Happy Birthday from my Mutual Fund Company

Got this email from Unit Trust of India, the mutual fund company. First, I thought, it has come wrongly to me. But, then I realised, it was indeed my Official Birthday ! On 25th July.

Like most children in India, my real birthday and the official one (that is recorded in my school certificate) are different. Legend goes that I was even named by the Doctor, who conducted the delivery for my mother. After delivery, the doctor issued a prescription for some medicines, it seems. Since the pharmacist wanted to know the patient's name, the doctor wrote 'Manoharan', it seems. Thank God, she didn't write some complicated name !



Similarly, when we kids in India are taken to the school for admission, the parents realise that there is something called Date of Birth. The Teacher will ask, "What is his age ?" or "She should have completed 5 years on the day of admissionl". So, the parents are supposed to tell the Date of Birth. As many of the parents those days did not remember the date of birth, or the kids might not have completed the mandatory 5 years, the teacher will decide when we were born. He (or She, in my case) will grandly decide that we were born on so and so date of July !

As July is the school admission time those days, most of the kids in my generation were born either in June or July. And, I need to maintain that lie throughout this life. Because, later that date of birth entered into my college records, then later to the passport, ration card, driving license and what not ! That is how, I came to be born on July 25th.

Poor UTI, they took it so seriously and wished me ! Feel sorry for them ...

Here, almost all our adivasi team members do not remember their dates of birth. When we apply for their passports, it is a nightmare. To complicate things further, their names also get changed by the school teachers when they get admitted in the school. (What big difference ? Instead of my Doctor, they got their names from the Teachers !!) The age and name in the ration card will have nothing to do with the details in their school certificates. Of course, their actual name and birthdays will be entirely different from these two.

With the Government making registration of births and deaths mandatory, things probably will change for the next generation. But, they will lose out on some fun all of us had, I am sure ...

Here is a cartoon, which nicely describes the year of birth and death !

New IPL (or) T-271

We witnessed a new game by IPL during the last one week in India. No, No, this IPL is Indian Parliamentary League. An organisation flush with more money than the other IPL, the Indian Premier League. And, the game played by them - T271, was much more pulsating than the other T-20 Cricket ! My God, what nerve-wrecking turns and twists, and till the last minute, no one could guess who will be the winner.

The odds swung from opposition to the Government dramatically in the last two days; with the target of 271 fixed, the government and UPA worked on the required run rate quite well and reached their goal post in time. And, won ! Dhoni and Co. should learn a thing or two from these political managers how to pace their innings, exploit the weaknesses of the opponents and win games ! If there is a world championship for Members of Parliaments in all democracies, our MPs will win that trophy hands down, I am sure.

The No-Confidence Motion was supposed to be on the Government's move to go ahead with the Civil Nuclear Energy Agreement between India and America. But, the discussions and all the tamasha for the last two days hardly had anything to do with the Agreement. As one Member of Parliament even claiming openly that he does not know anything about the Nuclear Agreement as he is coming straight from the jail ! And, many others showing clear signs of confusion and lack of knowledge. It was atrocious.


BJP initiated the nuclear deal when it was in power, but today opposed it. But, they didn't want to go the whole hog, as they didn't want Mayawati and Left to benefit. Chandrababu Naidu, the US pet when he was in power, is now talking about US hegemony. The only consistent people are Left and Manmohan Singh - however wrong their convictions might be.

MPs were switching camps, talk of crores of money changing hands, dramatic display of the bribe money in the parliament itself by the MPs, allotment of Ministries, sanction of projects - all to get the support of votes of MPs ...


I thought, we have reached the limits of parliamentary democracy. And, I am convinced once again that this is not a good governance model for a big country like India. The governance methods of indigenous people - equality, consensus, small decentralised consultation, etc. should be the best method. The political party-based, representative democratic system has failed us totally.

Spelling Championship

Samir Mishra, a 13 year old boy of Indian origin won the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee in USA. The final word he spelled correctly was "guerdon" - which means 'something that has different language roots'.

The 3rd place winner spelled 'opificer' correctly - a word which means a skilled or artistic worker, it seems. In 2005, another Indian boy won by spelling correctly the word 'appoggiatura'.

