Allikkeni
Raja 2024
Procession
from Azhagiyasingar sannathi for being
installed at Triplicane
Sivaperuman
puthirane, yaanai mugm kondavane
Ezhu
ulaga athipathiye, jai, jai jai – Allikeni Rajane Jai jai jai
Ganpati
bappa morya morya morya
sab
bhakto ki shraddha saburi Ganpati bappa morya
sabki
murade karta puri Ganpati bappa morya
sab bhakto ki shraddha saburi Ganpati bappa morya
6.9.2024
When sitting idle in the morning, thoughts keep running in the mind, some ‘wild thoughts’ – connected with life, perhaps seen or experienced at some point of time, yet they have no connection – simply wild thoughts !!
A
series of murders occurred on the outskirts of Mumbai in August 1968. Pavement
and slum dwellers were bludgeoned to death while they slept. All the murders
took place at night and were committed using a hard, blunt object. A similar series of murders had taken place a
few years earlier (1965–66) in the Eastern suburbs of Mumbai with as many as 19
people being attacked, with 9 dying.
நினைவோ ஒரு பறவை .. .. விரிக்கும்
அதன் சிறகை (பா..)
பறக்கும் அது கலக்கும் ..
.. தன் உறவை
Dileep, an industrialist runs a company named Minerva Exports & Imports. He exhibits humble exterior, but has a dark side; preying on nubile girls, has sex with them, and kills them. These proceedings are filmed and watched by his adoptive father and mentor, another deranged woman-hater who, as with Dileep, had a disillusioning experience with women in his past. The man stays holed up in a far corner of Dileep's mansion watching his adopted son carry out what he is too infirm to do. The victims are buried in Dileep's garden and a red rose bush grows above each of them.
That was the theme of - Sigappu Rojakkal ( psychological thriller film co-written and directed by Bharathirajaa, released before Deepavali 1978. The film starred Kamal Hassan and Sridevi, with Goundamani, Bhagyaraj and Vadivukkarasi in supporting roles. Some said that a psychopathic killer, should not be singing and dancing but Bharathiraja said that the song "Ninaivo Oru Paravai" was a dream sequence, shot from the heroine's point of view. Maestro Illayaraja shot to prominence with lot of good songs at that time and his legacy continues.
"Wild
Thoughts" kicks off with a bang and that instantly-recognizable Santana
guitar melody, before segueing into Rihanna's low, compelling vocals and
Tiller's verses. "Wild
Thoughts" is a song by American musician DJ Khaled featuring Barbadian
singer Rihanna and American singer Bryson Tiller. It was released in 2017, by
We the Best and Epic Records as the third single from Khaled's tenth studio
album, Grateful (2017). A mid-tempo pop
song, "Wild Thoughts" consists of Latin percussion, acoustic guitar
lines and riffs that interpolate the 1999 hit single "Maria Maria" by
Santana. Lyrically, the song praises a lover who inspires sexual thoughts. Commercially,
the song reached number one in the United Kingdom, marking Khaled's second and
Rihanna's ninth number one.
Wild, wild, wild thoughts
Wild, wild, wild
When I'm with you, all I get is wild thoughts
Diamonds ain't nothin' when I'm shinin' with ya
Just keep it white and black as if I'm your sister
I'm too hip to hop around town out here with ya
“Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.” Said Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in the psyche, through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst, and the distinctive theory of mind and human agency derived from it. In Freud's theory dreams are instigated by the daily occurrences and thoughts of everyday life. In what Freud called the "dream-work", these "secondary process" thoughts ("word presentations"), governed by the rules of language and the reality principle, become subject to the "primary process" of unconscious thought ("thing presentations") governed by the pleasure principle, wish gratification and the repressed sexual scenarios of childhood. Because of the disturbing nature of the latter and other repressed thoughts and desires which may have become linked to them, the dream-work operates a censorship function, disguising by distortion, displacement, and condensation the repressed thoughts to preserve sleep.
One of Freud's greatest contributions to psychology was talk therapy, the notion that simply talking about problems can help alleviate them. It was through his association with his close friend and colleague Josef Breuer that Freud became aware of a woman known in the case history as Anna O. The young woman's real name was Bertha Pappenheim. She became a patient of Breuer's after suffering a bout of what was then known as hysteria. Symptoms included blurred vision, hallucinations, and partial paralysis. Breuer observed that discussing her experiences provided some relief from her symptoms. It was Pappenheim herself who began referring to the treatment as the "talking cure."
