Warrier's Collage January 10, 2022

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE Weekend Edition Monday, January 10, 2022 Zero Poverty District : Kottayam Kerala https://youtu.be/Xe-HhMfTH3E Good Morning Don't miss the last few lines of Collage today 🙏 Nice Day M G Warrier A 1) V Babusenan's Column : A K Ramanujan (Continued) Now we come to the fifth and the last landscape of the 'Akam' poems in the Tamil Sangham poetry. It is the 'Marutham' or the lowlands landscape. Here is one such poem from Ramanujan's English translation of the 'Kurunthokai' poems and included in his first volume: 'What She Said to the Messenger' "Tell me : Did you really see him, or did you just hear it from someone Who did see him? I want to make sure. May you get Patali City, filled with gold Where white tuskers play in the Sonai River! But tell me first: From whose mouth did you hear, Of my lover's coming? " Please note here that the heroine tells the messenger that, if he would disclose the source of his news that her lover is really coming to see her, she is prepared to give him, as a present, the entire city of Pataliputhra with all the gold it contains. Pataliputhra was the capital of the Mourya kingdom that flourished before the beginning of CE. It is not exactly the present Patna city but was close to it where the river Sone, one of the major tributaries of the Ganga, merges with it. This reference has significance as it clearly brings out the antiquity of the poem. The poet is not that well known. He is one Padumaratthu Mochi Keeranar meaning Keeranar, son of Mochi of Padumaatoor, a place inTamilnadu. To repeat : The landscape-based classification is a special feature of the Akam poems. Ramanujan points out that, though love is the common feature of these Akam poems, it differs in accordance with the nature of the landscape. While lovers' union is the theme of Kurinchi poems, patient waiting and domesticity are the theme of Mullai poems. Likewise, unfaithfulness and anxiety are respectively the themes of Marutham and Naithal landscapes while elopement, hardship and separation are the themes of the Palai landscape. As indicated at the beginning, this attempt has only a very limited purpose : to have a glimpse of the special character of the classical love poems of Tamil literature through A K Ramanujan's translation. I hope the purpose has been served, though to a very limited extent. It is much beyond us to discuss as to how far he succeeded in doing the translation in which case the original Tamil poems would also be necessary. Ramanujan has said, at one place, that classical Tamil may look alien even to present readers whose mother-tongue is Tamil.(concluded) 2) The Hindu Open Page Dr Tiny Nair : Opening gambits https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/opening-gambits/article38187471.ece Excerpts : “Flick knife attack” does not necessarily happen in a dark alley outside a nightclub. Neither does “hippo-defence” show up in the swamps of Africa. These are exotic names of moves in chess crafted by grandmasters. In the same line, “trigger-finger” or “tennis-elbow” is not restricted to a gun-toting cowboy or a Wimbledon contestant, but ailments found loitering outside the doctors’ clinic. Look carefully, and you would find an uncanny similarity between the “high IQ” grandmaster and the average “family” doctor. The grandmaster sits quietly in front of a chessboard, seemingly doing nothing, intermittently moving a small piece now and then. Be it a novice or a grandmaster, there are only 20 possible “first” moves in chess. To a parent, there are just two reasons a child catches a fever: playing in the rain or eating ice cream. They come to see the doctor for a legal prescription of paracetamol — and injection for repeat offenders. Mostly, the doctor follows the parental advice. That is the right “first” move." (Link Courtesy : P R R Nayar Thiruvanantapuram) B Current Affairs 1) India : A Fast Growing Economy https://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/indicators/india-to-overtake-japan-as-asias-2nd-largest-economy-by-2030-ihs/articleshow/88754702.cms 2) Indian Pension System https://www.moneylife.in/article/is-thoughtless-introduction-making-pension-system-lose-its-credibility/42059.html This is a 2015 article. The issues discussed are becoming more and more relevant. Excerpts : "Sporadic launching of popular social security schemes has become a fashion for governments. The recently launched Atal Pension Yojana, will definitely provide some work and funds to the administrators of NPS, but may not benefit the subscribers Eventually India has to debate the rationale for back-door introduction of National Pension System (NPS), denying an existing benefit to future employees of select organisations. None of the reasons put forth is convincing. The defined benefit pension scheme is retained for legislators, defence employees and all those who were in service prior to January 2004 and were enjoying the benefits of defined benefit pension schemes. The theory of increasing financial burden does not stand reason in such a situation." 