Introspection

அரிது அரிது மானிடராய் பிறத்தல் அரிது அதனினும் அரிது கூன் குருடு செவிடு இன்றி பிறத்தல்

இந்த வரிகள் மனிதர்களுக்கு இந்த மனிதப் பிறவியின் மகத்துவத்தை உணர்த்தவேண்டும் என்று எண்ணிய ஒரு கவியின் வரிகள் ஆனால் இன்று ஏன் இங்கு மனிதனாய் பிறந்தோம் என்று தெரியாமல், மனித வாழ்வின் மகத்துவம் புரியாமல் இந்த பூமியில் வாழ்ந்து .. அல்ல வாழ்ந்து என்று சொல்ல முடியாது வந்து சென்று கொண்டிருக்கிறோம், இந்த வாழ்க்கைக்கும் ஒரு மிருகம் வாழும் வாழ்க்கைக்கும் என்ன வித்தியாசம்? யோசித்து பார்த்தால் நானும் இந்த வாழ்கையை தான் வாழ்ந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறேன். அட கடவுளே இப்படி ஒரு நிலைமையை ஏன் எனக்கும் கொடுத்தாய் என்று அவனை பார்த்து கேட்டேன்.. அதற்கு அவன் சொன்ன பதில்... நீயே மீண்டும் யோசித்து பார் உனக்கே தெரியும் என்றான்.
மறுபடியும் யோசிக்க வேண்டுமா என்ற எண்ணத்துடன் வேலையை (யோசிக்கும் வேலையை) ஆரம்பித்தேன். அந்த நேரத்தில் தோன்றிய எண்ணங்களை இங்கே தரவிருக்கின்றேன்.

ஒருவன் எதனால் மனிதனாக பிறக்கின்றான்? தெரியவில்லை சிலர் பூர்வ ஜென்ம புண்ணியம் என்கின்றார்கள் அதை பற்றி நான் யோசிக்க விரும்பவில்லை. இருக்கின்ற ஜென்மத்தில் எப்படி வாழ்வது என்பது தான் என்னுடைய கேள்வியாக இருக்கின்றது. என்னை பெற்றெடுத்த அன்னை அவளுக்கு நான் என்ன செய்தேன்? தந்தை ... அவருக்கு என்ன செய்தேன்? அன்னைக்கு இது வரை ஒன்றும் செய்தது இல்லை. தந்தை அவருக்கு நல்ல பெயர் வாங்கி கொடுத்து இருக்கின்றேன். இப்படி யோசித்து கொண்டிருந்த நான் கடவுளிடம் மறுபடியும் கேட்டேன். கடவுளே நான் யோசித்தேன் ஆனால் எனக்கு பதில் கிடைக்க வில்லை. எனக்கு தெரிந்த கேள்விகளை நான் என்னிடமே கேட்டு விட்டேன் அதற்கு பதில் உள்ளது.. இப்பொழுது எனக்கு என்ன கேள்வி கேட்க வேண்டும் என்றே தெரிய வில்லை என்றேன். அதற்கு அவன் கேட்ட கேள்வி என்னை மீண்டும் சிந்திக்க வைத்தது அப்படி அவன் கேட்ட கேள்வி உன் தாய் தந்தை தவிர வேறு யாருக்கும் நீ எதாவது செய்ய வேண்டுமா என்றான் நான் இல்லை என்றேன்.. அப்போது அவன் சொன்னது உன்னையும் உன் பெற்றோரையும் தாங்கும் இந்த உலகத்திற்கு நீ என்ன செய்தாய் என்றான். நான் யோசித்தேன்... பதில் சொன்னேன் நான் வருமான வரி கட்டுகிறேன் , வாங்குகின்ற பொருளுக்கு சேவை வரி கட்டுகிறேன் இதற்கு மேல் என்னால் வேறொன்றும் செய்ய முடியாது என்று. அவன் சொன்னான் அட முட்டாளே உன் சமுதாயம் நன்றாக இருந்தால் தான் உன் தனிப்பட்ட வாழ்கையும் நன்றாக இருக்கும் இன்று உன் சமுதாயம் நன்றாக இருக்கின்றதா என்று யோசித்து பார் என்றான்.

