Some of my favourite Shamshad Begum songs

Bachpan ke din bhula na dena – Deedar

Na bol pi pi more angna – Dulari (with Lata)

Chandni ayee banke pyaar – Dulari

Mere piya gaye Rangoon – Patanga (with C Ramchandra)

Kahe koyal shor machaye re – Aag

Ek do teen aaja mausam hai rangeen – Awara

Kahin pe nigahen kahin pe nishana – CID

Meri pyaari patang- Dillagi (with Uma Devi aka Tuntun)

Bhooj mera kya naam re – CID

Mere neendon me tum – Naya Andaz (with Kishore)

Reshmi salwaar kurta – Naya Daur (with Asha)

Chali pee ke nagar – Mirza Ghalib

Bhiga bhiga pyaar ka samaa – Saawan (with Rafi)

Tere mehfil mein kismat aazmakar – Mughal e Azam (with Lata)

A unique voice. Strong, nasal and not without flaws. But what power in rendition. What clarity in lyrics.

Some place names – according to TNEB schedule

Nowadays I read the power cut schedule carefully, chiefly to get a laugh out of the typos. Here are some samples:

Update on 24th March 2013

Lattangas Road (for Lettangs Road)

Madam Lane – How exciting! What does she do? Her establishment is apparently somewhere in Kilpauk. I strongly suspect it is Mandapam Lane

Ram Samy Street – Full marks for alliteration

And then the old ones –

Top Under Nagar (Todhunter Nagar)
Gazette Begum Street (Ghaseti Begum Street)
Duvaraga Colony (Dwarka Colony – this is a #kogul of the first water)
Creams Road (Graemes Road)
Old Pensnioners Lane (obvious)
Starahans Road – Strahans Road
Venkadashalam St (obvious)
Oil Mangan Street (Oilmongers St)
Ribbon Buildings
Hoddows Road

This list will be added to. Watch this space.

P silently, as in swimming

Sripuram 1st Street

Now where is the ‘p’ in Sripuram? Since this is the favourite corner for all those looking for relief from full bladders, whoever painted the sign must have left out the obvious.

Madras goes Down Under

Emus wandering near RA Puram

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Goats, pigs, cows, buffaloes, crows, flies, mosquitoes, ducks, donkeys, monkeys and horses not to forget the occasional elephant and camel – yes. But emu? Apparently breeding these birds is in. The owners obviously consider them to be the same as other fauna, for the birds soon foraged in bins and also chewed up wall posters!! I did not go too near for I had heard somewhere that the kick of this bird is lethal. Much later I realised it was the ostrich that was known for its kick of death.

What next? The chihuahua?

Also see – More on the emu

Was Judge Jumbulingam Just?

This was till recently Judge Jumbulingam Road. Of course as a Judge he must have been just. And perhaps whoever revised the name thought it was short for Justice. But there is no ‘.’ after just to indicate it is an abbreviation. Or has he been removed from his post of Judge and so became just Jumbulingam?

Radhak’e'ishnan Road!

Just outside Girija, the former President’s house

Signboard at Dr RK Salai

No tombstone this

Derelict stands for statues

You could almost pass it off as a historic memorial stone. It has all the prerequisites – lying unkempt by the roadside, covered with political posters etc. But this is not one. And it has company for it is one of a series that line either side of the approach road to Mahabalipuram town proper.

This forms part of a series of stands that were once put up by (who else?) our Tourism Department. On each was a terra cotta figurine, said to represent our artistic capabilities. All feminine, they were each on the lines of the solidly built dancers we saw on screen in the 1970s, 80s and 90s (perhaps even now). Actually, it was not all that bad and they did form an aesthetic line up except for the impossible vital statistics. Then they all went to seed, rather like the dancers of the 1970s etc. Their paint peeled off, they lost an arm or a leg (perhaps they cost an arm and a leg?) and then they disappeared altogether, rather like the dancers of the 1970s etc. What we have are these stands. Perhaps they are memorials in a way!

Why Middle Age?

At Mahabs

Luz Church in the evening

Luz Church at 8.00 pm on 27th November 2012

God is of course supposed to be everywhere. But to me, there are some extra special places associated with Him/Her. It is like a grandmother’s house being special. One of these is the Luz Church.

Inna kabali?

Last year, I had posted about how the sign read something else. If I recollect it said Kapaliswarar Tank East Sewer Street. Now the sewer has gone but look at Kapali!

A priest who saw me taking the pic came and lamented about falling standards, all the while spitting on the road!