when my first granddaughter was struggling to take the first step

From my dateless diary(21 January 2007):

Yesterday was your parents’ marriage anniversary

Seven years have rolled on since they tied the knot

You are here now as a one year old precious daughter,

As a signature to their life, dreams and modest ambition.

Having crossed the first year there is still some critical difficulty

In taking the first step freely.

We are glad to see you standing for a minute

Without the support of a sofa reassuring us,

You  are a slow starter but a keen observer of events

 Taking place in close vicinity.

You close relationship with bubblu is puzzling

It is more subtle ,tender and more warm.

You want all our care, attention and concern.

If only a joint family system had been there,

You would have profited more when love was

Unleashed aand paraded under the common roof.

Your tendency to go out and see things and people,

And breathe the fresh air floating outside

All revealed through the body language and agitated laughter

Gladden me and make me wonder about the

Assertive girl wanting to grow with wings so as to enjoy

The Smell and  the sounds of the vast  expanse of the universe

to grow with wings

while Akshaya was born

Right from  the start there were apprehensions  and fear

But also hopes and feverish prayers for your

Safe arrival and survival as the first representative of

Prof Duraisamy Sambandhan’s family tree

Unbounded faith in the supreme and the goodness of the universe

Always promised and reassured me that

Everything  would go well and yet

As a doubting Thomas and fragile  human

We had butterflies in our stomach and the

Atmosphere was bristling with uncertainties.

Only yesterday I was at your side

Touching your  toes and fingers,

Providing the warmth to your tender body,

But all the time observing the pain written on face

And the raising and lowering of the chest and abdomen.

I  know you would overcome all  the hurdles

And breathe the fresh air outside and also

The air of freedom and aggressive independence,

And later full autonomy in thinking,

Making all of us cry and laugh with joy.

Ruminating over my first grand daughter' birth Part 1

Following is from my dateless diary(end December 2005) when I wrote a few lines for my first granddaughter.I found out this in the jungle of files just now.

For long  I have been not able to read or write as I would  like to .
The entire Tamil region has been fully flooded,
But  I was floating on drought of publication,
Alas, I am unable to resolve the puzzle of my academic inactivity.

When the Youngest stepped into sweet twenties,
And the Eldest was celebrating her birthday with pregnancy
That is when you were in your Mother's womb
And the Teacher /daughter  had her post-marriage birthday
I could not write and record it for my pleasure and your reading in future.

Let me pool my limited energy and meditate upon you.
You had your own struggle to make an exit
And even after you were taken out with the warmth of  Doctor's hands'
Your struggle continued and you must have endured them with stoic smile.


Not being aware of your discomfort and the danger zone into which you have fallen into
Unmindful of all  the turmoil and your suffering, I was at work
Discharging my administrative duty of conducting the Program me committee meeting

Why do I write

I am more of a student and teacher in Economics than an accomplished writer.I did write for a long time in the prestigious hindu BusinessLine and my indebtedness will remain for ever to Mr.J Srinivasan who is now in the top ecohlen of the paper.Why I do write?An  academician has a resposibilty to articulate and transmit what he has learnt.I have a child in me refusing to die.and hyperactive to learn and question.And also share what I enjoy or suffer from.It is a kind of shared growth.
Once a professor was asked why did he speak and pat came the reply:"I want to hear my voice again and again.Does this logic apply to writing also?Most of will not answer in the negative.
for me reading and later writing have become more intimate and spontaneous -a kind of life giving exercise and good habit like breathing.Are we conscious of the heart beat or the silent music of breathing with a rhythm of differential variation not noticed by us.
We enjoy good  food not for  getting energy alone The same is the case with bath.Its refreshing effect on body and mind can be only felt and not expressed.Everyone of our daily activities is an act of celebration and a demonstration  that we actually live.Falling in love with the right person dictated by fate and living with books are a gift to  be cherished .Not everyone is lucky in this regard.
I have read about a woman not formally literate or belonging to the affluent class becoming a successful Blog writer.

Is she a demon or deer or the owner blissful and soothing eyes-all combined into one

Having underlined that her eyes have the magnetic power to eat away the very life force, Valluvar is very much feeling embarrassed that he has not told the full truth. It is alright that like the lord of devil or death she is virtually killing him by her penetrating and powerful eyes but the million dollar question is ;Is she not tender soft , innocent and hence should he not be faithful in portraying her with all these attributes. Shall we listen to our saint?

Is she a demon or devil(in taking away my life) or

The possessor of the merciful and graceful eyes

In the act of exchanging love

And nursing and nurturing the relationship, or

Is she a deer/doe grossly bemused and bewildered?

Oh,all these three dimensions are alternatively found

In the gaze and glance of this beautiful damsel.

A single stare contains all the three aspects.

In Her Battling Eyes reside the lord of Death

All of us born into this world are destined to die one day. When and how that death will embrace no one knows. But that is the only certainty of life. How will the death experience look like and what happens thereafter is also a mystery. Valluvar in a lighter vein says and suggests how that Lord Of Death (LOD) would resemble. Kindly note that he indulges in poetic exaggeration:

Until I saw her (our heroine).I hardly had

Any notion about how the lord of death

Would look like to the ordinary mortals

And some would prefer to call  him as devil of death

.

After seeing her I know full well that

He resides in her battling eyes only,

Her powerful eyes have hijacked me,

And my life. 

Her reciprocal glance is akin to a vast army attacking me

The girl is an embodiment of beauty of infinite variety. The enchanting eye of the girl occupies pride of place in deconstructing the drama of love life. Let us listen to the mischief done by the captivating eye:

She saw me and I also glanced at her,

This exchange of eye contact,

Her reciprocal counter look   by itself was heavy

As it was like an army sufficiently strong enough

To bombard me and knock me out ;

It was not merely her look,

Her penetrating eyes that pierced into my heart,

But also her other assets 

A well proportioned physical structure attack me.

Bemused and Blidfolded By the Intoxicating beauty of the Girl

Having commented on the pros and cons of cyber intimacy let me againevisit the true love as depicted in Kural ,the ancient Tamil text dealing with all aspects of life. There are many wonderful translations of the said classic and yet at 60 plus I have self imposed a task of doing a simple translation and interpretation of this treasure - the infinite variety of which cannot be captured by words.

My new found love for kural is meant for going back to the roots of my language which for all intent and purpose had  been forgotten by the force of teaching Economics in English Language for more than four decades.I know I am not exploiting my full potentials of my subject but I am also aware that myself imposed commitment is also equally important for I can work differently.

IN the next few days I will dwell upon the perceived all encompassing beauty of a girl.

Who is this incredibly charming and pleasantly beautiful girl ?

Is she an angel from the heavenly sky?

Or a forest dwelling colourful peacock?

Oh,this enchanting damsel is wearing heavy ear rings

Then she must be a human on earth.

Be that as it may be I am perplexed and bemused,

Bewildered and blindfolded by her

Intoxicating beauty

Cyber intimacy:we cannot blame the machine for human folly

The cyber world provides an option to fall in love without actually falling in love. This is not to suggest that internet based love or friendship lacks any long term relationship and or devoid of any sentimental touch.

