என் குருநாதா, சத்குரு நாதா!

ஆனந்த பிரவாகத்தை உணர்ந்தது இல்லை!

ஆனந்த கண்ணீர் விட்டதில்லை!

அமைதியை அறிந்தது இல்லை!

பக்தியை உணர்ந்ததில்லை!

உடம்பில் சக்தி ஓட்டம் உணர்ந்ததில்லை!

மனிதனை வெறும் மனிதனாய் பார்த்ததில்லை!

அன்னியரை வணங்கியதில்லை!

அவரை பார்த்து உள்ளத்தில் இருந்து புன்னகைத்ததில்லை!

24 மணி நேர தன்னார்வ தொண்டினை கேட்டதில்லை!

யோக கலாச்சாரம் பார்த்ததில்லை!

கோயிலின் சக்தி வலயத்தை உணர்ந்ததில்லை!

யோகியை பார்த்ததில்லை!

புத்தனை பார்த்ததில்லை,

கடவுளை கண்டதில்லை!

சத்குருவையும் ஈஷாவையும் பார்க்கும் வரை!

பித்தா பிறை சூடி...

மூன்று மாதங்களுக்கு மேலாக ஓடி விட்டது!

பௌர்ணமி போல் இருந்த உன் நினைப்பு தேய் பிறையாக மாறி விட்டது!

ஆனால் இரண்டு வாரமாய்  வளர் பிறை!

இன்றோ நண்பகலில் சுட்டெரிக்கும் சூரியனுக்கு நடுவிலும் முழு மதி!

காரணம் உன் பிறந்த நாள்!

பௌர்ணமியின் கடல் அலைகள் போல் என் மனதில் உன் நினைவலைகள்! 

பஞ்சாம்ரிதம் போன்ற உன் குரலை கேட்டவுடன் தான் கரை சேர்ந்தது என் மனதின் அலைகள்!

மீண்டும் தேய் பிறை தானோ? 

பித்தா பிறை சூடி பெருமானே அருளாளா!

Bye Bye ஒற்றை கண்ணா!

உன்னை முதன் முதலாய் பார்த்தது நினைவு இருக்கிறது ஒற்றை கண்ணா.

இரண்டு கண்ணோடு உன் நண்பன் உணவை கண்டு பிடிக்க ஸ்ரமபட்டதும் நினைவிருக்கிறது.

ஒற்றை கண்ணோடு நீ என்ன செய்ய போகிறாய் என எண்ணியதும் நினைவிருக்கிறது.

ஆனால் உன் நண்பன் முதல் எல்லோரையும் வழி அனுப்பிவிட்டு தனிகாட்டு ராஜாவாக(ராணியாக?) பவனி வந்தாய்.

உனக்கும் எனக்கும் அந்த உணவு தானே ஒரு பந்தம்!

காலையில் அவசரமாய் போகையிலும் மாலையில் களைப்பாய் வருகையிலும் உனக்கு 5 அ 6 உருண்டைகள்!

நான் உண்ணும் முன் நீ உண்ணுவதே நான் சொல்லாத விதி .

அதனால் தானோ வெறும் மீன் தானே என்று எண்ண முடியவில்லையோ?

அதனால் தானோ ஏதோ ஒன்று குறைவது போல் உள்ளதோ?

பி.கு: எங்கள் கடைசி மீன் - ஒற்றை கண் cat fish இறந்து சில வாரங்கள் ஓடி விட்டது!

Anna!

Sceptical about the Anna Hazare movement - இது வேலைக்கு ஆவாது i did not follow much of it(starting early this year).But on hindsight, i realize that such was the impact of it, i was remainded one way or the other - mainly thru' the SMS'es of chittappa, bharath(cousin).One day some months back, got a SMS about a human chain in Marina by India Against Corruption group.Hmm...i felt i should go atleast make a token presence. Off i went to participate in the early hours of a precious sunday. Still i went there only for a formality and to enjoy the early morning walk in the beach. But to my surprise i was joined by thousands of chennaiites from all walks of life. I felt this is not bad, concerned Indian citizens on the road for a change.

     Little did i realize that this would turn out to be huge movement across the country, challenging our cunning politicians like never before. As i write this, the 74 yr old Man(yes the man) has brownwashed the govt in a 10 day test match. Today is a historic day in India's post independence era. Will this be a starting point of a new era? I'm hopeful...

என் கண்ணே

அந்த ஒரு நொடி பொழுது, மறக்க முடியவில்லையடா!

