SwamyVerse: November 2015

27 Nov 2015

2KYOT - C2 - Greatness of Rain - K15

2000 Years Old Tweets - Swamy's Thirukkural blog series

Chapter 2 - Greatness of Rain (வான் சிறப்பு) - Kural 15

It has rained like it has never been in Chennai. So much so that people like Swamy who live in Chennai are pinching ourselves today that the Sun is out in all its warm glory and the sky once again is shining in blue hue.

Swamily had its share of powerless days - despite no life-crippling inundation in their residential area - which continues intermittently, including now, as Swamy writes this post (thank you Luminous Invertor & Exide battery - you're truly life savers)!

You can read Swamy's #chennairains rant on Facebook or Google+ (& Like / + him on both, for automatic notification of regular updates ;)

As Chennai slowly and painfully swims... umm, limps back to normalcy, cursing both the voluminous downpour that broke many a past record and the administration that continues to struggle but certainly trying to do its best to get the city and its citizens with indomitable spirit back to normal living conditions, it pays to rewind a little over 2000 years to know what Thiruvalluvar said about how precious Rain is!

#15 கெடுப்பதூஉம் கெட்டார்க்குச் சார்வாய் மற்றாங்கே

எடுப்பதூஉம் எல்லாம் மழை.

Rain hurts when it doesn't pour and enthralls when it pours.

It is Rain that makes Life perish (when it doesn’t pour) or nourishes it (when it pours).

Of course, Namma Chennai makkal may agree to disagree and say it hurts even when it pours - like a double whammy!

It pays to remember Chennai's usual struggle for water - due to scarcity - in summer, if it doesn't pour like this during monsoon. The problem isn't with rain per se', which has been pouring diligently during every monsoon (with very few exceptions), but with the planners, enforcers and people themselves, who chose to tread roughshod over all the water bodies and channels to divert excess water to them, systematically over the years. 2015 #ChennaiRains is a strong wake up call by mother nature to all - greedy & needy!

P.S. In case you're wondering, no sir/ma'am, we won't complain against any intolerance by Varuna bhagwan & talk about leaving our motherland & dear Chennai. To know why, you've to read The Tolerant Indian!

@PrakashSwamy

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!

Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer :)

12 Nov 2015

2KYOT - C88 - Knowing the Enemy - K875

2000 Years Old Tweets - Swamy's Thirukkural blog series
Chapter 88 - Knowing the Enemy

The embers of Bihar election heat wave have started cooling down, coinciding with the arrival of monsoon, which as always has inundated most of Chennai. It was a decisive victory for an unlikely coalition of 2 sworn rivals - Nitish & Lalu (both former CMs of the state), who started out in politics together, under a common umbrella & leader, against an autocratic ruler at the centre and the atrocity of that rule called Emergency.

It was also a blow to the ambitious new BJP regime headed by the charismatic leader Modi, who genuinely wants to make this once-great nation great again and his party leader Shah, known for his organizational prowess that brought their party to power at the centre - considered impossible in this nation dotted with selective secularist leaders misleading voters all the time - not too long ago.

Since the threadbare analysis of the viciously fought election is being done by all kinds of glitterati - including the selective secularist elite - on many television channels (most of which spectacularly failed to predict the eventual victory), let's spend our valuable time in understanding what Valluvar has got to say about this kind of scenario, in his epic Thirukkural, a book of 1330 couplets that amazingly are like tweets, written over two millennia ago!

Kural 875
தன்துணை இன்றால் பகையிரண்டால் தானொருவன்
இன்துணையாக் கொள்வற்றின் ஒன்று.

When you're alone and face two enemies (or opponents), it's better to offer truce to one of them (or make one of them your ally).

