Friday, November 21, 2008

CHENNAI NEWS
(NEWS OF CHENNAI AND TAMILNADU BY ENVERNATHAN)
Volume 96 (November 2008)

Enver’s Rambling.

Well Barack Obama did make it in the Presidential elections. Has America finally shed its racist past? Although Obama technically is not a descendent of one of the slaves who toiled in the US he has accomplished the almost impossible. To the credit of the Americans I cannot see it happening in the UK or Europe in the imminent future.
The people of India were fully behind the Obama campaign. Even though many economists said that McCain’s policies would be more beneficial for India, Obama’s charisma had the people here rooting for him. Let us hope he has it in him to put right eight years of George Bush’s policies.
A point to ponder is what would have happened if Obama’s father had decided to move to SA instead of USA. Would Barack have been a statistic of Xenophobia.

Although an ardent Ferrari fan it was still heartening to see Lewis Hamilton win the F1 Championship. After losing points technically earlier on I guess justice prevailed when he luckily finished fifth. It would have been really cruel if he had lost it again like he did last year. I guess this will be the first of many. Now if only he would move to Ferrari.

This email floored me. I can imagine losing a customer because of a higher quote but never imagined losing a customer because of a lower quote. This prospective customer mailed me saying that he had sent his itinerary to about 9 different agents and my quote was by far the least for the same category of Hotels. In fact he says by about R5000 per person less (his figures not mine). This sounds like a whopping big difference if he is not mistaken. However this frightened him as he began to worry about what quality of hotels I would use. He must have talked to some of my satisfied tourists because he did come back to me. He told me that in future I must keep my prices in par or a little less than the others. But how will I know what the others quote. Anyway I will not live my life according to other people’s rules. I will continue to cost my tours according to my figures and if it is cheaper than others so be it. The one thing I do know having seen some other itineraries is that I do use better hotels in the same category.

The Indian government has woken up very late in recognising that innocent Tamils were being killed in the war against the LTTE. This happened when the Tamil MPs said that they would resign from Parliament if the Indian government did not intervene. The Indian government has pleaded that they cannot interfere in the affairs of another country. They seem to have forgotten that it was their interference against the then West Pakistan that enabled East Pakistan to gain independence and become Bangladesh. The Tamil film and TV personalities held protest fasts highlighting the killing of innocent Tamil civilians. Almost all Tamil politicians with the exception of a few have come out against the bombings of civilians. The Chief Minister Dr Karunanidhi said this is the first time he has witnessed an elected government bombing its own civilians. He has urged the government to press for a ceasefire and a political solution. As of today things look very bleak for the LTTE and one just wonders if they will come out of this as they usually have done so many times in the past.

With all the other news around, India’s rocket to the moon Chaandrayan has been a very low key affair. The Indian scientists have managed to build a rocket at just a sixth of the cost of an Americian equivalent. In fact it costs less than an airbus plane. India has more communication satellites in space than any other country. Does this herald India’s future dominance of space?

The Pravasi Bharathi Divas is a meeting held every year by the Indian government for Indians living out side India. Although held mostly in Delhi this year it is Chennai that will be hosting this colourful and interesting event for the very first time. It will be held from January 7th to 9th at the Chennai Trade Centre. For more information you can log onto http://www.pbdindia.org/ and can register for the event. However check with me for accommodation as I am sure I can get it at a better rate or advise you to book with them if I can’t. However some of the hotels on the list are not worth the price so I will tell you which to avoid.

As a prelude to this meeting you can attend the first World Tamil Economic Conference and Tamil Diaspora Meet also in Chennai from 5th to 7th January at the Taj Coromandal Hotel. For more information you can log onto http://www.economic-conference.com/ and register here. I will give you more news of tours that I have planned before and after these two meetings. Don’t hesitate to contact me for more information.

I just heard that there is a batch of young South Africans that have been invited by the Indian government to tour India as a kind of getting to know your roots. My friend’s daughter Thireshini is one of them. I am looking forward to meeting this group as they will be ending their tour in Chennai after attending the Pravasi Bharathi Divas.

I just received this website from my friend Dr Deena Padayachee. http://www.tamilsa.org/ - the official website of the Tamil Federation of Kwa Zulu Natal. You can register for their newsletter and there are some interesting articles especially on the background and history. However it does not seem to be updated and I am sure that they will put this right.

It is not everyday you get something for nothing. You can earn points by using this search engine which can be exchanged for presents. To subscribe go to the website http://scour.com/invite/envernathan/

I have finally registered my website http://www.envernathan.com/ I am now in the process of developing this site. If you can help me please do so.
Some of you who visited India a few years ago promised me space on your server. I did not follow it up at that time but now that I have a web domain I will need that promised space. Please mail me.

One of our groups in Facebook is called Learn and Teach Tamil. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6084403897) This was started on 1st December. This is an interactive site for people who want to learn Tamil and also for people who want to teach. As it is aimed at adults we are using the English font. Please join in to get involved. Kamesh has prepared some lessons, which I will share with you. However to get really involved on a daily basis it will be better to join the group.

For those of you who are interested in Tamil movies you can join the group Tamil Movie Club. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6526801521). You can join in some lively discussions on all aspects of Tamil cinema.
Tamil Eisteddfod Group. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7818284447) This is a place for all of you who ever took part in an eisteddfod whether as a participant, administrator, Adjudicator or the audience. The rule of the group is that you must introduce yourself. Hopefully we will have a collection of experiences that will inspire others to take part.
The latest addition is the Chennai Super Kings (IPL). This is off course for all supporters of the Chennai Super Kings 20/20 cricket team. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18926205926
For those of you who are looking for a Tamil word processor then you should look at the Azhagi software. You can get a free basic copy by downloading from the site http://www.azhagi.com/

My son Kamesh has his own blog site, which can be accessed at http://kameshgovender.blogspot.com/.
Film scene

The Tamil movie world is mourning the death of veteran actor MN Nambiar on Nov 19. He was 88 years old. Dubbed the handsome villain he was equally at ease in a Sivaji or MGR movie. With the death of MGR, Sivaji, Gemini and now Nambiar this is the end of the old era of Tamil movies. Although born in Ooty his home language was Malayalam but it was in Tamil movies that he made his mark. An absolute fitness freak he was also well trained in Indian martial arts. He was an ardent follower of Lord Ayappa and went on Pilgrimage every year. He was responsible for taking both Rajnikanth and Amitabh Bachan and many others on pilgrimage to Sabrimalai.
He acted in 360 movies in mostly Tamil but also Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi, Sinhalese and also one English movie Jungle. In his prime he was the number one choice for the villain’s role for most directors. As he got older he started acting in character roles many as an endearing grandfather. Said to be a person of excellent character it was in these roles that his real character showed.

I watched the movie Vaaranam Aayiram a few days ago. This is the latest by the highly successful trio of Surya, Gautham Menon and Harris Jayaraj. The story is a recollection of various incidents in his life and the influence of his parents especially his Dad. The movie gives Surya who plays both the father and son an opportunity to play a number of roles during their various stages of their lives.
The first is the dad during his college days while studying at the Madras Christian Collge. I really took to this role as it is the same era that I studied at the same college. I could see myself and many of my friends in the mannerisms of this role. We then see dad Surya at various ages while the son is growing up till his death. In fact the movie is Surya remembering the past when he hears of his dad’s death. Surya plays the role of the son as a school boy, a college student, a young businessman, a man distraught when his girlfriend dies, a man who overcomes drugs, a hero and finally an officer in the army. Matching him is Simran as the mother also portrayed from her college days till the present. Sameera Reddy as the girl he falls in love with gives a brilliant portrayal as the college grad who at first is bemused by him but later falls in love with him when he goes to USA where she is studying to woe her. Divya is his sister’s best friend who has grown up in front of him without him really noticing him. She provides his later love interest whom he eventually marries.
The music by Harris Jayraj is a hit but also there are a number of songs sung by Surya which is not on the CD. It is a real pity that he has gone on record saying that he will not do the music for any future Gautham movies.
The film however is a tad long at three hours and can test your patience. Also his drug addiction and how easily he is cured may send the wrong signals. Also why is it in Indian movies that the man must always fall apart when he loses the woman he loves?
However I enjoyed the movie especially the first half.

Music Scene

The movie A Aa E Ee has six songs by music director Vijay Anthony. The title song is a really peppy song by Rahul Nambiar and Dinesh. The second song is called Dingi Tappu by a host of singers Megha, Sheeba, Ramya, Vinaya, Maya and Vijay Anthony. The song has a lot of techno effects. The third song is Natta Nadu by sangeetha, Karthik and Christopher. This song has a nice folk beat with good percussion. Kanni Vedi is a beautiful ballad by Sangeetha and Vijay Anthony. This girl has a really beautiful voice.
Mena Minuki by Vijay Anthony, Suchithra, Suchithra R and Sangeetha and is another fast beat song that will have you tapping your feet. The last song is Tappo Tappo by Bakshi and Sulabha. This is a nice upbeat duet with beautiful interludes. What is noticeable is that the music director has not brought down big names from the North and yet has produced a very good music album.

