Vishwamitra...

I was reading about sage Vishwamitra recently! As a child I was called Vishwamitra by my parents because I was short-tempered!! He was quoted for getting distracted and there were movies to depict him as egoistic person. I was against him for cursing Meneka for his distraction. So, my views about him were not that high when I started my recent reading. But interestingly, though most part of his story and many of the incidents were quite popular & known, there were a number of aha moments for me. This article is a compilation of the reflection points and lessons.

He challenged many traditional thinking. Though there were other kings who were recognized as sages, he was the one to renounce his kingdom and achieve significant progress & was recognized as one of the seven chief sages (in today's world he would have won Nobel prize for the kind of progress he had ;-) ). He was the first to defy class/caste for merit, consider worth over birth. He proved the power of determination and single-mindedness. Big personal and social revolution I feel. He pushed him beyond his limits, broke out of his comfort zone of being a king. He also proved that achieving wisdom is not necessarily a function of genes and it can be a function of careful effort! Hmm… I did not realise that earlier!

He was able to create a heaven and make someone go there with physical body. I interpret this as he was able to launch a satellite for Trishanku and made him travel there. Maybe the technology he used was not ripe enough that Trishanku was not able to stay peacefully there due to some gravitational issues nor return back to earth!! Despite the technical faults, I would give a huge credit to Vishwamitra!! He was the first one to think that he can create a celestial body while others were just worshipping them and thinking that one can travel to space only after death or without a body. Interestingly his efforts in this regard were despised and Trishanku swargam is used in a very negative connotation!! Is it not an irony that people despise(d) him for the greatness?!?!

Not only that, he stopped sacrifice of a human being just before he was put in the sacred fire, took him as a son & disciple and made him as his heir where the tradition was to get the lineage passed from father to son!!  Though he was well known for his short-temper and anger he was named as Vishwamitra - a friend of the entire world - because he was ready to go to any extent to save another life!!! Interesting…. And no one refers to him by his given name Kaushik - of course with just one exception - Meneka was the only one to address him by his given name after he was named as Vishwamitra. 

There were a few lessons too! A striking lesson is, all of us need a Meneka to distract us and test our ability to withstand the pressure of the distraction. The key is to realise that something is a distraction and withdraw from it effectively (doesn't matter before getting distracted or during the distraction). Interesting point is, once we are able to prove to ourselves that we could withdraw from the distraction, our confidence improves and the self-control improves further. Many times in the past I thought that every time we give in to a distraction a dent is created on self-control; but now I realised that it is other way around - once we get distracted / almost get distracted & get out of it, the self-control towards that type of distraction goes up. Interesting!!

Another lesson is, both pleasant and unpleasant things can express themselves as distractions and interestingly, even if you reject a supposedly pleasant distraction in an unpleasant manner, you are distracted anyways and it reduces your ability to focus on your goals. When Vishwamitra met Meneka, he gave in to the pleasantness of the event. Later in the same situation, when he met Rambha, he did not consider that as pleasant, but reacted with anger and lost his tapas again! There does not seem to be a  major difference between the first and second incident when it comes their effect on the goal. Success lies in not getting distracted positively or negatively!! Another dimension is about what is a distraction: Anything that does not lift the spirits and nudge/nurture us towards our goals is a distraction; anything that makes us feel down in the future or present is a distraction; it is never about the events or other person or things; it is always about what happens to us. This was an interesting lesson for me!

Another interesting reflection point is the difference in his curse on Meneka and Rambha. They both were planted by Indra to distract Vishwamitra from his penance. He cursed Meneka to return back to heaven and turned Rambha to a stone!! One can argue whether going back to heaven is a curse at all :-) The actual curse is not going back to heaven rather not seeing him again probably. If he had thought she was just planted by Indra and she never loved him, why would he curse her not to see him again!!! Did he find it difficult to punish her more or did he think this was the worst punishment for her? Or was he trying to save her from the torture of seeing him but not interacting with him as before? From his perspective, did he try to save him from getting distracted further or did he try punishing him as well by not seeing her? For someone who could renounce the kingdom in pursuit of knowledge how would that have mattered? Latter sounds like a more reasonable explanation. If he only had physical attraction and never loved her, why would he care to send her back to heaven and be safe & comfortable ? Human mind and behaviours are complex and strange!! And, in real life, many times we don’t have the ability to "curse" our Meneka (whatever distracts us) to be out of our sight. To even make them disappear physically or mentally what kind of tapas (or focus) one should have? 

His story also gave some consolation to me :-) Sometimes I have wondered why I react more softly on some people than others, why was I not able to shun them or turn them to stone completely and whether I am partial & therefore mean. His story made me feel that I am not alone in this "meanness"; If a great sage like him, who could create a heaven by himself, reacted differently on different people for the same action, a very average human being like me can fall into the trap at times!! All I need to do is just move on, learn how not to repeat the same mistake again without beating myself up :-)

Having said all this, I am still wondering

a) how did he feel when he renounced his kingdom in pursuit of wisdom and brahma rishi 

b) how was it like to renounce something only to get distracted by something else on the way

c) how did he get over the shameful feeling that would have ensued (I am referring to only his internal feeling and not about how the world reacted to him) / did he feel shameful at all?

d) how was it like to give away his daughter to another sage in adoption

e) how did he feel when he got recognized as brahma rishi - did he feel it was worth the effort or did he feel he lost many (beautiful?!?!) things in life unnecessarily - after all he got into the game of being brahma rishi only to compete against or revenge another rishi!!

e) despite all the great heights he achieved, why do people refer to him for wrong reasons more often - being arrogant, egoistic, being distracted, being short tempered and for making Trishanku stranded

f) why are his abilities painted differently; how different is Vashista from him - he too cursed others, used weapons, was judgemental and so on?

Not only that I don’t have answers to these questions… I am thinking about Meneka as well… may be another article at a future point in time… 

An invitation for action…

Wow! There were justifications and arguments again! Anitha  scored 1176 in school exam but only 86 in the entrance exam; would you like to get treated by such a doctor (if she had become a doctor); she died in spite of getting aeronautical engineering seat in MIT and she  went to private school not to government school are some of the arguments against கறை!

