Warrier's Collage on Wednesday December 21, 2022

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE Midweek Edition On Wednesday December 21, 2022 Sir Riff Clichard (82) : Christmas Song https://youtu.be/d-6Y4mHI2LI Good Morning 🌄 Nice Day M G Warrier A Messages/Responses 1) C V Subbaraman Warrier's Collage on Sunday December 18, 2022 It was interesting to read about TAXATION and unsuccessful attempts to make tax laws simple. All laws are complicated; that is why there are lawyers who make them more complicated so that common men may remain beyond their understanding. If we scrap Income Tax as advocated by the irresprissible Subramaniam Swamy, there will be instant reduction in the pending cases in courts. Now-a-days, there is no sphere of life which is not impacted by a tax. Here is a Tax Poem. I think that this poem reflects the status all over the world, except in a few patches of land where the "no tax" bliss prevails. The Tax Poem Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table At which he's fed. Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes Are the rule. Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts Anyway! Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt. Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he Tries to think. Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries Tax his tears. Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways To tax his ass. Tax all he has Then let him know That you won't be done Till he has no dough. When he screams and hollers; Then tax him some more, Tax him till He's good and sore. Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in Which he's laid. Put these words Upon his tomb, 'Taxes drove me to my doom...' When he's gone, Do not relax, Its time to apply The inheritance tax. Accounts Receivable Tax Airline surcharge tax Airline Fuel Tax Airport Maintenance Tax Building Permit Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Death Tax Dog License Tax Driving Permit Tax Excise Taxes Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment (UI) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Petrol Tax ( too much per litre) Gross Receipts Tax Health Tax Hunting License Tax Hydro Tax Inheritance Tax Interest Tax Liquor Tax Luxury Taxes Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Mortgage Tax Personal Income Tax Property Tax Poverty Tax Prescription Drug Tax Property Tax Provincial Income Tax Real Estate Tax Recreational Vehicle Tax Retail Sales Tax Service Charge Tax School Tax Telephone Tax Telephone, Provincial and Local Surcharge Taxes Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax Vehicle License Registration Tax Vehicle Sales Tax Water Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was one of the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had a large middleclass, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians? ' Subbaraman Really funny. But I came a little late. Early 1940's. What my father remembered then about the beginning of 20th Century didn't inspire to think in these terms. The world he grew up was already a mess created by the greedy rich from the west. They planned and operationalised two world wars...and they are in command even today- Regards and Thanks 🙏-Warrier 2) T N C Rangarajan Shared a link : Economics of Retirement https://freefincal.com/i-realized-the-importance-of-retirement-planning-only-at-35-is-there-any-hope-for-me/ A reader says that he has realized the importance of retirement planning only at age 35 and his current net worth is essentially zero. He would like to retire by age 55 and wants to know how to go about it. 3) M G Warrier Shared a link about Steve Jobs https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-real-leadership-lessons-of-steve-jobs B Babusenan's Column Irony Phrasing Syndrome Kumaran Asan, one among the three great contemporary Malayalam poets, wrote in a1908 poem :"Oh, land of Bharat! why do you cry? This thralldom is your destiny.See what your sons are doing? Got intoxicated with the liquor of casteism, they fight among themselves and perish. What use is Swarajya to you? "It was a decade before Gandhiji appeared on the arena of our freedom movement and electrified it. Some took the poet's concluding sentence as an insult. Others considered it as an excellent example of what , in literary parlance, is known as 'ironic phrasing'. Ironic phrasing is not a monopoly of writers. Many of our esteemed readers might have come across persons having such a tendency in their bureaucratic experience. Given a chance they would never fail to say about themselves:"See,Mr---I have very limited knowledge, but I manage somehow " which is expected to be taken as " Mr. ---don't try to be smart. I know what to do." This kind of obsession may be given a grand name'Ironic phrasing syndrome'. Now, back to Kumaran Asan. As a matter of fact, the poet really meant what he said. It came out itself from the accumulated agony caused by the barborous caste discriminations he suffered. The other two members of the Triumvirate were fortunate in this respect. They belonged to the upper castes. One of them, in a beautiful small poem, made effective use of this irony technique. A mother invites the attention of her child to a chandaali lass, carrying on her head a bundle of freshly-cut grass, and says with a scornful smile:"Who will say that this Kaliyuga is without some kindness when it has forgotten to forbid our eyes