Manja, kathadi and the death - Ban on kite-flying sought

Modern day children miss lot of things – if you are in your 40s or more – you might remember or recognize words like  “deal; base; sirunchakkiri; perunchakkiri; kandu; bana; patta patta, vajram” and more…. If you are wondering what these are – these were the words actively engaged with the pastime known as ‘kathadi’ – ‘flying kites’.  Bunches of youth would be seen atop every household – the ones with tail were considered not so adventurous.  The bigger ones ‘with the technology called suthram’  of tying the threads in such a manner that the kite surges ahead, wanders hither and thither, yet is controlled by the thread holding hand was considered a great art.  The art or science of making the thread stronger by adding glass pieces and more was practiced skillfully by some experts !!!!

One would try and create a loop to cross the path of the other kite – that was the deal (you had the technicalities such as base deal, upper one etc.,) – then thread would be released faster – in the friction between the threads of two kites, sure one would snap – and there was the site of the kite with cut thread slowly falling to disgrace, clapped and enjoyed by the victor. 

The plot of the film ‘Baana Kathadi’ was the hero in his mad rush to grab hold of a falling kite (which was sort of trophy for the capturer) bumps into a fashion technology student – the pen drive consisting of project work falls in to his pocket – they fight, friendship a la love develops……….    It was a movie written and directed by Badri Venkatesh in which .Adharvaa, son of Tamil actor Murali, made his  debut – it was  above average grosser but was a acclaimed film.

Flying kite may have been entertaining for the film buffs – Chennai city woke up to crude reality as a youth lost his life, slit by the manja thread of the kite near Nerkundram.  Sad indeed.    It is reported that a  28-year-old man died after a stray 'manja' kite thread slit his throat while riding a moped on Nerkundram High Road near Vanagaram on Sunday. Police said N Raj Kumar, a caterer from Arumbakkam , fell off the bike and died on the spot.  There have been similar incidents of people, especially motorists affected by the kite thread.

Now the matter has been taken to Court.  A Public Interest Writ petition has been filed seeking regulation of kite flying flying by identifying open spaces and playgrounds in the city.  A total ban on the sale of kites, manja thread and kite flying alone would be the solution to wipe out the 'kite menace', City Police Commissioner J K Tripathy said in his counter affidavit filed in the Madras High Court on Tuesday.  The First Bench comprising Chief Justice MY Eqbal and Justice TS Sivagnanam admitted the writ petition.

Those flying the kites, to make the thread stronger and have the cutting edge resorted to many techniques – one of which is preparation of a magic potion with many ingredients including adhesives for bonding, finely powdered glass pieces, colour and more – in which the ball of thread is put with flying kite in one end, the thread is released and would spread throughout its length.  After a few hours of drying, it becomes stiff and has the cutting edge – even during the process it could cut the fingers badly……

Three or more decades ago, kite playing was fun – a game, where the victor would rejoice cutting the other – one could gain that cut kite drifting into air and falling elsewhere.  Now actually, not many enjoy this game and the kites on the sky are stray and sparse.

Still an accident endangering human life is very bad and it is time, it is stopped totally.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

Indian "Rupay" is here - Visa / Master Card no more required

A few decades ago, debt was a bad word – a person owing money to others was looked down and frowned at ! – everything was bought by immediate payment of cash and only the local grocery trader gave things debiting you in his account book and collecting money later.

What a metamorphosis ? – now people no longer carry cash – worser still they don’t have or contemplate as to how it would come, but keep purchasing things – whether necessities or luxuries !!  Recently, there was news that Sweden which was amongst the first to use bank notes, could become the first Country to abolish the printed money.  For many, the World, especially the commercial transactions revolve on plastic money – the Debit Cards and Credit Cards – more of the latter.

It makes a fashion statement to have no. of Card cards dangling in one’s valet and more to have higher limits in each one of them.  How on earth would have means to repay – no body seems to care – neither the Company issuing Cards nor the person who takes them.  So, Visa and Master Card are household names – things without which many cannot exist !  There are some who so beautifully calculate their purchases in such a fashion that they enjoy maximum free credit and then there are those, who shift from one card to another – mind you that the rates of interest are applied on a monthly  basis and attract high slabs, with penalties of  course.