Let me take one chunk at a time "Anitha  scored 1176 in school exam but only 86 in the entrance exam; would you like to get treated by such a doctor (if she had become a doctor); she  went to private school not to government school"!! She scored 1176 in exam and 86 in entrance exam! That is the whole point!! If she was able to score so well, why was she not able to score in entrance? The scope of her studies is different from the scope of entrance exam. Let us not forget that!! Was she given an opportunity to prepare?  Sure, the school will not be able to address the scope (or syllabus) issue; who should have done that? Is it not the government? If they are not prepared to give better / wider scope to the children, how can they change the approach at the last minute? How will 12th standard students be able to mediate between the state and central governments to come to a conclusions? Both these governments should have handled it more systematically! That would happen only if we have governments! But, we don’t, unfortunately!!  Did we ever question these guys for actions / inactions? The next argument of memorizing vs. application of knowledge proven by the stark difference in the marks! If someone scored 1176/1200, their cognitive ability is much better than many others. Of course remembering and recalling are first order intelligence and applying & solving are higher order intelligence. For someone who was so very high in first order intelligence how long it would have taken to get into higher orders if given right support? Whose mistake is that she did not get the support? If the supposedly better private schools also did not give her the support, who is answerable? As a society, did we ever question the quality of these private and public schools?

"She died in spite of getting aeronautical engineering seat in MIT" What a pity! She could have called herself as junior of the great Dr Kalam; he studied in MIT and the same course - aerospace engineering!! How come we failed as a society to educate our children to aim high but at the same time celebrate the achievements? Why did we not teach our children to weigh the options? Why did we not teach our children to see the reality of life and move forward with courage? Who should have done this - parents, teachers, relatives, friends and who else? Even if we assume that someone provoked her to commit suicide, we are failing as a society to educate our children to evaluate any instructions and address provocations sensibly. On one end, we seem to be too happy / content with what is happening around us and on the other end we seem to be too fragile to handle any difficulty. Have we lost our ability to understand ground reality and respond to it positively?

I am thinking of my friends from Lebanon, a war torn nation; they were able to accept that bombing and losing loved ones as the reality of life but still able to focus on studies and come up in life. I am generalising a bit here - but - my Lebanese friends are the happiest human beings I have ever met in my life. Our reality of life is, we have "leaders" who are not interested in leading the nation; we have rulers who are keen about their welfare but not public welfare; we have politicians but not statesmen rule our country. What is our role in such a scenario? The only option we have is to focus on our social welfare on our own! Children without parents need to take care of themselves! A nation who does not have leaders should shake itself, start behaving itself and should help itself rebuild from scratch. How long can we blame Mecaulay for screwing up Indian education system and Indian culture? We don’t even know if the blame is correct. It may be a truth in all probabilities given that any country who invades other country would like to keep them as slaves and for the slaves to continue that way, their competence and confidence should be killed. But we are an independent country for the past 70 years. What have we done? We have grown from 30 crores to 130 crores in about 100 years! Many times, it feels like the only core competence! Shame on us!

After reading through or hearing all the arguments, I feel, the only thing from the great ancient India we still carry is our ability to argue for and against almost anything! Sure, this country encouraged people to argue; winning an argument by logic was respected highly. Let us remember that this country also believed strongly in integrity and duty. It is high time we move from the argument mode to action mode! I put forth my response only to clarify why I am upset with Anitha's death. The girl died a few week ago but it still hurts as fresh. In my view, any dissatisfaction or hurt should lead to a positive movement, every time. For any harm others do, the only revenge one can take is moving forward with a smile and determination. If the governments are deceiving us, the only way we have is to make them obsolete by proving that we don’t need them for our well-being. I invite each one of you to respond with your actions not with arguments anymore please. Your actions can be of any size and it can be in any aspect of social well-being… please do your bit…

You can join us in helping the students learn better and face life better. Please write to me or call me if you are keen.

கறை

நூற்றுமுப்பது கோடியில் ஒன்றிரண்டு குறைந்தாலென்ன, குடியா முழுகிவிடும்? என்ன பெரிய நஷ்டம் நாட்டுக்கு? நீலத்திமிங்கலத்துக்கு இரையானோர்பற்றி என்ன சொல்வது?  விளையாட்டுகள் வினையாய் முடிவது ஒன்றும் புதிதில்லையே! எத்தனையோமுறை பெற்றோரும் ஆசிரியர்களும் சொன்னால் கேட்காதவர்கள் முகம்தெரியாதவர்கள் சொல்வதைக் கேட்டு உயிர்விடும் அவலத்தை என்ன சொல்ல!! வலைதளத்தில் நல்ல கருத்துக்கள் பல கிடைத்தும், அறிவு வளர்க்கும் பல விளையாட்டுகள் இருந்தும் தானே தேடிப்போய் உயிர்விடுவோர் குறித்து வருந்துவதில் பயனேதும் உண்டோ!

ஆனால் விருட்சமாய் வளரவேண்டிய விதையொன்று வீணாய்ப்போயிற்றே! என்ன விதமாய் அதைத் தடுத்திருக்க முடியும்? ஒருவேளை என்போன்றோருக்கு மூளையிருந்தால் அரசியலில் ஈடுபட்டிருப்போமோ, தமிழகத்தின் தலைவிதியைமாற்றியிருப்போமோ? ஒருவேளை முதுகெலும்பிருந்தால் அரசுப்பணியேற்று சரியான முடிவுகளைநோக்கி தலைவர்களை நகர்த்தியிருப்போமோ? ஒருவேளை அறிவிருந்தால்  இப்படி ஒருநிலை வரும் என உணர்ந்து உங்களை தயார் செய்திருப்போமோ? ஒருவேளை கண்ணிருந்தால் இழிவுற்ற கல்விமுறை கண்டு கொதித்திருப்போமோ, செயலில் இறங்கியிருப்போமோ? ஒருவேளை மானமிருந்தால் ஏற்கனவே செரித்த உணவை உண்ணும் இழிநிலையில் நாடிருப்பதுகண்டு அறப்போர் தொடுத்திருப்போமோ? இப்படி எதுவுமே இல்லாமல், விலங்குகள்போல, வெறுமே உண்டு உறங்கி ஜனத்தொகைபெருக்குவது மட்டுமே கடனென்று வாழும் சமூகத்தில் வாழப்பிடிக்காமல் போனாயோ கண்ணே!

ஒருவேளை என் மகளாய் நீ பிறந்திருந்தால் உன் மன உரம் வளர்த்திருப்பேனோ? வானூர்தியியலில் விண்ணைத்தொடும் வாய்ப்பு கிடைத்தும் உன்னுயிர் பிரிந்துபோகாமல் காத்திருப்பேனோ? 1999-2000 வருடத்தில் நீ பிறந்தது காரணமா? அதற்கு முந்தைய வருடம் பிறந்திருந்தால் நீ பெற்ற மதிப்பெண்ணுக்கு மருத்துவப் படிப்பு மிக எளிதாய் கிடைத்தருக்குமே! தமிழகத்தில் பிறக்காமல் வேறெங்கோ நீ பிறந்திருந்தால் உன் கல்வி முறை இயல்பாகவே வேறாயிருந்திருக்கும் உன் விதியும் வேறாயிருந்திருக்குமே கண்ணே!

