Warrier's Collage 09092020 : Waterfalls

Warrier's Collage 09092020 : Waterfalls Posted by : M G Warrier AA A Tribute* to a fellow human being A young boy from a remote town of Dondiacha, enters a prestigious medical college, in his simple attire, thin, short, wearing a topi, sadra and pyajama, to join, the college as 1st year medical college. Many of his classmates, look past him, some ridicule him, some already have coined a pet name "Mama". But, this is a boy of extraordinary intellect, resilience and sincerity. He very soon is revered by all his classmates, goes on to become the only student in the history of Pune University and BJ Medical College to have secured gold medal in every subject of every phase of MBBS, and MS general surgery. This record still remains unbeaten. That young man was Dr RAVINDRANATH TONGAONKAR. Refusing an opportunity to study FRCS in the UK, he decided to start medical practice, in his home town Dondiacha. Renting a tiny mission hospital, he started his 3 bedded hospital. When the fourth patient arrived, he gave the only cot in his house to the patient, and himself slept on the chatai. Working selflessly, day in and day out, he not only successfully operated thousands of laprotomies, but kept himself updated to the recent advances, learnt laparoscopy, endoscopy and sonography. A one man army indeed. He showed the world that an ordinary mosquito net possessed the same tensile strength as that of the 2900 times more expensive hernia mesh. Cost to the mesh = 50 paise. World Hernia Foundation mentions him in its hall-of-fame as one of the most important contributors to the hernia repair surgery. He shall always be remembered as a true Gandhian. No pride about his achievements, no ego about having dedicated his life to rural surgery. He was the president of the International Federation of Rural Surgeons and Association of Rural Surgeons of India. (An atheist, a karyakarta, and former president of Dhule ANIS (ANDHASHARDA NIRMULAN SAMITI) he didn't believe in God or destiny. His belief was only this--- "LIFE is perishable, what remains is only your deeds.")** Dr R. Tongaonkar treated thousands of patients in Dhule, Nandurbar and neighbouring states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. His compassionate and soft demeanor made every patient feel understood and satisfied. DR RAVINDRANATH TONGAONKAR(Nana, as he will be fondly rememberd by all), passed away on September 7, 2020 due to COVID19 and its complications. This pandemic has caused suffering for millions of the human beings, but we hoped it wouldn't touch the kindest, the purest of us. But sadly it has. Nana didn't believe in soul, or life after death. He insisted that life is now until death. He is and will always remain an inspiration to thousands of us who feel enriched by his presence in our lives as a mentor, a friend, a philosopher, a guide, a doctor, an ideal. With Nana's demise, an era has come to an end. The era of a resilient, rational, passionate man- Dr Ravindranath Tongaonkar. My heartfelt condolences to Dr Asha ( Tai) Tongaonkar and the entire Tongaonkar family. *Received from Dr T V Surendran, Mananthavady. ( **Collage had two options : Omit this portion, as this is "Obit", or retain this and comment. Went for the tougher second choice. Since the concept of God was invented, there has never been a God universally accepted and respected by all human beings who believed in God. Individuals like this Doctor chose to remain non-controversial by remaining outside the conventional belief systems. Tagore, this doctor, Bertrand Russell, Shankaracharya, Srinarayana Guru, Mahatma Gandhi, Sartre, Vivekananda, Osho, Sai Baba, Buddha...(list illustrative) all interpreted God in different ways. They all applied their own mind and interpreted the concept. It's more comfortable and better to leave these people alone, leaving them to explain their position directly to God, when necessary. We need not classify people as believers and non-believers until the almighty Himself directly entrusted the responsibility to us. Personally, I'm comfortable with the descriptions and assertions in Isavasyopanishad : https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/isavasya-upanishad -Warrier) A Interaction 1) Vathsala Jayaraman "Shri Babusenan's writings are really absorbing. It is really great that he evinces lot of interest in sharing different varieties of anecdotes/stories. Congratulations to him." 2) S Nallasivan, Hyderabad "As many of his friends in different groups enquired about his long silence, Collage got in touch with Shri Nallasivan. He is well and is on a self-imposed exile for personal reasons and, hopefully, will be back with his usual comments/mails soon".