The Meeting!

A platform to share the moments that created long lasting impression on my life.

[vijaijagan]

Governor - Eligibility Redefined

According to Indian constitution, A governor must:

  be a citizen of India;

be at least thirty-five (35) years old;

not be a member of the either house of the parliament or house of the state legislature.

not hold any other office of profit

  But Congress and BJP have successfully established a new rule

  A governor must: be a senior party leader who is too old to hold any active post in the party and in reward gets to enjoy the retirement at the governors residence.

  Every time a new government takes charge, be it at the state level or at central, there'll be major changes of officers at different level to bring in the once who might be supportive to government and to remove once who could be trouble makers or non-cooperative. The same principal is being applied on the post of governors and president as well. Initially the appointments where based on how close the person is to the party and later, it changed totally to how senior the person is in the party.

  Post of Governor is though not powerful, could be very useful to identify and nominate efficient figures who have shined in various fields such as social work to science. Very good example of this nature is Dr Abdul Kalam, a scientist and his appointment as president of India made such an impact on the youth of this nation which is something either Pratibha Patil (Politician) or Pranab Mukherjee (Politician) could not. Not sure if the two presidents who came after Abdul Kalam even made any slightest impact or increased the image of the chair of president.

  After BJP took charge of office at center few months ago, there was big issue because it was asking few governors so it could appoint people of its choice. Thanks to congress govt who appointed many officers and a few governors just before they were about to face elections and were sure to loose. The impact of such events only degrades the value and respect of the post. Post of governor was being used to either support their own party that was ruling at the state or to give a tough time to the ruling party otherwise.

  The ideal solution is to have more of non-political figures nominated to the posts of governors and presidency, there by increasing the face value of the post and also to give the public, the students, youth and the common people some idles to follow and to increase the value system. Also it's another good chance to respect people who spent their life in the service of the nation and people.

  All that we want is more of Abdul Kalam like personalities, who could ignite the minds and hopes of the nation.

[vijaijagan]

Moment of Joy

To me, the recent verdict against politician Jeyalalitha is an historic event of our nation. For once, justice is served while a thousand others like Bofors to 2G and Colgate are still waiting or for worst would never be. A politician in chief-minister's post has misused the power to gain illegal gains of wealth and the person has been identified guilty and punished for once when thousands of such politicians have escaped from justice.

  But what surprises me is the mentality of the people of Tamil Nadu who seem to be rather not so happy about the verdict. The main reason for that is that currently there's no other politician who is strong enough to come as replacement to the corrupt politician who has been severed sentence and removed from Chief Minister's post. After all, how could people go to DMK as an option when the corruption against the party leaders and its family is in lacs of thousands of crores of rupees?

  Justice system is complex; it expects facts that are so clear and direct. Most of the experienced politicians like Karuna and family are able to escape from justice because they learned very early not to deal directly with bribery and other corruptions but to use all means and technology so that they could never be directly associated with the crime and corruption. But Jeyalalitha being very novice at it while coming to power for the first time, she could not learn the art so quickly and her arrogance and public show off put her behind the bars.

  If not for this case that was filed before 18 years, we would have seen a very big monster out of Jeyalalitha that could be equal to that of Karuna and family. Those unaccounted 60+ crores could very well be in Thousands by this time. A timely action helped to control her and make her think more rationally. It's the talk of the town that Sasikala runs a business empire even today in Tamil Nadu that is so close or next to that of Karuna's family business. I believe that if not for this 18 year long trial, that would have expanded larger than that of any that currently run in Tamil Nadu.

  Many think that the case has political vengeance and Jeyalalitha deservers better. There are thousands who get arrested and pay more than what their crime is in terms of harassment behind bars for petty crimes. If this verdict is unfair to Jeyalalitha for her deliberate crime, what do we term that those millions of petty criminals are going through every day? Do they deserver that? It’s power and money that dragged the case so long, a privilege something that ordinary citizens of this nation are not entitled to except the crorepathis and power hungry politicians.

    Coming back to reaction to the verdict, hardly any party except AAP has supported or appreciated the justice served while all other parties which are currently filled with corrupt politicians is quietly pondering that they that they might face the same verdict at some point in future and if any words uttered in support of the verdict would turn against them later. Hats off to AAP for the courage.

  And the hunger strike of Actors in Tamil Nadu against the verdict, don’t want to state much on the tragically comedy. Not sure if they are trying to fool everyone or trying to please someone. It’s a shame on them.

  But what’s happening to the people? Why would anyone in the right sense feel bad about the verdict? It was so sad to see O Pannerselvam, ministers and party men sheeting tears during sworn-in ceremony, so sad these coverts are our current state leaders and we don’t have any option or alternate.

  It was a shame on our nation when Sonia was running proxy government with a dummy Prime Minister and it's going to be the same in Tamil Nadu where Jeyalalitha is going to be running government with a dummy Cheif Minister. She was intelligent enough to keep the puppets around her who had zero self-respect and brilliant enough to keep the rest away. 

We’ve learned to walk past stinky Koovam River by covering our nose, learned to walk on the spit covered streets by closing our eyes and learned to navigate through pedestrian pavements that are occupied by petty shops. And today, our tolerance has grown to accept imperfect and corrupt leaders. We’ve started to compare the offences of Jeyalalitha with Karunanithi Family and started overlooking her crime because it looks small to us.

  Yes, we don't have an option unless we create a new leader in the state. But that's not the reason to not be happy that a culprit has been punished. Wish Dr Abdul Kalam would start a party before the next general assembly which is due in another two years; sure he would sweep all the seats in the state.

  A trial for 18 years at special court seems to be too long; it doesn’t make justice to the term “Special Court”. After this, there’s High Court and Supreme Court who would have their own timelines and our dream of seeing a corrupt politician in jail for the full term might never happen.

  No matter what, this is not a time to compare who is more corrupt or how long it’s going to take before she comes out again but a moment to rejoice and feel good about the justice system, not because of it’s speed or accuracy, but for giving us a thin line of hope that our democracy is not a complete failure.

[vijaijagan]

Nobel to Obama and Bharat Ratna to Sachin

There are similarities between these two occasions. Both are great personalities, who have created history, an unforgettable history, there’s no question about their achievements. But the comparison is on the awards presented to them. Barak Obama was elected president and sworn in on Jan 2009. He was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in October 2009 "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples". Everyone was surprised at this announcement including the president. It was just within months from his presidency where he has not accomplished anything yet; he was fighting hard with recession, Iraq war and Afghan war with no signs of improvement in any area. He did pull out of Iraq and Afghan over the next few years but even just months ago was threatening to take military action against Syrian government even though the chemical attacks were not proved to be conducted by the Syrian government. He seems to be doing justice to the award An award such as Nobel peace prize is given to a person for what has been achieved not based on the potential or for what one would probably achieve in the near future. Obama might be a well-deserved candidate for a Nobel Prize considering that he’s the first African-American president ever been elected in an American soil where the community he is identified based on the skin color. But the reason stated for the award doesn’t make much sense. And that’s the reason why everyone was surprised of such an award announcement. The pride of Nobel Prize reduced at least a bit due to such a choice. Coming to Bharat Ratna, the award is presented for people who have contributed to the people of India through some extraordinary service. Sachin has achieved great heights in the field of cricket. But entertainment can’t be considered as a service to people in a nation where essentials for day to living are lacking to a large extent. Sachin sure deserves all honors in the field of sports but none for civilian service at this point as he has spent all his life so for on the playground which has automatically fetched money and fame. This also complicates the future of the aware where people from all areas, from music, movies to entertainment industry would consider themselves eligible for the “Bharat Ratna” award. Just like the case of Obama, let’s just hope that Sachin probably spends is retirement life in the service of people and try to make himself worthy of the award he has received.

