the Beast ~ US President's limo breakdowns at Israel - reason ?!?!?

Can you group : Júlio Baptista, Mark Creighton, Jimmie Foxx, Max Mirnyi, Brock Edward Lesner, Dan Severn,          Daigo Umehara, Manu Vatuvei, Calvin Abueva &…………….  Maruti follows a certain pattern… they have Swift Dezire – LXI,  VXI & ZXI ~ lower facility to fully loaded; similarly they have LDI, VDI, ZDI… ; the same pattern appears in other models also.   Those with X are petrol versions and D or Diesel versions………. most people put a sticker on their petrol tanks; yet at the Petrol bunk, one hurriedly tends to get down and tell the operator that it is only a petrol car and petrol needs to be filled in.

In terrestrial zoology, megafauna  refers to large or giant animals. The most common thresholds used are 45 kilograms (100 lb) or 100 kilograms (220 lb). This thus includes many species not popularly thought of as overly large, such as white-tailed deer and red kangaroo, and even humans. The land animals that we think as big and beastly are Elephants, Giraffes, Hippos, rhinos and the like…

Putting the wrong fuel in our cars could occur simply by mistake ~ it can cause terrific trouble and the most basic piece of advice to give or remember is, do not switch on your ignition. The further the fuel is pumped into the engine the more expensive the repair will be. First petrol in a Diesel engine :  the  first engine component to be damaged will be the fuel pump. Diesel fuel pumps require more lubrication than a petrol pump. The diesel pumps are lubricated by the diesel fuel itself, when petrol is mixed with diesel it acts like a solvent and this reduces lubrication. The overall effect is that the metal components of the pump will rub together causing the parts to wear and become damaged very quickly. Other parts of the pump such as seals may also be damaged due to the incompatibility with petrol. More troublesome could be filling diesel to a petrol engine vehicle.  Unlike petrol,  diesel fuel doesn't evaporate.  The fuel injectors in your engine would inject the diesel fuel into the engine's cylinders. The spark plugs would fire, but nothing would happen after that. Because the diesel fuel doesn't evaporate very well, the spark plugs would have nothing to ignite, and the engine would never start.

When Govt heads visit other countries, lot of preparatory work and lot of intelligence work takes place.  Nothing is left to chance ~ most Head of the States travel in their own vehicle and their limousines travel by air preceding them.  In US, the  Presidential state car is the official state car used by the President of the United States. A variety of vehicles have both officially and unofficially been acknowledged as the presidential vehicle.  The most recent vehicle to be customized as the presidential car is a Chevrolet Kodiak-based, Cadillac-badged limousine often referred to as Cadillac One  as also ‘The Beast’.

 

US President Barack Obama is on his historical trip to Israel ~ the whole World is closely observing the development, hearing the speech of the leader and following them.   During the meticulously planned trip, can you imagine, the US President's $1.5m 'Beast' breaking down and had to be  towed away in a recovery vehicle………… and can you imagine the reason !!!

Daily Mail and other papers report that President Barack Obama's historic visit to Israel had an embarrassing setback when his armored limo broke down on the way to the airport.  The custom General Motors Cadillac limo was relegated to a pick up truck  because  the driver had accidentally put gas in the tank instead of diesel. The 18-foot car has an tank that holds 6.5 liters of diesel, and does not work when given gas.  Following that silly mistake, the President was forced to use the second vehicle that they brought over from the U.S.

President Obama arrived in Israel on 20th Mar 2013 for his first official trip to the region as President and his car could not ferry him from the airport.  The car itself had to be put on the back of a flatbed truck. The United States Secret Service put out a statement about the incident, saying that it was a situation where it pays for them to be prepared.  'One of our protective vehicles experienced mechanical problems in Israel earlier today. This is why we bring multiple vehicles and a mechanic on all trips,' said Edwin Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service.  

President Obama however continued his trip with his  first stop at Israeli President Shimon Peres' house, and after planting a ceremonial tree and giving brief scripted remarks, he drove off in an armored limo.  The 18-foot Cadillac limo is made with military-grade armor that is at least five-inches thick and developed out of a combination of steel, aluminum, titanium and ceramic.  It comes equipped to take on almost anything, as it is armed with its own tear gas cannons, pump-action shotguns.  The most unusual accessory in this seven-person vehicle is the on board bottles of the President's blood in case he needs a transfusion on the road.

