Warrier's Collage on Wednesday February 22, 2023

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Wednesday February 22, 2023 Maheswara Pancharatna Stotram By Shankaracharya Let's listen to the Maheshwara Pancharatna Stotram rendered by Dr Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna and broadcast by AIR in the Bhakti Ranjani Programme a few decades back (Vijayawada/Hyderabad stations). https://youtu.be/v5HKqyz7pDM *Shared in Group by C.S.Murthy and forwarded by K Balasubramanian Good Morning Don't miss Masala Dosa at F. Nice Day M G Warrier A I 75 years of Nationalisation of Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India was nationalised with effect from January 01, 1949 on the basis of the Reserve Bank of India (Transfer to Public Ownership) Act, 1948. All shares in the capital of the Bank were deemed transferred to the Central Government on payment of a suitable compensation. ‘2023’ marks the 75th year of another milestone in the history of the Bank. Source : RBI Newsletter February 15, 2023 shared by S Thyagarajan II My View : Media Responses 1) Stop meddling with Pension System This refers to the report 'Switching back to old pension scheme will create huge liability' (The Hindu Business Line, February 21). The 'blow hot, blow cold' approach to pension system by central and state governments started in December 2003 when the Centre arbitrarily discontinued applicability of central government pension scheme to a section of employees joining service from 2004. As no employee in service upto December 31, 2003 was affected, protests to the move was feeble. Expectation for pension in government and the institutions which had pension schemes in place of Contributory Provident Fund was part of the social security ingredients in the wage structure which attracted talent to that sector. Having messed up issues to chaotic ratios, firefighting by fielding questions using a bureaucrat is not a decent thing government should have done. Time is opportune for a comprehensive review of retirement benefits in government and public sector considering them as a wage component. The argument that 'restoring old pension scheme will be more expensive' is no answer for the larger issue of accepting retirement benefits as a component in the overall wage structure. Just as wages in private sector are negotiated taking into the C to C (Cost to Company) and market realities, central and state governments should factor in 'living wages', social security ingredients and market realities while deciding wage structure. M G Warrier Mumbai 2) Gold as a productive asset This refers to the article "Why gold loans don't shine" (The Hindu Business Line, February 19). The article covers various advantages of converting solid gold into other monetary assets and argues for sale over pledge of gold for raising funds. The motives of money lenders in taking gold as security is well exposed. There is a felt need for a change in our mindset towards gold as a liquid asset. For a change in public mindset, there has to be transparency in government's gold management policy. National Gold Policy should aim at accounting, mainstreaming and purifying domestic gold stock now idling in private vaults and lockers. If Tirupati temple gold can become a productive asset in SBI vaults, there's no justification in allowing tons of gold to remain underground and securing it at taxpayers' cost. Having said that we need to do a lot more to create awareness in the public mind about safe migration from the trust in the yellow metal in solid form to faith in public institutions for keeping their gold in trust and receiving interest or paying interest depending on whether it is a deposit or pledge against loan availed. Mushrooming money lenders need to be brought under some regulatory architecture. M G Warrier Mumbai B Messages/Responses 1) Message shared by V Rangarajan : 🌸Don't read success stories. You will get only message. Read failure stories. You will get some ideas to get success. Dr Abdul Kalam🌸 2) S Nallasivan Yes, our friend Shri Warrier had the rare privilege of spending his younger days closer to Lord Shiva withn the Temple precincts. Have you heard of the story, not about Shiva but Krishna who came down as the playing company of a child who frequented and spent her time in the Krishna temple premises. That remained a secret only to Child Krishna and his new found Gopika the girl child. Who knows the Udhyapuram Temple Shiva too had had some pleasant play time with the children of the Priest, Govind and his Rugmni chechi*? We celebrate Shivarathri with festoons and flowers as the Saiva sect of the southern region. Only in our region you will find children "christened" with unique names like "Nalla"sivan, "Sankara"narayanan as nowhere else one could find the deity Shiva and Narayanan together, a different kind of Arthanareeswara. Don't you know that the