[vijaijagan]

சொரிஞ்சிகிறது சொகமாதான் இருக்கும்

அண்மைக்கால தமிழ் சினிமாவின் ஒரே கதை... வெட்டியாக அல்லது கோமாளியாக ஒரு நாயகன், அவனுடன் எப்போதும் சுற்றும் சுயமரியாதையே இல்லாத ஒரு நண்பர் (அல்லது கூட்டம்), வெட்டியாக இருந்தாலும் பொருட்படுத்தாமல் தன்னை எப்படி காப்பாற்றுவானென்று சிறிதும் யோசிக்காமல் அந்த நாயகனை காதலிக்கும் வெள்ளையான ஒல்லியான ஒரு கேரளத்து நாயகி, அந்த காதலுக்கு இடை நிற்கும் உறவுகள், சில மறுப்புகள், சில சண்டைகள், இறுதியில் யாவரும் நலம். அபத்தமான இந்த ஒரு வரி கதையில் எத்தனை திரைப்படங்கள் இந்த அண்மைக்காலத்தில். எல்லாவற்றிக்கும் நகைச்சுவை படங்கள் என்று வேறு ஒரு பெயர். நகைச்சுவை மூலம் சமூக அவலங்களை சாடிய N S கலைவாணர், பின்னர் தமிழ் திரை உலகில் நெடுநாள் நகைச்சுவை மன்னனாக விளங்கிய நாகேஷ், முழு நீல நகைச்சுவை திரைப்படங்களை அழகாக படைக்கக்கூடிய கமலஹாசன் என நல்ல நகைச்சுவை நாயகர்கள் இருந்தனர். ஒரு சமூக சிந்தனை உள்ள நகைச்சுவை நாயகனாக இருந்த விவேக்கும் இன்று பாதை மாறி சென்று விட்டார். ஏமாந்த இளிச்சவாயனை அசிங்கபடுத்துவது அவமானப்படுதுவதையே நகைச்சுவை என்று சிலகாலம் கவுண்டமணி-செந்தில் இருந்தனர், பிறகு அடுத்தவரிடம் அடிவாங்குவதையே நகைச்சுவை என்கிற நிலையை வடிவேலு போன்றோர் கொண்டுவந்தனர். இப்போது நகைச்சுவை என்கிற கொடுமை யார் எவர் என்று பார்க்காமல், தன்னையும் அவமானப்படுத்தி அடுத்தவரையும் அசிங்கபடுவது என்றாகிவிட்டது. அழகான நீண்ட வசனங்கள் போய், இன்றைய வசனங்கள் எல்லாம் பத்து வாரத்தை கூட இல்லாமல், ஒரு வசனத்திற்கே பத்து பேராவது கேவலப்படுதும்படி இருக்கின்றன. சந்தானமும் சூரியும் நகைச்சுவை அல்ல, அரிப்பு. அரிக்க அரிக்க சொரிந்து கொள்வது சுகமாக தான் இருக்கும், அனால் அது ரசனை இல்லை, அடுத்த தலைமுறையின் மனதை புண்ணாக்கி, பண்பாடில்லாமல் செய்து விடும்.

[vijaijagan]

500

300 is one of my favorite movies which is the inspiration of naming my fiftieth article with number 500. What started as a simple drive to Mahabalipuram this Sunday morning at 9 am, completed at 11 pm, after fourteen hours of travel on two wheeler, covering 500 plus kilometers, almost making it a circular trip where we never travelled through the same route, except once, just for 2 km. At 9 am in the morning, I joined my brother-in-law Eugene at Medavakkam from were we started on his “Passion Pro” bike. First break we had was with in 30 minutes to have a coconut water in ECR road and after that an hour near Mahabalipuram which is suppose to have been our final destination for the day on bike from where we were suppose to come back home and make the second journey on car with family.

Then we decided to return home and even drove for 100 meters, suddenly our plans changed in a moment of time. Thought that going home and starting from there in car would take an additional three hours or so, on thinking of saving three hours, we started to Thiruvannamalai directly from there on bike. What tempted us to do that is that NH-4 highway was just 30 minutes drive from there through Chengalpet.

We were absolutely unprepared, didn’t even carry a water bottle with us to begin with. We started at 11:30 am and reached NH4 in 30 minutes via Mahabalipuram -Chengalpet and took a lunch break for about 20 minutes at 1 PM. Weather so pleasant until then, it was cloudy from morning, but sky started clearing after 1 pm and we started to feel the heat. By 1:30 PM, we reached Thindivanam from where Thiruvannamalai was just 70 km away.

But those 70 km stretch was the most difficult one as the road expansion project was going on for more than an year and expected to take another year to complete it. But the hope that very soon we are going to have a wonderful road compensated for the additional time it and for the horrible conditions and diversions that were in place. Finally reached Thiruvannamalai by 3:30 PM and from there we went to the native which was another 20 km.

Reached native at 4 pm, we paid our last respects to Mr. Lurdiya, retired teacher and was the Head Master of the school for the first two years of my schooling as well as our relative, who passed away that morning. After that, we went home and had a cup of coffee and rested for 20 minutes. By 4:30 PM, we started back to Chennai. We were asked to stay back and rest for some more time, but we wanted to start as early as possible so as to cover maximum distance possible while there was still day light.

We took a different root for return journey, started through Chengam-Arcord road that passes by Polur and Arani. We took a coffee break after reaching Arcord, which took about 2 hours and 15 minutes. By then, sun had set and we had to drive under lights. We starting feeling the pain on body as well as on the eyes. But the rest of the journey was going to be on NH7, so we thought that it was not going to be too bad of a night drive.

We touched NH7 before 7 PM and took another 10 minutes break after an hour. By 9:30 we reached Poonthamalli. But our most important raid started at this hour, there were two choices, either that Eugene drops me at Gundy or I catch up train from Chindatripet. The best choice was Chindatripet, as it would be easy to each my home via train but the last train was at 10 PM. Eugene was confident that he can reach the station in 30 minutes, so we continued on bike though by-pass road via Maduravayal. There was some traffic even at that hour and most signals were still on, so there were some anxious moments, but we reached Chindatripet station on time, got my ticket and I was able to catch the last train for the day to Velacherry and safely reached home by 11 PM.

I was at the passenger seat for the entire ride, Eugene being one of the best and most responsible drivers I’ve ever known; the driver could not have been more comfortable. This was a different experience for both of us. For a while, we thought that bike ride was not a good decision, car should have been our choice but for sure, we would not have reached home by 11 PM if not for the bike.

Another most important thing is the quality of the roads. We travelled through different routes, some very interior roads connecting villages and some state roads and two national highways NH4 and NH7. We travelled on national highways for 250 km and the rest on interior and state roads. The quality of the roads was excellent except for a 65 km stretch from Thindivanam to Thiruvannamalai due to ongoing road expansion project. Ten years ago, it took 16 hours on high-tech bus to complete 500 km ride on national highways but the same took us just 12 hours on a bike including drive on country roads.

At the end of the day, it was a tiresome journey, thanks to my late evening shift for this months, I was able to take good rest till noon yesterday. The dehydration lasted for another day, but I’m fully recovered now. Reached home safely and recovered completely but the journey would end only when my wife gets to know that the ride was on the bike and not on car and give me her peace of mind.

