The Fountainhead & Bhagavat Gita - A Compare and Contrast

The Fountainhead is a famous philosophical novel written by Miss.Ayn Rand. It is based on the concept of individualism and epistemology.

An excerpt from Ayn Rand's  Philosophical Pinnacle - The Fountainhead:

Howard Roark: "Before you can do things for people, you must be the kind of man who can get things done. But to get things done, you must love the doing, not the people! Your own work, not any possible object of your charity. I'll be glad if men who need it find a better method of living in the house I built, but that's not the motive of my work, nor my reason, nor my reward! My reward, my purpose, my life, is the work itself - my work done my way! Nothing else matters to me!"

What defines a man? How a person is judged? Which scale is used to measure him?

A man is defined by the way he communicates to the nature. The way he responds to the input gained from this universe. And what defines his responses? Responses are based on the array of things he noticed/experienced/learnt/did/influence/influenced from his childhood. In short, a man is defined by what he does. 

 People do things all the while. Action composes the materialistic world. Inaction is also an action performed in the state of hibernation. A man's action is born with his birth and dies with his death. It is the intermediate time between birth and death which injects meaning to a person's inane life. One must do only those things which makes him/her happy. Performing an action under compulsion is the greatest insult you spit on the face of truth. Be yourself. Everyone and everything is unique in this world. Everyone is gifted with some skills to perform their own actions. Chaos emerges when man fails to recognize what he is destined to do and decides to take other person's route. Doing something just because everyone else do the same spoils the real purpose of God's creation.  In our human body, every organ does some unique function. If nose gets envy of the delicious food chewed by its neighbor mouth and decides to refuse oxygen, it chooses its own demise. Even the blood groups are unique. None of the animals copy from others. They learn to do the basic actions like locomotion, reproduction and food-intake from their counterparts. But they never copy when it comes to choosing their destiny. They act only to fulfill their need of the hour. They short sell their actions in the life stock market. But, man, being the zenith of species, must live for a cause. He must be a longterm investor. Otherwise, he will lose his own definition of human being. He must remember that the sole purpose of human being is being human and being human is determined by our actions.

A creator conceives what his mind imagines, thereby opening the doors of our world to a new invention. He is the prime-mover of the world. A second-hander depends upon the creator for his lifeneeds. An action takes the straight route for a creator and it takes a proxy for a second-hander. 

 In Miss. Rand's words -

"The creator faces nature alone. The parasite faces nature through an intermediary."

Such an intermediary is viewed as an act of charity by Bhagavat Gita and it is viewed as an act of killing the action by The Fountainhead. Never forget that the uncharitable Steve Jobs is hailed as the game-changer above the charitable Bill Gates. Steve Jobs criticized Mr.Gates as follows– “Bill is basically unimaginative and has never invented anything, which is why I think he's more comfortable now in philanthropy than technology. He just shamelessly ripped off other people's ideas.” Steve Jobs is the closest match for Rand’s Roark. 

Bhagavat Gita is the famous teachings of Lord Krishna to Arjuna in Kurukshetra. When Arjuna feared to do his duties in the battleground, Krishna told him the essence of karma yoga. Here, Man's action is defined as the 'Karma'.  People are here to do the actions to be performed. Both the books talk volume about the integrity associated with performing our actions. They say that the destined action is the greatest yoga ever done on any altar. This is where The Fountainhead and The Bhagavat Gita clasp their hands together. Rand says - ‘Feed the need, not because they depend on you, but because you like the action of public service.  Service is the action itself. Not the resultant of it.’ Krishna says – ‘Action must be performed without the dependence of its resultant'. My reward is the work itself.

In contrast to the above similarities between the two books of our discussion, Upanishads order men to be humble and selfless. But, The Fountainhead states that the man must be the proudest of all the creatures in our world. Because, he knows the purpose of his actions. He knows the effects and impact it can cause to his milieu. He can understand that performing an action is not just a transfer of energy from one form to another. But it is taking the current form of energy to the next level.

 Human mind could be the angel's philosopher stone or it could be the devil's horcrux. In Roark's conclusive speech, Ayn Rand states the following about human mind and its importance to stay aloof.  

"Man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. But the mind is an attribute of the individual, there is no such thing as a collective brain. The man who thinks must think and act on his own. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot not be subordinated to the needs, opinions, or wishes of others. It is not an object of sacrifice."   

According to Bhagavat Gita, man must perform him karma in order to attain mukthi. It is the method of associating a humble man with the supreme universe. According to The Fountainhead, man must realize his mukthi in his karma. It is the method of associating the vast universe with the reverence of man’s superiority. 

Howard Roark could have been the Lord Krishna of our century.  But he won't, because there is only one Roark and only one Krishna.

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மௌனப் பேச்சு

சிந்தனை நியூரான்கள் பெற்றெடுத்த

டெசிபல் அற்ற குழந்தை!

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Dear Steve, iSalute you.

When the whole world is get caught with the egotistic 'I', here is a man who selected an humble 'i' and used it to improve the living standards of egotistic 'I'.

Steve Jobs - The Man who digitized our lives forever. The Man who made the most successful business model after Benjamin Franklin. The Man who showed the world how a simple attire of Black Tee and blue denim is enough for a business presentation. The Man who changed the dimensions of sales and marketing. The Man who showed that 10 years is enough to build the most valuable company in the world.

Steve Jobs is the boon given to mankind. He is one of those rarest soothsayers with a great technological insight. It is an inevitable truth that Apple products has simplified our lives. They predefined the laws governing the user-experience. Steve, with Mac, you defined UI, with Pixar, you defined animation, with iPod you showed the bliss of music, with iPhone you re-invented the mobile phone and with iPad, you redefined the tablets.

A true contributor is one whose life has the profound effect on improving the lives of others. Steve, you are a true contributor. Due to your contributions, you have immortalized yourself among us. You wrote your own lament with the innovations you passed to your future  generations. You have made the world a better place to live in. 

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." - Steve Jobs.

Mr.Jobs is the Man who made every software engineer to raise their heads proudly. Being an engineer, today iSalute the greatest leader of digital era, with my head lowered, my heart full of gratitude, and my soul happy for sharing my life during your time frame. Steve, we vow you too much. May your soul rest in peace.

