Up the Chennai Lighthouse....High the Spirits of Heritage....The Story of lighthouse lovers....this time it got to be Chennai Bloggers!

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon…after all the excitement of the Wipro Chennai Marathon and a sumptuous lunch ( breaching my diet on a Sunday afternoon)…was about to catch up a quick energy nap, when I realized that I promised Deepak that I will be joining them to view from the top of the Lighthouse…. Yeah…In 5 minutes I got ready and my family were just equally excited to join me….my daughter and co-blogger and my husband took the drive to Marina as it was drizzling all around.

It was such a peaceful and tranquilizing afternoon that you cannot ask for more in Chennai …pleasant weather and excitement like a school kids ready for an excursion.

I was more excited to see our Chennai Bloggers friends behind the lighthouse…and also the long queue; with loads of people in raincoats and umbrellas.  Sashi kept telling that we may not be able to make it…then we checked with the police who were guarding the long queue and he gave us hopes that We Can Make It!  Yaah…. We got in the queue after a refreshing Chuku Kappi …with cameras on the shoulders...meeting the other bloggers who joined us by then and it was a lovely little wait from Kamarajar Statue to the light house as we caught up discussing the marathon...

  

Chennai’s refreshing winds…the sailing small boats in the rain and my little one tempted to eat off the samosas.  Once we neared the gate and looked back at the long queue behind us…the sense of making it was more…a kind of adrenaline saying that we are ahead!   

Once we got the tickets and went into the queue inside. We realized people were waiting for the lift.   With the spirit of marathon of the day…everyone opted to walk up…first thing they did was to give me a sympathetic look as if ‘will this woman climb?’…I thanked PINK and my fitness motivator none other than my husband who took small steps with me as I made it to the top of the 9^th floor without much of a hurdle….We stopped at every floor to watch the sea and take a minute to enjoy the breeze coming out of the windows.   

Same time I could not stop scolding the irresponsible people who started to scribble on the walls of the light house with their love stories, names and symbols….Common People. Grow Up!

Reaching the top was like conquering something…We were excited and the groups were already clicking pictures not to miss even a minute of the time we got to stay on the 9^th floor with the kind of mad rush on a Sunday evening.  The crowds were just swelling.  We watched the Bay of Bengal with awe. And the small colorful boats reminding us of the romantic songs with the waves of our beaches.  

The cars looked closer than before. Probably after climbing up the Sears Towers in Chicago…the height was not the excitement.  But climbing up our very own Chennai Light house was the key.  I showed a statue of elephants that got hidden by a political hoarding…and Sashi was just quick to capture it in his lens.   The photographers did an amazing job of capturing every side of the city from the top.   The sea, the sand, the building, the marina stretch, the Bay of Bengal with its mighty clouds that evening just added to our happiness.    

As we descended down the steps, we felt like going around a merry –go-round….and then the technical museum was in the cards.  Half the party left to have the techie party inside the museum as half of us took few extra moments to watch the crowd and the lighthouse from outside, closer, merrier and brightening up our Sunday!

Then, we had to leave and the rest of our gang took the steps in rain to the beach for further fun.   Had it not been for the group I am sure, it would not have been the excitement we felt.   How many of us get to go on excursion to heritage sites these days being at work full time?. But taking a planned break to do sweet little things add value to life…

As we were about to say our bye’s, the plans for the next day long trip few miles away from Mahabalipuram started to get discussed…and sure…we are in for this.  This time with more bloggers and more fun!

Thank you friends and CBC for making this visit memorable…

Dedicated this post to my friend Lori Feret who is a vivid researcher on Michigan Lighthouses and fondly called as Lighthouse Lori. 

Lori Feret is an amateur photographer with a penchant for lighthouses. She has been visiting and photographing them for about twenty years. Lori is an active member of the Great Lakes Lighthousekeepers Association, the U. S. Lighthouse Society, and several local lighthouse societies.  According to her, our shores and lakes attract stories of old Indian legends, tales of wandering ghosts from lost ships, sightings of ghost ships and accounts of sea monsters. Lighthouses seem to attract many a story of paranormal activity

4 Types of Leaders- Which Type are you?

WE see leaders all around us...Be it the political landscape  of the country, board rooms of the Corporate's or spiritual or inspirational platforms.  Leaders are said to be born and further pruned...to become very influential leaders who become change agents.  They earn respect, command power,  influence decisions, make new missions and sometimes create larger revolutions.   

