Warrier's Collage December 12, 2021

Warrier's COLLAGE On Sunday December 12, 2021 Harivarasanam... https://youtu.be/sj6H0RKnMXw (Dance By Asha Sharat & others) Good Morning Happy Birthday to all readers having Birthday during the week ending Saturday December 18, 2021. Best Wishes Nice Day M G Warrier A Select Responses 1) V Babusenan I am very happy to find that Smt Vathsala Jayaraman remembered the Grammar Family in London. When the head of the family died, a poet living in the neighbouring Wimpole Street(his name was Robert Browning) wrote a profound poem on the funeral procession which became famous as 'The Grammarian's Funeral'. Kindly permit me to quote* two lines from it: "Irks care the cropful bird? Frets doubt the maw-crammed beast?" Babusenan *See H for full poem 2) Sitendra Kumar The tributes paid by Jyothilakshmi Anil Kumar, R Jayakumar and Dr Prabha Ramadurai deserve bountiful praise and appreciation. The episodes narrated by V Babusenan and Vathsala Jayaraman are interesting and educative. I had a couple of months back already purchased and read Shri Warrier's excellent book 'Restoring Trust in Governance; India's 2020s challenge'. A really good blog. Sitendra Kumar 3) Jyothi Anil Kumar Responding to an article in the Media : Ill fate, what to say !! It's so difficult to speak about Gen Rawat in past tense. Just 3 days back this absolutely fit and fine brave, honourable, highly decorated, chief of defence staff officer was walking alive and then the fate turns unfavourable all of a sudden, and quite shockingly he meets an unprecedented painful and tragic end !!! Just a matter of seconds !!! Life is so uncertain !!! Death is so uncertain !! It won't spare the good or the wicked equally...when the time's up, it's the final call. Curtains down. No partiality, and most of the times, no extentions. Rarely we see miracles ..for example in Gen Rawat's own case, he had survived a helicopter crash somewhere in Nagaland region few years ago !!! From this write-up it is so clear that he was a true gentleman !!! A brave soldier. An understanding officer. A great human !! We are at loss !!! Loss of a strong and intelligent officer, whose defence strategies were phenomenal ! He conveyed a strong message to our enemies, not to foray without thinking. A man and officer - par excellence !! I really wish the next CDS also lives up to these qualities !!! And also wish that we don't lose our brave soldiers in so abruptly and tragically. (*Sudha's brother Dr T V Surendran Mananthavady shared Jyothi's write-up on the subject included in Collage yesterday with this note : "My first cousin Lt T V Krishnan, attained martyrdom. Here is a write up by his younger brother's daughter" B Current Affairs 1) Message from Dr Prabha Ramadurai : Sharing a post with you which I received from an , ex Navy Admiral, who attended the General's funeral today: A moment which a Soldier never wants to be part of i.e., to bid adieu to your chief one last time. Attended d last rites of Gen Bipin Rawat & Mrs Madhulika Rawat and found all eyes around moist yet filled with pride. But what I found and reason of sharing here is the courage which I have never witnessed in my life. Two Veer Naris Mrs Lidder and Mrs Harjinder... having suffered the biggest loss of their lives attended last rites of Mrs & Gen Rawat. Mrs Lidder having cremated her husband in the same Brar Square 5 hours back was standing solid, unshaken to be a support to General's daughters. Mrs Harjinder whose husband's mortal remains are still in R&R Hospital for identification preferred to be a support system for General's daughters from last two days knowing well that her entire world has collapsed. I have never witnessed such courage in my soldiering life. Respect 🙏 2) Jyothylakshmi Anil Kumar responding to Dinesh Kapila's (Ex-CGM NABARD) article : Ill fate, what to say !! It's so difficult to speak about Gen Rawat in past tense. Just 3 days back this absolutely fit and fine brave, honourable, highly decorated, chief of defence staff officer was walking alive and then the fate turns unfavourable all of a sudden, and quite shockingly he meets an unprecedented painful and tragic end !!! Just a matter of seconds !!! Life is so uncertain !!! Death is so uncertain !! It won't spare the good or the wicked equally...when the time's up, it's the final call. Curtains down. No partiality, and most of the times, no extentions. Rarely we see miracles ..for example in Gen Rawat's own case, he had survived a helicopter crash somewhere in Nagaland region few years ago !!! From this write-up it is so clear that he was a true gentleman !!! A brave soldier. An understanding officer. A great human !! We are at loss !!! Loss of a strong and intelligent officer, whose defence strategies were phenomenal ! He conveyed a strong message to our enemies, not to foray without thinking. A man and officer - par excellence !! I really wish the next CDS also lives up to these qualities !!! And also wish that we don't lose our brave soldiers in so abruptly and tragically. C Spirituality/Faith 1) Sunday Collage : V T Panchapagesan SUNDAY COLLAGE.. PRAGYANAM BRAHMA.. INTELLIGENCE IS DIVINE AHAM BRAHMOSMI ...I AM DIVINE