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me. My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”

-Steve Jobs.

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பிறந்தது கவிதை!

நட்சத்திரத்துக்கு ரெக்கை முளைத்தது

பிறந்தது மின்மினிப் பூச்சி!

அன்னையின் அன்பு போதையில்

தள்ளாடியது தொட்டில் - மழலைக்கு

பிறந்தது தூக்கம்!

மனம் கொள்ளை

பிறந்தது காதல்!

மணல் கொள்ளை

பிறந்தது பாலைவனம்!

அரிதாரம் பூசப்பட்டது சிந்தனைக்கு

பிறந்தது கவிதை! 

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குறட்டை

உறக்கம் ஊருக்கே
உரக்க அடித்த
சுய தம்பட்டம்!

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Engeyum Eppothum - Message attains Omnipresence

Incident is something which the human mind can influence and change as per our thoughts. Accident is something which we can influence but cannot control.

Engeyum Eppothum is a leaf out of the bunch of  road accidents which chicken scraches the destiny of many families everyday. When I read the storyline, I couldn't stop myself from comparing the movie with the prestigious Amores Perros. There has been previous attempts in Tamil Cinema with an accident as the main game-changer in lives of many. Aayutha Ezhuthu, Anbe Sivam and Kalloori are some of them in that list. But, after watching the movie, I felt lots of gratitude for AR Murugadoss and Saravanan for coming up with such a magnificent attempt. as it is so far the best in terms of audience reception.

Love is the time-tested lubricator for all the hard advice we need to tell the audience. Director made use of this fact and succeeded in weaving a tale of social message using love threads. Anjali's character is chiseled so well that the director is at par with the scripting greats such as Mahendiran and Bala. The Man from the Dubai and the Engineering college love pair in the movie are ideal examples for the greatness of the paperwork involved. Dialogues fall in their best places in movie, like a child at its mom's lap. Cinematography and Music acts as the two bandwagons for the narration and is at its best.

In the era where even the Message messiah Director Shankar has run out of social messages to project in celluloid, we must salute the director for coming up with more than one 'message' to inject into the audience. In my view, Director Saravanan is a far more adept at incepting thoughts than Don Cobb! He virtually opens our mind with the narration and incepts the following thoughts using love as the primal catalyst.
1. Traffic Awareness
2. Organ Donation
3. Power of destiny which is always hanging on all our heads like a poisoned knife.

To sum up, Engeyum Eppothum is a movie which will make you to smile for its feel-good content, laugh for its humor, cry for its tragedy and definitely it will make you to think for its message.

An ordinary movie is one which can influence our thoughts but cannot control our actions afterwards. But, an extra-ordinary movie is one which can influence our thoughts, linger for a longtime in our mind and can control our actions. Engeyum Eppothum falls in the latter; instead of preaching, it teaches and it is a sure-shot winner.

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ஓ விவசாயியே!

ஓ விவசாயியே!

உன் தேகத்தின் கருமை - துடைத்திடும் என் தேசத்தின் வறுமை!

உழைப்பின் மீது நீ கொண்ட பாசம் - என் தேசத்தின் சுவாசம்!

உன் கால் சேற்றில் - என் கை சோற்றில்!

கர்ணன் பிறந்த  இவ்வுலகில், உனக்கு

மண்புழுக்கள் மட்டுமே நட்பாகிப் போன அவலம் தான் என்ன?

துரத்துவான் உன்னை  முதலாளிப் பேய்

ஆகிவிடாதே நீ பகடைக் காய்!

 நிலத்தில் நெல்லையும், நெஞ்சில் 'தில்'லையும் பயிர் செய்!  

அப்பயிர் உனக்கு  உயிர் செய்யும்!

மனதில் 'தில்'லை வளர். அது தில்லைக்கு நிகர்!

பட்டுப்போவது மரம் மட்டுமே! மறம் அன்று!

வானம் பொய்த்தினும் பொய்யாது வள்ளுவன் வாக்கு
- "உழுவார் உலகத்தார்க்கு ஆணி"

 உழுதுண்டு வாழ்பவனே!  வாழிய உன் வைராக்கியம்!

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Mid Night Philosophy #1

Difference between Goal and Destiny is that everyone start chasing the first and end up being chased by the latter!

Truth is like God! It is omnipresent. You will feel the different versions of truth at different intervals of time.

God ceases to exist for those who are either too good or too bad! Even God belongs to the corridor of uncertainty!

The real courageous person in this world is the one who has the guts to chase his dreams, whatever happens!

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அவள் நிலவு!

தேய்பிறை கொண்ட அவள் - நிலவு..
பகலினில் வாராத அவள் - நிலவு...
களங்கம் சேர்த்த அவள் - நிலவு....

என்னோடு சேர்ந்த அவள் - நிலவு! 

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Coffin for Corruption?

Lokpal~IAC~Anna Hazare~Baba Ramdev~MMS~Digvijay Singh~Jantarmantar~Ramlila~ Fasting~Tihar~Kalmadi~Kanimozhi~Raja~DMK - As per Google Zeitgeist, this wordlist constitutes the most typed words by an Indian citizen in the past few months. 

All the time, people are busy complaining about rotten politicians, politicians are busy in setting planning(?) commissions, and the fourth estate, media are busy in being the bird watcher, benefiting from disputes between people and politicians. In the mean time, The Sacred House of Parliament has become a warehouse filled with quibblers. 

Only few days ago, we celebrated 64th Independence day. What kind of freedom did we achieved? Freedom to democratic rule they say. But, the protectors of the people, the rulers of our country are celebrating independence behind a bullet-proof window with an army of police protection. Freedom to politcal rule they say. But, politicians take commission from the businesspeople and set commissions to overcome the legal disputes! Freedom to media they say. But, Media adding fuel to the fire, focusing on TRP more than facts. Freedom to vote they say. But, votes are traded in Election time with the vote price plotting a parabola, reaching the max at election time and droping at the midtime. What kind of freedom is this? Freedom to loot? Freedom to evade constitution? Freedom to manipulate? Or freedom to take steps for the public welfare?

At the same time, politicians are not to be the only sector to be blamed. It is we who made them to what they are at present. People bribe the officers and politicians for favours and they in turn get bribed by the politicians for the vote! Who is the most corrupt here? A Government formed by the sold public or the people who were bought by the solid politicians?

