Page 1 May 2011 | Vol.

1 : Issue 4
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Editorial For Fourth Issue

Welcome to the fourth issue of our ezine. Thanks to our wide ranging audience we have moved into the
second year of presenting this bouquet of thoughts – from matters ethereal to those on fashion, from pil-
grimage sites to earthier stuff like the appetising dishes courtesy our recipe section.

This issue comes right in the thick of things for the world cup and the beginning of our hot summer.

Naturally our focus is on that swashbuckling cricketer M. S. Dhoni in our sports section written by Aarabi
Badri.

Our recipe corner this time includes not just one but two recipes for beating the heat as well as a delicious
burfy .

Rajasthan is a beautiful land with its sand dunes and heritage palaces and temples. Mahima writes about
her travel to a lovely temple in this desert state.

Ahana’s story for children is not just for the young but strums a chord of piety in the adults too. This time
it is the child Partiv who moves the tale along.

From such lofty heights we zoom in on what motivates successful personalities as can be seen by Prashanti
Ganesh’s interview of Rajiv Menon.

Our Carnatic quiz and extracts from popular LIFCO titles –both staples of the ezine are back to entertain
and inspire the twin mottos of our LIFCO ezine.

Any suggestions are welcome; please mail to our site id.

Thanks

Vidya Saranyan
 Volume 1, Issue 4 Page 3

Children’s Corner
LAMPS, LAMPS EVERYWHERE - Ahana Lakshmi

The children were practicing the dance moves.

Karthigai vilakku etri vaiththu Kandanai azhaippom…

Parthiv had been chosen to be Muruga and he was secretly relieved that he did not have to dance because
he was no good at that. Not like Jayant or Akhil, his classmates who spun around effortlessly and leaped up
and down gracefully as the tempo of the music changed.

“What is it all about, patti?”, asked Parthiv when he reached

home. The family had moved to Chennai from Delhi a few
months ago. They now lived with their grandparents in a
House that looked old from outside but was quite modern in-
side. His grandmother was his favorite storyteller – and there
was no festival that was celebrated that did not have a legend
attached to it that she was happy to share.

“The song that you were humming as you came in is about

lighting lamps in the month of Kartigai and welcoming Kan
dan or Murugan”.

“Is Kandan is another name for Murugan?”

“Saravana, Kartikeya, Senthil, Subramanya, Kadamba, Guha,

Skanda or Kandan … so many names. He is popular among

Tamils everywhere – Singapore, Australia, London, US – all have temples devoted to him. Haven’t you
seen the picture in our puja room? It is by the famous Raja Ravi Varma”.
 Volume 1, Issue 4 Page 4

“Why the six heads, patti?”

“You know there are 27 nakshatras. The Kartika nakshatram is the birth star of Murugan. He was actually
born as six different babies to Lord Shiva after he awoke from the deep meditation after Goddess Sati’s
death. The six babies were looked after by the six Krittika stars. Legend has it that the six children were
later joined to a single force by Goddess Parvati which is why there are six heads and which is why he is
also known as Arumugam or Shanmugha or six faced. You must have heard about the Pleaides cluster – it
is called Krittika in Sanskrit – it actually has seven stars – the six Krittikas with the seventh being Muru-
gan. We celebrate the birth anniversary of Murugan in this festival by lighting lamps all over the house on
the full moon of the Tamil month of Kartigai which is mid November to mid December ”.

“Did you know that Murugan is also known as the God of the Tamils?” said grandfather who had just
come in.

“Yes. The kartigai deepam festival is really old as there are ref
erences to it in the Akanaanooru which is dated somewhere be
tween third century BC and second century AD”, said patti.

“Two thousand years old? Wow! How do you know that the fes
tival was celebrated even before that?”

“In one place in this set of poems, there is a reference to how the
full moon joins the kartik day which has six stars and in the mar
riage house girls bring paddy grown in the big field and pound
them into fresh aval with their mortars: paasaval idikkum irunkoozh ulakkai.”

“I wonder if that is why aval pori and nell pori in jaggery syrup are the traditional sweets made for kartigai
festival”, said thatha. He loved pori urundai!

