Whether it Shines or Rains or even a Cyclone – am nonchalant !!

 

Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu has completed its landfall process on the south coastal Andhra Pradesh coast. The eye of the cyclone crossed the coast near Kothapatnam (close to Ongole) at approximately 5:30 AM IST today, Tuesday, November 3, 2026.  

The cyclone has unleashed heavy rainfall and high-speed winds across several states;   Severe damage has been reported in Bapatla and Prakasam districts, where thousands of trees and hundreds of electric poles have been uprooted.  

Whether it   Shines or Rains or even a  Cyclone – am nonchalant !! 

சாமந்தி பூவுக்கும் சாயங்கால காத்துக்கும் ~ Marigold flowers !!

 

சாமந்தி பூவுக்கும் சாயங்கால காத்துக்கும்

சரியாச்சு என்று சொல்லி பாட்டு பாடு

நான் போடும் மெட்டுக்கும் நந்தவன பாட்டுக்கும்

சரியாச்சு என்று சொல்லி பாட்டு பாடு

செந்தாழம் பூவே என் சின்ன வெண்ணிலாவே

விண்மீனப் போல நீ மின்னி மறையாதே

காற்றுக்கும் வேர்த்து போன சேதி கேளு

கடலுக்குள் தாமரையும் பூப்பதேது

 

Unlikely you have heard this melody ! – it sounds good in the voice of P Jayachandran.

This picture taken near Kothawalchaavadi in Parrys area presented different shades of Yellow – in the flowers, in the veshti, tarpaulin, walls with different colour combo in the flower trays !!  ~ this is not the traditional சாமந்தி பூ

சாமந்தி பூ (Marigold) என்பது ஆஸ்டரேசி (Asteraceae) குடும்பத்தைச் சேர்ந்த, மஞ்சள் மற்றும் ஆரஞ்சு நிறங்களில் பூத்துக்குலுங்கும் அழகான மற்றும் நறுமணமிக்க மலர். ஆங்கிலத்தில் இது Marigold என்று அழைக்கப்படுகிறது.

சாமந்தி (Saamanthi) generally refers to Chrysanthemum.  But there are variants !!    

•       Marigold – Usually Tagetes erecta (African marigold) or Tagetes patula (French marigold).

•       Chrysanthemum – Chrysanthemum morifolium and related species.

•       Tagetes – The botanical genus to which the commonly cultivated marigolds belong.

In Tamil  :

•        சாமந்தி – Chrysanthemum, particularly garden chrysanthemum.

•        செவ்வந்தி – Chrysanthemum.

•        செண்டுமல்லி – Marigold (Tagetes).

•        துலுக்கச்சாமந்தி / துலுக்கச்செவ்வந்தி – also used for Tagetes erecta in some botanical and regional references.

The yellow flowers appear to be Tagetes (marigolds), rather than the usual florist's chrysanthemum.  The song at the start is from the film “Putham PUthu Poove” starring Ramki and Swathi with music by SA Rajkumar.  This film appears not to have been released at all though couple of songs from this movie have been circulating in audio/video platforms

Interesting !

Regards – S Sampathkumar

2.11.2o26

legality of contract with Marriage broker ~ manal kayiru ..

Imp Prescript :  In the technology gadget driven modern  World, there are now Apps and websites for matrimony aka match-making.  A  few decades ago, there were written sheets of Jathakam and prior to that there were a clan called ‘Marriage Brokers’ – you may observe in old movies and dramas of People telling lies and more lies in trying to fix-up marriages.  Something on this theme in a Movie and a Madras High Court case dating back to 1893  

Manal Kayiru (thread made of sand) hit the silver screen in 1982.  SVe Sekhar plays the man who lists out many conditions for marriage including that the girl should be less educated than self … Visu, the director acts as the Marriage broker who gets him married to a girl, who does not meet with any of the listed conditions.  Generally, brokers are not shown in good light in Tamil movies and are shown as comedians …

 

In olden days, many marriages were fixed through brokers only. Primarily they were people, who used to travel, know lot of people, had some knowledge, exchanged horoscopes, passed on information on available eligible grooms and maids …. Now a days, there are so many Matrimonial websites – some cater to specific communities, some general in nature.  Perhaps these Matrimony websites have replaced traditional marriage brokers and has come to stay as a reliable data provider, earning good stakes at that.   They charge fees for registration (some are free) and one can search from the database filtering their choice based on various parameters which include age, income, caste, location, subsect and more. 

In Western countries, there is Online dating aka Internet dating whereby individuals can find and contact each other over the Internet to arrange a date, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic  relationship. Online dating services usually provide unmoderated matchmaking over the Internet, through the use of personal computers or cell phones. 

Here is something very interesting from a civil case in Madras High Court in 1893 before Justic Muthusami Ayyar and Justice Best.  It was an appeal praying the High Court to revise the proceedings of  Subordinate Judge of Cocanada, in small cause suit.  

