Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Another year

Has passed by.
A reminder of things that could have been done and the things that have transpired.
As another year passes by, I raise the bar higher on things I want to do and made up a list of things that I must do before I die.
Birthdays - to me are not about parties and celebrations. Even as a child there weren't cakes and cutting and inviting. Just the wearing "color dress" to school and going about giving chocolates.
Yesterday I happened to visit my school, The Hindu Senior Secondary, Indira Nagar, met my teachers and decided to gift them something. And so I did.
A birthday is somehow just another day to me, a mark on the bark of time, to chronicle that precious moments have passed by, The quiver of time, unfortunately is not really as inexhaustible as Arjuna's Gandiva.
So much to do so less time is the only thing that keeps ringing in my ears.
I heard Rahman anna once say that once you start earning, you can't learn. And as I grow older my thirst to learn grows. I think it must be the same with everyone. Responsibilities happen and poof goes everything.
That's when you wish the God of wealth will step in and sponsor your learning and support your family :) Wishful thinking - that is what this is. So many dreams are not chased as the pressure to start a family, support it and very well too rises. Children happen and the dreams are given a RIP.
I happened to read "Ancestors of Rama" in the Amar Chitra Katha series. I own the entire collection. Well almost. I think its a wealth that you can give yourself and the generations to come, for anyone who is Indian and who wants to know India. Actually I wonder why Anant Pai, (aka Uncle Pai) the brain behind ACK has not been given any high government award for the contribution he has made. I tried mailing him. But somehow the mails bounced.
And Ancestors of Rama, talks of Aja Raghu who once returned after a massive conquering spree and distributed all the wealth amassed . And when the last portions were over, in walked a sage, who specified a fee that needed to be given as Gurudakshina to his Guru and that amount only Kubera owned. Raghu then asked the sage to make himself comfortable at the palace, while he decided to go to war with Kubera for the wealth. Kubera, however divined his intentions and filled his coffers with the wealth he needed overnight.
So I guess for the amount of things I want to learn I would need some help from Kubera too. Or a Markandeya boon. Either one is fine :)
Here is wishing for you that may you have the gumption to step out and learn no matter how old you are, may age never be a factor; may you have a mind that is open and beautiful to accept all things new; may you get the rightful wherewithal that pay for your learning because the best things in life definitely don't come free or cheap and more than anything else, may the universe bless you to make your dreams of learning come true.
Tathaastu

64 comments:

Maheswari said...

MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS.Super singer supera poguthu...Vijay TVla neenga azharadha ellam pottu kaateentaanga...Did u know that they were going to telecast that?
HAPPY BDAY ONCE MORE
Maheswari

ப்ரியா கதிரவன் said...

Happy Birthday Chinmayee.

Unknown said...

Hi Chinmayee,

Happy Birthday, hope all ur b'day wishes come true,hope u have a great time,today & years to come and find happiness in everything u do..

Krithika

Nazreen said...

Happy Birthday Chinmayiii!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

" So I guess for the amount of things I want to learn I would need some help from Kubera too. Or a Markandeya boon. Either one is fine :)"

Just wanted to add one more line which i think is also vital, a teacher/guru or teachers to learn it from :).

I have really enjoyed reading your blog ..keep writing.. and may the years ahead see a lot of new learning..

Cheers
Ranga Sudarsan

Anonymous said...

Many more happy returns...
I see you are little preachy..nice thoughts though :)

Sri said...

Happy Birthday Chinmayi. Wish you for many many more happy years ahead.

Sri

abimanyu said...

Many More Happy Returns Of The Day Chinamyi!

matthew88 said...

Henry FORD: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.”
Pirandha naal Vaazhtukkal !

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to you!!!! Hava gud one!
WIshing u for many more successes on ur way :)

Ganesh said...

MANY MORE HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY, CHINMAYEE! I don't think, you got only, one year older. But, one year Wiser. Bliss Personified.
Sincerely,
Ganesh, G

Anonymous said...

Have a good one! Cheers! Happy Birthday!

Regards
Ramesh

Anonymous said...

Hey Chinmayi,

I came to send a birthday message and here you are with another post on your birthday.

May you get all that you deserve in your life!

