SOURCE::::KANCHI MUTT SITE …CLEARLY EXPLAINS THE DIVINITY IN COMMON BETWEEN TWO RELIGIONS..ONE MUST READ TO UNDERSTAND THE DIVINE MESSAGE….

Natarajan

The Sub-Judge of Kumbhakonam

The following is an English translation from Tamil original of an article by `A friend’. The article appears in the souvenir published by the 450-year-old Raja Veda Kavya Patashala of Kumbhakonam.

He was a Sub-judge in Kumbhakonam (Tamilnadu) during 1961-63. I had not known him before or after he had assumed charge. One day, in the latter half of 1961, I was required to meet him. The message came through his clerk. I was a little surprised but when I went to meet him, he received me with courtesy and asked me to associate myself wit the effort to reform some public charitable institutions initially set up to do dharmic word.

Having under his control 35 such institutions, he had occasion to observe that they were not functioning according to the original intentions of their founder/donors. As one who had n experience of running such institutions, I was reluctant to undertake the assignment offered by the Sub-Judge. When I showed my disinclination, the Sub-judge told me firmly but in an endearing tone: “Why do you reject a request to serve a good cause? People are generally inclined to go on talking endlessly about the deficiencies of public institutions. They stop with that. I did not know you before, and, yet, I called you here because God prompted me to do so. If you do not wish to have a share in this good work, you will be committing a sin.” I was nonplussed.

Fortunately, the Paramacharya of Kanchi, Jagadguru Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, was then camping at Elayatthangudi. I put in a telephone call to the manager of the Math, Sri Viswanatha Iyer, and requested him to ascertain the wishes of His Holiness in the matter. He gave a reply call conveying the Paramacharya’s approval to my undertaking the assignment. I informed the Sub-Judge about my willingness to take up the responsibility he had intended to give me. Promptly, and with joy, he made me a trustee of the Govindakudi Appakkutti Iyer Charities. (GAC)

Along with me two more trustees were appointed. The Sub-Judge made the three of us responsible for the running of the Veda Patashala under the auspices of the GAC. He assured us of his help and support in overcoming all obstacles. Thanks to all round co-operation, we succeeded in reviving the Vedic school and running it with a strength of 70 pupils.

One day the Sub-Judge took me to an Arabic College in a village near mayavaram (now Mayiladuthurai). He took me to the classes where the students were taught the Koran with meaning. Turning to me, he said: “Like this, even the Vedas should be taught so that there would be sustained growth of Vedapatachalas.” I remembered immediately that the Paramacharya had once asked me about a `Vedabhashya College’. I did not have adequate funds then but when the Paramacharya broached the subject, I told him without hesitation: “If that be His Holiness’s wish, I will do everything possible to start such a college.” His Holiness replied that He would ask me to do so at the appropriate time.

Now, that my visit to the Arabic College, I was determined to start one. I mentioned this to Paramacharya when I met Him the next time and requested Him to inaugurate it also if He had the time and convenience. The Paramacharya nodded His head in assent with a smile on his lips.

The initial obstacles to the starting of the Vedabhashya College having been overcome with the help of Sub-Judge, I reported progress to the Paramacharya. he remarked humorously: “Yes our own people will not listen to me. Even without my telling him, the Sub-judge has done his best.”

A few months later, when the Paramacharya was camping at Kalyanapuram near Veppattur, the Sub-Judge expressed, rather hesitantly, a desire to meet Him. I told him that I would let him know His Holiness’s convenience to meet Him in two days. When told His Holiness about the Sub-Judge’s desire, the Paramacharya readily agreed to meet him. The Sub-Judge’s joy knew no bounds when I told him that he could visit the Paramacharya.

The next day, late in the afternoon, both of us, the Sub-Judge and I called on His Holiness. It was raining heavily. The sub-Judge stayed back in the car and I went to meet the Paramacharya. The Acharya was in the midst of a discussion on some sastraic subject. The moment He saw me He gestured with His hand to mean, `Where is he?’ When I said that he was in the car, the Acharya asked me to take the Sub-Judge to a premises nearby. I did so and within a short time, in pouring rain, wading through the slush, the Acharya reached the building. His Holiness enquired of the Sub-Judge about his family and honoured him with a shawl. The Sub-Judge replied to all the gentle queries and was on the verge of tears. I was a silent witness to their colloquy. “Be well, doing good things.” He spoke not a word about the Veda Patashala or the Vedabhashya College. Returning to Kumbhakonam, the Sub-Judge, asked me to fix the date for the inauguration of the Vedabhashya College. It was finally opened by the Paramacharya on Dec. 12, 1963 at the Town High School, Kumbhakonam. About 5000 attended the function. Both the District judge and the Sub-Judge were present and also spoke on the occasion.

The Paramacharya spoke for about two hours. He also introduced the Sub-Judge to the gathering. When He had concluded his speech and the crowd had started dispersing, the Paramacharya raised His hand in a gesture of asking the people to sit down. He then narrated an incident.

When the Acharya’s entourage which included the Math animals – the horse was carrying the drum – was passing in front of a mosque, there were objections from a group of Muslims. The horse was stopped but a conflict was somehow avoided. One of the members of the group at the mosque wanted to meet the Acharya the next day alone. The Acharya agreed though many objected to the Acharya meeting a stranger from what was considered to be a hostile community alone.

The Acharya brushed aside all objections and met the gentleman all alone. Did the visitor have any bad intention? No, all that he wanted was to read out to the Acharya the slokas in Sanskrit he had composed in praise of the Acharya! Asked how he learnt Sanskrit and what occupation he was engaged in the visitor replied that he had learnt Sanskrit from his father and other elders and that he was running a mutton shop! After narrating this episode, the Paramacharya said: “There are good people in every community,” and made a brief reference to the good work of the Sub-Judge.

The Sub-Judge had several meetings with the Paramacharya after this function. When he was in some difficulty and I mentioned it to the Paramacharya, the Acharya just observed: “Both of you have God’s grace.” The Sub-Judge used to say: `Dharma will protect.’

Innumerable are the acts of benevolence of the Sub-Judge. He saw to it that the students of the Veda Patashala and the Vedabhashya College were properly fed and taken care of.

This is a divinity that binds us, the Sub-Judge and I as well as the Math.

What is the name of the Sub-judge? Judge Kamaluddin!

SOURCE::::UNKNOWN…READ IT IN NET… BLESSED ONE TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL…

Natarajan

பல வருடங்களுக்கு முன் கரூரைப் பூர்விகமாகக் கொண்டராமநாத கனபாடிகள் என்கிற வேதவித்வான் ஸ்ரீரங்கத்தில்வசித்து வந்தார். அவர் மனைவி தர்மாம்பாள்;ஒரே மகள் காமாட்சி.

அவர் வேதங்களைக் கரைத்துக் குடித்திருந்தாலும் வைதீகத்தைவயிற்றுப் பிழைப்பாகாக் கொள்ளவில்லை. உபன்யாசம்பண்ணுவதில் கெட்டிக்காரர். அதில், அவர்களாகப் பார்த்துஅளிக்கிற சன்மானத் தொகையை மட்டும் மகிழ்ச்சியுடன்பெற்றுக்கொள்வார். ஸ்ரீகாஞ்சி மகா ஸ்வாமிகளிடம்மிகுந்த விசுவாசமும் பக்தியும் உள்ள குடும்பம்.

இருபத்திரண்டு வயதான காமாட்சிக்குத் திடீரெனத் திருமணம்நிச்சயமானது. ஒரு மாதத்தில் திருமணம். மணமகன்ஒரு கிராமத்தில் பள்ளி ஆசிரியர்.

தர்மாம்பாள் தன் கணவரிடம் கேட்டாள்,”பொண்ணுக்குக்கல்யாணம் நிச்சியமாயிடுத்து, கையிலே எவ்வளவுசேர்த்து வெச்சிண்டிருக்கேள்?” கனபாடிகள் பவ்யமாக,”தாமு, ஒனக்குத் தெரியாதா என்ன? இதுவரைக்கும்அப்படி இப்படின்னு ஐயாயிரம் ரூவா சேத்து வெச்சிருக்கேன்சிக்கனமா கல்யாணத்தை நடத்தினா இது போதுமே”என்று சொல்ல, தர்மாம்பாளுக்குக் கோபம் வந்துவிட்டது.