According to reports  the President has a 600-person entourage, and they l occupy all 233 rooms in the King David Hotel during their stay.  Israel is looking for the United States to take a firm stance against Iran and their fledgling nuclear program as it is seen as the biggest threat to the Jewish state. In what is Mr Obama's first trip to Israel as President, he is expected to reassure America's top ally in the region that the country is still high on his agenda, and a number of public events are supposed to help reassure a nervous Israeli public. Mr Obama will finish his Middle East trip with a 24-hour stop in Jordan, an important US ally, where his focus will be on the violence in Syria.

Now getting back to putting wrong fuel, some automobile experts say that in foreign countries – this may not easily happen in cars manufactured in the last 25 years or so as  there's a plate under the gas cap that prevents anything but the small unleaded-gasoline nozzle from fitting into the tank. When unleaded gasoline first appeared, this plate helped to prevent drivers from putting the leaded gasoline nozzle in -- the unleaded and leaded nozzles were different sizes. The diesel nozzle is even bigger than leaded nozzles were, so it would never fit in the gas tank of most cars.  Not sure, how the position is in Indian cars. 

In case you still remember and want to know the grouping of those named in the first para ~ they are all nicknamed ‘the beast’. Júlio César Clemente Baptista is a Brazilian footballer; Brock Edward Lesnar is an American professional wrestler, actor, former mixed martial artist,professional football player and amateur wrestler, signed with WWE; Max Mirnyi  is a professional tennis player from Belarus.

with regards – S. Sampathkumar.

news and photo  courtesy : www.dailymail.co.uk

Republic Day at SYMA - Mandayam Parthasarathi Iyengar, the freedom fighter

First about the house and then about the person….. this old house in front of the famous Sri Parthasarathi Swami Temple, adjacent to Swami Nammalwar sannathi would escape the attention of even locals.  Some might have observed the shop – Chakarika Audios selling devotional CDs, cassettes and the like.  It is named ‘Gautamasrama’ and most of us would have occasioned to go inside – for through it only Perumal ascends the ‘Thiruther [chariot]’ – a nonagenarian lives alone in that house.

At SYMA, we have been celebrating days of National significance.  On every Independence Day and Republic Day, we invite VIPs to hoist National flag at our Medical Centre.  We follow it up with some medical camp or other social activities too.  This year 26^th Jan 2013 will remain etched in our memory ~ there could not have been a better person to hoist our National flag.  The flag was hoisted by a nonagenarian Mr Mandayam Parthasarathi, 95 years bubbling with enthusiasm. Easily he is not only the oldest person in Triplicane, there is rich history of freedom struggle associated with this great person.   Dr MA Venkatakrishnan, a great Scholar and Adhyapakar of Sri Parthasarathi Swami temple was the other Guest on the occasion.

On National days, we recall the sacrifices made by the people who ensured liberation from colonial forces and it was the 64th Republic Day of the Nation.  India has changed more in last six decades than in six previous centuries. This is neither accidental nor providential; history shifts its pace when touched by vision.  After obtaining freedom, the Constitution represented a second liberation which inspired a Cultural Evolution which put Indian society on the track to modernity.

After 6 decades,  generations have changed and many present day youngsters do not really know the freedom struggle and sacrifices made in obtaining freedom.  We remember the great people like Subrahmanya Bharathiyar everyday as our office is located just opposite to the house where Barathiyar once lived in Triplicane.   Bharati’s life was short; he pioneered modern poetry, was a great journalist, eternal optimist, fought British with flame, incensed people of the Nation.  In 1908 he had to flee to Pondicherry where he lived till 1918. While Bharati’s association with print media is history, the Nation and we need to know of the people who made this happen..  Bharathi’s writing covered the widest spectrum from hymns to nationalistic writings, from contemplations on the relationship between God and Man to songs on the Russian and French revolutions. 