Happy returns!

Cheers
Viji R

meena said...

Many many happy returns of the day chinuz!!!!!

Unknown said...

Akka, First of all, my Birthday wishes to you..(My Wishes would have already reached you through Orkut..).

Next is that, As far as I knew, It is Raghu, Aja's father and not Aja himself who helped sage Kautsa the disciple of Varathantu ..
I am extremely sorry if I am wrong..
Again, I wish You a very big B'day Blast!!!

Regards,
Kavitha. T. Krishna

Krishnan KR said...

Hello Chinmayi,

I got goose pimples..reading "Another Year"

It's rare to hear such things said by someone on his/her Birthday.

How right you are when you said..
So much to do so less time is the only thing that keeps ringing in my ears.

and..

As usual when you talk about ACK..I feel good.. coz I love them and I too have a big collection of them and Uncle Pai :-) I am so happy to know what you think of him and what he deserves.

Just want to wish you once more.. Happy Birthday

Cheers,
Krishnan

Anonymous said...

You're not getting older, you're getting better!! w2g lady!

Cheers,
-Anand

ILA (a) இளா said...

Many Many More Happy Returs of the Day!

Srivatsan said...

many more happy returns of the day. i hope u enjoyed the day.

lefty84 said...

Really good gesture on your part to gift our teachers! I am sure you wud have got some mail regarding formation of Hindu Alumini and the first activity that we had in mind was to host a lunch for all of teachers on the teacher's day. But C.P could not get permission and if fell through.

And you seem to making only a couple of small wishes after all ;-) (Kubera and Markandeya) Let them both come true. Tathasthu.

Cheers
Lefty

Deepa said...

Happy Birthday Chinmayi! Wish you many many more happy returns. May you keep quenching your thirst to learn, and so does it keep growing!!

Anonymous said...

Wish you a Happy Birthday Chinmayee!

Dee said...

Happy Birthday !! Today is a very special day for me as it is my son's birthday too :-) He turned one !

Anonymous said...

Belated many more happy returns of the day chinmayyi, keep smiling
god bless you,
takecare

Varsham said...

Belated birthday wishes Chinmayi!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Chinamayi,

Firstly, my heartiest birthday wishes to you although slightly belated. :)

I'm from Singapore and managed to listen to aahaa fm. However, it is such a pity that there are some streaming problems perhaps and it kept breaking up and after a few minutes, i couldn't listen anymore. Is there anything that can be done? :(

பிரியமுடன்... said...

நூறு வருஷம்
குறையின்றி வாழ
ஆண்டவனை வேண்டிக்கொள்கிறேன்!
அடுத்த பல ஆண்டுகளும்
ஆனந்தமாய் அமைய
அடியேனின் வாழ்த்துக்கள்!

என் இனிய
பிறந்தநாள் வாழ்த்துக்கள்!
பிரியமுடன்
பிரேம்.

Anonymous said...

Hi Chinnu!

Nice Post dear. May all your wishes come true. Me too have one wish. Hope it will be fulfilled soon. (Wish to Meet you in person)

Ranisha

Arvind Srikantan said...

Dear Chinmayi...Many Happy Returns Of the day! Keep us enthralled as always u do for many more years to come!!! Happy Birthday!!

Anonymous said...

hey chinmayi, am a g8 fan of yours who seriously thinks you have a beautiful voice!! and i really feel very astonished to even think how multi-talented you are. god bless and happy birthday.
anisha;)
s'pore

Kaushik said...

Hi Chinmayi, Wish you a very Happy Birthday! May you never stop learning and find your preceptor soon !!!

Lg,
Kaushik

Châñdh®ú said...

greets,
it was jus today i was hearing to one of your songs and tot would luk at ur profile on wiki and from there ur blog :)
Surprisingly your B`day aswell.
Happy B`Day. Have fun.
May God Bless You !

chers
Capt.Chandru

Anonymous said...

Everyone need to keep in mind that

"Life is a learning process And
Learning is a life long process"

Stop not learning,till the
goal is reached.

Enjoy every moment in life.

R-ambam said...

Happy Birthday Chinmayi!
Chinmayi aanantha...oflate spreading words of goodwill !Chinmayi mahrani ki Jai!!