In simple terms, Freud's theory suggests that human behavior is influenced by unconscious memories, thoughts, and urges. This theory also proposes that the psyche comprises three aspects: the id, ego, and superego. The id is entirely unconscious, while the ego operates in the conscious mind. The superego operates both unconsciously and consciously.
Raman
Raghav, also known as Sindhi Talwai, Anna, Thambi, and Veluswami, is a serial
killer active during the mid-1960s, labelled by many as Jack the Ripper of
India. Raghav went on a killing spree
for over three years, with the first round of murders taking place in 1965 and
1966 when 19 people were attacked, and a second round of killings taking place
in 1968. He was caught by Maharashtra Police but was spared a death sentence
due to mental illness, and was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment; he
died in hospital while in prison custody in 1995. It is stated that this real life incident
inspired movie ‘Sigappu Rojakkal’
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One need
not have seen Sigappu Rojakkal, heard Rihanna, nor read Sigmund Freud – life is
simple, there are thoughts running all over, never allow them to weigh too much
on your mind. Life is too beautiful to
be spent worrying. Good morning thoughts
with a picture of Pelican spreading its wing at Vandalur zoo.
Everyone of us love to speak ! - Have you ever been in a situation when you are speaking to someone but even before you are done, that person has already cut you in between and are now talking about something else altogether? Whether in a professional setting or personal life, dealing with people who can't seem to listen can be extremely frustrating.
Before blaming others, first one should work on their own communication skills, ensuring that it is not replete with advice, it is not overtly repetitive, it is not harsh, it is not bitter and it is not belittling the other person. Mistakes do happen and we can easily spot the mistake after the occurrence, blame game takes us nowhere !!
உங்கள்
வீட்டில் உங்கள் குடும்பத்தினர் அனைவரும் ஒரு நாளைக்கு ஒரு தடைவையாவது - அருகருகே உட்கார்ந்து
மனம் விட்டு பேசுவார்களா ! உங்கள் மனைவி /
அல்லது கணவர் - உன்னோடு பேசுவதற்கு சுவற்றில்
முட்டிக்கலாம் என்று வெறுப்பாக கூறியது உண்டா
!! உண்மையெனில்,
இது நல்ல சூழ்நிலையல்ல !
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Every day we hear words coming out of people’s mouths. However, listening to those words is different than just hearing them. Oxford English dictionary, suggests that the word “hear” is defined as “perceive with the ear the sound made by (someone or something),” whereas the word “listen” is defined as “make an effort to hear something; be alert and ready to hear something.” “Listening is hard work,” – it requires concentration, attentiveness, effort and self-restraint.”
Listening is one of the most important skills everyone should develop. How well you listen has a major impact on your job effectiveness and on the quality of your relationships with other people.
Feeling ignored can be downright painful. The “still face experiment” shows that babies become overwhelmed when their attempts to connect with their parents or people around are ignored, and the same pattern continues when we are adults. There is nothing wrong with you for feeling distressed when ignored by others.
In our youth, we were dismissive of elder’s opinion especially when they advised us to be cautious on road, or doing anything else. That sounded irritating !! As we grew up, we experienced that in workplace, Seniors were often rude and kept on instructing ! they did not give enough room to learn. Not all get good bosses !! - also not listening could be attributed to the misplaced confidence of youth and attitude of arrogance, pride, defensiveness, or an unwillingness to admit to mistakes.
Life is simple, do not be too tempted to offer advices when not sought – however, listening well is a skill that we must develop. Good listening will improve relationships and make you more effective at work. "Active listening" is one way to listen better, by making a conscious effort to engage fully with what someone's saying, and to understand what they really mean. Always show by body language that you are listening, provide feedback, defer judgements and respond appropriately.
It’s easy to feel hurt when someone ignores you, but remember, there is usually a bigger picture you could be missing. Once you feel you’re avoided by someone, never disturb them again! Avoid people who have no respect for you and make you feel uncomfortable, No one should spend one minute with someone who makes you walk on eggshells.
Today it is Good Evening message
with a picture of a Parrot seeming to hit a wooden block on its way !! Thoughts of simple thinker –
aasami sirippu sinthanaiyaan.
