A poem:when Tsunami struck us we smiled

Until recently we were floating like butterflies

With coloured wings of joy, peace and happiness

Now we behave like vicious bee stinging at each other

Forgetting the pleasant past of our twenties and ferocious thirties  

When Academics and Love walked hand in hand

Without creating any conflict of interest mainly because of your

Patience, perseverance, tolerance and the language of cultured silence

The golden period of life of bliss and friendship sustained by

Supreme innocence and youthful exuberance of our beautiful children

It is time both of us realized the sheer foolishness and a kind of

Shallowness enveloping us like thick clouds and thunderstorms

Delaying the flight of our journey to reach our sweet home

To rest and relax and find warmth, in each other’s arm.

My dear, The great Tsunami has swallowed many mercilessly,

All of us were lucky to survive and escape from Nature’s fury

Let us forget the past and enjoy the beauty of the earth and also

ALL THE ABSURDITIES OF LIFE,

Getting the inspiration from the movie:

The Life of The beautiful Mind  the film that moved me and

The book on Nash’s biography still remains unopened.

Time and tide will change and we shall rejoice for ever 

We will see and smell read and write and remain what we are and imitate the spirit of Professor Aravanan taking rest with commerce

The other day I was going through a story book meant for  children from Aesop’s  fable.It is relevant for the adult and elite as well. Skipping the story I only quote the moral in a few  sentences.

We have eyes but still fail to see the reading on the wall. At least we should have the critical capability to smell what is going on around us .The Moral:”when people profess to do what is impossible, the simplest test will often show them up for the imposters they are.’

All of us know that sometimes monkeys copy. In one instance after seeing the fishermen casting their net and catching the fish it also tried  a task which he had not leant to do. This is  what Thirukkural also say.ie we should entrust the responsibility to some who have some comparative advantage and the idea was developed by David  Ricardo -a Jewish stock broker in England in the context of international trade. The Moral;”If you meddle with what does not concern you, far from gaining anything, you will have a reason to regret it “

Let us not be doubly disabled: we will see and smell and also remain what we are There is no need to do something like others and imitate. One of my students a village boy I do not know whether he  still imitates me and another student who is in Delhi  told him that he is attempting something impossible. The pity is that despite his intelligence he is lazy and where he must imitiate for example reading  he fails to do so.I can not blame him for he is good in English  and hence he is asked to do more work .In the process he is not doing the justice to the important work at hand where I am also concerned. The habit of  reading and sincere teaching has taken a backseat and  winning the the API score and improve upon it have gained the currency simply, how to climb up the ladder quickly.I should remember here the late Prof Aravanan who for some valid reason did not want to get the three letters P h d(like my daughter) for self respect. He will remain as one the best teachers not in Pondicherry but in the entire solar system and far beyond it

Abdul kalam's simplicity/ austerity are the signature to his life and the youth will emulate

Having written about the appointment of parameswaran Nair as the personal secretary by  kalam  let me translate now what the private secretary  recalled in that Tamil weekly way back in 2011.

Once Dr Kalam ’s relatives nearly  59 persons  had come to see and stay with him for a short while. It would be very  difficult for anyone to believe that  Mr Abdul Kalam met from his personal accounts  all the expenditure towards food  ,lodging , including the tea expenses for his relatives. Furthermore as Kalam’s elder brother had shared his room he also paid the rent for it.

Again, his bother undertook  a journey to Hajji.    As  AB J initials would be found  pre fixed with his brother’s name in the passport , his  relationship with the president will be known and hence he categorically   asked to tell  the Embassy officials that no special privilege should be extended to his brother during the visit.The Personal Secretary was much moved by this .

Later when his wife suffered from fracture in the leg Kalam went to his home and enquired about her health. This simplicity and humility to share the pain  of the fellow human was the signature of his personality.

