Kalki and Vikraman

Books
Last two weeks have been wonderful. What made it wonderful were Sivakamiyin sabadham, Parthiban Kanavu and Nandhipurathu Nayagi.

Ponniyin Selvan ,Sivakamiyin sabadham and Parthiban Kanavu are books by Kalki.

In Sivakamiyin Sabadham, he has dealt with Pallavas and in Parthiban Kanavu, it is a combination of Cholas and Pallavas, where in Parthiba Cholan's son Vikraman and Narasimha pallavan's daughter Kundavai lose their hearts to each other and get married in the end.
Raja Raja Cholan was born nearly 3 centuries after that.Ponniyin Selvan is about his period.
Nandhipurathu Nayagi by Vikraman is a continuation of Ponniyin Selvan, which answers many questions that were left unanswered in Ponniyin Selvan.

I have nearly fallen in love with these genre of books.Wud like to go back to those days and live among those people.

To read yet:
1.Gangapuri Kaavalan by Vikraman on Rajendra Cholan.
2. Kadalpura by Chandilyan.

Characters I love
Of all the characters I have read so far in these books, Inbavalli has captured my heart like no others.I can't exactly define why. For people who haven't read the book, she is a character(this is very humble description) in the story Nandhipurathu Nayagi written by Vikraman. The next character I love is Sivakami(but lost some liking after she refused to return with Narasimha Pallavan, when he came to bring her back to his country).

Why?
One striking thing in all these books is the kings(Mahendra Pallavan) or anybody else(Ilayapraatti Kundavai), etc don't let Sivakami or Inbavalli to get close with the Prince. I hate that attitude of theirs. Sivakami and Inbavalli are Bharathanatya dancers. Considering the status, Mahendra pallavan and Kundavai don't let them get close with their princes, though the two dancers are not court dancers or courtesans. They give a almost unacceptable reason that they are doing it to keep the art alive. Will write about this sometime later.

Few links
Kalki's works in Tamil font
Sivagamiyin Sabadham in English

Coming soon...
Will be writing a separate post on Inbavalli soon.

The case of a ticket to be cancelled

This is how it started...
I got a train ticket for 28th October 2005 - for journey from Chennai to Coimbatore via IRCTC. Amount was transferred from my bank account and I received the ticket from IRCTC in courier. Few days bfore the journey date, I took it for cancellation. I was told that the ticket(with the given PNR no and ticket no) has been reported "Lost" in Chennai Annanagar Railway Reservation Centre by somebody. In Coimbatore, I was told to go to Annanagar Railway Reservation Centre. But does it make sense? If somebody in Assam Reservation centre has reported the ticket "lost", should I then go to Assam? What is the need for all this Centralisation?
What I don't understand here is that - I am holding the ticket. It is in my possession since the time I got it. The ticket amt was transferred from my account. I have booked for me in my name. How the hell can they accept a reported lost case?
So I then mailed IRCTC.There was no reply for more than two weeks. Wondering why they display their mail id. I don't think if somebody even cares to check it. If they are acting on it, I should at least get a response from them saying that they are looking into it.No. That wasn't the case.
Then I checked Chennai Central Railway phone no in net and called them up. They told me to write a letter to CCM(Chief Commercial Manager), Re-funds section, Southern Railway Headquarters, Chennai. I wrote a detailed letter with a Xerox copy of the ticket I am holding and couriered it to them on 14th November 2005 and waited. No response.
I went to CCM office in person. They told me to go to Annanagar Reservation Centre, meet the Chief Reservations Supervisor and get a report from him.Only if they change the status of "Reported Lost" from there, the CCM office will proceed further.
I travelled in bus from Chennai Central to Annanagar(upto Thirumanagalam bus stop). Most of them dint know that such a reservation centre even existed. I was led to Annanagar Railway station, from there to ICF Reservation Centre and from there to Annanagar Railway Reservation Centre in Chintamani bus stop. It can be reached with a Tasmac wine shop and bar on the way.
Then in the Annanagar Reservation centre, the Chief Reservation Supervisor(CRS) tells me that there is no such "Reported Lost" case there, as far as he checked in his files(in the file where he records all the complaints, Reported Lost cases,etc). And thanks to Centralisation, the CRS told me after 3 days of journey date, they won't be able to access the PNR nos from their centre, and that I should go to main reservation centre.
I explained to him that I can't keep roaming here and there and told him that I atleast want a report that there was no such "Reported Lost" case in their centre. He told me to write a letter requesting that report, and signed it with his seal. Took atleast 1 hr there.
Now I have to take it to CCM office again.
The ticket cost is Rs. 235. But I would have atleast spent Rs. 100 on this -including travel charge, courier charge, etc.
The state of Indian Railways - well no comments.