With regards – S Sampathkumar
5.9.2024
In one
of my visits to a claim site – on a railway crossing near Nellore Railway, saw
this board - Sarvepalli with pincode –
524003 – the name does invoke great memories !!
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Guru
Vandana means “Reverence for the Teacher” – it is the thanksgiving from a
student to a teacher, expressing his or her gratitude. In
every Society, Teachers are to be respected most. In our culture, they
are reverred highly. This beautiful Saraswathi is at Samarao School where
I studied in early 1970s.
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சுமார் 50 அல்லது 60
ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன் – பள்ளிகளில் ஆங்கிலபிரிவில் படித்தவர் குறைவு. முந்தையகாலங்களில் 'ஆசிரியர்
- மாணவர்' உறவு அன்பான பந்தமாக இருந்தது.
Aristotle was a
Greek philosopher during the Classical period in Ancient Greece, the founder of
the Lyceum and the Peripatetic school of philosophy and Aristotelian tradition.
Along with his teacher Plato, he has been called the "Father of Western
Philosophy". His writings cover many subjects – including physics,
biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theatre,
music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics and
government.
Education is the most
important thing in life – it will give Worldly pleasures and give
pleasure to the world too; it will not diminish by giving; it will spread the
fame of those possessing it; cannot be destroyed… there is no better
medicine than Education that can cure all ills. Things
were far different when we joined, studied and left … not these long queues,
ordeal of admission, it was mostly of simple application filling and getting in
– but when a seat is gotten with great difficulty, how many parents would visit
the school, know the teacher of their son/daughter, ever interact with them.
…. Those days, the teacher was a learned, highly respected man – commanding
wishes when he (or she) walked on the roads – and do you remember your
favourite teacher ??
5th Sept is a special day
- …and those in Chennai – know well this road connecting Beach Road [Kamarajar
Salai] from Gandhi statue to Gemini flyover [Anna Membalam] …… is Dr.
Radhakrishnan Salai, earlier known as Cathedral Road. In India, today
5th Sept, is Teachers Day… in many countries, it
is a special day appreciating the role of Teacher… but the World Teachers’ Day
is distinctly different, for it is on Oct 5th.
Do you remember the Names
and can you recollect the faces of your teachers at your Elementary school and
in Secondary school .... have you ever met any of them after coming out of
school. Can you recognise them and would you stop, spend time to pay
reverence, if you are to have a chance meeting with them ?
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (5
September 1888 – 17 April 1975) was a philosopher and statesman who served as the
second President of India from 1962 to 1967. He previously served as the first
vice president of India from 1952 to 1962. He was the second ambassador of
India to the Soviet Union from 1949 to 1952. He was also the fourth
vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University from 1939 to 1948 and the second
vice-chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936. Radhakrishnan is
considered one of the most influential and distinguished 20th century scholars
of comparative religion and philosophy. He held the King George V Chair of
Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta from 1921 to 1932 and
Spalding Chair of Eastern Religion and Ethics at University of Oxford from 1936
to 1952.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
was born in a Telugu Brahmin family in a village near Thiruttani India, in the
erstwhile Madras Presidency near the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
states. His father's name was Sarvepalli
Veeraswami (most likely indicating lineage to the village near Nellore) and his
mother's was Sitamma. His early years were spent in Thiruttani and Tirupati.
His philosophy was grounded
in Advaita Vedanta, reinterpreting this tradition for a contemporary
understanding. Radhakrishnan wrote his thesis for the M.A. degree on "The
Ethics of the Vedanta and its Metaphysical Presuppositions". It was
intended to be a reply to the charge that the Vedanta system had no room for
ethics." Radhakrishnan was awarded several high awards during his life,
including a knighthood in 1931, the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in
India, in 1954, and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in
1963. Radhakrishnan believed that "teachers should be the best
minds in the country". Since 1962, his birthday is celebrated in India as
Teacher's Day on 5 September.
Radhakrishnan started his
political career "rather late in life", after his successful academic
career. In 1931 he was nominated to the League of Nations Committee for
International Cooperation, where after "in Western eyes he was the
recognized Hindu authority on Indian ideas and a persuasive interpreter of the
role of Eastern institutions in contemporary society." When India became
independent in 1947, Radhakrishnan represented India at UNESCO (1946–52) and
was later Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union, from 1949 to 1952. He was
also elected to the Constituent Assembly of India.
