My letter to editor published in Deccan Chronicle [Chennai Edition]
on 22.09.2016
on 22.09.2016
Sep 23, 2016
Sep 19, 2016
Jul 14, 2016
May 25, 2016
How to live and die
This article is specially posted for the students of JNV Mahabub Nagar and JNV Puducherry.
People often found me happy though I have a sober face. Well, how happy I am and if I am really happy are the questions that can be answered later during a private talk. While contemplating on what really makes man reasonably happy [complete happiness is impossible?] I ran across this article by Kushwanth Singh whom I admire for his lucid writings. I think, the points he mentions for a happy life can be a mantra for each one of us to follow.
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I don’t believe in rebirth or in reincarnation, in the day of
judgement or in heaven or hell. I accept the finality of death. We do not know
what happens to us after we die but one should help a person go in peace—at
peace with himself and with the world.
I’ve lived a reasonably contented life. I’ve often thought about
what it is that makes people happy—what one has to do in order to achieve
happiness.
First and foremost is good health. If you do not enjoy good
health, you can never be happy. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct
something from your happiness.
Second, a healthy bank balance. It need not run into crores, but
it should be enough to provide for comforts, and there should be something to
spare for recreation—eating out, going to the movies, travel and holidays in
the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money can be demoralising. Living on
credit or borrowing is demeaning and lowers one in one’s own eyes.
Third, your own home. Rented places can never give you the comfort
or security of a home that is yours for keeps. If it has garden space, all the
better. Plant your own trees and flowers, see them grow and blossom, and
cultivate a sense of kinship with them.
Fourth, an understanding companion, be it your spouse or a friend.
If you have too many misunderstandings, it robs you of your peace of mind. It
is better to be divorced than to be quarrelling all the time.
Fifth, stop envying those who have done better than you in
life—risen higher, made more money, or earned more fame. Envy can be corroding;
avoid comparing yourself with others.
Sixth, do not allow people to descend on you for gup-shup. By the
time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by their
gossip-mongering.
Seventh, cultivate a hobby or two that will fulfil you—gardening,
reading, writing, painting, playing or listening to music. Going to clubs or
parties to get free drinks, or to meet celebrities, is a criminal waste of
time. It’s important to concentrate on something that keeps you occupied
meaningfully. I have family members and friends who spend their entire day
caring for stray dogs, giving them food and medicines. There are others who run
mobile clinics, treating sick people and animals free of charge.
Eighth, every morning and evening devote 15 minutes to
introspection. In the mornings, 10 minutes should be spent in keeping the mind
absolutely still, and five listing the things you have to do that day. In the
evenings, five minutes should be set aside to keep the mind still and 10 to go
over the tasks you had intended to do.
Ninth, don’t lose your temper. Try not to be short-tempered, or
vengeful. Even when a friend has been rude, just move on.
Above all, when the time comes to go, one should go like a man
without any regret or grievance against anyone. Iqbal said it beautifully
in a couplet in Persian: “You ask me about the signs of a man of faith? When
death comes to him, he has a smile on his lips.”
(Excerpted from the Absolute Khushwant: The Low-Down on
Life, Death & Most Things In-Between)
May 24, 2016
The art of Public Speaking
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8qUyTkGux7edHpMU1RDcmpjSms/view?usp=sharing
A student from JNV Mahabub Nagar sent this excellent book [in PDF version] on mastering the art of public speaking. See if this can be of some use.
A student from JNV Mahabub Nagar sent this excellent book [in PDF version] on mastering the art of public speaking. See if this can be of some use.
May 20, 2016
Folk Songs Translation for All India Radio Puducherry
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8qUyTkGux7eLTlDbHViZHo0MHc&usp=sharing
Click on the link to read my English translation of Tamil folk songs done for All India Radio Puducherry.
Click on the link to read my English translation of Tamil folk songs done for All India Radio Puducherry.
English is crazy
English is also a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant. Neither pine nor apple in pineapple and no ham in
hamburger. Sweetmeats are candy, while
sweetbreads, which are not sweet, are meat. Quicksand works slowly, boxing
rings are square, and a guinea pig nor from Guinea
And why do writers write but fingers
do not fing, grocers do not groce and hammers do not ham?
It vegetarians eat vegetables, what do
humanitarians eat?
Perhaps all English speakers should be
sent to an asylum for the verbally insane. In which language do people recite
at a play and play at a recital? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How
do ‘a wise man’ and ‘a wise guy’ differ in meaning? Why are ‘over look’ and
‘over see’ antonyms? Why are quite a lot and quite a few alike?
Don’t you marvel at the unique lunacy
of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you
fill in a form by filling it out and in which your alarm clock goes off by
going on!
English was not invented by computers.
It has the creativity of the human race [which is not a race at all]. That is
why, when stars are out they are visible, when lights are out they are
invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch I start it, when I wind up this essay
I end it.
May 6, 2016
KARGIL WAR HERO............ SALUTE........
Harish Nayani, an ex-NDA, erstwhile IAF fighter pilot, now a Captain flying for
Indigo Airlines, had a war-hero passenger on his flight the other day.
Naik Deep Chand, who lost both his legs and an arm in the 1999 Kargil War, was
flying Indigo. Harish announced the presence of the war hero on the flight, to
the delighted applause of 180 passengers.
This is all the recognition war heroes need, for acts no nation can repay them
for.
[Source - Rajiv Tyagi]
May 4, 2016
May 1, 2016
From Answer Sheets - Class XI and XII
 |
| [Check - beggar, prostitute, to die] |
 |
| [car parking] |
 |
| [shower, filled, tiles, electricity] |
 |
| [slipped down] |
 |
| [face colour was colourless, lifeless death body] |
 |
| [recycle, Published in public interest] |
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