Warrier's Collage June 9, 2022

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Thursday June 9, 2022 1) Recipe for a Special PAYASAM (Kheer) by Pazhayidom Mohanan Namboodiri from Kerala https://youtu.be/NQHuCwG9ZPM This world renowned cook will be heading the team at a PAYASAM MELA in Bandra West Mumbai on August 6 & 7, 2022 being held as part of Amrut Mahotsav of Indian Independence🙏-Warrier 2) Pazhayidom : Know More https://pazhayidom.online/home/ (Besides their various other known skills, Kerala Namboodiris* are good cooks also. While with my father who is a Namboodiri from Malabar, I had many occasions to experience this directly🙏-Warrier ) *Related link : https://www.namboothiri.com/articles/history.htm The Brahmanas of Kerala are known as Namboothiris. Historical evidences as well as their own traditions suggest that they came from North India and settled down in Kerala, migrating along the West Coast 3) Future of education : R Balasubramaniam https://youtu.be/oj69ytxnRhE Good Morning Many responses/messages/contributions from readers could not be included in Collage due to various constraints. Apologies🙏 Collage continues to diversify. Nice Day M G Warrier A Messages/Responses 1) C V Subbaraman No poet ever talks about feelings. Only sentimental people do. Is this so? I dont know. But every good poem comes from the outburst of intense inner feelings. Out of such feeling arose the wonderful long poem, Raamaayanam. A poem without feeling is like a matter without form or form without matter. subbaraman 2) Dr Prabha Ramadurai Very interesting explanations and interactions about number 4 My sincere thanks to those 4 legends of our Collage Sarvashree C V Subbaraman, V T Panchapagesan, V Babusenan and of course Smt Vathsala Jayaraman. Prabha Ramadurai 3) C A Jacob Bangalore Any one can formulate any number of formulae to arrive at a desired number. Addition, subtraction and multiplication can be freely used without any limit till you get the number aimed at. Not merely a miserly 23. Is there anything great about it? (Please 🙏 read on -Warrier) 4) P R R Nayar Thiruvananthapuram Ref : Number 4 : 4 x4x4x4 = 256 2+5+6 = 13 1+3 = 4 **** (Was just saying, prophecies and predictions should be considered using the guidance : https://seekingmyspiritualroots.blogspot.com/2021/07/puranamityeva-na-sadhu-sarvam-not-all.html?m=1 Of course, not practical in all situations 🙏-Warrier) 5) V Babusenan Thiruvananthapuram To Warrier : Sure. Your arithmetic* is as good as your grammar (spelling has another claimant) See, it has 4 parts. It has all the 4 aspects of basic calculation : addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. And, it shows our dear Editor on all 4's. *See C : Spiritual Wellbeing B Current Affairs 1) Jaisankar Interview : https://youtu.be/2R1z5_KBHw4 (Link Courtesy : K Balasubramanian Coimbatore) 2) Reserve Bank of India : Monetary Policy Governor's Statement https://m.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=53833 Media Report : https://www.thequint.com/amp/story/news/business/reserve-bank-of-india-monetary-policy-committee-announcements RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday, 8 June, announced that the policy repo rate has been increased by 50 basis points to 4.90 percent. The Standing Deposit Facility rate has been hiked to 4.65 percent, while Marginal Standing Facility stands at 5.15 percent. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure inflation remains within target going forward, Das said. C Blogs & Links 1) Book Review Unleash Your Inner Avatar* https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09R7V5HTQ/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_YB72REFMSNTZZDNBT3D1 Description A heart-wrenching tale of grit, determination, and perseverance set against the backdrop of Vidarbha farmers in Maharashtra! Baburao and his family own a 5-acre land and grow cotton. They find themselves in a spiraling debt trap with the advent of BT cotton seeds. Baburao finds himself in dire circumstances due to rising debt. Frustrated by his inability to come out of debt and faced with the inevitable option of losing his land, he commits suicide. The story traces the life of his son Aakash, who stands like a phoenix against all odds. Aakash bravely faces the vagaries of life and turns their lives around. In his quest for happiness, Aakash finds his purpose in life. The effervescent, joyful state was not a one-stop destination. It was the journey. He knew he had to be happy now. Abject poverty strengthened his resolve to complete his education at all costs. He dreams of becoming an IAS officer. The story traces his journey from birth till he decides to appear for UPSC exams. Does he succeed in becoming an IAS officer? Does he find love? Does he become successful in spreading