While other Gulf Arabs
prefer to get on a camel and go west into the Arab desert, Omanis prefer to be
on a boat and drift towards India,” Oman’s deceased Sultan Qaboos bin Said had
once observed. Sultan Qaboos as a
student, was taught by Shankar Dayal Sharma, who went on to become the
President of India. Sultan Qaboos’s father, an alumnus of Ajmer’s Mayo College,
sent his son to study in Pune, where he was former President Shankar Dayal
Sharma’s student. When PM Shri Narendra
Modi visited Muscat in 2018, Sultan Qaboos
sent breakfast for the visiting leader at the hotel prepared at the
Palace. Earlier when Shankar Dayal Sharma visited Muscat in 1994, Sultan drove
to the airport, personally received him and took him in his car to the
palace.
Of the four mada veethis of Thiruvallikkeni, the farthest is Singarachari Street – one could not miss this old building opp. to Punjab National Bank ~ a school, “ Samarao School” ~ an elementary school in existence for perhaps 100 years or so! - I remember my 5th standard teacher Mrs Bhagawathi and others. I also recall all my Masters at Hindu High School and at DG Vaishnav College … .. and those teachers of SYMA Growth, with whom we are associated for more than a decade now. On this day I pay obeisance to all those who taught me right from my parents, my divyaprabantham master Dr. U.Ve. MA Venkatakrishnan, school teachers, lecturers at College and those who taught me Insurance and life too !!
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The plaque at the famous Red building of The Hindu
High School reads – opened on 12.3.1898 – by Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE
–the then Governor of Madras whose career also extended to Sierra
Leone, Natal, Ceylon and Tasmania. The board at
famous Red Building at
149 Big Street, Triplicane, Chennai 600 005, read : “Be Proud of Your School – Let your School be proud of you
(by your deeds)”
Today, 5th Sept, should
rekindle the memories of another great patriot who underwent untold sufferings
at the hands of British… - Vandanam Olaganathan Chidambaram Pillai ~ more
famous as VOC or Kappolottiya thamizhan, was born on 5th Sept
1872.
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SYMA has an unsaturated
desire for serving the Society. SYMA [Srinivas Youngmen’s Association]
has been in the field of Social service since 1977. At SYMA, we realize
that Education can refine a person and ensure one’s success in
life. We at SYMA, feel strongly the primary responsibility of
improving the Society and helping the underprivileged providing quality
educational support through SYMA Growth and here is a pic with Growth teachers
taken last year.
The FB page of ‘Mumbai Cricket Association’ (MCA) had this
prominently featured : “remembering an icon of Mumbai cricket, an opening
batsman and wicket keeper who captained us to 3 Ranji Trophy titles“. Incidentally Sunil Gavaskar in his biography
Sunny Days makes a specific mention of this former Cricketer, guess who? - facilities at recently inaugurated gym
there !!
Ranji Trophy is their Cup.
Mumbai (Bombay) has won the tournament the most times with 42 wins
including 15 back-to-back wins from 1958–59 to 1972–73. Tamil Nadu has won it twice ! - can you name the Captain on both the
occasions and think of few players who played in those games ?
The man MK Mantri - Madhavi
Krishnaji Mantri [1.9.1921 – 23.5.14) played in four Test matches between 1951 and
1955. Born in Nasik, Maharashtra, he was a right-handed opening batsman and
specialist wicket-keeper who played for Mumbai. He captained Mumbai to victory
in three Ranji Trophy finals: 1951–52, 1955–56 and 1956–57. He captained
Associated Cement Company to victory in the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament
in 1962–63.
Mantri
played his first Test against England in India in 1951–52 and toured England
with the Indian team in 1952 (playing two Tests), and Pakistan in 1954–55 (one
Test). His highest score was 200 for Mumbai in their victory over Maharashtra
in a semi-final of the Ranji Trophy in 1948–49. It was the highest of nine
centuries in a match in which 2376 runs were scored, which is still a record in
first-class cricket.
He was among the four victims (others being Pankaj Roy,
Dattajirao Gaekwad and Vijay Manjrekar) in India's miserable 0–4 start in the
second innings of the Headingley Test of 1952 with Fred Trueman playing havoc. Yes in the 2nd innings, India was
reeling at 0-4 !!