உன்னை விட்டு பிரிந்த அந்த ஒரு நொடி பொழுது மறக்க முடியவில்லையடா!

கண்களில் எவ்வளவு அடக்கியும் பெருகும் நீருடன் அந்த ஒரு நொடி பொழுது மறக்க முடியவில்லையடா!

தெரியும் இதுதான் உன் வளமான எதிர்காலத்துக்கான வித்து என்று, இருந்தும் அந்த ஒரு நொடி பொழுது மறக்க முடியவில்லையடா!

எங்கள் குருவின் மடியில் தான் தவழ போகிறாய், இருப்பினும் அந்த ஒரு நொடி பொழுது மறக்க முடியவில்லையடா!

அந்த சக்தி பீடத்தில் தான் வலம் வர போகிறாய், ஆனாலும், அந்த ஒரு நொடி பொழுது மறக்க முடியவில்லையடா!

என்னுள் இருந்த தாய்மையை நான் முழுவதும் உணர்ந்த அந்த ஒரு நொடி பொழுது மறக்க முடியவில்லையடா!

என் கண்ணே என் வாழ்நாளில் இந்த ஒரு நொடி பொழுதை எனக்கு அளித்தமைக்கு என் நன்றியடா! 

(கண்களில் பெருகும் நீருடன்...)

Mahasivarathiri 2011

Too many experiences to share:

The old lady(Mrs Geetha Ramraj) who thoughtfully, kept the pillows and the bedsheet so that we can use when we came late from Yaksha 2011. 

Mind numbing performance by Pt.Jasraj - especially the last piece, even though i do not know anything about hindustani music. "I do not wish to disturb the reverberations that he has created. 

If there is a man who is a embodiment of music, it is him" - Sadhguru after the performance.

The zeal and the spirit of the drummers from Karnataka -  a regular feature of Isha's Mahasivarathiri!

Eagerly awaited performance(personally) by the Wadali brothers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadali_brothers) - simple but music from the heart. I was touched deeply by the meaning of the lyrics and the way they rendered it. From what i have heard, it is hard to explicitly find anyone pouring their heart and soul into singing like the sufi musicians - Nusrat Fateh Ali khan, Rahat Fateh Ali khan comes to my mind. Wadali's belong to the same class:-)

First time in my entire life felt that Hindi should be made compulsory to all Indians - simply to enjoy the sufi's songs with oozing wisdom and bhakthi:-)

Was playing with kutti in one of the game stall - a simple game where you put five balls in different numbered tunnels and get a prize earmarked for the sum of the numbers. Prize assured for everyone!

Kutti got 27 but it was a soap box or something like that, but the lady at the stall magnanimously gave the pencil box at 26! Kutti was over the moon:-)

Midnight chanting with Sadhguru - tried my best to be with him! Was distracted as usual by the over the top isha gang, who start screaming like anything:-) Better luck and grace next time!

Stood in the line to offer @ சத்குரு பாதம் - saw a glimpse of Radhe and was stuck by her divine presence! Offered the துளசி மாலை and prayed from the heart! Lo, Sadhguru threw a glance at me, i cannot forget the moment:-)(reminds me of a similar instance in Sadhuragiri hills, where the Sannyasin at the கோரக்கர் குகை touched my forehead with the ash after my heartful prayer and the feeling of undescribable peace that lasted for few minutes).When  i look back, probably Shivarathiri ended for me then & there!

After Vikram Ghose, Prem joshua's performance with Mahesh Vinayakram(வெண்கல குரலோன் சீர்காழியை நினைவு படுத்தும் குரல்) time to end with

"சிவ சம்போ, சம்போ, சிவ சம்போ, சம்போ, சிவ  சம்போ சம்போ சிவ சம்போ" 

   

