Wednesday, December 30, 2009

PANCHAAMRITAM 21 - 30

PANCHAAMRITAM - 21

ONE

Kids in school learn that the sun is 93 million miles from the earth and that the speed of light is 1,86,000 miles per second. Yoga may teach us about our Higher Self, but it can't supply this kind of information about physics or astronomy. Or can it? Professor Subhash Kak of Louisiana State University recently called my attention to a remarkable statement by Sayana, a fourteenth century Indian scholar. In his commentary on a hymn in the Rig Veda, the oldest and perhaps most mystical text ever composed in India, Sayana has this to say: "With deep respect, I bow to the sun, who travels 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha." A yojana is about nine American miles; a nimesha is 16/75 of a second. Mathematically challenged readers, get out your calculators! 2,202 yojanas x 9 miles x 75/8 nimeshas = 1,85,794 m.p.s. Basically, Sayana is saying that sunlight travels at 1,86,000 miles per second! How could a Vedic scholar who died in 1387 A.D. have known the correct figure for the speed of light? If this was just a wild guess it's the most amazing coincidence in the history of science! The yoga tradition is full of such coincidences. (Yoga at the speed of Light’ By Linda Johnsen, Courtesy Yoga International ). Idea: Shri. Sanjeev Nayyar.

TWO

Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray's A History of Hindu Chemistry defies all summary. The father of modern chemistry in India had explored an unknown world of science hundreds of years ago. This monumental work of Prof. Ray has a history behind its completion. When he was a student at the University of Edinburgh during the end of the 19th century, he was fascinated by how much the ancients in the western hemisphere knew about chemistry. Young Ray became curious to know where Indians stood in this regard. He studied in detail the works of Charaka, Susruta and various standard texts of Ayurveda which escaped the ravages of time. French scientist Marcellin Berthelot's Alchemists Greece influenced him to write a letter to him, mentioning India's contribution in alchemy and its significance. Berthelot, while admiring Ray's views, made a personal request to provide him more information about ancient Hindu chemistry. Inspired, Ray began writing A History of Hindu Chemistry, incorporating, among others, the alchemical ideas described in the Vedas and the works of Charaka, Susruta and the Bhagbhata. He discussed the chemistry in the Siddha Yog and of Vrinda and Chakrapani, the entire tantric period -Rasaratna Samuchchayya and much else. Pandit Nabakanta Kavibhusana collated the Sanskrit texts. The second volume of the title, dedicated to the memory of Berthelot, was also a treasure trove. It described the works of Nagarjuna and various Buddhist alchemical texts. Going through it, any reader would be left with the impression that ancient Hindu chemistry was in some respects moredeveloped than even Greek science. The physical and chemical theories ofthe ancient experts, discussed by Prof. B N Seal, were an added attraction of the volume. According to Dr Robin Bal, owner of Shaibya Prakashan Bibhag, which has published the facsimile edition of A History of Hindu Chemistry, the title has got relevance even today. "Our nation has a splendid past and this should make our young generation feel proud of it," he said. The world has come a long way from the era of alchemy. We have entered a brave new world of chemistry, particularly after the completion of the Human Genome Project. Will the publication of A History of Hindu Chemistry serve any purpose today? "History is always important," said Bal. "I decided to reprint it as it has always been regarded as anauthentic source of our excellence in chemistry in those days."

From a review by Shri. Parthasarathi Chakraborty in The Telegraph on September 1, 2003


THREE

In the Bagaan region of western Garhwal in Himalayas, there exists a tiny fraternity speaking a language with a massive mix of ancient Samskrit words as old as 3,000 years. These people uphold Vedic traditions as well. Parts of the Samskrit vocabulary of Vedic age believed to have become extinct years back, are found to be in day-to-day use of the members of this fraternity. German linguist Claus Petertzolar, a professor at the Centre for South East Asian Studies in the Hydelberg University, has unearthed this fraternity dwelling in the upper reaches of river Toas on the border of Himachal Pradesh and Garhwal. This research could prove valuable in the study of history and anthropology. For example, the final outcome of this ongoing research could provide a new angle to the ‘Aryan invasion’ theory. Professor Petertzolar has spent two years living in the fraternity trying to make out the exact origin of this fratrnity.

Based on a report in the Hindi daily SWADESH, Indore,reproduced in Hindi fortnightly PATHA SANKET of January 8, 2003

FOUR

According to Romain Rolland, Vivekananda had said that being itself a science, Vedanta gives an honoured place for all physical sciences, whether physical sciences accept Vedanta or not. A few physical scientists of the West respond to vedantic truths today. Nuclear scientist Schrodinger quotes the profound dictum of the Chandogya Upanishad (6th Chapter) which says, ‘You are That (infinite Atman) – Tat twam asi.’ So also, Professor J.B.S.Haldane, an agnostic British microbiologist who went to India and settled down, worked and died in Bhubaneswar, said in a lecture that when he went to Germany, he went to a microbiological laboratory of his friend. At the entrance he saw inscribed this Upanishadic message ‘Tat twam asi – You are That’, and he (Haldane) said that if any one in the audience could understand this truth and live it, he would be happy, and he would consider his lecture there as rewarded.

From a 1981 lecture of Swami Ranganathananda in Chicago (Courtesy: An Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, publication, THE APPROACH TO TRUTH IN VEDANTA ).

FIVE

SETU, a fortnightly online news summary of Media Centre, Chennai, came out with this report in February 2003: “Coca Cola and other aerated soft drinks could now have competition in the form of 'kela-kela', a banana based, carbonated, healthy, ready-to-serve beverage developed by Thiruchirapalli-based National Research Centre for Banana, a leading agricultural research institute and a wing of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR). ‘A method has been standardized for the preparation of ready-to-serve banana-based juice and aerated soft drinks, which taste best when served chilled. The cost of production of these drinks is only Rs 2 or 3 per 250 ml bottle,’ said officials of ICAR in New Delhi”. Now, here is some heartening update of that news from Baba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai. BARC has found the methodology to extract watery juice from kela pulp. That had remained a major challenge for scientists. The preservative substance to be used in the kela beverage will be human-friendly, because it will not contain any harmful chemical. Nor any irradiation method will be adopted, scientists of BARC say. That means it will not be ‘business as usual’ hereafter for what are hailed as the “cola giants”. Not only that. Thousands of tons of raw kela that had all these years been destroyed (since kela production in Bharat exceeds the domestic demand and there was no viable food processing technique for kela) will hereafter be gainfully used to prepare the proposed beverage. A kilo of kela yields 500 ml of juicy – and tasty – beverage.

Update based on a news report in the INDIAN EXPRESS.

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PANCHAAMRITAM - 22

ONE

Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, President of Bharat, in his celebrated autobiography WINGS OF FIRE, introduces one Sivakaminathan to the readers. Shri Sivakaminathan was a member of the team lead by Dr. Kalam (then with ISRO) that was working on SLV-3. The launch was slated for early 1980. Sivakaminathan was given the job of bringing a C-Band tranponder from Thiruvananthapuram to Sriharikottah. It is a crucial component for SLV-3, designed to keep sending radar signals from the moment the rocket is fired till it reaches the programmed altitude. The signals would be strong enough to indicate the condition of the rocket in flight. Dr. Kalam writes: “As the plane in which Sivakaminathan was travelling touched down at Chennai airport, the aircraft swerved from the runway and started running in a haphazard manner. A cloud of smoke surrounded the aircraft. All the occupants hurriedly jumped out through the emergency exit. Everyone was keenly intent on saving his own life. But one person was busy retreiving an item from out of his baggage and ensuring that it was safe. He was Sivakaminathan. He was among the last few who emerged from the cloud of smoke. The others, in fact, were the crew. Sivakaminathan was seen hugging the transponder close to his chest as he reached safety.” Dr. Kalam refers to the bravery of persons like Sivakaminathan as a varaprasadam for the Bharat’s space programme.