He had an immense faith in the youth of the country. In his ideal world envisaged for the youth  he or she would not join any political party. Nor he would start any. He  would often say ,”The imperative today  for the youth is that they should be a judicious mixture of science,  spirituality in the real sense away from the narrow confines of religion and  of of course the virtuous life centring around Aram in Tamil which is  far beyond the simplistic dharma’.

The private secretary concluded by saying that such a society of super power will emerge with good governance will emerge in 2020 and the youth will endeavour to make it.

 I can  only add that Kalam’s wish is sincere and a kind of Utopia and in my humble opinion the corrupt politicians and the politicised officials – the really bad ones not all ,  are the principal  problem than the solution. The great soul of Kalam will give the positive energy and I feel that in a graduated for a good governance  the paradigm shift will take place  and the dispossed and the disadvantaged will be aware of their rights. The  youth will give the knockout punch in a gentle way and promise a secular and truly democratic India

what made Kalam to became the President of the country: part 2

If you go through the following it will not be surprising as to why Abdul Kalam was celebrated as the icon for the young and the old when he died with dignity and honour; Having seen the spontaneous outburst of love and affection shown by the ordinary people for the departed president,  many run –of- the- mill ordinary politicians  having all the vices and weaknesses to amass a huge fortune not  for his family, sorry for his generations to come will envy him and would have felt very small .

True, even our president himself would not have expected this kind of farewell so overwhelming and convincing, waiting in the wings to glorify his death and it should touch the conscience of the country.

 Going back to the theme Parameswaran Nair who worked for some  time as the Director of the Govt owned Anglo French Textiles mill  at Pondicherry  recollected  that he met Mr Abdul Kalam at Vikram sarabhai Space Research Institute  in Kerala in1951..At that time he was the chief in Administration and Kalam was  one among the chief scientists. Everyone would leave the office at 6 in the evening. But  Kalam Sir would stay back till  10’o clock and work and sometimes he would sleep in the office itself. He would wake up at 5 in the morning and start working the next day .He said that this kind of commitment to work , the tendency to dedicate and involve himself in work  had   elevated him to the status of the first citizen of the country later. In the next few years when he was transferred to the production unit  he got delinked from him and there was not much contact.

In 2002 when Kalam became the president of the country, he was told by his senior that Kalam Sir wanted to see  him. Can you guess what happened? Then only he learnt  that Kalam had made him as his personal secretary .Oh!  Those five years stay with him  were wonderful and  a  mesmerising period in his life,  he recalled in his write up on Kalam in that Tamil weekly  magazine.

A sleepless night helped me to unearth a piece On' Abdul Kalam', the People's President for ever

Yesterday I  could not sleep at all till 430 AM. Being a hypertension BP person it was not advisable to remain awake at 65 plus triggered by academic greed and hyper enthusiasm to read and write and allow the eager imagination to wander on Keynes and Writer Jayakanthan and think about the pending work on currency crisis. But I could not help it. It was a one off event which I should not repeat for I know  sleep is as important as food  and healthy sex with the partner and that  it is a gentle breeze sent from heaven as somebody said

 The beneficial fallout was that I could rediscover my academic stamina of the yeasteryears to work  as I did in my twenties and during the days of finishing my doctoral dissertation which almost took a decade after spending four fruitful years at Gokhale  Institute during the late  seventies and early eighties- the most productive period in my  life although I retuned without submitting the thesis .By sheer accident i could stumble upon  some old diaries and also the write up on Our Abdul Kalam by One Pondicherry Parameswaran NaIr WHO HAPPENED TO BE THE Personal Secretary to the President on invitation in one supplement (EN Vikatan) to Ananda Vikatan (20 -7-2011) one of the quality Tamil weeklies which  still maintain the standard. With due courtesy and acowledgement to both the author and the publisher of the Magazine let me translate a few episodes in Kalam’s life which is worth telling and translating.

