Warrier's Collage February 13, 2022

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Sunday, February 13, 2022 1) India's largest Rose Garden https://youtu.be/nke_HlPVDJM (Rose Day 2022 was observed on February 7, 2022) 2) India's Single Time Zone... https://youtu.be/U6upmuHClEw (Link Courtesy : Dr T V Surendran Mananthavady) Good Morning Happy Birthday to all readers having Birthday during the week ending Saturday February 19, 2022. Best Wishes Nice Day Sunday Collage by V T Panchapagesan at E1 Babusenan's column at C2 Next issue of Collage hopefully will be on February 20, 2022 or later. M G Warrier A Responses 1) TNC Rangarajan Referring to homes sans kitchens (Forward received from Dr T V Surendran Mananthavady) : "Reminded me of the three aspects of a joint family in Hindu Law common living, common food and common worship" 2) Jyothylakshmi Anil Kumar Ref : Arrival in Thiruvananthapuram & Day Two in Thiruvananthapuram (Warriersviews) It was interesting indeed. I was imagining you, as the protagonist, in that phase and journey of your life, while reading, like if watching a 1960's movie. You took us thru your journey from North Malabar to Tvm. Such pieces from history are quite fascinating. The hotel rent was startling. Almost half of your basic pay!! But discount given for not having lunch during weekdays. Those days, of course limited options for longer stays. But still I felt it was expensive. I had lot of fun reading all those facts. I love reading such nonfiction narratives. The real life experiences are exciting. 3) R Jayakumar Positive Thinking V/s Practical Thinking. I thank Shri Panchapagesan Sir and Madam Vathsala for their valuable evaluation of one of the human qualities of being positive in mind, in the light of doubts cast by me over the benefits of being positive. Panchapagesan Sir has quoted scriptures and explained the spirituality behind being positive in one's life. I think the recommendation is that one should not think of the results while practicing positivism and one should never to give up being positive in life. Madam has explained it in a down to earth analysis and made it very easy to understand. From my point of understanding her essay, her views are that practical thinking is a realistic approach to life. It is necessary because all are not of the same mind set. Some have strong will power, some have mediocre will power and others a weak will power. Being able to be positive is proportionate to the amount of will power one is gifted with. That is why everyone is not a great leader, everyone is not a great inventor, everyone is not a great entrepreneur, everyone is not a great philosopher. As madam has said our mind's constant effort is to avoid being hurt and to avoid hurting others. That may be the reason for many to approach life with a practical mind. Though madam has uses the break of a car in a different context I feel that the car is a zero without a break in it. Break is a necessity for the one who drives the car not to get himself hurt and to avoid hurting others. The success of not getting hurt or not hurting others depends on one's will power. But, as all are not having the same will power some are optimistic and some are pessimistic in their approach. In my opinion those who strike a balance between the optimists and the pessimists are the practical persons. When dark clouds gather in the sky the optimist takes out his plough to go to the field, the pessimist searches for an umbrella before stepping out of the house and the pratical person calls the weather bureau to confirm if it would rain on that day. (Please ignore it if it is a bad example.) Another point madam has pointed out is that we must aim high in order to become something in life. Within three years of staying in the US my daughter concluded that those who dream of migrating to the US or any other country should not come with high hopes and high aspirations, but be ready to face the reality. For her, when in a lift or in a public place it is safe to wish and shake hands with an unknown American but never an unknown Indian or any other migrant. Chances are being left stranded in a locked car with family under sub zero temperature and left to die freezing without water and food...... R Jayakumar B Current Affairs 1) RBI's Monetary Policy https://m.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=53247 Excerpts : Date : Feb 10, 2022 Monetary Policy Statement, 2021-22 Resolution of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) February 8-10, 2022 On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at its meeting today (February 10, 2022) decided to: keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 4.0 per cent. *** The MPC notes that inflation is likely to moderate in H1:2022-23 and move closer to the target rate thereafter, providing room to remain accommodative. Timely and apposite supply side measures from the Government have substantially helped contain inflationary pressures. The potential pick up of input costs is a contingent risk, especially if international crude oil prices remain elevated. The pace of the domestic recovery is catching up with pre-pandemic trends, but private consumption is still lagging. COVID-19 continues to impart some uncertainty to the future outlook. Measures announced in the Union Budget 2022-23 should boost aggregate demand. The global macroeconomic environment