 Every civilization evolved with a great leader behind it.  Every freedom struggle or great achievements happened with a front runner who lead the masses towards a greater changes in human endeavors.  However, from a management perspective, leaders will fall under one of the 4 types of leaders and it this categorizations defines the kind of leadership and purpose.

4 Types of Leaders

1. Executors

2. Managers

3. Sellers

4. Technical Leaders

Executors:

Executors basically are the one of the best leaders in the world.  They lead by example.  They have a definitive motive and work meticulously towards the same till they achieve.  Some forms of leadership styles may include coercion, power, influence, or even non-violence.  Mahatma Gandhi is said to belong to this category of leaders.  People get influenced strongly towards the objective of leader and follow for a purpose.  Executors basically get their own set of followers and emerge as winners in the cause.  The momentum remains the same once the leader is able to set the path. These leaders have strong influence on their teams and goals.

Managers

Managers are typical leaders who follow stereo type tasks of management and routine work controls.  They work in a sequence towards progression with already set goals and business objectives. Most of the managers influence the teams by effective management and approach-ability, recognition and manage and control roles and responsibilities.   They ensure that the teams gain knowledge and skills to perform their jobs.  They do formal and informal coaching and mentoring and mostly do not act on their own but are guided by the organization principles and objectives. Managing performance, wellness, workforce planning and effective controls make managers good leaders.

Sellers

Sellers are a very unique blend of leaders.  Their primary objective is to achieve financial and business goals.  They create a huge momentum of need for the products and services and bring in a demand that is built out of this approach.    Bravest and best lessons of leadership can be seen in Sellers.  They are the one's who create a need, create a supply and bridge the gap between supply and demand. These sellers can sell from a Pen to a Peninsula with their effective leadership combined with persuasive skills and communication effectiveness.

Technical Leaders

Man would have remained in the stone age had it not been for this segment of leaders.  Technical leaders are the one's who motivate innovation, bring in progress,  amazing engineering abilities, medical revolutions, scientific advancements, nuclear emergence, space research and educational tools and methods.   Indispensable technical abilities of these leaders make them vital for change in the chosen fields, be in science, technology, medicine, space, arts or even preserving history and creating ecological balance in this planet.  Steve Jobs and Bill Gates can be considered as leaders in this category. These leaders are truly thought leaders and inspire the new gen world towards a great advancement.

So which type of Leader are you?   

A crusader who inspires as an executor, or a manager who controls and manages a team, a seller who creates a demand or a technical leader who craves for innovation?   The type of leaders is different from the leadership styles we often read in our management lessons.   Once you self-introspect on what type of leader you are, the leadership style combination defines how successful you  can be.

Bottomline:   Leaders create legacies to remain forever!

Disclaimer:   All pictures in this article are taken from internet.  Any copyrights issues can be informed to the author  The article is original property of the author. 

40 Golden Rules for a Happy and Healthy Life

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

5. Make time for prayer and reflection

6. Play more games.

7. Read more books than you did in last year.

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

9. Sleep for 7 hours.


Personality:

10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day —- and while you walk, smile.

11. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

13. Don’t over do; keep your limits.

14. Don’t take yourself so seriously; no one else does.

15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.

16. Dream more while you are awake.

17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.

20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.

21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

23. Smile and laugh more.

24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.


Community:

25. Call your family often.

26. Each day give something good to others.

27. Forgive everyone for everything.

28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

30. What other people think of you is none of your business.

31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.


Life:

32. Do the right things.

33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

34. Forgiveness heals everything.

35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

37. The best is yet to come.

38. When you awake alive in the morning, don’t take it for granted – embrace life.

39. Your inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not least:


40. Enjoy LIFE!

- Thanks to the author and my daughter for sharing with me !

Rent My Womb!

She came and she saw my child

Beautiful bundle of joy and kind

Her eyes were green and thoughts gone wild

She snatched her from my arms being unkind

I felt sad that she could not be a mother,

Offered her to help the way I can do better

Promising her tears to go away titter

And let her thoughts not go to wither

What can I do to help her from not being a mother?

Can I give away my precious bundle of joy to share together?