Nautankey said...

Belated bday wishes. My bday falls on summer vacation so kinda missed the color dress and chocolate giving part,but with cousins from every part of country gathered around there it was a better one..

And yeah starting learning guitar from my 27th bday...the 7-8yr olds around me were quick with fingers and made me feel really old...but as rightly said then there is no age for learning :)

Nithya Prabu said...

Many more happy returns of the day ! Wish you many, many more years of Music, Learning and Happiness.

-
Nithya Prabhaukar.

LC said...

hi, stumbled onto your blog space today.. good one..

May your learning quest turn into reality soon! Keep exploring avenues to both work and study (As for learning, i don't know where your interests lie). Soon, you will find yourself managing both..

Balaji Gururajan said...

Wish u a very happy (belated) birthday!!

i cannot agree more.. i really wanna do higher studies but cant we have alternate money source.. i guess once we miss the wagon at the end of bachelors its hard to catch it again .. regardless the attitude should be same.. there are so many things to learn in this world and we have such a short time!!

i love wiki-surfing.. like to spend free time in Wikipedia ( and ur show - just kidding - hope this gets my comment in ;) ) .. i am amazed at so many things that happens and happened and the way they are!! i wish we find a better way to feed data to our head.. sorta like a USB outlet.. this reminds me of dialogue in Matrix

Neo: do you know to fly this chopper?

Trinity: Not Yet.. (BUZZZZ - CD for flyin is loaded into her head)
Lets go! i'll fly the thing now..


* Your show is good.. No kidding :)

Rivjot said...

Hi Chinamayee,

My first post on your blog, although I have been visiting and reading your posts regularly :)

Many many happy returns of the day. May god bless you and you achieve everything in life that you aim for. Good luck.

Rivjot
Vancouver, Canada

Shalini Gowrisankar said...

Belated birthday wishes to you.. Hope you had a great day :)

Anonymous said...

Hai akka,
Good luck and wishes for ur carrier...Belated Birthday wishes for this year and advance wishes for ur next year.
-jishu

Waran said...

Hey Chinmayi,
Happy Birthday and God Bless...all the way from Singapore...anyway i'm a real fan of urs and enjoy music guess as much as u do....i play the indian classical flute, drums, trombone and trumpet...attempt to sing but only in the bathroom...haha...anyways love ur songs and u've got an awesome voice...keep it going and hope to hear and of coz see ya more often...take care...

Anonymous said...

Hey Chinmayi,

I just wonder,
Little disappointment, We are (fans) posting comments but you are not replying. I know it’s hard to get free time with your busy schedule, but try to reply once in a while.

ashgene said...

Hi Chinmayi,
Wish you a very Happppppppppy Birthday!
- ash#

sundar said...

My belated wishes to you

GOD BLESS you சின்மயி !!

May God give you more gumption to learn more new things..

Jeeti raho...

sundar from Dubai

Shankar said...

Hi Chinmayi,
Gr8 to see your interest in Hindu mythology...nothing can ever beat it! Everyone all over has,is and will mint money using our stuff...right from the Matrix series...to the ongoing 'Lost' series...to what not!!

Btw, regarding your quest for knowledge and learning...there is a wonderful story in the Upanishads ... I will just brief it..(guess you may already know it but anyway!):
------
A man wanders into the most beautiful forest and eventually loses his way. Night creeps in and so does fear for the wayward. Helpless, he just sits down on a patch of gravel ... and starts shooting prayers heavenwards. With a clap of thunder an 'asiriri' sounds..telling him to gather as much gravel , as he can...and rush on as fast as he can to where his legs take him ...with his eyes closed. Our man does that ...and after a quite a bit of running..opens his eyes ..to see the crack of dawn. He examines the gravel he collected...only to find that they are the most brilliant diamonds ever!

He tries to find the wonderful forest again...but never succeeds. And finally gives up with calming thought ... atleast he collected as many diamonds he could!
------

The metaphor of course is learning
..we don't realise the benefits during the process...but in retrospect yearn to learn more.

