Warrier's Collage on Friday November 11, 2022

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Friday Weekend Edition : YSP Thorat's 75th Birthday Special November 11, 2022 Mahalaxmi Temple, Kolhapur https://youtu.be/94qPFzrE3w8 1) Y S P Thorat* : A 2020 Speech https://youtu.be/D1048CNiJlc 2) A convocation address by Thorat https://youtu.be/VPV3sssRt4c *Ex-Chairman, NABARD Good Morning 🌄 Yashwant Thorat and I were colleagues in central RPCD. We know each other since late 1980's and are family friends since then. I had occasion to get guidance and support from both Usha and Yashwant Thorats, in and out of RBI, during the last 3 decades. Happy to bring out this special issue of Collage today when Thorat family is celebrating the 75th Birthday of Y S P Thorat, Ex-Chairman, NABARD. Ayurarogyasaukhyam 🙏 and Best Wishes to him and his family. Nice Day M G Warrier Thought* of the day Now that we have learned to fly in the air like birds and dive in the sea like fish, only one thing remains----to live on earth like humans- George Bernard Shaw. *Shared by V Rangarajan A Current Affairs Justice DY Chandrachud sworn in as 50th CJI of India. Chandrachud shares Birthday with Dr YSP Thorat. While in service, on a few occasions I had opportunity to meet young lawyer DY Chandrachud whom I found to be a very good human being with a practical approach to life. I wish him Ayurarogyasaukhyam 🙏 and success in his new assignment. https://www.indiatoday.in/law/story/dy-chandrachud-india-50th-chief-justice-of-india-challenges-son-of-cji-2295096-2022-11-09 Media Response : M G Warrier November 10, 2022 Longer tenure for CJI* This refers to the report "Justice DY Chandrachud sworn in as the 50th CJI" (The Hindu Business Line, November 10). Having sworn in just two days prior to his 63rd Birthday, Justice Chandrachud will get a full two years tenure as CJI as compared to the 74 days' tenure of his predecessor. Guided by various considerations, top positions in India including those of CJI have become short-tenure pre-retirement assignments. There are occasions when positions like those of CAG and RBI Governor are occupied by incumbents who have crossed normal civil services retirement age. While there is nothing wrong in such appointments, the sense of insecurity or short term nature of the tenure affects application of mind with a long term vision which is a prerequisite for such jobs. One option could be to make the positions tenure-based rather than going by the age of the incumbent. M G Warrier Mumbai *Published in The Hindu Business Line on November 11, 2022 : https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article66121235.ece Bonus One-liner Bhagavad-Gita* Chapter 1 - Wrong thinking is the only problem in life. Chapter 2 - Right knowledge is the ultimate solution to all our problems. Chapter 3 - Selflessness is the only way to progress and prosperity. Chapter 4 - Every act can be an act of prayer. Chapter 5 - Renounce the ego of individuality and rejoice the bliss of infinity. Chapter 6 - Connect to the higher consciousness daily. Chapter 7 - Live what you learn. Chapter 8 - Never give up on yourself. Chapter 9 - Value your blessings. Chapter 10 - See divinity all around. Chapter 11 - Have enough surrender to see the truth as it is. Chapter 12 - Absorb your mind in the higher. Chapter 13 - Detach from Maya and attach to divine Chapter 14 - Live a life- style that matches your vision. Chapter 15 - Give priority to Divinity. Chapter 16 - Being good is a reward in itself. Chapter 17 - Choosing the right over the pleasant is a sign of power. Chapter 18 - Let go, let us move to union with God. *Shared by T J Kurup Thiruvananthapuram B Current Affairs G20 Presidency : Modi speaks https://m.timesofindia.com/india/g20-presidency-reflects-worlds-confidence-in-india-says-pm-modi/amp_articleshow/95387443.cms India sees it as a new responsibility and as a measure of the international community’s rising confidence in it. Today, there is tremendous curiosity across the globe about India which is now being analysed in a new context. People are studying our current achievements while expressing optimism about our future,” said PM Modi. C Collage Music Story Time with Vathsala Jayaraman Compassionate Kalyani I am 65. Don't know ABC of music, yet love to listen. All these years have been spent inside the kitchen, cooking and cleaning vessels. My grand daughter is seven and she has started going to music class and I accompany her. One day just for fun I asked her whether I can also learn music along with her. She caught it right into her heart. The teacher was readily willing. On an auspicious day I took vetrilai, paakku, a few apples and paid Rs 100 as Guru Dakshina and prostrated before the young 30 year old teacher. SA-PA-SA started. The teacher said 'Shruthi Matha, Laya Pithaa. I also listened. Within three months sarali varisai was complete. My grand daughter Syaama was very jubilant, not because she could sing well but because I am a little backward. Within 6 months she has completed sarali, jandai, Tara Sthaayi varisai and was about to start Alankaaram. Poor me! could not even memorise sarali varisai in the order. When I struggled, Syaama was laughing. She is in a better place. Has the pride of having excelled her grandma! The past six months of my life have been quite hard. And the past three months have been unbelievably tough. The kind of things that I am forced to deal with are very hurting and painful. The only consolation for me in this is my entire family is with me on my side and travelling in the same boat. Syama is adamant that I should continue music lessons. Instead of blaming each other, we are trying to stay together and fight it through. Continued at H D Collage Poetry : Gopikrishnan Kottoor Turning the Pages Whatever happens We pretend to ourselves That there is still time. Out there far away A Ferris wheel quietly giant Is a gift of God Hanging down the skies In the near lake that we can almost touch, Beneath the mermaid lilies Half awake in their dreams, We pass by silhouettes of what is past. Where are the birds that a little while ago Sat upon these shoulders? Well, I'll wait for them to return to me, Though from