positive thinking- a fact to learn!

One aspect that was quite disturbing i the on-going champions trophy is the countrywide thinking and prayers that were offerred by the cricket crazy fans for Pakistan to win over australia and India to trounce West Indies by a comfortable margin so as to reach the semi finals and be there so that the T V channels can make their advertisement money and the cricket crazy crowd in India and Pakistan and elsewhere can leave all their day-to-day jobs and responsibilities and sit in front of the idiot box and while away their time!

water on Moon!

Hurray!! yet another planet for we Indians to wash our clothes, take bath in the river(if any found at a later stage!), make dead float, answer the nature's call and a big time business for the politicians to make bottled mineral water to cool your body and mind like MOON!!!

while our scientists and ISRO take pride in announcing the discovery, one feels sad that hardly anything is being done to conserve our existing rivers and save them for the future generations. Most of the rivers specially in Tamil Nadu have gone dry. There are more number of water tankers on the road than the cargo moving trucks and most of them have political connections.

Recently i was fortunate enough to visit Mata Vaishno Devi in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Ban Ganga which used to flow ferociously is reduced as a small stream let in a span of about 30 years and was a saddening sight. The ganges which flowed majestically earlier and had no bounds is also reduced to run anaemically with much reduced flow of water. These factors bring lots of unhappiness and brings in gloom to a Happy mind. Now, the scientists have said finding traces of water on the Moon! I as a human being really wonder if the Moon will also end up with the same fate as that of our holy earth? Hope the Moon authorities ban entry of humans from the earth!

Tamil Nadu- not a cosmopolitan city yet

Chennai & conservatism

e-vani-avittam

I am recollecting the childhood that I spent in Delhi and the days spent in the school.
The month of August used to bring lots of happiness in our minds not only because of the start of cool climate but also the beginning of festivities starting with Avani-Avittam. The school used to declare 2 days of leave for the function. My father used to take me to Jamuna river for the Avani-avittam by a special chartered bus organised by the Bhajana Samaj. The holy, nostalgic dip in the river is really unforgettable. The Pooja or the chanting of veda and the mantras used to take at least 2 hrs and the entire programme used to end at about 1pm after which the 60 seater bus organised by the Bhajana Samaj used to drop us at the Gol-chakkar or popularly known as channa market. Although the walk to my house in satnagar used to take just about 10 minutes, i used to feel highly embarrassed to walk bare-footed with dhoti and angavastram. I wanted to disappear from the sight as all my north Indian friends used to make fun of me asking " Raju, tere ko kya ho gaya? kal tho tum teek the??" It was so difficult to explain to them about this function as it was totally an alien subject for them! I believe it was the same for our siblings and specially the girls who were not allowed to wear any other dress other than Pavadai-davani for each and every function. The school also insisted that the girls wear only Pavadai-davani and nothing else although other schools permitted them to wear salwar-kameez and smart skirts and tops! No doubt, we Madrasis in Delhi always felt low in comparison to the north Indians who were not subjected to such rigorous rituals and rules!!Anyways, after the poja at the Yamuna and once we reach home, my mother would not allow us to enter the house unless she performed Aarthi singing Gowri Kalyanam!!! Most of my punjabi friends used to line up and watch this event amused and i would not know where to look!!! my father used to beam with joy!!
By this time, it would be easily 2.30pm and it was time for an elaborate lunch with vadai and payasam!! my father never missed this opportunity to invite at least 2 families to share this joy and have lunch with us. such was the generosity exhibited during those times and the happiness that arose through this community gathering followed by lunch can not be described!

today, I happened to talk with one of my friends after performing Gayathri Japam. His son has returned from the U.S. The Avani avittam and the Gayathri Japam was performed well-courtesey YouTube!! There was no tension about going out wearing Dhoti and the angavastram which often slipped making you bare-chested!! well, obviously we are not Salman Khan to flaunt our body!!! The Avani-Avittan has become E-vani- Attam!!! The beauty is neither the father compels the son to go with him to perform nor the son misses out on such events as he is able to do the necessary things sitting at home with the help of a computer-Internet!! how times have changed?? Jaane kahan gaye woh din???
woh pooja ke din, woh Yamuna ka pani
woh masti ke din, woh bachpan ki kahani !!!!!

I love those beautiful days of my childhood despite all its odds and wanted to remind my friends who are all from the same pool.

Moral Police

Tamil Nadu can boast and take pride in saying that it has the maximum Engineering colleges which are recognised by the AICTE, the statutory authority. Students throng this centre in quest for higher education that will represent quality in terms of wisdom and knowledge. one of my friend's daughter got admission in one of the faculties in a popular engineering college on the much talked about OMR road in chennai. This is also supposed to be the IT corridor and is expected to develop as a very posh southern colony in south Chennai city with numerous multi-storey ed buildings, posh Malls, theatres etc.. The young girl was in for a rude shock when the students were handed over a printed pamphlet of dos and don ts and warnings if adherence was not up to the desired levels!! one such don ts was that the girls should not wear Jeans pants or a T-shirt as it would probably provoke boys to indulge in wrong doings!! another point was that the hair should not be let loose and instead tied up neatly as a phony-tail preferably with flowers in true sense and letters of our life style! Probably by doing this, the authorities might feel that the girls are disciplined and bound by culture? Another major warning was that no girl or a boy can talk to each other and if any one found guilty of talking can be punished and even dismissed from the college!!! Besides prohibition of cellular phones, the college also allows the girls to go our only on one weekend from the college. The guardian or the parents have to send a fax to the college authorities if they want their daughter to be allowed to go out on any other weekend!! Now, what do you call this?? doesn't it sound like whats going on in Afghanistan?? Why such strict morale policing and is there any law which empowers the college management to frame their own strict rules and regulations?? The girls who joined the college were asked to wear only salwar-kameez and the dupatta pinned on either side of the shoulders for making a photo-id !

