Warrier's Collage February 7, 2022

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Monday, February 7, 2022 Remembering Lata Mangeshkar https://youtu.be/xMiEO2TJhzI (Kadali...in Malayalam Movie "Nellu") Good Morning Nice Day Midweek issue of Collage had to be advanced. Next issue of Collage hopefully will be on February 13, 2022 or later. M G Warrier A Responses 1) Vathsala Jayaraman The passing away of the 'Swar Kokila' or 'Nightingale of India' has created a big vacuum in the Music World. May her Soul attain Satgathi. Vathsala Jayaraman 2) V Sundaresan Responding to Video shared by K S Iyer* Dear Iyer Sir Unfortunately I had no occasion to know you or seen you while in service; but after retirement, through this forum, I have come to know of your greatness. From a smart boy to a karma yogi of 80 plus, you have donned many hats and all the members of this forum are proud of your achievements in life. Your family members are blessed to have you as one great soul behind all their success and you are equally fortunate to have them as your true followers. Your daughter has beautifully captured all the fond memories of your meaningful life through that beautiful video, a real treasure to save and cherish. We thank her for having given us a wonderful opportunity to view that and particularly you for having shared the same with us. May God keep you in good health and cheers during the rest of your life! Sundaresan V B Have A Teabreak 🙏 https://madrascourier.com/insight/the-economics-of-vending-chai/ C Current Affairs Nation mourns Lata Mangeshkar https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/breaking-news-live-updates-feb-6/liveblog/89376395.cms Narendra Modi @narendramodi I consider it my honour that I have always received immense affection from Lata Didi. My interactions with her will remain unforgettable. I grieve with my fellow Indians on the passing away of Lata Didi. Spoke to her family and expressed condolences. Om Shanti. Shankar Mahadevan & several others wished Lata Mangeshkar on her 91st Birthday, September 28, 2020 : ttps://www.india.com/entertainment/lata-mangeshkar-turns-91-from-kangana-ranaut-to-shankar-mahadevan-celebs-pour-wishes-to-veteran-singer-4155158 D Readers' Contribution 1) Unknown Relationship* What a beautiful story : Unknown Relationship "Amma! Your son has sent a money order." The postman stopped his bicycle on seeing Amma. As Amma took off her glasses, cleaned them with the end of her saree and wore them back, there was suddenly a gleam in her old eyes. She looked at the postman with hopeful eyes and said, "Son! I want to talk to my son first." But the postman tried to avoid her request. "Amma! I don't have enough time to call your son every time. I can't make you talk to him every time." The postman tried to show Amma how busy he was, but Amma kept insisting him to call her son first. "Son! It will only take a few minutes." "Amma, you should not insist me to call your son every time." Saying this, the postman started dialing a number on his mobile before placing the money in Amma's hand. "Here, talk to your son! But don't talk for long, the balance is very low in my account." He handed over his mobile to Amma. Taking his mobile phone from his hand, Amma started speaking to her son, asked about his well-being, and looked satisfied just within a minute of talking. A wide smile had appeared on her wrinkled face. "Here's a one thousand rupees, Amma," the postman said, handing over ten hundred rupee notes to her. While counting the money, Amma gestured for him to stay.. "What happened now, Amma?" "Keep this hundred rupees, son!" "But why Amma?" he asked with surprise. "Besides delivering the money every month, you also call my son for me. Every time you must've spent some amount on the calls, isn't it?" "Oh no Amma! Please let it be." He kept on refusing, but Amma forcefully put a hundred rupee note in his hand. He looked at her for a moment, and then turned to get back to his work. Amma, who lived alone in her house, also went inside, blessing the postman all the while. The postman had just moved ahead a few steps, when someone put a hand on his shoulder...he turned back and found someone he knew standing there. He was surprised to see it was Rampravesh, who ran a mobile phone shop nearby. "Brother, how come you are here? You should be in your shop at this time." "I had come here to meet someone. But I want to ask you something." Rampravesh's eyes were fixed on the postman's face. "Yes, go ahead brother," the postman said very calmly. "Brother! Why do you do this every month?" "What have I done, brother?" "Every month, you give Amma money from your own pocket and you also give me money to talk to her on the phone as her son! What for?" On this question, the postman let out a sigh and replied, "I don't give money to this old lady, I give it to my mother." "I don't understand! She is not your mother." The postman continued... "Her son had gone to another city to earn money and every month he used to send a money order of thousand rupees for his Amma. But one day, instead of the money order, a letter came for Amma - it was from her son's friend. Her son had lost his life due to the virus, the pandemic. “I did not dare to give this sad news to Amma who waits every month for the money order and hopes for the well being of her son. I lost my mother to corona last year. But every time I come here to deliver the money order, when I look at her, I feel the presence of my mother in her. In my mind, I started considering her as my own Amma and every month I bring her a money order from my side." The postman's eyes had welled up with tears. But he did not wait for Rampravesh to reply... He took his bicycle and proceeded to distribute the mail. Rampravesh was stunned to see the postman's true love and affection for