Letters to the Editor - The Hindu - October 14, 2004 - US Ambassador's letter to the Assam Chief Minister.

US Ambassador to India, Honorable David C. Mulford offers a word of readiness to provide FBI's services to the terrorism inflicted state of Assam directly to the Assam Chief Minister Mr. Tarun Gogoi. Of course he must have made the offer through the Foreign Ministry of the Central Government in New Delhi. Immediately, all hell broke loose with every leading newspaper and magazine making demands that ranged from declaring the Ambassador to be persona non grata to tendering of apologies by the US Government. I honestly did not think that the Ambassador had any mala fide intent, when he made the offer. Hence wrote this letter to The Hindu.

Published in The Hindu, National Edition, dated October 14, 2004.

* * *
Sir, — The U.S. Ambassador, David C. Mulford's direct offer of help to the Assam Chief Minister in providing the services of the FBI to investigate the terrorist attacks was made with bona fide intent. The ambassador's crossing of the diplomatic Rubicon may be a faux pas at best. Spewing scorn on the U.S. for a minor gaffe does not augur well for bilateral relations.

Rex S. Arul,
Smyrna, Georgia

* * *

http://www.hindu.com/2004/10/14/stories/2004101403601004.htm

Letters to the Editor - The Hindu - September 30, 2004 - Decried the attack on Nuns of Mother Teresa's Order in Kerala.

It was not long ago when a Catholic priest introduced a wonderful adage during our offline discussion: "corruptio optimi pessima." It is a powerful adage, which alludes to the corruption of the best being the worst of all. This is true in any set-up. The best friend, when corrupted, turns out to be the most lethal enemy; a spouse, when corrupted, turns out to be the most potent destructor of a marriage; a Justice system, when corrupted, turns out to be the greatest factory of injustice; so on and so forth. When an egalitarian state in Kerala that had so far not been communal, even during the worst of communal riots in other parts of India, shows signs of communal depravity by attacking the nuns of Missionaries of Charity, an order established by Blessed Mother Teresa, what would one do? Is this a sign of road to perdition? That is what made me flash this letter to The Hindu.

Published in The Hindu, National Edition, dated September 30, 2004.

* * *

Sir, — The attack on the nuns of the Missionaries of Charity in the most politically conscious State of Kerala reminds me of the Latin adage corruptio optimi pessima (the corruption of the best is the worst of all). Hope the powers-that-be act swiftly to ameliorate the situation.

Rex S. Arul,
Smyrna, Georgia

* * *

http://www.hindu.com/2004/09/30/stories/2004093003601001.htm

Letters to the Editor - The Hindu - August 20, 2004 - Female lynchers must be treated as victims?

So, these women resort to vigilante justice by lynching the accused, Mr. Akku Yadav, when he comes for an open hearing at a Nagpur Court. Women activists in India, then enacted a farcical charade of the judicial process by not only condoning and justifying a cold-blooded murder, but even went several steps ahead to demand that these women accused be treated as victims. Where on earth can one find such a chutzpah to kill a defenceless human-being (whatever be his personal credentials) and then claim the perpetrators to be victims of the killed victim? I decried such a vigilante justice, which is sadly increasing in India for want of timely reforms in the already overburdened and logjammed criminal justice system.

Published in The Hindu, National Edition, dated August 20, 2004.

* * *

Sir, — The women protesters in Nagpur have blatantly interfered with the judicial process by asking the judicial magistrate to grant bail to the five women accused of lynching Akku Yadav in an open court. Vigilante justice has no place in a democracy. It is sheer chutzpah on the part of women activists to claim that the five women be treated as victims.

Rex S. Arul,
Georgia, U.S.

* * *

http://www.hindu.com/2004/08/20/stories/2004082001481002.htm

Letters to the Editor - The Hindu - August 6, 2004 - West Bengal Government executes Chatterjee.

That I am never a fan of death-penalty is known to many of my friends and relatives. After almost a decade of de facto moratorium on executions, the West Bengal Government got it through to hang Dhananjoy Chatterjee. His impoverished parents and wife (with whom he had hardly stayed for a week before being cast into incarceration forever as a death-row convict) had staged every fast they could to get a clemency for Mr. Chatterjee and they failed. By executing Mr. Chatterjee, the society had only created fresh victims of the convict's family.