TWO

Even in these days of rampant judicial activism, the hitopadesam offered by Justice M.Karpagavinayakam, a judge of Chennai High Court, is something unique. His upadesam was directed at Shri.Ranganathan, an MLA of Congress Jananayaka Peravai headed by Shri.P.Chidambaram. Ranganathan had sought anticipatory bail in a case accusing him that he threatened a farmer by pointing a gun at him in a land deal quarrel. The judge granting a conditional anticipatory bail to the MLA, ordered that the MLA should sign not at any Police Station or Court but present himself daily, from September 29 till further orders, in front of the Director of Thakkar Bapa Vidyalaya, Chennai, and sign a register there. It is a historic Gandhian institution offering vocational training to Harijan youth. Prior to that, the judge ordered, Ranganathan should go to Madurai and stay there from September 22 to 26 and sign a register daily in front of the Secretary of the Gandhi Museum there and that arrangements should be made for his access to the library there so that he may go through the Gandhian books available there. The learned judge surmised that the Court did not want to punish the representative of people by making him sign at a police station or a court, but wanted to give a chance to the MLA elected on the ticket of a party having Gandhian ideals as its basis, to reform himself into a good person to be able to serve his constituency better. The MLA should realize that his responsibility was to serve the people, the judge concluded. (Based on a report in DINAMANI, September 18, 2003).

THREE

Meet the couple Shridhar – Kalavathi. Both are scientific officers working for Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre, Kalpakkam, Tamilnadu, Bharat. Together they spend upto Rs. 40,000 every year on the education of Harijan children living in the adjoining village, Vaayalur. Their speciality: they make the children stay with them in their house. The children grow with the son and daughter of the couple. Says Kalavathi: “Durairaj and Bhaskar who studied staying here have completed an ITI course. Manoharan and Ramesh are doing B.Sc Physics now. Elumalai is an engineering diploma student.” Adds her husband Shridhar: “We were conducting coaching classes for children in Vaayalur. There were too many dropouts at class 8 due to poverty. So, we took children of class 9 to 12 eager to study further under our care. Jaiprasad has scored 402 out of 500 in SSLC this year (centum in maths). He is now in class11”. There is smooth equality in Shridhar’s household with his mother Smt.Suguna caring for all in the family lovingly. Shridhar had to struggle much in his boyhood to pursue his studies; he had to work as a shop assistant in the evenings because his father had left his job as a lecturer in English. (Based on a DINAMANI report of July 28, 2003).

FOUR

At the crematorium in the Ambernath municipality near Mumbai, Maharashtra, Bharat, the dead are cremated using a type of gas extracted from logs of firewood. Earlier, 250 to 300 kgs of firewood were required to cremate a body. The gas method has brought the requirement down to mere 80 to 100 kgs. This first-in the-country technique was made available by the efforts of the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI). Even useless bits of wood can produe the gas and so, felling of trees for this purpose could be avoided. Cremation of a body using firewood costs Rs. 900, whereas just Rs. 300 is enough to cremate a body using the gas. (Based on a report in Mumbai Vishva Samvad Kendra’s bulletin VICHAR-SAMACHAR, August 10, 2003).

FIVE

It so happened that a worker of Hindu Seva Pratishthana (a movement training seva-vratis or full-time social missionaries), after using the public toilet at the bus stand of Basavana-Bagewadi, Bijapur district, Karnataka, gave two rupees to the watchman and left the place. However, the watchman called him back to give him the remaining change. When the worker told him to keep it, the watchman replied, “No sir, a few days back, my child after returning from the sishu mandir (run by seva vratis) as usual sitting on my lap told me, ‘Our mataji today told us that the money earned by immoral means is like poison and that earned through legitimate means is like Amrit’. Since that day I have stuck to that principle.” Saying this, the watchman returned the change to the worker. (From the book, RSS: A VISION IN ACTION, Page 222); Compiler-Editor: Shri.H.V.Seshadri).

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PANCHAAMRITAM - 23

ONE

An IAS officer. Let us call him Durairaj. He heads a state government – supported cooperative bank with branches all over the state of Tamilnadu. On a particular occasion, nearly 100 vacancies in the organisation were filled up. But how? Durairaj brushed aside the transfer threat that is common on such occasions. That is how a ‘pliable’ officer is brought in, to handle the recruitments “benefitting” vested interests. Durairaj went ahead with the scrutiny of the applications and conducted the interviews. Addressing the selected candidates he said, “Look here, you are all here by virtue of your merit and nothing else. Take heart”. It goes without saying that not a single rupee changed hands by way of bribe in the entire process. I asked Durairaj later, “Did you have to suffer for the honest stand that you took?” He laughed heartily. Said, “Only others had to”.

(Late Shivaramji Joglekar, a veteran RSS pracharak, has recorded this anecdote. ‘Durairaj’ is one among the 1,000 honest persons in Chennai metropolitan city whom Shivaramji could spot in an informal survey in the mid 1990s.)

TWO

Meet Shri J.Sundaresan, 48, a professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, US. He has designed a T shirt that tells a physician all about the wearer’s body temperature, blood pressure level, pulse rate, Oxygen level, etc., via a monitor attached to it. The T shirt is manufactured using cotton-polythene yarn, with optic fibre filaments criss-crossing the fabric. The tips of the optic fibre filament act as sensor spots. They measure and communicate the wearer’s clinical particulars to an attached pocket size control box, which, in turn, passes on the data to the hospital monitor. The wearer too can read those on the monitor of the control box itself. Thus, a son sitting in the US could read the blood pressure of his father in Bharat who wears the T shirt with the help of an internet connection. This way, the unique T shirt helps save lives by constantly monitoring the various body functions of patients. Sundaresan says he is now at work on developing a T shirt that accommodates a camera and a mike. TIME and NEWSWEEK have hailed his invention. Sundaresan is a native of Salem, Tamilnadu, Bharat.He did B.Tech at the Alagappa Chettiar College of Technology, Chennai. After his M.Tech, he did his Ph.D in US, where he lives now.

Based on a DINAMANI report on July 17, 2003.

THREE

An unnoticed page from history: In 1908, an additional sessions judge, an Englishman by name Pinhey, sentenced the great freedom fighter V.O.Chidambaram Pillai, of the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company fame, to 40 years of imprisonment and the indomitable Subramaniam Siva to ten years. THE HINDU condemned the verdict.as “monstrous”. Later the paper strongly attacked the repressive measures of the Britishers in arresting the Editor of the respected Tamil daily SWADESHAMITRAN, Shri G. Subramania Iyer. Naturally, friends of the then Editor of THE HINDU Shri Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, were worried. They anticipated reprisal on THE HINDU by the bureaucracy. Some of them advised Iyengar to follow the example of poet Subramania Bharati (the de facto editor of INDIA weekly known for its bitter attacks on the British rule) and voluntarily leave for Pondicherry, held then by the French, to be safe; he could return when the trouble had blown over. Salem C. Vijayaraghavachariar, an intimate friend of Iyengar’s family also met the Editor. When the two were alone, they wanted to know each other’s mind most dispassionately. For this purpose, they decided that each should write on a piece of paper what he thought the best policy to adopt in the circumstances. Vijayaraghavachariar wrote on his slip of paper: “An editor, if he wants to honourably discharge his duties, should not be afraid of imprisonment or even loss of life.” Kasturi Ranga Iyengar had written on his slip that he was not going to be daunted by anything coming in the way of his following his principles and putting his ideas into practice. They were mutually happy to discover their like-mindedness.