-Warrier 3) PKKNair One of my ten hobbies relates to ‘Distance Reading’ Today I take the case of S.M. Sendil, as a case study! I read as follows: 1. He is highly introspective in nature 2.Self propelled. 3.Has self esteem. 4.Will scale great heights. 5. Keeps a balance between sentiments & emotions 6.Has a special style of communication 7.Foreign assignment 8.Can overcome any upheavals in life. For further information contact on 919946347368 I have shown a few exhibitions of my key chains in Kerala. There are a number of write-ups about the collection in the Print and the Electronic Media. More will follow PS : I do not know who Sendil is, nor do I know about his whereabouts. He is a total stranger to me. II Banks I am in full agreement with very candid observations of Shri CV Subbaraman about ‘Priority Sector lending ‘ If I were the Prime Minister, the very first thing I do is to ban all types of uses of tobacco and close all cigarette manufacturers including ITC! Hats off to Subbaraman whom I claim to know a bit! ( To get a feel of ITC today, use this link : https://www.itcportal.com/brands-microsite/) B Waterfalls 1) Athirappally, Kerala https://youtu.be/i94yLHyw2G4 2) Jog falls, India https://youtu.be/ktF78QCtcaU 3) Niagra Falls https://youtu.be/kTOHJZY2VRE Views from USA and Canada sides C Readers Write 1) V Babusenan "Justice Administered"* "Adiyolam uthakaa annan thampiyum' is a popular (not so popular among children) proverb whose English equivalent is 'Spare the rod and spoil the child.' The word 'Thampi' used here is in the sense 'brother'. The same word was used as a status symbol in the princely state of Travancore. It referred to the son of the ruling king out of wedlock with a female member of a Nair family. After the alliance, the house becomes an 'Amma Veedu.' There were many Thampies who rendered creditable service to the state and it's people. There were equally many Thampies who occupied positions they did not actually deserve. As indicated earlier, many of them were so-called protectors of law, functioning as Magistrates. One such Thampi, whose ignorance of law was equalled only by his arrogance, was functioning as Magistrate in the capital city. A criminal case came up for trial in his court. A bright young man, who had recently taken a law degree from Madras, appeared for the defence. Because it was his first case, he came to the court thoroughly prepared. The Magistrate did not like his smartness. For him, the defence lawyer was only a person serving to fill the procedural gap. "What, young man, what are those big books?" enquired the Magistrate disdainfully. " They are court decisions, your honour" replied the lawyer respectfully. "What are those papers jutting out from those books ?" asked the Magistrate. "They are flags, your honour" replied the lawyer innocently. "Decisions of Bombay, Calcutta and Allahabad High Courts in my client's favour." "No need, young man. I have already decided to punish that fellow."" (*Caption given by Collage. This reminds me the case of a Charge Sheet issued in a reputed organization. Two employees had been suspended alleging some procedural lapses in their work. Just listen to the dialogue between the author of the Charge Sheet (X- Head of the Office) and the Enquiry Officer (Y- Who was holding the Number Two position in the same Office) : X : Mr Y, how's the Enquiry progressing ? Y : Had one sitting, when you were on leave and I was holding charge of the Office. This week, we have scheduled second sitting. X : So, I can expect the Enquiry Report by coming Monday? Y : No, Sir. By the nature of the charges and the number of witnesses to be examined etc I may have 5 to 6 sittings and if all cooperate, the report will be ready in 6 weeks. X : You are being too formal. I need the report in 7 days. I don't issue a Charge Sheet, if the charges can't be proved. Your report is a formality. They will be punished. Y : I understand. Let me tell you : You have two options : Change the Enquiry Officer, or wait for my report. I have just one : Follow the rules and procedures. I can't commit on timeframe or the outcome. Sorry. -Warrier) 2) V N Kelkar Spirituality "Bhaktiyoga is the path of devotion that unites a devotee with God. Devotion means supreme love for God. Bhakti can be described as a bridge between the devotee and God. Bhakti is firmly rooted in faith. The external forms of Bhakti, such as worship of idols, japa (repetition of the name of God), and going on pilgrimage become meaningless unless these are based on 'shraddha' (faith) and fervour to have vision of God. Bhakti can be categorised on the basis of the intention of the devotee, such as arta (one who prays to remove his problems), arthrthin ( he who prays for some material gain), jijnasu (he who prays to have knowledge of the Ultimate Reality' ) and