is, however, characterised by deceleration in global demand in 2022, with increasing headwinds from financial market volatility induced by monetary policy normalisation in the systemic advanced economies (AEs) and inflationary pressures from persisting supply chain disruptions. Accordingly, the MPC judges that the ongoing domestic recovery is still incomplete and needs continued policy support. It is in this context that the MPC has decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent and to continue with an accommodative stance as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth on a durable basis and continue to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward. Source : RBI 2) Mint Newsletter https://www.livemint.com/mint-top-newsletter/ticker07022022.html?utm_source=newsletter_smt&utm_campaign=ticker&utm_medium=email&utm_content=content C Sunday Musings 1) T V M Warrier Nashik What's in a name? What's there in a name? Hitherto I had a notion that Amazon is one of the biggest river flowing through the heart of Africa that nurtured dense and dark forests in that country known as a black continent. Now it's no longer true .The name Amazon is adopted by the world leader in website marketing. Change of history is not unknown. Now it started encroaching the business empire and even English language. Earlier I used to express happiness using the term 'gay', now discontinued. Why should I embrace stigma when I have no reason to do so. 2) V Babusenan Thiruvananthapuram "This happened six decades and a half ago. To be exact, in 1942. It was a very chilly December afternoon. Let us go to a small and neglected concrete building at one corner of the very wide playground of the University of Chicago. Inside we find a small furnace. But it is not an ordinary furnace. It is made of small bricks of uranium and graphite and is called by a special name 'automic pile'. It was christened so by the legend of atomic physics : Enrico Fermi. Fermi himself is standing in front of it. Those who stand beside him are no ordinary mortals. They are reputed scientists and engineers. Tension is writ large on their faces, but Fermi, that small man, as usual, is calm. They are all going to witness an extra-ordinary event. Fermi looked at his watch and addressed his colleagues with a smile : "The great moment that we all have been waiting for long has arrived. The atomic chain reaction will start now. It should be our endeavor to stop it at the right moment. I needn't tell you what will happen if we don't keep proper vigil. I request each one of you to do his job perfectly. " Fermi looked at each one of them and then pressed a button. Chain reaction has started. Fermi, who was watching some instrument intently, shouted like a film director "Cut ". It was literally a cut that he intended. A man, standing nearby and watching him closely, cut a rope with a small axe, in one stroke. The cadmium rods hanging above fell hissing into the furnace. With that the chain reaction stopped. The time was 3. 25 p. m. Fermi himself poured wine in paper cups and gave them to all. Thus ended the celebration of the birth of the world's first atomic reactor! " Esteemed readers, this was how I began my book in Malayalam on the controversial Indo-US treaty on nuclear co-operation. It was captioned 'Aanavarangavum Indiayum' (The Nuclear Arena and India) and was published in2008. (For the authenticity of the scene I am indebted to Pearl S Buck's novel 'Command the Morning') 3) Service Story continues : M G Warrier https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/warriersviews/my-story-so-far-day-two-in-thiruvananthapuram-41147/ D Collage Essay : Vathsala Jayaraman Valentine's Day What is Valentine's Day? Why do we celebrate this day? It looks a bit odd. In Ancient Rome, A catholic male saint by the name Valentine was behind protecting converted Christian soldiers in secret wedlock. He was jailed. The message was to reiterate importance of love in marriage. But today media projects it that it is a celebration only between lovers , a man and his girl friend. What is Love? Is it just an emotion or a feeling that is brought out by that special someone! Is that the butterfly flutter or the sense of fast heart beat that races to find words to that unique feeling? Is it that feeling of being together with that special one in mind where no other thoughts can exist? Is it that bonding that you hold close to the heart and caress like a child? Is it that twinkle in the corner of the eye when you see the loved one in a big crowd? Is it that feeling of losing oneself completely with no sense to time or space? All these moments can probably happen at any point in life be it with your love of the life or one's own parents or one's own child or the omnipresent or the pet one adores or even with a good friend. How do we not be dependent on that someone to feel the love that always existed within? Why cannot the same love be extended to all different relations? No doubt businessmen exploit this day, like any other celebration or festival day to make fast buck but the recipient of the gifts that includes a Rose or Roses remember at least that gifting moments happened in their life. "You close your eyes and focus your attention to the place between your eyebrows. Assume there is a spiritual heart that resides within you. Imagine that it is a fountain that can spray plenty