India is a country which should have ruled the world, given its rich heritage, tradition and culture ,supported by enviable human resources from all walks of life, with originality in approach to issues and with remarkable intelligence.Alas, it was however not to be so and the reason is well known to every one.
Divide and rule policy of the erstwhile british rule, which culminated in seeing the bloddy partition of India and Pakistan.A tamil poet beautifully summed up the proceedings when he said "iravil sudhanthiram petrom, indru varai vidiave illai"..
It translates as"Independence was got on the eve of midnight with the result,dawn is evading us till date".
What is wrong?Whether the people are responsible for this sorry state of affaris?or is it something else?A news item which appered in one of the tamil dailies beautifully illustrate and drive home the point that the enmity and the resultant hate are not the making of innoscent people, i.e by default the blame is to fall on rulers who for their own benefit(read as votes)have succeeded for decades in implanting animosity, in the name of caste, creed and religion.
Let me take you to the news item..
The place is Karumandapam, Trichy, in TAMIL NADU.
THE EVENT IS MARRIAGE OF A HINDU BOY AND A HINDU GIRL.
THE marriage was blessed by the Muslim parents of the boy and the girl.
Surprising!!Unbelievable!!!
Yes, An Auditor by profession Sri Kadher Badsha of Trichy gave shelter and brought up an orphan Hindu girl by name Easwari(since the time she was hardly 5 years old).ANOTHER boy by name Nagendran , in similar circumstances was brought up by another Muslim family(Ibrahim-Thahera) at SALEM.It is the consummation of marriage between this boy and the girl.The notable points are that though the boy and girl were brought up in Muslim families, they were allowed to retain their Hindu identity.And the most notable feature is that they were married in Hindu style in one of the Hindu temples (Ilnagattu MARIAMMAN KOIL-Trichy) .Most memorable feature is that their Muslim guardians came to Hindyu temple to solemnize the marriageAND BLESS THE COUPLE.
It is a beautiful event which signifies the solidarity of Muslims with Hindus. It shows that Religious faiths may differ, but still humanity can prevail over .This shows that if politicians keep their mouths shut and do not interfere with Religion and the religious faith, the people of India can build a better empire with out the need or assistance of any politicians.It shows that INDIA can truly become a developed nation by 2020 , as the country's ex president dreamed and predicted.
Let us dream for united india,Let us have the mind set for tolerance, forgiveness and respect for other religions.
A mighty india with noble indians will certainly be a reality.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
CHANGE IS CONSTANT
All of us are aware that the only thing which is constant in this world is the "change". Yes every thing changes in our journey of life, from child hood to the end.Our moods change, our feelings change, our relationships change, our living styles Change, our reading habits change and our working environment change.
Some times these changes are harboured by us and some other times the same is compelled upon us.The beauty is that whether by choice or default, we have to go with it till such time another change replaces the earlier one. Still we fume and fret at times and some other times we go for the change with all the enthusiasm and happiness. Ultimately we realise that very often than not one had been goaded into some thing by one's own acts or omission to perform certain acts. once this realisation comes, things appear more easy, balanced and controllable.
If this is true of individuals , the same is also equally true of economies and countries. Evry country has its ups and downs, a boom and depression in economy and so on and so forth.Take for example the great Country Russia, used to be called as a country of Iron Curtains, for its resilience, power and secretive nature.The country and its economy used to be viewed with devotion hardly 20 years back and now the country has disintegrated in to fragments and survival itself has become a daunting issue. Take England, the ruler of most of the asian countries at one point of time.Now the country is facing a hung parliament. Take United States which was riding the tide high, and its currency was considered to be strongest by all to have a hedge against the weak currencies of their own;then came the year 2009-10.It saw the closure of almost 90 US based banks, some of them having great history behind them.Now US is feeling the heat as never before. Euro ,which went on increasing its strength during the fall of dollars , itself went in for a shock, when its own economy went in for jitters in the recent past.All of them proved only one MAXIM.Change is here to stay , both at personal level and at country's level covering various spheres.
Those who carry this recognition at the back of their minds bloom and their fragrance spreads , those who fail to recognise this change,disappear into oblivion.