Real love is not founded by gathering or exchanging information or building up database so as to match the reciprocity of material benefits and interests. It is about emotions, feelings ,heart and mind. Regardless of the platform from which love springs what matters most is that there must be deep and abiding friendship, fondness and likeness toward each other, independent of personal preferences and prejudices and political attitudes.

If the focus of attention is on short term casual sexual encounter or seeking a virtual pleaure,cyber intimacy becomes a manipulative mechanism and tend to become exploitative. The weakness of the disadvantaged sex is taken advantage of on a rainy day and the affair will be easily forgotten once the weather has cleared. We cannot blame the machine for human folly.

Marriage is not a simple poetry or a beautiful prose as pre marital days are. Once united the couple must confront so many daily challenges tolerate each other smell and sounds including the bodily limitations, working /earning potentials and more important the patience and perseverance to accept the other  as a long term partner.

 Culturally we are still a conservative society and marriage as an institution still thrives with more assertion by the women who have become more independent. It will be childish to go for divorce for silly reasons thinking that there is a long queue waiting for them to fill the gap left behind by the previous partner.

Cyber Intimacy:a few case studies

Let me narrate a few episodes that have come to my notice. A real story: They were schoolmates’ once. Good friends. After their graduation they drifted in different directions professionally got located in different countries.

Many years after there is an accidental meet and in the cyber intimacy world where moral universe has taken a shape altogether differently there is no inhibition for them to have sex.While the boy wants to marry her and desire to have his baby the girl refuses and decides to abort the child. She is not keen on marriage too. Given the chance and the familiarity of the person she has just yielded to her bodily needs and for all practical purpose it is a casual sexual encounter a sort of steamy affair not fully connecting emotionally and there is no regret.

The boy is puzzled and unable and unwilling to digest. He is told that she is already in a relationship with somebody in London .Whom she will marry? That is her concern. We are not here to judge her attitude or approach. I have just narrated what has happened. It is a typical case of girl behaving with boyish tendancy  enjoying the found freedom in the global cyber village without any inhibitions

Will there be any happy ending for those connected through machine. There are quite a few who treat the female body as mere objects and inject the desires into the molecules of their brain, chat for long, give false promises and then finally back out. In one such case I know the boy has become the villain. Telling the caste as a hindrance and that his parents will not agree the boy  sorry the man touching 40 says  NO. The irony is that the hero in question is a divorcee,  handsome, soft mannered and look like a gentleman and learning yoga.

The simple question is why this intelligent fool did seduce an unfortunate woman whose entire marital life lasting for a brief period was a great disaster and that she has had many accidents in her life. Is girl a plaything to be twisted and played with?

Life is ONLINE NOW,Has it fallen in line to ensure peace and friendship ?

Computer,Tablet,or smartphone are  basically instruments borne out of modern technology  which can facilitate the exchange of ideas and interest and help  unite the individuals. Will exchange of information, rightly given or carefully calibrated and cleverly concealed or the beautiful photo taken decades ago or the political faith followed by the online partner would give peace and solace when they descend from the artificial virtual world to the real world.

Will the computer based data, the nature and content of endless chatting and emails,Facebook infatuation, midnight phone calls and so on are sufficient and strong enough  to  end up in a relationship eventually leading to marriage?

Without eyes meeting and the language of love spoken through eyes, will online romance lead to the  desirable destination?

Like a railway travel or visiting theater, will cyber intimacy cut the caste based isolation but remain very brief and short only to be easily forgotten; will gender based separation and discrimination and lessen the caste based honor killing spree? Will the caste based honor killing be exploited to further the election prospects as there is no worthwhile economic philosophy to propagate?

What happens to feelings, heart and mind when people marry late, or do not marry but regularly date, super date, never date or online date without any commitment ?Now life is  on line and the important question is, has it fallen in line in ensuring decent friendship and lasting love among the interested and  involved in the real world?

CYBER INTIMACY-SOUL MATE IN A BOX:PART 1

 In the recent months I have articulated very briefly on Thirukkural and also a few pages of translation from a Russian novel. The central theme was love and friendship which has become a scarce commodity now. Before I Plunge into kural again, I would like to make a digression on cyber love which will be a total contrast to the ancient way of love life. I have also started reading woman related issues in a non-fiction-Of woman Born, a fantastic piece on motherhood and related issues.

Recently I read something about SMIAB –SOUL MATE IN A BOX. This is all about the technology given choice to have intimacy and relationship- chatting, texting, emailing etc which we could not think of in our youthful days of 1960’s.

Cyber intimacy , if it is really helpful in facilitating  real  understanding  and meaningful relationship, a  lasting one too,  it is welcome  ;in technical economics language it saves the bother of search and transaction  costs in  uniting  the younger as well as the older segment of the population besides deepening the romance in zones which remained as a desert for long as possibilities were  restricted .

Physically apart and geographically distanced though, they are mentally fine-tuned; ideas and thoughts shared sometimes with false identity and many a time with correct identity and false promises fully hiding faces .Really a artificial and virtual world where the deeper desires and cravings are distilled and transmitted for instant satisfaction, happiness and well being. More on cyber intimacy will follow later.

Graham Greene's love letter made me remember Poet kannadasan

“Darling! Dearest heart for ever this is just a hasty line to say how much I love you. Don’t let anything ever make you doubt that. And forgive anything I ‘ve ever done to hurt you if this flight should end badly”

Difficult to guess who wrote this letter bristling with unbridled love? It was Graham Greene the famous writer who at one stage helped our RK Narayan to get his feet in the field of literature.

Going back to his hasty line ,was he true to his intention and ever love his dearest heart?No doubt his flight landed safely but our romantic in the novelist soon  after a brief interval landed himself into another sublime love with Catherine Walston a beautiful girl and also rich. What is true love and why the male irrespective of his status or qualification, appearance or look gets hijacked towards other greener pasture cannot be explained except by the genes the person has acquired and the outlook or attitude that he has developed.

Poet Kannadasan says :the heart has thousands of gates and innumerable thoughts arise there day in and day out;many will come and go but only a very few stay there. But when it comes to steamy affair with the opposite sex he says categorically that there will be problem if more than one enters into the heart  peace will cease to exist.

What happened to our Greene?In the company of that dazzling beauty he produced many great novels and she was definitely the great inspiration and a source of his happiness. All said and done that dearest heart also became the author of his sorrow and despair. Here the love gives pain and pleaure.The tendency on the part of the male to experiment and stray beyond multiple love has also started infecting at least a part of the current generation  of girls caught into the vortex of cross cultural exchange thus  entering into danger zone. Cyber intimacy and love has the entire fertile climate to fall in love and rise in life and or to fall into multiple love and go astray. If anyone thinks that  he or she will become Kannadasan /Greene they are in fool’s paradise.  

we will not die so long as we do work and also help the fellow human

What is the inner meaning of life? So many big arrows have been broken into pieces after hitting this question of rock. While ruminating over this debate / discussion now, I just feel like laughing. .

