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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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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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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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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Profile Review - S Ramakrishnan

S Ramakrishnan

S Ramakrishnan is a famous author/ dialogue writer. In my opinion, he is one of those writers of our generation who stands out distinctly due to his quality works in Tamil literature. He has penned dialogues for the movies like Baba, Unnale unnale and Avan Ivan. He is known for his ability to write witty dialogues and for his humorous way of expressing things. He translated the "Alice in Wonderland" in Tamil language. I used to read his column 'Thunai Ezhuthu' in the famous Tamil weekly, Ananda Vikatan. Today, I came across his web page which is rich in information. Hope his site will appease all the voracious Tamil readers. Those who are interested in reading his works can check the following site.

Website URL: http://www.sramakrishnan.com/ 

FB URL : http://www.facebook.com/pages/S-Ramakrishnan/112550075428659

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