கொலுவுக்கு ரெடியாயிட்டீங்களா? மனிதன் எவ்வகையிலேனும் தன்னை உயர்த்திக் கொள்ள வேண்டும். ஆன்மரீதியாக படிப்படியாக உயர்த்திக் கொண்டு இறுதியில் இறைவனில் கலக்க வேண்டும். இதுவே மனித பிறப்பின் அடிப்படை தத்துவம் என்பதை வலியுறுத்துவதற்காகத்தான் நவராத்திரி விழாவில் கொலு வைக்கப்படுகிறது. இதை விளக்கும் பொருட்டே கொலுக் காட்சியில் ஒன்பது படிகள் வைத்து அதில் பொம்மைகளை அடுக்கி வழிபடுகிறோம். ஒன்பது படிகளில் வைக்கப்பட வேண்டிய பொம்மைகள்… 1ம் படி: ஓரறிவு உயிர் பொருட்களான புல், செடி, கொடி போன்ற தாவர பொம்மைகள் 2ம் படி: இரண்டறிவு கொண்ட நத்தை, சங்கு போன்ற பொம்மைகள் 3ம் படி: மூன்றறிவு உயிர்களான எறும்பு, ஊறும் உயிரின பொம்மைகள் 4ம் படி: நான்கறிவு உடைய நண்டு, வண்டு பொம்மைகள். 5ம் படி: ஐந்தறிவு கொண்ட நான்கு கால் விலங்குகள், பறவை பொம்மைகள். 6ம் படி: ஆறறிவு படைத்த மனிதர்களின் பொம்மைகள். 7ம் படி: மனிதனுக்கு மேற்பட்ட மகரிஷிகளின் பொம்மைகள். 8ம் படி: தேவர்கள், நவக்கிரக அதிபதிகள், பஞ்சபூதங்கள், அஷ்டதி பாலகர் பொம்மைகள். 9ம் படி: பிரம்மா, விஷ்ணு, சிவன் மும்மூர்த்திகள் அவர்தம் தேவியர்களான சரஸ்வதி, லட்சுமி, பார்வதி பொம்மைகள் (ஆதிபராசக்தி நடுவில்) இருத்தல் வேண்டும். Source::::::DINAKARAN ….Tamil Daily.. Natarajan

Source::::unknown….input from one of my friends. nice story and guide for standing out in any business…
Natarajan

A fantastic sentence written on every Japanese bus stop.
Only buses will stop here – Not your time.
So Keep walking towards your goal.

Japanese way of cost efficiency

The Taj hotel group had invited Mr. Masai Imai from Japan to hold a workshop for its staff.

The staff were very skeptical – the hotel is doing excellent business, this person from Japan has no exposure to hotel industry – what exactly is he going to teach?

But everybody gathered as planned for the workshop in the conference hall sharp at 9 am.

Mr. Masai was introduced to them – a not so impressive personality, nor the English all that good; spoke as if he was first formulating each sentence in Japanese and then translating it into rather clumsy English.

“Good morning! Let’s start work. I am told this is a workshop; but I see neither work nor shop. So let’s proceed where work is happening. Let’s start with the first room on the first floor.”

Mr. Masai, followed by the senior management, the participants, the video camera crew trouped out of the conference room and proceeded to the destination.

That happened to be the laundry room of the hotel.

Mr. Masai entered the room and stood at the window, “beautiful view!” he said.

The staff knew it; they need not invite a Japanese consultant to tell them this!

“A room with such a beautiful view is being wasted as a laundry room. Shift the laundry to the basement and convert this into a guest room.”

Aa Haa! Now nobody had ever thought about that!

The manager said, “Yes, it can be done.”

“Then let’s do it,” Mr. Masai said.

“Yes sir, I will make a note of this and we will include it in the report on the workshop that will be prepared.” Manager

“Excuse me, but there is nothing to note down in this. Let’s just do it, just now.” Mr. Masai.

“Just now?” Manager

“Yes, decide on a room on the ground floor/basement and shift the stuff out of this room right away. It should take a couple of hours, right?” asked Mr. Masai.

“Yes.” Manager.

“Let’s come back here just before lunch. By then all this stuff will have got shifted out and the room must be ready with the carpets, furniture etc. and from today you can start earning the few thousand that you charge your customers for a night.”

“Ok, Sir.” The manager had no option.

The next destination was the pantry. The group entered. At the entrance were two huge sinks full of plates to be washed.

Mr. Masai removed his jacket and started washing the plates.

“Sir, Please, what are you doing?” the manager didn’t know what to say and what to do.

“Why, I am washing the plates”, Mr. Masai.