Absolutely there is no rationale or meaning in discussing this question without assigning any principal importance to work. If the routine daily work is snatched away from you and if there is no opportunity to perform honest work all the essential features of life will lose their meaning and flavour.

Oh life! What kind of thorn you are? You prick me in all directions.

There is no death for life. It is eternal and divine. A man or woman really dies only when he or she does not render any good act in life. Such a person incapable of doing any service to society would not merely die but meet the death of different kind  largely unnoticed.

Those who are incapable of beautifying this world through hard work would die perpetually for ever from the memories of people. Because there is no residual good act in them which will make their siblings and later, the series of  generations to remember their good deeds.

Life devastates the young couple;the deep love and respect rescues life and sustain it

SERGAI replies with all his lamentations:

“CAN you get real joy in life without stumbling on work that you love most and hence willing to labour. No use in talking...you are consoling me with all encouraging words treating me like a child. There are many beautiful and high sounding words and phrases glorifying about joy, happiness, the trials and tribulations of life and the manliness to surmount all odds in life. I have also read them.  I know full well that with all intellect and sharpness of mind they have been written to cajole the tormented and keep them in good humour. I am not interested in my own fate. My fate neither interests me nor affect. It has been already burned and turned into flames. You see..Why this girl, my wife and friend should suffer for no fault of hers. Who has given me the right to spoil somebody’s life?”

“Sergai, be brave and console your heart. Please, you do not suffer for my sake. Our life is going to start now, only from now. What matters most is that you are alive. That is most important to me. The rest of the things are in our hands. Happiness included”, She replied.

If one glance at this young couple, looking at each other and deriving peace and joy one cannot imagine and find it very difficult to believe that these were the very same couple on whom the tsunami waves and storms battered, bruised and devastated them.

Here is a young man whose hair has shown the traces of grey and the young girl who is just 20 have all experienced all  the cruelties and sufferings of life which are beyond the threshold level of tolerance and    human endurance ,but displaying a kind of serenity like the clean ,clear  crystal, clothed with tenderness and humanness. It is very difficult to believe that they had such a reciprocal feelings of love and friendship towards  each other, lasting forever.

A loving wife and a job satisfying the soul are sufficient in life

 “How can we relax when he is suffering with acute pain? He could very well die,” she replied. How much sadness was soaked in her voice when she uttered those words?.Her heart and soul cried for him though she hardly exhibited them outward and smiled.

Yes, a great suffering also gives a greater degree of courage-a brutal courage to confront it. Everyone cannot be a warrior like her. She is just 20.There must be a destiny/fate for everyone- a destiny exclusively belonging to him or her - a kind of private destiny.

“Sergai, you have a wonderful wife who is also your good friend. Going along with her you can surmount all the problems and definitely get a job-a work that will keep both of you engaged. Do you know one thing friend, happiness and joy are not something like a steam which could be bottled up in hand? They are available in abundance in real life. Both of you will have your own quota of that bliss, provided you are prepared to moderate and tolerate all your sufferings”.

TRANSLATION4;The secret of life is not to be cowed by the blows of life

The author continues:

Just now I was telling you that how those army men are also like us and what makes them special is that they fought for life with full heart and virtually sweated themselves out. I narrate this to you because all of us should not fail to struggle; till the end we should wage a war for the sake of life – to survive in life. The longing for and all the struggles of life are worth it.

It would be very difficult for both of you to accept what I say and yet you should shoulder the pain and bear it. My girl, don’t cry before him and make him feel that you are showering sympathy on him. That will weaken his limbs and self-pity will shake his determination and make him insane. This is the time when you must speak and show yourself before him as if nothing serious or calamitous event has taken place. I know it is easier said than done, and   very difficult for you to internalize this. But it is absolutely essential and important that you should act as I say and suggest.

When the life turns and transforms itself into a kind of stepmother’s behaviour, it kills men and torments life without any mercy or sympathy. The greatness and the villainous part of life lies not in getting bombarded and beaten by it but rather how you negotiate it. We should not be cowed down by the blows of life. There lies the secret of life.

Once the physical pain subsides and get moderated the man starts cracking his mind trigerring all the molecules of the brain.

Let us love life with all its cruelties, absurdities and uncertainties

In the last two postings I have been attempting to translate a few pages taken from a Russian novel in Tamil version noted down in my diary on 2 December 1984.I do not remember the contents of the novel. These six pages give the essence of suffering in life- in anybody’s life. The message is simple; under any adverse circumstance we should not lose the courage and confidence in life. In the  globalised   and globalising world today many millions and millions of people suffer for waof good jobs and ideal working conditions and more important there are more sadistic and stupid bosses-shallow creatures devoid of ethics and moral values, calling the shots by virtue holding positions  and tormenting the innocent and brave, hard working and the honest. This translation will help all these unfortunate elite to get some consolation and also understand the laws and lessons of life.

Now   I shall continue the sad tale of a young couple caught in the vortex of pain and agony. You will realize at the end if only everyone had an understanding lover who also happens to be wife like Sergai the male character in the novel- one need not worry about anything. Readers must be aware that I am talking the ideal like the preaching of kural or the consoling words of the young girl in the novel .Indeed the purpose of literature is to distil the essence of contemporary events of life and give the right direction to our life.

BEFORE the evolution of monkeys into human they laughed and raised their heads, attempting to make their backbone erect more firmly. Then they profusely cried and wiped out their tears. It was only at that time they understood thatthey had two hands and there after the monkeys transformed into humans.

“MY dear son, always keep this truth in your mind and heart. Understand that it is only those people who love their life will labour for it. True, it is very difficult to carry a big stone at noon time under the scorching sun. It might appear that even the sun at the time of noon had stopped shedding its light. This holds well for all the people including those military men we were talking about sometime ago. They are also ordinary people like us .Don’t put them into any special category. They are all like you and me. The only difference is that they had a deep seated love and attachment to life”.(so let us love life with all its cruelties, absurdities and uncertainties ) 

Translation part-2:Life is not a machine like car which can be replaced.

If there is always an ever readymade answer for all the problems of life at all times there is no need to worry. And yet people somehow live amidst all chaos...I will do everything.

Life is always a strange and perplexing phenomenon. We don’t bother about it until it pulverizes our vocal chord, We live as if nothing matters. We roll in luxuries after getting salary. We  rejoice after drinking liquor. While arguing and quarrelling  with wife we suffer and lament over life.

In essence, we make this life as hotchpotch one and make it topsy turvey,but we should know that life is more precious (and fragile I shall add).All these we understand only with the passage of time. It is similar to our experience at the railway station.

We go there to see off our friends. Until the express train departs we chat and indulge in petty talks. It is only after the train has started moving and the last coach disappeared from the platform ,we do realize and remember that we had forgotten to convey the most important message to our friends. But the time has run out and the train has gone leaving behind the long last whistle sound.

