Success of the Reservation Policy!!

The headline news in dinamalar on Friday has proved that the purpose for which reservation system was brought in Tamilnadu has been achieved.

The article says, out of around 1500 Medical seats, 464 seats were for open competition [after the 69% reservation]. In the 464 seats, the Communities-Not-Benefiting-From-Reservation [sorry, I can’t call them ‘Forward’ communities], have just managed to take only 59 seats [abt 12.7% in open competition]. This turns out to be about 4.22% of the overall seats, which is close to the percentage of the population CNBFR have in the society.

This is what the visionaries of the Social Justice movement in Tamil Nadu wanted and they have achieved what they wanted. Hats off!! Every field, every opportunity in the country will have to be distributed to the people based on the percentage in the population is the policy of most of the political organizations today. This takes them one step closer to what they aim for.

Now, that the whole system has become a success, and Social Justice has been established, is it not time to start reducing the quotas. [which was supposed to start 10 years after independence??]

Or is it not time to make significant changes in the program to assist the people who have either remained or moved to the lower strata of the social structure due to the churning of the society in the past 50 years in the name of ‘social justice’.

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Teaching as a career in India

Rajesh’s post on math teachers kicked me to writing this. Teaching or Educating, as it is now called, is listed in the Noble professions list. I am sure there would be a teacher in every one of our families, a thatha / athai /maama. All of such people of yesteryears I have met have been a very dedicated lot. Love their profession, contended, dream of producing better citizens. They expect in return, just to hear, their children [my mom used to call all her students as children] have done good, got better in life, of course along with their paltry pay, barely enough to support a family in a small town/village.

But today, who is taking up this profession?? Where is this in the Radar of a bright career aspirant?
Leaving apart the intellectuals in the premier institutes of the country, who constitute less than a 1000th of the whole community of teachers, I have to say from my experience that this profession has been the option of only the bottom X% of the class. Exceptions being folks with locational constraints or having a high degree of contentment, or either of the working spouses who wants to have a better work-life-balance. I am yet to see a person from the current generation who has taken to teaching in India, as a matter of choice.

Those who are a bit smart have exploited the money making opportunities available, starting from daily tuitions to entrance and special coaching. I know of a lecturer who was a project guide for a group of students, and ended up doing the whole project for the guys @ 5KRs. And wait, he evaluated his own project for nice internal grades! How pathetic!!

The system is now producing a generation of people trained in exploiting short cuts in the world. A generation of people just satisfied with the marks they get, [mostly by working 3 pervious yrs question papers, anybody can get 75% in any of the TN university exams, since the q-paper setter chooses from a combination of questions from 3 previous years papers, so that he doesn’t waste time, and he can go to take a tuition or entrance coaching class], following the policy 'just need good Ends, irrespective of how the Means are', which obviously fire back in long term and produce Ends just as good as the Means are.

There is a justification going on, that the teachers are also humans. They would also need money and more so, also have greed for money as everybody else does. Agreed, but at what cost?? Like Rajni says in Annamalai, Panam sampathikka aairam vazhi irukkumbodhu yenn ya indha punidhamana thozhilla asinga paduthareengha??.

On more thought, I could not, but massively appreciate the vision our forefathers had, when they put down the rule that, the learning/knowledge class has to beg even for their next meal, and not save anything for themselves.

Update: Random Access continues...

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நம்பிக்கை

அன்பர் திரு. நாராயணன் வெங்கிட்டு வின், ‘நம்பிக்கை’ கவிதைப் போட்டிக்கான எனது பதிவு. அன்பரின் முயற்சி மிகவும் பாராட்டத்தக்கது. வாழ்த்துக்கள்.

கை வைத்ததால் சுரந்ததாம் வைகை!

பட்டணக் கூலி வாழ்க்கை, நிரந்தரம் ஒரு வேளை உலை,
இவை எல்லாம் துச்சம் என

விடியலில் படுக்கை தொலைத்து
நிலத்தில் கால் பொதித்து, கலப்பயில் கை பதித்து,

தலையில் கை வைக்காமல் “இங்கும் சுரக்கும் வைகை”
என்று, உழைக்கிறானே என் காவிரிப்படுகை
விவசாயி, அவனது மறுபெயர் தான் நம்பிக்கை

Tranliterations:
Kai vaithadhaal surandhadham vaigai!

pattana kooli vaazhkai, nirantharam oru veLai ulai
ivai ellam thuchcham ena

vidiyalil padukkai thulaiththu
nilaththil kaal podhithu kalappayil kai podiththu

thalayil kai vaikkamal "Inghum surakkum vaigai"
endru uzhaikkirane en kaavirippadugai
vivasayi, avanadhu maru peyar dhaan nambikkai.

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Ashes to ashes

My dream and desire, to watch a competitive Ashes has gone to ashes. Pieterson, Harmison, Vaughan were all the beams of hope for English revival.

After an excellent summer last year, after whitewashing everybody, there was lot of expectations from the English side.

The England and Wales Cricket Board [the, ECB - now, don’t ask where the ‘W’ is, he is sitting across the Atlantic ;)] pumped in new life to the side with a good team selection. Experience playersd like Thorpe had to make way for the young blood, which is a very good sign that the team is aggressive and is high in confidence.

Along with the team, all of us were expecting a nail-biting Ashes. After all, monopolies have been destroyed this year from Schumi to Arsenal/ManU, with the exception of Federer. We thot it is Australia’s turn. That too after their initial losses in the series, infact once to Bangladesh, it appeared obvious that the time has come for the wheel to rotate.

The match started on an overcast Thursday morning, which then turned out to be a very good one for Poms. Harmison taking a 5-for, by abt 2.30 pm, everyone in the office started hunting for tickets. Not long before, Mr.Consistent McGrath showed the if-u-can-do-that-i-can-do-this arrogance, completely gatecrashing into the poms' evening party plans. So much that they started to pray for the rain as early as 3rd day.

Surprisingly the Rain Gods responded, but they must have gone out of stock to continuously flood St. Johns woods for more than 2 days. They held the innings till the 4th day afternoon, and suddenly got All-Out, bowled by Sun. Then, the familiar procession started and it was all over in the fourth day.

