From a prisoner to president

He was a prisoner of that country . Despite  languishing in there for 27 years, through his iron will and determination he became the President of that country on his release.

Yes I am talking about the late President Mr.Nelson Mandela of South Africa.

Every media and every news paper in every country has analysed his life in every angle possible. Then what this mere blogger going to talk about a great leader you might wonder!

Blogging is a way that you share your feelings and thoughts with many people of different origin specially it comes with a message of good will and pure thoughts.

on that aspect I feel like sharing my emotions about this great leader who was the main pivotal force behind the Independence of his country South Africa.

In the world present and past histories had many struggles at different countries at different times. Among them the struggle of South African Black people takes a special place,

Why ?

They were not asking to separate a country , they were not asking a portion of a country to which they did not have any claim. They were merely asking to be considered as normal people in a country where they were living for generations.

The struggle became a world wide concern due to the unjust policies of the then government of South Africa. They had apartheid prescribed in their countries law at a time while world was breaking up the barriers of divisions.

The same leaders who once described Mr.Mandela as a terrorist has acknowledged that he was a true leader of his people.

What is his special quality that separated him from so called the revolutionary leaders ?

It was his vision . It was his ability too acknowledge the speed of the changes in the world. It was his ability to put his peoples well being before his aspirations. It was his ability to understand the so called oppressors mentality.

above all ,

It was his ability to be able to forgive the mistakes made by his oppressors and his ability to forget the past when they were able to acknowledge their mistakes.

The most amazing thing his he as a prisoner spent most of his tome to study Africana the language of his oppressors to make it easy for him to understand their actions.

Yes A prisoners walk to freedom took him straight in to the realm of the Presidency of his country because he believed in forgiveness not revenge.

That is why there were leaders of more than 90 countries were present to honour his memory .

what is better than the practical explanation of "love thy neighbour" in this season of good will.

 Sakthi Sakthithasan

Aspiration is it bad ?

Life is complicated is it not ?

In this ever changing complicated world it is impossible to hold onto your views throughout life . Because of  the changes that the society is going through as part of that society it becomes necessary for us to  change our views towards the society.

But then it contradicts with your firm believes that you once thought that you would build your life upon them.

What is he talking about ? I hear your sighs. Do not worry I am going to come to the point that I embarked upon to point out.

I am an immigrant to this country who came here in the late seventies as a student. The views held by me at that time were full of left oriented views that cast a deep suspicious eyes towards the so called "rich" people .

this stem out of the naive belief that every rich person has got what he had from inheriting and have not worked for it .

Why did i have that view then ? it was because the leftist preaching attracted me , I suppose at that age it was a common attraction that many of my contemporary youngsters went through.

I always voted labour and thought that it was my duty to vote for Labour as an immigrant.

What they say about the time is true that it is the best teacher of the facts about practicability to live this life in this world.

I look at myself now.

What a change ? at 57 I am a dad to a Doctor and husband to a wife who holds a reasonably high job and myself  hold a job which in the scale of things fairly well paid.

But how did we arrive at this ? Ah this is where my earlier beliefs are now teasing me . Well if the aim of the so called socialist policies that Labour party holds is to make every working class persons living standard a better one then suddenly the same working class once elevated his status by shear hard working are being scrutinised through the same lenses and classified as rich person and penalised for that ?

Unfortunately the way people like me are being  treated by the so called the left elements it forces us to seek support onto the other political spheres . Yes the real question that we face today at this changing times is ,

Is aspiration bad ? Is it bad for a person to raise his status in society through shear hard working or do they need to seek alliance with the people who really value the hard work and accepts that rewards gained by shear hard working should not be penalised.

I wonder ! ! !

Sakthi Sakthithasan

A Day for religious understanding

It is said to day is a day that we should celebrate the understanding between the different religion and promote the same.

What is religion ? What is god ? and what is our purpoise of continuous search for god ?

Is it in our own interest that we have this debate of the existence of a god ?

Questions ...... Questions

When we are born in  this worls it ios not we who dictate our place and time of birth . But by default we belong to different groups in human kind yet when we grow we are vigirous enough to go to the exiend of killing other people for the belief of pur religion.

How can it be justified that we should fight others while every religion in this world promote peace and harmony.

The stories of war between gods are nere stories told to us to enstill some moral values within ourselves but yet we instead of adhering the moral principles behind those stories focus on the fact that there was wars and glorify the hate element.

The real religion, the real god is that the love we have for each other , the respect we have for each other and the live and let live tolerent attitude that we have.

So let us all beleive we are all same it is no harm to be proud of who we are and to be proud of part of a strong cultural background.. But let us respect each others beleife and not force our beleife in others.