Amma, a complete stranger. Standing there, he just had one thought in mind : If the feeling of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) is developed in all of us, then how beautiful this world would become! ♾️ "The two most important qualities that make us human are the ability to sympathize and empathize with others and the willingness to help them." *Forward received from T V J Warrier Bangalore E Believe it or not! Kal Garudan in Nachchiyaar Kovil near Kumbakonam : Vathsala Jayaraman A special feature of this Kal Garuda utsavam is the magical event where Kal Garuda increases in weight during the procession. While only four people carry Kal Garuda out of his sanctum, as he advances further out of each layer and prakaram, his weight increases manifold demanding eight, 16, 32 and 64 people to carry Him out into the Vahana mandapam at the entrance of the temple. As Kal Garuda steps out from the Vahana mandapam, his weight increases dramatically that 128 people are required to carry Him. Interestingly, early next morning, the Stone Garuda mount decreases in weight that only four people are required to carry Him ( the same number as the one when he departed the previous evening) back at the sanctum. Another unique feature of this Utsavam is that one could see the Stone Garuda sweating profusely as he makes his way out for the procession. It is stated that the sculptor has taken precautions to set the statue opposing the gravitational force of the earth so that the statue could be made lighter.Recently Shri Badri Narayanan has sent a message in Tamil narrating the annecdote leading to the construction of vigraham of far lesser weight. We have gone to this temple on many occasions only with this inquisitive question in mind and not on the festive Garuda Sevai day.I have heard of this weight reduction more by people from Kumbakonam. I have talked to many visitors and archakas. The facts narrated in the above article give some seemingly scientific explanation to earth's gravitational force and has been written in the form of an anecdote. It is interesting to read and seems to give some scientific significance to the faith of the people. But to my little knowledge, the gravitational force of earth will not differ so much on the same earth though it may differ very much in different planets or in mountainuous regions Within the Garuda mandapam, which is very small, people need not lift the Garudan above their shoulders and when we are just moving Garuda or any object for that matter some strength is enough.Only when Garuda is mounted on heavy bamboo poles and tied , the weight increases and naturally more people will be required.All the more so,when the decorated deity also is placed on the vahana. Without any prejudice to the faith of the people, I think that this factor of weight reduction is above scientific explanation.An object will definitely lose weight at a high mountain where gravitational force will be far less than on sea level and definitely not within the precincts of the same building, a few metres higher. True,There are many things/experiences which Science cannot explain.But if we are associating divinity to this phenomenon,it amounts to saying that the divinity reduces as the idol moves outward and it is far less on the streets. I have talked about this to my Iyengar friend,very much religious and staunch vaishnavite who is Ph. D. in physics and he knows more about gravitational force and its impact.I have given a synapsis of his views in the previous para. Reg sweating , he says that the eye sees what the mind believes. Amidst the crowd standing only a few visualise and others don't. I respect the faith and views of the public. It is not to hurt the sentiments/faith of devotees. People who have studied about variance in gravitational force may offer better scientific explanation to the weight reduction event during garuda Seva. There is also another view that Garudan is not made of stone at all .It is made of some lighter material like wood and made to appear like granite by artists by suitable colouring and artwork. Vathsala Jayaraman F Concept of Family : Can we reinvent it in some form? Let America be a lesson to us* What happened in the United States when home cooking stopped? Famous American economists of the 1980s warned the people The kitchen has been handed over to private companies, and if the elderly give the child care also to the government, family responsibilities and it's relevance will be destroyed.” But very few people listened to their advice Cooking is stopped at home and the habit of ordering outside thus led to the almost extinction of American families as they warned. Cooking with love means connecting the family with affection. Culinary art is not alone. The focal point of family culture. If there is no kitchen, just a bedroom, it's not a family, it's an hostel. What about American families who closed the kitchen and think the bedroom alone is enough? In 1971, 71 percent of U.S. households had a husband and wife with children. By 2020, it has fallen to 20 percent. Families that lived then are now living in Nursing homes (old age homes). In the United States, women now make up 15 percent of single households Men make up 12 percent of single-family 19% of homes are owned by dad or mom only. 6% of households are male-female shelters (living together). 