She - वो - அவள்

I was coming out of Dakshineswar kali temple, Kolkota with my wife & kid.My heart was almost full(yet to visit belur math,hence..) as at last i had fulfilled my long held desire.We came out to have lunch before leaving to belur math by ferry. When we came out of the main gate, there were numerous beggars(some of them lepers) sitting on one side.They were busy in their afternoon duty asking for alms. The whole place was filthy, with a drainage nearby and add to it the dirty clothes of the beggars.
    Then my(maybe my wife's i don't remember) eyes fell on a young lady(probably in her early 20's)sitting in their midst, not asking for alms.Instead, she had a mehendhi box with colors & different type of design stones.She was sitting right between the beggars with a very shabby cloth but eyes full of hope. I looked at my wife and she nodded happily. We took our kutty to her for putting mehendhi on her hand.She(kutti & the lady) was overjoyed. Kutti started selecting the design from those she had and finally chose one. The lady lovingly put it on my kid's hands.
Me - "कितना ?(How much?)".
Lady - "पंद्रह रूपैः (Fifteen rupees)"
I gave her 20 rupees. She did not even have five rupees - we were the first customer in the entire day(it was close to 2P.M).
I told her - "रक् लीजिये (Keep it)".
She gratefully thanked(probably kali) and kept the money in her torn carpet.
I still remember her(sometimes with tears in my eyes) even after a month -
Not to beg even if amongst beggars - reminded me the master's words - "Not to become filth even if amongst them"
சேற்றில் மலர்ந்த செந்தாமரையோ?

25th Aug 2010 - Gandhi Jayanthi

                       For long i was aghast at the state of indian politics,like many others.But the reason was a bit different - i was upset that the native / common people were subject to all kinds of harrassment in the name of development.Be it the big dam, mining or any other dream project(for the select few), it is the native people who is relocated w/o any consideration.All in the name of good for the country - damn it!
                       Consider this - a big dam to serve a few thousands to irrigate better at the cost of lakhs who loose their livelihood and horror of horrors their home.In addition, environment is never cared for.I dunno how this can be justified.To top it all, no proper rehabilation for them as well - consider narmada bacho andolan and tonnes of other big projects.Knowing our largely second rate politicians, bureaucrats, govt. officials, this is no surprise.
                       But 26th Aug was a red letter day in the history of indian politics.Resisting huge pressures from the orissa govt, Environment minister Jairam ramesh had the courage and conviction to stop the mining of Niyamgiri hills for bauxite ore.
                       To add honey, Rahul gandhi has publicly backed the ban and had lent his voice for the tribals of Niyamgiri(even though it could be for votebank politics, it is still a laudable stance).Atlast, there is hope for India...Truly Gandhi would have been satisfied at these developments - this is real gandhi jayanthi.

http://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/ramesh-champions-environmental-laws-corks-niyamgiri-mining

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/article103761.ece - amnesty international's news on Niyamgiri

http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/niyamgiri - for more about the tribals, their life & plight.

    
P.S: Orissa govt will not backup so fast, already the chief minister has started cribbing publicly.Let us hope this one is a real victory.

Silent Revolution

"You know what! We can now buy isha's food products near our home - right in Ramapuram". I was surprised & happy upon hearing this from my wife. We decided to visit it in the weekend. Actually my wife got this news when she participated in Isha's "Run for water" campaign.

Weekend came, off we went in my new Honda Shine with our gundu. To our surprise, we could not locate it and so went back. After few days, my wife told "Got the exact address and landmark, please buy kanji, verkadalai on your way back to home from office".

Located the stores, entered it little bit tired from my office work. Met a tall well-built man in early 40s', wearing rudrakash.

"Ramki, came to buy isha products."

"Saleem,Isha meditator".

Oh, i could not believe, Saleem or sanjay. Did i hear properly. Of course it was saleem.

I was amazed and openly told him

"Cannot believe being a muslim that u r wearing rudrakash".

He smiled and i continued

" Didn't they object in ur family?".

"I don't wear it when i go to mosque.".

I totally forgot why i came there and started chatting with him. My eyes fell upon sadhguru's photo at a corner of the shop. He continued...

"You see, i'm a electrical enginneer into real estate. Suffered a huge loss of 15L during this recent recession. I was restless and was totally shattered. Someone suggested to me to try isha yoga. That's how i ended up being a meditator. I'm now more happy and contented.I have now started this garments business, hope i can break even soon".

I was once again remainded about isha's silent revolution in people's lives which includes urs truly. My heart ebbed with gratitude for my master:-)

Note:

Saleem is still a practising muslim, he is very proud of his own religion.

In fact he explained to me the link between science and islam.

Life as it is

Woke up very early by my standards - 6.30A.M.Weather was tender, Sun not yet in it's full fury.Thought will go upstairs, atleast in a weekend, to enjoy fresh breeze.The next 15 mins:

A squirrel, hanging like an acrobat, munching away the seeds of what looks like tamarind.Another one does the same but in a less risky way:-)

I was interrupted by the movement of our never-say-die bird - the crow.It perched itself comfortably on the adjoining tree, probably wiating for it's breakfast.