The movie Aanandha Thaandavam has 6 songs by young music director GV Prakash. The first song is Pattu Poochi which is a beautiful soulful ballad by Naresh Iyer and Harmony. Kallil Aadum is a beautiful duet by Benny and Shweta. Poovina another lovely duet sung by Srinivas and Shreya Ghosal. Megha Poola by Shankar Mahadevan is quite an intense song. Kanna Kangiren by Shuba Mudgal, Nityashree and Vinitra is a fast paced song with swarams as the interlude. This is a really interesting concept. Nityashree’s unique voice is quite capturing. The Aanandha Thaandavam Theme is an instrumentsl with Navin Iyer on the wind instruments and GV Prakash. GV Prakash is making quite a name for himself at such a young age.

Adada Enna Azhagu has 8 songs by music by TM Jaymurugan and Jeewan Thomas. The theme song is a fast paced duet song by SPB and Gopika Poornima. Unnai Ennaku is a beautiful ballad by Hariharan. Ulaga Azhagellam is a slow beat male duet by Shankar Madhavan and Karthik. It has some good voice modulations. Kummu Kummu is another slow song by Tippu, Srutipriya and Shalini. However it has a nice beat. Deepavali is a nice peppy sung by Mano, Harish ragvendra, Anuradha Sriram, Mukesh, Kalayani and Sainthavi. I am sure this will be for a group dance. Nisha is a beautiful ballad by Assalam with beautiful female harmony. Theeratha is a good upbeat ballad by Mukesh . Malarum Nilavum is another upbeat ballad by Mukesh.

Tourism Scene

I am still toying with the idea of the March group tour which I have being organising for the past few years. The difficulty is giving a price in rand. However I think I will give it a try and price it in rupees and take it on a day to day basis. If any of you are interested in coming or sending your loved ones then please contact me. I will be personally accompanying the group. Can also add Mumbai if you want to go there.

01/03 Arrive in Chennai and prepare for tour.
02/03 Chennai City tour
03/03 After breakfast leave for Tirupathi. Darshan will be arranged. Collect your special luddos and return to Hotel.
04/03 After breakfast drive to the Sai Baba ashram in Puttarpathi. You are free to visit the ashram at your leisure.
05/03 After breakfast drive to Bangalore –. Shop a little in the evening.
06/03 After breakfast sightseeing in Bangalore. Visit the many gardens, The Nandhi Bull temple, The house of legislature etc
07/03 After breakfast drive to Mysore. Visit the city Palace. In the afternoon visit the Brindhavan Gardens. Hotel Pai Vista
08/03 After breakfast drive to Ooty. Visit the Muthamalai game reserve on the way. Hotel Preethi Classic
09/03 Full day sightseeing in Ooty. Visit the gardens, the Ooty lake and Dodda Peta peak.
10/03 After breakfast drive down to Coimbature. Visit the Marudamalai murugan temple.
11/03 Drive to Cochin. Sightseeing in Cochin. Jewish Synagogue, St. Francis Church, Dutch Palace, Chinese fishing nets etc. In the evening a Kathakali Dance Recital.
12/03 Drive to Allepey for a cruise on the backwaters and then drive to Kollam.
13/03 After breakfast drive to Kanyakumari.
14/03 Sight seeing Kanyakumari. Take a ferryboat to the Vivekanandha rock and the Thiruvalluvar statue.
15/03 Morning get up to watch the sun rise. After breakfast drive to Madurai. Evening visit the famous Madurai Meenatchie temple.
16/03 Drive to Trichy – visit the Rockfort temple
17/03 Thanjavur/Chidambaram/Pondicherry
18/03 Mahabalipuram/Chennai
19/03 Free day for rest or your own activities.
20/03 leave for airport for flight to SA.

Add on: 20/03 fly to Delhi
21/03 Drive to haridwar (River Ganges)
22/03 Visit Rishikesh and then drive back to Delhi.
23/03 Delhi City tour
24/03 Day trip to Agra
25/03 fly to SA.

For all your travels contact me at insatours@gmail.com. We tailor make packages for you and have done tours for 1 up to a group of 54. All prices are wholesale to you.

Sydenham Tamil Society
Fundraising Event
Tamil Koothu(Dance) ~ Karaoke Competition ( Tamil and English)
Date : 20 December 2008
Time :18H30
Venue : Old Mutual Sports Hall,
Francois Road, Howard College Campus

BRING YOUR OWN SNACKS AND DRINKS







I hope you have kept yourself free for this event. Although this organisation has been in existence for almost 40 years this is the first time it is having a fundraising event. This is to finance all the cultural work that they are embarking on in the Sydenham, Clare Estate, Asherville and Overport areas in particular and Durban in general. I am really sad that I cannot attend especially as it is my birthday but I am hoping that all of you will support this event in my absence. So if you want to give me a birthday present do so by buying a ticket. For more information send a mail to their PRO at sivaninaidoo@gmail.com. Send a copy to me also at egovender@gmail.com so I can see who you are. As this is a BYO function no problem with extra expenses.


Notice Board.

The Sydenham Tamil Society has started singing and harmonium classes under the tutorage of Mr Kumaresan Chetty every Wednesday at 6 pm. Yoga classes also on Tuesdays. For more information contact their PRO Miss Sivani Naidoo sivaninaidoo@gmail.com.

Sri Saradha Institute of Arts and Culture (NPO 054 571)
Free Tuition in Tamil, Music, Dance & Religion. Saturday 9.00 - 11.00 at Sri Ganesha Temple - Cnr of Palmview Dr & CrestBrook – Phoenix.
Progithar Tuition on Wednesdays and for regular crash course like the “Learn Tamil Challenge - 12 lessons”
Contact Suja or Kovilan Muthumanikam on 032 5376875/ 083 7428508.

Manormani Dance Academy. A school of Bharatha Natyam and Folk Dance.
Saturday 9.00 – 12.00 at Umgeni Road Temple. 13.30 – 16.30 ABH – Chathsworth.
Tuesday 15-30 – 17.00 Stanmore Regional Hall.
Wednesday 17.30 – 19.00 Mount View Civic Hall.
For further details contact Mrs Govender on 031-5053379

Hindu Cultural League - Music and Dance Academy
Offers the following classes on Saturdays in the disciplines of Music, Dance and Language: Bharata Natyam, Tabla, Harmonium, Tamil, and Karnatic Vocal Classes & Folk & Contemporary Dance. Children and adults, from beginners to advanced are welcome.
Classes are held at the H. A. Jack Primary School, Cnr Jauncey & Preston Roads, Abbottsford (close to Melrose Temple). Johannesburg. For more information in respect of times, cost and other information, contact
Rueben 072 702 5991, Thirumala 082 563 4439, Don 082 787 2056 or Inbam 083 262 6511 or email info@hcl.co.za Visit our website http://www.hcl.co.za/

Sahaja Yoga, the following numbers could be used: Durban - 031-400 4703, PMburg - 033-391 3557, Johannesburg - 011-864 3410, Cape Town 021-713 2463alternatively, you could visit http://www.sahajayoga.org/ for more info or e-mail lincoln.pillay@bcx.co.za.

Natya Ananda - Academy of Fine ArtsMonday: Asherville 4-7.30Friday: Phoenix 4-7Saturday: Chatsworth unit 1. 8 - 1pmContact: 0833600037 / 031-4036469verushkamood@hotmail.com / natyavp@redbean.co.za

MELANIE KISTEN DANCE ACADEMY - SCHOOL FOR DRAMA AND MODERN INDIAN DANCING
CLASSES : Merebank - Saturday 10-11am- Settlers Primary School
Chatsworth - Saturday 1.30pm - 2.30pm – Woodhurst Library

For Further Details contact : Melanie Kisten Cell : 083 2269840 / 0832351207 A/H : 031 4678826

Kumari Veloshani Manicum Dance Academy

Specializing in Bhartha Natyam , Modern Indian & much more
Training centres
Monday- Redcliffe , Verulam
Tuesday- Wembley Primary School, Phoenix
Thursday- Brailsford Primary School, Phoenix
Friday-Sterngrove Primary School, Phoenix
For more info contact :Veloshani -0727831738/0315074455

If I have missed out anyone please forgive me and remind me and I will put it in the next one.

Classified Section.

I have 1 mrithangam at R1200 (18”) and a naal also R1200 to 1 mrithangam at R1900 (22”) and a kuchi mrithangam for R2100 (24”). Two double reed harmoniums at R2000 each. A scale change at R5000 and a Paul and Co at R7000. Electronic srudi box at R650. Please contact me if you need any. Dance bells – 5 lines at R160 and 6 lines at R180. Mallipoo - Double R20 a metre. Dance sets from R400 (stones) to R1200 (temple set). I also have a Sachin Tendulkar’s MRF cricket bat for R600. I just remembered that I have a beautiful coat style leather jacket for sale at just R650. However this for a really big size guy and is a XXL.

South Africa: Contact Mrs. K. Govender, 30 Eskdale Road, Sydenham, Durban, 4021. Tel. 031-2086929.

Mauritius: Contact Mr. Balakrishna Tandrayan, 8 Sun Yat Sen Street, Port Louis, Tel. 2423404. Fax. 2413299. (Sorry this is for people from Mauritius)

Friday, October 31, 2008

Chennai News 95

CHENNAI NEWS
(NEWS OF CHENNAI AND TAMILNADU BY ENVERNATHAN)
Volume 95 (Deepavali Special 2008)

Enver’s Rambling.