41% of all babies born today are born to unmarried women. Half of them are girls going to school. About 50 percent of first marriages in the United States end in divorce because of this mess. 67% of second marriages, and 74% of third marriages are also problematic. The bedroom is not just the family. If there is no kitchen and only a bedroom : The United States is an example of the breakdown of marriage. Our feminists will buy sweets in the shops and celebrate if the families here are destroyed like there. Mental and physical health deteriorates when families are destroyed. Eating outside causes the body to become fat and susceptible to infection and unnecessary spending So cooking in the kitchen is not the only reason for family well-being. Physical health and mental health are also essential to the economy. That's why elders in our house advised us to reduce/ avoid eating outside. But today we eat with our family in the restaurants ... ", Ordering and eating online like Swiggy, Zomato, uber eats. Is becoming fashionable even among the highly educated, middle class people. This habit will be a disaster ... If those online companies that psychologically decide what we should eat ... Our ancestors before going to pilgrimage and outings used to cook and carry. So, cook at home, eat together and live happily A response : "A thought provoking article, indeed. But I think there are also other factors that played a part in the change other than the disappearance of the family kitchen.. We should also take into account the circumstances that led to the exit of the kitchen in the family. Technology revolution leading to fast life, rushing to anything and everything, both working members in the family, general hesitancy to work and tendency for a lazy lifestyle, easy availability of ready to eat food, and of course the so called emancipation of and empowerment of women, all these have contributed to this change, I think. And this also reflects in the exponential increase in the incidence in of life style diseases, diabetis obesity, hypertension etc." *Forwards received from Dr T V Surendran Mananthavady (Forget the facts and figures or the reference to a particular country. I find some food for thought if one's willing to think 🙏-Warrier) G Leisure Grandma's Gym : Vathsala Jayaraman Today almost all women are conscious of their health and over conscious of weight and attending Gym has become one of the routine chores. In Olden days we had a gym at every home-Grandma's Gym- consisting of the equipments that kept them healthy and fit to bear 5 or 6 children, and attend to all house hold duties connected with joint family. But all these accessories have some other significance too. The bible talks of winnowing process and our Kenopanishad ( Q & A ) contains so many references to this process. Winnowing is essentially a process of separating and removing the bad from the good. Husks are removed from the grain. In computers we have got a 'save' button and 'delete' button just to remove what we don't want. Actually our brain is a computer, and does the wonderful process of winnowing called 'forgetting' in common man's language.It contains a software programme specially designed for us. It constantly removes unwanted things and retains only what we need.Otherwise we would be brooding over deaths that happened long years back, and the debts we incurred some 20 years back and the sorrowful accidents we met with in our life. Even with this God given winnowing facility, we are very often loaded with worries that haunt us. Winnowing is a constant process we have to indulge in addition to the natural process that is going on inside the brain. Very often human beings are advised to be like winnows ( muram) and not sieves. ( salladai) Winnowing retains the essential things and removes the husk whereas sieving removes the essential things out and retains the unwanted ones. But we can't agree with this completely.It may apply to unwanted thoughts. But practically we need both winnow and sieve. For preparing certain dishes we have to use broken grains( uppuma, kanji etc ) that are retained with the sieve and for other things we use the softest flour that comes out. It means we have to be reminded of 'don'ts ) very often more than concentrating on 'do's. Because 'dos' can be postponed without harm, but the'don'ts' if done with haste may land us into irretrievable problems. What a great lesson we learn from this age old 'winnow' and 'sieve'! Really amazing! ural, ulakkai ( mortar of granite and Pestle)etc etc too accelerated healthy activities. Many of us would have participated in Radha Kalyanam under Bhajana paddhathi sampradayam. In addition to oonjal, malai matru etc etc there is a special function called Kotnotsavam. This appears to be a normal tradition with five girls below 10, standing around ural,(Mortar) striking the paddy inside the ural with ulakkai( pestle). Now this function has a much philosphical impact than all other aspects of Radha Kalyanam. The ural represents the mind. The paddy or rice is the jeeva and the ulakkai sound is omkara nadaham. To realise God ,the mind has to be controlled. For the mind to subside, the Gnanendriyas should stop bringing stimulus from the outside world and the karmendriyas should desist from worldly activities. The intellect should stop analysing materialistically. There should be a perfect coordination. Ural is the mind. Five kanyas symbolize gnaanendriyas and five Bhagavathas represent karmendriyas-all involved in the process of meditation. Gnaanendriayas, (girls) cooperate in depositing the jeeva (rice) into the ural ( the mind). The Bhagavathas (karmendriyas) are crushing the Jeeva( rice) into the mind(ural) with the help of Ulakkai( omkara nadaham) The crushed akshathai is sieved to remove the husk or umi which represents Maya and is made of pure white devoid of maya. This pure white rice called mangalakshathai is submitted to the feet of God ( samarpanam ) or Atma samarpanam. This rice powder is poured into the cloth round the couple's waist and they are given mangala snanam. The procedure is called muthukuthal denoting the bhaktha becoming Jeevan muktha. This procedure is followed during Seemantham functions also to bless the unborn baby with brahma aikyam! Vathsala Jayaraman