Warrier's Collage On Sunday January 22, 2023

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Sunday January 22, 2023 Lalita Sahasranamam https://youtu.be/NYK8utdO5hQ (Priya Sisters) 1) FM Nirmala Sitharaman's advice to young students : https://youtu.be/s0g-V9csP4c (Posted online comments -Warrier) 2) G20 Logo https://youtu.be/HY2x9YT_voQ (Posted online comments -Warrier) 3) Dimensions of the mind https://youtu.be/D7FAdalUmlk ( Swami Bhoomananda) Good Morning 🌅 Happy Birthday to all readers having Birthday during the week ending Saturday January 28, 2023. Ayurarogyasaukhyam 🙏 and Best Wishes to all readers. Next issue of Collage will be dated January 25, 2023. Nice Day M G Warrier Thought for the day : The most selfish one letter word* https://youtu.be/hRHC7dkAbPw *Link Courtesy : T J Kurup Thiruvananthapuram A Messages/Responses 1) Sharada Nayar Chennai Suggested a link Best South Indian food in New York City https://youtu.be/l-P2uLGxKiU (Canteen attached to Queens Ganesh Temple) 2) Understanding Retirement Villages* https://www.nnrc.in/nnrc-retirement-community-coimbatore.php *Link shared by M G Warrier. We have been discussing independent retirement facilities in Collage. Readers were asking for examples. Know More : https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0JL3AaQf6cmfZYzeTS42xmxAKzGte6FB34cMi11xUYWKAbJZSCqfwoKRy9ZzYUVSml&id=103777575116576&mibextid=Nif5oz 3) V Rangarajan Shared a thought : You don't know what it is like to be lonely until you spend time alone wishing for companionship-Ratan Tata. A related link shared by Warrier : https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/warriersviews/remain-connected-online-49403/ 4) Why I stopped being a vegetarian https://youtu.be/yqnHHqDZvYs 5) S Valsala Devi Thiruvananthapuram Shared a blog link* : https://pavlovedwordz.wordpress.com/2023/01/18/quest-by-revathy-r-nair/ *Revathy is Valsala's granddaughter B Current Affairs 1) Asking right questions https://epaper.business-standard.com/bs_new/index.php?rt=main/mainpage#1 2) Brand War https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/amazon-back-as-world-s-most-valued-brand-apple-down-to-no-2-brand-finance-123011800203_1.html The India story From India, Tata Group's brand value ranking went up to 69 from 78 last year. However, reasons for the ranking going up were not available. Among Indian IT services players, Infosys jumped to the 150th slot from 158 last year. Infosys has seen an 84 per cent increase in its brand value since 2020, said the report. 3) Media Response : M G Warrier a) Like & Share Tapping youth talent* This refers to the report "15-year-old Mithil Salunkhe leads Army's cyber warrior brigade" (The Hindu Business Line, January 20). We need to appreciate the efforts of defence forces and other organisations both in public and private sectors to hunt talent in the youth across the country and give public recognition. Such initiatives will have a positive impact on students' approach to science and technology. The deployment of highly qualified technocrats by IT industry for low profile positions in recent decades had ended up in talented students getting confused and some of them opting for humanities not specifically for any aptitude-related reasons. The winners and participants in competitions like this will evolve into brand ambassadors for the educational institutions they come from. M G Warrier Mumbai *Published on January 21, 2023 : https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor/article66414717.ece b) Taxing thoughts This refers to the piece "Widen the tax base" (The Hindu Business Line, January 19). These are timely loud thoughts, with the central budget less than a fortnight away. While the facts and figures support the suggestions for a wider tax base, one feels several fertile areas for improving overall government finances are kept unexplored for traditional and political reasons. Illustratively, such areas include tax on agricultural income, mainstreaming and managing domestic gold stock to make idle assets productive and progressive tax on asset formation and wealth tax. We expect at least a statement of intention to improve resources management in the Finance Minister's Budget Speach 2023. M G Warrier Mumbai c) Revamping cooperative structure* This refers to your editorial "Primary concerns" (The Hindu Business Line, January 18). The central move to revamp the cooperative system is praiseworthy. This is continuation of the efforts to revamp rural credit system in India that started with the All India Rural Credit Survey during 1950's and the 1966 amendment to the Banking Regulation Act 1949 to make the Act applicable to cooperative societies. Today, the scenario is more complex, as the growth of cooperatives in different states are at different levels, multiplicity of political pulls and pushes adding to the complexity of problems. That should not deter central and state governments from moving forward with initiatives to reorganise cooperatives to serve the purposes for which they exist by making them more efficient and amenable to regulatory control applicable to the functions they perform. There are successful experiments like Kerala Bank and Amul which can be adapted to suit different service needs. Perhaps Centre may have to send down a message that political pressures should not stand in the way of professionally managing the entities at different levels and