Kasiviswanathar at Tenkasi, the Southern Kasi, is the very same Lord adorning the Northern Kasi, on the banks of Ganga in Varanasi? The well at the Tenkasi Temple is worshipped as the Holy Ganges itself. Now that I am spending time in the unfamiliar Nizam City of Hyderabad I do not go to Shiva Temple and I "virtually" join the Prayers on Maha Shivarathri worship and celebrations of night long fanfare of "Adiyogi" in the company of Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev. Today is unique Combination of Maha Shivrathri with Sani Pradhosham when Lord Shiva's "Vahana" Nadhi the Bull enjoy equal patronage like the Lord Himself. How could one expect me to conclude this mail without narrating my own story on Maha Shivarathri, trivial though personally engrossing satisfying and fullfilling. A few days back I narrated my own way of celebration of the February 14, Day of Hugging the Cow in the Gosala of the nearby temple and became the victim of the belligerent Cow. Today I did not expect the Temple having Hanuman as the main presiding deity would have such a grand Celebrations for Shivrathiri. I joined the serpentine Queue that took nearly an hour to reach the Sanctorum.. Like during VVIP visit traffic went haywire and diversions unholy and unwieldy were the order for todays Darshan, and Queue had to pass through the Small Sanctum for Lord Shiva Linga Shrine After all it is His day. So I have reached the Shivalinga richly decked with flowers, rather has been immersed in colourful fragrant flowers. And devotees have been privileged sanction of Self Abhisheham with milk and honey. But then I did not know the Special Shivarathri Shivalinga Darshan had to to but just worship and move on. It was a late realisation that I could have carried Milk packet. The lady before me, to my envy carried the precious Milk Packet. When she handed over her Milk packet and moved away to the surprise of the Priest who was cutting open the milk packet, for a moment was clueless and a thin smile broke on his lips and to my pleasant surprise handed the opened Milk packet and told me to perform the Milk Abhishekam to Lord Shiva. Don't you think that Lord Shiva in his unique and strange way blessed this poor Nallasivan, first inviting unexpectedly for His Dharshan and again granted the rare privilege to perform Milk Abhishekam on the Holy day of Maha Shivrathri. S Nallasivan *Will be 84 on Sunday February 26, 2023. Ayurarogyasaukhyam 🙏 to her. C Collage Essay : Vathsala Jayaraman Be Brilliant, but better be smart* Many parents lament that their children are not very brilliant. But does brilliance always pay? Many people love to see neighbour's brilliant children fail. You feel like nobody understands you. Every one does have high expectations from you. You are in the habit of over-thinking, over -analyzing and over-estimating that stall all your happiness. Everybody is brighter than somebody else in some way or other. For all the hype that goes into top rankers, we realise that there are certain distinct disadvantages also which hit you on your way. You are informative. You are logical. You know what you are talking about. You can easily spot fallacies in debates and counter them so easily and effectively. That is great. But the other participants don't like their stand to be questioned, their reasoning to be invalidated and their choices to be proven wrong. You can prove yourself as 'Know-it-all' guy but can be embarrassing to the other guy. On many occasions the brilliant one creates an impression that he can do everything himself without any assistance. Brilliance is not I Q but only rote knowledge. But real smartness is a combination of intelligence, wisdom, good soft skills, and a pleasing personality. Reminded of Albert Einstein's powerful statement that everybody is a genius and that one should not judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. It is a misconception that being intelligent and brilliant is a super power in itself to conquer the world. It is myth largely promoted by rank holders themselves. There is a lot more like emotional intelligence, social attitude, EMPATHY, compassion- all these things should not be underestimated in the presence of centums and ranks. But is being that much brilliant always to your benefit? There are instances where mediocre brilliance works better. What do sociologists opine?Critical reflection and shrewdness are sure positives. But when there are too many opinions from too many brilliant individuals, or alternative courses of action, work slows down. Many employers these days prefer only second class graduates to have unifying effect. People content in an atmosphere come to a consensus easily and that creates greater enthusiasm, visible concentration leading to greater success. Super brilliant brains don't accept ,become depressed when a job does not meet their level of intelligence. But there is a