Marble soda

After long time, I tasted one of my favorite drink ‘goli soda’ (marble soda), when I was near chengalpet – a town near to Chennai. It’s a common carbonate drink, enclosed in a bottle and sealed by a toy marble. There’re different types of sodas, known as color soda, paneer soda, ginger soda and lime soda. The color soda comes in three flavors such as cola, orange and green. In all these, I use to drink Paneer soda the most and I love the savor which tastes alike rose water. Since it was the only soda sold in our area then, next to the typical one.

There are times I wonder at marble sodas, that how came the marble inside the bottle and how it was sealed. Having seen many a days, how these bottles are arranged on the handcarts and pulled by man to deliver it to shops, I haven’t known how these marble sodas are sealed, until I checked this video.

One of an incident I could not forget was on the way through a village less than a decade ago, where I find color sodas on a store suddenly and indirect my dad who was driving! Thus he missed the speed breaker ahead and the car bumped huge and displaced everything inside the car and then stops the player to sing never again. From then, whenever we come across that village and sometime on huge speed breakers, this incident comes at instant.

Near to my grandpa’s home in Chennai, there was a marble soda company named Gugan & co. Whenever I visit my grandpa’s home and from their balcony, I used to watch the morning activates of this company being carried out the soda bottles in handcarts and rearranged it as per there delivery. The bottles would be arranged in wooden boxes, with a set of bottled keep upright and another set in inverse position to adjust the space, and every bottle seems alike, I used to think why the old man (who I usual see there arranging bottles) just keep on changing the bottles from one box to another.

The marble soda always attracts me and marbles being one my favorite things to play then, I use to think about hoe to get it out. Today we don’t see much marble sodas in stores esp. in cities like Chennai. Opening the bottle is another excitement and it can be open in two ways, by keeping our thumb or a specially designed block on the marble and strike with our palm to push the marble inside. In marble sodas, it’s always a trouble drinking it quite, as the marble that remains in the neck of the bottle used to block the mouth of the bottle while we tilt, so we need little cause to drink the soda.

After much occupation of international companies, the marble sodas face a hard time to survive and it exists only in rural sides and hardly suburbs today.

One pleasant noon

It’s quite calm after we come across Barijam junction in kodaikanal, except few vehicles pass on, its more nature and we. In search of nice place to have lunch, we stopped somewhere to wonder that it was the same place we had our breakfast a decade ago. It’s a piece of grass land and green bush surrounded.

The wind blows so cold and pleasure; and we parked our vehicle beside and spread the mat. More than having lunch, it was the place that impressed me and wanted to finish lunch soon and to move few distance along the road. It was quite pleasure and I was on wheels, along the pine shrubs and eucalyptus trees for sometime. There was a pristine stream then and it still exists. But sadly it was surrounded by waste wrappers and dumped litters today.

On the way I saw this guy training his horse by sitting on its back, riding fast and on paces in kodaikanal. The horse sounds like worn horseshoes and seems like it was on sever training by his owner and thus the horse obeys his order, bearing the whips he gives. The strike just resonates still in my sense and the sound it response to his sudden brake, like a car strikes. I just wonder, how much strain does those horses that merrily goes around the Kodai Lake, should have born to bear visitors on its back to sustain and kind being!

With less than couple of rounds, he rides away... and we get packed and moved, after sometime being relaxed.

Scared night

Dad was off to an event and turned home lately by 11.30pm and after watching my favorite shows on television, waited sometime for dad to arrive and headed to bed in happy mood across mid night. After some conversation still lied on bed, I teased dad merely, for gone to the event (where people gather together) and warned to be cautious not to bring home swine and went into deep slumber soon.

More than an hours was past, I suddenly waked due to a mild constant cough and wanted to spit. I tried to control, and when I feel I can’t, I waked dad to bring split vessel and so he brought and I split. One may wonder what strange about this and it’s a usual thing everyone does in spite to split.

But what I split just put me in shook and scare, because it was pure red in color. I mean blood! I wasn’t expected and never like ever and after splitting blood and in between for sometime, I was feeling tremble in fear along with mom’s scare; and what put me more into scare is the amount of blood I split and it could be about 50ml. Dad was saying it’s because of heat and along in disbelief, they don’t know what to do and in hesitate whether to go to the nearby hospital or not.

