First year and a reason to cherish.

Again a long gap for a couple of months. This semester is really taxing and it practically didn't give me much time. No, not even to pursue my passion. And now a reason to celebrate. 365 days over. Its been a year since Freezing Eternity was born (31st May). It feels like only yesterday I was planning to start a blog. This year has been a great one for me especially in this virtual world. Blogs, posts, comments, contests, friends, updates, tweets and others. And I really feel so happy for being here and writing what I think. 

This blog was not started last year in contradiction to what my first post tells. On the contrary, it was two and a half years back. One of my best buddies, Vignesh Natarajan, who blogs here, introduced me to the world of blogs. I always loved reading his blog and various other blogs he followed. It was at that time I thought to blog though I had lacked several criteria for blogging. But the zeal of expressing what I think made me stick on to it. And thus it started, December 2010. I had put a couple of really bad posts and later I took my blog down. It was during my last vacation that blogging occupied my mind and here I am. With more than forty number of posts, though very less in number compared to an active blogger, I took to blogging. I loved it, admired it and got inspired by my fellow mates. 

There is IndiBlogger, BlogAdda, Blog-a-Ton giving me various reasons to post and constantly encouraging it. And then came the Chennai Bloggers Club. I loved the club so much and we are active there interacting, have several threads discussing about topics at length, getting advice, celebrating days, meetings and of course, writing posts. 

The day I started writing was a disastrous one. An old man died near my home the previous night and there was his funeral proceeding that day afternoon. There were fireworks displayed, crackers blasted, and whistles blown. And the hut beside my home was set ablaze in fire. It quickly spread to the nearby trees and there was some real damage. There were additional blasts inside the burning home; exacerbating the effect and the fire engine came near the climax. 

I was staring at the house bewildered. Before gaining my senses back, I got the worst news. My uncle died in the hospital following a sudden cardiac arrest. His demise came in as a sudden shock leaving us in despair. Things got over the next day and the entire family was in grief agony. 

The day could never go worse anymore. I had published my first post the next day, which was ready two days before. And here is the next year. Every time my blog celebrates its blogoversary, these events will keep ringing in my head. I pray for my uncle. May his soul rest in peace. 

And then there are many more whom I would like to thank. Shreeraman, Sathish, Divya, Janani, Guru Ramprakash, Rajkiran, Hariharan, Madhu, Shruthi, Sai, my CBC admin Susan, other CBC people Sowmya, Ashwini, Akash, Sivaranjini, and of course Vignesh for motivating me. Thanks to these and others who have constantly been patient to read my silly posts and comments. There are many others whom I didn't mention here yet have been my wonderful readers. I also thank my sister Haripriya and parents for reading every single post and criticizing it. 

This blog, I visit here every day, reading my posts, laughing at my bad mistakes, smiling at comments from friends, checking for the page views, thinking about a new post and just passing my time staring at this same page you are here. This blog has been my good companion giving me reasons to cherish about my very own world. My sincere thanks to my readers and friends. I really wish to be regular here this year. Happy Birthday in advance Freezing Eternity. 

The star of the twelve!

Decembers and Januaries always give us scintillating memories to recapture. For the human race on this earth, Decembers indicate the end of an awesome year full of memories and Januaries indicate the arrival of a fresh year full of hopes. The pre and the post new year celebrations always come and leave which keep us cherishing the moments for the entire year to come. Each has their own views of these two months. The youngsters have their exams combined with holidays during these months and the adults have so many deadlines and celebrations to keep them engaged. 

Christmas, New Year and Pongal! 

Aren't these enough to keep us excited? The transition from the month of December to the month of January not only gives a joyous effect but also a customary, traditional one. The Tamil months usually start in the middle of an English month and end in the mid of another. The December-January has a beautiful Tamil month called "Margazhi" in it. 

One is likely to notice "Margazhi" as the ninth month, if he sees a Tamil calendar (A Tamil Panchangam). Tamil months are also twelve in number like their English counterparts. It starts with Chiththirai (April-May) which is celebrated as the Tamil New Year and ends with Panguni (March-April). Every group, irrespective of its kind: a group of scholars in a court, a group of stars in the northern sky, a group of animals in a forest, a group of players in a field, has a star entity in them. Similarly, this group of twelve Tamil months has Margazhi as its star month. Yes! Margazhi is the most blessed month of all the months. What specialty does it have to quote it as the best month? 

