ExpertDabbler

Those days Amma used to make sweets, murukku, kara sev at home for Deepavali. Then came the Sri Krishna Sweets Mysorepa phenomenon. Two days back, I got a mail from my employer stating that I could collect Diwali sweets at 4th floor. The crowd on display would rival the crowd I’ve seen in Coimbatore ‘Chinathamani’ for crackers. I took it easy and decided to go for the sweets in the afternoon. The crowd had gone as expected. But what was unexpected was the size of the sweet box. It should easily exceed 2.5kgs, from Haldirams. I had several challenges now. The first was logistics. I already had my hands full with my lunch box, office machine, scribble pads, now this sweet box to be accommodated in a single bag. The second was consumption. I am not a sweet buff. Amma is n’t either. I immediately thought of our maid servant, watchman, apartment friends as potential targets.

I had another shocker when I returned to my seat. This time the mail was from my client, who is also distributing Diwali sweets. For once, there was a problem of abundance. They could’ve given the sweets to some place where people would really need it and appreciate it. Why such pampering to some folks who earn as much as IT pros?

As I was wondering came my colleague, ‘Mama, namba client sweet box size parthiya?

Me: ‘Yen idhai vida perisa?’

He: “Illai da, rembo chinnadhu.. cha at least idhey size irukkum nu nenachen..

Me: ‘Yen veedu pakkam edhuna side business poda poriya’

He: ‘Illada, veetla ellarum sweet saapidanum la?… Ippo velila vera vanganum!’

I guess his family is as big as Bharatha Vilas. What this means is that there are no easy, universally accepted solutions, even for sweet problems.

And for sure no problem has ever been solved by ‘Manidha Sangili’ on Mount road except maybe that of parliamentary election. Since someone had solved one part of that problem by sending telegrams to the Prime Minister, this is another attempt to consolidate that result and bring the matter to a logical conclusion.

Last week, I was talking to my friend about the Kashmir situation.

“Imsai nga.. Arundhati Roy article padicheengala? Pesama Kashmir ku freedom kudutha dhaan enna..Evlo loss twenty years ah…Namba oore vandaam gravanuku edhuku selavu seyyanum..Ellam namba kaasu “

He,”Adhu epdi… Idhai kudutha nalaiku Punjab venumbaan,..Hyderabad venumbaan”

“Ippove North east sila areas, Jammu vuku mela ellam map la dhaan irukku…”

He,“Ippo problem ellathukum solution irukanum nu edhavadhu irukka..? Ellam iruka dhaan seyyum….Idhellam eppadiyum prachnai dhaan.. irundhaalum prachnai kuduthaalum prachnai..indha prachnai laam solve agama irukakradhu dhaan neraya peruku aadhayam…”

Its kinda irony that people never talk of Tiananmen square nowadays. The end was relatively swift and brutal. Everybody had forgotten it. The developed nations have certainly forgotten it.

A problem should be treated like a dead body – either burn it, or bury it or preserve it like in a Pyramid. But what our governments do is akin to the aghories’ methods – they neither burn it, nor bury it, nor preserve it, but cut and consume it, piece by piece, bone by bone, as and when they feel hungry. No wonder we have epidemics.

Even as I am consuming Murukku, haldiram sweets, Someone is holding worthless currencies numbering several hundred thousand dollars in Zimbabwe, someone is getting killed in Sri Lanka, Yasin Mallik is put in jail in Kashmir, someone is planning for the forthcoming election in Mount Road, and I despite wishing all these were resolved, continue to live my life and celebrate a festival.

Wish you a Happy and safe Deepavali!

Looks like there are conflicting theories to all pressing issues including commodity futures trading and price rises, also called ‘Yooga vanigam’ in tamil.

There are some politicians and intellectuals in Tamil Nadu who attribute commodity futures trading as the leading cause of price rises and inflationary conditions. Maruthuvar Ayya, and the left are examples of the anti-futures trading camp, which makes me get closer to the opposite camp quite naturally.

But they simply say that as a statement, as if like the causal relation has been as proven as ‘The sun rises in the east’. There is one columnist in Kumudham Reporter called Solai (or Cholai) who claims that had rice had not been banned from commodities futures trading, the price of rice per kg. would’ve reached Rs. 100. I am not sure where and how he comes to this conclusion. He does not explain that, maybe we should believe him just like the way we believe Kalaam on N-deal? On the other hand, articles like these give a different view. Yaarai namburadhu?