சமுதாயம் நன்றாக இருக்கின்றதா? தெரியவில்லை சற்றே ஆழமாக நான் செய்யும் கடவுள் சொன்னதின்படி என்னுடைய வாழ்கை நன்றாக இருந்தால் சமுதாயம் நன்றாக இருக்கின்றது என்று அர்த்தம்.. என்னுடைய வாழ்கை நன்றாக இருக்கின்றதா என்றால் இல்லை என்று சொல்லலாம். என்னுடைய வாழ்கை எப்படி சமுதாயத்தால் பாதிக்கடுகின்றது என்று யோசித்தேன்.

காலை சூரியன் உதிக்கும் முன்னரே எழுப்பி விடும் கொசு... காரணம் நான் இருக்கும் பகுதியில் ஆங்காங்கே குவிந்து கிடக்கும் குப்பை. சரி எழுந்ததும் தினசரி நாளிதழ் வாங்க வெளியே சென்றால் அங்கே ரோட்டில் ஓடும் சாக்கடை நீர், அதை தாண்டி சென்றால் அங்கே தெருவில் முதல் நாள் இரவு மது அருந்தி விட்டு அந்த போதை தெளியாமல் கொசு கடிப்பது கூட தெரியாமல் உறங்கி கொண்டிருக்கும் இந்திய குடி-மகன் (இதில் அந்த இடத்திலே ராத்திரி சாப்பிட்ட உணவை வாய் வழியாக மீதும் வெளியே தள்ளி விட்டு மீண்டும் உறக்கம் அட உனக்கும் ஒரு நாய்க்கும் என்ன வித்தியாசம்?) அனைத்தையும் தாண்டி கடைக்கு சென்றதும் அங்கே சூடாக புகையிலையை பற்ற வைத்து வருவோர் முகத்தில் சற்றும் யோசிக்காமல் ஊதிகொண்டிருந்தார் ஒருவர் அவரையும் தாண்டி நாளிதழை பெற்றுக்கொண்டு திரும்பி வந்தேன். ஒரு கடைக்கு செல்வதற்குள் இத்தனை அசிங்கங்களை தாண்டி செல்ல வேண்டி இருக்கிறது.

இங்கே நடந்த பல விஷயங்கள் நாம் தினமும் கடந்து வரும் விஷயங்கள் தான் இதை மாற்ற நாம் என்ன செய்தோம்? ஒன்றும் இல்லை அப்படி செய்து இருந்தால் இந்த சங்கடங்கள் நம்முடன் நம்முடைய தெருவில் குடிஇருந்திருகுமா?

... கடவுளுடன் என்னுடைய கேள்வி பதில் தொடரும்...

Eyewitness account of a Srilankan Tamilian - BBC Article

Eyewitness: 'I thought, I won't survive'

Almost 100,000 civilians have fled the war zone in northern Sri Lanka. Journalists are generally not given access to fleeing civilians. But Swaminathan Natarajan of the BBC's Tamil service managed to speak to Vinoo, a young mother who made this difficult journey and is now in a government-controlled camp in Vavuniya.

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We were staying near Puttumatalan hospital. On the night of the 20th there was heavy shelling. I thought, I won't survive. There was continuous shelling from midnight to the early morning.

Many civilians have made a harrowing journey from the war zone

During that time we took shelter inside a bunker. At around 6am, when I came out of the bunker, I saw people running all around amid shelling.

I also joined them. But soon I got injured in the legs and arms. My husband got injured in his head.

Some shrapnel is still inside his head. Still, we came out of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)-controlled area along with our son.

My mother and brother also started with us, but I don't know what happened to them. I have lost all contact with them.

The LTTE had built a bund and because of that structure it was difficult to move. People had to walk through neck-deep water.

Some children fell down in the water. It was difficult to cross that area. I don't know how to describe that.

We were trying to escape for the past month. We packed a few of our belongings and tried to escape at an opportune moment.

But we were prevented by the LTTE from escaping from the area.