We have read about a Tamil weekly ‘India’ launched in 1906 of which Bharati was the Editor.  This provided the correct platform for the flaming words of Bharathi  ~ this was owned by patriotic Mandyam Brothers—Tirumalachar and Srinivasachar—who were ready to spend their large inherited fortune in the cause of Indian Independence. Before I write anything further, the Chief Guest Sri S Parthasarathi is the son of Mandayam Srinivasachariyar of the magazine ‘India’. When Bharathi started writing in this weekly, it angered the British Government who came down heavily in due course on these 'stormy petrels'  in national politics. Although Bharatiyar edited India, the declared editor was M. Srinivasan, who was arrested and sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment, for publishing what the British Government termed seditious articles.

We know that Bharati spent a decade in exile at Pondicherry; not so well known is the fact that  the Mandyam Brothers also shifted themselves to Pondichery, shifted the office of their journal ‘India’ and continued its publication from there. It is stated that they dismantled the Heidelberg printing machinery  and moved it manually in basket loads by Buckingham canal and by road.  The Govt took punitive action by banning the entry of the journal to British India; the  Weekly was strangulated and had to close down its operations in March 1910.  They even made it difficult for money orders to be sent to Mandayam Srinivasacharya. Money would be taken to him by his brothers from Madras. In 1909, Mandayam Thirumalacharya started a Tamil journal called Vijaya, and later this too was published from Pondicherry, with Bharatiar as editor. Mandayam brothers fought the British and reportedly arrest warrant was pending against them.  Due to the living of Sri S. Krishnamachari, grandfather of Mr Parthasarathi with his three sons in Pondy and their publishing patriotic journal both in French and in English, ‘The Indian Republic’ – their family was popularly known as the Pondicherry Brothers, though they belong to Mandya district in Karnataka.

Their family have Aurobindo connection as well as  Mandayam Srinivasacharyar, Bharatiyar, and V.V.S. Iyer had philosophical discussions with Aurobindo. It is recalled that Swami Aurobindo was given books by Mr Srinivasacharyar including copy of the first edition of Max Meuller's RigVeda.  When Collector Ashe was murdered by Vanchinathan,  Mandayam Parthasarathi’s father was one of those against whom a warrant was issued by the British.  The warrant against Mandayam Srinivasacharya was cancelled only when World War I ended. Back in Madras, he continued with his publishing work. He learnt Bengali so that he could read Tagore's stories in Bengali, which he translated and published. Srinivasacharya wrote under the name Sri Sri Acharya. The  eldest  of the brothers, Thirumalachariyar  participated in the Satyagraha for the removal of Gen. Neil’s statue from Mount Road. The brothers lost most of their savings and wealth in Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company of VOC. 

One of the relatives of our hero Sri Parthasarathi, Yogi Parthasarathy Iyengar, a great scholar with great vision and forethought, established Sri Saraswathi Bhandaram though which he supported many scholars and ensured publication of many sampradaya granthas for the first time.  Sri Yogi Parthasarathi Iyengar was invited to present a paper in the World Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893; did not go and yes, it  was attended by Swami Vivekananda whose 150^th birth centenary is presently being celebrated.  Yet another relative Mr Alasinga Perumal helped and arranged the visit of Swami Vivekananda. 

Sri S. Parthasarathi has contributed much and is guiding the Educational institutions of Hindu Sr Secondary School and century old Hindu Higher Secondary School, being a member in the Educational board of various Educational institutions including MOP college. Mr Parthasarathi at ripe old age, is extremely brisk and active.  He now lives alone in the house near Swami Nammalwar sannathi, the house known as ‘Gautamasrama’ which also has historic significance.   “V.O. Chidambaram Pillai used to visit my father and uncles in Gautamasrama. In his autobiography, he refers to Gautamasrama as the wellspring of support for the freedom movement,” says Parthasarathy Iyengar.   It is stated that  when VOC started the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, the Pondicherry brothers mortgaged all their property, and contributed one lakh rupees for the cause, a princely sum those days.  Understand that their  family owned 100 acres of land in Vadapalani consisting of a huge bungalow, which was also mortgaged by the Pondicherry brothers, to fund Chidambaram Pillai's venture.  The property had to be auctioned later. 

