Triplicanite AK Raman is no more

 

Today has not dawned  well – hearing the sad news of passing away of my cousin Sri AK Raman @ Pichu who lived in Car Street earlier [the house next to present SYMA hospital – where Aaditya flats now stands!].  He passed away after brief illness on 19.8.2021.

My athimber Arasanipalayam Vedantham [AK Vedantham] was a freedom fighter and a  Congress man, who worked with Nation’s Past President Mr R Venkatraman.  He was a staunch member of Brahmin Association too.

Like most Triplicanites, Raman [aka Pichu] studied in Hindu High School and graduated from Vivekananda College.  He worked in Balussery, then Dura Metallic [Sanmar] and became an entrepreneur running Companies on this own.

In my young age, Raman was a hero – his looks, moustache, cricket at kovil kulam and beach and the way he used to speak … memories roll.  I remember a couple of odd occasions of my school days – when he gave his cycle [great asset those days] for driving ! .. ..   he was a very good artiste and used to draw very well – some adorning the walls and some on paper !

Deep condolences to his family – his wife and daughter.  We miss a man with humane nature – have never seen him angry or speak harsh words ………… WE miss him – in our sampradhayam : வைகுந்தம் புகுவது மண்ணவர் விதியே - எம்பெருமானிடம் இந்த துயரத்தை தாங்க  அவரது  குடும்பத்தினருக்கு மன வலிமை தர பிரார்த்திக்கிறேன்.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

21.8.2021

 

Women in Indian freedom struggle - Google doodle on Subhadrakumari Chauhan !

WE celebrated  the 75th   INDEPENDENCE DAY of the Nation ~ the great day of 15th August when BHARAT was liberated from foreign rule. .. .. often described in a terse statement, India achieved freedom ‘without battle or shedding blood’ – Indian freedom struggle was far different perhaps – thousands sacrificed and more number underwent innumerable difficulties for that magic freedom, which we happily enjoy .. .. .. and, Indian History does not have much written about those great martyrs.

.. .. more so about the women in freedom struggle – apart from Jhansi Rani Laxmi Bai, we read aboput : Annie besant, Sarojini Naidu,  Kamala Nehru, Sucheta Kripalani  Vijayalaxmi Pundit, Aruna Asaf Ali, Kasturba Gandhi  - (do you remember or have heard of more persons ?) 

Back home, in Chennai, ‘Kasturibai Nagar’ station is the one at Madhya Kailash Jn in MRTS, where the OMR aka IT corridor starts.  .. .. strangely, this is what we studied in school too – Kasthuribhai Gandhi was the wife of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.   Kasthuribai sounds a Tamilised version of Kasturba.  Triplicane houses century old specialty hospital for women famously known as ‘Gosha Hospital’ -  which was  named after Kasturba Gandhi,  the wife of Gandhiji.  One needs to go back to the history of the Nation, the State and of the locality to understand the significance of this hospital.  Born as Kasturba Makhanji (1869 – 1944) – she was married to   Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the National leader.

Of course, there were innumerable freedom fighters :  Kanaklata Barua was one ! .. .. hailing   from Assam, also known as Birbala, Kanaklata Barua took leading steps in the 1942 Quit India Movement at Barangabari. At the tender age of 18, she proudly held the Indian flag with intentions to unfurl it at the British acquired Gohpur Police Station. Shouting slogans “Britishers Go Back,” she was silenced by the deadly lead shot from a British policeman’s rifle.

Thankfully Google celebrated Subhadra Kumari Chauhan's 117th birth anniversary with a doodle, yesterday. It was an  illustrated one  by New Zealand-based guest artist Prabha Mallya and featured the activist and author sitting with a pen and paper, dressed in a saree.  Google honoured India’s first woman Satyagrahi Subhadra Kumari Chauhan with a special graphic on her 117th birth anniversary on August 16. Subhadra Kumari Chauhan was a trailblazing writer and freedom fighter whose work rose to national prominence during a male-dominated era of literature.

Google doodle on Indian Independence Day & Subhadrakumari

Subhadra Chauhan was born in Nihalpur village in Allahabad District, Uttar Pradesh. She initially studied in Allahabad and passed the middle-school examination in 1919. She married Thakur Lakshman Singh Chauhan of Khandwa in 1919 when she was sixteen with whom she had five children. After her marriage,  she moved to Jubbulpore (now Jabalpur), Central Provinces. In 1921, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan and her husband joined Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement. She was the first woman Satyagrahi to court arrest in Nagpur and was jailed twice for her involvement in protests against British rule in 1923 and 1942.  She later became a member of the legislative assembly of Central Provinces but sadly she  in 1948 in a car accident near Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, on her way back to Jabalpur from Nagpur, the then capital of Central Provinces, where she had gone to attend the assembly session.