Lot of rebuilding, retrospection and thinking needs to be done by both teams before they go into Edgbaston. Ozs thinking of how many records they can break, and Poms, abt where the RainGod prayer Mass should be conducted.

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Why to go to a Sivan Temple??

Those who have gone to the Sivan Kovil would have known of the habit of sitting before coming out of the temple. The sitting time varies between just a second to the maximum of a minute.

And you will be surprised to find, that the whole purpose of visiting the Temple is for that Sitting.

Saiva Sidhantham has advaitam in its deepest root.
“ஆதியனே அந்தம் நடுவாகி அல்லானே,
ஈர்த்து எனை ஆட்கொண்ட எந்தை பெருமானே”
“Aadhiyane andham naduvaaghi allane!
Eerthu enai aatkonda aendhai perumaane!” is how Manickavasagar calls the Almighty.

If the whole of this universe is one, why do we need to go to a particular place to search him??
The samsara sagaram acts on us everyday and it is a fact that the normal loukeeka[worldly/earthly/materialistic] human mind cannot practice advaitam 24hrs a day. Thus it is prescribed to visit the shivalayam to practice and meditate on the oneness of the universe.

If we are going to temple to meditate on the oneness of the universe, why do we then have so many Gods and Idols there??
A normal child has an exam tomorrow, and before opening the book this afternoon, if he watches a very interesting movie, it will be difficult for him to concentrate on his studies, right away. Just being rolled in the samsara sagaram, and immediately starting to mediate on Brahmam is not an easy task. The deities in the temple are meant to gradually bring the devotee into the world of spirituality.

The procedure for worship in a shivan kovil, astonishingly matches with this.
The worship starts with SriGanesha. The agama shastras have made the form of Ganesha [human body, elephant face, pot belly, and with all this sitting over a mooshikam] so well that, concentrating on Ganesha as the supreme power and worshiping is, relatively easier, and to come from the world around to the spiritual mindset.

Worshipping and concentrating on the parivara devatas, [who mostly have human form mebbe with 4 arms] as the supreme, get the mind closer to the spirituality and prepares for realizing the oneness.

This is then followed by the ShivaLinga darshanam. The supreme now has a form, but it is just a simple object where the mind can concentrate.

Now that the individual intellect has been able to come out of the hassles of the daily routines, it is ready for the next step, to reach out to meditate on the Brahman. This meditation is what is done while sitting in the temple before coming out.

Thus the range of deities present in the temple is to prepare oneself for the sitting and meditating on the supreme.

For effective realization of the supreme,
1. Go to the temple, preferably alone, if not possible, detach from the companion for the time in the temple. It is important that the closest and only influence you have before sitting to meditate is the Ganesha / Subrahmanaya / Lingam.
2. Spend enough time at the sannidhis till you have got the mental set to move on to the next stage.
3. Concentrate at least for 10 minutes, where you are able to realize the beauty and magnificence of the oneness of the universe.
4. Enjoy the bliss, get recharged, and composed to take on the rest of the days.

Ps: The above views have come up purely out of my thought process, which is hence limited to the exposure I have.

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Roles in the society

I was working in Rome during spring 2004. All my friends and colleague were Romans and other Europeans. We had lots of parties together, and in one, we started discussing about each of our cultures.

Some of them already had an idea of the Indian society, and rest all of them just had a view that India is a country of rich heritage and defined society.

I got a lot of queries from them wanting me to explain the social split up they had heard of [the caste system].

I went on to explain the reasons that would have put this system in place. The communitist society that prevailed that time, specialized roles, interdependent living, ‘you take care of my security, I will take care of your finances!’ I projected the essence of the whole system.

Later I went on to describe how the system was exploited by invaders to discriminate people and establish the Divide and Rule policy. Also how the system was later misused by vested interests for personal needs and the strength of the modern society to cleanse the discriminations.

That apart, everybody seemed to be convinced about the positive points of the system. One guy told, this was an ideal system, to bring in harmony in the society. Other was trying to associate the current western society in to the ChaturVarna blocks, and was surprised on how well, it fit.

Then I went on to explain the strict rules prescribed for each division, in order to prevent misuse of the system. Like isolating knowledge and money, by canonizing the Knowledge class to beg for their next meal went down with a big surprise.

Then suddenly one of my friends asked
“Hey, to which level do you belong to?”
“I belong to level 1”.
“Wow! You belong to level 1! That’s great!! We have got a prince amidst us!!!”
“What?I am not from the Royal, I am from the humble begging Knowledge class”
He looked puzzled!
“Then you said you belong to level 1??”

And this the biggest surprise everybody had that evening! A society developed thousands of years ago, giving priority to learning and knowledge ahead of the rulers of the land!!

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Purushasooktham – a simple view

The primary scripture for a non-professional Vedic learner, who goes to Veda class in the evenings after college or work, is the purusha sooktham.

This is one of the scriptures describing the Indian concepts of creation of universe. Let me try to put down a primer on what I find in that, in this post.

It states that the universe initiated from an all powerful source called the Purusha. This could be equated to the Vishwaroopa of SrimanNaryaana and to the Lingodbhavam of Prameshwara. The description of the purusha with thousands of eyes and feet, corresponds to the endless huuuge body of energy believed to be the source of the universe. [The Aum is believed to be the vibration resulting from the primordial energy].

“chandrama manasojathaha, saksho sooryo ajayatha,
mukhadindrascha agnischa, pranadh vayurajayacha,
naabhyathaseeth anthariksham”

Then the scriptures go on to describe that the sky are created, the moons created from the manas of Purusha, the Sun from his eyes, the air from his breath. The creation of seasons et al.

How did all of these get created?? Is it that, the concentration of energy creates matter, as much as splitting of matter to generate energy.
Yes, the sookta says, the creation happend when there there was a yagnya with Purusha. Though yagnya literally means sacrifice, it also means determination, concentration.

This scripture emphasises the theory of advaita. Understandably, stating that the whole of this universe is one, manifested in multiple forms.

Along with this there is an important social aspect to this. There is the verse which says,

“Brahmanosya mukhamaseeth, bahoo rajanya kruthaha,
Ooru thathasya yadh vaishyaha, padhyaghum shoodro ajayath.”