தீதும் நன்றும் பிறர் தர வாரா என்ற மொழி பொய்யாய்ப் போயிற்றே! எங்கள் செயல்திறமின்மை உன்தீதாய் விடிந்ததே! நாம் இன்று நமது பிறப்புரிமையென்று நினைப்பவையெல்லாம் நம் முன்னோரின் கடின உழைப்புக்குக்கிடைத்த பரிசு; வரலாறு கற்பது இந்தப் பரிசை, பரிசின் மேன்மையை உணர்வதற்காகவேயென்று சொல்வதுண்டு! கல்வி உனது பிறப்புரிமையாய் இல்லாமல் போனதால் உன் முன்னோர்களாகிய நாங்கள் வெட்கித் தலை குனிகிறோம்! வரலாறு எங்கள் பக்கங்களை கருப்பாகமட்டுமே இனம்காணும்! எப்படிக் கழுவிக்கரைப்போம் இந்தக் கருப்பை? கறையை?

No follow-up…

I knew there will be quite a bit of follow ups and discussions on my previous article. Many of you have felt that though other forms of disrespect are bad, they are not as bad as having another relationship. While I am absolutely fine with you having that view, to me, living with a husband who gets into other forms of disrespect, who affects the mental peace and/or blocks the intellectual progress is as hurtful/distasteful as living with a husband who has another relationship  (If you are a male, please replace the word "husband" with "wife" and read the sentence again). Though a good relationship should be like adding sugar to milk, with the current topic, the question seems to be which poison is better to be added with milk; my answer will be neither; and if you choose one of the poisons as better, what can I say!! People listing all bad behaviours, comparing them and worst of all, defending them as better than one another tires me. So I am not going to write a follow up with my points against each of your arguments. Let us agree to disagree!!

Having said that, as always, I would like to look at positive side of life in spite of all the potential negatives!! Though I called/call all forms of disrespects as adultery (including the ones normally called so), I also believe that anything can be improved, provided there is genuine interest and careful attempt by both the partners. After all, today is the first day of the rest of your life!! 

Caring (just not care giving, they are different BTW), respecting each other, respecting each other's freedom, trusting, being trustworthy, living up to the commitment given and all other such fundamentals of maintaining a relationship are all skills / competences that one can/ needs to develop. Please note a. I am generalising quite a bit here - these aspects apply to all types of relationships - personal, familial, professional, social etc. b. the list is not exhaustive. Changing a behaviour and improving the skill need constant nurturing and practice. Which means, all the aspects listed above can be improved with conscious and consistent effort provided the individual (in this case, usually, it is individuals) recognizes the need for improvement. But, if one keeps defending the bad behaviours, they will never be able to improve. Choice is left with the individuals!

I wish you good luck with whatever you choose to do… improving or staying stuck… 

Follow up...

Life is interesting! We  never know who we will meet and when! The long flights make us bump into people we would not have met otherwise!! I met with a reader of my blogs. I was happy to hear her feedback. The good thing was, she did not know that she was talking to me  about me! She went on to talk about my writing style, topics & so on and later she suggested me to read my blogs :-) When I revealed that I write them she was surprised and we exchanged our names and whereabouts only at that point!! The fact that humans can have conversations for hours together without even knowing each other's name is even more interesting I guess:-) (that, probably, is another article - "What is in a name?"). We went on to talk about many more topics including some articles in my blog. That long conversation made me think of a follow up of an article that I wrote about three years back on "Adultery". She felt that extra marital affair is more sinful than the other forms of disrespect and I should not be justifying it. We did not discuss that topic any deeper as we had many other things to chit chat about.

I have been thinking about her views… Am I justifying it? Is it more sinful? My article was more against the single point view we have most often about many things in life (single point of view could be an article by itself)! I am not a priest of any kind who can declare something as a sinful or not; All I felt / feel is, there are many other behaviors that are very close to or even worse than what is called as adultery!  In my article, I tried to highlight that there are more forms of adultery that is still accepted by the society ironically and I am amused / surprised how society ignores these aspects. The point is, adultery need not necessarily be extra marital; if the spouses do not have mutual respect and love but they are together in this act for other reasons, it is adultery or at best it is trade, in my view. Their reasons could be social (in our family, separation/ divorce is never heard of, our religion does not accept it), familial (my parents want me to be with him/her, my child needs a father/mother), economic (it is not viable option to live individually), safety considerations and so on. In my mind, it is not better than "adultery"!! It probably is more disrespectful and distasteful!

Friends, let me be clear about the best case scenario "the trade"!! I cook for you & you drive for me is just trade. I am not saying trading is bad; all I am saying is, let us not glorify trade as the best thing to do in a relationship… While there are other names&forms of such trade, for some convenience reasons, if the couple decide to settle down for the exchange of care giving actions / services, it is important for them not to forget this fact: there are ethics in all trades & only when these trade ethics are respected it is a good trade! If you decide to trade, be an ethical trader is all I can say. 

On the other hand, if there is no companionship, it has already failed irrespective of whether it is within the boundaries of a marriage or not. I feel, companionship is all about compatibility - intellectual, emotional / mental and physical. It is a life of blessing if the spouses can get into compatibility in all three levels; but if compatibility is only at physical level and there is no compatibility in one or more of the first two, then, it is at the most primitive form!

Of course, we may share intellectual / emotional compatibilities in other types interactions as well. If we have intellectual compatibility with someone, it will make us the best working partners. For example, Henry Ford and Edison had best intellectual compatibility; I don’t know about their emotional compatibility; but I guess, most likely they would have had good emotional compatibility as well; this does not mean that they have to have physical compatibility. (It is interesting to note how the statement feels / reads awkward when the example is about two men and how easy it is to imagine something physical if one of them was a woman!!). We may have just emotional compatibility with a few others; we may share our happiness or sadness with these individuals but may not discuss our ideas either because of our ability to communicate with them or their ability to grasp. Again, the emotionally compatible people need not have physical compatibility. But if the compatibility stops at just the physical level and does not evolve to the other levels, it is more primitive and comparable to that of the other mammals; it has a potential to die after we cross certain age or duration in the relationship! People know this inherently! This is where lack of trust and suspicion thrive. In my mind, such suspicious relationship is inferior (or at least limited & constraining) and harmful; it can affect the mental peace and intellectual progress of the couple.

