SwamyVerse: October 2015

28 Oct 2015

2KYOT C70 - Acquainting the Powerful - Kural 691

2000 Years Old Tweets ~ Thirukkural ~ Chapter 70 ~ Acquainting the Powerful ~ Kural 691

Until united with one of the four families that claim to be hers, Geeta will be more or less Bharat Putri (India's Daughter). It's practically impossible for an anonymous citizen to meet and spend time with the PM, President & a CM who doesn't see eye-to-eye with the PM in a single day - especially after straying away from one's motherland into a not-so-friendly neighbour nation.

So, how should one acquaint such high & mighty, if ever an opportunity presents itself, however incredulous as it may be - like Geeta's triumphant return to her motherland and the seemingly endless felicitation by the powerful beings of the nation?

Since nondescript citizens acquainting the high & mighty has happened all through human history (Kusela & Krishna, Kaudilya & Chandra Gupta, Kavichakravarthi Kamban & Sadayappar, Mahakavi Bharati & Ettayapuram King, Umaruppulavar & Seethakkathi...), it's no wonder that such a sensitive relationship didn't escape the keen eye of Thiruvalluvar.

691 அகலா(து) அணுகாது தீக்காய்வார் போல்க
இகல்வேந்தர்ச் சேர்ந்தொழுகு வார்.

The way to acquaint the powerful is similar to the way one is with small fire created to keep oneself warm out in the cold - neither too close, nor too far.

@PrakashSwamy

P.S. This Kural also happens to be something Swamy's father - an old-school government employee, steeped in loyalty & obedience - used to quote often. Swamy & brothers will forever remain grateful to him for providing them good education, which is the foundation of their Life today.

Note: This post is part of Swamy's blog series on the epic book of Tamil poetry Thirukkural, thought to be written over 2000 years ago by the poet ThiruValluvar, in an enchanting Tweet long couplet format, which is amazingly relevant even in the digital space of today!
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Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer :)

27 Oct 2015

2KYOT C46 Avoiding Wrong Company K452

The top news items that are all over the media are both about return to motherland of two entirely different citizens for entirely different reasons.

Geeta's return is all about good - not just of Bharat's 'people's choice' government but also of our love-to-hate neighbouring nation's willingness & (rare) cooperation to make her return to motherland happen.
Rajan's (pending due to formalities) return is all about India's 'decisive' government's quest against all kinds of evil - especially black money kind - and bring the perpetrators of crime under the ambit of the law that (supposedly) applies to all citizens.

Wonder how both stories are connected in more ways than one? As ever, Valluvar has the answer for this citizen conundrum too!

452 நிலத்தியல்பால் நீர்திரிந் தற்றாகும் மாந்தற்க்(கு)
இனத்தியல்ப தாகும் அறிவு.

Flowing water 💦 will imbibe the land's attributes. Similarly, humans will imbibe the attributes of the group they being to!

Life isn't isn't just about who you are, but also about what company you keep!

@PrakashSwamy

13 Oct 2015

2KYOT C55 - Good Governance - K549

The recent spate of incidents highlighting intolerance of one segment of people towards another, both citizens of the same nation, is a challenge many countries struggle to tackle. Racial hatred and protests continue in the US, long after Lincoln abolished slavery, despite having proudly elected someone from the once-enslaved community as President of the country, not once but twice. Religious hatred and violence prevails in many countries, resulting in preventable loss of human lives and stalling constructive progress necessary to uplift quality of Life.

With the elite intelligentsia returning their government given awards, protesting lack of decisive action from the government/s, media too has raised its already high-decibel pitch a few octaves higher. Here's a tip to the beleaguered government from Thiruvalluvar on its responsibility to act decisively.

549 குடிபுறங் காத்தோம்பிக் குற்றம் கடிதல்

வடுவன்று வேந்தன் தொழில்.

Protecting citizens from violence and punishing perpetrators of violence, without bothering about criticism, is the ruler's responsibility.

President Mukherjee's call against intolerance, Prime Minister Modi's endorsement of & emphasis to follow the same and Maharashtra CM Fadnavis' decisive action to provide protection for the book launch of former foreign minster of a not-so friendly neighbour nation are all steps in the right direction. All governments - including the central - should be as decisive in ensuring safety for freedom of expression and preventing any attempt by anyone to suppress it.

