‘The Hindu’ cartoonist Shri Keshav’s paintings of Sage of Kanchi

Celebrated cartoonist Shri Keshav Venkataraghavan of ‘The Hindu’ in his own words posted in Sage of Kanchi in Facebook.

****

This work was blessed by Periyava. An electrifying experience. This is the culmination of various darshans in the past. 1989, to be precise. When i began my career. He spoke humorously and taught me about the politics, and stunned me with questions which i did not even think of. A time when you crumble to dust before his presence.He blessed me with a mattai thengai, which i preserve to this date. This painting was shown to him in 1993, immediately after it was completed. There was a huge crowd. Thought it was impossible to get his darshan. I had this work with me which was quite big. One of his disciples saw this and took it inside. It was inside with Periyava for more than an hour when we stood in the queue outside. When it was our turn, The disciple showed it to Him. They put a garland around it, and was returned to me.

*****

His comments for the above drawing — “ yes,Sir. It was my sketch for Charukesi’s story for the Friday page. It was indeed a blessed occasion. I was searching for Periyava’s pictures. Thought it would be really difficult to find a picture of Periyava appreciating music with the thaalam. But when you have his blessings, it happens. I had to search nowhere. The first picture in google search had this picture of Periyava.  “

Another of His painting which was blessed by Him:

Jagat Guru

This story dates back to the year 1933, when MAHA PERIYAVAA was in Varanasi. Periyavaa was received in the palace of the Kasi King. 

Many important personalities and learned men (Pundits) were also present. In Pundits' mind there was an element of jealousy. How can he Periyavaa have the title of JAGAT GURU. (जगत् गुरु).

One of the Pundits thundered, “Who is this Jagat Guru”?

Periyavaa politely replied: “I am”

The Pundit then remarked sarcastically: “So you are the Jagat Guru”

Periyavaa replied: जगतां गुरुः न When I say I am Jagat Guru, I Did't mean to say, I am The Guru of this Jagat. जगति पद्यमनाः सर्वे मम गुरवः All living beings in this world are my Gurus.

The Pundits were completely taken aback by this simple yet great explanation. Periyavaa did not stop with that.

In that hall where this debate was going on there were some nests built by sparrows. Periyavaa pointed to one of them and asked the Pundits किं इदं? What is this?

The Pundit replied: नीडः Nest

Periyavaa asked: केन निर्मितं? By whom was this built?
The Pundit Replied: चटकैः By the sparrow.

Periyavaa continued:This nest is built by birds which do not hands or legs.We have hands and legs.Yet we are unable to build a nest like the sparrow.The sparrow has Kriya Shakti (क्रिया शक्ति) But I do not have that Shakti.

Hence this sparrow is my GURU!!!

Happiness!

Abhaya Hastham!

This a rare photograph indeed ! One can very very rarely find a single photograph of Mahaperiyava showing Abhaya Hastham (Aaseervadham pose) ! thats the humbleness of Sakshaat Parameshwaran Mahaperiyava....

But today we find "so called" Sanyasis - giving variety of poses to photographs - as if they are going to bless us (!!!) Ishwaro Rakshathu....

 

Brahmasri Sundar Kumar's Ramayana Pravachanam @ Vani Mahal

Brahmasri Sundar Kumar on his Ramayana Pravachanam on Ayodhya Kandam at Vani Mahal on 5th June 2012, was referring to various curses inflicted upon the person responsible for Rama going to forest. Due to some personal reasons, his lecture was restricted to just one hour.

Bharata quotes various Dharma Sastras and says “Let the sin applicable to the person deviating from the sastra become applicable to the person who was responsible for sending Rama to forest” and quotes the minimum dharmas to be followed by individuals,. He also quoted another sruti vakyam which states the same dharmas in the order of severity.(i.e) Severity of punishment for missing out the subsequent point is more than the earlier point:

1. Do not lie down (not only sleep) during dawn
2. Do not lie down (not only sleep) during dusk
3. Ladies to comb hair, have kumkum, lit lamp before sunset.
4. Do not stop the agni karyam which is started once….and not to use agni for any other purpose – of course except cooking.

This he said, most of us are doing without our knowledge – because we have promised on the day of our marriage that from that day onwards we will continue doing the agni santhanam on daily basis without fail. We do this on all subha and punya muhurthams when purohit comes. Wife keeps one handful of rice, 60% is given in the first lot…Agnaye Svishtakrite..Swaaha:… and then  the balance 40% is dropped on the northern part of agni accompanied by the relevant mantra…. The only other place where agni is permitted to be used is during the pyre on the demise of either of the individual’s parents which at no cost should be delegated to anybody else.

