Gujarat Model and India

Gujarat Model.

Apparently most of India still believes that Gujarat was the model the entire country had to follow. What is even more surprising is that sectors of people from southern states also believe that narrative.

Here is what the data says. Maharashtra is the country’s top ranking state by GDP (mumbai -> sensex) followed by Tamil Nadu.

Section 1 : Tamil Nadu and social progressivism 

In a departure from Maharashtra and Gujarat – Tamil Nadu’s wealth comes not from handing out country’s money to the crony capitalists. In fact, most of Tamil Nadu’s wealth comes Human Resources that was made available for the industries in textile, electronics, software, automotive and agriculture.

These industries are either started by independent businessmen who bootstrapped their own businesses or they are MNC’s that were attracted towards the state by the government and by the people; by the people I mean educated workforce. A good example for the homegrown industrialization is the USD 2 Billion dollar company – Sakthi groups. The educated force is a product of decades of educational reform – including but not limited to the reservation system. This workforce was liberated from their social structures and were mobilized towards the industries that were either homegrown or attracted from foreign lands. Either way – it brought in US dollars in to the Indian economy.

I really have to mention the impact the textile industries had on the semi and unskilled laborers. Conventionally, this mass was locked in a caste based economic dependency – almost comparable to feudalism. The textile industry was a respectable, dependable and an economically viable option for this majority so there was a migration. That is how in two folds, the educational liberation and industrialization of Tamil Nadu made sure the state fared far better than almost all of the country in the post colonization era India. My first objective of this post is to establish that a socially progressive state can be successful. You don’t have to trust me. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen wrote in detail about the success of this pro democratic progressive state – Tamil Nadu.

Section 2 : National failure on capitalistic top down model

Gujarat model is fabrication. Gujarat model is misrepresentation. Sadly, the election also decided the direction of our country. A regressive state that in many ways resemble a Donald Trump era USA where the majority chose a false prophet who is not only incapable and inadequate – a agent of chaos that is only good for the top 1% of the country’s tax evading – black money stashing shit pile. I mean it is no secret that Modi hands out government’s resources for free to Adani and Adani group. But what we have successfully ignored is that Adani’s elder brother is a known black money hoarder. I mean.. I am hoping you are with me. This government makes the working class suffer by removing denominations from circulation overnight, chest thumping the measure as a war against black money, whilst handing out government money to a known black money hoarder. Of course.. the denominations doesn’t affect Adanis because their black money is not in printed denominations in India but it is in Panama. The working class died while waiting for their own fucking money while one of the black money hoarders – Aishwarya Rai – applauds the government’s initiative.

Congratulations, Mr PM. You have gone ahead with a very strong move for your larger vision to wipe out corruption in our country. That’s the larger overview that we as citizens patiently understand and recognise. Change isn’t often comfortable, but everybody will find their way to embrace it if they focus on the larger picture.

I am actually sensing a rage brew inside me. Let me ask you guys something.. if a state that finished third sends its government to the centre, shouldn’t the southern states send their successful government to take over the centre? After all, together, the southern states have been contributing to half of India’s gdp – 1.3 trillion on a national aggregate of 2.65 trillion.

Indian states categorized by their GDP – 2018.

The chart shown above didn’t show Tamil Nadu on the legend but the data in the second paragraph shows it. We will get back to the bigger picture in the next paragraph. Reserve Bank of India responded to an RTI that showed how Modi’s India had banks give loans to the big ticket fraudulent borrowers. In fact, the fraudulent loans went up from ~1500 crores to ~23000 crores.

This is a failure in policy towards the economic direction that indian democracy was taking. The departure of the former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, was a testament to the leadership’s failure in understanding economy. Every bad decision that has been made in Indian economy has happened after Raghu’s departure. I mean.. It is okay if the upper class is failing the country, they have always been. How about the lower class? Well. It seems like the daily wagers are earning 3000 rupees lesser than what they were earning prior to the Modi government.

Section 3: Highlights from China

A friend of mine is traveling in China. I could see the immense wealth the country has generated from what she shares on social media. I mean there is so much advancement – Modi’s online braggade had to forge pictures from China and sell it as Gujarat Model.

Okay. None of this should compute because the whole cornerstone of my argument is that we should vote based on data. So here it is. I spent a couple hours compiling the data I could find from International Monetary Fund and United Nations to develop this interactive bar chart. https://goo.gl/5FDvW1

For those of who can not access the google docs link – here is the non interactive version.

