NUMISMATICS

NUMISMATICS

Though, beyond our general interest and consideration, the topic draws attention in the light of our recent survey of items declining or disappearing. Quite a number of coins have slipped into ‘inactivity.’ A broad perception shows that on and off, coins have enjoyed the status of currency or have been demonetized and some have faced ‘social apathy’. What is the social apathy we witness can be recognized if we recall the fate of denominations, below that of Re. 1/- There has been no official word on the withdrawal of them from circulation. But, they do not survive as ‘legal tender’ in practice. For paying a sum of Rs 2/- one cannot hand over 4 coins of denomination -50 ps. Same is the fate of several lower denominations. Abruptly, denominations below that of Re 1 have been rendered ‘inoperative’ by social practice. Yes, to ratify my observation, let me draw your attention to some typical market practice among vegetable vendors in our markets.

A unit price for some vegetable [250 grams] is quoted to be Rs 10/-. When we ask for 2 units [500 grams], the vendor suggests Rs 15/- for 2 units. Logically, a basic unit ought to be sold for Rs 7.50/-or 2 units [500 grams] ought to cost Rs 20/-. So, the actual price per unit is just Rs 7.15 ; to avoid the problem of collecting exact fare and refunding the balance in fractions of a Rupee, vendors round off at Rs 10/- or 15 [2 units]. Also some items are right away pegged at Rs 5/- as the base price below which the item is not sold. [for instance Coriander leaves and Curry leaves or a piece of Ginger or a cluster of green Chillies].

The denominations to have faced ‘social extinction’ are 50 ps, 25 ps, 20 ps,10 ps. 5 ps, 3 ps, 2 ps and 1 paisa. They were in specific shapes and size –fitting the value. 50ps and 25 ps had circular form differing in diameter -50 ps coin was larger. 20 ps coin was square in shape as also were 5 ps and 3 ps but progressively decreasing in size commensurate with value. Such variation in size / format helped the illiterate user as well as those visually challenged, so that transactions went on peacefully. Coins intended to carry values of 10 ps and 2 ps had similar wavy outline but drastically different in size as per value. Curiously 1 ps coin had different shapes; the later ones were of square format while the earlier ones were circular and in copper.

The metric system of coin denominations were introduced in 1957. Prior to that India had a system of denominations well known Re / anna [அணா]  /paisa . which was totally Indian in character. Somehow, the British did not tamper with it and maintained it. This is my understanding. If wrong please correct me. That system had its incongruities in that, a Rupee = 16 anna [அணா] and 1 anna = 6 paisa . If one converts rupee to paisa it would just account for only 96 paise as against the required 100. So, an anna அணா] was little more than 6 ps . By value it was 6¼ ps.  But, all transactions were going on.

The then lowest denomination in Re/ anna/ Ps system was ¼ anna.It had 3 different forms – a large coper disc, a smaller disc and one with a central hole big enough to accept a little finger of a man. Mind you  the ¼ anna had purchasing power!  One could buy items like peanut, peanut candy, ice fruit [kuchi ice].For ½ anna 10 betel leaves , 1 anna can fetch a table spoon of coffee powder . As late as 1969-70 a limited meal was at Ps 0.70 or 0.75 in Madurai; a cup of coffee= 30 ps,  May be because at that price bracket nothing can be done today, several lower denomination coins came under  social ‘apathy’ if I may use the term. So much of changes in the numismatic arena have occurred.

