Eid Mubarak

Peace prevailed everywhere! If there was any breach, it was at nature's own accord. Torrential rains and land slides were the only reasons to keep peace aside for a while. People were always at peace. This is the Kodai I remember.

At Kodai, we had more festivels to celebrate than any religious group. Be it New Year or Pongal or Ramadhan or Diwali or Christmas or Bakrid, the entire town would celebrate. It was not a town belonging to any nation, but a commune embracing all faiths and respecting people of all faiths. For us, the world beyond Kodai never existed.

But for the marriages, the entire population seemed related. Hindus and Muslims calling each other rightfully as cousins (mama - mappillai) and same goes with Christians. This relationship spanned across generations. We lived as families. Infact, my dad and my uncle were named with a proper hindu names by a muslim. To this day, even after four generations we maintain and respects the bonding our forefathers had established.

In Kodai, no matter which belief you follow, you are sure to devour Biryani on the Ramadan day, enjoy a pastry and hoist a star on your roof on the christmas day and burst some fireworks with a sumptuous feast on the Diwali Day. No matter what happens elsewhere, the town with its people was in perfect harmony.

This had been the case till Kodai was turned into a tourist destination and started accomodating more settlers from the plains. Then, the Ganesh Pooja processions, Babri Masjid Agitations and the impact of all that happens beyond its borders started creeping in. Politics took an upperhand over peace.

In spite of these effects, I'm sure they still continue to live as families, in our old ways. Though Kodai and I have abandoned each other for nearly a decade, the reason I rememberd her today is because of my muslim friends and their Ramadan Day's scrumptious Biryani.

Image Note: A Mosque sits brotherly next to a Church and an Amman Temple

A Fortunate Student, I am !

I am very fortunate to have been in a boarding school for 8 long years with teachers who opened up our young minds, showing them the wonders of the intellect and the miracle of being able to think for ourselves. They exercised our mental muscles, stretching and strengthening, so that we can make challenging decisions, find our way in the world, and become independent. They were our parents, guide and friend with an overflowing heart. When I woke up, I realized that, it is Teacher’s Day in India and thought I should extend my gratitude.

Nirmala Sam Babu: My first teacher was Nirmala madam. It was when I joined a pre-school and I left the school after a year. The last time I met her, she told me I was her first student. She is a highly inspiring and a friendly person. Now that she runs her own school, St.Peters at Kodaikanal, one of the prestigious institutions in Kodaikanal.

Sheela Cherian – She is the first teacher anyone who joins Sainik School, Amaravathinagar would encounter. She taught table manners to all the students, on the day of induction. Things like, How to eat using a spoon and a fork… How to spread butter and jam with the knife… How to eat boiled egg… and most importantly, how to eat with our mouth closed. These lessons will stay with any of her students till the grave. Owing to her motherly attitude and love, she preferred to teach English to the sub-juniors classes. For certain, everyone in her class will develop an excellent hand-writing skills and the flow of language.

P.T.Cherian (PTC) - P.T. Cherian and Sheela Cherian are kind of made for each other couples. They joined the school when it was started in 1962 and after a few years, fell (rose) in love and got married. He taught Physics for the senior classes. Mostly, he treated everyone as adults and that earned him reverence amongst the students of all classes. Though he is no longer with us, the majestic way he carried himself as the longest served senior master, makes him an indisputable icon in hearts of the Amaravian family.

George Joseph (GJ) – He was heavily built, tall, high energetic and full of fun. When he used to teach Gulliver in Lilliput, we would be exactly like poor Lilliputians and he like the gigantic Gulliver. Be it prose or poem, he used to perform all sorts of animation to enact the scene and make it lively. It will be hilarious, when he enacts the baby in a poem like “Trot trot the baby goes; Trot trot to town….

