Fantabulous to traverse this very bridge that's a favorite of Rhea & mine. Serene beauty with fog :)

Taken at Covered Bridge Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/fantabulous-to-traverse-this-very-bridge-that at RandZoom.

As wax melts down, the flame goes up!

Taken at St Francis De Sales Catholic Church Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/as-wax-melts-down-the-flame-goes-up at RandZoom.

"India dirtiest & filthiest country", says Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh

Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today described India as the “dirtiest and filthiest” country in the world where people with mobile phones go out to answer the “call of nature”.

“In one area in which India can claim success in the social sector is education. We can’t say the same thing in health, we can’t say the same thing in nutrition, we certainly can’t say the same thing in sanitation because we do remain the dirtiest and filthiest country,” he said.

He said around 65 per cent of rural houses had been provided with toilets but didn’t use them. “Today, if you go to many parts of India, you have women with a mobile phone going out to answer the call of nature. I mean it is paradoxical,” the minister, who also holds charge of sanitation, said at an event here.

via telegraphindia.com

I do not know why Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh used such harsh words to make a point. A healthy topic of sanitation is now going to be lost amidst the din of controversial remarks. Why do responsible persons use extreme superlatives, when soft-spoken words can accomplish better results? And why single out women? These remarks are insensitive, brash, and regrettable.

Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/india-dirtiest-filthiest-country-says-rural-d at RandZoom.

No alternative to nuclear energy: APJ Abdul Kalam - The Times of India

"He, however, made it clear that there is no option before India but to go out to produce nuclear power because it is the cleanest and greenest form of energy."

"The plant is completely modern and safe. I can vouch for that. India is a power hungry nation and 2000 megawatt of power would be produced at the Tamil Nadu plant. We need it".

"We have no option but to switch to alternative sources of energy,like solar energy, nuclear energy and bio energy" Kalam added.

via timesofindia.indiatimes.com

1. I am unable to understand how the superlatives like "cleanest" and "greenest" form of Energy can be attributed to Nuclear Energy, ignoring the 800-lb gorilla of recycling nuclear waste.

2. However noble a person Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is, still, nuclear safety and Energy Policy are issues that need to be redressed by a neutral Nuclear Energy Regulatory Authority. Till date, India does not have one and a fledgling bill is before the Indian Parliament.

3. I agree, nuclear as one amongst the other alternative sources of energy like solar, biomass, wind, etc. However, to tout nuclear as "cleanest" and "greenest" is ersatz at best.

Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/no-alternative-to-nuclear-energy-apj-abdul-ka at RandZoom.

Eyes see what they wish to see. Tis light that I choose to see amidst darkness.

Taken at Monastery of the Holy Spirit Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/eyes-see-what-they-wish-to-see-tis-light-that at RandZoom.

Imbued in thoughts at work, out on a short stroll; mesmerizing,withering foliage outside. Thank God for nature!

Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/imbued-in-thoughts-at-work-out-on-a-short-str at RandZoom.

History wasn't made by ‘can't doers': Kalam via @The_Hindu

If the great Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola I had believed for a moment that his monumental structure would be brought down in an earthquake, would we have got the magnificent Brihadeeswara Temple?

Or, if Homi Bhabha had decided that radiation is too harmful for citizens, would the country be running a safe and successful atomic power programme for the last 40 years, producing 4,700 megawatt of nuclear power?

via thehindu.com

Hyperbole and rhetoric. Sad. Even the Bhopal victims cannot buy these arguments. Nuclear-safety is a very important topic when a country is ready to formulate its Energy policy investing billions of dollars and millions of lives. India does not even have a neutral Nuclear Regulatory Authority as USA or other developed nations.

Instead of rhetoric, why can't science and technology engage in a meaningful discourse?

Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/history-wasnt-made-by-cant-doers-kalam-via-th at RandZoom.

