Warrier's Collage on Sunday August 1, 2021

Welcome to Warrier's COLLAGE On Sunday August 1, 2021 A 360 degree view of Bhagirathi at DevPrayag. Swipe your finger or turn your phone around to check out a never seen before view of this iconic place. If on laptop, click with mouse and drag. https://kuula.co/share/collection/7YBD5?fs=1&vr=0&zoom=1&gyro=0&autorotate=-0.04&thumbs=-1&info=1&logo=1 Satsangam with V T Panchapagesan Chennai SUNDAY COLLAGE We discussed last Sunday Personality having five layers, in the form of five Koshas. Today let's see how a personality of a man makes him worth living in this modern world. There are three essential factors of personality which are to be discussed : 1 Service in any form 2 Sincerity in Action 3 Knowledge Social service gives extensive opportunities for self expression. It helps us to cultivate tact and teaches Tolerance. It stresses the futility of flattery and exposes the hollowness of Hypocrisy. Let us learn to serve others and we will learn how to lead The Nation. Sincerity means being ourselves. Of course we cannot help imitating those we admire. Qualities of those we admire and strive to develop them in ourselves. The third factor is Knowledge. Ignorance begets Fear. Knowledge begets Confidence. We have to develop reading widely and wisely. The real purpose of Reading is not to accumulate Knowledge but to use it gainfully, in ways useful to others. To develop a good Personality we need Enthusiasm and determined Perseverance. Let us study ourselves making a list of our good qualities and also a list of our failings. Cultivate good habits replacing bad ones. Make use of our Time and widen our interests in life. Above all, be sincere, be wise, and be useful. V T Panchapagesan Good Morning Thanks for all responses and encouraging words. Happy Birthday to all readers having Birthday during the week ending Saturday August 7, 2021 Nice Day M G Warrier M G Warrier : Author Pages https://www.amazon.com/M-G-Warrier/e/B079ZC3JKX%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share https://notionpress.com/author/m_g_warrier A Life in the Post-Industrial World https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/warriersviews/life-in-the-post-industrial-world-9170/ Ever wondered why many in their second half of life improve their communication skills and enter social media for interaction with totally strange people with varying backgrounds and divergent views on issues discussed? As one belonging to this category, I had some introspection and the results surprised even me. Sharing for the benefit of those who will still survive after technology takes further leaps. I am not talking about a distant future, but the one which is knocking on the door! B Select Responses 1) T V Janardhana Warrier Thalassery Thanks for sharing the article on "Deposit in Cooperative Societies in Kerala" which is quite an informative and knowledge-sharing for persons like me, having less knowledge about the scheme, not explained at the time of making deposit. The Banks are giving a very low rate of interest to even senior citizens on their FDs, that's taxable too. Normally Co-operative banks are always offering a higher rate of interest on deposits. It's high time that the RBI must think and act accordingly. 2) Vathsala Jayaraman Chennai Wonderful sweet article about neem leaves and flowers, that have been mostly forgotten these days.Thanks Charukesi for the golden reminder analysing various scientific aspects to guard our Pandora's box, the stomach. Hearty congrats to The Author. 3) C V Subbaraman Mysuru I Neem Leaves. Welcome. For the past many years I have been consuming by chewing every morning first thing one or two leaflets of fresh neem leaves! Subbaraman II Gold! Gold!! Vathsala Jayaraman is absolutely correct. Every purchaser of gold ornament either for cash or in exchange of old ornaments is eventually a loser. Yet every purchaser comes out of the jewellery shop with a smile!! We now know why every jewellery shop considers the consumer/customer "valuable". Does not every customer allow himself to be cheated so that the seller is enriched? Subbaraman 4) Dr T V Surendran Mananthavady Buying more than needed gold...Hallmarking tricks. Smt Vathsala Jayaraman's post is an eye opener for those who go frequently to purchase and exchange ornaments. Wastage, making charges,.. cheating by a known/unknown giving satisfaction. Interesting and useful post. 5) K Balasubramanian Coimbatore There is a book titled "Miracle of Neem"* which covers extensively on the properties of this wonderful tree, a gift of nature to us. *Añother link : https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/neem-gains-honour-as-indias-wonder-tree-30242 C Remembering Tagore : Shashi Tharoor This weekend we'll be observing 80th Death Anniversary of Gurudev Tagore. https://openthemagazine.com/essays/seeking-truth-with-tagore/ Excerpts : "It is not an easy task to capture the scale of Tagore’s accomplishments. Some have made glib comparisons to Shakespeare and Goethe, but neither man, despite his undoubted greatness, excelled in as many fields as Gurudev, nor dominated his culture to the extent that Tagore did his. Think of it: he was not merely an extraordinary poet, the only Indian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1913, for