Mind Speaks
Photo Speaks: Do not give up! or rather Fight it out!.
It was pleasant to see the loaded bullock cart plying through the busy city traffic of Coimbatore, which has one of the best mobility options for goods transport.
Vishu and Cashew Nuts – money money money!
Month of April and it is holiday season for children. Added with many festivals including Vishu.
A quick visit to my home in Kerala and a walk around brought back memories of my childhood days. We used to wait for the exams to finish and then starts the family visits. Children will come to our home as well as we visit their homes. In the villages, with farming and cultivation, it used to be fun all along. For us, the season brings an additional source of income to supplement our expenses, as pocket money used to be very very limited. Except for the 1 rupee or 50 paise given to us as “Vishu Kaineettam” – a tradition where elders give money to those younger to them on the day of Vishu, there was absolutely no source of money to either buy any toys or go for a movie at the local cinema. This is when we gather together and walk around and collect the fallen cashew nuts and then take it to the local vendor and sell them and keep the cash. The nuts are sold and the fruits are mostly eaten while collecting or on the way.
Of course and obviously the vendor will give us only lesser amount than the normal market rate as he knows very well that this is something we do without permission of our parents or relatives (although all parties are aware!).
Gone are those days, and now children have several other ways to keep them engaged, and money is not an issue at all. Engaging or getting them engaged is now a main source of income by means of “Summer Camps”. Advantage and disadvantage of modernization!.
This post is intended to all those who enjoyed the olden golden days will cherish remembering those days.
Mind Speaks – Common Man’s Pride!
TVS 50 is common man’s pride!. You will agree with me, if you visit any of the markets or towns in Tamilnadu. It was not a surprise for me to see several local retailers coming to the wholesale vegetable market at Coimbatore and returning with goods stacked neatly everywhere possible, and the rider balancing it through heavy city traffic!.
In 1980 TVS 50, TVS Motor Company is the third largest two-wheeler manufacturer in India and one among the top ten in the world , rolled out India’s first two-seater moped from the factory at Hosur in Tamil Nadu, Southern India.
I call this a pulse presentation to the mass! TVS knew what the common man wanted to handle their day to day chores. Especially, those in the villages and small towns. If not altogether correct in an entire Indian perspective, at least and fully true in the Southern States of Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Andra Pradesh.
Some of the mopeds are really old, but maintained and kept in excellent condition, as is the tradition in Tamilnadu. They love their vehicles more than anything!.
Bajaj M80 is another example, although it is visible lesser and lesser.
Automobile companies have to come out with economically viable products for the common man. It will keep the market alive and industry prosper and the profitability is shared to the grass root level.
Foot note: I am happy to see and highly impressed to note that the normally illiterate farmers or retail business people are happy to abide by and oblige the helmet rule, whereas the highly educated youth do not follow them and end up in orthopaedic wards of hospitals or in many cases even die an untimely death!.
Point to ponder.
Mind Speaks: Make it lively & LIVE LONG!
In the next few days, the world will stand still for some hours!. True, at least some part of the world will definitely will. It will include the India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Middle East, England, Australia and the U.S.
It is not a myth. Certainly, many, not excluding me are die-hard cricket fans and the World T-20 final stages are being played. How can you stay away from the venue or from the TV screen live telecasts!.
True and but! Have you imagined the amount of man-hours being lost because of being a cricket fan!. I was thinking of it during the last few matches. How can I make it productive. Not an easy solution, but not a difficult one too.
After reading about various incidents that took place in some of the cities that killed a youth, or created various online and offline interactions that caused permanent damage, I felt I should write this note.
Enjoy cricket but, enjoy it with the thought that we have to “Live Long” and not end our life being a mad fan of it.
End of the day, cricket players in India and elsewhere are privileged along with sportsmen and sportswomen playing golf and tennis who get paid for a lifelong earning during their playing years!. All others have to opt for other livelihood methods to carry on with their daily living.
Here is my thought for how to utilize our time promisingly and progressively watching the forthcoming cricket matches to make you LIVE LONG and remain a cricket fan forever:
- List – prepare a list of items to throw away, donate and return which are at home and which you feel you do not need any more!
- Imagine and Inspire yourself as a talented musician. Comfortably position yourself in front of the TV and play along the musical instrument of your choice or sing along the song of your choice. Visualise yourself as the best of the best, I am sure you will become one!
- Veggie: why not?! – try to become a veggie for the first time, if you are not one!. Buy fresh vegetables, try and impress your wife and children with your skills to clean them, cut them and present them in the most beautiful way. Let it be a motivation and experience for them to try out what it is to be a vegetarian!
- Expire the expired: Utilise the time and check all of the items in your bathroom and kitchen that have expiration dates. Dump the expired along with anything else that you aren’t using.
- Locate: all old and useless receipts, unless they have a warranty on them and discard them for good.
- Old: Newspapers and Magazines and Out of date medicine – take them out and dispose them safely. May be donate the old newspapers to the news boy as he can make some money out of it!. Donate the unwanted medicines, if they can be used to some charity as it may be of use for someone else who cannot afford it.