I saw a sparrow eating the seeds in a nearby flower tree.

Can our friend bee be far off if flowers are near-by?

When i gazed on the roadside, saw 3 puppies playing with each other, unmindful of the passing vehicles.

I heard a noise nearby and saw 2 crows sitting in our rooftop close-by.

What is that - is it dust? A watched it closely - it was white in color.Not sure, i tried to catch it could not catch any of them. Hmm. finally managed to catch one of them - wow, it is a tiny little white fly!

If these many of our beloved partners can live just near my home, which is definitely not green by any standards, how many could live in the planet?

It is not only about the 1411 Tigers of india that matters.The world is full of beautiful lives full of activity, can never ever be created by mortal men like us even in our wildest dreams.A great remainder, early in the morning!

True love

India is a fascinating country.It has never ceased to amaze me.I'm now convinced more than ever that this country really has the secret of happy life.But one thing is sure, it is definitely not in it's pure form in the urban(take it as chennai but should be true for rest as well).Well,what is such a secret, if at all it existed? It's very simple - pure love, real love.I have no words to express it - but i get a glimpse of it some way or the other from the people i interact with.Simple pure people, unlike most of the rest.They simply ooze joy, they have real concern for the other people's well-being.They don't have any principle, no "I'll correct the world" syndrome - it is just a way of life.They are simply made like that(stealing my guru's words:-)).

Why suddenly this gyan? Hmmm,i just was watching "Aparajito" by Satyajit ray- .There was a scene where the father is unwell and talks to his kid on the eve of diwali.Mother asks the son(10yrs old) to sit near his father and the son dutifully obeys(this is set in probably early 60's in Kashi.Modern day kid will probably never do this).Father lovingly asks him whether he bought crackers, what type.The kid answers.After few conversations, father realises that the kid really wants to go out and have fun, not sit near him.He lovingly sends him out, even though in his heart he knows he is not going to live long and possibly the last conversation with his son.Needless to say, he dies the next day.This whole scene moved me and made me realise the real love expressed by our rural folks(tremendous acting by the father and the whole cast).

From reel to real, i was recently to pollachi with my wife & kid.I was surprised and shocked to see how even a stranger would show his genuine concern for others.It was all so natural, it has to be felt not expressed in words.

Stereotype

What?

Most of us stereotype a person, country, people ... the list is quite long.

Is it bad? Hmm...i think so.Consider an example,we watch couple of hollywood films, read about american culture a bit from the media.Then guess what - we brand them that they have no culture, no family values, individualistic society etc.Some of this could be true - but definitely there are lot of americans who don't fit in to this description.

The same applies when foreigners(again some, no stereotyping) still see india as a land of cows, million gods, poor etc.Again some of this are true(quite a huge chunk of our society are below the poverty line) but does not do justice to the development that has happened in last decade or so.Ok, to go at a micro-level, what about the stereotyping we do to our friends & family."I know this guy, he/she is like this, will not change" - this statement could be about a friend, based on the perception we have.Even after many years, it still does not change - the friend could very well have changed.

Why?

So why the heck do we do this? Well, i really dunno but one possible answer is a term called "mental laziness"(i read about this in an article in "The Hindu" by ???, i forgot due to mental laziness:-)). We all surely know laziness but this one is roughly "refusal to give work to the neurons as it is inconvenient". It really is difficult not to label a person / people based on his/her/their action.

So what?

What do we loose? We loose many things, especially the chance to keep our mind open.In turn, we loose the oppurtunity to learn, create new relationship and finally you know what - we accumulate karma(i don't have a better word).To be more simple, we create a slow poison in our mind which is sure to hamper our progress.

Consider, that you are meeting an old friend of yours after a long time.Your experience / stereotyping says he/she was a selfish person.You still see them thru' the same tinted glasses.But what happens if that person realised their mistake and probably now contributes to the society more than you ever did in your life! Just imagine the possibilities!

Remedy

I'm no "I know it all" guy.But personal experience suggests yoga and reading talks given by great yogic masters like Sadhguru, Nithyananda... But i do know that you need to keep flexing the brain of yours all the time.Happy neuron firing!

Empathy

Need to renew(passport office calls it reissue!) passport.

Started around 7.30 in the morning and reached the office maybe around 8-8.15A.M.

Biq queue as usual, i enquired with the parking attendant(one thing i take for granted is that i can ask any office staff for details.I know our people will definitely oblige, even though it may look emotionless).He told me that those with online appointment(i booked one) can go to 1st floor directly.