How young children know the meaning and spelling of such greek and latin, I wonder. And, there was one boy who can tell a region name in Bolivia - and, he is just eight years old !


I compare myself with these superkids. Even after discounting that I belonged to stone age, they are too much. The longest word we had to remember the spelling was 'geography' or 'pronunciation' or something like that.

Tamil, of course, is phonetic and spelling is not that much of an issue. Even though we have our own share of confusions. We have three 'la's, (ழ ல and ள) three 'na's (ந ண and ன) and two 'ra's (ற and ர). My schoolmate Krishna Prakash used to say, "I will have a doubt which 'la' to put, my mother will pinch me so hard and tell me, 'the la that will come for laddu'. But, in that pain, I will forget which is the la for laddu !"

For our modern VJs and DJs, these distinctions are immaterial. They have only only la - the laddu la.

To complete, came across a nice poster on spelling mistake !


Sea Yu Nest Weak !

Old is gold - 2nd Innings

When the whole world seems to be thinking old people need support and they are at a disadvantage and what not, and people are even thinking of putting up traffic signs like this,
Anita sends an email on the virtues of growing old. It has a quotation from a book 'The Age Heresy' by Tony Buzzan and Raymond Keene. It seems, in this book, the authors explain why the best part of a man's (and, a woman's) life is from the age of 60 onwards.

Here is that quote :

Old Age, I decided, is a gift

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.


I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon ?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.


Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it.

As for me, I am eagerly looking forward to old age. (Hmmm .. that is a clever way of asserting that I haven't become old already !!)


There are lots of plans in mind. But, going to spend the next 10 years planning for the old age. Once in a while, I think with concern that no financial plans have been made for the old age; but, wish those things away by saying, "it is more important to plan for things to do. Money probably will come some way or other".

In Munnabhai-2, they have a house called 'Second Innings', in which some oldies live. I liked their motto of 'First Innings is finished anyway. So, let us play the second innings front foot !'. (For those who are not cricket maniacs, playing backfoot is considered defensive and playing front foot is going ahead and playing your shot aggressively over the top of the bowler !) And, each of the old man has a terrific plan. Someone wants to go to Lahore in Pakistan, and one wants to see his photograph in the newspaper. One wants to get married again and another wants to become a star.

Anita's email too seems to suggest that the second innings can be much more exciting than the first one !

Any interesting ideas for Manoharan (60) ?

Left Vs Right

Have been reading a bit about the right and left hemispheres of our brain and what not. In the process, got a bit confused and ended up with this gruesome joke !

Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off?

He's all right now.

It seems, the left and right hemispheres of our brain process information in different ways - in general. We tend to process information using our dominant side, it seems. However, the learning and thinking process is enhanced when both sides of the brain participate in a balanced manner. This means, strengthening our less dominant hemisphere of the brain.

I decided to strengthen my less dominant hemisphere and decided to pay attention to it. And, there were tests to find out which is the dominant hemisphere, I was told. There were more than 20 questions, starting from 'which side do you prefer to sit in a theatre ?' to 'do you like algebra or geometry ?' etc.

To my horror, the final result was that I have only one hemisphere of brain.

I am all right now !

Cars running with just Air !!

While traveling from Gudalur to Trichy, yesterday, I was wondering whether the cars can run on just air. That is, how wonderful it will be if they can just breathe oxygen from the atmosphere, get their energy and run few kilometres. But, within few minutes, I thought it is a dangerous idea and decided to pursue further ! Now, we are fighting with the cars of our country for physical space all over - in roads, parking spaces, markets. And, we fight for energy to do things other than transportation. Now, if cars can start breathing oxygen, then we have to fight with them for our very survival.

But, today, came across a newsitem that was precisely on this idea. A breakthrough they claim. And, what more, this idea is there for many years, it seems.

Tata Motors is set to introduce the car that runs on air, compressed air to be specific. With fuel prices touching nearly $150 per barrel, it is about time we heard some breakthrough !

India’s largest automaker Tata Motors is set to start producing the world’s first commercial air-powered vehicle. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine’s pistons. Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets in August of 2008.

