PANCHAAMRITAM 12

ONE

Shri A.K. Palaniappan, resident of Pappampatti, near Pappireddippatti, Dharmapuri district, Tamilnadu, Bharat, distributes water free of cost. In tanker loads, to be precise. This agriculturist owns a few trucks. In his plot of agricultural land, there are a few wells. On a daily basis, Palaniappan gets his tankers filled with water. They fan out to adjoining villages suffering from water scarcity. The villages that benefit by his thoughtful endeavour are Puduppati, Mookaratipatti, Irulappati, A-Pallippati and Adhikarappatti. Palaniappan’s trucks make four trips a day at his cost. With the entire Tamilnadu state declared as drought hit, this is not simply a good news for those few villages. It is a life saving service that they recieve.

Based on a Dinamani (Tamil daily) report of April 13, 2003.

Two

Kala and Anita are sisters. They belong to village Aramannum of Kanyakumari district of Tamilnadu state, Bharat. They had no other relatives except their mother. Driven by poverty, the sisters, both schoolgirls, went away to distant Andhra Pradesh coast and worked in a prawn farm there. Meanwhile, their mother died in Aramannum following an illness. They were penniless and were unable to conduct the funeral. They could not even find a place to bury their mother’s mortal remains. They knocked the door of an influential person for help. He called the meeting of the villagers. They decided to allot a piece of unutilised government land for the purpose. They also pitched in with every little contribution for the last rites. When word spread that the sisters have become orphans, a Christian priest, in his proselytising zeal, assured them to marry them off, if they convert. Kala and Anita firmly spurned the allurement. Either of the sisters asserted that she is a Hindu and shall marry only a Hindu. Soon after, Kala’s wedding took place. It was Shri.Iyappan, a youth of Ittakaveli village, who volunteered to marry Kala. Swami Chaitanyananda ji Maharaj of Vellimali Ashram officiated the wedding ceremony, with the local BJP panchayat member Shri.V.Thangamani assuming the role of bride’s father.

Based on a news item by THE MEDIA CENTRE NEWS, Chennai, of February 20 – March 4, 2003.

THREE

An unlikely duo of a Sant and a housewife has been doing for the temple city of Bhubaneshwar what the civic authorities have failed to do for years – ‘adopt’ cows that are abandoned after they have outlived their usefulness. The goshala of Ramdas Baba, a nonagenarian Naga Sadhu – turned –Sant and Tarangini Maa, a 65 year old housewife who donated her property to support the Baba’s cause, does not believe in ‘ridding’ the city of these stray animals. Instead, love for the animals is their calling in life - providing food, shelter and medicines are only manifestations of this devotion. 36 years back, Ramdas Baba saved a batch of cows from traders who were taking them to a slaughter house. As he roamed the holy city without any worldly possessions, he used to herd stray cows and bring them to a Kali temple enclosure. Soon, a sizeable number of cows were under his care. The Baba says that it was by a divine call that he took to this service. By and by, he became famous in the city and help came. The Baba had another vision. He was ‘instructed’ by God to look for his true mother who would help him in the mission. That led him to Tarangini Maa who donated a half-acre stretch of land with a pond and orchard. Here the cows now roam around freely without any fear of a butcher’s knife.

Based on a report by Purabi Das in the ‘Making A Difference’ column in OUTLOOK of June 4, 2001.

FOUR

Four decades back, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of Bharat, visited Chennai (then Madras). He attended a few official functions. He also addressed a meeting of Congress party workers. Latter, pointing out to this, the then Accountant General Shri.Raman raised an objection to Nehru’s Madras trip in an Indian Air Force (I A F) aircraft shown as an official visit. Nehru had to run for cover; he promptly directed his party to pay for his trip. All the same, he was good enough to pat the official for his straightforwardness.

Based on a reminiscent item in the ‘Between You Madras And Me’ column in THE HINDU.

FIVE

Meet Shri.Nitin Shrikrishnarao Deshpande, resident of Beed district in Maharashtra state, Bharat. He is a scientist. He has designed an electronic gadget by name ‘Anti Collision System For Heavy Vehicles’. When installed, it automatically switches the headlights of the vehicle from upper to dipper mode the moment it spots another vehicle in the opposite direction at night. This yields a two-fold benefit: spotting approaching vehicle without any difficulty; better visibility of the road ahead, since the original brightness of the vehicle is automatically restored once the two vehicles cross. This gadget was one of the exhibits at the Children‘s Science Congress Fair held in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) recently. The Indian Science Congress has selected this invention for practical application. Yes, Nitin is a schoolboy.

Source: VICHAR SAMACHAR (Vishwa Samvad Kendra, Mumbai) of February 10, 2003

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