There are a couple obvious inferences you can make right away that goes beyond the bell curve.

1) China’s GDP distribution on top half of its chart is way higher. For a wealthy country, the wealth distribution is super impressive for at least half of its provinces.

2) The top two provinces in China generates the same GDP as entire India.

There are other nuanced inferences to make here.

– Standing first, Maharashtra, is twice as much an economy compared to the second largest economy in India – Tamil Nadu. Whereas the second largest economy in China finishes a close second. In fact, if applied the trend from India, you would have to go to the fifth largest economy in China to find a province that has the same wealth gap that is comparable between Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. India’s wealth distribution problem is far reaching.

– The top three states and provinces from both of the countries have major ports in them. There is no doubt that industrialization and export contributes towards a stronger economy.

– If tibet is discounted for political reasons and Beijing and Shanghai is discounted because they shouldn’t necessarily classified as a province when comparing with India (Delhi and Goa are not even in the map), Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu places on roughly the 64th and 50th percentile on a combined GDP comparison between China and India. Most important distinction is that the chinese provinces between Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu’s GDP or either landlocked or trade locked between the other competitive asian markets in Taiwan and South Korea. Implications are that there is literally no Chinese province that hasn’t achieved what it could have achieved. Provided access to a port or non competitive neighbor, these provinces would have outperformed India’s top two states.

Ending Notes:
I do not know enough about Chinese approach towards their success. They are – without doubt – the world’s second largest superpower with second largest GDP. What I do know is that Tamil Nadu has achieved the crown of being the second best economy in the country with arguably zero assistance from the central governments so far. It was in 1964 when Nehru, an outgoing Prime Minister, accelerated his plans towards a Hindi centric India. The long standing pro-dravidian, anti casteist political movement fueled by the protests against the Hindi impositions assumed the power of the state.
“But by refusing Hindi – we are refusing access to the central government’s superior school system and access to central government jobs” – the sympathizers of a gentrified India said. The sad rhetoric is still ringing in their closeted minds as Tamil Nadu continuously placed itself second as the country’s wealthiest state. Kerala, the other southern state that has refused Hindi gentrification places country’s first in literacy rate. All of us speaking Hindi is not an objective that deserves our country’s energy. Our unity is in our diversity. We don’t have to be the same people. We just have to work with each other and respect each other.

I mean.. Allow me for a segue. A.R Rahman kicked off a concert titled “netru indru nalai” couple years ago. A tamil music composer announced a concert and the title is in Tamil. The fans were disappointed that there were too many Tamil songs in the concert. So you guys wanted your money back because a Tamil music composer sang Tamil songs in a concert titled in Tamil? What that really surprises me about this farce is that there were 12 Tamil songs and 16 Hindi songs. So what really happened is, in a Tamil concert announced by a Tamil music composer, ~ 40 percent Tamil music is appalling for the Hindi speaking Indian population? Our national anthem is in Bengali for Krish’s sake.

He who controls the narrative controls the history. He who controls the history controls the future. Unfortunately, our narrative has been hijacked by a Donald Trump-ish hate mascot that we call as our prime minister. A second BJP government headed by Narendra Modi will be the last time I care about India as a country. After that, it is just my language, my family and my friends. As always, I am open for a discussion but please bring facts to the table. That is how we will brace ourselves to wade through the unrelentingly misleading fake news and doctored images.

An Indian, with love.

The Sangam Accord

Your home transcends geographical boundaries, you belong to the humanity beyond kinship.

The good and evil; nobody can will that unto you, (but)to suffer or to rejoice; is to your will.

Death and Life; they just exist. To celebrate them is upto you. To renounce them, is also upto you.

The primeval waterfall (or rain) crashing down on earth, with ancient might, it charges on the rocks. The plains, however, calms down the raging water; Like my soul, that is cradled into peace by the absolute truth of existence.

The sages (or scholars) as they embrace this design realizes; “It is despicable to submit to the wealthy, to the authority. It is disgustful, to insult the poor, the submissive”.

– Kaniyan Poongunranar.

I tried to translate as best I could. I can’t bring the rhythm and metre over to English but the substance, it is how I remember the poem. This was written 2500 years ago.. as a part of a larger body of collection regarded as https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangam_literature. 