Let the religious understanding day be a day of love for each other.

Love is god , god is love

Sakthi Sakthithasan

A Great chapter comes to an end !

Kavinjar (Poet) Vaali is no more !

Who is Kavinjar Vaali ? A question that would arise in the mind of anyone who is not a Tamil . Yes Vaali was a grat Tamil Poet , A excempilary Tamil song writer who unfortunatly passed away in the recent past.

A humble man who hailed from the great Srirangam in Tamil Nadu in India. Whose education was then S.S.L.C.

Who in his younger days was interested in art and wanted to be an artist.

But the almighty power has different plans for him.

Vaali's real name is T. S. Rangarajan Vaali was born to Srinivasa Iyengar and Ponnammaal in Srirangam.

He worked at All India Radio (AIR). He holds the record for having written most number of lyrics in Tamil.He has written lyrics for over 15,000 songs.


He moved to Chennai in the 1950s seeking an opportunity in Tamil film industry. In the 1960s and 1970s, he received patronage from Tamil movie legend M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) and became a successful lyricist, in competition with poet Kannadasan, which he had chronicled in his autobiography Naanum Indha Nootrandum.

Vaali has also authored other books such as Avathara Purushan, Pandavar Bhoomi, Ramanuja Kaviyam, Krishna Vijayam, Kalaignar Kaviyam, Krishna Bhakthan and Vaaliba vaali.

His song "Amma endru azhaikatha uyir illaye" is carved in the stone in a temple in Trichy.


On July 2013, he was admitted in a hospital in Chennai to undergo treatment for a respiratory illness. He was put on ventilator on 17 July 2013, when his condition worsened, and he died on 18 July 2013 at 5.10 PM IST. He was under the age of 82..

What is his greatness ?

He was a man who even under greatest difficulties succeeded to become a great song writer in the Tamil Cinema during a period in which Kaviyarasar Kannadasan was the king .

It is only few years ago i had the rare oppurunity of meeting him face to face. my intention was to have an interview with him but he insisted that it is not his policy to give interview as truth will always hurt.

Instead he was very cordially had a chat with me and said that he would not mind if I use any of his conversation in any of my writings.

following that I met him whenever possible during my visits to Chennai..

His greatness is  his simplicity . He makes you feel that you are not talking to a legendary song writer in Chennai.

His knowledge of Tamil and religious information is second to none.

He is the one and only song writter who compsed songs for heros from the 60`s upto as recent as 2013.

it is a previllege for us to live in the same era as he was and to walk the land that he walked on.

This is tribute of mine to him and also to give a brief introduction about him to our younger generation.

I am sure his name anf fame will live in this world untill the last Tamil is alive.

may god bless his soul.

Sakthi Sakthithasan

(My thanks to Wikipedia for some info.)

 

Teachers Vs Gove

What is going on in our education system ? Is there really a underlying problem with our education system or is it something that has been hyped up by the media ?

Continuous tinkering with the education system benefits who ? there are many questions looming in our minds as our education secretary of the coalition government is keep calling for fundamental changes in our education system.

Teaching is a profession that should demand high respect by students, parents and public at large. There has been continuous criticism on our teachers which has an effect that would create frustration for them.

It is hard enough as it is to find good teachers but putting them under constant scrutiny will alienate the eligible future candidates to take up a teaching profession .

It is true that a country`s future relies on the hands of the younger generation and it is imperative that the future generation should be taught by the best people in the field.

It is suggested that the government and the education secretary is moving towards performance related pay for the teachers.

On their part both the government and Mr.Gove both are trying to put a gloss on their argument by saying that they are not bringing performance related pay but just leaving it to the individual schools to reward their teachers who produce best results.

On the other hand one can also see the point in the teachers and their unions argument that it is every teachers ambition is to provide the best possible education to their students and this ambition is what brought them into this profession.

While all sides agree that there must be some kind of change in the education system to suit the present society`s need they differ on the approach.

Gove wants these changes to take effect in the 2014 academic year and teachers and their union disagrees the contents of the change and say the time frame for the implementation is too short.

it is interesting to see how this develops. It is every ones sincere hope that the confrontation does not lead to any strike action that would have an adverse affect on the children`s education.

It is a bit worrying as all this gives a hint of a political motives behind these moves.

Sakthi Sakthithasan

26.07.2013

At a difficult juncture

Our world is moving fast. Changes that are taking place is in the form of structural changes. There is a new wave of generation springing up in a difficult environment.

Yes we are at a difficult juncture. When I loosely term as we I consider myself as a British national. The events that are taking place does somehow shake the fundamental principle of safety that we are accustomed to so far.