Whenever Deepavali comes around it reminds me of an incident that happened to me many years ago. I must have been around 15 years old. I lived in Lorne Street in the town area of Durban near the Shah Jehan cinema which stood in the corner of Lorne and Grey streets. I remember my friends and me bursting crackers in the evening when one of them suggested that we go to the movies. The Shah Jahan had just been renovated and they were showing a western. I don’t remember the name but I am sure it was a Charlton Heston movie. So we stopped bursting crackers and I put my share in my pocket as I did not want to go home. I knew once I was seen by my father there was no way I would be able to get out of the house for a second time. We were really enjoying the movie from our balcony seats when some idiot threw a bunch of lighted crackers to the section below. I remember thinking to myself how stupid the guy was for doing such act. Any how because there was such a commotion from the people below they stopped the screening and decided to search all the people upstairs. So I thought well now the guy was really going to get it. However they did not apprehend anyone and the search came very close to us. It then dawned on me and I froze as I had crackers in my pocket. Off course I was searched and they cried out “We got him”. They wanted to take me to their office downstairs. Now anyone who knows the happenings of the Shah Jahan in those days would know that the one place you did not want to be taken to was their office. The last guy I knew came out without two front teeth. So, on the top of my voice, I put up an argument that it was not me and even tried to prove with some nifty “ballistic” angles that the crackers could have not come from my seating position. Luckily I was backed up by most of the people seated around me and with the crowd becoming restless to see the movie they let me go after confiscating all my crackers. I honestly tell you I don’t remember the rest of the movie as I was in shock.

Just who is a Tamil. The reason I ask this is that many people seem to be very confused about this. Tamil is a language which however has a distinct culture. It is not a religion like some people assume. Here we have Tamils who are Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jain and Buddhists and I dare say many atheists. This does not seem to happen in South Africa where many non Hindus Tamils seem to think that they are not Tamil. Maybe it is time to invite all Tamils irrespective of their religious inclinations under the banner of a united Tamil fraternity. Please don’t misunderstand this as a call for new Tamil organisation. For me the SATF (with its provincial affiliates) is the main Tamil organisation of South Africa. All other Tamil organisations should be affiliated to it. In this way we have one strong mouthpiece for the Tamil people.

The Sydenham Tamil Society which has its cultural roots in the late 60’s will be having its first fundraising dinner dance on 20th December at Howard College. Besides the Tamil Koothu (dance) they have lined up a Karaoke competition. There will also be lots of prizes to be won. I will give you more news about this in the next CN. However you can mail their PRO Miss Sivani Naidoo at sivaninaidoo@gmail.com

For those of you who have access NDTV please make a point of watching the documentary called Our Family by Professor Anjali Monteiro and Professor
K.P. Jayasankar. The documentary is based on my sister-in-law Pritham’s one women play Nirvanam (liberation) referring to the act of liberating oneself from the male body and transforming oneself to a female. It documents the lives of three generations of people referred to as Aravanies in Tamilnadu and Higras in the North. The narration is done by Pritham in Tamil with English subtitles. It will be telecasted on Sunday Nov 2 at 9.30 to 10.30 am SA time.

Congratulation to Mala Lutchmanan on the release of the following:
1. The Skandha Sashti Kavacham (book & cd)
2. Learn Tamil - A beginner's guide - vol 1
3. Learn Tamil - vol 2

Date: 2 November 2008
Venue: SABC, 100 Old Fort Road, Durban
Time: 4pm

The Pravasi Bharathi Divas is a meeting held every year by the Indian government for Indians living out side India. Although held mostly in Delhi this year it is Chennai that will be hosting this colourful and interesting event for the very first time. It will be held from January 7th to 9th at the Chennai Trade Centre. For more information you can log onto www.pbdindia.org and can register for the event. However check with me for accommodation as I am sure I can get it at a better rate or advise you to book with them if I can’t. However some of the hotels on the list are not worth the price so I will tell you which to avoid.
As a prelude to this meeting you can attend the first World Tamil Economic Conference and Tamil Diaspora Meet also in Chennai from 5th to 7th January at the Taj Coromandal Hotel. For more information you can log onto www.economic-conference.com and register here. I will give you more news of tours that I have planned before and after these two meetings. Don’t hesitate to contact me for more information.
8th November- SAMARPANAM- an offering of DevotionBharat Natyam production joining the celebration of Verushka’s dance school in India, Bharata Kalanjali turning 40 years and my esteemed Guru, Shri VP Dhananjayan turns 70 and my 10 year anniversary of her arrangetarm.A joyous celebration of the life and legacy of 'The Dhananjayans'
THEKWINI COLLEGE, DA'INTREE AVENUE 8TH NOVEMBER 2008 6.30PM TICKETS: R50 & R30
12TH November- SAI NATYA. a dance collaboration with six dance schools and accompanied by Karthigasen Pillay. A humble offering of Dance to Bhagavan Sri Satya Sai Baba.Contact: Verushka 0833600037 / 031-4036469

It is not everyday you get something for nothing. You can earn points by using this search engine which can be exchanged for presents. To subscribe go to the website http://scour.com/invite/envernathan/

I have finally registered my website www.envernathan.com I am now in the process of developing this site. If you can help me please do so.
Some of you who visited India a few years ago promised me space on your server. I did not follow it up at that time but now that I have a web domain I will need that promised space. Please mail me.

To read the back issues of Chennai News log onto http://envernathan.blogspot.com

One of our groups in Facebook is called Learn and Teach Tamil. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6084403897) This was started on 1st December. This is an interactive site for people who want to learn Tamil and also for people who want to teach. As it is aimed at adults we are using the English font. Please join in to get involved. Kamesh has prepared some lessons, which I will share with you. However to get really involved on a daily basis it will be better to join the group.

For those of you who are interested in Tamil movies you can join the group Tamil Movie Club. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6526801521). You can join in some lively discussions on all aspects of Tamil cinema.
Tamil Eisteddfod Group. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7818284447) This is a place for all of you who ever took part in an eisteddfod whether as a participant, administrator, Adjudicator or the audience. The rule of the group is that you must introduce yourself. Hopefully we will have a collection of experiences that will inspire others to take part.
The latest addition is the Chennai Super Kings (IPL). This is off course for all supporters of the Chennai Super Kings 20/20 cricket team. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18926205926
For those of you who are looking for a Tamil word processor then you should look at the Azhagi software. You can get a free basic copy by downloading from the site www.azhagi.com

My son Kamesh has his own blog site, which can be accessed at http://kameshgovender.blogspot.com/. It is quite interesting and he loves putting pictures etc in it.
Film scene

The two main Deepavali releases have been Ajiths Aegan and Bharath’s Seval. After years of rivalry between the big stars this years Deepavali offering has been described a one day match between India and Bangladesh.

Aegan which stars Ajith, Nayanthara, Navdeep, Pia, Jayaram and Suhasini is a mixture of comedy, romance and action. The movie is directed by dance master Raju Sundram (Brother of Prabhu Deva). The storyline has shades of Main Hoon Na as this move was also inspired by ‘Back to School’ and others of this type.
Siva (Ajith) is an undercover cop. He is used by his father who is the police commissioner (Naser) in very sensitive cases. The righthand man of the city’s notorious don (Suman) wants to give himself up to the police. However the gang comes to know and his attempt is compromised and he escapes. Naser asks his son to apprehend him. They know that his daughter (Pia) studies in Ooty and Siva goes there as an older student who is resuming his studies after a long break. He takes along a fellow policeman played by Haniffa who provides much of the light relief with his naivety and innocence. Ajith not usually know for comedy also gives us some funny moments as he tries to befriend Pia and her boyfriend (Navdeep). He gamely allows himself to be a butt of the jokes even mentioning his flabby stomach. Siva also sees professor Maliga (Nayanthara) and it is love at first sight much to her exasperations. However it does not take her long to fall under his spell. Nayanthara looks slim and trim as she pesues a more sensual image. Gone is the lovely chubbiness that she had in Chandramukhi. Mention must be made of the antics of Principle Jayaram and his office boy Sathyam who will have you in stiches even when overacting a bit.
Anyway after saving Pia from being kidnapped he becomes friends with the students which allows him to apprehend Pia’s father. He finds out that Navjeeth is actually his younger “brother”. Siva was adopted by Naser and Suhashini who later split when the younger son is born. Anyways all ends well.

Seval (Roster) stars Bharath, new girl Poonam, Simran, Krishna and the veteran Rajesh. Bharath is a village ruffian who spends most of time pursuing all the wrong deeds much to the disgust of his father. The family grows flowers for a living which they sell to all the people in their little town. Bharath somehow manages to pledge their farm after a bout of gambling which further infuriates his father. However when Bharath sees Parijatham who is the daughter of the local brahim priest, he falls in love with her and slowly changes his ways. Vadivel is his cousin and besides the comedy plays a very pivotal part in the movie. Simran makes a comeback in movies as the elder sister of Pari and revels in the comedy parts. However when she is diagnosed with cancer and is on her deathbed, she asks her younger sister to marry her husband so that her child could be brought up by her. Siva spends most of the time protecting the honour of Pari who because of her beauty is eyed by the lecherous the village leader. This is a real family drama with lots of sentiment and lots of subplots. However director Hari is a past master in keeping everything together and making sure all the characters have a meaningful role. The movie is also a continuation of the evolvement of Bharath as an actor. Newcomer Poonam makes a good impression and is sure to bag many more roles. Definitely a movie for the family as it has something for everyone.
Four Tamil movies have made it to the prestigious International Film Festival of India which is run by the Department of Information and Broadcasting. The festival is being held at Goa from Nov 22 to Dec 2. The movies are Kanchivaram in the Indian Panorama and Billa, Kallori and Muthal Muthal Muthal Vaaram selected in the regional section. However the Tamil Film Industry is furious that movies like Anjaathey and Subramaniapuram which were both critically acclaimed and huge box office hits were ignored. They question how a remake like Billa and the little seen movie M3V were chosen instead.