- Nerd: That’s not me!. Have you ever been overawed by the intelligence of your colleague or friend!. Think and come out with something new that can be innovative to the society. Or try some time with Sudoku. I am sure, if you try it and you will enjoy doing it again and again and the end result, you will improve your language skills.
- God – In god finally we find solace!. We have seen it several times, especially through the lenses of the high-tech videographers of cricket matches. Those who never pray in their life come and cry out in front of the cameras in the stadium. Why not you also? – It is a nice opportunity to finish one set of your favorite prayers when the the match is in progress. I am sure, you will do it without any hesitation and prompting.
If you feel you miss any prime moment of the match, do not worry, there is a replay within seconds. So, do not focus too hard on the match!. It may save your life!.
If none of the above suites you, plan a travel so that you are away from the temptation of the TV screen and mobile updates during the time of the matches. (I am planning to do it!).
Try it out and let me know. Next few days will not be easy for die-hard cricket fans of those countries who are playing the semi-finals of the World T20 matches. Let there be no animosity or hatred between each other. We have plenty other problems to tackle. Let no life perish!
Last post – Wake up call for print media
The Gulf News of Saturday, 27th March 2016 came out with a special post. It was about the final print edition of The Independent newspaper.
It may not be the only print news that is going to call it a day! Over the period of last few years, I have seen several print editions are becoming lesser and lesser attractive and dying a silent death. Some of them have been there for a long time and remained very special to many throughout their period of existence. One such print weekly was the “Young Times” by Khaleej Times. Once upon a time, it was the most popular weekly magazine of the kids in the region. It was taken out with the last edition coming in December 2008!
The popular magazine Young Times came to an end on 31st December 2008. As the saying goes there is destiny and fate and definite ending to all finite and infinite objects in this world, what a fitting departure date for this wonderful magazine for the young (and old).
I was lucky to read each and every issue that was published except the first two years of it’s entry into this media world. The habit of following the prints closely made me more attached to it and Young Times became an integral part of my family. Even the Bangladeshi newsboy Mamtaz who deliver it at home became our family friend. Many of you from the UAE including myself grew older with it, and the horizon of our bits and pieces of knowledge expanded with it. The team behind it did a great job for the children around. To compete with the visual world and stay alive is a big task and even during the final walks of their journey they remained totally committed for the cause of Young.
The final edition carried all those features that used to be there all these weeks and were more interesting than the previous ones.
I believe strongly that in the recent times very little has been done to improve and increase the art of reading from the print media.
Only one exception I can see is the efforts by The National newspaper to offer discounted rates to student subscribers. This is a commendable positive move to foster reading habits among children.
The art of reading and the art of reading out are very important to inculcate important values in life. More efforts should therefore be carried out by all those who love literacy and education to improve it. What should be done to attract young readers should be done without any slight hesitation. Time lost on this will be money that will be lost in future!.
Time to wake up.
Flowering Mango trees announces the arrival of a new season
Maha Shivarathri – the Universal Pati-Patni Day
Let me repost an old article and a presentation named ShivaSakthi created by me marking the relevance of this day.
These days, we blindly follow several different types of days, for eg: Valentines day, mothers day, fathers day, friendship day, no-smoking day and the list goes on and on. When we look at it Shivarathri is the truly traditional family day or Pati-Patni day, as I term it. Because, from the ancient times, devoted wife’s pray and observe fast on this day for the well being of their husband and children and vice-versa, husband’s observe religious rituals and prayers like chanting Rudram and chamakam to give grace and prosperity to the well being of own family and the society.
Open your eyes, look at the realities, and react to it.
Motorbike riders require safety reminders – Letters to the editor – The National Dt 7th March 2016
Connecting to the need of the hour – Gulf Today – Short Take Dt 20 February 2016
Connecting to the need of the hour
I love travelling as it gives me an opportunity to meet people and discover places. Mostly my trips are to meet family and friends in India. Another opportunistic advantage I create is to cut down on time spent in the electronic media. I take my car out and travel to known and unknown places every day. Since I will be travelling, I have the option to connect and disconnect at will. Hence, I do click and share the places and events I come across with my parents and well wishers through social media. At the same time, I can judiciously dissociate myself from any unreasonably urgent tagged request for actions.
When I returned after such a trip and connected to wifi to see my message, I was surprised to see an important message requesting for assistance to find a speaker for the Martyrs’ Day event. The organisers wanted a UAE national to speak about his experiences of knowing or reading about Mahatma Gandhi and his priniciples.
Knowing the urgency and importance, I didn’t have a second thought to refer Sultan Al Hajji, an established toastmaster, administrator working in a reputed oil company and moreover a good humanitarian who speaks his mind out in a humorous way reaching the audience.
Back in Abu Dhabi and listening to him at the function addressing the audience at the packed Embassy of India auditorium, I realised, he knew more than what we know about Gandhiji and his values. The applause he received at the end of the speech and also by the congratulatory remarks from fellow speakers confirmed it.
We indeed need a world of non-violence and patience, and if possible filled with mirth and common sense.
Ramesh Menon
ClicksandWrites 
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