Crimes are being committed in the name of religion to which religion do not have any contribution. The acts of certain criminals who are justifying their actions in the name of religion playing right into the hands of racist elements who in turn justifies their unlawful activities .

The economical pressures that are felt by the society at large do give rise to sentimental feelings and that is a fact of life. The responsibility of behaving lawfully and grow the trust between the different sections of the British society falls right on the shoulders of so called the “immigrants”.

It is true that the closeness of our feeling towards the countries where we originated will play it`s part when there are incidents occurring at those places. But one thing we all need to realize is that the British troops are there to safeguard the lives of the majority indigenous people of that country.

Instead of being supportive and thankful for the service these troops providing in these countries some criminal elements of the society are helping grow hatred.

What are we trying to establish here? it is the future generation who has to put up with the consequences of our misguided actions.

It is no good blaming the government or the other politicians. All reasonable people are working for the cohesion and co existence of the different sections of the society.

It is heart warming to see all the main religious and the community leaders are working hard to establish a long lasting understanding between communities. It is vital that at this juncture communities should not segregate themselves thus giving rise to suspicious feeling.

There several tasks that are evident before us. We need to first of all work towards a better understanding by integrating into the society and as a united community try work ourselves out of this financial uncertainty.

I am sure that the majority of British public is totally against this and none of the religions preach violence. It is also true that most of the politicians from the mainstream politics are united in task to bring back the harmony between the community and encourage all of us to move together to a better , safer future in which the future generation of Britain can flourish.

Sakthi Sakthithasan

Where are we going ?

We are said to be an advanced society both scientifically and culturally. What is the real meaning of advancement? This question is burning in my mind.

Societies are based on their cultural background. Due to this belief only we do our best to tolerate each other`s culture and beliefs. If this tolerance does not exist it would have been impossible to all of us immigrants to establish a respectable life for us in this country.

The argument put forward for people to tolerate each other is that we should respect each other`s individual rights as a human being.

This is all fine. I do not think that any rationally thinking person would have any arguments against this. So then what are you trying to say? I hear your question loud and clear.

Gay or Homosexual relationships are a commonly accepted way of living in the current society. It is also being taught in schools to children for them to be more flexible if they encounter such living arrangements.

I do accept that it is necessary for us to support the individuals in their right to live the life that they choose to live. And furthermore it is important for us to make sure that our future generation are not brought up with a bias towards gay couple.

But is it necessary to shake the fundamental cultural religious beliefs in the name of individual freedom.

Should not there be a limitation how far you can erode into other peoples freedom in what they believe in the name of individual rights. 

Political correctness is a good thing in right amount of doses, but as with any medicine if it is used excessively it might worsen the condition instead of making it better.

It is to be congratulated that the last government brought the “Civil Partnership” law. It is only right that Gay couple should have the same legal rights as hetrosexual couple. 

But I sincerely cannot see the benefit of bringing the “Gay Marriage” act. Religious beliefs are based on some firm legendary background and it is not culturally safe to rock the foundation of these institutions.

In the past few months and weeks I have listened to many arguments from all the sides and it is my understanding that a lot og Gay Couple themselves do not actively support this.

The main fault of our political parties are they are not effecting real change with times but trying give a picture to the public that they are a modern party. Morden means that you should completely seen to be shaking the basic fundamentals of the society.

I sincerely hope that parties embrace the modern times by trying to follow a consensus politics rather than changing something for the sake of changing.

Sakthi Sakthithasan

Reality Vs Emotions

we are currently in the worst economic situation in our recent memory. Everyone of us are affected in one way or the other. Every step we take we are feeling the pinch.

Emotions are running high . Blame culture is booming as each of us are trying to find a reason to justify why we are in this economical situation.

The previous government , The present government , Immigrants , Fat cats , The banks , Europe . Yes the search is endless .

But my friends The Fact is a hard one "we are in it" forget about the reasons why we are in it it is not very important even though analyzation of this will help to guide the future economy we have to spend less time on blaming and concentrate on the ways of getting us out of this mess.

Yes ! to do that we have to think in terms of reality. Let us not allow our emotions take hold of our decision making power and rational thinking.

Whether we like it or not we currently in Europe and classified as Europeans . Quiet a lot of our business depend in our membership however small or large that is beside the point.

There are lot of things that as British Citizens we would like to change in the European Union . But is the solution to leave the Union ?

No ! certainly not . Then what? the question arises. This is where we should give a chance to our Prime Minister to work on his way to negotiate a new relationship within Europe for us.