5. Do not over eat
6. Do not marry younger sister when elder sister is unmarried: This he said has become common now-a-days because, if there are 2 daughters, marriages are fixed simultaneously and sometimes due to special reasons, the second daughter gets married few months/days earlier than her elder sister. In this case the bridegroom, who married the younger daughter gets the sin.
7. Younger brother not to get married prior to elder brother. Exception: elder brother decides to become a naishtika brahmachari or happens to be a mentally ill patient.
8. Treat Guru Patni as equivalent to mother and all other women except one’s dharma patni either as matha or sister depending on the age. This he said is possible once we understand the fact that we are all the children of Loka matha, say Lakshmi and  Narayana. Then automatically makes all other human beings become our siblings.
9. Avoid rotten nail and skin diseases in the body as these are symptoms of poorva janma dosha.
   5. An individual when he has performed certain deeds in his previous births, get these problems in the present birth. By observing the dharmas applicable to the present birth sincerely, he/she can definitely not only get rid of these problems but also attain salvage. Getting rid of these ailments becomes the apparent symptom of recognition of his sincere devotion by the divine. Seeking medical help is permitted.
10. Do not betray a trusted friend.
11. Do not get into Brahmahatti Dosha.

Looking at the severity, the last point seems to be very bad but at the same time, we feel highly relieved because to the extent possible, we will not get Brahmahatti Dosha, because as per the common perception, it comes only to a person who kills a Brahmin which we would never venture to do. But alas! Sastra does not mean this literal translation only.

Brahmopadesam is a function in which a Brahmachari is initiated into brahminhood and given the Gayathri mantra. While changing the Yagnopaveedam, he says,

Nithya karmaanushtaana Yogyadha sidhyartham, Brahma theja: abhivridhyartham….

So, Brahmopadesam has to be followed by its ritual of Sandhyavandhanam on a daily basis during the stipulated time. Ultimately, Non-performance of Sandhyavandanam amounts to Brahmahatti Dosha.  Let us not get into point 11.

Theendum Inbam - Pleasure of touch

Sujatha does it again. This time he takes up the problems urban college goers have and had portrayed it in a realistic manner that makes you realise with the brutal facts. As the name suggests it is about the pleasure of touch, one night stands, that brings along with complications like unwanted pregnancy, Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and its implications over the psyche of the concerned individuals. The best of a Sujatha's novel is that the incidents are not sugar coated but offered as a bitter pill tough to swallow. Here also Sujatha does the same with the protagonists Akalya, Sridhar & Raghu.

It is all about a simple yet supremely talented girl Akalya, who is aspiring to do IAS and already representing the college in various forums. She is going steady with a guy and one fine day she finds herself pregnant. She decides to bear it and agrees to give for adoption after the delivery. She delivers as per plans, her priorities change and towards the end she tries to give a meaning to her existence in this world.

Like any other Sujatha's novels, this too travels in the viewpoint of the main protagonist Akalya. The transformation of a happy outgoing girl to a traumatic single mother is well conceived and told. We had seen similar characters opting for single motherhood in "Kya Kehna.." and another TV serial with Deepa Venkat (I forgot its name), but what makes Akalya apart from those characters is the simple practical solution the character offers. While the former two made their decisions on emotional note, Akalya realises the problems of being emotional and opts for a practical decision.

The novel, I swear, will surely make the readers feel uncomfortable while reading even though the story telling is engrossing, especially for the people like me brought up with small town & middle class values. But you can't deny its presence in this westernizing society where onenight stands, MMS scandals are becoming a casual. It won't be an exaggerated statement if I say that this novel had shaken my beliefs in marriage and virginity.

Sujatha in the pretext of going through the Akalya's character exposes all the dark elements that prevail in the campus. The campus he had portrayed is very much believable. The celebration parties with dark corners that ends up as sex spots, the way guys try to provoke the instincts of girls are really hard to digest. The feeling Akalya undergo when she realises that sl1e is pregnant and consequent activities to abort it are fine.

Sujatha exposes the industry that survives on illegal pregnancy in this novel. The so called "inter-country adoption" centres that thrive on young victims, by brainwashing them to deliver the babies at the royal expense of the adoption parents and getting donations in US Dollars, the noble cause turned into a lucrative profession are well explained. When the girls refuse to part with the children how they are tortured is narrated well.

Besides scams, Sujatha also depicts the practical problems of being a single mother especially at the time life just starts unfolding in a major way. He suggests the ending in a practical way leaving the sentiments and emotions behind. I couldn't identify or agree fully with the ending but felt it is one of the possible endings.

This novel is plausible because of the writing style of Sujatha. Even though the stark reality slaps hard at your face, you will learn to accept the happenings towards the end rather than closing your eyes to deny its existence.

கல்லூரிக்குப் போகிற பெண் கர்ப்பமானால் என்ன ஆகும்? இந்த ஒற்றை வரியை வைத்துக் கொண்டு, ஒரு பெண்ணின் மனப் போராட்டங்களை, இயல்பு மாறாமல், வெகு யதார்த்தமாக, சுவாரஸ்யமான நாவலாகத் தந்திருக்கிறார் சுஜாதா.

Maheshwaran

35 years old, Male, married, Indian (by birth), SAP Consultant (SAP SD & IS-Retail), SAP Trainer... believer in people, love the after office life, self-indulgent when it comes to books, movies and music... avid fan of Illayaraja and AR Rahman... once an avid traveller / reader now trying to make time for the passions... love to share whatever little knowledge / experiences I had got from life and this is the primary reason for starting this blog... definitely am happy to hear the feedback if you take a moment to drop your comments... actively looking for a job in Melbourne, Australia so if you come across anything related to SAP SD in Melbourne, drop me a message.