Fukushima-like accident can be avoided at Kudankulam: APJ Kalam via @The_Hindu

On Germany's decision to give up nuclear power by 2022, he said it was a power surplus developed nation, which could afford to lose a few plants. “More importantly, Germany has completely exhausted its nuclear resources. Thus, nuclear energy never fits into their goal of energy independence.

via thehindu.com

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has been dismissive of the tough decision Germany had to take in wake of the Fukushima accident by implying it as a Hobson's choice. Truth is not as Manichean as he states. With this tough decision to curtail its nuclear fleet, Germany will be compelled to rely on fossil-fuels, which will make its aggressive goals to cut down Greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020, very tough. To Germans that is more of a discomfiting problem than operating their nuclear fleet. Yet, Germany took this hard decision in wake of Fukushima. Global decisions on important matters such as nuclear-safety are taken after significant evaluation of those countries' necessities and often reasons are not as simplistic as the sound-bytes are.

Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/fukushima-like-accident-can-be-avoided-at-kud at RandZoom.

Added my comments to @The_Hindu on Dr.APJ's Op-Ed on Kudankulam Nuclear Project crisis

I have profound respect for former President Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam. However, I am concerned the way he bulldozes concerns by pushing arguments for nuclear energy by merely saying how much Energy it can bring. Sure, none of those villagers, who are protesting are going to oppose the notion of brining in additional 1,000 mW generation per day from each reactor in Kudankulam. They are genuinely concerned about safety and their future. This is now a concern in other developed nations too. Some of the parallels drawn by Mr. APJ to dismiss those concerns are ersatz at best and not helping to dispel doubts in the minds of those people who are on a fast to scrap the project.

What I also found too condescending and deeply regrettable was the feedback from some readers. A majority of them think as though those villagers, who are worried about their future are gullible masses, who know nothing! Many are advising that Tamil translations of the article be provided to them. That's the elitist view that is going to precisely turn those people off.

As Engineers and Scientists, I feel we are not good at Public-Relations. To understand the public's concern and to treat them with utmost respect, by dispelling wrongful notions with abject scientific truths, while remaining brutally honest to our neutral elements of Science, is our calling. When we wear elitist hats, we just turn those people off. We really need to work hard at conveying scientific truths to the general population, without being seen as having a hidden agenda.

That is easier said than accomplished. But, there lies an opportunity that is larger than generating power through nuclear energy!

Within the prescribed limit, I have dropped by $0.02 in the comments section in The Hindu.

"As an Energy Consultant,I am a cautious supporter of Nuclear Energy. While Dr.Kalam's article is edifying, it is disconcerting for several reasons:

1. He is obsessed with economic prosperity while flippant about real nuclear threats.

2. He chastises fearmongering with images of mushroom-clouds of the A-Bomb, while he fearmongers by insinuating foreign nations trying to subjugate India's energy ascendancy! Truth is nations like France & US are eager to earn India's huge nuclear-pie!

3. His cavalier attitude to nuclear safety is evident by equating a realistic threat of a cataclysmic nuclear event with his conjured folklore of first-flight accidents!

4. His deafening silence on terrorist-threats on nuclear plants is chilling, when India is on the seismic belt of terrorism.

5. Equating Japan's ER system to India's is an overstretch.

6. He's stoic on India's huge population density.

7. His dismissive attitude implies he thinks those who have concerns are Luddites.He is not right."

Here is the Op-Ed: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2601471.ece

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, please understand that a power-starved state of Tamil Nadu and its populace crave for power to get out of the draconian power-cuts that have become the norm. So, they too support efforts to add more nuclear power generation methods to the overall mix. However, please don't tout that alone to floccinaucinihilipilificate their valid concerns!

Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/added-my-comments-to-thehindu-on-drapjs-op-ed at RandZoom.

Why would @WSJ / @IndiaRealTime presume Sivakasi to be in China?

Freudian slip? That is what I initially thought, when The Wall Street Journal's slideshow on Diwali had packs of firecrackers from Sivakasi displayed with a caption that said those crackers were from China. Which is what made me think: What makes @WSJ and @IndiaRealTime to think Sivakasi, a southern town of the State of Tamil Nadu in India, renowned for its firecracker and matchsticks industry, somehow belong to China?

All that glitters need not be gold, the same way as all that bursts and crackles need not be from China!

Here is Sivakasi in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivakasi

Picture Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal (slideshow)

Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/why-would-wsj-indiarealtime-presume-sivakasi at RandZoom.

Just got latest @TIME issue.Replace "America" w/ any other country.Equally true situation.