We shall therfore welcome change with HIP HIP HURRAY.
Some times these changes are harboured by us and some other times the same is compelled upon us.The beauty is that whether by choice or default, we have to go with it till such time another change replaces the earlier one. Still we fume and fret at times and some other times we go for the change with all the enthusiasm and happiness. Ultimately we realise that very often than not one had been goaded into some thing by one's own acts or omission to perform certain acts. once this realisation comes, things appear more easy, balanced and controllable.
If this is true of individuals , the same is also equally true of economies and countries. Evry country has its ups and downs, a boom and depression in economy and so on and so forth.Take for example the great Country Russia, used to be called as a country of Iron Curtains, for its resilience, power and secretive nature.The country and its economy used to be viewed with devotion hardly 20 years back and now the country has disintegrated in to fragments and survival itself has become a daunting issue. Take England, the ruler of most of the asian countries at one point of time.Now the country is facing a hung parliament. Take United States which was riding the tide high, and its currency was considered to be strongest by all to have a hedge against the weak currencies of their own;then came the year 2009-10.It saw the closure of almost 90 US based banks, some of them having great history behind them.Now US is feeling the heat as never before. Euro ,which went on increasing its strength during the fall of dollars , itself went in for a shock, when its own economy went in for jitters in the recent past.All of them proved only one MAXIM.Change is here to stay , both at personal level and at country's level covering various spheres.
Those who carry this recognition at the back of their minds bloom and their fragrance spreads , those who fail to recognise this change,disappear into oblivion.
We shall therfore welcome change with HIP HIP HURRAY.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
thedalum , veedum
To those who are not conversant with the tamil language, the title may be split into two parts Viz 1) Thedal(Which means self analysis among other meanings ) and 2)Veedu means home.
Now the reference i have made emanates from the reading of collection of short stories of one of the famous writers of the yester years by name Thi.Janagiraman.He belongs to the same district in TAMIL nadu to which i also belong to..Viz Tanjore district.And the comparison ends there between him and me , so you can continue to read this post with out fear /anxiety of my trumpeting further!!!
Thi.Ja.Ra as he is popularly known in literary circles had quite a number of novels and short stories to his credit.Some of his famous novels include 'Marappasu"(Wooden cow),Amma vandhal(Mother had arrived),Sembaruthi(name of a flower),etc.I have read almost all his novels and my literary criticism of his novel marappasu, won me an award in an essay competition, in late seventies, from the hands of the great poet(kaviarasu kannadasan) during the silver jubilee celebrations of TAMIL MANDRAM at KOLKATA.There will be a seperate post in due courseon"MARAPPASU".
His novels are known for its langauage, nativity, characterisation and the final climax, which in most of the cases is least expected.His writings never sit in judgement as to whether some thing is good or bad, the writings rather point out to
the existence of two view points for any issue and that is all.If my approach to life, its events and to those around me have ever shown an improvement, it is partly because of reading his books.
The two short stories , i have referred to , Thedal and Veedu, have one thing in common.Both of them deal with adultery.The similarity ends there.
In veedu, the reader is taken through the changing moods of its hero(a fifty plus man and a doctor by profession) who by his own ways and means, keep the potential buyers of his house property at bay. When the novel unfurls itself, it is observed that his wife at one point of time wants to seperate from him (because of an intimacy she develops with a person whom he believed and who became his compounder)and suggests to him to sell the house and pay her so that she can part ways.But then the compounder with whom she developed an intimacy dies due to heart attack and she has to continue to be with him for the rest of his/her life.Her anxiety to get rid of the house, so that she can overcome her feelings of guilt and his persistence to continue in the same house, by way of extending her the penalty for her past...These are never spelt out. but the reader is able to appreciate the nuances.And at the end the reader starts having sympathy for both,the victor aswell as the vanquished.AND THAT IS THE SUCCESS OF THI.JA.RA.