How did I feel when the final moments of Abdul kalam arrived at PEKKARUMBU Ground Rameswaram

I am typing this when OUR PM is showing his final respects to the departed People’s President. The leaders of different states holding different ideologies and ambitions have just  joined him in paying the floral tributes to the technocrat .Outside the ground chosen for funeral, thousands and thousands of people from different parts of Tamilnadu  are standing silently, under the scorching sun getting the glimpse of the final moments of the leader. What brought these poor people to this temple city? How did this chemistry develop between him and the people? Are they craving for an icon to guide them from above while the POWER on earth has failed them?

While watching the final moments  I am virtually going back to February 3 1969 when C N Annadurai the CM of Tamilnadu then called affectionately  the elder brother to everyone in Tamilnadu passed away. I was a final year MA student of Presidency College  at that time ; the Madras city was filled with people  from all over the state..I was at Rajaji hall on 2 when his boedy was laid there swimming through the crowd and again   in the crowd on  3 Feb on the sands of Marina shedding tears. But Anna and MGR belong to a different shade and stature. Tamils have shown by this spontaneous overflow of emotion that simple living and high thinking will endear millions and the current tribe of politicians must learn The LKG lesson from this massive funeral procession .

. In terms of the spirit and intensity of feelings  ordinary people of Tamilnadu have shown love and respects to good souls not craving for wealth but leading the3 life of austerity and becoming the symbol of honesty and integrity in public life Our man did not appropriate  the affluence of Rashtrapathi Bhawan  as his successor, the lady president did more successfully and more shamelessly but treated himself only as a tenant for the short term.

      Now  Kalam’s body is gently placed under the ground. He will be assimilated into his native soil and dissolved into cosmos soon. Will our leaders and academicians bankers and bureaucrats religious heads and the so called revolutionaries and rebels including the  militants,  internalise the true quality of  his life and understand the eternal truth that  simple living and honesty alone matters most and that  the ill-gotten wealth or position or even fame will be shortlived.

Therefore,my fellow countrymen, WE shall always remember the words of the famous  philosopher of ancient china LAO TZU: In dwelling live close to the ground. In thinking keep to simple. In conflict be fair and generous. In governing don’t try to control. In work do what you enjoy. In family life , be present.

Mr Abdul Kalam came from a family but preferred ot to have a family of his own and treated the entire humanity as his family. Perhaps that explains why despite his ordinar4y background and and scholarly   PHD type of paper education  he could reach an exalt5ed position it he country and more important enter into the hearts of many the young and the old  and I am typing with one finger as I have not learnt typing at the young age.

The music is still flowing. The leaders will depart and attend to their work and the poor will suffer with no worthwhile job and the Supreme will be a witness as a mute spectator for ever. May his soul rest in peace.  

Greek crisis in one line

“Weather is a great metaphor for life-sometimes it’s good, sometimes ,it’s bad, and there’s nothing much you can  do  about it but carry on umbrella or to dance in the rain”, is an apt quote to capture the existential dilemma of the country Greece known for its ancient civilization and the march of democracy. Ever since it joined  the Euro-Zone circus it has enjoyed the advantages of low inflation and the low interest rate but also suffered from the debt as it continued to live beyond its means perpetually as if there was no tomorrow.

The Result: It is now trapped into a serious economic mess and the devil speaks the truth   yes  IMF says the huge debt of Greece is unpayable and unsustainable  making us to remember what Keynes told  in the3  20’s that war reparation payment SOUGHT FROM The defeated power Germany was just impossible. That Germany has forgotten the past   and also the series of debt relief it got from the U.S during post war period and refuses to see the cracks on the EURO wall by denying debt relief and imposing austerity measures which will do more damage to Germany and also to euro experiment.

What I told for 90 minutes I cannot type now. To tell the story in one sentence we shall go back to the quote. Greece cannot afford to dance in the rain(remain in the euro union enjoy and suffer) but exit from it(take its own currency and get some long run protection after undergoing short term chaos.