Visa Inc. is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered on 595 Market Street, Financial District in San Francisco, California, which  facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded credit card and debit cards.  Visa does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers; rather, Visa provides financial institutions with Visa-branded payment products that they then use to offer credit, debit, prepaid and cash-access programs to their customers. MasterCardis another  American multinational financial services corporation with its headquarters at  New York.  Together they rule the credit World. 

MasterCard and Visa said on Friday (30th Mar 12) that they had notified issuers of its credit cards of a potential breach of the security of customer accounts. Visa blamed a third company for the error.  Trading of the stock of Global Payments Inc., which processes credit card transactions, was halted after published reports said it was responsible. The stock fell 9 percent for the day before trading was stopped. Neither Visa nor MasterCard were to say how many customers were affected.  Generally no user cares for  such newsitems and keeps shopping till dead..

Here is some news of our local cousin ‘Rupay’ -the Indian domestic card payment network being set up by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) at the behest of banks in India. This project had been conceived by Indian Banks Association and has the approval of Reserve Bank of India. It aims to reduce the overall transaction cost for the banks in India, provide card payment service option to banks which are not currently eligible and shift the pattern of spending mode from cash to electronic payments. 

Soon, you will have full range of card payment services including Rupay, ATM, prepaid, and credit cards which will be accepted in India and abroad, across various channels like POS, internet, IVR and mobile etc. Initial focus of NPCI would be to approach those banks who have not been issuing any payment card at all. Regional Rural Banks and urban co-operative banks are ideal. In due course, it would approach other banks and enter the mature segments in competition with international card schemes who have already got a good presence.

“RuPay”  is a coinage which indicates coming together of ‘Rupee’ and ‘Payment’ to announce the launch of a new world-class retail payment system in India. The new system is simple to use, affordable, state-of-the –art and easily accessible even in the remotest corner of India round-the-clock.  It aims to be deeply rooted in India – a local card providing International facilities.  If the plans succeed in right earnest, it would  replace global payment players MasterCard and Visa in India.   The day when you carry the Rupay Logo and not Visa / Master card is not far off.  Rupay  aims at reducing the cost for the bank, and eventually the end user also would be facilitated by that. 

The indigenous version is no longer a dream – on 26th March 2012,  four large public sector banks State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and Union Bank of India launched the first set of RuPay cards in India. The RuPay card is meant to be on the lines of China Union Pay-a Chinese government promoted payments and settlement platform for card transactions that broke the Visa-Mastercard stranglehold. First in debit cards where processing fees will be 40% lower and later in credit cards which will be launched from 2015. Although shops will be the initial beneficiary of lower debit card charges, it will ultimately benefit customers as it will make it viable for shops to accept card payments for even low-value transactions. Also low-margin businesses which refused to accept cards because of charges of around 1.8% at present will be incentivized to accept card payments.

So which card do you use ? and which Card will ‘the Famous Stars’ endorse on screen – the local Rupay or the International Visa / Master Card.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

What is in a Name ! Gomez Who ?

What is in a Name - One tends to ask !!

Today's Times of India has an article on IPL 5 - Pune Warriors titled "Domestic Stars will hold Key to their fortunes".  In the article written by K Kumaraswamy, it reads 

' A new captain, a new stadium, a new marquee name — Pune Warriors India would be hoping that all these translate into better luck in the new season'. 

The article lists out the Foreign players contracted for Pune Warriors - : Michael Clarke, Graeme Smith, Jesse Ryder, Callum Ferguson, Angelo Mathews, Marlon Samuels, Luke Wright, Raiphi Gomez, Wayne Parnell, Alfonso Thomas, Steven Smith. 

Clearly, the author got carried away by the Name - Raiphi Gomez,  a budding all rounder - is no foreigner - " Raiphi Vincent Gomez" - born in Oct 1985 is a Kerala player who has played for different teams in earlier versions of  IPL

Regards - S. Sampathkumar.