his Gitanjali—profoundly moving verses written in Bangla in 1910 after he had lost his father, wife, second daughter and youngest son). He was also a prose-writer and essayist of the first rank, whose articles, books and monographs commanded a wide readership around the world. As a philosopher, he was perhaps the first to develop a synthesis of Eastern and Western approaches, and he developed political ideas of great depth and humanity (of which more later). He was a great, if uneven, novelist and short-story writer who produced several masterpieces that continue to be read a century-and-a-half after his birth; his ‘Kabuliwallah’ is among the few short stories most Indians remember from their childhood. He was also a playwright of rare distinction: The Post Office, for instance, was one of the most popular plays in the world before World War II." D Anne Bradstreet : Poetry https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43697/the-author-to-her-book The Author to Her Book BY ANNE BRADSTREET Thou ill-form’d offspring of my feeble brain, Who after birth didst by my side remain, Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, Who thee abroad, expos’d to publick view, Made thee in raggs, halting to th’ press to trudge, Where errors were not lessened (all may judg). (Continued at H2) E Readers'Contribution 1) Vathsala Jayaraman Chennai Smt Charukesi Ramadurai's article on ' NEEM' brings to my mind my real experience as to the reverse of the fact "Sweet Turns Bitter' as conveyed in my article written 10 years back in Tamil and published in Mangayar Malar. Here is the English version : Come Deepavali, people start planning well in advance about the clothes to be purchased and sweets & savouries to be prepared. Nowadays many women don't make them at home. Many order for the same from popular shops, as money is not a big concern. (Continued at H1) F Leisure* Putin, Put-Out... Put-In laughs first and then, reads the jokes! Just as we have Ajit and Rajnikant jokes, in Russia they have Putin jokes..... simply hilarious. Rajnikant will have to do better…. When Putin was late for school, the teacher punished the whole class for being early. When Putin's phone rings in the theater, they pause the movie. Doctor: "You have Cancer". Putin: "Tell it, it has two weeks to live". When Putin looks in the mirror, there's no reflection because there is only 1 Putin. When Putin was born, he named his parents. Russia didn't choose him, he chose Russia. Putin Arriving at Foreign Country's Airport: Customs Officer: "Occupation?" Putin: "No, just visiting." Putin calls 911 to ask what is their emergency. Putin built the hospital in which he was born. This guy never flushes the toilet, he just scares the shit out of it. When Putin was born, he slapped the doctor for not crying. When Putin didn't go to school, the school declared it a Holiday. Stop calling him Russian James Bond. James Bond is British Vladimir Putin. When Putin creates an account, the terms and conditions agree with him. When Putin coughs, Covid wears a mask. *Received from A P Ramadurai Cheñnai G Quotes about Self-Praise https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/self-praise.html Like : "Sweet words are like honey, a little may refresh, but too much gluts the stomach." Anne Bradstreet (Anne Bradstreet was the most prominent of early English poets of North America and first writer in England's North American colonies to be published. She is the first Puritan figure in American Literature and notable for her large corpus of poetry, as well as personal writings published posthumously.) H 1) Continued from E1 25 years back the situation was entirely different. There are people who need huge quantities and want to buy quality products at a reasonable price without any strain on their part. A few families gather together, engage a cook, prepare huge quantities, share the expenses according to their requirements. It was the year 1990. Some 30 families decided to join the scheme. Everybody prepared a list of their requirements. Since my house was an individual house with a big kitchen, I offered to do all the preparations at my residence. Laddu, Jangiri, Mysore pak, Badusha, Wheat halwa, badam Cake and Coconut burfi were among the sweets. Savouries were Mixture, ribbon pakoda, kara sev & a few other items. I contacted a cook named Ambi Uncle, familiar to me and handed over the list. Since it was a huge order he readily accepted and handed over a list of groceries to be purchased and the list of rice flour and basan to be ground in the mill. The next day we got all the things from the store. Our hall was full of packets. To protect cashew, sugar etc from the ants was a problem. I took leave for a day and went to the grinding mill by an auto since the items were really very heavy. I waited at the mill for nearly 2 hrs and the flour was ready. While I was transferring the bucket containing basan into the auto, the handle of the heavy plastic bucket gave way and the entire basan dropped on the muddy road. I had to buy the bengal gram dhal again and repeat the process. Just 4 days before Deepavali Ambi uncle was ready with his two assistants. They had brought with them the necessary big gas stove, big frying pans and other accessories. As