of love but restrained by your mind that is focused on self. You have to find a good tool that can remove that restrain. You found intellect as the correct tool that can unlock the mind. You also need to apply grease in the form of good spiritual disciplines to make the mind unlock quickly. Slowly the mind unlocks and suddenly, you notice that the love flows and sprays all over those wonderful saplings that are planted around you by the Lord of the Universe. This is Spiritual Love. Come February, and we see a slew of mandatory red hearts, celebrational red balloons, teddies and cupids, reams of newsprint pasted with advertisements for Valentine season. We must celebrate love. Again help is at hand with media, internet wordsmiths willing to guide you. This is one bright idea, coming from the corporate world who have successfully conceptualised love into a Day, like the teacher's mother's and father's day. Exactly, no sane man loves roses, pink or otherwise with satin bows and pink ribbons. I've nothing against opening to other cultures and embracing the West, but it's our embarrassment to disown ours, till approved by West, which is disturbing. We love everything that comes back with an endorsement. Ayurveda, turned naturopathy with west and was welcome home again, Yoga, meditation and Indian classical became the toast of circles after a Hollywood sojourn. Indian spices and condiments became astonishingly healthy after it got stamped superfoods by west and Indian weddings celebrated, after it got fashionably labelled as the big fat Indian weddings for the pomp and pageantry- horses, elephants, trumpets, drums, song and dance. Time we realised, we don't need to learn the art of loving from West. Today we use the word "romance" to refer to romantic love. But the term has quite a different meaning in literature. There are swords involved. In France romance was about chivalry also.There were warriors fighting with their lady love in their hearts and sword in their hands. Sanskrit poems are full of such romance and romantic disorders. Kalidasa's Shakunthalam and Meghadhutam contain many such verses. It is a beauty that many such Sanskrit works were written by sages of yore. Tamil poetry is studded with gems of romantic love. The poetry focuses on this tenderest and most exciting of human emotions in a robust, earthly and realistic manner. Simultaneously, the poetry manages to scale to spiritual heights and suggest the loftiest of passions, the human soul's eternal longing for union with God in love. Many ancient Tamil poems poems zero on the subtleties of 'love at first sight. Spiritual love also is spoken of very highly in our country. Throughout the month of Margazhi we have been listening thro such verses composed by Andal and Manivachaka Peruman. The famous work 'Geetha Govindam' or Ashtapadi by Jayadeva is out and out a romantic work, yet described as 'Antar bhakthi and bahir Shringar-Devotion in the guise of romance. Padham, A dance form in Bharatha natyam fully deals with romantic malady.-stream of joy, mingled with shyness, amazing changes and also pangs of separation. Kamba Ramayanam also does not lack in such Romantic description while Rama ans Sita live in Panchavati. Bharathi's kuyil pattu is another example. Romance is omnipresent and valentine business started very late. Love birds these days jam skype and yahoo chat lines. Traffic jam online almost suffocates long distance lovers. How strong are the bonds of love when love is long distance? You call him to say you have got a promotion and his voice inbox says for the thousandth time Hey! Am attending a meeting. Will get back to you shortly. What is the word'shortly'?-hours, days or months? Against all these odds, there are few people who keep the light shining, the fire burning. Distance means so little when someone means so much! There are some who live long distance throughout life. Strong commitment and trust peppered with little surprises make these relationships click . Gen next has to learn relationships with renewed trust . True love ever wins. Vathsala Jayaraman E Spirituality/Faith 1) SUNDAY COLLAGE : V T Panchapagesan It is really astonishing as age advances our brain if it is properly used making use of Right and Left hemisphere brains, one can see its fullest strength facing all the obstacles to optimism level of contentment making life worth living..... But we are contended using only one side decaying the cells all the time.. Here is a list : Right hemisphere Left hemisphere Analytical, mathematical Holistic, intuitive Logical, verbal. Emotional, creative, visual. Sequential, organized. Musical, lateral, unorganized. Structural, deductive. Spontaneous. The director of the George Washington University School of Medicine argues that the brain of an older person is much more practical than is commonly believed. At this age, the interaction of the right and left hemispheres of the brain becomes harmonious, which expands our creative possibilities. That is why among people over 60 years of age we can find many personalities who have just started their creative activities. Of course, the brain is no longer as fast as it was in youth. However, it gains in flexibility. Therefore, with age, we are more likely to make the right decisions and are less exposed to negative emotions. The peak of human intellectual activity occurs around the age of 70, when the