It might result that the Europe will have a two tier system and we might end up in the slow lane but our business interests would be safe guarded that would help our business leaders to try and get us out of this economical mess.

Yes ! we need the government to work with leaders to help to achieve this but trying to undermine the Prime Minister trying to renegotiate our relationship with Europe will not help the current situation.

The recent UKIP popularity surge is making lot of people to act emotionally without thinking rationally including the members of the present government.

It is easy to ride the popularity wave by travelling in the direction that it takes us but it takes a lot of courage to say that the direction is not the correct way that would take us to the shore.

I am not particularly a labour or Conservative supporter . But believes that which ever party supporter you are the most important thing is to support what ever done in the country`s interest.

So ! let is give Mr Cameron a break and see what he can do in way of renegotiating with Europe.

Sakthi Sakthithasan
15.05.2013

End of a chapter

Yes !

 It is an end of a chapter in the history of Britain. 

So many discussion has been aroused by the Death of Mrs Margret  Thatcher one of the greatest prime ministers that this country  ever had.

If I was asked  the  question 30 years ago is Margret Thatcher is a good prime minister my answer would definitely would have been different to today.

But would I have been justified of my answer then ?. In hindsight I would say no.

Margret Thatcher became as the Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1979 . And made  a mark on the British Political history, as she was the first woman prime mister of this great country.

I was a foreign University Student  in this country when she became the Prime Minister.There was a tendency at that time among the foreign students and immigrants that the Conservative party was anti them. And the general belief was that the Labour party was the one which always stood for the interest of Immigrants. In Hind sight I could see how naive my opinion was at that time.

Because of that belief I as a foreign student who was following higher studies I was very anxious of the historical event of a first Conservative woman prime minister of this country. But looking back I cannot recall of any actions that she took was detrimental to my education and my subsequent citizenship of this country.

It is my belief that she stood by the hard working , honest people of this country and always took pride in British achievements.

Putting political beliefs aside it  amazes me to see a woman with such a strength who stood against all adversities thrown against her in a men dominated world.

It is a fact that in her own party there were many people opposed her being the leader of their party because she was a woman.

it was a time when British industries and the government were in the strangle hold of the unions and someone needed to come to the forefront and break this strangle hold. 

For the task of this proportion a person with firm convictions of their belief was needed and none other than this Iron lady fitted  the role.

She put Britain back in a straight path going forward. Mrs.Thatcher did not only sort the affairs of Britain but also held a huge influence internationally which gave  positive encouragement for the changes that were happening in other countries.

She visited China until that time had a very frosted relationship with Britain, Encouraged Mr.Gorbachev to bring liberalization to Soviet Union, played a major part in unifying Germany hence breaking the Iron curtain of the Eastern Europe.

Her political wisdom is evident the way she handled two different situations with two different outcomes.

1)When Argentina invaded Falklands she did not hesitate to stand by the people of Falklands

2) In the case of Hong Kong she was quiet willing to release the Island back to China

Poll tax brought  lot of negative reactions from the public but it is my belief that the true intention of bringing the Poll tax has not been understood properly by the public.

In the end it was people within her own party with the help of the Media plotted the downfall of Mrs.Thatcher .

One criticism that I level against her is that she did not do enough to bring women into the leadership of political parties using her influence. The only positive thing for women is that he set an example that being a woman does not stop anyone to be a good leader for their nation.

"If you want you turn but I am not for turning" what great leader of this nation who make every British National to think of her with warm pride feeling irrelevant of their party affiliation.

I salute the Iron Lady !

Sakthi Sakthithasan

08.04.2013

Is it Fool's gold

April 1st , yes it is April fools day.

So is it appropriate to start the changes to the welfare system and the changes to the NHS budget on this day ?

Well it is practically not starting on the fools day is it ?

Oh ! it happens to be a holiday.

well the arguments of both sides surrounding these changes are raging . But what is it all about ? Why are we so fear full and sceptical about these changes ?

one thing is sure changes have always been looked upon suspiciously specially when it is anything to do with Conservative party.

But is it justifiable to criticise everything as it is being done to uphold the policy beliefs of a Conservative party?

It is true and evident that the country is in dire situation economically which has to be dealt with if anything can be salvaged.

While I accept the fact majority of the unemployed people do not choose to be unemployed there is a certain percentage of the unemployed population who does not want come out of the rut that they are in.

it is very difficult to draw the line and changes has to be implemented at some layer of the society to change the attitude of these people.

Because some was offered an accommodation to accommodate their at the time if their application it is not god given right that that should be kept at the same level even if their personal situation changes.