Not just America, but, any other country in the planet is equally undergoing turmoil, including BRIC. True America has problems, but, does media need to be this negative and sensational in framing headlines and cover-page, in discomfiting a fearful public all the more?

Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/just-got-latest-time-issuereplace-america-w-a at RandZoom.

A Friday Fortune Cookie that is right!

Taken at Curry Curry

Originally blogged by me at http://randzoom.posterous.com/a-friday-fortune-cookie-that-is-right at RandZoom.

All Souls' Day--Remembering a Friend at Rest in Coimbatore from Atlanta!

It has been 15 years, since I was able to observe All Souls' Day in a cemetery, as I used to in India. Here in the USA, it is all pretty sanitized and within the church -- with lighting of the candles and reading of the names of the loved-ones, who are no more. It is different.

Naturally, I was lost in thoughts at the bilingual Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle in Smyrna, Georgia.

I am not sure how All Souls' Day is celebrated in India these days.

But, my memories around the Sungam Cemetery in Coimbatore are one filled with crowds, cleaned-up and white-washed cemeteries with crucifixes festooned with garlands, flowers and other decorations, besides candles and perfume-sticks. Some may not have visited the cemeteries for aeons, only to be lost as to where their loved-ones' resting place even existed. Ouch!

Lots of people of all ages will be there. At 6 PM, the concelebrated High Mass by the Bishop of Coimbatore with his Vicar General and Diocesan priests will commence. Most of the time, it rains. I do not understand the connection, though :).

I miss all of that, especially, Latin chants. Notwithstanding the turbulent IInd Vatican Council and its fallout in Latin being passé , the only last vestige of those glorious days is the "Libera Me" soulfully sung as a Gregorian Chant. The then Bishop of Coimbatore, Late Dr. M. Ambrose, had a uniquely cut-out voice to lead his congregation with this Latin Chant. Something very powerful about this song is that it will move anybody to tears, especially the portion where it goes "judicare saeculum per ignem" and "quando coeli movendi sunt et terra". I have seen its powerful effect on the congregation, which almost in its entirety did not understand Latin. It is a fitting testimony that music is language-agnostic.

In India, we were not lucky to have been exposed to Latin. It is as alien as Greek! Thankfully, my Father knew a little bit of Latin. So he used to sing it and I used to love him all the more for just that :) Later he confided how the stentorian Bishop Dr. Ambrose was his Rector and made sure he memorized those Latin songs, which only the Bishop, a few priests, and a few elders knew by heart. Good old days!

At least up until November 2nd, 1996, they used to finish it off with "Libera me", at the end of the mass, in Coimbatore. Hope they continue these days as well.

In India, people aren't too sensitive about going to cemeteries. For me, it wasn't a big deal as my maternal grandmother was laid to rest there and this place was just a stone's-throwaway from my school.

Since 1st grade, I remember going to pray at my grandmom's cemetery all alone, besides the once-a-year ritual of November 2nd, when there will be lots of crowd. Abutting this cemetery is the Nirmala College for Women, where I remember girls giggling and calling other girls to show a small boy walking all alone with a candle :)

I never knew why that was a big deal. I had my own fears -- fears of snakes, but, not of souls at the Sungam Cemetery.

Whenever I go to Coimbatore, I make it a point to visit many of my relatives, friends, teachers, priests and nuns laid to rest, besides my maternal grandmother. 

Last time I was there, I spent some calm time before my classmate and friend, who died 21 years ago in a freakish choking accident at dinner-time, when we all were busy preparing for our 10th grade exams.

Had he been alive, I have no doubt, he would have been a Nobel Prize front-runner in Science. No, this is not eulogy. People, who knew this prodigy would vouch for what am saying.

I remembered him today at Mass. This snap was taken in April 2010, at his Cemetery in Sungam, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. In a way, it connects me to all those distant memories of 10,000 miles and 15 years.

Despite distances of space and time, precious memories are innate, immanent, and within. I am afar, yet, very close. 

"Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine; et lux perpetua luceat eis"!

RIP.

(Minor corrections made, since original post.)

Maxim # 33: காப்பது விரதம் -- A Fast's objective is to save.

ஆத்திச்சூடி # 33: காப்பது விரதம் (kAA-p-puh-thu vi-ra-tham)

Translation: A Fast's objective is to save.