I hope I get better for my reasons to translate this right now is merely political. To let the world know of what was happening in some sage’s mind 2500 years ago.

P.S: I translated this poem as I sat over the banks of Hudson River in Troy, thinking about what is missing from what I sought 10 years ago.

The original poem is here.. http://www.tamilvu.org/slet/l1281/l1281per.jsp?sno=192&file=l1281a23.

Unperturbed..

Body, Mind and Soul

I began April with a promise to myself.

To push myself on three fronts that I hold as the definition of self.

1) Body 2) Mind and 3) Soul.

1) Body. I tracked and pushed my workout limitations. I learned the fundamental lifting (aka the big five) over the past 1.5 years. I did not have a great body to begin with but I have learned to become better, as I believed that I owed it to myself and to everyone who doesn’t have what I have. The data is attenuated with leg injuries that pushed my favorite workout down to the second bottom and my most challenging workout is doing okay because I kept working on it. I sought help. I sought help among friends, peers and fellow gym members and not once I was turned away.. I hit most of my 1 Rep Maxes in this month alone. 315 pounds in deadlifts, 225 pounds (5*5 max) in squats, 185 in bench, and 125 in Shoulder Press. It followed a nice curve that fits around my bodyweight. Whats interesting is that I only spent 17 hours with the weights (I spent at least 8+ hours following stretch routines) in an entire month. That’s less than a day!

2) Mind.  I started with reading. I have been slacking on my reading habits. Finished Catch 22, Steppenwolf and I fell a little short of my goal and didn’t finish The Selfish Gene yet. I grew up with books. I read through days and nights, finished Ponniyin Selvan –  the entirety of it, when I was 12. But now, its this smartphone lighting up with messages from snapchat, twitter, facebook and whatsapp. Guess what.. Its impossible to shun social media for something else.. I am pretty sure television was a great distraction for my mom but she always read. So I went back to the basics.. reading myself to sleep, reading when I am eating and reading when I am in the bathroom. It friggin’ worked. I will be moving on to 100 years of solitude in May and probably start “Kaval Kotam” alongside. Let’s see.. This takes time! 17 hours is probably half a book 🙂

3) Soul. It starts with friendships and relationships. I have cut out toxicity in my relationships. I forgave, apologized and I have completely cut out toxic fellow humans. I tried my best to stay true to the moment and enjoyed the moment’s virtue rather than clouding it with the past and the future. Not a single philosophy shines an eternally bright light upon you but every single philosophy list up few dark corners. 🙂

There were friendships that would consume the 17 hour mark, without any remorse or reciprocation to any of these three virtues that I hold dear. Its really logical.. A friendship that would consume 17 hours. That is 638 tonnes I could have lifted or half of “The Selfish Gene” that I am finishing up and 17 hours of extra pollution my principles had to face. So there is an interaction between Body, Mind and Soul and I took this 17 hour as my tracer throughout these 3 definitions of self.

At the same time, I invested more of time in nurturing my other relationships and friendships. Not because of any selfish reasons but because of who they were to the world. Somehow, any 17 hours that I spent doing this directly resulted on the overall happiness of everyone involved. That does say a lot about how this venture of mine is going to be.

Also.. I made this April’s promise because March was my absolute worst in all the three fronts. Compounding to that was a particular incident of interest. I was trying to get in to the state roads when an F-350 made a reckless swerve into the road that I was on, barely missing me as I pumped brakes realizing what this “fuck traffic rules” trucker is doing. I have previously contemplated that this turn is statistically the most dangerous turn I have to take during my commute but I was surprised by how much of a reaction that I had for a possible vehicular manslaughter. In fact, I kept driving thinking about how close the emergency care is and how easily they would have access to my information and if it is a bad thing. Then it struck to me that I didn’t cared if I lived or died, at the moment of a great danger. I then realized how much life that I would have been cheated upon.. not just mine, but everyone that I am a part of, that I could be a part of. The most prevalent of behavioral theories suggest that if anything is a routine for more than 66 days, it will most likely become a behavioral pattern. I hope to keep this April’s promise for 90 days. Will keep you posted 🙂

If you are going through a tough time and you are reading this, know that you have a friend in me. I will be happy to listen and help if you need it.

