World classical Tamil Conference - consequences of consequences

     Well, may be its a bit late to write about WCTC (World classical Tamil Conference). But i just want to write about some of the consequences I have observed.
The instructions are not clear, whether the name boards should have only tamil letters of english names or tamil names per se.I dont know how many of the shopkeepers consulted the book  issued by the corporation or any other source. Majority of them had boards displaying only tamil letters of english names. They were keen that they didnot want their name boards to be removed or harmed in anyway.
I had gone to treat a patient with rootcanal in my friend's clinic. I found that my friend was apprehensive because the last date for tamil nameboards was approaching. She asked me what is the correct tamil equivalent for 'dental clinic'. I told her it must be 'pal maruthuvamanai'(பல் மருத்துவமனை  ). But another friend suggested that it is 'pal maruthuvagam'(பல் மருத்துவகம் ) because the former means hospital, and the latter clinic.Well that was news for me :).
I found the attempts by shopkeepers to have tamil nameboards very amusing.Some who could afford had changed their entire nameboards, while someothers had an additional small nameboard in tamil.A lot of shopkeepers had a new vinyl banner withtamil names hanging over their existing english boards(that must have been cheap i guess, not to mention good business for banner makers).A few small shops just had taken printouts in white paper and pasted it in their original board :).
But by observing all these I think I learnt some new tamil words.I just want to share some of the good and funny ones with you all...
Bakery - அடுமனை
Coffee house - குளம்பியகம்
Computer - கணிணி
Laptop - மடிணி
( I totally loved this one, saw this at the Lenovo service centre, Velachery)
Group - குழுமம்
Agency - முகவாண்மை
(This is also a good one...Poongundran agencies have been using this name for a long time even before the rules)
Photoframing - படச்சட்டம்
Cellphone - கைபேசி , அலைபேசி
Furniture - அறைகலன்
(Nice one)
Shop - அங்காடி
Centre - மையம்
Plaza - வளாகம்
Hardwares - வன் பொருளகம்
Electricals - மின் பொருளகம்
Now going to the fun part
Cellphone - செல்லிடைபேசி
(Where did the idai come from?)
 Avasarala Technologies Limited - அவசரலா தொழில்நுட்ப வரையறுக்கப்பட்டது
( Why varaiyarukkappattadhu?????)
Lamination - ஒளிச்சுடர்
( I guess the guy mistook it for lumination, saw this in 100 ft road, Velachery)
Levi Strauss - லீவைஸ் ஹட்ராஸ்,  லெவி ஸ்ட்ராஸ்
(Two different showrooms had two different tamil versions, may be decided by the franchisee)

If anyone has some nice / funny tamil translation seen in nameboards, please share.

P.S. This is the first time I am using the transliteration feature in blogger and it is great to say the least. It made the tamil typing effortless.Try it to believe it.

varaan varaan poochandi

I first heard this song in a reality dance program when some boy danced to this tune. I liked it very much . I was wondering which movie it belonged to and googled it and got links to youtube videos. In youtube i found this song with video of cute animated animals dancing and found that the original english song was 'i like to move it' from the movie madagascar 2. Anybody know the origin of this tamil folk song - the singer, the album etc?

Anyway whether the song is in english or tamil, you will sure enjoy the animals' dancing :)

13 virtues of Benjamin Franklin

"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing." ~ B. Franklin

Do you recognize the picture above? Most of us will recognize it as the US 100 $ bill.Well what about the man on the bill? He is Benjamin Franklin and the above quote was given by him. Well he was a man who did both.

I myself learnt some information on Benjamin Franklin only few weeks back...

He is one of the founding fathers of US of A. To say that he was a multi-talented person is an understatement.He was a leading author and printer, satirist,political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.(courtesy -Wikipedia)

His success was due to his self-motivation.His father had seventeen children and he was the youngest.His school education was only till his tenth year.He was always interested in reading and taught himself to read .He worked as an apprentice to his brother in the printing press where he had access to many books. He taught himself to write prose by reading literature, assimilating the ideas and trying to express the idea in his own words.To make a long story short, he was a self made man.

When he was 20 years old, he decided that he has to achieve moral perfection.He wanted to improve his character by following thirteen virtues.He used to maintain a journal to perfect all these habits. He followed all these through out his life.

THE THIRTEEN VIRTUES OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

1. TEMPERANCE - never eat or drink to dullness

2. SILENCE - avoid unnecessary talking;speak only when it is useful to you or others

3. ORDER - your life should have an order, all things should have their place and all work should have their own time

4. RESOLUTION - have the resolution to do, what you have to and do that with out fail

5. FRUGALITY - do not make unnecessary expenses;whatever expense you do must do good to you or others

6. INDUSTRY - donot waste time;always be occupied with some work;cut off all unnecessary work

7. SINCERITY- donot deceive anyone;think and speak justly

8. JUSTICE - donot harm anyone by doing a bad deed or avoiding anything good happening to them

9. MODERATION - have patience to anything bad you encounter

10.CLEANLINESS - be clean in body, cloathing and your living place

11.TRANQUILLITY - donot get disturbed by trivial issues or any unavoidable incidents

12.CHASTITY - use sex only for proper health and offspring,never to dullness, weakness or to injure your/others peace of mind or reputation

13.HUMILITY - imitate Jesus and Socrates

He would work on one quality at a time and record his improvements in his journal.He feels that he may not have fully followed these 13 virtues, but they have contributed to his success and happiness.

He wrote that "I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit."

Ivar sonnadhile oru 10% kadaipidicha kooda podhum, namma ellam urupatturuvom :)

my 'starry' tales

i was driving back home in my two-wheeler from  my library at nanganallur. the sky was clear and it was a good evening for driving. it was the third moon day. i could see the thin curve of moon and just above it a single bright star. i was wondering which star was that. i remembered reading some where that stars are the holes in the bottom of heaven.

i was thinking of my school days. i think i was in 8th or 9th grade. we were living in a small house in nanganallur. infact it was one of the four small  portions downstairs. two portions had their doors opening out in the backyard. ours was one. the advantage was that we had a lot of open space. there was a big well and lot of wayward trees growing in the backyard. my favourite place was near the well.some evenings me and my dad will sit in creaking old chairs near that well. we will talk about many topics under the sun, or should i say the stars:-)...but at that age my worldly knowledge was limited.. i will tell him about my time at school, my tiffs with my friends and fights with my brother. mostly i will listen to his stories and anecdotes...of his young age , his time in ceylon etc.

my dad was a wonderful storyteller . he will narrate stories of english movies he had seen, to me and my brother. and we will sit open jawed listening . his flow was very good. i remember , sometimes that me and my bro will bug him for a story when we had nothing else to do. we will request him to retell some stories , which were our favourites. rambo, nakedprey, cat o nine tails, cliffhanger- these were some of my favourite stories. later in life when i had a chance to see few  these movies , they turned out to be average flicks. and i liked them more when my dad narrated  them.

and some evenings we will just sit and gaze at the stars. unlike now, i used to remember names of few stars and constellations, back in my schooltime. so i will try to locate those in the sky. later we shifted to a portion in first floor, which had a small balcony and my star spotting continued. my present house has very little space around. when i come out for some fresh air, what i get is the stench of urine from the neighbours yard. there is a terrace, but the air is full of chemicals from the surrounding  leather factories. sometimes  me and my brother go to the terrace at night. we talk and share thoughts. but i dont find myself looking for stars with the same fervour as in old times. and i miss the backyard, the chair near the well and star gazing with my dad...