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IYER POEM..A time line of Iyer life....[ TVK ]

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kk4646

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I DO NOT REMEMBER WHETHER THIS ONE WAS POSTED EARLIER OR NOT....Anyway excuse me if it was done .... [ TVK ]




IYER POEM..A time line of Iyer life

Age: 6 Months
All these mamas and maamis have come here...
For a grand welcome of their new born fellow Iyer...
And my parents will feed food to me with a ring...
And give me a name long enough for you to sing...
(Krishnamoorthy Venkataraghava krishna Doraiswamy,
but will simply call me Dorai!)

Age: 10 years
Topping my class is an inborn talent I possess
(We are an exception)
Teachers & relatives, whom I never fail to impress
Daily dosage of idli, dosai, sambar, rice and curd
Who on earth do you think will not turn into a nerd(hehe)

Age: 22 Yrs
(Just after graduation.. . preferably Electronics Engineering)
Yipeee Yipeee Yipeee... I completed my BTech in IIT...
Also got a call from Infy...Ya right...Narayana Murthy...
( Proud fellow...Southie ! )
Up & Away to Bangaloreby the next morning flight...
And then someday to USA...Yay Yay Yay...Onsite. ..
(You are right... rhyming no?!)

Age: 26 Years
(Single status in USA)
It has been four long years since I have come here...
And not a single girl who is ready to come near...
Here in United StatesI thought I'd get laid...
Down came crashing, the dreams that I'd made...

Age: 30 Years
(8 yrs Onsite, somewhere in USA)
I miss my sambhar rice and the tasty thair saadam(curd rice)
Will speak to amma to find me a homely madam...
Will leave for Thirunelveli on a 30 day leave...
And come back with a maami right up my sleeve...

Age: 45 Years
(Still onsite, we think)
I have two kids, but there is a gripping fear...
Both of them have no signs of being an Iyer...
Krishnaswamy & Sreemaha*lakshmi* I named them fondly...
But Chris & Sally I call them if I want them to even reply...

Age: 60 Years
(retire hogaya baap)
I am back to Thirunelveli with my ever faithful wife...
But my kids stayed there and think I don't have a life...
Tirupati, Guruvayoor, Shabarimala all we've been to...
Sun TV is our faithful friend which we always turn to...

Age: 75 years
(Now everything seems impossible)
Ayyayyo, what happened to all my dreams?
They have all simply turned into screams.
Children have already married and divorced thrice,
Playing with our grandchildren would've been nice.
Left with us are only aches and pains,
Life is full of only losses, with no gains.
Are we going to be the last of the brilliant Iyer generation?
To our children, tradition and culture are only a botheration!



TVK
 
I DO NOT REMEMBER WHETHER THIS ONE WAS POSTED EARLIER OR NOT....Anyway excuse me if it was done .... [ TVK ]




........Also got a call from Infy...Ya right...Narayana Murthy...
( Proud fellow...Southie ! )
Up & Away to Bangaloreby the next morning flight...
And then someday to USA...Yay Yay Yay...Onsite. ..
(You are right... rhyming no?!)

........TVK


Are you in Infosys sir?
 
It is a nice poem., but did not want Age 75 section.. I think that is the time one should think about getting a feeling of fulfillment and sing "Kurai ondrum illai...".
 
wonderful I fully enjoyed particularly becase I am also Iyer; however, I am catching 80; so, let me see what I will have - srinivasan
 
Could any iyer for that matter any tamil brahmins lived differently.

where did they go wrong if they feel so at 75 yrs

most appear either desperate or bitter at the end of it all.

most have paid a heavy price in terms of compromises made by their next generations in transacting with an alien

culture and society.

those who stayed back in india and did not allow their children to be exposed to education or jobs abroad may not

have done materially well but they seem to be having the last laugh since india has progressed well in last fifty years

TBs in india with children having indian education and jobs have a better quality of life as compared to those with

children abroad
 
Could any iyer for that matter any tamil brahmins lived differently.

where did they go wrong if they feel so at 75 yrs

most appear either desperate or bitter at the end of it all.

most have paid a heavy price in terms of compromises made by their next generations in transacting with an alien

culture and society.

those who stayed back in india and did not allow their children to be exposed to education or jobs abroad may not

have done materially well but they seem to be having the last laugh since india has progressed well in last fifty years