Google doodle on Indian Independence Day & Subhadrakumari

Subhadra Chauhan authored a number of popular works in Hindi. Her most famous composition is Jhansi Ki Rani, an emotionally charged poem describing the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai. The poem is one of the most recited and sung poems in Hindi literature. An emotionally charged description of the life of the queen of Jhansi (British India) and her participation in the 1857 revolution, it is often taught in schools in North India. A couplet repeated at the end of each stanza reads thus:

बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,

खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

This and her other poems, Jallianwala Bagh mein Vasant, Veeron Ka Kaisa Ho Basant, Rakhi Ki Chunauti, and Vida, openly talk about the freedom movement. They are said to have inspired great numbers of Indian youth to participate in the Indian Freedom Movement.  

Her first poem was published when she was just 9.The call for Indian independence reached its height during her early adulthood. As a participant in the Indian Nationalist Movement, Subhadra used her poetry to call others to fight for their nation’s cause. The Google Doodle page described her poetry as, “Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s poetry and prose primarily centered around the hardships that Indian women overcame, such as gender and caste discrimination. Her poetry remained uniquely underscored by her resolute nationalism.”  In 1923, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s unyielding activism led her to become the first woman satyagrahi, a member of the Indian collective of nonviolent anti-colonialists to be arrested in the struggle for national liberation. She continued to make revolutionary statements in the fight for freedom both on and off the page into the 1940s. She published a total of 88 poems and 46 short stories.

The ICGS Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, an Indian Coast Guard ship, was named after her and the Govt of Madhya Pradesh placed a statue of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan before the Municipal Corporation office of Jabalpur. On 6 August 1976, India Posts released a postage stamp to commemorate her. 

Thanks Google for bringing out more about this women who fought for freedom of the Nation.  Jai Hind.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
17^th Aug 2021.

looking for that twist at Lords - Will India ?!?!?

 

“Is Plot mei twist hai” - Santhi twist we have been seeing on advt - This twist was not part of our imaginative story too .. .. in Test no. 2429, presently underway at Lords, can India take the remaining 5 wickets is the Q at 21:21 hrs of 16th Aug 2021 !

Certainly not any ardent Indian fan dreamt of, when India closed at 181/6 on day 4 with Rishab Pant 14* and Ishant Sharma at 4* - the only hope was Pant making a quick fire 50 and taking the score closer to 250 !  .. .. India declared, yes, declared at 298/8 after 109.3 !! overs – runs came not from Pant but from Mohammad Shami – 56* and .. Jasprit Bumrah 34* - in general, we do not call them lower order batsmen but only tail-enders.  Recently heard Harsha Bhogle state that England tail-enders aggregate 22 while Indians 11 – and that was a huge differene according to him !! 

Tail enders scoring runs is nothing new !  .. .. but mostly they come against India.  Long ago,  at Kanpur in 1976 – against New Zealand – Bishan Bedi scored his maiden unbeaten 50 and India declared at 524/9 – all the 11 players including Bhagwat Chandrasekhar scored double figure runs –Bishan Bedi joined – Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Gundappa Viswanath, Ashok Mankad & Syed Kirmani in scoring more than half-century .. .. and no batsmen scored a 100. The mercurial Richard Hadlee had ordinary figures of  29-2-121-1.

Back in July 2013,  England won the test but last man Ashton Agar scored 98 outscoring Phil Hughes 81* - and together they stitched a last wicket partnership of 163 at Nottingham.. .. an year later, Indians experienced that agony when rabbit Jimmy Anderson scored 81 and was involved in a partnership of 198 taking the score from 298/9 to 496 all out !!   of the 5 bowlers now, Shami, Ravi Jadeja and Ishant Sharma were part of that bowling line-up.

Before we see further, have not thus far heard of - Jayden Nigel Tristen Seales.  Seales literally sealed Paki hopes taking a 5 for (becoming the youngest West Indian) and hanging around his partner Kemar Roach to hit the winning runs in a nerve-wracking chase.  The scorecard reads :  WI 253 (Brathwaite 97, Holder 58, Afridi 4-59) and 168 for 9 (Blackwood 55, Roach 30*, Afridi 4-50) beat Pakistan 217 (Fawad 56, Holder 3-26, Seales 3-70) and 203 (Azam 55, Seales 5-55, Roach 3-30) by one wicket  As Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales kept batting, the nerves kept building. Finally, it all came down to a fateful Hasan Ali over, as a nick evaded a valiant dive from Mohammad Rizwan to race away for a boundary before Roach pushed two through the off side to guarantee a 1-0 series lead.

Today at Lords, perhaps none of us expected that our bowlers would be batters too -  Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah swung their bats around - while also playing some fairly attractive shots - for an unbeaten 89-run stand for the ninth wicket at Lord's, it certainly caught the England team by surprise. 

Will India win this test now ? 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

16th Aug 2021 @ 21:21hrs.

"Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ - SYMA enters 45 - conducts Cataract Eye Camp

I love My Nation – Mera Bharat Mahan hai ! .. ..  Today WE are celebrating the 75^th   INDEPENDENCE DAY of the Nation ~ the great day of 15th August when BHARAT was liberated from foreign rule.  Celebrating Bharat's Independence Day : "‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ -  and at Triplicane SYMA organized – hoisting of National flag and Cataract Eye screening camp.

Srinivas Youngmen’s Association has been doing service to the society ever since 1977.  Their services spread to various lines such as civic welfare, medicine, health, environment, education, personality development more.  The medical services and laboratory which remained closed during Covid 19 are open to public now.  Our Educational service (free tuition centre) is yet to function in this educational year.  Today is a special day for SYMA too – the association  started with cleaning Thiruvallikkeni thirukulam ‘Kairavini pushkarini’ and it was on 14.8.1977 that SYMA was formally inaugurated by the then Honble Minister for Social welfare Ms PT Saraswathi, Sri N Krishnaswamy Reddiyar beign the Chief Guest.   SYMA has marched a long way since ! – entering its 45^th year.

                     Of our many services, Medical services and Education services are our prime activities.  On Independence Day of the Nation, We have been conducting ‘Cataract screening  Eye camp’  for more than 20 years now.  The camp is always conducted by Sri Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal.  This year after an year break due to Covid 19, -  National flag was hoisted at our new premises at 37 Car Street, by Mr M Muthukumar, Frontline staff, Pammal Sankara Eye Hospital and Sri NKT Jayagopal ji - Sathyananda Yoga Centre inaugurated the new website of SYMA and blood donor app.

After hoisting of National flag, saluting the Flag, National anthem, distribution of chocolates, the new look website developed by Creative Chandru and an App acting as bridge for those requiring blood and the donors of SYMA was inaugurated by Shri NKT Jayagopal Ji.

Sri Sankara Health Centre was established in 1984 and started as an outpatient clinic. The hospital grew in stature  and by 1997   this hospital was converted into an exclusive ophthalmic hospital to provide comprehensive high quality eye care especially to the rural poor in the districts of Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, Chennai and Chittoor (AP). Community Ophthalmology became the first services of this hospital  A milestone in Cataract surgeries was reached  with performance of  100,000th  surgery in 2007.  Over the years lakhs of poor people have benefitted by their free cataract eye surgery and other ophthalmic services.  The Hospital with noble aim has been screening lakhs of school children for refractive errors too. 

Yoga is good for Health and Mind.  Satyananda Yoga Centre – Triplicane, is doing a great service.  Mr NKT Muthu was too well known as ‘Vizha vendhar’ for his role in ‘natakam stage’ and was a very active philanthropist.  His son, known to all of us in younger days simply as Jeyagopal has blossomed as a Yoga Instructor, philanthropist, a great human being -   is ‘Sanyasi Shivarishi’ now. He is a disciple of Paramahamsa Niranjanananda Saraswati. He has been changing the lives of many with his kind noble services.

SYMA is very happy in being associated with Pammal Sankara Eye Hospital and Shiva Rishi NKT Jayagopal.

A cataract is an eye disease in which the normally clear lens of the eye becomes cloudy or opaque, causing a decrease in vision. The lens focuses light onto the back of the eye (the retina) so images appear clear and without distortion. The clouding of this lens during cataract formation distorts vision. Cataracts are usually a very gradual process of normal aging but can occasionally develop rapidly.  Cataract surgery is the removal of the natural lens of the eye (also called "crystalline lens") that has developed an opacification, which is referred to as a cataract.  

Today at the camp of SYMA – close to 200 people were screened – 21requiring cataract surgery.  Those requiring cataract surgery would be taken to Pammal Sankara Hospital, would undergo cataract surgery tomorrow and would return day after [the treatment, food, medicines would be provided free].  For those identified as requiring spectacles, SYMA would be providing free specs on 25^th Aug 2021.

Today at flag hoisting and our Camp, besides the present office bearers, our founder members, past Presidents and many volunteers were present.  We sincerely thank Pammal Sankara Eye Hospital, Sri NKT Muthu, Mr Chandrasekhar of Creative desk (for the website and blood donor app) – and word of appreciation involved in the camp and developing  App – Mr Kasthuri, SRP, TJ Ramani, R Sanjeevi, Mrs Jayasudha Sanjeevi, Aravind, Mrs Saranya Aravind and volunteers – Venkatesh, VP Manivanna, Mr Vasu, Venkatramana,  R Narasimhan, Mrs Shobhana Narasimhan, Mrs Uthra Sarang, R Kannan and others for their active involvement.

SYMA in service to the poor – with your support and help, we have grown over the years.  We thank  all our donors and well wishers and look forward to your continued support.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
Secretary SYMA
15^th Aug 2021.