It means, Brahmins came from the face, Kshatriyas from the shoulders, Vaishyas from the thighs, and shoodras from the feet.

Vedic bashers, and self-proclaimed social equality champions, argue vehemently that, this is the proof that Veda splits the society, and puts the brahmanas as superior and shoodras as inferior.

I would look at these verses as
1. A great one to establish equality. Yes, it says all of us are born of the same father/parent.
2. The verse never mentions about superiority of one class and inferiority of the other.
3. The organ from which they were born perform the similar function to the body as they do to the society.
[Brahmins were supposed to take up education and brighten the society, as a face does, the kshatriyas are from shoulders which are the primary source of self defence, the vaishyas from thighs, where extra fat and nutrienst are deposited and used in time of need acting as bank/reserve, above all the shoodra is the one who carries the society though, like a feet does.] Thus each and every one of the varnas is equally important to the society as much as these organs are. Without any one of them the society is a crippled one.

There are a lot of literal translations in the net for this, which may sound a lot like a gradma's story, unless we use our discretion to think more on why it is said so.

Ps: The above views have come up purely out of my thought process, which is hence limited to the exposure I have to these scriptures.

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தோட்டம் வளர்த்தேன் தோட்டம் வளர்த்தேன் – பாகம் – 3

ஒரு வழியாக தோட்டத்தில் முட்புதர்களை களைந்தாயிற்று. பாதியை வெட்டியும, மீதியை எரித்தும், பார்ப்பதர்க்கு குத்து மதிப்ப்பக, நம்ப ஊரில் கட்டாந்தரை கிரிக்கெட் மைதானம் போல் ஆகி விட்டது.

இதிலேயே பாதி நேரம் போய் விட்டதால், அணுகுமுறை மாற்ற வேண்டிய கட்டாயம். [அதாம்பா ஸ்ட்ராடஜி!]

“ஒன்றே செய், ஒன்றும் நன்றே செய், அதுவும் இன்றே செய்” அப்படீனு பெரிசுங்க சொன்னதுக்கு ஏற்ப்ப, வாசல் கொல்லை என்ற இருதாரங்களில், பின்னவளை பின்னுக்கு தள்ளியாயிற்று.

சரி, அடுத்த கேள்வி, என்ன பயிர் செய்யலாம்??

ஒரு முறை, எங்கள் கல்லூரி, பேராசிரியர், “இப்பொழுது, உங்களிடம், எதை பற்றி பேசுவது? இதை பற்றியா, அதை பற்றியா” என்று அடுக்கி கொண்டே அறை மணி நேரம் கழித்தார். அது போல் அல்லாமல் சட்டென்று, ரோஜா வளர்ப்பதாக, அதுவும் பக்கத்து வீட்டுப் பெண் தினசரி காலையில் நீரூற்றி வளர்த்தாலே, மஞ்சள் ரோஜா, அதே போல, என்று முடிவாயிற்று!!

உடனே அருகே உள்ள ஒரு பவுண்டு கடையில, விதை/கன்று வாங்கச் சேன்றேன். இந்த 1£ கடைகள், நம்ப ஊரு “எதை எடுத்தலும் பத்து ரூவாய், வாங்கண்ணே, வாங்கக்கா, தரமான பொருளுங்கக்கா, கம்பேனி விளம்பரத்துக்காக சிறப்பு விற்பனைண்ணா” போன்றவை. எங்க பாட்டி சொல்வது போல “கழுதை விட்டை கை நிறைய” என்று கிடைக்கும்.

கையளவு விதை, இரண்டு கன்று வாங்கி, தலையில் முண்டாசு கட்டி, “கடவுளெனும் முதலாளி கண்டேடுத்த தொழிலாளி” னு புரட்சி தலைவர் மாதிரி, நெனப்பு. பாத்தி வெட்டி, பயிர் செஞ்சு, உரம் போட்டு, நீர் ஊற்றியாய்ற்று.

அன்றிலிருந்து, தின்மும் காலை கால் ம்ணி, மாலை ஒரு மணி, நீர் ஊற்றி, செடியுடன் பேசி. அது பூத்து குலுங்கி, அந்த மலர்களை செண்டாக்க்கி பக்கத்து ஸீட் ஜென்னிக்கு கொடுத்து, கட் பண்ணி, ஸுவிட்ஸர்லாந்தில் பனிச்சறுக்கில் டூயட். ஸ்ஸ்ஸ்ஸ்ஸ்ஸ எவ்ளோ ஸூப்ப்ர்ர்ர்....

இரண்டு வாரம் கழித்து, விதையில் இருந்து ஏதும் மாற்றம் இல்லை, ஆனால, கன்று, சற்று காயத்துவங்கியது. ஆஹா, பழைய பட்டை உரிந்து, புத்துயிர் கிடைக்கப்போகிறது.
பட்டை உரிந்து, பட்டுப் போகிறது என்பது, எனக்கு அடுத்த வாரம் தான் விளங்கிற்று.

க.வி.கை.நி.[1] கடையில் சென்று முறையிட்டதற்க்கு, மிகவும் வருந்தி, ஒரு பூத்தொட்டியை இலவசமாக எனக்கு அளித்து, வாயை அடைத்து விட்டன்ர்.
சரி அந்த தொட்டிய வைத்து என்ன செய்தேன்.?? அடுத்த, இறுதி பாகத்தில் அறுக்கிறேன்.

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The Knowledge

Which is the toughest memory test in the world?

This morning, I happend to pick up a black cab for the last leg of the journey to work. Since there were traffic snarls and signals, happend to talk to the driver.[He strictly dint talk when the vehicle was moving or when he had to concentrate].

I had earlier heard about The Knowledge,[the answer for the earlier question, that is the qualifying exam for london taxi drivers.] and wanted to hear from the horse's mouth. Here is what it is,
The names and exact locations of the 25000 streets in london and the 1400 locations of interests have to be remembered!! Tough? Now hear this, the shortest distance between all of these will also have to be remembered. Anybody to calculate the combinations??

Typcially, it takes about 3 to 4 years for learning this completely. If the student is highly proficient and spends all time into this, it can be done in 2 to 3 years.

And wait, this is what Wikepedia had to tell me 'There is some evidence that doing The Knowledge can result in measurable physical changes in the brain of a potential cab driver'!! Physical changes in the brain!!

