Magnolia champaca ~ and some thoughts of my school days !!

Ignorance is bliss ! ~ they say, but after 50 years of age, one starts feeling that there is so much to learn and more importantly – what one thought had learnt could perhaps be wrong too .. 

..  in front of Hindu High School in mid 1970s there would be a small handcart selling mango, goose berries (aria-nellikkai), puliyankai and more .. 

and 3 odd ice-cream selling carts – wooden contraption with two wheel and a freezer compartment ! inside – palaice and kuchi ice were on offer (milk ice and a strong frozen form sometimes containing vermicelli too)

Was too impressed with these two photos – sent by a friend from USA. Flowers do attract us and here is an impressive photo of Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman adorning floral garlands including pachai sampanki.

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia. It is sandwiched between Russia and China.  Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, although only 37 kilometres (23 mi) separate them. In 1206, Genghis Khan was able to unite the Mongols, forging them into a fighting force which went on to establish the largest contiguous empire in world history, the Mongol Empire.   

Authorities said on Monday that Mongolia has started to continue exporting coal to China as it reopened its border with the other country. Mongolia Finance Minister Chimed Khurelbaatar said that the Shiveekhuren border point was reopened on Monday, a week after Mongolia continued its coal exports to China via the Gasuunsukhait border point. The official said that he predicts the export of coal to China to fully recover soon. The government of Mongolia has stopped its coal exports to China back in February in order to stop the spread of coronavirus in the country.

.. ..  ‘Magnolia’ – the name first   appeared in 1703 in the Genera of Charles Plumier (1646–1704), for a flowering tree from the island of Martinique (talauma). English botanist William Sherard, who studied botany in Paris under Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, a pupil of Magnol, was most probably the first after Plumier to adopt the genus name Magnolia. He was at least responsible for the taxonomic part of Johann Jacob Dillenius's Hortus Elthamensis and of Mark Catesby's Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. These were the first works after Plumier's Genera that used the name Magnolia, this time for some species of flowering trees from temperate North America. The species that Plumier originally named Magnolia was later described as Annona dodecapetala by Lamarck, and has since been named Magnolia plumieri and Talauma plumieri (and still a number of other names) but is now known as Magnolia dodecapetala.

"காடெல்லாம் பிச்சிப் பூவூ , கரையெல்லாம் செண்பகப் பூவூ"  - படித்த உடனே உங்களது உதடும் சேர்ந்து பாடியிருந்தால் உங்களுக்கு 50 வயது இருக்கலாம்.  செண்பகமே செண்பகமே, தென்பொதிகை சந்தனமே - தேடி வரும் என் மனமே - ஆஷா போன்ஸ்லே பாடியது என உதிரி தகவலையும் தெரிந்தவராயின், நீங்கள் இசைஞானி இளையராஜாவின் பித்தர் !!

செண்பகப்பூ மணமான பூ ! - மதுரைக்கார ராமராஜன் எங்க ஊரு பாட்டுக்காரனில் அனைவரையும் மணக்க வைத்தான்.  “பிச்சிப்பூ” - என்ன பூ ?  - தெரியுமா? பார்த்து இருக்கீங்களா?  மதுரை-தூத்துக்குடி, தெக்கத்திப் பக்கம் பலருக்கும் தெரியும்! நமக்கு அறிமுகப்படுத்தியவர் மறுபடி இசைஞானி தான்.   உச்சி வகுந்தெடுத்துப், “பிச்சிப் பூ” வைச்ச கிளி… என்கிற காவியப் பாடலின் வாயிலாக ! - படம் 'ரோசாப்பூ ரவிக்கைக்காரி--  வாணி ஜெயராம் குரலில் என்னுள்ளில் எங்கோ ஏங்கும் கீதம் பட்டி தொட்டிகளில் எல்லாம் ஒலித்தது. 

செண்பகம்  (Magnolia champaca)  என்பது என்றும் பசுமையான பெரிய தாவரம் ஒன்றாகும். இது தெற்காசியா, தென்கிழக்காசியா, சீனாவின் சில பகுதிகள் என்பவற்றை உள்ளடக்கிய இந்தோமலாயா சூழலியல் வலயத்தைத் தாயகமாகக் கொண்டது. மிகுந்த நறுமணம் கொண்ட மஞ்சள் அல்லது வெண்ணிறப் பூக்களுக்காக இது வெகுவாக அறியப்படுகிறது.