Or can I rent my womb in turn for her joy

And make her also feel the warmth of being a mother

I could see her love for children

And the way she can take care of them in random

Why was God so unkind not to give her, her own?

To spread the happiness and belonging grown

She was just another ordinary woman with all the feelings

Reacting to the sensitivities of the society towards barren ladies

Cried alone and showed fake smiles when she was in a group

Yet, she cursed her destiny and her life that was in a soup

I could feel her sadness and relate to her as a woman

She cried when I said that I would bear her child

Caught my hands and whispered silently in my ears

That she can never feel the child her own when I am around!

Where can I go, from this world afar?

Just because I thought to be kind making her as a mother

To share my space of physical pain for her joy

At the end, I realized I need to say to this thought, a Good Bye!

Giving a child in adoption is not just another solution, having the mind and thought, heart and soul to share whom you have is the boldest thing you could do.  If infertility is an issue, open your hearts to receive the god’s child left alone in this world.  Surrogacy is just a social taboo. If that could solve the problem, go ahead and do it. But just do it on time and with the biological mother’s full will and warmth. Not for money and renting the womb…and let the foster mother shower love and care just like her own. After all, we are a country where we saw Lord Krishna enjoying both Devaki and Yasodha…foster care is not new to this world…where hearts can open to welcome anyone with same happiness and peace!

Is it not time to bridge the gap between to-be-parents and orphans in this world, so that we fill a great joy in the lives of both?   Instead of making infertility an issue,  childless couples lives a misery,  orphans children abandoned in this world,  we need to look beyond our limitations and take the bold steps that are necessary to become a better society, as strong individuals and above all happy self's by doing what our hearts say is right and what our sensible thoughts make us believe we can and move on!


Inspired by Suliaman's Poem: http://sulaimansait.blogspot.in/2013/10/surrogacy-controversy-poem.html

What is Rubella and why Inner Wheel is keen to get this vaccination as part of its health care drives?

Rubella is a disease caused by a virus, Rubella. Rubella means “little red”. Red spots appear on the body like a rash during the illness.  This disease is also called German measles. It can affect any one, young or old, male or female. Most often young children transmit the disease to adults.  

Rubella could become widespread in schools, camps and crowded places as it is  transmitted by air.  When Rubella strikes a pregnant woman, it could be most serious, not for   the mother, but for the child she is carrying. During pregnancy the Rubella virus  reaches the foetus and interferes in its growth and development. Depending on the  stage of pregnancy,this may result in an abortion, still birth or severe congenital malformations involving various organs.

All those who have had MMR  as a child should be given a booster dose  after puberty ie, NOW.!"

The following tables give some idea of these defects.

Abnormalities due to Rubella in first trimester.

60 – 75 % Hearing loss.

50 – 90 % Eye defects

40 –50 % Heart defects

25 –40% Psychomotor retardation

*PREVENTION IS THE ONLY CURE AND IMMUNITY TO THE DISEASE ONCE GAINED IS PERMANANT.

For adults a single vaccine of Rubella in a single dose is effective  for a minimum period of 20years.

Let's Act Now and Let's make India Rubella Free

Inner Wheel joining hands with Rotary International aims at eradicating diseases and bring in a healthy and happy society and hence the urge to get our girls vaccinated for a healthier families.

Pictures Courtesy:  Inner Wheel District 323- Rubella Awareness and Vaccination Camp- MGR Janaki College-  5 Oct 2013.  

Over 8,000 persons gathered at YMCA, Nandanam, on Saturday to try their hand at a Guinness record at an event organised by Rotary District 3230 — Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam-  The Hindu dated 7 Oct 2013

Bird Old Age Home- Acharappakam, 2 hours drive from Chennai- Needs Support

Service to the society is considered a service to God.  People live in a precarious situation.  Sense of insecurity prevails love and affections and passionate treatment are quite uncommon.  Under this background BIRD is rendering humanitarian service to the downtrodden rural people.

Birds Mission is to provide Total Health Care for needy people living in our villages.

The Bureau of Integrated Rural Development (BIRD)  is a registered 27/91 non-governmental Oranization and non profitable organization.  Since its inception in 1991, the organization has been active in the village of Acharappakkam and Chithamur blocks of Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu, India, providing assistance and services to the people of these villages

The Organization over the years has conducted several medical camps, eye camps and awareness campaigns on HIV/AIDS and has been rewarded by international community for its efforts

Birds Mission it to provide total care for the Aged and Handicapped

Eyecamps conducted have benefited numerous aged people having cataract problem.