Now, coming back to the topic. The term adulteration is defined as "mixing other matter of an inferior and sometimes harmful quality with food or drink". The term adultery has same origin as adulteration and it means very similar idea at a different plane of life. Any form of disrespect is inferior and harmful; it does not need to be only sexual or physical! If one harms the mental peace or blocks the intellectual progress of the spouse how does it matter if they have the best physical compatibility and/or exchange the services such as food / transportation/safety to each other? How is it not adultery?

How long would we brainwash women that "அடிக்கிற கைதான் அணைக்கும்" (literally translates as "only the arms that beat you will hug you")? How long would we brainwash men that the most possessive woman is the most loving woman!! Though the possessiveness can look to be love and give a high, it will start to become a constraint and lead to abuse! If there is emotional connection or intellectual connection will there be room for such abuses? If there is abuse, will there be higher order compatibility?

That is why, I feel, lack of compatibility and all the other forms of disrespect are adultery as they mix things of inferior quality and harmful actions! In other words, any deed done without love has the potential to be disrespectful, inferior and harmful and it is adultery. It does not matter if those involved are married to each other or not. If they love one another, they will have the best interest of the other; that means, they can't do anything that is harmful or inferior; that means they cannot do anything that has a potential bad consequence to the other in future or present! At that level, there is nothing right or wrong about it!! It is just it is! There is no need for a priest or rule book to tell us! One will just know!

The first nonpositive article of the year...

Trying to write a blog after about two months!! Writing seems to be tough not because there is no topic or I lost touch with writing! But because there is a lot in mind, with one article seriously crisscrossing! Instead of the one running in my mind, should I write about unintentional micro-inequalities & how to overcome them, trust issues - how being trustworthy & trusting are a competence that needs to be nurtured carefully, how the project management practices (both conventional and agile) help in addressing them or should I write about personal encounters and the aha moments - and is it okay to write on ayyo moments too?? Believe me, this promise of writing only positive blogs was tying me down in!! After a bit of contemplation, finally this article is on an "ayyo" moment not an aha moment!! I am sorry, positive article was just not possible!!

Every time I apply for visa to any country, my emotions flare up; even if I don’t show outwards, I boil inside. This time, it was more! I had to apply for visa to a small developing European country. The treatment I got in their embassy was the heights of humiliation! Not only for me, but for all those who were there; there was someone who has visited 50 countries and he felt that it was his worst experience ever! Hmm… Usually, the developed countries express an arrogance to the individuals from developing countries; but they are much better than how this developing country who is still struggling with basic things (internet connection for example) treated the citizens of another developing country in their own country right at their capital city!! Shame on us, we are citizens of the largest democracy in the world, citizens of a country that launched 104 satellites in one go while the developed countries have only launched a record 37 in the past!! To add to that concern, most of the travel consultants were surprised to know that my visa was stamped in just one go!!! What does this mean?

Sure, I understand there are security reasons for countries to  be careful about who they allow to visit their country; but it does not mean that they can treat people this way. As a lean consultant, I strongly believe that respect for people and cultures is the key to any successful organization! Anyone who consumes your work (product or service or output) is your customer. From that context, those who apply for visa is a customer to that country! Hmm… Anyone in the corporate world knows what happens when we don’t respect our customers!

At the same time I am thinking about Indian government! Will this European country dare to do the same to the US citizens? Will the US government be quiet if they do so? What is Indian government doing? Why does this not have any effect on them? Why is the government not addressing these issues? Is this not a priority for them? What is their priority anyway? As a responsible citizen of India, what is my role? What should I do to address these kinds of issues? Is "மதியாதோர் தலைவாசல் மதித்தொருகால் மிதியாதே", "never step into the doorsteps of those who don’t respect you" right approach or is it "பொள்ளென ஆங்கே புறம்வேரார் காலம்பார்த்து உள்வேர்ப்பர் ஒள்ளியவர்."? Or Should I work towards making my country shine so well that these countries will behave themselves - but, what can be done better than launching 104 satellites while others are struggling to cross 37? What is wrong with our country? Undoubtedly, it is leadership - the lack of it to put it more precisely!

Experimenting with Color!

When I wrote "வண்ணமில்லா வண்ணம்" I sort of anticipated a follow up!! I was smiling while replying sometimes and was not sometimes!! The comments fall into a huge range from are you trying to copy Steve Jobs who wears the same color to save time and energy spent on decision making, to you like black so what is the big deal about it, to how are you handling the heat in the summer, to giving me some nick names :-)

First of all, I am not copying any one and Steve Jobs is definitely not my idol/hero. My heroes wore / wear all colors!! My biggest hero, my dad, does not like black. I know he is accepting my vow only halfheartedly! The day when we went shopping for black outfits, he did not choose not even one though he stood by me the whole hour! Yes, I said hour! It is not saving time at all!! There is not much black collections in the stores! Not many people wear black after all! So searching for fitting, professional looking black outfits takes more time than my usual shopping with all colors! Of course, I would have loved to save time like Steve jobs did; but unfortunately that is not working! I usually buy for the entire year in one go so that I don’t have to spend time shopping often. But because of the limitation induced by the color choice, I will have to go more often than once a year, looks like. So, there is absolutely no gain in terms of time. I have my decision making techniques sort of set and hence there is no change in the amount of energy / time spent from that perspective.

Sure, black is one of my favourite colors. But, I do like other colors too. More importantly, as a person, I never liked to be  constrained in any ways but now I am! I never liked to give power to anyone or anything to stop me from doing anything I like! But now I can't wear something even if I like it! I do not like to be generalised but now I am… the lady in black, blacky, black beauty (depending on how close the other person is and ;-) also how they perceive me)! With yesterday, it is exactly three months  since I started this. I have got several nick names that generalise me already! The heat is increasing by the day and it is getting harder and harder. However, I have decided to continue till I see what I want.

Though the three months had been tough in many ways as mentioned above, there are several good insights, I wanted to share and hence the follow up :-) Some of my theories about life changed, challenged and  and some got confirmed!

Black is one of my favourite colors, so wearing it should ideally give me joy. But it did not! There is no excitement about the color anymore!! Sure, while shopping I surf for blacks but that is a different filter and not an immediate attraction to the outfit as it used to be. Interesting!  The next one is going to be a contradiction of the above statement. I believed that any suppression is dangerous and it will come out nastily. Interestingly, this belief changed almost completely. Since February, I have been suppressing my interests / desire to wear many of my clothes. But nothing happened and I do not seem to have any feelings for other colors anymore!! So, what decides the likes and dislikes? What is meant by suppression? How different it is from self-control? Is it the same as the difference between starving and fasting? 

