Warrier's COLLAGE June 16, 2021 : Decoding Shankar

Welcome to Warrier's COLLAGE Wednesday June 16, 2021 Decoding Shankar : Documentary https://youtu.be/IhHW0-5bPHA (Telecast by Doordarshan (DD) on March 19, 2019 and uploaded @ YouTube around that time, this link was accessed by viewers 191 times in 2 years, (position when I opened the link on June 15, 2021). I was inspired by a presentation by Sreekantan Nair on Malayalam news channel 24. Occasion was Deepti Pillay who took this documentary winning an award at Toronto Film Festival! Today's Collage is dedicated to Deepti Pillay and Sankar Mahadevan 🙏-Warrier) Good Morning Nice Day M G Warrier Nice Day M G Warrier Books & Blogs : M G Warrier https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07J3Z7T2D/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_b07j3z7t2d A Response C V Subbaraman Mysur I think that the astrological advice to Leo is applicable to all other zodiac subjects also. If some thing is good news for Leo, will it be any otherwise for others?! B 1) Deepti Pillay Sivan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepti_Pillay_Sivan She is known for directing the film documentary Decoding Shankar about Shankar Mahadevan which casts Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Javed Akhtar, Shreya Ghoshal etc. She is currently the business head of Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd. Previously she was the station head of Red FM 93.5 . 2) At Toronto Film Festival https://www.newsdirectory3.com/decoding-shankar-wins-award-at-toronto-film-festival-directed-by-deepti-pillai-sivan/ "Decoding Shankar" wins award at Toronto Film Festival; directed by Deepti Pillai Sivan C Decoding Shankar https://psbt.org/films/decoding-shankar/ DECODING SHANKAR BY DEEPTI SIVAN A personality sketch of Shankar Mahadevan, which explores how the creative mind of this artist works. The Film features decisive moments that shaped his life and musical sensibilities, narrated in his own inimitable style. Through anecdotes and personal statements, it focuses on how he balances his career as a singer, music composer, teacher and family man, as also his passion for food. Decoding his melodies and songs, this is an account of his tryst with music. D Readers' Contribution 1) Rajahamsam : V Babusenan Thiruvananthapuram It was a dull November evening in the year 1962. The small front yard of the office-cum-printing press of 'Kaumudi' weekly, the Kerala 'Blitz', was filled with the usual people behaving in an unusual manner on that day. They were very silent, especially the Editor*, who was well known to the Keralites as an eloquent speaker, an effective writer, a peerless journalist and a brilliant conversationalist. Then the foreman of the press came and broke the silence. He said: "Sir, the matter is ready. If you give the editorial, 'Kaumudi' can go to the press." Here, a word about Kaumudi's editorials.They were incisive analyses of the contemporary political scenarios, especially those of Kerala, and were very popular among the youth like the other Blitz-like question-answer pages. The editorial of October 1956 in the form of an open letter to P S Rau, the able administrator deputed to advise the Rajapramukh was a masterpiece. The Editor looked up and said sadly: "Krishna, I am not in a mood to take up the pen. What shall I do?" Then he looked at a young man sitting opposite him and pleaded: "Please oblige. Go with Krishnan to the office and write something. "The young man smiled and went with the foreman. The reason for this pathetic scene was the demise of a close friend who was a senior engineer and beyond that, a very popular drama actor and an authority on the dramatic art. The group was just back after the cremation. The young man returned with an obituary poem in half-an-hour. He read it. It was so touching that some of them shed tears. The readers of the 'Kaumudi 'weekly were first stunned by the change in editorial from prose to poetry. Then they were thrilled by the beauty of it. The poem was captioned 'Rajahamsam' (The Royal Swan) and consisted of 46 lines. I am quoting here the opening four lines to show how beautiful it is : "Kayyil orindradhanussumaay kaattathu Peyyuvaan ninna thulaavarshameghame Kamranakshathra rajaniyilinnale Kanduvo neeyente rajahamsathine?'' (Oh, the monsoon cloud of Thulaam*, that stood with Indra's bow-the rainbow- in hand, waiting for the wind and ready to pour, did you see last night, anywhere in the beautiful star-studded sky, my royal swan?) The young poet was Vayalar Rama Varma who is better known for his lyrics which enriched Malayalam drama and cinema. *The third month of the Malayalam year corresponding to November. *Introduction : Rebel extraordinaire: https://www.thehindu.com/books/Rebel-extraordinaire/article14948379.ece 2) Having & Possessing : Vathsala Jayaraman Chennai Giving birth and nourishing; having, yet not possessing; working, yet not taking credit; leading without controlling or dominating. One who heeds this power brings the Tao to this very earth. This is the primal virtue. – Verse 10 of Tao You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction. – Bhagavad Gita – Verse 47 of Chapter 2 For, owners of their deeds (karma) are the beings, heirs of their deeds; their deeds are the womb from which they sprang; with their deeds they are bound up; their deeds are their refuge. Whatever deeds they do-good or evil-of such they will be the heirs. And wherever the beings spring into existence, there their deeds will ripen; and wherever their deeds ripen, there they will earn the fruits of those deeds, be it in this life, or be it in