Prof. K. Raman

MOVIE HALLS - RELICS IN OUR OWN TIMES

MOVIE HALLS - RELICS IN OUR OWN TIMES

Even through the thick of our dreams, none would ever have felt that one day those massive theatres would face extinction. That it could happen in a matter of decades is painful, though we the audience have not suffered the set back. Yet, to lose out a cultural segment leaves a ripple of pain that several ancillary services connected with a movie hall too would have faced drought of extinction; it makes a sad reading indeed.  It is not our field of operation to analyze the underlying causes that led to the demise of that industry. But, ourselves having been the beneficiaries in our own way, cannot but lament that a glorious social event -  ‘moving going’ has reached a state of nightmare. What –‘Nightmare? Yes, I mean the magnitude of prohibitive cost of visiting a movie hall these days. What was a simple expenditure of Rs 20/- or so for a movie viewing [3 -4 people including for the snacks] is a thing of the past. It looks that unless one can manage to shell out Rs 1000/- a small family of 3 members, with no extravaganza of snacks or cold drinks, movie is just out of reach. People would console themselves citing that several other platforms cater to movie viewing within the confines of our homes. Agreed, but does it replicate the thrill of viewing a movie on big screen in the company of general public? Certainly it cannot. Movie-going was groomed into a culture largely because of the affordability factor then – even if a movie boasted itself of ‘star value’, imposing presentation and so on. With none of those ‘star factors’ the cost now looks unmanageable; slowly, it has led to loss of patronage resulting in ‘movie screening a tough proposition’. All said and done, mind being what it is, it chooses to recall things of the past.

Looking back

There was a near euphoria at the thought of an impending movie by the evening. Some revealed it while many concealed it. Probably, the mind was conditioned that except in a movie, no visuals of cinemas were possible then. At best, songs could be heard by radio or from music systems. So, the social acceptance for the mega stars of our times was greater than to what the present day ‘stars’ can hope to aspire for. In fact the then ‘stars’ remained confined to their territories – making themselves rare commodities. That way they were not available in public domain which in turn elevated the common man’s desire to ‘see’ them. Those stars could not manage a safe passage through audience, except if escorted. If someone could sight them in flesh and blood it was while they were in a movie shooting in tourist places. Together, these parameters made movie-going quite attractive and did not throw up any economic challenge. All pricing of tickets were reasonable; movie screening activity was profitable though low on fares. The present day fares look rather unfair running to a few hundred per ticket; but movie houses do not boast of profits. The then show sequences were ‘matinee’, the first show and the second show. Now first show opens in the morning hours by 6.30 or so in some cities. 

There were no ‘on line booking’ schemes then. People had to line-up in queues before the appropriate booking counter and tender correct fare or face the ‘ire’ of the issuing clerk who would at times turn down your plea and insist on your tendering the right fee. So, people were ready with right amount to buy the ticket without a hitch. As we move inward into the precincts of the hall, the lobby zone was a major attraction. It was here that ‘important ‘frames’ from that movie were on display as ‘stills’. Viewing stills was half of a thrill of viewing the movie. Those snaps were just a replica of the actual scene in the movie.  Some friends would suggest “let us see the ‘stills’ during intermission so that we know what these shots convey” –having seen the first part of the movie. The first level attraction in visiting a movie hall was those ‘stills’. Movie stills were really of high quality, they being the ‘ambassadors’ for each movie by silently advertising the product. Movie viewing in standard theatres had the thrill component as a part of the exercise.

The intermission in a movie was a time of buzz in procuring the eatables or beverages ; there were also moderately priced candies , fried peanut etc ; they were not fleecing in price [unlike at present]. Such standard movie halls had balanced acoustics and evenly served audio output in the auditorium. None of them can be aspired for even under the best of comforts at home.

For very many years, tickets were moderately priced and the highest denomination for a one seat -box accommodation was below Rs5/-. The new generation youth may not accept that a large chunk of balcony seats were each priced Re1. Ps 10 [popular as one ten in late seventies].This would mean that the rear most accommodations in the ground floor were below Rs 1.10/- Such was the low pricing those days. But, several movies made huge profits even through this frugal billing. Good movies ran for several days with packed house. It was common to note many movies that ran for 100 continuous days in the same theatre; box office hits used to register Silver jubilee [25 weeks at a stretch in a theatre in many towns and cities]. One can   readily infer the patronage enjoyed by good movies. Now-a-days, the 10^th show for a movie is acclaimed as patronage.

Obviously movies of the day lack the binding element – emotion; the earlier movies of 1960s, reflected oneness with the common man in attire, day-to-day life pattern and a presentation of the most common domestic organization. The songs of those times had a purpose of propelling the story though a few of them did have romantic element. There was just no violence of the kind projected in present day movies. Heroes had certain prescriptions like looks, gesture and facial profile suitable for close-up presentation. All such criteria have been disbanded and blatant display of gender features and utterances all too rustic have robbed the movies of their pride as domestically acceptable entertainers. Naturally, among cine-goers, a bitter hate to the story treatment, offering forage for violence and vulgarity has come about. With systemic shortcomings movies have had a systematic rejection by audience. With whooping cost of movie production, high ticket pricing has had a ‘killer effect’ on movie-going’. The industry instead of making efforts to make the ends meet, has nearly met its end.