That is all in life. I lied...I conducted myself in a cowardly way. Many other unwanted and abusing developments also took place, But now only I understand them. If only I could get a different life to live- a second chance to live   ?     Life is not just a machine like car which can be replaced

Translating a few pages from a Russian novel in Tamil-part1

Today I stumbled upon a few pages in my diary of early 1980,s where in I had taken a few lines from a Russian novel in Tamil. Six pages. The name of the novel was :A CHALLENGE TO DEATH . In what follows my translation into English of some disconnected sentences. They deal with the finer feelings of life, the sacrificial love and friendship.

When confronted with a series of turbulent times we need to act in a manly way.In our life all the events are important. The irony here is that no one is willing to wait. My dear I will not leave you and go. You do whatever you want to do. I, will not abandon you. I cannot imagine a life without you.y dear all through lifeI

 will take care of you and carry you holding your hands.

 She could not just accept the fact that her dearest man in life would not survive and found it hard to believe. She did not want to believe that her beloved one was on the death bed. She tried hard to find some consoling words to energise herself but they slipped away like fish while being washed in the water.

Let us internalize the power of our mothers freed from stress

After glorifying labour on May 1, the world celebrates Mother’s Day during mid-May. It is my conviction that we should celebrate labour and mother every moment of our life for they are the backbone of the very process of life. There is no substitute for mother’s milk or mother’s love. I enjoyed both in abundance in my life. I know there are many in this world deprived of this amrita even at the young age. Should we not compensate them by our love and extending the hand of friendship?

I have never seen my mother quarreling with my father or vice versa. It does not mean they did not have any differences in life. Not much formally educated they passed the ultimate test in relationship: Agree to disagree but to hold hands.

They counted their blessings without grumbling about the absence of comforts. They tightened their belt and led a sacrificial life to see their children settled in life. They took control of their lives without yielding to stress. This is the most important component of power which many of us lack.

Life is a series of endless problems. It is full of calamitous and pleasant events. It is not the events that are important but how we handle them and perceive them.

While celebrating the   Mother’s Day we shall remember the old prayer:

God, Grant me the serenity to accept

The things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

We shall move on with joyful faith in the supreme

Three of my students had their viva exam in a span of last 10 days. I could not but think about their performance in defending their work. In the process my reading and writing received setback and blog writing came to a grinding halt. I earnestly hope that the Supreme will guide and goad me to action. Before I regain my touch with kural a few lines for self motivation scribbled in the closing days of December 2013.

We may be young or old, frail or strong, literate or uneducated. WE shall have our quota of joy and suffering in life. Disasters of different kind can strike. Death can visit .We may fall into disease. At that time our faith will be tested. This is precisely the time when one should have faith in oneself and joyful faith in the Supreme.

We need to surmount all suffering with stoic smile and enhanced faith. All days are different and yet we shall have the spring in our steps and experience sunshine of summer time in winter with charming disposition.

When there is problem we shall try for solution, pray for miracle and have trust and faith in the goodness of the universe and accept certain things in life. If you are closer to yourself then you are closer to God. Everyone is special and born with a purpose; nothing should worry us and distract from work. We shall move on without much expectation, excitement and any kind of trepidation of life. We will enjoy our work and get energised by it. Faith and trust in our fellow humans will give energy further

when It fails to rain the farmer,the ocean and the Devas will sufer

Just imagine for a moment that the Rain god refuses to provide rain. what will happen then.kural says that in the absence of any rain water trickling down from the sky to the earth, not even a single blade of grass will grow here. All the living creatures will scorch themselves to hunger and death , notwithstanding a enormous amount of  water enveloping the earth. That vast expanse of water is of little significance to the masses.The resulting poverty and famine, pestilence and fear will inflict more pain and last for long without any kind of redemption.

If the quantum of rainfall declines reflecting the depletion of water resources above the farmers will not take their ploughs and perform their farming activities and agriculture as an occupation will get a severe beating and will get eventually abandoned.

It is not just farmers and of course all the consumers will lose in the life game but also the spillover effects will touch the heaven above and the ocean below. If the rain gathering clouds dry out themselves faster  who will bother to appease the rain God  by giving the offerings in the form of  all gifts and Pooja. That is , the exalted status enjoyed by the ministers among Devas in charge of rain will be deleted in the minds of people.

In the same vein even the great oceans constantly roaring on earth in an endless fashion will come to their grief by losing their innate quality and attributes-their  inherent fertility and the utility .When the rain giving clouds are inadequate  and hence  unable to have the necessary  room for romance through thunder and lightning.

the earth sustains life with god given amrita

The foundation for the existence of all kinds of life on earth is not just love of different vintage and shades but also the meaningful work-the work which will satisfy your soul besides assisting the less privileged and marginalised. For all these to happen, the timely monsoon rain must arrive at the appointed hour. Yes gentlemen all the activities in the world revolve around the rain which Valluvar calls amrita the staple diet of Devas residing above going by mythology.

The earth rotates and presents itself as an entity fully viable and operative because of the rain that falls from the sky above. Calling the rain water as Amrita the sacred and divine element is built into the frame gong by the faith and belief that the divine drink will cure all ailments, slow down the ageing process and give full immunity,  sorry impart the immortality to Devas.The rulers are stupidly arrogant not to realise that the human body is made up of more water and that one should drink more water which should be accessible and affordable to all. It is the tragedy of this country and also elsewhere that it has become a tradable commodity and cutting across the political flag many monsters make quick money not by treating it as a public good but as a private sector domain satisfying their greed to make money

Ensuring of the copious rainfall during the monsoon and also generating the same via catrastphic depression is an empirical proof of the transmission mechanism of the Divine grace form above. Abundant solar energy heats up the sea water. It is then effortlessly converted into rain gathering clouds which float around for a while before bombarding the earth at the appointed hour. Now the science and technology is so advanced  that it can be predicted with some degree of accuracy.

The ancient Tamil literature eloquently argues that it fails to rain and as a result the farm yields decline the rulers of the land would be found fault with. Where are we now? Why the hell we are not harvesting the rain/ Whom shall we blame? Rogue politicians and politicians economists whom Paul Krugman calls as policy entrepreneurs  whe do not hesitate  to tell what the politician wants to hear?

My dateless diary(17-11-2001) not edited:Mother shold not be found fault with

My dear Sam/Confronting with your aged  and  good mother

With angry and unfeeling words

Is truly an unruly behaviour-really contrarian behaviour?

Uncharacteristic of your personality and intent

She sat helpless and speechless, utterly numb in heart and mind

With profound and endless love on either side

Why did you shout at her creating tremor in her heart

A study heart which only loved the people around day in day and out

A truly sacrificial life

Dear sam don’t repeat this behaviour for

This is your contrarian behaviour, an alien culture.

Help her cajole her while she is alive.

A mother can only behave like a mother only.

Be proud of her and be thankful to her for what she has laboured

Along with her soul mate your great father who never tasted

Anything of the comforts zone in life or even the simplest pleasures of life.

Slowly, painfully you would soon realize her positive contributions

In shaping your personality and attitudes in life/

My dateless diary(17-11-2001),redrafted:getting out of the secret sadness.

Unlike Ramana Maharishi I can’t ask the question?

