Vaigai Flows Again

One Legend has it that if you keep your hand on the river bed, water flows through your hand, which translates in tamil as "Kai Vai" and when you read it in reverse it is "Vaikai". But, there many such stories to symbolize the river which has been struggling a lot for its survival. However, the stories have survived thousands of years. It is also believed that Vaigai branched off into two near Madurai and ran on either side of the city like a garland. One branch is the current river while the other known as Krittamala which is now a small canal near the Koodal Azhagar temple.

As a kid, I've seen Vaigai flowing majestically under the bridges and through the coconut and plantain groves. I even remember the days when most villagers in its bank used to start their day with a dip in the river. Going by the lines of Ilango in Silappathikaram, I used to believe that she is a perennial river. So over-powering was the urbanization, sand quarrying and inter-state politics that, she has remained a bed of sand all these years deceiving Ilango's lines. Even when there was rain or the annual festival, it would only be a glimpse of the thin streams meandering through the bed of sand.

Last week when I was in Madurai it was a surprise to see her flow freely under the bridges, through the groves, filling the canals and ponds, no matter what gets in the way. Instead of the old bed of sand with the sun beating down, she was flowing freely for a change. I also chanced to drive along her flow through Sholavandhaan, Thiruvedagam, Kuruvithurai... It was an awesome experience watching her flow. Wish it rains more!

Let it rain like how Bharathi would want.

திக்குகள் எட்டும் சிதறி,

திக்குகள் எட்டும் சிதறி சிதறி

பக்க மலைகள் உடைந்து வெள்ளம்,

பாயுது பாயுது பாயுது; பாயுது பாயுது பாயுது;

அண்டம் சாயுது சாயுது சாயுது - பைகொண்டு

தக்கை அடிக்குது காற்று; தக்கை அடிக்குது காற்று,

வெட்டி அடிக்குது மின்னல் - கடல்

வீரத் திரைகொண்டு விண்ணை இடிக்குது

கொட்டி இடிக்குது மேகம்; கொட்டி இடிக்குது மேகம்;

கூ கூவென்று விண்ணை குடையுது காற்று.

தாளம்கொட்டி கணைக்குது வானம்;

தாளம்கொட்டி கணைக்குது வானம்,

எட்டு திசையும் இடியால்

மழை எங்கனம் வந்ததடா தம்பி வீரா!

மழை எங்கனம் வந்ததடா தம்பி வீரா!

Eid Mubarak

Peace prevailed everywhere! If there was any breach, it was at nature's own accord. Torrential rains and land slides were the only reasons to keep peace aside for a while. People were always at peace. This is the Kodai I remember.

At Kodai, we had more festivels to celebrate than any religious group. Be it New Year or Pongal or Ramadhan or Diwali or Christmas or Bakrid, the entire town would celebrate. It was not a town belonging to any nation, but a commune embracing all faiths and respecting people of all faiths. For us, the world beyond Kodai never existed.

But for the marriages, the entire population seemed related. Hindus and Muslims calling each other rightfully as cousins (mama - mappillai) and same goes with Christians. This relationship spanned across generations. We lived as families. Infact, my dad and my uncle were named with a proper hindu names by a muslim. To this day, even after four generations we maintain and respects the bonding our forefathers had established.

In Kodai, no matter which belief you follow, you are sure to devour Biryani on the Ramadan day, enjoy a pastry and hoist a star on your roof on the christmas day and burst some fireworks with a sumptuous feast on the Diwali Day. No matter what happens elsewhere, the town with its people was in perfect harmony.

This had been the case till Kodai was turned into a tourist destination and started accomodating more settlers from the plains. Then, the Ganesh Pooja processions, Babri Masjid Agitations and the impact of all that happens beyond its borders started creeping in. Politics took an upperhand over peace.

In spite of these effects, I'm sure they still continue to live as families, in our old ways. Though Kodai and I have abandoned each other for nearly a decade, the reason I rememberd her today is because of my muslim friends and their Ramadan Day's scrumptious Biryani.

Image Note: A Mosque sits brotherly next to a Church and an Amman Temple

A Fortunate Student, I am !

I am very fortunate to have been in a boarding school for 8 long years with teachers who opened up our young minds, showing them the wonders of the intellect and the miracle of being able to think for ourselves. They exercised our mental muscles, stretching and strengthening, so that we can make challenging decisions, find our way in the world, and become independent. They were our parents, guide and friend with an overflowing heart. When I woke up, I realized that, it is Teacher’s Day in India and thought I should extend my gratitude.

Nirmala Sam Babu: My first teacher was Nirmala madam. It was when I joined a pre-school and I left the school after a year. The last time I met her, she told me I was her first student. She is a highly inspiring and a friendly person. Now that she runs her own school, St.Peters at Kodaikanal, one of the prestigious institutions in Kodaikanal.

Sheela Cherian – She is the first teacher anyone who joins Sainik School, Amaravathinagar would encounter. She taught table manners to all the students, on the day of induction. Things like, How to eat using a spoon and a fork… How to spread butter and jam with the knife… How to eat boiled egg… and most importantly, how to eat with our mouth closed. These lessons will stay with any of her students till the grave. Owing to her motherly attitude and love, she preferred to teach English to the sub-juniors classes. For certain, everyone in her class will develop an excellent hand-writing skills and the flow of language.