regulatory compliance. M G Warrier Mumbai *Published on January 19, 2023 : https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-editor/article66398499.ece C Babusenan's Column An Author's woes Was it not Victor Hugo who said:"Books are cold but sure friends"? All will not agree to this opinion, especially some writers of books. You ask Salman Rushdie. He will never agree. So would the thinker Bertrand Russell if that question were put to him. Only these two authors came to my mind immediately. Let us briefly consider as to what happened to the latter to perhaps hold that view although it did not deter him from writing more books. Bertrand Russell was a prodigious writer on mathematics, philosophy, logic , education, religion, social and nuclear issues. Scintillating thoughts, expressed in inimitable style, made him a very popular author. Bouquets were plentiful, but there came brickbats too. Two books, as it were, brought vengeful retaliation after some years of their publication. One is 'Why I Am Not a Christian?' and the other 'Marriage and Morals' . The former book was actually a lecture that Russell gave in1927 to a secular society in London. His severe criticism of Christ irked many believers and they waited for the appropriate time to teach him a lesson or two. During the first world War, Russell gave a series of lectures on how, according to him, the war-battered Europe could be reconstructed. These lectures soon appeared in book form and became tremendously popular.Around twelve years later, in1929, there appeared another book captioned 'Marriage and Morals' wherein Russell discussed, in some detail, the various aspects of the great institution of marriage in the post-war context. Here he gave expression to several ideas bitterly unsavory to orthodox Christians who were once again terribly annoyed with him. The chance for which they waited arrived one decade later when Russell was appointed as Professor of Philosophy in the City College of New York. The city of New York was, so to say, the citadel of the Protestant Episcopal Church, the American version of the British Anglican Church. Its bishop fired the first shot. He severely criticised the higher education board for its decision to appoint a person, totally bereft of moral sense, as professor of philosophy in a prestigious educational institution. That opened a flood gate of accusations. The powerful mayor of New York fully supported the bishop. The matter was dragged to the Court where the smart advocate of the plaintiff, who was a lady, described Russell in the following glowing terms : 'lecherous, libidinous, lustful, venerous,erotomaniac, aphrodisiac, irreverent, narrow minded, untruthful and bereft of moral fibre'* The judge too generally endorsed this view. The bishop-mayor-judge trio succeeded in rendering Russell jobless as a result of which he and his family suffered penury and isolation in America. A millionaire came to their rescue later and, at the end of the second world war, they returned to England. When the news of Russell having been selected for the Nobel Prize for literature reached America, one Russell-baiter screamed : "What? Nobel Prize for that beast! " *A repeat . II Collage in Classroom Reverse mentoring* https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/advertising/reverse-mentoring-what-ad-industry-leaders-can-learn-from-young-guns/97066937?utm_source=Mailer&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=etbrandequity_news_2023-01-18&dt=2023-01-18&em=bWd3YXJyaWVyQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ== *Source : ET Brand Equity D Panchapagesan's Column WEEKLY MESSAGE TO COLLAGE UPHOLD LOFTY IDEALS IN LIFE : UTTARADHYANA SUTRA Difficult to conquer oneself. But when that is conquered, everything is conquered. Uttaradhyana Sutra The man who surrenders his Ideals is the unhappiest. For it is not possible to break ourselves loose from God's commandments without enslaving ourselves to our enemies : The sinful worldliness, Carnal Concupiscences, and the devil ‘seeking whom he may devour’ Some wordings sneer at the supposed slavery of the Children of God, but those who still maintain some vestige of untrammeled reasoning do confess that no one follows the pathway of his unbridled fancies and sinful indulgences without soon finding himself enmeshed in an ever-increasing network of entanglements. THEREFORE WE RESOLVE, as we daily face the high and narrow road of Life, to be wise enough to profit by the experience of those who have travelled the road AHEAD. WE RESOLVE to turn a deaf ear to the hawkers and fakers Whose tents, full of empty promises, line the way. WE RESOLVE to answer calmly and bravely to threats and enticements of the world : NO SURRENDER! Let us remember : Strong Mind develops IDEAS. Average Mind develops EVENTS. Weak Mind develops PEOPLE. Be Well, V T Panchapagesan E Collage Books Book on my table : Whole Numbers And Half Truths By Rukmini S I never thought I'll be scanning through the pages of this book given to me by my daughter Reshmy few months ago. The two pandemic years had made me lazy. One by one, I had withdrawn from my routine activities and I never thought any semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy will ever return. In fact, as I had no intention to read this book, few weeks ago, I returned it to Reshmy. Yesterday when I was searching for another book in the shelf, I found this book