Warrier's Collage December 30, 2021
Warrier's COLLAGE
On
Thursday
December 30, 2021
Good Morning
Yesterday some readers of Collage received truncated message. Apologies. I've explained to those who were curious.
Nice Day
M G Warrier
A
Welcome 2022
Here Again We Have a New Beginning
by Nicholas GordonHere again we have a new beginning,
An old refrain to start a brand-new verse.
Perhaps the belly droops, the hair is thinning;
Perhaps each year the memory gets worse.
Yet new beginnings always start with hope,
Needing hope to nurture innocence,
Endeavoring to find a way to cope
When nothing deeply thought about makes sense.
Years come and go; Eden doesn't change.
Each new year we toddle forth again,
Afoot into a world that's ever strange,
Restored by some great turning tide within!
(Someone has already written what you thought about writing when you mastered the art 🙏-Warrier)
B
Spirituality/Faith
charan singh (@CharanSingh60) Tweeted:
Unity in Diversity - 115
बाघु मरै मनु मारीऐ जिसु सतिगुर दीखिआ होइ
आपु पछाणै हरि मिलै बहुड़ि न मरणा होइ
गुरु नानक, १४१०, गुरू ग्रंथ साहिब
Tiger, Mind, is killed following Teachings of Guru
Self realisation, liberation, no more death again
Guru Nanak, 1410, SGGS https://twitter.com/
C
New Year Eve, Bye 2021
Excerpts :
This New Year's Eve is special, especially after last year when we had to stay away, in isolation and in fear. This year, we look forward to meeting our family, friends, have a hearty meal, share a joke or two and celebrate togetherness. Here* are few ideas on how you can spend your New Year's Eve at home, with your loved ones by your side and a smile on your face.
*Hindustan Times article
D
Readers' Contribution
1) Conspiracy of circumstances : V Babusenan
Conspiracy of circumstances generally leads to something undesirable like the popular belief that the assassination of the crown Prince of Austria-Hungary and his wife, by a Serbian terrorist, led to the first World War. But some such conspiracies may lead to good results too. I am venturing to relate how circumstances involving three persons, by and large, benefited two south Indian languages viz. Tamil and Malayalam.
The well-known Indian-English poet A K Ramanujan, suddenly developed an interest in philology and he underwent a course in that subject at Deccan College, Pune. A Fulbright scholarship at the end of the course sent him to the Indiana University, USA, where he obtained a doctorate in1963 doing research in Kannada grammar. While the research work was going on, Ramanujan's intelligence and dedication, combined with his gentle behaviour, attracted many learned men among whom was a close friend of Milton Singer, head of the Department of South Asian Languages attached to the Chicago University. At that time, Ronald E Asher, the British philologist, was teaching Tamil in that department. He had plans to go back to England. Having heard about Ramanujan from his friend, Singer did not have to think twice before offering that post to him. Ramanujan accepted the offer with some initial hesitation as he was not that well-versed in Tamil though it was his mother-tongue. His subsequent efforts to master that language to do justice to the job, accidentally, resulted in his translating the Tamil Sangham poetry for the benefit of the English readers of the west. That is a different story.
Perhaps, unknown to Ramanujan, Molly Daniels,a Syrian Christian lady from Thiruvalla town in Kerala, also got the Fulbright scholarship in the same year(1961) and joined Chicago University for research. She was teaching English literature in Lady Sriram College, Delhi. They met and married in1962. Thus Ramanujan who started his career in Kerala as a lecturer in Sree Narayana College, Kollam a decade earlier, became the son-in-law of Malayalam. Ramanujan dedicated his first collection of original English poems 'The Striders' to Molly Daniels Ramanujan whom the poet married on a couple of occasions and none else. She helped him in many ways and edited some of his books, including a bulky anthology of his works, posthumously. (Ramanujan died in1993). She is herself a novelist of repute.
It is not unlikely that the relationship persuaded Ramanujan to do some excellent translation of Malayalam poetry, including that of Mahakavi G. Sankara Kurup's famous poem 'Perunthatchan'* (Master Carpenter).
Ronald E Asher is a celebrated British philologist who was with the Chicago University when Ramanujan reached the US. As mentioned above, the latter was appointed to the post of Tamil professor in Chicago University when the former left. Asher served in many universities and, having been an expert in Tamil and Malayalam, made significant contributions to both languages. He is gratefully remembered by Malayalies as the English translator of the novels of the all-time great Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai and Vaikom Mohammad Basheer.
One cannot say with any certainty whether destiny had a role in these events.
*Listen to the excellent recital of this poem using this link :
2) Plava Year*
Did you know, that as per our "Panchang" system, each year has a specific name? And that each name has a meaning? There are 60 names of years (Samvatsars). Each name replays after 60 years. The year typically begins in mid-April.
The year 2019-20 was named ‘Vikari', that lived up to its name by being a‘illness’ year!
The year 2020-21 was named ‘Sharvari', meaning darkness, and it did push the world into a dark phase!
Now the‘Plava' year (2021-22) is beginning.‘Plava' means, "that - which ferries us across". The Varaha Samhita says: this will ferry the world across unbearable difficulties and reach us to a state of glory. And take us from darkness to light!