'கரையெல்லாம் செண்பகப்பூ' ஆனந்த விகடனில் தொடர்கதையாக வெளியான சுஜாதா கதை - அக்காலங்களில் சுஜாதா எழுதும் தொடர்கதைகளுக்காகவே புத்தகங்கள் அதிகம் பிரதிகள் விற்றன.   நாட்டுப்புறப் பாடல்களைப் பற்றி ஆராய்ச்சி செய்வதற்காக சென்னையிலிருந்து திருநிலம் என்கிற கிராமத்துக்கு வருகிறான் கல்யாணராமன். அங்கு ஒரு பழைய ஜமீன் மாளிகையில் தங்குகிறான். கிராமத்துப் பெண் வெள்ளியை நேசிக்கிறான். ஆனால் வள்ளி விரும்புவது அவள் மாமன் மருத முத்துவை. அந்த மருதமுத்துவை சலனப்படுத்த வந்து சேருகிறாள் நகரத்து நாகரிகப் பெண் சினேகலதா. ஜமீன் மாளிகையைச் சுற்றி நடக்கும் சில அமானுஷ்ய, மர்ம விவகாரங்கள் , உச்சகட்டமாக ஒரு கொலையும் நடைபெறுகிறது கிராமத்து சூழ்நிலையையே புரட்டிபோடுகிறது.   விறுவிறுப்பான இந்தக் கிராமத்து திரில்லர் சினிமாவாகவும் எடுக்கப்பட்டது.  1981ல் வந்த இந்த படத்தை   ஜி. என். ரங்கராஜன் இயக்க  பிரதாப் போத்தன், ஸ்ரீபிரியா நடித்தனர்.  படம்  சுமாராகத்தான் ஓடியது.

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol. Magnolia is an ancient genus. Appearing before bees did, the flowers are theorized to have evolved to encourage pollination by wingless beetles. To avoid damage from pollinating beetles, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are extremely tough.  The ones seen in the start may not correspond with their Indian counterparts - Magnolia denudata or Yulan magnolia (Chinese jade orchid/lily), is native to central and eastern China. It has been cultivated in Chinese Buddhist temple gardens since 600 AD. Its flowers were regarded as a symbol of purity in the Tang Dynasty and it was planted in the grounds of the Emperor's palace. It is the official city flower of Shanghai.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

31.3.2020

PS :  1. The photos at the start sent by my friend from USA is the subject matter of this post

2.  of the little known brands there was (written on those ice vehicles – flamingo and magnolia – for decades I had misread and thought it to be Mongolia – and could never decipher the reasoning of the name !)

3. my 7^th standard mate once told me that one such seller was his father (Pazhani) – the boy simply disappeared thereafter – perhaps could not continue his studies ! – feel sad for him still.

4. this is a bundle of random thoughts – if it is not cogent and there is no link – just ignore for so many thoughts rush in you, when at home – due to Nation-wide lockdown.

Tamil Nadu players who have donned India cap .. and some more Cricket trivia

Do you know the list of Cricketers from Tamil Nadu who had donned Indian Cap ? – the list reads :  MJ Gopalan, C Ramaswamy, CD Gopinath, AG Kripal Singh, AG Milkha Singh, VV Kumar, Srinivasan Venkataraghavan, Bharath Reddy, TE Srinivasan, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, TA Sekhar, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, B Arun, WV Raman, VB Chandrasekar, M Venkatramana, Robin Singh, Sadagopan Ramesh, Thirunavukkarasu Kumaran, Sridharan Sriram, Hemang Badani, L Balaji, KD Karthik, S Badrinath, Murali Vijay, Ravichandran Ashwin, Abhinav Mukund, Washington Sundar and Vijay Shankar .. .. 

At leisure was searching for information on couple of Cricketers who had represented the State – and was saddened to see that in the hall of fame, there were no photos for two Cricketers -  AG Milkha Singh and my favourite Cricketer, touted to be one of the stylish Cricketers – I adored watching him score a century against West Zone in Deodhar Trophy outsmarting Krish Srikkanth by mile and when Pakis toured India under Asif Iqbal in Jan 1980, at Deccan he scored a brilliant century against the attack of  Imran Khan, Ehteshamuddin, Iqbal Qasim and Abdul Qadir .. ..

The regular Quiz Q of yesteryears used to be – Which Cricketer was part of Indian winning Squad of 1983 WC but did not play in a Single game ? – sadly, that left arm fast bowler never played for India.  It was Sunil Valson, born in Andhra Pradesh (thought him to be a Keralite) played Ranji for Delhi & Services, toured England, immediately after return remember him seeing at Marina turning in for Chemplast.