Once we crossed over to the government-controlled areas we were checked in at a few checkpoints. They completely checked everything. They made a detailed account of the jewels I was wearing and took note of the cash I had with me.

After the checking we were kept in a military camp, in a place called Chalai. From there we were taken to a school. From there we were brought to Vavuniya by bus. Before reaching Vavuniya we were checked again in the Omantai checkpoint.

There has been no proper food for the past three days. Yesterday afternoon we got something to eat. Today, only in the late afternoon, we got food. But the amount is very little. We three shared a single meal.

I have not been given any clothes. So I am still wearing a dress which got wet and is covered by mud and dirt. I have not taken a bath for the past three days. It is very difficult here. My husband's bandage needs to be changed immediately.

In the LTTE-controlled areas life is very difficult. There is a huge shortage of food. There is heavy fighting and many are dying every day. Some days it is difficult to get a single meal. So we planned to escape to the government-controlled areas.

We were not bothered to take any of our belongings. We made three attempts in one month to escape but all of them were thwarted by the LTTE.

Now we have come to safety.

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This article clearly depicts LTTE .. so called organization that works for betterment of Tamil's lives are actually preventing Tamils from reaching a safe place. LTTEs want to survive at any cost hence they use human shields.

Those politicians who are using LTTE and Tamil's for their personal benefits should be sent to the war zone to live along with the tamils over there and then serve them instead of organizing fasts for name sake and trying to gain political mileage out of the suffering of innocent people.

A thoroughly modern recession

Dec 4th 2008 | WASHINGTON, DC
From The Economist print edition

The current recession fits the pattern of recent ones—but is likely to last longer

BUSINESS expansions, it used to be said, did not die of old age; they were murdered by the Federal Reserve. Yet with the official announcement on December 1st that America had entered recession last December, the traditional explanation for recessions is wearing awfully thin.

Though it may end up as one of the longest recessions, if not the longest, of the post-war era, the current episode still seems to have more in common with the mild downturns of 1990-91 and 2001 than the more wrenching affairs that came before. As Robert Hall, an economist at Stanford University, notes, earlier recessions, like that of the early 1980s, were caused by the Fed raising interest rates sharply to squelch emerging inflation and holding them high even once the recession began. In the current and past two recessions, interest rates never got very high and the Fed actually began to lower them before the contraction began. In a paper written a year ago*, Mr Hall described such apparently “causeless” recessions as perplexing.

Mr Hall is chairman of the committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research, an academic group that “officially” declares when recessions begin and end. He now says that the current episode fits the “modern recession” template not just in the lack of a significant monetary spark, but also in the divergence between employment and output. It used to be that full-time employment fell more slowly than output around recessions; since 1990 it has fallen as, or more, quickly. While employment has declined steadily since December, real GDP as of the third quarter was still above its level at the end of 2007.

By October employment was down 0.9%, or 1.2m, from the previous December. If consensus estimates are correct, the drop will have grown to 1.1% by November. That is close to the 0.9% average at the equivalent stage of the six previous downturns. But the drop in output has been milder, because firms nowadays are much quicker to cut employees when sales fall.

Although the recession has not yet been much deeper than its predecessors, it almost certainly will be by the time it is over. With banks still deleveraging and home prices still declining, consumer spending will remain under pressure for many months yet. Business investment is pulling back sharply: orders for capital goods sank 4% in October and commercial construction is about to feel the effects of the collapse in the market for commercial mortgage-backed securities. Exports will be pummelled by the global recession and the stronger dollar. Many economists expect the recession to continue until mid-2009, which would be longer than those of 1973-75 and 1981-82. Moreover, employment is likely to keep falling after the official end of the recession.