The year 2022-23 is named ‘Shubhkrut' meaning that which creates auspiciousness.
We can now look forward and expect to have a better tomorrow.
Believe it or not Sanatana Dharma is thus far the most scientific, practical and inclusive of all systems in existence today.
Our Rishis and Munis could accurately predict when modern day gadgets and equipments were non existent.
Proud to belong to the land of diversity and brotherhood🙏
*Received from Shivram Shetty Ex-RBI Mumbai
(To know more, see E below)
E
Easy Life
1) The Panchanga : There's more in Panchanga than in calendar!
The Hindu Calendar is of two types:
- the solar calendar or the saura maana, and
- the lunisolar calendar or the chaandra maana.
We will describe both in detail in this article.
The structure of the Hindu Calendar is of course composed of days making months making years. The system of describing days is the same in both the solar and lunisolar calendars. The system of describing months and hence years is what distinguishes the solar and lunisolar calendars from each other. We shall first describe the day, then the months and year of the solar calendar, and then the months and year of the lunisolar calendar. Then we shall speak about year numbering and the 60 names of the years.
2) Tips for the elderly
(Link Courtesy : S Thyagarajan)
3) From Amazon introduction to "A Handbook for Silvers" by Sabita Radhakrishna :
The elders today live in a bewildering world of loneliness. Nuclear families are here to stay. In the olden days, in a joint family, support to the young and old was given without question. Having been protected through their lives, the elders find the props removed and they are forced to fend for themselves today. As an attempt to fill this lacuna to some degree, A Handbook for Silvers offers useful suggestions to seniors as to how to overcome or cope with some of their disabilities.
Divided into chapters for easy referral and with a font easy to read, it is a bedside book for every elder. The cold facts of ageing explores the different aspects of the inconvenience of age, it assures the reader that ageing is a normal occurrence and that one can cope with positivity and a will to enjoy life.
It offers tools to cope with loneliness, which can dramatically affect the health of an elderly person. Bonding with family and tips on how to accomplish this, making your home older people friendly to avoid accidents and falls and making travel less stressful are some of the topics covered.
There are little pointers factored in for dealing with emergencies, eating right and exercising to improve the quality of life, and socialising and nurturing talents and hobbies.
The author has dipped into her own life experiences and her work with the older people through her life and has expressed it in many ways through the handbook.
F
Leisure
Pin drop silence*
What is the meaning of pin drop silence?
Following are some instances when silence could be heard louder than the noise (here voice).
Take 1:
Field Marshal Sam Bahadur Maneckshaw once started addressing a public meeting at Ahmedabad in English.
The crowd started chanting, "Speak in Gujarati.
We will hear you only if you speak in Gujarati."
Field Marshal Sam Bahadur Maneckshaw stopped.
Swept the audience with a hard stare and replied,
"Friends, I have fought many a battle in my long career.
I have learned Punjabi from men of the Sikh Regiment;
Marathi from the Maratha Regiment;
Tamil from the men of the Madras Sappers;
Bengali from the men of the Bengal Sappers,
Hindi from the Bihar Regiment; and
Even Nepali from the Gurkha Regiment.
Unfortunately there was no soldier from Gujarat from whom I could have learned Gujarati."...
You could have heard a pin drop
Take 2:
Robert Whiting,
an elderly US gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.
At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.
"You have been to France before, Monsieur ?", the Customs officer asked sarcastically.
Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.
"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."
The American said,
"The last time I was here,
I didn't have to show it."
"Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !",
the Customs officer sneered.
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long, hard look.
Then he quietly explained
"Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach, at 4:40am, on D-Day in 1944, to help liberate your country, I couldn't find a single Frenchman to show a passport to...."
You could have heard a pin drop
Take 3:
Soon after getting freedom from British rule in 1947, the de-facto prime minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru called a meeting of senior Army Officers to select the first General of the Indian army.
Nehru proposed, "I think we should appoint a British officer as a General of The Indian Army, as we don't have enough experience to lead the same."
Having learned under the British, only to serve and rarely to lead, all the civilians and men in uniform present nodded their heads in agreement.
However one senior officer, Nathu Singh Rathore, asked for permission to speak.
Nehru was a bit taken aback by the independent streak of the officer, though, he asked him to speak freely.
Rathore said, "You see, sir, we don't have enough experience to lead a nation too, so shouldn't we appoint a British person as the first Prime Minister of India?"
You could hear a pin drop.
After a pregnant pause, Nehru asked Rathore,
"Are you ready to be the first General of The Indian Army?"..
Rathore declined the offer saying "Sir, we have a very talented army officer, my senior, Gen. Cariappa, who is the most deserving among us."
This is how the brilliant Gen. Cariappa became the first General and Rathore the first ever Lt. General of the Indian Army.
(Many thanks to Lt. Gen Niranjan Malik PVSM (Retd) for this article.)
*Forward received from R Jayakumar via Group mail
G
Quotes on silence
Like :
"Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence."
-H W Longfellow
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the fireside poets from New England.)
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