SwamyVerse: poem

Showing posts with label poem. Show all posts

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!

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 :)

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 :)

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