“அஞ்சாயிரத்த வெச்சுண்டு என்னத்தப் பண்ண முடியும்?நகைநட்டு, சீர்செனத்தி,பொடவை, துணிமணி வாங்கி,சாப்பாடுபோட்டு எப்படி கல்யாணத்தை நடத்த முடியும்? இன்னும்பதினையாயிரம் ரூவா கண்டிப்பா வேணும். ஏற்பாடுபண்ணுங்கோ!” இது தர்மாம்பாள்.

இடிந்து போய் நின்றார் ராமநாத கனபாடிகள்.

உடனே தர்மாம்பாள், “ஒரு வழி இருக்கு, சொல்றேன், கேளுங்கோ,கல்யாணப் பத்திரிகையைக் கையிலே எடுத்துக்குங்கோ, கொஞ்சம்பழங்களை வாங்கிண்டு நேரா காஞ்சிபுரம் போங்கோ, அங்கேஸ்ரீமடத்துக்குப் போய் ஒரு தட்டிலே பழங்களை வெச்சு,கல்யாணப்பத்திரிகையையும் வெச்சு மகா பெரியவாளை நமஸ்காரம் பண்ணிவிஷயத்தைச் சொல்லுங்கோ. பதினைந்தாயிரம் பண ஒத்தாசைகேளுங்கோ…ஒங்களுக்கு ‘இல்லே’னு சொல்லமாட்டா பெரியவா”என்றாள் நம்பிக்கையுடன்.

அவ்வளவுதான்…ராமநாத கனபாடிகளுக்குக் கட்டுக்கடங்காத கோபம்வந்துவிட்டது. “என்ன சொன்னே..என்ன சொன்னே நீ!பெரியவாளைப் பார்த்துப் பணம் கேக்கறதாவது…என்ன வார்த்தபேசறே நீ” என்று கனபாடி முடிப்பதற்குள்…..

“ஏன்? என்ன தப்பு? பெரியவா நமக்கெல்லாம் குருதானே? குருவிடம்யாசகம் கேட்டால் என்ன தப்பு?” என்று கேட்டாள் தர்மாம்பாள்.

“என்ன பேசறே தாமு? அவர் ஜகத்குரு. குருவிடம் நாம “ஞான”த்தைத்தான்யாசிக்கலாமே தவிர, “தான”த்தை [பணத்தை] யாசிக்கப்படாது”என்று சொல்லிப் பார்த்தார் கனபாடிகள். பயனில்லை. அடுத்த நாள்”மடிசஞ்சி”யில் [ஆசாரத்துக்கான வஸ்திரங்கள் வைக்கும் கம்பளி்ப் பை]தன் துணிமணிகள் சகிதம் காஞ்சிபுரத்துக்குப் புறப்பட்டுவிட்டார்கனபாடிகள்.

ஸ்ரீமடத்தில் அன்று மகா பெரியவாளைத் தரிசனம் பண்ண ஏகக் கூட்டம்.ஒரு மூங்கில் தட்டில் பழம், பத்திரிகையோடு வரிசையில் நின்றுகொண்டிருந்தார் ராமாநாத கனபாடிகள். நின்றிருந்த அனைவரின்கைகளிலும் பழத்துடன் கூடிய மூங்கில் தட்டுகள்.

பெரியவா அமர்ந்திருந்த இடத்தைக் கனபாடிகள் அடைந்ததும்அவர் கையிலிருந்த பழத்தட்டை ஒருவர் வலுக்கட்டாயமாகவாங்கி, பத்தோடு பதினொன்றாகத் தள்ளி வைத்துவி்ட்டார்..இதைச் சற்றும் எதிர்பார்க்காத கனபாடிகள், “ஐயா…ஐயா…அந்ததட்டிலே க்ல்யாணப் பத்திரிகை வெச்சிருக்கேன். பெரியவாளிடம்சமர்ப்பிச்சு ஆசி வாங்கணும். அதை இப்படி எடுங்கோ” என்றுசொல்லிப் பார்த்தார். யார் காதிலும் விழவில்லை.

அதற்குள் மகா ஸ்வாமிகள்,கனபாடிகளைப் பார்த்துவிட்டார்.ஸ்வாமிகள் பரம சந்தோஷத்துடன், “அடடே! நம்ம கரூர் ராமநாதகனபாடிகளா? வரணும்..வரணும். ஸ்ரீரங்கத்தில் எல்லோரும்க்ஷேமமா? உபன்யாசமெல்லாம் நன்னா போயிண்டிருக்கா?”என்று விசாரித்துக் கொண்டே போனார்.

“எல்லாம் பெரியவா அனுக்கிரகத்துலே நன்னா நடக்கிறது”என்று சொல்லியபடியே சாஷ்டாங்கமாக விழுந்து நமஸ்காரம்பண்ணி எழுந்தார். உடனே ஸ்வாமிகள் சிரித்துக்கொண்டே,”ஆத்திலே…பேரு என்ன…ம்..தர்மாம்பாள்தானே? சௌக்யமா?ஒன் மாமனார் வைத்யபரமேஸ்வர கனபாடிகள். அவரோடஅப்பா சுப்ரமண்ய கனபாடிகள். என்ன நான் சொல்ற பேரெல்லாம்சரிதானே?” என்று கேட்டு முடிப்பதற்குள், ராமநாத கனபாடிகள்”சரிதான் பெரியவா, என் ஆம்படையா [மனைவி] தாமுதான்பெரியவாளைப் பார்த்துட்டு வரச் சொன்னா..”என்று குழறினார்.

“அப்போ, நீயா வரல்லே?”; இது பெரியவா.

“அப்படி இல்லே பெர்யவா. பொண்ணுக்குக் கல்யாணம்வெச்சுருக்கு, தாமுதான் பெரியவாளை தரிசனம் பண்ணிட்டுபத்திரிகையை சமர்ப்பிச்சு..” என்று கனபாடிகள் முடிப்பதற்குள்”ஆசீர்வாதம் வாங்கிண்டு வரச் சொல்லியிருப்பா” என்று பூர்த்திபண்ணிவிட்டார் ஸ்வாமிகள்.

பதினையாயிரம் ரூபாய் விஷயத்தை எப்படி ஆரம்பிப்பது என்றுபுரியாமல் குழம்பினார் கனபாடிகள். இந்நிலையில் பெரியவா,”உனக்கு ஒரு அஸைன்மெண்ட் வெச்சிருக்கேன். நடத்திக்கொடுப்பியா?” என்று கேட்டார்.

“அஸைன்மெண்டுன்னா பெரியவா?” இது கனபாடிகள்.

“செய்து முடிக்கவேண்டிய ஒரு விஷயம்னு அர்த்தம்.எனக்காகப் பண்ணுவியா?”

பெரியவா திடீரென்று இப்படிக் கேட்டவுடன், வந்த விஷயத்தைவிட்டுவிட்டார் கனபாடிகள். குதூகலத்தோடு,”சொல்லுங்கோ பெரியவா, காத்துண்டிருக்கேன்”என்றார்.

உடனே பெரியவா, “ஒனக்கு வேற என்ன அஸைன்மெண்ட்கொடுக்கப் போறேன்? உபன்யாசம் பண்றதுதான். திருநெல்வேலிகடையநல்லூர் பக்கத்துல ஒரு அக்ரஹாரம் ரொம்ப மோசமானநிலையில் இருக்காம். பசு மாடெல்லாம் ஊர்ல காரணமில்லாமசெத்துப் போய்டறதாம். கேரள நம்பூதிரிகிட்டே ப்ரஸ்னம் பார்த்ததுலபெருமாள் கோயில்ல “பாகவத உபன்யாசம்” பண்ணச் சொன்னாளாம்.ரெண்டு நாள் முன்னாடி அந்த ஊர் பெருமாள் கோயில் பட்டாச்சாரியார்இங்கே வந்தார். விஷயத்தைச் சொல்லிட்டு,”நீங்கதான் ஸ்வாமி”பாகவத உபன்யாசம்” பண்ண ஒருத்தரை அனுப்பி உதவிபண்ணணும்”னு பொறுப்பை என் தலைல கட்டிட்டுப் போயிட்டார்.நீ எனக்காக அங்கே போய் அதைப் பூர்த்தி பண்ணி்ட்டு வரணும்.விவரமெல்லாம் மடத்து மானேஜருக்குத் தெரியும் கேட்டுக்கோசிலவுக்கு மடத்துல பணம் வாங்கி்க்கோ. இன்னிக்கு ராத்திரியேவிழுப்புரத்தில் ரயில் ஏறிடு. சம்பாவனை [வெகுமானம்] அவாபார்த்துப் பண்ணுவா. போ..போ…போய் சாப்டுட்டு ரெஸ்ட்எடுத்துக்கோ” என்று சொல்லிவிட்டு, வேறு ஒரு பக்தரிடம்பேச ஆரம்பித்துவிட்டார் ஸ்வாமிகள்.

