Warrier's Collage November 10, 2021

Welcome to Warrier's COLLAGE On Wednesday November 10, 2021 1) Sandrananda... https://youtu.be/sf-Af8X_IXc (P Leela : Narayaneeyam) 2) Some Chocolates for you https://youtu.be/xPe1jMuX32s Good Morning 🙏 Nice Day M G Warrier A Select Response R Jayakumar Mumbai Today's Warrier's Collage has special place for mountains, in its prayer and poem sections. It is a coincidence that yesterday I received a mail from my daughter from California that she and her colleagues went for mountain climbing on Sunday in the Laguna Mountain. They went in search of mountain lion and scat cats. But could only take photos of the footmark of the mountain lion and the poop of the scat. Ever since the pandemic started receding she is pestering us to plan for a visit to her place. I am showing reluctance because I hate the cold and mist and the snow of that place. R Jayakumar B Current Affairs 1) Media Response The Hindu Business Line Letters November 9, 2021 Mapping PSU assets* This refers to the short article ‘Will asset monetisation work?’ (November 9). The apprehensions raised are genuine. But some of the fears expressed, like the move affecting the country's international rating and consequent drying up of FDI or clustering of private in-house investors are far fetched as they cannot be avoided in the initial stages. But, gradually, as trust in governance gathers pace, regulatory and legislative measures can provide safeguards. Though there will be a time lag, the Asset Monetisation initiative will also help improve the government’s finances. Time is opportune for mapping the resources including real estate, unutilised capacities of industrial units, domestic gold stock and potential for agricultural and industrial production. MG Warrier Mumbai *Submitted version : Assets mapping and redeployment This refers to the short article "Will asset monetisation work?" (November 9). The apprehensions raised are realistic and genuine. But the writers do not appear to having prima facie aversion to redeployment of assets in public interest. Some of the fears expressed, like the move affecting the country's international rating and consequent drying up of FDI or clustering of private in-house investors are far fetched as such possibilities in the initial stages of massive domestic investment cannot be totally avoided. But, gradually, as trust in governance gets restored, regulatory and legislative measures can provide safeguards to protect national interest. Though there will be a time lag for obvious reasons, the recent Assets Monetization initiative will also help improve the government's finances. Post-Independence, though several decades have passed, India is yet to take stock of the nation's inherent strengths in terms of inherited and accumulated wealth. Time is opportune for mapping the resources including real estate, unutilized capacities of industrial units, domestic gold stock and potential for agricultural and industrial production and last but not the least, the immense potential to improve revenue from Agricultural Income Tax. M G WARRIER Mumbai 2) DICGC : A talk by Atul Khirwadkar https://youtu.be/0iz5Qy8hAH4 (Link Courtesy : Bhagwan Fatnani via Group mail) 3) Moving towards a more fragile Global System? https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-pandemic-isnt-a-black-swan-but-a-portent-of-a-more-fragile-global-system Nassim Nicholas Taleb is “irritated,” he told Bloomberg Television on March 31st, whenever the coronavirus pandemic is referred to as a “black swan,” the term he coined for an unpredictable, rare, catastrophic event, in his best-selling 2007 book of that title. “The Black Swan” was meant to explain why, in a networked world, we need to change business practices and social norms—not, as he recently told me, to provide “a cliché for any bad thing that surprises us.” Besides, the pandemic was wholly predictable—he, like Bill Gates, Laurie Garrett, and others, had predicted it—a white swan if ever there was one. “We issued our warning that, effectively, you should kill it in the egg,” Taleb told Bloomberg. Governments “did not want to spend pennies in January; now they are going to spend trillions.” The warning that he referred to appeared in a January 26th paperthat he co-authored with Joseph Norman and Yaneer Bar-Yam, when the virus was still mainly confined to China. The paper cautions that, owing to “increased connectivity,” the spread will be “nonlinear”—two key contributors to Taleb’s anxiety. For statisticians, “nonlinearity” describes events very much like a pandemic: an output disproportionate to known inputs (the structure and growth of pathogens, say), owing to both unknown and unknowable inputs (their incubation periods in humans, or random mutations), or eccentric interaction among various inputs (wet markets and airplane travel), or exponential growth (from networked human contact), or all three. (Wondering how I've brought this April 2020 essay* under Current Affairs. I find it more relevant today than in 2020-Warrier) *Link Courtesy : E Madhavan Thrissur C Spirituality/Faith 1) Thought for the Day : Dr Charan Singh charan singh (@CharanSingh60) Tweeted: Unity in Diversity - 65 मथुरा जन जानि कही जीअ साचु सु और कछू न बिचारन को हरि नामु बोहिथु बडौ कलि मै भव सागर पारि उतारन को There is nothing else to consider In dark age of Kali yug, God's Naam can ferry you across dangerous world ocean Mathura, 1404, SGGS https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1457795459364261892?s=20 2) Turning Dead Ends into Doorways : Book Excerpts "Turning Dead Ends into Doorways by Staci Boden | Book Excerpt | Spirituality & Practice" https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/excerpts/view/23801/turning-dead-ends-into-doorways