Epilogue:
//Soul is such an interesting thing because you could say it doesn’t exist. Is it just a summation of eons of mutation, modeled and signed by birth (religion, race), education and inspirations? Or is it much more metaphysical than that? I do not have answers for that.. What I do know is that between nature and nurture, there are very a many unexplored fronts.. the one that would be invisible to one scientist, say Richard Dawkins but is the life time conquest of a contemporary scientist, Matthieu Ricard. One of those unexplored regions is how your soul becomes psyche in Jung’s world and it makes equal sense as it does when Matthieu Ricard speaks (it does the opposite when your local yoga instructor talks about vibrations in the air). I am going to work with the theory that humanity holds virtues for the future. So far, its been a mixed bag, but by like any sorting algorithm, if you keep working on staying true to your frequently self-examined own self while culling the toxicity in your relationships and toxic relationships, you will end up in a life where you will have beautiful relationships and beautiful friends and a soul that feels contentment to leave your body. What is more beautiful is that there are few other souls that shares the contentment because you were a part of their journey.// 

The aftermath of a loss and reinventing dravidianism.

There are several ways a person copes with a loss. This is how I am dealing with the loss of a dearest leader, Our beloved (late) Chief Minister, Selvi J. Jayalalita.

There are several reasons a Tamil would be very proud of being Tamil. The popular notion would be Rajinikanth and CSK. Well, I am among the very few that doesn’t endorse either. It is the language, heritage, literature, music and most importantly, the society in itself, that I am proud of.

This article summarizes the socio-political reforms that led to the status quo, as put down by a Nobel winning economist. http://thewire.in/84785/amartya-sen-jean-dreze-tamil-nadus-social-progress-development/.

Take a moment to learn why a state mourns a leader..

It was a personal tragedy for me. There was a lump in my heart as I roamed around thinking about what comes next. That is how I process emotions, through rationalization.

The article constructs a series of events, dated back to Kamarajar era. What I want us to learn is that we are what we are because of this collective consciousness of individualism. It is the ‘Tamil Psyche’ that got us here. It is only by nurturing and nursing the Tamil Psyche, can we recover from her loss. Got us where, you might ask. Please do read the article. There is only one state that performs better than Tamil Nadu and that is our brotherly state, Kerala. I have a statement for those who can not read the article; one you could choose to verify. For every single rupee TN pays in taxes, GOI returns 29 paise. Whereas, for every rupee UP pays in taxes, GOI returns one rupee and 79 paise. I want you to know that this is what I have in my mind when you are over there making ‘lungi’ jokes, reading Chetan Bhagat’s racist quips about the dark skinned Madrasis or laughing at Shah Rukh Khan’s version of a south star. I digressed into personal grudges.

The point is, for you fellow tamils, the national parties will look at this as an opportunity to poach the state’s political bank.

 

DMK’s leadership is not in a very good state either and if anything, the next generation leadership might shred the party into pieces. A ruling national party can not have a better opportunity to reclaim territory in one of the states where they could claim a whopping 40 seats of parliamentary presence.

The increased rhetoric of caste based divisions led to factional parties like PMK, KMK who are vulnerable enough to be poached by the National parties. The last thing we need among us is the local casteist thug brandishing a true patriots’ visage, carefully constructed by Modi’s BJP and Congress. A gounder thug in Coimbatore could commit all these heinous crimes against a fellow human from a different caste and get away being this BJP dude or he could shake down on a non gounder business man that plays a larger role in the local economy. It is important that you protect our political identity. The one that is not constructed atop of caste identity, but by the culture.

I ask of you, all of you. Amma is dead.. but please keep dravidianism alive. A new age dravidianism. Fuck the casteist establishments, fuck the national parties and fuck Actor Vijay (assuming he tries anything political). Let’s protect and if need be, rebuild our political identity. The kind that prevents morons from singing MGR songs in a fuckin parliament.

Often times, it is the people that create the political climate and more so often, it is the said climate that sees the raise of a political phenomena. Aringar Anna, Kalaingar Karunanidhi, Puratchi Thalaivar MGR, Puratchi Thalaiva Amma and now. It is the wildly popular movement ‘suyamariyadhai iyakkam’ or ‘self-respect movement’ that resulted in a dravidian party toppling a national party and we have been moving up ever since. The speaks for itself, please verify! Be wise my brethren. Be Tamil.