Until
his death, he lived in Hindu Colony, Dadar, Mumbai, and was the oldest living
Indian Test cricketer. He was a national
selector from 1964 to 1968 and the Mumbai Cricket Association president from
1988 to 1992. He was also manager of the Indian team on the England tour of
1990, and served as BCCI treasurer between 1990 and 1992.
There
is this interesting trivia collated from Web :
Factually after the 5th test in Delhi in 1961, after war
between the Nations, there was no Cricket until Bishan Bedi’s team toured
Pakistan in 1978. Yet there was a tour
of Indians who played there !! Not a Test tour but one by a corporate team
led by the late Madhav Mantri in 1961 that included at least five other Test
players. The tour itself was born out of a series of coincidences, as Mantri
explained in a book brought out by ACC Limited, where he was employed for
30-odd years. "In 1961, ACC's manager in Pakistan, an Englishman named
Banks, wrote to our MD, suggesting that we send over a cricket team to Pakistan
and use the money accumulated to fund the visit. Polly Umrigar, Bapu Nadkarni, Ramakant Desai,
Rusi Modi, Dilip Sardesai, among others spent a month in Pakistan playing
matches against teams comprising Test players, at their Test centres - Karachi,
Lahore, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, and even Dhaka, right across India in what was
then East Pakistan.
In his autobiography, "Sunny Days", Sunil
Gavaskar wrote that he was exchanged
with a fisherman's baby at birth. It was his uncle (MK Mantri) who spotted that
the child was not Sunil as he had a birthmark near his ear. "Perhaps, I
would have grown up to be an obscure fisherman, toiling somewhere along the west
coast," Gavaskar wrote.
MCA has time and feels the need to honour its ex-stars !! -
Tamil Nadu, then playing as Madras won Ranji Trophy for the 1st
time in 1954-55. They beat Holkar by 46
runs in the finals. RB Alagannan was the
Captain, Dl Chakravarthy (wk)- rest being S Balakrishna, M Suryanarayanan, AG
Kripal Singh, CD Gopinath, MK Balakrishnan, J Ramakrishnan, BC Alva, AK
Sarangapani & MK Murugesh.
Decades later Tamil Nadu clinched Ranji Trophy on 30th
Mar 1988 winning 1987/88 season beating Railways by an innings and 144 runs. S Vasudevan was the Captain, D Girish (wk) – others – VB Chandrasekhar, UR
Radhakrishnan, PC Prakash, M
Senthilnathan, V Sivaramakrishnan, Robin Singh, L Sivaramakrishnan, B Arun, M
Venkatramana. In the 2nd
innings Captain S Vasudevan, the left arm spinners had figures of 37-12-59-7.
Now give an honest answer on how many TN Crickets fans know S
VAsudevan ?
With regards- S Sampathkumar
4.9.2024.
Ever heard of “Hagila Army” ?
In 2007, the number of these birds in India's Assam state was estimated to be as
low 450. The hargila, as it's known locally, was classified as endangered. Seeing
the peril the bird was in, biologist Dr Purnima Devi Barman intervened.
With the help of 10,000 rural women, Barman became the driving force in
safeguarding the nests of these birds as
well as rebranding the prehistoric-looking scavenger from a bad omen to
positive cultural symbol. The women and
her team are now known as 'Hargila Army' or 'Stork Sisters'. (pic credit biographic.com)
ஆள் உயரமிருக்கும் நீர்ப்பறவையிலிருந்து உள்ளான் போன்ற சிறிய பறவை வரை ஏறக்குறைய இருபத்திரண்டு நீர்ப்பறவைகளைப் பற்றிச் சங்க நூல்களில் குறிப்பு உள்ளது. பெரிய நாரைகள் என்பவை பெரிய உடலுடன், நீண்ட கால்களுடன், நீண்ட கழுத்துடன், நீள மற்றும் தடித்த அலகுகளுடன் காணப்படும் பறவைகள். நாரை தமிழ் இலக்கியத்தில் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. ஒருவர் தம் கருத்தை மற்றவருக்குத் தெரிவிக்க இடையே பிறிதொருவரை அனுப்புவதே தூதாகும். தூதினைப் புறத்தூது, அகத்தூது என இரண்டாகக் கூறுவர். தலைவன் தலைவியிடத்தே தூது அனுப்புதலும், தலைவி தலைவனிடத்தே தூது அனுப்புதலும் அகத்தூது !! அரசர்கள், பகைவரிடத்துத் தூது அனுப்புதலும், புலவர்கள் புரவலர்களிடத்துத் தூது அனுப்புவதும் புறத்தூது -தம் வறுமையை தம் மனைவிக்கு சொல்லிய தூதும் உண்டு - அதற்கு தூது சென்ற பறவை நாரை. நரையான் என்ற பெயர் நரை நிறமுடைய மாட்டைக் குறிப்பதாகவும் அது போன்றே நிறத்தை கொண்டு நாரை என்றும் ஒரு குறிப்பு உள்ளது.
