PANCHAAMRITAM -
253
(Pancha is five in Samskritam, Amritam is nectar)
Amaavaasya / Kali Yugaabda 5116 / Jaya Aadi 10 (July 25, 2014)
ONE
Thayammal’s ‘mantra’
for a healthy life was to live in a joint family. She herself lived up
to 117 years. She died on June 21, 2014 at Coimbatore (Tamilnadu, Bharat).
According to her family, Thayammal was very active till a week before her death
and never sought help from others for her routine. Widely known as the ‘Iron
Lady’ and ‘Paatti’, Thayammal had seen six generations, including the family of
her seven sons and three daughters. Her
family now has 186 members, including grandchildren and great
grandchildren. Thayammal used to live on
the first floor of the house, and used to visit other family members residing
on the ground floor four times a day. Apart from the one off incident of her
undergoing a cataract surgery, she never visited a hospital or took medicine.
In fact, she used to come up with homemade medicine for headache, cough and
cold. Till her last, she did not have any problem in her ears or eyes,
according to her son Jayabal. J Nithyanandan, grandson of Thayammal, said that
his grandma was a treasure trove of stories and anecdotes. She had a passport
confirming her visits to temples in Sri Lanka and Malaysia with her friends
four decades ago. “She once told us that in olden days, people used to fill oil
in vessels and keep them atop small pillars along the roads. In the evenings,
wicks would be lit for the benefit of late night travellers as there used to be
no street lights then.
Based on a report by Shri S Senthil Kumar
in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, June 22, 2014.
TWO
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi was told by people of Uri (Jammu-Kashmir, Bharat) that
the lone KendriyaVidyalaya (KV) in town has classes only till class X and the
nearest senior secondary school was few kilometers away causing problems for
children to commute daily. The PM immediately brought this to the notice of the
HRD ministry which didn't leave it for another day. Immediately, senior
ministry and KV Sangathan officials met and what could have taken a couple of
days to fructify was done in three hours. PM was told that the KVS and ministry
have decided that the school will be upgraded to class XII from this session
only. A KVS official said, "This is the first time I have seen that
upgradation of KVS done in three hours." Modi was on a visit to the state;
on July 4 he flagged off the first train from Katra while commissioning the
25-km-long Udhampur-Katra line enabling pilgrims to reach Vashno Devi shrine
without difficulty.
Based on a report in THE TIMES OF INDIA, July 6, 2014.
THREE
A)
Daily, scores of persons in the 19 northern districts of Tamilnadu are
enrolling themselves (by paying Rs. 300) in the ‘Samskrita Pravesha’ scheme of
Samskrita Bharati, an NGO popularizing Spoken Samskritam for over three
decades. ‘Samskrita Pravesha’ is the name given to their postal tuition leading
to an exam every six months. For details, visit site www.sanskritchennai.in or mail to samskritapravesham@gmail.com . B) Meanwhile, Chinmaya Mission
in Chennai has launched 'Speak Sanskrit through sports,' on June 14, 2014 in
Chennai. Competitions to be held as part of the campaign may only give an
initiation into Sanskrit, but the organizers hope it would inspire people to
learn the language in a deeper way. Conceptualized by Swami Mitrananda, it is
primarily an elocution competition which involves giving running commentary on
cricket in Sanskrit. To help participants, a series of books have been
conceptualized. Open to all school children, the finals will take place on
November 1.Participants will have to give cricket commentary in Sanskrit for
eight minutes. The first prize winner will get to fly to Melbourne to watch the
2015 World Cup final. Former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth, who came in support
of the initiative, felt this would go a long way in reviving the ancient
language. So, don't be surprised this October when Chennai youngsters shout
"satjam" (sixer) and "dvisatam" (double century).
Based on a post in Facebook 'Speak Sanskrit through
sports'
FOUR
Meet
Smt. Visalakshi, the AIADMK Mayor, Municipal Corporation of Tiruppur. She says
in an interview to Mangaiyar Malar, a women’s Tamil monthly - “It was the year 1984 I was just 12. Just then the news came that my father,
riding a cycle, was run over by an unidentified car. Even while my father lay there writhing in
pain at the roadside, a lady, Jayalakshmi by name, acted quickly and admitted
my father in a nursing home. She waited
till my family reached the hospital. She
refused to accept auto-rickshaw charges that we offered. Had she not acted promptly we would have lost
our father. Incidentally, Jayalakshmi
who saved my father’s life was deaf and dumb.
From that year onwards, on special occasions like birthdays,
anniversaries, etc., our family spends the whole day with deaf and dumb
destitutes in their asylums.”
From MANGAIYAR MALAR, Tamil Monthly, June 2014.
FIVE
One
of a twin tower residential flats (11 storey high) under construction in
Mugalivakkam, near Chennai, collapsed on
June 28, 2014. RSS Swayamsevaks led by Shri Sudharshan, Jilla Sampark Pramukh and
Shri Vishnu Shankar reached the accident spot within an hour. About 50
swayamsevaks were involved in the rescue operations. They rescued alive ten
persons and retrieved 14 dead bodies. Swayamsevaks quickly split into four
groups; the first group cleared the path for rescue vehicles like crane, JCB, etc
to reach the spot; the second group concentrated on immediate rescue of live
victims who were trapped under the collapsed building. The third group provided
hospitality for the rescuers including government employees and prevented onlookers
from the reaching the accident site. The fourth group co-ordinated the entire
work and recorded the happenings of the rescue operation. A group of swayamsevaks from Kottivakkam
supplied food and snacks to the rescuers. Rescuers, Chennai Metro Rail Limited
Engineers, Fire & Rescue force personnel and swayamsevaks worked in unison.
Based on a Post by Vishwa Samvad Kendra, Chennai, in
its Blog (rsschennai.blogspot.com).
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