Source: KASTURI RANGA IYENGAR by V.K.Narasimhan, published by Publications Division, Government of India, in 1963 as part of their ‘Builders of Modern India’ series.

FOUR

In the year 2000, motorcycle makers of Bharat were a worried lot. A number of them had announced plans to launch dirt-cheap Chinese bikes, fearing that such dumped motorcycles would swamp the Indian market. The Confederation of Indian Industry and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which had lobbied vigorously to block the onslaught, say dumping by China is no longer an issue. But how did the miracle take place? To begin with, Indians beat the Chinese at their game of aggressive pricing. Three years ago, the entry-level price of Indian motorcycles was Rs 31,000, and there was talk of Chinese motorcycles being launched at Rs 25,000. Since then, Indian firms have brought down the entry-level price to Rs 26,000. Monto's Chinese bike, the Cosmo Blaster, in contrast, is available for Rs 30,000. Leading automobile companies like Bajaj Auto and LML had scouted the Chinese industry to source components but could not find anything worthwhile. Far from being annihilated by China, Indian manufacturers currently hold potential export orders worth $10 billion. Interestingly, Bajaj Auto now plans to produce a bike in China, with components supplied from India. "The Chinese are delighted with our quality and price," Bajaj Auto vice-president (business development and marketing) R L Ravichandran said. Moreover, the Chinese could not deliver quality products. According to Pankaj Gupta, director of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Chinese products failed because of India's stricter emission norms. The same goes for tyres. On average, the life expectancy of a Chinese tyre is at least 20 per cent less than its Indian counterpart.

Based on a rport in the REDIFF ON THE NET (August 9, 2003)

FIVE

Acharya Shyam Upadhyaya was honoured this year (2003) with a ‘Samskrita Mitra’ award by the Human Resources Development Ministry, Government of India. He is an advocate who practises in the courts in Kashi – in Samskritam – for over twenty years now. The Acharya renders the atmosphere in the courtroom fully Sanskritised in no time. He manages all the proceedings of the cases for which he appears in Samskritam. If the magistrate or the other party has any difficulty with any of his Samskrit words, the Acharya comes up with the etymology and also makes his sentences as small as possible till the court comprehends his argument. The magistrate’s chamber is invariably crowded with eager advocates whenever he expounds his case in Samskritam. He was moved immensely when the judgement in the very first case he fought in Samskritam went in his client’s favour. That was in the year 1976. The Acharya says it was the yearning of his father, also an advocate, that cases should be argued in Samskritam as well. Whatever case he argues now is only in Samskritam, even if it were in the Supreme Court. The Acharya is now busy training the nearly 1,000 advocates attached to the Kashi courts to affix their signatures in Samskritam. The target he has set for the next 5 years is to train 10,000 advocates in the courts in Uttaranchal to sign in Samskritam. On Samskrit Day every year, he oganises a Samskrit program in the court precincts.

Based on a report in RASHTRA DEV, Hindi fortnightly, dated September 25, 2003.

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PANCHAAMRITAM - 24

ONE

Railway accidents seem to have lost their news value. But not the one that happened on October 7 around 12.55 in the night at a level crossing in Munneerpallam near Tirunelveli. A train rammed against a truck that had been left in the middle of the track after it had a breakdown. The assistant driver of the train was killed in the accident and 25 passengers sustained injuries. The news, rather the good news, part of this episode is the alacrity of the Tirunelveli District Collector Suneel Paliwal. As soon as information reached in the dead of the night, he rang up the Revenue Divisional Officer and sent him to the government hospital with instructions to reach medical help to the victims on the spot immediately. Next, the Collector called in the Fire Service people and asked them to hasten with relief work. After that, the dutiful Collector spoke to the Superindendant of Police regarding the accident (The SP, of course, had received information). Next, the Collector called the managing director of the State Transport Corporation and got him deploy buses to transport the affected people to the government hospital and other places. Having done all this, the Collector set out to visit the accident spot, only to find out that his personal assistant was not around. So, he went to the residence of the assistant, picked him up and made it to the spot even before the railway authorities could reach the place.

Based on a report in DINAMANI dated October 12, 2003.

TWO

The Vanavasi hamlet Madoor, situated 28 kilometeres from the hill station Yercaud, Tamilnadu, Bharat, was in the news when all the goats in the village were sold and they were herded away. This was in order to enable the afforestation programme by the forest department. The vanavasis are naturally grateful to the forest department which has installed a deep borewell of 340 feet and provided water distribution to the hamlet from an overhead tank. The villagers stand to benfit in 10 different ways for their unique co-operation. Some are: 1 lakh saplings planted on 300 hectare, 60,000 percolation trenches dug to harvest rain water, etc.

Based on a DINAMANI report

THREE

Years back, in October 1962, when China invaded India and when clashes in the India – China border took place, Shri.Chaman Lal Chaman, a correspondent of Kenya Brodcasting Corporation was in India for a week to cover the developments following the clash. When he returned to Kenya, he was given a hero’s welcome at Nairobi airport by a large number of Indians domiciled in the African country. Shri.Chaman Lal drove straight to a reception in his honour at the city hall, where he spoke about his experience in India. He informed the predominantly Indian audience that India needed funds to fight China. At once, Indian women in the audience offered their ornaments without any hesistation. A huge amount was collected on the spot. When he reached his residence, Chaman Lal was in for a pleasant surprise. His wife, who had been to the recption, had offered her earring made of gold to India’s defence fund.

Based on media reports in October 2003,

citing an item from archives posted in www.historytalking.com

FOUR

India was home to a large variety of wonderful dogs. History ha it that when India was invaded by Alexander, huge Indian dogs attacked lions and tigers Alexander, in fact, took a few dogs with him from our country. I had a breed of dog called Jonangi which is beautiful, friendly, faithful and awonderful guard dog. I bet it was better than any foreign breeds. It is easier to maintain an Indian breed. Many foreign breeds suffer from skin infections, liver problems and so on because of the different climatc condition and food. Unfortunately, many still lack knowledge about the Indian breeds. There are lovely breeds like Pasharis, Rajapalayams, the Himalayan sheep dog, gaddi, Bhuttia, Shanekota, etc.,I have heard, on my trips to the Ganges that each village in the Himalayan ranges has a dog which is a kind of protection to the village. There are many heroic stories of how these dogs fought panthers, cheetas, hyenas, etc. We need to revive these breeds instead of imposing defective foreign breeds on our country. Let the pride of being an Indian show in our pets as well.

From an article by Shri Pullela Gopi Chand,

the former badminton national champion,

in THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS, dated February 9, 2003.