Mom inclined me on her and embraced. I tried hard to prevent spitting and in sometime I laid on bed with raised pillows and fight to sleep, keeping away the fear and trouble. After couple of times waked in between, I caught up with cold fever in cause of fear and tremble, I lead the night in sustain fear and somehow the blood stopped coming and thus it gets me some symptoms of courage and confidence.

Only after early morning, I began to sleep slightly, with throat feeling hard to swallow even the saliva and it sustained for the whole day. Being waked away, I slip to see no blood to exit and it certainly put me in pleasure and brings hope that it was a reflection of heat and throat infection. Being clarified by aunt and uncle that it’s a general thing happens of heat and throat hurt, and that in my case blood had come more and makes me scare. After taking medicine, it was ok then and later.

Being Sunday the next day, our family doctor won’t visit his clinic, and though the blood stopped coming then, I took some antibiotic pills and felt comfort somewhat. But I can’t be just like that and feeling uncertain about the cause, I visited our doctor on Monday evening and he gives me much confidence that it was nothing than a throat infection and gives some piles. Now I feel much better and hope to be fine soon.

Immense pain

I listen to a voice that speaks heart
and whisper teardrops,
right now in memories of her son

I listen to her silence that says sorry
and immersed in teardrops
that’s merging herself into her son

I look into her eyes that I imagined
and those pretty eyes disclose
a world without sun, alike her son

I look into her mind where her son buried
and ever since he born
she embraces him in hands and mind

I wish peace for her, indeed
who lives a source of life
in memories of her only soul son!

To mom, who quite disturbed and loved to be in memories of Karthik anna (bro).

Cheran’s treasure – remarkable!

Last week I watched Pokkisham (treasure), and I was convinced not to miss this movie and it was the last day of the movie to be screen on the only theater I could visit – The Drive-in. I avoided reading reviews and except preview, I went to watch the movie just like that and impressed upon the emotions, the value of communication, beautiful composition and cinematography. Here I like to share my view on the movie that moved me.
The movie revolves almost around 70’s and makes certain the feel of those days, I wasn’t exists. Even the story was simple; the screenplay bears much emotion, expressions of love and great patience of post letter transmission. Lately we never aware much about the importance of writing letters to someone and waiting for days to get replay. In just few click we pass our message to one at some corners of this world today, with advance technologies like internet, emails, SMS… and cell phones have become an integral part of our lives and thinking back becomes lesser these days. Must appreciate director Cheran’s cause, to bring back those days to sense and makes us think how precious waiting means and writing a letter from our heart.

We need more patience to watch the movie, since it moves snail pace and gives much time to experience the sense. Cheran has understood only with love, certain sense of oldness can be felt and explains the only communication via post those days, other than rare dial telephones. He disclosed the letters between two hearts and says more than hi, how r u, there is so much to develop the relationships by encouraging good thoughts and human sense and rights. Since letters rule the movie, the postal service and post boxes deserve there best approval. In love cheran holds umbrella to the post box and following postman, to check his letter is on progress to its destination are significant even it seems poetic and funny.

Many scenes have been shot in Kolkata; the hand pulling rickshaws are remarkable to the movie, replacing oldness along with bull carts and moped used by cheran. I wonder every time looking at Padma Priya’s expression inside the closed curtain and I look in disbelief, how many beautiful and intelligent visages must be hidden within many curtains of Muslim women. Unaware myself, I get little anger on the community to make certain, women are within intense religious belief and suppress there freedom to chose their carrier. Somehow the movie comes closer that more than belief, it’s regarding human being… but later failed to be constant.

The Nagore and sea shores are well captured and the beautiful visage of Padma Priya composed in a song via nature, where cheran travels in a bus is pretty adorable. Keeping away the violence and hatred, they have shown emotional pain and suffer in love, the beauty of blooming hearts, where alike butterflies flapping wings. The shore knocked boat, cheran’s single cot room and the way letters penned down and the silent expressions are way to romance. The title names that falls on the pictures that treasure early Chennai and Kolkata, is one worth befit to the movie.

At last everything says the song NIla Nee Vaanam Kattru… quite treasure!