Would I travel again on a bike for another 500+ km? Can’t say I won’t but only if I’m going to be on the drivers seat now and then…

[vijaijagan]

இயந்திரம்

மின்சாரம் கண்ணாம்மூச்சி ஆடிக்கொண்டிருந்தது 

பதினைந்தாவது முறையாக ஒளிந்து கொண்டது

இன்று மாலையில் மட்டும்

  மறைந்து கொள்ள மொட்டை மாடிக்கு சென்றோம்

பல நாள் கழித்து பாயில் படுக்கை

வெட்ட வெளியில் படுத்து

வானத்தை பார்த்து எவ்வளவு நாளாயிற்று?  

  மேகம் வானத்தை போர்த்தியிருந்தது

ஆனாலும் பௌர்ணமி வெளிச்சம்

நிலா கூட காணவில்லை

புழுக்கம் தாங்காமல் காற்று வாங்க

கடற்கரை பக்கம் போனதோ என்னவோ

  சுத்தமான காற்று இதமாயிருந்தது

விண்மீன்கள் சில மேக மறைவில் எட்டிப்பார்த்து

கண்சிமிட்டி காட்டிக்கொடுக்க முயன்றுகொண்டிருந்தன

  கோடி அழகும் அற்புதங்களும் கொட்டிக்கிடக்கும்

வானவெளியில் மனம் காற்றாடி விட்டது

வயல்வெளி வேப்பமரமும்

வருடங்களுக்கு முன் காணமல் போன

கூரை வீட்டு முற்றமும் நினைவுகளில் நிழலாடின

  மின்சாரத்திற்கு முன் எங்களை கண்டுபிடித்தன

சென்னை மாநகரின் தாதாக்கள் - கொசுக்கள்

கதவுகளும் சன்னல்களும் எப்போதும் அடைபட்டுக்கிடப்பது

இந்த தாதாக்களின் அராஜகத்திற்கு அஞ்சி தானே

  கண்கள் கரண்ட் கம்பத்தையே நோக்கின

பரந்த ஆகாசத்தின் அழகை

சின்ன கொசுவின்  ரீங்காரம் மறைத்து விட்டது....

  மின்சாரம் விளையாட்டை முடித்துக்கொண்டதும்

இவ்வளவு இன்பத்தையும் விட்டுவிட்டு

வீடு எனும் இயந்திரத்துக்குள்

அவசரமாய் சென்று மின்விசிறியை இயக்கினேன்

மூடிய அறைக்குள் நாள் முழுதும் அடைபட்டுக்கிடந்த 

காற்று கூட சற்று இயந்திரமாய்த்தான் இருந்தது...

[vijaijagan]

All Praise is to GOD

It’s a real incident which happened in the first week of Dec 2012, words in the conversation are almost correct, may not be cent percent accurate but the meaning is for sure. It was an interesting journey from JKF, New York to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was an 11 hr. flight in Saudi Arabian Airlines, seating was not that comfortable but food was good. What was interesting about it is my encounter with the passenger sitting next to me.

Within couple of minutes, he introduced himself Suhail Kapoor. Looked and dressed like a Muslim but name sounded like a Hindu. We had very interesting conversation until the moment we were getting ready to get down after reaching Jeddah Airport to get the connecting flight to Chennai.

SK           :               You look like a kind of a guy who likes to read a lot

VJ           :               Not really, but I would like to. Have not started to read regularly but want to.

SK           :               Are you interested in knowing Islam?

VJ           :               I've not much idea on Islam, all idea of Islam that I have is the very little that I've read in media. But I like to know, would be good to know from a Muslim directly.

SK           :               Here's a small book that I wrote and two pamphlets of the interviews that I gave to newspapers.

VJ           :               Ok, let me read this first. And then we can talk.

[Completed part of the book in next couple of hours and took a good nap as I had very short sleep for the previous two days. He was from a Hindu family but got converted into Islam while he was working in the Middle Eastern counties. He is now settled in Canada and was preaching Islam and was involved in religious related activities. After I woke up, we both started talking again]

SK           :               So what do you think?

VJ           :               It was very informative, but I've many questions from what I've read so far.

SK           :               That's good. Before that let me tell you few details. I was once a Hindu and I could not understand any of the rituals and had many questions on the customs followed and decided to find my own faith. When I shared this to my father, he didn't object me and gave me freedom to choose what I found as right. How can you have so many Gods and Gods having birth? How can you believe in rebirth?

VJ           :               Yes, if you start questioning, there may not be answers to many of them when it comes to Hinduism. [I thought he got an impression that I was a Hindu as my name doesn't clearly state otherwise and I didn't think it was important to correct him. My understanding of Hinduism is bit different from him. Hinduism is based on eastern philosophy; it is completely based on faith unlike the western religions. There's not much place for questions and answers if it is purely based on faith. But I didn't want to divert the discussion in to that direction as my objective was to understand Islam to the extent possible in the short time left]

SK           :               It is when I was working in Middle Eastern country, I heard about Allah and Islam and finally found my faith and got converted, when I took the oath of conversion, I could feel that something was pulled out of me and something else that was divine was replaced.

VJ           :               Oh that's interesting [I've heard from many who got converted say this, even many converted Christians share such feelings, most of them would even start crying due to filled emotions. This is something that the majority who choose their religion by birth miss]

SK           :               How can there be many Gods? God is one and he himself has asked us to call him by only one name "Allah"

VJ           :               I totally agree with you, there can't be multiple GODS. But why do you insist that GOD has to be called by only the name "Allah". GOD is one but with numerous characteristics and each would choose to call with the name that is most inspiring to them.

SK           :               You said your name is Vijai. Will you respond if someone calls you with some other name?

VJ           :               Yes, my name is Vijai. But not everyone addresses me as "Vijai". At home, they call me "Viji", my friends’ calls me "Jagan", some address me with my last name and in spite of it, I respond to them all, because I know that they are addressing me.

SK           :               Quran was revealed to Prophet Mohammad over many years and that is the only book that has been never altered till date from the time it was written. As per Quran, GOD has asked us to call only by name "Allah". Quran has also said that we've to pray five times a day and fast for 40 days during a specific time of the year.

VJ           :               Ok, but that sounds bit strange, I'm not able to understand that. Saying that GOD has to be called only by one name and having a specific way of praying and wearing only specific type of dress sounds like painting the whole world "White". I don't want to live in such a world.

VJ           :               Let me ask you a question. Let us say that I have lived a peaceful life, not harming anyone or not having hurt anyone. But I've not followed the customs of Islam. Will I reach heaven or not.

SK           :               As per Quran, Allah says that he would forgive all sins but not the sin that he has not been worshipped the way stated in Quran or if some other GOD was worshipped.

VJ           :               So you mean to say that I won't go to heaven even if I did not do any evil just because I'm not a Muslim?

SK           :               Let's take the case of Mother Therese, she did so much good to everyone but she didn't accept Allah or Islam. So according to Quran, she can't go to heaven because Allah can forgive all sins but won't forgive the sin of worshiping another GOD.

VJ           :               Doesn't that sound strange to you? I don't understand how that could make any sense. I can't understand a religion that doesn't let Mother Theresa and Gandhi Ji in to heaven. I don't think that such religion can be correct by any chance.

VJ           :               Another direct question on the status of women in Islam.  Don’t you think they are treated less equals? Though it is the same case in most religions, in Islam, they seem to have far less rights.

SK           :               That’s one of the main misconceptions of many about Islam. But our prophet has clearly said that no part of the women’s body has to be exposed which would distract a man and create feeling of lust. Also he has clearly said that no man should marry another woman if he is not able to support financially. According to the current population, there are more women in the world than men, so if one man is not allowed to marry more than one woman, there would be problems such as illegal relationships.