Rumination: "காப்பது" means "that which has to be saved" and "விரதம்" is "fasting." Basically, Auvaiyaar explains fasting by stipulating its objective to be one of safeguarding or saving. Traditional litterateurs have interpreted this to suggest that Auvaiyaar prefers abstention or vegetarianism. While, that may be the case, I take the liberty to ruminate differently. The word "காப்பது" itself can be split as "காப்பு" (protection) + "அது" (that is) -- meaning,  the objective of any fasting should be one of safeguarding or protecting one's own impulses. That protection or shackles thereof is fasting, per Auvaiyaar. This musing to me is personally more fulfilling than the traditional translations. When one attempts to "save" animals from slaughter by refraining to eat meat, that is fasting. Say, if one "safeguards" from one's own anger and controls the proclivity to slander or gossip by adopting a "silent fasting," the focus is turned to the objective than the object of the fasting itself. In other words, safeguarding or saving animals,  refraining from vices, impulses and other proclivities, must be the objective of any fasting to attain temperance, moderation, and self-control. It is not about whether one refrained from eating meat, but, whether one had the objective of saving something for the fast to attain a higher goal, that transcends the noble act of fasting itself.

Quotes: "Moderation is the silken string running through the pearl chain of all virtues." -- Joseph Hall.

World Mental Health Day - October 10th

Today, October 10th, is World Mental Health Day as per World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations (UN). Whatever I genuinely felt at the outset on this day, I have redacted here in the Orange Wall Peace Project blog, which is a yeoman initiative to foster sustainable peace amidst strife and struggle.

My piece is titled: World Mental Health Day -- Bane of Parental Child Abductions. Here is the link: http://bit.ly/mQOJ70

An Ancient Chera King's Incarceration - 4th of July

I did not get to read Oscar Wilde's "De Profundis" until late in life. It is a poignant rumination of the abject humiliation and suffering of a human-being under (wrongful) incarceration. On 4th of July, when we in America celebrate the Independence Day for the liberties we have inherited, it may be paradoxical to ruminate about life behind incarceration of a defeated, humiliated Tamil Chera King of the Sangam Age.

In High School, our Tamil teacher taught the Sangam-era poem from Purananuru (புறநானூறு), wherein the Chera King Cheramaan Kanaikkaal Irumborai (சேரமான் கணைக்கால் இரும்பொறை) is defeated by the Chozha King Chozhan Senganaan (சோழன் செங்கணான்) and kept under incarceration at the Kudavaasal (குடவாசல்) Prison in Thiruvarur District. 

At the prison, the Chera King feels thirsty and asks for water. The prison-guard at sentry not only ignores him, but humiliates him with his indifference. This abject humiliation makes the Chera King turn down his own earlier request for a glass of water. He sings his own eulogy and in essence takes his own life on his own terms at his own time, thereby denying even that opportunity to his opponent to further humiliate him in prison. Here is that song:

குழவி இறப்பினும், ஊன்தடி பிறப்பினும்,
ஆள் அன்று என்று வாளின் தப்பார்
தொடர்ப்படு ஞமலியின் இடர்ப்படுத்து இரீஇய
கேளல் கேளிர் வேளாண் சிறுபதம்,
மதுகை இன்றி, வயிற்றுத் தீத் தணியத்,
தாம் இரந்து உண்ணும் அளவை
ஈன்ம ரோ, இவ் உலகத் தானே?

While many litterateurs tout this song for the bravery exhibited in the battlefields of the ancient Tamils, I personally feel that this is a wonderful, moving poem of an individual craving for justice against personal humiliation within the darkest recesses of a prison.

Every time I come across flippancy and a cavalier attitude meted out to an individual in violation of his or her human dignity, this song automatically comes to my mind. 

Insouciance, humiliation, and abusive behavior need not be exhibited by the sentry-guard alone as embodied in this poem. It could be perpetrated by the very forces that are supposed to protect and foster individual liberty, besides upholding rule-of-law. 

