On the banks of Cauvery

Surprising (or because of it) for a person born and brought up on the banks of Koovum in Chennai, I retain a very strong love for rivers, especially when they are brimming with water. As a Tamil, the river Cauvery is very special to me and my heart bleeds to see the dry sands of Palar. With nature's bounty last year, most major and minor rivers of Tamilnadu managed to see water, which became a sight to behold. Our people have the highest reverence for nature at a spiritual level but at the practical level they are also the most insensitive in protecting the environment. Fortunately there's a lot more environmental awareness today and I am happy to see even villagers protesting the illegal sand quarrying or encroachments of water bodies.

Pic: A scene of flowing Cauvery near Swamimalai

 

MTC Web Site

MTC, Chennai (former Pallavan) has launched their brand new web site http://www.mtcbus.org/, of course with Amma's photo in the home page. Relatively speaking, its not bad for a government web site, especially Tamilnadu government. They provides fairly detailed route information by bus number and the proposed route map does look promising if it does get done ever. The biggest problems of these web sites however is that, most of the time they end up with just the static information provided at the time of launch (which usually is done with much fanfare by Amma), with very little updates or interactive content. What I would like to see is something like the one for London.

Thames - London

Continuing with more London Photos.
River Thames is the lifeline of London, just like Ganga is for Varanasi or Cauvery for Trichy. It is what made London a maritime city and much of London's history has flown by along the river. Unlike Indian cities, however, there are numerous bridges across the river to make crossing the river just a little easier. Here's one shot of the river and some of bridges as seen from the "Tower Bridge', the most famous one.







Moving on to Tamilian things,

The TN political scene is getting even more interesting by the day. With the overwhelming advantage of DPA kind of floundering a little (at least as per some media reports), the coalition scene is getting more important and curiouser. While Kalignjer has managed to keep his flock intact as yet, the seat negotiations are bound to cause some issues. While Amma is waiting with open hands to embrace anyone willing to come out, I am waiting to see the how those who jump ship try to justify their actions, which I am sure will make us LOL. Already, actor Radharavi has made several stupid statements, including saying the TN (ADMK) women may not be that sad for losing their husband because Amma is providing a grant of 50,000/-

La affaire Khushboo and Maxim, after being at the receiving end of manufactured public ire, I am thinking she is trying to play a victim. Somehow, I dont feel much sympathy, especially after rejecting Maxim's reasonable and serious attempts for a settlement and her demanding 3 Crore damages.
 

Greenwich Park, London

Greenwich (pronounced Grenich), for a small locality of London, has disproportinate fame by virtue of G.M.T. The line that divides the world into east and west runs thru here. On the banks of Thames, this place had a hoary tradition of maritime and astronomical activities but today they are living only in the museums here. The Greenwich park is a nice place for picnic and coupled with a visit to the Maritime musuem and Royal Observatory (both free), is a great day out in London.

Pic: A shot of the grey skies over the Greenwich park