FIVE

1.Loganathan (36) of Nanjundapuram, works as a welder in the Essem Engineering Company in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, Bharat. His monthly income of Rs. 2,500 is not sufficient to give money to poor students so that they could continue their studies (a passion with him). He took up the additional job of cleaning the toilets of his office that yielded Rs. 400 per month. He deposits that in the bank. Out of this fund he finances 10 students. This goes on for quite a few years. (DINAMANI, July 8, 2003). 2. Shri Subramanian of Vishnupuram (Nanninlam taluk, Thanjavur District, Tamilnadu) is a history teacher who has retired from service in the Nannilam Government Boys higher Secondary School two years back. Even after his retirement, he teaches history to students in class XII at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in the same town for free. He has declined the honourorium that was offered to him by the parent teacher association of the school. “ At this stage I look upon teaching as my Dharma” says Subramanium. (DINAMANI January 27, 2003). 3. Teachers of Schools run by Chennai Municipal Corporation continued to teach in their respective classes even after they (118 of them) had been dismissed by the Government for participating in a strike in July 2003. these were teachers of schools situated in Tiruvanmaiyur, Koiambedu, Magazinepuram, Vyasarpadi. They were driven by humanitarian consideration. The quarterly examination was also round the corner. The Corporation, too, permitted them to attend teach. (DINAMANI July 13, 2003) 4. In Kadirampatti, near Erode, Tamilnadu, educated citizens of the village volunteered to teach the children of the village under the shades of the trees. The local Pachayat elementary school was locked following an indefinite strike by teachers. These volunteers, all graduates, are old students of the same school which is there for over thirty years. The mid-day meal for the children is cooked right on the roadside. Every household in the village contributed rice, pulses and vegetables. This beautiful local initiative was later picked up by villagers of adjoining Nanjanapuram, Rayapalayam, Koorapalayam, Veppampalayam, Vannankattuvalasu and Pichchandanpalayam.

(DINAMANI October 10, 2002)

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PANCHAAMRITAM - 25

ONE

Occasionally we find the note 'Avoid gifts' at the bottom of wedding invitations. Here is a rare kind of such a note: 'In case you are particular in giving a gift, let it be a cheque -- drawn in favour of 'armed forces personnel welfare fund'. That one was found in the invitation card of the wedding of Shri. Parijat, son of Shri. J.C.Sharma, Secretary, Foreign Affairs, government of India. The note had effect. Guests avoided giving gifts to the newlywed couple. But donations to the Jawans' fund totted up to Rs. 1.50 lakhs on that auspicious day in the last week of May, 2003. Sharma had served in the 1971 war with Pakistan and had received Sena medal. His happiness was doubled when bride Archana's family too appreciated the gift arrangement. Archana's father Shri. Ravi Rana is a retired Colonel. Deputy Prime Minister Shri. L.K.Advani, among others, attended the wedding reception.

(Based on a report in DINAMANI, May 30, 2003)

TWO

Sashirerekha runs Akshara Fun School in R.S.Puram, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, Bharat. 100 kids in the age group of 2-3 study here. Medium of instruction is English. But the school staff interact with the children in their respective mother tongue -- Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, etc. All festivals are celebrated in the school. Competitions including those in games are conducted. "As the school functions within the precincts of my house, parents admit their kids in full faith", she says. Okay. What is specal here? Sashirekha cannot move her limbs and needs help even to take food or change her dress. She was hit by Rheumatoid when she was 15. She was an athlete in her school. But soon all that became things of the past. Every joint in her body gave her unbearable pain. She was taken to the US for treatment. During her 2-year stay there, she received training in teaching pre school kids. On her return, she had relief for ten years and she launched the school. Her family backed her. Now, crippled completely, Sashirekha manages to visit the school all the same, only to withdraw for a bit of rest when the pain shoots up.

(Based on a DINAMANI report by G.Menakshi; March 11, 2003.)

THREE

The people of Kollugudi, a hamlet in Sivaganga District, Tamilnadu, Bharat, are in the news. The reason: they give up the joy of celebrating Deepavali by bursting crackers year after year. This is because, Kollugudi is a bird sanctuary. More than a dozen variety of European birds visit this place in their hundreds during winter. To escape the severe cold of the Northern hemisphere. The villagers appreciate that birds are scared by the sound of crackers and therefore, have voluntarily given up the practice of buying crackers in spite of their children’s insistence. This is because they seem to love the birds more than their children. The same norm is observed even during occasions like weddings, and festivals when normally fireworks form part of the festivities.

(A DINAMANI report, October, 2003)

FOUR

1. Meet Shri.K.Sambandam, a student of class V at the evening school in Iyyampettai, Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu, Bharat. His age is just 75. He is a regular for three years. He has stopped selling lungies as his health did not permit. But no such bar for his scholastic pursuit. He is seen reading aloud laessons from class V Tamil textbook a energetically as his classmates the age of his grandchildren. "He does all his homework promptly", says his class teacher Arunagiri. There seems to be no such thought as, 'what use studying at this stage?' passing through Sambandam's mind; "I shall go on studying as far as I can", he says. (DINAMANI, July 28, 2003). 2. Also, meet Shri. Prahlad Mishra, 87, of Kendrapada, Orissa, Bharat. He is a retired Samsritam teacher. What engages him all his retired life is his translation work. For the last 10 years, he has been rendering the entire Mahabharata epic into simple Oriya language in verse form. So far he is done with 13 volumes. 12 more volumes remain to be done and he hopes that it could be completed in 2 years. "There was a break in the work because of my ill health. I have managed to print 2 volumes. Paucity of funds impedes the work of printing the finalised script of 10 volumes", he says. His lifetime savings and his retirement cash benefits were all spent in the translation work he adds.(DINAMANI, July 6, 2003).

FIVE

It was October 13, 2003. A Christian girl and a Muslim youth get married at a Hindu temple. Their families oppose. Police comes to their protection. The girl, Mary Alishya, is an 18-year old college student. The youth, Hussain Shareef, is 22 years old and works as a tailor in a garment export factory. This unique marriage took place in Periyapalayam, Amman temple, the Kuladevata of Chennaiites. The boy and the girl were neighbours and they eloped when parents of both opposed the proposal. After marriage, they sought the help of the police. Joint Commissioner (North), Shri C. Sylendra Babu directed his men to ensure the safety of the couple. The police summoned the family members of the couple and tried to broker a peace. At the end of it all, the couple decided to live alone. The police have warned the parents not to harm the couple.

(Based on a report in THE HINDU, October 14, 2003).

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PANCHAAMRITAM - 26

ONE

The following observation is made Glen P.Kezwer of Canada in an article by in his Desh-Videsh Online: “Indian currency notes bear the motto Satyamayv jayatay under the national seal. The meaning of these words is "Truth alone prevails", a phrase which brings to one's mind the unique truth which is the underlying reality behind all of material existence. This truth is the essential spiritual message which is India's great gift to the world, and it is this same truth which permeates every aspect of Indian life. This incident illustrates what I mean: I was once in the office of the Registrar of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh. I sat there for over an hour and watched as he was constantly harangued by countless lawyers and other applicants pressing him to present their cases to the court as soon as possible. I noticed that throughout it all he maintained an attitude of calmness and fairness to everyone, whereas most people in his position would have become agitated or annoyed. During a break I asked him what the secret was to his easy, unruffled attitude. He smiled, and then indicating a picture of Lord Krishna which was on his desk said, "I know that he is doing everything."

(Glen Kezwer (mailto:glenk@mailandnews.com) has been practising and studying meditation for the past twenty years at a meditation institute in northern India. He holds a Ph.D. in physics and is the author of the book Meditation, Oneness and Physics, and the soon-to-be-released The Art of Meditation).

