I had been wanting to visit the Anna Centenary Library for a while now and finally got to visit the library this week. I had heard that the facilities and the collection of books there was world class and saw it myself that it was no exaggeration. The library has seven floors of books on various subjects including children’s books,
engineering, medicine, history, arts and humanities. As the books have not been given out for lending so far, they are still new. While books on differential calculus scared me to death and made me wonder how I managed to pass those papers in school and college, I was comfortable and happy in the history section. I
spent a while reading books on Indian history especially the 1857 revolution.
The library’s building and the interiors are well maintained and we could see the housekeeping staff at work mopping floors. As there is no lending facility available yet, I was not able to gauge if the number of librarians were sufficient.
When planning to visit the library, I suggest that you decide on the topic before hand so that sufficient time could be spent reading books. It is not a good idea to generally walk around seeing all floors as the library is huge. Overall, the library is very impressive and should be counted among the landmarks of Chennai.
I watched the Iranian movie “A Separation” on the recommendation of a colleague. The movie is a poignant narrative of events from day-to-day life set against the backdrop of an impending divorce. As with all Iranian movies, the characters are true to life and very identifiable.
The story is simple: the wife in a household wants a divorce but is denied due to the lack of a sound reason. She decides to live for a few weeks with her parents. Her father-in-law suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and needs to be taken care of. A caretaker is arranged for him. Due to unforeseen events, the caretaker, a pregnant lady has a miscarriage while at work. How this happens and what follows later forms the rest of the story. A unique feature in the movie is that religion is not used for melodrama or indoctrination, rather it is used to remind us to be true to ourselves.
The film is the Iranian nomination for the Best Foreign Film for the 2011 Academy Awards.
I have always felt that there is not much awareness on the general populace on the significance of the Bakrid festival. So, here is the raison d’etre.
Bakrid also known as Eid al Adha is celebrated to honour the sacrifice that Prophet Ibrahim (may peace be upon him) was going to make of his son Ismail (may peace be upon him), on God’s command. It is related that God commanded Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his only son as a test; the Prophet agreed and while he was about to sacrifice Ismail, God replaced Ismail with a sheep and accepted his sacrifice. As a remembrance, Muslims all over the world, sacrifice sheep, goats, calves, camels on the occasion. The meat is distributed in 3 parts:
- one part is kept for the family
- one part is for friends and relatives
- one part is given to the poor and needy
I was in Hyderabad for work recently and returned yesterday by train to Chennai. I boarded the train from Nampally railway station as it was nearer to my place of work. I have boarded trains from Nampally station earlier, about five years ago and the station was not that great compared to other stations at that time. When I went in to board the train on Friday, to my surprise, the station was worse than before. The platforms were dirty and, there was no information of the coach position from the engine (it is always useful to know how far one has to walk to the coach especially if you have lot of/heavy luggage). Some of the LED coach position indicators were not glowing, making it difficult to find the positions. There was no canteen open at 3 PM for light refreshments. I had expected the station to have improved in the years gone by keeping in line with the growth of the city. Sadly, that was not the case. As the train moved away and passed other smaller suburban stations (James Street, Necklace Road etc), I noticed that those stations looked cleaner and perhaps had better amenities.
I have heard that the Secunderabad station has improved over the years (it always was better than Nampally) and is being planned to be made a world class station. While that is a commendable initiative, it is also imperative that Nampally station be given due attention. When the city’s airport ranks among the top airports in the world, its railway station should not be among the bottom most.
Image courtesy - Hyderabad Spider: Mohan’s thought provoking images of Hyderabad: Dogs roam freely at Nampally Railway station
After completing my assignment at O’Fallon near St.Louis (STL) I traveled back to Chennai (MAA) enroute to Chicago (ORD) and Abu Dhabi (AUH) on Etihad Airways. The flight from St.Louis to Chicago was on American Airlines and I had over 3 hours of time between flights at Chicago. But thanks to the bad weather, the flight from St.Louis got delayed by 3 hours. This meant that I would mostly likely miss the flight to Abu Dhabi. But the Etihad Airways folks delayed the flight by 45 minutes as there were other such passengers who were affected. I made it to the flight puffing and panting.
As is the case with most airlines, the seats in the Economy Class were cramped. But most of the middle seats were vacant, providing me an opportunity to stretch and also get some sleep. The in-flight entertainment system had all the latest movies and popular hits; more than enough to keep people absorbed for the duration of the flight.
Though most of the food served was routine and tasted just about okay, the Lamb Biryani was very good. It was probably the first ever dish on an airline that I actually enjoyed.
The service in the Chicago to Abu Dhabi leg was good but on the Abu Dhabi to Chennai leg it was ordinary.
Overall, I was satisfied with the experience which was nowhere near the Gulf Air trauma that I faced a few years ago.
Etihad Airways image courtesy: wikipedia.org
I was at O’Fallon near St.Louis, MO for four weeks on a work assignment.
View of the sunset in O’Fallon from my hotel room
Though the trip was fraught with health issues, one evening was well spent, visiting the St. Louis downtown. Here are a few pictures of the St.Louis Arch also known as the Gateway Arch built in the ’60s.
The Arch
View from the top
Height of the arch
I visited Marina Beach after a long time and was surprised to see this side of the beach near the lighthouse fairly empty, especially on a weekend. I remember this beach to be full in the past, but with the malls and multiplexes coming up all over the city this was bound to happen.
I did not find many changes in this side of the beach - there were the usual shops selling Bajjis, simple toys and vendors offering rides and amusements for children. All shops were being run by small-time vendors and hawkers. No big brands or established businesses here. I was surprised to see the toys sold here were all made in China. Alas! No place for Indian toys even on the pavements!
I mentally pictured the Besant Nagar beach and the rapid growth that it has seen with its food court, name brand cafes and children’s play area. Consequently, the crowd there is a bit more upper class than here. Regardless, the beach and the sands are the same in both places and are equally enjoyable. The cool breeze, the sound of the waves and the open sky relax the mind and serve as a quick getaway right in the middle of the city.
PS: Sorry, I forgot to take the camera, so no pics.