P.T.Cherian (PTC) - P.T. Cherian and Sheela Cherian are kind of made for each other couples. They joined the school when it was started in 1962 and after a few years, fell (rose) in love and got married. He taught Physics for the senior classes. Mostly, he treated everyone as adults and that earned him reverence amongst the students of all classes. Though he is no longer with us, the majestic way he carried himself as the longest served senior master, makes him an indisputable icon in hearts of the Amaravian family.

George Joseph (GJ) – He was heavily built, tall, high energetic and full of fun. When he used to teach Gulliver in Lilliput, we would be exactly like poor Lilliputians and he like the gigantic Gulliver. Be it prose or poem, he used to perform all sorts of animation to enact the scene and make it lively. It will be hilarious, when he enacts the baby in a poem like “Trot trot the baby goes; Trot trot to town….

Devanasamy (ADS) – The delight of watching The Story of India or History Channel or the pleasure of reading historical books, I owe to him. His many ways like pinching the arm in varied degrees of excruciating pain, would put any history lesson into the core of our heads. We have always admired the way he carried himself. The gleam of his shoes and belt, the whiteness of his shirts and the perfect folding of the pants are things I get reminded of when I wear a formal.

R Sreenivasan (RSV) – We can learn sophistication from RSV. He taught us geography and he was also my house master when I was a prefect. He left the school after he was appointed as the principal of Navodya Vidhyalaya

I.L.Fernandez (ILF) – A care-free and a simple person, who never carried the book to the class room. He taught us physics when we were in senior classes. Rarely writes on the board, but he will ensure that the lessons are written on our heads. Apart from Physics, we learnt mutual respect from ILF.

P.Chandran (PC) – A rare teacher and a genius who sometimes contemplates in his own world. If I were given a chance go back to the school, I love to sit in his class. He taught us Quantum Mechanics and always emphasized relating the theories to the real-world and the relative world. He is the first person who revealed the harmony of physics and meta-physics to us. Even today, when I am stuck grasping some complex relations, I think of him. He was my house master during the last 2 years of my school and made me the house captain too. In spite all the pranks I played and the difficult situations I created for him, he was very understanding and helpful.

A.Santiago Jayaraj Kumar (ASJK) – An idealistic, versatile and dynamic teacher. He taught us English. Though he treated all the students as equals, he always knew where and how to draw the thin line. I owe him, my voracious reading habits and my appetite for books. Be it poem or prose, the books never limited him from extending to the origional text and the contemporary writings too. For example, we had a lesson which was the condensed form of the book "To Sir, With Love" by E.R. Braithwaite. He used the origional book and also ensured that the school screened the 1967 classic "To Sir, With Love". On another occassion, there was a lesson called "The Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag" by Jim Corbett. Apart from teaching from the original book, he introduced Kenneth Anderson, who has written similar books. Had I not been in his class, the passion to read Saki, Ruskin Bond, James Herriot, Leo Lolstoy, Anton Chekov... and a numerous authors wouldn't have occured to me.

KR M Karuppaiah (KRMK) – He was my guardian angel :) He taught us Organic Chemistry. Though many guys scored well in the subject, for some reason, I could never understand it except for one formula C2H5OH.

V Govid Samy (VGS): A jovial and a carefree person, who always go by the books. He always bridges the student-teacher relationship to ensure comfort and was like a friend to us. He taught us Chemistry and was also our NCC master for the Naval Wing. I still remember my first day at the Naval Wing, when a guy banged his foot to make a halt while marching, he shouted “ Hey.. what happened and why are you getting tensed man? You will be standing on a ship and if you bang like this, the ship will sink”. He ordered that no one should behave over-smart and do fast actions during the drill. From that day, every drill will be fun-filled slow-motion gestures. He was also our ship modelling instructor.

King Kristo Kumar (KKK): A highly energetic and a loving person. He taught us Math with such an ease that, it would be like learning some poem.

D Mariarajan (DMR): A bold, rebellious and aggressive teacher. He was more than a friend to me. We had similar taste for songs and I got the habit of collecting sings from him. He taught us Math in junior classes.

S Saradhamani (SSM) - She was a very loving and a next generation teacher. She taught us english in junior classes and my passion for English as a language can be attributed to her. I still remember how we were almost in tears during her last class, when she left the school. To this day, I have not seen a hand-writing that is as beautiful as hers. It's perfect calligraphy. The 5 page autograph she wrote to me is a treasured possession. She is a singer too :)

M N Santhanakrishnan (MNSK): A perfectionist and the keeper of the morality. MNSK taught us Tamil and he had a peculiar way of blending humor and complex grammatical theories. Recently, he was awarded the best teacher award by the President of India.

V Charles (VC): An always smiling personality, who replaced CSG as the Biology Master when we were in 9th . Though I was not comfortable with biology as a subject, I loved attending his classes. It will be one class where we can sleep on the desk without being bothered or skip and go to the library without being questioned. We had enough freedom while he is in the class. We were supposed to do a project in 12th class and I planned to do “Fermentation of grapes by yeast”. When I told this with apprehension, he was genuinely happy for coming up with a novel idea. I was brewing black and white wines under the cot, one day he surprised me with the jamoon wine. He always taught us in our own way.

After the school, though life taught me all things, great and small, the lessons I learnt from these revered souls during the formative years laid the foundation for all that is good in me. All my good deeds I owe to them; all the short-comings are mine.

