toddler in Cell; crimes, punishments ~ Madurai portrayal in movies !!!

The wildebeests, also called gnus,  are a genus of antelopes, native to Africa.  In the jungles of Masaimara, many wildebeest populations are experiencing rapid declines. Overland migration as a biological process requires large connected landscapes, which are increasingly difficult to maintain, particularly over the long term, when human demands on the landscape compete.  All such animals not capable of fighting face natural threats posed by main predators (such as lions, leopards, hunting dogs and hyenas) – and there are those hunting, illegal and trophy-hunting.

Thiruvilaiyadal  directed by AP Nagarajan, released in 1965, featuring  Sivaji Ganesan, Savitri,  Nagesh and K. B. Sundarambal in the lead roles, music by K. V. Mahadevan, lyrics by  Kannadasan and Sankaradas Swamigal will ever be remembered.  The film was inspired by the Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam, a collection written in the 16^th  century by the Paranjothi Munivar. Four of the sixty-four stories were depicted in the film.  The one about the poet Dharumi;  the dialogue sequence between Siva Peruman and the poet is ever remembered. 

Madurai, of Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar and Thiru Koodal Azhagar fame, slowly was getting painted as a violent town in all movies.  You can read news of rowdy sheeters in every town.  Recently,  Police arrested Madurai-based history-sheeter Varichiyur Selvam in connection with a highway robbery case. He was produced before Magistrate Court III here, which remanded him in judicial custody. – but he or people of his ilk do not represent the entire town or its activities.  There is a bad perception that people roam in Madurai with sickles hidden in their shirts !  No doubt, Cinema is an important visual medium – even the recent Ranji starrer Kabali is all about don and his exploits !  yet the Madurai formula - Murder, Mayhem, and Madurai, does not give the real glory of its cultural, political and the soft-heartedness of its people.

Meantime, every other day, we read about – Court acquitting people either for want of evidence or other technical reasons.  Poor Chinkaras, Gazelles and men on platform died on their own ! – none killed them – and you cannot harass famed people, who had done yeomen service with good acting and portrayal of good people on screen with insufficient evidence.  There was savage rape and murder which sensationalised the Nation.  Of the six men convicted of taking part in the savage 2012 gang rape of an Indian physiotherapy student on a moving Delhi bus was released -  there was no doubt of his participation in the most heinous of acts, but because he was just shy of his 18^th birthday on the night of the rape, he served only three years in custody, a sentence that many felt amounted to a severe miscarriage of justice.

The crime shook the country, stirred global outrage and brought focus on India's attitudes and treatment of women. The victim died of her injuries 13 days after the brutal attack.  Under India's juvenile justice laws, a minor's maximum punishment is three years at a reform facility. The Indian government had opposed his release, but the New Delhi High Court refused to grant a petition for prolonged custody.  Putting the onus on lawmakers, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea by the Delhi Commission for Women against the release of the juvenile convict in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case. It observed: “We share your concern, but we cannot go beyond the law.”  Then there was the group of kind-hearted social activists to take care of him – by providing money and equipment for his livelihood ~ such great citizens caring for criminals too !

Times of India reports that [this was detailed more in Junior Vikadan too] the Madurai bench of the Madras high court pulled up a judicial magistrate in Kulithurai for sending a three-year-old boy to jail with his aunt who was accused in a theft case. The court ordered police to give the custody of the child to its mother.

A 31 year old woman  filed a habeas corpus petition in the high court stating that she had been living without her son for the last one month.  Their family  had been selling bangles during a temple festival at Nallur near Madurai from June 19. On June 21, the Marthandam police arrested a couple in connection with an old theft case. The three-old-boy was with them when the police arrested them. The mother of the child was unrelated to the case and was not arrested – yet as the child was with the relatives who were accused, the toddler too was taken to the cell. Police produced the three, including the child, in the judicial magistrate court I, Kulithurai. Magistrate  passed orders to detain them with the child at the Madurai Central Prison. Then the mother filed a petition for the custody of the child.

The division bench of justices K K Sasidharan and B Gokuldas directed the judicial magistrate to appear before it and directed the police to produce the child before it. Accordingly, the magistrate appeared in the Court; the Judge chided him and directed the police to hand over the child to his mother.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

27^th July 2016.

Ennui ? lassitude, tedium, boredom ..... to bore-0ut ?

How much do you love job !~ do you feel it is mundane ! – are you able to find differently interesting things even in routine work !!“ennui”  - (noun) :   a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement. Synonyms:boredom, tedium, listlessness, lethargy, lassitude, languor, restlessness, weariness, sluggishness, enervation;

In conventional usage, boredom is an emotional or psychological state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, is not interested in his or her surroundings, or feels that a day or period is dull or tedious. It is boring – boredom in not having things to do or not liking what we have to do !How attentive are you in meetings ! ~ especially when your Boss is addressing and do you yawn ?!?