where, I know not. In prayers, in silences, Our words burn incandescent. In a desperate bid to end What we never quite began, Before we fall asleep We keep turning the pages. E Collage Notes Yashwant Thorat's father General Thorat 1) General Thorat http://veekay-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/2012/10/biography-lt-gen-spp-thorat-kc-dso.html?m=1 Excerpts : The Thorats had three children, two daughters and a son. The eldest daughter, Kusum, was born on 16 June 1937 at Amritsar. She later married a Punjabi, Mr C.N. Kapur, who was in the Indian Railways. The second daughter, Kumud, was born on 30 September 1942, in Delhi. She married a Bengali, Mr R.K. Bose, who was in Dunlops. Their son, Yashwant, was born in Ranchi on 11 November 1947 at Ranchi. He married a South Indian girl, Usha, whose father, Mr M. Ramachandran, was a civil servant. Yashwant, who is affectionately known as 'Bhaiyya' (brother), joined the Reserve Bank of India, and is based at Bombay. Incidentally, he and the author were in school together, at St. Francis Convent, in Jhansi, where Yashwant was three years junior. The author vividly remembers the birthday party, at the Flag Staff House, in November 1954, when Yashwant had turned seven, and the author was a little over ten years old. Yashwant's father had just returned from Korea, and brought back a lot of toys, and a huge balloon, the like of which had not been seen before. 2) Know More https://m.economictimes.com/news/defence/the-custodian-force-of-india-and-lt-general-thorat-the-general-who-knew-the-way/articleshow/77179411.cms F Leisure Facts & Fiction A story well narrated by Y S P Thorat https://www.readersdigest.in/features/story-war-and-peace-on-melrose-hill-127331 War and Peace on Melrose Hill A chance encounter on a train journey leads to an amazing discovery of a decades-old World War 2 connection G Seventy-fifth Birthday Thoughts https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/words-for-75th-birthday-celebration.html H Continued from C Even with their unconditional support there are moments I go into this dark place. An abyss so dark that I feel like I am this lonely soul on a deserted, marooned island, unable to see light in any direction. When I look up, I see these heavy dark clouds stretching in all directions, all the way till where I can see without an end. Sometimes, I wonder if I walked into this situation blindly without thinking but other times, I know I didn't have much choice but walk here with eyes wide open. I work like a well-oiled machine, doing my tasks on time irrespective of what keeps going in my mind. The only hindrance I face is when I am forced to give my heart and soul to complete any particular task, like my music class. For the past few weeks, I have been postponing the class or calling in sick and letting Syama alone attend the class. Uttering just the Sa of the Sa Pa Sa was such a mammoth task. How do I gather the energy and enthusiasm to sing when my mind is filled with worry? I guess my teacher had enough of my escapism and she put her foot down during the last class when she said she would not take another class to Syaama without me in it. So, I prepared myself to sit through the class, but I had no clue how I would get through till the end. And true to my fear, I choked up. My throat wouldn't just open, and tears started flowing. And so it went for the next 40 mins. And my teacher suddenly said that she would teach a new Geetham. A new song…ah! Just what I wanted was all I could think. And I closed to eyes and resigned myself to 20 more minutes of croaking and choking. We began with the Arohanam and Avaroham of Kalyani and it took me a good 5 minutes to understand the placement of Ma since it is Ma 2 and for those precious minutes I was completely zoned into Ma 2 and mastering it. Once done, she proceeded to tell us that the Geetham she wants to teach is 'Kamala jathalaa', a prostration to Lord Vishnu and she began to sing the song. And just like that Magic began. Oh what a magic it was! I got lost right in those initial notes. But this time being lost was the best thing that happened to me. The music just poured into me and made me feel light as a butterfly. The notes just went deep into these tiny crevices of my heart and pulled out all those sad, hard, and heavy thoughts out of me. The notes tugged and tugged until it was just me and the song alone but this time in a bright space and with me doing cartwheels around and around until I felt dizzy with happiness. Nah…contentment! I could realise why they teach Nursery Rhymes before teaching alphabets. Life felt right again. It looked beautiful again. Not that it lacked any luster before, but my pain filled eyes and heart could not appreciate it as much as it deserved. Maybe it's the song or the raaga or probably both. Both do equal justice to being the best. I am now in awe of Purandara Dasa. Imagine being able to be in a state of writing such a melody; breathing life into those lines by stringing them together in the raagam Kalyani. Ah! Specially this line “D D D | G G G , "Karuna Sharadheee" gets me everytime. After the class was done, I couldn't get the notes out of my mind. And honestly, I didn't want to as well. So, I started researching on Kalyani raagam. I came across a few blogs where they described Kalyani as a compassionate raagam–a motherly love. I couldn't agree more. Imagine a mother running her hand over our hair lovingly again and again while whispering It's ok dear. I am here. Don't worry'– that's how calm I felt. They say raagas can sway your moods. If there is a category for a complete raaga which brings contentment, then for me personally, that would be Kalyani. I recorded the swara notes in my mobile and have been listening to it when I feel myself slipping into the abyss of melancholy. I feel life conquerable, livable, and beautiful. Syama is perplexed. How the paati, who cannot catch up even Sarali Varisai could sing the Geetham so well. That is the music magic. The young teacher has understood the psychology of the elderly woman so well. Thank you KALYANI. Vathsala Jayaraman (Just weaving a thread of imagination in the music season) Vathsala Jayaraman