All in the name of Mahatma

Recently, I had been to a pub in Chennai with a friend. After a couple Jacks on the rocks, we decided to leave and the waiter produced the bill. My friend took his wallet and pulled out a couple of 500 rupees notes and I saw Gandhiji staring into my eyes. Swiftly, I took out my credit card and asked my friend to take his wallet off my sight. Since then, I have been wondering, in a country envisioned to be built on the principle of Mahatma, we do every forbidden act using the currency printed with his face on it. Isn't there a be better way to remember and pay our respects to the Mahatma?

Now, the government has invented yet another way to pay its respects to the father of our nation. Smoking in public will be strictly banned from 02-Oct-08, the birth anniversary of Mahatma. Don’t these guys have better things to associate Mahatma with? The act also empowers school principals, Postmen, Railway Stationmasters, even your boss to book you, if you're caught smoking in a public place. How ridiculous!

When you want to ban something, why do you allow its root cause to exist? Fear of loosing revenue? You give something and set the rules exactly opposite to it for your own amusement and pride. You allow production and selling of cigarettes and set a rule not to smoke in the public. It’s like Adam’s apple. Look! But don’t touch. Touch! But don’t taste. Taste! But don’t swallow

Statutory Warning: Smoking Cigarettes and Drinking Alcohol is injurious to health

Forest Love

All the features make forests beautiful;
The lush green bushes and the succinct shoots;
The Luxuriant cover and the Dexterous leaves;
The diverse vegetation with its racy animals;
The meandering streams and the ornamental ponds;
The peeping sun and the veiling clouds;
The soothing moon and the whispering stars;
The source of life and the sign of fertility;
Let all this and more live to see you die,
For the generations to come shall forget,
How monstrous you were!

Awareness Ads

I recieved an interesting forward from one of my beloved friend, Yaseer Arafat Mohamed Sultan Haroon Bathusha alias Batcha- thinking.......??? This is the name of just one person and not many people.

The forward consisted of a collection of ads creating awareness on some of the social maladies haunting us. Though they speak for themselves, I have added my thoughts for each of the picture. Feel free to share your thoughts either as a comment or as a tag post in your blog.

Chewing tobacco causes mouth cancer

An impotent mind;
Knows how to start easily;
Knows not how to stop................

Drive Safely

An arrogant mind;
knows its thrshold well;
Knows not how to limit.........

Most child abuse is committed by the person a child trusts

A wicked mind;
Knows how to exploit everything;
Doesn't care even it's a bud.

Save Girl Child

An ignorant mind;
Knows only to reject its half;
Knows not, the precious is lost.

The next time you waste food, think!

A greedy mind
Knows to amass and waste;
Knows not how to share.

Children learn fast. Don't fight at home

A stupid mind;
Knows how to disrespect;
Knows not, it is suicidal.

Adopt. You never know who you'll bring home

A noble mind;
Knows to embrace all;
Knows not, how to refuse.

We the living

Elevating the stature of the sidewalk,

For it is our palace and the citadel.
Bestowing pride to the ruined walls,
For it is our wardrobe and the closet.
Adding value to abandoned plastics,
For it is our warehouse, though empty.

The sun lights our day;
The moon cools our nights;
It rains to cleanse our house;
It breezes to fan out heat;
The smoky exhaust we breath;
The muddy water we bathe in;

Privacy is not our concern,
For innocence, our only strength.
Nothing to deprive our pleasures,
For ignorance, our only knowledge.

Past and future, not for us;
Living is here and now;
We, the true sons and daughters
Of life and nature,
Living here and now!

Photograph Courtesy: The snap was taken by Sujathaa, my wife while we were waiting in a traffic signal near Central station in Chennai.

She

However delicate and tender he kissed,

Aggressive he ended.

No matter with what softness he began,

He finished beastly.

Though she often seem to consume him;

And had more appetite than him;

Superior he pretends,

As she often forgets her worth.

But he doesn’t rejoice this illusion, for he knows;

There are worse things she can do to his soul

Than he can ever do to her whole!

Happy Womans Day!
Never forget your worth and
Rejoice in being a woman.

The world we are

It pains! It hurts! And it is disgusting, when we hear of a bomb blast or assassination or shootout. An assassination in the name of some ideology, 20 people killed apart from the target and the suicide bomber.

Where are we heading to? From civilization to barbarianism?
Yes

From democracy to terrorism?
Yes

What do you call this ideology that divides people, that disseminates hatred, that curbs you off the very right to live?
Stupid


Is that ideal?
Definitely Not

Where is love?
Misdirected

Where is humanity?
In then developed nations

Where are the values?
In the books

Have we lost everything?
We have lost our senses

Then, why do we boast ourselves as civilized?
To satiate ego

Are we not morons, destroying this planet earth making it a hell for the people and the generations to come?
Yes. We are!

Is there a solution?
Yes

Do we know it?
Yes

What is it?
Love.

