Thalai atti bommai-the Barbie of Tanjavur.

                                                                    

Everyone knows a Barbie. But what is this Barbie of Tanjavur? Any Guess…Hmmm… Oh yes.. I am referring to the “Tanajvur thalai atti bommai”, which in English means the waggle-headed dancing doll of Tanjavur . It dances to the tune of the breeze or a soft touch. Your spirit will uplift when you watch it dancing.

                                                         

Most of you barring those belonging to the state of Tamil Nadu are unaware of this doll. Beautifully structured, the doll’s head, torso, bottom and the pedestal are pre-fabricated for easy assembling. These dolls are beautifully painted with contrasting colours. It is a great delight for the beholder to watch  it dancing to  the gentle touch of  the breeze.

In Tamil Nadu people use the term “thalai atti bommai” to tease  the  obedient husbands who dances to the tune  of  their  wife.

The time-honoured practise was to make these dolls out of terracotta clay. But of late, these craftsmen make it with  papier mache, of course with a proportionate mix of terracotta clay. Thus unlike the Barbie, the Tanjavur doll is  eco friendly.

The thalai attai bommai that are sold under a thatched roof on the streets of Tanjavur is cheaper and greener than a Barbie doll which finds its place only in the  cabinets of the hypermarkets. Its price ranges from 150 to 800 Indian bucks depending on its size and finishing. Whereas you could bargain it even at a cheaper price.  Surprisingly it has got an export market of its own. 

It is thalai atti bommai which fascinated me and dragged all the way from Ariyalur to Tanjavur roughly 40 kms, to purchase one doll. If you anytime happen to visit Tanjavur or to its vicinity then I urge, you should buy at least once piece. You could decorate living room or could gift it to the loved one.

According to the words of Madam Mary Schmich “Barbie is just a doll”. Whereas  the Barbie of our Tanjavur is a dancing doll.

Chinam Abhishek Patra

Mob No: +91 99403 39997

Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd.,

S.F.No.630, Thamaraikulam Village,

Ariyalur Dist, Tamil Nadu.

PIN:621 705

Beat it; else you will be beated for ever...

Very excited I was, while traveling in Kanya Kumari-Howrah Express, not only because I was going to my home but also to see my Uncle and Aunt who were going to visit our home during my stay there.

The train was almost on the right time. It was 10 minutes past 4 O’ clock in the evening when the train reached at the Berhampur station. People with unreserved tickets started boarding the train in the reserved coaches and you have to share your berth to accommodate them. I too had no other option but to share my berth with a lady and a gentleman. Now days, Sleeper coaches have become SUPER GENERAL Coaches. This is because a person with an unreserved ticket can also board and travel in reserved coaches without any botheration, but for that he needs to tip the Train Ticket Examiner (TTE).

Minutes after the train departed two TTEs entered our coach and one of them asked to furnish the ticket. Immediately the lady passenger sharing my berth showed the unreserved ticket to him. Without any bit of hesitation the TTE asked her to offer Rs.50/-.

Accordingly the lady passenger tipped him in front of all the co-passengers and the TTE pocketed the currency note shamelessly.

I did not notice whether the gentleman who too shared my berth offered any bribe. Immediately after the two TTEs left the compartment, I could not resist myself and enquired the gentleman about how much bribe he had to offer to satisfy the TTE. You would be shocked to learn his reply. He replied shamelessly “I am in the Police and I am not required to have a ticket.” And it was in front of him (The so called Police), that the lady passenger tipped the TTE. And the shame least of all was that of mine, I witnessed the entire sequence of events without raising my voice against it. How pity it was.

These days we are talking, watching, reading and listening about the Anti-corruption Crusader Mr. Anna Hazare and his fight against Corruption. What a man he is, fighting for us at the age of 74, when one ought to retire and be safe at home playing with his or her grandchildren.

The Gandhian leading the Anti-corruption movement.

On one hand we circulate SMSs to spread his message and to garner support for his cause (thanks to the telecom network service providers who offer the facility of sending thousands of SMSs free of cost or at negligible rate), while on the other hand we are involved in unscrupulous acts such as bribing the TTE merely to travel in a reserved coach carrying an unreserved ticket.

Corruption has its roots deeply and widely spread inside the entire system and it is because we the common people encourage it. We proudly say that the preamble to our constitution begins with the words “We the people of India”. Sorry to say, I think that it is high time for the constitution to be necessarily amended to replace those words with “We the corrupt people of India” (emphasis provided). It may sound bitter but is an unpalatable paradox of current times.

I know not, whether after reading this you will bring a change, but I definitely will after writing this.

Jai Hind….

Chinam Abhishek Patra

Mob No: +91 99403 39997

Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd.,

S.F.No.630, Thamaraikulam Village,

Ariyalur Dist, Tamil Nadu.

PIN:621 705

At the Thiruvizha of Kallankurichi…..

 

      It was around 7:30p.m., when I was travelling back home in company’s bus along with my colleague Mr.Ranjith, who invited to see the Country festival organized at Kalankuruchi , in Ariyalur Dist. It was all a sudden decision for me whether to go or not. But at last I made it on my mind that I need to accept his invitation, as such an opportunity comes once a year. And we got dropped outside the Ariyalur bus stand, where a fleet of buses were ready to ply to Kalankuruchi. As we wanted to reach as early as possible and come back soon as well, we hurriedly boarded into the bus that headed the fleet without caring about the fact that it has already gained its motion.