அனிதாவின் காதல்கள் - சுஜாதா

Anitavin Kaadhalagal, which translates into Anita's affairs, may sound lurid initially but once you complete it you find the title wholly misleading. Written by Sujatha, it portrays the love story of a simple vulnerable, young girl who has been used to tranquil and calm living style. When she happens to meet the man who sweeps the ground off her feet with love the world around her changes but she couldn't. By the time she could adjust herself to that hectic pace, a rough wave topples her life and she is left stranded. Meanwhile she comes across four young men who are desperate to get her and their proposals.

Anitha is a Brahmin girl next door contended with her simple life style, crush on Salman Khan, icecream parlors and group study in her friend Madhu's room. Her life changes when she accidentally meets Vairavan, a leading young industrialist, who manages to charm her orthodox parents and gets he married in a jiffy. The following sequences are like dream come true and it comes to a screeching halt when her husband was arrested in a scam. Meanwhile three more guys propose her and finally Anita decides to take the life on her own.

Strength of Sujatha is his style of writing will be stark, not sugar coated or biased. The entire novel is from Anitha's point of view, thus highlighting the feminine sensitiveness. Anitha being a simple girl is not carried away by the romantic advancements being made by Vairavan. Infact, before she realises what had stuck her, the marriage is finished. Since we travel with Anitha, we explore the lighter vein college life of a simple girl and her reactions unable to cope up with the sudden marriage in her life. You could sympathise that even before she is fully drawn into the fact that she is married, a hurricane sweeps her happiness and she is let free again, making life a turmoil for her.

Coming to the famed title Anitha was being loved by Suresh, a software engineer, who comes through proper channel. Next is by Vairavan who manages to marry her, even though he was of lower caste, just because he makes right moves with money and charms her parents. Then comes her relative Sitaraman, for whom Anitha is the sole inspiration to move up in the hierarchical ladder by appearing for competitive exams. Last comes Vishwanathan, an aspiring musician and friend of Sitaraman, who feels that Anita was not given proper freedom. All come at different stages of Anitha's troubles and also within a month.

Through out the novel, Anita comes as a meek and submissive young girl who couldn't vent out her feelings and sometimes you get irritated why this girl doesn't be affirmative atleast with her marriage. But the way Sujatha had written it overrides this and makes you to look forward what will happen next. This is the beauty of this novel, which travels in the predictable path towards the climax. Especially the romantic episodes through which Vairavan expresses and proposes Anitha are interesting. His ordeals and the circumstances under which he decides to set Anitha free are equally interesting, making this reading a delight. When the same Vairavan sees a ray of hope, he pleads Anitha to be back in her life is just exciting.

As usual Sujatha takes up a real issue as a backdrop and builds a story around it. Here it happens to be the stock market, share trading and its scams. He elucidates the thin line between the legal trading and bulling, how sometimes the victims can be really legal through the arrest of Vairavan and its impact on the victims social life. The grand wedding reception of Vairavan and the unattended burial of his father are well said. Coming to the marriage, Anitha's expression of being a lost babe in the wood of VIPs was nice.

May be Sujatha thought of giving some wild justifications to the titillating title, he starts the novel with the description of her sisters' husbands, how they joke everything with hidden sexual innuendoes, making you believe that they will be a part of Anitha's affairs. But nothing happens so. As said, the novel didn't violate from traditional values, but takes a dig at the ever changing materialistic Brahmin attitude who are always ready to bend the traditions according to their conveniences. When realising that Vairavan is a multi millionaire, caste didn't come in between, when Vairavan was arrested they conveniently take up the caste issue and tries to get her married to Sitaraman, supporting with the instances of remarriages.

Overall, this novel offers nothing new except the Share scams, but its racy narrative makes it worth reading.

--Maheshwaran

Maheshwaran is a Mechanical Engineer turned Sales Engineer who had found his passion / calling in IT - ERP. With a solid experience of 3 End to end implementations and support projects in his stint with SAP since 2005, he turned to teaching for sharing the knowledge gained over a period of time. He had trained in SAP Training academy as well in virtual classes. These series of posts are sharing the knowledge on advanced topics which were not taught in the standard SAP Certification academy. Currently Maheshwaran is planning to migrate to Australia on PR and start a career in Melbourne. If you come across any suitable SAP SD / SAP IS Retail openings in Melbourne, please drop him a mail.

ஓர் அமெரிக்க மாப்பிள்ளை, உள்ளன்போடு நேசிக்கும் அம்மாஞ்சி முறைப் பையன், பரந்த வானத்தின் கீழிருக்கும் எதையும் விலை பேசும் பெரும் பணக்கார இளைய தொழிலதிபன், வாழ்க்கையை சுவாரஸ்யமாக வாழ அழைக்கும் ஒரு சங்கீத இளைஞன் என நாலா திக்கிலும் தன் மீது வலை பின்னும் காதல்களால் திகைத்துத் திணறி திக்குமுக்காடி போகும் ஓர் எளிய நடுத்தர வர்க்கத்து பெண்ணின் உள்ளுணர்வுகள், மன சஞ்சலங்களை விவரிக்கும் வசீகர நாவல்.