There have been high profile visitors  wedded to the cause of liberation of motherland to this house in Triplicane.  It is stated that in 1907, when Bipin Chandra Pal gave lectures in Madras, he stayed in Gautamsarama for a week. Subramania Siva was a frequent visitor;  Mahatma Gandhi and Lokmanya Tilakji also had visited Gautamasrama. The house also played its part in the Hindi movement in South India; as early in 1919 classes were launched with Sarojini Naidu singing ‘Vande Mataram.   Mr Parthasarathy Iyengar is an exceptionally organized person, was a student of library science, worked as librarian, keenly organising the things the way he has done his life.  

It is our duty to know, understand, realize and appreciate the greatness of the service and  true services to the motherland rendered by such noble people.   SYMA was so happy that this great person S Parthasarathi Iyengar visited our medical centre, spoke to us, hoisted the National Flag and blessed us. 

PS :  In fact, a couple days to Republic Day, I had gone for inviting our Chief Guest, who gracefully accepted my invitation, and  suggested that SYMA calls Mr Parthasarathi.  This person is an extremely popular person in Triplicane; a great Sri Vaishnavaite scholar – people talk to and watch him with admiration, hear him on popular television and electronic media.  He is a regular in the “Divya Prabandha goshti’ of Thiruvallikkeni, Kanchipuram and many other Divyadesams.  He has been active and has been managing the affairs of  Thiruvallikkeni Sri Parthasarathi  Vedha Adhyapaka Goshti.  He is always seen having  ‘dwadasa Urthva Pundram –(12 Thiruman and Srichoornam]’ and clad in attractive neat dress (pancha kacham – the traditional Vaishnavaite dress] – he is a great personality, exhibits humour discussing wide spectrum of subjects - -   it is Dr. M.A. Venkatakrishnan Swami popularly known as ‘MAV”.   After a stint at Vivekananda College, he moved to Madras University and now heads the Department of Vaishnavism.   Now he has completed more than 26 years of meritorious service at Madras University – Department of Vaishnavism.  He looks traditional, does great kainkaryam in Temples – is very adept in utilizing technology and can be seen dexterously handling computer gadgets.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

Will Watson lead ? Ferozshah Kotla and some history

After sting of defeats and touching rockbottom, India is exuberant – they are 3-0 up in a 4 match Series.  In their 81-year history of Test cricket, India have never won four consecutive Test matches in a series ~ will Mahendra Singh Dhoni accomplish that too getting past  Michael Clarke`s men at the Feroze Shah Kotla. Well, Clarke himself may not be there.  Ferozshah Kotla was cruel to my favourite ~ the tall suave, good looking offie, reverred as very shrewd and intelligent cricketer Srinivasaraghavan Venkatraghavan.   More on that person whose llustrious career stretched over 18 playing years.  He led India in 5 Tests and more importantly in the Inaugural and the second edition ODI World Cups. 

Unlike the Southern parts of India, Delhi has seen much of occupation and wars.  By some accounts Delhi is  known to have been continuously inhabited since the 6th century BC ~ and in most of its history, it has been the capital of many kingdoms, starting from the days of Pandavas when it was Indraprastha.   In AD 1639, the Mughal emperor Shahjahan built a new walled city in Delhi which served as the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1649  which was later captured by British. The Feroz Shah Kotla  is a fortress built by Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq to house his version of Delhi city called Ferozabad. It was the new capital of the Sultan of Delhi on the banks of Yamuna river.  History states that  most classical music performances were staged here.

Kotla ground is different ~ mostly no music to bowlers – reportedly smaller where batsmen make merry.  The Feroz Shah Kotla Ground was established as a cricket ground in colonial days of 1883. It is the second oldest international cricket stadium still functional in India, only after the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.  Unlike Venkat, Anil Kumble has happy memories for it was here he took ‘perfect 10’ [10 for 74] against Pakistanis.  In 1965, S Venkataraghavan, in his debut series, demolished the New Zealand line up with figures of 8 for 72 and 4 for 80. England's John Lever had a memorable debut at the Kotla in 1976, when he notched up a half-century and had match figures of 10 for 70. In 1983-84, Sunil Gavaskar scored his 29th century to equal Don Bradman's long standing record for the highest number of hundreds in Test cricket.