அன்றிரவு விழுப்புரத்தில் ரயிலேறிய கனபாடிகள் அடுத்த நாள்மதியம் திருநெல்வேலி ஜங்ஷனில் இறங்கினார். பெருமாள் கோயில்பட்டர் ஸ்டேஷனுக்கே வந்து கனபாடிகளை அைழைத்துச் சென்றார்.

ஊருக்குச் சற்று தொலைவில் இருந்தது அந்த வரதராஜப் பெருமாள்கோயில். கோயில். பட்டர் வீட்டிலேயே தங்க வைக்கப்பட்டார்.கனபாடிகள். ஊர் அக்ரஹாரத்திலிருந்து ஓர் ஈ காக்காகூடகனபாடிகளை வந்து பார்க்கவிலை. “உபன்யாசத்தின்போது எல்லோரும்வருவா” என அவரே தன்னை சமாதானப் படுத்திக்கொண்டார்.

மாலை வேளை, வரதராஜப் பெருமாள் சந்நிதி முன் அமர்ந்துஸ்ரீமத் பாகவத உபன்யாசத்தைக் காஞ்சி ஆச்சார்யாளைநினைத்துக்கொண்டு ஆரம்பித்தார் கனபாடிகள். எதிரேஎதிரே ஸ்ரீவரதராஜப் பெருமாள், கோயில் பட்டர்,கோயில் மெய்க்காவல்காரர். இவ்வளவு பேர்தான்.

உபன்யாசம் முடிந்ததும், “ஏன் ஊரைச் சேர்ந்த ஒத்தருமேவரல்லே?” என்று பட்டரிடம் கவலையோடு கேட்டார்கனபாடிகள்.

அதற்கு பட்டர்,”ஒரு வாரமா இந்த ஊர் ரெண்டுபட்டுக்கிடக்கு! இந்தக் கோயிலுக்கு யார் தர்மகர்த்தாவாக வருவதுஎன்பதிலே ரெண்டு பங்காளிகளுக்குள்ளே சண்டை, அதைமுடிவு கட்டிண்டுதான் “கோயிலுக்குள்ளே நுழைவோம்”னுசொல்லிட்டா. உப்ன்யாசத்துக்கு நீங்க வந்திருக்கிற சமயத்துலஊர் இ்ப்படி ஆயிருக்கேனு ரொம்ப வருத்தப்படறேன்” என்றுகனபாடிகளின் கைகளைப் பிடித்துக்கொண்டு கண் கலங்கினார்.

பட்டரும், மெய்க்காவலரும்,பெருமாளும் மாத்திரம் கேட்கஸ்ரீமத் பாகவத உபன்யாசத்தை ஏழாவது நாள் பூர்த்தி பண்ணினார்,ராமநாத கனபாடிகள். பட்டாச்சார்யார் பெருமாளுக்கு அர்ச்சனைபண்ணி பிரசாதத் தட்டில் பழங்களுடன் முப்பது ரூபாயைவைத்தார். மெய்க்காவல்காரர் தன் மடியிலிருந்து கொஞ்சம்சில்லரையை எடுத்து அந்தத் தட்டில் போட்டார். பட்டர்ஸ்வாமிகள் ஒரு மந்திரத்தைச் சொல்லி சம்பாவனைத் தட்டைக்கனபாடிகளிடம் அளித்து , “ஏதோ இந்த சந்தர்ப்பம் இப்படிஆயிடுத்து. மன்னிக்கணும்.ரொம்ப நன்னா ஏழு நாளும் கதைசொன்னேள். எத்தனை ரூவா வேணும்னாலும் சம்பாவனைபண்ணலாம். பொறுத்துக்கணும். டிக்கெட் வாங்கி ரயிலேத்திவிட்டுடறேன்” என கண்களில் நீர் மல்க உருகினார்!.

திருநெல்வேலி ஜங்ஷனில் பட்டரும் மெய்க்காவலரும் வந்துவழியனுப்பினர். விழுப்புரத்துக்கு ரயிலேறி, காஞ்சிபுரம்வந்து சேர்ந்தார் கனபாடிகள்.

அன்றும் மடத்தில் ஆச்சார்யாளைத் தரிசிக்க ஏகக் கூட்டம்.அனைவரும் நகரும்வரை காத்திருந்தார் கனபாடிகள்.

“வா ராமநாதா! உபன்யாசம் முடிச்சுட்டு இப்பதான் வரயா?பேஷ்…பேஷ்! உபன்யாசத்துக்கு நல்ல கூட்டமோ?சுத்துவட்டாரமே திரண்டு வந்ததோ?” என்று உற்சாகமாகக்கேட்டார் ஸ்வாமிகள்.

கனபாடிகள் கண்களில் நீர் முட்டியது. தழுதழுக்கும் குரலில்பெரியவாளிடம், “இல்லே பெரியவா, அப்படி எல்லாம்கூட்டம் வரல்லே. அந்த ஊர்லே ரெண்டு கோஷ்டிக்குள்ளேஏதோ பிரச்னையாம் பெரியவா, அதனாலே கோயில் பக்கம்ஏழு நாளும் யாருமே வல்லே”என்று ஆதங்கப்பட்டார்கனபாடிகள்.

“சரி…பின்னே எத்தனை பேர்தான் கதையைக் கேக்க வந்தா?”

“ரெண்டே..ரெண்டு பேர்தான் பெரியவா.அதுதான் ரொம்பவருத்தமா இருக்கு” இது கனபாடிகள்.

உடனே பெரியவா, “இதுக்காகக் கண் கலங்கப்படாது. யார் அந்தரெண்டு பாக்யசாலிகள்? சொல்லேன், கேட்போம்” என்றார்.

“வெளி மனுஷா யாரும் இல்லே பெரியவா. ஒண்ணு, அந்தக்கோயில் பட்டர். இன்னொண்ணு கோயில் மெய்க்காவலர்”என்று சொல்லி முடிப்பதற்குள், ஸ்வாமிகள் இடி இடியென்றுவாய்விட்டுச் சிரிக்க ஆரம்பித்துவிட்டார்.

“ராமநாதா… நீ பெரிய பாக்யசாலிடா! தேர்ல ஒக்காந்துகிருஷ்ணன் சொன்ன கீதோபதேசத்தை அர்ஜுனன்ஒருத்தன்தான் கேட்டான். ஒனக்கு பாரு.ரெண்டு பேர்வழிகள்கேட்டிருக்கா. கிருஷ்ணனைவிட நீ பரம பாக்கியசாலி”என்று பெரியவா சொன்னவுடன் கனபாடிகளுக்கும்சிரிப்பு வந்துவிட்டது.

“அப்படின்னா பெரிய சம்பாவனை கெடச்சிருக்க வாய்ப்பில்லைஎன்ன?” என்றார் பெரியவா.

“அந்த பட்டர் ஒரு முப்பது ரூவாயும், மெய்க்காவல்காரர்ரெண்டேகால் ரூவாயும் சேர்த்து முப்பத்திரண்டே கால் ரூவாகெடச்சுது பெரியவா!” ;கனபாடிகள் தெரிவித்தார்.

“ராமநாதா, நான் சொன்னதுக்காக நீ அங்கே போயி்ட்டு வந்தே.உன்னோட வேதப் புலமைக்கு நெறயப் பண்ணனும்.இந்தச்சந்தர்ப்பம் இப்படி ஆயிருக்கு” என்று கூறி, காரியஸ்தரைக்கூப்பிட்டார் ஸ்வாமிகள். அவரிடம், கனபாடிகளு்க்குச் சால்வைபோர்த்தி ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் பழத்தட்டில் வைத்துத் தரச் சொன்னார்.

“இதை சந்தோஷமா ஏத்துண்டு பொறப்படு. நீயும் ஒ்ன் குடும்பமும்பரம சௌக்கியமா இருப்பேள்” என்று உத்தரவும் கொடுத்தார்ஸ்வாமிகள்.