happiness? Does he succeed in bringing a better quality of life to the farmers? About the Author Ramya Vaidhyanathan is a poet, an Art of Living volunteer, yoga enthusiast, and a professional with two decades of corporate experience. She has donned many roles in senior positions in the capital market and IT domains. She is currently working with India’s #1 IT consultancy firm. She loves to teach children and volunteers in schools. You can find her growing plants in her home garden or meditate in her spare time. The writing bug had bitten her since her school days and she would entertain all with her poems. Knowing the power of the pen she wanted to spread awareness about mental health and wellbeing. This gave birth to her debut novel, “Unleash your Inner Avatar”. *Review of the book by P P Ramachandran at H 2) Spiritual Well-being https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/spiritual-wellbeing Excerpts : "Renowned philosophers like Bertrand Russell integrated their knowledge of philosophy and the analytical mind they possessed due their deep grounding in scientific thinking and wrote extensively to help readers develop a rational and philosophic attitude to life and derive sustainable happiness." D Thoughts worth remembering Leaking Bucket* ~ You wake up early morning trying to do your Pooja / Prayers /Yoga but your mind is elsewhere and before you know it, you're done with it, without being mindful of it. (A leaking bucket) ~ You're very kind to outsiders / people in general and speak with them gently, but with your own family you're always harsh / rude. (A leaking bucket) ~ You honour and treat your guests well but when they leave, you gossip about them and talk about their flaws. (A leaking bucket) ~ You try to read as much religious books, listen to Satsang /Keertan, participate in social services/ Sewa but you swear, insult, curse daily. (A leaking bucket) ~ You help others but you're doing it to gain something in return from them and not doing those acts of kindness selflessly. (A leaking bucket) ~ You frequently advice/preach others, but practice none yourself. (A leaking bucket) ~ You slander other devout persons out of hatred/spite when your views do not meet one another. (A leaking bucket) ~ You look down on others and feel more superior than them, judging their level of knowledge, based on external appearances (A leaking bucket) We struggle to fill our "lives"(the bucket) with "earnings" of religion and knowledge (the water), hoping it will retain inside but it is leaked by the many flaws (the holes) that we commit daily. An excellent reminder for all, including myself, to try and patch these holes up so we may progress further on this beautiful path of life.🙏 *Shared by Dr T V Gopalakrishnan E FAITH Dr Charan Singh https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1534261889600917505?s=20&t=KFowro_CDX1CtrRYbESwtg Unity in Diversity - 276 मै बिनु गुर देखे नीद न आवै मेरे मन तनि वेदन गुर बिरहु लगावै हरि हरि दइआ करहु गुरु मेलहु जन नानक गुर मिलि रहसै जीउ Without seeing Guru, cant sleep Separated, mind & body are in pain God, have mercy, make me meet Guru: then I will blossom Guru Ramdass, 94 F Leisure Numerology is a joke https://acmesalesrep.tumblr.com/post/1386377825/magic-numbers-or-why-numerology-is-a-joke Excerpts : "We only use base 10 because most of us have ten digits on our hands. That’s it, really. It was an otherwise arbitrary choice based largely on convenience, not on some fundamental property of the universe. It didn’t have to be the case. Our ancestors could just as easily have chosen: 5 (the number of digits on one hand); 20 (the number of digits on both hands and feet); or 21 (patriarchal societies only). (I should note that 22 in base 10 would remain a master number in base 21: 11, or a number I like to call “dickety-one”.) G Quotes on Welfare State https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/welfare-state.html Like : What we're putting forward is the most radical reform of the welfare state… for 60 years. I think it will have a transformative effect in making sure that everyone is better off in work and better off working rather than on benefits. David Cameron David William Donald Cameron is a British politician, businessman, lobbyist, and author who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. He was Member of Parliament for Witney from 2001 to 2016 and leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016 H Continued from C Unleash Your Inner Avatar by Ramya Vaidhyanathan ; Published by Amazon ; Pages 213 ; Price Rs 257/- Sir Malcolm Darling, a famous British researcher and writer once wrote "The Indian farmers were born in debt, lived in debt and died in debt". Sir Malcolm Darling KCIE (10 December 1880 – 1 January 1969) was a member of the Indian Civil Service who