to look at the down -trodden?" "Kanninnu theendothiduvaan maranna Kaaleyakaalam kanivattathalla." It was the Bard who gave us the best example for an ironic phrase in his history play 'Julius Caesar' through Mark Antony in his oration connected with Caesar's funeral. During his speech, he frequently addresses Brutus as 'an honorable man' while he always means the opposite. And, it has its tremendous effect! But, alas! this technique will not always work. Here is an example : A few days before the Christmas Eve of 1954, Bertrand Russell gave a BBC speech under the caption 'Man's Peril'. It was about the pernicious effects of a nuclear war. All those who heard the speech were deeply touched by it with the result that there arose a demand to draft an appeal against nuclear warfare by eminent scientists belonging to either side of the Iron Curtain. Naturally, the appeal was drafted by Russell himself and its first signatory was Dr. Einstein (That was the last public document where he signed. Einstein passed away soon thereafter) When he happened to be in Paris, Russell himself took the statement to Prof. Frederic Joliot -Curie, the Nobel Prize winning chemist and son-in-law of the celebrated Madame Curie, for signature. The Prof. felt honored, no doubt, but there was one hitch, though quite small. Would the great Russell oblige? At one place, where the rhetoric reached its pinnacle, Russell wrote that, when a nuclear bomb was dropped, a fortunate few would die an instant death, (employing the irony technique) . How can one associate the adjective 'fortunate' with death? Russell smiled and quietly struck off that word. The great scientist was immensely pleased and immediately signed on the dotted line. C Current Affairs N R Narayana Murthy speaks his heart out : https://www.livemint.com/news/india/in-india-reality-means-corruption-dirty-roads-says-narayana-murthy-11671384785485.html Report : "“In India, reality means corruption, dirty roads, pollution and many times no power. However, reality in Singapore means clean road, no pollution and lots of power. Therefore, it is your responsibility to create that new reality", said Narayana Murthy" Yes. Mr Murthy, reality is what you see around. For decades you didn't get opportunity to see real India. Thank you for using your golden years to see India. Speak out loudly, because you'll be heard. If possible join the yatra and give a competition to Raghuram Rajan. You talked about Singapore. Few years back we visited Singapore. The tourist guide took us to a Tamilian's vegetarian hotel there. The kitchen and backyard and of course the washroom were as clean as the one in a hotel in Nallathambi Mudali Street in Triplicane when I was staying in Chennai in 1969. Of course you will not get a chance to visit such dark areas in Singapore in 5 to 7 ⭐ hotels. Keep talking Media Response : M G Warrier December 19, 2022 Leadership training This refers to the report "Successful leaders encash on opportunities : Akshay Sangwan" (The Hindu Business Line, December 19). It's gratifying to find that development of leadership skills in the corporate sector is receiving focused attention and media houses like The Hindu are associating with the efforts in skills development. Developing countries including India have so far focused on improving literacy level and have been fairly successful. When we turn to skill development initiatives and planning school syllabus and allocation of admissions for higher education, based on ground level needs, our track record is not that impressive. There are valid reasons for such a scenario. One, industries including construction industries need a higher percentage of failures at undergraduate level to have a perennial catchment area for cheap labour. Two, young population, while selecting higher education streams, keep an eye on opportunities for higher education and/or employment abroad. Three, universities are not mandated to dovetail domestic skills and specialisation needs while planning internal seats allocations and preparing syllabus. Time is opportune for centre, states and universities to make a realistic assessment of skills and specialisation needs within the country in various fields including politics and formulate an action plan with statutory backing for implementation across the country. Such a plan should take a long term perspective, beyond 15 to 20 years. M G Warrier Mumbai D Collage Essay : Vathsala Jayaraman Excessive Technology Very often we hear that excessive use of technology leads to decrease in face to face conversations,reducing people's communicative and creative skills leading to social isolation and other health problems. Decades back, when we were children, the old and young would gather in the open space in front of the house or in the Prakarams of temple and had a great time. There would be unbelievable bonhomie. There was no TV, no phone and we all depended on each other for our fun and frolicking time.Luxuries started arriving-radio,transistor, phone, TV, computer and now the cell phone. Today people talk more with unknown and unseen faces across the globe than with local kith and kin. Kitna badal gaya insaan! There is a saying : "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." Along came computers and the internet, and now: "We have two eyes and ten fingers .