Devanasamy (ADS) – The delight of watching The Story of India or History Channel or the pleasure of reading historical books, I owe to him. His many ways like pinching the arm in varied degrees of excruciating pain, would put any history lesson into the core of our heads. We have always admired the way he carried himself. The gleam of his shoes and belt, the whiteness of his shirts and the perfect folding of the pants are things I get reminded of when I wear a formal.

R Sreenivasan (RSV) – We can learn sophistication from RSV. He taught us geography and he was also my house master when I was a prefect. He left the school after he was appointed as the principal of Navodya Vidhyalaya

I.L.Fernandez (ILF) – A care-free and a simple person, who never carried the book to the class room. He taught us physics when we were in senior classes. Rarely writes on the board, but he will ensure that the lessons are written on our heads. Apart from Physics, we learnt mutual respect from ILF.

P.Chandran (PC) – A rare teacher and a genius who sometimes contemplates in his own world. If I were given a chance go back to the school, I love to sit in his class. He taught us Quantum Mechanics and always emphasized relating the theories to the real-world and the relative world. He is the first person who revealed the harmony of physics and meta-physics to us. Even today, when I am stuck grasping some complex relations, I think of him. He was my house master during the last 2 years of my school and made me the house captain too. In spite all the pranks I played and the difficult situations I created for him, he was very understanding and helpful.

A.Santiago Jayaraj Kumar (ASJK) – An idealistic, versatile and dynamic teacher. He taught us English. Though he treated all the students as equals, he always knew where and how to draw the thin line. I owe him, my voracious reading habits and my appetite for books. Be it poem or prose, the books never limited him from extending to the origional text and the contemporary writings too. For example, we had a lesson which was the condensed form of the book "To Sir, With Love" by E.R. Braithwaite. He used the origional book and also ensured that the school screened the 1967 classic "To Sir, With Love". On another occassion, there was a lesson called "The Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag" by Jim Corbett. Apart from teaching from the original book, he introduced Kenneth Anderson, who has written similar books. Had I not been in his class, the passion to read Saki, Ruskin Bond, James Herriot, Leo Lolstoy, Anton Chekov... and a numerous authors wouldn't have occured to me.

KR M Karuppaiah (KRMK) – He was my guardian angel :) He taught us Organic Chemistry. Though many guys scored well in the subject, for some reason, I could never understand it except for one formula C2H5OH.

V Govid Samy (VGS): A jovial and a carefree person, who always go by the books. He always bridges the student-teacher relationship to ensure comfort and was like a friend to us. He taught us Chemistry and was also our NCC master for the Naval Wing. I still remember my first day at the Naval Wing, when a guy banged his foot to make a halt while marching, he shouted “ Hey.. what happened and why are you getting tensed man? You will be standing on a ship and if you bang like this, the ship will sink”. He ordered that no one should behave over-smart and do fast actions during the drill. From that day, every drill will be fun-filled slow-motion gestures. He was also our ship modelling instructor.

King Kristo Kumar (KKK): A highly energetic and a loving person. He taught us Math with such an ease that, it would be like learning some poem.

D Mariarajan (DMR): A bold, rebellious and aggressive teacher. He was more than a friend to me. We had similar taste for songs and I got the habit of collecting sings from him. He taught us Math in junior classes.

S Saradhamani (SSM) - She was a very loving and a next generation teacher. She taught us english in junior classes and my passion for English as a language can be attributed to her. I still remember how we were almost in tears during her last class, when she left the school. To this day, I have not seen a hand-writing that is as beautiful as hers. It's perfect calligraphy. The 5 page autograph she wrote to me is a treasured possession. She is a singer too :)

M N Santhanakrishnan (MNSK): A perfectionist and the keeper of the morality. MNSK taught us Tamil and he had a peculiar way of blending humor and complex grammatical theories. Recently, he was awarded the best teacher award by the President of India.

