Only Education uplifts ! - remembering all my teachers !

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 !!

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.

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 !! 

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. 

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.  

 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
5^th Sept. 2024 

Remembering Ranji winning Captains ! - the MCA way !!

 

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 2^nd 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 5^th 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 1^st 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 30^th 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 2^nd 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.

 

 

Hargila Army - protecting Greater Adjutant Stork

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.

 

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

 

With regards – S Sampathkumar
4^th Sept. 2024.

 

As the Crow flies ! - holes in biscuits !!!

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.

 
Interesting !
 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
3^rd Sept 2024