Warrier's Collage May 4, 2021

Welcome to Warrier's COLLAGE ON Tuesday, MAY 4, 2021 Rugmini Swayamvarsm Kathakali https://youtu.be/8TI-z_eu9d0 (Link selected by: M G Warrier Mumbai) Good Morning Nice Day M G Warrier M A Interaction 1) Vathsala Jayaraman Chennai Shri Kelkar's observations are praiseworthy. The number 108, a multiple of number 9 has much more in it. There is a mathematical discipline behind the revolving planets. 27 nakshatras and four paadams; 12 constellations and 9 arc segments; The diameter of the Sun is 108 times that of the earth; The distance between moona and earth is 108 times of the moon's diameter' the distance between sun and earth is 108 times of the sun's diameter In Hinduism, as pointed out by Shri Kelkar,the number is very significant. There are 108 Upanishads,!0 Rig,50 Yajur,16 Saama and 32 Atharavana. Dance Karanas-108;divya kshetras-108; medically 108 energy lines are supposed to form Hrudaya Chakra. In the number 108, 1 represents the Ultimate Intelligence or God or Truth; 0 represents Aakash; 8 represents prapancha with 8 directions In Katapayadi Number system,the word Brahma has the number 3285 totalling to 9. In Tibetan Buddhism there are 108 sins; In Japan New year starts with Chiming of 108 bells,each representing a temptation In Islam also 108 refers to God. Ironically our Govt has chosen this number for Ambulance. Just because we don't understand these facts,it cannot be set aside as untruth. Vathsala Jayaraman- 2) V N Kelkar In the yogic tradition beads are used in 'japamala', a string of prayer beads commonly used in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism , Sikhism and other traditions for spiritual practice known as 'japa' in Sanskrit. A full cycle of 108 repetitions is counted on the mala so the practitioner can focus on the sounds, vibrations and meanings of what is being said. Tha mala mainly has 108 beads, though other numbers are also used. There is often 109th bead which is called 'MERU' or 'GURU' bead. Mala beads encourage a calmer mind, body and soul. 108 - The number one stands for God, the universe, or your own highest truth. 0 stands for emptiness and humility in spiritual practice and 8 stands for infinity and timelessness as already indicated by Madam Vathsala Jayaraman. 3) R Jayakumar Mumbai The poem by Rashmi Trivedi appearing in today's Collage (forwarded by Shri Chittanandam) enumerates a good number of happenings in our daily life which we deliberately ignore to take note of treating them as insignificant. We consciously avoid to visit our conscience and make a review and see if what we avoided to take note of was right or wrong .... The poet is telling us that it is very difficult for us to come out of our comfort zone and see how others live in much discomfort. We are proud of our association with people in high position. When such a person leaves this world while condoling their death we proudly announce our earlier closest association with them. Will we do the same if a person of mediocre success leaves this world? We condole as if we never knew that person before. When a person known to us is elevated to a higher position we want to proudly announce how well that person was known to us earlier. But if a person is not so popular we are reluctant take note of his presence. Recently we received two photos in the group, sent by a very senior member of the group, with the caption that it was his wife's birthday on that day. There was no accompanying message with the photos. All that the photos revealed to me was that he loves his wife very much and possibly there is no one close by to join him to celebrate his wife's Birthday. The photos were self clicked. I don't know if any one in the group took note of the photos and cared to send a birthday greeting to his wife. Our conscience must have overlooked this as not a very significant event to that of someone being appointed to a high position. The poem rightly concludes ' we are killing our conscience bit by bit!' R Jayakumar B Being Human: Real Life* : Harish Dave, Ex-NABARD The Invaluable Thali: Do you find anything unusual about the thali? None, right? But for me it was a very special dish today for lunch. What if I tell you that it is supplied by a bank to all its Corona-infected customers ? Great.. right ? Yesterday my better half tested Corona positive and we were all in a state of shock. Unprepared to handle the news. First about her health and as the news sunk, about how to manage our home! The sweet lady, whose efforts generally go unrecognised, won’t be looking after the home for a brief period of quarantine. Quite puzzled as to how do I feed her and my ailing mom. And then..,, we both got a god-sent SMS from our bank. Any customer who had COVID patient at home will be provided with tiffin service (free of cost !)!! Wow .. And any guess which bank can this be?? Not the big names, but The Gujarat State Cooperative Bank led by an Engineer Chairman Shri Ajaybhai Patel. One of the leading State Cooperative Banks, fully digitised. What a thought and gesture Ajaybhai Saheb. I am sure, Late Professor Vaidyanathan ji would really feel happy that the cooperative banks are leading the fight against Corona and reinforcing themselves as responsive people-owned institutions, more importantly recognising depositors as important part of the coop banking system. Kudos to the Staff of the bank for standing firmly with the leadership despite COVID- centric problems in their homes too. Kalpana has shown signs of significant improvement and continues at home. India will defeat Corona soon through such collective actions of people and their institutions. Jai ho {Message from Harish Dave, ex DMD, NABARD} *Forward received from S Thyagarajan via Group mail C Poetry: Reshmy Warrier: Exposing reality Hello fellow earthlings, here I speak from India, Yes that country with naan-butter chicken and yoga, And your nosey relatives, your brown