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.

A Poem That Came to Mind

Today, I witnessed an instance of riding a high horse. That rekindled a verse from this 2,000-year old Tamil poem from "Purananuru" (புறநானூறு) -- especially the concluding lines. Professor George Hart and Hank Heifetz's wonderful translation of Poet Kaniyan Poongunranar's (கணியன் பூங்குன்றனார்) was available in the net over here.

While the starting lines are very famous amongst Tamils -- "Every city is your city; Everyone is your kin" (யாதும் ஊரே ; யாவரும் கேளிர்), it's a mystery to me as to why the final lines aren't. It's neatly translated as "and so we are not amazed at those who are great and even less do we despise the weak." Try translating that from "ஆகலின், மாட்சியின் பெரியோரை வியத்தலும் இலமே; சிறியோரை இகழ்தல் அதனினும் இலமே".

I bought this tome from India (Penguin India) a few years ago. And am still amazed how such a work could have even been attempted by non-native Tamil researchers.