Lord Krishna Paramatma in Bhagavad Gita tells, “Maasanam Margasheershoham”, which means “Among the months, I am Margazhi!” This one reason is more than enough to accept it as the most beautiful month of the twelve. Margazhi is also called as "Dhanur madham" (Dhanur month). This month and the activities done during this period also have various specialties adorned to its name. There are of course scientific things other than the spirituality! 

Devotional character of the people deep in them gets revived and all of us engage in various devotional activities. One could not see us that way during any other month. Let us consider the good practices involved in the activities done during the Dhanur month. 

We, the Tambrahms, have a special way of doing things in this month. The most active followers of Lord Vishnu are called Azhwars and they are 12 in number. They sang hymns in praise of the lord which are around 4000 in number and they were composed as “Nalayira Dhivya Prabandham” by Sri Nathamunigal. They are classified in terms of Azhwar who sang it and each Azhwar’s hymns are further sub-divided into groups (groups comprising of various numbers accordingly). Out of these hymns, Thiruppavai (30 sung by Andal), Thirupalliyezhuchi (10 Sung by Thondaradipodi Azhwar) and Thirupallandu(12 sung by Periazhwar) are considered the basic hymns which every Iyengar must know and these are sung daily in temples or homes during the Dhanur month.

Early in the morning:

One wakes very early in the morning. Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise is a well-known saying. This period of the day is called the “Brahma Muhurththam” in which the atmosphere is full of pure air. The silence prevailing at this time is so much suitable for the soul enlightening activities. The doctors advise almost every person to do yogasana or deep meditation or indulge in some sort of exercise in this divinely hour of the day. This would keep a man healthy for his life time. It is well-known that the yesteryear people had been so strong throughout their life because of their habit of waking early in the morning. These are winter solstice days in which days are shorter and the nights are longer. In order to compensate the shorter days, people wake early to indulge in their activities.

The Devotional spirit:

Wherever one turns during this period, he/she is likely to hear the sacred chants, songs, His praise and His name. Each gets an increased devotional aspect and we indulge a lot in devotion singing His name and praise. Several houses can be seen with lamps decorating their entrance. There will be huge Kolams displayed in front of the homes with coloring effects. Several who don’t even see temples during the other days become pious and visit  temples almost every day during this period.

Hymns:

Then one takes bath, wears the traditional dhoti (pancha Kachcham in case of married men) and indulges in devotion either at home or temples. One sings the hymns which I have mentioned before. This helps improving our concentration, pronunciation, discipline and above all, the spirituality. The history behind these hymns also enriches our knowledge, moral values and develops our austerity.

The festivals:

Not only Hindus, but also people of every other religion have several reasons to rejoice this period. The New Year is one of the very few festivals which are secular. People all around the world wait for that 00:00:00 moment and the entire race celebrates it with a louder sound. Not to forget the Christmas, the birth of Jesus, celebrated widely around the world. And the Pongal! The Pongal spans its celebration across four days which indicates the end of this month.

The Music:

One does not simply forget music when talking about Margazhi. This is a musical season with all the sabhas and mandapams engaged fully in the musical chants. Vocal along with the musical instruments dominate Chennai and other districts throughout this month. One could notice the face of the people full of energy and zeal. Till some years back, both the organizers and the viewers of these musical events were the elderly people. But now, there are people flooding these concerts, both the dais and the seats, irrespective of their age; Right from the school going kid to the fragile old fellows. Classical singing has once again become popular and effective among us. We have started taking the traditional things more seriously and hence almost one out of 4 kids learns either vocal singing or musical instruments. 

Image: The Hindu

The Utsavams:

The hymns sung daily which have been mentioned at the beginning are 52(30+10+12) in number. What about the other Azhwars and their hymns? There are nearly 3950 hymns remaining to be sung and don’t we give them their due importance? These remaining hymns are chanted twice in this auspicious month. Yes! Twice! There is a Thithi called ‘Ekadasi’ and it has awe-striking history behind it. This thithi is considered the holiest of all by the followers of Vishnu and they undergo fasting in this thithi every month. It does mention a special reserve in the month of Markazhi called as “Vaikunda Ekadasi” during which the people undergo fasting for the entire day, keep awake during the night chanting the Lord’s name and end their fast after drinking the “Thulasi Thirththam” in temple the next day. The ten days before and after it are respectively called as “Pagarpathu utsavam” (Pagarpathu - ten days) and “raappathu utsavam” (raappathu - ten nights) and in these twenty (10+10) days the entire “Nalayira Dhivya Prabandham” is chanted in temples. 