The Plaintiff agreed to go from place to place and select a girl for defendant’s  wife. Defendant,  agreed to pay plaintiff, on account of plaintiff's wages in the said purpose Rs. 50/-  Plaintiff accordingly selected a girl and got her married to him. Defendant failed to pay plaintiff the said sum though demanded. The Subordinate Judge held that the facts alleged were established by the evidence, but dismissed the suit on the ground that the contract sued on was void as being contrary to public policy.  

Before the High Court the Q for decision was whether the contract sued on is a marriage brokage contract, and if so, whether it is invalid.   An English case Hall v Potter, which went up to the House of Lords was cited – in which it was stated that it is conducive to public good that marriages should be procured and promoted by the mediation of relatives and friends and not by hirelings.  The court also noted that   a bond given to secure such payment was valid; but the payment in that case was to be made to the father of the girl for giving her in marriage. It is also to be observed that the money received by the father is often applied in part to making jewels for the girl given m marriage and in part to meeting the other expenses of the marriage.  

Justice Muthusamy said ‘I would, therefore, rest my decision on two grounds, viz , that the justice of the rule of public policy is open to no question, and that no established usage precludes its application except in the case of a money payment agreed to be made to the father of the girl in the Asura form. I would dismiss this petition.  Justice Best added that the question for decision is whether the Subordinate Judge is right in dismissing the suit as unsustainable on the ground that  the consideration for the agreement being money promised to be paid for the negotiation of a marriage, the contract is against public policy and therefore void.  

This case  is distinguishable from the ones adjudicated in England and here it was a contract  with a stranger in consideration of his negotiating the marriage. An earlier decision had also declined to give marriage brokers a legal status such as would enable them to enforce their contracts by law.   The Judges dismissed the petition.  

Much water has flown and many years have passed by since … !! and now you have so many matrimony websites ! 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.
7th Oct 2014. 

Credits :  caselaw extracted from the book ‘the Indian Decisions” - a re-print of all the Decisions of the Privy Council on appeals from India’ edited by The Lawyer’s Companion Office, Trichinopoly and Madras.

 

the braying donkey gets the appreciation ... !!

Some do loads of work throughout yet when it comes to recognition, they are not treated properly  ! no straight references !!........ we  call it doing donkey work !!! – the donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the horse family, Equidae.  These animals were domesticated thousands of years back and have been utilized for carrying loads ….. while domesticated species are increasing in numbers, the African wild ass and another relative, the onager, are endangered.

Sure you would have read the moral story of ‘a donkey and a dog’ being kept by a man.  Dog was a pet, while donkey had to do backbreaking work without reward or recognition. On a day when thieves broke out, the dog barked – the owner was proud of the dog and provided it with delicacies … at a later point of time, donkey watched thieves trying to enter through the backyard – it brayed and brayed hard – the owner only got annoyed at the noise at odd hours – took a stick and gave a harsh beating to the animal – moral being – one should do only duties assigned …

                    

Not always as reported in Daily Telegraph of an incident in Lancashire.  Mary Beetham is a resident of Preston, Lancashire and in June in early hours, her fostered donkey Jaffa began braying loudly raising the alarm. The retired teacher aged 73, jumped from her bed to see what the commotion was and “saw someone run down the drive” clearly spooked by the noise. The noise apparently was the reason and the  would-be burglar didn’t manage to get away with any goods from the home. Ms Beetham had fostered Jaffa three months previously, after he was rescued in Ireland and tended to at The Donkey Sanctuary in Devon.

She is reported as telling that the animal was in a state of distress  and required calming down – the owner stayed with the animal for 30 minutes calming it down. Ms Beetham, who has been looking after donkeys, alerted the police the next day. “Jaffa was very quiet and sleepy, he was shaken up. But he’s fine now. He just shouts at the postman now,” she said. The foster carer has been taking care of donkeys for 17 years and said Jaffa had been badly treated before being rescued in Ireland but “brought back to life” by The Donkey Sanctuary, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of donkeys.

There is a small island with 24,000 people, 6,000 donkeys, and just two cars. It is Lamu, just off the coast of Kenya, is known as the donkey capital of Africa. It is a place where there are donkey traffic jams, the largest humanitarian organization is a donkey sanctuary, and donkeys are the key to earning a living.

Lamu Island is a part of the Lamu Archipelago of Kenya; Lamu Old Town, the principal inhabited part of the island, is one of the oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlements in East Africa. The island is linked by boat to Mokowe on the mainland and to Manda Island, where there is an airport. There are no roads on the island, just alleyways and footpaths, and therefore, there are few motorized vehicles on the island. Residents move about on foot or by boat, and donkeys are used to transport goods and materials. In addition to Lamu Town, there are three villages on Lamu Island: Shela, Matondoni and Kipungani.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

27^th June 2014.