Who am I?

I am just a simple person an ordinary man

Unfortunately bracketed with the educated and elite

By historical accident and benevolent fate symbolized by

Strong parental genes and brought up in an unspoilt village of those days.

No great virtues and not much menacing vices

But I must hasten to add, like any ordinary man

I have all the devils in abundance in my heart and mind

Thank God, many a time I have not gone

As free as the mind had dictated or desired or imagined

An unseen hand has always protected me from

Falling into dirt and filth-the Satan’s Paradise

Being violently irritated with happening in the country

Watching the silent sufferings and the 

Aggressive submission of the masses for ages and centuries

And thus denied of all the simplest pleasures of life                       

Inclusive of chaos at work place, home and street corner,

Each morning I awoke early morning not fully refreshed.

The Result: The whole day did not belong to me

Like the whole country do not belong to the majority poor

Earlier we get out of this secret sadness

The chaos theory in full play

 The better for the country

Buying to time to soak myself in kural by revising my dateless diaries

Love is just beautiful and wonderful and a big word

Much used and more abused and least understood

The more we try to capture its infinite variety

Varying shades of meaning and feeling

In its narrow and broader sense,

We fall short in our efforts.

But Kural attempts to exemplify and glorify its

Special virtues and values in an ideal setting

Which may not prevail in today’s concrete jungle.

My modest ambition and ardent desire to reinvent

The classical love life much forgotten today

By sheer madness in pursuit of accumulating riches

And searching for everything in life

Except to life with a passion and commitment

To do something tangible and solid for the society

It takes time to internalize the spirit and the sweetness

The text and context Of the classical Treatise in ancient literature.

Until then I will revisit my dateless diary and

Pour out the torrential rain of my feeling and

Pleasant   sufferings which were showered upon me

Like good southwest monsoon rain

Which is likely to play a truant this season

And going to torment the next PM of the

UNITED STATES OF INDIA.

The magical power of Love

“God be thanked the meanest of His creatures

Boasts two soul sides, one to face the world with

One to show a woman whom  he loves her”.

These are the lines of Robert Browning. To what extent one thanks the creator and passionately loves his girl and also carries out his work ethics to build home and serve the country he or she alone knows.

Life on earth becomes meaningful only in the company of woman( and books and here we can add many things which give any sinless satisfaction).It is really a misfortune for many remaining  outside the zone of marital life as they are not able to stumble upon a right partner  inclusive of those who are separated by the cruel and wicked fate that love as a diet and a medicine is denied for enriching their mental and physical health.

Like a rising sun in the mountain, full moon floating on the sea, and gentle breeze sweeping the forest trees  ,love is the natural, normal and the most commonest expressions of all animals including human .Without the emotional warmth and affectionate embrace of the lover, the physical world does not have any meaning.

In shaping human dignity and values of life  and lessening the pain of the very existence in life, love plays  a biological function leading to more cooperation, mutal regard and respect. Love has the  magical power to transform the most ordinary life –the  hum drum existence of daily living, into an extraordinary one .That is in the presence of pervasive and all powerful love , the struggle for life will not interfere with the enjoyment of existence. In the company of a woman the good becomes better and  better, the best.I might be exaggerating the benefits and fruits of enjoying simple and beautiful things in the pleasant company of  woman by word play but it is just a fact. As someone told ,

“True love is a durable fire,

In the mind ever burning

Never sick, never dead, never cold                                                                  

From itself  never turning”.

The Rich fruit Of Love

Having written more about the theme of love as articulated in kural, let me dwell upon that theme further. Life is not merely about acquiring of more knowledge or settling down in good position, although one needs some money to sustain life. To lead a good and rich life one need not have riches or more money. Indeed with less education and insecure job, many poor people lead a honest and good life and help the humanity with tremendous work ethics. Like some deepest truths are very simple ,life in its truest sense is also  very simple.; it is all  about allowing the hearts to  meet and melt In a spontaneous fashion without allowing the molecules of brain to reason out /dictate or dominate and thus indulge in cost-benefit calculus. Here i am talking the ideal and there is an infinite distance of the actual

Love is a source of delight and it goes without saying that absence of love is a source of pain. All  your accomplishments and achievements are next to nothing if there is no one at your side to share with and celebrate your work. That praise like a good wine will keep you in good humour and intoxicated by that you will labour more and render more service to the humanity.

I read somewhere that we can afford to live even in a Godless world but not in a universe devoid of love. An anonymous author wrote long ago:

Oh Love! They wrong thee much

That say thy sweet is bitter

When thy rich fruit is such

As nothing can be sweeter.

Thinking about separation she is afraid to embrace

The committed and the most ardent lovers would not like to be separated even for a moment more particularly in the early days of marital life and or dating. But how could we expect him to get buried on her lap perpetually and get soaked in love forever? Should he not go and do work so as to keep the fire of love alive.

But the lady of Kural will not permit that sensible decision. However she is sensible enough to understand that she cannot stop him from going for work. Valluvar .explains her pain even while she remains with him in full embrace

.

Long ago his sight was

A feast to me,

Now I am even afraid

To embrace him,

Lest he would leave me

What a cruel pain,

Even while embracing

Thinking about separation She is afraid to embrace him

The committed and the most ardent lovers would not like to be separated even for a moment more particularly in the early days of marital life and or dating. But how could we expect him to get buried on her lap perpetually and get soaked in love forever? Should he not go and do work so as to keep the fire of love alive.

But the lady of Kural will not permit that sensible decision. However she is sensible enough to understand that she cannot stop him from going for work. Valluvar .explains her pain even while she remains with him in full embrace

.

Long ago his sight was

A feast to me,

Now I am even afraid

To embrace him,

Lest he would leave me

What a cruel pain,

Even while embracing

A LEADER SHOULD BE LIKE A PASSIONATE LOVER CARING FOR THE COUNTRY

We have seen  how the lady delinked from her lover for a short while makes her cry.The lady is so soft and tender that her full cry over her separation from lover dimmed the beauty of her enchanting eye.

Many have lost their spark and youthfulness in the glass curtain economy of IT industry and software outsourcings sector working in late hours and sitting before the monitor endlessly as if it is their EYE AND LIFE and much worse the work climate there dominated and frustrated by insipid and stupid leadership sometimes.

There are  workers operating in that inimical work environment with temperamental shyness, cultured silence and eyes fully dried up and swollen. Like the lover to our girl will a new leader emerge to cleanse away the dirt and filth accumulated over the years in order that the stupidity and the criminality of the system will come to an end once and for all

When the lover returns back the girl gets back the lost beauty. When the good leader arrives at every level the workers regain their lost opportunities .Under the circumstance love will overflow and embrace the entire nation like a gentle breeze sent from heaven

EYES LOSE THEIR INNATE BEAUTY BY PROFUSELY CRYING OVER THE SEPARATION OF HER LOVER

For nearly a week i was away from Pondicherry and spent quality time with my grandson. I am not getting the environment  to sit and do work. There is some urgent official work. Amidst all these I go back to our Kural to meditate on the eye the focal element in our theme of love:

Now a day, a mere sight of beautiful flowers,

Make my eyes,

Tremble with shyness

Shall I tell the reason?