The search for Cricketers was made for MO Srinivasan – have seen this gentleman in what stands as MOP School in Venkatrangam Street, Triplicane, in  an ancestral house – an imposing hall replete with medals – and the  grand old man, used to teach bajans.  Have seen him seen swim effortlessly at Marina swimming ground (he should be around 65+ at that time in mid 70s).  The grand old man MO Srinivasan was a classy wicket keeper who reportedly would stand close to the stumps even to Rangachari, the fast bowler.  He played Ranji and represented India in (unofficial) test against Australian services side which was returning from England in 1945 – ESPN quotes that   he played ten games for Madras in the Ranji Trophy in the forties.  His son MO Parthasarathy, played for Tamil Nadu and Bihar in the seventies.  Have seen MoP play in Chepauk, used to bowl with a freak action, fastish leg breaks and was a good middle order batsman.  He was tall and handsome and used to drive a motorcycle.

Of the people who excelled certainly was Commandur Rangachari who played in Australia in 1948 in 6 day test – Australia scored 674 – Sir Donald Bradman making 209 and Lindsay Hasset 198* .. Rangachari took 4 wickets for 141 and later had a 5 wicket haul against a strong West Indies side. (He is not featured on hall of fame of TNCA !)

When we grew up, the classy stylists in South were Gundappa Viswanath, Thirumalai Echambadi Srinivasan, Sudhakar Rao, Michael Dalvi.  Have seen Dalvi’s square cuts – he was selected to play for  Indian Board President's XI against the touring New Zealanders and for South Zone against the touring Australians.  In 1970-71 he hit 108 for Tamil Nadu in the Gopalan Trophy match against Ceylon.

Have heard of CP Johnstone .. (Conrad Powell Johnstone CBE)  was an English businessman and amateur sportsman who played first-class cricket between 1919 and 1948.  Johnstone was born at Sydenham in south-east London.  He played Rugby and Cricket for the Kent County Cricket Club.  He volunteered for military service in  1914 soon after the outbreak of World War I, was commissioned into the 3rd Battalion, Highland Light Infantry and was  posted to France.  His battalion saw action at Second Ypres later in 1915 and Johnstone was wounded in the neck on 1 May, breaking two ribs and puncturing a lung.

After resigning his Army commission in 1919, Johnstone returned to Pembroke College, Cambridge, studying for a law degree. After graduating Johnstone was employed by a liquor manufacturer in Calcutta and then for a number of years by Burmah Shell in Madras as a manager .  After playing for Kent, his majority of Cricket life was played in India playing particularly for the Europeans and for Madras Cricket Club. He captained Madras in the inaugural Ranji Trophy in 1934 was captain in 1940/41 when the team were runners-up in the competition, losing to Bombay in the final.

Before concluding the search in Wiki led to another unusual name - Sir Archibald Richard Charles Southby, 2nd Baronet OBE (1910 – 1988),  an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer. Southby served in the Rifle Brigade from 1933 to 1948, seeing action in the Second World War, for which he was made an OBE and received the Medal of Freedom. He also played first-class cricket in British India for Madras and the Europeans, as well as appearing for the British Army cricket team. Having come for work,  Southby made his debut in first-class cricket for Madras against Hyderabad at Madras in 1935.

Is it so difficult for the TNCA to get a stamp size photo of the stalwart TE Srinivasan, whom most fans of Cricket of our age would remember .. ..  ~ and as pointed out by a friend on FB – the legend fast bowler Commandur Rajagopalachari Rangachari – who played 4 tests is not there at all .. .. are there more errors ?  callous !

Sad ..

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

19.4.2020.

British media hails India's handling of Covid-19

England, Scotland and Wales today announced a further 586 coronavirus deaths, with the official death toll now standing at 21,678 in Britain.  Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced  that the Government would change its daily statistics announcements to include, for the first time, people who die outside of hospitals, such as in care homes or in their own houses. He also said testing would now be expanded so that anyone in a hospital or a care home - staff, residents and patients - will be able to get tested for coronavirus whether they have symptoms or not. Anyone over the age of 65 with a fever or a new cough, and the people who live with them, will also now have routine access to testing.

A shock report today revealed the UK's real death toll may be 55 per cent higher than the daily updates given by the Department of Health because they don't include people dying outside of hospitals and don't take into account a lag in how fatalities are recorded.  ONS data, which is released each week and offers the only true picture on how many people have died outside of hospitals, recorded 3,096 COVID-19 care home deaths by April 17. This was almost triple the 1,043 total announced the week before, with 2,000 new fatalities in the space of a week.