The net result of declining reception for movies among audience further eroded into viewer’s purse by a manifold increase of ‘expenditure for movie-going’. Many cinema halls have retracted from screening movies and have turned relics. Literally many are ‘empty halls’ with all the seats pulled off. Those halls in vantage points have taken new ‘AVATAR’ as marriage halls. Those in busy locales have turned parking lots. Prominent spacious movie houses have lent themselves to be mega shops for textiles. Some do not seem to have scope for any of these and STAND as edifices of empire once and now forgotten and disowned, looking as pale shadows of haunted structures. Time has played havoc.

Prof. K. Raman 

NO COST ENTERTAINMENT

 NO COST ENTERTAINMENT

Anything that draws attention and sustains the same can be rated as an entertainment. Any time – passing exercise which presents itself free of cost is ‘no cost entertainment’. To define it as entertainment the act must attract at least a few people, who temporarily suspend their work under the influence of ‘captured ‘attention, eagerly keep looking for the logical culmination of the ‘work’.

What is the work we are referring to here? The work is rather personal –in the sense that the person is seized of the stuff. Earlier we had ‘the stuff called snuff’; this time it is the stuff for stuffing. Yes, stuffing the stuff to mouth and go about munching it for several minutes. The act is ‘betel chewing’. Betel chewing has varying methodologies practised in different regions of our state. Betel chewing trend has dropped to low scale now-a-days, relative to what it was some decades back. Still it is a dominant social custom in villages of Kaveri delta region, though every other region also has the habit to varying degrees. The variation pertains to the nature or type of ingredients. The primary variation relates to the use of ‘tobacco’; some do not use tobacco while many use tobacco; there are also variants in the versions of tobacco used in betel chewing, Some use flat dried leaf of tobacco, some prefer ‘processed’ tobacco as dry shreds, some enjoy it in wet form with certain additives; still others use scented tobacco shreds popular as ‘panneer tobacco’ [not paneer anyway]. Be that as it may, betel chewers are personalities worthy of observation though not of emulation.

They have some common characteristics.

Generally, they are neatly dressed in spotless white; dhothi-clad , white shirt or ‘Jibba’ of ‘ larger than life’ dimensions and sport a fairly long gold chain that  sits relaxed over the sloping belly of the chewer. All these are peripheral manifestations of wealth. Richer among them are generally accompanied by an assistant who carries the betel + accompaniments freshly loaded everyday in a rectangular box –stainless steel or in Aluminium and neatly wrapped in a white towel. The assistant chooses to address the rich man as “Anna” though he is elder to the ‘Anna’. The unmistakable trait of the chewer is his basic practice of tilting his head backwards whenever he talks. It is a custom of safety to preclude the prospect of spilling the ‘Dracula-like saliva’ upon self, since for most of the time, his mouth is a mini wet grinder; He never asks his assistant to handover the betel box; his lateral look towards the assistant is signal enough to indicate the man’s urge for ‘fresh chewing’.   The assistant bends down a bit as he hands over the betel kit in all reverence. Despite, the ‘boss status’ betel chewers never ask their assistants to ‘formulate’ the items for chewing. Instead, they want to do it meticulously as per personal procedure of choice of material, the quantity and the volume of areca nut and that of calcium                    [Chunnam].

Honestly, what constitutes the no cost entertainment is our observing his rather methodic and lethargic way of assembling the ingredients, choosing the volume of matter for that session of chewing and the care he bestows on to the betel leaves before he cruelly bites them under the molar teeth. Like Lord Krishna the betel chewer harbours a mini world of ‘finely ground matrix of matter’ in his mouth.  My analogy has its basis in the fact that , it is not easy for us to have the glimpse of the contents in the mouth of Lord Krishhna or that of a chewer –for, the latter seldom keeps his mouth open for anyone to peep in. That his mouth is rich in ‘ground matrix’ is a logical inference from the bulged cheek that collapses to normal whenever the chewer  gets rid of the matter preparatory to either eating or for fresh chewing. As a part of their language, the chewers liberally pronounce ‘zh’ or ‘zha’ as they have to speak through the solid-fluid matrix of the oral content.

