Naan Pollathavan

Naan Pollathavan

There is a family residing near by our office. his son is in +1 . he made a hunger strike demanding a new bike (ROYAL Enfield Bullet -350 CC) . Though his father was not accepted to the idea -as usual mom's succumb to the circumstances and forced his dad to get him the new beast he demanded.It is not only this boy, there were numerous two wheelers of same kind i can see plying across the roads-across all the districts of tamilnadu, either students or working professionals or enterprise owners too. what made every one looking for this one.. i was thinking over it...

few days back while swapping channels- came across a movie by name " POLLADHAVAN"..started googling the plot of the same.
There were 4 films which had hit screens on 1980 Deepavali .All are noteworthy films from veteran  directors
1. Varumayin niram sikkappu (K Balachander- Kamalahassan starrer)
2.Nizalgal ( by bharati raja)
3.Moodu pani ( Balumahendra made it on based oh PSYCHO of Alfred Hitchok)
4.Pollathavan
this film became a run away success and also consolidated position of super star as Numero Uno .(in the Kamal Vs Rajini race then)
when other three films had rich content and beautiful  narration how this poorly crafted film became a number 1 in deepavali race?



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 During our college days-- we had learnt that The Marlboro cigarettes --which were initially released with pink bud with tagline even woman can try - repositioned itself as the - marlboro man the macho man - made the brand as No.1 in the world.  so thought it was stroies of 1980 s . and rajinikanth in phenomenol in touching the right chords of that generation which was grown up in 1980s who demanded a rugged  and rustic outlook
with the advent of globalization , ITES ,BFSI five digits and six digit salaries were made possible, men became well groomed.. and that  fuelled brands lilke adidas, nike, VH, Lp...etc which were aspirational ones of 90 s kids.

how ever the marlboro man was sleeping inside our minds waiting for a time to make his presence felt.
 The cigarette with  its own health issues became reduntant  of time found a easier replacement with the beards and the horse  -the traffic police in chennai metro can't afford to permit in chennai roads got transformed as the ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET



Long live the macho  man
 though times had changed, income levels had gone up giving better standards of living,concept of gender equalities had changed etc .. the men are really men .
Long live the macho  man..

PEOPLE WHO GAVE ME A SURPRISE

1.My kid goes to the school by a van whose owner itself its driver. All of the sudden one day a new van came for picking up and the attendant (shool staff) said me that here after this new van will come. so we forgot things there after. until ..one fine day  happened to meet the earlier van driver(owner)... driving a taxi.. when questioned him for his withdrawal of service the reason was his father got contact wit the Heart attack. and he was supposed to do operation immediately.  SO?.So  "hesold the Car for making that one lakh" . For him that one lakh is a very big money. (takin a loan is next only to a suicide).. he concluded "i bought this car after 4-5 yrs of service as a driver , now a set back . how ever will posses  one after saving money for  3-4 yrs.for us it looks like a car.. but for him thats some thing gave him his life.His smiling was something made me think.i really felt bad for him


2.i had a lunch at HSB at central station and  was hurrying to catch a train whic starts at 2.20 PM.  finished lunch and paid money. (i had no change to pay tip then)..  was rushing to catch the train. the supplier came behind me calling sir.. sir..., i turned with irritation (thinking he was pestering for his tips unpaid.). He said " Saab.. u forgot to take ur change. ( i paid Rs.100/- for a Rs.50/- Bill ) and forgot the thing in hurry. When he smilingly gave that Rs.50/- ... it was nt that currency alone.. but literally a slap on perception of  him.

3.I saw a "meen paadi" vehicle at chennai .(for ppl who dont know it.. a kind of motorised load vehicle).he embosssed "FORD FIESTA" in front of it.on questioning .. for me this is giving livelihood. and i feel pride in driving this vehicle. I know i can't buy a Ford fiesta...so now this is my "FORD FIESTA". he lookd composed wit what he Posses.And makes a happy living. .

4.Add to there wer columns in news papers praising Auto-drivers promptly returning back jewels and cash to the passengers if they had left any.

The line that  connects all thse ppl in one  line...their needs of life were all limited ."EAT,D....., LIVE".Buddhist monks make a living by taking "offering" (in tamil yaasagam). The logic behind is world is permanant and always gives every thing to any one ..any time. so saving is nt  necessary. these ppl i think near to lines of Buddha.
I compared thm with the country's the TOP bureaucrats( and top politicans (and inducing them wer none but our own Corporates(IIMs,Harvards and Stanfords) .they coined a new term SPEED MONEY  i.e., to speed up any project) who crave for money, more money, then More more..." and their appetite only keeps on growing with years .
On comparing the both extremes the Qn striked me is Who is really rich... a person who is happy and composed or a person who suffers with   hunger/thirst for wealth...

TALE OF TWO CITIES

MY child hood was around two cities. Ambasamudram and VK PURAM. It comprised  a landmark Industry MADURA COATS .. whic employed around 10,000 blue collar employees in 1989-1992 ( thats my period of observation). and of course white collar no idea.

People living around 35 kms radius flocked the two cities for the employment it generates and the pay it offers.Rs6000/- for a blue collar in 1990 is a very big money .Many parents gave their JOB as dowry to their son-in-Laws.There wer two schools WELFARE for staff of employees and VIKASA for education of officers children.( the school and its students were looked up by neighbouring schools  ). And 1st of every month is literally a DIWALI in both towns.

poorchaps fell prey to some scape goats who initiated a strike demanding better BONUS in Year 1992
occassion is DIWALI.. with out knowing that they wer cutting the branch on whic they are seated.
The co. went on RAPID AUTOMATION (with the advent of LIBERALIZATION).. and graned VRS who seeked and pressured others to take the same route.

TWENTY yrs downt the line its dis-heartening to see the co.running wit 450 Employees (from 10,000) .. and the most of its work wer all outsourced to contractors. But the company seems to run for 100 % effeciency.Eventually ppl of the soil flew away to chennai/BLR/USA/UAE for making a living.

So now comes my question. for whom we are running Industry.

• To integerate people  and productivity  there by  to enrich them.
• (OR) 
• To desert a city which lived on the mill as their everything
• To demolish the nests of ppl making a living.                                                                                      China  industrial policy stands "production lines are aimed at integerating their MANPOWER with Nations productivity. where as we follow Survival of the fittest'.

so this is the kind of advancement we need?. i donno who to blame and who not to blame