What else can be the cure for so much hatred? There is a need for the world to be obsessed in love, the universal love. We love our family and call relationship as love; we love our society and call interdependency as love, we love our country and call patriotism as love; We apply the gold plating of love on everything and call them as love. Is the love for your country love? Is it not patriotism? Is it not an extension of your ego till the boundaries of your country? Is the love for your religion and hatred for another religion love? Is it not fanaticism or bigotry or intolerance? We fail to extend love beyond these boundaries. When I say, love, it is the universal love – extending our self-love beyond our family, beyond our society, beyond our belief, beyond our country, beyond this mother earth, beyond this universe and beyond all dualities. Believe me, when we limit our love, it will endanger us. It’s not that love is dangerous. It is because, we are too narrow minded to contain it and it turns into a tool and gets misdirected towards achieving some mundane goal like sex, money, power, territory etc. When you love, you love for love’s sake. What else could be the reason?

Swami Vivekananda depicts this beautifully as “Sufficient unto him is the ideal of love, and is it not self-evident that this universe is but a manifestation of this love? What is it that makes atoms unite with atoms, molecules with molecules, and causes planets to fly towards each other? What is it that attracts man to man, man to woman, woman to man, and animals to animals, drawing the whole universe, as it were, towards one centre? It is what is called love. Its manifestation is from the lowest atom to the highest being: omnipotent, all-pervading, is this love. What manifests itself as attraction in the sentient and the insentient, in the particular and in the universal, is the love of God. It is the one motive power that is in the universe. Under the impetus of that love, Christ gives his life for humanity, Buddha even for an animal, the mother for the child, the husband for the wife. It is under the impetus of the same love that men are ready to give up their lives for their country, and strange to say, under the impetus of the same love, the thief steals, the murderer murders. Even in these cases, the spirit is the same, but the manifestation is different. This is the one motive power in the universe. The thief has love for gold; the love is there, but it is misdirected. So, in all crimes, as well as in all virtuous actions, behind stands that eternal love”.

Earth is deserted; deprived of love, compassion, passion, values and all that is divine. Why do we still cling on to the law of survival of the fittest, when every life that is born into this world has a right to live, not just exist? A change is needed. Change is not the right word. Change is from the known to the known and human mind is crooked enough to define the change to suite its selfish motives. A mutation is required. From the known to something supreme and divine.

May be we should take call these politicians to a nursery school and make them kneel on the floor and teach them how to laugh, celebrate, be egoless, be humane, be compassionate, be sensible and not to fight and not to be stupid!

Hope!

Melting in harmony

In the recent times, I have been fortunate enough to read some beautiful posts from my Blogzone, and to my surprise most were about liberation of women or subjugation of women, women’s right or in one way or the other connected to establishing women as equal to men. I am also baffled when I see articles or posts that exaggerates any accomplishments by women as if, she is incapable of what she has just achieved. People have forgotten that, we are living in the same world where the great warriors like, Joan of Arc, Rani of Jhansi, Rani Padmini, Rani Velu Nachiar had tread, great saints like Mira, Mary Magdalene, Florence Nightingale, Sarada Devi, Madame Blavatsky, Mother of Pondicherry and Mother Teresa had illuminated, great thinkers and scientists like Marie Curie, Ayn Rand, Jane Austen, Arundhati Roy had traversed. It is obvious that for centuries, women have been deprived of their freedom and that is one reason why last year I called Women’s day - A Joke.

I continue this post with the hope of illustrating the attributes of the two inevitable aspects of life, which are irrefutably significant in their own way and the one without the other is non-existential. Life exists only in duality and non-duality is beyond life. Having been a part of life that thrives in duality, where light and darkness, good and bad, moral and immoral, sin and sainthood, east and west, head and heart, Yin and Yang, Yoni and Phallus, female and male are just projections of same energy in dual forms in harmony, negation of one over the other is just ignorance at its peak.

For the sake of those who can accept the facts as facts, only if it is logical and rational, let us dissect the male and female aspects of life, through the attributes that makes them a one.

The primary reason why women were being kept in captivation is because, men were afraid of the mysteries of womanhood, ignoring the fact that manhood is also equally mysterious from women’s perspective. Moreover, the conviction that, how harder men try they cannot create life, while women are capable of creating life. Even in this conviction men ignored the fact that, without him she will not be a source of life, with the exception of the recent advancements of medical sciences. The urge to dominate the fear made men to start creating anything and everything he could create with his capability, making him more productive and physically stronger than women. This advantage in terms of production and strength made women dependent on him, precipitating a whole decoction of illusions that, men are superior, women are meant to serve men, satisfy his desires and needs, a means of procreation (the life creating aspect was renamed as procreation) and more.

In essence, male and female aspects doesn’t exist as two distinct entities, but as a blend with varied proportion. In India we have a deity called Ardhanarishwar. The god is half man and half woman. It is Shiva and Shakthi, the Hindu God, and half of the body is of the woman and the other half of the body is of the man. Up to the time of Carl Gustav Jung it was thought that, it is only a mythology, metaphor, poetry – but this cannot be true. Jung identified the anima as being the unconscious feminine component of men and the animus as the unconscious masculine component in women. Every person has both an anima and an animus. Jung stated that the anima and animus act as guides to the unconscious unified Self, and that forming an awareness and a connection with the anima or animus is one of the most difficult and rewarding steps in psychological growth.

Every man and every woman are both, because every child is born of a father and a mother. So, something of the mother and something of the father is present in every child, whether the child is a girl or a boy. The only difference can be that the man is a little more male, perhaps fifty-one percent male and forty-nine percent female, and the woman is fifty-one percent female and forty-nine percent ma.”

But the difference is not much.