brain begins to function at full strength. Over time, the amount of myelin in the brain increases, a substance that facilitates the rapid passage of signals between neurons. Due to this, intellectual abilities increase by 300% compared to the average. Also interesting is the fact that after 60 years, a person can use 2 hemispheres at the same time. This allows us to solve much more complex problems. Professor Monchi Uri, from the University of Montreal, believes that the old man's brain chooses the path that consumes less energy, eliminates the unnecessary and leaves only the right options to solve the problem. A study was conducted involving different age groups. Young people were very confused when passing the tests, while those over 60 years of age made the right decisions. Now, let's look at the characteristics of the brain between the ages of 60 and 80. They are really pink. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BRAIN OF AN ELDERLY PERSON : 1. Neurons in the brain do not die, as everyone around us says. The connections between them simply disappear if one does not engage in mental work. 2. Distraction and forgetfulness arise due to an overabundance of information. Therefore, it is not necessary for us to concentrate our whole life on unnecessary trifles. 3. From the age of 60, a person, when making decisions, does not use one hemisphere at the same time, like young people, but both. 4. Conclusion: if a person leads a healthy lifestyle, moves, has viable physical activity and is fully mentally active, intellectual abilities do NOT decrease with age, they simply GROW, reaching a peak at the age of 80-90 years . So do not be afraid of old age. Strive to develop intellectually. Learn new crafts, make music 🎶, learn to play musical instruments 🎹 🎸, paint pictures 🖼 ! Dance 💃🏻🕺🏻! Take an interest in life, meet and communicate with friends, plan for the future, travel ✈️ as best we can. Do not forget to go to shops 🛍, cafes ☕ , shows 🎥 . Don't shut up alone, it's destructive to anyone. Live with the thought: all good things are still ahead of us! SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine. After all the purpose of our life is not to make a living but to make a LIFE WORTH LIVING.. V T Panchapagesan. 2) Dr Charan Singh a) charan singh (@CharanSingh60) Tweeted: Unity in Diversity - 155 कलजुग दुरत दूरि करबे कउ दरसनु गुरू सगल सुख सागरु In dark age of Kaliyug, Guru's darshan is like ocean of peace which also takes away sins & sufferings Mathura, 1404, SGGS https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1490461239302291458?s=20&t=S5slfx-zCq54QFx3mF5uzA b) charan singh (@CharanSingh60) Tweeted: Unity in Diversity - 156 जिह सतिगुर सिमरंथि जीअ की तपति मिटावै जिह सतिगुर सिमरंथि रिधि सिधि नव निधि पावै One who meditates, remembers God - a) extinguish fire of desire, jealousy b) achieves all types of spiritual powers & worldly wealth Balh, 1405, SGGS https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1490781010279428096?s=20&t=bj2qIDKohjMggZ1WZ9auPQ (Continued at H) F Leisure 1) True or False : Dr Chitra Nashik These are true. 1 Birds of a feather flock together and crap on your car. 2 A penny saved is a government oversight. 3 The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. 4 The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends. 5 The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement. 6 He who hesitates is probably right. 7 Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are "XL." 8 If you think there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody. 9 If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame. 10 The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble. 11 There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt. 12 Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. 13 The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for. 14 Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way... I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved. 15 When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra. 16 You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks. 17 One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young. 18 First you forget names, then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zipper. It's worse when you forget to pull it down. 19 Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable. 20 Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today, it's called Golf. 2) Sunday Smiles Jokes Time* : Did I read that sign right? In an office : TOILET OUT OF ORDER...... PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW In a Laundromat : AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES: PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT In a London department store : BARGAIN BASEMENT UPSTAIRS In an office : WOULD THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE STEP LADDER YESTERDAY PLEASE BRING IT BACK OR FURTHER STEPS WILL BE TAKEN In an office : AFTER TEA BREAK STAFF SHOULD EMPTY THE TEAPOT AND STAND UPSIDE DOWN ON THE DRAINING BOARD Outside a secondhand shop : WE EXCHANGE ANYTHING - BICYCLES, WASHING MACHINES, ETC. WHY NOT BRING YOUR WIFE ALONG AND GET A WONDERFUL BARGAIN? Notice in health food shop window : CLOSED DUE TO ILLNESS Spotted in a safari park : ELEPHANTS PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR Seen during a conference : FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN'T KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAY CARE ON THE 1ST FLOOR Notice in a farmer's field : THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE, BUT THE BULL CHARGES. On a repair shop door : WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING. (PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON THE DOOR - THE BELL DOESN'T WORK) We all need a good laugh, keep on smiling. 