So if the Fed did not cause this and the past two recessions, what did? In his paper of a year ago, Mr Hall called them “mystery shocks”. Now, though, there’s less of a mystery; in both 2001 and now one sector experienced dramatic over-investment (technology then, housing now). The paradoxical truth may be that the less volatile business cycle (until recently) encouraged investors to take bigger risks with borrowed money, driving asset prices too high and ending in damaging busts. Some would still blame the Fed, for not deflating asset bubbles with higher interest rates. In a recent speech, Donald Kohn, the vice-chairman of the Fed, rejected that charge but pleaded guilty to a lesser one: by better controlling inflation, central banks helped moderate the business cycle, which bred investor complacency. They thus “may have accidentally contributed to the current crisis.” The Fed may no longer be the prime suspect for causing recessions; but it is still an accessory to the crime.

*“How much do we understand about the modern recession?” By Robert Hall, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 2, 2007.

Desia Paadhukaapu Kazhagam - A party by Freedom Fighters

A Statement by President of Desia Paadhukaapu Kazhagam - Mr. V. Kalyanam

It appears that there is fear in the minds of many people that in the absence of money power and muscle power , it would be impossible to win elections in the present scenario. But, we are yet to give a try for honest people to get into the electoral fray and provide an opportunity to the citizens to choose them amongst the various contenders. Perhaps, if concerned and honest people contest elections, people may support them and provide some surprise to the politicians who seem to think that only manoveuring and corrupt practices and alliances even if unprincipled can win elections.

The important fact is that when concerned people swearing by Gandhian ideology in personal and public life would contest in the elections, it would give a sense of hope that the tide of corruption and dishonest dealings would be stemmed. The dishonest practices would be challenged even if they would not be defeated totally and immediately.

Concerned persons like Mahatma Gandhi and Jayaprakash Narain were able to do positive things and create an atmosphere that gave confidence to the people about probity in public life. But, today, the intellectuals and concerned people largely remain as armchair critics. This appears to be the real issue.

With the objective of restoring Gandhian ideology as the central theme in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, Mr. V. Kalyanam, Personal Secretary to Mahatma Gandhi has come forward to give a lead to the nation by supporting good and committed citizens, capable of meeting the Gandhian standards in private and public life to contest the elections.

Mr. V. Kalyanam, aged 87 who served Mahatma Gandhi as Personal Secretary during the last five years of Gandhiji’s life and who had the opportunity to observe and work closely with this great soul, feels that enough is enough and struggle to restore Gandhian standards in Indian public life cannot any more be delayed.

DESIA PAADHUKAAPPU KAZHAGAM will contest the election in South Chennai and Central Chennai Parliamentary constituency . Mr. N.S. Venkataraman, a Chemical Engineer by profession and Founder Trustee of Nandini Voice For The Deprived, a Chennai based NGO serving the cause of deprived and downtrodden , will contest from South Chennai Parliamentary constituency. Mr. Niranjan Kasthuri, a management consultant will be the candidate in the Central Chennai Parliamentary Constituency.

The message above was released by Mr. V. Kalyanam, Personal Secretary to Mahatma Gandhi .

DESIA PAADHUKAAPPU KAZHAGAM
UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF MR. V. KALYANAM,
PERSONAL SECRETARY TO MAHATMA GANDHI WILL CONTEST IN THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS, TO RESTORE GANDHIAN IDEOLOGY IN THE NATIONAL AGENDA

Desia Paadhukaappu Kazhagam ,a registered political party has decided to contest in the forthcoming parliamentary elections under the leadership of Mr. V. Kalyanam , personal secretary to Mahatma Gandhi.

TEN PROMISES OF DESIA PAADHUKAAPPU KAZHAGAM

1. Restore political decency

The standards of politics and political debate have considerably deteriorated in the country during the last few years. There is urgent need to elevate the country’s politics to Gandhian standards, where the political opponents argue but do not hate and destroy each other.

We will conduct our campaign at least expense and with great dignity and under no circumstances , we will use offensive or vituperative language against anyone . We will contribute to bring down the political temperature in the country drastically by our good will towards one and all, so that the atmosphere of fear and violence will go away once for all.

2. Strive for clean politics in India.

The countrymen feel that adequate laws do not exist to prevent corrupt people /criminals from contesting in the elections for Assembly, Parliament and Civic bodies.

We will demand that a law should be enacted that would prevent a person from contesting in the election , if the case against him for corruption or criminal acts would be admitted in the court for hearing.

