Warrier's Collage on Friday June 17, 2022

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Friday June 17, 2022 Royal Botanical Gardens https://youtu.be/BTnn-2wPGXs (Know More : https://www.rbg.ca/) About THE BEAUTY OF FRIENDSHIP!* Why do I have a variety of friends who are all so different in character? How is it possible that I can get along with them all? I think that each one helps to bring out a "different" part of me. With one of them I am polite. With another I joke. With another I can be a bit naughty. I can sit down and talk about serious matters with one, be on the same wavelength with another. With another I laugh a lot. I listen to one friend's problems. Then I listen to another one's advice for me. My friends are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. When completed, they form a treasure box. A treasure of friends! There are friends who understand me better than I understand myself. There are friends who support me through good days and bad. Real Age doctors tell us that friends are good for our health. Dr. Oz calls them Vitamin F (for Friends) and counts the benefits of friends as essential to our well being. Research shows that people in strong social circles have less risk of depression and terminal strokes. If you enjoy Vitamin F constantly you can be up to 30 years younger than your real age. The warmth of friendship stops stress and even in your most intense moments, it decreases the chance of a cardiac arrest or stroke by 50%. I'm so happy that I have a stock of Vitamin F (Friendship)! In summary, we should value our friends and keep in touch with them. We should try to see the funny side of things and laugh together and pray for each other in the tough moments. I know I am part of their lives because their names appear on my mobile screen every day and I feel blessed that they care as much for me as I care for them. Thank you for being a Vitamin F in my life ! I value and treasure you, my Friend! *Shared by my friend Prof Sasankan Mumbai -Warrier 🙏 Good Morning Nice Day M G Warrier M 134 A Responses/Messages 1) Sumitra Kalyanaraman Ref : E below Responding to Vathsala Jayaraman : I have also read the novel Randamoozham in English more than 10 years back. Was completely bowled over by its presentation of the characters of the Epic Mahabharata in an altogether different light . What you said is quite correct. The novel is just a human story devoid of any divine angle. The portrayal of Bhima is so touching, you feel so sorry for him and even start hating Yudhisthira! I could not put it down till I finished it. IN the same way I also read another book titled‘Yagnaseni the story of Draupathi’ written by the Sahitya Academy award winner Pratibha Ray in Oriyan language translated in English. That's also a different interpretation of the great epic from the angle of Draupathi. Beautiful novel. Don't know if you have read it. Please read it. You will love it. Sumitra 2) Media Response : M G Warrier June 16, 2022 Ads, law and ethics This refers to the article "Clearing the fog over misleading ads" (The Hindu Business Line, June 16). The opening and concluding sentences summarise the common man's concerns. I quote : "The received wisdom on advertising seems to suggest that it's not what you say but how you say it" *** "For a nation struggling to curb misleading advertisements, the guidelines hold immense promise if implemented in letter and spirit." Past experience is, advertisement agencies by and large comply with the legal requirements in letter but the professional skills and expertise are used to sometimes, make the compliance a mockery of common man's intelligence. Using small print smaller, audios faster and preventing visibility of uncomfortable statutory warnings are examples. We can only hope that ethics and high values will get integrated in future advertisements which is also necessary to restore credibility in advertisements. Needless to say, law enforcement agencies are dependent on self-regulation by professional advertisement agencies and the manufacturers of products who engage them. M G Warrier Mumbai 3) My Journey So Far : Prologue This post is getting some attention, of late : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/warriersviews/my-journey-so-far-prologue-43305/ Posted online comments : ' recently more readers are accessing this post. for their information i may add here that 7 chapters of \"my journey so far\" have been posted here in recent months. of the 100 plus posts here, majority belong to the category of \"my story\".. i am trying to recall life\'s experiences and share snippets that would be of interest to the present generation. feel free to respond. your responses will help me improve my writing.' B Faith Dr Charan Singh https://twitter.com/CharanSingh60/status/1537172297714348032?s=20&t=lSxcg7RtBDxTcvoZmFCm0g Unity in Diversity - 284 संत आचरण संत चो मारगु संत च ओल्हग ओल्हगणी अउर इक मागउ भगति चिंतामणि जणी लखावहु असंत पापी सणि God Bless me with character, life-style& service of servants of saints And bhakti (that fulfill desires) Don't show me wicked/sinners Ravidass, Assa, 486, SGGS C Collage in Classroom Rewriting Epics https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190902-how-indias-ancient-myths-are-being-rewritten D Current Affairs News you can use : Railway Concessions