TWO

In reply to a query by a newsperson, 65-year old Saroja of Vellore, Tamilnadu, Bharat, says: “In death, it is this punyam alone that accompanies one, you see”. Now, about Saroja and what she does. When Saroja’s husband died 18 years back, she was left with two daughters, poverty and nothing else. Vallalar Middle School headmaster M.Parvatarajan took pity on the family and in 1982, appointed Saroja as helper in the school kitchen at Rs.50 a month. Saroja took upon herself the additional responsibility of escorting schoolchildren across the national highway near the school. This thoughtful voluntary service has been going on for the past 21 years. No child sustained even a single scracth while crossing the road all these years, thanks to the old lady’s imaginative escort service that occupies a major part of her time during the day, now that she has been retired from her school job at the age of 58 in 1997. Saroja, who has successfully married off her daughters, wants to continue to do this good work till death. Till then, she wants to live under a roof. She now lives in a dilapidated thatched hut on the wayside close to Parvatamalai hills.

(Based on a report by Shri.R.Ramalingam in DINAMANI of November 19, 2003).

THREE

Thakka, a hamlet near Kannarampattu, in Tirukkoilur taluk of Cuddalore district, Tamilnadu, Bharat, is experiencing change for the better in many aspects: 8 Devotion has come to stay in people’s lives. 8 Children ask for the blessings of their parents on every occasion. 8 Everyday, boys bow down to Bharatamata. 8 Parents and children look forward to HINDU SANGHA SEIDHI, the Tamil bulletin that brings Hindutva news every month. 8 People here know RSS first-hand. 8 An awareness about Coke and Pepsi has spread all around. It is T.Aravazhi, a class IX student who managed to set in motion every one of these changes. The methodology that he designed for this with his elder sister’s help is simple. On Sundays he collected children of Thakka, taught them the devotional and patriotic songs that he learnt in the RSS shakha (he is a swayamsevak), regaled them with inspiring stories and trained them in good habits which was all news to them and their parents. by and by, the changes set in, in the life of the village. Aravazhi calls this once-a-week culture course ‘Siruvar Panpaattu Payirchi Vakuppu’.

(Based on information received from Shri.Bhaktavatsalam, in charge of service activities of RSS in north Tamilnadu).

FOUR

This happened in 1968. Dr.Raghuvanshi was on his way to New York from San Francisco. He was on a UNESCO mission there. (Born in Bulandshear, he studied in Pusa). during the travel, a few American friends invited him to join them at lunch. The conversation at table turned to agricultural production and wheat production in particular. Offering items on the menu to Dr.Raghuvanshi, the Americans quipped, “we will not allow you to die”, hinting at the fact that a non self-reliant India depended on heavy wheat imports from the US those days. Swallowing the insult silently, Dr.Raghuvanshi then and there resolved to achieve certain things. On reaching New York, the first thing that he did was to give up the UNESCO assignment. He returned to Bharat, resigned his government job and went to his village. His well-wishers and other officials advised him against playing with his future like that by giving up such a lucrative job. Fired by patriotism, Raghuvanshi was firm in his resolve. He settled down on the small bit of agricultural land that he owned, performing many an experiment with new farm techniques and at last developed high-yielding seed varieties. He went from village to village spreading the message. He was overjoyed to find that his efforts bore fruit. It was owing to the endeavours of scientists like him and scores of others that Bharat could become not only self-reliant in food production but also reached a stage when she could export foodgrains.

FIVE

It is a phenomenon. In a palatial building in Vadaveeranaickenpatti, situated on the Theni-Periakulam Road, near Madurai in Tamilnadu, Bharat, lives an extraordinary family. There are 24 rooms, two kitchens and one Pooja room in this building. There is a television set where only Doordarshan programmes can be watched. Among the 127 inhabitants between the ages of 1 to 72, there are 20 couples. Almost all in the family including women are engaged in agriculture in the 300 acres of land jointly owned by them. Two women amongst them do the common cooking in turn by rotation every month. One kitchen is used for the common cooking while the other can be used by anybody to prepare coffee, tea, hot water, etc as and when they require. Cooked food is taken to their rooms for eating. Children, mostly going to schools, help elders in their household chores during their leisure hours. Work has been delegated to all. Sri Ramaraj has been chosen to manage all the families and maintain the accounts. Paddy, Ragi, Jowar, Corn and Cardamom are grown in the fields. For their income, they sell away Jowar, Ragi and cardomom, keeping the other pdoducts for their own use. Accounts are maintained properly and are scrutinised and approved by all once in a year. Any problem in the families, suggestions in farming are all discussed and settled. This system has been going on for the past four generations. They make it a point to give their girls in marriage outside this household. Weddings are performed jointly. In 1998, at a time, six marriages were celebrated. Any expense for education, marriage, medical treatment, etc., is met from the common kitty. If anyone wants money urgently, he can take from the common kitty. During elections everyone has the liberty to vote for any political party he or she likes. Kannupandi of the family says that since everyone feels that the unity maintained for the past four generations should not be broken by anyone, they have plenty of forbearance.

(Based on a report in Tamil weekly THUGLAK , June 13, 2003).

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PANCHAAMRITAM - 27

ONE

A sustained public and political campaign by two small regional Australian towns has resulted in the 13-year-old son of an Indian doctor couple being granted a visa. Treating Shivam Agrawal's application for ministerial intervention as the rarest of rare cases, Australian Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone has overruled an earlier decision by her department and granted visa to the Indian teenager. The Agrawals are overwhelmed by the public campaigns to keep them in Australia. Earlier the rural community living in and around Wellington and Dubbo in New South Wales was up in arms against an Australian Immigration Department decision to deny visa to Shivam Agrawal as he suffers from haemophilia. The non-extension of the Indian youngster's visa would have forced his parents, general practitioner Sunita and paediatrician Rajiv Agrawal, to leave their jobs as doctors in two public hospitals and return to India with Shivam. Such scenario enraged the residents of Wellington and Dubbo who already suffer from an acute shortage of competent medical staff in their rural community. The doctor couple is being referred to as "valued" doctors in the regional media. Australian Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson and the federal MP from Parkes, John Cobb, approached Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone for extension of visa to young Agrawal. Various community groups, meanwhile, lodged signature campaigns supporting his endeavour. “The concern and support everyone has shown has been overwhelming," Sunita Agrawal told Dubbo Liberal Times after the decision was conveyed to her. "Patients have been asking me what is happening and offering to sign petitions," Dr. Sunita said. Support extended to her paediatrician husband was of a different hue. "They said they would chain me to a hospital bed if I tried to leave," Agrawal jocularly told reporters about his supporters' sentiments. "I have never seen such support for a family and this is further evidence of just how valued they are," Cobb told a local newspaper, Wellington Times. The intensity of the campaign is gauged from the fact that all the schoolmates of Shivam, Shivi to his friends, signed a petition and submitted it to the local MP requesting him to get his visa extended.

(Based on an IANS report in The New Indian Express, November 1, 2003).