The Air Car, called the MiniCAT could cost around Rs. 3,50,000 ($ 8177) in India and would have a range of around 300 km between refuels. The cost of a refill would be about Rs. 85 ($ 2). Tata motors also plans to launch the world’s cheapest car, Tata Nano priced famously at One lakh rupees by October.

The MiniCAT which is a simple, light urban car, with a tubular chassis that is glued not welded and a body of fiberglass powered by compressed air. Microcontrollers are used in every device in the car, so one tiny radio transmitter sends instructions to the lights, indicators etc.

There are no keys - just an access card which can be read by the car from your pocket. According to the designers, it costs less than 50 rupees per 100Km (about a tenth that of a petrol car). Its mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car (200 to 300 km or 10 hours of driving), a factor which makes a perfect choice in cities where the 80% of motorists drive at less than 60Km. The car has a top speed of 105 kmph. Refilling the car will, once the market develops, take place at adapted petrol stations to administer compressed air. In two or three minutes, and at a cost of approximately 100 rupees, the car will be ready to go another 200-300 kilometers.

Do you think it is good ? Now, the world food crisis is blamed on the invention of bio-fuels. Next is going to be the world air crisis ?

Jargon - 2

There seems to be paparazzi in Australia too. And, they are peeping into the private life of Symonds, the highest paid cricketer. He is not happy about it and this is what he told the Sydney Morning Herald, it seems :

"People want to know what goes on behind the man. I suppose, which to me, I think is, probably, slightly rude."

Political correctness ? Hesitation to shout at the Press ? Why can't he simply say, "No, it is rude", instead of all these verbose comments ...

If any of you happen to see Symonds while taking your morning walk, ask him to click here.

Beans and our kitchen garden

Durga has worked magic in front of our house. The mess between our house and the road has been converted into a nice kitchen garden now. Beans, Brinjal, flowers and Banana trees.

There was all round excitement when the beans seeds germinated. They are almost 6 inches tall now. And, Vennila took this nice photograph focusing on the plant and house in the background.

People may get a false impression from the title 'our garden' that I am one of the prime movers of this project. No, not at all. My contribution to the kitchen garden till now is next to nothing. I am planning to do my two bit by eating the beans when they grow, of course, later. But, till now, nothing.

And, this issue has been bothering me of late quite a bit. People do all the work and I am just documenting things. People who read my blogs, my mails or reports may get a wrong impression that I am doing lot of stuff. Not only at home, but also in the office. When the doctors and nurses do all the work, I finally end up taking the photographs and write a nice report about 'our health programme'; and my friends reading it may think that I am doing everything. The same goes to many other activities as well.

Sometime I honestly mention the names, but many a times that does not happen. (For example, if I had not mentioned that Vennila took this snap, you would think that I took it). So, let me confess publicly through this blog that when I write 'We', it means others.

Square Watermelons

Nambi sent a mail from Chennai, praising the creativity (and ingenuity) of the Japanese farmers.

A round watermelon can take up a lot of room in a refrigerator and the usually round fruit often sits awkwardly on refrigerator shelves.


Smart Japanese Farmers have forced their watermelons to grow into a square shape by inserting the melons intosquare, tempered glass cases while the fruit is still growing on the vine.

And, our Bala (also from Chennai) also thinks that it is a great idea.

The watermelons was a great space saving work – it helps to reduce the storage space in transport and retail.

Bala also mentioned that all our Indian farmers tie stones to Gourds so that they grow longer. Our snakegourds grew longer due to the weight of the stones


I never felt that I am interfering with God's work with stones tied to snakegourds, but, with the square watermelons, God may feel that we are getting into His / Her territory. Compared to the news of 'Pregnant Man delivers a baby', these square watermelons are nothing, of course.

I was just wondering, why stop only with watermelons. Let us play it square with other species as well. If it is a good idea to grow them square so as to minimise transportation and optimise storage space, how about growing children likewise ? In countries like India, we need methods to store / stack children so that they occupy less space in the schools, buses and cinema theatres. Probably, we have more children than watermelons, and hence our scientists should pay immediate attention to their design.

Someone suggested whether we can make our kids elastic and compressible. No, no, not combustible, (that they are already), I meant Compressible. In Japan, they will surely do it...