was appointed Assistant Commissioner of the Punjab of British India in 1904. His statement had acquired cult status and was valid for a long time. Quite obviously the condition of farmers got reflected in Indian literature and films. Classics like " Do Bigha Zamin", "Mother India" and " Peepli Live" became a true commentary of the situation of farmers-especially in the Twentieth Century. The farmers' problem has continued to haunt the present generation too. The spate of suicides by farmers in various states has created a dismal agricultural scene. Here is one more novel on the theme by Ramya Vaidhyanathan who is a poet, an Art of Living volunteer and a professional with two decades of corporate experience. She has donned many roles in senior positions in the capital market and IT world. She is presently working with an IT consultancy firm. Conscious of the might of the written word she has attempted to spread awareness about mental health and wellbeing. This is the impulse that led to her maiden novel, “Unleash Your Inner Avatar". The author's area of conflict is Vidarbha in Maharashtra. Farmers in Vidarbha are born in debt and die in debt. More than 60 percent of the population subsist on the agriculture sector. They grow cotton which is known as “White Gold". The soil of Vidarbha is highly conducive for cotton farming. Rain is not prolific and Vidarbha is a rain-fed area. The success of the crops is based on rain and good irrigation. In 2002, there was a world -wide craze for new BT hybrid cotton seeds with a promise of increasing yield. It was paraded as resistant to pests such as bollworms. However, BT cotton was riddled with a number of drawbacks. Farmers felt that input costs were very high. BT seeds cost much more than regular seeds and had to be bought year on a year on a year, unlike regular seeds. Again it demanded a special type of pesticide which was very costly. Finally it required good irrigation for assured growth. All these factors enlarged the input cost and sucked the farmers into a vicious trap. Banks would reject their loan applications if they had an existing loan. The local money lenders would offer them easy credit at very high rates of interest say at 100 % and 200%. The money lenders would promptly start chasing for repayment. They would threaten to confiscate the land. This made farming non-profitable for farmers and they slumped into a depression. Due to lack of education they don't seek medical help. Unable to handle their stress and with no way out of the situation they commit suicide in large numbers leaving behind their families in distress. Recently, rays of hope have emerged. Work has been done in the fields of mental health— workshops have been conducted to eliminate stress of farmers. An important area is setting up alternate means of crop production which has been crowned with success. Water and rain harvesting techniques have been introduced in a big way. Education has been another area in which seminal work has been done. With this background one can note how the novel is developed by the author. This is a poignant and moving story of grim determination and never-say-die perseverance of one family of farmers in Vidarbha. Baburao is a farmer, a born optimist who firmly believed that there is divinity or Avatar in each one of us. When we are engulfed in trouble instead of rushing for divine aid we should seek out the Avatar in us. That explains the title of the novel. Baburao and his family own a 5-acre land and grow cotton. They get sucked up inexorably in a vicious debt trap with the introduction of BT cotton seeds. Baburao, the father figure finds himself embroiled in a deeply distressing situation due to burgeoning debt. Utterly defeated by his inability to get out of the coils of debt and faced with the unavoidable option of losing his land, he commits suicide. The story traces the life of his son Aakash, who stands like a rock fighting every negative situation with remarkable confidence. Aakash squarely faces the twists and turns of cruel fate and emerges victorious. He bravely bears the troublesome aspects of his life and this affords him a purpose in life. The author proves that a state filled with joy is not a ready made packet but is a hard nerve-wracking journey. It is a journey and we will find joy at the end of the tunnel. Ability and aim were writ firmly in his persona. Abject poverty strengthened his resolve to complete his education at all costs. He dreams of becoming an IAS officer. The story traces his journey from birth till he decides to appear for UPSC exams. He succeeds and the story ends happily. A well written novel neat fifty chapters, no chapter longer than five pages, characterised by good ability to tell a story, crisp dialogue and speedy movement. P P Ramachandran. 22/05/2022.