Leaving me in lurch,

Inflicting pain on me,

My ardent lover has gone

To far off place.

Thinking about my lover,

My eyes have shed copious tears.

And profoundly lost their innate beauty .

This Kural not only depicts the flight of labour towards the greener pastures elsewhere but also captures the agony the ladylove experiences after the separation. Her beautiful eyes have lost the natural beauty because of crying over the separation

Musings on love life will resume after a short break

From the select episodes of the language of love articulated in the previous pages which is only a sample  it is obvious and apparent that Valluvar has mastered the art of constructing a neat framework on the theme called love.  It is not just theory or a fantasy nor imaginative conceptualization. It is sincerely believed that he was an inventive genius and the energetic intelligence he had, was fully deployed to explore the unexplored territory of the most mysterious and the most unpredictable character called a girl in the drama of life. The treatment of love was only a preliminary one and a detailed study will be undertaken at a later stage,depending upon the time constraint to read and trandlate the treasure house of knowledge.

The need for greater and better understanding of life begins with love life that starts in the teenage when the opposite sex mingles together attracted by  each other like a magnet. The ancient classical literary text has  underlined the important attribute that there was love life before and after marriage, providing lasting peace and friendship.

Having analyzed very little about love from Valluvar’s perspective we need to understand its importance which has been diminishing in recent years. Crazy we are in running after power, position, money, fame and of course beauty not in its purest form but related to the said above in a very mean and silly way.

 The meaning of love and the institution of marriage may have degenerated over time and one does not know to what extent they have any real meaningful analytic content today. But one thing is sure enough that Valluvar has documented that the ancient Tamil society had led a dignified love life with all its tenderness, fineness, stubbornness and all the rich  flavor surrounding it.  This life was both endearing on the marital sands and elevating on the spiritual plane. The life in its totality was lived with all eagerness, earnestness, integrity, and commitment and of course a clearer and full understanding of each other.

In today’s hot, flat and crowded world (courtesy, Thomas L Friedman), there are complex problems affecting individuals  as also nations. Under the circumstance there is an imperative need to repair and rejuvenate family life – the life at home so that genuine and simple love would flow among all the members in the family.

Valluvar"s Inventive genius unravelled the mystery and the Infinite Variety

From the select episodes of the language of love articulated in the previous pages which is only a sample  it is obvious and apparent that Valluvar has mastered the art of constructing a neat framework on the theme called love.  It is not just theory or a fantasy nor imaginative conceptualization. It is sincerely believed that he was an inventive genius and the energetic intelligence he had, was fully deployed to explore the unexplored territory of the most mysterious and the most unpredictable character called a girl in the drama of life. The treatment of love was only a preliminary one and a detailed study will be undertaken at a later stage,depending upon the time constraint to read and translate the treasure house of knowledge.

The need for greater and better understanding of life begins with love life that starts in the teenage when the opposite sex mingles together attracted by  each other like a magnet. The ancient classical literary text has  underlined the important attribute that there was love life before and after marriage, providing lasting peace and friendship.

The lady love has supreme faith in her lover,her soul mate for ever

In the same way the girl also feels that she is not able to forget the lover.  Even when she is told that her lover has abandoned her and gone, she will be the last person to believe that scandal.  She has so much faith and belief in him that he will not leave her.  Let us just see how Valluvar paints an interesting canvas to express her finer feelings towards him.  She says “I have locked my lover into my eye, he will not leave me. Do you know even while my eyelids move and strain him gently, he will not suffer? Yes he is such a nice fellow that he has simply entered into my ethereal body and has fused into my soul.

This is an interesting case study tha even while he  is far away from her  on dutiful mission in search of a lucrative work she is confident that her man will always reside in her heart and their love affair is not only steamy but also a soul sibling experience.

She is so infatuated and intoxicated with him that she wants to keep him in her eye safely for ever and thatm is the reason why she is not at all bothered about the unfriendly words of the folk around her bent on blaming the lover by way of the character assassination. Blame it all on the lover slogan ,she would be the last person to buy .:

.

 While lamenting over the separation of her lover she sheds copious tears and as a result even the eyes loose the colour. Furthermore, when he has gone in search of job and education she is able to feel his presence only in dreams. The waking hours are the torture for her and she prays and grumbles that she must sleep so that he would be in her dream perpetually.

HER EYES DO THE ALCHEMY AND SHE HAS A STRANGE FIRE

A stage comes next when their eyes meet there is no need for words to convey all the finer feelings FLOATING IN THEIR HEARTS. That is  when the pair of eyes do the talking and distinctly reveal the craving towards each other. The words springing  from the mouth will be of no use.Yes, there is little to converse as their eyes have already expressed adequately

After a series of continual eye contacts the language of love has been adequately revealed and  internalized into their souls .They become closer. Notwithstanding  this closeness and intimacy, when they meet in public they would look and behave as if they are typical strangers. This kind of public posture giving only a common look is the hallmark of lovers The same eyes do this alchemy but it is hardly noticed by others

Having enjoyed all the five senses of pleasure he feels that any kind of separation would make him uneasy and unhappy. He says when he gets closer to her she makes him cool and pleasant.  Even if he is separated for a while he is scorched  like  the sun. He wonders where she got this strange fire.

    No one could  express the pain of   Separation ,even if it is just the momentary one  in this classic way.Fully clothed by the fire of love the lover attempts to investigate the strangeness of this fire  which keeps him cool when she is near  but makes him warm when she moves slightly moves farther away.

THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE SPOKEN SUBTLY THROUGH EYES

In the previous piece we observed that She has wonderful eyes and he lamentsby saying  that her seductive look makes him sick. So he is scared of that look and to cure the ailment he needs the same eyes to look at him again gently so that the disease will melt away.

In the early stages of love formation when he looks at her with all eagerness she looks at the ground with an element of shyness. But when he doesn’t She gently and stealthily smiles at him. Here we notice that She exchanges her glance with a time lag. Her secret smiles convey all the love and there is reciprocity of exchange in glancing at each other

His heart is virtually devoured/swallowed by her flirting look and he knows fully well that it conveys all her love towards him. It is interesting to note that the language of love is spoken through the eyes which are seductive and also curative to the core.

HER EYES ARE THE PROBLEM AND ALSO THE SOLUTION

Until he met her he did not know which the life killing force on earth is. Now he realizes that it was only her eyes. Here  an analogy from my subject I would like to mention. Warren Buffet a great human who could make a lot of money in stock market and contribute more to charity once described the derivative instruments as weapons of mass destruction. In the recent 2007-08 global financial crisis this financial innovation played an instrumental role and caused  a havoc on the entire world. That was the financial Tsunami.

