The times and thoughts of C Subramaniam: Book Review

HAND OF DESTINY By C Subramaniam
Among the few post-1947 political memoirs was Congress stalwart Dwarka Prasad Mishra's Post-Nehru Era , which was not widely known despite its spicy anecdotes .Among the recent contributions to this class of literature ,Lal Krishna Advani's My Country, My Life and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterji's Keeping the Faith :Memoirs of a Parliamentarian " caused a ripple, but no more.For the diligent researcher, however , all these works can yield details , enough to piece together chapters of political  history.
                                       The author begins by recalling his takeover as the President of the Tamilnadu Congress Committee after the party's electoral rout at the hands of the emerging Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in1957 . One of his first tasks was to prepare for the election to civic bodies . Kamaraj , according to him came in the way." Iappointed an election committee for identifying the candidates...As Kamraj was continuing as Congress President at that time, I thought it would not be proper to include him in the committee, over which I would naturally be presiding --but he made his exclusion a point of grievance"               

Chant of the Flaming Lips

A 5000-year-old tradition that involves reciting from the Vedas around a fireplace will be conducted over 12 days to preserve the environment and usher in global peace

venue: village PANJAL in Thrissur DIST. IN KERALA .
Yajaman:Puthillathu Ramanajan Somayaji
   The athirrathram,which will cost an estimated Rs.1 crore ,is likely to draw more than 15000 people from all over the world incuding not just devotees and believers but also scientists, scholars and critics.The star attendee of the event will be Indologist and heritage crusader John Frederik "Frits" Stall , a driving force behind the preservation of the world's oldest surving Vedic ritual athirathram. Stall, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and south and south-east Asian Studies at the University of Berkeley in California, announced the existence of this ritual to the world by documenting it in his seminal treatise Agni:the Vedic ritual of the fire altar .

Truth be told..new book on GANDHI

The furore over Gandhi is misplaced . Not because it may be false, but because we can't handle the truth
                                                                             
       Former New York Times editor Joseph Lelyweld has written a book in which among other lines, he quotes Tridip Suhrud , a cultural  historian ; "They were a couple". Mr Lelyveld goes on to write in the next line . That's a succinct way of summing up the obvious Kallenbach later remarked that they'd lived together almost in the same bed-- but what kind of couple were they ?The Kallenbach mentioned in Hermann Kallenbach, a Jewish East Prussian architect in early 20th century  Johannesburg and the "they" is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Kallenbach .That's right, Mohandas "Bapu"Gandhi, the Father of our nation and that secular name uttered to make everything sacred.
      Mr.Lelyveld ,a journalist, quotes another Gandhi scholar characterising the Gandhi-Kallenbach relationship as "clearly homoerotic" rather than homosexual , "then adding intending through that choice of words to describe a strong mutual attraction, nothing more". The author goes on to write: "the conclusions passed on by word of mouth in South Africa's small Indian community were sometimes less nuanced.
      It was no secret then, or later, that Gandhi, leaving his wife behind, had gone to live with a man"
         Going by that most relevatory and "truthful" of texts , "My Experiments with Truth" it certainly would't have bothered Gandhi.
                                                                  

CBI arrests Raja and his 2 aides

2-G Spectrun -tainted ex-Communication Minister A Raja arrested.It's too late but quick arrests are must in the cases of  Commonwealth Games culprit Kalmadi, Adarsh Society case etc.

my message to young students

Dear Young Students! Emulate these 20 values in the interest of your nation,community,family and yourself
1. SAVE WATER AND ELECTRIC POWER
************************************   Switch off all the lights and fans and close the taps,when not in use .Power saved is power generated.

2. SAVE FOOD MATERIALS
   ***********************   Use only what is necessary.
Remember...Millions of people are below the poverty -line& are in the grip of starvation.

3.SAVE PETROL & OTHER FUELS
   ****************************  Use fuels only when you must.
Remember..These are irreversible sources of energy.
4.AVOID  OVER-DOSE OF ENTERTAINMENT
   *************************
*************  Remember.. Lost time never comes back.  5.
AVOID ALCOHOL,TOBACCO AND NARCOTIC DRUGS REMEMBER   ...Their use is an open invitation to misery and death.                                                6.SAVE YOURSELF FROM DEADLY DISEASES Remember..That knowledge about these is their best protection.        7.NEVER PUT OFF TILL TOMORROW...What can be done  now and here. Remember.. Tomorrow never comes.    8.Work is Worship....Remember.. Hard work is the best investment and key to success.   9. RESPECT YOUR ELDERS  Remember.. By humility you rise above the average.  10. Grow more plants and trees in your neighbourhood..It keeps the environment healthy.  11.BE GOOD AND DO GOOD  TILL IT  BECOMES A HABIT.   12. HAVE FAITH IN ALMIGHTY  The whole life-cycle is controlled by Him in a way best for the mankind as a whole.    12. AVOID APING THE WEST   Indian culture is the oldest and richest of all.   14. KEEP THE FOLLOWING ORDER IN ALL YOUR DOINGS..country, community,family and self.15.TRY    Each One ,Teach One    16.BE HEALTHY   ...A sound mind in a sound body is above wealth.   17 CONCENTRATE ON YOUR STUDIES...This opportunity will never come back   18.OBEY TRAFFIC RULES..These are for your safety.  19.RESPECT THE NATIONAL FLAG AND ANTHEM ..It unites and strengthens the Nation and a must for every citizen.  20. RESPECT ALL RELIGIONS EQUALLY...The ultimate aim is global brotherhood.**********************************************This blog is a tribute to Late Shri Ratanshi Shah..who made Vidisha proud...following his footprints his great and worthy son Lion Atul R Shah Distt Vice -Chairman LIONS INTERNATIONAL...and Chairman ,Saket Shikshan Samiti VIDISHA

Silence as sedition

We must speak up to defend not just Binayak Sen's freedom to dissent but our own right to be democratic.
     A true measure to be being democratic is not the cycles of elections ----it is the dignity given to disagreement ,to dissent.Why must we dignify dissent?
     Binayak Sen speaks.Through his actions and words,he protests,he engages,he dissents,he disagrees.His weapons are words ,ideas and actions .Everything he does ,represents a strained ,challenged but surviving faith and commitment to non-violent democratic dissentthrough everything he sees around him should and must have given him so many reasons to losew that faith.
  Sen could have remained silent . Like so many of us,he could have been safe and not facing a life term in prison today. All he had to do was to shirk his duties as a citizen and  an ethical human being and choose the easier way of remaining silent.The rest of us do so everyday in a country that is home to some the most-entrenched and deepening inequality in the world.In our everyday lives ,we stand by multiple exclusions and everyday acts of violence,homelessness,hungerthe removal of social benefits ,and a new India that measures its growth by its richest rather than its poorest.Why the poor do not revolt in arms is anyone's guess. They have no reason not to wage war against the rest of us who tolerate, sanction and reproduce their exclusion. So when those excluded and those that speak in their favour choose still to speak and to engage democratic,despite these violent exclusions,these can be nothing more important for our democracy than to listen.