Music Scene

The music CD of Silambarasan’s latest movie Silambaattam has 5 songs with music by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The first song is Silambaatam by Shankar Mahadevan and is a fast paced folk song with brilliant percussion.
The second song is a daban koothu rap song Nallamdhana by Silambarasan, Earl and Suzie Q. The Tamil lyrics are by Gangai Amaran and the English lyrics by Suzie Q and Earl. The song is very good and the Sivamani on the drums is excellent.
Machaan Machaan is a beautiful duet by Illiaraja and Belashende. Illayaraja will surprise with how young he sounds. The backup music especially the guitar by Amal Raj is really good. Vechikkava is a remix that sounds very similar o the original with a few changes. However the trumpet work is really catchy. The song is song by Silambarasan and Suchimitra.
Where is the Party is a fast paced folk song that seems to be inspired by one of Pushpa Kandasamy’s folk tunes. I think this one will do well in SA as it is easy to sing along the English parts. This is sung by Mukesh and Priyadharshini and the words are by Simbu himself.

Events
‘Bharata Natyam – The First Knowledgeable Step’ which contains a general knowledge of understanding and performing the correct steps in Bharatha Natyam.
According to Krish Swamivel this is the first time most of adavus are being presented in this extremely useful format, and I am sure this will be found indispensable by the dance students, dancers and dance lovers.
Enquiries: Krish Swamivel @ 083 778 7083 or 031 403 7083 Introductory offer @ R89 only

Those of you in Capetown and surrounding areas are invited to attend the Opening of BUDDHIPRIYA (Bestower of Knowledge) ACTIVITY & LEARNING CENTRE

Venue: Sri Siva Aalayam Hall
Date: Saturday 1st November 2008
Time: 2:30pm
Kindly RSVP for purpose of refreshments Curly Valoo - 072 149 2191, Kubeshini Govender - 078 312 5488, Premie Pillay - 082 674 2567



The Sideman Tamil Society has successfully started their yoga classes last week with 9 participants and from what I heard they really enjoyed it. So if you want to join them then better contact them fast as they want to take a limited number

Notice Board – Please mail me if you want to put your organisation on this notice board. However I need a mail from the principal organiser so that information is accurate.

The Sydenham Tamil Society has started singing and harmonium classes under the tutorage of Mr Kumaresan Chetty every Wednesday at 6 pm. Yoga classes also on Tuesdays. For more information contact their PRO Miss Sivani Naidoo sivaninaidoo@gmail.com.

Sri Saradha Institute of Arts and Culture (Free Tuition in Tamil, Music
& Dance)
Saturday 9.00 - 11.00 at Ganesha Temple - Cnr of Palmview Dr &
CrestBrook - Phoenix
Contact Suja or Kovilan Muthumanikam on 083 742 8508 for more details

Manormani Dance Academy. A school of Bharatha Natyam and Folk Dance.
Saturday 9.00 – 12.00 at Umgeni Road Temple. 13.30 – 16.30 ABH – Chathsworth.
Tuesday 15-30 – 17.00 Stanmore Regional Hall.
Wednesday 17.30 – 19.00 Mount View Civic Hall.
For further details contact Mrs Govender on 031-5053379

Hindu Cultural League - Music and Dance Academy
Offers the following classes on Saturdays in the disciplines of Music, Dance and Language: Bharata Natyam, Tabla, Harmonium, Tamil, and Karnatic Vocal Classes & Folk & Contemporary Dance. Children and adults, from beginners to advanced are welcome.
Classes are held at the H. A. Jack Primary School, Cnr Jauncey & Preston Roads, Abbottsford (close to Melrose Temple). Johannesburg. For more information in respect of times, cost and other information, contact
Rueben 072 709 5991, Thirumala 082 563 4439, Don 082 787 2056 or Inbam 083 262 6511 or email info@hcl.co.za Visit our website www.hcl.co.za

Sahaja Yoga, the following numbers could be used: Durban - 031-400 4703, PMburg - 033-391 3557, Johannesburg - 011-864 3410, Cape Town 021-713 2463alternatively, you could visit www.sahajayoga.org for more info or e-mail lincoln.pillay@bcx.co.za.

Natya Ananda - Academy of Fine ArtsMonday: Asherville 4-7.30Friday: Phoenix 4-7Saturday: Chatsworth unit 1. 8 - 1pmContact: 0833600037 / 031-4036469verushkamood@hotmail.com / natyavp@redbean.co.za

Classified Section.

I have 1 mrithangam at R1200 (18”) and a naal also R1200 to 1 mrithangam at R1900 (22”) and a kuchi mrithangam for R2100 (24”). Two double reed harmoniums at R1800 each. A scale change at R5000 and a Paul and Co at R7000. Electronic srudi box at R650. Please contact me if you need any. Dance bells – 5 lines at R160 and 6 lines at R180. Mallipoo - Double R20 a metre. Dance sets from R400 (stones) to R1200 (temple set). I also have a Sachin Tendulkar’s MRF cricket bat for R600. I just remembered that I have a beautiful coat style leather jacket for sale at just R650. However this for a really big size guy and is a XXL.

South Africa: Contact Mrs. K. Govender, 30 Eskdale Road, Sydenham, Durban, 4091. Tel. 031-2086929.

Mauritius: Contact Mr. Balakrishna Tandrayan, 8 Sun Yat Sen Street, Port Louis, Tel. 2423404. Fax. 2413299. (Sorry this is for people from Mauritius)

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Chennai news 94

CHENNAI NEWS

(NEWS OF CHENNAI AND TAMILNADU BY ENVERNATHAN)

Volume 94 (October 2008)

Enver’s Rambling.

Sometimes even I don’t realise how seriously CN is taken. I had a call from a friend in SA a few days ago asking why I did not include his notice in the magazine. Sorry Henry I will not forget the next time.

Almost every year there seems a problem with the date of festivals and I am always asked to give the correct date. Now I am no expert but I just check with the calendar here as it is documented well in advance. The main problem seems to be Deepavali especially with the North South difference. So far only one person has asked me about this year’s Deepavali. I guess most South Indians are still in a state of shock that it falls on a Monday (according to my calendar) which is a fasting day for most of them. No problem for the North Indians as their day falls on a Tuesday which is their fasting day and in any case they have a fully vegetarian Deepavali.

This is what I would do if I was living in SA. I would have the usual Deepavali meal with trimmings on Sunday. I could even have a Deepavali braai as mum or the missus will be busy with all the baking preparations. On Monday I will have a real traditional cultural Deepavali (with the oil-bath and new clothes) and fireworks (not crackers as it will scare the dogs). On Tuesday in the name of linguistic and cultural unity I will once again celebrate Deepavali. So instead of a one day festival I will now have a three day festival. Maybe it will have to takeaways or Sunday’s leftovers on Tuesday as mum or the wife will be quite tired after all the preparations on Monday.

After the initial flurry of emails about the axing of KTV there seems to be a lull. Either I have been cut out of the loop or the campaign has lost steam or maybe it has been solved. I have heard that Zee TV is starting a Tamil channel in India so maybe this channel can be approached by Multichoice as Zee is already in SA. As they do not broadcast live to SA maybe the programs can be subtitled as is their Hindi programs. However Multichoice should consider this as an add-on and not in anyway think of replacing Sun TV. Sun TV has been declared the best channel in India not just in Tamil but among all the language groups.

I have been told that Narain Naidoo is actually Francis who is the person who started the idea of Radio Phoenix until it was high-jacked from him. He also ran a Tamil radio station on the internet for quite a while. I am not sure if it is still operational. I don’t know how he got involved with Multichoice but this guy is a real Tamil language and cultural patriot. He did send a letter introducing the Ethekweni Tamil Sungam to me. However he used the post office. Life is too short for snail mail I think all organisations should be using email and hopefully have a website.

A Hindu scholar Swami Thayalan Reddy is in the country from USA. He is from the International Hindu Revival Movement. He is prepared to speak at your organisation. For further information contact Dees Pillay 0837878351. I have not heard him speak so Dees can enlighten you on his capabilities and topics.


As from October 2 (Gandhi’s Birthday) it will be a crime to smoke in a public places in India. The move has been welcomed by the medical fraternity and by non smokers. A barman when interviewed said that it was now such a pleasure to work in a smoke-free pub. The Health minister is now looking at how to control alcohol consumption.

The new season of the ICL 20/20 cricket tournament has started. This is the league of less hype and more cricket. It has the best of the young Indian talent combined with the experience of the overseas veterans. I tell you the quality of cricket is really good. It is telecasted by Ten sports and Zee Sports so I am not sure if it is being shown in South Africa. The best part is that the teams have mostly talent from the corresponding city so you can really identify with them. The Chennai Super Stars won the first competition and are unbeaten so far in the current one.