@PrakashSwamy

11 Oct 2015

2KYOT C26 Meat Avoidance K258

There has been a huge furore about the common Indian's right to eat the meat s/he wants. As usual, everyone who thinks s/he is someone has an opinion. A few have gone to express their beliefs & views physically. The elite intelligentsia with impeccable designer wardrobe and alien accent have pretty much concluded that there is no semblance of human rights left in this nation (no sir/ma'am, they can't even wait till the next election to somehow bring down a democratically elected popular government). A few of them have chosen to return the awards given by past government (yep, the same extraordinarily lethargic and incredibly comical establishment with a vocally challenged head whose strings were held tightly and made inoperable by a dynastic power center, that was kicked out hard by the humble Indian voter in 2014 and is desparate to find relevance with their dimple chinned fair knight in blunt armor who seems to have borrowed a gene or two from a hilarious former warmongering head of a so-called superpower) to the present government to express their dismay at the attempts to stop the common man's keen interest in consuming a very specific kind of meat.

And the poor Gomata (mother Cow, which incidentally is treated as a member of the family & also worshipped by Hindus who own/manage farmlands that typically have milch cows), without realizing all this ruckus is about her kind, is straying around the concrete jungles created by horrendous humans with one extra sense than her, searching hard for some green blades of grass to nonchallently chew, so she can be ready to be milked twice daily by the same utterly ungrateful humans. And once they are convinced that her productivity (of milk) doesn't meet their unrealistic expectations, they'll either butcher and sell her meat or safely ship her to other countries to be butchered and eaten there.

With many a religion preaching non-violence, not just in actions but also in food - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainishm, et al - originating from this once-great nation, it shouldn't be a surprise that Thiruvalluvar has dedicated a whole chapter (Chapter 26) for Meat Avoidance (புலால் மறுத்தல்)! Here's one of his Kurals that offers an amazing insight on this situation!

258 செயிரின் தலைப்பிரிந்த காட்சியார் உண்ணார்

உயிரின் தலைப்பிரிந்த ஊன்.

Those who think to comprehend (facts, truth), won't eat a (dead) body that has no Life left.

One may be a meat eater or not and it's a choice one has made. But all meat aren't equal (for most people, at least) and people are choosy about which meat they eat - predominantly guided by religious beliefs. And that's exactly the contention here, where the majority citizens of a nation believe the meat of a particular animal - Cow in this case, worshipped as God, treated as part of the family and understood as essential for the agrarian way of Life - should be avoided, from both killing & consumption.

Since the elite intelligentsia won't listen to any Indian wisdom, here's PETA's 10 Reasons To Avoid Eating Cow Meat.

Oh, PETA also kindly offers a list of Meat Replacements.

In case that doesn't convince them, here's what Sadhguru (founder of Isha Foundation, a global spiritual organization with millions of volunteers that also works extensively on rural education, health & upliftment) has told the media about avoiding Cow meat. https://youtu.be/7R7TEXKqdSI

Here's what one of the sacred scriptures of Hinduism Bhagawad Gita says about sacredness of cows.

Here's Buddhism's view on meat eating. Mahayana & Zen Buddhism avoid meat eating, while other sects remain ambiguous.

Here's Jainism's view on meat eating, including specific mention of avoiding Cow meat.

While the founders of Sikhism & Zorastrianism seemed to have propogated avoidance of meat, surprisingly Judaism & early Christianity too seems to have been more inclined towards avoiding meat!

It's a no-brainer that violence in the name of anything - including food preference - need to be condemned and the violators should be tried legally in a court of law. Perpetrators of hate, irrespective of their religious affiliation, should neither be supported nor encouraged - especially by the high & mighty.

While everyone is entitled to have a view & also express it vocally in a democracy, would the same vocal people - especially the elite intelligentsia - who vociferously support the right to eat meat of one's choice, do their bit to promote what's held as taboo by other religions? It's a known fact that another global religion too has singled out an animal whose meat the faithful are 'prohibited' from eating - not just in this country but anywhere on this planet! But no pseudo-secular flag waving, award returning, meat eating elite would even dare to speak about it openly. And that's the sad state of an eminent ancient culture that has been systematically eradicated by innumerable invasions and inevitably reduced to the mockery called secular democracy!

@PrakashSwamy

Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer :)

9 Oct 2015

2KYOT C24 Fame K231

"In the future everybody will be famous for fifteen minutes!" Andy Warhol is said to have famously told in 1979. His was a time when you've to be talented to perform something noteworthy & lucky enough to be noticed by someone worthy, who would promote you to an audience, so you could become rich & famous and the promoter could become richer (s/he won't promote just you, naturally).