- not even ten fingers- one finger will do. Try spending time with some people. It may result in endless complaints, arguments all of which culminate in a headache. Safer then to escape into the virtual world where one can choose one's friends, discuss stuff with people who don't growl back and ignore the trolls. At least one has one's peace of mind. There is time and space enough to prevent oneself from putting one's foot in one's mouth. Come to think of it, there is very little difference between social life in the 'real' world and the virtual, except for the distance. Good, bad and indifference exist everywhere. Mainly human beings are the same in either 'world'. Virtual world suits us better as we don't even have to make efforts to get off our couches, bathe or dress! We can hide our true selves and project a likable persona to the world, we can say what we like hiding behind a pseudo-persona! Isn't this freedom? Today with smaller families and fewer really close friends, one has to get on with the people around or be isolated. Trying to get along with inimical individuals around us could be quite an arduous job leading to spikes in BP. At such times, it is a tremendous relief to have books or the virtual world to turn to. Unfortunately, everyone seems to be intent on having the last word in arguments/discussions these days. Voices get raised, discussions blow up into hot arguments. If this is online, one can shut off the person or block him. The virtual world seems to be a get away from the unpleasantness of real life. As far as hiding our true selves is concerned, it could work both ways. Some of us feel more comfortable being our real selves in the virtual world with strangers than with people around with us who may be out to judge us all the time, or there could be people hiding their true identities in order to troll others. No wonder Web and Mobile platforms attract us like a magnet. It works like a real web when we are in, we don't see the beginning and the end. Nowadays, our moves are planned to be around WiFi. We can't eliminate the positive side of web/mobile. Everything and anything we are able to look up to learn instantaneously. My grand nephew conducts his entire research by looking up through web rather than visiting a library. A few years back, my daughter-in-law was here for a month leaving the children with my son in US., My grandson conveyed through phone "Amma, Appa is preparing varieties of lunch/dinner items for us-thanks to the recipes available through internet. You can take your own time to return to US." My son said, "I am driven by methods and processes. I should say that I have learnt the science of cooking rather than the art of cooking.." When I told my son that he seems to be transforming into a spiritually oriented person more than what he was in India 20 years back, pat came the reply 'Of course,yes. I should thank www.poornalayam.org. Welcome to Poornalayam During my walking schedule I am listening to one hour lecture on Gita, upanishad, Advaitha, Bramha Sutras etc.What a way to become healthy, knowledgeable, at the same time to have some spiritual thinking, which is the high need of the hour!" Thanks to the Electronic media and the palm held gadget. "Instead of endlessly grudging and complaining about the negatives, we can look to the positive sides and reap the benefits" replied my son. Vathsala Jayaraman C V Subbaraman adds : What is normal or excessive is relative. Relative to the transformations in every field of activity. Yesterday's luxury (excessive) is today's necessity (normal or inadequacy)! If today's gadgets and internet books or Google reference facility are making life more comfortable and easy, they have become necessity. Subbaraman An old Hindu Open Page Article : Technology Outburst : M G Warrier https://www.thehindu.com/theme/images/th-online/menu-article-share.svg E Back to Basics Steve Jobs : Who loved life One's attitude adds value to one's words long after one's gone-Collage : https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/columnists/story/2021-08-21/column-steve-jobs-note-to-imperial-beach-man-fetches-big-bucks F Leisure A Cup to remember December 20, 2022 Management lessons from a Cup to remember This refers to your nice editorial "Beautiful game" (The Hindu Business Line, December 20) showcasing the takeaways from the Quatar festival of sports. The smooth conduct of the games was also supported by the political system of Quatar which is a semi-constitutional monarchy where once the government takes initiative, the people remain supportive. Having said that one has to learn many management and leadership lessons from the successful conduct of the football carnival which, happening after a long gap forced by events including the pandemic which took off and concluded with mechanical precision. Your editorial beautifully sums up the management and leadership lessons in and out of courts during few weeks when the whole world was watching the game. Messy's growth in stature during the period will be remembered by sports lovers for a long time. M G Warrier Mumbai G This is an article written by Dr Prabha Ramadurai in 2011, now shared by Vathsala Jayaraman Traditional Ornaments in South India Mookuththi and other ornaments All the ornaments worn by women have some specific significance. That is why some of the ornaments were made compulsory for women. According to acupressure/ acupuncture system, each organ has an energy channel. These channels start from or end at the fingers or toes. If the channels are balanced, there is no problem. Without