Percentage Problems

Here is a news item from Washington. By AFP. Published in The Hindu on 28.6.2008

Do genes affect voter behaviour ?

Genes play a role in voter behaviour, determining whether people tend to vote in elections or not, according to a U.S. study released this week.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego studied the voter turnout patterns of neary 1200 twins and found that genes were a key factor for more than half of them (53 percent)"

Am I missing something ? If genes were key factor for 53% people and not so key for 47% people, then it is not a key factor influencing the behaviour for the entire population, isn't it ?

Mano P Haran

Whatever I do, I do with perfection. That is why Perfect is my middlename ! I take pride in doing everything perfect. (Everything includes "self eulogy", by the way ...)

So, yesterday when I was showing signs of getting feverish, my life motto of perfection came to mind. Let me fall sick properly and perfectly, I thought. Not your mild fevers and late 90s farenheits for me. Will have to score a century, cross it handsomely and stay 'not out', of course !

By mid-day on Sunday, I was progressing quite well on my mission. Vennila checked my temperature and was duly impressed ! "Appa, you are hot !". But, our doctors and adivasi nurses won't be easy to impress. They have higher standards and precise measures. I need to live up to their standards by tomorrow. Let me see.


But, one thing, I tell you. If I don't do it well, I will just quit. If by tomorrow, I don't score this century, I am going to just become well and quit this game. Wait and see ...!

At least in this vulnerable position, I must thank Durga and Vennila. No, no, wait. How about writing a blog on 'Me, the husband' and 'Me, the father' ? Good Idea ?

Computer Dependency

Sajan sent a mail to warn us all about our dependency on computers these days. There is a very simple test to know if and how much we are dependent on computers. It works quite well when sent through email. I wonder the test will work in Blogs also. Anyway, let me try it. And, you try it too !!

Here is the Question :

How many Legs do you have ?

Answer :

To find out the answer, look down ...

:-)

:-)

:-)

:-)

:-)

:-)

:-)

:-)

:-)

:-)

:-)

To find the answer, you Look down, Not Scroll Down !!

Jargon Busters

There was a very good news item in The Hindu today (21st June 2008). It is a subject very dear to my heart. So, I am giving it below as it is :

British bureaucrats have been warned : no more synergies, stakeholders or sustainable communities. The body that represents the UK's local authorities has told its members to stop using management buzzwords, saying they confuse people and prevent residents from understanding what local governments actually do.

The Local Government Association sent out a list of 100 "non words" to be avoided. The list includes the popular but vague term "empowerment", "coterminosity", a situation in which two organisations oversee the same geographical area; and "synergies", combinations in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Officials were told to ditch the term "revenue stream" in favour of income, as well as the imprecise "sustainable communities". The association also wanted councils to stop referring to local residents as "customers" or "stakeholders".

The associations's chair, Simon Milton, said officials should not 'hide behind impenetrable jargon and phrases'. He asked : "Why do we have to have coterminous, stakeholder engagement', when we could just 'talk to people' instead ?"

Well said, Simon. I too ask the same question. If I have the power, I will also pass law in India to abolish a whole lot of words, starting from the 'empowerment', 'stakeholders', 'capacity building'. To illustrate this point, here is a nice cartoon :

Why can't we talk simple ?! I have already written about searching being called 'Research'. Similarly, people do 'Desk Research' before starting their consultancy assignment. It is nothing but reading all the documents.

Instead of saying 'zero tolerance policy', we can simply say, "No..No .. NO ". Instead of saying "Local government's poor fiscal policy on aqua-surface infrastructure projects", we can easily say, "the Panchayat spent money unnecessarily on a bridge which collapsed".

There is another frightening thing. When such jargons are translated into Tamil. Just imagine what dreadful effect there will be, when lofty ideals like Empowerment, decentralisation, paradigm shift etc. get translated into Tamil. It is atrocious when people do not understand that sentence construction is different in our languages. In English, it may be okay to say 'We must have an understanding" as much as "We must understand it". But, in Tamil, we must only say, நாம் இதை புரிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டும். But, our NGO friends always say நமக்கு இது பற்றிய புரிதல் வேண்டும். Such things make even simple ideas complicated.

PS :

Read a cartoon recently where the son asks his father, "Dad, when will I become the fully owned subsidiary of you and mom ?"