Here our lover bombarded by the eyes-the weapon of her destruction is undergoing akind of  Love tsunami. He had never known the harbinger of death until he saw her. The messenger of death had come in the form of powerful eyes of a female warrior and he could not face it. Imagine the lover who had faced many wars in life now only understand who the Lord of death is.The lover knows that one will get intoxicated after drinking wine. But here a mere sight of her makes him dizzy bewildered, and bemused. A mere look alone fills him with a kind of lust and kama that even a seasoned good old wine would provide the kick. She is more than the wine

She has wonderful eyes and he observes that her seductive look makes him sick. So he is scared of that look which has all the kick of the intoxicants To get rid of the love sickness and  cure  that disease he needs an  ailment  which is nothing but  the same eyes which initially caused problem. But it is no problem when the same eyes become solution as they look at him again gently so that the disease will melt away.

I have learnt in my subject that IMF is more of a problem than a solution and that to a market lover Government is a problem than a solution. Here is an intersting result that in the battle of love eyes are the powerful weapons causing him problem but the very same beautiful seductive eyes calm him down like a scented balm producing all the soothing effects. What a wonderful pair of eyes: one look causes pain and another look has the contrarian effect  removes the pain.This dual role purpose is interesting and the pain of love is worth undergoing provided there are seductive eyes for you  and  for your eyes only 

HER INNATE NATURAL BEAUTY HIJACKS HIS HARMONES;STRUGGLES FOR WORDS TO DESCRIBE HER

Almost all the poets, while dealing with the subject love, give pride of place to the ‘eye’, which really becomes an ‘electronic media’ to kindle love and enrich it.   Any poet will have his own element of exaggeration, dramatization but still it reveals more truth than it conceal. Eyes of the beautiful girls are the strongest assets which will simply hijack the males just like that and Valluvar says thatthey are the most powerful weapons on earth.

Since it is only a very very preliminary study we confine ourselves to some select kurals which depict the finer feelings from the standpoint of both boy and the girl.

The lover is so crestfallen by the beauty and he is at a loss to figure out who she is? He praises by saying whether she is one who looks like an angel -so magical or mystical or a colourful pretty peacock with heavy rings on her earlobe  and her sharp glances look like knife or powerful arrows aimed at him. Enchanted with this divine beauty and completely hijacked by her infinite variety, his heart  craves and sighs for her..

The lover is so scared of her eye which penetrates like an arrow or knife in his eye for the simple reason that the eyebrows could not stay firm and prevent her entry.

She is a shy girl having the eye of the deer and her modesty by itself is a jewel.  Therefore he says she does not require any external gold makeup. With her deer like look and all the intoxication in her eyes the damsel is on full song to captivate him

KURAL IS SENSUALLY SPIRITUAL AND SPRITUALLY SENSUAL

The explanation or treatment of love is also elevated to the spiritual plane, i.e., ‘sivam’ in male would like to be united with ‘shakthi’ in a female.   Indeed it’s a symbolic act of jeevathma joining with Paramathma.

Precisely for this reason, the ancient Tamils took sufficient care to develop and nurture this love as an art and attempted to build and construct a superstructure in the form of grammar and literature in a large measure.   The significant point to note about love is that it just flowers from within and all the five senses are able to enjoy it earlier – a rare attribute which none can match, in terms of pleasure offering objects. 

Vallvar says that it is only in a girl adoring the beautiful bangles on her slender hand the lover –her man can feel  the joy of  touch, sight, sound, smell and taste and  in essence  all   the five  sensual pleasures are summed up in her—a rare attribute indeed

In that sense, whether one likes it or not in a limited sense a girl is commoditified and treated as an object.   But it should be remembered, having said that a girl is a wonderful phenomenon and that five senses could easily perceive that divine infinite beauty, kural does not proceed towards commoditification and ill treatment of the other sex but instead lays down all the unwritten rules like constitution to impart sanity in man-woman relationship.

The entire drama of life starts or begins with eye contact, but ultimately ends up in a substantiative life, family, and children thus rendering a fruitful service to humanity.   Kural highlights the ultimate truth that these character bound lovers neither deviate from righteous path of Aram nor abandon their love, all though their life.   The essence of Kamathupal is not about lust, sex or love alone, like the other previous two, it’s also a rule based sermon as to how one should live, labour and love to live, more intimately, more affectionably with all friendliness and smiles on face.   Bharathi and Bharathidasan too glorify the beauty and strength of the eye of the beloved and how the command stemming from it would invigistrate a man’s energy and accomplish all the impossible things under the sun.   The fact that the eye is the weapon which actually arrests a person and binds him to fall in love and rise in life is ably captured by kural.

KURAL IS BOTH A DIET AND MEDICINE FOR BODY AND MIND

As is well known Thirukkural text has a perpetual meaning, relevance and content for anyone who wants to follow righteous methods and live a simple and decent life, freed from inflated ago, arrogance and all kinds of devilish spirit.   Regardless of one’s language or culture, geographical, and economic space into which he or she has to live, this text has a context and relevance as an ideal medicine or diet to take care of both body and mind.

True, many of the couplets and indeed all of them are hard real truths very difficult to follow and any typical ordinary human, cannot just like that follow, everything told there, for it demands a far more stringent attitude and discipline , strength of character, will power and good parental genes.   Every couplet is bristling with meaning, a relevance and shows a clear a path as to how to improve and prosper in our life, in all walks of life without walking away from dharma.   In the following, a modest attempt is being made to capture the flavor smells and sounds of the subject called ‘love’, the idealized love as conceptualized by kural.  

A well learned and highly disciplined man, full of good character and attitude - a handsome man, steps into an arena of life.   At this prime teenage, he understands that his life does not merely centre around him, but instead revolves round another soul; he is intelligent enough to understand that his peace and happiness are his own; he is the author of both, he knows full well that,  but it’s only partly true, he feels.   The other half of his bliss, he rightly feels rest with the other person and without her/he cannot go on in this life journey.   It is something natural and normal for a fully grown up male getting attracted by the other half of himself - a girl of his liking and choice.

WE HAVE COME HERE NOT TO LIVE ALONE

As stated earlier, all of us have come here not to live alone.   At times loneliness has its own advantages.   But basically, humans have been created to live with the partner of opposite sex.   Nature points out to the male at the right age: “Look, there stands out your girl, a fountain head of love and bliss.   She is going to make your life happy and peaceful.”   That which propels this signal is love.   It just comes out spontaneously without indulging in any cost-benefit calculus.  This act of love just flows from within, and that’s an inevitable act of nature.   For procreation and sustenance of human race, the supreme may have passed on this magnet in order that no ordinary mortal would escape from it.   It might be called as ‘Maya’ to some degree rightly so by sages, addicted to god and spiritual pursuits.   But to any ordinary good human, falling in love at the right time with a right girl of his choice cannot be commended a sinful activity.   Perhaps some exalted souls, by their sheer Karma, may have escaped from falling into a ‘net of Maya’ and not getting seduced by the infinite variety of beauty embedded into a girl.   They are only a few and far between.