TWO

Mumbai is not peopled by “mechanical” office-goers, after all. Within half an hour of an ambulance bringing in the first casualties of today’s (August 25, 2003) blasts to the JJ Hospital, Byculla, Mumbai, serpentine queues were visible outside the casualty ward — all offering their services, including blood. An eager crowd appealed to the hospital administration to let them help. Some manned the traffic outside, kept the gates free for ambulances, more insisting to the hospital security staff that they wanted to donate blood.‘‘Nek kaam karne aaye to kaise roke? (How does one stop those who want to help?)’’ asked one guard. Outside the blood bank, an encore was unfolding. Six stretchers, donors, doctors, nurses and paramedical staff — all collecting blood from donors, some breaking the queue in their eagerness. ‘‘Even women are braving the sight of blood to offer help,’’ said a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit. Those turned away didn’t lose heart. Like Nandkumar Shenoy, they helped ward boys wheel out trolleys, soaked in blood.‘‘I think everyone needs to help and assist at times of such crisis,’’ says Mohammed Iqbal (40), a stone trader and resident of Zaveri Bazaar, Kalbadevi. Iqbal was seen collecting scattered body parts of the dead and injured at the site of the blast, a plastic bag and gloves in hand. The soft-spoken man looked everywhere, under taxi seats, beneath rubble, at street corners. Then, pointing at various collected items in his bag, he said, “These fingers, teeth and bones will aid doctors in making accurate identification”. Balwant Rajpurohit (29) was at work when he got to know. He rushed from Bhuleshwar to Zaveri Bazaar and began pulling out people trapped in Navnidhan Bhavan, which had caught fire. A salesman and designer at a jewel manufacturing unit, he carried almost 25 bodies to taxis, to be ferried to JJ Hospital.

(Indian Express of August 25, 2003).

THREE


Sundar, an engineer by profession, and a PANCHAAMRITAM reader, shares an experience he had: “This happened 12 years back. One morning, around 7.00 A.M, as all of us in the family were at our regular chores, we heard a "thud" sound at the back portion of our house. It was my sister. She was studying, sitting on the parapet on the terrace and had a fall. She became unconscious and all of us in the house were shocked. Our neighbour, an autorikshaw driver, brought his auto to our house immediately, put my sister as well as my parents in it and drove to the nearest hospital. This act saved my sister's life. She fully recovered, thanks to his timely help. He refused to accept any money from us though his income was meager. He was neither a social worker nor did he attach any publicity to this. I am awaiting a chance to serve him or his family during my lifetime.”

(Based on an email from Shri. R. Sundar in May, 2003).

FOUR

Date: May 22, 1999. Place: Tololing hillside in Kargil, Jammu & Kashmir, Bharat. Captain Ajit Singh of the ’18 Granediars’ had to make a crucial decision. He was inching his way up on the 80-degree steep hillside towards the top where the enemiy was very well entrenched. The climb was rendered a nightmare by the weight of the arms, ammunition and the ration. Every excess gram on his back hindered the progress. The options Ajit singh had: to drop the gun or the food pack. He had been climbing for the past 11 hours in a temperature between minus 5 degrees celcius to minus 11 degrees at an altitude of 16,000 feet. Without any hesitation, Ajit Singh dropped his food pack. He went without food for three days in all. Every soldier in ’18 Granediars’ took the same decision at that spot. That led them to victory. They reached the top and eliminated the enemy. This hill top had a great strategic significance; the Kargil conflict that could have otherwise prolonged for another month was over in the next six days with the quick fall of all the hill top positions once Tololing became enemy-free. And that had hinged on this crucial decision by those dutiful soldiers like Ajit singh.

(Based on the cover story of India Today of July 5, 1999).

FIVE

Meet Chitra (40), a resident of Laspet, Pondicherry, Bharat. A chemistry graduate, a post-graduate in Hindi and English, and a star holder in physical education, Chitra is now a garment manufacturer. She visited the Swadeshi exhibition held in Coimbatore. Utensils made of the bark of arecanut tree displayed at one of the stalls caught her imagination. She set out to work on that. She visited several states and gathered information about processing arecanut bark. Short of climbing an arecanut tree, she did everything. Now she procures raw bark from half a dozen places in truckloads and employs 40 women to produce seven types of utensils like dishes and plates. They are a cheap and eco-friendly replacement for the plastic, the bane of modern development, says an upbeat Chitra netting a profit of Rs. 15,000 every month in this new venture.

(Based on a report in Aval Vikatan, June 20, 2003).

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PANCHAAMRITAM - 28

ONE

Here is an unusually insightful narration of a routine annual temple festival in an English daily. Read on: “It was ‘Laksha Deepam’ celebration (on December 7) at Sri Soundararaja Perumal (Vishnu) temple in Thadikombu, 10 km from Dindigul town, Tamilnadu. The main temple, inner and outer praakaarams, all sannidhis around the sanctum sanctorum, roofs and its vast campus, were illuminated with one lakh clay diyaas. After puja, the lighting of all the one lakh lamps began. It was amazing to witness all the lamps come alive within half an hour. It was certainly not one-man show. Meticulous planning, perfect team work, mutual understanding of team mates, wonderful cooperation and coordination and above all, conviction and commitment with whole-hearted devotion of participants, all contributed to the grand success of the festival. About volunteers from private mill, colleges and various organisations, guided thousands of devotees from neighbouring villages who had converged on the temple campus to make the temple glitter in radiant light. The volunteers took 72 hours to arrange one lakh lamps on the campus. The whole exercise was scientifically planned. The team had drawn straight lines on the 200 feet long campus to arrange the lamps. Meanwhile, a section of the team members arranged lamps inside the temple. Another group filled lamps with oil. An hour before commencement of festival, candles and match boxes were distributed quickly to all participants. Thousands of devotees witnessed the grand event celebrated with religious fervour”.

(Based on a report by Shri. K.Raju in THE HINDU of December 19, 2003).

TWO

Deivasikamani, is a farmer and a cocoanut grove owner of Padaalam, near Chingleput in Tamilnadu, Bharat. His land is blessed with plenty of water. He is philantropic enough to offer 150 tanker-loads of water to the water-starved Chennai everyday. Officials from Metrowater Board, Chennai came, tested the water and agreed to take 100 tankers everyday at Rs.40 per tanker. They wanted to drive extra bores, which he did, spending about a lakh of rupees. He was willing to give these 100 tankers water free of cost with the noble idea of helping citizens in Chennai. In spite of this, the offtake was only 10 to 15 tankers per day for a week. Reward for this was, a charge from the Electricity Department for misuse of electricity and complaint from the Highways Department that water tankers are causing obstruction on the Highway. Shri. Nagaraj, an advocate, learnt of all this through newspaper reports and promptly filed a Public Interest Litigation case. He obtained a judgement to the effect that the Water Board should lift water from the wells of Deivasikamani and should ensure that there is no hindrance to him in this regard. Deivasikamani felt happy at this judgement though after a lot of struggle. The Board agreed to take 100 tankers per day at Rs.40 each. Deivasikamani intends to spend the amount (about Rs.10,000) by donating clothes and notebooks to schoolchildren.

(Based on a report by Shri. S.R.Senthilkumar in the Tamil weekly VIJAYABHARATAM of November 28, 2003).