“Even as ploughing is done with, in the sky that is free of rains, the sun that has the patch of rabbit gleams
in the midnight of kartikai, the streets are bright with the lighting of lamps in series, with garlands hung,
may he come to join us where in the ancient victorious city all gather to celebate the festival”, that is what
the last few lines of that section say”, added thatha’s Tamil scholar friend who had come on a visit.

Parthiv was happy to listen though he did not understand the ancient Tamil. “I hope I will be able to read
all that when I learn more Tamil. Patti, I know that there are always many legends connected with each fes-
tival. So are there any others too connected with this?”

“Of course. At least two more!”

“Tell me”.
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“Well, I am sure you know the story about Lord Shiva appeared to Brahma and Vishnu as Jyotirlinga – a
pillar of fire with no beginning or end - when Brahma and Vishnu started quarrelling about which of them
was the greatest. The appearance of Lord Shiva as the Jyotirlinga is commemorated in Tiruvannamalai –
which you surely know is the panchabhoota …”

“Signifying fire! Of course I know that story. Oh of course … for a moment I had forgotten that one. Okey,
any others?”

“Well, in Vishnu temples, they light a sokkapanai”.

“A what?”

“Actually a bonfire made of palm leaves. And the story here is about the Vamanavatara. You remember
King Mahabali and the three steps?”

“Yes”.

“The first step is supposed to have been at the beginning of the Uttarayana – the northward movement of
the sun, the second step was on the vernal equinox and the third on the autumnal equinox. Kartigai deepam
is supposed to commemorate that event. Do you know what is equinox, Parthiv?”

“Equinox is when the length of the day and the night are approximately equal – happens twice a year in
March and September, at least that is what we learnt in geography”, said Parthiv.

“You are right. By the way, lighting lamps could be even a form of nature worship”, said amma, who had
walked in a few minutes earlier. You know this festival is celebrated in Southern Kerala too, apart from
Tamil Nadu. I was talking to Satish uncle the other day and he was describing how when he was growing
up in Chertala, they used the seed case for lamps during ‘Trikartika’ as they call it. In fact, he and all the
kids used to collect the marotti seeds and scoop out the seeds and set the shells out to dry and even have
competitions as who collected the most cases! But these days, it is difficult to find and people have
switched to readymade wax lamps. Perhaps it is because there are not so many marotti trees anymore. This
tree which is found only in India is quite endangered I believe”.
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“That is interesting, though it is rather sad to know”, said patti. “You know, I grew up in a tiny village on

“That is interesting, though it is rather sad to know”, said patti. “You know, I grew up in a tiny village on
the bank of Tamraparni. In anticipation of Kartigai festival, all of us used to collect seeds of the marudam
or Arjuna tree that used to grow in plenty on the banks of the river and spread them out to dry. We used to
tap them lightly when they were dry and then Narayana chitya used to drop them in a tallish drum shaped
vessel and light it and fan the sparks in such a way that there would be a huge eruption of sparks – proba-
bly over five feet tall. It would be just like what you see in a modern day flower-pot-cracker. It used to be
great excitement for all the kids around and we used to shout asking him to fan the sparks faster so that the
shower would be taller!”.

“Wow. No chemicals! How environmentally friendly” exclaimed Parthiv.

Grandfather said, “I can tell you that it is also a healthy festival – paddy popped in fire and mixed with a
little jaggery syrup – you can eat plenty of the stuff without a doubt. After all, the lamps consume the oil,
not you!”

Pulavar of course wanted to have the last say, “Yes, the Akananooru speaks of making aval also “In the
marriage house girls bring paddy grown in the big field and pound them into fresh aval with their mortars
…“

But Parthiv had finished his tea and had run off to play with his friends and share all this new information.

Culinary corner
Orange Lassi
Fresh Curds – 2 cups
Sugar – half cup
Orange squash – half cup

In a blender mix all three ingredients briskly. Chill and serve.

This can be made with fresh fruit purees like strawberries, ap-
ples, chickoos also.
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Culinary corner
Recipe of Seven Mixture Burfy - Sakunthala Rajagoplalan
This is a yummy burfy which is easy to make. For best results use fresh ingredients like fresh ghee and
kadala maavu or besan flour.