கண்களில் நீர் மல்க பெரியவாளை நமஸ்கரித்து எழுந்தகனபாடிகளுக்கு, தான் ஸ்வாமிகளைப் பார்க்க எதற்காகவந்தோம் என்ற விஷயம் அப்போதுதான் ஞாபகத்துக்குவந்தது.”பெரியவாகிட்டே ஒரு பிரார்த்தனை…பெண் கல்யாணம்நன்னா நடக்கணும். “அதுக்கு…அதுக்கு…” என்று அவர்தயங்கவும்,”என்னுடைய ஆசீர்வாதம் பூர்ணமாக உண்டு. விவாகத்தைசந்திரமௌலீஸ்வரர் ஜாம்ஜாம்னு நடத்தி வைப்பார்.ஜாக்ரதையா ஊருக்குப் போய்ட்டு வா.” என்று விடைகொடுத்தார் ஆச்சார்யாள்.

ரூபாய் பதினையாயிரம் இல்லாமல் வெறுங்கையோடு வீட்டுவாசலை அடையும் தனக்கு, மனைவியின் வரவேற்பு எப்படிஇருக்குமோ என்ற பயத்துடன் வீட்டு வாசற்படியை மிதித்தார்ராமநாத கனபாடிகள்.

“இருங்கோ..இருங்கோ…வந்துட்டேன்…”உள்ளே இருந்து மனைவி தர்மாம்பாளின் சந்தோஷக் குரல்..

வாசலுக்கு வந்து, கனபாடிகள் கால் அலம்ப சொம்பில் தண்ணீர்கொடுத்தாள். ஆரத்தி எடுத்து உள்ளே அழைத்துப் போனாள்.காபி கொடுத்து ராஜ உபசாரம் பண்ணிவிட்டு,”இங்கே பூஜைரூமுக்கு வந்து பாருங்கோ” என்று கனபாடிகளை அழைத்துப்போனாள்,

பூஜை அறைக்குச் சென்றார் கனபாடிகள்.அங்கே ஸ்வாமிக்குமுன் ஒரு பெரிய மூங்கில் தட்டில்,பழ வகைகளுடன் புடவை,வேஷ்டிஇரண்டு திருமாங்கல்யம்,மஞ்சள்,குங்குமம்,புஷ்பம்இவற்றுடன் ரூபாய் நோட்டுக்கட்டு ஒன்றும் இருந்தது.

“தாமு..இதெல்லாம்…” என்று அவர் முடிப்பதற்குள்,,”காஞ்சிபுரத்துலேர்ந்து பெரியவா கொடுத்துட்டு வரச் சொன்னதாஇன்னிக்குக் காத்தால மடத்தைச் சேர்ந்தவா கொண்டு வந்துவெச்சுட்டுப் போறா. “எதுக்கு?”னு கேட்டேன். “ஒங்காத்து பொண்கல்யாணத்துக்காகத்தான் பெரியவா சேர்ப்பிச்சுட்டு வரச்சொன்னா”னு சொன்னா” என்று முடித்தாள் அவர் மனைவி.

கனபாடிகளின் கண்களில் இப்போதும் நீர் வடிந்தது. “தாமு,பெரியவாளோட கருணையே கருணை. நான் வாயத் திறந்துஒண்ணுமே கேட்கலே. அப்படி இருந்தும் அந்தத் தெய்வம்இதையெல்லாம் அனுப்பியிருக்கு பாரு” என்று நா தழுதழுத்தவர்”கட்டிலே ரூவா எவ்வளவு இருக்குன்னு எண்ணினியோ” என்றுகேட்டார். “நான் எண்ணிப் பார்க்கலே” என்றாள் அவர் மனைவி.

கீழே அமர்ந்து எண்ணி முடித்தார் கனபாடிகள்.

பதினைந்தாயிரம் ரூபாய்!

அந்த தீர்க்கதரிசியின் கருணையை எண்ணி வியந்து”ஹோ”வென்று கதறி அழுதார் ராமநாத கனபாடிகள்.

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SOURCE:::: “THE HINDU”…..With the introduction of so many Gs in communication sector, many consumers do not even know what facility they opt and use… they do not even think whether such advanced facility option is really needed for their limited use!!!!!!!.With the result , when they receive hefty bills , they make a hue and cry!!!!.
It is for us to be careful while opting for a new facility or atleast be smart enough to notice any new VAS is added to your mobile without your consent!!!.. PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE , HERE TOO!!!!!!!

Natarajan

Recently, a consumer was shocked when he received his monthly bill from the telecom service provider for Rs. 30,500! When he verified the bill, he was even more baffled as the monthly rental and usage charges put together were Rs. 1,100 and the charges for value added services (VAS) were Rs. 29,400. The itemised bill showed that most of it was for GPRS usage. Venki was already under an unlimited monthly plan for broadband usage, and thus could not comprehend this claim for an exorbitant sum.

When the issue was raised with the service provider, the first question that was asked was if the consumer had changed his handset lately. He said yes, he was using a new high-end mobile phone. The executive responded that the cause for the inflated bill was that 3G would have been enabled automatically resulting in regular data transfer.

How could 3G have been activated without taking his assent was the consumer’s question, to which there was no proper response from the service provider. However, it agreed to waive off the excess amount charged. TRAI’s guidelines states that any VAS should be activated only after obtaining explicit consent from the consumer. This being the case, the rationale behind the above mentioned incident is certainly questionable.

One other issue that continues to be a menace to most telecom consumers is the problem of unsolicited messages, despite registering with the National Customer Preference Register (NCPR). TRAI has spelt out stringent penalty provisions for violations by registered telemarketers.

However, service providers aver that most of the messages are from unregistered telemarketers, over which they have no control. When there is a complaint, consumers are asked to provide details — the phone numbers, the date, time and message content — and are assured that action taken would be communicated. However, we very rarely get feedback on such complaints, and the harassment continues.

This could be the way out for this issue. When there is a complaint about unwanted SMS from a particular number and the contents are provided, the service providers could warn the sender. If such messages continued to be sent from the same number, the number should be disconnected and the culprit penalised heavily.

But then, unregistered telemarketers would easily go in for another SIM card. So, when there is complaint about the same message being sent from different numbers, the service providers should share this information amongst themselves and keep track of the culprits through the ID proof submitted when the SIM card is purchased. If it were the same person, he should immediately be blacklisted and the telecom resources provided to him disconnected for a specified period along with penalty. The action taken should be widely publicised so that other unregistered telemarketers think twice before indulging in such deeds.

(The writer works with CAG, which offers free advice on consumer complaints to its members. For membership details / queries contact 2491 4358 / 2446 0387 or helpdesk@cag.org.in)

SOURCE ::::”THE HINDU”….A TRUE STATE OF AFFAIR WITH EACH ONE OF US TODAY!!!…ANY WORKABLE SOLUTION FOR THIS ?!!!?.

Natarajan

I was proud of my memory power as I was able to remember so many trivial things that had happened in my life. But with the advent of computers and the inroads technology has made into my life, memory is now no longer under my control.

Computerisation, people say, has aided humanity. However, it is making me mad as I am forced to remember so many passwords. When I got my ATM card, I was required to remember a four-digit number that enables me to draw cash 24 hours a day. I was so proud of it and wrote the PIN number in a paper and kept it in a secret place. Soon I became so familiar with the secret number that I now do not remember where I kept the piece.

When my employer organisation introduced computerisation in salary administration to facilitate paperless transactions, I was required to use a password that is a combination of alphabet and numbers in a set proportion. Again, my office asked me to use a personal password that is a combination of capital letters, small letters and numbers to access my mail box in the office group mail. My immediate boss asked us colleagues to memorise and remember a particular password to access mails that were coming to the department.

I opted for internet banking to do online transactions and that required me to use a password — a combination of numbers, words and symbols. My option to use my mobile for smaller banking transactions forced me to remember a password, again a combination of numerals and alphabet some of which should be in capital and others in small letters. As I am working in a bank, my employer gave a password to access the accounts of customers for enquiry and it is, as you rightly guessed, a combination of variables in a set proportion.

To facilitate payment of my premium online, my insurer asked me to use a password and access my account. The investments I made in mutual funds forced me to remember so many passwords to enable the fund administrators to successfully introduce paperless, courier-less correspondence and to reduce their overheads. As I opted for trading in shares, my broker gave me a password to facilitate and validate my transactions. The Railways gave me a password to book my tickets online.

The same was the case when I opted for email service in Gmail. Simultaneously, I opted for an email account in Yahoo but am not able to remember the password. The vernacular newspaper I read gave me an ID and password to post my online comments.

As the maze of passwords puzzled me, I wrote all of them in a piece of paper and kept it in my bank locker and am now afraid of my wife as it is a locker in our joint names. But as the locker timings are fixed and as I am required to go to my locker maintaining branch, my access to the locker to verify the password details is limited by these handicaps.