A family who required a three bedroom accommodation ten years ago may only need two bedroom accommodation now and because they do not earn enough money to live in the same type of accommodation it may be prudent for them to downsize hence it is only right for the government who pays for the accommodation to suggest the changes to them.

But at the same time I do understand the argument of the other side saying that even if the family is willing to move to a smaller accommodation the social housing do not have anything to offer to them.

The problem seem to be in the logistics rather than the policy.

Well on the other hand I am very concerned about the changes to the current NHS system . Handing over the bulk of the budget control to the GP practises may affect the way the patients are treated by the GP`s. Two points concern me very much,

I was listening to a GP who was saying that even though they are given the control of the budget which suggests that they can choose the best cause of treatment for their patients theoretically in practise it is not so. He further explained that that they have abide by the gaudiness of the health authority who would require them to make cuts and savings which in his view would impact the way they treat their patients.

Secondly the doctors would be spending time in admin work which would deprive them from spending more time with their patients.

Well I sincerely hope that I am proved wrong and the changes work positively for the consumers of the health service.

Well times have changed . It is very difficult resist changes while the circumstances which guides these changes are always changing. It is very nice to think that nothing changes and everyone will have everything done their way. But the reality is different.

the burning question in every ones mind is , are these changes implemented on April fools day is going to full fill the expectations or are the expectations ,

A fools gold ......... !

Sakthi Sakthithasan

02.04.2013

 



Oh ! Spring , where have you gone ?

Yes !
There is Spring in my words
         There is spring in my deeds
But ,
Where is the Spring in the weather ?

The world has lost it`s routine
     we have everything what we want - Yet
We do not have the very thing we want
     who is the reason ? is it us ? is it our greed ?
Ruined the world out of recognition.

Today there empty stomachs craving for food
     at every corner of the world , but we are busy
Saving for tomorrow that has no meaning !
  
If only ! If only ! the have have their hearts open , then
surely the have not`s can have a chance - but ?
will it happen ? who knows ....... because we are all
Very busy looking for our Spring ......
But do not realise that the true Spring is in the Smile
of a small child who would be able to have a descent meal ?

Sakthi Sakthithasan

Press and people !

What is it all about ? What is all the fuss about ? 

Whai ts he talking about ? You may wonder .

Yes I am talking about all the commotions that is going around the voting on the implementation of the Leveson's recommendation on press regulation following the big shambles of hacking charges on certain Newspapers.

Yes it is understandable that the victims and the public were dismayed by the confusing stance of our Prime Minister after he went back on his earlier promise of the full implementation of the recommendations as long as they are not "bonkers". Well without making claim that the recommendations were "bonkers" PM changed his stance which gave rise to the suspicion that he gave in to the pressure by some influential Newspapers.

On this particular issue there is a strange coalition is formed yes the partner of the coalition government Liberal Democrats has joined forces with the main opposition party, the Labour and they were going to be supported by some Conservative back bench MP's. Results would have been a defeat for the PM and the strengthening of the charge that our PM is weak.

Well in the mean time The Sun had very serious head line this morning that by going along fully with Leveson's recommendations would seriously erode the freedom of the press and supported their argument with an opinion of former Pm late Winston Churchill.

The question is how genuine is the fear that the implementation would infringe the freedom of the press?

How else would we able to protect the privacy of the normal citizens of our country ? By normal I mean the ordinary people who are not celebrities but gone through some unfortunate incident and was a focus to the Media world.

While it is true that a free press that does not act as mouth pieces of politicians is the back bone of a democratic society, it is also true in a democratic society the privacy of each individual should be protected irrelevant of their status.

In the modern world with advanced communication facilities the Media world has changed compared to Churchill times hence the rights of the press world need to be kept in check with some sort of legal frame work.

It is very encouraging to see that finally the main three parties has come to some kind of consensus on this issue. This would help to make sure that there is a sensible balance will be maintained.

Let us hope that what ever the outcome is that would protect both the freedom of the press and the privacy of the individual .

After all we live in a democratic society . Don't we ?

Sakthi Sakthithasan
18.03.2013

International Womens Day

Today the 8th of March is the International Womens day. It is not now in the19th Century our greatest Tamil poet Makakavi Barathiyaar brought the womens liberation to the forefront of Indian society of that day.

His writings on womens liberation is still revered by the Tamil liteature world. On this day I am just Translating a small; portion of his work from one poem.

God who safeguards our world

       Gave intelligence to women

Still there are some people with ignorance

      suppressing the women as they are their servants

How can you see a beautiful scenery 

     if you hurt one of your two eyes ?

Why wont you see the fact , that the world

  would get rid of differences only

If we  let our women educate themselves 

Bharathiyaar

Those days while the fight for the Independence of India was on going the society treated women as second class citizens. In this poem Barathi asks how we expect our country to be liberated from suppression while we suppress our women.