Morphologically, the chewers have ‘swollen’ tongue, the latter being immersed in betel-areca- tobacco ensemble. Their dentition [teeth] is frighteningly dark; not easy to have a precise count of teeth. A permanent tint of red adorns the edges of mouth of chewers. Whether or not they keep a pillow while sleeping, the betel box is near the head irrespective of where the assistant stays. These do not entertain us; that part of it comes when the chewer begins his hobby anywhere any time. That is the ‘no cost event’.

My calling it an entertainment is based on the curiosity of a cluster of boys and a few girls in the area, who make it a point to observe him in action. On most occasions a chewer chooses to sit –rather comfortably leaning over some rigid support. The fastest action by a chewer is when he quickly flings open the betel box and glances to see if every ingredient is in place. A bunch of fresh betel leaves are kept well stacked; the avid chewer does not prefer to fold the leaf until he does it himself. He just takes 2 or 3 leaves at a time and inspects each for surface cleanliness; leaves them on his lap – much like his children. He surveys the areca nut pool and picks out one. From underneath the box, he pulls out the nut cracker and with the nut on hold between the left thumb and index finger, he arranges the cracker to clasp the nut by the right hand and firmly and quickly slices the nut to thin pieces and manages to pool them on his left palm. Abruptly, he stops any further cutting; restores the tool to its hideout and locates a tiny container with a firm lid; quickly opens the lid and runs his right ring finger over the tightly packed calcium paste and retrieves a faint layer of white stuff on the right ring finger tip and by reflex puts back the calcium container into the box. His left palm still folded, betel leaves on his lap , calcium clad ring finger gently curved inwards to shield the calcium from drying up , chooses to speak of current affairs for a while. All eager onlookers are disappointed that he is lethargic.    In a minute or two he begins his deft handling of the art.

A caressing gentle swipe of betel leaf on the thigh of the chewer is a dexterous act by itself. He sweeps the surfaces over his fabric and only now folds the leaf vertically from end to end and gently pulls off the midrib from the stalk downwards splitting the leaf into 2 halves; pinches off the lower leaf tip and opens the leaf. By a gentle, careful sweep, 4 or 5 paintings of calcium onto back of  betel leaf occurs quick and the leaf is folded into a tiny cylinder and tucked between fingers of the left hand; the same sequence is repeated for the already chosen leaves. From the left palm, nut slices are dumped to his mouth and one after the other the betel cylinders are alternately tucked into the right and left molar teeth. With a semi open mouth, tongue slightly rlifed up, grinding starts; after a couple of mastication, he opens the betel box and takes out a small packet containing shreds of tobacco. Pulling out those shreds is another deft act. Using the right thumb and index finger he clasps a small pinch of tobacco shreds and pulls them out; they are entangled and more material emerges by entanglement. Like a cat with rat in its mouth violently jerking the head to destabilize the victim, the chewer too violently wobbles his right fist to break loose the entangled tobacco and succeeds; after securing the tobacco stock to its place, he quickly thrusts the tobacco to one side of the mouth.  Now he violently taps his right and left palms against each other to dislodge   traces of areca, calcium and tobacco  Any further grinding is in his closed mouth which keeps swelling by internal build up of solid-fluid matrix. In no time children vanish from the spot but keep watch to see if he repeats the chewing session later. It is the functional elegance that is entertaining- of course at no cost to any on looker.

Prof. K. Raman    

LOW COST ENTERTAINMENT

 LOW COST ENTERTAINMENT

Right now we are through a phase of recalling our past experience, when we were school boys. The then times were marked by austere life; austerity being imposed by economic restraints irrespective of where one lived – city or town or village. Yet, none ever felt any sense of deprivation; rather all were contended with what they had. Till about the time that one completed schooling, all boys used to wear shorts or Dhothi, rarely pants. The so-called pants of those days were somewhat shrunken and wrinkled all over, as the dress material was cotton. Synthetic fabric appeared late in the horizon around 1965 or so. Also, dress was stitched to measurement by tailors in any town. Liberal length of fabric was used for stitching pants or shirt. Yes, the dress were ‘larger than life’ if I may use that euphemism to suggest a loose-fitting apparel unlike the later day skin-tight measurements requiring all available man power around to retrieve the person out of his pants.