~ even as they struggle with Covid-19, biased reporting by the British Press generally would not stop – yet here is something on what they are writing about India – full of praise !

India has reported only 934 deaths from 29,435 cases in a country of 1.3billion…. .. India's low death rate from coronavirus is puzzling experts, who say the country's young population is an advantage but warn the figures are likely to be incomplete. Fears of an appalling death toll in a country of 1.3billion have not yet been realised, with only 934 deaths from 29,435 cases so far.

India imposed a drastic nationwide lockdown on March 30, when the country had confirmed only a few hundred cases - moving earlier than much of Europe. India's median age of 28 is well below that in the US (38), Britain (41), Spain (43) or Italy (45), an advantage against a virus which is most dangerous to the elderly. However, India's testing rate is small for the size of its population and experts fear there could be a large tally of 'missing' deaths among people who died at home – well people living in India know well, how much of a lie is this – TN Govt is managing well and we do not feel that people are dying at home !

This graph shows the daily number of deaths, which has remained below 100 a day so far - a low death rate which is puzzling experts.  India's fatality rate of 3.2 per cent - meaning around one in 31 confirmed patients has died - is well below that in Britain, Italy or Spain, although not Germany.  Prime minister Narendra Modi says India is at 'war' with the virus and has urged his 1.3billion citizens to keep observing the lockdown. 'We should not be trapped into over-confidence and nurse the belief that coronavirus has not reached our city, our village, our streets, our office, and so will not reach them,' he said.  In a good measure, all domestic and international travel is banned, factories and offices are shut along with schools, and migrant workers have been moved to quarantine centres. The country's land borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal have all been closed. The border with Pakistan is heavily controlled in any case.

Medical journal The Lancet says India's measures are 'already having the desired effect of flattening the epidemic curve'. 'The lockdown has also given the government time to prepare for a possible surge in cases when the pandemic is forecasted to peak in the coming weeks,' researchers say. The measures were imposed when India had only 482 cases, only a week after Boris Johnson ordered Britons to stay at home when the UK already had 6,650. India's lockdown is currently due to expire on May 3, but could be extended further. India's numbers are low enough to employ a successful 'cluster containment' strategy by detecting cases early and tracing that person's contacts. India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, home to 200million people, has set up ten laboratories to test for Covid-19 since the first case was reported on March 3.

Meanwhile, the worst-hit state of Maharashtra - which includes Mumbai - has deployed drones and mass patrols to enforce the lockdown.  Experts have also highlighted India's experience in tackling previous disease outbreaks including polio and HIV.  Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO's top emergencies expert, said last month that India's success in eliminating polio was an example of how it could deal with Covid-19. The World Health Organisation also praised India's handling of the Nipah virus in 2018, especially its effective contact tracing after an outbreak in Kerala. 

After recording a dip in the number of cases of coronavirus infection over the past few days, Tamil Nadu has once again reported a spike, with 120 new cases on Tuesday. Of this number, 103 were recorded in state capital Chennai alone.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

28.4.2020 @ 11:02pm.

Stern measures help New Zealand contain Covid and reduce one level

White Fern Suzie Bates has challenged cricketers around the country to get out their bat and ball while in isolation.  The veteran international all-rounder challenged other White Ferns and Black Caps to see how many times they could bounce a cricket ball on the side of their bat. "If you've got a cricket bat and a tennis ball at home, you can give it a crack too," she said.

During the Covid-19 induced stay at home norms, the 2020 New Zealand Cricket Awards will be for the first time will be given electronically . The Award ceremony has been broken into parts and will start from Tuesday and continue till Friday with a number of awards will be given everyday.  New Zealand Cricket in a break from the long standing traditional way, will be trying something very unique to outbeat the COVID-19 constraints and felicitate their cricketers with the 2020 New Zealand Cricket Awards.  The Bert Sutcliffe Medal for outstanding services to cricket will be given on Tuesday. Former Kiwi fast bowler Ewen Chatfield had won it last year. The Redpath Cup for first class batting will be given the next day. Last year's recipient of the award was none other than Kane Williamson. The Winsor Cup for the first class bowling will be presented on Wednesday as well which was won by Trent Boult in the season 2018-19.  Awards for limited overs cricket will be presented on the 30th April. International Men's T20 player and ODI player of the season awards went to Colin Munro and Ross Taylor respectively  last year.  International Test player award and the Richard Hadlee Medal will be presented the last day that is on May 1. Last year Kane Williamson had won both these awards .