If we really want to understand the mystery of women or men, we will have to understand the art of melting our head into our heart and our heart into our head. It will not only help us understand the mystery of women and men, but the whole existence.

Let us live like a pair of skaters. Skating in pair is a harmony. It's like two skaters coming together and becoming one.

A pure form of greeting

During my stay at Dakshineswar in Kolkata, I used to spend most of my evenings listening to the bajans. People from the neighborhood gather carrying their own muscial instruments to sing and dance in praise of Kali, Shiva, Radha, Krishna and Ramakrishna. On one such evenings, there was no singing, no dance and only silence prevailed is spite of the large gathering. I was told that, a women sanyaasini, who is from the order of Sarada Math is going to deliver a discourse and I noticed that she was sitting among the people. She had a radiant smiling face with a glow in her eyes; her shaved head covered with a shawl and her crystal clear compassionate words were captivating the gathering. My memory fails to remember her name.

One gentle man asked, “Why do we pray to god with the hands clasped and also greet a fellow human being in the same way.”

She said, “The five fingers represent the five sheaths or the shells that envelope the real self of a person. In Sanskrit, the five sheaths are called as

• Annamayakosha – The Physical sheath – It is the gross physical body that is sustained by food
• Pranamayakosha – The Energy sheath – It is the subtle body that is sustained by pranic force.
• Manomayakoshsa – The sheath of mind – This is the perceptual body, a covering which is the result of the mind where all the impression and knowledge obtained from the external factors reside.
• Vigyanamayakosha – The sheath of consciousness – This is the covering which is finer than the mind, where intelligence, instinct and intuition are dominant
• Anandhamayakosha – The sheath of bliss – This is the transcendental body which is beyond reason and logic. This is where the subtle ego resides, on breaking which the self is realized.
  

Through the five fingers that represent the five sheaths, we reach the palm which represents the Self. When we clasp both the hands and greet, we say that I greet your real self from with my real self. Beyond these sheaths all of us are Gods and hence, we greet our fellow beings just as we greet our Gods.”

This purest for of greeting had however lost its significance with all these politicians blindly greeting the rising their clasped hands at the vote banks. This traditional way of greeting only exists during the marriages and at other domestic functions. The mere understanding will help us appreciate the divinity of our being, the profoundness and virtue of these practices and save them as treasures for the generations to come.

Dream for a better world

Recently, there was a question posted in Yahoo Answers and the answers were supposed to be shared with Paulo Coelho. It is a question that all of us ask ourselves time and again.

Here is the question –

How would the world be different if people began to follow their own dreams?

Can following your dreams make the world a better place?

My answer to it was “Depends on what we dream of. Dream is the reflection of the impressions and inhibitions of an individual. The ultimate goal of life is to shed these impressions, so that the soul is purified. Then the individual will know his/her Self is just a microcosm of the whole existence and the whole existence is the macrocosm of the self. At this state, if the individual dreams, it is as if he/she is dreaming for the world and if it materializes, then would make this world a better place. In the relative plane of existence, we as individuals cannot have a shared vision and a common goal. But, in the real plane, which is beyond all the sheaths covering us, we are all one and the same pure existence and the dream would be an orchestration towards materializing a symphony that would make this world a better place.” When I read it now, it looks like a weird answer!

What would be yours?

Click the below link to download a best collection of parables and short stories from around the world. These were selected and compiled by Paulo Coelho so that it can be circulated to everyone as a gift. So, here is a gift for you from Paulo – Click Here

Thanks to Chennai Cops

I’m very good at loosing cell phones, debit/credit cards, keys (vehicle as well as house) and wallets. It all started in my school days when I was passionate about trying a wide assortment of pens and loosing them. I don’t really remember whether it was the loosing that made me try different pens or it was the multitude of pens that caused this habit of loosing. Though I lost interest in pens (I no longer carry a pen), I couldn’t loose the habit of loosing and it keeps haunting all my personal possessions like cell phones, keys, cards, (sometimes girls!) etc, till they no longer interest me. Today, I have lost my debit card for the second time in two months!

Though very cautious, my wife was also caught by the Loosing Jinn last month when she lost her cell phone while visiting the bank. When she informed me, I blocked the SIM and consoled her saying that the model is obsolete and so it is an opportunity to get the latest one. But she was adamant, as it is a B'day gift I gave her and hence, she resolved to find it at any cost. Finally, she asked me to email the Cyber Crime Department of Chennai Police, requesting them to investigate this. I emailed cop@vsnl.net with the details of the cell phone and to my surprise, I got a response from Letika Saran, IPS, CoP, Greater Chennai, assuring that necessary action will be taken.

Exactly after 10 days, I received a call from the commissioner’s office that the cell phone has been found and recovered. One of my uncles went to collect the cell phone, and I understand from him that Letika Saran herself handed over it. I know that the Chennai cops have a habit of making and breaking world records in investigating complex cases. But I was surprised to see the same level of importance given for a trivial case. When agencies across the country are struggling to file charge sheets within 90 days, narrowing the gap between crime and justice so drastically is no mean task.

Thanks to the efforts of the Chennai Cops.

Don’t hesitate to lodge a complaint through cop@vsnl.net when you loose a cell phone.