I almost forgot. A friend of mine said this regarding “Naam Tamizhar” party. “Tamils are far better people to buy into this fervent extreme right Tamil nationalism”. I have my grudges with brahmin community.  //A couple days ago, a colleague of mine – a fuckin engineer, remarks, “When you think intellectually, you become brahmin. When you provide service to someone, you become Sutra”. Well fuck you and fuck your veda how about that?//. Regardless, I recognize the societal values that was imbued by the brahmin community. A party like “Naam Tamizhar” will definitely step on their well being and this is no time for reverse racism. Harmony! Like how it was the status quo. I implore you.. be wise and please remember, Democracy is not the voting day. Democracy is active participation, discussion, clash of ideas and ideals, and taking it to the streets when needed; which shapes the voting day and the day after. Seems like something every democracy has forgotten about!

On a personal note, Thank You Ms. Jayalalita, for being who you were. I recognize all the things that you did for us. I love you for changing your stance regarding Sri Lanka. I wish there is another leader that can measure up to half of who you were. Rest in peace.

Absurdity and Democracy: The American Election

I am a mere spectator of the American election. I am an alien and I can not make statements about american democracy as much as I can criticize Indian democracy.

However, as a human being, I have the moral obligation to speak up after coming across “The Donald’s” remark on women. I am not going to provide any links in my post, I happen to respect myself way too much. The post wouldn’t make much sense if you are not familiar with what Donald Trump’s remarks about women were. Let me just swerve for a while.

Trump’s biggest hits are his trade policies including Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Well that and bigotry. I have put some of my thoughts together, mostly compounding to the presidential debate.

– Not paying taxes or walking over the smaller guy is smart, Donald observes. Be that as it may, the oval office is the most powerful authority in the world.. Would it still be a smart thing to walk over a smaller country? There is legal and then there is moral. Is it moral to be this? https://goo.gl/3iU5OM

– “Lessen the tax and the rich companies will return manufacturing to america”. Apple was blamed for manufacturing outside America as he continues to boast how Trump is building everywhere in the world. I assume those buildings are considered an American Export. As in, all the raw materials are mined here, processed here, assembled here and exported to other countries. It might be even possible. But then again.. He never paid taxes so !

– Talks about cultural and racial inclusiveness. I will just leave this here. https://goo.gl/xdhE4m

I will come back to trump in a bit but for now, lets talk about Democracy. This is an hour of the debate, as there is a raise in far right wing jingoism everywhere in the world.
– Turkey.
– India.
– Entire middle east.

– USA.
– France.
– Belgium.
Isn’t it funny how a right wing extremist organization, ISIS, can incite right wing popularity in Belgium? In a country that has been left leaning for 20 years?Democracy: It took us years of ‘socio-cultural’ evolution to get here. Plato observed that any constitution of a state follows the order of Aristocracy, Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy and Tyranny. The humanity followed the same exact order and we are here.

Yet, after being scrutinized by Platos and Machiavellis and Fukuyamas, Democracy still has its flaws. Democracy can easily become the tyranny of the majority.  A large group of voters elect a government; the government re-positions itself to reflect their voters psyche, thus the sentiments and the beliefs of the majority becomes the government’s policy. The system drives itself to a point where the majority imposes tyranny over the minority.

Democracy is not a perfect system. We do not have to try and understand democracy. But can we encompass some moral responsibility over the fellow human? Regardless of their gender, race, culture, social class and borders?

I hated the Amy Shumer brand of feminism. In her defense, she is a reaction to a certain type of men. We happen to see these guys every now and then. Earlier this evening, I sat through my entire haircut as this very old war vet went on and on about how they treated women back in their day and how the millennials are not man enough to treat their counterparts in a more “manlier” way. I was uncomfortable (I wanted to destroy everything that makes him think he is a ‘man’), but being a brown international has its societal limits (or is there?). Anyhow.. My hairdresser, who is going to babysit her niece later this evening, was just stern. She was unshakably stern and she continued to do her job in a room full of men as this old guy keeps on insulting women. I drove home with a very distracted mind and then I read the news!

So Amy Schumer.. I don’t understand how rubbing deodorant in your inner thighs is ‘Instagram-able’ and a cause of feminist celebration of sorts, but at this point, I am just gonna shut the fuck up! You guys need a break. The next paragraph is for men!