Public like to follow trends - whether it is ambition or agitation. If the educational trend is to do Engineering, people will follow that, irrespective of the pupil's talent criterion. If the political trend is to fight against corruption, they will follow that. Not to mention the young men and women who witnessed the freedom struggle only in Social Science books, they like to stand for a cause, probably for the first time in their life. But, irrespective of such petty analyses, after emergency, this is the first time people has united for a single cause.

People's power is like a falling apple obeying gravity. Neither you can stop it nor you can reverse it. As people started realize that the guy represented by him is looting his own pocket, hardtime began to politicians. Now that the whole India is fighting against corruption, an ombudsman is left with two options. Whether he can join the struggle or sit in his house imagining nothing is happening outside. If he chooses to fight, then he must remember that the next time he gets stuck in a lengthy bureaucratic process, he must obey the law and he should not try to evade rules for getting favours in the future. Our country's problem is the population, which is so dense such that there is not a single social/bureacratical process which doesn't involve queuing system. People who are on streets right now should not forget that their struggle doesn't end with the Lokpal bill; but it just starts there. Now, we say that it is corruption which destroyed our lives and charge the Government for not passing a strong Lokpal. But the truth is that by fighting corruption, we are fighting against the corrupt mentality which is ruling our ordinary people and businessmen. All those public-turned-reformist must digest the simple fact - 'Corruption is a two way street. Both the giver and taker are equally reprehensible'.

By getting Independence, we have amputated the infectious British arm, only to get a more proliferating cancer called corruption. We sacrificed so much to defeat one East India company, only to get multiple East India companies in the name of political parties, business tycoons, underworld dhadhas and so on. With this year, just like our politicians, even our Independence reached its retirement age of 64yrs! Now is not too late than never.

It all comes down to this - As usual, the requiem to corruption is not inside some bill, but it is in our minds. It is our duty to uproot the corruption and sow honest seeds to our future generations in order to reap the real independence. Let the knot which came down last Monday be the demonic craziness and the flag which went up be the democracy!

The adage goes - "Where there is a will, there is a way!". But, I say, "Where there is evil, there is unity and definitely there is a way!". Vande Maataram :-)

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Plastic pricing

Plastic covers are priced at all the FMCG and garment shops from past month. Though there are quite a number of customers feel oppressive and sulty against such a move, my personal conviction is that this is a very good move. As the economy of the Metropolitans changed in the past few decades, it brought many corresponding changes in the lifestyle of city dwellers. People started using disposable temporary items more than the long-life products. Their preference shifted largely towards the temporal things. Consumption of ephemeral goods increased rapidly which brought the social environmental welfare under scanner.

Plastic is one of those goods which are accounted for more than 40% of the land pollution. Regular use of plastic can cause stemcell cancer, In addition to that, thousands of cattles die every other day due to the unknown intake of plastic. Even the biodegradable plastics are not 100% recyclable.

Most of the people moved from wired bags to plastic covers mainly because of the fact that the latter is given for free. There are several steps taken by the Government in the past and present in order to curb the plastic usage. In addition, there are a few NGOs who actively participate in campaigns to remind people about the ill-effects caused from the usage of plastics. Since, Money is the primary stopcock for controlling our people's activities, such reduction control steps became a waste of space. Hence I hope that this plastic pricing will bear fruit to environment gradually.

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Buried Potential of The Rajnikanth

A thread of common sense distinguishes the ordinary leaders from the greatest leaders of this world. .  Some leaders are made for the people. Some leaders are made by the people. Nehru and Roosevelt fall in the first category whereas Gandhi and MG Ramachandran fall in the latter. Leaders made by people have always found a unique place in our history. 

A sequence from Maniratnam’s Iruvar made me to write about my all-time favorite actor – Superstar Rajnikanth. In this movie, Karunanidhi questions MGR about his people power as follows - “This is the power which is so rare in this world. This is the power blessed to only few of the people like Lenin, Stalin, and Churchill etc. This is the most powerful boon you will ever get. What are you gonna do in return to them?” 

When I watched this scene, I couldn’t help but compare MGR with our Superstar. But, if MGR were alive today, he would have proudly answered that question with a ‘Yes, I did improve the lifestyle of my fellow Tamizhan who stood by me with his blood and bone”. But, can Thalaivar Rajnikanth answer this question? Fact is that he didn’t make use of this boon given to him by our people. 

Rajni in MGR getup

There is a childhood story that I remember. A young man went to a theatre; he lost his purse there. He came to house, switched on the lights and started searching for his lost purse. When his neighbors questioned him, he replied that the theatre was dim and dark and hence he couldn’t search there properly. So, he is searching in his house where he got enough visibility. It may sound foolish to many of us. But this is exactly what Our Rajnikanth is trying to do. In almost all the epics, it is pointed out clearly that ‘Service to people is the real service to God’. Ironically, Thalaivar lost the Lord among his fellow men and traveling to Kailash in his quest to an unattainable spirituality. 

Some silences are long enough to be termed as ‘buried silences’. There was a time in Tamil Nadu history where every party was waiting for his words. But, Thalaivar kept his mouth shut with one of such buried silences. It is not just his silence which is buried, but it is the potential, public power which went to the drain. Rajnikanth is the one and only person to gain support among a vast sector of people in our contemporary world. When I talk about ‘using’ the power, it means to use it in a good way for the welfare of the people. Don’t forget that he rooted his career in a state where people are looking for an ideal candidate to replace the rotten Dravidian politics for almost two decades. Rajni will probably reply that he is not interested in politics. Okay fine. Point made.  But, still his opening songs in the movies will have lyrics which will suggest his entry to politics. Why? Just for getting his fans ticket money? In fact, you don’t have to enter the politics to do good to the people. Being a Thalaivar fan, I feel ashamed to compare him with people like Actor Surya, Vijay, Vijayakanth and Raghava Lawrence who stretch their limits for the people. Here, Rajni should have been the role model for them. He should have taken the initiative to show the path of public service to the upcoming generations of celebrities. 