Animal Farm

With the elections round the corner and as I see the desperate election manifestos and the barking of the politicians, I am reminded of the satirical allegory Animal Farm by George Orwell. The book examines totalitarianism and a utopia that turns dystopian. One night, all the animals on Mr. Jones’ Manor Farm gather in a barn to hear the highly regarded old Major, a pig, describe a dream about a world where all animals live free from the tyranny by their human masters. Soon after the meeting the Major dies, but the animals – inspired by his philosophy of Animalism plot a rebellion against Jones. Two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, emerge as important figures and when Jones forgets to feed the animals, Jones and his men are chased off the farm, Manor Farm is renamed the Animal Farm, and the seven commandments of Animalism are engraved on the barn wall.

The pigs, because of their intelligence, become supervisors. Napoleon, however, proves to be power-hungry stacks away the cow’s milk and the apples to feed himself and the other pigs. Squealer the pig, his ardent supporter convinces the other animals that the pigs are always moral and correct in their decisions.

Later, Jones and his men attack the Animal Farm in an attempt to recapture it. Thanks to the heroics of Snowball, the animals defeat Jones in the Battle of Cowshed. Snowball plans for a windmill, which will provide electricity and thereby giving the animals more leisure and time; but Napoleon strongly opposes the plan. When the animals decide to vote on this issue, Napoleon chases Snowball out of the Farm forever, with the help of the ferocious dogs that were sheltered by him. Napoleon announces that there will be no more debates and also orders the windmill to be built, lying that it was his own idea. In the rest of the novel, Napoleon uses Snowball as a scapegoat whom he blames as a scapegoat.

Napoleon becomes a heartless dictator, forcing “confessions” from innocent animals, and the dogs kill them in front of the entire farm. He and the pigs shift into Jones’ house and begin sleeping in beds. The other animals get less and less food while the pigs grow fatter and fatter. As one by one, the seven commandments is revised; for example, after the pigs become drunk, the Commandment, “ No animal shall drink alcohol” is changed to “ No animal shall drink alcohol in excess.”

Boxer, the hyper energetic horse who was a key contributor in building the Windmill was mercilessly sold to a butcher, while Squealer tells the other animals that Boxer was taken to a Vet and there he died a peaceful death – a tale that the animals believed.

Years pass and the Animal Farm expands after Napoleon buys out two fields from the neighboring farmer. Life for the animals (except the pigs) is harsh. Eventually, the pigs begin walking in two legs and imbibe several qualities of their former masters, the human beings. The Seven Commandments are reduces to a single law: “All the animals are equal but some are more equal than others.”

The novel ends with a farmer sharing drinks with the pigs in the Jones’ house and Napoleon changes the name of the farm back to Manor Farm. As the other animals watch the scene through the window, they cannot differentiate the pigs from the humans.

The novel illustrates the essential horror of the human condition – there have been, are, and always will be pigs in every society, and they will always lust for power. Though it is a universal political scenario, there is a strikingly significant allegorical resemblance to the political scenes of Tamilnadu election 2006. It is upto you to relate the characters to our aspiring leaders!

Naming my Son

PNow, the question of naming my son is resolved. What is a Name? I don’t think that a name is a unique identifier of an individual, as there are more individuals than the names under the sun. RFID Tags would be most appropriate to identify the uniqueness than the names. I think, Name is a bridge to relate a person with another and hence is a form of Ego. A name is for others to call us by, where as the ego is for us to call ourselves. Name is the first sheath that is imposed on a human being born into this world and we start relating the self with the name, its meaning, its numerology, its celebrity holders, and finally inculcate the qualities of these factor and imitate them.

The Kids are named with the assumption that, they would like the way they are called by and hence, if it is not meeting their expectations, they should be allowed to change their names at will. With this preconception, I have named my son as Pranav Teja.

"Dear Pranav,
I give you this name as a message.

You will have to unfold it, live it.

Right now it will be only a name,

but if you work on it, it will become your reality.

It will not be anymore a name,

just a name.

"When I named you,

in that moment I had a certain feeling about you.

But, if you go on changing ...

And, if you are no longer in that space ...

Then you will be in a different space.

"When you are unable to relate to your name,

You give yourself another name.

Your whole aura will be different

In the way you want it to be!"

Highway to Hell

I was reading Kamzee’s post on the road passing through his apartment and as a result started exploring the need for the most wasteful new road projects. Roads created problems long before the invention of cars, as the villages lost their self efficiency when they became dependent on trade and travel. In more recent times, roads are the precursor to the so-called development, that has lead us to the peak of self-destruction. Time and again, the roads have trashed the Garden of Eden; cutting through the villages, forests and rivers.

India, with a total road length of about 5.0 million KMs (excluding the Golden Quadrangle Project), has one of the largest road networks. The condition of most of the rural roads is deplorable due to the neglect and negligence of the officials and the politicians. District and State authorities are responsible for the construction and maintenance of roads, but large scale corruption has led to this sad state of the roads. Due to the contractor-engineer-bureaucracy nexus, the common people have to suffer a lot while commuting. We have got too many roads already and close to half of the urban space is paved to accommodate automobiles; more land is converted to cars than to housing and agriculture. There was a proposal to build an alternate road to connect Kodaikanal and Palani, which would cut through the endangered shoal forests and some pristine rivers on the Palani Hills requiring resettlement of villages, agricultural fields and the fauna. Thanks to the efforts of PHCC, to halt such proposal. Resettlement - They say human beings and the organisms should be resettled. But, where? Where is the land? Has someone invented a land-manufacturing machine?

