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Think or sink!

After the Alumni Meet, in the return journey from the Hill station to Chennai
all of us we were booked in the same compartment.

There was the babel of languages and jargon of different topics simultaneously being discussed.

Then something sounded very familiar to me.
It was the explanation to the popular adage

"naayaik kaNdaal kallaik kaaNom
kallaik kaNdaal naayaik kaaNom"

Each one was giving his own explantion
One man even suggested that 'nai' is the short form of
'naayagan' which referred to Lord Siva.

I butted in the exchange of knowledge and explained it thus.

In a realistic statue of a dog carved in a stone,
when we see the dog, we can't see the stone.
When we see the stone, we cant see the dog.

Then I went to recite the popular Thirumanthiram

Maraththai maRaithathu maa matha yaanai
marathin maRainthathu maa matha yanai
prathai maRaithathu paar muthal bootham
parathain maRianthahu paar muthal pootham

and explained it as to how we miss seeing the God when we can see the world made of pancha boothams and how the pancha boothams would disappear when we are able to see the God.

The friend who was equating naai = naayagan = Siva was clean bowled.

He said that he had a wonderful book and I deserved to possess it more than any one else.

He stood up in the moving train, dug the book out of his suitcase kept on the luggage rack over head.

He was right. It was the very thing I needed since it has all the songs I sing in the temple including Vinaayakar agaval, Thiruppugazh, Durgai Amman paadalgal, Siva Sthuthi, Thevaaram, Kaavadich chinthu, Sashtik kavacham, Kanthar anuboothi, songs on Hanuman, Aiyappa, Rama, Krishna, Vishnu and many more useful info on yoga and yogis.

Now I need to carry only this book wherever I go and I will never be out of useful material for singing or reading! Great isn't it?

It is said that "Daane daane mein khaane waale kaa naam likha hai!"
meaning "On every grain is written the name of the person who is going to eat it later".

Probably my name was written on this book in invisible letters!! :hail:

 
It is the season of remodeling the kitchen and renovating the houses!

Wherever we went, people were either giving the face lift to the entire house or just the kitchen.

People who can't stand and cook, brought down the level of the platform so that they can sit in an arm chair and cook!

People who can't bend down have deep draws fixed so that they can pull them out completely and reach for what they want very easily.

But really it is the affordability and the amount of time they spend in the kitchen that prompts them to get these done.

As for me and two of my siblings, we never stand in the kitchen for more than 15 minutes at a stretch at any time of the day.

A fortune saved is a fortune earned. :)
 
Vivek Patti's flat is finally put up for sale.
(Her only dialogue was "eppadi irunthavaL eipadi ayitten")

The couple had no children and had adopted none.
I bet they had not made any valid will either.

A distant relative has managed to get the heir ship
and wants to sell the flat for an astronomical sum!

The flat has not been maintained well since both the thatha and patti were old
and had engaged no helpers or maids to clean and maintain the flat and bathrooms.

In fact that is what precipitated the calamities.
The hefty Patti slipped and fell in the bathroom.

The Choni thatha tried to lift her single-handedly and suffered a heart attack.
The patti can't bear thatha's separation even for 5 minutes!

But whether any one will be willing to shell the astronomical sum
for an ill maintained flat will be known very soon!


 
He was as dark as 'vasudeva sutham' and bore the same name.

He got into the compartment accompanied by a tall and hefty policeman

who carried his luggage and set them one rack above the seats.

After the train started he opened his food packets and set them out.

He placed the umpteen idlies in an arc and vadaas completed the circle!

He squeezed the sambar packet very much like the bus driver does his horn.

He poured the sambar so as to soak all these things and set out to eat.

He was undoubtedly a rasigan to the core.

Cooking for such people must be a pleasure! :)

I also know people who stuff in the food as though they are always running late to catch a train .

No expressions, no comment, no compliments and no feedback.

In a friend's house ice cream appears to be the staple food since

they make sure to eat a bowl of the choicest assorted ice cream after every simple meal.