3. Demand prohibition in the entire country :

Mahatma Gandhi stressed on the importance of prohibition policy in the country. With the widespread liquor consumption amongst the citizens now increasing at alarming rate, the moral fabric of the country is getting distorted, apart from the economics of poor families being wiped out,.

The sufferings of the women have increased multifold.We will demand that prohibition policy should be implemented in the entire country immediately, whatever may the loss of income to the exchequer.

4. Quality education for children from lower income group

The children from lower income group start their life with great disadvantages, since quality education is often denied to them. The government is unable to provide quality education in the government owned schools .On the other hand, private sector is able to do a better job in providing quality education.

We will demand that the government should issue order reserving atleast 20% seats in private educational institutions for students from lower income group, irrespective of caste and community, who should be provided free education in such private institutions. Government can extend subsidy support to such private schools for admitting students from lower income group.

5. Employment generation for lower income group :

30% of the Indian population (more than 30 crore people) are surviving in below poverty line. This means that they would not know as to where their next meal would come from. Most of such poverty stricken people live in villages and rural areas , where adequate opportunities do not exist for employment or skill acquisition.

We will demand that Gram Swaraj concept should be promoted ,by encouraging self contained villages, which is possible by encouraging the setting up of tiny and small employment generation activities in tune with the prevailing situation in particular areas. Skill acquisition opportunities for such activities must be built in rural areas around the country. The services of NGOs should be utilized in a big way so that there would be emotional participation of people in such activities.

6. Adoption of visually impaired women :

There are 17 lakhs of disabled people in Tamil Nadu alone , consisting of orthopaedically disabled, hearing / speech impaired, visually impaired and mentally ill persons. Of this , around 9.5 lakhs are visually impaired persons with around 4.5 lakhs of visually impaired women amongst them. 90% of these people belong to lower income group.

We will demand that the government should adopt the visually impaired women in the lower income group and treat their welfare as the total responsibility of the government. Such visually impaired women should be given free accommodation and food life long by constructing hostels around the country.

7. Reservation policy for disabled persons :

Around 3% of the national population consist of disabled people and this is more than the population of several countries in the world. The disabled people suffer from huge unemployment problem.

We will demand that the job reservation of the disabled people in government departments and public sector undertakings should be fully implemented.

We will demand that compulsory reservation of jobs for disabled people in private sector should be enforced.

8. Ban on conversion of agricultural land for non agricultural purposes :

India is an agriculture oriented country and we should be proud of this . Thousands of areas of land meant for agriculture are now being converted for industrial and housing activities, which is detrimental to the progress of agriculture economy and is creating unemployment in the rural areas. This would also reduce the production of agricultural products and destabilize the national economy.

We will demand total ban on the conversion of agriculture land for industrial and housing purposes. We will demand for recognition of the fact that strong growth of agriculture by technological measures would contribute to the growth of national economy and welfare of the people,much more than the use of such land for industrial and housing purposes.

9. Counter productive globalization measures

In the name of globalization and liberalization, the multi national companies are being encouraged to dump their consumer products in the country, which are affecting the native production units particularly in the tiny and small scale sector. Allowing multi national companies to get into retail marketing outlets is totally unnecessary and it is affecting the thousands of small scale retailers in the country.

We will demand that the globalisation measures should be selective and appropriate to the need of the country. We will oppose mindless globalization with the objective of attracting overseas investments without considering the national needs.

10. Link the national rivers :

We will demand that the national rivers should be linked, so that it would lead to avoidance of wastage of water and equi distribution of water amongst all states. This will also lead to huge employment generation in the next ten to fifteen years and contribute to the creation of all round prosperity. This will also promote nationalism , which will be stretched beyond mere saluting the national flag and standing in attention when national anthem would be sung .

I beleive this is a change that some people are expecting to happen. There is an alternative to all the existing kazhagams which engage in mere hate politics and only en-cash upon the opportunities found to improve people's lives and living conditions rather than actually implementing some schemes. "Educated people should think before voting this time"

Some Jokes

Cannibals in an IT Company...