VJ           :               Reasoning doesn’t sound so clear to me. First of all, the ratio is not that bad, in few parts there are fewer women than men. Even otherwise, that doesn’t seem to justify the way they are looked to be treated.

SK           :               West has portrayed women as sex symbols, they are on every advertisement mostly half naked.

VJ           :               That sure is wrong, but that doesn’t justify extreme suppression of women.

[Suhail Kapoor disagreed to it. By the time, we had landed in Jeddah]

SK           :               Ok Vijai. It was nice meeting you. I'll be taking a break here and travelling to Mecca, it's just 60 KM from here. Wish you could join. Here's a copy of English translated version of Quran for you.

VJ           :               Sure, thank you. It was nice meeting you too and having some interesting discussion. I too wish to visit Mecca; I've another 8 hrs for my next flight.

SK           :               Sorry, only Muslims are allowed there. It's not a tourist spot.

VJ           :               Oh ok. That's fine then. See you later. [Wanted to ask him why only Muslims, but there were lot more questions I had there were more important that this one didn’t mean much to me.]

Guess at the end, I guess he was happy that he gave the message to someone and I was little happy that I got to know a little bit of another religion. May be on another occasion, I might get more clarity on Islam.

[vijaijagan]

கணக்கு

மயக்கமு வாந்தியும் சேந்து வந்த நாமொதலா

மாசம், வாரம், நாலு அப்போறோம் மணி கணக்கு

  வெளிய எட்டி பாடத்த நாமொதலா,

பால் கொடுக்க மணி பாத்து

தொட்டில் கட்ட நாள் பாத்து,

குல தெய்வம் கோவில்ல மொட்டயடிக்க வருஷம் பாத்து

  பய புள்ளைங்களுக்கு பள்ளிகூடம் போன மொத நாளே

கேலண்டர  தெறந்து, லீவு  கணக்கு

அத நடத்தற மொதலாளிக்கு பீசு  கணக்கு,

வாத்திமாருக்கு கா பரிச்ச  அர பரிச்சனு

சிலபஸ் முடிச்சி எக்ஸாம் வச்சி ரிசல்ட் கணக்கு

  அத முடிச்சி வெளிய வந்தா,

எந்த காலேஜ்ல எந்த சீட்டு

எவ்வளோ வெலன்னு கணக்கு பண்ணி,

உள்ள போன நாளே நாள்ல,

எந்த பிகர எப்படி உசார் பண்லான்னு

தனியா ஒக்காந்து புது கணக்கு

  வேல தேடி நாயா அலயரப்ப

நாளைக்கு ரெண்டு டி, மூணு வேல சோறு போக

தம்முக்கும் தங்கற எடத்துக்கும் அப்பா கணக்கு

  வேல கெடச்சி சம்பளம் வாங்கனதும் ஆயரம் கணக்கு

பத்து தேதிக்கு மேல கைமாத்து கணக்கு

  வருஷம் ரெண்டு போனா பொண்ணு பாக்க

சாதகத்துல கட்டம் கணக்கு,

செட் ஆனா ஆயரத்தேட்டு வரவு கணக்கு

  மொத வருஷம் முடியுமுன்னே

வந்து சேரும் பெத்த கணக்கு 

ஆண் புள்ளன்னா வரவு கணக்கு

பொட்ட புள்ளன்னா செலவு கணக்கு

  அஞ்சாந்தேதிக்கெல்லாம் வீட்டு வாடக

பத்தாந்தேதிக்கெல்லாம் மொபைல் பில்லு

தேதி பதினஞ்சானா  கரண்டுபில்லு 

இருவதானா வண்டி டியுவு

வாரவாரம் மாலிக சமான், பால்  கணக்குனு

மாசம் பூரா செலவு கணக்கு

  வளத்த கடன் கேள்வி கேக்க

சொந்த கடன் பாத்ததெல்லாம் கேக்க

வாங்கற சம்பளத்துல வீட்டு செலவு

தீவாளி பொங்கல் செலவுன்னு

ஆயரத்தெட்டு கணக்கு பாத்து

  திடீர்னு திருபிப்பாத்தா

வருசமும் போச்சி வயசும் போச்சி

என்ன பெத்தது மேல போச்சி

நான் பெத்தது டவுனுக்கு போச்சி

  இந்த கணக்கு அந்த கணக்குன்னு

வாழ்க்க மொத்தம் ஏதோ ஒரு கணக்கு

உழவன் கணக்கு பாத்தா உழவுக்கு கூட மிஞ்சாதாம்

வாழ்க்க கணக்கு பாத்தா மட்டும் வைரக்கல்லா கெடைக்க போகுது

  சொந்தத்துக்கும் பந்தத்துக்கும் ஏது கணக்கு

நண்பன்காரன் கூட நின்னது எந்த கணக்கு

பெத்தவங்க பாசத்துக்கும் கூட பொறந்த நேசத்துக்கும்

பொண்டாட்டி புள்ளகுட்டி தந்த சொர்கத்துக்கும்

எப்படி கணக்கு பாக்க?

[vijaijagan]

உடன்பாடு

எனக்குத்தெரிந்த இரண்டு மதங்கள் இந்துத்துவமும் கிறிஸ்தவமும், என்னை சுற்றியுள்ள சமூகமும் சமுதாயமும் இந்த இரு மதங்களால் படைக்கப்பட்டவை. கணக்கில் அடங்கா கடவுலர்களைக்கொண்ட இந்துத்துவதுக்கும் ஈராயிரம் வருடம் முன்பு பாலஸ்தீனத்தில் தோன்றிய கிறித்துவத்துக்கும் இடையே ஆயிரம் ஆயிரம் வேறுபாடுகள், வெவ்வேறு தத்துவ மற்றும் இறையியல் கோட்பாடுகள். இவ்வளவு வித்தியாசங்களை கொண்ட மதங்களை கொண்ட ஒரு சமூகம் எப்படி ஒன்றாக இருக்க முடியும்? இவர்களுக்குள் ஏதேனும் பொதுவாக இருக்க முடியுமா?

  சில அடிப்படை பண்புகளை ஆராயும்போது, இவர்களுக்குள் பல ஒற்றுமைகள் வெளிப்படும். உணவு மற்றும் உடைகள் இருவருக்குமே ஒன்று தான், வீட்டு அமைப்பு கூட வித்தியாசப்படுவதில்லை. இவையாவும் மதத்தின் அடிப்படையில் அமையாமல் பண்பாட்டின் அடிப்படையில் அமைந்துள்ளன. பண்பாட்டு கூறுகளையும் தாண்டி, மத அடிப்படியில் இருக்க வேண்டிய சில முரண்பாடுகள் இங்கு இல்லாமல் போவதே சற்று சிந்திக்க வேண்டியுள்ளது.

  இரு சாராருமே, வெவ்வேறு கடவுளர்களையும் வழிபாட்டு முறைகளையும் கொண்டிருப்பினும், வாழ்வின் பொதுவான சில நிகழ்வுகளில் ஒன்றி நிற்கின்றனர். வீட்டிற்கு அஸ்திவாரம் தொங்குவது முதல், புது மனை புகும்போது நடத்தப்படும் சடங்குகள் வரை, முன் வைக்கப்படும் கடவுளின் உருவப்படம் மாறுபடுமே தவிர, வழிபாட்டு முறைகள் மாறுவதில்லை. புதிய வாகனம் வாங்கியதும் மந்தரிப்பது கூட இரு மதத்தவருக்கும் பொதுவானது.