3) Snacks Time* Karippode Murukku Musings This is what they are saying : “This place is Karippode in Palakkad. There are about 500 families and most of them prepare this Murukku. Each person can make about 200 in an hour. So they make about 2000 per day per family. All the Murukku is sold in Kerala and Tamilnadu (Coimbatore). The old lady, Janaki is 72 years old and began making Murukku when she was 10 or 12, so over 60 years of experience! They use powdered white Urad** dal and raw rice that is washed, soaked and ground. Then the two are mixed with black til and cumin seeds and kneaded till they get the right consistency. The frying is done in normal vegetable or groundnut oil.. not is coconut oil, since coconut oil can make the Murukku stale quickly. This Murukku will stay fresh for 2 months. Many children come back from school and begin making Murukku. They twirl it around their arm and spread it on the trays. They can be fried immediately… they don't need to dry (or rest) before frying.. so all of you please make a visit to Karippode and enjoy the Murukku” * 2 & 3 received via Group mail from S Venugopal Chennai (**Sudha's mother was using green gram dal instead of Udud dal. Sudha successfully continues the tradition. It seems Karippode Murukku may be hand-made. We use "Murukku Nazhi" which comes with different slides to give shapes See link below 🙏-Warrier) PUNO Premium Quality Stainless Steel Sev Sancha Machine/Muruku Maker with 6 Jali,(8 No.) https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07WBYBFXT/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_4QYF1NQNH983BK7VVZV1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 G Laughter as Booster : Vathsala Jayaraman By worrying if our problems get solved, we can go on worrying. But worry is like a small stone that turns into a huge granite boulder. whenever we worry, all our failures and insults faced by us parade before our eyes. But if we are happy and are in laughing mood, all our success stories play on our mental screen. Have you heard of Laughing Buddha?Three Buddhist monks got enlightenment through laughter. They taught the world that laughing could be a way of meditation. Looks strange, is it? One of the monks passed away. The other two sat by his side and began to laugh. The people around were angry because of the inappropriate behaviour of laughing during a death.. The monks said, "Our friend spent his entire life to spread the message of laughing. We are laughing because he has won the game of death. If we do not bid farewell with laughter, his soul will laugh at us that we are also trapped like others in seriousness." It was time for cremation. The monk had already said not to wash his body, as it had already been cleaned through laughter. The body was directly taken to funeral pyre. As the fire was lit, there was a burst of crackers from the pyre. The monk had fastened crackers to his body just before his death. He had done so to make everybody laugh even during death. There is a Tamil proverb "Vaai vittu siriththaal noi vittu pogum" ( Laugh aloud. All your diseases will disappear)In USA, in hospitals Humour Nurses are at job. Yes, laughter makes us refreshed and rejuvenated H Continued from E2 : [2/9, 11:31 AM] CharanIIMB: charan singh (@CharanSingh60) Tweeted: Unity in Diversity - 157 चरण त पर सकयथ चरण गुर अमर पवलि रय हथ त पर सकयथ हथ लगहि गुर अमर पय Supremely fruitful are those feet which walk on the path shown by Guru Those hands are well used which serve/touch the feet of Guru (Obedience to Guru) Jaalap, 1394, SGGS https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1491133407057051649?s=20&t=yNrUghCca2XoBsHK_hfwng [2/10, 10:30 AM] CharanIIMB: charan singh (@CharanSingh60) Tweeted: Unity in Diversity - 158 कउणु कहै किणि बूझीऐ रमईआ आकुलु री बाई रहाउ Saint Namdev says, pause & dwell on the following - Who can describe or understand the all pervasive God? (No ancestors/lineage/parallel and Self Existent) Namdev, Rag Gujri, 525, SGGS https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1491498275467571200?s=20&t=Q8ymNRngZcJLOISr0P059w [2/11, 9:39 AM] CharanIIMB: charan singh (@CharanSingh60) Tweeted: Unity in Diversity - 159 पारु कैसे पाइबो रे मो सउ कोऊ न कहै समझाइ जा ते आवा गवनु बिलाइ . परम परस गुरु भेटीऐ पूरब लिखत लिलाट रवीदास How to get across? Nobody is guiding me So that cycle of birth & death is over? By meeting Guru (Paras-like) Ravidas, 346, SGGS https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1491899263076675584?s=20&t=5hfr0q0qywOstddeS8wCug [2/12, 8:27 AM] CharanIIMB: charan singh (@CharanSingh60) Tweeted: Unity in Diversity - 160 अनिक जतन करि काइआ पाली मरती बार अगनि संगि जाली चोआ चंदनु मरदन अंगा सो तनु जलै काठ कै संगा कहु कबीर सुनहु रे गुनीआ बिनसैगो रूपु देखै सभ दुनीआ Carefully nurtured the body Then burnt it Nothing goes beyond, whole world can see Kabir, 325, SGGS https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1492284868835053568?s=20&t=LsL-rM26qC4tfAIg-3HsQw