TATVAMASI.....................YOU ARE THAT AYAM ATMA BRAHMA.. SOUL IS DIVINE WHY RIP IS NOT THE CORRECT FORM OF CONDOLENCE TO A HINDU FAMILY RIP means Rest in Peace- In Christianity, this short epitaph signifies wishing rest and peace to someone who has died. Christians bury the dead ones and the soul rests in peace in that grave until the judgment day arrives. On the Judgment day, the Lord will decide who goes where- Heaven or Hell. They believe that on the Judgment day the dead will rise again. Until that time, the soul has to remain inside that coffin. Hence the blessing Rest In Peace (until the judgement day) Now, Hinduism does not have any concept such as that of rising of dead ones. Hinduism believes in reincarnation. It says that the cycle of birth and death are governed by the Karma of individuals. The deceased individual would take another birth based upon the Karma of this life. So there is no rest and hence, the concept of RIP is not valid in Hinduism. Hinduism believes in Moksha that is liberation- Liberation from the endless cycles of birth and death. That's why instead of using RIP we should say, “Om Shanti" or “Aatma Ko Sadgati Prapt Ho (May Soul attain Moksha)”or simply "Om Sadgati". Sadgati means salvation or liberation. We always pray that may the soul get liberated from the cycle of life and death.. In fact, the concept of RIP would remotely come close to the concept of Preta (Evil, hungry ghosts) which is basically a curse in the Hindu way of life. An individual after leaving his/her body becomes Preta. When we say RIP , we are praying for the soul to remain locked into a standstill on Earth as it becomes Preta for eternity. That’s why in Hindu way of life there is a concept of Terahvin (13 days). For 13 days family members of deceased persuade the Pretas every day with various invocations and offerings requesting them to leave this earth and move on to their next destination which could be either incarnation or salvation (moksha). By saying _Om Sadgati_ we prompt the soul to move on and not remain in 'peace' here.. Share with your next generation why in Hinduism we don't say RIP when we send condolence messages. Action performed with Selfish desires Action performed with Unselfish desires Action performed with Selfless. desires Karma is based on action based on these V T Panchapagesan... 2) Dr Charan Singh charan singh (@CharanSingh60) Tweeted: Unity in Diversity - 97 सिरी गुरू साहिबु सभ ऊपरि करी क्रिपा सतजुगि जिनि ध्रू परि स्री प्रहलाद भगत उधरीअं हस्त कमल माथे पर धरीअं Supreme Guru is above all In Satyug, blessed Dhruv Saved devotee Prahlada by placing lotus-like hand on forehead Gayand, 1401, SGGS https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1469444111102971906?s=20 D Literature English Poetry A Grammarian's Funeral https://smartenglishnotes.com/2021/04/19/summary-and-analysis-of-a-grammarians-funeral/ A Grammarian's Funeral* Context : Grammarian's Funeral is set in 14th century Italy, during Renaissance. The Renaissance was marked by a revival of interest in Greek and Latin learning, including the languages. ‘The Grammarian’ of the poem would have been a scholar of the classical languages, instrumental in the recovery of ancient texts (remember the brown manuscripts from ‘Bishop’?). These grammarians were the foundation of the Renaissance but were often the butt of jokes and satirized. The Poem is About : In this poem, the Grammarian's former students (one of which is the speaker) are performing his eulogy and carrying his corpse to its burial place atop a mountain. *See H for full poem E Stories with a moral* I share two stories with you, and you may examine how you would choose in these situations. Story One : A certain company had a tradition of holding a party and a lottery every Christmas Eve. The rules of the lottery draw were as follows : each employee pays ten dollars as a fund. There were three hundred people in the company. In other words, a total of three thousand dollars can be raised. The winner takes all the money home. On the day of the lottery draw, the office was filled with a lively atmosphere. Everyone wrote their names on the slips of paper and put them in the lottery box. However, a young man hesitated when he wrote. Because he thought that the company's Cleaning Lady's frail and sickly son was going to have an operation soon after the dawn of New Year but she did not have the required money to pay for the operation, which made her quite troubled. So, even though he knew that the chance of winning was slim, with only a 0.33 percent chance, the man wrote the name of the Cleaner lady on the note. The tense moment came. The boss doubled in the lottery box, and finally drew out a note. The man also kept praying in his heart : hoping against hope that the Cleaning lady can win the prize...Then the boss carefully announced the winner's Name, a miracle happened! The winner turned out to be the Cleaning lady. Cheers broke out in the office, and the Cleaning lady hurriedly rushed to the stage to accept the award. She almost burst into tears and said, "I am so fortunate and blessed! With this money, my son now has hope!" At the beginning of the party, while thinking about this "Christmas miracle", the man paced to the lottery box. He took out a piece of paper and opened it casually. The name on it was also the name of the Cleaning lady! The man was very surprised. He took out several pieces of paper one after another. Although the handwriting on them was different, the names were all the same, all of them were the names of the Cleaning lady. The man's eyes were filled with tears and he clearly understood that there was a Christmas miracle in the world, but the miracle will not fall from the sky, the people were required to create it by themselves! Story Two : One afternoon, I went for a walk with a friend in the suburbs. Suddenly, an old man in tattered clothes approached us with a bag of green vegetables in his hand. The sales of those vegetables on that day were very poor, the leaves seemed dehydrated and yellowish and there were holes in them as if bitten by insects. But my friend bought three bags without saying a word. The old man also embarrassedly explained : "I grew these vegetables myself. It rained a while ago, and the vegetables were soaked. They look ugly. I'm sorry." After the old man left, I asked my friend: "Will you really cook these when you go home?" He didn't want to say No to me. " These vegetables can no longer be eaten." "Then why did you take the trouble of buying them?" I asked. He replied, "Because it is impossible for anyone to buy those vegetables. If I don't buy it, the old man will probably have no income for today." I admired my friend's thoughtfulness and concern, so I caught up with the old man and bought some vegetables from him. The old man said very happily, "I tried to sell them the whole day , but no one was ready to buy them. I am so happy that you both were willing to buy from me... Thank you so much." Several handfuls of green vegetables that I can't eat at all taught me a valuable lesson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . When we are at a low ebb in life, we all hope that miracles will happen to us; but when we are capable, are we willing to be the ones who create miracles for others, more in need? After reading these two stories you have two choices :  1) You can spread it, spread the positive message, and make the world love more. 2) You can also ignore it as if you never saw it. However, your little sharing action may illuminate the destiny of countless unfortunate people. People become successful not only because their dreams get fulfilled, but also even more successful because of their compassionate deeds. You become positively transformed when you are willing to be more compassionate to others. *Received from Dr T V Surendran Mananthavady F Never give up, keep trying https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/sayantantoiblogs/never-give-up-keep-trying-39406/ Excerpts : "Success is not everyone’s cup of tea. It requires lots of sleepless days and nights, lots of sweat and a great amount of hard work and it can only be achieved if you never give up on the small failures that you face in the process. Always make sure that no matter what the situation is, you never give up in your life when nothing seems to go the way we planned, and the future looks bleak. In times like these, we cannot help but feel that there cannot be a reason to keep on trying; after all, what is the point in working on something when you know it is going to be futile in the end? But to be fair, it is never a good idea to just give up, not until you have given your best to the situation." G Collage in Classroom Measure of success https://www.inc.com/chirag-kulkarni/7-ways-to-measure-true-success.html Excerpts : Level of Learning and Knowledge While it may seem like a strange way to measure success, it's really not -- given the fact that it's this learning and knowledge that provide you with the market, customer, competitor and economic intelligence to help shape your strategy. This continual learning doesn't just come from what I've read or observed; it's also about practical experience that I've gained by putting my strategy to work and witnessing the outcome. That means that even failure is necessary in order to achieve a certain level of learning and knowledge. In this way, learning from my failures has actually become part of the necessary equation for achieving real success. I know where to dodge the pitfalls and bumps - because I've seen them before. I think in a way, it's kind of like "street smarts." You don't get street smarts sitting on the couch watching T.V. How You Spend Your Time The reason determining how you spend your time each day is a real measure of success is because this tells you if you have been able to delegate, create an efficient organization, and it determines what your main priorities need to be as the leader of a company. I tend to work all the time, but what I realized is that I could be more successful by prioritizing tasks and letting go of some of the less important tasks. I could let others take the lead, which builds them into a fantastic, trusted team. But, the biggest benefit is that it freed up time for me to focus on those strategic areas where I excelled, helping to provide a clearer direction for the