jnanin ( he who is a realised soul and still continues to meditate upon God it becomes his inner nature). Another classification of Bhakti is 'apara ' bhakti and 'para' bhakti Para bhakti is considered superior to the 'apara' bhakti. It is the stage of para bhakti, the supreme devotion which is known as 'Jnanottara' bhakti - post knowledge devotion which is the ultimate goal of the endeavour of a devotee. God takes care of his devotee. When God finds that his Devotee is being tossed on the waves of life and death He rushes to help him. In BG (9th chapter), Krishna says to Arjuna, "Whoever offers Me with love a leaf, a flower, a fruit or even water, I partake of that thing offered by him". From this verse , one can understand that God cares only for bhakti; there is nothing either small or great to Him. He is concerned only with the spirit in which it is offered." ( Thanks, Vishnu Ji! I know, after recording my observations under AA, I've to be careful when commenting about Bhakti. Collage had some discussion on this subject recently. After saying that it's so easy and simple to express single-minded devotion to the Supreme (just by offering a leaf, a flower...), in the next Stanza (9.27), Krishna further clarifies : " Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou offerest in sacrifice, whatever thou givest away, whatever austerity thou practisest, O son of Kunti, do that as an offering unto me" This is Stanza 27 of Chapter 9. By a coincidence, Stanza 27 of Shankaracharya's Saundarya Lahari says : http://www.advaita-vedanta.co.uk/index.php/content/213-saundarya-lahari-verse-27 Also listen : https://youtu.be/EV7L9s0E6Pc 3) R Jayakumar Martyrdom of A Lizard In his second story, V Babusenan Sir has narrated how a lizard sacrificed it's life by jumping into hot payasam (kheer) to save a family from death of snake poison. It brought to my mind another story of Lizard's sacrifice which I had received in Whatsapp group months back. Luckily I had saved this story which is reproduced below : This happened in Japan. In order to renovate the house, a Japanese man breaks open the wall. Japanese houses normally have a hollow space between the wooden walls. When tearing down the walls, he found that there was a lizard stuck there, because a nail from outside had been hammered into one of its feet. He sees this, feels pity, and at the same time curious. When he checks the nail, it was nailed 5 years ago, when the house was built!!! What happened? The lizard had survived in such a position for 5 yrs!!! In a dark wall partition for 5 years without moving, it is impossible and mind-boggling. Then he wondered how this lizard had survived for 5 years without moving a single inch, since its foot was impaled! So he stopped his work and observed the lizard, to see what it has been doing, and how it has been eating Later, not knowing from where it came, appears another lizard, with food in it's mouth. Ah! He was stunned and touched deeply. For the lizard that was impaled by the nail, another lizard had been feeding it for the past 5 years. Imagine...It has been doing that untiringly for 5 long years, without giving up hope on its partner. Imagine what a small creature can do, that a creature like us, blessed with a brilliant mind cannot do. Please, never abandon your loved ones. Don't turn your back on people because they are in difficulty. Don't see yourself as more intelligent or the best. You may be a bit luckier today but life is uncertain and can change things tomorrow.... A moment of negligence might break the very heart which loved you against all odds.. Before you say something, just remember... *It takes a moment to break, but an entire lifetime to make ............* God created space within our fingers so that we can hold hands...... Be there for somebody today.. ....somebody will be there for you tomorrow. Love one another! IF A LIZARD CAN, WHY CAN'T WE! 🌹🌹 R JAYAKUMAR" Vathsala Jayaraman adds : " I also received this lizard 🦎 story earlier by email. Later on, it was learnt the message was hoax. This story has been passed around for a few years because it touches people's hearts. Yet it is unlikely to be true. The lifespan of lizards varies largely by size. There are some medium size and large lizards that do live 10 years and more, but small lizards like the Japanese 'tokage' (Eumeces japonicus) do not live to this ripe age (even when they are not nailed to a wall as this poor creature in the email was supposed to have been). However the story and moral thereof is interesting." D Blogs and Links 1) Alternative energy sources http://www.hk-phy.org/energy/alternate/print/hydro_phy_print_e.html A beginner's guide 2) More Waterfalls https://wildlifezones.com/highest-waterfalls-in-india/ You have heard about some of them.