the soaked wheat was put inside the grinder there was a demonic sound with smoke from the grinder. I switched off. The manual grinder which had been meditating amidst sunshine and rain in the open terrace for the past 15 years, was brought down with great difficulty through the steps. It was quite a difficult job to remove the dust accumulation of 15 years. As the cook was an expert, he finished off his job in 2 days. The storage was the problem. I had to take out all the big new dubbas intended to be gifted to my daughter during her marriage from the loft. I had to spray gamaxane around each dubba to protect from ants. Ambi uncle received his charges and went away. As I had been trained from my younger days to keep to-the-pie accounts, it was not a problem for me to prepare general expenditure list and also individual due lists. I took care not to include the second time purchase of basan. I estimated the cost of the remaining groceries and the cost of the remnant heated oil in the pan and discounted the same from the individual list. When I calculated, the net profit worked out to nearly 18%. Really I felt happy as though I have achieved something and heaved a sigh of relief. When I looked back, the kitchen looked pathetic with all flour, ghee and oil split everywhere. It took nearly two hours to clean the kitchen with a washing powder and set things to normalcy. My husband took pity on me and brought some tiffin from the hotel. With the weighing pan I weighed each item as per the list and kept everything ready. It was past midnight when I went to bed. Next morning at about 10 A M all my friends arrived. After serving coffee I handed over the bakshanams and the list. You have to see the expressions on their face on seeing the list. I wished I had a camera to have a snap. The comments started one by one 1 I thought there will be 50% profit. It is not at all cheap. Better I had made at my home itself. 2 We have entangled. No Go. We have to pay the money. 3 The rent for the big vessel is a waste. 4 You need not have engaged an auto for going to the mill.You could have walked the distance. So many comments of this type. By this time, two chartered accountants (husbands of my friends) joined us. They started questioning me how I had calculated the gas charges, on what basis I had arrived at the proportionate rate for each item. They argued that having undertaken the job, I was duty bound to give breakup figures of groceries, fuel, and labour charges for each item. Without waiting for my reply they simply left my house cancelling the order. Another two of my friends also followed the auditors. All other ladies took the items and half heartedly paid the amount. Didn't these intelligent super accountants know that it was not possible to arrive at the individual price when such a mega project was undertaken? Or did they pretend? All these women who never even lifted their little finger while the preparations were on, stood in the front for arguments. We gave away the cancelled orders to a nearby orphanage. My son who came to celebrate Deepavali was totally shattered. My mother-in-law who was watching all these things quietly went inside the kitchen and slipped on the floor on account of a small drip of oil, omitted to be cleaned the previous day. She had to undergo hip surgery the next day and our Deepavali was celebrated in the nursing home. How much of labour? How much of mental agony? The net result was a heap of insults and pointed verbal attacks. Even in the assembly people do not raise such impertinent questions. All my efforts became futile. When there are so many complications in such a small event, we can very well imagine the struggles in a Coalition Government consisting of different parties of different ideologies. I could very well appreciate the meaning of the compulsion of 'Coalition Dharma' very often referred to by our Ex-Prime Minister. My husband,who is a personification of patience told me in a soft but firm voice : "Let this be an opportunity for you to understand the world" More than 100% true. Sweet turned bitter. 2) Continued from D The Author to Her Book BY ANNE BRADSTREET Thou ill-form'd offspring of my feeble brain, Who after birth didst by my side remain, Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, Who thee abroad, expos'd to publick view, Made thee in raggs, halting to th’ press to trudge, Where errors were not lessened (all may judg). At thy return my blushing was not small, My rambling brat (in print) should mother call, I cast thee by as one unfit for light, Thy Visage was so irksome in my sight; Yet being mine own, at length affection would Thy blemishes amend, if so I could: I wash'd thy face, but more defects I saw, And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw. I stretched thy joynts to make thee even feet, Yet still thou run’st more hobling then is meet; In better dress to trim thee was my mind, But nought save home-spun Cloth, i’ th’ house I find. In this array ’mongst Vulgars mayst thou roam. In Criticks hands, beware thou dost not come; And take thy way where yet thou art not known, If for thy Father askt, say, thou hadst none: And for thy Mother, she alas is poor, Which caus'd her thus to send thee out of door. Source: The Complete Works of Anne Bradstreet (1981)