Rajni film reception at Shanthi theatre

It is we, the people who are the sole responsibility for whatever mentioned. It is the mistake of our people to idolize a ordinary stage actor into some celestial God form. But, similar to falling in love, some things happen without any supportive reasons. Rajnikanth is one among such exceptions. He has been idolized. It cannot be reversed now. Love and affection of mass public is a definite form of positive energy. It is what a man does with such positive energy define him. Rajnikanth has already wasted his golden opportunities to do well like his predecessors NTR and MGR. 

Can Rajni make a surprise entry to our politics? Or can he start doing public service without indulging in politics? Can he pulverize the fan-heart-crunching allegations made by some half-baked writers like me? Yes he can! If it didn’t happen in 1996, then it may well happen in 2016!  But, I feel that the train is gone by a long way already!

“Don’t wait for the Last Judgment. It happens every day.”  - Albert Camus.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns – Glittering amidst human darkness

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a novel written by the Afghan-American writer Khaled Hosseini.

The novel is witfully crafted around two characters – Mariam and Laila. The way Hosseini characterized these two Afghan women brought him loads of accolades. While the Afghan war acts as the cornerstone of the novel, Mariam and Laila are the two pillars of the story building block. Story is divided into four parts. First part tells the story of Mariam, second tells the story of Laila, third tells the story of Mariam and Laila in alternate chapters and a final part dedicated to the both.

With the success of ‘The Kite Runner’, Hosseini proves once again that he is one of those rare storytellers who can make a rock to weep. Some might criticize the author for his way of handling human emotions and sentiments. But, it is the reality prevailed in Afghanistan from 1979 to till date.  Afghanistan has attained a metamorphic transformation in the past three decades and the author’s description brings the Afghan beauty, Afghan war, Afghan men and women, their mindsets right in front of our eyes.

The intended audience for this novel is the whole world which watched their neighbor Afghans to die everyday in heaps. Even the Unites States entered the war only after they got their own burns. Hosseini’s writing comes as a blow to every nation which is complacent in its foreign policy. The main point proven by this war epic is that ‘whatever happens to our neighbor may well happen to us one day’. In the end, the author wins in establishing his views to the audience.

Tragedy epics do have some air of emotions which will place them under literature masterpiece category. No wonder that Shakespeare wrote more tragedies than comedies. In short, Khaled Hosseini wins our heart with his master story telling and three-dimensional character projections. Even after you turn the last page, the beauty of this story will remain etched in our hearts forever.

A novel can make us to immerse within the plot which will make us to feel the story. Or a novel can penetrate our heart, which will make us to live the story whenever we think about it. ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ falls in the latter category.

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Express Avenue – A name meant for human life!

Express Avenue is the largest shopping mall in Chennai Metropolitan, built by the subsidiary of The Indian Express newspaper group. Though I went to EA for umpteen numbers of times, the last visit kindled my thoughts about shopping malls and hence this article incepted. Lets us analyze the association between the history of shopping malls and the history of human mindset.

Flow chart for the origination of shopping centers is given below:

Town Centres->Markets->Shopping arcades->Shopping Malls/Centers->Online Shopping

Transformations in the shopping centre structure do have some close associations with the transformations within the human mind. In the ancient Europe, every village or town will have a main building called ‘Town Centre’. This is where the people traded their produced goods.  After the initial days spent in caves and river banks, man found freedom in house-oriented civilization, which is the main reason behind the formation of town centres. But after the advent of modernization in trade, such trade buildings started to diminish. Next step in the transformation cycle led man to categorize or segmentize his environment based on his specific needs.  Hence the inception of markets began and it almost continued till the end of 20^th century. 

With the ingress of Information technology, human mind is blessed with a faster medium of communication which led to the next step in the transformation process. Researches show that the amount of information gained by an average person of 21^st century is much more than the total amount of information gained by an average man from the beginning of this world to 1920 A.D. This shows the rapid age at which we live. Due to such a pace of life, categorization of environment based on specific purposes is dissolved. Now, man wants everything at his touching distance.  Thus, the malls or shopping centers are invented.  A mall is nothing but a coagulated series of shops providing all sorts of A to Z products. The parade of shopping malls has started with the first mall being built in the City of Damascus in Syria.

One of the realities about men is that they will lose their precious things right in front of their eyes, then search for it everywhere, then embed an exact hoax of that precious thing, from which they will try to ‘extract’ satisfaction.  Man lost his real happiness within his own family, then searched for it everywhere else, then embedded it in his surrounding environment in the form of ‘entertainment factors’. Malls are also included in this search of enjoyment. Hence, the theatres and other sorts of entertainment factors are being bumped into shopping malls and destroyed the functional categorization of environment. In this continued transformation cycle, online shopping malls are readily waiting to replace the real shopping malls. There might arrive several good and bad results due to such civilization transformations. And the best way to understand such changes is by wait and watch.

All the definitions are defined by ‘time’.  In the past, the term ‘shopping’ is synonymous with ‘trading’. Man shopped for his needs; he did things with specificity as the core; he ate dishes he liked; he went to places for specific purpose.  In short he lived a unified life in which everything is a part. There, Society is defined by what the man stood for. So men made markets.

In the present, the terms ‘shopping’ and ‘trading’ became anonymous with each other. Shopping became the second nature of man’s social status; he is doing things with no specificity; he orders buffet, not sure what he likes and eats what his par people eats; he goes to places for collective purposes. In short, he is living a diversified life in which he is a part of everything. Here, Man is defined by what the society stands for. So malls are made for men.

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Raavana - A ‘Human’ King lurked in shadow!

Lankan King, Raavana is portrayed as a ten-headed monster, a demon king, a womanizer, a knavish fox by our epics. I wished to comprehend his character map from my viewpoint, which will be contentious in most of the cases and the resultant product is this short article. 

Raavana is known to be the greatest ruler of Lanka in the ancient times. His regime is roughly calculated around 1000 B.C to 600 B.C. He is depicted in epics as a ten headed monster. But in reality, his ten heads are symbolic representations of ten indriyas or chakras present in our body. Most of us know that Raavana is the main antagonist in Ramayana. But, many don’t know the fact that there are several versions of Ramayana in Jainism, Buddhism etc. In such epics, Raavana is depicted as a man of mind. In Jainism, Raavana is known to be the first King who abolished animal sacrifices. He is widely acclaimed as a sincere Shiva devotee. He is known to be a veteran Veena player and a great musician. He is a great astrologer and claimed to have written an astro-book in the name of ‘Ravana Samhitha’. In fact, this so-called womanizer king (as depicted by Valmiki Ramayana) is a person who took oath that he will never touch another man’s wife without consent. He is known to be the greatest art-lover ever ruled our continent. Under his aristocratic and diplomatic measures, Lanka cherished with all the affluence.