https://www.indianrail.gov.in/enquiry/StaticPages/StaticEnquiry.jsp?StaticPage=conc_Rules.html&locale=en E Epics retold Modern literature using threads from Epics Randamoozham : M T Vasudevan Nair Many of us might not have read Mahabharata in original, but must have gone through direct English or Tamil translations, or Mahabharatham by Shri Rajaji, a close semblance to the original. All the great epics in the world in different countries- Athens, Greece etc have been told and retold, sometimes even diverting from the main content. The real success of any epic is that it should give room for various interpretations, make people think, analyse and chalk out a clear root for themselves uninfluenced by the author. As we have more than 300 versions of Ramayana, we have analytical works, novels and poetic versions of Mahabharata in different languages and different styles. Continued at H1 F Collage Essay : Vathsala Jayaraman Room with a view! This is about a fastidious colleague of my husband! He had travelled quite a lot with him on official duty and each time, he made my husband feel like a pig that had managed to escape from its sty and steal a ride with him! The most horrid part of the experience with him would be the train journey. First he would secure his suitcase with a thick chain and a lock that would easily pass the test at Fort Knox. There was nothing wrong per se about being cautious but what would be most embarrassing were his loud remarks about the level of honesty and integrity in our country. Continued at H2 G Quotes on/from Mahabharatam https://www.scrolldroll.com/mahabharata-quotes/#:~:text=2. Like : Men of immature understanding begin an act without having an eye to what may happen in future.” –  Rajshuyarambha Parva, Sabha Parva H 1) Continued from D ‘Randamoozham’ or The Second Turn penned by Shri M T Vasudevan Nair, one of the living legends of Kerala literature, has to be held in high esteem. This work, which was first, published in 1984, won the Vayalar award for the best literary work in Malayalam of the year. I have read the English translation of the malayalam work. Randamoozham is a retelling of the Indian epic Mahabharata from the view point of the second Pandava, Bhima. What makes this work stand apart is in the way the author has steered away from the mythological setting, and in the masterstroke of casting the characters as mere mortals, a stark contrast from the divine and godly setting portrayed in the epic. The story takes the reader right from the time of Kunthi and Pandava's re-entry into Hasthinapura following King Pandu's death, through all the major incidents stated in Mahabharata, to a stunning climax. The title itself has the touch of a genius and is a fitting way to showcase the second-hand treatment meted out to Bhima by everyone all through his life. The book beautifully captures the pain, anger and tribulations of Bhima and shows Kunthi, Draupadi, Dronacharya, Yudhishtira, Krishna, Arjuna, Karna, Duryodhana and all the other major players of this story as mere humans of flesh and blood. Every incident stated in Mahabharata as a divine intervention is shown in a new light to the readers. The book received wide commendations even from great Sanskrit scholars. The master wordsmith also describes how the bards make it a point to blow an incident out of proportion. Though we may feel that the divinity is lost, the theme remains and interpretation alone differs. This type of prejudiced treatment is clearly visible even in the original epic. 'The difficulty of Being Good', a book written by Shri Gurcharn Das in 2009 based on our epic Mahabharata clearly deals with practical elusive notion of Dharma which the great epic is obsessed with.Those who have read Mahabharata many number of times are really aware how the focus of Dharma shifts from character to character _ Bhishma, Yudhishtira, Arjuna, Draupadi, Duryodhana, Karna and specially in relation to Shri Krishna. We need not be carried away by sarcasms. As matured individuals we will be able to take any appreciation or criticism cast against any character of the epic in any book or magazine in the correct perspective and try to harmonise our inner strength. Even a deviation of the content, style or description may throw a valuable interpretation, really beneficial to the modern society. Vathsala Jayaraman 2) Continued from E After locking up his belongings, he would give everyone around a triumphant look as if to convey that he had them cornered there and that they must look elsewhere for their booty! The unkindest cut of all would be his joke that ‘Many a man is saved from being a thief by finding everything locked up’! When the attendant of the coach delivered the bedding paraphernalia, he would pick up the blanket with his left hand as if it was the carcass of a rat that died a fortnight back while the right would be employed in closing his massive nostrils and hand it back to the attendant. He would go on to say how one of his friends contracted some incurable skin disease like psoriasis and what have you after using a railway blanket just once. He would further say that he would approach the consumer forum for making it mandatory for the Railways to print a warning, similar to the ones that appeared on cigarette packs and liquor bottles, on all the railway blankets with also the information about when they were last