hiding in a corner. When I skipped through the pages and read the introduction, I found the content interesting. The book is introduced at Amazon thus : Product Description How do you see India? Fuelled by a surge of migration to cities, the country's growth appears to be defined by urbanisation and by its growing, prosperous middle class. It is also defined by progressive and liberal young Indians, who vote beyond the constraints of identity, and paradoxically, by an unchecked population explosion and rising crimes against women. Is it, though?In 2020, the annual population growth was down to under 1 per cent. Only thirty-one of hundred Indians live in a city today and just 5 per cent live outside the city of their birth.As recently as 2016, only 4 per cent of young, married respondents in a survey said their spouse belonged to a different caste group. Over 45 per cent of voters said in a pre-2014 election survey that it was important to them that a candidate of their own caste wins elections in their constituency. A large share of reported sexual assaults across India are actually consensual relationships criminalised by parents. And staggeringly, spending more than Rs 8,500 a month puts you in the top 5 per cent of urban India.In Whole Numbers and Half Truths, data-journalism pioneer Rukmini S. draws on nearly two decades of on-ground reporting experience to piece together a picture that looks nothing like the one you might expect. There is a mountain of data available on India, but it remains opaque, hard to access and harder yet to read, and it does not inform public conversation. Rukmini marshals this information—some of it never before reported—alongside probing interviews with experts and ordinary citizens, to see what the numbers can tell us about India. As she interrogates how data works, and how the push and pull of social and political forces affect it, she creates a blueprint to understand the changes of the last few years and the ones to come—a toolkit for India.This is a timely and wholly original intervention in the conversation on data, and with it, India. About the Author Rukmini S. is an independent data journalist based in Chennai. In 2004, she began covering Mumbai city for the Times of India. Since 2010, she has specialised in data journalism. She was the first Data Editor of an Indian newsroom, initially at the Hindu and then at HuffPost India. She has also reported on the field from across the country. She now writes for a range of publications including Mint, IndiaSpend and the Guardian. Her pandemic podcast, The Moving Curve, won an Emergent Ventures India Covid-19 Prize in 2020. She was awarded the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Mediaperson (Honourable Mention) in 2020 and the Likho Awards for Excellence in Media in 2019. I've just started reading the book. More later. F Vathsala Jayaraman's Column Tharka Shastra Last issue of Collage (January 18, 2023) had an interesting take on 'Debates' by Shri Babusenan. It was about a debate in Thiruvananthapuram on the relevance of Communism. A reference was made to the wonderful talk delivered by Shri Venkitaramanan who later on became Governor of RBI. Continued at I G Leisure 1) Tilak Yesterday I went to a Gujarati Wedding reception at AHMEDABAD. At the Ice Cream/Dessert counter, they were applying TILAK on the forehead... When I appreciated them for this nice practice, the man at the counter said "It is not a sacred practice... It is only to ensure that YOU don't come again for a 2nd ICE CREAM.. *Shared by SOORYA 2) Two funerals "Best comparison of death of PM Modi's mother and British monarch, by Pakistani born British Khalid Umar;- Funeral of a Goddess by Khalid Umar Today died a Goddess who gave birth in India to a child who was destined to be the greatest son of the soil to lead India in its 75 years of history. That man who is the Prime minister of the largest democracy of the world, did not let his “personal loss” to be an official mourning. It was the last rites of a common Indian; A Son giving shoulder to the 'Arthi' of his mother. By the time, the sun rose in the West, a son had placed a century of life in service before Bhagwan’s feet had gone back to work. Funeral was as swift as is giving birth to a child. That is the stuff greatness is made of. That is the ethos of Dharma. Although it is no comparison, but it reminds me that on 08 September 2022, a geriatric women aged 95 died in one of the oldest ‘parliamentary democracy’, due to ‘old age’. Her funeral took place after 11 days on 19 September. The state funeral cost the national economy over £2.6Billion. The televised funeral was watched by over 4.1 Billion people. That’s how the 70 years reign of the longest serving monarch ended. The country was at standstill for good 2 weeks. That was England and the woman who died herself chose each and every act of this this pomp and show celebrations in the country where 14.5 million people are living in poverty in the UK. That's more than one in every five people. Of these, 8.1 million are working-age adults, 4.3 million are children and 2.1 million are pensioners. What else will be criminal indifference? These are people who have the audacity of giving ‘bhashan’ to India on democratic values! - Khalid Umar is a Pakistan born, London based Barrister & Writer." Shared by C. S. Murthy Ex-RBI H Quotes underwater life https://www.owlsquotes.com/topic/26-underwater-quotes-to-remind-you-how-beautiful-life-is.html Like : Challenges show us our strengths and weaknesses. I Continued from F Shri Babusenan has inter alia discussed about the essence of Debating. Contrary to what many think, this debating known as Tarka Sastra is a part and parcel of Nyaya Sastra, a part of vedic studies. If we take glance at the Tarka Sastra we will be surprised to see the rules and regulations contained therein are relevant today. Tharka-Shastra The topics सिद्धान्त, अवयव, तर्क, निर्णय, वाद, जल्प, वितण्ड, हेत्वाभास, छल, जाति, निग्रह are related to Tharka-Shastra.. Anumana-Sidhanta has five components that are called Pancha-Avayava-Vakyas. These are – Pratijna, Hethu, Udhaharana, Upanaya, and Nigama. ‘Pratinja' denotes the statement of the subject matter. 