I asked my driver how does he look at the streets of london. He said, he has a perfect map on his mind with each and evey landmark and street name marked in it. Everytime he drives through the city, he feels like moving a finger over the map.

There are other strict rules for getting the GreenBadge[the license for london taxi driver].

So much for the power of the human brain. I asked him if he has used the GPS products. He said they are very slow!!!

Equally strict are the rules regarding the make of the cabs. They are so strict that, one company in Conventy specially makes them. One of those regulations is that the vehicle should have a 25feet turning circle.!!

How nice, if we had similar rules for taxis and autos in namma ooru.!!

BBC article on brain growth
Scientific American frontier on 'The Knowledge'

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Assimilating into a society

We had seen this movie 'Bharata Vilas'. What a comedy stuff?? How many times we have switched off the TV, when we got the national integration songs.[Desa virakthi padalgal, aka desabakthi padalgal].
We find it perfectly ok for "aathla theertham saptutu, schoola thanni kudikanam".

Identifying oneself with the neighbourhood and the society we live is the key to assimilation and acceptance.

Bharata vilas has a good point, people there have not lost their identity, at the same time have accepted and recognised their neighbours and have a harmonious community.

The current generation in tamilnadu has come up wholly as a community mainly due to 2 reasons.
1. The school. This has been a great unifying factor. The common schools where the integration of pupils from the whole spectrum, nourishes the acceptance of differences, from the young age. The hostels at school, at college, and the flatmates, when shifting to work have all reminided us to be a part of the community and still preserve the individual identity derived through the family and birth.
2. The media. The exposure to a common media, mainly entertainment, nurtures the opinions almost in the similar directions. This makes oneself identifying with the socieity, a very simple activity. [An, example is the results of the public elections of tamilnadu over the past decade and a half]

Now, this tendency is carried over by all of the expatriates. Though we maintain an identity based on our culture, we tend to be extremely cautious not to be isolated. I can see a lot of our expat people in the Community Securitiy Watch meetings, the education and service initiatives, thereby contributing to the building of a strong society as much as the natives. This integration brings a feeling of neighbourhood, that translates into a feeling of safety, in turbulent times.

The lack of assimilation into the society, not identifying with the mainstream, living as isolated communities, always has unpleasant repurcussions. Even dangerous effects, so much so that persons born in the same country with birth certificates from this soil, have turned to kill their own innocent people, in the name of whatever whatever.

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Oh! Thames - Father Thames

"Oh, Tiber! Father Tiber!
To whom the Romans pray,
A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,
Take thou in charge this day!"

Like what Horatius [verse LVIX]prayed to Tiber, i did that to Thames today.
From my 21st floor window looking at the Thames, the monument, the gherkin, the tower bridge, the canarywharf on my left and the london eye to my right.

I am back to office after abt 6 weeks of working from home, since i broke my metatarsals 2,3,4 on june 4th in a competitive game of football.[Will meet you with a seperate post on my NHS experiences.]

One word. The city has changed. The city where, the weekend starts on thursday afternoon, stretches till tuesday afternoon, the pubs overflow from 5 in the afternoon. The pep atmosphere of the city which rejuvenates in the morning was not there this morning.

The railway bashing, which invariably opens a conversation with a co-passenger waiting for a delayed train is missing. People are dug deep into Metro.

All the regular friendly faces which i used to see for the past one year, were not recognizable at all. Yes, all those nice goaties have become clean shaven.

I had been to brick lane for lunch. The bangladeshi area was unusually tight lipped. The fun and smile on those at the counter was not to be seen. The bollywood songs that are usually played were swtiched off.

Well it definitely is not an illusion, for i am talking abt tangible observations.
What do i call it? Mourning for the victims? Becoming serious about life? Showing a brave face?
whatever it may be, one thing was sure, it was not fear.

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Science in Stotram Mantram

Trying to understand the nityakarmanushtana mantras and stotras [everyday rituals], and associating them with science and current discoveries reinforces our belief in the scriptures.

What is the source of energy for earth?

Isnt it that every movement of even the subatomic particles in this world is powered directly or indirectly by the sun. Your eyeball movement while reading this, or my finger movement while i was typing, the movement of blood within our body and the breath which we take, are powered by the energy of the sun.
The hydro electric, thermal, solar, wind, oceanic whatever ways of energy production, everything is solar powered.

The cars, the trains, the rockets, the bicycles, this computer all of them.

Till the arrival of Copernicus, the whole of the western world was beliveing in geo centric theories of the universe.

When did the eastern world get to know of this??

to know that, let us see the above fundae being put in the following simple, sandhyavandhanam suryanarayana mantram.

Namah savitre jagateka chaksuse,
Jagat prasuti, sthiti nasa hetave,
Trayimayaya trigunatma dharine,
Virinchi narayana sankaratmane
Dhyeyah sada, savitrmandala, madhyavarti,

Salutations to the sun who functions as the sole eye of the world, who is the cause of the creation, sustenation, and dissolution of the worlds, who is of the form of the veda, and who appears as Brahma, Vishnu and Siva by the manifestation of the three gunas. We must always meditate on SuryaNarayana, who is centred in the solar orb.

Savitramandalam or Suryamandalam - The solar system. This word is still used in tamil medium science books. How relevant are these mantras to todays world!!.

But we dont know how did mantra came into existence, who do we need to point out as the discoverer of this theory, like what the western world did with copernicus. It is all shravanam.

There is a lot of fundamental scientific concepts in the centuries old mantras, which have been lauded as pathbreaking discoveries in the western world.

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God - a perspective

Ganesha Stotram - Vakrathunda mahakaya Suryakoti samaprabha
Lingasthakam - Dinakara koti prabhakara lingam,tat pranamami sadashivalingam
ayyapa sharanam - Koti surya prakashane - sharanam ayyappa

So, Is God somebody equivalent to the brightness of 10 million suns?

Possessed people all over the world, and those who claim to have seen Them, [using Them, instead of a Him/Her to explicitly avoid the Gender association] say they experienced a brightness which is as much as billions of suns put together.