The Pravasi Bharathi Divas is a meeting held every year by the Indian government for Indians living out side India. Although held mostly in Delhi this year it is Chennai that will be hosting this colourful and interesting event for the very first time. It will be held from January 7th to 9th at the Chennai Trade Centre. For more information you can log onto www.pbdindia.org and can register for the event. However check with me for accommodation as I am sure I can get it at a better rate or advise you to book with them if I can’t. However some of the hotels on the list are not worth the price so I will tell you which to avoid.

As a prelude to this meeting you can attend the first World Tamil Economic Conference and Tamil Diaspora Meet also in Chennai from 5th to 7th January at the Taj Coromandal Hotel. For more information you can log onto www.economic-conference.com and register here. I will give you more news of tours that I have planned before and after these two meetings. Don’t hesitate to contact me for more information.

The Sri Siva Aalayam invites you to an Evening of Bhajans by Veeramani Kannan at the Sri Siva Aalayam (Capetown) on 16th October 2008 From 6:30 – 8:00pm

ALL WELCOME - Light refreshments will be served. Contact Guru Krishna: 083 794 2542

8th November- SAMARPANAM- an offering of Devotion
Bharat Natyam production joining the celebration of my dance school in India, Bharata Kalanjali turning 40 years and my esteemed Guru, Shri VP Dhananjayan turns 70 and my 10 year anniversary of my arrangetarm.
A joyous celebration of the life and legacy of 'The Dhananjayans'

12TH November- SAI NATYA. Dance collaboration with six dance schools and accompanied by Karthigasen Pillay. Our humble offering of Dance to Bhagavan Sri Satya Sai Baba. The above two invitations are from Varushka so the ‘my’ and ‘our’ refers to her and not me. For her contact details see Naatya Ananda at the bottom.


Please don’t forget to keep the 20th December free. The Sydenham Tamil Society has a special invite for you. For those of you now living in Gauteng please plan you KZN visit so that you are in Durban for that weekend.


Internet

I have finally registered my website www.envernathan.com I am now in the process of developing this site. If you can help me please do so.

Some of you who visited India a few years ago promised me space on your server. I did not follow it up at that time but now that I have a web domain I will need that promised space. Please mail me.

To read the back issues of Chennai News log onto http://envernathan.blogspot.com

One of our groups in Facebook is called Learn and Teach Tamil. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6084403897) This was started on 1st December. This is an interactive site for people who want to learn Tamil and also for people who want to teach. As it is aimed at adults we are using the English font. Please join in to get involved. Kamesh has prepared some lessons, which I will share with you. However to get really involved on a daily basis it will be better to join the group.

For those of you who are interested in Tamil movies you can join the group Tamil Movie Club. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6526801521). You can join in some lively discussions on all aspects of Tamil cinema.

Tamil Eisteddfod Group. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7818284447) This is a place for all of you who ever took part in an eisteddfod whether as a participant, administrator, Adjudicator or the audience. The rule of the group is that you must introduce yourself. Hopefully we will have a collection of experiences that will inspire others to take part.

The latest addition is the Chennai Super Kings (IPL). This is off course for all supporters of the Chennai Super Kings 20/20 cricket team. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18926205926


For those of you who are looking for a Tamil word processor then you should look at the Azhagi software. You can get a free basic copy by downloading from the site www.azhagi.com

My son Kamesh has his own blog site, which can be accessed at http://kameshgovender.blogspot.com/. It is quite interesting and he loves putting pictures etc in it.


Film scene

I recently saw the movie Sakkrakatty (sugar lump) starring Shantanoo son of Bhagayaraj and Poornima Jairam. The movie is one of those sweet love stories that do not tax your concentration too much. It is about a first year college student Yuvaraj who on his first day sees Deepali (Ishita) who he falls in love with. Don’t these students go to college to study? Anyway after a while she responds. However a small diversion occurs when his very attractive cousin Reema (Vedhika) comes to town and enrols at the same college. The cousin falls in love with him. He is seen in what looks like a compromising situation, and Deepali breaks up with him. Thus it is now the work of his loyal friends to help him patch up. However again he is caught in a comprising situation with the same cousin (although everything is above board) and again she leaves him. His friends then decide to have a party and to invite both the girls. Their idea is to trap Reema on CCTV admitting that he has nothing to do with her. However this astute girl sees the cameras and is really hurt. She says all he had to do was ask and she would have readily admitted the fact. Anyway the girls develop a mutual admiration for each other. Finally the hero is forgiven. The music is by AR Rahman and is really good especially the Taxi Taxi song. However the picturisation does not compliment the songs and tried to do too much. If I was the director I would have switched the girls around as Vedikha looks much more heroine material.

After the long wait the movie Kadhalil Vizhunthen (I fell in Love) was finally released. The film boasts the song Nakka Mukku that has taken Tamil Nadu by storm for quite a few months. I saw Krish Swamivel’s troupe dance to this song at the Tamil New celebrations in Chatsworth. The movie is the first release by Sun Pictures and has been really punted on their networks especially the Nakka Mukku song. The movie stars a much slimmed Nakul (Boys) and debutant Sunaina one of the cutest girls that I have seen for a long time. The movie is told mostly as a flashback to the train conductor Livingstone who is superb in this small role.

Sabha (Nakul) lives in a slum and is a very good soccer player. However he meets an accident due to Meera a rich girl played by Sunaina. Meera then takes it upon herself to nurse him back to health especially when she learns that he does not have a mother. Friendship soon blossoms into love and they make a happy couple. The first part of the movie is excellent as it unfolds the romance between the two. However Sabha comes back from a tournament and learns that Meera has been killed in an accident. He becomes mentally disturbed and imagining that she is still alive he removes the body from the hospital and flees with it. He then becomes very protective and injures or kills anyone who he thinks is a danger to her. Although I did not like this part of the movie I must confess that it was well done and the acting and direction was superb. The young crowd at the cinema seems to have lapped it up. I see a very good future for both Nakul and Sunaina.

The movie has musical score by Vijay Anthony, cinematography by S D Vijay Milton and editing by V T Vijayan. Made on a shoestring budget of just one crore rupees (less than R2 million) it has become a super hit and is still running to full houses.


Poi Solla Poram is a movie by Vijay (Kreedam). The movie is a remake of the Hindi Khosla ka Ghosla however very well adapted for the Tamil audience. It stars Kartik Kumar who has finally made it on his own after always playing the perennial second hero. His new look really fits the part as the young software engineer who is trying to make his way to the US. New girl Piya who plays the part of his girlfriend Amritha is also very cute and bubbly. However the director keeps the romance subdued and does not distract from the main story. The movie also explores how a family whose members have grown apart is brought together when there is a crisis to be solved.

Sathyanathan (Nedumudi Venu) a retired government employee has sunk all his money in a building plot where he hopes to build his dream home. How ever when he takes his wife and three children to the site for the bhoomi pooja he finds that it has been occupied by someone called Baby. Further investigation shows that Baby (Nasser) is a notorious land grabber and is well connected with the police and the politicians. He asks for a sum of 1,5 million rupees (R300,000) to vacate the property. Finding no joy with the police, lawyers, politicians and even the social activist groups he decides to take the advice of his second son and engage some small time gangsters to help take over the land. This is successful for a day as the next day he is arrested by the police for forcible trespass. He decides that the best thing to do is to give up the land and remain in his cramped quarters. He is still cross that his son wants to go to USA. However Uppillinathan (Kartick), as the last thing before he leaves, decides with the help of his brother, sister and friends to try and get back the land by guile. With the help of Asif (Bosskey), a former assistant of Baby until he was robbed of his land, they devise a sting. This brings you to the second fun filled comedy part. Amritha’s father “Daddy” (Mouli) who runs a drama troupe plays the part of a rich Businessman from Dubai and is helped by his actors and actresses who play all the minor parts of the sting operation.

How they go about it I will leave to you to watch the movie to find out. People who watched the Hindi version said that the found a freshness in the Tamil version. For me who had not even heard of the Hindi version before this leave alone seeing it, I must say that I really enjoyed this movie.

People are eagerly waiting for the Deepavali releases.

The Ajith-Nayanthara action comedy entertainer Aegan is directed by Raju Sundram. Ajith has a huge youth fan base and with glamour girl Nayanthara will be hoping to have a huge success.

Pitted against them will be the love story Vaaranam Aayiram starring Surya with three heroines in Sameera, Divya and Simram. The Surya, Gautam Menon and Harris Jayaraj are a very successful combination and the music is already number one here.

Seval a mass entertainer with action and dances starring Bharat is directed by Hari and also stars Poonam Baweja. This movie will do very well in the smaller centers.

Guru en Aalu starring Madhavan, Vivek and Mamtha Mohandas is directed by Selva and is said to be a real laugh riot with Vivek cross dressing.

Competing with the big banners will be Prakash Raj’s Abhiyum Naanum starring Trisha. Director Radha Mohan of Mozhi fame once again teams up with this Duet Movies and Moser Baier production. The movie will explore the father daughter relationship.

However except for Vaaranam Aayiram and Seval the other movies are battling for screen space. Insiders are eagerly waiting to see if the trend of the smaller movies out performing the big stars will continue.


Music Scene

The Cd of Abhiyum Naanum has seven songs. The music is by Vidyasagar and the lyrics by the great poet Vairamuthu. One of the innovations is that each song is introduced by Prakash Raj in chaste Tamil. The Cd is packaged with song copies and a free DVD of the movie Mozhi.