The whole story about how distracted I was after having to endure the manlier ways of this old man is to get here. Think about this.. Every single time Donald Trump goes on a stage as the president of the united states, every single time he addresses the american public, most of our women are going to hear the man who made this statement. Some of them are going to be disgusted for having to hear him. Few of them, the ones that were groped and insulted and berated are going to be reminded of their ordeal. Every single time the POTUS addresses the public. Let alone the women who will have to work with our POTUS.

You know what makes me furious? The world as we know it, would have gone to shit if it wasn’t for one leader. Angela Merkel. She is the axle of the middel-east and west relationship right this moment. The only world leader who is expressively concerned about the welfare of the war refugees, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She is going to have to shake Donald Trump’s hands, fully aware of what his remarks were about this other woman he was about to greet. Think about it!

P.S: I will not disrespect someone because they believe in something different. I will engage in a dialogue, nevertheless, but I would never disrespect someone because they have a different opinion. If you happen to disagree with anything I have said here, let me know 🙂

“நாங்கள் ஆட்சிக்கு வந்தால்”

“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.”
― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

ஆங்கிலத்துல எழுத ஆரமிக்க தயக்கமா இருந்தது. பரவால.. சில விஷயங்கள்  மொழிமாற்றத்துல தொலஞ்சுரும்னு விட்டுட்டேன்.

மாக்கியவல்லிக்கு கட்டுரை முடியறப்ப வரலாம். First things first.

உங்களுக்குள்ள சில கேள்வி கேளுங்க.
* ஒரு அரசியல்வாதியா இந்த நாட்ட, நாட்டு மக்கள, ஒரு தேர்தல எப்படி பார்ப்பீங்க?
* உங்களோட சக அரசியல்வாதிகள் கிட்ட என்ன பேசுவீங்க?

பச்சையா சொல்லனும்னா புழுவா கூட மதிக்கமாட்டீங்க இந்த மக்கள.. இல்லயா? ஏன் எதுக்கு எல்லாம் அப்பறம் பேசலாம். இதான் நிதர்சனம்.

அரசியல்வாதிகள் மக்களை மதிப்பதில்லை.

என்ன பொறுத்தவர இதுதான் மொத பிரச்சன. நாம அரசியல்வாதிகள மதிக்கறதில்ல. அவங்க நம்மள மதிக்கறதில்ல. “அரசியலின் மீதும் அரசியல் பழகுபவர் மீதும் மரியாதை கொள்வதே ஒரு சமுதாயத்தின் முதற்கடமையாக இருக்க வேண்டும். மக்களின் மரியாதையை பெற்ற அரசியல்வாதி அதை இழக்காமல் இருக்க துடிக்க வேண்டும்”.

மரியாதை:
கல்வி, ஞானம், நேர்மை, பேரன்பு, பற்று, வீரம். இந்த மாதிரியான ஒரு புறநானூற்று பாடுபொருளுக்கு இணையான பண்புகளை கொண்ட ஒருவர் ஈர்க்கும் தன்மையே மரியாதை என்பது. சகாயத்தின் நேர்மை பால் மக்கள் கொண்ட மரியாதை. நடிகர் சித்தார்த், பாலாஜி போன்றோர் சமூகத்தின் மீது கொண்ட பேரன்பின் மேல் மக்கள் கொண்ட மரியாதை. நாட்டை காக்க எல்லையில் உயிரிழக்கும் ஒவ்வொரு இராணுவ வீரனின் வீரத்தின் பால் மக்கள் தன்னெழுச்சியாய் மனம் நெகிழும் மரியாதை.
இது போன்ற மரியாதை – அந்த எதிர்பார்ப்பால் உந்தப்படும் தனிமனிதர்களின் எழுச்சியே நான் எதிர்பார்க்கும் அரசியல்.

வேற மாதிரி சொல்றேன் கேளுங்க.. எப்படி இராணுவத்துல சேரனும்னு ஒரு பதின்பருவ வயது “ஆண் / பெண்”ணுக்கு ஆசை வருது? சமூகம் இராணுவத்தை ஒரு மரியாதையுடன் நடத்துவதால் தான?

அரசியல்வாதிகள் மக்கள ஏன் மதிக்க கூடாதுன்னு காரணம் நான் சொல்றேன்.