I, therefore, opted for storing the same in a secret chamber in a digital diary and place the same in a secured place. But the problem is, I often forget the place where I kept my diary.

These meticulous jobs do not help me in day-to-day administration as I get confused with my personal password and departmental passwords while accessing my office mail. Again, unless I consciously remember the medium through which I operate, I use my mobile password for internet transactions or salary administration password for share transactions, leading to suspicions in the system about the user and the protective blocking of my access thereby immobilising me for the day.

As memory fails me often, partly due to ageing and partly due to the confusing combinations of numerals, alphabet, symbols and small and capital letters stipulated by various administrators, these password failures often haunt me.

(The writer’s email is muthu.pe@gmail.com

SOURCE::::RECENT MAIL FROM ONE OF MY FRIENDS….ORIGIN:::FROM VARIOUS MAGAZINES… THE TIMELY PUN OF KI.VA.JA. IS MEMORABLE AND LAUDABLE AT ALL TIMES….HERE ARE FEW TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY OF THE GREAT PERSONALITY…

Natarajan

சொல்லின் செல்லாதவர்!

வாரியாருக்கும் கி.வா.ஜா.வுக்கும் இடையே அன்பு மிகுதி.

கி.வா.ஜ.வின் சிலேடைகளை வாரியார் ரசிப்பதுண்டு.

வாரியாரின் தமிழ் நயம் செறிந்த சொற்பொழிவுகளை

கி.வா.ஜ. வியப்பதுண்டு.

ஒருமுறை வாரியாரின் சொற்பொழிவைக் கேட்க

வந்திருந்தார் கி.வா.ஜ. கடைசிவரை இருந்து கேட்டு

விட்டுப் போகுமாறு வாரியார் கூறினார்.

‘இயன்றவரை கேட்கிறேன். எனக்கு வேறு பணி உள்ளது.

இறுதிவரை இருக்க இயலுமா தெரியவில்லை’ என்று

சொல்லிவிட்டு கி.வா.ஜ. சொற்பொழிவு கேட்க அமர்ந்தார்.

சிலேடைச் செல்வரைப் பார்த்ததும் வாரியாருக்கும் அன்று

சிலேடைத் தமிழில் உற்சாகம் ஏற்பட்டது. ராமாயணத்தின்

இறுதிப் பகுதியை எடுத்துக் கூறிய வாரியார் பல சிலேடை

வாக்கியங்களை இடையிடையே உதிர்த்தார். வாரியாரின்

சொல்லாற்றலில் கட்டுண்ட கி.வா.ஜ. தம் பணிகளை

மறந்து இறுதிவரை அமர்ந்திருந்தார். கூட்டம் முடிந்ததும்

வாரியாரிடம் சென்றார் கி.வா.ஜ. ‘கடைசிவரை இருந்து

கேட்டீர்களே’ என்று வாரியார் மகிழ்ச்சியடைந்தார்.

‘உங்கள் சொற்பொழிவு அருந் தேன். அதை அருந்தேன்

என்று எவன் சொல்வான்? அருந்தவே இருந்தேன். நீங்கள்

சொல்லின் செல்வர்” என்று வாரியாரைப் பாராட்டினார்

கி.வா.ஜ.

வாரியாரோ ”சொல்லின் செல்வர் அல்ல நான். அது

அனுமனுக்கு உள்ள பட்டமல்லவா?” என்று அடக்கத்தோடு

மறுத்தார்.

‘உண்மை தான். நீங்கள் சொல்லின் செல்வர் அல்ல. நீங்கள்

சொல்லின் எல்லோரும் செல்லாமல் இருந்தல்லவா

கேட்கிறோம்! ‘ என்றார் கி.வா.ஜ.!
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கி.வா.ஜ வீட்டு வேலைக்கார அம்மா விசாலம் என்பவர்

வீடு பெருக்கிக்கொண்டிருந்தார்களாம்.. அந்த அம்மா

கொஞ்சம் குண்டு. கி.வா.ஜவின் மணைவி கொஞ்சம்

நகந்துக்குங்க, விசாலம் பெருக்கனும் என்றார்களாம்..

அதுக்கு கி.வா.ஜ இன்னுமா விசாலம் பெருக்கணும் என்று

கேட்டாராம்..
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ஒரு கடை முதலாளியின் வீட்டில் விருந்து. கி.வா.ஜ-வும் அதில் கலந்துகொண்டார். அனைவரும் உணவு உண்ண அமர்ந்திருக்க, கடையில் வேலை செய்யும் ஒரு பையன் மட்டும் இல்லாதது கண்டு, கி.வா.ஜ. அது பற்றி விசாரித்தார். “அவன் கடையைப் பூட்டிவிட்டு வந்து அடுத்த பந்தியில் கலந்துகொள்வான்” என்றார் முதலாளி. ஓகோ! கடை சிப்பந்திக்குக் கடைசிப் பந்தியா?!” என்று கேட்டார் கி.வா.ஜ.
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ஒரு நண்பர் வீட்டுக்கு கி.வா.ஜ. போயிருந்தபோது, நண்பரின் மனைவி விளாம்பழத்தில் வெல்லம் போட்டுப் பிசைந்து, அன்போடு கொண்டு வந்து உபசரித்தார். அதை வாங்கி உண்ட கி.வா.ஜ. “மாதுளங்கனி அருமை!” என்று பாராட்டினார். “மாதுளங்கனியா! நான் தந்தது விளாம்பழம் அல்லவோ!” என்று அந்த அம்மையார் குழப்பத்துடன் கேட்க, “மாது உளம் கனிந்து கொடுத்த கனி என்று சொன்னேன்!” என்றார் கி.வா.ஜ. ———————–

கலைவாணரைக் காணச் சென்றார் கி.வா.ஜ. அவரை வரவேற்று உபசரித்த கலைவாணரின் மனைவி மதுரம், “என்ன சாப்பிடுகிறீர்கள்… காபியா, டீயா?” என்று கி.வா.ஜ-வைக் கேட்க, கி.வா.ஜ. சிரித்துக்கொண்டே “டீயே மதுரம்!” என்றாராம்.

நீரில் குவளை

ஒரு வீட்டில் சிற்றுண்டி அருந்திவிட்டு, கை கழுவத்

தண்ணீர் கேட்டார் கி.வா.ஜ. ஒரு பெண்மணி பிளாஸ்டிக்

குவளையில் நீர் கொண்டு வந்து கொடுத்தார்.

அந்தப் பெண்மணியிடம் அவர், “நீரில்தான் குவளை

இருக்கும் என்று சொல்வார்கள். ஆனால் இங்கு

குவளையிலேயே நீர் இருக்கிறதே!” என்றார்.

நானா தள்ளாதவன்…?

கி.வா.ஜவும் வேறு சில நண்பர்களும் காரில் போய்க்

கொண்டிருந்தார்கள். கார் வழியில் நின்று விட்டது.

கி.வா.ஜ முதியவர் என்பதால் அவரை மட்டும் காரிலேயே

உட்காரச் சொல்லிவிட்டு காரைத் தள்ளினார்கள்

மற்றவர்கள்.

ஆனால், அதை ஏற்காமல் தாமும் கீழே இறங்கிக் காரைத்

தள்ளியவாறே கி.வா.ஜ. சொன்னது;

“என்னைத் தள்ளாதவன் என்றே நினைத்து விட்டீர்களா?”

என்று கேட்டார்.

வாயிலில் போடுவேன்..!

கி.வா.ஜ. விடம் ஒருவர், “சாப்பிட்ட பிறகு வெற்றிலை

போடும் பழக்கம் தங்களுக்கு உண்டா?” என்று கேட்டார்.

அதற்கு, “ஓ…! உண்டே…! ஆனால் வெற்றிலையை

வாயில் போட மாட்டேன். வாயிலில் போடுவேன்” என்றார்.

அங்கிருந்த அனைவரும் அவர் சொன்னது தெரியாமல்

விழித்தனர்.

கி.வா.ஜ. சாப்பிட்ட பிறகு வெற்றிலையை அதாவது

வெறும் இலையை வாயிலில் உள்ள குப்பைத்

தொட்டியில்தானே போட வேண்டும்?” என்று கூறி

அனைவரையும் சிரிக்க வைத்தார்.

மேலும் சில பின்னூட்டங்கள்-1

திரு. கி.வா.ஜ அவர்கள் ஒருமுறை அவர் நண்பர் வீட்டுக்கு

போயிருந்த போது, பாலும், பழமும் கொடுத்துள்ளார்கள்.