Here, the teachings from earth-based and women's spirituality help me question some assumptions. What if life isn't a linear process that begins at birth and ends with death? What if instead life moves in a continuous spiral that includes beginning, middle, end, and beginning again, just at another layer of existence? What if birth isn't first at all? What if death sometimes precedes a new life emerging? If a woman doesn't shed her skin through menstruation, she can't grow a baby inside. In gardening, pruning dead leaves is necessary for plants to thrive. In fact, gardeners call compost black gold, as dead organic material produces an especially vibrant garden; rotting greens help turn a seed into a vegetable. "The earth and a woman's body each cycle through death to generate new life. What if developing consciousness mirrors the natural world? To become whole means we need to consciously remember all our parts. Perhaps we become stuck or immobilized because we haven't developed a conscious relationship with death as a part of life. How can we move forward if we don't know how to let go? We've forgotten to compost the wisdom that lives inside death. Practicing surrender can teach us how to hold death so we can cultivate life in a different way. D Life 1) Take Care, Love Yourself First!* : Vathsala Jayaraman Taking care of oneself- both physically and mentally is an important part of overall wellness. In fact, it is a discipline one should practice making the life worthwhile and meaningful. It is about building a life we don't want to escape from. Self-care is conscious, intentional activity or habit that aids in the process of personal advancement, including emotional, physical, spiritual and social growth. (Continued at H1) *Received from Vathsala Jayaraman via Group mail E Black Swan : Book Review "Stuck in Mediocristan | Books | The Guardian" https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2007/may/12/society "I found the book to be a scholarly take on the theme of I never saw that coming! The date of my review is 9/21/2021. My prediction for a black swan is that the covid vaccines will be one of the most insidious events ever perpetrated on the American public in our history." (From an Amazon Reader's Review, September 2021) F Leisure 1) More serious jokes for your idle mind* When you are bored just think about a few things that don't make sense .....like :- 1. If poison expires, is it more poisonous or is it no longer poisonous? 2. Which letter is silent in the word "Scent," the S or the C? 3. Do twins ever realize that one of them is unplanned? 4. Why is the letter W, in English, called double U? Shouldn't it be called double V? 5. Maybe oxygen is slowly killing you and It just takes 75-100 years to fully work. 6. Every time you clean something, you just make something else dirty. 7. The word "swims" upside-down is still "swims" 8. 100 years ago everyone owned a horse and only the rich had cars. Today everyone has cars and only the rich own horses. 9. If you replace "W" with "T" in "What, Where and When", you get the answer to each of them. Four great confusions still unresolved :- 1. At a movie theatre, which arm rest is yours? 2. If people evolved from monkeys, why are monkeys still around? 3. Why is there a 'D' in fridge, but not in refrigerator? 4. Who knew what time it was when the first clock was made? We can never find the answers, can we? So just enjoy the pun and fun of the English language. *Received from Shivaram Shetty Ex-RBI Mumbai 2) How predictions evolve* A Perfectly Timed Joke : It was autumn, and the Red Indians asked their New Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a Red Indian chief in a modern society, he couldn't tell what the weather was going to be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his Tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared. But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked 'Is the coming winter going to be cold?' 'It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed,' the weather man responded. So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood. A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. 'Is it going to be a very cold winter?' 'Yes,' the man at National Weather Service again replied, 'It's definitely going to be a very cold winter.' The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find. Two weeks later, he called the National Weather Service again. 'Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?' 'Absolutely,' The man replied. 'It's going to be one of the coldest winters ever.' 'How can you be so sure?' the Chief asked. The weatherman replied, 'The Red Indians are collecting wood like crazy.' _Incidentally, this is how stock markets and currencies work_ *Received from Dr T V Surendran Mananthavady 3) Poetry Strange Meeting BY WILFRED OWEN It seemed that out of battle I escaped Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped Through granites which titanic wars had groined. Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned, Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred. Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared With piteous recognition in fixed eyes, Lifting distressful hands, as if to bless. And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,— By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell. With a thousand fears that vision's face was grained; Yet no blood reached there from the upper ground, And no guns thumped, or down the flues made moan. “Strange friend,” I said, “here is no cause to mourn.” “None,” said that other, “save the undone years, The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours, Was my life also; I went hunting wild After the wildest beauty in the world, Which lies not calm in eyes, or braided hair, But mocks the steady running of the hour, And if it grieves, grieves richlier than here. For by my glee might many men have laughed, And of my weeping something had been left, Which must die now. I mean the truth untold, The pity of war, the pity war distilled. Now men will go content with what we spoiled. Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled. They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress. None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress. Courage was mine, and I had mystery; Wisdom was mine, and I had mastery: To miss the march of this retreating world Into vain citadels that are not walled. Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels, I would go up and wash them from sweet wells, Even with truths that lie too deep for taint. I would have poured my spirit without stint But not through wounds; not on the cess of war. Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were. “I am the enemy you killed, my friend. I knew you in this dark: for so you frowned Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed. I parried; but my hands were loath and cold. Let us sleep now. . . .” G Quotes about "Dead Ends" "Top 14 Quotes and Sayings about "DEAD ENDS" | inspiringquotes.us" https://www.inspiringquotes.us/topic/9127-dead-ends Like : "A dead end can never be a one way street; you can always turn around and take another road." -- Robert Foster Bennett (Robert Foster Bennett was an American politician and businessman. He was a United States Senator from Utah as a member of the Republican Party.) H 1) Continued from D1 How does it differ from selfishness? Selfishness is putting our desires ahead of the needs of others whereas self-care is putting our needs ahead of the desires of others. It has been drilled into our mind that being selfish is a sin and therefore we take the extra mile to label many things that falls strictly under self-care under selfishness. Any thoughts, words and actions that are done out of self-love, protect and preserve self-esteem, strengthen self-confidence, and bring self-satisfaction are not selfish thoughts, words, and actions. Self-care is like a foundation of the building. While self-esteem acts like the steel rods, self-confidence acts like the asphalt poured into the foundation. Self-satisfaction is the water that is poured to cure and strengthen the foundation. Without self-love, the house of life built will not have a stronger foundation. Throwing out a stale food in the fridge after finding it with fungus is not only self-care but also taking care of the interest of others. On the contrary, finishing up a tasty food in the fridge exclusively myself without keeping a portion for others is pure selfishness. Thinking I am the most important person in the world is selfishness whereas loving and appreciating others for who they are, while knowing that I am the most important person in my world is self-care. Self-care would include deciding my priorities, curiosity, and exploration of my interests, slow down when I feel like winding up, taking a break for pleasure, improving my physical and mental well-being, self-awareness, self-support, self-acceptance etc. Physical self-care would include sleep, stretching, walking, exercising, nutrition and diet plans, yoga, etc. while emotional self-care would include stress-management, coping skills, compassion, therapy, journaling, etc. Social self-care would include setting up boundaries, setting up support system to rely upon in need, positivity in life, social media communication etc Spiritual self-care would include time alone for contemplation, meditation, prayer, spending time out in the nature and visiting sacred places, etc. One can be part of a support system for people around them only if they know how to support oneself. The happiness one is willing to give someone is built on a foundation how to feel happy oneself. We belong to a collectivist society that places a high premium on selflessness as a virtue. त्याग (Renunciation) and सेवा (sacrifice) are considered the highest ideals. However every virtue when taken to an extreme becomes a vice. In our society this burden of virtuosity is overwhelmingly placed on the shoulders of women. They're put on a faux pedestal and taught to forbear and forgo from the time they are born. Women provide, nurture and empower others to grow, and often don't receive in return. They self-silence to maintain relationships; they sacrifice their needs and aspirations so others can thrive. The great Indian joint family thrived on the breaking backs and sealed lips of its women folk. This was trapped by the ingrained belief that asserting yourself was disrespectful. That is how the culture of silently suffering the verbal and physical abuse took place and continue to take place even now in many families. Anyone who questions abuse or even defend with self-care mindset is considered revolutionary and antisocial. Breaking boundaries are considered inconsiderate in the western civilization whereas setting up boundaries itself is frowned back in India. Now there are many women who suffer in the hands of their own family members and still the society is helplessly watching. It is time to pay attention to self-care and asserting self-care has to be recognized by the society as a need for growth and development. Self-care is essential not only for improving the quality of life but also to simplify life. If happiness is our goal, self-care is essential. Our mind has the ability to resolve things for us as well as complicate things. If we simplify our thought process as a discipline, even that is self-care. Vathsala Jayaraman