company. This also gave me time for reflection and my own learning and development as well as allowed me to carve out more personal time to take care of myself and spend time with family and friends. H A Grammarian's Funeral BY ROBERT BROWNING Shortly after the Revival of Learning in Europe Let us begin and carry up this corpse, Singing together. Leave we the common crofts, the vulgar thorpes Each in its tether Sleeping safe on the bosom of the plain, Cared-for till cock-crow: Look out if yonder be not day again Rimming the rock-row! That's the appropriate country; there, man's thought, Rarer, intenser, Self-gathered for an outbreak, as it ought, Chafes in the censer. Leave we the unlettered plain its herd and crop; Seek we sepulture On a tall mountain, citied to the top, Crowded with culture! All the peaks soar, but one the rest excels; Clouds overcome it; No! yonder sparkle is the citadel's Circling its summit. Thither our path lies; wind we up the heights: Wait ye the warning? Our low life was the level's and the night's; He's for the morning. Step to a tune, square chests, erect each head, 'Ware the beholders! This is our master, famous, calm and dead, Borne on our shoulders. Sleep, crop and herd! sleep, darkling thorpe and croft, Safe from the weather! He, whom we convoy to his grave aloft, Singing together, He was a man born with thy face and throat, Lyric Apollo! Long he lived nameless: how should spring take note Winter would follow? Till lo, the little touch, and youth was gone! Cramped and diminished, Moaned he, "New measures, other feet anon! My dance is finished"? No, that's the world's way: (keep the mountain-side, Make for the city!) He knew the signal, and stepped on with pride Over men's pity; Left play for work, and grappled with the world Bent on escaping: "What's in the scroll," quoth he, "thou keepest furled Show me their shaping, Theirs who most studied man, the bard and sage, Give!" So, he gowned him, Straight got by heart that book to its last page: Learned, we found him. Yea, but we found him bald too, eyes like lead, Accents uncertain: "Time to taste life," another would have said, "Up with the curtain!" This man said rather, "Actual life comes next? Patience a moment! Grant I have mastered learning's crabbed text, Still there's the comment. Let me know all! Prate not of most or least, Painful or easy! Even to the crumbs I'd fain eat up the feast, Ay, nor feel queasy." Oh, such a life as he resolved to live, When he had learned it, When he had gathered all books had to give! Sooner, he spurned it. Image the whole, then execute the parts Fancy the fabric Quite, ere you build, ere steel strike fire from quartz, Ere mortar dab brick! (Here's the town-gate reached: there's the market-place Gaping before us.) Yea, this in him was the peculiar grace (Hearten our chorus!) That before living he'd learn how to live No end to learning: Earn the means first God surely will contrive Use for our earning. Others mistrust and say, "But time escapes: Live now or never!" He said, "What's time? Leave Now for dogs and apes! Man has Forever." Back to his book then: deeper drooped his head: Calculus racked him: Leaden before, his eyes grew dross of lead: Tussis attacked him. "Now, master, take a little rest!" not he! (Caution redoubled Step two abreast, the way winds narrowly!) Not a whit troubled, Back to his studies, fresher than at first, Fierce as a dragon He (soul-hydroptic with a sacred thirst) Sucked at the flagon. Oh, if we draw a circle premature, Heedless of far gain, Greedy for quick returns of profit, sure Bad is our bargain! Was it not great? did not he throw on God, (He loves the burthen) God's task to make the heavenly period Perfect the earthen? Did not he magnify the mind, show clear Just what it all meant? He would not discount life, as fools do here, Paid by instalment. He ventured neck or nothing heaven's success Found, or earth's failure: "Wilt thou trust death or not?" He answered "Yes: Hence with life's pale lure!" That low man seeks a little thing to do, Sees it and does it: This high man, with a great thing to pursue, Dies ere he knows it. That low man goes on adding one to one, His hundred's soon hit: This high man, aiming at a million, Misses an unit. That, has the world here should he need the next, Let the world mind him! This, throws himself on God, and unperplexed Seeking shall find him. So, with the throttling hands of death at strife, Ground he at grammar; Still, thro' the rattle, parts of speech were rife: While he could stammer He settled Hoti's business let it be! Properly based Oun Gave us the doctrine of the enclitic De, Dead from the waist down. Well, here's the platform, here's the proper place: Hail to your purlieus, All ye highfliers of the feathered race, Swallows and curlews! Here's the top-peak; the multitude below Live, for they can, there: This man decided not to Live but Know Bury this man there? Here here's his place, where meteors shoot, clouds form, Lightnings are loosened, Stars come and go! Let joy break with the storm, Peace let the dew send! Lofty designs must close in like effects: Loftily lying, Leave him still loftier than the world suspects, Living and dying.