இதே May மாசம். 2009. இந்த தமிழ் சமுதாயத்தோட மிகப்பெரிய தோல்வி இலங்கைல இத்தன தமிழர்கள இறக்க விட்டது. ஆட்சி, ஊடகம், அதிகாரம் இது எல்லாத்தையும் பயன்படுத்தி தமிழக மக்களுக்கு உண்மை நிலவரத்த மறைக்கறதுல இருந்து, உண்மைய சொல்றவங்க வாய அடைச்சு, சிறையிலிட்டு, Congress ஆட்சியோட படுகேவலமான கொள்கைக்கு லச்சம் உயிர்கள  கூட்டிகொடுத்தவனுக்கு ஓட்டு போட தயாராகுற ஒரு சமுதாயத்த எந்த அரசியல்வாதி மதிக்க முடியும்?

இந்த “string of pearls”, இந்திய பெருங்கடல்ல China-ஓட ஆதிக்கத்த அடக்குற tactical policy அது இதுனு எந்த எளவு வெங்காயமும் கெடயாது.

என்ன காரணம்னு என்னோட இன்னொரு பதிவுல விரிவா எழுதிருக்கேன்.  என்னால முடிஞ்ச அளவு சுருங்க விளக்க முயற்சி பண்றேன். இலங்கைல எந்த அளவு கனிம வளம் இருக்கோ அதே அளவு கடல் வணிக வளமும்(?) இருக்குது. ஒண்ணுமே இல்லாத சிங்கப்பூர் எப்படி இவ்ளோ சம்பாதிச்சது. இங்க பாருங்க.

சீனா < – > அமெரிக்கா, சீனா < – > ஈரோப்பா, மத்திய கிழக்கு < – > சீனா. இதுதான் இன்னிக்கு நிலவரத்துல உலகப்பொருளாதாரத்தோட முதுகெலும்பா இருக்க முக்கியமான கடல்வழி வர்த்தகப்பாதை. இது இல்லாம இப்போ சீனா “One Belt – One Road”னு ஒரு வர்த்தகப்பாதைக்கு வழி போட்டுக்கிட்டுருக்கு (as seen below).

{ credits: https://www.clsa.com/special/onebeltoneroad/ }

இலங்கை இது எல்லாத்துலயும் முக்கியமான மையம். இலங்கை அரச கையில போட்டுக்கிட்டா நம்மூரு நிறுவங்களுக்கு கொள்ளை லாபம். என்னோட பழைய பதிவுல சொன்ன மாதிரி இந்த நிறுவனங்கள் மூணு விதமா சம்பாதிக்கலாம்.

* இலங்கையோட கனிம வள நிர்வாகத்த எடுத்துக்கறது.

* இந்திய நிறுவனங்கள் சும்மாகாச்சும் இருக்க இலங்கை நிறுவனங்கள் (paper boats) கூட சேர்ந்து Conglomerate உருவாக்கறது. ஆதாயம் என்னன்னா இங்க சுரண்டரத அங்க இருக்க கிளைக்கு அனுப்புறது. அங்கருந்து நான் முன்னாடி சொன்ன routesல shipping. அப்புறம் அங்க இறக்குமதி பண்ற சரக்க அவன் இந்திய கிளைக்கு அனுப்புறேன்னு அனுப்புறது. ஒரு சின்ன trade agreement போடறது. இந்திய – இலங்கை புரிதல் ஒப்பந்தந்தின்படி நமக்குள் நடக்கும் ஏற்றுமதி – இறக்குமதிக்கு வரி அவசியமில்லை. முடிஞ்சு போச்சு. இந்திய அரசாங்கத்துக்கு வரியே கட்டாம இந்த பெரு நிறுவனங்கள் வளச்சு சம்பாதிக்கும். அப்புறம் இருக்கவே இருக்கு tax havens.

* மூணாவது கொஞ்சம் நேரடியான விஷயம். இந்திய பொருள்களுக்கு இலங்கைல இருக்க market-அ புடிக்க வேண்டியது.

என்னோட பழைய பதிவுல பாலாஜி (@prbonline) comment பண்ணிருந்தாரு. சேது சமுத்திர திட்டம் வந்திருந்தா இலங்கைய சார்ந்திருக்க வேண்டிய அவசியம் இல்லன்னு. ஒரு சின்ன Suez Canal அது. சீனா எண்ணெய் வளத்துக்காக தென் சீன கடல்ல அராஜகம் பண்ணிகிட்டு கெடக்கு. கடலுக்குள்ள மன்ன கொட்டி ஒரு செயற்கை தீவ உருவாக்கி வெச்சுருக்கு. உங்களோட நிலப்பரப்புல இருந்து 13.8 மைலுக்குள்ள இருக்க கடல் உங்களுது (ஏன் நம்ம கச்சத்தீவ மீட்கணும்?)ன்னு UN சொல்லுது. சீனா (being china) ஒரு நிலப்பரப்ப உண்டு பண்ணி கூடாரதுக்குள்ள தலைய நுழைக்குது. நாம என்னடானா ஒரு canal கட்ட முடியாம கெடக்கோம்.