  இருவருக்குமே புனிதமான பொருட்கள் உண்டு, இந்துக்கள் மந்தரித்த கயிறு போல கிறித்துவர்களும் மாதாவுக்கு மந்தரித்த கயிறை கண்டுபிடித்துக்கொண்டுள்ளனர், மந்தரித்த தண்ணீர் இருவருக்கும் உண்டு, அவர்களுக்கு கற்பூரம் என்றால் இவர்களுக்கு மெழுகு வத்தி. நேர்த்திகடன் வேண்டுதல்களும் இருவருக்கும் பொதுவானது. இந்துக்கள் திருப்பதிக்கும் குருவாயூருக்கும் காவி உடுத்தி நடந்து சென்றால், கிறித்துவர்கள் அதே வண்ண உடை உடுத்தி வேளாங்கண்ணிக்கு நடந்து செல்கின்றனர். பவுர்ணமிக்கு அவர்கள் திருவண்ணாமலைக்கு கிரிவலம் சென்றால், இவர்களும் அச்சரபாக்கம் போன்ற சில மலைகளை கண்டுபிடித்துள்ளனர்.

  இது போன்ற இன்னும் பல ஒருமைகள் இருவருக்குள்ளும் உண்டு. இங்கு கவனிக்கப்பட வேண்டய சில ஒற்றுமைகள் உள்ளன, முதலில், வாஸ்து மற்றும் நேரம். இவை இரண்டும் கிருத்துவ மதத்துக்கு அடிப்படைக்கு ஏற்புடையவை அல்ல, இருப்பினும் பொதுவாக எல்லா இந்திய கிருத்துவர்களும் இவற்றை ஆழமாக நம்புபவர்களாகவும் இவற்றை ஏற்பவராகவும் உள்ளனர். வாஸ்துவும் நல்ல நேரமும் மூட நம்பிக்கைகளாக சித்தரிக்கப்பட்டிருப்பினும், மத கோட்பாடுகளுக்கு எதிராக இருப்பினும் இவை பல கிறித்துவரின் வாழ்வில் ஒன்றுபட்டு நிற்கின்றன.

  இவற்றுக்கெல்லாம் முத்தாய்ப்பாக உள்ளது சாதி அமைப்பு. இந்துக்களுக்கு சாதி எவ்வளவு முக்கியமோ கிருத்துவருக்கும் அவ்வளவு முக்கியம் இந்த சாதி, இந்துகளைப்போல் இங்கும் கீழ் சாதிக்கும் மேல்சாதிக்கும் வழிபாட்டு தளங்களில் வெவ்வேறு இடங்கள், வெவ்வேறு சமாதிகள் என எல்லாவித சாதியில் ரீதியான பாகுபாடுகளும் உண்டு. திருமணத்துக்கு சாதி பார்ப்பது தொடங்கி, வரதட்சணை வரை இங்கும் உண்டு எல்லா அசிங்கங்களும். அனைத்து கிறித்துவ நிறுவனங்களிலும், நிலைகளிலும் சாதி நீக்கமற நிலை கொண்டுள்ளது. ஒரு மதத்தால், இன்னும் இது போன்ற அடிப்படி தீமைகளைக்கூட கலயமுடியவில்லை.

  சில மாதங்களுக்கு முன்பு நிகழ்ந்த ஒன்றே இந்த அடிப்படியில் என்னை சிந்தித்து பார்க்க வைத்தது. நண்பனின் அம்மா எதிர்பாராமல் இறந்து விட, இறுதிச்சடங்கில் கலந்துகொள்ள சென்றிருந்தேன். இறுதியில் கல்லறைக்கு செல்லும் போது, தாயாரின் மகள் உட்பட பெண்கள் யாருமே, கல்லறைத்தோட்டத்துக்கு வரவில்லை, ஏன் ஒரு கிருத்துவரின் வீட்டில் கூட இப்படி ஒரு பழக்கம் என்று சிந்தித்ததில் தெளிவானது கிறித்துவத்துக்கும் நம்மவர்களுக்கும் இருந்த உடன்பாடு......

"பெயரை மட்டுமே மாற்றிக்கொள்வேன் உனக்காக,

என்னை சற்றும் மாற்றாமல்

அப்படியே ஏற்றுக்கொள்வதாய் இருந்தால் சொல்,

பெருமையாய் சொல்லிக்கொள்வேன் வெளியே

நானும் கிருத்துவன் என்று "

[vijaijagan]

ஒரு தமிழ்ப்பயணம்...

பணிக்கு செல்லத்தயாராகி, எங்கள் நிறுவன மகிழுந்துக்காக காத்திருந்தேன். இன்று முதல் முறை இரவுப்பணி என்பதால், தகவல் முறையாகப்பரிமாறப்படாமல், சில அழைப்புகளுக்கு பிறகு வண்டி வந்து சேர்ந்தது. ஓட்டுனர் நடுத்தர வயதினர், மிக அதிகமாக பேசக்குடியவர் போல…, வண்டி நகர்ந்த ஐந்து நிமிடங்களுக்குள், உள்ளூர் அரசியல் தொடங்கி அங்கிருந்து இலங்கை சென்று, ஐ நா நிறுவனம் தொட்டு அப்படியே சிரியா விவகாரம் பற்றியும் அதில் இந்தியாவின் நிலைப்பாடு அமெரிக்கவிற்கு எதிராக அமைவதின் எதிவினைகளையும் நுனிப்புல் மேந்துவிட்டார். அவரது கருத்துகள் எந்த விதமான ஆழ்ந்த சிந்தனையும் இல்லாமல் எதோ போகிற போக்கில் எதையோ பேசியது போல் இருந்ததால் அதிகமாக கவனிக்காமல் வெறுமனே உம்ம் கொட்டிக்கொண்டிருந்தேன்.

இன்னும் சில நிமிடங்களிலேயே, அவரின் பேச்சு எப்படியோ தமிழுக்கு வந்தது. அவருக்கு ஆங்கிலம் தெரியாததால் பல இடங்களில் மிகவும் சிரமத்திற்கு ஆளாவதாக தெரிவித்தார். தமிழகத்தில் சாமானிய தமிழன் படும்பாடு, அவரின் எதார்த்தமான பேச்சில் பளிச்சென வெளிப்பட்டது. நானும் ஆர்வமுடன் செவிகொடுக்க முற்பட்டேன். அண்மையில் ஒரு புகார் குறித்து வங்கி ஒன்றிற்கு சென்றபோது, ஆங்கிலம் தெரியாததால் அல்லல்பட்டத்தையும், வங்கி ஆவணங்கள் மற்றும் படிவங்கள் அனைத்தும் ஆங்கிலத்திலேயே இருந்ததால் அவரால் அவற்றை நிரப்ப முடியாமல் தவித்தபோது வங்கி அலுவலர்கள் யாரும் அவருக்கு உதவ முன்வரவில்லை என சொல்லி வருந்தினார். தானியங்கி வங்கியின் அச்சிடப்பட்ட குறுங்கணக்கை என்னிடம் காட்டி, ஆங்கிலம் தெரியாத தமிழன் எப்படி இதை வாசிப்பது என்று கேள்வி எழுப்பினார்.