friends, That you well choose to ignore today, Never before have I felt more of a third world as now, Am I proud or ashamed of the government? No Am I proud of the infighting? No. But I am mortified at the lack of empathy from the world, Instead what I see are a few stray words of comfort & oxygen, Which honestly mean nothing against the larger apathy, Or distancing, from the ailing nation, Much like a family distancing its kin, Much like a building distancing that flat, A virus that distances and probably reveals truer sides of humanity, Abandon the leaking boat, they say (holes created by “friends” and family), Is ok to have parked thy asses here when the going was good, But now save your selves, is all I hear, Yes it is dark, bleak and all things in between, No we were not prepared for this, no one was, But I believe hope survives in the murkiest of times, You know what happens to those that are beaten? They thrive. They don’t buckle as they have seen worse, They also realize that the world they thought to be one, The boundaries that were seemingly erased, Are far from gone, when the going gets tough, It is a fight for survival, where each wants to save their own, But in that darkest of dark is when the dimmest of lights, Will shine out bright, it will, yes it will prevail, So as we gasp for air, we will understand if you don’t see our SOS, For after all, we are one too many, and we are not that sophisticated, To know better. Yes, we forgive you, and so will your father, for you know not what you do. D National Government: M G Warrier https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/warriersviews/national-government-with-proportionate-representation-31573/ The submitted version of this piece was shared in Collage earlier. Excerpts: " Experiment a temporary National Government My idea of National Government, subject to refinement to conform to ease in Governance is on the following lines: 1) Once the results of the current elections are announced and governments are formed, keep in abeyance all elections from Parliament down to Gram Panchayats falling due during the next 5 years to a future date. 2) In addition to those who have secured seats in legislatures, allow political parties to nominate additional candidate proportionate to the gross votes secured by them in the last/latest election to the respective houses. 3) Constitute All-Party governments/governing bodies at each level with proportionate representation. 4) Let Legislatures function normally, debates and voting being allowed on an issue-based basis. Once there's consensus on the principles/Idea, modalities could be worked out by a High Power Committee comprising representatives of Judiciary, Governments, Election Commission, Political Parties and other stakeholders." E C-Follow-up 1) C-Story: https://madrascourier.com/opinion/indias-coronavirus-crisis-the-revitalisation-of-a-global-ethic/ Excerpts: "India’s coronavirus crisis–just as China’s, America’s and countless others before it–was exacerbated by authoritarianism, autocratic hubris, excessively centralized leadership, a servile bureaucracy, corruption and even malign intent. But none of this makes India’s crisis any less a problem that all of us must work together to try to resolve, given the grave threat that coronavirus allowed to indefinitely run amok in India would represent for the world." 2) Pandemic Puzzle* Someone has nicely explained the irony in the present situation: “ Never have I seen such a mess in life. The air is pure but wearing a mask is mandatory. Roads are empty but it is impossible to go on long drive. People have clean hands but there is a ban on shaking hands. Friends have time to sit together but they cannot get together. The cook inside you is crazy, but you cannot call anyone for lunch or dinner. Every Monday, the heart longs to go out, but the weekend does not seem to end. Those who have money have no way to spend it. Those who don't have money have no way to earn it. There is enough time on hand but you can't fulfill your dreams. The culprit is all around but cannot be seen. A world full of irony! Be positive but test negative.” *Forward received from A P Ramadurai Cheñnai F Leisure Taxing jokes written by stupids who are wise! http://www.jokes4us.com/miscellaneousjokes/irsjokes/deathandtaxesonelinersjokes.html Excerpts: Congress has the unsolved problem of how to get the people to pay taxes they can't afford for services they don't need. Every year around April 15 Americans have a rendezvous with debt. The rich and the poor are alike. They both complain about taxes. A fool and his money are soon parted. The rest of us wait until income tax time. Golf is a lot like taxes. You drive hard to get to the green and then wind up in the hole. Nothing makes a person more modest about their income than to fill out a tax form. I hate junk mail . . .and that includes the tax forms they send me. Income tax is Uncle Sam's version of "Truth or Consequences." An income-tax form is like a laundry list - either way you lose your shirt. About the time a man is cured of swearing, another income tax is due. Nothing has done more to stimulate the writing of fiction than the itemized deduction section of the income-tax forms. The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf. G Quotes about honesty https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/honesty-quotes Like: If you look at life with any honesty and intelligence, it's clear that human nature is dark, vile, selfish, and despondent. But I also see a force in human nature, namely grace, that sometimes works against our natural moral entropy. Scott Derrickson ( Scott Derrickson is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He lives in Los Angeles, California. Derrickson is best known for directing The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, Deliver Us from Evil, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Doctor Strange.)