At present, the organization runs and maintains and sustains the following:

1. Home for the aged destitutes
2.  Day Care Center for needy children
3.  Mobile Medical care unit

The Organization provides shelter, food, clothing, medicare to aged destitute and handicapped people.  100 kms from Chennai, 1km off the Chennai-Tindivanam Highway the home is located overlooking hills in the  Perumberkandigai Village, Thozhupedu Post- 603310, Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu.

They look towards help in trying to fulfill the hope for better tomorrow.

There are various ways by which we could contribute towards sustaining the aged people.  Needs of rice, dhall, cereals , oil, tea , clothes, medicines etc., on a regular basis or sponsors can provide a piece meal on any given day

Sponsoring of a meal will be as follows:

1. Full Day Meals- Rs 1500/-
2.  Lunch Only-  Rs 1000/-
3.  Breakfast Only-  Rs 750/-

Only Vegetarian food will be served.  All contributions to the organization are tax deductable under 80-G of the Income Tax Act., and the Organization is also registered under FCRA  with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

Future Plan

1.  Construction of the old age home in the site already in possession of the organization
2.  To expand the formation of women self help groups with a target of 100 groupds during this year with an ultimate object of forming a strong women federation
3.  Construction of creche for the children of landless agricultural and other women labourers
4.  To Purchase Van for running Mobile Medical Care Unit as well as emergency use of the old age home
5. To augment resources for drugs and medicines for running of mobile medical care services with an intention to cover more number of villages.

Organizations Financial Status:

The Organization is managing the financial affairs through local contributions with a meager government support in implementing the welfare programs.  The Organization will be thankful to the donors who will appreciate the mission and come forward to help them financially to do more service to the humanity.

Vision

1.  To upgrade the socio economic status of the people of downtrodden
2.  To create world of heaven where the old aged live with peace and comfort.
3.  To make the poor children to attain a noteable educational background for their betterment
4. Above all to preach spiritual values among the people to sink their differences and to live peacefully

Mission

By Rendering Selfless service with zest and zeal

For further information and details, please contact

The Secretary

Bureau of Integrated Rural Development (BIRD)

No 62, Karapgavinayagar Koil Street

Perumberkandiai Village

Thozhupedu Post-  603310

Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu, India

Phone :  9443152930

Email:  birdoldagehome@gmail.com

Cheques should be drawn in favour of 'Bureau of Integrated Rural Development'.

FOMO- The new disease in the block! Time to Say Good Bye!

The first thing I look upon when I wake up is to check my cell phone for any message and I jump out of my bed and get ready for a coffee with my morning newspaper. Inadvertently, my hands reach to the iThing around… Be it the iPad, iPhone or the nearest laptop, and my poor wireless blinks at me with tiring looks. Yeap, probably I would have shut it down just a few hours ago forcing myself to sleep.

The morning newspaper gives me its hate look… with all the dirty news of the world these days we are forced to chew in…
Accidents, political big wigs shamelessly screwing each other, children forgotten in cars,  parents committing suicide along with their innocent children, and women getting raped time and again, gang raped be her a child of 3 or a grand mom of 80, all they need is a hole to screw…  
Shameless perverts who roam around in this world even after such worst crimes.   

Then runs my eyes to the new movies page, which I usually don’t watch, and to the new restaurants advertisements that I scroll through… Of course, I do make time for this and what attracts me the most is the happenings in my City- yes, Events!   For they help me to plan my “out of work & home” hours, as if it were another 8 hour routine in my life every week. Forget about the reminders from the secretary of the clubs I am associated with, sends me frequently about the meetings- General Body, Executive Committee and Projects… Yeah… >Projects Everywhere!

Amidst all this going on, I still feel the vacuum!  Is this a depressing condition?  I asked my doctor one day.    He says that my body and brain are fighting with each other and  my brain is not letting the body rest… Why is this so? 

I used to sit quietly and meditate for long. Laze on a weekend siesta with an old book, just to re-read the pages I loved… or just look around and do nothing, but give space for words to write my most cherished poems.  But in the last couple of years, things have changed.   When I feel vacuumed!  Seemingly left with nothing to do after finishing everything I “HAD” to do… I take the interesting part of every one’s lives today, the drama of the day to unfold.  What’s happening in the other people’s lives?   Who is going where?  What is that they got today?  Where are they heading to for the weekend?  Who is celebrating their birthday today …or who is having a sick moment, where I can hop in and say a regular Hello!