The critical point for us to recognize is, despite economic limitations, larger dimension dress was feasible as cloth prices were well within the reach of an average wage-earner. Besides, the dress, the school books and the like were faithfully handed down to younger members in the family [fabric inheritance]. None felt anything odd. I perceive your agony as to what the writer attempts saying under ‘low cost entertainment’? I am making out a case for our grasp to recall as to how constrained were the days even for optimal life-styles. Weeklies and periodicals were exchanged between neighbours and relatives so as to ‘distribute’ the expenditure among beneficiaries. With all that, ‘visual’ entertainment was the most longed for at least once- a month.

Most towns and their periphery were served by one or two thatched houses of over 1800 square feet to serve as ‘cinema hall’. They were named ‘Touring talkies’. A touring theatre cannot be pitched in the same place for long. It ought to move away to a new locale -justifying the status of ‘touring’. Such places enjoyed local patronage from men, women and children for ‘low cost entertainment’. Through the day the theatre servants distribute pamphlets informing the people of the on-going movie; such pamphlets used to dramatize the movie saying ‘hair-raising fight’, ‘mesmerizing songs’ and ‘enticing dances’ etc.  On and off the publicity banner would issue a DYNAMIC WARNING’ that this movie’s screening ends today, by a patented phrase “INDRE IPPADAM KADAISI” , MEANING THAT, if not today,   your opportunity of life for seeing the movie would be lost . It is a very good bait to draw crowds to the venue. They also have some practices of drawing the attention of prospective movie viewers. By dusk, they start playing cine-songs through their public address system; songs come in a fixed order and the playing of some songs would mean – all set for screening of the movie. Women till then lethargic , quickly dragging the kids , run to the theatre , procure a ticket for a low cost below Re 1/- ,2/-or so and move to the women enclave  , segregated from that of men by a 3 1/2 ft mud wall marking territorial limits.

Viewers sitting in the forefront are in heavenly posture lying on the sand by their backs and only raising the head to view the movie. Some roll up a towel or two to provide a ‘below neck’ cushioning to stay more relaxed. At the third higher level or so, people occupy chairs with a back rest and sagging in that chair stretch the legs far out and stay reclined for seeing the movie. Several  cultural patterns are common in those cinema houses. The place has ‘noise’ from all around; if nothing, children would cry and demand going back home; irritated mothers liberally thrash them in the dark and subdue them. Lying on the mother’s lap they sleep through the best part of the movie; but abruptly get up and ask for eatables. Some elder ones demand the un-labelled drink rightly named kalar [color- as the lone identifiable feature –Red/ orange/ pink / rose and what not-- rich in ‘gas’ [aerated]. The consumed drink delivers a sudden hit to the back of your head, leaving you perplexed for a while before you gather your senses and wit. Obviously, the ‘hit’ is enjoyable in that it works on the head’s internal corridor, leaving a sense of gentle nudge within.

Minutes before the official intermission, the sellers of ‘kalar’ move into the viewers’ arena and draw attention by dragging the metallic bottle opener over the surface of  glass bottles in a carrier and produce a typical sound ‘trring’ which wakes up the children . Also, in the dark, some men climb over the mud wall and enter the women enclave looking for wife or some other relative; but it causes quite a flutter and women raise an alarm which readily triggers group clash among men exchanging blows rather indiscriminately bringing the show to a tentative halt. Such cinema houses do not wait for police to arrive; they press into service their own musclemen who handle the clashing men effortlessly and bundle them out to restore the show. Side shows of the kind described above are common and people make no fuss of it.