TBs in india with children having indian education and jobs have a better quality of life as compared to those with

children abroad

Partially agree and disagree. Foreign countries like USA, Indians promote music classes, dance classes, tamil classes, veda/sanskrit classes eagerly attended by children. Countries like Singapore also promote that.. and I have seen children live without fear or jealousy as they are self-sufficient and nothing to worry about safety (meant Singapore here). So it is not completely true all in next generation are going in wrong direction. At the same time, materially those in India suffer - caught between their own family and parents/extended family they do a lot of compromise not able to make both the sections happy. Thinking of following the west, they understand half - further corrupted by movies - misguided and takes wrong path. Both has good and bad, but as you have written India is best .. I want to present you the other side from my experience.
 
this is only a iyer version of a long ago written desi poem. i do not know whether this was written by an envious desi or a repentent immigrant to USA.

all generalizations are flawed, i believe, including this one. most of us make decisions to emigrate in our 20s, the prime causes being too many to mention here, but all of them, sufficiently strong and motivating, to make the move.

and no matter what, whether they stay behind or get out of india, as one ages, it is natural to retrospect. there will be regrets, as is any normal life. regrets are not confined to folks who are abroad. in fact, i think, regrets of those in india, may be more hurting, as they do not have the excuse of distance to explain away certain obligations being missed.

everyone abroad, i would, generalizing here, is very happy that india has progressed. to me it is a joy to see during every annual visit, changes that are fast tracked. thanks to technology, we have skipped many cumbersome intermediate developments like land line telephones or black white TVs, whose shelf life in the west was far longer than what it was in india. a visit to india, does not mean, one has to bring extensive gifts anymore, which is a relief.

the west lets you live the way you want. folks like me, who were never overtly religious in india and resented the constant enforcement of rituals, find it agreeable to live on my own terms; not that it is any revolutionary, but it is my own, and i am contented. i think, with increasing urbanization and nuclear families, folks in large indian cities can have the same advantage these days.

overall life is less competitive. easier. pollution free and above all, in matters of daily interactions with the government, one can get things done, quickly efficiently and without resort to bribes.

if life is lonely in the west, life can be lonely in india too.

ultimately it is one's own call, to live whereever they want. i think others are best, not to comment on the superiority of one over the other. different strokes for different folks, i think is true. especially in this instance.
 
Post of kunjuppuji is interesting

It does not cover many of us whose parents migrated from southto other parts of india to escape discrimination and lack of oppurtunities

We did not make the move to US and canada in sixties as there was no reverse discrimination against brahmins in

north india . we missed the bus to US and canada and stayed put in india.

we did miss out on high quality education and jobs but we di become enginers ,doctors and chartered accountants and did fairly did well for ourselves in govt and private sector in india

at a personal level, I am neither religeous nor caste minded.I am under no compulsion to obseve any rituals either. I

have enjoyed all the freedom of a free society.I hardly led a competitive life as I led a peaceful contented life with a

govt job and mine was equally a nuclear family

so not availing the oppurtunity to go for education or job abroad hardly affected me much except I could have

collected afew more crores. I am well off not starving exactly. indias mixed economy ensured that.

my kids have got protected to some extent from western culture.i do not know if it is good or bad.

in all in life sometimes keeping quiet instead of being adventerous pays off.lol

this is a matter of chance i admit and not deliberately tried for.

only india changed fast that we are not total losers for not moving further to western countries or US
 
Post of kunjuppuji is interesting .............. so not availing the oppurtunity to go for education or job abroad hardly affected me much except I could have collected afew more crores.
Could have a few more crores?

Let's say around Rs. 2 crores for the sake of argument. That works out to about US $350,000 at the exchange rate of Rs.60 per dollar. I would love to hear from NRIs who have returned or are contemplating to return to India, how many of you can really assert that you brought so many crores of money back to India on your retirement?

Even those who do not plan to return, can they claim to have squirreled away
that much money for their retirement, if they had at least one kid to put through college?
 
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hi

iyers always THINK BIG............PREVIOUS GENERATION MAATHUNGAA.....PRESENT GENERATION SILICON VALLEY SAN JOSE/SAN

FRANCISCO....MAY BE NEXT GENERATION IN MARS/VENUS... MAY BE BRAHMANAAL HOTEL IN MARS.....WHO KNOWS...LOL
 
hi

iyers always THINK BIG............PREVIOUS GENERATION MAATHUNGAA.....PRESENT GENERATION SILICON VALLEY SAN JOSE/SAN

FRANCISCO....MAY BE NEXT GENERATION IN MARS/VENUS... MAY BE BRAHMANAAL HOTEL IN MARS.....WHO KNOWS...LOL

tbsji: If your post is intended to convey that brahmins are in the forefront of civilizational progress, yes. But, only a lucky few end up retiring with crores of money as Krishji posted.
 