THREE

“If you happen to see an obscene advertisement (in the media including the TV), write down a simple complaint on a postcard and send it to either of the following addresses: “Advertising standards Council Of India (ASCI), Bajaj Bhavan, II Floor, Nariman Point, MUMBAI - 400 021”; “The Monopolies And Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTP), Kota House Annexe, Shahjehan Road, NEW DELHI - 110 001”. Even if just 10 letters reach the offices, the advertisement will be withdrawn”, asserts Smt. Shakuntala Narasimhan, South India Representative of Consumer Education And Research Centre (CERC), Ahmedabad, living in Jaya Nagar, Bangalore. Shakuntala was an Assistant Editor of FEMINA. She quit the job in 1986 and protested against beauty contests. Blessed with two children, she has won two Ph.Ds as well. Her husband Narasimhan is a scientist and Padma Bhushan awardee. She is a votary of Carnatic Sangeet and has given performances in Chennai’s Music Academy. She questions the claims of advertisements of ‘fair skin cream’ and hair dye. She warns that hair dye, if regularly used, causes cataract of the eyes even before 40 years of age.

(From an interview to MANGAYAR MALAR, Tamil Monthly, September, 2003).

FOUR

Shri. Chandrakant Hariba Shirote works as a security guard in a major establishment in Ichalkaranji, Maharashtra, Bharat. On an official work recently, he went to the Shivneri Bank. He found a bundle of currency notes lying near the cash receipts counter. The amount was Rs. 5,000. Chandrakant handed over the bundle to the cashier. Afteer some time, the person who had lost the money came looking for it to the bank. The cashier told him what happened and gave him the money. The person then went to Chandrakant’s office and offered him a gift of Rs. 100. Chandrakant accepted it only because everyone around pressed him to take it, but promptly donated it to Seva Bharati, a service organisation. He is a swayamsevak of the Rashtreeya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

(A box item contributed by Shri. Prashant Kulkarni, Ichalkaranji,

in VIVEK, Marathi weekly, Mumbai, December 14, 2003).

FIVE

Many countries around the globe are intent on finding a way out in the drinking water shortage problem. Bharat has succeeded in developing a method to convert the salt water of the oceans into sweet water fit for human consumption. Scientists of Baba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, Bharat, have been experimenting desalination of sea water right from 1970 and have perfected two processes. One is the ‘Nuclear Base Desalination’and the other, the ‘Membrane Base Desalination’. Salt and sweet water can be separated using either of these two processes. According to the BARC sources, Membrane Base Desalination method makes use of a membrane (film). So far only the USA hasbeen successful in pruducing the membrane that could yield water with purity levels from 99.6 to 99.7 percent. Now, scientists of Bharat have succeeded in achieving purity level of 99 percent. An experimental desalination plant has started functioning inside the BARC campus. This plant, using the Membrane technique, produces 1,00,000 litres of pure water per day. By the thermal technique, 4.25 lakh litres of water can be drawn every day. It is to be noted that sea water contains 35 percent of salt.

(Source: VICHAR-SAMACHAR, Mumbai Vishwa Samvad Kendra’s

Hindi Monthly, August 2003).

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PANCHAAMRITAM - 29

ONE

1. It was a three-nation affair. Philip of Paris (France) adopted Sudarshan of Jafna (Sri Lanka) as his son. Sudarshan married Aneus of Pondicherry (Bharat) in September 2003 in Paris before a registrar of marriages. On December 4, 2003, however, Philip (now Mahesh) performed their marriage in accordance with Hindu traditions at the Karthikeya temple in Thiruchendur in Tamilnadu, Bharat. Mahesh is a devotee of Karthikeya and is a regular annual visitor to the temple for the last three years (DINAMANI Tamil Daily, December 6, 2003). 2. Carl Belle was the First Secretary at the Australian Embassy in Kolalumpur, Malaysia. His mother was seriously ill and the doctors gave her just 6 weeks. Carl took refuge in Hinduism and became Vadivela. He peformed the Kavadi vrarta with all devotion at a Karthikeya temple in Malaysia. His mother lived for another 3 years. He renamed his daughter as Valli, the consort of Karthikeya and his son as Ganesan. Australian authorities gave him the choice: ‘Religion or Job?’ Vadivela gave up his job rather than Hinduism. A contented man, now he lives in Adilaide, Australia . (Source: A social worker based in Sydney).

TWO

V.R.Vivek is doing his 4th year BE in Electronics and Communix\cation at Satyabhama Deemed University, Chennai, Tamilnadu, Bharat. He has developed a ‘jammer’ equipment that can prevent attempts by terrorists to explode, with the help of a remote switch, bombs planted by them on VIP routes. Traditional jammers fitted to VIP vehicles are very expensive. The equipment developed by Vivek (Remote Triggered Bomb Jammer using ICXR2206) costs just Rs. 500. It jams the trigger signal by changing the modulation index. This prevents the bomb from receiving correct signal and so that it cannot explode. The jammer also renders the communication network of terrorists in the vicinity ineffective. As the jammer is easily portable it will be of much use for Army men who patrol our borders, says Vivek. This can be upgraded by further research and thus could be accommodated in a cellphone itself, adds Vivek. He is eager to do M.S in Mobile Communications in the US after BE. Both his parents -- Shri. V.T.Ramanathan and Smt. Usha -- are doctors at the TB Hospital and Research Centre in Chetput, Chennai

(DINAMANI December 10, 2003).

THREE

Shri. Natesan living in Chidambaram, Cuddalore district, is a labourer on daily wages. He has married off his daughter Lakshmi (21). Muniappan (21) and Saravanan (17) are his sons. Natesan found it difficult to meet the educational expenses of his two sons within his meagure wages. Muniappan was doing his B.Com at the Annamalai University. Two years back, then in class IX at the RCT Higher Secondary School in Chidambaram, Saravanan, younger of the two, thought: ‘My elder brother is good at studies. He should be enabled to pursue his studies up to PG level. To that end, the only way is that I must discontinue my study in order to increase the family income’. He stopped going to school. He started accompanying his father to work as a helper at building construction sites earning Rs. 70 per day. The plan worked well. Now the family is out of financial difficulties. The elder brother is doing his II year M.Com., thanks to the sacrifice of Saravanan. At this juncture, Shri. Gagandeep Singh Bedi, the District Collector of Cuddalore, who had geared up the government machinery to see that the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education For All) scheme is implemented fully, had a friendly talk with Natesan’s family. After that, it was decided that Saravanan should once again join the same school. “I am eager to study also. I will try my best”, says Saravanan now. Bedi says, of the 4,040 school dropouts in Cuddalore district, “3,800 have been admitted to parallel schools or the regular ones”.

(DINAMANI, December 10, 2003).

FOUR

The ‘cluster concept’ gathers momentum. It means, a particular industry with several plants located contiguously can thrive better, once the community of industrialists function in unison, as in Coimbatore. There, the machine tool and textile industries attract Japanese and German businessmen. They come accompanied by translators who mostly render into Hindi. When that was found not suitable in Tamilnadu, an alternative was sought. The guests preferred Samskritam. So, CODISSIA, the forum of small-scale industrialists of Coimbatore, has tied up with P.S.G.Tech, the premier educational instituition of the locality for training persons in industrial Samskritam. This is one of the 12 arrangements CODISSIA has made with the educational instituitions of the area to fine-tune the industrial community’s operations. This kind of an awareness is mainly due to the efforts of Swadeshi Jagaran Manch working for strengthening indigenous contribution to nation’s well-being.

(Source: SWADESHI SEIDHI Tamil monthly, Coimbatore - 12).