Wireless

A cute joke. Thanks to Petra for sending this one.

A Japanese, American and Indian archeologist bet which of their countries was the highest developed one.

The Japanese one takes them to Japan, diggs 5.000 feet deep and discovers wires and says: "See, we were so modern we had wires already 5.000 years ago."

The American archeologist takes the others to America, diggs 10.000 feet deep, discovers wires from all over the world and says: "See, we were so modern we were globaly connected already 10.000 years ago !"

The Indian takes them to India, diggs 15.000 feet deep and discovers - nothing.
He says: "See, we were so modern, 15.000 years ago we were working already wireless."

Things have changed so much during the last few years that wires are considered highly restrictive. Freedom is equivalent to being wireless and without any strings whatsoever. First when I saw a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse (tail-less?), I was quite amused. But, these days, everything from modem to network to phones are wireless.

Till a few years ago, I used to think only 'soft' things like love and affection were wireless ...

Swatantara Software

Involvement with the Free Software movement has been one of the nicest things that has happened in 2008. Meeting some people who are passionate about making knowledge a commodity that is FREE and to be shared, rather than as a commodity to be reserved, reserved, sold and made money from. This is a refreshing thing in life!

Take Mr.Balakrishnan for instance. He is the Branch Manager of Indian Bank in Devarshola; posted from Ernakulam to this tiny place. He does banking only as a profession, whereas Teaching Free Software is his passion. Does not leave one opportunity to teach others something about free software. "Teaching Free software is my hobby", he says. Ambitiously, I have set a target for myself to learn Python programming for the next one year - after getting inspired by him.

Mr. Vimal Joseph of an organisation called SPACE from Kerala kickstarted this process of shifting to free software a few months ago. And, the first thing Mr.Balakrishnan wanted was to start an informal group of people to promote Free software in Gudalur. Thus was born GUSS - Gudalur Users of Swatantra Software. "Swantantra" means Free in Malayalam. Again, Free is Free as in Freedom, and not Free as in Free Bear !

As true evangelists, it is not enough if we become belivers, but we must show the path to others as well ! We need to convert people. So, GUSS is organising a seminar cum demonstration of Linux. Here is the invitation :


Click on the image above to open an enlarged version in a new window.


Click on the image above to open an enlarged version in a new window.

As my contribution to the movement, I got the opportunity to design this invitation. Of course, using a Free software called Inkscape. How do you like it ?

As mentioned in the invitation, all are welcome ! On Sunday. At 10.00 AM. At the Just Change office near Kotharavayal village ...

The wise woman’s stone

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone in the wise woman’s bag, admired it and asked the wise woman to give it to him. The wise woman did so without hesitation.


The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the jewel was worth enough to give him security for the rest of his life.

But a few days later he came back, searching for the wise woman. When he found her, he returned the stone and said,

“I have been thinking. I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back to you in the hope that you can give me something much more precious.

If you can, give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”

I liked this short story very much. I liked the small twist in the end as well. When I read the first time, I thought he is going to realise that food is much more important than a precious stone or some such moralising thing. But, this ending is quite wonderful.

A tradition lost and found ...

Searching and Research have become synonymous these days. Google and the search engines give a false notion of a knowledge cap on all of us. Research is defined as an activity of browing through the thousands of web pages, and finding out the one sentence that we want. But, there was a time when information was not available at all and people were actually searching. And, how they did !

Bala gave a book by A.K.Ramanujan on the old Tamil literature. The most interesting part of the book for me was the preface. A brilliant introduction on the efforts put by people in collecting the old Tamil manuscripts. Thought of sharing it with everyone here.

Swaminatha Aiyar (1855-1942), a man of vast learning, was entirely unaware even of the existence of the breathtaking epics and anthologies of early Tamil, until he met a liberal-minded munsif (civil judge) named Ramaswami Mudaliar, in a small temple town, Kumbakonam. Aiyar records the date of this fateful meeting, for it was no less, as October 21, 1880, a Thursday.

