Thanjavur bus stand. On a bright July morning, if you get on any private bus (town buses are too slow- these buses are popularly called "route" buses), which goes beyond Thiruvaiyaru, (perhaps Thirumanoor, or Keezhapazhuvoor), the first river you will see is Vadavaaru. Not wide, but if this day in July is after aadi 18, you may see water flooding in it. As the bus goes further north, it comes to Palliagraharam, where the Kumbakonam and Ariyalur roads diverge. The bus takes the Ariyalur road. After this you'll see the lush green fields, and you will realize you are in the Kaveri delta, chozha naadu chorudaithu.. (the town could have extended further north now, but it was like I describe when I last saw it). Then you cross Vennar river. As the bus goes further, we cross River Vettar, River Kudamurutti, River Kaveri, and River Kollidam. And the bus goes on..... We stop here. What is this off topic irrelevent rambling, you wonder. As we travelled, we crossed five rivers. And what's common to all these rivers? Being in this group, we dont have to think hard to come up with the answer: these are all distributaries of Kaveri. I fear if our group has become something like this. Focussed, yet distributed. The threads are getting shorter, and its just one or two answering a question. Some examples: Sridhar's mamallapuram excavations, Mathy's sigiriya paintings, my question on manimegalai's illiteracy, Dr.Jaybee's question on how thanjavur temple was built (posted by Gokul), to name a few. The members who were active participants seem to be dormant, too. History says cholas brought labourers from Ceylon to build the banks of these rivers, and to streamline them. We dont need any external inputs. We have to be more interactive (I mean, in the group- calling each other, getting in touch off the group thru chat, mail etc is different, altogether). We are doing a wonderful job with new ideas and projects. I think discussion and interaction in the group should also go on. If you are one of the 'regulars', and if you know its been a while since you participated, get into action now. If you are one of the silent spectators, please, join the gang. I think its imperative now to take a survey to know the "physical strength" of the group. This will help us in focussing on our future goals. 1. Participation depends on the method in which the member receives the mail. If they have option set to "web only/no email", and they visit the site once a month, obviously there wont be participation. So the first poll will be on how you receive your mail. 2. Some members have aliases. They have more than one ID registered in the group. If we can get this info, by a poll (hoping everyone votes-atleast we'll get an idea). We can know how many members are here, physically. Both polls will be closed polls, and will be for 15 days. I hope members respond to the mail. Thappa edhavadhu solliyirundha mannichukanga. Expecting more inputs than ever, Thilak
Good Thilak That Is a Good Effort.It would really be nice to know who are the active members than the 251 as a number.... It sometimes is depressing to find something which you find interesting ignored but may be it's not interesting to some... Interestingly there were more postings and responses to .....your mail on CVKs english and members response......Yes Thats True but that is what people find interesting Anyway it will be interesting to find the results of the polls Dear Members The Route Thilak mentioned is must go if you really want to appreciate the Chozhavalanadus fertility and there cant be a better time than The Second Yathirai time... If you can accomodate it in the route and do it in daylight..Please check if there is any water in the rivers before that Cheers Sridhar