Kadalai Maavu –1 cup

Grated coconut - 1 cup
Milk – 1 cup
Ghee -1 cup
Sugar – 4 cups
Elaichi powdered – 1 tsp
Saffron – a pinch

Method

Place all ingredients other than the flavourings in the kadai on a low flame. Stir to ensure they
blend well and form a smooth mass. When the mixture starts thickening and bubbling (this should
take around fifteen minutes on low flame) and has a semisolid consistency, turn off fire and pour
onto a greased plate. Cut into squares when it is still a little warm. The burfy tastes even better af-
ter a day or two.
The quantity can be increased by retaining the same proportions i.e. one part each of other ingre-
dients and four parts of sugar.
 Volume 1, Issue 4 Page 8

Youth Corner
The Times of Dhoni

Captain Cool. Every once a decade comes a man who changes the entire system, goes against the flow and
breaks the shackles. One such man M.S.Dhoni hailing from Ranchi, Bihar made his entry into the Indian
cricket team in 2004. Be it Bihar, India-A or the National team, Dhoni’s contribution to his side has been
invaluable.

In 2004, Dhoni was picked to represent the India-A team

against Pakistan and made multiple centuries along with
Gautam Gambhir. Later that year he got picked as the
wicket-keeper of the Indian side.

A right handed batsmen and a steady wicket keeper - a

charismatic player had arrived in the form of M.S.Dhoni.
Soon he rose from just a wicket-keeper to one of India’s
most dependable batsman . His rise was meteoric, in the
sense that all of a sudden, people started to see him as an
icon.

He came into the game with long locks and looks that
made many women go weak in the knees. Women started
to watch the game just to see him. Such was his popular-
ity. Having displayed a blend of anchor-like as well dy-
namic leadership qualities from his debut, he was pitted to
be India’s next big Cricketing superstar.

Dhoni is a perfect example of the right place-right time phenomena. When Anil Kumble (The then cap-
tain ) had to opt out because of injury, Dhoni led his side to victory , thus essaying his role as a captain to
perfection . As Anil Kumble announced his retirement from the side, the BCCI seeing MS’ skill as a cap-
tain anointed him the new captain of the Indian National team.
 Volume 1, Issue 4 Page 9

Youth Corner
Recipe of Seven Mixture Burfy - Sakunthala Rajagoplalan
In tune with the situation Dhoni chopped off his long locks as a sign that a responsible captain had
arrived. He drove his side like a slave-driver and sure enough the results started to show. The In-
dian team started to win almost all their matches under his captaincy, and the myth that captains
don’t perform as players was broken by MS. He became known as the no nonsense captain, and at
the same time picked up the reputation of Captain Cool. Of course along with his growing stature,
came King sized advertising contracts attracting envy from all sides.

Then came the Indian Premier League modeled on the Bar

clay’s Premier League (Football) which split the country into 8
league playing teams. M.S. Dhoni was picked as the captain of
The Chennai Super Kings for the Indian Premier League for a
record contract of 1.5 Million USD.

The CSK team led by Dhoni didn’t taste much success until
the third season of the IPL, where the performance of the team
was nearly flawless. Having lost out in the final to the Rajasthan
Royals in the first edition, Dhoni’s hunger for victory only grew.
At the same time, as the captain of the national side, the team was seeing a huge difference in op-
erations, so much so that a new path to victory came to be called as “The Mahi Way”. Dhoni then
led to his side (CSK) to a much deserved victory at the third edition of the IPL and in continuation
to that, CSK also clinched the Airtel Champions League held in South Africa this year. A big mo-
ment in his private life was his entering matrimony with Sakshi Rawat in July this year.

The boy from Ranchi, who dreamt of playing with his idol one day (Sachin Tendulkar) now cap-
tains him. Life has a come a full circle for this enigmatic figure.

Only one target remains for the current Indian Captain- the World Cup . By the looks of it, Dhoni
will not rest till he achieves this too. Already passing in to the legendary books of the game, one
hopes that MS will bring more pride and laurels to the country, he once dreamt of playing for.

After all, it’s The Mahi way.

 Volume 1, Issue 4 Page 10

Youth Corner
Dreams Etched In Stone - Mahima. A. Jain

Imagine this: One night you go to bed and dream the weirdest but the most brilliant thing ever possible.
The next morning all you want is for it to materialize into reality. And fifty years later, you see the dream
once again. Only this time, it’s not while you are sleeping.