3) Media Response Indian Pension System January 8, 2022 Senior Citizens' Savings Schemes This refers to the report "Senior citizens seek hike in interest rates on deposits"(The Hindu Business Line, January 8). A large number of citizens who are in the age-group of 70-90 today, who were in service upto 2010 and are not pensioners are mostly victims of the steep fall in deposit rates. Decades ago, Government and LIC had introduced a couple of investment instruments to ameliorate the sufferings of this category of savers. Interest rates have recently come down for deposits under such schemes also. Instead of depending on banks to give differential rates of interest to deposits to senior citizens or introducing income tax exemptions on interest income, government need to approach this issue from a social security angle. One suggestion is diverting bulk-savings of retirees and those above the age of 60 years to Government Pension Systems and pay regular pension with assured compensation for rise in inflation. LIC and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) will have the experience and expertise to jointly formulate and implement an ideal Social Security Pension System whose time has come. M G Warrier Thiruvananthapuram C Spirituality and Faith charan singh (@CharanSingh60) Tweeted: Unity in Diversity - 126 कलि माहि रूपु करता पुरखु सो जाणै जिनि किछु कीअउ गुरु मिल्यिउ सोइ भिखा कहै सहज रंगि दरसनु दीअउ In this Kaliyug, age of conflicts, Guru is embodiment of Creator, all-knowing what is happening In Guru, God is visible Bhikha, 1395, SGGS https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1479888252341424128?s=20 D Life (& Death) 1) Handling fear https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/warriersviews/handling-fear-40112/ Arun Shourie’s life is a mixed bag of challenges of different denominations. As the other side of life is clueless, even Shourie can only talk about probabilities while talking about death. But by openly discussing a subject which we avoid hearing about, in a way, the author of “Preparing for Death” has done a great service. Such debates help in clarifying several doubts many entertain, but avoid discussing in public. 2) A brief/long introduction for Death : Vathsala Jayaraman Why is death so horrifying? Because it’s a journey from which no one ever returns to write a travelogue telling us which is the best place to stay and what are the sights to see. This journey continues to be highly mystifying, which no one wants to undertake. Our Scriptures may eulogise this journey with a beautiful description of how the Soul crosses the ethereal River Vaitharani on its heavenward trip but we refuse to get enthused about it! “If you know that you are going to die tomorrow, your life today will become hell.”The most dreadful aspect of death is, therefore, the awareness of its timing. We are all happy and able to carry on our lives merrily because we know not when our end will come. But if that fact is made known to us, our life will take a top-spin! I have a morbid fascination to read books on returning to life, afterlife, life after death experiences. It is a strange discovery to read of the shining tunnel, the ringing bell, the sight of dead relatives waiting with serene smiles- the path of death is indeed lined with many travelogues. (Continued at H1) E Blogs & Links 1) A Cooperative for Literary Workers : Only in Kerala https://www.spcsindia.com/about SAHITHYA PRAVARTHAKA CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY A WRITERS CO-OPERATIVE! -the very idea would appear to be incredible considering that writers are extremely individualistic. yet that happend in Kerala 77 years ago and the result was SAHITHYA PRAVARTHAKA CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY briefly known as SPCS in the world of books. The sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society Limited, Kottayam, which was started in 1945 has by now published about 8,400 titles. Another 5,400 titles have been taken for distribution by the Society. As the largest publishing house in Kerala it ranks among the largest publishing houses in Kerala it ranks among the largest firms of publishers in India. 2) Kerala : Literacy Mission https://literacymissionkerala.org/en/home/ The Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority is an autonomous institution under the General Education Department, Government of Kerala. It was set up in 1998 for the purpose of co-ordinating and activating the 'Literacy and continuing education .Kerala launched the continuing education endeavour on 26th October, 1998 propagating the slogan ``Education for all andEducation for ever`` six years after it bagged the envious title of total literacy. Presently the KSLMA is fully funded byGovernment of Kerala in order to implement literacy, continuing education and life long learning programme designed and developed by the state. The District Literacy Missions are looking after the activities at the district level. The Continuing Education Centers functioning under the Local Self Government Institutions spread across the state are the service delivery unit of the mission.activities' launched by the National Literacy Mission, Ministry of HRD, Government of India. Its headquarters is in Thiruvananthapuram. F Leisure https://www.indulgexpress.com/culture/2021/nov/19/keralas-adhri-joe-on-becoming-a-content-creator-and-finding-humour-in-everyday-things-37158.html Excerpts : "Adhri Joe is a familiar name to Malayalis. From exposing our quirks to calling out our hypocrisies with adorable wit and spontaneity, his unique content is one of its kind. Adhri’s latest hit, however, is a Malayalam version of The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s song Stay, ‘Kallipenne’, that Malayali romantics have taken to heart. Delivered in Adhri’s signature voice, Kallipenne reflects humorously on toxic relationships. The Muvattupuzha native became a digital content creator in 2017 after leaving his job in Singapore. But it was during the lockdown that he really gained popularity. “I left the job to pursue my dream, which was cinema. I loved music, but I also wanted to break the stereotype around serious music and being a serious artist. So I focused on making fun things. Lockdown was a testing time for all of us and as a digital content creator, I felt personally responsible for making people laugh,” quips Adhri." G Collage in Kerala KOTTAYAM https://www.tripadvisor.in/Attractions-g297634-Activities-Kottayam_Kottayam_District_Kerala.html H 1) Continued from D1 Woody Allen is supposed to have declared "It is not that I am afraid of Death, I just don't want to be there when it happens to me." Reading Nachiketa's story, Ashtavakra