With all the items like some munch or ‘kalar’ + the ticket cost [even if of the highest class] one can complete the entertainment under Rs 10/- per head. All said and done, seeing a movie in a crowded cinema hall is an entertainment by itself ; should some scenes be dragging, a high pitch voice calls out “Paruththippaal” – a typical expression of disgruntlement among Madurai cine goers. That people are happy over incomplete facilities in such cinema theatres is justified by low cost fee levied for movie viewing. How tolerant and forgiving are our people even on the face of adversity is praiseworthy.

Prof. K. Raman

 

RADIO ACTIVITY

 RADIO ACTIVITY

My recent recalling of ‘Juke Box’ instantly opened my thought to what I lovingly describe as ‘Radio Activity’.  All the same I am duty bound to assure our friends that the topic has nothing whatsoever to do with nuclear radiation or any ionizing radiation potentially capable of extensive damage to ‘live’ systems. Despite the redoubled assurance that I place before friends, “potential damage to life” was foreseen by parents and grandparents some 50-60 years ago from the children’s radio activity. What! is a logical sigh from more modern readers than from friends of my age bracket.

‘Radio activity’ is a pet coinage of mine to suggest the then attitude of boys and girls to Radio at home. Too often they would defy the advice or warning by women folk, while did not dare the same defiance with elder men [father or grandfather]. The present generation of children may dismiss the details as ridiculous, for, they have no idea of what ‘restriction’ meant those days; these children represent true citizens of our independent nation. Such independence was unknown to us even when we were in the stages of secondary education. Yes, the restriction was rigid against the use of radio as a medium of entertainment by children.

Radio 

Unlike their later cousins-- the transistors, the then radios had a frontal face, quite elegant with tune-in dial which had a flat expanse with numbers printed much like in an alarm clock. Unlike the clock, the radio had just one needle [a pointer] to select a precise number signifying a station from where broadcast signals were ‘aired’ and received at home. Some dials were narrow horizontal panel printed in different colours to segregate stations on MW [Medium Wave] SW1 [Short Wave1] and SW2 [Short wave 2]. The elders of our times would not permit our tuning the radio even for getting to know ‘how to use?’ With all those exterior cosmetics, radios were designed with ‘valves’. The set of valves would take ‘warming up‘time before revealing life. Still, a radio was a radio. In fact, radio was a proud possession found in homes of Doctors, Judges and high officials and never in our houses. By late 1950s some agencies brought forward Installment[ Hire purchase] schemes tempting the then middle-class people to buy radio or folding chairs against some surety executed by at least 3 people with tangible employment. That way some houses bought radios for the declared purpose of listening to News – morning and evening daily and some good ‘classical music’ by noted artistes. “Nothing else” was a near domestic moratorium. For very many years, using a radio AT HOME was taxable on an annual basis. Radio tax was paid in local post office and a pass book was maintained. Also, a special receptor called aerial was required to help the radio to pick up signals. It was a long thin wire mesh double layered, running to a length of 20+ feet near the inner roof of the house and linked by a wire to the radio set.

Despite those hurdles to have a radio, people were always keen to possess one for hearing the ‘current’ news. Ironically, radios were never named Idiot boxes; for, they were shrewd though not intelligent. Yes, when the most critical segment of the news was ‘aired’, the radio in a house can ruin the message by a violent ‘grrrrrrr’ noise, believed to be atmospheric disturbance.  The current news would thus be faithfully goofed up and children hiding their delight would run to the backyard and heartily laugh at the incident; this was a sort of enjoying the elder men’s plight while denying us the use of radio.

 Anyhow, News and classical music never delighted us then. But, our interests were far removed from classics –be it literature or art. Listening to running commentary of Cricket Test match was a dream rarely fulfilled since our indulgence was confined to brief absence of elderly men from home. With no clear knowledge of tuning in a specific station, best part of the indulgence time was lost before ‘valves’ came to ‘life’ and in trying to locate the station- at times not recognizing that the game had a Tea break or had interruption by rain. Overseas matches had the nagging howl from long distance problems interfering with the human voice by a sweep of oh oh oh sound at regular intervals of every 40 seconds. Somehow our urge to know the score made us recognize the voice much like sieving the grain from chaff.