In Rajasthan amidst the Aravalli Hills lies a temple built in the fourteenth century dreamt about by Dhana
Shah, a courtier of Rana Khumba. Named after the king, Ranakpur stands in testimony to Indian knowl-
edge of Architecture. Ranakpur’s architect was Deepa.

Ranakpur is near the town of Falna (28Km) and the nearest air
port is Udaipur (90 Km). It is best to drive into Ranakpur and
drive back to the city for accommodation. Tourists wishing to
steam off can choose from a variety of heritage and nature re
sorts which promise to offer a pristine natural experience.

Ranakpur a Jain temple has many specialties apart from the

dream sequence. For one, it is said that this marble temple has so
many pillars a man can’t count. A rough count projects a figure
of 1444 pillars. And each of these pillars has a uniquely carved
column, which is not repeated in any other pillar. In spite of being a Jain temple there are columns depict-
ing the Mahabharata and Ramayana.

From the ceiling to a basement, which was used to hide the idols of Jain God’s during threats and inva-
sions, you won’t find a flat piece of stone as everything is intricately carved. One of the Idols, of Lord
Parshvanath is hooded by snakes. The cobras are all entwined and no one can make out their tails. If I
were to tell factual tales about the architectural and mythological facts I could go on. Ranakpur is best
when seen.

Now imagine this: Its evening and you are in a temple surrounded by nothing else but the oldest mountain
range in the world. Inside the sanctum you are amidst a thousand pillars lit by nothing else but a few can-
dles. And all you can hear is silence and all you can see is infinity.
 Volume 1, Issue 4 Page 11

Youth Corner
Tête-à-tête with Rajiv Menon - by Prashanti Ganesh
“Entertainment, unfortunately, is not a constant. It needs continuous innovation in content as well as for-
mat.” – Rajiv Menon.

Rajiv Menon was one of the first few cinematographers who started the trend of venturing into direction
and Menon went one step ahead and was good at it. After having worked with directors of caliber such as
Mani Ratnam (‘Guru’, ‘Bombay’), Girish Karnard and Shyam Bengal, Menon’s directorial debut
‘Minsaara Kanavu’ was a show-stealer. His second film ‘Kandukondain Kandukondain’ was also a block-
buster.

He has also had a tremendous success rate with ad films, music videos and short films. He runs Mind-
screen, a film institute in Chennai and has also established a company that rents film equipments.

Menon is known for his elegant portrayal of human relationships and interactions in his films. With the
rapid conversion to digital film-making, he has been one of the few people who have been able to use tech-
nology in a pleasing way.

Prashanti Ganesh catches up with him for an interview. Excerpts from the interview:

Prashanti: How do you think education in a creative field such as film-making helps?

Menon: It’s like saying how can you teach architecture, I mean, there is a lot of study in the creative space
itself. In the last 15 to 16 years, people have been concentrating on screenwriting and studies have been
earlier in the areas of photography and acting. People have learnt music, but the fact is that every language
has a certain technique that you need to learn to practice it and get your grammar and syntax right. Film-
making is no different, it is a language that you need to master.

Prashanti: What is your take on digitalizing the art of film-making?

Menon: I think what digital has done is that it has created awareness. Digital technology allows you to ac-
tually shoot and direct a film and today it is theoretically possible to make a film within a lakh and a half or
two but practically speaking, you can just tell a story but it doesn’t have the wow factor, can it bring people
to the theatre, it’s like saying you can write a novel but can you publish it? So, I think digital has made the
industry accessible to a lot of people but what it has done is, it has made monetization very difficult. It has
created more opportunities but the way you can get money out of the industry has become complicated.
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Youth Corner
Tête-à-tête with Rajiv Menon - by Prashanti Ganesh
Prashanti: How important do you think it is for directors to propagate social issues through their films?

Menon: I think film-making is a medium where people go to hear stories. If you really want to make
change, you should be involved in judicial activities and journalistic activities and things like that. Because
people go through two hours to see a film and they quickly forget it. So, even if you make a film about a
topical issue or a serious issue pertaining to exploitation or women or caste, what happens is that the narra-
tive arc that makes people interested in watching a film is missing.