அவர் சிலேடையாக, இங்கு எனக்கு பழம் பால் கிடைத்தது

என குறிப்பிடாராம்.

(பழம் பால் – பழைய பால் என்கிற அர்த்தமும் வரும்)

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ஒரு முறை பள்ளியில் பேசும்போது, ‘மாணவர்களே!

கூட்டலுக்கும் பெருக்கலுக்கும்

வித்தியாசம் தெரியுமா?” என்று கேட்டார் கி.வா.ஜ.

மாணவர்கள் விடைதெரியாமல்

விழிக்க ‘இரண்டும் ஒன்றுதான். என் வீட்டு

வேலைக்காரிக்குக்கூடத் தெரியுமே! என்றார்.
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SOURCE::::: “THE HINDU”…. story of Senthil Gopalan -former IBM technocrat with a different cap!!!!! ..and who is creating change makers in his village !!!!!

Natarajan.

A day with ‘Payir’, founded by a middle class man who left a million rupee job to empower villages to become the change they wished to see

It is obvious as we bump across the craggy excuse for a road straddling the districts of Perambalur and Tiruchi that our car is alien to these parts. Yet high school boys stop to salute as they cycle by, a destitute woman petitions at the window and little girls wave and call out ‘maama’.

The man seated near me is far from the formidable rustic type but obviously commands respect. While his peers work in air-conditioned offices in the United States, Senthil Kumar Gopalan makes his own mud blocks for low-cost buildings, trains youth in software development at a rural BPO, wields technology to make education appealing to students and sits down to rice grown organically in his backyard.

The 38-year-old founder of Payir has kept faith with his childhood ideals. His organisation lives the Gandhian code of being the change you want to see, empowering villages to take responsibility for their own development. Six years after Payir’s silent efforts, half a dozen villages in the heart of Tamil Nadu can claim better health care, education and employment.

At an age when career choices appear confounding, fifteen-year-old Senthil committed himself to social change. “My cousins recorded my mock interview as I planned my life for the next forty years. Initially all of us have idealistic views of changing the world,” grins the son of an erstwhile cashier at the Pennadam sugar factory. “Many things haven’t happened the same way. As we go along, we know our limitations, and life teaches us a lot of things.”

Reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Swami Vivekananda shaped his thinking, but he attributes his ideals of rural development to Gandhi. “I can say the books that I read made me. These leaders lived in me.”

As with best-laid plans, Senthil’s well-crafted one went wrong. His family struggled with debts in his final year at engineering college and Senthil rushed into a sales job. But he soon found himself in a respectable position in IBM, capitalizing on the software boom. There, he reworked his plan to accumulate enough savings for his parents and his dream venture. “I went to the U.S. specifically to earn money,” he admits.

Did the great American dream push the humble Indian one aside? “Before I left I made a commitment I would return after five years.” And he kept it, quitting his job as technical director though his company offered to double his pay of one lakh dollars per annum. After making a fixed deposit for his parents, Senthil earmarked Rs.40 lakhs to kickstart Payir.

First seeds

After accompanying his uncle on a tour of 15 hamlets in the Perambalur belt, Senthil determined to sow the first seeds in Thenur. “It struck me there was a lot of work to do here. There was a marked difference in the kind of resources available and the pace of development.” His uncle’s benevolent gift gave an impetus to his venture — 6.5 acres of land that became Payir’s base.

Senthil does not believe in revolutionary change. “Change must be in small doses, so that people have the opportunity to decide.”

At our first halt at Varadarajapuram, the woman responsible for the spring in his step, his new bride, Preethi, introduces us to health worker Sagaya Mary. “Our work is to build such change agents and help them take their own initiatives,” Preethi, a homeopathy practitioner turned social worker, explains. “Though I have studied till Class VIII,” says Mary, “I had to think before writing each word. Now with training, I am doing all this.” She proudly shows follow-up records of antenatal mothers and low-weight children. Senthil says, “It takes a lot of energy to build confidence in people like Sagaya Mary but that is the most sustainable way of development. Self-sustainability is in the process and not in the funding. What matters is if people can carry the initiative to its eventual end.”

Four goal posts

Though Payir’s main goals were to make primary health and primary education accessible to all, soon governance and income generation entered the picture. “People should have the confidence to make an income without migrating to a town,” says Senthil, spelling out the rationale behind Payir Innovations Technology Limted, a rural enterprise empowering local community.

At our next pit stop at Thottiyapatti, a community centre, replete with rows of books and computers, occupies pride of place. Development projects here are a result of collaboration with TUFTS University, Boston, whose students visit twice a year. Payir focuses on creating first-generation graduates here. Similar school intervention programmes are underway at Kannapadi, Nathakadu and T. Kalathur. “Our teachers fill in at schools short of staff. Initially we were seen as a threat and not allowed inside. But we have proved we are not here to confront, only complement,” says Senthil.

At Thenur, a wireless tower looms, the cornerstone for most activities including e-learning centres where children connect to teachers around the globe through Skype. All buildings including Senthil’s dwelling are simple but aesthetic structures built with minimal steel, stabilized mud blocks, palmyra pillars and coconut rafters. Senthil admits the idea has not caught on. “We associate cement, steel and teak with rich, and mud and palmyra with the poor.” But experimentation has a free rein, whether in the non-formal school, the women’s vermicomposting system, or the organic farm. “We have had many failures and a few successes,” acknowledges Senthil. He has also had his moments of self-doubt. “My character was questioned repeatedly after we abolished illicit arrack here with the support of district administration. A man called me a terrorist at a gram sabha meeting.”

Running under its own steam

Senthil plans to fade out of Thenur in three years when he accomplishes his original aim of reaching out to 30,000 people in 15 villages. He plans to start afresh in another terrain, hoping Payir’s present initiatives will run under their own steam. “For the last one year, I have been staying away and looking at the process. I have tried to stop micromanaging everyday affairs.”

Friends form Payir’s financial backbone. “I can at least name 25 close friends from school, college, work who are committed to see this kind of change happen.” His personal needs are limited, he affirms. “My friends gift me clothes and the Trust provides for my food, shelter and travel expenses. What else do I need? Unless you have a hand-to-mouth existence, I believe we all have a social responsibility.”

Payir’s saplings:

Health programme: Health centres offer basic medical care, physiotherapy and supply nutritious snacks. A strong referral network in city provides patients low-cost treatment.

Educational intervention: Supportive staff keep tabs on dropouts and assist students failing in board exams to clear repeat exams.

Employment: Community is involved in construction of buildings, organic farming and data entry for government.

Income generation: Payir Innovations Limited processes and packages food supplements, manufactures fashionable bags, and runs a rural BPO for software development.

Farming: Most of the rice and vegetables prepared in the community kitchen are organically grown on the premises.

Governance: Payir helps to strengthen panchayat governance to take responsibility for bringing about change. By being a part of various district committees it lobbies for development works in surrounding villages.

source….SAI net group ….A simple and practical advice from a self made entreprenuer Shri. AZIM PREMJI to the present day youngsters ….The lessons he has learnt at every stage of his career , are infact , a tip and guide for one”s successful career!!!!!
Hence shared with you. kindly share with your children.

Natarajan

Address by Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Corporation, in the “Shaping Young Minds Program” (SYMP) organized by the All India Management Association (AIMA) in collaboration with the Bombay Management Association (BMA) on February 9, 2004 at NCPA in Mumbai on “My Lessons in Life”

I am very happy to be here with you. It is always wonderful to be with young people. The funny thing bout life is that you realize the value of something only when it begins to leave you. As my hair turned from black, to salt and pepper and finally salt without the pepper, I have begun to realize the importance of youth. At the same time, I have begun to truly appreciate some of the lessons I have leant along the way. I hope you will find them useful when you plan your own career and life

The first thing I have learnt is that we must always begin with our strengths. While it is important for us to know what we are not good at, we must also cherish what is good in us. That is because it is only our strengths that can give us the energy to correct our weaknesses. From the earliest years of our schooling, everyone focuses on what is wrong with us. There is an imaginary story of a rabbit. The rabbit was enrolled in a rabbit school. Like all rabbits, it could hop very well but could not swim. At the end of the year, the rabbit got high marks in hopping but failed in swimming. The parents were concerned. They said, “Forget about hopping. You are anyway good at it. Concentrate on swimming.” They sent the rabbit for tuitions in swimming. And guess what happened? The rabbit forgot how to hop! As for swimming, have you ever seen a rabbit swim?