If commodities futures trading had led to price rises, how come there were no price rises in all the countries where it had been in vogue all along? When did commodities futures trading come into effect in other countries? Is the correlation valid only for India?

I am not very clear on this issue, but from what I read, I am more inclined to the view taken by the Sen committee and in opposition to the view expressed by the maruthuvar ayya camp and the Solai camp whose ideas are decidedly governed by Leftist ideologies. Any pointers welcome.

I was curious to know more about Ramanujar the moment I realized my current favorite Indira Parthasarathy had written about him.

The introduction to the book here made me even more curious and I have already ordered it. Nevertheless i just wanted to jot down my observations.

If Ramanujar had such a liberal and inclusive view of religion and society thousand years ago, why and how did we as a society lose the plot later on? That’s mysterious to me.

Also, I am not sure if any of the so-called social reformers in the recent past, radical or moderate, have any reference to Ramanujar in their expressions or works. That’s intriguing to say the least. If I am working on a agenda, is it not a sensible strategy to reuse my predecessor’s works, words and deeds which are in sync. with my agenda to augment my own points?

If social justice and equality was the end goal, and if that could be propagated by adapting Ramanuja and his teachings which is already accepted by the majority who believe in religion, why throw all that to the dustbin and talk atheism? Now I am not sure if Periyar’s idea of atheism is a smart one to attain social justice or whatever.

If believing in God is barbaric, saying God does not exist is equally barbaric too. Religion and the concept of God as a tool has worked very well for very long, my beliefs or non-belief be damned. What matters is whether they work or not in bringing solace to the people, not whether God’s existence can be proved. I read this perspective in Jeyamohan’s blog for the first time and it did make lot of sense to me. People always do what works for them in the long run. I now think that by talking atheism, the Dravidian leaders lost the plot completely, just like the way our Kollywood directors do time and again.

Contrast this to the way Christian missionaries propagate Christianity, they do not claim that all the wisdom and literature of ancient India are stupid. Rather they nowadays claim they are essentially Christian ideas as taught by St.Thomas. This may sound laughable now, it makes for much more subtle and persuasive communication in the long run.

I hope to read this book and see I. Pa has to say.

I am planning to have a post dedicated to my learnings in a week. Let’s see.

During my morning walk, I saw a poster supposedly put up by some Nadar groups who had taken offence to some dialogues in ‘Dasavatharam’. Honestly, I did not find anything offensive in the movie about any community for that matter. Looks like someone wants to stir up community passions and gain publicity at Kamal’s expense.

Twelve years back, the state government removed all references to leaders names in the public transport corporations.
Till then, it was Dheeran Chinnamalai, Thandhai Periyar, Cheran, Chozan, Kattaboman, Pandian etc. People were keen about the community the leaders belonged to. Now it’s just State Transport Corporation. Did anyone stop taking buses because of this?

What would be the nations loss if we just stopped identifying ourselves on community basis at all levels - from government records to personal references?

At present, there are many little countries within India. And we should do all it takes to build a cohesive, unified India out of this. Till then Kamal will always be seen as X community member and the HCL technologies chairman will always be seen as Y community member.

I have always wondered about India’s unemployment problem when organizations like “Vaishnava Dharma Samrakshana” do what tried to do to ‘Dasavatharam’.

I have always wondered how come such organizations do nothing against the political leadership of Tamil Nadu who openly and vehemently ridicule Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Why don’t they go on a fast unto death to remove such CMs of Tamil Nadu? Probably they fear, and quite rightly, that they will be beaten to death with no necessity for fasting.

I have always wondered why its always Kamal whose movies gets into trouble, maybe Kamal Haasan is seen as a soft target.

I have always wondered why people who TRY to be objective and reasonable in general are always perceived as soft targets in India??

I have always wondered… well forget it… no point… how do we wake up people who feign sleep?

Note:
I try to avoid posting on films. But yesterday’s judgement by the High Court and the time and money wasted to get such verdict made me write this. Perhaps we may not have seen the end of comedies like this yet!