the next life, or be it in any other future life. - Buddha “Yad Bhavam Tad Bhavathi” is the saying in Sanskrit meaning, “As you think, so you become”. Where does a thought originate? It originates from the actions performed by the human beings. Karma itself means action. All the fruits in the tree are intended to nurture the universe with more trees. The trees know that fruits are intended to be separated one way or another. The western philosophy suggests that one should focus attention constantly to the present moment. It gives the human beings the ability to do all their actions skillfully, lovingly and selflessly accepting the outcome as is, without any expectations of the fruits of the actions. Let us inquire what nourishes the buddhi (intellect), manas (mind), hridaya (heart), sthula (body) and atma (spirit), the five important parts that are responsible for human existence. The knowledge strengthens the intellect, courage strengthens the mind from staying quiet when it oscillates between pleasure and pain (without excessive celebration or sadness), love strengthens the heart (true love is unconditional feeling the oneness of all beings), samarpanam (surrender/humility) strengthens the body and set free the body from its aggressiveness and finally the righteousness strengthens atma. We need to remember the words of wisdom from Tao. The land and ocean coexist in this planet side by side without one dominating the other and will continue to do so, if the human beings don’t destroy the planet to change its self-balancing ecosystem. Let us find the equilibrium of life and hold on to it to become blissful. "Having, yet not possessing; working, yet not taking credit; leading yet not taking credit or controlling”. Well said. In a practical world of mundane existence, where a clear distinction is made between hard work and smart work, how can the above quote apply in a real life situation.? Take the instruction '"have and don't possess." It means a lot in all the professions and jobs including teaching, medicine and child bringing up. The sense of possession leads one to being more responsible ,more caring leading to taking great efforts since the work relates to you. It is your child. It is your house. It is your project. Once you are a leader of a project team, you have to own or possess it to have a thorough over see. Many people argue the following way:- As long as we remain dispensable, the world will continue to exist even without us. The child will be raised by someone else, property will be owned by someone later and the project will be managed by someone else as well. The assignment as a mother or as a property owner or a project manager is only for a specific period of time to complete our responsibilities to our great sense of fulfillment and not to claim ownership or possession. If we don't practice "have, but not possess" principle, soon the situation will possess us. We can only partially agree with the above arguments. Our children stay with us for nearly 17 to 18 years from infant-hood and then leave for University and slowly start their life.18 years in one's longevity is not a short period. It is roughly 25%. Upto 60 years we work, in Govt service or private business. Whether you have or possess, the possession will leave you or you will leave the possession. Even if you are not in the habit of acceptance, you are compelled by force of circumstances and you have to manage somehow. It seems to suggest that if we cultivate a practice of 'having' and 'not possessing' that will pave a way for easy acceptance. My question is when we are going to somehow accept, by practice or by force, what is the necessity of having a 'having' feeling? We may very well have and have a sense of possession, take care in every possible way of our possessions-parents, life partners, children, business and properties . Won't that sense of possession give us a maturity of thought that our life will be transient and someone will take care after our life time? Though it is true that sense of possession leads to MIL DIl conflicts, the trend is slowly but definitely disappearing in middle class families since the opportunity of DIL-MIL staying together itself is rare. One of the 16 samskaras,, vivaha-that is initiation into Gruhasthashrma seems to induce a sense of possession and make the man/ woman bear the responsibility together as evidenced by a ritual in Hindu weddings. As the bride with her wedding saree comes to ceremony hall, a grass ring is placed on her head, over which the yoke of a plough is placed and a belt made of reed grass is placed around her waist. Water is poured over the yoke. This ritual is symbolic reminder of the fact that the bride and the groom together have to overcome the challenges of life. I feel that only a sense of possession as evidenced by the ceremony will make a more meaningful life for the benefit of society at large. Possession can make you worried and anxious and at the same time make you more responsible and wise to deal with any situation. In my view, it may not be possible if you just have a 'have' feeling. We can never compare human life to the Demand and Supply principles or the direction of the wind or the direction of the river towards ocean or trees not caring whether the fruits are enjoyed by human beings or animals. Human life and the circumstances are entirely different. Here smartness has to ride over intelligence. In my humble view, these quotes and philosophies are academically interesting and may not lead to success-that is normal success as defined by people at large and not the success as defined by philosophers. Vathsala