From the time Face Book took over people’s life, agriculture became virtual Farmville, and Twitter became Flash News and LinkedIn became permanent open live resume, Orkut became the first death in the social media, hotmail nailed underneath leaving behind yahoo and Gmail to take over and online banking became the mode of trade… My pages on poem hunter became my live storage of my scribbling uneasy lyrics, and eventually my blog became my outlet, an open diary and a solace… I am for sure most of us are suffering from the new disease - FOMO- the Fear of Missing Out!

Even people who were once upon a time, with “Who Cares” attitude, today silently watches the social media space and enjoy the fun of the drams unfolding on everyone’s walls each day.  

These silent sneekers are the people who do not post anything or comment on anyone’s posts, but who turn out to be the most frequent visitors, who are keeping track of everyone. 

Those who frequently post, find this as a medium of outlet or take this as a comfort factor that there is a whole world out there to share your life day after day… right from buying a fish, sleeping in the noon to organizing a event and being part of a larger cause…they type, they forget and leave the news for the rest of the world to eat the way they want to…like a banquet dinner to chew!   There are few people who still worry about the privacy of the information shared and keep it very restricted. Probably they are the one’s who are very cautious of the good-bad internet world and they actually enjoy a right balance of information, fun and the cyber space.  

Companies and Employers are keeping a close watch on the social media activity of the employees… Today it is made as part of the business conduct, that what you post is your responsibility and not that of your employers and advices for a social responsibility to whatever you vent in the free virtual world that is not completely organized and controlled.

However, it is very important to keep track of what you do and what you share.   One thing is frequent, posting good pictures is causing jealousy amongst our own set of family and friends… For those who are mostly indoors, feel left out when friends post pictures of vacations and out door activity.  Sometimes, frequent updates from few people irritate us as if they are over boarding us with unnecessary information.  Few updates are very knowledge oriented and welcomed by many.  Few events keep us informed and educative.  They make each one of us think

The quotations and moral messages come in every day from every corner of the world.  Even if few inspire us and follow even few of them, our lives will change for good.

Above all,   it is time to stop – the Fear of Missing Out

• Students are losing out on their study time to the time on internet
• Employees are getting distracted during their working hours on the stuff that is not so important to work
• Friends are feeling jealous and envious at time, and breaking relationships
• Families are getting united, at the same time frustrations are getting on top and creating havoc in most unexpected turn of events
• Communal violence and protests are sparking up with the wrong motivations and communities targeting all sides to influence those who are weak and vulnerable
• Humor is finding its new place and lot of things of things are educating people in terms of cartoon, same time it should not go over the thin line of control…as long as no body is targeted, insulted and injured in this process….social media will remain a blessing

 As we control the fear of missing out, we get to be more cautious about the time we spend on useless surfing, spending on unwanted search engines…and being excited on staying connected through any of the channels. Be it Face Book, Emails, Twitter, LinkedIn, Whatsapp! Tumbler, Hi5 or Instagram!.  

The first step:  Decided to spend just 15 minutes every day on personal mails, 15 mins of social media and spend rest of the day in old style…going out and talking to people than on SMS and phone,  playing games outdoor than on Xbox….chatting with neighbors’ over the real walls,   pruning a little garden than planting trees in Farmville,  and above all taking time for a cause than to support with 1000 likes on a face book page…and make the best use of  internet time to get out of this nonsense FOMO -   I will not let any disease to take over me. 

Defiantly FOMO-  Its time for you to GO!

Note:  All pictures are taken from Internet! Any copy right issues, please let me know-  Umasree Raghunath

Sonoware Lost and ProArtis Gained....Hurray...the paradise of fun went unplugged - Manmar Reunion @ MGM Sep 2013

Cranky....what....No  No...show the cheeks..we can see the alphabets...the right side got M and left side got V....Giggle go on, on flutters raising in the air..with smiles turning into loud laughters...thank god...these crazy people got huts of their own and let the remaining resort doze off in booze. and blend with the sounds of the sea just few meters away!