Nonchalantly, I was able to gift all my other coloured clothes. Only a few items are retained for sentimental reasons. I guess, I will gain the will to gift even those few "important" ones! What gives the strength to gift the most loved / liked items to others? Donating all-new items is easier than donating items that you loved and used; there is an affinity towards them and there are stories behind most of them… I could withstand that pressure mostly - except for the select few. I am still wondering what gave me the strength to do this?

Another interesting observation is about who all observe. The common belief is women pay more attention to details and observe clothes more than men!! That belief was proven wrong and I do have data points observed over the last 90 days! My male friends and colleagues realised it quicker than my female friends and colleagues; they were able to recognize this in the first week itself - to be precise from the fourth day there were feedbacks, questions and remarks from men and only from the 9th day from women! So far, the number of remarks from men is 1.5 times higher than that  of women, and this is in spite of the fact that more housekeeping women became more friendly with me and they all remarked!! The number of remarks from men being high could be because of the higher number of men in the organization but quicker feedback from them still seems to be a valid observation to disprove the common belief! But there was no sadness in men (except my dad and one of my friends) when I said I will wear only black going forward; but invariably all women felt sad :-) interesting!! Other observation is about the assumptions people make! More women asked if it was a religious reason and assumed that I am praying for getting a child ;-) and more men assumed that I have become an atheist!! What a stark difference!

I may follow up again after a year or so and I hope that by then, this would have come to an end!

வண்ணமில்லா வண்ணம்!

பாரதியைப்போலவே நானும் வேண்டுகிறேன் மஹாசக்தியை! எங்கும் நிறைந்திருக்கும் இறையை! என் மஹா காளியை! 

எண்ணிய முடிதல் வேண்டும்

    நல்லவே எண்ணல் வேண்டும்

திண்ணிய நெஞ்சம் வேண்டும்

    தெளிந்த நல்லறிவு வேண்டும்

பண்ணிய பாவ மெல்லாம் 

    பரிதிமுன் பனியே போல

நண்ணிய நின்முன் இங்கு

    நசித்திடல் வேண்டும் அன்னாய்!!

கருமை என்பது வண்ணமில்லை... வண்ணமில்லா நிலை... எண்ணங்கள் வண்ணமயமாயிருப்பின், எண்ணியவை எண்ணியவண்ணம் உருப்பெறச்செய்ய உயிர்கொண்டிருக்கும் காலத்தில் ஆடை வண்ணமில்லாவண்ணத்திலிருப்பதில் பிழையென்ன? எண்ணிய முடியும்வரை திண்ணியதாய் நெஞ்சம் இருக்கவேண்டுமாயின் ஒரு நினைவூட்டல் வேண்டியிருக்கிறது! வண்ணமறுநிலை நினைவூட்டுகிறது நான் செல்லவேண்டிய தூரத்தை! இது கடவுள் மறுப்புக்கொள்கையன்று!! சமூக மறுப்பன்று!! வலியென்றால் வலி!!! கோபமென்றால் கோபம்!!!! சீருடையென்றால் சீருடை! சங்கல்பமென்றால் சங்கல்பம்!! விரதமென்றால் விரதம்!!! 

செய்யவேண்டியவற்றைச் செய்யமறந்தமைக்காகவும், இனிமேல் மறக்காமலிருக்கவேண்டியும்!

One more critique… A movie this time…

Oh yeah, I went for a movie amidst all my unfulfilled commitments! I was in two minds about going for a movie! As many of you know, I don’t watch movies that much. It used to be one handful of movies a year earlier but in the recent past it dipped further! The last movies I watched were "Kaakka Muttai" in 2015 or earlier and then a "Monsoon Wedding" in a flight last year!! Given that track record :-), when I was invited to go for this movie, all my unfinished tasks and May 2nd deadlines came to my mind stopping me from an immediate yes. But, I was reminded of the team I coached in 2015 who wanted me to see the part 1. They even threatened me not to let me in if I do not watch the movie :-) In addition, I could not say no to those invited for the movie. Finally, I went for the movie. This is again "I am glad I did" kinds :-)

There were many points that resonated with my thinking and there were quite a number of lessons too! How important it is to keep the commitments given is conveyed beautifully. The queen was the most respected person in the country! She deserves the respect every bit! A courageous, honest and kind Queen; she was not shown as an omnipotent Queen; she committed mistakes too! Very human!! I liked it! I also liked the princess who rejected the marriage proposal from a great dynasty just because they tried to impress her with gifts and ordered her into marriage!  I liked the way the Prince and the Princess fight the enemy together, the way the Prince teaches her the new technique to use her bow and arrow! The way they both use the weapons together was like dance! I don’t know if the director envisaged it and wanted to convey it as a dance, but it felt like that to me! I liked the way the Princess refused to be a prisoner even to the Prince who has won her heart already! Though there were a couple of other points I disagree with the director, it was beautiful!

Another key point that struck me hard is, those who stand by dharma and those who don’t suffer pretty much the same; there is death, pain, distress, disappointments on both sides. Though it appears as if dharma takes too much effort, being at the side of adharma is equally taxing! In that case, why be at the side of adharma! After all, those who are at the right side are peaceful!! The message to be in the right side was so powerful! The conflict between being law abiding and being just is beautifully portrayed! Wow!! Careful narration!! I was reminded of Mahabharata at many points!

Not only that, the "war hating me" could be at peace with war! My opinion about war changed today! I hated violence! I hated those who are violent! My mentors too hated violence like me! Rather, I was like my mentors in hating violence! One of them even said, violence is a sign of incompetence! I echoed it in my mind; Etched it strongly in my heart! Of course, I was not against Indian army or navy or air force or DRDO or the like. Though I felt they are all needed to protect the nation, the very thought of war brought a sigh and anger towards those trigger war! Today, I was absolutely at peace with war!! I knew that I would have fought too if I were in the situation! Hmm… interesting revelation about myself!!

The movie went in right speed all through. It is a very good attempt in Indian cinema. It must have taken quite a lot of study about the warfare of ancient India. The hard work was clearly visible all through the movie. Not even a single scene felt unwanted / insignificant / added for the sake of it!! Tempo was maintained till the end! Yes, I am talking about the movie Bahubali part 2!! The movie feels a lot more like a book to me! (I know the movie buffs will hate me for saying so, but, for a book lover like me, books are the greatest!!) I would like to have a personal copy of it to go back to the lessons many times!! I sat upright all through the movie as if I am listening to an important lesson or lecture, with my brain actively referring to all the previous notes and re-indexing them!!