V Charles (VC): An always smiling personality, who replaced CSG as the Biology Master when we were in 9th . Though I was not comfortable with biology as a subject, I loved attending his classes. It will be one class where we can sleep on the desk without being bothered or skip and go to the library without being questioned. We had enough freedom while he is in the class. We were supposed to do a project in 12th class and I planned to do “Fermentation of grapes by yeast”. When I told this with apprehension, he was genuinely happy for coming up with a novel idea. I was brewing black and white wines under the cot, one day he surprised me with the jamoon wine. He always taught us in our own way.

After the school, though life taught me all things, great and small, the lessons I learnt from these revered souls during the formative years laid the foundation for all that is good in me. All my good deeds I owe to them; all the short-comings are mine.

All in the name of Mahatma

Recently, I had been to a pub in Chennai with a friend. After a couple Jacks on the rocks, we decided to leave and the waiter produced the bill. My friend took his wallet and pulled out a couple of 500 rupees notes and I saw Gandhiji staring into my eyes. Swiftly, I took out my credit card and asked my friend to take his wallet off my sight. Since then, I have been wondering, in a country envisioned to be built on the principle of Mahatma, we do every forbidden act using the currency printed with his face on it. Isn't there a be better way to remember and pay our respects to the Mahatma?

Now, the government has invented yet another way to pay its respects to the father of our nation. Smoking in public will be strictly banned from 02-Oct-08, the birth anniversary of Mahatma. Don’t these guys have better things to associate Mahatma with? The act also empowers school principals, Postmen, Railway Stationmasters, even your boss to book you, if you're caught smoking in a public place. How ridiculous!

When you want to ban something, why do you allow its root cause to exist? Fear of loosing revenue? You give something and set the rules exactly opposite to it for your own amusement and pride. You allow production and selling of cigarettes and set a rule not to smoke in the public. It’s like Adam’s apple. Look! But don’t touch. Touch! But don’t taste. Taste! But don’t swallow

Statutory Warning: Smoking Cigarettes and Drinking Alcohol is injurious to health

Courage

There is so much lusting for loftiness. There are so many convulsions of the ambitions. There are numerous ways to be crooked, deceptive, corrupt, treacherous, perfidious and all this and more for a menial living. Alas! This coarsely malignant greed is misunderstood as courage in this corporate world. The true courage really is, to be out of this rabble, from all those bawlers and scribe-blowflies, from the trader-stench, the ambition-fidgeting, the bad breath. It doesn’t take courage to be successful. It takes courage to be ourselves, to be unambitious, to smile at our defeat, to accept ourselves, to appreciate and acknowledge others, to commit mistakes, to surrender and to move on with an indifference to success and failure. It is fear that creates ambition, success, strength, power, aggression etc.

I am reminded of a beautiful parable.

A sannyasin by the name of Dandani existed in the days when Alexander was invading India. Alexander had be requested by his friends to bring a sannyasin when he returned from India..

They said, “Bring a sannyasin. You will bring many things but don't forget to bring a sannyasin; we would like to see the phenomenon of sannyas, what it is, what exactly a sannyasin is”

Alexander was so engaged in war and struggle and fight that he almost forgot about it, but when he was going back, just on the boundary of India, he suddenly remembered. He was leaving the last village so he asked his soldiers to go into the village and inquire if there was a Sannyasin around there somewhere. By accident Dandani was there in the village, by the riverside.

The villagers told, “You have asked at the right time and you have come at the right time. There are many sannyasins but a real sannyasin is always rare, but he is here now. You can have darshan, you can go and visit him.”

Alexander laughed and said, “I'm not here to have darshan, my soldiers will go and fetch him. I will take him back to my capital, to my country.”

The villagers said, “It won't be so easy.”

Alexander could not believe it -- what difficulty could there be? He had conquered emperors, great kings, so with a beggar, a sannyasin, what difficulty could there be? His soldiers went to see Dandani who was standing naked on the bank of the river.

They said, “Alexander, the Great, invites you to accompany him to his country. All comforts will be provided, whatsoever you need, will be provided. You will be a royal guest.”