Here came the IT freaks....best world class tech geeks..into the world of their own...to unwind and unwrap the secrets of a lifetime...giving the founders a blemishing smilezzzzzzzz....whispering into the ears of each other...the less known secrets to the loudly uttered crazy jokes of the past...from ballooning the time into a rendezvous journey -  a time machine flying back to a decade of innocent times...that were not so very innocent as they seemed..... from the time 2 wonderful bio-medical engineers who joined...and of whom one is a beautiful damsel even today...as she slipped on the stairs with a sprain...20 odd boys left the coding as it is and ran to help her raise....one man gave a damn and walked away.....and later was the guy holding her hand as they walked together in a wedding binge ...a relationship of a lifetime!

The guy whose photographs-  yeap the passport size one's could only fit a A4 size sheets..is now emerged a new You....making people ask him where is half of him.....where is their wonderful and most loving Heavy!....the guy who could fit a Breakvan for travel...made people jumble up in amaze...as he climbed mountains high, ran trails new to find, and swam deeper depths than one can imagine...and above all..shaping up as a New You!  Making the factooo that nothing is impossible!

"Eppidi poyiniruku"  - dont ever dare to ask to this to our vulture conservationist and a born genius artist...and be shocked and faint with his spontaneous reply...-  Poda,,, Orey tannni aaaa poiyniruku..! 

Tall as his height and sales to his might....this one guy had every reason to roll over in wit and smile...and along with his friend called DR...dubai...R.... who could sell without even a product in hand,,make brouchers in train ....and sell the product even without a customer....that was the spirit of selling...that they could sell anything!  

Candid Moments!  Yes, as we moved to the beach...unfortunately with the black sands that stood as testimony to the poor ganeshas that were thrown into the sea...that made the beaches look like drains... the beautiful damsel of our union..started to speak about her new hobby and a possible venture....photography...the candid shots that make holes in the one's who requests the spots!....reminds us of Kamal Hassan's dance shots!

Moments that made the day...the past that had its blast...the divine charm of friendship that swayed in the air..what else can you ask for when you get 25 people together after 10 years...and make them recollect their past and share their present times and to hold together the bonding for the future..Yes, this was about the Manmar Reunion 2013-  after 20 years exactly on the day Manmar shaped up in 1993,..and eventually after 10 years when Manmar diluted with history leaving behind thousands of customers....and very useful and still used products in the health care industry.  

Manmar had the privilege of being the best IT product company and was way ahead of their times. penetrating into the ultrasound market like no other player....they expanded their wings into health care by catering to the OEMs like GE, Siemens, Philips and Toshiba to name a few.  With best of Products like Sonoware, Proartis , ProArtis Xpert, Echo,  Cupid and ProCath to name few...their reach was far and wide...with a vibrant sales force and committed service team across India and Abroad..Manmar found a place in the History of IT in Tamil Nadu...Even today, people who worked their in the past feel connected, for the small company grew into a highly process oriented and a really cherished product company and unfortunately,  due to few wrong moves...it went into the history of times.  What remains today is the unbelievable intellect..that is wide spread still in the health care domain and entrepreneurs who dream big and made it into areas of OBG, Radiology, Tele-medicines,  Medical Imaging and Documentation, and lot more.   

Now on the Reunion of Marmarties that happened at MGM Beach Resorts on 28^th and 29^th of Sep 2013-   Update from Ravindran Padmanaban:

This re-union was a excellent trip to nostalgia, as Umasree described in her blog. We had some great talk, chitchat with friends, games, swim, food finally not to leave the booze. Glad to see age has taken a toll on all of us, but by heart we have the same enthusiasm and feeling. I wish this event could happen every year on September 4th Week (Bala suggested), so our calenders keep this marked permanently. My family had a great week-end.

We need your feedbacks as well for a better event next time. Please upload all your photos, this will motivate our friends to warmup for the next event. Had a never ending laughter treatment for almost 18 hours with all you guys. Thanks for all your presence, it was a great moment for my family aswell.

The Grand re-union happened MGM Beach Resorts Mahabalipuram, around 25 people across South India came, we have great fun. Soon we will update this Group with photos. The good news is, we have passed a friendly resolution to have this event will happen every year 4th Week of September. So don't worry guys who have missed - we would love to see you guys next year. Keep watching this forum for frequent updates.