I was now at the second floor, seated and reading "New Earth" by western spiritual master Eckhart Tolle.I was reading about the different manifestations of ego and the caution to be aware of them.He said how the ego always takes a morally correct position and looks down upon others as if it is always correct.

   I was very tired for i did not sleep much and also did not do my asanas & yoga.But i was somehow determined to be aware for atleast some duration.This reading helped me alongwith  others that i had read earlier.Around 9.15A.M, a security person came and told us that all those seated, applying for new/reissue of pp, need to move down to the 1st floor.A commotion occured, people started to move down fast.I was unhurried and moved at a comfortable pace downstairs.

We were asked to stand in a spiral queue.

Sure enough, there were a group of people who would not obey this queue and wanted to sneak in first.The poor security got irritated and started raising his voice. The poor unruly group would have none of it and tested his patience:-)

Meanwhile. a sardar near me started taking a high moral position,usually done by most of us including yours truly.He said to his wife -"These unpad(uneducated) people will never learn, why can't they stand in a queue?" He went on and started making some sarcastic remarks.I was listening and was determined not to get involved in this(BTW,i 've played this moral game many times over & over.I do it even now even though to a lesser extent).

Somehow all of us went upstairs and broke into different "Q" for each counter.

The sardar was in my queue, just ahead of me.He was tense, making numerous corrections to his forms and enquiring about the supporting docs, order of supporting docs etc.He asked me - "what should be the order of forms?". I told "I dunno, should not matter" with a smile.

Then in the adjoining queue, someone tried to goto to the beginning of the "Q" from a nearby "Q".Reason - he is coming back to the office more than once since his form got rejected and he was told that he should stand in the same counter and meet the same passport officer.The poor guy was desperate and hence tried to do this.As expected, a person started objecting(i've done this countless times from time immemorial) and shouted at him to go back.

     I told - "It's ok, seems a genuine case, why not allow him?".

The person was not interested and started arguing back, i stopped with a smile.

To my surprise, the sardar came to the defence of that guy and said -"It is ok, please let him be in the line.He should have come back many times, He is unaware of the procedures.If at all some one has to be blamed, it has to be the PP office for not putting out clear instructions" in good tamil!Of course the other person was in no mood to listen and started arguinbg back.After the argument, i saw that the sardar was very cheerful and became very generous with people around.In fact, he was sent back to fill the form correctly and went back w/o a murmur to get it filled.

       By now, my tiredness had banished and many thoughts occured to me, but one thing was clear - "the need of the hour is clear understanding of the situation and treating people genuinely with real empathy not clouded by our own conditioned mind.If one does that it will definitely create a positive atmosphere and people will automatically respond accordingly".I really thank all the spiritual masters right from my guru(Sadhguru).It is they who show the path and it is for us to follow to make this a better life.

Crappy software can't replace manual efficiency

Well, i owe this entire post to David Platt(http://www.whysoftwaresucks.com/) . I just got inspired after listening to his interview on Arcast TV->http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/ARCast.TV/ARCastTV-Why-Software-Still-Sucks/

****************************************************************

Rewind to early 2008, i just came back from U.S with my family after 7 months.

Still getting used to chennai(no kidding, it's my place for sure but still 7 months was a bit too long),

i was chatting with my dad on a weekend.

Me -"where r u going?"

Appa - "To the telephone dept, to get a copy of the directory".

The software geek in me peeps out.

"Well, don't they have a soft copy, i mean a CD".

Appa - "They do, but i have opted for hard copy".

"C'mon appa, CD will be easy to use, just a click".

Realising my appa is not comfortable with PC, i added - "I can teach you, it should be simple".

Appa is not convinced, he is very reluctant.

I push  further - "Can't we buy both - hard & soft?".

"No, only one".

"Hmmm...Ok we will go for the CD.I will definitely teach you."

Appa is  still not convinced, but you see i'm a bit of hard-headed guy, kept pushing.

Finally, reluctantly he relents.

Appa comes back with the CD, i say -"Wow, see how compact it is compared to those bulky books!". I go up to my laptop, plugin the CD, install the software.

Ok time to play around, all numbers listed alphabetically by name, not bad...

I wanted to check the search  functionality.I searched for the list of keywords to search.

Horrors of Horrors - you can search either by number or address.No way to search by name.

What the heck!Phew, i was beginning to sweat as my appa came near me.

"Ok, let us see how  this works. Can we search for mama's telephone no. using his name?".