I was reminded of my elder son's motto after joining the I.I.T "Eat more ice creams!" :)
 
My mother is a connoisseur and taste master.

She would make yellow uppuma with the left over idlies
which can defeat any other fancy snack of tiffin.

It would have diced and roasted onions, green chillies, coriander, curry leaves, a dash of hinge, the dosai milagaai podi, gingilli oil and mixture as the minimum ingredients.

The taste giver was her own 'kai maNam' and the uppuma - made out of 12 idlies which nobody wanted to eat - would disappear in a trice!
 
Serving is as important as cooking!
She would make big balls out of the uppuma or use a big serving spoon as mold
and press the uppuma in it to make it look like colored spicy idli once again.
 
Today's struggle between me and the elusive Internet can be equated

ONLY to the epic struggle between Vikram and Vethaal. :frusty:

I started posting around 11 A.M and it ended only now!
 
The buses have their steps kept so high that most women and old men find it difficult to get into the bus. Youngsters may hop or jump on to the step but what about the old and hefty people - especially ladies like me?

Most buses in Kerala have their steps so high that women prefer to travel long distances by a taxi and short distances by an auto.

The bus which came to pick us up and transport us from the railway junction to the venue of the meet had steps at a great height. Not just me ... nobody could climb those steps.

Luckily the road had a thin and about 8 inches tall border like construction at both the sides. The driver maneuvered and parked the bus as close to that border as possible. All of us got into the bus in a jiffy.

But what about getting down from the bus?

When I suggested to get a short stool they brought a plastic chair. If a person can get down from a plastic chair, he/ she can also get down from the bus itself.

So everybody down and I was the last one to take the challenge! I turned to face the inside of the bus, held on to the long handles and slowly tried to reach the terra firma with my unbending foot.

When I was on the ground a sigh of relief and a loud cheer greeted my triumph! By the next morning they had manged to find a right stool to help people to climb in and out of the bus!

I suggested to the driver to retain the stool on the bus permanently, keeping in his mind people like me!

 
It is not the steps of a bus that are unfriendly.

Think of the narrow strips placed one right above the other , and which can accommodate only the toes of a person called steps of a compartment in a train!

What about the huge auto which has high steps and a very narrow place to enter in . A person will have climb up vertically, twist laterally so as not to get stuck in to the small entrance and turn the body to sit on the seat so to say perform a 3 in 1 motion!

The large cars are so tall and the inner edges near the doors are curved so much high that getting in and getting out of it is only by the monkey wrench power of the hands holding on to the handles over the head and not by the flexibility of the legs.

In the small car one will have to lift the legs with the hands to get in and get out of it.
And there will no no leg space whatever!

Travel has indeed become very difficult! :(
 
The air travel can work wonders and perform miracles.
During every visit I feel amazed and amused to see those old and infirm senior citizens who were helped to reach their seats are the very same persons who never wait for the wheel chair and manage to be the first ones to get out of the flight and walk briskly to the exit! :rolleyes:
 
Once our domestic flight got very much delayed and we reached our destination by midnight.
There was only one super strong attendant and four people who needed wheel chair assistance.
The attendant made us sit on our chairs and managed to push two chairs at a time. He would leave the first batch midway and come for the second batch. So literally he hitch hiked all the four wheel chairs till we reached the exit gate.
 
Q: What is the solution to the age old problem? :confused:

A: That 'There is no solution to the problem' is the solution to the problem! :rolleyes:

P.S.

Forget the problem - if it remains unsolved ! It does not matter since more

people get more chances to exhibit their talents/ merits/ achievements! :dance:
 
Out of tens of thousands of members here only three with names and two anamikas (nameless persons) are credited with knowing the meaning of this sloka.

Forget the sloka and learn the meaning to qualify - at least to get included
with the those 'who-should-not-be-named!'


dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca
dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre
samavetā yuyutsavaḥ
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva
kim akurvata sañjaya

Dhritarashtra said:

O Sanjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pandu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukshetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?
 