When we read in newspapers about negligent engineers, errant judges, scheming lawyers, corrupt cops, devious doctors, etc., we are often reminded of the old Latin adage: corruptio optimi pessima. Corruption of the best has the worst consequences. That theme is brought to the fore wonderfully by National Poet Subramanya Bharathi (சுப்பிரமணிய பாரதி) in these lines: 

படித்தவன் சூதும் வாதும் பண்ணினால்

போவான் போவான்! ஐயோவென்று போவான்!  

 

If only the Chera King had access to what I have here: A precious bottle of water!

 

 

I will continue to blog on Aathichoodi (ஆத்திச்சூடி)

Many friends ask why I stopped blogging on ஆத்திச்சூடி (Aathichoodi). It is time I admit the true reason. I regularly blogged until "கடிவது மற" and then stopped it. Because, the next maxim was "காப்பது விரதம்". It is about Veganism and refrain from eating non-vegetarian dishes, as a mark of love and respect to animals. Tamil literature is replete with hortatory edicts regarding "புலால் உண்ணாமை" (veganism). Although I am not a pure vegetarian and I do have a proclivity towards it, the truth is I do like some non-vegetarian dishes too. I do savor my liking for chicken, lamb, and fish. Therefore, it will be sheer hypocrisy for me to ruminate on a maxim that I hardly cannot keep up with. It does not matter, how well I can try to follow what is being preached in the other maxims, but, how can I ruminate on this maxim, when I am already far from what is being preached? Yet, I think, I am now at a point to move forward. It is a learning exercise anyways.

As in Latin, they say, "Discere docendo." To learn is to teach. I learn more about Aathichoodi, when I blog. So, will I do hereafter, notwithstanding the fact that I am not a pure vegetarian :-).

Thank you for all your private emails.

An iPhone App for Aathichoodi (ஆத்திச்சூடி)

A friend of mine -- Mr. G Devarajan -- introduced via Internet, is doing yeoman service with iPhone Apps and Podcasts dedicated to children. When he approached me to translate Sangam Poetess Auvaiyar's (ஔவையார்) child-literature of "Aathichoodi" (ஆத்திச்சூடி), I readily agreed.

Needless to say this App has been on my iPhone for sometime now. I enthusiastically recommend the same for the Tamil Diaspora. Here it is on Apple iTunes.

I hope and wish Mr. Devarajan will consider extending the meanings to other works of Auvaiyaar like நல்வழி, மூதுரை, etc., which currently do not have meanings. If approached, I will certainly start to translate/workout the meanings for them too.

Personally, the indelible effects of these child-literary works on me are profound. யாம் பெற்ற இன்பம், பெருக இவ்வையகம்.

Liars, Lies, and Perjury - Sivavaakiyar's Song

These days, rationalists and the hoi-polloi, view certain institutions and edifices with deep distrust. Religion and Law comes to my mind immediately. In of itself, neither religion nor law is bad, but, one notices the intense repulsiveness and skepticism that is palpable when conversations turn towards these touchy topics because of the modern-day scandals, lies, and perjuries that tend to overshadow them. After all, people like Gandhi, Tolstoy, and Tagore were all Thinkers with deep religious convictions aimed towards their endless search towards Eternal Truth. Their punctilio lay in truth and Truth.

So, what is wrong?

Personally, I think, when a person is willfully perjuring, lying, and fooling before the rightful representatives of the society as in a court of law or before the sacred courts of human conscience, then such a person is not only endangering his or her own self, but, thoroughly demolishes the fundamental edifices of social-order.  Regardless of the individual stature or the games played by such charlatans -- be it before the courts of law or public-opinion -- such institutions that act on behalf of the last, average citizen, who has no clout, power, or money to stand against the thraldom of lies, should in and on his behalf act to eschew perjury at all costs. 

Every single lie of perjury has a profound consequence that affects some other individuals, families, or societies in inexplicable ways.

That's what I ruminated when I came across this wonderful song by an ancient Tamil Sithhar Sivavaakiyar. 

What is amazing about this song is its rhythmic pattern ("சந்தம்") and its intense language constructs chastising false-prophets, pranksters, charlatans and lying hypocrites.

Those, who care for truth and Truth will love this ancient poem.