washed. When he checked into a hotel, he would ask for a ‘room with a view’. My husband asked him if he had read that novel by E M Forster when he asked for a room with a view and he gave a blank look. He hated rooms that had windows facing the hotel corridor. He preferred rooms that had a commanding view of the city or the sea or mountains depending upon where they were located. He always said that nothing could be more exhilarating than an uninterrupted view of at least a hundred kilometers of Mother Earth. Once inside the room, he would make a beeline to the toilet to assess how clean it was. He would be satisfied on seeing a strip of paper stuck on the toilet seat saying that the closet has been sanitized for our protection. He would then lift the receiver to check if the phone was in working order. He would then turn his attention to all the electrical fittings to see if they were in proper working condition. The last item on his agenda would be the TV. He would flip through all the channels to make sure that nothing was amiss. After a few outings with him, it dawned on my husband why his other colleagues always avoided a trip with him. It was probably the fact that my husband's tolerance level was the highest on this side of the equator. After a few days, it so happened that myself and husband had to make a trip to his flat .We had a decent meal with him. A room was allotted to us. He ushered us into the allotted room. The bed looked like a miniature battlefield which he blamed on his children. One look at the blanket and I decided to brave the wintry night without it. The window in my room had a view of the rail track. When it was dawn, I had a good look at the room allotted to me. Cobweb covered the entire ceiling with a link to most of the fittings in the room as if it was some kind of a mini wired city. I opened the window to look outside and could see hundreds of slum dwellers living in the nearby slum converting the expansive railway yard into the world’s largest toilet. I noticed that most of them had covered their faces like the bandits of Chambal Valley to escape any risk of being identified by the passengers in the speeding trains! I closed the window instantly and moved to the toilet. The moment I stepped in, I was in a supine position thanks to the slippery floor. For no reason, I recollected Neil Armstrong’s famous words, ‘A short step for man but a giant leap for mankind’! My husband then realised why his friend was so fastidious whenever he traveled and why he always demanded a ‘Room with a view’! This sketches the obsession of a man who obviously lacks all that he craves for. Every one has a reason to be like what he is. The problem is that we are all prone to judge others by our own standards which again depend on so many factors in life. A particular behaviour may appear very wrong from our point of view but if we get to know his side, we may change our opinion about him. There is something common about all these fussy people. They are extremely touchy about their walls more than anything else. If a visitor's child does anything to scar the walls, they go and cry near the wall as if it is the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem! If they expect a guest, they move the sofa some twelve inches away from the wall in order that our oily head does not make an indelible impression on it! It is a wonderful articulation of human mind wanting to have something that it does not have. Here is a story that would show a selfless attitude of a human being. There were two patients who were bed-ridden with no possibilities for them to move around due to their health condition. While one of them assigned the bed next to the window was blind, the other was given a view to the hospital corridor. The person who was having a view of the hospital corridor was curious to know what was going on in the road beneath the hospital. The patient who was blind and was placed next to the window decided to give him a wonderful narration of what was going on. First day description - The whole road is decorated with color papers and flowers from pillar to pillar. The houses have large Rangoli drawing in front and mango leaves are tied in front door of each house. There is a beautiful garden opposite to the hospital with trees full of colorful flowers. The children are playing in the garden in the swings and chasing the butterflies. Second day description - A beautiful decorated palanquin in which an Idol that is pleasing to look and well decorated is majestically placed while many of the devotees are moving them in a nice rhythmic motion. Many of the devotees are coming out and worshiping the Lord who is taken in a procession. The women are wearing beautiful silk sarees and golden necklaces. The procession is such a treat to watch. Third day - The patient who was allotted the bed next to the window died and the patient who was having corridor view requested to move to the bed next to the window so that he can enjoy the view. He was shocked to see there were no such things as described by the blind patient. He then explained the nurse about the description that patient was giving to him for two days. The nurse responded, "It can't be true because he was legally blind." The surviving patient was very much moved by the gesture of the blind even when he was in death-bed. Vathsala Jayaraman