Is God, all the energy and matter in this world.?
Then,
God = All the matter in this world + All the Energy
= The energy of the matter + All the Energy
= [Mass of the universe]x[square of the speed of light] + the energy of the universe

Does this make God as somebody who has within Them, the sum total of the energy of the whole universe?
Is this what the first three extracts from the scriptures try to convey??

But there is one more dimension, which needs to get clear.

It is about the control for the energy and the authority on when to get energy in to Mass and into what form.

So does that make

God = {[Mass of the universe]x[square of the speed of light] + the energy of the universe}
x {Logical control factor on deciding and controlling the mass and energy}

Well, doesnt that translate into Advaitam and Thiruvilayadal Concepts??

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தோட்டம் வளர்த்தேன் தோட்டம் வளர்த்தேன் – பாகம் – 2

முடிவுகளா எடுத்து, ஒரு முடுவோட கிளம்பிட்டான்யா கிளம்பிட்டான்யா னு கிளம்பின எனது கால்பந்து பராக்கிரமத்தை கேட்பதற்க்கு முன் தோட்டம் விஷயத்தை சொல்லி விடுகிறேன்.

முதல்ல எனக்கும் தோட்டக்கலைக்கும் எவ்ளோ சம்பந்தம்?

திருச்சிரப்பள்ளி மாநகரிலே, சிறிய தோட்டம் இருக்கும் வீட்டில் தான் குடி இருக்கிறோம். இன்னும் சொல்லப்போனால், உச்சி மலைகோட்டை மீதேறி, வடக்கு முகமாக நின்று கீழே பார்த்தால், தென்னை மரங்கள் தெரியும் ஒரே வீடு.

அப்பப்பொழுது தோட்டத்தில் இருக்கும் புஷ்ப செடிகளை பார்த்தது அனுபவபட்டவன், ஆம் பார்த்து மட்டும் தான். !!


சரி, இப்பொழுது களப்பணிக்கு தயாராவோம். மாடிப்படிக்கு கீழே யாரும் திறக்காமல் இருக்கும் அந்த மஹாமஹ கதவை [எங்க திருவரங்க ஸ்வர்கவாசலை கூட ஆண்டுக்கு ஒரு முறை திறக்கிறார்கள்.] திறந்தால, பண்டை கால ஆங்கில நாகரீக அகழ்வாராச்சி போல் ஒரு உண்ர்ச்சி [ஃபீலிங்கு].

ராபின் ஹூட் காலத்தை முந்திய, துரு ஏறிய பெரிய கத்திரிக்கோல். [விளம்பரத்துல ஒரு பையனுக்கு முடி வெட்டுவதற்க்கு கொண்டு வருவாங்களே அது] அப்புறம் ஒரு கதிர் அரிவாள், ஆங்கிலேய களக்கொத்தி. இவை தான் அந்தக் கிடங்கின் பொக்கிஷங்கள்.

[குறிப்பு:- இந்திய மண்வெட்டியோ களக்கொத்தியோ, காலை அகட்டிக்கொண்டு, வெட்டும் மணலை கால்களுக்கு இடையே குவித்து, எனது விஷயங்களை என்னுள் வைத்துக்கொள்கிறேன் என்ற தத்துவத்தை(!) அடிப்படையாகக் கொண்டது. ஆனால் மேற்கத்தியவைகளோ, மணலை வெட்டி, எதிராளியின் மேல் போட்டு, பொறுப்பை கழிக்கும் தத்துவம்.(! ஆஹா.. என்ன ஒரு புல்லரிப்பு... தத்துவம் நெ.1539) ]

இவற்றுடன் என் ஒரு கை ஒரு கால்!! இதுதான் எனது வளங்கள். [Resources னு சொல்லுவாங்களே..][அந்த ஒருகை ஒரு கால் விஷயம், கால்பந்து பிரதபத்தில்..]

சரி, ஒரு நல்ல முஹூர்த்த நாளாக பார்த்து.[லண்டன் முருகன் கோவில் கும்பாபிஷேகத்தன்று, அவரை வணங்கிவிட்டு], அறுவடை துவங்கிற்று. குனிந்து, நிமிர்ந்து வெட்டி அறுத்து ஒரு வழியாக புதர்களை களைந்தாயிற்று.

சில நிமிடங்களில், “அடேய், உனக்கு இது தேவையா” என்று ஒரு குரல்!, யார்னு கேட்டால், நம்ம இடுப்பு சார் தான்.[அவர் என்ன சிம்ரன் இடுப்பா? பார்த்தவுடன் அடையாளம் தெரிய?? ]

“என்ன் ஐயா,வாங்க. நல்லா இருகீங்களா? என்ன விஷயம்... “
”ஆமாம், நா நல்ல இருக்கர்து பத்தி தான் விஷயம்.” என்று சீறினார்.
”இன்னும் இரண்டு நிமஷத்தில, களத்தில் இருக்கும் துருப்புக்களை வெளியேற்று, இல்லை வெடிகுண்டு தாக்குதல் துவங்கும்”
ஆஹா, அமெரிக்கா மாதிரி, ஆழம் தெரியாம கால வுட்டுட்டோமா??

”சரிங்கண்ணா, நீங்க் சொன்னா பேச்சே கிடையாதுங்கண்ணா” என்றதும், வரம் கொடுத்த சாமி மாதிரி மறைந்து போயிட்டார்.


நாங்க தான் ஐடியா மணியாச்சே. பின் பக்கத்து புதர்களை “கட்டுப்படுத்தப்பட்ட தணல் முறை” [Controlled Nuclear Reaction அப்படிங்கற மாதிரி !] எனும் நவீன முறையை கண்டுபிடித்து கையாண்டு அகற்றி விட்டோம். [அது இன்னானு உங்களுக்கு இந்நேரம் தெரிஞ்சிருக்கும!]

சரி, அடுத்து பயிரிடும் படலம்.. களப்பணில களைப்பயிருச்சு. அத்த அடுத்த தபா வெச்சுகலம், இன்னாங்கறீங்க...

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தோட்டம் வளர்த்தேன் தோட்டம் வளர்த்தேன்

ஆஹா. வஸந்த ருது பிறந்த பொழுது, இந்த நகரம் எவ்வளவு அழகு!!