Published in The Hindu, National Edition, dated August 6, 2004.

* * *

Sir, — In the name of administering justice to Dhananjoy's victim, we have only heaped injustice on his family.

Rex S. Arul,
Georgia, U.S.

* * *

http://www.hindu.com/2004/08/06/stories/2004080601291001.htm

Letters to the Editor - The Hindu - July 17, 2004 - The US need not apologize to George Fernandes.

So our George Fernandes, on a trip to Washington DC, as the Defense Minister of India was searched just similar to any of us. A big ruckus ensued when this was made public with every Tom, Dick, and Harry demanding an apology from the US Government. First of all, it was an exaggeration that Mr. Fernandes was ever strip-searched. He was merely asked to take his jacket off. Moreover, if there would have been a diplomatic protocol violation, the Foreign Ministry could have taken up the issue within the official channels of the US State Department. Even the Ambassador of India to the United States, who was at that time with Mr. Fernandes did not see any violation of protocol when the latter was searched at the airport in Washington. Moreover, when any citizen flies into another country, he has to subject himself to the laws and statutes of the host country, because he had been granted a visa as a privilege, not as a right. When every air-traveler within the US is forced to undergo this security-check ordeal, it would be childish to demand that our own Mr. Fernandes be treated differently. After all the United States is not a babudom for our politicians to be treated any different than ordinary people.

Published in The Hindu, National Edition, dated July 17, 2004.

* * *

Sir, — The brouhaha over the Fernandes issue is unwarranted. It is naïve to assume that only suspects are strip-searched at U.S. airports. Post-9/11, airport security has been beefed up much to the chagrin of all in the U.S.

Rex S. Arul,

Georgia, U.S.

* * *

http://www.hindu.com/2004/07/17/stories/2004071700511024.htm

Letters to the Editor - The Hindu - July 3, 2004 - Commending the brave school-girls.

Necessity is the mother of innovation. When your rights to higher education are at stake with the admissions issue being under litigation and the lawyers are at strike, what will you do? Appear pro se to argue your own case before the respected Judge? Well, that is what two brave girls did. The press in Tamilnadu did a good job in adequately publicizing this issue. I, on my part, sent this letter to the editor of The Hindu. Though being the second letter (the first one was published in 1992) to appear on print, this would set-off a chain of other letters to come.

Published in The Hindu, National Edition, dated July 3, 2004.

Sir, — As appearing pro se is not a common practice in the courts, it was apt that the girls got prominent coverage in the media.

Rex S. Arul,
Georgia, U.S.

http://www.hindu.com/2004/07/03/stories/2004070301371005.htm

June 11, 2004 -- A Day to Remember...

As I received a call from my boss, late this afternoon, I, for a moment thought I was being called on the carpet. However M and C gave me the good news of a great ascent in the pecking order to that of a LSE. I was totally caught by surprise and it only rose to a crescendo when I was told that the Review Committee had decided on a consensus. Love, affection, and bonhomie is always in the air as I started receiving lots of plaudits and was elated and humbled by those pleasantries. I thanked my good Lord as I fully ascribe this feat to His benevolence and His will. Today was a day of dancing for me, personally, even as the nation was mourning over the funeral of former President Ronald Reagan.

During moments of personal success, I always start to ponder more about how others' contributions may have helped me stand where I am and how it may have often been impossible to let such people know how grateful I am for that. The friend who keeps you in his prayers; the loved-ones across the globe who wish you nothing but good; the person in the adjacent cube who would have contributed in busting a leviathan; the boss who would have placed me right on an interesting mission; the secretary who would have lessened my burden with mundane office chores; or even that peer who would have just mustered enough tolerance to put up with me :-) In any case, my success is not mine alone. As a human-being, I belong to this world and am being continuously shaped and chiseled by events and people all around me. While personal responsibility, accountability, integrity, ethics, audacity, punctiliousness, etc., of a person is of paramount importance in determining his success, it is a irrefutable fact, that several unrecognized persons have a definite say in shaping that success, however insignificant their contribution may seem from the exterior. In the process of an ascent towards a pinnacle of personal success, such faceless peoples' contributions serve as a catalyst, for sure. My success is not fulfilled, if I do not personally acknowledge those from whom I learn directly or indirectly through their words spoken and unspoken. And to all of them, I say, "Thanks and God bless."

