Warrier's Collage December 27, 2021

Warrier's COLLAGE On Monday December 27, 2021 1) Meditation in Kashmir https://youtu.be/JxWCrNsxik8 (Sarvapriyananda) 2) Cooking with Abhijit Banerjee https://youtu.be/iPhC9HDDJ90 Good Morning Nice Day M G Warrier Thought* for the Day "Our language is called THE MOTHER TONGUE. Because the Father never gets a chance to speak!" *Received from V Rangarajan (I think this is Pre-WhatsApp joke. Now people interact silently!-Warrier) A Response R Jayakumar Leisure...(Forward received from Madam Vathsala) The story of the first Confession a priest had heard in a parish and it's message that one should never be late for an invited function is humourous to read.. But there is a concept of confessional secrecy in the church known as Seal of Confession whereby a priest is bound not to disclose any information he heard from a confessor during the Sacrament of Confession to any one or any authority. Likewise the confessor is also bound by obedience to church rules not to discuss with anyone any part of discussion with the priest during confessions. A councelling session with a priest is however treated differently. ... Eagerly awaiting for Mr Nallasivan to come out of his self imposed seclusion and join us in group discussions at the appropriate time as his conscience tells him right.. R Jayakumar B Readers Write 1) V Babusenan's Column Rama's younger brother For a sixteen year old boy, whose schooling was entirely in the Malayalam medium, the first few months in a prestigious college would naturally be full of awe and confusion. That was what exactly happened to me when I joined Sree Narayana College, Kollam in 1951. For me there were three wonders : our poetry professor Vasudeva Iyer who spoke English like the sweet gurgle of a mountain brook, 'Shakespeare' Velayudhan Nair from whose lips words gushed forth as if the flood gates of a dam were opened and the third, an entirely different type, Principal, A Rama Iyer, the celebrated South Indian Fowler of the King's English. (Continued at H1) 2) Collage Essay : Vathsala Jayaraman Remembering Rajaji's The opening remarks of Rajaji in M S Subbalakshmi's Bhajagovindam has an impact on me. "When intelligence matures and lodges securely in the mind, it becomes wisdom. When wisdom is integrated with life and issues out in action, it becomes Bhakthi. Knowledge, when becomes fully mature, is Bhakthi. If does not get transformed into Bhakthi, such is useless tinsel" The carol "Silent Night, Holy Night" has an equally soothing effect. When we went to Vatican in 2007, we had the same thrill of entering Balaji Temple in Thirumala. I was amazed by the close resemblance of some of the Sufi songs to the chanting of vedas. Kahlil Gibran's writings fascinated me a lot. (Continued at H2) C Spirituality/Faith charan singh (@CharanSingh60) Tweeted: Unity in Diversity - 112 माइआ मोहु मनि आगलड़ा प्राणी जरा मरणु भउ विसरि गइआ कुट्मबु देखि बिगसहि कमला जिउ पर घरि जोहहि कपट नरा सिरीरागु, त्रिलोचन, ९२, गुरू ग्रंथ साहिब Mind in Maya Forgotten old age & death Engrossed in family Covets homes of others Trilochan https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1474808904848535560?s=20 D Current Affairs India to emerge as 6th largest economy by 2023 : https://www.livemint.com/news/india/india-to-become-world-s-6th-largest-economy-by-2023-report-11640482140858.html Indian economy is all set to become sixth largest economy in the world leaving French and British economy behind, says British Consultancy Cybr report made public on last Sunday. The report says that in the year 2022, Indian economy will exceed French economy whereas it will trump British economy in 2023. However, the report had a bad news for China as it says that it will take time for the Mandarins to become world's top economy in dollar terms. E Book Review Novel experiments in marketing/cookery by a Nobel Laureate https://www.readersdigest.in/interview/story-all-you-can-eat-127433 Excerpts : "Written by Abhijit Banerjee and illustrated by Olivier, Cooking to Save Your Life is quite obviously a kind of collaboration that often only results from a deep, lasting familiarity. An altogether unusual cookbook, Cooking to Save Your Life won't actually save your life—it seems a lot more interested in taste and relish than calorie intake—but it could, sadly, make impossible for its readers the excuse, ‘I cannot cook to save my life". While Banerjee's prose and recipes are both equally lucid, Olivier's geometric drawings make you hungry without ever being intrusive. There's comfort here, but, also, sustenance." F Leisure 1) Serious maths and English jokes.....head breaker*. 1. Why was the fraction apprehensive about marrying the decimal? Because he would have to convert. 2. Why do plants hate math? It gives them square roots. 3. Why did the student get upset when his teacher called him average? It was a mean thing to say! 4. Why was the math book depressed? It had a lot of problems. 5. Why is the obtuse triangle always so frustrated? Because it is never right. 6. Why can you never trust a math teacher holding graphing paper? They must be plotting something. 7. Why was the equal sign so humble? Because she knew she wasn’t greater than or less than anyone else. 8. What do you call the number 7 and the number 3 when they go out on a date? The odd couple (but 7 is in her prime). 9. What do you call a number that can’t stay in one place? A Roamin’ numeral. 10. Did you hear the one about the statistician? Probably. 11. What do you call dudes who love math? Algebros. 12. I’ll do algebra, I’ll do trig. I’ll even do statistics. But graphing is where I draw the line! 13. Why should you never talk to Pi? Because she’ll go on and on and on forever. 14. Why are parallel lines so tragic if they have so much in common? It’s a shame they’ll never meet. 15. Are monsters good at math? Not unless you Count Dracula. 16. What’s the best way to flirt with a math teacher? Use acute angle. 17. Did you hear about the mathematician who is afraid of negative numbers? They’d stop at nothing to avoid them. 18. How do you stay warm in any room? Just huddle in the corner, where it’s always 90 degrees. 