I wish you find your enchanted forest soon..till then be happy with your diamonds....an yes a belated Happy Bday!

gils said...

adaada..oru moonu naal lateaa vantena..paravala...oosi pona cakenalum ocla vantha, to quote SAK from DCH.. hum cake kaane ke liye kahin bi jaa sakthey hain :)

//Here is wishing for you that may you have the gumption to step out and learn no matter how old you are, may age never be a factor; may you have a mind that is open and beautiful to accept all things new; may you get the rightful wherewithal that pay for your learning because the best things in life definitely don't come free or cheap and more than anything else, may the universe bless you to make your dreams of learning come true. //

intha parakaga oru special thanks for ur wishes and wish u the very same..romba sincerana writeup.

and sola marentene :) belated bday wishes..innum neria songs paadi..neria shows compere senju..dubbo dubbunu dubbing and "dabbu" panna vazhthukkal :)

gils said...

u 2 ACK fan..avv...same blud...i've got full collection of mahabratha series...bore adikaracheylam padichi padichi..nejamavay kathaiyelam kanthal aaidichi :D

Chitra said...

Hey ! Belated happy birthday.
May all your dreams come true. Wishes for more success, happiness & long & healthy life.
Best !

பிரியமுடன்... said...

சின்ஸ்....பொறந்துதான் ரொம்ப நாள் ஆகிவிட்டது போலவே....இன்னுமா தவழ்றீங்க...எழுந்து உட்கார்ந்து பிறகு மெதுவா...மெதுவா...நடந்துவந்து ஒரு போஸ்டிங் போட்டுவிட்டு போய் தூளியில் தூங்குங்கள்.....
ஆரா...ரோ...அரி..ஆராரோ...
சமத்து குழந்தை.....தேங்க்ஸ்...

Shravan Vijayaprasad said...

First of all, Belated birthday wishes! I got in here thru my cousin's blog!

I have the entire collection of the comic too!! To think of it as wealth is only too less!

Sreenath said...

Wonderful piece of writing. I didn't know you are into mythology too. Did you know Uncle Pai has sold ACK to some corporate guys? :(

Vasanthan said...

Happy birthday Chinmayee!

Anonymous said...

Hai akka,
Waiting for ur next fabulous post..
-jishu

Anonymous said...

its very nice you to see...you mention rahman sir...as anna....lucky sister...when we the die hard fans of rahman...you are very much blessed to have the pleasure of calling in as ANNA.

All the very best.


karthick.D

Ramya said...

Hi chinmayi,
belated birthday wishes:)
u write so well.. enjoyed thoroughly.. keep writing:)
All the best
cheers:)
ramya

Anonymous said...

hey wad is ur birthay wish for the year?

Vijay Rengarajan said...

Hi, FOA Belated Birthday wishes !!

This is Vijay Rengarajan; though a regular reader of your blog, this is my first comment, that happen to be your birthday wish (Rather late! I haven't browsed for a couple of weeks). Your blogs are so nice, as sweet as your Super Singer Programme.

Keep posting !

Vijay Narain said...

Athellam ok, trrrrrrrreeeeeaaaaaaaaaattttttttttt eppo?????? :D

Victor said...

Great post chinmayi.. just could not stop myself from commenting.. To add to what you have blogged, It also requires great courage too to pursue learning once you are old.. People have a terrible time convincing others that it is worth it, especially if they are already in a good job and the fact that educational system perse is questionable.. There is also this fear factor of "what if you lagged behind others" at the end, in this mad rat race of life.

Anonymous said...

hmmm... been long. what's next?

waiting is boring :)

Anonymous said...

hello chinmayi akka nice blog. i have done an awesome discovery. keep going n my belated birthday wishes :D kader

Anonymous said...

HI.. First timer here... enjoyed readin ur blog...
btw HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY...& i know i'm gonna sound like those old aunties.. but have to ask.. "when u gg to get married"...lol

Krislee said...

ting-ting-ting --> 9-9-9
ting+1-ting-ting --> 10-9-9
belated birth day wishes to the very best chinmayeeee....
As Oscar wilde said “The old believe everything; the middle aged suspect everything: the young know everything.”
I leave these things to you to choose from....watever phase y r in now....may God bless you...n fulfill all ur wishes....
Murali.