The coronavirus pandemic may be the largest test of political leadership the world has ever witnessed. Every leader on the planet is facing the same potential threat. Every leader is reacting differently, in his or her own style. And every leader will be judged by the results. German Chancellor Angela Merkel embraces science. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro rejects it. U.S. President Donald Trump’s daily briefings are a circuslike spectacle, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken great measures and is guiding the Nation in the best manner, facing challenge of keeping healthy  1.3 billion people.

Jacinda Ardern, the 39-year-old prime minister of New Zealand, is forging a path of her own. Her leadership style is one of empathy in a crisis that tempts people to fend for themselves. Her messages are clear, consistent, and somehow simultaneously sobering and soothing. And her approach isn’t just resonating with her people on an emotional level. It is also working remarkably well.  The good news is that  New Zealand has 'achieved elimination' of coronavirus as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern claimed the country has scored a significant victory against the spread of Covid-19.

The country has been following an elimination strategy with the goal of completely ending the transmission of coronavirus within its borders.  'There is no widespread, undetected community transmission in New Zealand,' Ardern declared on Monday. 'We have won that battle.'  Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand's Director General of Health, said the low number 'does give us confidence that we've achieved our goal of elimination. That never meant zero but it does mean we know where our cases are coming from.  'Our goal is elimination. And again, that doesn't mean eradication but it means we get down to a small number of cases so that we are able to stamp out any cases and any outbreak that might come out.'

The nation of five million people, reported only one new case of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 1,122 with 19 deaths. After nearly five weeks at the maximum Level Four restrictions - with only essential services operating - the country will move to Level Three late on Monday. New Zealand's efforts to flatten the curve have been very successful, leading to the country relaxing coronavirus restrictions from tonight.   New Zealand's 5 million residents were subjected to one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in response to the pandemic, with Ardern closing offices, schools, bars and restaurants, including take away and delivery services, on March 26.  Beaches, waterfronts and playgrounds were also shut, effectively restricting people to their homes and short walks around their neighbourhood. As part of elimination measures, the country also closed its borders and enforced quarantine of all arrivals into the country. 

Experts said New Zealand's remote geographical location as well as its easily sealable borders enabled the country to aim for elimination of the virus. The downgrade from Alert Level 4 to Level 3 will allow some businesses, takeaway food outlets and schools to reopen. New Zealanders will now  be able to go fishing, surfing, hunting and hiking this week for the first time in more than a month as the country begins to ease its way out of a strict lockdown that successfully slowed the spread of the coronavirus. Around 400,000 people will return to work after the country shifts its alert level down a notch at midnight on Monday, but shops and restaurants will remain closed as several social restrictions remain in place.

The Nation as a whole remained disciplined with people appreciating and following their leader.  Eateries announced contactless delivery plans, retail stores showcased their latest collections online for home delivery and office towers posted social distancing rules in elevators and public areas.  'We must make sure that we do not let the virus run away on us again and cause a new wave of cases and deaths,' Ardern said at a news conference on Monday. 'To succeed we need to hunt down the last few cases of the virus.' 'I will not risk the gains we've made in the health of New Zealanders. So if we need to remain at Level Three, we will.' She insisted at the daily government briefing: 'We are opening up the economy, but we're not opening up people's social lives.' 

  

Trust in governments in Australia and New Zealand has risen since the start of the pandemic, opinion polls show, with their idealogically opposite leaders hailed for their management of the crisis.  The shift to level 3 would mean that New Zealanders will have some restrictions lifted including:

·         Fishers will be permitted to cast a line from a wharf but not a boat

·         People will  be allowed to exercise at their local parks or beaches but keep a good 2 metre distance from others

·         Driving will be permitted for going to school or work for essential workers

·         Ardern warned people should still work from home where possible  and when at work – staff  have to make sure they keep 1m between each other and practice good hygiene

·         Parents can choose whether to send their children to school or continue lessons at home, Ardern wants the majority to learn from home.

·         Still sharing a  meal, food or a wedding reception is not permitted   

Some might jump and speak of economy – but New Zealand practiced much harder lockdown and has successfully been able to contain – India’s strategy was right but people cooperation has not been.

Hope saner minds prevail, people remain at home, and India too comes out of the clutches of the dreaded virus

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

27.4.2020.