going deep into the subject, I just want to indicate the significance of each jewellery, from head to toe. Neththi chutti: There are certain acu. points on the head. The purpose of wearing neththichutti, surya prabhai, chandraprabhai etc. (Ornaments used at the time of marriage and other functions to beautify the girls) was to activate these points. Neththi kumkumam: It is put between the eyebrows. The agna chakra is situated between the eye brows. When the kumkumam is put between the eyebrows, that chakra is activated through the pressure applied while putting the kumkumam or sandal or any other paste . The significance of using thumb and ring finger while putting bindi is to balance the fire and water energy in the body (thumb denotes fire and ring finger, water energy). Another reason to apply bindi between eyebrow is that a person cannot get hypnotized if there is any obstacle between the eyebrows.( Mostly the space between the eyebrows is used to hypnotize a person). Now comes the- MOOKKUTHTHI : Mookkuththi (Nose-ring) helps to control ANGER. (mookkukku mele kovam varugirathu). Those days ladies used to wear ring on both nostrils. This may be the reason that they had more patience and could manage the joint family efficiently. According to acu. system, there are acupressure points on the nostrils. They correspond to large intestine and are activated to control blocked nose, sinus problem etc. Ear-ring (Thodu): According to Auricular Therapy (Ear acupuncture/pressure) all the pressure points are situated on the ears. Imagine a fully grown-up foetus inside the mother’s womb. The whole body is represented by the ear in much the same way as the foetus fits. Different parts of the body can be activated by pulsating the corresponding points of the ear. The point where the ear is pierced to put ring is the reflex point of the eyes. ADDIGAI (Necklace) : Wearing addigai or necklace is to activate the points around the neck. It helps to keep the voice sweet and soft. (Ladies wearing addigai won’t talk loudly and are soft -spoken). It also helps to activate the brain. Ring (Mothiram): According to the 5 element theory ( FIRE, EARTH, METAL OR SPACE, WATER AND WIND ENERGY ), the ring finger represents the water element. Wearing ring on that particular finger helps to balance the water energy in the body. Bangles (Valaiyal) : The bangles help to activate or calm down the Lung, Heart, and Pericardium channels.( There are two sacs in the heart region,. One is triple warmer and the other is pericardium.) There is a custom to celebrate Valaikappu of pregnant ladies. The sound of rolling of bangles keeps the foetus calm or some time energetic. There are some points around the wrist which are connected to the reproductive system. Waist band (Oddiyaanam) : There are some points around the waist (stomach, spleen, liver, gallbladder, urinary bladder etc) which get activated by wearing the waist band. The tightness of waistband also controls the extra fat around the waist. (Chinna edaiyal, kodi edaiyal etc.) Anklets (Golusu): By wearing anklets, the acu. points around the ankles are activated. (Stomach, spleen, liver, gall bladder, kidney and urinary bladder.) Toe-ring (Metti): Metti or toe-ring activates the stomach channels. It helps in proper digestion. It also strengthens the uterus. Women always like to look beautiful, presentable. By wearing these ornaments they look more beautiful. (Unki khoobsurati par char chand lag jate hain.) Anybody looking at them will have respect for them. Those days the ornaments used to be of gold, silver or copper only. These metals are not attracted by electromagnetic force. As a doctor Dr. Prabha had pointed out beautifully the medico technical aspects of wearing each ornament.I felt as though I am going thro a thesis. With the soaring prices of gold it may not be possible to buy even a few grams of gold. No need of talking about Oddiyanam, addigai etc however beneficial they be..Hereafter even the names of these ornaments also will be totally forgotten or may be used only by dancers.Even if you have the ornaments,they can't be worn for fear of robbers.Jewels are more often life threatening and are used to decorate the lockers only. In this connection I remember an incident quoted in medical books.Dr. LakshmanaSwami Mudaliar was practising medicine.A lady from Chettinadu came to him with a complaint of severe head ache.In those days there were no scans & diagnostic tests were not many. Being a rich lady she had seen many doctors,ayurvedam, nattu vaidyam etc etc for 5 long years and all had gone in vain. At last she came to Dr. Lakshmana Swami Mudaliar.After listening to her patiently for 20 mts. the doctor saw her face for a while. Immediately he asked her to remove both the diamond mookkuthis.Within a day her head ache poye pochu-totally gone Her nervous system was unable to stand the dazzling brightness of the brilliant diamonds She stopped wearing mookkuthi once for all. .Dr. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar has narrated this particular incident very clearly while dealing with head aches.This may be an individual instance & may not be quoted always.But many of the neuro doctors in Allopathy are against this mookkuthi wearing.'even if it is made of gold & not stone studded. Ironically this is the only ornament that can be made with 0.5gms of gold. I am not against women wearing mookkuthi,just a reference,that is all. Vathsala Jayaraman