A yawn is a reflex of simultaneous inhalation of air and stretching of the eardrums, followed by exhalation of breath. Pandiculation is the act of yawning and stretching simultaneously. Yawning is commonly associated with tiredness, stress, overwork, lack of stimulation and boredom,  there is something to suggest that it is linked to the cooling of the brain.Yawning is contagious too…. Next time in a meeting, try or observe a big yawn, when one covers his/her mouth out of courtesy; many others are likely to follow the suit, involuntarily ~ setting up a chain reaction.   So, that involuntary action is not necessarily indicative of boredom or not listening to the speaker !!  Yawning is an embarrassment and puts you in some bad light……

Read this interesting article in BBC today titled ‘Is there such a thing as 'bore out'?.A Frenchman is suing his former employer for "bore out" - boredom's equivalent of burnout - which he says turned him into a "professional zombie". Frederic Desnard wants 360,000 euros (Rs. 2.66 croresapprox) for being "killed professionally through boredom" by his 80,000-euro-a-year job as an executive in a perfume business. But is "bore out" real?

"It was just so boring. I felt ill knowing I had to go back on Monday morning," says Steve Coster about his time as an insurance broker."Every aspect of it was the same. The commute every day is the same, the people are the same, the lunch is the same. You turn up every morning and sit there."Coster, 47, from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, found numerous ways to numb the boredom of his £40,000-a-year job."I used to go and sit in the toilet cubicles. I would always be the most eager person to get up and make the tea. I would hide behind my screen and surround myself with files so I looked busy, but I wasn't doing anything."He spent 17 years in insurance and says he eventually got depressed.  He eventually went to a counsellor.  "It was also affecting relationships. I was self-sabotaging everything. And I was drinking too much….

Boredom expert Dr Sandi Mann says workplace boredom is a growing problem and a "significant source of stress" for many people.It can have "severe" consequences including reduced life expectancy, she says, highlighting a study of 7,000 UK civil servants which found very bored workers were more likely to die during a 24-year research period than those who were not bored.She says people are probably not "bored to death" by work, but may die younger because bored people often seek stimulation from things like unhealthy food, alcohol, drugs and "risk-taking behaviour".However, she says boredom itself can lead to stress and depression.

Mann argues that being bored can in some cases encourage creativity - a theory she expounds in her book, The Upside of Downtime: Why Boredom is Good - but she says severe, long-term boredom is a different matter.The French case, she says, is an important one that could lead organisations to take boredom more seriously, just as they came in the past to recognise the damaging effects of stress.

A common theme among bored people is a state of "perceived meaninglessness", he says, but he argues that it is a "normal emotion" and can have positive effects such as prompting people to change their lives.Lucy Parsons, who studied at Cambridge University and was headhunted for a graduate scheme at a supermarket chain, is one person who found her work so depressingly dull that she gave it up and retrained.Lucy Parsons says colleagues were surprised when she quit because she was doing well at work.  "They massively underestimated my abilities and I was so bored," she says.

One Monday she was told to write an instruction manual for workers and completed the task by midday - only to be told her manager had expected it to take a week and had no more work for her."I worked there for three years and that was pretty much the story of my time," she says.Eventually she quit, crying out of boredom  and became a school teacher, and is now a self-employed exam coach.Teaching might have saved Mrs Parsons from "bore out", but it was an unhappy job for Luke Darracott, who spent two spells in Spain teaching English.

Away from this, does this concept of bore-out and boredom purely Western ? – till a few decades ago, we saw people [our own relatives, known persons and more] ekking out living in small Companies, doing the same routine for 3 decades +,  not changing jobs, happy with their employers, employment and environ, lived happily and retired peacefully, taking care of their families well and shaping the future of their children nicely.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

26^th July 2016.

Tanker TORM vessel visits Chennai Port, seen at Marina !

At some point of time, you sure would have admired the pristine beauty of Marina beach – the sandy shore than runs from Fort St George to Besant Nagar. Triplicane boasts of Marina beach,  one of the great coastlines where you can enjoy the tranquility of sea  and see with  wonder the ships that sail  on the Bay of Bengal.  From the tiny village of Chennapatnam in 1639 to the present day metropolis Madras aka Chennai has grown immensely.  In the 18^th century, British East India Company converted the open roadstead to a port though the transportation from ships was by way of lighters.   ChennaiPort, an artificial port of over 125 years of existence,  is the second largest port of India.  From a predominant travel port, it is a container port today enabling growth of trade exports of industrial houses of South India.

The beach  famed for its beauty, ambience and rich eco system,  stands a lot polluted though gets beautified by successive Governments. Crowds throng the beach on holidays and in summer to enjoy the cool sea breeze.  On the road side, many stone statues, some of them installed during the Tamil World Conference adorn the area.  Nearer the shores of Bay of Bengal –  in the mornings or in the evenings, one can hear the sea, the sound of waves, see and enjoy  – the  waves jumping and touching the shore and then submitting themselves to the shore but trying to come-back to conquer again ! would be very interesting sight.

Early in the morning some motor boats [fishing trawlers] can disturb the tranquilty; those kattumarans conquering and returning with day’s catch could be a treat to watch  – One  can see monstrous  ships anchored in the middle of sea, some fishing boats and Sun coming out as a red ball from the Sea – all great sights to behold.  To those given to enjoying Nature, the morning at Marina  provides innumerable things....