Scriptures as a way of life...

ORATOR Velukkudi Krishnan shares his experience, Bliss, to be specific, through upanyasam. V. BALASUBRAMANIAN

rich in content: Velukkudi Krishnan. Photo: N. Sridharan

People's taste may vary when it comes to small screen entertainment in the evening, with soaps and cinema topping the list. But mornings, 6-7, are generally dominated by one voice. Gruff and soothing at once, the Tamil is both chaste and familiar.

The style is lucid, diction clear and the content rich. All of these makes the audience, drawing room or public halls, listen to Velukkudi Krishnan in rapt attention.

His lineage

“My grandfather wanted at least one of his five sons to be brought up the traditional way, acquiring knowledge in Vedanta and Sastra and spreading Dharma,” Krishnan traces his lineage when this writer meets him at his residence on Bheema Sena Garden Road, Royapettah, Chennai.

After completing Class V, Vidwan Velukkudi Varadachariar Swamigal was trained at the patasala on Narayana Mudali Street, in George Town. He then shifted to Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, for higher education. Karapangadu Venkatacharya Swami, Tirupati Jeeyar Swami Sadhu Ramachar and Sri Rangam Desika Varadachariar Swami were his gurus. “He was into Upanyasam when he was 32, thus fulfilling my grandfather's most cherished dream,” says Krishnan.

Bhagavad Gita and Nammazhwar's Tiruvoimozhi were close to the Senior's heart. He presented over 80 month-long lectures on Andal's Tiruppavai, with different interpretations each time.

Born to his parents after sixteen years of their marital life, Krishnan got the best of both forms of education. He was trained at home in the Vedas, Divya Prabhandam, Sanskrit and other related scriptures apart from regular school. Initiation into lectures began when he was eight. He was asked to speak on the last day of a series of his father's lectures for about 10 minutes. The text prepared by his father had to be memorised. This happened throughout his school days and college days too (Vivekananda College, Mylapore, Chennai). Krishnan went on to complete C.A. and ICWA courses before joining the top rung of an MNC. Never did he venture to make solo presentations during his father's life time. A great devotee of Sri Ranganatha, Sri Varadachariar Swamigal breathed his last inside the Srirangam temple after having darshan of the deity one January morning in 1991. That marked the launch of Velukkudi Krishnan on the upanyasam scene. But he found it difficult to strike a balance between his job and lifestyle. Long hauls on business meetings outside Chennai were coming in the way of his nitya karma. Rushing to the Upanyasam stage from corporate meetings well after dusk added to the stress and the decision had to be taken. “I quit lucrative job to dedicate myself to Upanyasam and related activities.”

Krishnan gently shakes his head when reference is made to a “change in profession.” “Please don't call Upanyasam my profession. It is just sharing my own experience. It is neither a trade nor a job. Experiencing the Brahman is bliss and I only want to share it with everyone. Spiritualism does not need special skill or intelligence. Nor can you achieve salvation by memorising the 4,000 verses. The Lord only expects unconditional love. Throughout his life, my father was only trying to make people understand this. If you read the works of the Acharyas, Azhwars and Nayanmars you will see that love was the underlying factor of all their immortal works.

How is he able to quote from scriptures in Tamil and Sanskrit with such precision? “There is no special effort besides deep involvement.” Irrespective of the subject to be dealt with, he recommends at least four hours of reading authentic texts every day. “I am lucky, for all I have to do is read my father's extensive notes on all the subjects. These are my invaluable assets.”

Response to his upanyasams? “Overwhelming. Being the son of an illustrious father, the platform was ready for me but then I had the responsibility of maintaining the standards set by him.” He is deeply worried about orators changing concepts to suit the trend while dealing with scriptures. For instance, using the Gita to explain management principles. “The scriptures should be followed to realise the Brahman,” he asserts.

Krishnan's two sons are budding technocrats and he has not tried to influence them. However, he has been teaching them Sanskrit and other subjects. Velukkudi Krishnan's discourses have been digitally documented. These CDs and DVDs are also tools that help in the development of his two sons. “My duty is to make them enlightened bhaktas and not trained orators.”

“Many feel that Bhakti is for the old. On the contrary, one should attain Atma Gnanam at a very young age like Prahalada. The Bhagavad Gita is one text that should be read by everyone. Assimilating the content may be a difficult task initially, but constant reading will lead to eternal bliss. Tiruppavai too helps in fostering Gnanam.”

How does Krishnan preserve his energy and voice? “I enjoy what I speak. It is Ananda for me. While in Ananda, the inflow of positive energy is infinite. This is true in respect of the devotees who also sit through such lectures,” Krishnan concludes in typical simple style.

Many feel that Bhakti is for the old. On the contrary, one should attain Atma Gnanam at a very young age, like Prahalada.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tpfridayreview/article554281.ece

'Kadugu' decorated

A small write up in Adyar Times.

City Tour

That craft was very big. But we couldn’t call it a ship. A big craft built for the pleasures of its passengers. In the upper deck amongst comfortably standing, sitting, basking in the sun,lazily swimming in a moon-shaped pool people was Aathma waiting for Nithya.