To him, as to all students of Tamil literature, this date is “etched in red letters”. The munsif had just been transferred to that small town. When Aiyar met him, the judge asked him what he had studied and under whom. Aiyar named his well-known mentor and listed all the grammars, religious texts, and commentaries he had labored over. The judge, unimpressed, asked him, “That's all ? What use is that ? Have you studied the old texts ?”. He named some. Aiyar, one of the most erudite and thoroughgoing of Tamil scholars, was aghast that he had not even heard of them.

The judge then gave him a handwritten manuscript to take home and read. In his autobiography (the chapter is called “What is the use ?”), Aiyar says the good fortune of his past lives took him there that Thursday and opened a new life for him. Swaminatha Aiyar, who was 44 then, devoted the rest of his long life to roaming the villages, rummaging in private attics and the store-rooms of monasteries, to unearthing, editing and printing classical Tamil texts.


It is to him and to his peers, such as Ci.Vay. Damodaram Pillai (1832-1901), that we owe our knowledge of this major tradition. They rescued manuscripts from oblivion and put them into print and circulation. Pillai described the situation in the late nineteenth century in a preface he wrote to the first edition (1877) of one of the eight Anthologies :

Only what has escaped fire and water (and religious taboo) remains; even of that, termites and the bug named Rama's Arrow take a toll, the third element, earth, has its share ... When you untie a knot, the leaf cracks. When you turn a leaf, it breaks in half ... Old manuscripts are crumbling and there is no one to make new copies.

Even when they were available, the manuscripts had many errors and interpolations. Texts differed greatly from copy to copy. Only some scholars and some sectarian monasteries protected the texts they liked and revered. Each community studied its own texts. If, for some reason, a Saivite scribe copied a Jain text, important emendations were likely to be made. A few kings and rich men arranged for copies to be made when the old manuscripts fell apart. The scribes had to be well chosen and well paid. If someone wished to read a book, he had to go in search of it.



Manuscript owners did not lend them out, for good reason. They were guarded like treasures and passed from generation to generation in the family like heirlooms until some ignoramus threw one as a peace offering to angry floods or lighted the kitchen fires with it.

One reason for the complete absence of Buddhist manuscripts in the Tamil area (with one famous exception, Manimekalai), is that no one preserved them or copied them after the Hindu Saivites and Vaisnavites triumphed over Buddhism.

Jain manuscripts survived very well, because of a ritual practice called Sastradanam observed by the rich : the ritual called for giving new copies of old religious manuscripts to scholars on occasions like weddings. Regarding the expenses, the Christian scholar Rev.P.Percival said that he bought a palm leaf manuscript for ten pounds before 1835; when it was printed later, he could get it for two and a half shillings.



Written texts, and among them the very classics that are the pride of Tamils today, were thus precariously, expensively, often only accidentally, transmitted. The story of Swaminatha Aiyar dramatizes the transition from palm leaf to print, from a period of private sectarian ownership of texts to a period of free access to them.

We have read about this Swaminatha Aiyar in school. The only thing I knew was that he was called the Grandfather of Tamil - தமிழ் தாத்தா . But, I did not know this was the tremendous work he had done.

Are you God ?

One cold evening during the holiday season, a little boy about six or seven was standing out in front of a store window. The little child had no shoes and his clothes were mere rags. A young woman passing by saw the little boy and could read the longing in his pale blue eyes. She took the child by the hand and led him into the store. There she bought him some new shoes and a complete suit of warm clothing.


They came back outside into the street and the woman said to the child, "Now you can go home and have a very happy holiday."

The little boy looked up at her and asked, "Are you God, Madam ?"

She smiled down at him and replied, "No son, I am just one of His children."

The little boy then said, "I knew you had to be some relation."

[By Dan Clark. Read in Chicken Soup for the woman's soul]

Small things

Got this nice email sometime ago. I am a strong believer in this theory. There were many instances ...

The day was September 11, 2001. Many people perished. But, the head of a company survived
because his son started going to kindergarten that day.

Another fellow was alive because it was
His turn to bring donuts.
One woman was late because her
Alarm clock didn't go off in time.

One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike
Because of an auto accident.

One of them Missed his bus.One spilled food on her clothes and had to take
Time to change.

One's Car wouldn't start.

One went back to Answer the telephone

One had a Child that dawdled
And didn't get ready as soon as he should have.