The first song is Ore Oru Oorile is sung by Kailesh Kher and has a nice village feel to it. The second song Vaa Vaa en Dhevadhaye is sung Madhu Balakrishnan and is a beautiful ballad. Pachai Kaatre is sung by Sadhana Sargam and is a nice soft ballad with a Punjabi like peppy chorus. Moongil vittu Sendra is a short ballad song by Madhu. Azhagiya Azhagiya is sung by SPB with real feeling. Chinnamma Kalyanam by Kailesh Kher and Balle Balle by Rehan Khan are two short songs. As a bonus four of the main songs have instrumental versions.

Surya’s Vaaranam Aayiram also has seven songs with music by Harris Jeyaraj and lyrics by Thamarai. This Cd which comes with song copies is the current number one in Tamilnadu.

Adayae Kolluthey is a racy rock song by Krish, Benny Dayal and Sruthi Hassan (Kamal’s daughter). Nenjukkul Peidudham is a soft ballad by Hariharan, Devan and V Prasanna. Solar Sai is a rap based fast peppy song by Benny Dayal and Naresh Iyer. Mundhinam is a beautiful duet by Naresh Iyer and Prashantini. The musical interludes are just brilliant. Oh! Shanthi Shanthi by Clinton and SPB Charan is another fast beat pop song that will have you clicking your fingers. Ava Enna by Kartik and V Prasanna is a koothu based song that will be beautiful for a folk dance. Annul Maelae is a beautiful ballad sung by Sudha Ranganathan which for me is the pick of the movie.

Ajith’s Aegan has six songs with music by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Hey Saala is a rap based song by Blaaze, Naresh Iyer and M Aslam. This song do well in the discos. Yahoo Yahoo by Suvi, Ujjaini, Sathyan, Ranjith and Naveen is a fast peppy song. Hey Baby by Shankar Mahadevan is a kind of cabaret type of song. I am sure it will become a theme song for those named Maliga. Odum Varayil by KK and Bela Shende is a beautiful fast paced duet with a lovely chorus. Kichu Kichu is by Vasundara Dass and Yuvan Shankar Raja is a duet with a jazzy feel something that Vasundra exels in. The last is a repeat of Hey Saala.


Tourism Scene

I had quite a memorable trip down South and to Kerela. I had originally planned to leave on 15th September but changed my plans when we received an invitation to Sibiraj’s wedding. Sibiraj an actor is the son of veteran actor Satyaraj. Both my wife and my mother-in-law had taught him and his sister.

I thus left on the morning of 16th September. I took an Air Con day train to Nagerkoil which is an half hours drive to Kanyakumari. I enjoyed the train trip as it gave me time to catch up on my reading. I had taken the book Inside Indenture. I got there just in time to bathe have supper and go to bed. Even at 11 pm I could find a small bistro where I had parathas, gravy and a fried fish.

The next day I checked out the Hotel and my clients the Moonsamis who had spent two days there. Kanyakumari really looks impressive especially after they added the 133 ft Thiruvalluvar statue near Vivekanandha Rock.

I then took a bus to Trivandrum (Thiruvanthapuram) where I had lunch and then another bus to Allepey (Alapuzha). I stayed at the beautiful Arcadia Residency. In the evening I took a walk along the canals of Allepey. I also bought a few Malayalee Cds and DVDs. I ate at a Muslim restaurant where I ordered chicken shawmas which was really tasty. The next day I took a ride on a houseboat through the canals taking in the colourful life of the people that live along the canals. After an excellent lunch we crossed the Venayand lake to Kumaragum. I got off at the jetty because the weeds prevented us from docking in front of the Hotel. However it was just a 5 min walk from the jetty to the Waterscapes resort. The resort is a cluster of single roomed cottages on stilts. They have a restaurant, swimming pool, Gym, ayurvedic massage centre and a games room. I missed the other guys in my group so I decided to explore some of the other resorts on my own. The next morning I met the rest of my group and we visited even more resorts. We then left for the Hill station of Munnar which is about 5 hours away by road. Munnar is a smaller version of Ooty. We stayed at the Tea County resort. We visited a few resorts and all of them were very impressive. The rest of the group was all agents from Maharashtra and Bengal and they spoke mostly in Hindi which I could not understand. However they were a jolly bunch and now and then translated what they were talking about into English. The first thing I did when I got to my room was to switch on the TV and select a Tamil Channel so that I could listen to a familiar language.

The next morning we visited a spice shop and I bought all the spices on the list that Gowri had given me and a few more that were not on the list. After visiting a few more resorts we drove down to Cochin stopping on the way at a Home-stay for lunch. This was a beautiful house in which 5 rooms were converted for home-stay. After many days of hotel food it was a real pleasure to eat the sumptuous food prepared by the hostess.

The opening program at KTM was outstanding. After the dancers performed their particular form of dance they got together and performed a fusion of different dance forms that was out of this world.

The next two days was spent visiting the different stalls of hotels, resorts and tour operators explaining their products. I met Yasmin and Clive from Harvey World and Ricky and Paul from in Phoenix. On the third day I made a trip to Palagad to visit an Ayurvedic resort. I underwent a full body massage that just cannot be explained. It has to be experienced. Later that evening I travelled back to Chennai by an overnight train. It was good to come back home but I had to answer an avalanche of Emails.


Notice Board – Please mail me if you want to put your organisation on this notice board. However I need a mail from the principal organiser so that information is correct.

The Sydenham Tamil Society has successfully started their yoga classes last week with 9 participants and from what I heard they really enjoyed it. So if you want to join then better contact them fast as they want to take a limited number

The Sydenham Tamil Society has started singing and harmonium classes under the tutorage of Mr Kumaresan Chetty every Wednesday at 6 pm. Yoga classes also on Tuesdays . For more information contact their PRO Miss Sivani Naidoo sivaninaidoo@gmail.com.

Sri Saradha Institute of Arts and Culture (Free Tuition in Tamil, Music

& Dance)

Saturday 9.00 - 11.00 at Ganesha Temple - Cnr of Palmview Dr &

CrestBrook - Phoenix

Contact Suja or Kovilan Muthumanikam on 083 742 8508 for more details

Manormani Dance Academy. A school of Bharatha Natyam and Folk Dance.

Saturday 9.00 – 12.00 at Umgeni Road Temple. 13.30 – 16.30 ABH – Chathsworth.

Tuesday 15-30 – 17.00 Stanmore Regional Hall.

Wednesday 17.30 – 19.00 Mount View Civic Hall.

For further details contact Mrs Govender on 031-5053379

Hindu Cultural League - Music and Dance Academy

Offers the following classes on Saturdays in the disciplines of Music, Dance and Language: Bharata Natyam, Tabla, Harmonium, Tamil, and Karnatic Vocal Classes & Folk & Contemporary Dance. Children and adults, from beginners to advanced are welcome.

Classes are held at the H. A. Jack Primary School, Cnr Jauncey & Preston Roads, Abbottsford (close to Melrose Temple). Johannesburg. For more information in respect of times, cost and other information, contact

Rueben 072 709 5991, Thirumala 082 563 4439, Don 082 787 2056 or Inbam 083 262 6511 or email info@hcl.co.za Visit our website www.hcl.co.za

Sahaja Yoga, the following numbers could be used: Durban - 031-400 4703, PMburg - 033-391 3557, Johannesburg - 011-864 3410, Cape Town 021-713 2463
alternatively, you could visit www.sahajayoga.org for more info or e-mail lincoln.pillay@bcx.co.za.

Natya Ananda - Academy of Fine Arts
Monday: Asherville 4-7.30
Friday: Phoenix 4-7
Saturday: Chatsworth unit 1. 8 - 1pm
Contact: 0833600037 / 031-4036469
verushkamood@hotmail.com / natyavp@redbean.co.za


KUMARI VELOSHANI MANICUM DANCE ACADEMY - THE ACADEMY OF BHARATHA NATYAM & MODERN INDIAN DANCE!

CLASSES:

Monday - VERULAM 5-6pm

Tuesday - WEMBLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL 5-6pm

Thursday - BRAILSFORD PRIMARY SCHOOL 5-6pm

Friday - STERNGROVE PRIMARY SCHOOL 5.30-7.30pm

FOR MORE INFO CONTACT VELOSHANI 031-5074455 / 0727831738

Classified Section.

I have 1 mrithangam at R1200 (18”) and a naal also R1200 to 1 mrithangam at R1900 (22”) and a kuchi mrithangam for R2100 (24”). Two double reed harmoniums at R1800 each. A scale change at R5000 and a Paul and Co at R7000. Electronic srudi box at R650. Please contact me if you need any. Dance bells – 5 lines at R160 and 6 lines at R180. Mallipoo - Double R20 a metre. Dance sets from R400 (stones) to R1200 (temple set). I also have a Sachin Tendulkar’s MRF cricket bat for R600. I just remembered that I have a beautiful coat style leather jacket for sale at just R650. However this for a really big size guy and is a XXL.

South Africa: Contact Mrs. K. Govender, 30 Eskdale Road, Sydenham, Durban, 4091. Tel. 031-2086929.

Mauritius: Contact Mr. Balakrishna Tandrayan, 8 Sun Yat Sen Street, Port Louis, Tel. 2423404. Fax. 2413299. (Sorry this is for people from Mauritius)

Monday, September 15, 2008

Chennai News 93

CHENNAI NEWS
(NEWS OF CHENNAI AND TAMILNADU BY ENVERNATHAN)
Volume 93 (September 2008)

Enver’s Rambling.