He was a wonderful poet but above all a wonderful human soul who always look every person as human being.

Long live Bharathi`s memories

Sakthi Sakthithasan

08.03.2013

Is it too far !  too fast ?

 

British economy ! struggling at the gates of recovery . 

All this time we had the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister were singing from the same hymn sheet. But for the first time we are starting to see a thin layer of division between them as far as the economy is concerned.

we all know what happened to the British economy is not something that happened due to the policies of the government of that day. It would have been a factor which encouraged the deterioration of the economical state.

It was a challenge at 2010 for any party to take on the remedial task of the dire economical situation of that time. Unfortunately not any single party won the election outright and resulted in the most unlikely alliance of conservative party and liberal democrats in a coalition government.

it is not my intention of repeating the storey followed that. But one thing was evident that Mr.Cameron and Mr.Clegg has been united in claiming that they are together in tackling the economical situation in the interest of the nation.

the policies that were formulated by the chancellor was supported by Mr.Clegg and co  and was defended as the only way out of the dire economical situation.

now that the midterm of the government has passed without any evidence of massive success of the policies that were carried out by this government unlike previously the most part of the blame falls on the shoulders of this government squarely.

As the next general election is just over couple of years ahead the prime minister and his deputy are slowly airing their divisions.

Is it purely because of safe guarding their party`s interest having the elections in mind or is it because they genuinely feel that there is points of difference between them on the policies that were pursued by the government.

From the beginning the argument put forward by the opposition Labour party that the cuts they are introducing is far too much and is being applied far too fast. Especially the capital expenditure was cut far too much hence suppressing the recovery of the economy.

It is now looks as if the Business secretary Mr,Cable and the Chancellor Mr.Osborne are at odds . It is also evident that Deputy Prime Minister is aligning himself with the Business secretary.

it is also being rumoured that there is a split with the Coalition cabinet as to how the budget should evolve.

The crucial day is march the 20th in which Chancellor will be publishing his budget.

Was it too far , too fast ?

Sakthi Sakthithasan

07.03.2013

Carry on with your journey

What an interesting journey
Where it will end ?
We do not know ! - But
We continue the journey
Day by day without a break
The roads are long and winding
But the journey is interesting
Unexpected turnings
Unnimaginable beautiful moments
Lovely blue sky with shining little stars
Smiling mornings with glowing sun
Can we stop the changing of life
No ....... Then why worry ?
Carry on with your journey

Sakthi Sakthithasan
04.03.2013

Wealth creation ! Is it wrong ?

Functioning of a democratic society depends on the workers as well as the wealth creators. The present day economic crisis has given birth to a school of thought that the people who creates wealth are people who is doing something morally wrong !

Without the people who creates the wealth there would not be wealth in the country to be divided among the population.

It is true that in recent past there have been people with greed who gambled with funds which in turn has resulted in financial turmoil. But that does not give licence to attack every individual who strives hard and make money for themselves as well as create wealth for the nation.

The present economical situation is the combination of various facts.Any single event or party cannot be held responsible for the present situation. It was the culmination of short term policies by various governments to sustain them in power.

as the general opinion for the cause contributing to the latest debacle of the economy is thought to be the excess practices undertaken by certain financial institutions in their investment arm, the wrath of the affected people is unleashed on the people who are creating wealth in the banking industry.

The argument I am keep hearing from several people is that, the investment business only making certain individual rich and does not create employment opportunities or wider opportunities for the general public.

Manufacturing base in UK has started to shrink long before the present difficulties. The reason for that is production became expensive and certain wrong policies were pursued by the governments of that time.

It is ironic that the blame for the lack of manufacturing industries in Britain is suddenly blamed on people who try to create some wealth in the way they know how . It does not mean that I am condoning bad practises and illegal dealings . 

My view is that financial institutions success is the only positive side of storey that we have in Britain today. 

unfortunately we live in a totally different world to what we had about 20 years ago. It is a fact that what we had working very well for us 20 years ago will not hold today. Hence we need to get better and smarter in what we do best.To that extend I welcome our Prime minister`s resent visit to India.

The balance is tilting to countries like China, India, Brazil, Mexico so it is imperative that we need to have a firm footing in these countries so that our services can be sold in emerging economies which in turn can finance our ventures in UK.

Our wealth creators should be encouraged to expand their horizon and widen their vision and embrace the global concept otherwise we will be left behind in the race and it will only put our younger generation on a back footing.