Nitish was smart enough to do just that and allied with Lalu, against whom he has fought and won elections in the past. Lalu too was smart enough to accept the truce offered by his rival who took the kursi away from him (& his wife). No one knows how long this uneasy alliance will last (considering the more vocal & naturally dominant Lalu has won more seats than Nitish, whose cleaner image helped him not only win the election but also will ensure his continuity as Bihar CM, as Lalu is barred from contesting elections for a few more years), but pretty much everyone knows how the Bihari bhais got the math right - irrespective of whether either of them even know about Thirukkural or not!

@PrakashSwamy
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Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer :)

2 Nov 2015

2KYOT C2 Greatness of Rain K12

2000 Years Old Tweets ~ Chapter 2 ~ Greatness of Rain ~ Kural #2

The monsoon has finally arrived in Chennai. Instead of heaving a sigh of relief (most of the water bodies that supply water to Chennai residents have more or less dried up), Chennaiites have overnight started cursing the intermittent showers due to the following reasons (minimum list, of course)...

Diwali shopping - It's hard to imagine how pretty much an entire city goes bonkers & try to shop during just a week before Diwali - the traffic in many commercial zones have already gone beyond unbearable!
Roads - Or whatever is left of them. Change in governments don't matter. Change of Mayor doesn't matter. Nothing seems to matter when it comes to the condition of Chennai roads - especially during monsoon. All those who are dreaming about migrating to Mars are most welcome to do their terrain training in Chennai. This November is highly recommended as the best time for superior survival experience!
Diwali itself - kids are going to be very upset if it rains cats & dogs on Diwali day; fathers are going to be very very upset because the great deal they got on Chinese crackers will be wasted; mothers are going to be extremely upset as they can't visit near & dear to show off their new design saree or churidhar they got by swimming in the human ocean at one of the top 3 destinations - Saravana Stores, Pothy's (all Kamalhaasan fans are going there by default this year & also wear the dress bought there for the 1st show of his next movie தூங்காவனம் :O) & Chennai Silks. Since 2 of the 3 are located in Velachery now, Swamy is so relieved that he chose to move out to Pallikkaranai 4 years ago (exactly a day after Deepavali - talk about timing ;)

And while it continues to rain, cooling a parched earth but raising the temper(ature) of yet-to-do-Diwali-shopping-just-in-time-for-Diwali families, there's so much more comic relief on Chennai roads, including but certainly not limited to...

Parking the bike wherever it started pouring & hiding under bus shelters, flyovers & shop entrances - if you are in a car & bewildered as to how there can be a traffic jam in pouring rain, that too on a highway, all you need to do is look around & above for a circular flyover (a notorious design that's present pretty much all over the city, where everyone takes a turn but no one waits for anyone creating a logjam every now & then), because it's guaranteed that a 106 motorists would've abandoned their motorcycles on the road & hiding right under the flyover :O
Pillion rider holding an umbrella over the rider's head - it's not just ridiculous but extremely dangerous, so it's certainly not hilarious, at all. But when you see it - again and again and again, the only thing one can do is LoL :D
Not venturing out in rain, at all - it's really funny that anyone who can ride a two wheeler is perfectly fine riding out in blazing sun (which is a little over 11.5 months in Chennai), that too without a helmet to cover the only head s/he has got. But the same stupid person isn't ready to venture out riding in the rain, despite the scientific fact that about 74% if a person's body content is................................................................ just water! BAU Humbug :{}

Jokes apart, it would be interesting to know what Valluavar got to say about this truly enchanting but apparently bewildering - especially for the hilarious species called humans - thing called Rain!

19 தானம் தவமிரண்டும் தங்கா வியனுலகம்

வானம் வழங்கா தெனின்.

Without rain, benevolence (giving) & penance (realization) will cease.

Oh, now we get it! People hate rain because giving & realization (which are supposed to elevate their miserable lives to an altogether different level) already ceased to exist. Ah, humans :(

@PrakashSwamy

P.S: If, like Swamy, you're also enchanted by the amazing natural phenomenon called rain (or even if you aren't yet), do enjoy his blog post exclusively about it ~ Rainchanted!

Be Joyful & Spread the Cheer :)