“But sir, there is staff here to do that.” Manager Mr. Masai continued washing, “I think sink is for washing plates, there are stands here to keep the plates and the plates should go into the stands.”

All the officials wondered – did they require a consultant to tell them this?

After finishing the job, Mr. Masai asked, “How many plates do you have?’

“Plenty, so that there should never be any shortage.” answered the Manager.

Mr. Masai said, “We have a word in Japanese -‘Muda’. Muda means delay, Muda means unnecessary spending. One lesson to be learned in this workshop is to avoid both. If you have plenty of plates, there will be delay in cleaning them up. The first step to correct this situation is to remove all the excess plates.”

“Yes, we will say this in the report.” Manager.

“No, wasting our time in writing the report is again an instance of ‘Muda’. We must pack the extra plates in a box right away and send these to whichever other section of Taj requires these. Throughout the workshop now we will find out where all we find this ‘Muda’ hidden.”

And then at every spot and session, the staff eagerly awaited to find out Muda and learn how to avoid it.

On the last day, Mr. Masai told a story.

“A Japanese and an American, both fond of hunting, met in a jungle. They entered deep jungle and suddenly realized that they had run out of bullets. Just then they heard a lion roaring. Both started running. But the Japanese took a short break to put on his sports shoes.

The American said, “What are you doing? We must first get to the car.”

The Japanese responded, “No. I only have to ensure that I remain ahead of you.”

All the participants engrossed in listening to the story, realized suddenly that the lion would stop after getting his victim!

“The lesson is: competition in today’s world is so fierce, that it is important to stay ahead of other, even by just a couple of steps. And you have such a huge and naturally well endowed country. If you remember to curtail your production expenditure and give the best quality always, you will be miles ahead as compared to so many other countries in the world.”, concluded Mr. Masai.

New 4000-mile bus route will connect Birmingham to Kashmir

Mirpur in Jammu and Kashmir will now be directly linked by road with the United Kingdom through a direct bus service, says a report.
A new 4,000-mile bus route connecting the city Birmingham, will pass through seven countries, including Iran, before finally reaching its destination, also known as ‘Little Birmingham’.
Passengers embarking on the epic 12-day journey are likely to be charged 130 pounds for a ticket, the Daily Mirror reports.
The service is definitely a good news for the people of Birmingham, which is home to the world’s largest population of Kashmiri expats.
According to the report, security concerns have, however, been raised about the route, which will stop over at Quetta, Pakistan.
Top Taliban commanders are said to be hiding in the volatile city, near the Afghan border. ..

source::::::yahoo news net…

natarajan

source:::::unknown…input recd from one of my friends…. a ” must read” by all persons of all the ages…..a good story…may or mot be real one…. but it conveys the right message ….

Natarajan

An old man, staying in a small south Indian town came to visit his son in Mumbai recently. The son in his early thirties is a successful businessman living with his wife and son. The father, having spent most of his life at his birthplace, hardly understands a splatter of Hindi or English, forget Marathi. But he doesn’t care. ‘I have come here to spend a few days with my son and his family. I don’t have to go out and socialize with the city people,’ he said.

But the son is very excited about his father’s rare visit to Bombay. He wants to make the best of it. He and his wife want to show him around the city. And yes, the son enjoys those evening hours too, when he and his father go out and sit in a good bar, sipping their favorite drink.

Last week he was in a very good mood. ‘Let’s go to a five star hotel’s bar tonight,’ he told his father. It was a beautiful evening. Talking about everything under the sun they had a few drinks. As usual they were offered some salad, peanuts, wafers etc .as accompaniments with their drinks. The old man being almost toothless was not much interested in eating. But that day when they got up to leave, he simply took a handful of chana (roasted grams) and stuffed it in the fold of his dhoti. He might have thought about munching on them, sitting in the car, or whatever.
Unfortunately while walking in the lobby, he missed a step and stumbled. Down he went, scattering the chana on the plush carpet.

No problem .Now try to visualize that scenario. Someone else in his son’s place would have been mortified, embarrassed to death. He might have cursed not his father but his own self for causing this awkward situation.
‘Never again will I take my old man to such hotels’, he would have vowed.
No sir, not this son. Gently, with a smile, he helped his father get back on his feet. Instead of feeling irritated or angry, he was amused. He found the whole incident very funny. Laughing, they both went home and on the way they decided to return to the same place the following Sunday.
The old man liked the place and liked the chana too.

Few days back, at a friend’s place they both described this event and made everybody laugh.
Weren’t you embarrassed? Somebody asked the son. ‘Oh, come on now’ replied the son. ‘He is my father. He talks in his native language, prefers to wear a dhoti even to a posh city hotel, takes chana from the bar to eat later, does whatever he feels like…. So what?
Why should I feel embarrassed with his nature and habits? Nobody has a right to stop him from doing whatever he feels comfortable with, as long as it is not harmful to others.’