Like my friend's daughter, many of those who joined the college were seen repenting about their choice of institution and seen sulking imagining the tough time that they will be forced to withstand for the next 4 years at least?

According to me, college is not only as institution for learning but also a place for exchange of culture, equality and confidence building so as to brave the future. Most of the colleges in Tamil Nadu practices this trend by separating boys from the girls and vice-verse whereby they are forced into a situation of celibacy. This could lead to great mis-understandings specially after the marriage as neither would know how to talk or deal with their respective spouses!! The boy or the girl may try and avoid coming face to face because of their college back ground and this could lead to serious post marital complications leading to increase in number of divorces amongst the newly married?

Its time that our Education Ministry takes a note of this and issue suitable directives to all the institutions in the country not to drive a divide in the gender which may lead to Homo-sexuality or Lesbianism, if not dealt with properly. I reckon college is a place where both the boys and the girls should be allowed to mix freely, exchange views and knowledge. The college should also address a situation when the man gets a job with an MNC bossed by a capable woman to whom he has to report on daily basis. Can the college management prevent such a situation??

Let us accept the reality and realise that co-education leads to absolute confidence in both the boy and the girl alike,helps them to stand up to any situation and to face the challenges of future. This will also lead to better understanding of a person or should I say Human-being??

Sound of Music

I am a Musical man and Music is been my alternate source of Life in its perspective!I hum music all through the day and keep myself oxygenated with this magic!! One negative point that I should also tell in me is that I do not follow the exact set pattern of a song and like to deviate or stray here and there within the ambit of raga or the composition. I like experimenting and this is the reason I hate to sit through a concert unless its a classical recital or Hindustani shastriya Sangeeth. Its only sonu Nigam who has impressed me the most after Kishore Kumar whose concerts I have attended a couple of times at Ravindra rang shala, New Delhi, years back. Of late, Sonu has also started singing differently and has lost his melody. Probably, that's what the youth of today wants, keeping in time?

yesterday, I had been to Land mark, a famous store in Chennai where you get almost everything barring provisions! I thought of devoting some time to see if any new collections of Music have arrived in the classical/devotional section.

In our childhood, Our parents have told us about a few reigning deities and have taught us hymns and slokas worshipping a few deities which were traditional and popularly sung by one and all. I was in for a pleasant surprise when I noticed singers who have sung prayers and hymns on virtually everything that you see on earth besides several renderings on various gods and goddesses. We were warned by our household priests and elders not to recite Gayathri Mantra aloud but to chant it within ourselves with only the lips in motion and here I find gayathri Mantra recited aloud by famous and infamous musicians brought out in C D format for all ears!! I saw a CD on Tulasi mahima, one on river Ganges, one on sun God and all other planets, and several others on different incarnations of Devi, Lord shiva, Lord Vishnu and other gods alike.As it is each and every day of ours is ruled by a particular planet and there are many volumes of Cds in praise of these planets, available in the racks.
There was a CD on Mrityunjaya Mantra and several Cds on all the four Vedas!! We were told that for reciting Vedas, Rudram (Hymn on Lord shiva) etc one has to be very clean in his habits and thoughts and this inculcated a sense of fear in us as children and we never ventured anywhere near these godly things. I remember, as a kid, Devi Mahatmyam used to be read in our house by a priest on last Friday of every month. strict rules were observed on that day which included a compulsory second bath, apply the sacred ash on the forehead etc.. and sit through the proceedings. The only interest which kept me awake was serving of Chakkarai Pongal and vadai at the end of the Pooja!! So much so that all these mantras and shlokas were recited only by authorised priests for specific purpose in the household. These days, its all there in the music shop for a price and one can put it on in the systems at home and not only listen but also make the neighbours listen through increased decibel levels!! Amavasai Tarpanam can be done with the help of a Cd specially made for this purpose.
In short, the necessity of inviting a Brahmin Purohit or a priest for performing these religious rites is greatly reduced ?? The priest or a Brahmin is essentially required for such occassions for giving phala-dhanam in order to reap the benefits of the pooja so conducted and for having guided the religious program.

Very soon in the coming years, one can find Cd's on mantras for walking, jogging, sleeping and who knows, may be to stop you from snoring too?? Expect the unexpected is the undercurrent of this label. Who knows, may be for the ever sincere dog of yours, there could be a Cd on Dog-mantra or the Cat-mantra which can be recited for the well being of the dog or the cat!! Mantra for sitting and Mantra for standing, mantra for friendship mantrta for getting into a college of your choice, Vashiya mantra for the girl or the boy you like etc etc.. and to ward off confusion from all these mantras, there could be a Cd on Mind clarity and so on.....

Even as I enter my Pooja room I stand confused as to which Mantra and slokam should I recite and more confused about the deity to be chosen not to speak of volumes of books printed in Tamil and Sanskrit on various gods!

The Hindu religious heads should throw some light on this subject and make it a lighter study for people like me so that the focus remains intact and there are only a few gods/goddesses on whom these praises can be showered!

This will make praying easier and welcome everyone for more prayers!!