 I will post more pictures once our Official Candid Photographer sends me her pictures!

 

Why are Reunions Important?

A trip to nostalgia, now and then is good for the spirit-  Dan Bartolovic

From the time FaceBook started getting family and friends back together in the virtual world,  things have changed for many.  The social media made people not only make new friends and new dreams, but it also brought back the memories of the past, and the people who were of it , a great part!

 Many have stopped making friends, and found the comfort of finding their old one's.   Many felt the need to relate to their past and make peace with it.  Many have crossed several hurdles and painful days that they look back at memories with a sigh of relief.   Many have come across people whom they would not want to be in touch in life..and took forward with the lessons learned.  

However, one thing remained growing.   People and their connectivity to the people of their Pasts...Be it school, college, sports friends, colleagues,  book club readers,  charity partners, pool club partners or even walkers together.    

Reunion is not a new term.  It has been there since times immemorial.  But with the kind of stressful pace with lives, many people have forgotten the roots.   Relatively in India, the get-together of families happen for all good and bad occasions and for all festivals very frequently.    Even in this kind of a culture, time became a rare commodity.  

People found excuses wide enough to keep away from what is close to their hearts.  One reason - fear, fear of the past and the anxiety of the future.   Competitiveness of the world brought in bigger comparisons with wider horizons to reach.  Ultimately, we are in the world; children buy time from their parents and the same Parents get neglected as they grow old and useless.  Everything has a direct cause and effect.   Then why reunions.

Reunions are the ties that bind.  As life grows and takes it own path, many of us move on with our own roads to travel.  Some of us run, some walk, some crawl and some drag.  Despite all this, the starting of the road remains the same however be the journey called life.  There are certain things that remain common and related for ever.  The bonding, the friendship, the care, the concerns and the times shared become more important to look towards a future with promises.  

People from our childhood reflect our dreams as a child, aspirations as a teen and focus as adults.  What does not come in the way of this path is how much you achieved in your journey...the roots remain the same.  The bonding is not scared of the new branches of life that emerged as we grow older.   Every one goes through ups and downs..but when it comes to reunions, there is warmth of understanding...a time to rejoice and a memory to recollect...and future to share.

Reunions basically show how we were in the past, how much we made of the time we spent at a particular place and how many of people's lives we touched in this journey. Be it a simple family reunion, or a friends get-together or school or office reunion...the joy is immense, expectations flutter in us making us feel good and bit awkward for certain embarrassing moments that would have been probably a gossip of the past....however,  with the age and maturity comes a reflection of joy in reunions.   Nothing of the past ever hurts unless it has got to be with two particular individuals..but as a group, the reunions are the time to introspect into our own selves and the happiness.

It builds a platform where we feel assured in life that we have people who care for us and whom we care.  Reunions make simple affirmations to the fact that how much ever faster the world may go, there are still roots that get stayed grounded.   The memories of first love, first friend, first job, first school medal, first certificate,  first child....and the list goes on...gets shared...gets filled in the air.  After all, what made Facebook successful is the factor that it brought this possibility of virtual reunion of the world, people and their emotions.

We had a 50th year of Inner Wheel Club of Madras South, where we cherished meeting the charter members, first President of the club and all the past presidents and members which means that over the period of 5 decades the thread of friendship and service continued and remained alive.

After 22 years, when a group of friends met in my hometown to grieve together at the loss of a school friend who made our childhood brighter with her dance performances, we had mixed emotions.  The emotion of celebrating her life and our reunion, and the sadness of her loss and meeting at the wrong time..however...the reunion had a meaning...togetherness at times of need.

After 10 years, when colleagues of Manmar Technologies are planning to meet over this weekend at MGM beach resorts, I am excited... the excitement is like that of a child coming back home from a hostel...or a worker returning home from an on site assignment ....probably the group knows how many challenges most of us have crossed....the group shared the glorious days of IT and also have seen the worst hit recessions that sunk the corporate that was once the highest tax payer in the state.  The group was small and successful, talented and motivated...all high in spirits and aims...together in friendship and bonding....supportive and caring..and hence the reunion surely has a meaning.     

This is the time to relive the memories of the past....and rejoice every bit of it for a night and then create wonderful memories for the future to hold tight till we meet again.............until then..its just ...See You Soon and Never a Good Bye to the Real Friendships that stand strong forever!