Warhol was right in predicting that as a future event, as there wasn't much of media, other than print & radio, to propagate someone's fame, at that time. Even if someone's talented, s/he needs the media for fanning that 15 minutes of fame. So gaining fame at Warhol's time took time. But things were about to change dramatically soon.

CNN started 24x7 news transmission in 1980. Larry King's interviews went live in 1985. www wasn't born until 1991. Big G (ahem, not that long bearded fella in flowing white robes believed to be up in the air, but Google) started its endless searches in 1998. Facebook made everyone like anyone in 2004. Any human being with a camera that can capture motion picture could beam himself or her cat & dog to the world thanks to YouTube from 2005. The little blue bird that can digest only 140 characters per bite, err tweet, started flapping its wings in 2006. Photographs changed forever from rectangle to square, thanks to Instagram, in 2010. And so on and on and on...

The explosion of social media & on demand availability of bandwidth gave an opportunity for every Tom, Sheikh & Harini to go for their 15 seconds of fame (inflation adjusted ;), right from their couch or car or anywhere. And having read or heard about a million self-help books from thousands of motivational authors, the minions of this tiny planet took Warhol's words to the heart and decided to become famous, come what may. Wouldn't it be really interesting to know what Valluvar said about Fame 2000 years ago!

231 ஈதல் இசைபட வாழ்தல் அதுவல்லது
ஊதியம் இல்லை உயிர்க்கு.

There isn't any better purpose in Life than offering something (to others) and cherishing the accolade (or fame) that follows.

Hmmm, is it any wonder that fame is still hard to find for many, despite the myriad ways available now for anyone keen? Before you crave for that 15 seconds (or minutes) of fame and despair when it eludes, as ever, take a moment to think what have you got to offer that your fellow humans may find valuable!

@PrakashSwamy

Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer :)

8 Oct 2015

2KYOT C12 Objectivity K119

Talvar has stirred the collective imagination of a nation about the subjectivity of law enforcement agencies and everyone who is someone - including those who haven't even seen the movie yet - is expressing their shock & dismay at how the system simply failed to offer justice to the parents - both educated professionals belonging to the higher strata of society - who stand accused of killing their child. Of course, it's the same bunch of gossip gluttons that has indulged in devouring the media's nine course spicy subjective meal on another filicide, served 24x7, only a few weeks ago.

To understand the irony of our contradictory existence, we need to look at what Valluvar told about objectivity over 2 millennia ago.

119 சொற்கோட்டம் இல்லது செப்பம் ஒருதலையா
உட்கோட்டம் இன்மை பெறின்.

When your mind isn't subjective, your words (& deeds) too won't be (subjective).

Unlike the industrial age supervisors & knowledge era managers who suddenly wake up from their subjective waking slumber and instinctively switch the objectivity light on, to play the practiced role of dispeller of darkness during the evil annual rituals called appraisal & promotion, when nice things like hope & motivation (of their minion subordinates) usually run away scared, the rest of humanity apparently learned to live comfortably in the subjective darkness, forever.

Pretty much every member of this hilarious species that appears to be devolving now, after evolving over millions of years from apes (who thankfully stopped evolving & continue to live happily with one less sense), shamelessly remain staunchly subjective in pretty much every single action concerning their own success, growth, wealth & popularity, but wax eloquent about the need to remain objective, in whatever one says or does, without batting an eyelid. Thanks to #Thiruvalluvar, we know why!

@PrakashSwamy

Note: This post (Kural #119, Chapter 12) is part of Swamy's blog series on the epic book of Tamil poetry Thirukkural, thought to be written over 2000 years ago by the poet ThiruValluvar, in an enchanting Tweet long couplet format, which is amazingly relevant even in the digital space of today!

Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer :)

7 Oct 2015

2KYOT C41 Lack of Knowledge K407

2000 Years Old Tweets - Chapter 41, Kural 407 - Lack of Knowledge

Popularity always wins when it comes to publicity. In the digital space, i.e., the age we live in now where every Tom, Sheikh & Hari sprinkles jargons like digital, digitization, digitalization in daily conversations, those with millions of followers are popular. Some of these celebrities even have their own apps! What (IF!) they know doesn't matter, but what they do does, which is mostly posting a quadrillion photos on Instagram or Twitter or FB or what not - of whatever they do, including those that any human with common sense knows should be private. And their followers will gleefully savour all those photos (they probably check their idol's photos even before brushing their teeth) & dutifully like & share each of them, to propogate the most important thing necessary for human salvation - nothing!