'Hethu' is the cause or reason that is related to the subject matter. Examples that are needed to justify the cause are called 'Udhaharana'. The conclusion arrived at based on reasons and examples are known as 'Upanaya'. The final inference made based on such conclusion is called 'Nigama'. The example of smoke seen over the hill may be considered here to identify the five components. In this case, Pratinja or statement of the subject would be 'presence of fire over the hill'. ‘Hethu' would be the smoke seen over the hill. Example or Udhaharana is that smoke is always seen in the kitchen when a fire is lit. Upanaya is the conclusion based on the comparison that, since fire in the kitchen is accompanied by smoke, the smoke over the hill indicates the presence of fire over there. The final inference that fire is present over the hill is the‘Nigama'. The methods adopted by Nyaya-Shastra for enquiring about unknown facts and objects are logical and scientific. The seed of Nyaya-Shastra is the‘Pancha-Avayava-Vaakyas’ through which the presence of Easwara-Chaithanya is established. The existence of the supreme power of God is evidenced through the Universe itself and hence it is the‘Hethu'. The presence of countless living beings, their sorrows and happiness that are caused by many objects around them – all of these are examples. Based on all such examples, it can be concluded that an invisible power is behind all such objects and living beings. The final inference is that this invisible power is Easwara-Chaithanya, which is the cause of the creation, existence and destruction of this Universe. Tharka-Sidhaanta As mentioned earlier, Tharka-Shastra is a debating process where arguments and counter-arguments are made with evidential support and logical reasoning so as to arrive at conclusions that are un-questionable and are convincing to all parties. Tharka or debate has five components namely, Sidhantha, Tharka, Vaada, Jalpa and Nirnaya. ‘Sidhantha’ is about the rules and regulations about the debate,‘Tharka’ is the logical thinking process and debate which is based on facts. ‘Vaada’ is the initial presentation of viewpoints from both sides,‘Jalpa’ is about arguments in favour and against various viewpoints and ‘Nirnaya’ is the conclusion arrived at based on the discussions and arguments of both sides. Counter-argument made against the arguments that supports a specific matter is known as ‘Vithanda-Vaada'. Savyabhichaara – Reasons or arguments that are deviating from the main topic. Viruddha – Reasons / arguments that are totally against the matter presented earlier. Sath-Pratipaksha – True and meaningful counter arguments Asiddha – Arguing about impossible factors, giving impossible opinions. Baadhithaa- Justifications and reasons presented in the argument which adversely impact the subject matter. छल जाति निग्रह – Cchala, Jaathi and Nigraha When someone attempts to cover / suppress the points of arguments made by the other party, such argument is called ‘Cchala'. When weak or meaningless arguments made by a party are objected by the other, it is known as ‘Jaathi'. In Tharka, only meaningful and valid arguments are accepted as ‘Hethu’ whereas weak or meaningless arguments are rejected. During the course of investigation and debate, if some of the presented facts cause the failure of the argument, such matters are known as 'Nigraha-Sthana'. Nyaya-Shastra is proclaimed as a scientific and logical method of enquiry and investigation based on systematic and clearly defined components as described above. The inquiries and findings made through such an exhaustive process ultimately helps in gaining 'Tatva-Jnana’- true knowledge about the supreme power. The components of Tharka-Shastra, which include objective debates about the validity of arguments and counter arguments, help in arriving at conclusions that are unquestionable. Such conclusions are arrived at after passing through a rigorous process of examinations, which are duly supported by evidences that are acceptable to all parties. When a subject is presented for debate, all related aspects and arguments have to be analysed and counter arguments have to be presented before a fact is finally established. Such intellectual activities are known as Tapas and all of the Bharatheeya-Dharshanas have taken shape through the practice of Tapas followed by our great ancestors. The common intent of all such Dharshanas is to identify and actualise the supreme power that is the essence of this Universe. Don't you see that the rules very well apply to discussions on all topics on earth -science, religion, language, or politics? Vathsala Jayaraman