Raavana is an orthodox Tamizh ruler who placed his pride before everything else. So, when his sister is defamed by Lakshmana, he played the situation and decided to avenge against the defamer. He acted upon his sister’s version of the tale. When he confronted love in front of Sita, with his artistic nature, he fell in love with her. As per Ramayana, he captured her with his foxing techniques. But as per the Veda Upanishads, Raavana acted according to the rules of dharma. Those rules state that if you win a woman with your eloquence, it is not considered as a beguiling act. Sita defied the rules set by her brother-in-law and fell for Raavana. She doubted the capabilities of Rama, crossed the borders and paid the price for her arrogance. Raavana, on the other hand never snubbed his oath. He never touched Sita and never kept his presence when she liked no longer.

Unlike Rama, Raavana never indulged in Guerilla warfare (e.g. cunning assassination of Vaali). He always defeated his foes face to face. Unlike Rama, he never used his friendship as an exchange rate in the market of favors. Unlike Rama, he never sent his spies to the enemy territory. Unlike Rama, he placed his love for Sita in front of his Kingdom. (Later, Rama sacrificed Sita for the people of Ayodhya! Whatta husband? After all the hardships??? Shame on you Rama!!!)

Raavana always believed for what he is. An action is christened as guilt only if there is a bearer for it. In that purview, Raavana never bore any guilt for his actions. In the final battle, he marched his troops even after his precognition of his demise. He merely played his part in his life drama and achieved a brave death. It is this same reason for which Greatest Greek emperors of our generations are hailed for. In Iliad, it is known as the greatest virtue of a true martyr; in Bhagavad Gita, it is praised as the definition of Karma; but it is depicted by us as the characteristic of a demon. One should never forget that history is man’s refracted version of truth!

Alchemist, the bestselling book of our generation taught me the following things:

1. Chase your love.

2. Chase your dreams.

3. Never give up, how impossible your goals might be.

4. Always stand by your word.

5. Always support your relations.

If these are the characteristics we need to make our soul an elite one and if these are the same things which act as a differentiator for a man from other species, then I’m overwhelmingly proud that I came from the same Tamizh clan as that of Raavaneswaran - The Human King of ancient times buried by our darned epics!

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Reason for The Capitulation of DMK - Jayalalitha's Temerity or Karunanidhi's Nepotism?

Selvi J Jayalalitha (Name by birth - Komalavalli) has sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the 3^rd time.  Let us delve a little bit into her past. An actor turned politician, she is the only actress in Tamil Cinema industry with more than 90% box office success rate.  She rendered her voice to ten songs in various films, singing along with pros like SPB, TMS and so on. After being known as the political heir of M.G. Ramachandran, she was thrown off to the back seat in 1989 elections by her party members.   But with her audacious attitude towards life, she rose to peak and captured the Fort in 1991 (with some assistance gained from Rajiv Gandhi's assassination). Jayalalitha is the first woman to become the Leader of Opposition in Democratic India. Infact, she is the youngest person to become Chief Minister of a state.

As it is common for any ordinary human being, once she smelled the dope of power, her audacity is transformed into ruthless temerity. Just like any other politician, she used her first tenure of Chief Minister for the welfare of her kith and kin. As a result, double digit number of cases were filed against her name with charges for corruption, asset misappropriation etc.  by her successor, M Karunanidhi, whose tenure is full of vacillations.

Whenever the People of Tamil Nadu needed a change, they will choose one among these two options - DMK or AIADMK, Greater evil or Lesser evil, family looters or solitary looter.  As per the political sine wave, Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister in 2006. But the notable change in DMK line-up during this particular tenure is the expiry of Murasoli Maran who was claimed to be the judge of Karunanidhi’s moral actions. After Maran's death, Karunanidhi sowed seeds for some of the irrefutable mistakes in his career. He lent the party principles for the welfare of his family. His attitude towards the Central government for getting Cabinet ministership for Azhagiri and Kanimozhi is widely condemned. Despite his strong media image as an icon of Tamil people, Indian media compared him to the image of a third-rate haggler. 

A scholar like Karunanidhi should have been more careful in this regard. He miscalculated the power of people and played a blind game. He thought that the insolence displayed by his son Azhagiri will go unnoticed. He misunderstood the people of Tamil Nadu to be complacent with their political approach. He thought that the three salary hikes and loads of freebies offered by his government will blind fold the people from seeing his mistakes. His arrogance reached the peak when he threatened the ruling UPA Government for letting political novices like Kanimozhi and Dayanidhi Maran to get Cabinet seat. His unforgivable sin is that he supported A. Raja (now known as Spectrum Raja), when the whole world is accustomed with his multimillion dollar scam. It is at this time, people realized the double standards of their Chief Minister. Such incidents favored Jayalalitha in a huge way.

Most intriguing question of the moment will be this - What made the humongous DMK to fell like a deck of cards? What made the DMK to diminish as the third party in Legislative Assembly next to DMDK?