The naked fakir laughed and said, “You go and tell your master that a man who calls himself great cannot be great. And nobody can take me anywhere -- a sannyasin moves like a cloud, in total freedom. I am not enslaved to anybody.”

They said. “You must have heard about Alexander, he is a dangerous man. If you say no to him, he won’t listen, he will simply cut your head off.”

The sannyasin said, “You had better bring your master here, maybe he can understand what I am saying”

The soldiers went back and told Alexander, “He is a rare man, luminous; there is something of the unknown around him. He is naked, but you don't feel in his presence that he is naked -- later on you remember. He is so powerful that in his presence you simply forget the whole world. He is magnetic, and a great silence surrounds him and the whole area feels as if it is delighting in the man. He is worth seeing, but there seems to be trouble ahead for him, the poor man, because he says that nobody can take him anywhere, that he is nobody's slave”

Alexander came to see him with a naked sword in his hand.

The sannyasin laughed and said, “Put down your sword, it is useless here. Put it back in the sheath, it is useless here because you can cut only my body, and that I left long ago. Your sword cannot cut me, so put it back, don't be childish.”

And it is said that that was the first time that Alexander followed somebody else's order; just because of the very presence of the man he couldn't remember who he was.

Dandani had actually said, “This is my head, you can cut it off. When the head falls, you will see it falling on the sand and I will also see it falling on the sand, because I am not my body. I am a witness.”

He put his sword back in the sheath and said, “I have never come across such a beautiful man.”

Alexander had to report to his friends saying, “There were sannyasins that I could have brought but they were not sannyasins. Then, I came across a man who was really something rare, and you have heard rightly, this flower is rare, but nobody can force him, because he is not afraid of death. When a person is not afraid of death how can you force him to do anything?”

“It is difficult to kill a man who is ready to die, it is meaningless to kill him. You can kill a person who fights, then there is some meaning in killing, but you can't kill a man who is ready and who is saying: This is my head, you can cut it off.”

Whom do you think is courageous? Alexander or Dandani?

Forest Love

All the features make forests beautiful;
The lush green bushes and the succinct shoots;
The Luxuriant cover and the Dexterous leaves;
The diverse vegetation with its racy animals;
The meandering streams and the ornamental ponds;
The peeping sun and the veiling clouds;
The soothing moon and the whispering stars;
The source of life and the sign of fertility;
Let all this and more live to see you die,
For the generations to come shall forget,
How monstrous you were!

Awareness Ads

I recieved an interesting forward from one of my beloved friend, Yaseer Arafat Mohamed Sultan Haroon Bathusha alias Batcha- thinking.......??? This is the name of just one person and not many people.

The forward consisted of a collection of ads creating awareness on some of the social maladies haunting us. Though they speak for themselves, I have added my thoughts for each of the picture. Feel free to share your thoughts either as a comment or as a tag post in your blog.

Chewing tobacco causes mouth cancer

An impotent mind;
Knows how to start easily;
Knows not how to stop................

Drive Safely

An arrogant mind;
knows its thrshold well;
Knows not how to limit.........

Most child abuse is committed by the person a child trusts

A wicked mind;
Knows how to exploit everything;
Doesn't care even it's a bud.

Save Girl Child

An ignorant mind;
Knows only to reject its half;
Knows not, the precious is lost.

The next time you waste food, think!

A greedy mind
Knows to amass and waste;
Knows not how to share.

Children learn fast. Don't fight at home

A stupid mind;
Knows how to disrespect;
Knows not, it is suicidal.

Adopt. You never know who you'll bring home

A noble mind;
Knows to embrace all;
Knows not, how to refuse.

Bathroom Reading

It all started when I acquired the never-touch-a-book-but-for-exams attitude during the senior school days, when everything else except for studies mattered much. Who would anyway want to be bothered by text books, when more important and interesting enterprises like inter-house competitions, seniority politics, outings, escapade to the latest movie, newly published novels etc are always in the pipe-line. Text books were considered as one of those pernicious things that deserved to be punished by leaving them to rot and collect enough dust till the desk becomes a sanctuary for book mites. A week before the examination is when these books will find a way-out, the most hated ones illegibly perforated by the mites owing to the neglected stay in the abyssal corners of the desk, while the favored ones as fresh as when it was printed owing to the ample breathing space they enjoyed in the upper deck of the desk.