At Today's Mass -- Musings about the Story of a Prostitute and a Sage

During today's evening mass, I was enthralled to see my favorite Gospel reading of Matthew 5:20-26, where Jesus lays down some tough guidelines regarding personal morality. Especially, verse 20, "I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven," reminded me of this story told by Swami Ramakrishna Pramahansa. This is another case in point to my own conviction of how the Hindu Culture and Spirituality enables me to nourish my own Catholic faith.

There was a hermit who used to meditate under a tree that was opposite to a house that belonged to a prostitute. Whenever, a new customer visited the sinful lady's house, the hermit used to throw a stone to account for it. He had utter contempt for the lady's sinful life and soon the collection of stones constituted a mound. However, the prostitute always used to converse with God asking why she is not able to spend time in a good manner as that hermit who always ponders and meditates upon God!

One fine day, both the prostitute and the hermit died and the prostitute was taken to heaven whereas the hermit was taken to the hell. Irked by the sudden change of fortune, the hermit asked Lord Yama (similar to St. Peter in Catholic stories), "While that prostitute who was always leading an unclean life was taken to heaven, why is this the place that you have reserved for people like me who had always spent our time meditating on God and His works?" To that, Lord Yama said, "While you were supposedly meditating on God, you were merely accounting for that lady's sins; whereas, that lady while in the act of committing the sin of adultery everytime, she was in communion with God asking for pardon and an opportunity to reform her life. Her invocations were much superior in the eyes of God, than your hubris. Hence the change of destinies for each of you. You got what you deserved and she got what she deserved."

President of India Declares Tamil as Classical Language

The Classical Status of Tamil - The Hindu by S.S. Vasan, Rhodes Scholar, Trinity College, Cambridge, U.K.
Professor George L Hart's (Head, Department of Tamil Studies, University of California, Berkley, CA) Letter to the Government of India in 2000, exhorting a promulgation of Tamil as a Classical Language.

My Musings..

When I was doing my MS Program at the University of Florida (UF), I was called to assist many Korean and Japanese Students in Linguistics, who were trying to pronounce some of the Tamil words for their linguistic phonetic analysis. I was told that their Professor (who is not a Tamil anyways) lauded Tamil as a great, ancient, language with intricate phonetics that can be an apt choice for their research. After they heard me talk and read out loud in Tamil, they shared their interest in knowing more about Tamil by saying, "We really do not understand what you spoke. However, after listening for a while, we do now appreciate that Tamil is one of the most melliflous, euphonic languages phonetically. It is pretty intricate and complex as well and has really inculcated an interest in us to know and learn more about this great language. Unfortunately, we do not have a Tamil Department at UF, do we?" I said, "Unfortunately, not." Well, the situation may well change with the greatest announcement made at the floor of the Indian Parliament, recently. Will this be one of reality or just one of those cherished dreams of mine? Remember the words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? "Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move men." As a meliorist, I am going to redact my views on the subject to show how this dream may well metamorphize to an imminent reality in future.

Nothing in the recent years has made me so happy as this news that the new Congress(I) led United Progressive Alliance has made a decision to promulgate Tamil as a Classical Language, thereby paving the way for fostering further growth and eminence of this great, ancient language. The Gods certainly have a fine sense of humor because this major policy announcement was made at the floor of the Indian Parliament by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, himself being a Tamil.

I sincerely thank the former Tamilnadu Chief Minister and DMK leader, Dr. Kalaignar. M. Karunanidhi, who was chiefly instrumental in realizing his long-cherished dream of declaring Tamil as a classical language. It is ironic that the very same Congress(I) Government, which during the days of the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru tried to impose Hindi on the Tamils has atoned for its folly by taking Tamil to its right seat of eminence. The Congress(I) President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh rightly deserve our praise for removing the blot of such an imposition during the 1960s, which literally back-fired when it galvanized the Dravidian aspirations of the Tamils in the then Madras Presidency(now, State of Tamilnadu).

For many of my American friends, I wish to point out that some of the English words that you use in contemporary parlance, say, pariah ('pariah' means drummer -- a social outcast), mullagatawny ('Mallaga Thawny' means Pepper-Water), catamaran ('Kattu Maram' means 'tied logs'), etc. are directly originating from Tamil. Also, Tamil is still a language that is spoken by roughly 70 million people all over the world.