Not really paying any attention to the book in his hand… he kept glancing at pretty Nithya who was visible every now and then. We couldn’t tell that the craft was going very fast.

Powered by a nuclear power plant in its belly it kept floating on an air cushion.

For Aathma this trip was an important event in his life… In eleven minutes the craft will reach Chennai.

Chennai!

His ancestral place! His great-great-great grandfather’s… family had a house here! And where was it? Triplicane... In Theradi street… Near the temple… the computer told him...

A young man stood in front of him and smiled. He had a small label that said, “guide.”
“Is everything fine?” he enquired.

Aathma shook his head.

“Your wife seems to like this trip a lot!” He said glancing at Nithya dive like an arrow into the pool. “Aathma! Join me” Nithya yelled.

Aathma shook his head.

A gentle breeze ruffled Aathma’s clothes. A sense of joy welled up in him…

“When will we reach Chennai?”

“In thirteen minutes!”

Aathma looked into the distance. The ocean was lazing in an orange hue. The smell of ozone caught Aathma nose. The loudspeaker sparked to life

“Attention... Dear Passengers! Attention! This is the Captain speaking. A warm welcome to all you passengers who have come to see Chennai on this luxury craft.

This is your craft. There is nothing that is not available on board. This craft is a marvel of modern science. Right now we are cruising at five hundred miles an hour. This craft can go on the ocean, go underwater and even hover on land!

If you need an introduction to Chennai since you are here to visit the many places of Chennai, please use the headphones nearest you. Thank you!”

Aathma had finished reading everything about Chennai. Still he felt pangs of anticipation every time he heard Chennai name mentioned. He put on the headphones. He heard a sweet persuasive voice along with some music playing in the background.

Although Chennai or Madras, which was a very important city in South India, existed much before, its formal history began in the year 1639, on the 23rd of August, when Tharmala Aiyappa Nayagan gave permission to Francis Day to build the St. George Fort…

“Day arrived in 1640 in the month of February with twenty five European sepoys and Nagapattan, a Indian expert on explosives. The outer walls of the St George fort were completed in 1640 on the 23rd of April...”

Nithya toweled herself, sat next to Aathma and pressed her ears on his headphones.

“Madras Pattinam was its old name” We do not know the exact origins of this name.
It could have been derived from Matha Raju, who was a king during that time...
Or from a sea-faring tribe called Marakkal rayars, it could have been called Marakkal Rayar before it finally became Madras Pattinam...

Nithya poked Aathma. He lowered his headphones.

“How many times will you keep listening to the history of Chennai? I am bored”

“This is our town Nithya! “We will be going to our home!”

“What will you see in your ancestral home?” “Will there be something stuck on the wall to say that Aathma will be born 350 years from now?”

“It is going to be difficult to even find the house first” “And who knows in what shape it will be”

Most of the homes seem to be in good shape... Hey the guide was enquiring about you...”

“Yeah. He kept looking at me...”

“How do you know that?”

“Every direction I looked he seemed to be there...”

“Cover your chest. You might catch a cold”

“I am hungry”

Why don’t you go down and eat something. I will come after hearing this out.
Be back in five minutes though... We will be reaching Chennai.”

Aathma put his headphones on again.

“While digging the foundation for Mylapore’s Lazarus Church they came upon Manuel Mathras tombstone. Mathra’s family was quite a wealthy family. So it is possible to think it could have come from Mathra’s name.

Mathraza is a Persian word to mean a school or college. There could been an old

Mohammedan school there. So the name could have come from there too...

Anyway the name Chennai stuck.

One by one the passengers were making their way to the upper deck. We are approaching Chennai! Aathma’s heart was pounding! He felt he was approaching his mother...

How far he has come on this journey... He had a holiday on Astro 7. Nithya had a holiday. They caught a shuttle from there to the space station. They didn’t get a reservation and had to wait on the floating station for two days before they got one,
And caught the planetary ship to earth and another trip on earth... a week of stay in hotels, strange journeys, strange rooms, strange faces…

“Why are you so adamant to make this trip? We are wasting our holidays here! We could

have gone to so many new places! They say Helios, the new colony, is like heaven!
You and your Chennai! Be miserable with your history!

“If you didn’t like it, you could have made a trip on your own Nithya!”

“Yeah. I unknowingly made a mistake. Earth is so boring!”

The moment he had heard the news about the discovery Chennai in Astro 7 he was beside himself. He saved money his holidays… and reached here.

“You have seen Chennai. Haven’t you?”

“Once a day… That’s my job!”

“You know all the places don’t you?”

He laughed. “High court, Santhome, Anna Salai, Valluvar Kottam, Kapalesvarar Temple, Kandaswamy temple, fort… What do you want?”

“Do you know Triplicane?”

“Parthasarathy temple is there” Join the third queue.

There on Therady Street is a house…
House?” he looked surprised.

“Why?”

Before he could answer there heard a siren.

”Pay attention. Pay attention” Please stand clear of the upper portions of the craft. The craft is covering itself.

All the people in the upper deck stood in the center. They heard the hum of the engines and a semi-circular plastic wall started to enclose the craft. Suddenly they were engulfed in silence and anticipation.