தொழில்நுட்பம் வளர்ந்த இக்காலத்தில், ஆயிரக்கணக்கான சாமானியர்கள் அன்றாடம் பயன்படுத்தும், அதுவும் மிக எளிய முறையில் மாற்றியமைக்கக்கூடிய அல்லது மொழியை தேர்ந்தெடுக்கும் வசதியை இன்னும் தானியங்கி வங்கியில் ஏற்படுத்தப்படாதது வியப்பை எனக்கு அளித்தது. அதைவிட பெரிய அதிர்ச்சி, இத்தனை நாள், எவ்வளவோ முறை தானியங்கி வங்கியை பயன்படுத்தியும், சான்ருச்சிட்டு தமிழ்மொழியில் அச்சிடப்படாததை சற்றும் உணராத அளவுக்கு தமிழின் தேவையும் அவசியமும் என் போன்ற லட்சக்கணக்கானோருக்கு இல்லாமல் போனதை உணர்ந்தேன்.

பிறகு இருவரும் சேர்ந்து, சோழிங்கநால்லூர் முதல் சிறுசேரி வரை உள்ள அனைத்து நிறுவனங்களின் பெயர்ப்பலகை முதல் வண்டியில் பொறித்துள்ள வண்டி எண் மற்றும் எச்சரிக்கை அறிக்கைகள் வரை கவனித்ததில், எங்கோ "ராம்கோ சிமன்ட்" என்கிற விளம்பரத்தை தவிர, தமிழன் வாழ்கிற தமிழகத்தில், சாலைச்சுங்கக் கட்டண வரி ரசீது முதல் வணிக நிறுவனங்களின் பெயர்ப்பலகை வரை எங்குமே தமிழ் இல்லாமல் போனது மட்டுமல்லாது, அதை உணராமலே நாம் எல்லோரும் பயணிப்பது சற்று மனதை நெருடியது.

இன்று அங்காடிகளில் பொருட்களை வாங்கக்கூட ஆங்கிலம் தேவைப்படும் நிலையை அவர் சுட்டிக்காட்டியபோது தான் உணர்ந்தேன். முன்பு தமிழகத்தின் நிலை இப்படி இல்லை. தமிழகத்தில் தமிழ் தெரியாமல் வாழ்வது இயலாது என்று மற்ற மாநிலத்தவர் எண்ணிய காலம் உண்டு. சோடா புட்டி முதல், வத்திப்பெட்டி வரை தமிழில் அச்சிடப்படாத பொருளே அங்காடிகளில் காணமுடியாது. தமிழகத்தில் அயல் மொழி கூடாதென்பதில்லை, தமிழ் கட்டாயம் வேண்டும் என்பதே என் வாதம்.

பல நூற்றாண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு, தமிழகமும் ஆந்திரமும் சென்னை மாகாணத்தின் ஒரே பகுதிகளாக இருந்த பொழுது, இன்றைய தமிழகத்தில் குடிகொண்டு, எழுதத்தெரியாவிட்டாலும் இன்றும் தெலுங்கையே தாய் மொழியாக, வெறும் அடையாளமாக அரசுப்பதிவேடுகைளில் கொண்டு வாழ்கிற என் போன்றோர் பலர் தமிழகத்தில் உண்டு. ஆனால இன்று தமிழகத்தில் தமிழருக்கே தமிழ் அன்றாட வாழ்வில் அதிகம் பயன்படாத, வெறும் ஒரு அடையாள குறியீடாக மாறிக்கொண்டு வருவது சிந்திக்கவேண்டிய ஒன்று.

தமிழுக்காக போராடுகிறேன் என்று சொல்லிய தலைவர்களின் வருங்காலத்தலைமுறைகள் எல்லாம் , இன்று ஆங்கிலம் படித்து விட்டதால் தானோ என்னவோ, தமிழுக்கான போராட்டங்கள் இப்போதெல்லாம் சுத்தமாக இல்லை... இன்று தமிழா ஆங்கிலமா என்று ஓட்டெடுப்பு நடத்தினால், ஆங்கிலத்துக்கே ஒட்டளிப்பேன் என்று அவர் சொன்னதில் எதார்த்தம் நிறைய இருந்தது.

கடைசியாக தெருவில் விளையாடிய கூட்டம், கடைசியாக கண்ணாம்பூச்சி, கொரங்காட்டம், பல்லாங்குழி விளையாடிய கூட்டம் என்கிற பெருமையோடு, உலகின் மூத்த மொழியாம் நம் தமிழ்மொழியை கொன்ற கூட்டம் என்கிற பெயரும் நமக்கே கிடைக்குமோ என்று அஞ்சவேண்டிய நிலை நமக்கு இன்று.

[vijaijagan]

On the cross roads of cultural conservation

Recently when my sister called me to wish for Raksha Bandhan, a north Indian festival which celebrates brother-sister relation, I unintentionally hurt her feelings when I expressed to her that I would prefer not to celebrate this north Indian festival. This would rather showcase me as a person with closed mind. But I wanted to clearly explain to her and the rest including me as such why I don’t like to celebrate Father’s Day/Mother’s Day/Valentine’s Day or some of the North Indian festivals.

All these are very precious occasions to remember and to refresh the relationships, why would I not like them? Here is my reasoning.

Cultural Conflicts

 Father’s day and Mother’s day are inventions of the west, where they are very significant and mandatory due to the nature of relationships. They live far off from each other and get-togethers are annual events in the family. So they need occasions to remember and to reconnect each other. But in the Indian contest, we live together or at least in constant touch, we get together on every occasion possible and this makes creating occasions to remind ourselves of such close relationships are not necessary.

Corporatism

With corporate waiting to capitalize on every possible occasion, these days presented them with an excellent opportunities for business. Be it is B’Day or V’Day, Veterans Day or Independence Day, all that corporate asks us to do is “BUY”. Every occasion is promoted to improve sales though special offers and this seem to deviate completely from the purpose of the occasion. Thanks Giving day is suppose to be a day to spend with family, not to be wasted in standing in a queue to grab a door buster deal.

 Westernization

 Before ten to fifteen years, I’ve hardly seen a birth day celebration with cake or midnight calls, landlines did exist in the period I’m talking about. But today we can’t have a birthday party or most of the celebrations with out a cake. Where the hell did it come from? Usual format of celebration would to get the blessings of elders, special meal and a visit to the worship places. But the trend today is midnight calls, birth day cakes, gifts and dinner at restaurants. The influence of western culture in India is bit too scary. When we are hardly able to sell our Dosa or Idly or Vada in west, cake has become a part of our food chain in a decade.

 Tired of constantly being at the receivers end

 Why don’t I celebrate Raksha Bandhan? I value sibling relationship a lot, I would give them highest priority. I still could not connect to Rahsha Bandhan though, the name is alien to me though very meaningful. There’s still some corporatism tied to it in selling the knots. But there is more reasoning to it. Pongal is a great and meaningful occasion, a four day festival, each day dedicated for a very great reason, four major Indian states (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra and Punjab) celebrate the same in different names, the north or the resf of the Indian states have not adapted it. But Ganesh Pooja and Diwali invented by north have become part and parcel of the south today, celebrated with same enthusiasm as north. We’ve place for Radha wife of Krishna in our temples but one would hardly find a Hindu who knows Aandal in the north.

 In short, I hate to celebrate most of the special occasion of the north and the west for the cause of the “SELF RESPECT” even if it is going to show cause me as a pessimist or a narrow minded.

[vijaijagan]

Searching GOD

From Swami Vivekananda’s address at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, on September 11, 1893

I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: “As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.”

If GOD is to be considered Ocean, all religions and religious practices in what so every form,  are considered as rivers running towards to the final goal of reaching to Ocean.  This could be the best explanation on how could different persectives have same destiny, an explanation that demands tolarance between religions as they share the same goal.