A movie worth watching… possibly multiple times… like a book… 

Finally a positive note…

For the past two and a half months, I have been quiet… not only because I was neck deep with work but also because I promised someone that I will try to be positive with my blogs and it was quite hard to keep up the positive spirit with all that was happening in the State… I am breaking my silence with a positive note! Okay, not a completely positive note, but a potentially positive note :-)

Out of the 2000+ junk WhatsApp messages that fill the inbox in a day, finding one that is useful / meaningful / inspirational is a tough task. Oh, most of the groups are muted but still they pour in a lot of messages only to be just marked as read. Only messages from a few groups and a few individuals are really read. I bumped into this message and was inspired thoroughly, though I don’t know the authenticity of the message. The Israeli-American violinist  Itzhak Perlman was the hero of the message. Though he was polio-attacked at the age of four, he became a great violinist; once during his stage performance, one of the strings in his violin broke; he continued to play, refusing to recognize the broken string and went on to produce music that was unheard of before is the crux of the story. I could not validate the authenticity of the story. But it does not matter… the story was truly inspirational… someone cursed by ill health for no mistake of himself, someone whose instrument failed at a critical moment like Karna's astras, could reject all the potential blockers and went on to produce the best for himself and for the world was good enough to lift me up.

Another inspirational story I listened to today was Malu Sheikha's. In spite of all the hardships in life like separation of her parents, being left alone to handle her own needs, the twenty year old has swum against the currents of backwaters in Kerala. She is aiming - even greater heights - to become an IAS officer. Usain Bolt is another person who inspired me the same way. In spite of all his other issues, he is one of the people I like - for his great come back after the serious injuries and for winning the race in 2016 Olympics in spite of a stumbling start! The commentator said, if it was anyone else other than Bolt, the game was over at that moment! I wanted to write an exclusive blog on Bolt since 2016 Olympics. But life moved on from one thing to the other and the last few months were really very depressing.

Usually anger triggers blogs. But, this time, it resulted in stunning silence! I thought the State that was limping for decades has fallen down irrecoverably and I moaned furiously (oxymoron!). Strings were breaking one by one! The State was still! Plans ran through my mind, actions initiated but the wound was still open, bleeding and not to be shown to anyone! But the two messages I listened to today made me come to my senses again and reminded me of Bolt! If someone can run the race to victory after fatal injuries and a stumbling start, if someone with such odds in life can swim thru one of the hardest backwater streams, if someone can make the best music with a broken string, I can run too, I can swim too, I can make the best of me too!

I am reaffirming to myself and to my fellow men! I am choosing love for hate and insults! I am choosing honesty and integrity for the corruption that is lurking around! I am choosing to be Malu for all the odds! I am choosing to be Bolt for all the injuries and stumbles! I am choosing to be Itzhak Perlman for all the broken strings! Sure, more strings may break and there could be more hatred and insults! But I am choosing to refuse them! I am choosing not to recognize them!

Let there be Bolt! Let there be Perlman! Let there be Malu! Why only light! It can dawn anyway!

இனியொரு விதி செய்வோம்!

கொட்டும்பனியையும், கடுங்குளிரையும், பெய்யாமல் பெய்த மழையையும் பொருட்படுத்தாமல் திரண்டிருக்கும் நண்பர்களே, உங்கள் மன உறுதியையும் தெளிந்த அறிவையும் வியக்கிறோம் போற்றுகிறோம். உலக அளவில், நம் தமிழ்ச்சமூகம் நசித்துப்போய்விட்டதோ, நியாய தர்ம சிந்தனையற்றுப்போய்விட்டதோ என்ற மனச்சஞ்சலத்திலிருந்த என்போன்ற பலருக்கு இந்த எழுச்சி மனநிறைவைத் தந்திருக்கிறது, வாழ்வின்மீது ஒரு நம்பிக்கை தந்திருக்கிறது. "தண்ணீர் விட்டோ வளர்த்தோம் சர்வேசா இப்பயிரை, கண்ணீரால் காத்தோம்! கருகத் திருவுளமோ?" என்ற கலக்கத்தைக் களைந்திருக்கிறது. மிக்க நன்றி நண்பர்களே!

நமது இந்த எழுச்சி இத்தோடு நின்றுவிடக்கூடாது. இந்த மண்ணுக்கான நம் கடமைகள் இன்னும் பல நமக்காகக் காத்திருக்கின்றன. ஜல்லிக்கட்டுக்காக குரலெழுப்புவதோடு செயலில் இறங்குவோம் வாரீர்! தீதும் நன்றும் பிறர் தர வாரா! நம்முள் இருந்த சில தவறுகள் நம்மைச்சிறைபிடித்துள்ளன. சிறைமீள நாம் சீராக இயங்கவேண்டும். ராமன் ஆண்டால் என்ன ராவணன் ஆண்டால் என்ன என்ற சிந்தனை மாறவேண்டும். மேலே விழுந்து பிடுங்கவில்லையென்று நாம் நினைத்த நரிகள் செய்யும் நாட்டாமையைத்தான் இன்று பார்க்கிறோம். அவர்களால் சிதையுண்டுபோகுமோ என்றுபயந்த தேசத்தை மீட்டெடுக்கமுடியும் என்ற நம்பிக்கை தந்ததற்கு நன்றி நண்பர்களே! எங்கள் இதயங்கள் பெருமையில் விம்முவதை விவரிக்க வார்த்தைகளேயில்லை!

இருபெருநகரங்களில் அணுகுண்டுகள் விழுந்தபோதிலும், இளைஞர்கள் இல்லாமல்போனபோதிலும் வீறுகொண்டு ஒரு தேசம் எழமுடியுமாயின், அரசின் அலட்சியமும் அதிகாரப்போக்கும்கண்டு வெகுண்டெழுந்த இந்த இளைஞர்கூட்டம் இந்த தேசத்தை மீட்டெடுக்க முடியாதா? தமிழெனென்று சொல்லடா தலை நிமிர்ந்து நில்லடா என்பது வெற்றுமுழக்கமாகவிடுமோ இந்த வீரர் கூட்டம்! நாம் எல்லோரும் இந்நாட்டு மன்னரன்றோ!! இதுவரை அரசாண்டவர்கள் பிழைபுரிந்திருக்கலாம்! நாம் பிழையாய்போகலாகாது! நல்ல படை, நல்ல குடிமக்கள், நல்ல உணவுப்பொருள்கள், நல்ல அமைச்சர்கள், அண்டை நாடுகளுடனான நட்பு, சிறந்த பாதுகாப்பு ஆகியவற்றைக் கொண்ட நாட்டை உடையவனே நல்ல அரசன், அரசருள் சிங்கத்தைப்போன்றவன், தன்னிகரற்ற காளையைப்போன்றவன். இவை ஆறையும் கைகொள்ள வேண்டாமா! வாருங்கள் நண்பர்களே! செயலில் இறங்குவோம்!