“Please pay attention. The craft is going to descend into the ocean. We are going to reach Chennai in three minutes… Towards the end of the twenty first century the sea submerged Chennai. With the help of modern science, all the old buildings have been scrubbed, made clean and restored. They are waiting for you! Your craft will submerge and go on the streets of Chennai. There you will hear descriptions of the streets. We will reach St George in two minutes…”

The craft began to submerge.

The craft started to roll in its silvery wake. It was really quiet.

Nagar Valam (1976), Sci-Fi of Sujatha was in limelight during the Tsunami attack. In Jan 2005, an English translation of the story appeared in Sunday issue of The Indian Express. 

The same is reproduced here. Ranga Rengarajan(Sujatha’s son) has done the translation.

--Courtesy Sujatha Desikan

தொடர்புடைய பதிவு:
நகர்வலம் -சுஜாதா

Why He Mattered... Baradwaj Rangan

The unfortunate demise of the Tamil writer Sujatha — from the news-channel eulogies, though, you’d think the man was merely a screenwriter, giving shape to the visions of Shankar and Mani Ratnam — has occasioned a steady outpouring of how-I-learnt-to-read-Tamil-with-his-books memories, and while I know from experience that that’s true, I feel no one has zeroed in on why this is so. 

After all, there were so many other Tamil writers — the great modernist god that was the early Vairamuthu, say — who were Sujatha’s contemporaries and who were certainly no slouches when it came to a certain felicity of expression that could make any rank newbie fall in rapturous love with the language. But I think what made Sujatha stand apart and speak to so many of us who grew up in the seventies and the eighties was that his writings were instantly appealing to a generation that could understand Tamil and speak Tamil and read Tamil and perhaps even write Tamil — but thought in English.

I’m not just talking about the sci-fi setting of En Iniya Iyandhira and its robo-dog named after the Roman goddess Juno — all far, far removed from the sociopolitical and moralistic scenarios that constituted a lot of the writing in the local magazines of the time — but Sujatha’s Western sensibilities would peek through even his pieces on ancient religious texts.

By “Western” sensibilities, I mean that he could demystify the most arcane of abstractions with the lightest of touches and with the gentlest sense of humour. In other words, he would take his subject seriously without taking himself seriously — and that was refreshing to a generation whose defining characteristic was (a borderline don’t-care-ish) casualness. As an aside, maybe that’s why Mani Ratnam felt the time was ripe for his kind of cinema — because he had in front of him a young audience that wasn’t especially “Indian” when it came to, say, respecting authority figures.
    

அக்னி புத்திரன் என்கிற இந்திய ராக்கெட் எதிரிகளால் கடத்தப்-படுகிறது. கடத்தப்பட்ட அந்த அக்னி புத்திரனை மீட்பதற்காக உளவுத்துறை இளைஞன் விக்ரம் களமிறங்குகிறான். கம்ப்யூட்டர் பெண் இஞ்சினியர் ப்ரீத்தி என்பவளுடன் சலாமியா என்கிற வினோத ராஜ்ஜியத்துக்கு பயணமாகிறான். ஏராளமாக ஒரு ராஜா, தாராளமாக ஒரு ராஜகுமாரி, வில்லன் ராஜகுரு என்று சலாமியாவில் பயணிக்கும் ஆக்ஷன் நிரம்பிய சாகச ஜிலு ஜிலு கதை. ‘விக்ரம்' என்ற பெயரில் கமல்ஹாசன் நடிப்பில் உருவான சினிமாவுக்காகவென்றே எழுதப்பட்ட இந்தக் கதை திரைப்படமாக உருவாகும்போதே ஷூட்டிங் புகைப்படங்களுடன் குமுதத்தில் தொடர்கதையாகவும் வந்து ஹிட் ஆனது.

Do you think a filmmaker from an earlier era would have given us the scene from Roja where Arvind Swamy’s mother speaks of his smoking habit as if it were a minor annoyance, perhaps ranking alongside a maidservant who doesn’t show up despite her previous-evening promises to be there first thing in the morning? And maybe that’s why Mani Ratnam worked so extensively with Sujatha, one Western sensibility in complete synchronicity with another. (So also Kamal Hassan, who collaborated with Sujatha on Tamil cinema’s first stab at a Bondian swashbuckler, Vikram.)

Anyway, coming back to Sujatha, here’s what I mean when I talk of his being with it, and with us: In a recent installment of his series in the magazine Kalki — the column was called Vaaram Oru Paasuram (loosely, ‘A Verse A Week’), where, each time, he’d pick a sacred hymn and lay it out in layman terms — he’d chosen a stanza from (the poet-saint) Nammazhvar’s Thiruvaimozhi, one that went Nalkuravum, selvum...