நம்ம ஊர்ல இருப்பதெல்லம் மூன்று.
1. வெயில் காலம்,
2. கடும் வெயில் காலம்,
3. காற்றழுத்த தாழ்வு மண்டல நாட்கள்.

அவ்ளோதான். அதனாலயோ என்னவோ, இந்த ஊரின், தினசரி தட்பவெட்ப மாற்றம் பார்த்து ரொம்ப ஆச்சர்யமாயிருந்தது.

நம்ம ஊர்ல எவ்ளோ நாளைக்கு நாம தினசரி வெப்ப அளவை கவனிச்சிருக்கோம். 8.30 செய்திகளில் ‘வானிலை அறிக்கை’ னு சொன்ன உடன், காத்திருந்தது போல, அப்பா கையிலிருந்து தொலைஇயக்கிய பிடுங்கிண்டு, HBO வில் ஜுலியா ராபர்ட்ஸ் படத்தின் துவக்க காட்சியை காண ஓடியிருக்கிறோம்.

குயில் பாட்டும், குருத்து ஓலையும், கொஞ்சும் மொட்டுக்களையும், அவ்ற்றை எழுப்பும் வண்டுகளும், [அட, அந்த காலத்து படத்துல, காதல் காட்சிகளில் Zoom Out பண்ணி Frame Change பண்ணி Next Shot ல BGM போட்டு காட்டுவாகளே, (நம்பள மாதிரி சிறுசுங்க(!) கெட்டு போயிட கூடதுனு), அதே தான் ] தினம் தினம் காண கிடைத்தபோது மனசு மிகவும் லேசாக, கவலை இல்லம இருந்த நிமிஷத்துல முடுவு பண்ணிணேன்.

என்ன? முடிவா? ஆமாம்.. வீட்டில் தொலைக்காட்ச்சியை, வீட்டுக்காரரிடமே [அட, வீட்டை எனக்கு வாடகைக்கு விட்டவருங்க] திருப்பி கொடுத்துடலாம்னு.

மொதல்ல தொ.கா. லைஸென்ஸ் கட்டணம் மிச்சம்.
வீட்ல கூட தங்க வரப்போற வடமொழி பசங்க கூட சண்டை மிச்சம்.
பாதி ராத்திரி F1, கிரிகெட், கால்பந்து, அனாவசிய தொடர்கள், திரைப்படங்களில் கழியும் ராக்கூத்து மிச்சம்.
நொறுக்கு தீனிகளாலும், எடுப்பு சாப்பாட்டாலும் விளையும் உடல் கேடு மிச்சம்.
”முன்ன பின்ன சமயக்கட்டுக்கு போயிருக்கியா? ” என்று வரப்போரவளிடமிருந்து வசவு மிச்சம்.

இவ்வளவுக்கு பிறகு, என் வீடும் சுற்றமும் எழில் கூடியது, வஸந்த ருது வந்ததாலா, இல்லை நான் அவற்றை கவனிக்க துவங்கியதாலா?

இந்த சுகம் நிறைந்து கனம் குறைந்த தருணத்தில் நான் எடுத்த அடுத்த முடிவுகள்.
1. பள்ளி காலத்திற்க்கு பின் என்னுள் தூங்கபோன நீண்ட தூர ஓட்ட வீரன், மற்றும் கால்பந்து வீரனை தட்டி எழுபுவது
2. வீட்டில் முன்னும் பின்ன்ம் மண்டி கிடக்கும் புதற்களை களைந்து, தோட்டம் அமைப்பது.

மிகவும் நல்ல முடிவு என்கிறீர்களா?
அப்பொறம்?? அவ்ளோதானா??
ம்ம்ம..

தோட்டம் வள்ர்த்தேன் தோட்டம் வளர்த்தேன் னு நம்ப மன்மதன் [10£ டிக்கெட் கொடுத்து Southhall சென்று பார்த்த படம் ]சிம்பு மாதிரி தலைப்ப வெச்சுட்டு அவ்ளோதானானு கேக்றீங்களா?

இல்லை இருக்கு, அது ஓரு பெரிய்ய்ய்ய்ய கதை. அதை அடுத்த பதிவுல பதிக்கறேன்.
ஓகேவா...

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Socio Economics of building temples

As told in my earlier post and in a comment in subha's page, here is part1 of the email, i wrote to my friend on the socio economics of temples.
*********************
Apart from being a place of religious activity, the temples had a big socio-economic role to play. They doubled up with roles like, public meeting place, centre of education, the granary, the community centre in the communitist society. [A perfected form of communism and socialism which existed in India, much before the other two came.] So does the feasts of Car festival, Float festival were community events more than religious ones.

But before that, building of such huge temples also was a part of shrewd economic strategy.
The 8th to 12th centuries AD, were the time when most of these temples were believed to be built.

The demography of the the tamil nadu represented concentration of population along the cauvery delta, and some scattered around the palar, pennar, vaiga and thamiraparani, and the chief occupation being agriculture.
This means that the people of the region were employed from the aani[mid june], when the tiling of the land started, to aadi, when the sowing happened [the aadi pathinettu, or aadi perukku, is when the Tamil rivers are full, with the south west monsoons setting over their western ghat chatchment areas.]. After the weeding and other crop bringing measures, the harvesting happens by Jan [Thai pongal time].

Now, from thai to aani, the 6 months period, the whole population is going to be unemployed. This is when the administration had the challenge of utilizing the man power and providing employment. When people in rest of the world were mainly into attacking neighbours for providing employment and boosting the domestic economy [even for the latest armed conflict which we witnessed, this was told as one of the reasons].

The administration did the following.
1. Heavy taxing in the harvest months.
2. Compulsory community employment in the dry months with wages from the collected taxes.
3. Highly subsidised food during the sowing/nursing months.

This model of society was highly effective with everybody have defined roles to play. Interdependence of the elements of the community and balance in the society was maintained.

Now, for the compulsory community employment, the main activity was building temples, followed by building dams/bridges, business with neighbouring societies, strengthening of the armoury, compulsory education to qualify oneself for his role in the society and sports activities.

This is how the construction of temples had maintained the balance in the society and kept the people active. There was no devils workshop there.

Did we ever think, we have so many temples standing through all tough times, but we do not find royal palaces/forts/castles anywhere around, even 1 palace to 100 temples,?? So, were the administrators so self less?? Was temple and society a higher priority than building their own palaces??