The second lesson I have learnt is that a rupee earned is of far more value than five found. My friend was sharing me the story of his eight year-old niece. She would always complain about the breakfast. The cook tried everything possible, but the child remained unhappy. Finally, my friend took the child to a supermarket and brought one of those ready-to-cook packets. The child had to cut the packet and pour water in the dish. After that, it took two minutes in the microwave to be ready. The child found the food to be absolutely delicious? The difference was that she has cooked it! In my own life, I have found that nothing gives as much satisfaction as earning our rewards. In fact, what is gifted or inherited follows the old rule of come easy – go easy. I guess we only know the value of what we have if we have struggled to earn it.

The third lesson I have learnt is no one bats a hundred every time. Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head. The moment it does, you are already on your way to failure. And if you do encounter failure along the way, treat it as an equally natural phenomenon. Don’t beat yourself for it or any one else for that matter! Accept it, look at your own share in the problem, learn from it and move on. The important thing is, when you lose, do not lose the lesson.

The fourth lesson I have learnt is the importance of humility. Sometimes, when you get so much in life, you really start wondering whether you deserve all of it. This brings me to the value of gratitude. We have so much to be grateful for. Our parents, our teachers and our seniors have done so much for us that we can never repay them. Many people focus on the shortcomings, because obviously no one can be perfect. But it is important to first acknowledge what we have received. Nothing in life is permanent but when a relationship ends, rather than becoming bitter, we must learn to savour the memory of the good things while they lasted.

The fifth lesson I learnt is that we must always strive for excellence. One way of achieving excellence is by looking at those better than ourselves. Keep learning what they do differently. Emulate it. But excellence cannot be imposed from the outside. We must also feel the need from within. It must become an obsession. It must involve not only our mind but also our heart and soul. Excellence is not an act but a habit. I remember the inspiring lines of a poem, which says that your reach must always exceed your grasp. That is heaven on earth. Ultimately, your only competition is yourself.

The sixth lesson I have learnt is never give up in the face of adversity. It comes on you suddenly without warning. One can either succumb to self-pity, wring your hands in despair or decide to deal with the situation with courage and dignity. Always keep in mind that it is only the test of fire that makes fine steel. A friend of mine shared this incident with me. His eight-year old daughter was struggling away at a jigsaw puzzle. She kept at it for hours but could not succeed. Finally, it went beyond her bedtime. My friend told her, “Look, why don’t you just give up? I don’t think you will complete it tonight. Look at it another day.” The daughter looked with a strange look in her eyes, “But, dad, why should I give up? All the pieces are there! I have just got to put them together!” If we persevere long enough, we can put any problem into its perspective.

The seventh lesson I have learnt is that while you must be open to change, do not compromise on your values. Mahatma Gandhiji often said that you must open the windows of your mind, but you must not be swept off your feet by the breeze. You must define what your core values are and what you stand for. And these values are not so difficult to define. Values like honesty, integrity, consideration and humility have survived for generations. Values are not in the words used to describe them as much as in the simple acts. At the end of the day, it is values that define a person more than the achievements. Because it is the means of achievement that decide how long the achievements will sustain. Do not be tempted by short cuts. The short cut can make you lose your way and end up becoming the longest way to the destination.

And the final lesson I learnt is that we must have faith in our own ideas even if everyone tells us that we are wrong. There was once a newspaper vendor who had a rude customer. Every morning, the Customer would walk by, refuse to return the greeting, grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at the vendor. The vendor would pick up the money, smile politely and say, “Thank you, Sir.” One day, the vendor’s assistant asked him, “Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rude to you? Why don’t you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow?” The vendor smiled and replied, “He can’t help being rude and I can’t help being polite. Why should I let his rude behavior dictate my politeness?

In my youth, I thought of myself as a rebel and was many times, a rebel without a cause. Today, I realize that my rebellion was another kind of conformity. We defied our elders to fall in line with our peers ultimately; we must learn to respond instead of reacting. When we respond, we evaluate with a calm mind and do whatever is most appropriate. We are in control of our actions. When we react, we are still doing what the other person wants us to do.

I wish you all the best in your life and career. I hope you achieve success in whatever way you define it and what gives you the maximum happiness in life.

Remember, those who win are those who believe they can.

SOURCE…TRIBUTE BY SHRI D.R.KAARTHIKEYAN IPS..FORMER DIRECTOR CBI TO HIS COLLEAGUE OFFICER SHRI RADHA VINOD RAJU IPS ….THE HINDU …22 JUNE 2012

SHRI. Kaarthikeyan sir”s observation as to how one would get affected after hearing the sudden passing away of Shri. Radha Vinod Raju is cent percent true. I had an opportunity to meet SHRI . R. V .RAJU when he was in SIT probing Rajiv Gandhi assasination case , way back in 1998 at his chennai office “MALLIGAI”…. HE was such a simple and pleasing personality with high degree of professionalism that made me to admire that officer.. After that one meeeting, i could not meet that gentleman officer. But , i used to hear about that officer from my contacts quite often . When i got a COPY of the BOOK “TRIUMPH OF TRUTH ” written by SHRI.Karthikeyan sir ….which i recd. in person from DRK sir… in the year 2009. DRK sir was talking about shri R.V.Raju who has co authored that book. When i heard the news Of passing away of Shri. R. V. RAJU on Thursday morning from one of my good friends , i was taken aback and virtually in tears…
If such is my case, just imagine the reaction of officers and colleagues who had worked very closely with the departed noble soul ….That perhaps is the reason of DRK sir”s SALUTE AND TRIBUTE to the departed soul thro the columns OF THE HINDU …

NATARAJAN….

Now over to DRK sir”s COLUMN …

“Anyone who had the good fortune of even a fleeting acquaintance with Radha Vinod Raju is sure to have been affected by his sudden passing away, yesterday.

I learnt only a couple of days ago that he was in hospital being treated for acute lung infection, but I was given to understand that he was on the mend. I was hoping to go to Kochi and look him up when he got better.

On Thursday morning the tragic news was that he was no more. That the life of such a noble person has been snatched away so soon is deeply saddening, but Raju, who was spiritual and philosophical, like me, believed that the body is only a garment; when it goes, the soul lives forever.

Raju was a rare being, a true embodiment of all the admirable qualities of head and heart — a sincere and affectionate friend, an ideal officer, a perfect gentleman.

I consider it my privilege that he was my valued colleague in the investigation of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, and in the 21 years since then, a valued and dear friend.

I was Inspector-General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Southern sector at Hyderabad when on the day after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination on May 21, 1991, I was asked to take up the investigation of the case.

The first step was to form the Special Investigation Team (SIT). When R.V. Raju came to report to me at “Malligai,” the SIT’s headquarters at Chennai, it was the first time that we met. He was from the Jammu and Kashmir cadre, which had deputed him only for a short while. He impressed me greatly with his good manners, humility, commitment and clarity of thinking and expression.

I made him head of the Tracking Team, tasked to collect intelligence and track the elusive members and sympathisers of the LTTE, who were wanted for the assassination. In no time he put together a team of junior officers from different backgrounds and led the team from the front. He travelled long distances day and night in pursuit of the wanted persons. Often, he would forego sleep and food. He was an inspiration to his team members. He won their dedication to him and to a difficult and risky mission. He also believed in a truthful, impartial and fair investigation. When, after a few months at Chennai, he was asked to return to his parent cadre, I requested for an extension of his tenure with the SIT CBI. After one extension, the Director, CBI told me that the governments of India and J&K were not agreeable to further extending his deputation.

An extension

So I called on the Union Home Secretary and requested him to permit Raju to continue with the SIT. He told me it was the J&K government that was insistent on Raju’s return to Srinagar. I went all the way to Srinagar and called on the Governor — the State was then under President’s rule.

The Governor said the State was short of good senior officers and Raju was wanted back for an important assignment. I had to explain to him how indispensible Raju was to the SIT at that critical stage of the investigation, the successful outcome of which was vital for the prestige, security and integrity of the nation.

My insistence paid off, and the Governor allowed Raju’s further extension. While Raju was grateful to me for my taking so much personal interest in his continuance with the SIT at Chennai, the entire team of investigators and prosecutors was overjoyed.

Raju always told me and others that but for my willingness to stand by the truth at all costs, the investigation would have been derailed by self-seeking personalities for whom settling personal scores was more important than upholding the interests of the nation.