ஐங்குறுநூறு எட்டுத்தொகை தொகுப்பு நூல்களுள் ஒன்று. இதிலுள்ள பாடல்கள் கடைச்சங்க காலத்தைச் சேர்ந்தவை. அன்பின் ஐந்திணையான குறிஞ்சி, முல்லை, மருதம், நெய்தல், பாலை, என்னும் ஐந்து நிலம் சார்ந்த திணைகள் ஒவ்வொன்றிற்கும் நூறு பாடல்கள் வீதம் இந்நூலில் ஐந்நூறு அகத்திணைப் பாடல்கள் உள்ளன. இந்த ஐங்குறுநூற்றில் - வெள்ளங் குருகுப் பத்தில் - தலைவனின் இயல்புகள் கூறும் பாடல் ஒன்று :
வெள்ளாங்குருகின் பிள்ளை செத்தென
காணிய சென்ற மடநடை நாரை
கானல்அம் பெருந்துறைத் துணையோடு கொட்கும்
தண்ணம் துறைவ - கண்டிகும்
அம்மா மேனிஎம் தோழியது துயரே.
இதற்கு
மேம்போக்காக, வெள்ளாங்குருகு என்ற பறவையினது குஞ்சு, இறந்ததென காண சென்ற மடநாரை என
பொருள் பட்டாலும், உட்பொருள் : பரத்தமை ஒழுக்கத்தால்
சென்ற தலைவன் தான் மணந்த காமக்கிழத்தியுடன் சுற்றித் திரிந்தான். பின்னர் ஒரு சமயம்
அவளோடு ஊடல் கொண்டதால் மீண்டு நம் இல்லிற்கு வந்துள்ளான். நம்மைப் போலவே தோழியரும்
( காமக்கிழத்தி) அங்கு ஊடலால் துயருறுவாள். ஆகவே தலைவன் பரத்தமைச் சேரி செல்லுதலே நலம்
என வாயில் மறுத்தல், என்பது புலப்படு பொருளானது.
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The greater adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius) is a member of the stork family, Ciconiidae. Once found widely across southern Asia and mainland southeast Asia, the greater adjutant is now restricted to a much smaller range with only three breeding populations; two in India, with the largest colony in Assam and a smaller one around Bhagalpur; and another breeding population in Cambodia. They disperse widely after the breeding season. This large stork has a massive wedge-shaped bill, a bare head and a distinctive neck pouch. During the day, it soars in thermals along with vultures with whom it shares the habit of scavenging. They feed mainly on carrion and offal; however, they are opportunistic and will sometimes prey on vertebrates. The English name is derived from their stiff "military" gait when walking on the ground.
The greater adjutant was described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham as the "giant crane" in his book A General Synopsis of Birds. Lathan based his own description on that given by Edward Ives in his A Voyage from England to India that was published in 1773.
Here is a short video of Adjutant stork being fed in Vandalur Zoo, Chennai – few mongoose roaming around were stealing its food too : https://youtube.com/shorts/H181eLMbdbo
The group formed to protect Adjutant storks is known as - “hargila army”, a group of rural women in Assam state who work to protect one of the world’s rarest storks: the greater adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius) – or hargila (meaning “bone swallower” in Assamese) as the scavenger bird is known locally. The group’s biologist founder, Dr Purnima Devi Barman was conferred - UN Environment Programme’s Champions of the Earth award.
Barman won the award for her achievement in mobilising more than 10,000 women to help save the stork. “They are the protectors of the birds and of their nesting trees,” says Barman, referring to the band of homemakers turned conservationists. Barman grew up in a village on the Brahmaputra, a river that flows for 2,500 miles through Tibet, north-east India and Bangladesh. As a child, she learned about Assam’s wildlife from her grandmother, who took her into the paddy fields where she worked and taught her about local birdlife. “She didn’t know how to write but she had a feeling for nature and taught me lots of songs and stories about the birds,” says Barman. Today, the once-maligned bird is now a cultural symbol, appearing on everything from towels to road-safety campaigns.