FIVE

Meet Shri. Venipalli Panduranga Rao (39), Panchayat President of Alakadappa in Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh, Bharat. He is a Brahmachari. For the last two years he worked hard for developing the village. On August 17, 2003, he conducted a referendum in the village to ascertain whether he should continue in his post or not. The ballot paper contained just two words in Telugu: ‘Stay’ and ‘Go’. Of the 1,783 valid votes polled, ‘Stay’ votes were 1,710 and ‘Go’ votes were just 73. Rao had invited a few Non Government Organisations based in Hyderabad to conduct the referendum. He bore the cost of Rs. 3,000 for this. In fact, the referendum was not necessary. Rao had done a lot for the village. He has managed to make it a liquorless village. He has banned smoking and chewing paan masala in public places in the village. He has carried out desilting of the village lake and irrigation canals at a cost of Rs. 20 lakhs. This has provided sufficient irrigation for single crop cultivation in 3,000 acres of lands surrounding Alakadappa. He has ensured that all the children in the village attend school.

(Based on a report by Shri.Amarnath K. Menon

in INDIA TODAY Tamil weekly dated October 22, 2003).

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PANCHAAMRITAM - 30

ONE

Smt. Linda Johnsen quotes Professor Subhash Kak of Louisiana State University (USA) in her book Yoga at the speed of Light and writes: “The Surya Siddhanta is the oldest surviving astronomical text in the Indian tradition. Some Western scholars date it to perhaps the fifth or sixth century A.D., though the text itself claims to represent a tradition much, much older. It explains that the earth is shaped like a ball, and states that at the very opposite side of the planet from India is a great city where the sun is rising at the same time it sets in India. In this city, the Surya Siddhanta claims, lives a race of siddhas, or advanced spiritual adepts. If you trace the globe of the earth around to the exact opposite side of India, you'll find Mexico. Is it possible that the ancient Indians were well aware of the great sages/astronomers of Central America many centuries before Columbus discovered America? Does this sound unlikely? Yoga Sutra 3:26-28 states that through, samyama (concentration, meditation, and unbroken mental absorption) on sun, moon, and pole star, we can gain knowledge of the planets and stars”.

Courtesy: Yoga International, English Bi Monthly.

TWO

1.Ammachatram is a village situated at 4 kms from Kumbakonam on the Kumbakonam - Mayiladuthurai road in Tamilnadu, Bharat. A signboard displayed at the ‘Madurai Subramanian Saloon’, a haircutting shop run by Sri. Selvaraj here, announces: “Free haircut done here for orphaned children, handicapped persons and destitute elders on the 10th, 20th and 30th of every month”. On an average, 30 to 40 persons avail this offer every month. This seva has been going on for the past 7 years. Last year (2003), Selvaraj has introduced an additional offer. A 50 % concession in haircutting charges for bona fide persons living below the poverty line in the village. A note from the ward member of the Panchayat to that effect will be necessary to avail of the concession, says Selvaraj (Source: Sri. A.Suresh Kumar, Kumbakonam). 2. In Erode, a district place in Tamilnadu, lives Sri. Thangavel. He is employed in the Maruti Haicutting Saloon in the town. During leisure hours, he flawlessly recites slokas in Samskritam such as Lalita Trisati (a bunch of 300 verses on Ambika), Saundarya Lahari by Adi sankara and Rajarajeswari Ashtakam. He recites the Gayatri Mantra, the Mrityunjaya Mantra and Navagraha Stotram in addition to Tamil hymns like Thevaaram and Thiruvachakam. All this he learnt in 10 years. His dream: to compose a verse on a Devata in Samskritam

(Courtesy: Chennai Media Centre News, June 19, 2003).

THREE

Internal security will be in danger without the participation of the public. Bearing this in mind, the Mumbai police have launched a project by name ‘Eagle Brigade’. Under this scheme, a team of service-minded youth is organised in every locality. These youngsters aged 15 to 30, patrol their neighbourhood in the nights. A constable of the local police station accompanies the patrol team. Due to the strict vigil of these unpaid sentinels, a majormishap was averted in the Vile Parle area on February 2, 2003. A bomb blast occurred there at 6 pm that very day injuring 26 persons. Senior police officials and politicians rushed to the spot. Even as the inspection was on, they received a startling information: Two young men of Vile Parle, Shri. Sunil Jadav and Shri. Mohan Devghare, accompanied by police constable Shri. Pravin Baria, were patrolling a street close to the scene of blast. They noticed a suspicious looking tiffin box placed on the carrier of a bicycle on the roadside. They at once alerted the police. Just a few minutes later, there occurred another blast. But thanks to the courage of the two youngsters, there was no damage. In commendation of this good work, the two young men and the police constable were awarded Rs.5,000 each by the Mumbai police. Sunil and Mohan are Swayamsevkas of the RSS.

(Based on a report by Shri. Paresh Navinchandra Bhat

in the Panchajanya of March 9, 2003).

FOUR

Meet Shri. S.A.P.Varadhan. This astrologer of Chennai, Tamilnadu, Bharat is 70 plus. He has this unique practice: as soon as he reads a news item in the daily paper about anyone who is honest, he sends a cheque for Rs.5,000 as gift to that person. Two recent instances: 1. A bank employee lost a bag containing cash of Rs. one lakh in Tirupur. Shri. R. Murugesan, 30, driver and Shri. K.Velan, 24, conductor of a mini bus, found the bag lying on Tirupur Kumaran Road, when they drove that way on regular duty. They handed over the bag in tact to the police. The bank employee got back the cash bag the next day from the police. Varadhan promptly gave Rs. 5,000 each to Murugesan and Velan as gift when he read a report in DINAMANI, Tamil daily, about their honest act. This was in October 2003. 2. Shri. Nagarajan, a conservancy worker with the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation, says he will be able to pay the fees for his daughter Valarmathi’s last semester out of the gift of Rs. 5,001 that he received from astrologer Varadhan in appreciation of his act of honesty. While on duty, Nagarajan found a bundle containing ornaments worth Rs. 60,000 in the dust bin. He duly handed it over to the authorities. This was reported in DINAMANI in August 2003. Valarmathi is doing her III B.Sc. Computer Science. Nagarajan .has to work as a casual labourer during off duty hours to earn more so that he could meet the educational expenses of his daughter.

FIVE

This is one village where the police won't be suspended or transferred if they are caught napping. After all, what else will they do when there is no crime? In Seehmai Kari Rat village, residents keep their doors unlocked. They believe their lives and belongings are protected by Shiv Baba, whose shrine is situated in this village on the Akbarpur-Faizabad (UP) road, about 5 km from the district headquarters. The legend goes that about 300 years ago, an ascetic, Shiv Deo Nath Tiwari stayed here for a day while on his way to Prayag to bathe in the Sangam. A local talukdar, Khama Singh, went there while Shiv Deo was meditating near the Veera pond. When the talukdar challenged the saint, the latter threw his dhoti into the air. Shiv Deo told the talukdar that he would have to give away the land over which the dhoti drifted and fell. Subsequently, the talukdar was forced to gift 3,300 bighas of land to the ascetic. Later when Khama Singh's sons tried to grab the donated property the ascetic started a fast unto death and eventually died after 19 days. He was cremated there. The pillars of the pyre turned into a large Vat Vriksh (banyan tree) and began to be worshipped as Shiv Baba. The talukdar's family all died in mysterious circumstances. Since then, natives of Seehmai Kari Rat claim their ancestors were continuously directed through dreams by the ascetic soul not to make doors while building houses. That tradition continues even today. Surprisingly, no incident of loot or theft has been reported in the village for the past 300 years.

Based on a report by Shri. Ravindra Kumar Singh

in the HINDUSTAN TIMES of January 8, 2004.

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