When many urged me to write a book about the investigation, I was hesitant as I thought it would be difficult to sum up that massive work in a book of 250 pages. It was Raju who pursued the idea and convinced me that we could do it. With his phenomenal memory for minute details and the smallest occurrences and incidents, he played a vital role in the preparation of my book on the assassination — Triumph of Truth.

At a personal level, he and his family have been very close to me and my family. He was there to share my moments of happiness and sorrow at all times. He was an officer of integrity, fairness and courage, yet a sensitive person, always sympathetic to the problems of others.

With his passing, I feel I have lost a part of myself. His life and career are worthy of emulation. I salute him.”

(D.R. Kaarthikeyan is former Director, CBI, and headed the ,investigation of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination.)

You have to experience the power of cumulative interest to believe it!!!!…A Wonderful analysis given by SANDEEP SHANBHAG in Yahoo Finance….

A TRUE GUIDE FOR YOUNGSTERS FOR THEIR COMFORTABLE LIFE AFTER THEIR RETIREMENT….I READ IT TODAY AND THOUGHT I MUST SHARE WITH YOU ALL….KINDLY SHARE WITH YOUR CHILDREN IN THEIR OWN “INTEREST”

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.” ― Albert Einstein
In the book, “Once Upon a Wall Street”, Peter Lynch, one of the most successful mutual fund managers the Wall Street has ever seen, narrates a story. “Consider the Indians of Manhattan, who in 1625 sold all their real estate to a group of immigrants for $24 in trinkets and beads. For 362 years the Indians have been the subjects of cruel jokes because of it – but it turns out that they may have made a better deal than the buyers who got the island. At 8% interest on $24 ( note: let’s suspend our disbelief and assume they converted the trinkets to cash) compounded over all those years, the Indians would have built up a net worth just short $30 trillion, while the latest tax records from the Borough of Manhattan show the real estate to be worth only $28.1 billion. Give Manhattan the benefit of doubt: That $28.1 billion is the assessed value, and for all anybody knows, it may be worth twice that on the open market. So Manhattan’s worth $56.2 billion. Either way, the Indians could be ahead by $29 trillion and change.
This little story shows you the power of compounding and the points out the fact that the earlier you start investing the better it gets.

Illustration
Let’s try and understand this through an example of two friends, Ram and Shyam. Both start working at the same time at the age of 23. Ram starts saving when he turns 25 and invests Rs 50,000 every year. Assuming that on this he earns a return of 10% every year, at the end of ten years, Ram would be able to accumulate Rs 8.77 lakh. After this, due to financial constraints Ram is not able to invest any more money. But at the same time he does not touch the fund that he has already accumulated, hoping to live of it when he retires.

He lets the Rs 8.77 lakh grow and assuming that it continues to earn a return of 10% p.a., he would be able to accumulate around Rs 95 lakh by the time he turns 60. So the Rs 5 lakh (Rs 50,000 x 10 years) he had invested in the first ten years of his working life would have grown to Rs 95 lakh. This even though he stopped investing entirely after the first ten years.
Now let’s take the case of Shyam. Shyam believed in enjoying life, spending freely rather than saving regularly. However, at the age of 35 as reality dawns, he starts putting aside Rs 50,000 every year. Unlike his friend Ram, who stopped after the first ten years, Shyam religiously invests the amount each year for all of next twenty five years i.e. till he turns 60. Now, assuming he also earns a return of 10% per year on his investments, in the end, Shyam would have managed to accumulate Rs 54.10 lakh.
Putting it differently, even after investing Rs 50,000 regularly for twenty five years, Shyam has managed to accumulate Rs. 41 lakh lesser in comparison to Ram. Remember Ram has ended up investing only Rs 5 lakh in total over the ten years that he invested. In comparison, Shyam over the twenty five years invested Rs 12.5 lakh (Rs 50,000 x 25 years). So even by saving two and half times more than Ram, Shyam has managed to build a corpus which is 43% lower! This happened because Ram started investing earlier which in turn allowed the money to compound for a greater period of time.
Also as the corpus grows, the impact of compounding is greater. Ram as we know had managed to accumulate Rs 8.77 lakh after ten years after which he stopped investing, allowing the accumulated corpus to compound for twenty years more. In other words, the total life of the investment was for thirty years. However, had his investment time frame been till he turned 55 i.e. had the money compounded for twenty five years instead of thirty then at the end Ram would have accumulated a corpus of around Rs 59 lakh. By choosing to let his investment run for just an additional five years, Ram managed to accumulate Rs 45 lakh more.
Real Life Illustration
In terms of a practical example, let’s take the case of HDFC Equity Fund. The five year return of this fund is around 9.31% p.a. On the other hand, from inception (December 1994), the fund has returned 20.2% p.a. Now, had an investor invested say Rs. 50,000 five years back, the investment would have grown to around Rs. 78,000. However, had the investment been made at inception (allowing the money to compound over a greater period of time) the investment would have grown over 24 times to around Rs. 12 lakh.

As mentioned in the beginning of the column, Albert Einstein himself has called the power of compounding the eighth wonder of the world. In this article we have given various examples of how potent this power is when combined with its ally — Father Time. It’s never too early nor too late to begin investing. Or to put it differently, better late than later.

The writer is Director, Wonderland Consultants, a tax and financial planning firm. He may be contacted at sandeep.shanbhag@gmail.com

SOURCE::::THE HINDU…..UNTOLD STORY…

Natarajan

With the Air India management and the agitating pilots affiliated to the Indian Pilots’ Guild refusing to budge from their stand, there seems to be no end in sight for the impasse. Post the Delhi High Court’s indictment of the strike on May 30, there is little, if at all any public sympathy left for the agitating pilots. However, it wasn’t always like this. A sense of thrill and fascination were attached to the profession. The story that largely remains untold is how these pilots stuck it out even as the glamour and the sheen associated with the national carrier was steadily wearing out. A sense of pride associated with being a part of the national carrier and hopefulness about the future of Air India persists.

In the 1990s and even in early 2000s, every pilot aspired to fly the national carrier. A senior captain with Air India, who joined the airlines after graduating from the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Academy in Rae Bareilly in 1996, recounts the days when only the crème de la crème of the pilot fraternity would get into Air India. The captain said that the challenges of flying to international long haul destinations propelled him to join Air India.

“While flying international flights, you are away from the country for prolonged periods of 15 to 20 days a month. There are challenges of fatigue and homesickness. But working in Air India provides you with the opportunity to fly wide body aircraft over a number of countries. In a flight from Delhi to New York when you are flying over the Atlantic there is no landing available for two hours at night.”

With the crisis in the aviation sector, the pilots have more responsibilities than ever before to maximise productivity and minimise fuel consumption. The captain explained, “With the increasing costs of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), there is pressure on pilots to conserve fuel on long haul routes. The average number of hours that a pilot has to put in has gone up to 80 – 100 hours now from about 30 – 40 hours in the 1990s.”

While the steady deterioration of the health of the national carrier from 2007 onwards saw a migration of pilots to private carriers, some of them like the captain, stayed on. The captain explained, “About 15 of my colleagues from Air India joined Emirates last year. The total emoluments paid by the international airlines, including Emirates, Etihad and Qatar are 30 to 40 per cent more. I had an offer from Emirates last year but I stayed on because I wanted to be based in India. I still feel proud to be associated with the national carrier.”

About the Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh’s proposal to hire new pilots to replace the agitating ones, the captain said, “Contrary to popular belief, there is a dearth of trained commanders with enough number of flying hours who can fly on international long haul routes. The present lot of unemployed pilots are mostly recent graduates or trainees with 250 hours of flying experience. You need at least 3000 hours of flying experience to be able to fly a wide body aircraft.”

A young co-pilot who joined Air India in February 2008, at a time when the rot had already set in, does not regret his decision. He recounts some of the highs of his four- year- long career with Air India, “I was part of the team of pilots manning the four special flights engaged in evacuating Indians stuck in Japan after the earthquake in 2011.”

The sentiment attached to the national carrier is echoed even by pilots of the rival sibling Indian Airlines. A senior commander with Indian Airlines said, “Which private airline will take out nine seats from an aircraft to carry army jawans from Srinagar? I remember carrying the first load of passengers after the bombings in the Indian embassy in Kabul in 2008 with mines planted on both sides of the airfield.”

With a steady decline in the glamour quotient associated with being a pilot, it is no longer a coveted profession. The senior captain with Air India sounds a word of caution for young aspiring pilots, “Given the grim situation all around, one has to be passionate about flying to stick it out.”