19. Why is six afraid of seven? Because seven eight ( "ate") nine! 20. Why DID seven eat nine? Because you’re supposed to eat 3 squared meals a day! 21. Why does nobody talk to circles? Because there is no point. *Received from Dr Chitra Nashik 2) Poetry https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/2016/11/18/romantic-readings-wordsworths-the-rainbow/ Excerpts : On Friday 14 May 1802 Dorothy noted in her journal, “Went to bed at ½ past 11, William very nervous ― after he was in bed haunted with altering the Rainbow”. She added in the next day’s entry, “It is now ¼ past 10 & he is not up”. One may well wonder what it was about such a short and seemingly simple poem that altering it caused such nervousness. As published in 1807, ‘The Rainbow’ reads as follows: My heart leaps up when I behold A Rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a Man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! The Child is Father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety. G Leisure No...Bell Prize 2021 https://punstoppable.com/nobel-prize-puns If you didn't like this, please don't open the link above : "Why did the Scarecrow get a Nobel Prize?" "Because he was Out-Standing in his field." H 1) Continued from B1 One day, during a poetry session, the Principal came to the lecture hall followed by an young man. Ascending the platform the Principal addressed us : "Dear students, from now onwards, this young man will teach you poetry. He will introduce himself to you when he deems fit. Do cooperate with him fully." Without another word he left. We looked at our new lecturer. Very fair, handsome with abundant dark hair carefully combed, of medium stature, immaculately dressed in a dark blue suit with a red tie in place and well-polished shoes, he was a fine figure to look at. No sooner had the Principal left, than he started talking : "Dear friends, Prof Vasudevan suggested to me that I might do well to start teaching you with Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem in our poetry collection. Let us do so. The poet based his beautiful poem on a 15th century story by nameLe Morte d'Arthur,a French phrase meaning,' the death of Arthur'. King Arthur and his 12 chivalrous knights of 'the round table' were supposed to have lived in England during the Middle Ages. What we have to study is the concluding part of the much longer epic poem with title 'Idylls of the King.,' The king and his 12 knights did many wonderful things, but, for some unfortunate reasons, they fought among themselves. At the end of the fight, the King and Sir. Bedivere ,one of the Knights, only survived. The King was grievously wounded and he knew that death was near. So he asked his trusted knight to throw his sword Excalibur into the lake nearby. It was a magic sword with wonderful powers like the 'Chandrahasam' of Ravana. Seeing the beauty of the sword, Sir. Bedivere was tempted to preserve it and he preferred to tell a lie. To the King's query as to what he saw when he threw the sword, the knight replied: "I saw the ripple washing in the reeds And the wild water lapping on the crag" The king got annoyed with the lie and sent him a second time. The same thing was repeated, but, on the third occasion, he reported that, just when the sword was about to touch the water,a hand'clothed in white samite, mystic and wonderful ' caught it and went under. The parting words of King Arthur to his knight are famous. Some of you might have heard them : "Old order changeth yielding place to new." Now listen. I shall read the poem aloud. "So all day long the noise of battle rolled" he started reading in a clear voice, somewhat feminine, but likeable. When completed, he said : "Hope you have enjoyed it. We shall discuss the poem threadbare in the next session." He closed the book and then said with a smile : "Now,I shall introduce myself. I am Attipate Krishnaswami Ramanujan, a post graduate from the University of Mysore. I have nothing to do with Srinivasa Ramanujan except that my father was a professor of mathematics and that he worshipped that genius. I speak Kannada outside my home in Mysore. I speak English with my father in his study on the upper floor of our house and Tamil, my mother -tongue with my mother in the kitchen." All of us laughed. Ramanujan was only 22 then. Within a short period, he became very popular as a teacher, but his service was cut short by the sudden death of his father. It took many more years for him to become the Ramanujan whom the Wikipedia describes as"poet, scholar, professor, philologist , folklorist, translator and playwright." 2) Continued from B2 "Let there be spaces in your togetherness. Love one another but make not a bond of love. Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone. The strings of musical instruments stand alone,though they quiver with the same music. Stand together, yet not too near together. The pillars of the temple stand apart." Can there be a better lesson for senior citizens for giving enough space to our children, the greatest lesson of 'live and let live'. Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is wonderful stroke of luck and it helps to take failures in our stride. The world belongs as much to nonbelievers as to believers. Karl Marx, Bertrand Russell, Sigmund Freud, Stephen Hawking were staunch nonbelievers. Their contribution to human advancement is much appreciable. Tolerance for counter views is the most essential quality that needs to be cultivated early in life. Purpose of our life is not to prove any point. This is the season to remember and be grateful to everyone their contribution to the welfare of the society. In Shrimat Bhagavatham Dattatreya speaks of 24 Gurus inclusive of a wasp, hunter, a courtesan among others. Another New Year is round the corner. My warm greetings to all of you for a wonderful Happy New Year. Vathsala Jayaraman (Rajaji had come to Government College, Madappally during 1959-60. He gave a one hour "class" to an audience of less than 100. He was sitting and speaking in a low, but forceful, voice. He was addressing "children" and the tone was that of parental advice-Warrier)