in euphemistic sense! If you occupy a chair which is not suitable to you, i.e. in tune with your qualification and skills, then you would find it difficult to take decision and do justice to your chair. Here also your spine will be at risk as you may have to take some bold decisions! If the chair is not ergonomically suitable, then also it will create trouble to your spine.

The first thing I did when I joined the new office was to closely examine the chair given to me. I immediately realized that I needed a back support! (Literally, and not euphemistically!). I bought a back rest from the market and started using it from very next day!

Well, from that day onwards, I could take some bold decisions without injuring my back!

அமேசிங் places

Never before I had a vacation like the one I just had on the eve of New Year! Yes; this time my visit to India was fully packed and memorable.

On 31st December, we left for Mangalore from Mumbai. From the Airport we went straight to Sringeri in Karnataka which is on the banks of river Thunga. We stayed at the guest house called Rishi Valley Cottages. We could breathe the fresh air with sweet smell of flowers coming from the beautiful garden inside the compound. When experiencing the serenity and tranquility of the place, you are convinced as to why that saint had identified the place and made it his abode for reaching to the heaven! Yes! This place, I swear, is the one stop destination for reaching to the heaven!

The caretaker who knew only Kanada language could communicate what he can offer for breakfast, "Avalakki Uppittu" or iddlies besides coffee or tea for beverage. Whilst we enjoyed his coffee, my daughters simply went around clicking the flowers and the surroundings, some of the photos are posted here.





Next place I can never forget is Dharmastala. This is about 100 kms away from Mangalore. We reached on Monday evening-4th January. Somebody advised us to meet Mr. Veerendra Heggade, who is the Dharmathikari (Trustee) of the heritage. I should say that rather than being termed as a religious place, this place is the final destination for dispute resolution for scores of people. Yes people come here to resolve their disputes or problems and go back happily by reaching an amicable settlement! The judgment obtained here is valid and widely accepted.

We met Mr. Veerendra Heggade who not only engaged us for over 10 minutes, he also suggested us to stay overnight and proceed the next day after seeing all around the Dharmastala. We readily accepted his advice and stayed overnight at the "Netravathi"guest house. Mr. Heggade also sent a representative who took us around Dharmastala and also to the massive kitchen and the dining place, showing us how the food is prepared for the visitor and served free. Earlier Mr. Heggade told us that on that particular day of our visit 53 quintals of rice was cooked, enough to feed about 45000 people!

People of all faiths from all over India and abroad visit this place. Any amount of words will be insufficient to express the greatness of this place and the tradition followed by the family of Heggade for almost 700 years now.

Whilst returning, I was just thinking that if more such dhamastalas are founded in various parts of the world, then there would be no one going to bed without having one square meal in a day!

Myna Musings

There was a function to felicitate the Director-producer of the new sensational Tamil movie, Myna, at the Ajman Royal Palace Hotel. The meeting was hurriedly conducted, inviting only a few members of Humor club.


The director had come to Dubai for the screening of the movie at the 7th International film festival-DIFF2010.

Before the meeting, I was interacting with the director Prabu Solomon about his journey to success. He was quite philosophical in saying that 'successes don't come by luck but only earned by the dint of hard work'. If one has to wait for luck to favor then it is almost impossible to achieve success.

He also pointed out the habit of many people who would fall into a trap of superstitions and beliefs about the influence of celestial forces. They would not take up any venture during such 'bad period', fearing that they will fail.

Talking about the movie, he said that the main reason for the success was the choice of location and, the cast who are new faces, synchronising very well with the local charactors. He was quick to add that the beautiful locations of the movie worked out to be the 'second hero' of the movie, which was so refreshing and never picturised by other cinematographers.

My journalist friend was probing the director very enthusiastically. I whispered into his ears that he could bag a grand-father role in his next film, whilst I may settle for a slightly inferior role of, say Hero's....... father!