Coming to the other short story 'thedal", a seperation between a husband and a wife has taken place after their wedding has resulted in the birth of a girl child.Here it is mutual consent,(again the cause is the wife falling for charms of another man) and the hero when enquired about the level of hurt on seperation, says "what is the point in insistence on living to gether when she has already decided to part ways...and the real freedom that i can give her is to act at her will and to own it".The girl child who grew in to her teens is introduced later to the hero by a common friend, in the house of a female lecturer. The tie between the father and daughter strengthens and towards the end, the father and the lady lecturer gets married to each other;the reader is kept guessing as to whether the 'thedal' is for his daughter or for his partner.MANY A TIME WE FEEL THAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR A PARTICULAR THING, WHEREAS IN THE HEART OF HEARTS WE ARE LONGING FOR SOME THING ELSE.
Not withstanding the end of the story or the questions which it poses to its readers, the important thing is how the strain in a relationship can be tackled.In one of the stories, the hero chooses to persist with the same relationship and perish with it while in the later there is a parting, but each memebr of the relationship,is allowed to enjoy and choose their own paths...MAY BE A BIT TOO HIGH FOR AN INDIAN READER, BASED ON THE WAY HE/she HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP.BUt that is what life is about.
Keep it close, u face the sting, keep it aside, you have the freedom to breath...
Now the reference i have made emanates from the reading of collection of short stories of one of the famous writers of the yester years by name Thi.Janagiraman.He belongs to the same district in TAMIL nadu to which i also belong to..Viz Tanjore district.And the comparison ends there between him and me , so you can continue to read this post with out fear /anxiety of my trumpeting further!!!
Thi.Ja.Ra as he is popularly known in literary circles had quite a number of novels and short stories to his credit.Some of his famous novels include 'Marappasu"(Wooden cow),Amma vandhal(Mother had arrived),Sembaruthi(name of a flower),etc.I have read almost all his novels and my literary criticism of his novel marappasu, won me an award in an essay competition, in late seventies, from the hands of the great poet(kaviarasu kannadasan) during the silver jubilee celebrations of TAMIL MANDRAM at KOLKATA.There will be a seperate post in due courseon"MARAPPASU".
His novels are known for its langauage, nativity, characterisation and the final climax, which in most of the cases is least expected.His writings never sit in judgement as to whether some thing is good or bad, the writings rather point out to
the existence of two view points for any issue and that is all.If my approach to life, its events and to those around me have ever shown an improvement, it is partly because of reading his books.
The two short stories , i have referred to , Thedal and Veedu, have one thing in common.Both of them deal with adultery.The similarity ends there.
In veedu, the reader is taken through the changing moods of its hero(a fifty plus man and a doctor by profession) who by his own ways and means, keep the potential buyers of his house property at bay. When the novel unfurls itself, it is observed that his wife at one point of time wants to seperate from him (because of an intimacy she develops with a person whom he believed and who became his compounder)and suggests to him to sell the house and pay her so that she can part ways.But then the compounder with whom she developed an intimacy dies due to heart attack and she has to continue to be with him for the rest of his/her life.Her anxiety to get rid of the house, so that she can overcome her feelings of guilt and his persistence to continue in the same house, by way of extending her the penalty for her past...These are never spelt out. but the reader is able to appreciate the nuances.And at the end the reader starts having sympathy for both,the victor aswell as the vanquished.AND THAT IS THE SUCCESS OF THI.JA.RA.
Coming to the other short story 'thedal", a seperation between a husband and a wife has taken place after their wedding has resulted in the birth of a girl child.Here it is mutual consent,(again the cause is the wife falling for charms of another man) and the hero when enquired about the level of hurt on seperation, says "what is the point in insistence on living to gether when she has already decided to part ways...and the real freedom that i can give her is to act at her will and to own it".The girl child who grew in to her teens is introduced later to the hero by a common friend, in the house of a female lecturer. The tie between the father and daughter strengthens and towards the end, the father and the lady lecturer gets married to each other;the reader is kept guessing as to whether the 'thedal' is for his daughter or for his partner.MANY A TIME WE FEEL THAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR A PARTICULAR THING, WHEREAS IN THE HEART OF HEARTS WE ARE LONGING FOR SOME THING ELSE.
Not withstanding the end of the story or the questions which it poses to its readers, the important thing is how the strain in a relationship can be tackled.In one of the stories, the hero chooses to persist with the same relationship and perish with it while in the later there is a parting, but each memebr of the relationship,is allowed to enjoy and choose their own paths...MAY BE A BIT TOO HIGH FOR AN INDIAN READER, BASED ON THE WAY HE/she HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP.BUt that is what life is about.