Now, this is what he does. Like that other Tamil instructor so beloved to those of a certain age — Maa. Nannan (from Doordarshan’s Vaazhkai Kalvi), who opened up to us a world of etymology and spelling and pronunciation, armed with nothing more than a piece of chalk, an easel-tilted blackboard and the patience of the ages — Sujatha first breaks down the verse word for word, stopping to intone, for instance, that “nalkuravu” is Old Tamil for “poverty.” Having approached the passage at a building-blocks level, Sujatha now stands back a little and talks about the most immediately apparent meaning, which is Nammazhvar’s contention that the image of the Lord he laid eyes on was an amalgamation of antonyms — poverty and wealth, poison and life-giving nectar, amity and enmity, hell and heaven — and therefore, He is (and is responsible for) everything. And after this is when Sujatha doffs his “Indian” hat — his truly reverential, emotional, subjective “Indian” hat; there’s not a note of condescension or scepticism in this robo-dog creator’s appraisal of the religious text at hand — and looks at things from a decidedly objective, “Western” perspective. He marvels that you could extrapolate this philosophy of God into the utmost extreme of antonyms: namely, if you think He exists, He exists; if you don’t, He doesn’t.

But because of His all-encompassing nature, even His non-existence is proof of His existence. And after this dizzying demonstration of circular reasoning, Sujatha signs his piece off with the Tamil equivalent of “the mind boggles,” capping off what could have been a fuddy-duddy exercise in esoteric academia with a cheeky flourish of hipness. And that’s why he’ll be missed — because, like few before him, he got us in touch with the uncoolest of things in the coolest of ways.

( Source: Sunday Express )


--Courtesy Sujatha Desikan

Voice of Paramacharya – Charukesi

Ra. Ganapathy’s ‘Deivathin Kural.’

By compiling the speeches of the sage of Kanchi, Ra. Ganapathi has provided an immortal link.

In his last letter to G. Vaidyanathan, Secretary, Sankara Bhakta Jana Sabha, Ra. Ganapathi, prolific writer and compiler of “Deivathin Kural,” has narrated how difficult it was for him to gather the speeches of Paramacharya, add references to them and give them continuity. (‘Naan patta kashtam solli mudiyathu!’ he wrote.)

“Yes, but for Ra. Ganapathi, Kanchi Mahaswami’s speeches would not have reached the masses,” says Vaidyanathan. “He noted down Periyava’s talks and made cross-references, spoke to the people who knew the subject and got the required clarifications. Periyava would speak about one subject in one place and would leave it at that. Then again he would pick up the thread and speak in detail about it in some other venue. The challenge was to maintain the link. Ganapathi had a sharp memory and was alert in his observation. He would give final shape to the article and there would be no ambiguity in it!” he recalls.

“He used the same language that Periyava used so that the reader would feel as if he was listening to Periyava!” adds Vaidyanathan.

Maniyam Selvan recalls an incident when his father Maniyam painted a black and white painting of Siva Thandavam for Kalki Deepavali Malar in 1961. Periyava holding a small veena was in the forefront of this painting. Lotus petals, along with nagalinga flower were drawn in the place where the box of sacred ash was normally kept near his feet. The huge piece of moon on the head, the loose locks of hair, raised foot, abhaya hasta, agni and the vilva leaves were visible, but not Muyalakan or the right foot of the Lord. “Ra. Ganapathi Sir took this Deepavali Malar to Periyava, when the sage asked him to fetch my father during his next visit to the mutt. When Ganapathi Sir took my father to the Mutt, Periyava said, “You have opened my eyes!”

“In the original photograph of Periyava, his eyes were looking down at the veena he was holding. In the painting of Maniyam, however, Periyava’s eyes were looking straight. Father, though a bit embarrassed, said: ‘No Periyava. I thought it would be nice if your ‘paarvai’ (vision) fell on the devotees!’ Periyava replied: ‘Maniyam, what I saw in my inward vision, you had painted in the background showing the Siva Thandavam!

Maniyam drew the illustrations for the serial, ‘Jaya Jaya Sankara’ that Ganapati wrote in Kalki. “In1970, when the Shankara Shanmatha Conference was held in Mylapore, I drew those 25 pictures all over again. My mother took them along when we (mother, myself and uncle) visited Periyava in Thenambakkam and showed them. He was immensely pleased and those blessings were precious! But for Ra. Ganapathi Sir, this would not have happened!” Incidentally, the cover paintings for two volumes of ‘Deivathin Kural’ were done by Ma.Se.

Even the rationalist Anna had praised Ra. Ganapathi’s way of writing. In ‘Than Varalaru,’ published by Bharati Pathippakam, in one of the chapters, where he writes about the loss of his beloved mother, Anna refers to the serial Ra. Ganapathi was writing in Kalki. In that particular week’s issue, Ganapathi had written about the demise of Sankara’s mother Aryambal and Sankara’s sorrow. Anna writes that he was moved by the writing, especially when he had lost his own mother at that point of time.

‘Deivathin Kural’ has been translated into English (‘Voice of God’) and also in many other languages. Educationist and philanthropist V. Shankar of Mumbai arranged to get them translated in Hindi and three volumes have already been released.

Sri Ganesa Sarma has been giving monthly lectures on the basis of “Deivathin Kural” in many different venues and the audience relish the simple way in which he interprets it.

Ra. Ganapathi suffered physically and mentally in the evening of his life but he was a true Karma Yogi.