Karunanidhi chose his pack of cards with utmost scrutiny. But he built them on a corruptible base which made their own collapse. It is not the Jayalalitha's action which brought down DMK; it is her inaction which brought DMK to this ultimate demise. Infact, Jayalalitha did nothing in these 5 years to preach DMK a lesson. She spent most of these days in Koda nadu, a summer vacation spot. Even she never issued a statement against the perennial power cuts seen by our state. By keeping silent, she gave Karunanidhi the very rights to do anything he wishes. His heirs started three film production houses which monopolized the Tamil Cinema industry. His media arms tried to overshadow such atrocities and they portrayed Tamil Nadu as a heaven of all wonders. Frankly, Karunanidhi is the most powerful politician in Indian History. He can determine what the people should know, what they should not know. He got the largest Television channel network in South India; he got the largest newspaper network; his family forayed in diverse sectors of business with huge money power. But, the people know their demagogue’s naked face. The Power of People will dethrone any other sort of power. In history, they always knew. Not a single ruler who tried to ‘use’ his own men has ever survived! History repeated itself and Karunanidhi's actions dig his own grave. DMK, once renowned as the first Non-Congress party in India to rule a state has been made to renounce the Government and reduced to ashes. This will be the first time in the past 40 years, a third party (DMDK) will lead the opposition party in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

The rise of Tamil People against corruption, nepotism and monopoly will have tremendous effect on Jayalalitha. She will understand that these people are not as boorish as the politicians think. She will realise that if she fails to give these people the life they deserved, then they will send her to the same place as that of her predecessor. The greatest victory gained by our people is that they made the politicians to 'think'. If 78 out of 100 people caused such a huge paradigm shift, then 100 out of 100 people can bring more. Our politicians think themselves as our rulers, not as our representatives. This election will poke their grey matter to remind themselves of their duty. It is time for these politicians to resume their jobs as our representatives.

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Link Exchange :: Osama Bin Laden

I read this article about Osama Bin Laden in Economist. This article shows a different purview of the Osama we know. It portrays Osama in different versions of a construction engineer, a good family man and a cold-blooded jihadist. Since, the article is written in an American magazine, the part played by US in the initial stages of Osama are brought under penumbral region. Otherwise, it is a great article at all counts.

http://www.economist.com/node/18648254

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Vaanam - Up above the world so high!

Vaanam is the most used metaphor for high moral virtues and rectitude in our vocabulary. 
In Vaanam, sky is used as the common denominator for the fate of five different lives. Krish has come up with a story which drafts the lives of a slum-dweller, a desolate prostitute, a rock band musician, a socially minority person and an ordinary weaver. The story starts with these five different threads woven together into an ostentatious raiment. Films like Crash, Amores Perros, Babel, Ayudha Ezhuthu, Sarvam and Saroja are some of the movies which will come under the same umbrella. 
Unlike my previous movie reviews, this post is not going to tell how the film should have been. But it is going to tell how the people should have been.

The moral I took from this film is this:
If we take the sky as our roof, 
Then all the people in our planet will become neighbours, part of a single family!
Then nobody will wage war against another family member!
Then the riches won't hesitate to share their wealth to those in need!
Then the poor won't see the riches as leeches of poor people's blood!  
Then the gap between rich and rags will be decimated!
Then people will be branded based on love, not based on geographical or lingual origins!
Then we will sow seeds for the real human race!

There are a lot of 'then's. But the need of the hour is not a bunch of 'then's, only a fist full of 'now's! :)

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ரசித்த ஒரு தமிழ் கவிதை ...

தமிழ் மொழி ??!!??

தடுக்கி விழுந்தால் மட்டும் அ...ஆ... 

சிரிக்கும்போது மட்டும் இ..ஈ..

சூடு பட்டால் மட்டும் உ...ஊ..

அதட்டும்போது மட்டும் எ..ஏ...

ஐயத்தின்போதுமட்டும் ஐ...

ஆச்சரியத்தின்போதுமட்டும் ஒ...ஓ...

வக்கணையின் போது மட்டும் ஒள...

விக்கலின்போது மட்டும் ...?

என்று தமிழ் பேசி மற்ற நேரம்

வேற்று மொழி பேசும்

தமிழரிடம்

மறக்காமல் சொல்

உன் மொழி

தமிழ் மொழியென்று !!!

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Duncan Fletcher :: Our Scapegoat or Mascot?

Dear Mr. Fletcher,

      We, the Indian Cricket fans are highly obsessed with our team’s glory. Gary Kirsten has left a huge hole to be replaced in our cricket team.  It is a big void, which can never be filled by anyone else. I hope that you know your responsibilities to fulfill the legacy.

     In order to be an efficient coach, you must understand the sentiments and emotional quotients of our players. When compared with other teams in international cricket, you can list a million differences for Team India. In this team, you have been given a bunch of players who may not speak the same language, may not celebrate the same festival, may not eat the same food, and may not wear the same wardrobes. But, they are bunch of guys who will overcome all these diversities for making our nation a proud one. Not all the bowlers will bowl like Zaheer, not all the fielders will field with gymnastic techniques like Raina, not all the batsmen will bat like the great Sachin. But, we don’t really have to. Because, we have got Zaheer, Raina and Sachin! They know the limitations and specialties of each other, which makes them invincible.

     Being a coach of England is about managing 14 people, who are part of a single ethnic race. On the other hand, being a coach of India is a whole different scenario. It is about managing 14 people who came from the ultimate mixture of more than 2000 ethnic races; it is about managing 35,595 newspapers circulating all over India; it is about managing 515 television channels who broadcast to every nook and corner of the nation and last but not the least, it is about managing 1.21 billion people who never want to experience a Indian defeat!

     Till you come to Indian soil, you might wonder the part played by cricket on other sectors of life. Cricket might be responsible for both the happiness and sadness of our nation. Here, cricket will be given prominence over a visit from US President. Cricket will be the topic of talk from village tea shops to business conferences at presidential suites.

     A defeat in a single match can cause a middle-class husband to fight with her wife, a television channel to broadcast a counter attack talk show, twitter to become #overloaded, a Duncan to attract scathing criticism and so on. Unlike Zimbabwe or England, you will be forced to lead a ‘digital life’ in India. Either 1 or 0. Either mountainous accolades or self sacrificial altar. Either coach or no coach.

     Being an Indian coach means, you have to read the runes always and you must be able to chase the rainbows almost every time. Under your training, if the team continues its winning streak, then the above mentioned media and people will appoint you as the mascot of Indian Cricket. On the contrary, if the team loses, then you will be the first and foremost scapegoat we will sacrifice!

     Whenever you confront an achievement or failure, tattoo the following bunch of words in your memory cells.

      In India, it goes like this. Air, water, food, shelter, cricket!

Best Wishes From,

A die-hard fan(atic) of Indian Cricket.