All these roads cost money. The expenditure on highways and major roads is of a great magnitude when compared with what is being spent on the basic needs of the people including education. The most powerful reason why road building dominates our infrastructural budget, even when it makes no fiscal or ecological sense: those earth-moving machines, trucks, rollers and the plants cost lot of money, and their owners are not going to let them rust. Another reason is the belief that the roads have become a reflex article of faith and the faith in them is impervious to arguments and hence serves as gold mines for the politicians, bureaucrats and the construction industry.

And perhaps, the only genuine reason can be cited is that we want to get from here to there directly, without going around, which means, we have got to have another road. There was a time when I also agreed to that. I used to think; more roads are good because they would allow people to reach the destination soon through a more convenient angle with minimum fuel. I disagreed, on seeing the fact of the study conducted by Ivan Illich that revealed that: If we divide the distance we travel by the number of hours we spend not just sitting behind the wheels but also working to pay for our cars and fuel or doing other things in some way associated with our cars, our net speed comes to around 5 miles per hour!

People should realize that motor vehicles are the largest single source of atmospheric pollution worldwide and 65% of all carbon monoxide emitted into the environment comes from vehicles. Carbon monoxide, besides being poisonous, contributes to global warming by promoting the buildup of methane, a powerful green-house gas. In a world threatened by global warming and cancer epidemic, we keep accumulating pollution. A certain amount of pollution is inevitable; but, we can at least examine our conduct on an individual level and try to cut down to a minimum damage.

A new highway means worse air and water quality, less money available for road maintenance and public transportation and more burden on the tax payers, Tax payers’ money is being hijacked for unneeded roads that cause sprawl, damage the environment and hurt local communities. We are destroying some of the most pristine wilderness in this country for outdated, short-term solutions that won’t solve traffic problems.

It is not logical just to state the problem and leave the solution unattended. A few recommendations would be

1. Enhanced and Attractive Public Transport System

2. Work Near Home or Work from Home

3. Utilization of Inland Waterways using ferries - A resurrected Koovam in Chennai!

4. Pedelling Vehicles

5. Efficient Traffic Management System

6. Horse Power ( I apologize if you are from Blue Cross! - Menaka Gandhi muje maaff karo - It's apt for our IT geeks riding on a horse with their laptops crossed- helmet compulsory)

More suggestions and recommendations are welcome:)

Women's Day - A Joke!

While shattering the glass ceiling and the phenomenon of the glass cliff are the challenges facing women seeking to climb the corporate ladder, making an existence itself is a challenge for the unempowered women of rural India. Hence, on this day, I think it's appropriate to provide a bird’s eye view of the crimes inflicted on them. Though, it is a collective responsibility of the humanity to provide a solution, the following excerpt from a case study I did a couple of years ago (without any purpose!) would at least enlighten the minds of the nouveau riche softies of the problems faced by the women.

International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, the crime and violence inflicted on them remains as is.

In India, the deep-rooted discrimination of woman begins at her family and her entire socialization process is oriented toward making her an obedient mother and a sincere Wife. She is being discriminated in education, health and decision-making. Most of the work she does for the family remains largely unaccounted and unrecognized by the family and the community which reflects the invisibility of much or her work, making her a mere reproducer and not as a producer. In any Indian family, gender identity determines the status of a person with in the family and hence, the father has more authority over the children than the mother, brother enjoys more facilities, than the sister, the husband has more authority than the wife, and the son is the sole decision maker of a widowed mother’s destiny. Dowry deaths, wife beating, desertion, incest, feticide, infanticide, and polygamy are some of the maladies of the domestic order of the Indian society and are still prevalent. It is often said that domestic violence is a traditional phenomenon, which is not so, as it is both traditional and modern. The tradition burnt women alive, while the use of the modern science kills them in the wombs and denies them the right to be born. Equal property rights to all women and joint matrimonial property rights are not recognized and mother not considered as natural guardian. Women are often used as an instrument to humiliate as her body is considered to be the best site where any kind of revenge can be wrecked. By attacking the women of targeted group, the targeted group is sought to be taught a lesson.

India is in a period of transition and new ideas and ways of living have been introduced in the wake of liberalization, which has resulted in blind consumerism and unreal aspirations fuelled by the barrage of advertisements and get-rich quick schemes influencing the manner people think and behave. Women usually face a double workday, working on an average of 4 to 5 hours a day at home, fulfilling their traditional domestic responsibilities in addition to their economic activity that depends on the size of their family. The factors pushing women and children to displacement and excess work are,

1. Poverty
2. Secondary status of women with in family due to cultural and financial reasons.
3. Customs like dowry, which makes her a financial burden.
4. Son preference
5. Loss or incapability or unemployment of the male member of a family.
6. Consumerism and the aspirations of the family to cope up with the modern life style with material comforts.

At work place the problem starts from wage discrimination, reluctant to employ women and sexual harassment. Both in the informal sector and formal sector most women are not organized in trade union that makes them insecure as far as their jobs and rights are concerned. Many women considering their family responsibilities refuse promotion, training opportunities and leaves. Sexual exploitation of women by the employers, co-workers, colleagues, contractors, middlemen etc. is another serious issue faced by working women. Instance of sexual harassment in the organized sectors may not be as violent as the unorganized sector, but differing degrees of harassment are widespread. Harassment can be in different forms such as verbal harassment, unwanted invitations, sexually colored comments and also physical advances.