One couldn't Get a taxi.

The one that struck me was the man
Who put on a new pair of shoes that morning,
Took the various means to get to work
But before he got there, he developed
a blister on his foot.
He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid.
That is why he is alive today
Now when I am
Stuck in traffic
Miss an elevator,
Turn back to answer a ringing telephone...
All the little things that annoy me.
I think to myself,

This is exactly where
my guardian angel wants me to be
At this very moment..

Next time your morning seems to be Going wrong
The children are slow getting dressed
You can't seem to find the car keys,
You hit every traffic light,

Don't get mad or frustrated;
May be just that
Someone is watching over you.
May Love continue to find you
With all those annoying little things
And may you remember their possible purpose.

For many of us, the God and the guardian angel have to work overtime - can't take their eyes off me even for a minute ! So, let us help them and listen to their gentle hints ...

New House - 2

After reading my last blog on our new house, there have been comments from friends ! Questions, doubts, snide remarks ! So, I think, I should better answer all these people with another post on our house, howmuchever I don't like to write about my personal life ...

Of the two photographs you have posted, one is of the house from outside and another is from the house of the outside (sic). So, are we to assume that the inside is not photogenic ?

No. Here is a photo of our 'living room', which is as photogenic as it can be (without us in the picture). Another view of the same room is given at the bottom of this post.

What do you mean by your policy of non-event ?

Oh that ? Durga and myself are not really used to organising big parties or functions or celebrations for any personal events in our life. Quiet and simple life, you see.

Even our wedding, readers may remember, was a simple affair - we got married at 6.30 in the morning in a temple, had breakfast with everyone by about 8.30; and by 10.30, Durga was in the school attending a class and I was in the Hospital to continue work on a software I was creating those days for our insurance programme ! Now, you understand our policy of non-events ?

So, you didn't do any ritual related to house-warming ?

Of course, we had a cute little ritual of பால் காய்ச்சுதல் (boiling over of milk) in the new house, a few days before we actually moved. On 7th May, at an auspicious hour (as prescribed by my mother), we boiled over the milk.

We had the pleasure of our friends Bala-Viji and their kids Madhu and Arun with us that day. Madhu, Arun and Vennila sang some wonderful slokas and songs. It was wonderful. (Will write more about them later in another blog).

Durga's efficiency. Vennila's cooperation. Fine. What about you ? It looks like you didn't do much (as usual) ...?

Hmmm...Next question, please !

How small is small ?

It is enough for three of us; to keep all our things; our two computers; and, books. More than us, the guests who may visit us will have to adjust !! (If Circuit of Munna Bhai visits our house, he will surely say, अरे भाई, ये रूम शुरू होते होते ही, खत्म होगया !)

But, I must warn you about our bathroom and toilet. It is built for Indians, more specifically short Indians. If anyone has ideas of dancing while taking bath, that is surely out. Tall (defined as anything above 175 cm) people should sit and take bath. Washing clothes, of course, can be done outside with that wonderful view mentioned in the last blog.

I believe, this answers all your questions.

New House !

Last Saturday (10^th May 2008), we have moved to a new house. After living near the Vidyodaya school for many years, we have moved outside the 'campus'. As has been our policy, the shifting process was also a non-event. We packed everything in a few hours on Friday evening; moved almost all our things on Saturday morning; and by lunch, the new house was ready. Another example for Durga's efficiency. And, cooperation of Vennila.

The new house is smaller compared to our old one; but, within few days, we feel that this is more than enough. With little bit of planning and organising, all our things have been nicely arranged. Quite a few people have visited us during the last few days and have said, it is cute and nice. The cement sheet for roof is the only thing we would have liked to be different – a Tiled roof would have been ideal. May be, we will try to get some used old tiles and try something.

Vennila was the first to make friends with the neighbours. If the old house had a terrific view from the front, the best part of the new house is from the kitchen or back. The frog hill, view point and the forest around the Ooty road and a small valley where vegetables are grown ... really terrific view. Isn't it ?

And, while packing our stuff, we could decide on things that are not really being used by us and we are in the process of disposing them off. A whole lot of clothes have been distributed to others in the last couple of days. I am seriously considering whether to take a decision not to buy any new shirts for the next one year – even the mandatory Deepavali and Pongal ones can be avoided. Let us see.