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London in Chaos

It was just yesterday that i had blogged abt the effectiveness of the public transport in London, and today i was planning to share with you the joy of the London2012 victory. But it has been overshadowed by the attack here.

I am working from home for the last one month, and this morning my flatmates and neighborhood friends started their journey to work. Then came this news, that the Tube between Aldgate and Liverpoolstreet had a power surge resulting in an explosion. The London transport has been suspended.

As soon as it was identified as a co-ordinated attack, the whole central london was sealed off. Buses travelling into the city were halted. On Tv, the scene of the bus [i think it is 205, which i used to take] ripped and raped got my heart out. Goodness..

It is painful. It really puzzles me...Why? Why does somebody need to do this.. What is it going to achieve?? Killing innocent people going to work in the morning, will drive whatt????

Sarve bhavanthu sukhinaha. Sarve santhu niramayaaha.

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Congestion charge Hike - London

Starting from the 4th of July 2005, the Congestion charge in london is hiked to 8£.

What is this CC??

If any vehicle has to be driven inside central london mon-fri 7.30am-6.30pm, a penalty of 5£ a day has to be paid. This has been recently hiked to 8£ [approximately the cost of 10 lites of fuel].

Does it sound attrocious??? Wait a sec..

There were huge protests when this was introduced 2 yrs back, but later this has been found to be extremely effective. CC has served as a great deterent for using private transport within the city. [with the narrow victorian edwardian and georgian roads]. Statistics show that, the roads have been decongested heavily, the pollution levels dropped considerably, accidents reduced a lot, the number of people using the public transport increased, made all of the Tube,Train,Ferry,Tram,Bus run to capacity, making commuting safer, cleaner, faster and cheaper. The amount collected through the CC is again ploughed back into building the transport infrastructure of the city.

Now, what if this is put in place in Chennai/Trichy/xyz town in namma ooru??, where the astronomical surge of two-wheelers over the past decade has literally suffocated the city, a system like this would be a great thing.

But, before this, a strong public transport network needs to be in place providing an effective alternative to private transport.

Ada pongappa.. edhavadhu nadakkaradha pathi pesuvom.. hmm.. :(

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Novel Intro : Appam Vadai Thayirsatham - Balakumaran

Appam Vadai Thayirsaatham - Balakumaran

This Story by Balakumaran left a lot of impact on me. This was published in AnandaVikatan from jan 2001 to sep 2001.

The story opens with a lad getting his job in the big apple. [no, this post is not a spoiler]. Before his starting, their family goes on a different kind of pilgrimage to their ancestral village.

They go to the railway station in a town and sell Appam, Vadai and Thayirsatham, and the story goes in flash back. A Brahmin family and 7 generations back.

The head of the family is making a tough living on vaidheeham. [For that matter all the Brahmin families were living on vaideeham till at least a known forefather generation, which makes the plot easily identifiable with most people]. They take the tough decision to part ways from vaideeham and they never look back.

Now, after creating a successful generation, they chart out what is it that made the difference? What are the ingredients for success? What is the essence of their lives and what are the qualities that need to identified and passed on to future generations?

If tomorrow, our children are to start their lives from scratch, what are the primary tools that we need to equip them with?

All the answers are in there.

For having a sense of time, the whole story is woven with the independence struggle, starting with the First war of Indian independence and touching every milestone of the movement.

Buy it in India, Borrow it in London

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Interesting Mail on 'Love' in Todays sense:)

A friend of mine has written the following email.. Donno if it is true these days ;)
One of our common friend told us, that a guy expressed his love to her and she also felt the same. This was our guy's reaction to it ;)
Good one..
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So u r being loved. interesting. Paiyan yaru,??? avan kolam enna, gothram enna? (chaaruhasan voicela padi:))

pesama love accept panniko, park beachnu enjoy pannu, Devi theatre last seat, Marina, Mahabalipuram, Yamaha drive, V-day gift, occasional smooches, I love u nu potta Card, some junk poems (tamil is also accepted )
eg:
engO senRaay,
eppOtho en manadhai vittu
kannedhirE irundhaalum
manadhil mattum illaiyE nee

(Just copied from somwhere:))) I dont spend time on these...:)

oorlendhu amma varumbodhu, andha carda marachindu....

un roomla roomies illadha poodhu you can take him there and discuss about life, marraige, kids, old-age, parents, your brother, his brother, collegues, Ar rehman, (NOte, he will also like ARR, just because you like ARR:))))

if he eats fish and you will also eat fish just for LOVE!

Night 11:00 clock phone varumnu edhirpathundu, avan panalaeena adutha naal pesama koochindu, (Avan paavam kadan vaagni public boothlendu 1 mani neram kadala pooduvan;)))

Namala yaralum pirika muidyadhunu apdinu appo appo solikanum...! Nee sathiyama enna kalyanam panipaya???nimashathuku nimisham ketundu....avan paavam dharmasangadama vazivaan;)))

Kadisila....appa sir solra mapiliaya kalyanam panindu...aedhoOru Sethuraman (eg. Name) abindu passportla spouse name fill panindu, chennaila night 1:20am (note midnite) singapore airlines pidichu, singapore poi, angedhu 10 hours stoppver, 13 hours flight pidichi Los Angeles poi, oru chinna veetula azaga kudi eeridanum....

This is love! correct me if I am wrong ( I mean the flight timings....;))))))
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SethuSamudram - misnomer ???

The PrimeMinister of India and the leaders of the UPA shared the stage on the inauguration ceremony of the SethuSamudram project.

There are still lots of reservations from a lot of quarters regarding, the possible environmental imbalace due to this project, the Cost-Benefit analysis and Return on Investment of the project. [from a business perspective ofcourse, not in a political perspective]

The dre[u]dging of the 300 m wide canal in the palkstrait is reversing the mythical engineering marvel of the vanarasena under the supervision of Nala. We even had forwards showing photos of the RamaSethu, the adams bridge[wondering how does the translation take place :@] taken from a NASA satellite [i asked one of my friends to confirm if this is true.. He has still not go back :P]

Sethu refers to The Bridge
There are lots of sethumadhavans, sethuramans, around the ramnad area. The royal dyansty of the land is christened 'Sethupathis', meaning ruler of TheBridge.