Game over....

After 2 days.....

Appa was happily searching for a telephone no using the same old bulky hard copy(he got it by handing over the user-friendly CD)

 

B'day gift

It was early october, rain had started it's dating season with Chennai.I woke up around 5.15A.M and left home around 6A.M to a nearby school.

Reason - to register an L.K.G seat for my daughter:-)

The climate was very pleasant and cloudy.I reached the school around 6.30A.M and i was probably 150-200th person in the queue(oh god!).I came to know the forms would be distributed only from 8.30A.M.So i assumed it would take atleast 10.30-11 to go home.I was waiting in the queue a bit impatiently with a book in hand.There was a guy  & an old lady before me. 

Old lady to the guy - "Looks like we need to get address proof?".

Guy to a bearded man before him - "Is it true?".

Bearded guy - "Yes, you need to provide photocopy of birth certificate & address proof like ration card, EB bill etc.".Now, the old lady & guy were really tense.

Old lady to the guy - "What do we do now? Our house is more than 10Kms from here".

Bearded guy(B.G) - "Don't worry.Why don't you go in your bike & come back.Anyway it loooks like it will take time.".

The guy, hesitantly - "Well, we came by auto...".

B.G -"Ok, why don't you catch an auto?".

The guy, more hesistantly - ".....I don't have that much money right now..."

B.G, w/o even blinking - "No issue, why don't you take my bike, it's the brown splendor on the outside".

The guy was now really hesitating.

B.G - "Ok, then here's some money, take it & go in auto"Saying, he opened his purse and gave 200 rupees.

Finally, the guy took BG's bike, went home & came back with the address proof.

Watching all this, i was astounded and thought to myself- "What kind of guy this B.G is? Does not hesitate to give his bike to a total stranger and on top of that offers money.I don't think i will do either of those.".

I slowly started talking to him(B.G), enquiring about other good schools in the area and also came to know he had come for his daughter's admission. The school, for a pleasant change, decided to open the counter @7.30A.M itself as queue was too big - i was very surprised, this usually does not happen in chennai.Then i filled the registration form(it was free, the school would intimate us later) and was about to leave.Then i noticed B.G(who was before me in the queue) still filling the form.Surprised, i went near him.He smiled & i saw he was filling the form in english for a person who knew only tamil.I was totally impressed and shook hands with him.

Me - "I'm Ramakrishnan.You?".

B.G, hesiated for a sec, & then said "Aslam, what do you do?".

Me - "Software engineer, you?".

Aslam - "I'm a cine director, waiting for the release of my first film".

Wow, i asked him - "What's the name of the film?".

Aslam - "MunPaniKaalam".

Me - "I wish your film runs more than 100 days". Saying that i left to home filled with joy.What an experience on a sunday morning that too on my birthday:-)

இஷா யோகா - வாழ்க்கை புரிதல்

நெடு நாட்களாக என் மனதில் ஒரு வெறுமை குடி கொண்டு இருந்தது.வாழ்க்கையில் உண்மையான நாட்டம் குறைந்தே காணப்பட்டது.என் மகள் பிறந்ததும் சிறிது அதிகமானது என்னவோ உண்மை. இருப்பினும் வெறுமையே வென்றது. அதனால் உண்டான தேடலில் நிறைய படிக்க ஆரம்பித்தேன் - கண்டிப்பாக டெக்னிகல் விஷயங்கள் இல்லை:-) முற்றிலும் ஆன்மிக விஷயங்கள் தான். படித்து குழம்பி தெளிந்து மீண்டும் குழம்பியதில் சில - Gospel of Sri ramakrishna, bhagavad gita, selections from the complete works of vivekananda, Can humanity change? - J.Krishnamurthi, An end to suffering - pankaj mishra.இவை எல்லாவற்றிலும் நான் நிறைய கற்றாலும் கூட, என் வெறுமை என்னவோ வழக்கம் போல் என்னை பார்த்து சிரித்தது. நாத்திக புத்தகங்களும் சிறிது படித்து குழம்பினேன். ஆனால் சத்குரு ஜக்கி அவர்களின் "ஞானியின் சந்நிதியில்" படித்தது மனதிற்கு ஒரு ஆறுதலாக இருந்தது. அவற்றில் சிலவற்றை அனுபவபூர்வமாக உணர்ந்ததும் தான் சத்குருவின் மேல் மிகுந்த மரியாதை பிறந்தது.பின்னர் என் தம்பியின் மூலம் இஷா யோகாவின் 13 நாட்கள் "சக்தி சலன கிரியா" வகுப்பில் சேர்ந்தேன். என் வாழ்க்கைக்கு ஒரு அர்த்தம் கிடைத்தது போல் உணர்ந்தேன். நாட்பட நாட்பட, நான் தினமும் யோகா செய்ய செய்ய, அந்த எண்ணம் மிகவும் வலுபெற்றது. என் உடல் மற்றும் மனம் என் கட்டுக்குள் சிறிது சிறுதாக வந்துகொண்டுஇருக்கிறது(இந்த பயணம் எளிதில் முடியாது).
வார்த்தைகள் is a poor substitute for the actual experience. ஆதலால் ஒவ்வருவரும் இதை அனுபவபூர்வமாக பெற இஷா யோகாவின் 7 நாள் வகுப்பில் சேர கேட்டுக்கொள்கிறேன். http://www.ishafoundation.org/Schedule/Isha-Yoga-Programs.isa இணைய தளத்தில் எல்லா விவரங்களும் உள்ளது.