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Link Exchange :: God of Corrupt System

Today, I came across an article of title - 'God of Corrupt System'.
Since it is a tamil article, I apologize for all those other language readers. In this article, author has taken a unique stand on the issue of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. My intention is not to hurt the feelings of anybody. Nevertheless, it is a great article which deplores several possibilities, which were shadowed by the media at present. So, I have shared it here..
Happy Reading!
http://www.vinavu.com/2011/04/25/god-of-corrupt-system/

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Ko–Drawing parallels!

‘Ko’ has been portrayed by the media as the summer blockbuster of 2011. I’m not here to talk about the film cast or direction, but I chose to talk about the script. KV and Suba has come up with a racy script which is weaved with journalism and politics, both entwining and complementing each other. Now, let us consider the parallels we can draw from the film characters.

As far as the portrayal of the protagonist (Ashwin) is concerned, we can draw parallels with the famous Vandhiyadevan of ‘Ponniyin Selvan’. In both the stories, the protagonist lifts an ordinary person to the country’s  most prestigious ruling chair. Role of Ashwin is similar to the role of Indian Express editor played in the rise and fall of Dhirubhai Ambani.

Similarly, the character of the antagonist (Vasanthan Perumal) can be seen as a tuned version of Camerlengo of ‘Angels & Demons’. Both the characters choose anti-social methods to seed hope in the minds of people. When caught red-handed, they talk about the ‘Greater-good’ and confront their deeds as a noble one.

In fact, in both ‘Angels & Demons’ and in ‘Ko’, the protagonist decides to acquit the guilt of the antagonist for the ‘Greater-good’!

Story of young generation coming to politics can lead comparisons with ‘Ayudha Ezhuthu’ etc. Even, we can go on saying that KV’s last film ‘Ayan’ is inspired from the Di Caprio blockbusters – ‘Blood Diamond’ and ‘Catch me if you can’!

Character of Saro (Pia Bajpai) has been an exception from the above described comparisons. This character is sure enough to win well-deserved accolades to the scriptwriters (KV and Suba).

In spite of all these comparisons, the director stands out successful with this script. Even though we can draw infinite parallels with other sources, this script well-supported with the dialogues, cinematography and music  make the film to bask in the light of blockbuster success. One should appreciate the confidence, KV has shown on this script. The metamorphosis of KV from a photo-journalist –> cinematographer-> scriptwriter-> director has attained its completion.

Above discussed way of scripting a Tamil cinema may not be the right way to make a film. But it will change the mind set of the hoi polloi such that s/he will give more importance to the script rather than the star-cast.

As the climax of this film projects, a right-goal will always win morality over the right-way. In this perspective, we can say that KV Anand has achieved a great feat with this movie. Kudos to him!

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Cogent approach for Decision Making– Valluvan Way!

What is meant by decision making? What are the things to be given proper weightage before making a right decision? And what must be done mandate after making a right decision?
I have pointed out three Kurals (a small drop from an ocean of examples) in order to answer the above questions.

• Vital role of Planning:

Think, and then dare the deed! Who cry,
'Deed dared, we'll think,' disgraced shall be. [Kural - 467]

Hundreds of decades before the Kaizen is introduced, Valluvar has given the steps for making a right decision. A good manager must give foremost importance to planning. As the adage goes, a well-planned activity is always half-done. Starting point of planning is analysing the situation and the end point is prescribing the action to be performed on a step-by-step basis. In this Kural, Valluvar describes a person as disgraced, he who has undertaken action without proper ground planning.

• Ill-consequence of ‘Non-action’:

'Tis ruin if man do an unbefitting thing;
Fit things to leave undone will equal ruin bring. [Kural - 466]

Consider a person who has taken a wrong decision. Obviously, he will end up being guilty for his erroneous judgment. Now, consider another person who has taken the right decision after careful planning; but, he fails to put his ground-plan to action. Valluvar regards the latter as the guiltiest than the previous one. Famous management Guru Peter Drucker also stressed the same point in his books. ‘Greatness never lies with TAKING the right decision. In contrast, it always lies with DOING the right action based on those right decisions.’

• A blunder called ‘Delay after decisions’:

Resolve is counsel's end, If resolutions halt
In weak delays, still unfulfilled, 'tis grievous fault. [Kural – 671]

This is one of my favourites.
My suggestion is to make this Kural a legal act, make it compulsory to all the bureaucrats of our nation. If our politicians and the planning commission members are forced to act as per this Kural, then half of the underdevelopment in our country will be rooted up. People tend to put a lot of effort in the process of decision-making so that they eventually forget the main aim of decision-making, which is to perform the right action! You can take all the time in the world to make a decision. But once it is done, you must act. Any delays after that will depict fallacy in our integrity. No wonder about the integrity of our Government since, more than 72% of development plans are under pipeline for a long long time.

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To follow in the footsteps of Valluvan…

Thirukkural is THE best thought-book ever written in human history. It is not a statement. It is a time-tested fact.
If u haven’t read Bhagavat Gita or other spiritual books, nothing is lost; unless, you read the Arathupaal of Thirukkural. If u haven’t read Chanakya’s Artha Sasthram or the writings of Bismarck, nothing is lost; unless you read the Porutpaal of Thirukkural. If you haven’t read the techniques for maintaining good-relationship with your partner, nothing is lost; unless you read the Inbathupaal of Thirukkural. But, if you haven’t read Thirukkural, then everything is lost.
Hereafter, you will see quite a number of posts regarding this greatest book. For those who would like to read the book, they can surf through the following link.
http://kural.muthu.org/

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The Legend in the name of ‘MidaS Dhoni’

It has taken 156 players for the Indian ODI Cricket to produce a player like Mahendra Singh Dhoni. As everyone recognizes, he is a special player, one of a unique kind. The famous 1983 World Cup is considered cornerstone for the Cricket saga in India. Though we had several gems of cricket ,who are exemplary at their technical batting and bowling skills, it is not the exact thing we needed to explore our entire potential.

Most of the Indian victories of 1990s and early 2000s is the direct resultant of the ‘Individual performances’ from the all-time greats such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble etc. But, the need of the hour is a good player who is adept at decision making and leadership skills. Sourav Ganguly is the one who started the process of leadership transformation in Indian Cricket. World Cup, 2003 will speak volumes about the leadership qualities of Sourav. But, once Sourav lost his form, he left a huge hole to be filled in the team. Successors of Sourav has shown little improvements in the resource management. As a result, we lost our 2007 World Cup chase in the initial stages.