But on recollecting the the above lines, though they have been aplouded as the words of wisdom, how ever sound to me as still well sort of ideal meaning and well short of understanding GOD. The explanation might be the best when looking at the perspective of tolorance but fall short when taking into account of understanding GOD.

As there are very few rivers today that sill make it to ocean and the count is reducing with every progressing day, most rivers today don’t make it to the end. Analysing destination that is “Ocean” and looking deep into the formula of what is is made of , that is “Water” or “H2O”, which is of the same formula for every river is made off and every “Well” in the world or even the moisture in the air is made off. The core of all the forms is same, it is all “H2O” at the end, with additional substance and features along with the base.

Considering “GOD” to this core “H2O” sounds much reasonable for more than one reason rather than the stagneted “Ocean”.  For “H2O” extends the presence of GOD to the entire universe, to every liquid and every being that is made of and/or depended of this base “H2O”. So the goal of the journey is not to reach some destiny but to realise and understand thyself as every being is filled with the same core formula of water what ever form be it.

This is just one perspective, a tiny little view considering the holistic picture. I’m hoping to get more of the understanding on my search of GOD, an understanding that is reasonable to my little knowledge.

[vijaijagan]

A Walk getting Unstable

After a long time, I returned home late at night on a week day as I usually won’t be planning much on weekdays. I had gone to Rayappetta area in Chennai to visit a family who are very close friends, a visit I was planning for few months and finally made it. Things were all fine, started from office in Pallikaranai at 5:45 PM and reached their home by 7 PM. We thought of going out for dinner and after couple of hours, we went out to a nearby hotel for dinner.

Ponnusamy hotel was just less than 5 minute walk from home,  but after I reached hotel and starting having dinner, around 9:30 I started sensing something strange, people were started talking in louder voice and more men were starting to enter in to the hotel. It didn’t take long to realize that all of them were under the influence of alcohol.

After having dinner, came out of the hotel and there were nearly 15-20 men who had all seem to have had hot drinks. Event most men, on my short walk to home I could see a good number of people were not able to walk or talk steady. When enquired, I got news that there was a TASMAC just a couple of meets away.

After reaching their home, I started back to my home and uncle dropped me at the bus stop. But even there, I could see couple of men who seem to have had hard drinks. When I boarded a bus that was filled with men, there were good numbers of men under the influence of alcohol. When I got down the bus at Saidapet to catch another bus to my destination, I turned to a loud notice and saw that a man had fallen from the same bus trying to get down while it had just started to move.  The man might be just round forty.

The man didn’t have any movement in is body for a moment, when we asked him if he was doing ok, he didn’t even respond for a long time. After we tried to assist him, we saw that he was still alive. There was heavy bleeding from his nose and he was not even able to stand still. Again it was all due to heavy consumption of alcohol. Even auto rickshaws were not ready to take him home and one of the passer by two wheeler guy offered him help of dropping at some close by location. I expressed my doubt that if he would be able to sit steady in the bike without falling down, few others shared the same opinion but there was no much option other than abandoning him.

This culture was very surprising to me, I’ve travelled late night at multiple occasions few years ago and I’ve never seen so many drunken people on roads. In just less than five to ten years, there have been a lot of cultural changes… a lot. Thanks to Tamil Nadu governments of Jeyalalitha and Karunanithi that is not able to provide basic amenities to its citizens such as food, water, shelter and education but has successfully able to open a TASMAC at every nook and corner of the state. Even at rural places, number of TASMACS in any given surrounds seems to be higher than the high schools. There are even TASMACs along the highways that would increase the probability of drunken drivers and the driect consequences are for any ones guess.

Our government has successfully degraded the culture of our society. Not sure what the long term goals of the government is. And before every festival, I could see the news of revised higher targets set for the sale of liquor in the TASMAC stores. Government seems to be directly encouraging its citizens to take up drinking. Population of school students and college students who are starting to take liquor has increased rapidly in very short term.

TASMACs seem to be helping government in two ways; one is that the money raised seems to be helping government to pay for the ridicules freebees such as Television, mixcy and grinder. Also it helps the phonemes of the higher government officials who have built liquor factories. Both the benefits are highly ridicules. Freebees of such stupid nature is of no good in any sense and helping phonemes to get profit is again a direct crime.

We sure are travelling on the wrong way and the worst part is that our government is leading us in that direction. So the solution should come from us as we can’t depend on our government that has created the problem in the first place.

[vijaijagan]

Root Cause of Cruelty

The recent rape incident has triggered large waves of protest across the nation and a lot is being said against the four men demanding maximum possible punishment and a stronger law to protect women. But most of the talk seems to be around just these men and stronger law to punish the criminals and women safety. I couldn’t hear or read much on the root cause behind the mindset of, not just these men but men across the nation who is constantly ill-treating women.  The problem to be discussed or addressed is not this sole incident or similar incidents, but the sole of entire society to identify the problem and the cause which has trained men across the nation from abusing women in public places to beating them inside the houses.  I was wondering whose fault actually it is that men have not yet started treating women as equals and on many occasions go to extremes of treating them with such high disrespect. As I could reflect, it’s not just one reason; it’s the fault of the entire society, from the media to the indivuals of the family who have set a different mindset of inequality between these genders. Coming to our media, from my childhood, I’ve not seen a single magazine that had no semi nudity pictures of women on the cover and the center page. From tooth paste to Cement advertisements, it’s women who are in every frame of the advertisement and on the bill boards across any city. Our movies have unexceptionally taken this portrait of women as beauty symbols to all possible levels which I guess is one of the very main reason behind how brains of men are trained to think. Our media, whether it be print or visual sure has a lot to fix or take responsibility for not just this rape incident but for every moment where a women is mistreated. I’ve some idea on three major religions of our nation, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. None of these religions have given equal rights to women. In Hinduism, women can’t enter the santuary of the temple, Christianity doesn’t allow women to celebrate Eucharistic and Islam doesn’t allow women to take part in their prayer service which is rather mandatory for men. I’m not sure on what basis our religions are designed but none seem to do justice to women. And thinking of our own Indian family system, which doesn’t help the situation in any ways when it comes to women equality or respect to women. Our families raise kids with clear difference between boys and girls from birth to education, jobs, wedding and even rights of property. Until a few decades ago, women were mostly home makers so they were taking care of entire household work. But recent trend is that both men and women are working and earning equal salaries, still we have built our society in such a way that men share very little of the household work. More than the responsibility of the media, our current society structure and family system is the primary culprit where the laws would not be able to fix much except for a self realised transition across the society. If my family is not teaching me what is correct, when my society has trained me to treat women with less respect, when my religion has not taught me to treat women has equals and when the entire media has tried to the extend passible to portrait women as just a pleasure, is it just my fault that today’s young generation has grown up this way? I read the following though provoking line on “The Hindu” editorial two or three weeks ago

  “India’s society rails against rape, in the main, not out of concern for victims but because of the despicable notion that a woman’s body is the repository of family honor. It is this honor our society seeks to protect, not individual women. It is time for us as a people to feel the searing shame our society has until now only imposed on its female victims.” 