My heart goes out to the Tamils in South Africa. A few years ago they were so excited about the East-West Channel which unfortunately failed to take off. Now they have been short changed by Multichoice when the KTV channel was taken out of the South Indian bouquet. Just for the record KTV is still part of the Sun Network in India and the rest of the world. It was not taken over by Dr Karunanidhi (who has his own channel called Kalainger TV) or any other company. In fact Sun Network has 20 channels in the 4 South Indian languages. The latest addition is a 24 hour Tamil comedy channel. Besides the 5 Tamil channels that are part of the Sun network there are another 11 Tamil channels making a total of 16 Tamil channels. I still believe that the 24 hour Sun Music channel with its young vibrant VJs will do well in SA as will the new comedy channel.
One wonders why Multichoice decided to drop KTV. Is it because of the number of complaints some subscribers made to them complaining about the programs on KTV. Some of these people did cc their complaints to me thus I know about it. I did tell them at that time that for every one complaint there would be hundreds of satisfied viewers. Some of these people have now told me that they complained so that the service could be bettered and not to have it stopped.
I find it strange that multichoice who are so secretive of their numbers have suddenly declared that the South Indian bouquet (SIB) has 4000 subscribers. They say that the North Indian bouquet has 44,000 subscribers. I am not sure if this is for South Africa or for the whole of Africa. Maybe if the South Indians can also increase their number of subscribers then they could also get a better deal. I also wonder what efforts are being made by Multichoice to increase the number of subscribers to this bouquet.
However I believe that it is really unethical for Multichoice to cut KTV and still charge the same price. It seems to go against all the laws of consumerism. People in India will not be able to understand how one company can hold the monopoly for Satellite TV. Here we have a choice of 3 cable operators and at least 5 different satellite companies. In fact companies are offering free subscriptions for 1 whole year to new subscribers.
I did advocate this last year and maybe it is time that the 4000 subscribers and the estimated 20,000 + viewers formed a SIB forum to tackle this problem. As subscribers you have this right. Engaging Multichoice head-on will be a much better strategy that cancellation. I don’t think you want to go back to only hiring DVDs.
I thought I knew all the big players in our Tamil cultural world but I have been proven wrong because I have no idea about Mr Narain Naidoo and the Ethekweni Tamil Sangam who were consulted by Multichoice.
How is it that organisations like the SATF, NTF, NTVS, MTSS, the Eisteddfod movement and TAG was not consulted instead? These organisations (sorry if I missed out any) have been in the forefront of promoting our Tamil culture in SA for many years.

Congratulation to Dr Deena Padayachee and Mr Danny Naicker who have been chosen from the Live Poets' Society for the Poetry Africa Festival. Also further congratulations to Deena for his literary success in the US.


The Pravasi Bharathi Divas is a meeting held every year by the Indian government for Indians living out side India. Although held mostly in Delhi this year it is Chennai that will be hosting this colourful and interesting event for the very first time. It will be held from January 7th to 9th at the Chennai Trade Centre. For more information you can log onto www.pbdindia.org and can register for the event. However check with me for accommodation as I am sure I can get it at a better rate or advise you to book with them if I can’t. However some of the hotels on the list are not worth the price so I will tell you which to avoid.
As a prelude to this meeting you can attend the first World Tamil Economic Conference and Tamil Diaspora Meet also in Chennai from 5th to 7th January at the Taj Coromandal Hotel. For more information you can log onto www.economic-conference.com and register here. I will give you more news of tours that I have planned before and after these two meetings. Don’t hesitate to contact me for more information.
Some good news was hearing that Magan Balakisten and Mahendri Pillay (another from the Tamil Eisteddfods) have made it to the Finals of the SATMA awards. Congratulations from me and Chennai News.

The Sydenham Tamil Society will be starting Yoga classes from next month. They will be conducting a free introductory class at the end of this month. For more information contact their PRO Miss Sivani Naidoo sivaninaidoo@gmail.com

The Saiva Sithantha Sungam Asherville branch is having a grand Dinner and dance on Saturday 20 Sept at Kenda hall at 5.00pm. Tickets are R100.00 per person. Contact Juggie: 0837760776

Internet

I have finally registered my website www.envernathan.com I am now in the process of developing this site. If you can help me please do so.
Some of you who visited India a few years ago promised me space on your server. I did not follow it up at that time but now that I have a web domain I will need that promised space. Please mail me. Thanks to those of you who have visited the website and have given me suggestions. I really value it.

One of our groups in Facebook is called Learn and Teach Tamil. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6084403897) This was started on 1st December. This is an interactive site for people who want to learn Tamil and also for people who want to teach. As it is aimed at adults we are using the English font. Please join in to get involved. Kamesh has prepared some lessons, which I will share with you. However to get really involved on a daily basis it will be better to join the group.
This site is becoming very popular and is increasing daily. An article on this site appeared in the July 13 edition of the Sunday Times extra. You can read this article by clicking on the following. http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/News/Article.aspx?id=800351

For those of you who are interested in Tamil movies you can join the group Tamil Movie Club. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6526801521) Not to be confused with the Movie club that you pay R100 as an investment. The one in Facebook is of course free. You can join in some lively discussions on all aspects of Tamil cinema.
Tamil Eisteddfod Group. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7818284447) This is a place for all of you who ever took part in an eisteddfod whether as a participant, administrator, Adjudicator or the audience. The rule of the group is that you must introduce yourself. Hopefully we will have a collection of experiences that will inspire others to take part.
The latest addition is the Chennai Super Kings (IPL). This is off course for all supporters of the Chennai Super Kings 20/20 cricket team. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18926205926
For those of you who are looking for a Tamil word processor then you should look at the Azhagi software. This is also excellent for transliterating Tamil songs etc. You can get a free basic copy by downloading from the site www.azhagi.com If needed you can then opt for the more advance version. You don’t even have to know Tamil to use it.

My son Kamesh has his own blog site, which can be accessed at http://kameshgovender.blogspot.com/. It is quite interesting and he loves putting pictures etc in it.
Film scene

After his success of Prabhu Venkat’s (Gangai Amaram’s son) first movie Chennai 28 people here were eagerly awaiting his second movie Saroja. Well he certainly did not disappoint us and this movie is fast becoming a super hit. It is a light hearted thriller which at times brings you to the edge of your seat. The suspense is kept right till the last scene. The story is about four ordinary men who find themselves in an extraordinary situation and how they react to it. Four friends go on a road trip to Hyderabad to attend an India Pakistan cricket match. However on the way they find the road blocked when a tanker overturns. They decide to take a short cut and end up in a deserted area where they witness a killing. While fleeing they find a girl Saroja who has been kidnapped. The kidnapping story is told in a parallel track. Now they have to not only save themselves but also Saroja. The first part is very light-hearted and the second part tense with however some light hearted moments included. However every thing about the movie is so natural. The cast includes the four friends Jagapathi Babu (SP Charan – SPB’s son), his brother Raj Babu (Vaibhav), Ganesan (Premji – Venkat’s brother), Ajay (Shiva), Prakash Raj as the father of Saroja and Jayaram as his cop friend. As Ajay is a TV artiste there is an array of small screen artistes who will be familiar to Sun TV viewers. The music is by Yuvan Shankar Raja and is out of this world. The role of Saroja is played by singer Vega formerly of the all girl band Viba girls. She does a good number as a DJ in a club. Premji’s comic intrusions are a real joy to watch.
One of the highlights was that all the artistes from Chennai 28 including Jai do a small cameo in this movie much to the delight of the audience.

I recently saw the movie Jayam Kondaan starring Vinay (Unnale Unnale) Bhavana and Lekha Washington. You may remember me writing about the English movie Framed where Lekha acted with my niece Malavika.
The movie is about a young man Arjun (Vinay) who comes back from the UK when his father dies. He looks for the money that he has been sending monthly to his father. In the quest he finds out that his father has a second wife and he has a younger half sister Brinda (Lekha). He finds out that his father has invested in a house near Madurai. He goes there and meets the tenants and is enamoured by the daughter Poorni (Bhavana). Bhavana is quite gorgeous here with beautiful costumes.
Lekha as the sister who tries to corner the wealth has made an excellent debut in Tamil cinema. She really looks the part of a young Indian girl of today.
The rest of the movie is how Vinay wins over his sister and also how he wards of the interference of the local goon who gets involved against his wishes. Director Kannan an assistant of Mani Rathnam has really done himself proud in his debut movie. His handling of the story in general and the brother sister situation is beautifully done. He has also handled Vivek very well and this is really one of Vivek’s better roles. The music which is very good is by Vidhya Sagar.

Many people think that Jai made his debut in Subramaniapuram. Actually it was his third movie. Jai made his debut as Vijay’s younger brother in Bhagavathy. His second role was in the hugely successful Chennai 600028 which highlighted Gulley cricket in Chennai. Incidentally Jai is the nephew of music director Deva. His next movie is Vamanam with model turned actress Priya Anand and the hugely talented Lakshmi Rai. Other movies that he is supposed to have signed for are Aval Per Tamilarasi and Rakkozhi.

