Karthik Blogs

For the citizens of Tamil Nadu its gone down to a level where we have had no governance ever since the Iron Lady Jayalalitha passed away without announcing a successor, leaving a void that will never be filled up. On expected lines AIADMK has split up, leading to an open war between OPS and the mistress in prison Sasikala. In between Sasikala has managed to squeeze in her proxy before she landed behind bars. Now there are several pointers that I would like to highlight, I beg to think differently: 1. In such a situation, why cant we have a public referendum to decide who gets to rule the state. In a democracy where people have say, why not allow them to decide to ensure that the right to rule and the licence to power remains in right hands till the conduct of the next elections. This way we can ensure that power mongers are kept at bay. 2. We have managed the show without practically no governance. So be it. the law in the hands of the Police and the judiciary. There are stat...

I keep coming back to my favorite pastime which is to write and highlight issues that we face in our everyday life. Hope is that my blogs would make an impact and bring about social awareness at the same time bring about a positive change. Today morning i woke up to the beating of drums, of course i knew that there is festivity in the air. I however did not want to smoke in pollutants into my healthy lungs and that was one of the main reasons i did not want to step out initially, but then the call of duty and a responsible citizen does propel me to capture those hazy moments. Celebration, Yes. Health hazard , Definitely a big no. Why would people even want to pollute the entire environment to create a health hazard. There is enough disease around that we need to contend with. We do not need more. Not only that the kind of smoke that gets created by burning plastics and tyres causes visibility issues, delaying flights, throwing normal life out of gear and  causing hardship...

Starting Tomorrow all roads in Chennai will lead towards Chepauk. I have very fond memories of the MAC as a child. I still remember how I remained glued to my seat till the last ball was bowled, during the famous India-Australia Tied Test Match. I still remember Greg Mathews the Aussie Off-Spinner trapping Maninder Singh right in front, even as Ravi Shastri watched helplessly from the other end. Till that point of time, the stadium was quite vociferous and cheering wildly for every run being scored. As Maninder stood in disbelief and Ravi Shastri shell shocked, the entire stadium was reduced to a pin drop silence even as the Australian team broke into celebrations. From a moment of a likely defeat, The Aussies were elated at the prospect of having Tied a Test Match. The Game of Cricket had emerged victorious. The Chennai Cricket Lovers have always been a sporting crowd. Of course the feeling of patriotism and the good cheer remains. The spectators here don't mind applauding...

I have never been witness to a cyclone all my life. I have always heard of cyclones battering the coastal areas of Orissa or the neighboring country of Bangladesh. We used to always have near misses at Chennai from destructive Cyclones. In the past they would come close and then take a right turn, showing its might to the nearby coastal areas. Thinking that this was one of those types, I carried on with my routine work. However the sky was overcast, very cloudy and a cool breeze that swept across my face as I stood at the entrance to my house. But as the day progressed I did notice the change in wind speed. The trees started swinging wildly. Tin roofs became flying saucers. Doors started banging despite being bolted tightly and window panes took flight. The search and prayers for rain continues as Vardah bought powerful winds and weak rainfall. One more rare sight that I witnessed was the sky. The Clouds were very low. I wondered that if I threw a ball skywards, it would surely p...

Much has been spoken about J. Jayalalithaa. There is that sense of gloom that has enveloped the state of Tamil Nadu. I was taken a little by surprise by the amount of goodwill that she has generated over the last few years. That she had done a lot for the welfare of the poor was beyond any doubt. She was perhaps the only political leader who could stand her ground against the likes of Karunanidhi and make him bite the dust in electoral battles. However that is not the reason for writing this blog. On the 5th of December I was in Madurai, having gone there as a part of an NGO initiative. 5th morning we got the news that Amma had suffered a massive cardiac arrest. Clearly all was not well at home in Chennai. Slowly news started tickling in how she was fighting a brave battle. By evening hopes for her revival had started dwindling with PM Modi also tweeting that he feared the worst for Tamil Nadu, while praying for peace and calm. We had no other option but to cancel the remaining...