"ஞானிஞானி யென்றுரைத்த நாய்கள் கோடிகோடியே

வானிலாத மழைநாளென்ற வாதிகோடி கோடியே
தானிலான சாகரத்தின் தன்மைகாணா மூடர்கள்
மூனிலாமற் கோடிகோடி முன்னறிந்த தென்பரே."

My Interpretation: 

"Many were those dogs that anointed themselves as Enlightened.
Many were those charlatans that promised rainy downpours on cloudless days.
Those ignorant that never experienced the endless oceans of Wisdom too were many,

who with shameless indolence claimed they knew the Truth even before It existed!"

Not only is this song so intense for its choice of words, but, it has a wonderful dose of sarcasm and wry humor throughout. 

In retrospect I wish I had a formal training in Tamil language. Or at least, had the opportunity to learn it as a First Language.

Yet, thanks to all my Tamil teachers at School, paramount amongst them being my Mom & Dad, who taught me in the greatest of all schools: Home.

For the Litigious, a Kamban's Perspective

Like many, I am a big fan of Kavichakravarthi ("Emperor of Poems") Kamban's Ramayanam. A rich language, Tamil, under the hands of Kamban is an assured feast for anybody, anywhere, anytime. 

As the Indian Economy grows at a healthy pace, social turmoil grows as well. Wealth and so does greed grows. An overburdened judiciary is further burdened with numerous lawsuits, some genuine, most frivolous by the litigious-minded. 

Recently, I came across the news of the Head of a leading corporate law-firm in India being ordered to be investigated for criminal extortion by a Delhi Court. One of the main plaints was that he was engaging in "proxy-litigation" to force a builder to kowtow to his demands that includes making huge payments as settlement. As quid pro quo, this Head offered the carrot of withdrawing the cases he foisted against the builder. This builder, though, immediately preferred a plaint  and the matter is now sub judice.

Every society had to undergo a "churning" as it grows from an agrarian based economy to a modern Industrial economy. Honorable Justice Markandey Katju of the Supreme Court of India used to harp on this theme repeatedly. As a result, some of these entities may indulge in frivolous lawsuits that make them feel in control, while intimidating and crushing the liberties of the individuals and organizations they go after.

This is where a poetic verse from Kamba Ramayanam, caught my attention. It is a very simple, yet, profound verse that Law Schools in India can probably teach their future Corporate Lawyers, who seem to hardly acknowledge the actual "roots" of the ancient Indian society, its ethos and charism. Unfortunately, these thoughts are often considered to be passé and are side-stepped in an unfettered quest for hegemony using the noble tools of litigious power, accented only by the greed of Rupees, Dollars, and Euros earned. Talk to them, they will say, "we are like that only!".

"யாரொடும்பகை கொள்ளலன் என்றபின்
போரொடுங்கும் புகழொடுங் காது"

This verse from Kamban exhorts, "When you desist from enmity against anybody ('யாரொடும்பகை கொள்ளலன்'), it stanches conflict, not your fame ('போரொடுங்கும் புகழொடுங் காது')." 

In other words, a little humility and shedding bellicose attitudes will go a long way to enhance the prestige and image of even litigious-minded people. 

Ultimately, it's not how many buildings that were bulldozed to ground that counts, rather, how many bridges that were built. 

Victory and Pyrrhic Victory are entirely two different things. And so is War and War of Attrition. 

Kamban could not have said it better!

At Church, St. Paul and Thirumular (திருமூலர்)

The exchange of Namaste or Vanakkam (வணக்கம்) in Indian culture, first and foremost, acknowledges the human-dignity and divinity that is impregnated within every human-being one runs into. Naturally, one says Namaste with folded arms, an act that befits worship.

Today, a Hindu Saint occupied my mind, when St. Paul's Epistle was read at Church. The 1st verse from: 1 Cor 3:16: ("Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"), literally brought  this Tamil, Hindu, Shaivite Saint -- Thirumular -- into my mind.

Thirumular's magnum opus is "Thirumanthiram" (திருமந்திரம்), which comprises 3,000 verses. Although a Hindu mystic, his works can appeal to anybody - believers and non-believers alike. This is the verse that brought him into my thoughts:

படமாடக் கோயில் பகவற்கு ஒன்று ஈயில்

நடமாடும் கோயில் நம்பர்க்கு அஃது  ஆகா

நடமாடும் கோயில் நம்பர்க்கு ஒன்று ஈயில்

படமாடக் கோயில் பகவற்கு அஃது ஆமே.