Vivek patti had developed dementia.

She does not know that her dear husband is dead and gone!

When former president K.R.Narayan died and the news was conveyed to his wife, she is supposed to have asked, "K .R. Narayan.... who?

Her nephew is taking care of the patti.

She needs a walker for locomotion.

She needs a 24 hours nurse cum helper.

The nephew has literally tore apart the flat into two to find its documents but in vain. Nothing is known about his bank a/c and savings etc.

It is really surprising that a person who had lived in many cities of the world would keep everything in the dark - even after he needed an open heart surgery a few years ago!!

An employed wife didn't know where her husband used to keep the godrej key in their house.

When that man took off in huff due to heart attack, she was left high and dry.

The man living in the opposite house told her where to find the key!

Strange that a neighbor must be knowing about the household than the wife who lived there!
 
The bank manager who enjoyed feeding his friends for every ONam - with the feast prepared at home with his own hands - did a neat job.

Once he knew that his days were numbered, he divided the ancestral property in a just manner with his siblings. He transferred his share of property to his wife and set right every financial matter.

I think his wife is living comfortably - thanks to his foresight and prompt action.
 
Social Stratification


Classes and Castes.

The caste system is more elaborate than that in any of the other Hindu or Buddhist countries. Society is so fragmented into castes that there can be twenty or thirty distinct castes within a village.

This society has a hierarchy of endogamous, birth-ascribed groups, each of which traditionally is
characterized by one distinctive occupation and had its own level of social status.

Because an individual cannot change his or her caste affiliation, every family belongs in its entirety and forever to only one named caste, and so each caste has developed a distinctive subculture that is handed down from generation to generation.

Hindu religious theory justifies the division of society into castes, with the unavoidable differences in status and the differential access to power each one has.

Hindus usually believe that a soul can have multiple reincarnations and that after the death of the body a soul will be reassigned to another newborn human body or even to an animal one.

This reassignment could be to one of a higher caste if the person did good deeds in the previous life or to a lower-status body if the person did bad deeds.

The highest category of castes are those people called Brahmins in the Hindu system; they were traditionally priests and intellectuals.

Below them in rank were castes called Ksatriya , including especially warriors and rulers.

Third in rank were the Vaisyas , castes concerned with trading and land ownership. The fourth-ranking category were the Sudras , primarily farmers.

Below these four categories and hardly recognized in the ancient and traditional model, were many castes treated as "untouchable" and traditionally called Pancama .

Outside the system altogether were several hundred tribes, with highly varied cultural and subsistence patterns. The whole system was marked not just by extreme differences in status and power but by relative degrees of spiritual purity or pollution.

A curious feature of the caste system is that despite its origins in the Hindu theory of fate and reincarnation, caste organization is found among Indian Muslims, Jews, and Christians in modern times. In the Buddhist lands of Korea, Japan, and Tibet, there are rudimentary caste systems, their existence signaled especially by the presence of untouchable social categories.

The major cities in modern times—Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai), Calcutta (Kolkata), New Delhi, and Bangalore—were essentially residential creations of the British administrators. Architecturally, professionally, and in other ways, they are therefore the most Westernized cities in India today.

In these cities and their suburbs, there is now a developed class system overlying and in many respects displacing the more traditional caste system. As a consequence, there are many modern cases of intercaste marriage in all the cities, although this practice remains almost unthinkable to the great majority of Indians.

Symbols of Stratification.

There are many symbols of class differentiation because each caste tends to have its own persisting subculture. People's location in this stratification system thus can be gauged accurately according to the way they dress, their personal names, the way they speak a local dialect, the deities they worship, who they are willing to eat with publicly, the location of their housing, and especially their occupations.