Believe me, this is a gr8 oppurtunity to experience life.

அன்புடன்,
TR (எ) ராம்கி.

Long due

My daughter vivegha is chatting with her friend "You know, we(India) should have finished in the top 5.I dunno how we can finishat 6? I'm really disappointed". Her friend says "Yeah, the bar has gone down, hopefully india will finish in top 5 in the next olympics".I am listening to their conversation and i say - "Hey, 6 is not such a bad position, you know...". I am interrupted by my daughter - "Appa, 6 may be ok for another country but not for a country like us - so big in area, such a huge population,leaders in IT & research...", she goes on & on.I smile noddingly and i slip down the memory lane....
"Abhinav Bindra creates history, wins the first ever individual olympic gold" - screams all newspapers, people are jubilant, filled with ecstasy beyond words.I'm very happy as i get the news from my colleagues.I chat with my friends -"How many more do you forsee?". All of us agree anywhere between 3-5 medals and we are happy at that thought.
I come back to the present, oh, this is 2020 and the olympics just concluded.I just travelled down memory lane to 2008 when it all started...

Indian Muslims

Early days:

My view of muslims, during college days, was that of a typical hindu.They are anti-india by nature and for them religion comes before nationality.But one difference in my view was that i accepted any muslim provided he exhibited true loyalty to india.My anger was fuelled by some incidents given below:

a) one of my muslim friend(i really liked him for he was a good friend) openly supported pakistan during cricket matches.

b) one of my senior(muslim) again supported pakistan indirectly i.e., he used to speak ill of indian players, incl. sachin who was probably at his peak then.It made me even more angry as this person was really a noble person otherwise:-)

c) During an india-pakistan cricket match, a group of local muslims were openly cheering every indian wicket. All these instances were tied to cricket as i was a crazy fan(even now, but mellowed down considerably).I've to say here my room mate during the last two years was a muslim.I was lucky to have a muslim roommate as i got a first-hand chance to observe a muslim.I never had any problem with him over these issues - probably b'cos i was ill-tempered,would not hesitate to pick up a fight and my friend was aware of it:-) My friend was a very hard-working person, came from a lower middle-class and was very responsible.He did not watch any film with us ( we used to watch atleast one per week) thoroughout the 4 years of college life, except in the last semester.Since he did his schooling in tamizh medium, he worked doubly hard.He was also very religious, did namaz on every friday and fasted during ramzan piously.I was really impressed by his dedication for the almighty - i really felt hindus, on the whole, never had such dedication. But nevertheless, i never believed in any ritual, i only believed in heart-felt bhakthi.This association had a real impact on my view of muslims as i clearly felt that they are very much like hindus - with good family values, good manners etc.

Change of mind:

My opinion of a muslim or for that matter any non-hindu, has undergone a sea-change in the last few years.The reasons are many.To quote a few - the biographical book on gandhi(presented by my bro), Hey-Ram film, the documentary on Gujarat riots,my association with AID-India all helped me see the truth.I understood the danger of communal politics played by some of our national parties thru' the age-old divide & rule policy. Why this hatred? Why does an hindu, generally, not have a good opinion on a muslim?

1) Maybe b'cos most of the terrorist activities are carried out in the name of islam.

2) They support pakistan more than india as their religion gets higher priority than the

country.

3) Historically mughal kings were barbarous in nature - looting & killing many hindus.