Pronunciation:

padamAAdak kOyil pagavaRkku onRu EEyil

nadamAAdum kOyil nambarkku aGdhu AAgAA

nadamAAdum kOyil nambarkku onRu EEyil

padamAAdak kOyil pagavaRkku aGdhu AAmAY.

My own translation (which may not be perfect :-)):

Charity done to a God housed in a Temple,

Does nothing to the ordinary person, who is an ambulatory temple of God.

If, charity is done to that ordinary person, who is a temple of God,

That equates to extending it to the God housed in the Temple.

The core-point is "நடமாடும் கோயில்" -- ambulatory temple -- which connotes the person. Precisely, what St. Paul says too.

I ran into this verse, when I was 12 years old. The beauty of the verse lies not just in the point being conveyed, but, in the aesthetics of rhyming words juxtaposed to each other, thereby moving the same words to slightly different positions communicates an entirely different meaning that is very profound. Besides, it makes it very easy to memorize.

Needless to say, to internalize as well.

Thirumanthiram is a cornucopia of mystical ideas that can challenge theists and atheists together. Besides, it helps me understand my own faith better.

For a Friend...

It was not a good day. One of my friends lost 5 members of his family in a tragic car-accident in India, after they were on their way back home after completing pujas (prayers) at the temple. The only solace is the miraculous escape of my friend's little daughter. If it is this painful, I can only empathize how it will be for the family. Some of what my Tamil teachers taught during school days at Carmel Garden, especially in நிலையாமை (Fleeting nature of life) and யாக்கை நிலையாமை (impermanency of bodily life) kept flashing through my mind in these three Kurals.

நெருந லுளனொருவன் இன்றில்லை என்னும்
பெருமை யுடைத்திவ் வுலகு                      (336)

And this:

நாளென ஒன்றுபோற் காட்டி உயிர்ஈரும்
வாளது உணர்வார்ப் பெறின்.                      (334)

And then this:

உறங்கு வதுபோலுஞ் சாக்காடு உறங்கி
விழிப்பது போலும் பிறப்பு.                         (339)

In June 2010, The New York Times carried a full-fledged article on increasing road-accidents in India. Just a fortnight ago, we received news that one of our friends' brother was lost to a tragic car-accident, at the outskirts of Coimbatore. Hope the insouciant powers-that-be work towards safety on the roads.

Otherwise, the Tamil Nadu State Road Transport Corporations can display these Kurals inside their buses instead of the other quotidian Kurals on display.

My prayers and thoughts are with my friend and his family.

Supreme Court Bench's Exhortations That Reminded Me of a புறநானூறு song

A few days ago, the Supreme Court Justice Markandey Katju had exhorted lawyers to advice litigants about mediation and negotiation as pathways to resolving disputes instead of protracted litigation. He even cited Mahatma Gandhi's musings from his autobiography "My Experiments with Truth". While the learned Judge's hortatory obiter is laudable and definitely worthy of consideration, I am ambivalent on this sensitive topic. Nonetheless, I was strongly reminded of the Sangam Poem in புறநானூறு and will blog about it tomorrow.

Adding Fuel to the Fire

Saw this: http://bit.ly/gb7xU8 and began to ruminate a Thirukkural (திருக்குறள்.) India's Judicial backlog of over 30-Million cases is an eyesore within and outside Indian legal-circles. When new laws are framed without proper safeguards to protect innocents, more fuel is added to the inferno of legal pileups. Even Thiruvalluvar had in his Kural stated, "குணம் நாடி, குற்றமும் நாடி.." whereby he underscored the need to investigate benevolent and malevolent acts to prescribe the cure. When laws are framed to overlook the "offense", more offenses are perpetrated. And perjuring before a court of law with false accusations is the supreme offense. Until India handles this malaise as is in the Western Democracies, more innocents will be punished, more cases will pileup, more people will be alienated with never-ending case time-line. Justice will hardly be served. Vigilante-Justice (கட்டப் பஞ்சாயத்து) will take over. It already has. Look at the rising criminal statistics in India.