But cricket matches were infrequent; our other interest was cine songs. Girls in all households were equally interested in listening to cine-songs but would elegantly pretend to be uninterested and some would put on looks of being ‘disinterested’. Somehow, if we managed to tap Radio Ceylon-- the Mecca for cine-song lovers, those uninterested and disinterested characters would take positions of proximity to ‘hear’ songs. A lot of policing had to be done to venture into cricket commentary or for song listening. We were mortally afraid of being caught by the elderly men who may return home –spoiling the small time entertainment we managed to snatch on occasions. By turns, the boys would peep out into the street to see if the ‘house boss’ is sighted anywhere in the vicinity. Should such an exigency arise a loud call would alert us and the taller of us would ‘switch the radio off’ and quickly restore the pointer to its traditional positions. Being a thing done in haste, the pointer may be detected for deviation and questioning for indulgence would begin in right earnest. Putting on the best of innocent looks, every boy would disown any knowledge of radio listening.  But, these tricks would fail because in our urgency, we would have failed to restore the setting to Medium wave from our interest on Short wave. To create opportunity to radio listening, once in three weeks, each boy would plead for hair cut sighting that he gets head ache; the honest purpose was to read cine magazines / listen to movie songs which were regularly available in hair dressing saloons. The whole thing may look ridiculous now but that was our way of ingenious planning to achieve that small thing –listening to something of interest to us.

Prof. K. Raman

JUKE BOX

 JUKE BOX

Quite a few facilities have disappeared from public places; these were regularly being used by visitors both for entertainment and as a means of spending time with friends over a cup of tea or coffee. I am recalling the days of my life, when I was myself a college student -1962-65 doing my B.Sc degree in Mysore. With my father in Railway service, transfer for him between different locations on the Southern Railway was a norm. Fearing that he may receive orders of transfer anytime, he put me in the hostels, so that my studies could go on unhindered. A student in hostel has both freedom and substantial responsibility.

Chances for a student  turning less attentive to studies is an innate risk in hostel life. Somehow, I escaped from such a prospect, more because I desired higher studies after graduation. What has juke box to do with all your personal narrative? –runs in the minds of readers. Please wait. In our hostels greater vigil on student –movements were effectively bestowed and only on Sunday afternoons after lunch till 8.00pm we could devote time for personal requirements including movies. Our finances then would not permit the luxury of a movie every week. So, we had to evolve ways of spending only time and not money. We were always left with paltry amounts like 10 or 15 Rs after I week. Necessity is always the mother of inventions. Sometimes it is also the mother of discoveries. With our brain, we could never invent; but we managed to discover a peaceful way of spending time. That was the centre of attraction-The Juke Box. As far as known to me persons below 45 years of age of the present day may not be aware of the facility.

The then juke boxes were electro-mechanical systems; mechanical functions were ‘power driven’.

As student in II B.Sc , I had the first glimpse of a juke box. It was a tall equipment standing to 5’ 6”, with a closed vertical column over which a horizontal glass housing was mounted.  The glass housing had many parallel channel-like grooves; each groove was a place for a granite record with cine songs recorded one on either side or a long number running on two surfaces. In all, some 25 graphite records were housed within. In the same housing a playing disc was mounted. The ‘selector’ leaves the chosen side up for playing.  Once the graphite disc was placed, a stylus would gently touch the peripheral groove on the rotating graphite record to start ‘playing’ the song. After playing, the disc is automatically restored to its slot – in a faithful sequence.

 Just below the ‘record housing’ was a control with 25 push button switches. Each button was a trigger to play a song, provided a fee was put in the slot before triggering the player. Selection of the right song was facilitated by a clear label with song number 1- 25 in line with the push button.  Please do not get perturbed; the song fee was 25 paise per surface. At 25 paise we could listen to our choice. Since we were in a group of 6 or 7 members, by a common understanding each person pays for 1 item and on a day 7 songs were delightfully enjoyed for a personal contribution of 25 paise. To legitimize our presence there, we had to buy our coffee also priced at 25 Ps a cup. Mind you 25 Ps was a taller order, as the general market price then for coffee was just 20 Ps anywhere else.