With just one week available to read through the favored and hated subjects with equal diligence, every second was valued, including the few minutes at the lavatory. These are the days when the books will be glued to us, be it lavatory or mess or assembly hall or roll-call or in the squad. Every possible routine like games, P.T, NCC and any activity that comes in the way of studies will be bunked to ensure we make the best use of this critical week. Sometimes, I used to wonder, why we should suffer during these exam days when we don’t really care about the exams. After one such attempt, I realized that we can play all the pranks only if we clear the exams by some means. The golden rule is "The more you exert in this period, the more space you have for yourself after the exams, of course, till the next I exam." This cycle never changes. At instances, when a book turns out to be greek and latin, we would decide on an impromptu attempt, funny enough to have Saki find his way into the history paper or renaissance replacing mutation in the biology paper. I’m digressing too much. L.et's find our way back to the subject

Like I mentioned before, the text books always accompanied us to the lavatory during these days. After the exams, this practice continued and the text books were replaced by Reader’s Digest, the only subscription we were allowed. The point is, like every habit formation should have a logical start, the bathroom reading or more precisely, lavatorial reading as a habit started during the exam prep marathon. This behaviour was never considered as anti-social in the dorms and irrespective of the seniority level every one were for it. A practice that has passed on from generations to generations as a legacy.

In spite of the wide acceptance, once when I came out of the bathroom carrying a book, I was caught red-handed by the duty master known for his moral preaching.

He bawled “ Were you sh***ing or reading?”
I said “ Sir, I was doing both?” and I kept mum.
He was staring for a moment, of course with his mouth wide open and said, “ In the future, you will only be fit for book keeping in a public toilet” and dismissed me.

This didn’t bother me much, as this morality has already blessed most of us to become many things like nomad, cow boy, wine maker, snake charmer, eater of the dead, street vendor and what not.

The practice continued even after I left the school and even at home. When it came to renovating the house, I instructed the carpenter to fix a book rack in one of the bathrooms and he was confused. Yes. It is highly important to ensure good lighting, closet with a comfortable seating, floor-to-wall white tiling to ensure hygiene, airflow and ventilation even when you are not one.

Reader’s Digest being a magazine with topics of varied flavors and contents of varied types like essays, short stories, jokes, cartoons, interviews with politics and gossips excluded has always been my choice for the bathroom reading. There are some criteria for a good bathroom book. Ideally the books has to be small and self-contained like, Collection of Short-stories, Poems, Anecdotes, Parables, Jokes and some magazine would make an ideal bathroom book. It should be like something you can read till the end in one-sitting, so that, you don’t need to carry the book outside. Big Volums, Serious ones, Political stuff and Gossips should be avoided.

It was tough when I visited a friend’s place where there were no books to carry. When I complained him about constipation due to the lack of a book, he gave a big smile and drew a Reader’s Digest buried under his mattress. I understood that it is forbidden practice in his house. However, this incident made me to think that, I am addicted to this silly indulgence. I decided to consult some friends before exploring the possibility of any psychological or physiological diagnosis. After a considerable survey, I was amazed to find that most carry a book; one guy carries his laptop; few carry their cell phones, some are hooked to their iPod or MP3 players and so on. It was proven beyond the fact that it is very common to be bathroom reader. Apart from saving a few significant minutes everyday, it sets the day in a good rhythm. Some habits accompany us till the grave and this is one such habit/

Happy Reading!

Warning: There is nothing wrong in being a bathroom reader, but never get indulged in the book and stay longer than needed in the bacthroom. You might end up carrying Hemorrhoids (Piles) all your life.

Images courtesy: Google