Five cannibals get appointed as programmers in an IT company. During the welcoming ceremony the boss says: "You`re all part of our team now. You can earn good money here, and you can go to the company canteen for something to eat. So don`t trouble the other employees.
The cannibals promise not to trouble the other employees.
A month later the boss returns and says: "You`re all working very hard, and I`m very satisfied with all of you. However, one of our cleaners has disappeared. Do any of you know what happened to her?"
The cannibals disavowed all knowledge of the missing cleaner.
After the boss left, the leader of the cannibals says to the others: "Which of you idiots ate the cleaner?"
A hand raises hesitantly, to which the leader of the cannibals says: "You fool! For four weeks we`ve been eating Team Leaders, Managers, and Project Managers so no one would notice anything, and you have to go and eat the cleaner!"


Intelligent Maid

Maid: What do you want, sir?
Visitor: I want to see your master.
Maid: What s your business, please?
Visitor: There is a bill...
Maid: Ah! He left yesterday for his village...
Visitor: Which I have to pay him...
Maid: And he returned this morning.


Laloo's Defeat Aftermath


A major traffic jam was preventing people from moving forward.
A motorist shouted out wanting to know what was happening.
A guy from the front replied, "Well at the traffic crossing Laloo Yadav is sprawled across the road.
He is refusing to move from there!"
"But why?"
"He has lost the elections and will now surely be convicted for corruption and will have to pay lakhs of Rupess as fines!
He is threatening to douse himself with kerosene and set himself on fire if people didn`t contribute with money to help him pay the fine!"
"So how much has been collected so far?"
"Six litres!"

Why kill a blonde?

George W. Bush and Colin Powell are sitting in a bar. A guy walks in and asks the barman, "Isn`t that Bush and Powell sitting over there?"
The barman says, "Yep, that`s them."
So the guy walks over and says, "Wow, this is a real honor. What are you guys doing in here?"
Bush says, "We`re planning World War III".
And the guy says, "Really? What`s going to happen?"
Bush says, "Well, we`re going to kill 140 million Iraqis and one intelligent blonde.
The guy exclaimed, "Intelligent blonde!! Why kill a blonde?"
Bush turns to Powell, punches him on the shoulder and says, "See, smart ass?! I told you no one would worry about the 140 million Iraqis!"

How to ask your boss for a salary increase

One day an employee sends a letter to his boss asking for an increase in his salary!!!




Dear Bo$$


In thi$ life, we all need $ome thing mo$t de$perately.


I think you $hould be under$tanding of the need$ of u$ worker$ who have given $o much $upport including $weat and $ervice to your company




I am $ure you will gue$$ what I mean and re$pond $oon


Your$ $incerely

Norman $oh





The next day, the employee received this letter of reply




Dear NOrman


I kNOw you have been working very hard. NOwadays, NOthing much has changed. You must have NOticed that our company is NOt doing NOticeably well as yet


NOw the newspaper are saying the world`s leading ecoNOmists are NOt sure if the United States may go into aNOther recession. After the NOvember presidential elections things may turn bad


I have NOthing more to add NOw. You kNOw what I mean


Yours truly

Manager

20 Year Guarantee


My friend Ada was slowly recovering from a heart attack.

"Doctor," she pleaded with her cardiologist, "you must keep me alive for the next two years. I want to attend my first grandchild's bar mitzvah."

"We'll try," he replied compassionately.

In due course Ada gratefully attended the festive rite of passage.

Some time later she again spoke to her doctor. "My granddaughter is to be married in 18 months. Please help me to be able to attend her wedding."

"We'll do our best," he replied.

And my friend happily attended her granddaughter's wedding.

Ten years passed. Ada visited her cardiologist regularly and followed his instructions religiously. One morning she called him. "Doctor," she began, "I'm feeling fine, but I have another request to ask of you:

Remember how you saw me through to my grandson's bar mitzvah?"

"Yes."

"And later how you helped me attend my granddaughter's wedding?"

"Yes."

"Well, as you know I've just celebrated my 80th birthday. And I just bought myself a new mattress."

"Yes?"

"It has a 20-year guarantee..."