In the villages of Dadara, Pacharia and Singimari (all in Kamrup district), greater adjutants’ nests have increased from 28 in 2010 to more than 250 according to Barman’s last count, making the area the world’s largest breeding colony. “We now have more than 1,000 hargila birds in Assam,” says Barman, referring to recent but unpublished data collected by her team. The conservation efforts have also transformed the lives of the women, who now go into other villages to raise awareness of the birds.
The UN award was
for Barman’s “entrepreneurial vision” in using conservation to improve women’s
economic status. Assam has a rich tradition of weaving, so Barman secured
funding for 30 looms and provided training in weaving the hargila motif into
fabrics, providing women with an independent income. Eighty women were also
given sewing machines to make bags, cushion covers and other items from the
handwoven fabrics. Hats off to Hargila
Army
A close up
photo of a Crow flying !! - Heard the expression - “As the Crow flies !!”
and ever wondered why biscuits have
holes on them ?
The need for nutritious, easy-to-store, easy-to-carry, and long-lasting foods on long journeys, in particular at sea, was a permanent search. Then came biscuits that all of us love so much !
A biscuit, in many English-speaking countries, including Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa but not Canada or the USA, is a flour-based baked and shaped food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. Types of biscuit include sandwich biscuits, digestive biscuits, ginger biscuits, shortbread biscuits, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate-coated marshmallow treats, Anzac biscuits, biscotti, and speculaas. While most English-speaking world, calls it a "biscuit" – it is a "cookie" or a "cracker" in the United States and sometimes in Canada.
Other than the most popular Marie & Milk biscuits – there are slightly poorer cousins of Salty and Sweet & sour. Parle web claims that India’s first and the original sweet and salty biscuit Monaco was launched in 1939 and years later came Krackjack in 1972 !!
The
expression ‘as the crow flies’ is an idiom for the most
direct path between two points. In
geometry, a geodesic is a curve
representing in some sense the shortest
path (arc) between two points in a surface, or more generally in a
Riemannian manifold. The meaning of the
expression is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in the Charles
Dickens novel Oliver Twist (1838)
Before we close, some trivia on biscuits that we eat and not on what the rich desire – the Gold Biscuit. In old movies, one would see ransom money being carried in suitcase containing gold biscuits – but they would weight so much that it would be too difficult to carry, leave alone tossing that suitcase when cheating the villain. A gold bar, also known as gold bullion or a gold ingot, refers to a quantity of refined metallic gold that can be shaped in various forms, produced under standardized conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record-keeping.
Here is a
Crow advertising for a holed biscuit. The primary reason for the holes is that they allow air to pass
through during baking, preventing them from swelling further. Manufacturers
first spread flour, sugar, and salt on a sheet-like tray which is then placed
under a machine before the baking process. This machine then makes holes as
desired in the dough.
பறக்கும்
புறா கிளிக்கு என்ன காதல் வார்த்தைகள் சொல்லி இருக்கும் என்று கொஞ்சம் யூகித்து பாருங்கள்
!! - Do you subscribe to the theory of irrelevance !!
What is life about ! – remember the West Indies opener of 1980s Desmond Haynes sporting a thick chain with a gold pendant, reading “Live, Love, Laugh” – just a trivia ! – do you how he was dismissed in that 4th Test, Wankhede, in Nov 1983 !!
ராஜசேகர் ஒரு கடின உழைப்பாளி, ஏழை மெக்கானிக், வேலையில் ஒரு விபத்தில் கையில் பலத்த காயமடைந்து, வேலையிலிருந்து தன்னை வெளியேற்றிக் கொள்கிறார். பின்னர் அவர் பாடுபட்டு வளர்த்த குடும்ப உறுப்பினர்கள் அவரை அவமதிப்பது கதை. இந்த படத்தில் இசைதேவன் இளையராஜா ஹம்சத்வனி ராகத்தில் அமைத்த பாடலின் நடுவே வரும் அழகு வரிகள் : புல்லின் மீது பூ வீழ்ந்தால் ஓசை என்ன கேட்குமா ?