Keep it close, u face the sting, keep it aside, you have the freedom to breath...
Monday, July 5, 2010
Another wicket goes down
At the outset, sorry , if i have misled some one.
This post has got nothing to do with cricket.
Ofcourse the strange coincidence is that when i started penning (or typing!!) this post, the hot news of Dhoni's engagenment with his (s)c(h)ool friend on the night of 4th July at Dehradun has started doing rounds.
This post as i said is about some other wickets falling down. Those who are familiar with tamil nadu , must have been keenly watching and at times wondering about the Religious gurus and their ways of life.
It all started with a bang on one of the Deepavali nights in the Holy City of KANCHIPURAM , when the Hindu community in general and the brahmin community in particular witnessed one of the greatest shocks.It was when the Sankarachryas were arrested by the police(under the then Government of TAMILNADU Under Selvi JAYALALITHA'S REGIME )for alleged involvement in the murder of a priest which took place in one of the temples. Subsequent interrogations revealed so many other facets (which is not the subject matter of this post). SUFFICE TO say that the accusations relate to morality of the individuals concerned.Now almost several years have passed since then.Several appeals,counter appeals, interrogations , defence witnesses and witnesses which turned hostile and to add to that list (last but not the least), one of the famous women writers who was a witness for prosecution then (Ms Anuradaramanan) breathed her last , in the recent past.Thus the whole case is likely to fizzle out, as it stands now.
Then came the news of one of the archagars (again from KANCHIPURAM) getting caught in compromising postures inside the sanctum sanctorum.The vedeo clippings are stated to have been a key source of revenue for several vedeo shops in KANCHIPURAM and later in several parts of chennai and superbs too.Here again there were juicy news items in several news papers and TVs and then it lost its steam.
To add to the basic instincts, then came the FLASH BROADCAST of Swami Nithyananda's clip with one of the heroines of the yester yers MS Ranjitha.This story has again lots of twists and turns including an anticlimax of a claim to teh effect that Swami NITYNANADA is neither a male nor a female.Hence no charges of sexual escapade can be levied against him!!There were also allegations of millions of Money laundered, involvement of foreign elements ansd so on and so forth.Slowly the acton scene shifted from Chennai to Karnataka and then ,the usual silence.No body knows when the truth will be out.
Add to this list, the latest, BANGARU adiglar(affectionately called as Amma by his disciples) arrested during this week for running educational institutions with out proper approvals, for amassing huge unaccounted money,for having failed to maintain proper tax records and so on and so forth.
The list is endless. But at the same time in most of the case real truth never comes out, either by design or by accident.MANY A TIMES it is suspected that there is always a political vendetta behind such events. Let me ask the following questions to drive home my point.
Except the case of the archagar Devnathan, all others about whom i have made a reference have reached their fame and name over years.Their followers which started like drops became ocean in no time.The educatuonal institutions, the hospitals , the trusts which they run have come to stay over aperiod of time.Are we to believe that the Government was not aware of all these all along?If it be so , it is a shame on the rulers to have allowed it to have grown to this extent.If it is not so, it means the rulers got what they wanted all along and now there is a tiff and hence the fall out.Here again it does not speak well of the government.
AND AGAIN THERE ARE MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS.The intimacy between a male and a female is their personal choice.Yes, to some extent one can say that preachers should be role models. But all of us are aware that preaching is done for others and not for self.Our political leaders themselves will vouch safe for this statement.And that being the case, who gave the liberty to any one to get hold of such intimate moments and to broad cast (and take a hike in Ratings for their channel viewership?).Some of our political leaders them selves have children with out marriage, practice a life of polygamy and what audacity they have got to sit in judgement over others. Is it because that in the name of secularism, to woo the minorities, the majority religion is targeted??
There are issues of more paramount imporatnce. Drinking water is gooing to be the biggest problem in days to come.More and more fertile lands are slowly becoming deserts. there is no substitute available for power. and load shedding is the order of the day. Infrastructure creation is pathetic. Our rulers act like monkeysMahatma's favourite) when it comes to seeing good , hearing good and speaking good.And their time and energy is spent in claiming ONE MORE WICKET!!!