How the same place is great to one ~ bad to another.  In the eye of storm after `homework-gate`, all-rounder Shane Watson  is probably looking forward to great glory of leading an Australian side. Peeved at being dropped from the playing XI of the third Test in Mohali after not completing a presentation on team performance, Watson went back home as his wife was due to give birth to their first child. He is back now as ‘proud Dad’ and if Clarke’s back is to continue the way, he will be leading Aussies.  Clarke is undergoing intensive physiotherapy for the back problem that usually resolves itself in three or four days, although he seemed to be particularly affected when the Mohali match finished on Monday. There have been rumours of possible differences between the two but both have denied any fallout and maintained that they are good friends.

photo courtesy: www.heraldsun.com.au

Pattinson, in all likelihood, will be coming in place of Mitchell Starc, who has flown back home to have ankle surgery, so too Wade in place of Haddin. 

At the greener grass side, Mumbai mirror punned on the caption ‘Raina back in Dhoni’s team’ hinting not Team India.  It is a veiled mention of Dhoni-backed firm called Rhiti Sports Management Company. The latest is that Suresh Raina, left-handed allrounder and a World Cup winner, has gone back to that celebrity management company.  May be a mere coincidence, the comeback to Rhiti has Raina back in the Indian team.  Dhoni, Raina, Jadeja are all managed by this company and there is rumour of more are to join……….

Getting back to Kotla haunting the reverred Offie - Against the Clive Lloyds West Indies at home in 1974-75, Venkatraghavan had the ignominy of playing the 1st Test Bangalore taking 4 & 2 [off the 6 that were to fall]; captaining India in the 2nd Test at Delhi which was lost by an innings; Venkat  was made the scapegoat, dropped, humiliated and made  the 12th man in the very next match at Calcutta.  In that Delhi Test, Viv Richards went on to make an unbeaten 192 helped by a poor umpiring decision, which could have changed the fortunes of that Test and the way Venkat was to be treated.   Again after the disastrous 1979 England tour, he was unceremoniously dropped.  He did make a comeback in 1983 whenIndia toured Windies under Kapildev.   He played 57 Tests and made 748 runs in 76 innings.  He also played 15 one dayers.  He took 156 test wickets with best bowling of 12 for 152 at Delhi against NZ in his debut series.

He was a remarkable close-in fielder, played English league, captained Tamilnadu.  Known for his strict discipline setting personal examples, Venkat revelled as a  player, captain, manager, administrator, selector, columnist, expert television commentator, match referee and umpire.  Have heard him speak on a couple of occasion and have admired his language skills too.  He is known to be a deep thinker and a very passionate lover of the game able to analyse and bring out the nuances of the game to the fore. 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

Presenting Mar 2013 issue of Bliss – Voice of SYMA

Dear (s)

The March 2013 issue of Bliss – voice of Srinivas Youngmens Association [SYMA] is in your hands.   Click here to download the present issue : Bliss Mar 2013

Some of our issues might have carried more information than the present one ~ this issue primarily details two events.  First our blue-riband event aimed at inculcating qualities of competitive spirit in the minds of children.  We have been organizing Child Fest for two decades.  Now it is a fete spread over 2 days.  This year it was organized on 27^th Jan 2013 & 3^rd Feb 2013 at 2 different places.  Bliss has a detailed report on the well organized event.

Republic Day always stirs our patriotic spirit ~ this year 26^th Jan 2013 will remain etched in our memory – more so because of the valued Guest who hoisted the National flag.  It was Mandayam Sri S Parthasarathi Iyengar whose family was engrossed in the freedom struggle ~ there are lots of lesser known facts : their family ran the magazine ‘India’ in which  Subrahmaniya Bharathiyar was employed as editor; that they patronized VOC and assisted funding of the running of Swadeshi steamship Co; that so many stalwarts of Indian freedom struggle visited their house in Triplicane and more….. Bliss has a full page devoted to him too…

Besides our concern on Italy reneging their assurance and Pak responding with  bullets when we offered bread and more….. the monthly Q is : ‘who is the boy friend of the much adored Barbie doll ?’

Do read and respond with your feedback

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

Editor, Bliss ‘[Secretary – SYMA]

PS:  The article on Mr S Parthasarathi and their contribution to freedom had to be truncated for the print edition of Bliss.  For the full version of that article alongside photos of the Flag hoisting – do read my post here :  Mandayam Sri S Parthasarathi