Not to say that celebrities don't know anything, but there are other really smart humans out there, who know a lot better about a lot of things important for a better human Life. Like why should we progressively reduce consumption of fossil fuels, so that we don't obliterate the only inhabitable planet on which we live today - Earth! Or learn Science to understand the marvel of creation that evolved over many billion years, instead of believing a few thousand years old book that says someone created it at the snap of a finger!

407 நுண்மாண் நுழைபுலம் இல்லான் எழில்நலம்

மண்மாண் புனைபாவை அற்று.

Those that lack (genuine) knowledge may be attractive, but that's no different from the beauty of a clay doll.

Hmmm... Thiruvalluvar must know, because celebrity worship isn't a 20th century phenomenon & must've existed from time immemorial. It's ok if you're following (hopefully not 'only') clay doll celebrities because in a free society you're free to follow whoever you want. But, there are a couple of things you can do, so you're not trolled as a clay doll worshipper, err. follower.

a) Follow people whose knowledge on subjects that are important for the progress of human species is acknowledged - not just academically but even on popular media - such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michio Kaku, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, etc (yep they're all scientists & Swamy is fascinated by the scientific Truth they unravel about Life). You can also follow the intelligent liberals such as Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert, who dare to rip apart the facade of the ruling class morons, on a daily basis, and tickle our funny bone while doing so, which is doubly beneficial as it helps both the heart & brain! Of course, you're absolutely empowered to follow Swamy as well - on any social media you prefer (he doesn't do Instagram though).

b) Stop sharing nonsense - like utterly pointless photos of celebrities you follow - that doesn't enable the progress of our species in any way. Unfollowing them would be even better, because then you'll have more time to learn really useful things about Life!

@PrakashSwamy

Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer :)

6 Oct 2015

2KYOT C73 Communicating without fear K723

Two things are prevalent in the evolution of humans from time immemorial - war and being tongue tied.

At a macro level, we still see many nations - powerful or not - pumping so much money into building or buying weapons and going to war - within their own country or elsewhere. Wars just don't cease, despite the heightened awareness of atrocieties associated with them due to the omnipresence of information in digital space, including but not limited to causing the death of scores of our own - supposedly evolved species.

At a micro level, many human beings, who voraciously consume all such information - including war - thru a variety of media, are left tongue tied, when it comes to speaking and expressing themselves, in front of a group of their own species. Many wonderful ideas, invigorating thoughts, opposite points-of-view remain locked inside the head of people who are scared to death (pun intended) to communicate them to others. That's one of the prime reasons for many netizens sticking to just liking & forwarding posts than commenting or publishing their own.

723 பகையகத்துச் சாவார் எளியர் அரியர்

அவையகத்து அஞ்சா தவர்.

Many die in the war. Few dare to speak confidently in a group (or in public).

2000 years ago, Valluvar beautifully beaded the two seemingly disconnected things - apparent fearless death of people in war & obvious fear of people about public speaking - together.

Which one is easier? Isn't addressing a group of fellow humans or expressing yourself in public far easier than fighting a bloody war!

@PrakashSwamy

5 Oct 2015

2KYOT C80 Analysing Friendship K791

Almost every day, we get 'friend' requests. In a world progressively deprived of human kinship, many are glad to accept a new friend (virtual, unless already known), without hesitation. Few do the rudimentary (but obviously necessary) background check such as who, who are his/her friends (friends of friend), what kinds of posts s/he has posted, where is the person from, is there any connect at all with that person, et al. The checks could be misleading, if the profile is fake. Very few have the confidence & conviction to not accept all friend requests.

It's amazing Valluvar has written about this 21st century scenario, over 2000 years ago, in his own succinct couplet way.

791 நாடாது நட்டலின் கேடில்லை நட்டபின்
வீடில்லை நட்பாள் பவர்க்கு.

It's hard to let go of friendship. So, it's not smart to accept someone readily as a friend, without sufficient (background) check!

So, the next time you gleefully accept a friend request, think about what Valluvar said, in his 2KYOT, i.e. 2K years old Tweets!

@PrakashSwamy