Some of the benefits that will arise out of the latest announcement of elevating Tamil as a Classical Language will be as follows:

• More seats of research will be opened for Tamil in various Universities and Centers across India. Many other Universities around the globe will follow suit.


• Sanskrit always dominated the Indian scene as a classical language, thereby relegating Tamil to an inferior position, even though Tamil was more ancient than Sanskrit and is richer in its grammatical and literary content. Now, Tamil will achieve its own pride of position in Indian literature, archeology, epigraphy, etc.


• The University Grants Commission (UGC) may accept the Classical-Language status for Tamil. If that happens, many other World Universities will follow suit as well.


• More Tamil works will get noticed by means of extensive translations and even in original forms in different parts of the world. During the era of the Soviet Union, many Tamil works were published in Moscow and distributed all around the globe, which stopped pretty much after its fall. Now, we can see more of Tamil works being published all around the globe, albeit not too soon, but for sure in future.


• As an Engineering Student in India, I had then deposed before a high-level delgation in support of the then Tamilnadu Chief-Minister's aim of having Higher-Technical Education in Tamil. A renewed thrust is very much on the anvil for Scientific Tamil, especially when the Central Government will start funding for Tamil research along the lines of furthering Sanskrit research.


• While there is a controversy if the prayers to the Hindu deities be restricted only to Sanskrit, elevation of Tamil to the Classical Language status should encourage those who support Tamil as a suitable language to God as well. In Tirumanthiram (Holy Chant) written by Saint Tirumular ( circa 4th century AD - 6th century AD), he sings thusly:
  
  என்னைநன் றாக இறைவன் படைத்தனன்
  தன்னைநன் றாகத் தமிழ்செய்யு மாறே
  
  (The Lord had created me pretty well,
  so that I can praise Him well in Tamil).
  
  When that ancient Sithar(Saint) himself had implied that the good Lord preferred being lauded through Tamil, should the puritans be against it? Oh, thanks to the Second Vatican Council (1964) convened by Pope John XXIII, the Catholics made a significant stride in offering their Eucharistic Liturgy in vernacular languages as well, which until then was exclusively done in Latin only. Even today, many Traditional Catholics lament the loss of Latin in their worship, but still the Church and the Catholics have learnt to live with the times. Any time, a language is considered to be Divine, as Latin and Sanskrit is, they often end-up earning a notorious status -- dead language. I only hope that Tamil ushers in this new era with its elevated status as a classical language by finding more acceptance with the Carnatic Music Singers and Priests of the Hindu Temples.


• Many foreign nations (Singapore has Tamil as an official-language) may declare Tamil as a Classical Language and if a handful of nations declare so, then United Nations can be approached to declare Tamil as an offical language with its cultural body -- UNESCO -- according Classical-Language status to Tamil, just similar to how it has done so, inter alia , for languages like Arabic, Sanskrit and Persian.

Irrespective of the sudden euphoria around this promulgation of Tamil as a classical language, a little too late by the Government of India, one should not fail to take cognizance of the immense respect it commands at the international arena, where its classical status was never disputed. In Encyclopedia Brittanica - Vol 21, William Benton, Chicago, 1972 pp 647, we find this: "Tamil language is one of the Principal Dravidian languages spoken in South India and perhaps the only example of an ancient classical language which has survived as a spoken language for more than 2500 years with its basic structure almost unchanged." And Professor George L. Hart of University of California at Berkley clearly gives the sockdolager on the subject when he wrote to the Government of India thusly: "Let me state unequivocally that, by any criteria one may choose, Tamil is one of the great classical literatures and traditions of the world. The status of Tamil as one of the great classical languages of the world is something that is patently obvious to anyone who knows the subject. To deny that Tamil is a classical language is to deny a vital and central part of the greatness and richness of Indian culture."

And, from the year I landed in the United States in 1997, I was always moved by the yeoman efforts of non-Tamils at the University of Pennsylvania's Tamil Learning Website. This is a wonderful case in point for the love and affection, Tamil commands from people who are beyond the borders of Tamilnadu and other Tamil speaking countries of Southeast Asia.