For visitors with no knowledge on naval adventures too, the difference in type and size of ships would be discernible.  As one walks, one could see a ship in a distant angle, sometimes, with the walk – still the angle may not change, and vessel might appear more distant – ‘angles are also deceptive’.  Over the past few days, have been watching this ship, which looks much bigger than the usual ones anchored in the outer port area.  .. .. with the zoom, the name in the ship could be read as “TORM”. .. … it is not ‘storm’ !

A/S Dampskibsselskabet TORM or TORM, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a shipping company that owns and operates product tankers and bulk carriers.  From its website, read that TORM was founded in 1889 and has sailed the seas for more than 125 years. With activities worldwide, TORM is listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen. TORM’s offices are located in Copenhagen, Houston, London, Manila, Mumbai and Singapore. TORM is a pure play product tanker company and one of the world’s leading carriers of refined oil products such as gasoline, jet fuel, naphtha and diesel oil. With vessels varying in size from 35,000-110,000 dwt., TORM operates a large and modern fleet of product tankers.

Not sure whether this vessel is .. Vesselfinder.com lists ‘TORM FOX’  (IMO: 9302114) a chemical/oil products tanker built in 2005,  sailing under the flag of Denmark is in Chennai port. TORM FOX has 183m length overall and beam of 27m. Her gross tonnage is 23246 tons.

Interesting ! ~ and here is something on its carriage pattern in a tanker.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

26^th July 2016.

Source : www.torm.com

extended MRTS to Ponneri / Sulurpet; Thiruvallur, Arakonam and more !!

Triplicane boasts of many historic places laced with spiritualism.  In 1600s, Triplicane was a separate village. Besides Marina, one added attraction is Thiruvallikkeni MRTS Railway station.

Parakkum rail (not the full path though !)~  is Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System, a state-owned subsidiary of Indian Railways,  unique  elevated railway line in India.   The line runs a distance of  19.34 km (12.02 mi) with 18 stations, from Beach to Velachery…… with plans to get extended to St Thomas Mount thereby getting linked to the existing Beach Tambaram EMU line.   The alignment from Chennai Beach to Park Town is along the existing broad-gauge suburban system; alignment from Park Town to Thirumayilai is along the Buckingham canal (6.21 km (3.86 mi), elevated) ~ further till Velacherry is also on elevated line.

Parakkum rail is not exactly overcrowded.  It has the following Stations – last year, Commuters had something to cheer as six car rakes were replaced with nine cars. It has come a long way since that operational run between Chepauk to Beach station in Nov 1995; even when it got extended till Thirumaylai  in Oct 1997, many a times, the trains ran near empty.  Now they are  getting filled up at Velachery station itself in the peak hours, though the maximum of commuters board at Thiruvanmiyur.  Some commuters feel that the running time has slowed down considerably and that trains are now running much slower.

The not-so-great patronage has many reasons, primary being that many are not on residential locality and remain not easily accessible.  From its formative years, we have felt and represented to authorities that the way leading to the station should remain well-lit and clean.   The completion of 5 km stretch from Velachery to St Tnomas Mount is much awaited and expected to change the fortunes of Railways.  However it is stated that a small stretch that links the MRTS to the St. Thomas Mount station has not been completed due to delay in acquisition of land for a distance of just 500 metres !  

The line currently transports less than 25 percent of its projected passenger capacity- and it is projected that if lines are extended, enabling passengers to travel longer distances without changing the train, the patronage would go up.

Now a trial scheme introducing new trains connecting surban stations to those on the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) line in Chennai is set to make intra-city transport faster and easier. Suburban train commuters travelling from Tiruttani, Tiruvallur, Avadi and Gummidipoondi to stations on the MRTS stretch need not get down at Chennai Beach and change trains to reach Mylapore or Velachery. Neither will commuters need to get down at Chennai Central and cross the Poonamalee High Road to rush to Park Town station to take the MRTS train.

Southern Railways recently  announced 51 integrated cross-sectoral services between the south-western and north-eastern suburbs and Velachery. While 27 trains will operate from suburbs to Velachery, 24 will run in the opposite direction. At present, only six such cross-sectoral services operate despite a daily passenger footfall of 15,000 in each direction. This move will  ease suburban train commuting and also cut down travel time by at least 30 to 45 minutes per journey. Commuters can take the same train, without worrying about missing the connecting train at Beach station, or having to navigate through heavy road traffic in front of the Chennai Central station to reach Park Town.

This is a boon for Triplicanites travelling by MRTS – they can take direct trains to Arakonam, Thiruvallur, Avadi, Gummidipoondi, Ponneri, Sulurpet !!!  The big catch is – it is on experimental basis from 25^th July till 13^th Aug 2016 – depending on the patronage and passenger increase, the Railway authorities would take further decisions, it is stated.

For the benefit of users, here are the train timing schedule from Triplicane …  So, the facility is available – it is for us to use, send strong message and ensure that this extended service  becomes permanent ! 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

30^th July 2016.