It is obvious and apparent to anyone that love crops up at a particular stage and nature wants to cultivate it in a more decent, dignified and cultural way, because the component of love is very much imperative for life.   Indeed it’s the essential life-force without which, there is no progress or peace or stability, and for that matter even all our accomplishments and attainment do not have any value, in the absence of any loved ones to share with.   Of course any broader love or service to humanity at large, without confirming to a particular woman, is all the more commendable but that’s very rare in life.

TRUE LOVE IS NOT CONSTRAINED BY ANY KIND OF BARRIER

While there is always an inevitable and spontaneous urge to fall in love it is not an easy task to understand the other sex. The irony here is that, as individuals we do not know who we are and what we are and thus fail to understand ourselves, as a fish does not know much about the water in which it lives all through the life. If there is a great deal of mistrust and wrong understanding even among the family relations with tremendous blood connection, how are we going to be compatible with a stranger born in a different family environment and economic circumstances. Of course the ancient Kurunthokai padal gives a way out for this dilemma by defining love in a more sensual and spiritual way.  

In this context, it’s appropriate to quote and remember the famous Kurunthogai Padal: Translation is mine

            We don’t know each other

            In which way my father

            And your father are related?

            Like rain soaked red earth,

            Our hearts bound by love

            Have fused with each other

This fusion is more like, fixing positive with negative together to generate electricity, as if two great lightening, generate enormous amount of power.   This tendency on the part of a male to develop a peculiar chemistry and physics with a girl, at a right age, is essentially to work out his karma and work ethics, in collaboration with the other kinder soul and thus reap all kinds of pleasure and suffering in life.   Yes, no one is alone in the world and each one has a partner to live with and share all the moments of joy and agony arising out of blissful experience with a girl.

Thirukural attempts to mirror life to the fullest dealing with all that essentially constitutes life. The essence of life is to love and live in a dignified way given one’s own cultural environment and social milieu. Although human biology is an important key in dictating human behavior, it is ultimately conditioned by the culture and custom and of course the attitude of parents. Be that as it may, it is this love that rules the world with all its multidimensional manifestations, spreading with wings and radiating happiness and bliss. But there is also the other side to this love game. There is more pain and sorrow, anxiety and depression, sleeplessness and dreams and the lamentations over separations by the beloved. It is to the credit of the sage poet that he has neatly weaved all the threads surrounding love life.   

Thanks to our body given by the Almighty to enjoy successive phases of life between birth and death. Gifted we are to feel, taste and touch, to see, talk and listen, gather and share knowledge, work and relax, indulge in love, enjoy and suffer from love, all leading to a wonderful creation of a society. Thirukural unravels love and presents all that undergoes between the body and the mind.  The chemical reactions induced from hormonal secretions in both men and women at the appropriate time in life does trigger an experience from which no one can escape unless he happens to be spiritually destined by the supreme.  The precious life of the adolescence period and all the complexities arising out of emotional and sexual underpinnings need to be studied in a more subtle and detailed way, without getting trapped into any kind of vulgarity.

Towards understanding the LOVE GAME

From where does love originate?

What is that sends signals of love through our bodies? It surely starts with the brain.  It analyses what the eye sees and the ear hears and adds it up to something that moves the person.  If one further raise the question what eventually triggers it, it is probably the adrenal gland. This is what science would say about love. From the standpoint of literature, love simply means that the heart goes out to another heart via eye contact in the very first instance. Regardless of the fact, whether the heart is clean or mean, light or heavy, open or closed, warm or cold, faint or bold, love strikes any normal human. Each heart has a life of its own banging all the time right from the start of life, but also it has its own love story to reveal to others.

Thirukual and love

The fundamental knot that has been instrumental in sustaining the evolution of all kinds of life on earth for ages is love and relationship.   After satisfying thirst and hunger, all living creatures crave for love, friendship and also for fulfilling sexual urge and all biological needs.   While animals have their own limited wisdom, to mate, only to procreate  in a particular period, or are made to do so in an artificial fashion by man for his selfish end, the obvious  truth is that all living creatures have an urge for lust or kama, at one stage or another.   More than a mere lust, they seek intimacy, friendship, connectedness and in essence simple unadulterated love.

Our forefathers had an innate insight and a tremendous foresight, to understand that human life eventually rests on ‘love’ and valour (termed as Agam and Puram in the Tamil literature).   It’s not just in Tamil literature, but anywhere in the world, in any language  no literature would be complete without touching upon these twin  subjects.

Looked at this way, the ancient Tamil Text Thirukkural, besides dealing with virtues (Aram), wealth and welfare (Porul) – (the ethical/moral and worldly activities of life) also talks about the nuances  and all intricacies  of the most tender side of life, the meaningful side of human relationship – the love between opposite sexes (Inbam).

Thiukkural-a masterpiece of all times written under "iexorable pressure of diminishing time"

From Anthony Burgess (1917-1993), I have learnt that all of us live and labour here under “inexorable pressure of diminishing time” and Valluvar could make rich contribution during his time and his kural has become everlasting and more endearing to world citizens cutting across religion, region, sex, colour, and creed.

The Thirukural has three major components, namely, virtues, wealth and welfare, and love life. The first component deals with moral philosophy and ethical code of conduct for anyone, be it a King or a commoner, it serves as a gateway towards understanding the nuances of marital life and also draws a roadmap of spirituality.  The second one neatly explains how all the potentials of humanity - the immense talent, knowledge, courage and hardworking characteristics of population when exploited judiciously would result in nation becoming strong and powerful. An important point underlined in this segment is that life is given not merely to make money and amass huge fortunes but also to register one’s name and fame of his/her existence here. The third component is indeed a literary treasure – a treatise on love life. By thumbing through those pages one can turn his/her love and marital life for the better. Dealing with the most sensitive and difficult subject – understanding the natural chemistry and physics evolving between the opposite sexes at the right ripe age in the most uninhibited environment, Valluvar documents all the subtle, nicer and richer side of human life which in essence is the basic love life.

Since the third component constitutes the foundation of the life itself we focus on that aspect, given some literature background.  But no attempt is made to go into all the details and intricacies. Taking only a few kurals at random as a sample the true flavour of the subject will  be revealed.  More particularly my write up to begin with will spin  around the concept eye – a real electronic media, for idealized, cultured and highly disciplined love game which is basically a life game forgotten by mankind today.  Beyond alliterations in kural there are different interpretations in it thus presenting a unified picture about the love game.

GOD ALONE WILL RESCUE WHEN TRAPPED INTO SEA OF BIRTH

How to get rid of a host of suffering rocking our mind? The easiest solution is to surrender and fall at the feet of the Supreme who cannot be compared to anyone. Once it is fully realized that egocentric lust and anger are the cause for coming into this world the learned/reformed /and well informed will not give room for the trapping  of themselves into that vortex of temptations and Maya.

The Supreme is a vast expanse of the sea of virtue. Unless one surrender himself at the feet of the LORD, it would be a herculean task to swim against a series of cross currents of birth and death and attain salvation.

Since He is the embodiment of all virtues and the fountainhead of bliss ,a true matchless Brahma one should  always strive for reaching His Feet. Otherwise, he or she will get deeply immersed into a sea of birth and hardly reach the shore of salvation.