Though TB's are frugal, my friends in US are living modestly..Also no palatial mansions or several swanky cars..No driver to boast..No servants for washing, cleaning etc..In case of double income I found that they possess good money

Here in India many though with single income are in good villas or luxury condominium with at least one good car with a driver and servants to take care of the home..I guess in US old age is tough unless you have someone to take care of you..

Opportunities are good in India..We may miss the orderliness and cleanliness of West but we may have not too much drifted from our cultural moorings..

Ultimately after doing the pluses and minuses we might be not too much different in perceived value for either of the options!
 
Could any iyer for that matter any tamil brahmins lived differently.

where did they go wrong if they feel so at 75 yrs

most appear either desperate or bitter at the end of it all.

most have paid a heavy price in terms of compromises made by their next generations in transacting with an alien

culture and society.

those who stayed back in india and did not allow their children to be exposed to education or jobs abroad may not

have done materially well but they seem to be having the last laugh since india has progressed well in last fifty years

TBs in india with children having indian education and jobs have a better quality of life as compared to those with

children abroad

Krishji,

The last laugh. yes. I am glad you understood now. LOL.
 
tbsji: If your post is intended to convey that brahmins are in the forefront of civilizational progress, yes. But, only a lucky few end up retiring with crores of money as Krishji posted.
Naina Marbusji

If TBs have gone to US a capitalist society with free enterprise and have had better education there, they should analyse

why they have not collected crores there.

It means that they they have been unable to capitalise on the oppurtunities there.

I have a school mate, a TB who dropped out after 12th class. He tried living mostly on his wits , tried sundry business.

at the age of thirty went to US on someones sponsorship.He floated his own company with a US partner -an electrical

goods manufacturing unit. Today , he is a multi millionaire, republican party fund mobiliser, gets invited to

whitehouse dinners, his children are well educated and married to white americans, has his own factory, bungalow

and cars. he is a both creative and enterprising

I know one more couple tamil brahmins again, both though well educated are moderately placed even after 30 plus

years. The lady works in a library [She is PG] and husband an academic in a third rate university , professionally

mediocre. they have not collected crores

ultimately one has to excel in competitive society and be enterprising to do well.

IN a capitalist society if someone is a wage earner with limited ambitions, he is unlikely to 'do well.

Onthe other hand in india , our socialism gave us pretty good education in IITs and top colleges for a pittance.in govt jobs

We got the benifits of compensation for price rise in a low cost economy.we also got govt housing and subsidised

flats costing next to nothing with govt support of cheap loans. added to it retirement benefits.due to sudden switch over

to market economy and dismantling of controls, our assets like houses appreciated. we also could easily multiply our

assets thru speculation in a changing economic scenario.we also got access to consumer durables at low cost due to

opening of economy changing our lifestyles. we all became prosperous ,not due to hard work but due to changes in

economic environment which is a chance event. so we are able to say we have not done badly.we are able to have

the crores our american friends of indian origin seem to have missed out on.lol
 
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Many TB families I know have about 2 to 5 million dollars of net-worth and they are not anyway near retirement. They tend to be far more educated, (probably IIT / IIM education as the base). But even people like me with far less education are able to create opportunities in USA to make a very good living approaching those of my educated immigrants.
 
2 to 5 million dollars translates to 1.2 to 6 crores of indian money. if one sees the cost of homes and living in US ,it is not much . this money will be meaningful in india and not in US. in india every aspiring legislator declares more than couple of crores of assets. they are mostly un/under educated people. if one talks of family worth ,
I saw a post in TB forum one chettier donating thousands of crores to charity disowning his adopted son.

now thats wealth
 
I received the concluding part by e-mail! ( but not poetic! )

Epilogue:

At 81: I am dead

placed in a freezer for three days

for Chris to come and do the rites

for Sally to come and console patty

Vadyars in Tiruneveli waited eagerly

Pithrus in my dynasty waited eagerly

So also my soul with "ears" sharp !

All in vain, in the west its all a waste

(Added by Dr.Ananthakrishnan)
 
One neighbour iyer died desiring his son in USSR to perform the last rites

the family had brought the body home and held the body for four days on ice for the son to return . Ridiculous.

how oldies are left to be looked after in last days by children and die uncared for without a proper funeral.

Is there any sense in performing sraddhams and immersing ashes in kasi and not doing enough during lifetime of old

people.
 
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