Life with a purpose

Bharatanatyam exponent, Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, sends this message:

“‘Kaarana Janmam‘ – it would be an apt description of Ra. Ganapathy’s presence on earth – a life endowed by the Almighty for a purpose. The “Deivathin Kural” volumes stand as an eternal beacon of light to showcase the spiritual thoughts that emanated from the centenarian sage of Kanchi.

Ganapathy, who remained a bachelor, was himself a sage, who shunned publicity. The former President R. Venkataraman rightly described ‘Deivathin Kural‘ as ‘Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Upanishad.‘

“When I went to pay my last respects to Sri. Ra. Ganapathy, I felt doubly blessed to know that my humble little book, ‘Kanchi Mahaswami’s Vision of Asian Culture,‘ was the only work for which he had graciously given a Foreword. On the holy day of Mahasivaratri, he has joined the Lotus Feet of Kanchi Mahaswami, who was looked upon as Parameswara in human form.”

ஹிந்துவில் வெளிவந்த அஞ்சலி…

Pesum Bommaigal(Talking Dolls)

Consider this possibility-we are able to download information from the internet and upload information vice versa. What will happen if the process of downloading is done on human brain? What if we can upload the contents of the human brain-thoughts, memories to a machine and then feed it to another and make the person behave like the source (the person from whose brain the information i.e thoughts, memories are taken)? This revolutionary idea is the crux for writer Sujatha's novel Pesum Bommaigal, literally meaning Talking Dolls, published by Uyirmai Publications.

I have always been an ardent fan of Sujatha's novels and stories, that too the famous Ganesh-Vasanth from my childhood. Perhaps the different line and thinking of the author appealed to me, or the twist in the story, or identification with the characters. I always have a special place for Sujatha's works.

It has been Sujatha's novel way to take up an idea, mostly scientific in nature, and deal it out in his stories in an interesting and captivating manner. My favorites among his science-fiction works are En Iniya Iyandhira(My Dear Machine), Meendum Jeeno(Again Jeeno)- a sequel to the former, Sorga Theevu(Heaven's Island), Pesum Bommaigal, the subject of this post.

The story goes like this. Maya, a young lady gets an offer as a Research Assistant in a scientific research center called CMR Labs. She finds the activities in her new work place weird, especially in the way she is tested in the interview and the subsequent medical tests she is asked to take - her voice is recorded, strange readings are taken with no explanations, and she finds to her surprise that she got the job because of her sister Menaka, who was a former research associate in the lab.

Naturally curious and eager to keep up the reputation of being Menaka's sister, Maya does the bidding of her bosses-Dr.Narendranath and Dr.Sarangapani. She finds them contrasting in character-one aggressive and the other pleasing towards her and initially jealous of each others' works(interesting characters, they are). More than all, she finds out to her horror that all the staff in the lab have their right hand shorter than their left hand. Her inquiries lead her to dead ends and makes her doubt about continuing there, but the pay packet and the assurance of her lover Sunil who works there makes her continue in the job.

The story takes a turn when Maya discovers that the lab secretly conducts trials on the staff with or without their consent, but shuts them up from speaking out by paying them handsomely. Even more is her fear on finding out that the tests are related to mind control and her sister had been one of the victims who never made it out of the lab. She is trapped when her bosses learn about her knowledge, and she becomes a pawn in an unwitting game of horror.

Maya's father and Sunil take the matter to Ganesh and Vasanth(I would need another post to write about them!) who are perturbed by the strange nature of the case and decide to investigate. The chase leads them from Chennai to Vijayawada to back to Chennai as they learn about the complex and devious plans of the doctor duo-advanced research on the human mind by way of downloading the memories and information from the brain to a system and vice versa. A stunning finale(the 'poetic justice' Ganesh delivers is not to be missed) makes the reader sit up and wonder at the ingenuity of the writer in skillfully taking the story through the pages.

Sujatha's forte is that he set the trend for these kind of stories, explaining complex scientific things in a simple layman's term to the reader, perking up his curiosity. A must read for all, especially those who love different kind of stories with a intelligent twist.

--Harish Ragunathan


இந்தக் கதையின் ஆதாரக் கருத்தான (Downloading) 'டவுன் லோடிங்' என்பதின் சாத்தியத்தைப் பற்றிப் பலர் என்னிடம் சந்தேகம் கேட்டார்கள். ஒரு மனித மனத்தின் அத்தனை எண்ணங்களையும் ஓர் இயந்திரத்துக்கு மாற்றிப் புகட்ட முடியுமா என்று பலர் வியந்து இதுசாத்தியமே இல்லை என்றார்கள். இன்றைய விஞ்ஞான ஆராய்ச்சி நிலையில் இது சாத்தியமில்லைதான். ஆனால் இன்று அமெரிக்கா போன்ற முன்னேற்ற நாடுகளின் முற்போக்கு ஆராய்ச்சி நிலையங்களில் 'செயற்கை அறிவு' என்ற இயலின் ஒரு பிரிவாக இத்தகைய மூளைச் செய்தி மாற்றும் ஆராய்ச்சிகள் செய்து சிறிதளவு வெற்றி கண்டும் இருக்கிறார்கள். இந்த வெற்றியின் ஒரு கற்பனை விரிவாக்கம்தான் 'பேசும் பொம்மைகள்'.