நாம் எல்லோரும் இந்நாட்டு மன்னர் என்பதை உறுதியாக நிரூபிப்போம்!! அதற்கு நமக்கு இந்த ஆறும் வேண்டும்! நாம் ஒரு நல்ல படை என்பதை நிரூபித்துவிட்டோம். ஒரு நாட்டின் பலம் அதன் படைகள்! ஒரு படையின் பலம் அதன் கட்டுக்கோப்பு!! நம்மால் இத்தனை கட்டுக்கோப்பாக, எந்த வன்முறையுமின்றி, சீராக இயங்கமுடியுமென்றால் இந்த தேசத்தை தூக்கி நிறுத்த நம்மால் முடியும். நமது எல்லைகளை விரிவாக்குவோம்! நமது வேலைகளை எல்லையில்லா தூரம் விரிவாக்குவோம்! மீதி ஐந்தையும் மீட்டெடுப்போம்!

நல்ல குடிமக்களாக நாம் இருப்பது மிகவும் அவசியம். நமது தற்போதைய அரசுகள்  மதுவிற்பதை மும்மரமாகச்செய்கின்றன. நம் திரைப்படங்கள் மது அருந்துவதை இயல்பானதாக, மகிழ்ச்சியானதாக, துன்பம் களைவதாகக் காட்டுகின்றன. ஆனால் நல்ல குடிமக்கள் நல்ல சிந்தனையோடு, நல்ல சொற்களோடு, நல்ல செயல்களோடு இருத்தல் அவசியம் என்பதை கடந்த ஒன்பது நாட்களாக உரத்துப்பறைசாற்றியவர்கள் நீங்கள்! மதுவைத்தொடாமல் இருந்தவர்கள் நீங்கள்! பெண்களை, குழந்தைகளை, முதியவர்களை கண்ணியமாக நடத்தியவர்கள் நீங்கள். இந்த கண்ணியத்தை, சுயஒழுக்கத்தை எந்தநாளும் காப்போம்!! நமது கடமைகளிலும் நேர்மையைக் கடைபிடிப்போம்! லஞ்சம் கொடுப்பதையும் வாங்குவதையும் தவிர்ப்போம், ஒழிப்போம்! வோட்டுக்குப் பணம் வாங்கும் மடமையைக் கொளுத்துவோம்! வோட்டே போடாமல் வீட்டுக்குள் இருந்து வெட்டிக்கதை பேசுவதை அறவே ஒழிப்போம்!

நல்ல உணவு வேண்டுமெனில் நமது விவசாயம் உயிர்த்து எழவேண்டும். அதற்கு விவசாயிகளோடு நாமும் இணையவேண்டும். ஏர்பூட்டி எல்லோரும் உழவேண்டும் என்பதில்லை. உழவுக்கு நமது வேலை எப்படி உதவமுடியும் என்று சிந்தித்து செயல்படுவோம்!  நமது குளங்களைத் தூரெடுப்போம், மரம் நடுவோம் மழை பெறுவோம். சிறுதுளி பெருவெள்ளம். ஒருதுளி நீரையும் வீணாக்காமல் விவசாயம் செய்யும் தொழில்நுட்பம் கொண்டுவர பொறியியலாளர்கள் முயலவேண்டும். விளையும் பொருட்களை சேமிக்கவும் சரியாக சந்தைப்படுத்தவும் அறிவியல் கற்றோரும் வணிகம் கற்றோரும் முன்வரல் வேண்டும். விளைந்த பொருட்களை கலப்படமில்லாமல் விற்க வியாபாரிகள் முன்வரவேண்டும்! நீங்கள் எத்தனை பெரிய செல்வந்தராயினும் ஒருகவளம் உணவையும் வீணாக்காதிருத்தல் வேண்டும்!  நாம் நேற்று வரை எப்படி வேண்டுமானாலும் இருந்திருக்கலாம்! ஆனால் இன்றுமுதல் உறுதியேற்போம்! நமது விவாசாயமுறைகளைச் செம்மைபடுத்துவோம்; இயற்கைமுறைகளையும்  நவீனஅறிவியலையும் முறையாய்ப்பயன்படுத்துவோம்! எதிலும் நேர்மை காப்போம்!

நமக்கு நாமே அமைச்சர்கள். ஒரு அமைச்சரின் மதிநுட்பத்தோடு செயல்படுவோம்! வள்ளுவன் சொல்லாத அமைச்சியல் இல்லை. அமைச்சரவை என்பது, துணிவுடன் செயல்படுதல், குடிகளைப் பாதுகாத்தல், அறநூல்களைக் கற்றல், ஆவன செய்திட அறிதல், அயராத முயற்சி ஆகிய ஐந்தும் கொண்டதாக விளங்க வேண்டும். அறநெறி உணர்ந்தவராகவும், சொல்லாற்றல் கொண்டவராகவும், செயல்திறன் படைத்தவராகவும் இருப்பவரே அமைச்சராக முடியும். இந்த திறமைகளை வளர்த்துக்கொள்வோம். அறமறிந்தோரை, நேர்மையாளரை மட்டுமே அமைச்சராகத் தேர்வு செய்வோம்!

நமது நட்புகள் சரியானதாய்ப் பார்த்துக்கொள்வோம். கூடாநட்பு கேடாய் முடியும் என்பதற்கான உதாரணங்களைக் கண்கூடாகக்கண்ட தலைமுறையிது! அவற்றிலிருந்து பாடம்கற்போம்! நமது நாட்டின் அரண் காப்போம்! இனியொரு யுத்தம் வந்தால் அது வெறும் வாளாலோ துப்பாக்கியாலோ இருக்காது நண்பர்களே! நமது அறிவு வளத்தை, நமது தொழில் நுட்பத்தை, நமது தகவல்களைத் தகர்க்கும் இணையயுத்தம்தான் நடக்கும்! தகவல் தொழில்நுட்பம் இருபுறமும் கூரிய வாள்! நம்மை எவ்வளவு இணைக்கிறதோ அதேஅளவுக்கு நம்மைக் கண்காணிக்கவும் செய்கிறது, நம்மைப்பற்றிய தகவல்களை மிகஎளிதாக பிறர் கவர்ந்துகொள்ளமுடியும், நாம் கவனமாக இல்லாவிட்டால்! எனவே சிந்தித்து சரியான முறையில் உபயோகிப்போம், நம்மைக் காத்துக்கொள்ளும் தொழில்நுட்பம் படைப்போம்!