The one issue that remains least addressed in Indian society and law, which is one of the most under-reported crimes in our country, is rape. Rape is one of the most brutal forms of aggression against women. In addition to the trauma of rape itself, the victims have to further agony during the legal proceedings that require repeated explanation of the incident before the police and court. Rape by socially and economically powerful persons misusing their position to exploit women is seen in large numbers and most of the women do not even report the cases as they feel that it will not help them, considering the strong position of the aggressors. The girl child remains to be the not vulnerable and powerless target to be sexually exploited. Crime statistics from the national crime records bureau of the home ministry have consistently shown for the last 10 years that rape of minors below 16 years of age are more than 25% of the total rape cases and the shame on the part of law convictions. Of the 284 reports cases of rape in New Delhi in 1992 there were only 3 devaluation of women and children in the society and their oppressed status.

According to official records in 30% to 50% of the cases of child abuse, the offenders are family members, close relatives, neighbors and friends. When it is not with in the family, most of the victims are the children belonging to the poor section and street children of the society. There is also great deal of hesitation by families, to report cases of child abuse as the police or social environment of the legal procedure are not sympathetic towards the victim. When the abuser is the male member of the family, pressure from other members of the family in the name of saving the family honor is the, main consideration and in such cases there is a conspiracy of silence as the family is dependent on the abuser financially. If the victim is 12 to16 years of age she is blamed for inviting the assault or her parents are accursed of allowing her too much freedom, which results in the blame-the-victim syndrome that traumatizes the victim affecting her self esteem. The definition of rape in the Indian penal code is archaic and is remnant of Victorian colonial legislation, which defines rape as vaginal penile penetration and does not recognize oral sex or anal sex as rape of sexual assault. Since vaginal penetration is not often possible in child abuse and does not occur in child rape, the rapist under the Indian law is liable to be punished only for molestation an there is also a failure in the proper registration of the case in the FIR. There is also a serous mental stress due to the lack of counseling for the child and her family and because of the social prejudice against the victim, which is very common.

The Next important issue is the immoral trafficking of girls or women or children in our society. In India according to the 9th five-year plan, 320 million people are below poverty line and of these 70% are women and so this can be referred as feminization of poverty. The rewards of globalization have been reaped by privileged few, amassing wealth and power in the hands of multinationals and the individuals. This has led to unemployment , under employment and retrenchment of the female Labour force which makes them loose their source of livelihood and under these circumstances, more and more women and children are under great pressure to earn more to supplement their family’s income. Hence the tragedy starts to have child Labour, child prostitutes, street children and even men prostitutes. Trafficking is the illicit and clandestine transport of people across national and international borders, largely from developing countries with the motive of forcing them in to oppressive and exploitative situation for the profit of the traffickers or exploiters. Women who are widowed, deserted, abandoned, victims of fraud marriages, are soft targets for the trafficking Mafia. Family, friends, lovers and even parents are often party to the process and in most case the labour contractor or an employment agent or practicing or retired prostitutes are the party to the process. These trafficking people are used in.

1. Flesh trade,
2. Purpose of begging,
3. Attraction in sex tourism,
4. Illegal organ transplant,
5. Drug trafficking,
6. Urban household requiring cheap domestic labour and in
7. Industries that require cheap Labour.

Today the entire flesh trade market is demanding younger girls and according to a current study of the approximate 9,00,000 prostitutes, some 30% are children, and the number of girls below 14 years engaged in prostitution is increasing at the rate of 8% to 10% per annum. This is because of the following factors.

1. It is easier to force them in to submission with the use or threat of physical violent.
2. Myths that sex with virgins is a sure cure of impotent and STD.
3. The fear of HIV among the amateur prostitutes and the mistaken belief that the young girls present a much lower risk of infection.

Despite constitutional guarantees and ratification of international conventions that protect the rights of women and children, laws are followed more in their breach than in their observance. There are special police officers for controlling trafficking and curbing exploitation and most of them do not regard this as serious offence and often collude with the traffickers. There is also a strong nexus of traffickers with the politicians, officials, businessmen and the priesthood. There is no penal sections against officials who fail to take action in cases involving, trafficking of women and girls. Hypocritical moralizing against prostitutes while remaining completely silent on the sexual perversions and promiscuity of the ever-growing male clientele is futile effort in the system of justice and law enforcement.

Culture created by the liberalization process on the economy have encouraged the proliferation of the pornographic industry designed to create sexual fantasies with obscene films, photographs, websites and books, which are easily accessible. This has resulted in the exploited of the children beyond any resistance and further it is fuelled by the immoral portrayal of women by the medial as instrument of lust and pleasure. I beleieve that the best way to conclude is to present the following verses of the former president of India Late Shir.K.R.Narayanan.

“Violence in society has bared a hundred fangs
As advertisement-driven consumerism is

Unleashing frustrations and tensions in our society.
The unabashed, vulgar indulgence in
Conspicuous consumption by the nouveau riche
Has left the under class seething in frustration.
One half of our society guzzles aerated beverages
While the other half has to make to with
Palmfuls of muddied water.
Our three-way fat lane of
Liberalization, privatization and globalization
Must provide safe pedestrian crossings
For the unempowered India also.”