And, it looks like the electricity and phone connections in this area are not very perfect. There is very low voltage for most of the time, especially in the evenings. Can't switch on our computers at all after 6 PM. May be, this is good. If I can get used to this, I am going to have quite a lot of time in hand !

Drop in when you are passing by this side !!

Dogs have owners

I have some strong views on the eternal debate going on about our pets, especially Dogs Vs Cats.


I am a committed believer that Dogs are the ideal pets. Recently, I read somewhere which tellingly illustrates my feelings towards Dogs ("Wow") and Cats ("Ugh") !

Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.

I heard that dogs are attached to people, while cats are just attached to the houses where they stay. So, when people move houses, dogs are the first ones to move with the people, while cats lazily stay on the roof. (May be the modern cats being kept in flats get packed with all the other belongings and go with the luggage to the new house !)
I once famously commented that Dogs have the most beautiful faces, and I love them next only to girls. As I told this when I was in my early twenties at IRMA, it was considered quite sacrilegious to compare anything with the beauty of girls ! But, I stand by it - even in my early forties ...

When I come back from work, Vennila comes running to welcome me and gives a hug. Such things give a terrific boost to your ego ! For someone who gets his ego boosted by such things, dogs are really the god send. The way they show their affection and loyalty is wonderful. Bala and myself used to feel quite handicapped without a tail - "If only I had a tail, I would have wagged it to show my gratefulness easily. Telling it in hundreds of words, that too in English, is quite complicated", we used to say.

Compare this with the snob called Cat. Comes to you only when it needs some tickling or food. And, leaves just the moment after that. Is it possible to shoo a cat away or order it to stay near you ? Never !


Read this write-up comparing dogs and cats. And, you will agree with me ...

Ever since the dogs' ancestor, the wolf, connived his way into the hunter-gatherer's settlements, the two species have got along famously. there are ever so many tales of the loyalty and bravado of our canine friends, but anecdotes about house cats are seldom heard.

All along, it has been an uneasy alliance. Sure enough, cats keep the rodent population in check, but view us humanbeings with a delicate air of disdain. It is as if we are a matter of some curiosity, but very little importance.

Recently, I read an article by a doctor couple in a newspaper about how a cat strayed into their house (knowing fully well that the wife is a Gynaecologist) when it was fully pregnant, stayed for a few days, delivered the kittens; but moved the very next day to the neighbour's house (because a Paediatrician was staying there) with all her kids. The Gynaecologist seems to have remarked, "Cats know exactly what they want, and they get it too !"

How typical of cats !

Why are Indians eating so much ? And, depriving Americans ?

Bush does it again. Well assisted by his Secretary Rice. They are wondering why have Indians and Chinese started eating better food now, thereby causing the world food crisis. Reactions in India are varying from 'mind your business', 'what cheek' to 'we know what to eat and what not to'.


But, we should know our priorities clearly. Doesn't the world exist to produce food for America and to consumer products manufactured by America ? How dare we try to change it ? For decades, we Indians have survived by just eating the bare minimum. Now, our prosperous middle class is venturing to eat healthy diets. How dare we do it ! When the precious food is required by the Americans to make bio-fuels and to run their vehicles. Shouldn't we know that it is more important for an American to ride his car than for an Indian or a Chinese to put on a few extra calories ?

Some scientists in India are suggesting that our current practice of growing grains like maize and sorghum, feeding them to chickens and then eat the chickens, is a bad utilisation of land, energy and resources. We will be better off eating the grains directly, instead of this ineffective cycle through chickens. Such scientists should be considered insane for caring so much about things like equity, energy utilisation etc., isn't it ?

Even after blatantly espousing the cause of American superiority, if the Indians and Chinese do not go back to their survival rations and if they dare to eat more pulses and nutritive food, I think, the only step left to Bush and Rice is to redirect their war machinery this side. After all, the only reason required to start another edition of the war on terrorism is for Bush to get paranoid about something or somebody.

We should go far and wide into our country side and tell our farmers to grow fuel for Americans and not struggle to grow food for Indians.


Long live Bush and his American Secretary of State, (ironically called Rice) !