hitch. Being accommodative can keep you stuck in your current job longer. Being exceptionally good at a lower level job may prove to be a deterrent. The boss will ever keep you as assistant and earn a good name and fame out of your sweat. After all there is a major difference between actually being slow in the uptake and acting as if you are a few cards short of a deck. This trick is not to play a dumb exactly, but to learn when to assert your intelligence and when to hide the same. You may not feel the urge to be acknowledged at every single point of time but prove to be a great success in due course. Don't worry about being perceived a bit slow. Better future lies ahead. Being slow and asking dumb questions, especially during negotiations, the opposition party may reveal details that they should not. This is not to desist students from attaining greater heights, but to advise them the reality of the situation and assess their real worth. Real smartness lies in knowing when to look smart and act smart. Silence works well if you are smart enough to know when not to look and act smart. Vathsala Jayaraman *Published in The Hindu Open Page on Sunday February 19, 2023 : Be brilliant, but better be smart: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/be-brilliant-but-better-be-smart/article66498541.ece Responses 1) M G Warrier Mumbai Many Thanks for sharing. As my subscription to the Hindu Group was pending renewal, I couldn't access published version on Sunday. Attached is the published version shared in our groups by P R Srinivasan (Thanks 🙏 PRS) 2) R Jayakumar Madam Vatsala, in her Sunday article, which appeared in today's Hindu, has analysed well the advantage or otherwise of being an intelligent and smart candidate for jobs in the corporate world. Congratulations to madam for this excellent and educative topic. The preparation to make a child smart and intelligent starts from the childhood itself and all parents want their children to shine as rank holders in every class. But the fact is that only less a ten percent of the children in a class have the right or chance to become rank holders. The remaining ninety percent have to be content with the tag of being average or poor. This can be noticed from the advertisement of photos of smart and intelligent students put up on the newspaper or on street walls after the declaration of board results. Out of the lakhs of students who appear for the board exams every year the number of bespectacled and ties round the neck students who flash their smiles in the photos form only a miniscule in number. These are the would be smart and intelligent students to vie for success as executives in corporates. So it is hopeless for all mothers to expect their children to be smart and intelligent. But every mother can aspire to bring her child a person of success in life. Parents are now sending their children from nursery days itself for all-round development to different coaching classes after the school hours. It includes gymnastics, athletic and swimming, cricket and football coaching, painting, dancing, martial arts, skating, rope walking and other such classes some of them are now sponsored and arranged within the school premises itself for extra fee. Every child has a right to shine in the world, whether intelligent in studies or not, by picking up any activity in which the child shows extra interest. The parents must try and recognise the special talents of their children and be supportive to make them shine in that field. Once again congratulations to madam for getting one more of her articles published in the Hindu. Regarding PPR Sir's worry about typos I think this may be because of age related weakness in eyesight and fingers with madam which is now happening to all of us. Regards R Jayakumar 3) S R Badrinarayanan The writer madam Smt Vathsala Jayaraman herself is a shining example of being both intelligent and smart too in required mix. Proving intelligent wherever needed requires smartness and to prove smarter it requires more IQ which is in abundance! To get published in the Hindu requires intelligent contribution out-smarting the competitive submissions from rest of the world. Congratulations madam. Nothing new in your decorating the Hindu with your essay. ..... Badri 4) C V Subbaraman To have a high level of I Q may be an asset. It only shows one's potential. If one does not use the IQ (intellectual capacity) to meet situations in life, he or she becoms useless. What in offices bosses want is result and not one's IQ. A good business head would recruit persons of average IQ to positions if they can "deliver". Employees in offices are not exhibits displaying their IQ but have to be performers. I know a great performer who was not even a "matriculate" working in a Birla empire who was sent to supervise the work in a rayon factory which they acquired in the 1960's. In the very first year