This post has got nothing to do with cricket.
Ofcourse the strange coincidence is that when i started penning (or typing!!) this post, the hot news of Dhoni's engagenment with his (s)c(h)ool friend on the night of 4th July at Dehradun has started doing rounds.
This post as i said is about some other wickets falling down. Those who are familiar with tamil nadu , must have been keenly watching and at times wondering about the Religious gurus and their ways of life.
It all started with a bang on one of the Deepavali nights in the Holy City of KANCHIPURAM , when the Hindu community in general and the brahmin community in particular witnessed one of the greatest shocks.It was when the Sankarachryas were arrested by the police(under the then Government of TAMILNADU Under Selvi JAYALALITHA'S REGIME )for alleged involvement in the murder of a priest which took place in one of the temples. Subsequent interrogations revealed so many other facets (which is not the subject matter of this post). SUFFICE TO say that the accusations relate to morality of the individuals concerned.Now almost several years have passed since then.Several appeals,counter appeals, interrogations , defence witnesses and witnesses which turned hostile and to add to that list (last but not the least), one of the famous women writers who was a witness for prosecution then (Ms Anuradaramanan) breathed her last , in the recent past.Thus the whole case is likely to fizzle out, as it stands now.
Then came the news of one of the archagars (again from KANCHIPURAM) getting caught in compromising postures inside the sanctum sanctorum.The vedeo clippings are stated to have been a key source of revenue for several vedeo shops in KANCHIPURAM and later in several parts of chennai and superbs too.Here again there were juicy news items in several news papers and TVs and then it lost its steam.
To add to the basic instincts, then came the FLASH BROADCAST of Swami Nithyananda's clip with one of the heroines of the yester yers MS Ranjitha.This story has again lots of twists and turns including an anticlimax of a claim to teh effect that Swami NITYNANADA is neither a male nor a female.Hence no charges of sexual escapade can be levied against him!!There were also allegations of millions of Money laundered, involvement of foreign elements ansd so on and so forth.Slowly the acton scene shifted from Chennai to Karnataka and then ,the usual silence.No body knows when the truth will be out.
Add to this list, the latest, BANGARU adiglar(affectionately called as Amma by his disciples) arrested during this week for running educational institutions with out proper approvals, for amassing huge unaccounted money,for having failed to maintain proper tax records and so on and so forth.
The list is endless. But at the same time in most of the case real truth never comes out, either by design or by accident.MANY A TIMES it is suspected that there is always a political vendetta behind such events. Let me ask the following questions to drive home my point.
Except the case of the archagar Devnathan, all others about whom i have made a reference have reached their fame and name over years.Their followers which started like drops became ocean in no time.The educatuonal institutions, the hospitals , the trusts which they run have come to stay over aperiod of time.Are we to believe that the Government was not aware of all these all along?If it be so , it is a shame on the rulers to have allowed it to have grown to this extent.If it is not so, it means the rulers got what they wanted all along and now there is a tiff and hence the fall out.Here again it does not speak well of the government.
AND AGAIN THERE ARE MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS.The intimacy between a male and a female is their personal choice.Yes, to some extent one can say that preachers should be role models. But all of us are aware that preaching is done for others and not for self.Our political leaders themselves will vouch safe for this statement.And that being the case, who gave the liberty to any one to get hold of such intimate moments and to broad cast (and take a hike in Ratings for their channel viewership?).Some of our political leaders them selves have children with out marriage, practice a life of polygamy and what audacity they have got to sit in judgement over others. Is it because that in the name of secularism, to woo the minorities, the majority religion is targeted??
There are issues of more paramount imporatnce. Drinking water is gooing to be the biggest problem in days to come.More and more fertile lands are slowly becoming deserts. there is no substitute available for power. and load shedding is the order of the day. Infrastructure creation is pathetic. Our rulers act like monkeysMahatma's favourite) when it comes to seeing good , hearing good and speaking good.And their time and energy is spent in claiming ONE MORE WICKET!!!
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