For a country to succeed and democracy to flourish we need all kind of people including the rich people while I totally agree, that wealth should not be created to be shared between few people and on the back of suffering of the middle class workers, the fact is, if anything the people who has the know how to create wealth should be encouraged.

However much we do not like it, the fact is, it is the wealth creators who are the vehicles that would probably take us out of this dire situation.

Wealth creating ! Is it morally wrong ?

Sakthi Sakthithasan

28.02.2013

THIRUVALLUVAR

 

who is Thiruvalluvar ?

 Is he a poet ? a saint ? a philosopher ? . Well the answer is Thiruvalluvar is a composition of all of this .

Thiruvalluvar was a celebrated Tamil poet who composed poetry called "THIRUKURAL" in all aspects of life which helped man to lead a morally justifiable life.

The beauty of Thirukural is that he has buried very powerful ethical rules of life in mere two sentences stringed by beautiful Tamil words.

There is no factual details of Thiruvalluvar`s origin but from purely the linguistic analysis of his writings it  is thought that he lived somewhere between 2nd century BC and the 8th century AD.However there is no
archaeological evidence when he is lived.

There has been some field research done by The Kanyakumari Historical and Cultural Research Centre in Tamil Nadu , India. They have corroborated that Thiruvalluvar was born in Tirunayanarkurichi in the erstwhile Valluva Nadu . But another theory says that he was born in Mylapore in Chennai and then moved to Madurai to submit his work "Thirukural" to the Pandiya King who at that time was promoting Tamil literature.

However in general it is thought that Thiruvalluvar lived about 2000 years ago. His acclaimed work is Thirukural. It is one of the most revered ancient works in Tamil literature. "Thirukural" is a combined word joining of two words Thiru ( Honourable) and Kural ( Form of poetry writing).

Thirukural is translated into several languages. In 1730 Constanzo Beschi translated in into latin. Which made this known in European intellectual circles.

Thirukural is divided into three sections. Section one explains "Aram" containing good ethical behavior with conscience and honor.section two discusses Porul, the right manner of conducting worldly affairs; and section three dwells on Inbam, love between men and women.The first section has 38 chapters, the second 70 chapters and the third 25 chapters. Each chapter consists of 10 couplets or kurals, for a total of 1330 couplets. Although two sections, Aram and Inbam, are devoted to the private life of an individual more than half the couplets in Thirukural are grouped under Porul which discusses ethics in public life. Thus Thiruvalluvar gives more importance to righteous living in public life.

Apart from Thirukural it is said Thiruvalluvar has written "Gnana vaithiyan" and Pantcharathnam in field of natural medicine. But there is also a school of thought that these were written by another person with the same name.

Some examples of Thurukural

In the division of Aram

Those who follow the light of nobility , live

in fame that survives the world

In the division of Porul

The journey of life is secure in the family with a mission

of hospitality, and wary of blemishes

In the division of Love

Is there in life a brighter joy than the comfort of

arms of the loved one , beaming like a lotus

In the division of futile wealth

What legacy they can leave behind, who are

despised by society as unhelpful misers

It is Thiruvalluvars Guru Pooja (Thanks giving Prayer) day today . In future I will come with some of his beautiful two line poems.

Thank you very much for your support

Sakthi Sakthithasan

27.02.2013

Mahakavi (Great Poet) Bharathiyaar

who is this Maha kavi Barathiyaar you may ask ? this is my attempt to bring the greatest poet ever lived in the recent history in Tamil Nadu,  South India  into the Western Media circles .

It is with sadness I wish to state that a great talented man like Bharathiyaar has never been known famously in the Western media circles.

 

Barathiyaar was born to Chinnasami Subramanya Iyer and Lakhsmiammaal in a small town called Ettyapuram to the south of Madras near Tirunelveli. He lost his mother when he was 5 years old. his father was a strict disciplinarian who wanted him to excel in English and Maths thus becoming an engineer which would enable him to live comfortably.

But from the small ages Barathiyar was a dreamer was interested in Tamil and poetry. At the age of 14 his father got him married to a girl seven years younger to him. As you would have heard at that time these sort of early marriages was a common occurrence in the Indian Society.

On the death of his father he moved to Varnasi known as Kasi and continued his education there. He studied English and Sanskrit.In here is where he was exposed to Hindu Spirituality.

He was born into a higher caste known as Brahmins and soon realised the harsh facts of caste divisions with his society.

On his return to his native place he met Sister Nivedita who was a adopted daughter of the saint Swami Ramakrshnar.

During his exchange of views he was made aware of the injustices that the women in the Indian society suffer. He started to believe the emancipation of the women is the only key to a society that advances in civilisation.