of the acquisition of the factory, which was earlier making perpetual losses for several years, the company made a substantial profit. He was not an MBA, not an IItian, not an economist and what not. He succeeded where the modern high qualified experts failed. What is the use of academic brilliance if such brilliance cannot ensure "success in practical" world? Subbaraman 5) Sitendra Kumar Dear Madam, A relevant article, brilliant in its content. In the wake of suicides by IITians, this article should be read and understood by all. Regards, Sitendra Kumar 6) P P Ramachandran Very interesting article by a brilliant member. No questions asked. *** *** D Collage in the Court You have to admire this lawyer* : A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to track down After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply (Actual reply from FHA) : "Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin." Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows (Actual response) : "Your letter regarding title in Case No.189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 206 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased by the United States from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application. For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U S ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Queen Isabella. The good Queen Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus's expedition. Now the Pope, as I'm sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also made that part of the world called Louisiana. God, therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it, and the FHA. I hope you find God's original claim to be satisfactory. Now, may we have our damn loan?" No wonder, the loan was immediately approved...!!!! *Shared by S Thyagarajan (One Time Collage Suggestion : In this note, I've made some changes. Any reader having problems with spelling and grammar or typos in content shared in Collage may not get back to Collage, but acquire appropriate software/App and process to get messages in acceptable format before reading 🙏-Warrier) E Soros' sorrows* George Soros, who expects a ‘democratic revival’ in India, was good friends with Indira Gandhi’s relative Fori Nehru; Soros is an old, rich opinionated person sitting in New York who still thinks that his views should determine how the entire world works* https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.opindia.com/2023/02/george-soros-fori-nehru-gandhi-dynasty-connection/amp/%3futm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push *The Hungarian-American billionaire, who pledged $1 billion to fight nationalists across the world, alleged collusion between PM Modi and the Adani Group in his latest tirade against the nation.* *The allegations made by Soros were similar to the allegations of Modi-Adani collusion made by the Congress party. But as Soros is widely known as an anti-India person, the Congress party tried to distance itself from his comments.* ■ It is not known to many that he has connections with the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Soros had been ‘good friends’ with Fori Nehru, the wife of Indira Gandhi’s cousin brother Braj Kumar Nehru. ■ Both of them were born in the Eastern European country of Hungary. Soros and Fori Nehru had ‘exchanged correspondence’ for several years until he decided to meet her in person in May 2009. At that time, Fori Nehru was 100 years old. ■ The said meeting was arranged by Anil Nehru, the son of Braj Kumar Nehru and Fori. Soros first flew to Delhi and then booked a chartered Kingfisher plane to reach Chandigarh in the afternoon. ■ The Hungarian-American billionaire was greeted at the airport by Anil Nehru, who then took him to his residence at Sector 9. The meeting with Fori Nehru lasted for around 3 hours, following which he returned to the National Capital via the same chartered flight. ■ Fori Nehru (also known as Shobha Nehru) was a reclusive character in the Gandhi-Nehru family. ■ Born in December 1908 in Hungary as Magdolna Friedman, she studied at the London School of Economics (LSE). Fori met her future husband, Braj Kumar Nehru, at the varsity. ■ She was the founder of ‘Cottage Industries Emporium’ and led a campaign for employment for refugee women in 1947, as a member of the Emergency Committee for refugees. ■ The Jewish Hungarian had also confronted Indira Gandhi, her close friend, after learning about mass sterilisation campaigns conducted during the Emergency. ■ Fori Nehru also held a key interest in international affairs and was fascinated by Wall Street, where coincidentally George Soros made his fortune. ■ It is notable that while Congress tries to distance itself from George Soros, they actually have close ties. ■ Salil Shetty, the global vice president of Open Society Foundations founded by George Soros, had joined Rahul