Yes, I am narrating the scenario at India Coffee house, Mysore during 1962-65. Some other restaurants like Hotel Gaylord, Hotel Dasaprakash and Royal Café had their Juke boxes as well. With our impoverished purse, seldom we dared visiting those places; why face the ignominy when at 25 paise you are a royal gust in coffee house? If you can spend Re 1 /- on a Sunday afternoon, be sure of 2 cups of coffee in about 60 to 80 minutes and a series of 14 songs. There was no easier way of competitive entertainment.  Ours was a mixed group of Tamils, Kannadigas, Malayaalis. There was patronage for songs in Tamil, Hindi and Kannada. There was also acceptance for some songs by all. To start with, songs from  Jis Desh me ganga behthi hai , Pava mannippu, were filling the box ; later Nenjil or aalayam, Mere Mehaboob  and Taj mahal were ruling. By 1964, Sangam, Kadhalikka neramillai were in place for several months. When listening is regular such numbers would not be removed unless some other super duper comes in place. That way Dosti, Andavan kattalai, Padagotti and Pudhiya paravai were juke box attractions. Life was quite enjoyable by simplicity, inability to spend but enjoyment at low cost was a boon from the Juke box which has now slipped into the oblivion. No hope of 25 paise entertainment any more. The India coffee house hall had amplifiers at all key zones to help customers receive the audio from places convenient to them; so, visitors were comfortable sitting anywhere sipping the coffee rich in aroma typical of the then India coffee house coffee served hot with optimum sugar leaving a lingering feel for an hour at least. We are now more impoverished for low cost delight by coffee and mesmerizing cine songs. We now carry money but not the pleasant feel of those times.

Prof. K.Raman 

 

ENCOUNTER

ENCOUNTER

The word ‘encounter’ has come to be somewhat misunderstood in India. Yes, it is wrongly conceived of as a trick by the police administration as a strategy to wipe out hard core criminals and systematic offenders who indulge in house-breaking, robbery, highway crimes and so on. But, in its native formulation, ‘encounter’ means something of a different nature or purpose.

Let us consider what standard dictionaries have to say of the term for its meaning / application. 

VERB [encounter]

If you encounter someone, you meet them, usually unexpectedly.

[Formal ]

Did you encounter anyone in the building? [VERB noun] 

Renata wrote him that she had encountered her long-estranged father. [VERB noun] 

 [Can we presume that she had ‘killed’ her estranged father? Since the term ‘encounter’ is used in the context of police personnel eliminating anti-social elements]. In its native form ‘encounter’ does not imply ‘killing’.

 COUNTABLE NOUN

An encounter with someone is a meeting with them, particularly one that is unexpected or significant.

...offering supporters the chance to win an encounter with the President in return for any size of donation. [+

Synonyms

experience , meet, face, suffer,  have, go through, sustain, endure, undergo, run into, live through.          In any case, all these terms signify our ‘getting on with something and not ‘getting rid’ of something.

 

Coming to the encounters that we know of, some interesting patterns emerge. As we pass through the

Road, we encounter street vendors selling vegetables, greens and fruits from nearby fields. So to say all these are agricultural produce of local cultivation. Since it is dusk, people returning from work find it convenient to buy the fresh items near home and complete the requirement. For each unit of an item, the vendor demands a certain price [Say Rs 5 /- per bunch of greens]. We start quoting imaginary ideas of the same item marketed at Rs 3/- elsewhere. The poor vendor pleads that he cannot afford any lower pricing. We try to encounter by asking him to add some more green for the same price of Rs 5/- apiece. The vendor, unable to forego sale of the item adds a little more to the bunch and parts with it for Rs 5/-. We feel triumphant having gathered a little more than what the vendor offered initially. We presume to have a gain from bargain.

On another occasion, we visit a supermarket or a shop run by MNC of a popular brand. Having picked up a few items from the shelf, our attention turns to vegetables; there too we collect a few items including a bunch of greens. At the billing point, we patiently wait for the queue to clear. On our turn the billing happens as per the price tag notified by the firm. We neither seek to lower the price nor seek adding of greens to the bunch though the item is priced at Rs7/- a bunch. In this encounter, we neither bargain nor gain anything. We simply abide by the pricing, however unreasonable it may be.  We choose to fight with a native vendor but never with an organized sector like MNC. Obviously, we have yardsticks -differing for different traders. This is how we encounter trade in different places.

Prof. K. Raman