Life is all about changes, and embracing such changes. Life changes so that life can stay the same. How remarkable and bizarre is that? The journey of life is a constant interplay of change and sameness. We navigate change to preserve sameness. As humans, we are influenced by hundreds of biases that we aren’t even aware of.
During
major life changes that cause confusion, Uncertainty bias is likely to be
impacting one’s thinking. Most thinkers
would emphasise on changing - “mindset shift,” ever wondered "change your life" ? What is a life
and when does it not change? Can we ever keep our lives the same? What would a
non-changing life be? Life's always changing, but
sometimes we face a big or sudden change that's hard to deal with; even a
positive or expected change can be difficult to deal with or cause stress,
which usually lasts for just a short time.
Around the world, record rainfall, killer heatwaves, and raging wildfires are escalating. "Each of us, wherever we live, is experiencing the impacts of climate change today," says Scientists. These extreme weather events, while not unprecedented, are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity than in the past. From July 2023 to June 2024, each month set new records as the hottest for that period, consistently exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial norms. This trend is influenced by greenhouse gas emissions and the El Niño weather pattern, according to the European program, as reported by CBC.
Our neighbouring Bangladesh is in the midst of political turmoil. The rise in temperatures and changes in other meteorological variables have exposed millions of people to health risks in Bangladesh, a densely populated, hot, and humid country. To better assess the threats climate change poses to human health, the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is an important indicator of human heat stress. A study employing Liljegren's model revealed an increase in the annual average WBGT by 0.08–0.5 °C per decade throughout the country, with a more pronounced rise in the southeast and northeast regions. Additionally, the number of days with WBGT levels associated with high and extreme risks of heat-related illnesses has shown an upward trend.
Away, in the near future, an unmanned space probe returns from Mars to Earth orbit with soil samples potentially containing evidence of extraterrestrial life. The probe delivers the samples to the International Space Station, where exobiologist Hugh Derry revives a dormant cell that quickly grows into a multi-celled organism; a group of schoolchildren vote to name the organism "Calvin". An atmosphere change in Calvin's container causes it to enter hibernation. In an attempt to wake it, Hugh administers an electric shock. Calvin becomes hostile, wrapping itself around Hugh's hand and crushing it. Calvin escapes its enclosure and devours a lab rat, growing in size.
that was the storyline of ‘Life’ an American Sci-fi film released in 2017, directed by Daniel Espinosa, written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and starring an ensemble cast consisting of Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, and Olga Dihovichnaya. In the film, a six-member crew of the International Space Station uncovers the first evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars.
காலம் மாறலாம் - நம் காதல்
மாறுமா ?
தடைகள், தோன்றும் போதும்,
தலைவி பார்வை போதும் !!
இனி வரும் காலம் மாறலாம்
.. .. நம் காதல் மாறுமா ?
என்பதுதான் முதலில்
குறிப்பிடப்பட்ட பாடல். இங்கே பறக்கும் புறா கிளிக்கு சொன்ன வார்த்தைகள். வாழ்க்கை
1984ம் ஆண்டு வெளிவந்த தமிழ்த் திரைப்படம்.
சி. வி. ராஜேந்திரன் இயக்கத்தில் வெளிவந்த இத்திரைப்படத்தில் சிவாஜி கணேசன், அம்பிகா
மற்றும் பலரும் நடித்திருந்தனர்
Clive
Lloyd’s mighty West Indies landed in India in 1983 wounded by that big loss in
WC 1983 and were sweeping the Series. At
Bombay, in Nov 1983 in the 4th test, a turner, India could almost
defeat but dropped catches cost them badly. India made four changes after their
defeat at Ahmedabad. Vengsarkar came back for Patil, and Madan Lal, Malhotra
and the off-spinner Yadav, who had not played a Test match for almost two
years, replaced Sandhu, Navjot Singh and Azad. Desmond Haynes was out in a rare
manner, handled the ball, a fate previously suffered by only three batsmen in
Test cricket at that time. Haynes
defended a Kapil Dev delivery and as the ball was rolling towards the stumps,
Haynes brushed it aside with his hand - Umpire
Gothoskar ruled Haynes out ‘handling the
ball’ !!
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Theory
of irrelevance ! – in life things change so fast, that the concepts you
believed, words that uttered, the people in life all lose their relevance after
passage of time. Thoughts of simple
thinker – aasami sirippu sinthanaiyaan.