Gandhi in his Bharat Jodo Yarra in October last year in Karnataka. ■ He had also actively participated in anti-CAA protests and farmer protests. ■ George Soros has several intellectuals on his payroll, including the former PM Manmohan Singh’s daughter Amrita Singh. ■ Not to forget the curious case of ‘author’ and ‘social activist’ Harsh Mander who had been at the forefront of creating civil unrest during the Anti-CAA protests. ■ He and his NGO Karwan-e-Mohabbat had been very active in the demonstrations held at Shaheen Bagh. At one point, he had even vowed to register himself as a Muslim if the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed. ■ Harsh Mander had also sought the arrest of BJP leader Kapil Mishra. It may be recalled Shaheen Bagh was masterminded by Sharjeel Imam, an Islamist who urged Indian Muslims to cut off North East India from the rest of the country. ■ In 2018, George Soros-funded NGO, Sherpa, had attempted to thwart India’s defence deal with France and stall the delivery of Rafale fighter jets. ■ Open Society Foundations (OSF) run by the billionaire had funded the Socio-Legal Information Centre (SLIC), which had been active in seeking the repeal of the sedition law currently used against anti-India elements. ■ In September 2019, George Soros also met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan shortly after US President Donald Trump attended Narendra Modi’s ‘Howdy Modi’ event in Houston, Texas. ■ Interestingly, he is also friends with prominent Congressman Shashi Tharoor, who also happens to have a Pakistani connection. In 2021, there was a hullabaloo in India over allegations of snooping by the Modi government through the use of Israeli spyware, Pegasus. ■ In 1999, the Open Society Foundation began activities in India by providing scholarships and fellowships to pursue studies and research at Indian colleges. Through the OSF, George Soros made significant contributions towards the spread of instability in India. *The Hungarian-American billionaire has also tried to use international institutions, which are funded by him, including Freedom House and V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute to tarnish the image of India at a global level.* A WhatsApp forward shared by K Balasubramanian Coimbatore F Leisure Collage Dosa* What terrifies a true Masala Dosa lover? Ask me… the true masala dosa addict. Making and eating masala dosa is an art. It is an acquired trait. The most important rules to follow… 1. The dosa should be big and uniformly crisp till you finish the last piece. 2. It should retain its shape till the last bit gets over 3. It should have a slight fermented taste. 4. The filling should be thick enough not to sog the belly of the dosa. 5. Arey bhai.. Who asked you to add cheese in it? 6. Same goes for tomato sauce/cooked noodles on it…? Fusion dosas are the worst insult to a dosa. 7. Coconut chutney and onion sambar which do not stick to the dosa. There should be a cordial adhesion between them. 8. Soggy or over thick dosas have nothing to do with masalas. They are only for amateurs who eat dosa with lentil powders or sugar. 9. Wash your hands (corona or not) and eat your dosa with your hands… eating with spoon and fork or fork and knife is a joke on our dosa's pride. 10. Dosas without enough oil and ghee poured when getting done is a let-down. Please be lavish in pouring oil. 11. Eating dosa with your mind on the smart phone… terrible. Please throw away that phone. 12. Potato masala with too many ginger pieces… no way. 13. Potato masala in a pink colour because of the addition of a few beetroot pieces… no way. 14. Potato masala browned due to the addition of chili powder, for want of green chillies… no way. 15. Do not change the shape into oval, triangular or conical. Make a round one and fold it into halves like the orthodox one. 16. Packed dosas or home delivered dosas which get soft, bent or steam wet are a big spoiler. Dosas should be eaten straight from the stove to the plate… crisp and hot. And most importantly… Eat it in style from the sides moving slowly to the centre where the potato masala is waiting. Do not jump into the centre like Narasimha tearing the belly of Hiranyakashipu. Dosas are to be eaten decently not with two hands or brutally tearing into the middle of the elegant dosa “Oh my masala dosa…So much for making and eating you right.” *Sharing, inspired by a discussion about "Dosa" in our family group on Sunday. Someone was wondering "Baki kitna dosa bacha hai!" 😊 G Quotes on spelling and grammar https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/spelling-quotes Like : "I was terrible in English. I couldn't stand the subject. It seemed to me ridiculous to worry about whether you spelled something wrong or not, because English spelling is just a human convention - it has nothing to do with anything real, anything from nature. Richard P. Feynman