Hanuman flew over it once in the To direction and twice in the fro :). Ramachandramurthy and Lakshmana crossed TheSethu and flew back. Seetha matha flew in and out. The Vanarasena shud have crossed The Sethu both ways.[GTP bandwidth analysys :P]

And now, we are going to cut through the Sethu and turn the clock back to pre-ramayana era. Helping Samudrarajan undo what Rama did to him.[Gender reference reproduced as-is from Ramayanam.]

All Said, who gave the name Sethu Samudram?? What does that mean??
Literally "Bridge Ocean"?

Is it that, if a bridge is let over the bay, it is the "Bay Bridge", and when we let the ocean over the bridge it is the "Bridge Ocean - Sethu Samudram"??

Or is it "Sethu Samudram Kaalvai",? - building a canal over the bridge which was built across the ocean???

Beats me..

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Thiruvanaikkaval

Comment posted on Shuba's page on akilandeshwari and thiruvanaikkaval [http://thinnaiarattai.blogspot.com/]

அற்புதம்! திருஆனைக்கா சிறப்பு பற்றிய கட்டுரை மிக்க நன்று. Fyi. ஸமஸ்க்ருதத்தில் அஷக்த – Weak, அஷக்த: - Unableதிருவானைக்காவல், திருவானைக்கோவில் என்று இரண்டு பெயர்களும் வழக்கில் உள்ளன.மேலும் அகிலாண்டேஸ்வரி அம்பாள், கன்னிகை. அதாவது, திருவானைக்கவலில் அம்பாள் பரமேஷ்வாரனிடத்தில் பக்தை வடிவில் இருக்கிறாள். பிரம்மோத்ஸவத்தில் திருக்கல்யாண உத்சவம் கிடையாது. தினமும் சாயரக்ஷை பூஜைக்கு பிறகு, அம்பாள் வெள்ளுடை மட்டுமே அணிகிறாள்.[அதுதான் தவத்திற்கான உடை]. மேலும் கோவிலின் கட்டமைப்பு, குறிப்பாக நீரோடை அமைப்பு [drainage system], மிகவும் நேர்த்தியானது. ஷிவ லிங்கம் 10 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன் வரை[திருவரங்கம், திருவானைக்கா பகுதிகளில், அடுக்கு மாடி குடியிருப்பு, மற்றும் ஆழ்துளை கிணறுகள் வரும் வரை] நிலத்தடி நீரின் நிலையில் இருந்தது. [The sanctum was so low that it was in the level of the water table.] முக்கிய நெடுஞ்சாலையிலிருந்து, கருவரை அடையும் வரை, சின்ன சின்ன படிகள் மற்றும் சறுக்குகளின் மூலம் கீழே இறங்கிக்கொண்டே செல்கிறோம். மழை காலத்தில் நீர்நிலை உயரும்பொழுது, கருவரைக்குள் நுழையும் நீரை வேளியே நந்தவனத்துக்கு பாய்ச்சி, அதிகப்படும் நீரை தெற்க்கு தெருவில் உள்ள ப்ரும்ம தீர்த்தம்கரை எனும் குளத்தில்[இப்பொழுது, அந்த குளத்தை ஆக்கிரமித்து, ஒரு எண்ணை ஆலை இயங்கிக் கொண்டிருப்பது வருத்தம்.] சேர்ப்பதற்க்கான கட்டமைப்பு மிக திட்டமிடப்பட்டு கட்ட்டப்பட்டுள்ளது. அதிலிருந்தே அதிகப்படும் நீரை காவிரியில் கலப்பதற்க்கும் கட்டமைப்பு உள்ளது. இங்கு, தேம்ஸ் நதிக்கரையில் உள்ள அமைப்புகளின் [உலகத்திலேயே அருமையான, நீரோடை அமைப்பக கருதப்படுவது] தரத்துக்கு பல நூற்றாண்டுகளுக்கு முன்னறே கட்டப்பட்டது.ஆனால், இப்பொழுது தாங்கள் சென்று தேடினால், இதெல்லாம் அகப்படுமா என்பது சந்தேகம். அறியாமை முற்றிய நிலையில், ஆயிரமாயிரம் வருடங்களாக காக்கப்பட்டவை எல்லாம், நகர்புற வளர்ச்சியில் சிக்கு சீரழிக்கப் படுகின்றன.திருவானைக்கவலில் ஐந்தாம் சுற்று, [விபூதி ப்ரகாரம்], சிவ பெருமான், அவர்களே முன் நின்று கட்டியதாகக் கருதப்படுகிறது. இறைவனை நினைத்து, பலன் எதிர் நோக்காமல் அந்த மதிலை கட்டிய திருப்பணியாளர்களுக்கு இறைவனார் திருப்பணிக்குழுத் தலைவராக உருமாறி, திருநீற்றை மட்டுமே கூலியாகக் கொடுத்தார். அவர்கள் அதை இன் முக்த்துடன் வாங்கி, வீட்டுக்கு சென்று பார்த்தல், அவை பொற்துகள்களாக மாறி இருந்த திருவிளையாடல், இங்கு பிரசித்தம். இவ்வளவு பிரசித்தி பெற்ற ஐந்தாம் பிரகாரத்தை வலம் வர, இந்த சித்திரை மாதத்தில், இந்தியா சென்ற போது சென்றேன். Ignorance, Neglect ஆகிய தலைப்பில் கவிதை எழுத வேண்டியவர்கள, அங்கு ஒரு புகைப்படம் எடுத்து வந்தால் போதும். முழுவதும் ஆக்கிரமிப்புகள், வாக்கு வங்கிகள் அனைவரும் அந்த மதிலை ஒரு சுவராக்கி வீடு அமைத்துள்ளனர். [குடிசைகள் மட்டும் என்று எண்ண வேண்டாம். அருமையான இரண்டு அடுக்கு மாடி வீடுகளும் அதில் அடங்கும்.]கண்ணில் நீருடன் ‘தர்மோ ரக்ஷதி ரக்ஷித:’ என்று தேற்றிக்கொண்டு வருவதைத் தவிர வேறு ஒன்றும் அறியேன், பராபரனே.

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