Margazhi Magic (the magic of the month Marghazhi)

The alarm rang ... it definitely rang every morning, but today it seemed a little differently pleasant. The house was quite to Nithyashree's voice singing Andal's Thiruppavai and my mom's karaoke coming along (which I don’t want to publicly comment upon)

This was something that made me jump from my bed like a spring. I did not know what was with this month of Marghazhi (Tamil month Dec 15^th – Jan 15th) and its concerts that made me come alive. Music - the kind, that arouse me, was suffused in the air.

Amma peeped thro the door to see if I was up. She was happy to see her little one was up early and that too with a smile. She doesn’t get to witness such scenes very often.

That smile is like her ticket to enter my room and inform me of all that she wants me to do, which otherwise on any other day will be a struggle. She told me later that she wondered if I had it in me - I could even behave like a little angel. I know I was a tough one but did not know I was good at it ... poor amma

Well given the chance - she went with her full list of drop me off at mohana athai's (aunt’s) place and then on you way, pick up some fresh fruits and coconut ... I interrupted "but we just picked up some a day ago"

She continued "Oh but did I not tell you kamala periyama (mom’s elder sister) is coming from Trichy. The last time she was here and I had just made vathakozhabu (a spicy curry) without kootu - (a kind of coconut gravy), and she let the whole of Andal Street (a street in the town of Trichy) know how miserly I had become

That news of periyamma's arrival made me raise my eyebrow - I was not too fond of her. She could get really nosey and pick on all the sensitive topics with me. Amma sensed the smile on my face was slowly reversing and quickly got up to leave. On the way out she announced "Nandhini call panna … naalaikku Tm Krishna's kutcheri yam" (Nandhini had called ... tomorrow is Tm Krishna's Concert)

The receding graph on my face suddenly took an upward direction. "yengannu sonnala?" (did she say where?) I yelled with excitement

“Naradha gana sabha - 6:30 pm” she replied and continued "nee poorappa, appadiye yenniayum perimavaiyum pick up panniko di" (when you are heading back home, pls pick up periyamma and me) . Now this - I did not want to hear ... Damn she makes use of even the smallest opportunity given to her. I was like "ammaaaaaaaa" and she was like “pleasssssssse"

I lost once again - to her shrewdness in acting to the situation ... grrr

Periyamma did bring a lot of goodies and gossip stories from Trichy and entertained a lot of people. I know she was constantly and subtly watching me - waiting for an opportunity to pick a conversation and I was very slyly wading it off, making her efforts futile

I also knew it was not in the family genes to give up - she would definitely find her way

Anyways I was waiting for the evening and my friend Prasad joined us. The concert was mind-blowing with Tm Krishna in his own style elaborating how both the ragas “Nata Bhairavi” and “Nari Reethigowla” had the same notes but is not the same followed by a Muthuswamy Dikshitar kriti (Hymns composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar)

We did pick up amma and periyamma on the way back, I dropped Prasad and was driving back home. Amma said periyappa (Periyamma’ husband) had slipped and fallen down and was taken to the doctor and periyamma was leaving tomorrow morning

I thought - wow prayers do get answered .... when periyamma's voice stopped my thinking process "yaaru anu indha paiyan?" (Who is this guy anu?) referring to my friend. I knew she would have to pick some topic ... but I quickly answered "oh yen boyfriend periyamma ... kalyanam pannikalama yosikkaren ... yenna sollaringa?" (Oh my boyfriend … thinking of marrying … what do you say?)

The both of them looked aghast, their jaw dropped. I chuckled and whispered to my mom " Kavalla padatha ma avan gay" (Don’t worry, mom he is Gay).

My mom gave a sigh of relief ... a very confused smile, with a “what more can I expect from you” expression. Kamala periyamma was still trying to grapple with what she had just heard and not totally understanding what I whispered into my mom's ears. She was silent till we reached home. As we entered the gates and got out she asked "gay-nna?" (what does gay mean?)

Amma looked at me and "uriya vangarathukinnae porandhurukka" … “idha yellam eppadi explain pannaradhu akkavukku" (you are born to take the life out of me … now how do I explain this to my sister)

I smiled and said "do your best in explaining ... at least Andal Street will get educated on this subject by her next visit". Well not bad I thought, the month of margazhi had worked its magic on me ... it sure will on everyone as well :)

Peyar Kaaranam (name and its reason)

"Hey nu-nu goodnight"

My name for sometime had been an intresting topic with my friends. They somehow got to memorise the tounge twister and everytime they needed a break, it would be calling out the name and walking away with a sense of accomplishment (yen peyru than kadhachidha .. neram)

anu alais anupriya parimana mudaliyar Krishnan
A name very typically south indian - long winded, never ending, acknowledging the entire family lineage
Thankfully they spared veerabhagu devar (whose decendants we are supposedly) a mythical hero created by Shiva who was the Lord kartikeya's lieutenant while killing the Narakasura

Amma appa probably never would have even gone thro the ordeal the present day parents go thro. Going thro any number of website searches and books that come up with all sorts of ridiculus names (competing to be different and sounding mordern) eg: olini
I hit baby names on google and it threw a whooping  68,200,000 results in 0.12 secs with more than two dozen categories, African, Arabic, Aztec, Chinese, English, Welsh etc. Are there so many people making a business out of this .... hmmn

Amma said, the minute I was born the nurses in the hospital knew i was born in Anusha nakshatram (star) and started calling me Anu ... no big deal. The krishnan family sure should have had some amount of acceptance, to nod an yes to the name - without much of their contribution going into it

So as years went by the name was used up in all different permutations and combinations finally till i came to uncle sam's land where even the simplest of names seems to be a little overwhelming to pronounce.
Anu is quite simple I thought till someone who spoke to me over the phone decided to  write to me addressing me "Dear Aknew"
I have grown to me more accepting these days ... so be it I thought

More damage started when suddenly there was a trend to "shorten and cuten" everything.
Like Anu probably seemed not cute and short enough it was reduced to nu-nu - much better than a ko-ko, bho-bho, bu-bu, ku-ku names others got. I did not complain though

Anu - the name that was given to me after a ceremony inviting friends and family, invoking the gods and my mother writing it in a banana leaf spread with uncooked rice, a name which has its roots from 17th nakshatra of the zodiac, which characterizes balance and harmony in relationships, honor and achievement of fame was reduced to a mere nu-nu

My conversation with my mom was halted for a second with a voice which said "nu-nu shut the door when you leave". I said "sure". My mom over the phone was like "nu-nu na yenna di?" (what is this nu-nu?) I said "onnum illa ma, nee sollu vera yenna panna?" (Nothing significant, you tell me what else did you do?)

From profundity to profanity ... i thought