Jayaraman E Popularity https://behavioralscientist.org/status-check-mean-popular/ DN: The two forms of popularity, status and likeability, seem to be laid out in opposition to each other. You choose one or you choose the other. Do they have to be in conflict? MP: You can have both. In fact, about 30 percent of those who are high-in-status are also really, really likeable. In some ways that might be the best of all worlds; to try and be one of those people who can successfully master both forms. But the reason why is that it’s so hard and that percentage is so low is that one of the key ways to get status is to be aggressive. And that is the number one predictor of being disliked. Many people get their status by stepping on others and making themselves seem more powerful or important or worthy of attention than others. In doing so, they actually make themselves quite dislikable. F Leisure 1) A Forward*: A goog one! Talking of audit I am reminded of an anecdote by a senior IAS officer which was reported in ET years back. One young collector posted to Guntur district discovered that of the sevral important monthly statement put of to him signature one pertained to a report on no of boxes of Guntur cigar sent for use by Mr. Charchil. Some investigation revealed that since Mr. Churchill was very fond of Guntur cigars, the collectorate used to send cigars and a statement to that effect. This practice stopped once he ceased to be British PM, but a 'nil' statement was regularly being sent by the collectorate and it continued till this collector discontinued the statement. That prompted him to have a through look at all statement/ practices of his office and could discontinue several wasteful practices and irrelevant statements. He received appreciation from Govt and it was estimated that severa lakhs of recurring expenditure could be saved everyonth both in terms of money and man-hours. The following year auditors while acknowledging the good work raised objection why this couldn't be done earlier. The reply of the Officer was classic. He said that Apples have been falling from the tree since earth came to bring, but it took only Newton to discover that there is a force called gravity and how appropriate it was to question why gravity couldn't be dis covered earlier. Obviously, the paragraph was treated complied. *Received from S Thyagarajan Chennai 2) Healing statements* Healing statements Never ever own a disease. A lot of people have habit of saying, “I am diabetic”. When you say “I am...” then you own the disease, you make the disease a part of yourself, it becomes your identity. Another classic example which most people have habit of saying is, “I am suffering from....”. This is extremely harmful statement. You are associating “Suffering” with your disease. You are constantly inviting misery with it. What should you say ? “I am going through the condition of diabetes”. When you say, “going through the condition...” it simply means you are on a journey which eventually will come to an end. By adding “condition”, you are stating that it will change. Why is it important? Words have tremendous power. Words carry vibration. These vibration are directly connected with your subconscious mind. You become what you say. The manifestation occurs what your subconscious mind is fed with. Healing Hugs "Forwarded received from R Jayakumar 3) Another Forward* I cried - God save me; He asked - in what format - JPG or PDF? My wife's female instincts are so highly developed, she sometimes knows that I am wrong even before I have opened my mouth Upset with my ageing and deteriorating looks with grey hair I got in to the best saloon of the city. With a lot of hope I asked the smart guy welcoming me with a smile- Do you have anything for grey hair? The guy then replied- A lot of respect Stop calling workers by their old titles Please address them by using their new titles! OLD: Garden Boy NEW: Landscape Executive OLD: Gardner NEW: Plant nutritionist OLD: Petrol attendant NEW: Fuel transmission technician OLD: Car Cleaner NEW: Vehicle Image Developer OLD: Water Pump Operator NEW: Aqua line Executive OLD: Lift Operator NEW: Vertical Movement Specialist OLD: Receptionist NEW: Front Desk Executive OLD: Typist NEW: Printed Document Handler OLD: Messenger NEW: Business Communication Conveyer OLD: Telephone Operator NEW: Communications Executive OLD: Window Cleaner NEW: Transparent Wall Technician OLD: Temporary Teacher NEW: Associate Teacher OLD: Tea Boy NEW: Refreshment Technician OLD: Garbage Collector NEW: Environmental Sanitation Technician OLD: Guard NEW: Security Enforcement Executive OLD: Thief NEW: Wealth Relocation Specialist OLD: Driver NEW: Automobile Propulsion Specialist OLD: Maid NEW: Domestic Management Executive OLD: Cook NEW: Food Technician OLD: Gossiper NEW: Oral Research and Evaluation Executive An example for presence of mind : A person once went for an interview in a very reputed company. While entering the room, he slipped and fell on the ground. Humiliated, one might think. Documents scattered all over the place. The man picked himself up. And with a smile on his face he spoke out loud, "Finally, I have fallen into right place!". He was hired the very next moment. DOCTOR: A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you by his bills! CLASSIC: A book which people praise, but never read. *Received from S R Badrinarayanan Cheñnai via Group mail 🙏-Warrier G Quotes about popularity https://www.happypublishing.com/blog/popularity-quotes/ Like : "Popularity is one insult I have never suffered" -Oscar Wilde

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