[vijaijagan]

Wanting to be Needing

On a Wednesday morning, a month ago, went in a bus with around fifty relatives to attend an engagement function. It was a four hour drive and I got company of two little girls who both where in fourth standard and they were in same school and class. Just to kill time and to engage with some conversation, I asked them both to share some stories. I was surprised to hear the same old stories that were still alive which were transitioned to us from our seniors two decades ago. After a while, I shared with them a piece of mouth refreshing gum to each of them and I took one as well. One of the kids asked me for two more and the other kid started demanding for the same and each were trying to get one more than the other. Though that's the nature of kids, I felt that it was my responsibility to teach them what is right. I thought for a while and came up with this question. I asked them for the difference between "Want" and "Need". Both were from a matriculation school but still I guess it's tough for even adults to come up with correct meaning to this question. I explained them the difference, "Wanting" is asking for something or expecting something that is not absolutely necessary or expecting for some quantity that is more than required but "Needing" is just expecting what is exactly adequate.  For example, asking for one pen when you go to school is "Needing" but asking for more than one pen is "Wanting". And when we start to ask for what is more than required, then we start becoming less content and which would result in unhappiness. I asked them the question again couple of times to check if they understood and came up with different explanations to tell them that they should only ask for what is required. But even after my long lecture, they still ended up demanding for additional gums. I thought it's too early for them to understand but I was happy that they gave me a chance to reflect on the concept. As the world today is becoming more consumers based and buys all sorts of things, it's important for me to constantly remember if I'm buying things that I Need or Want.

[vijaijagan]

The Extra Mile

Travelling back in time to 20th century in to rural villages of district of Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, where even today, quality education is a question mark. This is about a teacher who worked in the Panchayat Board schools of Pudupalayam taluk which is where my native is. My native place probably has the decent school in the taluk which is run by catholic diocese of Vellore, but it's not about my school teacher. 

Pudupalayam taluk has at least a primary school for every panchayat and most of them are run by single teacher or two at the max till date. Challenge of these schools is bringing children to school the entire year and reducing drop outs and it’s a common case. Main source of income is agriculture, which is a bit complicated, as it's a small farm land that the family maintains with the physical work of every member of the family. A few families that could afford would send their children to better schools which are very few and would take couple of hours of travel or to boarding schools far off. But for the majority, providing education to their children is of no priority. So school dropout would be a common thing in the panchayat schools. And getting children to school and keep them in it for year after year is not an easy task.

But a teacher, whom I knew, broke this spell by taking some special effort. He has worked in four to five of these schools till his retirement in late 90's. Every day he used to go to his school in a bicycle, once he reaches the village he works, he would stop to have a pet talk with almost every person passing by. Even after the school hours, he used to spend time with the people of the village and in few months, he would know every family of the village, each member of the family, their problems and struggles.

There may not be wealth or sufficient food in the homes of villagers, but once you get close to them, they would be willing to do anything not to hurt your feelings. That's the specialty of these kind hearten simple people. Since the teacher spent extra effort in knowing them well and becoming one of them, he was able to gain their respect and they were not able to stop from sending their kids to schools and the drop outs were very few. Even if someone drops out, he goes to their home and talk to them in getting the kid backs the school. This intimation helped him get their children to school without any problem.

I was never a student of this teacher, but know him closely as being his son. He used to take me to his school once in a while when I come home from hostel for my quarterly or half yearly vacation, giving no choice to me to play with my friends whom I would be looking forward to meet for months waiting for my holidays. But once I sit in his bicycle, even though I would know that it's going to be a long day, I would forget all about my friends. Those were wonderful field trips, may be my very first industrial visits, sitting with him on the bicycle from morning till night, as he drove around those narrow mud roads, helped me understand my own native and life in my surroundings.

Was he a good at teaching? I'm not sure, may be his students or some of my college friends who took a long lesson from him on a find summer evening could comment on that. It's not about his extraordinary teaching skills that made him a special teacher, but the extra mile that he took every day, the hours he spends before and after school hours on his own interest. This is the difference between service based education and profit based education. The relationships he developed in those villages lost long even after his retirement till date

[vijaijagan]

Farewell from New Jersey

I'm moving out of New Jersey this weekend, after a brief stay of ten months, going back home for good, hopefully will be a while before I leave country again. It's been just ten months since I moved here. Day before yesterday we had a team lunch as farewell to me on one of my favorite restaurants, Olive Garden. I had three farewells in the last five years of my stay in USA and out of which two where at Olive Garden.

  At the end, everyone from the team shared their wishes and their experience of working with me. Everyone was very positive, I was happy to see that I had some good qualities that everyone had enjoyed during my short tenure. Finally I was asked to share about how I felt during my stay. Though I had not prepared for such an occasion, as I tried to recollect, I had a lot to share and that's when I realized I had a great time in New Jersey.

  I stayed in North Carolina for the last four years; entire stay was in Raleigh and Wilson. They were very quit and wonderful places and a good company of friends. Especially Wilson was just like being at home town; it’s a small town which gives the feeling of staying at a remote village with all good facilities. When I had to move to New Jersey, I hesitated for a while and was trying my best to avoid it. I was afraid of moving to big and busy cities like New Jersey and New York and I would lose all my free time and freedom.

  I once had to move to Mumbai and I had same worries but at the end, I really enjoyed the experience of living in such busy and big city for a year which helped me understand my own country and diversity better. Even in New Jersey, I started having new experiences and within couple of weeks, I settled down comfortably and started liking the change.

  I found my accommodation at a very quiet and posh locality of Hillsborough, it gave me a feel of Wilson with it's quite and remoteness and with its accessibility to the city and my office. Though the traffic and driving style took a short while to settle down, I was able to feel at home very quickly and I enjoyed driving around on my Civic coupe. New Jersey provided a feeling of India though I liked to be in an American environment and had to get used to the new set up. For initial couple of months, as soon as I entered the office, I could immediately feel the strong smell of Indian food and could relate to the feelings of Americans who complained about the smell of Indian food in cafeteria while I stayed in Raleigh.

    There were some minor challenges in office such as getting to know the team that was so much focused on work that they have their lunch at 2 PM or even later on most days. Also the office being an onsite deliver center, everyone was from my own organization and there was no direct client communication. I had 8 to 5 schedule and probably this was the only office where I was the first to enter into on most days and even switch on the lights.

  After few weeks, I could get company for my regular coffee breaks and tough it was hard; I even could manage to get at least some company  for lunch at 12:30. Soon could get to know many and life in office started to become interesting. After couple of months, we even started having our lunch at patios next to office on days when the temperature was warm.

  Life at my new home was also was very different but I liked it from the beginning. I was staying as a paying guest at a large duplex four bed room independent house with separate room and sharing the rest of space with the family who owned the house. They were very friendly but gave me total privacy, most days we didn't even get a chance to meet each other. Mehar, two years old baby was a very good company; she would play with me at times and even make me watch cartoon programs with her. The half mile street had only about ten houses, two under construction and paved foot path for walking.

  There was a big backyard and a small front yard and I used to help out now and then by offering to mow the lawn. It was a good experience; I’ve always wanted to give it a try and finally got a chance to try it out here.

  There were many good parks around my residence; Dukes Island Park and Medoc Mountain were my favorite. I got my first mountain bike as well and enjoyed driving around and especially to Dukes Island Park and on the banks of Raritan River and the canon adjacent to it. Medoc Mountain provided a wonderful six mile hiking trial. Even the remote roads around the neighborhood were excellent places to take a long walk in the evening.

  Apart from these personal factors, even professionally I had some benefits; I got to learn the latest suit of my skillset that provides a good edge for my resume. I got a chance to work on new domain and also work on some new architecture based solutions that helped me learn new stuff. Even from each of my team mates, I had different things to learn and some to share with them.

  Though it was just ten months, I experienced all sessions, spring, summer, fall and winter, extreme weather conditions like storm, more than a week long power cut and a snowstorm. At the end of these ten months, I'm happy that I lived in New Jersey for at least a while and had a great time.