PANCHAAMRITAM 226

Vishwa Samvad Kendra, Chennai

PANCHAAMRITAM 226

Pancha is five in Samskritam, Amritam is nectar

Amavaasya / Kali Yugaabda 5113 / Kara Margazhi 8 (December 24, 2011)

 

ONE

People in the neighbourhood call him Kumar. He wanders about the roads, sleeps in street corners and lives on food offered by kind-hearted passers-by. On a hot Tuesday afternoon, as he lies by a gutter off Mettupalayam Road, something unusual happens. A group of men with combs and hair-styling shears arrives in a car. Before he realises it, they sit Kumar down and give him a haircut, his first in many years. He sits still as they crop his hair and trim his beard. The men dress him in a new shirt and offer him food and water. Kumar walks away, sack slung over his shoulder. He merges with the market crowd — this time, he fits in.This is what N. Deivaraj and his team wish for — that the homeless and mentally-challenged get to live dignified lives. A hair-stylist based in Tirupur, Deivaraj runs the `New Deiva City Hair Arts Trust' with his friends and relatives. The trust has been providing free hair cuts for the mentally-challenged, differently-abled and under-privileged for four years now. Deivaraj and his 13-member team seek out such people, groom them and offer them a meal. Once in three months, they travel to places outside Tirupur. The team goes around in a rented vehicle from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., helping as many as they can. Once a week, they do free hair-cuts for children in orphanages in and around Tirupur. "Together, we've been to places such as Dindigul, Trichy, Erode, Namakkal and Karur," says Deivaraj. Deivaraj can be contacted on 94423-72611. Based on a report by Smt Akila Kannadasan in THE HINDU, December 14, 2011.

   TWO

Samaskrutotsavam 2011 was celebrated in Dundas Community Centre on November 12, 2011 by the 5 year old Sydney Sanskrit School, the first Community Language Sanskrit School in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. Shri Cha Mu Krishna Shastry, the founder of Samaskritha Bharati the movement that saw the revival of spoken Samskrit, was invited as the guest of honour. Other distinguished invitees were His Excellency Consul General, Mr P D Fernando, Consulate General from The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Ms Kesanee Palanuwongse, Deputy Consul-General, Royal Thai Government, Minister for Citizenship and Communities Victor Dominello represented by Mr Andrew Rohan, MP, Member for Smithfield, Mr Paul Lynch, MP, Member for Liverpool and Shadow Attorney General, Mr Alex Di Prinzio, The NSW Community Languages Schools Program Education Officer , Mr Vijay Singhal, Hindu Council of Australia, Mr Samba Murthy, renowned Vedantic scholar. The dignitaries applauded the unifying effect of Samskrit in the global scenario. From a report by Shri Karthik Subramanian and Smt. Priyamvada Sreenath in INDIAN HERALD, December 19, 2011.

  THREE

In his brief tenure of ten months as SP (city) and SP (traffic), Shivdeep Waman Lande made a huge fan following. The Yuvak Sangathan Lande founded in his home district Akola after joining the Indian Revenue Service in 2004, has a membership of 70,000-odd villagers devoted to the cause espoused by him. Lande donates 60% to 70% of his pay to the Sangathan which organizes mass marriages of poor girls and runs coaching classes and a hostel for students in Akola to "aid them realize their dreams". The "worse-off among them with a spark" are adopted by the Sangathan which fully finances them till they land a job. Few in Bihar know about the social activist that Lande is. This engineering grad who quit IRS to join IPS in 2006, is known more for his proactive policing. His crackdown on spurious drugs, cosmetics and edible items; his 24X7 availability on phone  and his strictness in dealing with the high and mighty violating traffic rules saw him rise and shine in the eyes of not only the youngsters but also their guardians. Ask the Maharashtrian the difference between policing in Bihar and Maharashtra, and pat came the reply: job satisfaction. "You know why? Political interference in Bihar is negligible." Lande enjoys a clean image. But marriage is nowhere on Lande's list of priorities. "My Sangathan members are like my family; I don't think I will get time off my official and social preoccupations to devote to marriage and children," he said. From a report by Shri Raj Kumar in THE TIMES OF INDIA, November 24, 2011. 

FOUR

He remained a bachelor all his life and spent his energies for social causes, leading a simple, self effacing life. In the first general election (1952), M C Subrahmanyam (12 December, 1912 - 2 May,1993) campaigned for T T Krishnamachary and during the course of his interaction with the Mambalam (Chennai, Tamilnadu, Bharat) residents, saw a dire need for a health centre there. "Without waiting for the initiative of the government, he established the Public Health Centre with the support of a dedicated band of nationalistic friends," recalls C Gopalan, an associate of MC. "For decades, it was absolutely free. Then we charged as little as 50 paise and then a rupee to help continue the service. Today, we charge just Rs 40. The hospital is run through donations from philanthropists," says T A Subramanian, honorary secretary of the PHC. The service that began in a thatched shed with a part-time doctor on September 20, 1953 is today a multi-specialty hospital with 80 doctors, including specialists, and over 200 employees, including paramedics. Little wonder, the institution is today a landmark and a household name in West Mambalam. Express News Service & www.ibnlive.com , December 13, 2011. (After reading a report about MC in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS on December 12, Shri Ratnavel, a senior citizen, donated Rs 25,000 to the PHC, reported TNIE of December 13).

FIVE

Shri Hariharan, a Swayamsevak, runs a provision store in Orikkai, off Kanchipuram (Tamilnadu, Bharat). Candidate of every political party distributed cash for vote during the state Assembly elections in April 2011. While all voters accepted the money, Hariharan refused to receive it. Thus he antagonized all.  Came the local bodies election in October 2011 and along with it the usual cash for vote, delivered door to door. This time over, Hariharan accepted the money. All candidates were happy. But once the polling was over, Hariharan used the money to repair an open drainage in his street. The example set by him prompted other residents of his street to say that they too would like to put the sinful money to such public purpose. Based on a report by Shri Rama. Rajasekar in VIJAYABHARATHAM, December 23, 2011.

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