The emergence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni has made such a miraculous impact, which completed the missing piece for making the Indian Team victorious. The batting style of MS Dhoni has been under criticism for a long-time. Even, some of his decisions has been under scanner. But, always,  he overcame all the odds against him and proved his worth at every other occasion. One must not forget the fact that he is the first Indian Cricketer to be awarded the ‘ICC ODI Player of the year’. He has the record of holding the most dismissals in ODI. His score of 183* against Sri Lanka is the highest score by an individual in a 2nd innings. It is also the highest score by a Wicket-keeper batsman. But, it is the leadership acumen of MSD, which made him to the list of one of the legends of cricket which included Sachin, Lara, Ponting and Kallis. He might not be consistent with his batting efforts in the recent past, but he is still the best captain we ever had. With the advent of MSD era, India started winning matches due to the sheer advantage of right decisions in field setup and bowling changes. He is remarkably cool and is able to handle extreme pressure situations. The best scale to measure a captain’s ability is Pascals and Dhoni stoop up to the occasions with strong nerves almost every-time.

Well suited, Sachin and Sourav named him the best captain India has got so far.

There is no achievement left for him to be achieved in the Cricket World. Under his captaincy, India won the T20 World Cup 2007, became the No.1 Test playing nation, won the ICC ODI World Cup 2011. As a captain, he led the Chennai Super Kings to win the IPL and Champions League 2010. The way he lead the team members, the way he cultivated friendship inside the team, the way he accomplished huge feats without pressure, the way he made Sachin to cherish the moment when he hit 200*, the way he stepped aside from the players after winning the World Cup and finally the way he finished the 2011 World Cup final with his helicopter shot will be remembered forever after him.

MS Dhoni – The Man with the Midas touch!

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Nadunisi Naaygal - A brave attempt gone haywire!

Fact is that, if a movie tests your patience, it doesn't mean that it is not a quality flick. A thriller movie is one, which brings the audience to the verge of their seats, not to the exit door! Nadunisi Naaygal places itself in the latter category.

Ironically, the film posted itself with some quality technical work. Thanks to Manoj Paramahamsa and Anthony. People used to assimilate any pictorial narrative with the help of music. Even at the times of speechless movies, it is the music which compensated the dialogues. Hats off to Gautham to come up with such an idea to make a film lack of music. It is indeed a brave attempt! It is one of the riskiest moves made by the ace film-maker. When you take such an Himalayan risk, you should concentrate on the script with utmost perfection. But, this is the place where Gautham fails to make his count.

Nadunisi Naaygal is an attempt to compensate the music with visuals. Performance by Veera as the protagonist hunter and Sameera as the hunted are mind-blowing! Gautham once again proves that he is one of the rare directors who can make a boulder to act. Gautham brought the best out of Simbhu and Trisha in VTV, Jyothika as an antagonist in Pachai Kili Muthucharam, Surya in VA, Jeevan in Kaka Kaka, Daniel Balaji in Vetaiyadu Vilayadu. Similarly, he stands out as a great director, when he brings such an incredible performance from Veera Bhahu(Veera/Samar) and Sameera (Sukanya). But, as a script writer, he fails to make an impression.

Nadunisi Naaygal is a void without Manoj Paramahamsa. Such an wonderful piece of work he has done for this movie! He tried his best to make the visuals as claustrophobic as it can be and he succeeds. Most part of the script could be seen as an inspiration got from Silence of the Lambs and Sigappu Rojjakal. One who watched these two flicks can draw parallels in number of occasions with Nadunisi Naaygal. The house, dogs, brutal murders, sexual urge, childhood sexual abuse are derivations from Sigappu Rojakkal whereas, the character-map of the psychopath is a derivation from Silence of the Lambs and Fight Club.

Though I salute Gautham for coming with such an idea, the irreplaceable fact remains that 'Music is like Mother! Nothing can replace or compensate it'.

My rating will be 2.5/5.

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Additive Manufacturing

The manufacturing processes we use today is the general term used to denote the technical process of ‘Subtractive Manufacturing’. Sculpturing is the best example to understand the process of ‘Subtractive Manufacturing’. A huge boulder will sacrifice its layers of stone in order to shape up the sculpture as per the design. Henceforth, it is named as Subtractive Manufacturing. Even though this process is quite simple, it is associated with several disadvantages. Wastage of the raw material is the most notable disadvantage associated with Subtractive Manufacturing.

In order to overcome such cons, scientists and engineers in Britain have coined a new technical process – Additive Manufacturing, also known as 3D printing.

A print well (so it is called) is used for ‘printing’ the designed products with the raw materials as the ‘ink’. A sample diagram of such a print well is shown below.

 

Plastic, resins and metals have passed the input ink test for this print well.  3D printer is also termed as a ‘Fabber’ or ‘Fabricator’.

Researchers of Filton in Britain have disclosed the technology behind their manufacturing of Concorde super-sonic planes. Can you believe that more than 40% of the aircraft parts are made using 3D printing?  Another research student at MIT, USA has succeeded in printing clocks! Additive engineering has been used for almost a decade now. But, it is used for building prototypes alone. Now, it is time for us to print the entire product using the raw materials.

Pros of Additive Manufacturing:

1.          Software-driven. (design becomes easy with all those enhanced preview shots)

2.         Requires less raw material.

3.         Consumers can alter the design as per their own wish.

4.         Can be used to build artificial bones, which are extensively used in bone-replacement surgeries.

5.         All the plastic items can be printed using the technology – ‘Plastic Injection-Molding’.

6.         Can be helpful in meeting the rapid design changes.

7.         Feasibility of Mass-production and Mass-customization of products.

Cons of Additive Manufacturing:

1.          It will reduce the industrialization in rural and urban areas. (Even a common man can manufacture anything if he gets raw material, fabricator and design software)

2.         Due to the fact that it needs less labor, job-generating capacity will be reduced.

3.         Since it is easy to blue-print the entire product, piracy issues will raise.

4.         Piracy issues will lead to the legal implications of Intellectual Property rights (IP).

Whatever may be the pros and cons, there is no doubt that we are on the verge of another industrial revolution, this time led by 3D printing!

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