     Finally reached our destination at around 8:15p.m. Since it was the 10^th day of the Country festival known by the local term Thiruvizha, we found a crowd of typical hillbillies having come from nearby villages to cherish the evening that was decorated with great pomp & show. On the right and left were put up a no of stalls selling sweets, savory items, balloons, dates, fried nuts and what not. Also a number of fortune-tellers were found at different corners along with their pet parrots. And that was not all, there were also made arrangements for the amusement of public viz. circus, the giant wheel, the Death well (in Hindi “Maut ka kuaan”). The atmosphere was noisy but worth celebrating. Frankly, no ground work has been done to know the history of the occasion or about the temple and its deities. But what I got to know is that during the festive period, Lord Perumal comes out in his chariot with his two adorable ladies to meet his devotees once in a year.

    Parked our shoes and Safety helmets in a flower stall just outside the temple, washed our hands feet and purchased a small garland of Thulasi. Started walking bare footed on the muddy floors of the Shrine . It was all because of the rains, which is believed to be a special feature of the day. It was quite a uncomfortable experience to walk in such condition, but I managed as it is the almighty’s place and no such feeling should crop in your mind. We found people reciting chants  & mantras dedicated to the Man of the occasion.

    We could not go near the idol as the entrance was shut, so we had to have his Darshanam from a distance of 15 to 20 mts. Then we went around the premises of the temple and witnessed that some people were playing different musical instruments, some people were donating agricultural produce to the temple etc. Since our purpose was achieved, we came out of the temple and went to the same flower stall to collect our belongings. But since our feet were muddy we had to wash them before putting on the shoes. We started moving, but I felt as if something was missing. I ignored the feeling as it may be because of the fact that we have come suddenly from too crowded place to a less crowded place.

    By that time it was 8:45p.m and my mouth got watered seeing the Chat wallah at a corner. I requested Ranjith sir that let us have it. He was not willing to have but to honor my request he accepted a plate. I specially relished it having in such an occasion. We paid that fellow and started moving to the bus stand. It was then I realized that we had left our Safety helmets at the flower stall. Questions started popping in our mind: “Should we go and get them?”, “Is it necessary to go back all the way again?”, “Can we not get a new helmet from the Stores dept.”.But finally “NO,” was the call from the conscience “you need to get the helmets back otherwise you are going to break the safety rules till you get a new helmet.” And we went back to get them, then caught the bus back to Ariyalur.

Writing is neither my passion nor my favorite pass time. I narrated that evening as it appeared funny to me and also that I wanted to share with you the fun I had….

     

Chinam Abhishek Patra
Mob No: +91 99403 39997
Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd.,
S.F.No.630, Thamaraikulam Village,
Ariyalur Dist, Tamil Nadu.
PIN:621 705

Try and try till you hit the BULL'S EYE !!!

                                                    

I have been sitting in the Pantry room located at the ground floor of CCR w.e.f 21^st April 2011. As per the company’s policy or as a customary (only The Almighty can tell you), the centralized A/C at the CCR is turned off at 4:30 p.m. daily. In fact working in such conditions at the evening time is pathetic and that too at the time of e-return filing which warrants late hour sitting is worth not to be discussed about. I badly required at least a pedestal fan to work during such time.

When the scene went intolerable, I made my mind to ask for a fan. As we all know that, our Glorious History is evidence to a famous saying which goes as ”Nothing Great has ever been achieved without a Revolt”. Keeping that in mind I started my revolt to get a thing as simple as a fan.

I immediately sent a mail to the Electrical department requesting to install a wall mounted fan in my cabin (marking a copy each to the G.M and the A.G.M of the F & A dept). The concerned person of the Electrical dept. came back with a reply that some fans were planned to be purchased and installed for the F & A dept. But it could not be done so, as the P.R. was pending for the want of approval from the same F & A dept.

In reply to the above mails, our G.M replied that for any Capital Expenditure (referring to a mere wall mounted fan), there should be an approval in the Business plan and in case it is very urgent a CER (capital expenditure requisition) needs to be circulated to all the HODs along with the approval of UNIT HEAD, (and that was not enough) finally to be sent to CFO/CEO/COO for approval.

He(G.M) was helpless, but to follow the Protocol .After reading his mail I got reminded of a scene – A person severely injured in an accident, was rushed to the hospital in a life and death situation , but the Doctor is insisting them to complete all the formalities before he could touch his instruments  for operating the patient. Such scenes can find place in typical Indian Movies (take for eg. - Muna Bhai M.B.B.S in Hindi or Shankar Dada M.B.B.S in Telugu or for that matter Vasool Raja M.B.B.S in Tamil) whatever language be it.

Well following such a Protocol irrespective of the urgency of the need is quite common in a Democratic governance like our’s.

After a few seconds I found a mail popped up at the corner of my desktop, which came from our A.G.M. When I opened it, I found to my surprise that he requested the Electrical dept. to remove the wall mounted fan from his room and fix it in my room as soon as possible.

The Subject of the Drama.

Finally the fan was mounted in my cabin. I inaugurated it by pressing the ‘ON’ button and felt a sigh of relief. The feeling was such as if I won an Empire…

Chinam Abhishek Patra

Mob No: +91 99403 39997

Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd.,

S.F.No.630, Thamaraikulam Village,

Ariyalur Dist, Tamil Nadu.

PIN:621 705