Prashanti: Personally do you think directors should draw a line with respect to how much technology
they use in the making of their films?

Menon: It totally depends on the content. If you want to create a film like Avatar, you may not be able to
create a lot of it in actual live shooting. So why should there be a boundary line? And the boundary line
between gaming and film-making is blurring and the boundary line between creating and execution is blur-
ring. This is a great time to be in the industry.

Prashanti: Can you talk about your biggest success and setback so far?

Menon: I think that should be judged by other people. You make everything with as much heart in it, so I
don’t think it’s possible for us to speak about it, only you can speak about it.

Prashanti: How important do you think it is for directors to propagate social issues through their films?

Menon: It totally depends on the content. If you want to create a film like Avatar, you may not be
able to create a lot of it in actual live shooting. So why should there be a boundary line? And the
boundary line between gaming and film-making is blurring and the boundary line between creating
and execution is blurring. This is a great time to be in the industry.

Prashanti: Can you talk about your biggest success and setback so far?

Menon: I think that should be judged by other people. You make everything with as much heart in
it, so I don’t think it’s possible for us to speak about it, only you can speak about it.
 Volume 1, Issue 4 Page 13

Carnatic Quiz
1. Viriponi – who is the composer of this var- 6. Which two factors constitute the parents of In-
nam? dian Carnatic Music?

a. Sruthi – Matha, Laya- Pitha

a. Papanasam Sivan b. Swara, Sahitya
b. Kotthavasal Venkatrama Iyer C. Geetham, Varnam
c. Pachamiriyan Adhiyappa Iyer
7. In praise of which temple did Muthuswamy Dik-
shatar compose the kamalamba Navavarna
2. Sankaracharyam – Who is the composer of Krithis.
this krithi?
a. Thirukoviloor Temple
a. Patnam Subramanya Iyer b. Tanjore Temple
b. Subbarama Dikshitar C. Thiruvaroor Temple
c. Muthu Thandavar

3. When Muthuswamy Dikshatar dipped into the Refer Next Page for Answers
Holy water of Kasi Ganges, what Instrument
did he get in his hand?

a. Violin
b. Thambura
c. Veena

4. What was the first song composed by

Muthuswamy Dikshatar?

a. Meenakshi Jaya Kamakshi

b. Sri Nadhadhi Guruguhoo Jayathi Jayathi
c. Padumanabha Parampurusha

5. What raaga “Nee Daya Raadha” Thyagaraja

Krithi set to?

a. Vasantha Bairavi
b. Bairavi
c. Sindhu Bairavi
 Volume 1, Issue 4 Page 14

Carnatic Quiz
ANSWERS
1. Viriponi – who is the composer of this var- 6. Which two factors constitute the parents of In-
nam? dian Carnatic Music?

a. Sruthi – Matha, Laya- Pitha

a. Papanasam Sivan b. Swara, Sahitya
b. Kotthavasal Venkatrama Iyer C. Geetham, Varnam
c. Pachamiriyan Adhiyappa Iyer
7. In praise of which temple did Muthuswamy Dik-
shatar compose the kamalamba Navavarna
2. Sankaracharyam – Who is the composer of Krithis.
this krithi?
a. Thirukoviloor Temple
a. Patnam Subramanya Iyer b. Tanjore Temple
b. Subbarama Dikshitar C. Thiruvaroor Temple
c. Muthu Thandavar

3. When Muthuswamy Dikshatar dipped into the

Holy water of Kasi Ganges, what Instrument
did he get in his hand?

a. Violin
b. Thambura
c. Veena

4. What was the first song composed by

Muthuswamy Dikshatar?

a. Meenakshi Jaya Kamakshi

b. Sri Nadhadhi Guruguhoo Jayathi Jayathi
c. Padumanabha Parampurusha

5. What raaga “Nee Daya Raadha” Thyagaraja

Krithi set to?

a. Vasantha Bairavi
b. Bairavi
c. Sindhu Bairavi
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Krishna Kannamrutham
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Krishna Kannamrutham
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Krishna Kannamrutham
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Krishna Kannamrutham
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URAIYUR
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URAIYUR
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URAIYUR