Gita, Tibetan Book Of The Dead, Edgar Cayce's tombs, all to no avail. Still afraid. But all that fear of death and thoughts of impermanence do not seem to have had any beneficial effect on my personality. Had I been promised life eternal too, I'd be just this same I think. After reading Raymond Moody's famous book "Life after Life", I had lost some of my fear and almost started looking forward to the adventure of dying : tunnel, light, angelic couriers....But the season passed. I am back to being afraid. All that we read about death as being only an extension of life and is only meant to remove the fear of death from our minds. It might appear to a layman that the soldiers who fight for the country are all conditioned to accept death as a matter of their military drill but some research work on this subject has revealed that the soldiers are as scared of death as any of us! The only difference is that they are under some kind of a spell when there is actual fighting. We don't even want to talk or think about it and when scriptures carry some scary description of what is life beyond death is all about, we ban reading of such stuff like Garuda Puranam as a part of our daily religious routine! On the contrary, it might help if we read it more and more to get an insight into the process of life after death. Most of us didn't even know of it until Director Shankar adopted it as his theme in the film 'Anniyan'! Many people who are aware of their end never want any sympathy or display of emotions from others. But I don't t think any of us would 'giggle' at their impending end. But I do admit that I never fail to read the obituary column of The Hindu every day. That paper is very reassuring as most of the cases reported are over 80 and make you feel as if you are a kid! I wonder if pondering over death has any stabilising effect on us but the awareness of it will certainly have a great effect as I have seen in many cases. More than anything, it prepares the surviving relatives to plan better for a life without the person facing death and also to mentally equip themselves to face the calamity when it happens. 'What is the strangest thing in the world?'. 'The strangest thing is people see others dying but they think that they are immortal'.This is what Yudhishtira told Yama. In my opinion, all religions and religious leaders will be out of business if there is no fear of death and fear over life after death. The Hindu faith of many rebirths after death is somewhat a comforting thought. When we attend a funeral we grieve as appropriately as our upbringing permits. One thing common to all of them is their ability to switch to normal mode the moment they are out of the vicinity of the dead body. This is what Yudhishtira has summed up so well. Some feel that it is more worthwhile to contemplate on those things which we can change through such contemplation than on subjects over which we have no control. I have also been contemplating about all these new age speakers and seekers who assure us that we are immortal and hence we do not have to fear death and the same immortality or the thought of it should make us more aware, alive and live more in/with consciousness. After all the joy of known is better than the fear of the unknown. This one answer establishes Yudhishtra's wisdom more than whatever he said or did during his entire life. In this country, we talk of‘Smasana Vairagya’. Smasana is, as you may know, the burial ground. When people visit here to consign the mortal remains of a friend or relative back to Nature, they vow to lead a life of virtue henceforth. This lofty thought probably will last till sunset that day! The sight or awareness of death does jolt us into a quick review of our past deeds and push us into penitent mood. But we get over this mood faster than the speed of light! Death does not destroy the sukshma sariram which is a bundle of the "cause-effects" of our karmas! If you make an attempt to understand "THE LAW OF KARMA" you will be at peace with yourself. The science has declared that terminally ill patients go through five stages called a) denial (this is not happening to me), b) anger (why is this happening to me?), c) bargaining (I promise I will be a better person if you let me off the hook), d) depression (I don't care anymore) and e) acceptance (I am ready for whatever comes). Franklin D Roosevelt said, "Only thing we need to fear is fear itself". The fear of death is really overwhelming. Death is inevitable and it is the beginning of the rest of the series of lives one is going to experience. What is the point in regretting unfinished business when it is the cause for us coming back anyway? The preparation for death is not done in a few days or months or years but it is done right from the time of our birth. I am actually glad that I don't know the date and time of my departure. I am also equally glad that I do not know my thoughts of prior lives as it would make my life a living hell. If no one is regretting my death at least I want to make sure no one is celebrating it. In fact, this should be the goal of every living person. Death has such a finality about it that when the thought of it enters the mind, it becomes an obsession. We attend a funeral and express our deep condolences but we never think that we'll be lying where the body of the dead is now kept! Vathsala Jayaraman ( I look at this issue from a different perspective : I don't remember anything about my life before my birth. Post-life also my knowing or remembering about the previous episode is remote. That could be one of reasons behind the statement "It is not that I am afraid of Death, I just don't want to be there when it happens to me." attributed to Woody Allen. Like Tax Consultants and Lawyers, many who write or talk about future and Post-life Times have their own vested interests or fears 🙏-Warrier)

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