The combination of all these subcultural features can be a sure sign of where individuals and their families are situated in the caste hierarchy.

http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/India.html
 
It is true that at least in metropolitan cities , class is slowly replacing caste. Many some non brahmin classes such as pillais, mudaliyars aspire to be like brahmins. If

they become well off with education and good jobs, they because of lifestyle similar to brahmins such as vegetarianism, worship similarities aspire to mix and relate to

brahmin caste. Affluence gives them the muscle to move up the social ladder.
 
Visalakshi Ramani said:
Vivek patti had developed dementia.

She does not know that her dear husband is dead and gone!

When former president K.R.Narayan died and the news was conveyed to his wife, she is supposed to have asked, "K .R. Narayan.... who?

Her nephew is taking care of the patti.

She needs a walker for locomotion.

She needs a 24 hours nurse cum helper.

The nephew has literally tore apart the flat into two to find its documents but in vain. Nothing is known about his bank a/c and savings etc.

It is really surprising that a person who had lived in many cities of the world would keep everything in the dark - even after he needed an open heart surgery a few years ago!!

An employed wife didn't know where her husband used to keep the godrej key in their house.

When that man took off in huff due to heart attack, she was left high and dry.

The man living in the opposite house told her where to find the key!

Strange that a neighbor must be knowing about the household than the wife who lived there!
Click to expand...
Many stop relating to their spouses when they grow old.Some wives get economically stranded. Some get taken for a ride by close relatives who relieve them of their

wealth. This type of incidents are increasing in numbers.There are hardly any good laws to protect these women. Men sometimes are perverse. They settle scores in

old age.
 
krish44 said:
Many stop relating to their spouses when they grow old.Some wives get economically stranded. Some get taken for a ride by close relatives who relieve them of their

wealth. This type of incidents are increasing in numbers.There are hardly any good laws to protect these women. Men sometimes are perverse. They settle scores in

old age.
Click to expand...
Dear sir,

It is strange that a man would feel closer to a neighbor than to his own wife who is also the bread winner in the family.

Man settles scores with his wife as you have rightly said. And most of them do not even wait till they reach a ripe old age.

My distant relative's husband wished that 'She too must suffer from cancer ' when he was found to have cancer in the prostrate.

"Yaan petra thunbam peRuga en manaiviyum !" seems to be the motto.

In some other families it is the wife who settles scores with her husband.

Equality of gender- as seen on The International Women's day.

 
krish44 said:
It is true that at least in metropolitan cities , class is slowly replacing caste. Many some non brahmin classes such as pillais, mudaliyars aspire to be like brahmins. If

they become well off with education and good jobs, they because of lifestyle similar to brahmins such as vegetarianism, worship similarities aspire to mix and relate to

brahmin caste. Affluence gives them the muscle to move up the social ladder.
Click to expand...

Brahmins imagine that they are on the top rung of the social ladder.
May be they were in the past since they were the educated elite people in the society.
But it is not true any more.
Now Moolah matter more than anything else.
There have been always two classes everywhere...the educated and the illiterate, the rich and the poor, the modern and karnaatakam, the beautiful and the ugly, the stylish and the simpletons.
Whatever be their castes these two classes can never mix thoroughly and uniformly.
 
As if varNas and castes were not enough to create the numerous divisions among human beings,

now we have another parameter known as Class to add to the confusion in Cohesion and Adhesion!
 
As usual it is middle class which is further divided into many more classes.

The upper middle class ( very close to the upper class but not equal to that )

The middle middle class ( the most meddling of all the middle classes)

The lower middle class ( closer to the lower class but superior to that)

Hope no further intermediate classes have been established in between these classes!:rolleyes:
 
When we do not have time to recite the whole work, we just read the first and the last verse and imagine that we have covered the entire thing.

So learning the last verse of Bhagavat Gita also might be useful to those who want to join the nameless brigade of Anaamikas.

yatra yogesvarah krsno
yatra partho dhanur-dharah
tatra srir vijayo bhutir
dhruva nitir matir mama (ch 18 verse 78)


"Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality. That is my opinion."

Foot note: (Sanjaya's opinion...not mine) :rolleyes:


verse-18-74-2.png

 

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