The son doesn’t care what the staff in the hotel thought about that incident. He says ‘they should be concerned only with their bills and tips. I am concerned about my father’s happiness.’ The wife too totally agrees with the husband on this issue. She feels there are enough other qualities in her father- in- law to feel proud of.
Accept them .The above incident is not mentioned just to show the love and devotion of a son for his father. More than love it is a matter of understanding and a healthy respect for the other person’s lifestyle.

A seventy plus old man doesn’t want to change his lifestyle now. He likes the way he eats or dresses or talks. In his eyes there is nothing wrong with the old ways of living. And the son says, ok, fine. Every body has a right to live as per his wish. Now at his age, why should he be forced to learn to eat with a fork and knife, if he doesn’t want to? I will feel bad if he is doing something morally wrong or indulging in some harmful activities. But otherwise it is fine. I am not going to try to change him at this stage. He is my father. I love him, respect him.

Hey folks, can you think this way? So many times we see people getting embarrassed by the so called unsophisticated behavior of their family members. They keep on apologizing about their lack of class and manners or about their drawbacks to outsiders. My wife can’t speak proper English; she doesn’t know what’s happening in the world, so I avoid taking her out or introducing her to my friends and business associates… My parents can’t eat with a spoon and fork, so I don’t take them to restaurants My husband is working as an ordinary clerk, so I feel awkward when I introduce him to my rich friends. My brother is mentally challenged, so I don’t feel like going out with him…

Are you plagued with such thoughts or do you meet such people who think alike? If you do, please ask yourself. Why do others or I feel this way? Really what is there to feel ashamed of? Most of the people always have this fear of other peoples’ opinions and comments. What would others say?

Nothing.. You are what you are..

Too big huh?? But it’s a brain drain… Think over it..

source::::unknown… input recd. from one of my friends….. an interesting read ….

Natarajan

Eating food with the hands in today’s Western society can sometimes be perceived as being unhygienic, bad mannered and primitive. However within Indian culture there is an old saying that,
” Eating food with your hands feeds not only the body but also the mind and the spirit”.

In the Big Brother series some years back, an English participant complained about an Indian participants use of her hands during food preparations and her eating habits, “They eat with their hands in India, don’t they? Or is that China? You don’t know where those hands have been.” Within many Indian households nowadays, the practice of eating food with the hands has been replaced with the use of cutlery.

Have you ever thought of why previous generations in India ate with the hands? There is a reason for their this. The practice of eating with the hands originated within Ayurvedic teachings. The Vedic people knew the power held in the hand.

The ancient native tradition of eating food with the hands is derived from the mudra practice, which is prevalent in many aspects within Hinduism. Mudras are used during mediation and are very prominent within the many classical forms of dance, such as Bharatnatyam

The hands are considered the most precious organ of action. This is linked to the Vedic prayer of
“Karagre vasate Laksmih karamule Sarasvati Karamadhye tu Govindah prabhate karadarsanam”

(On the tip of your fingers is Goddess Lakshmi, on the base of your fingers is Goddess Saraswati; in the middle of your fingers is Lord Govinda), which we recite whilst looking at our palms. Thus, this shloka suggests that all the divinity lies in human effort.

Our hands and feet are said to be the conduits of the five elements. The Ayurvedic texts teach that each finger is an extension of one of the five elements. The thumb is agni (fire) (you might have seen children sucking their thumb, this is nature’s way of aiding the digestion in children at an age when they are unable to do an physical activity to aid the digestion), the forefinger is vayu (air), the middle finger is akash (ether – the tiny intercellular spaces in the human body), the ring finger is prithvi (earth) and the little finger is jal (water).

Each finger aids in the transformation of food, before it passes on to internal digestion. Gathering the fingertips as they touch the food stimulates the five elements and invites Agni to bring forth the digestive juices. As well as improving digestion the person becomes more conscious of the tastes, textures and smells of the foods they are eating, which all adds to the pleasure of eating.

You may have noticed that elders in the family hardly ever use utensils to measure all the different type of masala, and would instead prefer to use their hands to measure the quantity instead. As each handful is tailored to provide a suitable amount for the own body. Overall there are 6 main documented forms that the hands take when obtaining a measurement a certain type of food ranging from solid food to seeds, and flour.

This is one of the examples of how many things within our Hindu culture may seem weird and unusual at first glance, but once a closer look is taken it is surprising, but a vast amount of knowledge is revealed.