Dham Dhoom is the last movie of director Jeeva who died in Moscow just as he finished the shooting of the Russian part of the movie. The movie was completed by his assistant. As in all Jeeva films the story line is divided into two parallel tracks. One is of Dr Gautham Subramaniam (Ravi) who is about to get married but has to go to Russia for a medical convention. There he is accused of a murder of a Russian girl as all the circumstantial evidence points to him. The parallel track is of how he meets and wins the love of his bride to be played by Kanaga Renault. Although playing a village belle her two dream numbers are really scorching.
Gautham is helpless in Russia because of the language barrier and is helped by Raghavan Nambiar (Jayaram) from the Indian Embassy Aarti Chinappa (Lakshmi Rai), an advocate who lives in Russia. Lakshmi Rai gives a brilliant role of a girl who slowly falls in love with her client but has to subdue her feeling when she learns that he is about to get married. However the Russian police are made to look like bungling fools. Gautham and Aarti are on the run most of the time until he decides to fight back. Ravi is maturing much as an actor but please don’t expect the Ravi of Something Something and Santosh Subramaniam. Although the movie is quite good one keeps on wondering what the final product would have been if Jeeva was still alive.

The Rajnikanth movie Robot has been renamed Endhiran in Tamil. The movie to be directed by Shankar also stars Aishwaria Rai (finally) who returns to Tamil after many years. She has reported to be getting one of the biggest pay checks for an actress in Tamil.

Actress Genellia says that she loves South Indian food and that the South Indian movie industry is the most disciplined in India. She says that she owes every thing to the Tamil and Telugu film industry which discovered her and nurtured her career. Even though she has become a hit in Hindi movies she will not stop acting in movies of the south.

Trisha who is the undisputed number one in both Tamil and Telugu movies is taking quite a chance by turning down two Telugu movies for Kamal’s Marmayogi. She has to give the movie a block of 200 days in which she can not act in any other movie.

The biggest news making waves in the Tamil film industry is the entry of Sun Pictures (a sister company of Sun TV) as a production house. They are already involved in six movies. With the reach of Sun TV thorough out the world these movies are guaranteed instant success.

I delayed sending Chennai News because I wanted to attend the marriage of Sibiraj the actor son of Satyraj. Sibi will always be Student Number 1 for my mother-in-law and my wife. The reception was in the plush Mayor Ramanathan hall. I had gone armed with my camera and had told my sons to put in new batteries which I had bought in Macro. I was really disappointed when the new batteries were dead. Anyway Sibi promised me some photos. The Chief Minister was attending the weddings so there was a battalion of cops and security personnel around. Sibi and his charming wife made a lovely couple. I spoke to actor Manivanan’s son Raghu who has a few movies to be released soon. However as I had to make an early start the next day (and my camera was not working) we decided to come back early. It was fun however to identify all the actors and actresses present.

Music Scene

The music world deeply mourns the death of the violin maestro Kunnakuddi Vadyanathan who passed away on Monday September 8. His music was appreciated not only by the conneseurs but also by the ordinary man in the street. He used to divide his concert into three parts viz classical, devotional and film tunes thus catering to everyone.
In fact he is credited in de-mystifying carnatic music for the layman. I remember some years ago a Mr Murugan who was my nephew Jayson’s teacher in Sydenham primary asked me to record some violin solos for him. I then recorded all the violin masters. However he returned all the tapes asking if I could only record all Kunnakuddi’s music.
Kunnakuddi showed no interest in music as a young boy even though his father and mother and sisters were musicians. When he was ten his father was so annoyed when the violinist who was to accompany his daughters did not turn up that he asked Kunnakudi to learn the instrument. Within a year he was able to accompany any singer. He was one of the few Carnatic musicians who revelled in playing Tamil music especially film music. His favourite ragas without doubt were Shunmugapriya and Hindolam.
Besides being a musician he was a very successful Music director composing music for movies like his debut Vaa Raja Vaa to Deivam, Agathiyar and Raja Raja Chozhan. Who will forget his immortal song Marudamalai Mamaniyae Murugaiyya brought alive by Madurai Somu. This song is still very popular in South Africa.
From 1976 he stopped accompanying musicians and concentrated in solo performances. He then concentrated in his own unique fingering technique which stands apart from other violinists. It is during this time that he formed an association with thavil vidvan Vallayapatti Subramaniam with whom he gave over 3000 concerts.
He was also an able administrator and served as secretary of the Tamilnadu Iyal, Isai Nadaga Mandram. He was also an organiser of the Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Utsavam for many years. He was also the president of the Raga foundation. I will now cherish all my Kunnakudi Cds. Depending on the source he was between 73 and 76 years old.

One of the things that I am always talking to temple organisations about is having a shop in their premises. I find that many people will buy Cds etc when they go to a concert, temple and wedding but will not necessary go to a shop that is out of their way. I am happy to announce that the Saiva Sithanda Sungam in Asherville has opened such a shop. Besides having a lot of their own goods they also have a number of my Cds on sale. Thus they are not only providing a much needed service for their members and general public but are also adding to their kitty.
People in Gauteng can buy original Tamil Cds and other related goods at Kryan’s Spice Shop run by the affable Vis Govender. The shop number 5 is situated in the Sunninghill Village, Maxwell Drive in Sunninghill. You can phone Vis for more information on 0825506631. I heard that they have something exciting lined up for this years Deepavali.
If other religious and cultural organisations also want to open these cultural shops please contact me and I will give you all the help that I can render.

Best wishes to all of you who will be starting your Puratassi fast. This is also the best time for regular vegetarians as they have a month of a variety of vegetarian dishes wherever they go.

Tourism Scene

I will be on my annual fact finding mission from Tuesday September 16. My journey will take me to Kanyakumari, Trivandrum, Kovelam beach, Kollam, Allepey, Cochin, Kottiyam, Kumaragum, Munnar and Palaghad. I will also be attending the three day Kerala tourism Mart in Cochin. The main reason from my trip is to look at all the hotels that I use or will use for the coming season and also to check out the new tourists spots that my tourists can go to. This is so that I can always give you the best possible service and also the latest products. I will try and get onto the internet every day but cannot promise you the instant replies that you are used to. I will be back in Chennai on 24th September.

A few days ago I went to Pondicherry to see some of the new Hotels that have come up. I am please with the standard of the Hotel that I use there and some new ones that I found there. However I am still looking for a really good beach Hotel there and was pleased to hear that few are coming up and will be ready soon. Looks like I will have to make another trip there soon.

Notice Board – Please mail me if you want to put your organisation on this notice board. However I need a mail from the principal organiser so that information is accurate.

The Sydenham Tamil Society has started singing and harmonium classes under the tutorage of Mr Kumaresan Chetty every Wednesday at 6 pm. For more details contact Mr Rudy Pillay at 031-2086929.

Sri Saradha Institute of Arts and Culture (Free Tuition in Tamil, Music
& Dance)
Saturday 9.00 - 11.00 at Ganesha Temple - Cnr of Palmview Dr &
CrestBrook - Phoenix
Contact Suja or Kovilan Muthumanikam on 083 742 8508 for more details

Manormani Dance Academy. A school of Bharatha Natyam and Folk Dance.
Saturday 9.00 – 12.00 at Umgeni Road Temple. 13.30 – 16.30 ABH – Chathsworth.
Tuesday 15-30 – 17.00 Stanmore Regional Hall.
Wednesday 17.30 – 19.00 Mount View Civic Hall.
For further details contact Mrs Govender on 031-5053379

Hindu Cultural League - Music and Dance Academy
Offers the following classes on Saturdays in the disciplines of Music, Dance and Language: Bharata Natyam, Tabla, Harmonium, Tamil, and Karnatic Vocal Classes & Folk & Contemporary Dance. Children and adults, from beginners to advanced are welcome.
Classes are held at the H. A. Jack Primary School, Cnr Jauncey & Preston Roads, Abbottsford (close to Melrose Temple). Johannesburg. For more information in respect of times, cost and other information, contact
Rueben 072 709 5991, Thirumala 082 563 4439, Don 082 787 2056 or Inbam 083 262 6511 or email info@hcl.co.za Visit our website www.hcl.co.za

Sahaja Yoga, the following numbers could be used: Durban - 031-400 4703, PMburg - 033-391 3557, Johannesburg - 011-864 3410, Cape Town 021-713 2463alternatively, you could visit www.sahajayoga.org for more info or e-mail lincoln.pillay@bcx.co.za.


Classified Section.

I have 4 mrithangams ranging from R1200 (18”) and a naal also R1200 to 2 mrithangams at R1900 (22”) and a kuchi mrithangam for R2100 (24”). Two double reed harmoniums at R1800 each. A scale change at R5000 and a Paul and Co at R7000. Electronic srudi box at R650. Please contact me if you need any. Dance bells – 6 lines at R160. Mallipoo - Double R15 a metre. Dance sets from R400 (stones) to R1200 (temple set). I also have a Sachin Tendulkar’s MRF cricket bat for R600. I just remembered that I have a beautiful coat style leather jacket for sale at just R650. however this for a really big size guy and is a XXL.

South Africa: Contact Mrs. K. Govender, 30 Eskdale Road, Sydenham, Durban, 4091. Tel. 031-2086929.

Mauritius: Contact Mr. Balakrishna Tandrayan, 8 Sun Yat Sen Street, Port Louis, Tel. 2423404. Fax. 2413299. (Sorry this is for people from Mauritius)