Image: Harikrishna Raghuraman

The competitions and the programs:

Either the competitions or the programs will be in the devotion genre. There will be kolam competitions, Sloka chanting competitions, traditional singing and dancing competitions, mono-acting competitions etc. And almost all the television channels broadcast devotional concepts right from the early morning around 5 A.M. to the day time around 10 A.M. and similarly in the evening. There will be upanyasams done by very popular Vedic scholars all around the city and also in the television channels. There will be a special arrangement done by the local bodies for devotional tours. All the sacred places throughout the country will be flooded with people. 

This Tamil year is called “Nandhana” and in this year, the month of Margazhi starts tomorrow. And from tomorrow till the Tamil festival of Pongal, the city is going to be extremely alive both traditionally and modernly. Let us also participate in this exuberant month activities and increase our moral values and also our traditional knowledge. Without tradition, we don’t have anything to our names. 

P.S: But I am in my winter vacation and I wonder how I would wake up very early in the morning. I leave this job to the loudspeakers of my nearby temples and I hope that they will do their job efficiently :D

Happy Birthday Sister

This post has been selected by BlogAdda as one of the top posts or BlogAdda's Tangy Tuesday picks Jul 31, '12.

17 years back, I was nearly 3 years old. I don't remember things that happened on this date. I wish I could remember them. This date has always an exulting and a wonderful impression in my heart. My mom told me that I was outside with dad and grandmother taking care of me. I wish I should have been inside viewing the first sight. My only sibling's birthday today. 28.07.1995. Love you!

I am still excited by the thoughts of how you would have been in your childhood days. I have heard mom quoting you as a silent yet an adamant girl. I still remember the way you threw my certificates down because you didn't get any in your L.K.G. It still makes me surprised the way you told that you would get all of 'em in the next year. You did get them. How much perseverance you had in an age in which others don't even know that word! Love you!

Amma has always found it difficult to put up with us. We grew up together playing, laughing, chatting, shouting, learning and most importantly fighting. I don't remember a day pass without us fighting with each other eventually leading our mom to scold us. I still remember the way you pushed me. I hit hard against the bureau. Blood started gushing out. You, my dear sister, started feeling for it, a bit crying came near frightened and touched my wound. Love you!

I am a lethargic guy but you are not. This ends up with an advice from amma and occasional scoldings. You will support her every time you think she might scold you too. Else you are always against me laughing and will silently see me. I will always wait for a strike back. But eventually I will forget and we will be together again. Love you!

It was my twelfth standard. I had fallen down from the bike and ended up with a multiple fracture. Oh I could not have gone through that without you. You helped me day-to-day. You helped me in putting my shirt on, feeding me occasionally, writing my stuffs, drawing my records, mental support. Love you!

I got a state rank in my twelfth and got a seat in Anna University. Its your support which helps me throughout my life. I always wanted to hug you and tell thank you. I am telling this now. Thank you di! Love you! 

I may have hurt you a lot, made you cry a lot. But I am sure it is I who have cried more every time than you did. I remember the way you cried a lot when I cried every weekend in Pondicherry coming back from Chennai. You consoled me. You sacrificed a lot for me! You have accepted every change for me! You have been my moral support! You have been with me always next to amma and appa! Love you!

I just don't know if I can manage without you ever in my life. I was cherishing feeding you some days back. That is the first time I have ever fed you. I am assuring you that I will be with you always! I am not sure if I will be so strong emotionally during your marriage. I always want you by my side! Love you!

Happy birthday di! Have loads of success in your upcoming years! Be strong always! Be soft always! Never reduce your affection for us - me, appa and amma for we are the ones who love you a lot! Love you always!

P.S: Today is my sister's birthday. She is seventeen now. She is all I have got. Yes I am gonna give her a present! Its a surprise!