2012 Templeton Prize to 'Dalai Lama'

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” – is one of the quotes of a Crusader considered by many as ‘apostle of peace’.

Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortly Tenzin Gyatso is more famously known as ‘the  14th Dalai Lama’ .  The reverred  Buddhist leader has won the 2012 Templeton Prize worth $1.7 million for his work affirming the spiritual dimension of life.  The spiritual leader “vigorously focused on the connections between the investigative traditions of science and Buddhism as a way to better understand and advance what both disciplines might offer the world”, the foundation said in a statement.  The spiritual leader  Dalai Lama, 76 won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, and now has been decorated with another honour the  2012 Templeton Prize.

Tibetans have reasons to feel that they are amongst the most oppressed and least supported group of people.  Over the years,  Tibetan protests against Chinese rule have intensified.  Thirty Tibetans, mostly Buddhist monks and nuns, have set themselves on fire in the past year.   The Tibetan Parliament-in-exile, headquartered in Dharamsala, has passed a resolution that highlights the grim situation within Tibet and sought the international community’s help to end the ongoing crisis.  China wants India to keep away of Tibet and not house Dalai Lama.  The principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal matters cannot be stretched to include turning a blind eye to human suffering and dignity.   On 30th Mar 12, at Chennai, groups of young Tibetan women tried making a protest but reportedly were verbally abused and taken away by Police.   The Tibetan students were demonstrating their anger over Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to India by unfurling a banner with Hu’s picture and reading ‘The Most wanted Terrorist in the world’, from atop the flyover overlooking the US Consulate.  The protestors stated that during 1988-89 when the Tibetans demonstrated against the Chinese occupation, Hu was then the Governor of Tibet, who was single-handedly responsible for the killing of hundreds of Tibetans.

China’s rule over Tibet dates back to 1950  when Communist troops occupied the country. The Dalai Lama escaped to live in exile in India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.  Dalai Lama, the greatest of the spiritual leaders of Buddhism, is believed to be the reincarnation of Bodhisattva.  The present Guru- Tenzin Gyatso, 76,  is the 14th Dalai Lama - a lineage believed by followers to be the reincarnation of  ancient Buddhist leader who epitomized compassion.  The present Head  has vigorously focussed on the connections between the investigative traditions of science and Buddhism as a way to better understand and advance what both disciplines might offer the world.

The Templeton Prize honors a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works. The Prize has been awarded to scientists, philosophers, theologians, members of the clergy, philanthropists, writers, and reformers, for work that has ranged from the creation of new religious orders and social movements to humanistic scholarship to research about the origins of the universe.  In the words of the Founding Committee, the remarkable recipients  have shared a commitment to exploring one or more of the Big Questions at the core of the John Templeton Foundation’s mandate. All have been seekers of wisdom, humbled by the complexity of the human condition but determined to chart a path forward with their ideas and deeds.

The Templeton Prize  named after Sri John Templeton, is an annual award presented by the Templeton Foundation. Established in 1972, it is awarded to a living person who, in the estimation of the judges, "has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works". Until 2001, the name of the prize was "Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion", and from 2002 to 2008 it was called the "Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities". It has typically been presented by Prince Philip in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

The monetary value of the prize is adjusted so that it exceeds that of the Nobel Prizes, as Templeton felt "spirituality was ignored" in the Nobel Prizes.  At £1,000,000, as of 2009, it is the largest single annual financial prize award given to an individual by a philanthropic organisation.  Notably, the  inaugural winner of the prize, in 1973, was Mother Teresa, six years before she received the Nobel Peace Prize.

It gets honoured by being awarded to Dalai Lama.  But quite unfortunately, the Dalai Lama is refused invitations by nations who do not wish to incur China’s disapproval. Demographically, Tibet is a miniscule society while China is a billion-plus market. China has veto at the UN and Tibet lacks a presence, let alone membership.   In International relationship parlance,  China is a powerful entity and Tibet is nobody – but morally, India should be supporting Tibetan cause and Dalai Lama.  We have been speaking of avowed principles and we need to stand by somebody who is the epitome of all such virtues.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.