அதுமட்டுமல்ல நண்பர்களே, நமது சமுதாயம் மீதுள்ள அனைத்து குற்றச்சாட்டுகளையும் களைவோம்! மதுவை ஒழிப்போம்! சாலை விதி மதிப்போம்! சுற்றுபுறத்தைத் தூயதாய்க் காப்போம். நமது வேலைகளை திருந்தச்செய்வோம் - படிப்பாயினும் சரி, விளையாட்டாகிலும் சரி சிறப்பாய் செய்வோம்! கடனுக்காகச் செய்வது தவிர்த்து கடமையைச் செய்வோம். நமது சாலைகளை, நமது ஊர்களை நாமே சீரமைப்போம்.

நீங்கள் என்ன படித்தவராயினும் சரி, உங்கள் சேவை இன்று நாட்டுக்குத் தேவையாயிருக்கிறது. உடனடி தேவைகள் மட்டுமல்ல, நீண்டகால திட்டங்களுக்கும் உங்கள் திறமையும் ஆற்றலும் தேவையிருக்கிறது!

வேதி பொறியியலாளர்களே!! கனிம பொறியியலாளர்களே!! மணலுக்கு மாற்று கண்டுபிடித்து நம் நதிகளைக் காப்போம்!! வானிலை பொறியியலாளர்களே!! கணிப்பொறியியலாளர்களே!! மழை வருவதைச் சரியாய்க் கணிக்க கருவி செய்வோம்! பயிர்வளம், உயிர்வளம் காக்கத் தேவையான கருவி செய்வோம்! பொறியியலாளர்களே!! வாழ்வை எளிதாக்க கருவிகள் செய்வோம்! இன்னும் எத்தனை நாளைக்கு வேற்றுநாட்டின் தொழில்நுட்பத்தைக் கடன்வாங்கிக் காலம் கழிக்கமுடியும்?

மருத்துவர்களே!! நம் மனிதர்களைக் காக்க எளிதான வழி காண்போம்!! உங்கள் மருத்துவமனைகளில் வழியும் கூட்டத்தைச் சரியாக நிர்வகித்து மனிதர்களின் நேரம் காப்போம்! அவர்கள் காத்திருக்கும் ஒவ்வொரு மணித்துளியும் நாட்டுக்கு விரயம் என்பதை உணர்வோம்!

இலக்கியவாதிகளே!! நல்ல கருத்துகளை மக்களிடம் கொண்டுசெல்ல வழிவகை செய்வோம்! வள்ளுவன் சொல்லாத மேலாண்மை பாடமில்லை! பூங்குன்றன் பாடாத வாழ்வியல் இல்லை! ஆனால் அவை ஏதோ புதிதாய்க் கண்டறியப்பட்டது போல புகட்டப்படுவதைத் தடுக்க ஒரே வழி, வேறு வழியில்லாமல் தமிழ் கற்பதை விடுத்து, தேமதுரத்தமிழின் திறனுக்காகக் கற்போம், கற்பிப்போம்! பிறமொழியில் வரும் நல்ல படைப்புகளை தமிழுக்குக்கொண்டுவருவோம்!

வரலாற்றாளர்களே!! இன்னும் எத்தனை நாள் வேற்றுநாட்டாரின் பார்வையில் எழுதப்பட்ட நம் வரலாற்றைக் கற்போம்? இம்மண்ணின் பெருமையை ஆராய்ந்தறிவோம்! நாம் செய்த வரலாற்றுத்தவறுகளையும் நம் வருங்காலச்சந்ததிக்குச் சொல்வோம்! அவர்கள் அந்தப்பிழை செய்யாமல் தடுக்க உதவுவோம்!

சட்டவல்லுநர்களே, நியாயத்தின்பக்கம் மட்டுமே நிற்க வாருங்கள்! எல்லோருக்கும் சட்டம் தெரிய வழிவகை செய்வோம்!!

வியாபாரிகளே கலப்படமில்லா பொருள் விற்போம்! நமது தேச நலன்காப்போம்! தரமானபொருட்களை சரியான விலையில் விற்பதே உங்கள் புனிதப்போர்!

அரசு மற்றும் தனியார் ஊழியர்களே! ஒவ்வொரு மணித்துளியும் வீணாக்காமல் சீராய் உழைப்போம் வாருங்கள்! இதோ கடற்கரையிலும் மைதானத்திலும் கூடிப்போராடும் நம்குல இளைஞர்களுக்கு நாம் வழிகாட்டியாவோம்! அவர்கள் நம்மைப் புறக்கணிக்காமலிருக்கவேண்டுமென்றால் அதற்கு நமக்கிருக்கும் ஒரேவழி நேர்மையான சீரான உழைப்பு மட்டுமே!

நண்பர்களே! இன்று உலகமே திரும்பிப் பார்க்கிறது! இப்படிக்கூட ஒரு போராட்டம் நடக்கமுடியுமா என்று அதிசயப்படுவோரும், இவர்கள் இதை இப்படி நடத்திக்காட்டிவிட்டார்களே என்று பொருமுவோரும், இதுவும் கடந்து போகும் இந்த இனம் சறுக்கும் என்று காத்திருப்போரும் ஏராளம்! நம்மைப் பார்த்து மூக்கின்மேல் வைத்தவிரல்கள் தலையிலடித்துக்கொள்ளாமலும், இதற்குத்தானா இத்தனையும் என்று ஏளனம் செய்து சீட்டியடிக்காமலும் இருக்கவேண்டுமென்றால்  நமது இந்த கோபத்தை நல்லவழியில் செலுத்துவது ஒன்றே வழி! பிறருக்காக இல்லாவிடிலும், ஒன்பது நாட்களாய் (இன்னும் எத்தனை நாட்களோ) வெயிலிலும் பனியிலும் மழையிலும் நாம் நிற்பதற்குப் பலன்! நம்மோடு நிற்பவர்களுக்கு நாம் செய்யும் கைமாறு!

இனியொரு விதி செய்வோம்! அதை எந்த நாளும் காப்போம்! நேர்மையும் சுயஒழுக்கமுமே நமது பலம்! அதை எந்த நாளும் தொடர்வோம்! சொல்லாலும் செயலாலும் நேர்மை காப்போம்!!  இப்போதும்!  எப்போதும்!