I don't claim this is an exhaustive list but just what comes to my mind.Now,on the outset, all 3 above seems factually correct, so where is the problem? The problem lies in a simple fact of generalization.

1) How many % of muslims support terrorist activities? Probably fewer than 1%, if not there will be no safe place anywhere in india as it is the second largest muslim population in the world after indonesia.

2) Again what is the statistics for this one, should be less than 5%.Kaif, Zaheer khan, irfan pathan all have represented indian cricket with the same spirit as any other player.More & more youngsters opt to play for the country with the same zeal & enthusiasm like any other player.Many muslim armymen serve us in the border as well.

3) Here, i don't have much knowledge but i can say for sure that Akbar was a secular mughal king who had birbal, an hindu, as his minister.Of course there is an aurangazeb but still..Moreover, it is highly unlikely that every hindu king was noble & pious.

Finally i would like to end my argument with a simple question - how many of your muslim friends have similar aspirations like you w.r.t getting a good job & taking care of their family? How many do you think will end up as an anti-national?

Love for Tamizh and the national language question

As with my blind love for my country, i also had a gr8 love for my mother tongue - tamizh.I thought it as an insult to study tamizh as a 3rd language(English & say Hindi/Sanskrit/French ... as the 1st & 2nd).So i studied Tamizh as the 2nd language till my 12th std, i never even contemplated changing to French/Sanskrit to boost my overall score(these things are specific to my state where usually tamizh was difficult to score compared to the rest).
I've to confess that tamizh is not a easy language to learn, especially the grammar & poems are really tough.But nevertheless i scored high as i learnt the language with gr8 pride.Coincidentally my top score in 10th exams was in tamizh,i still feel really proud about it & also remember the marks that i scored:-) At the same time i never had an ill-will towards other language, probably due to my national outlook.So i learnt hindi privately and learnt till praveen purvadh - my teacher told me it's equivalent to an M.A degree. I even thought that every person should learn hindi also.
But i had a radical change of mind, during my college days, w.r.t national language Hindi.I no longer think it is necessary to learn it compulsorily.The reason being hindi is another language just like any other indian language.So there is no need to elevate it at the expense of other languages.I think all the indian languages, including hindi, are our national languages. The argument that hindi is spoken by majority of the people in india does not hold ground.It is used to justify but that seems a flawed argument.Simply b'cos the majority number of people speak a language does not mean it should be preferred over the rest.The same applies in the religious sphere as well - it is for this precise reason that India is a secular state not a hindu state.
All said, learning a language is a individual's choice. But what irritates me is projecting hindi as the language of our country at the expense of other languages.One example is the bollywood conducting indian cinema awards w/o entries from other regional languages and also the national awards which invariably goes to an undeserving hindi film very often(Hum Tum comes to my mind). After all i do know that language is for communication & nothing beyond, but still..:-)

Power problem in Chennai

Recently there is a power cut every monday in our company.On enquiring, the admin told us the electricity board had issued a directive that power supply will be stopped to all IT cos in the OMR stretch and requested the IT cos to swap a holiday with monday. Most of us were really upset as we always thought Tamilnadu had enough power compared to neighbouring states.One of my colleague told that the Kalpakkam reactor is functioning at half it's capacity leading to the current crisis.I thought that it could be a demand-supply problem as lot of cos started operations in chennai in recent times.
Today i had a chance to chat about this topic with couple of engineers in the electrcity board.This is what they said - "The problem is demand exceeds supply as no power plant was commissioned after 1995.As we know the economy boomed only in the late 90s and many cos started operations in chennai, leading to the current shortage.The power sector has been badly ignored the last 10 years leading to no new power plant being commissioned in the state.The reason for the stagnation was that the govt tried a private-public model wherein the private players would generate power & supply it to the board.But unfortunately this did not go very well due to economic constraints."
So what does the future hold, this is what they had to say : "The only way out now is to declare monday as an holiday and work on another day, thereby making sure the peek demand is distributed. Hopefully the problem will be solved in 2 years as the govt has taken a series of measures to pump in power thru' new plants." Let us hope the state as well as india become energy-sufficient soon and at the same time it will be better if the process is environment-friendly as well:-)


Trivia:
Out of the available power plants NLC(Neyveli), Kalpakkam nuclear plant are central govt owned and the rest like mettur hydro, Ennore thermal are state owned.The central owned plants will contribute to what is called as an southern grid, which is shared by all southern states.The state owned, obviously, meets the demand of the local state.