Barathiyar awere also heavily engaged in the non violent struggle of mahatma Gandhi towards the Independence of India.

He was despised by the elders in his own Brahmin society for standing up for the rights of the so called low caste people and hailed the equality of the women.

Even though Barathiyaar advocated the emancipation of the women his fight for the advancement on the education of the women rather than becoming self independent in order to live a immoral life.

He spent his entire time in writing poetry and articles reflecting his pronciples towards the independence of India and abolishon of the caste system along with education of women. Hence his family constantly suffered in poverty.

Because of his involvement in the Indian Independence struggle Barathiyar was wanted by the then British Administration and he lived in exile in Pondicherry which was under French rule.

Often he is misunderstood to be a person who loved only Tamil. In contrary he loved English poetry specially Shakespeare and Shelly . He has translated few of their poetry in Tamil. He often advocated that good literary works in other Languages specially English should be translated and introduced to Tamil people which would help them to widen their horizon.

Apart from Tamil he was fluent in English, French and Sanskrit. He has written Poems in Tamil celebrating the Russian revolution and also about Belgium.

In one of his acclaimed poem he has stated ,

" Amongst the languages I know

 I have not found any as sweet as Tamil "  In this poem he has clearey stated that he knows other languages as well .

It is often misunderstood in the Western world that the so called "Independence activists" are somewhat people with narrow view. The reason for my article about Barathiyar is to highlight the fact that he was a person with a global vision who embraced every country and their people. 

What he was against was that the Indians are being occupied by England and wanted India to be ruled by Indians.

He worked as journalist in several Tamil publications and also in a English daily. He was arrested in November 1018 on his return into British India near Cudalore and was imprisoned for three weeks. On his release from the Prison the following year he met with Mahatma Gandhi.

he was attacked by the temple Elephant in Triplicane, Madras and was bed ridden. He finally died on the 11th of September 1921 in Madras.

This great man has never been recognised for his genius while he was alive now among the Tamil scholars and the Tamil literature world he is held in high esteem.

It is my intention to introduce him and try and translate few of his poems in English so that every one can enjoy the immense talent our great Barathiyar had.

Sakthi Sakthithasan

24.02.2013

 

I also want to live

World goes around
We walk along
No Idea
What tomorrow brings !
Did not know where
Yesterday went .....
Present is the only
present nature gave us
Then ... Tell me my friend
Why is this hatred  ....
Why do we race against
each other .......
No answers .......
No explanations ...
But we do not stop
running to a place that
we do not know
Oh ! this is what we call life !
So
Let me start running .. because
I also want to live

Sakthi Sakthithasan

A step in the right direction , is it ?

Our prime minster`s new year message reassures us that we are in the right direction towards recovery ? But is it true ? are we as a nation feeling confident that we are on the correct path to recovery ?

Well no one knows the answer. What ever the situation is ? who ever the expert is the truth is that we are in uncharted territory and the problem that we face is unique to the time that we are living.

It is easy to score political points and criticise one another and use flamboyant language to prove that we know what we are talking about.

we have embarked into 2013 and the world is a totally different place to that we know of a decade ago. Hence the problem we face is also totally different. Each political party thinks that they have the best solution for the country, but the situation is a trial and error situation unfortunately the people who will face the consequences of this experiment is  the ordinary people.

when I look around I see the majority of the people at the present day has a different perception of basic needs of their life. The things that I considered as luxury items have become the necessity of comfortable life for the younger generation of today.

The road to comfortable life does not considered to be slow and steady now. People expect to have tomorrows things today with yesterdays money. Simply Champagne life with Lemonade money ...... Ah ?

Let us not kid ourselves . We may be able to get most of the things on borrowed money , but the debt had to be paid this is also true at National level. We cannot go on living on borrowed money . It is essential that our government should curb expenditures where ever they can and as public we should change our outlook towards this and stop criticising everything that the government do.

But on the other hand the government should not take this opportunity drive their principles using the economic difficulties as a cover. The good work of NHS and the Police services should not be penalized, and the Education principles should not be compromised.

The present government is in a predicament as it comprised of two parties with fundamentally different policies . It is not fair for us as public to hold their obvious policy differences against their ability to govern. 

After all the judgement of this governments achievements will be forthcoming in 2015 and taking the present world situation into consideration let us agree that the current political trend should one of consensual politics rather than of confrontation.

Let us in 2013 put the recovery of our country at the forefront  instead of our deep held political views. There should be fertile soil to establish a beautiful garden, we should have a stable economic foundation to build a better society with democratic political views.

Let us all join hands and march through 2013 to pass this difficult terrain.

Sakthi Sakthithasan