இதுக்கும் நம்ம பதிவுக்கும் என்ன சம்மந்தம்னு கேளுங்க.

1) Congress ஆட்சியின் இலங்கை (மட்டுமா?) வெளியுறவுக்கொள்கை முற்றிலும் பெரு-நிறுவனங்கள் நிர்ணயித்தது. அந்த பெரு நிறுவனங்கள் எதுவும் அரசாங்கத்துக்கு வரி கட்டப்போவதில்லை. In other words, We have been fucked. நமது எனத்தலைவர் கட்டுமரம் அவர்கள் இந்த பெரு-நிறுவனங்கள் காசு பாக்க நமது உறவுகளின் உயிரை விலைபேசி முடித்தார்.

இன்னொரு வேல பாத்தான் பாருங்க.. அம்மா! நம்ம பாலாஜி சொன்ன அந்த சேது சமுத்திர திட்டம் (அரைகுறை திட்டம்) இருக்கே. அதுக்கு ஒரு வழியா ஒரு அமவுண்டு ஒதுக்குனாய்ங்க. 4000 கோடி. அதுல எக்கச்சக்கமா ஏப்பம் விட்டது யார் தெரியுமா? நம்ம TR Baalu, அப்பறம் அவரு புள்ளையாண்டான் (மன்னார்குடி வேட்பாளர், TRB Raaju??). இதுல கட்டுமரத்துக்கு காணிக்கை என்ன ஏதுன்னு நமக்கெங்க தெரியப்போது?

2) ஒரு சர்வதேச கடல் வழி வர்த்தக மையத்தை தமிழகத்தின் பக்கம் திருப்பும் ஒரு முக்கியமான திட்டத்திலும் ஊழல்.

தூத்துக்குடிய சர்வதேச கடல் வழி வர்த்தக மையமா மாத்திருந்தா நம்ம காங்கிரஸ் அரசு இலங்கைல இத்தன தமிழர்கள் கொல்லபடுறதுக்கு துணை போயிருக்காது.

இப்படிப்பட்ட ஒரு ஆள இவ்வளவு நாள் ஆட்சில வச்சிருந்தது மட்டுமில்லாம திரும்ப அந்தாளுக்கே ஒட்டு போட தயராகுற ஒரு சமுதயத்த எப்படி ஒரு அரசியல்வாதி மதிக்க முடியும் சொல்லுங்க?

மக்கள் அரசியல்:

இவ்வளவு கோர்வையான சம்பவங்கள மக்களுக்குள்ள எடுத்துகிட்டு போறது கஷ்டம். மக்கள் மதிக்கும், மக்களை மதிக்கும் அரசியலை கேளுங்கள். அவ்வளவுதான். மாக்கியவல்லி சொல்றபடி ஒரு ஆட்சியாளரின் மதிப்பு (மரியாதை இல்ல. value) அவரை சுற்றியிருப்பவர்களின் மதிப்பு. அதாவது சொந்தக்காரன், தோழி, மந்திரிகள் எல்லாம். சொந்தக்காரன் பக்கத்துல இருக்கக்கூடாதா.. ஓட்டு போடாதீங்க. தோழி கீழி எல்லாத்துக்கும் இதே கதிதான். அமைச்சர்கள் விஷயத்துக்கு கடைசியா வரலாம். எந்த கட்சியுமே சரியில்ல. அதுவுமில்லாம கட்சி, கொள்கை எல்லாம்.. வேணாம்.. அத பத்தி பேசக்கூட வேணாம்.

இந்த தேர்தல்ல மக்களுக்கு ஒரு வாய்ப்பு உண்டாயிருக்கு. அவனுக்கு இவன் பரவாலங்குற மனநிலை உருவாக்கின தேக்கத்துக்குல இப்ப அரசியல் வறட்சி ஏற்பட்ருக்கு. திமுகவுக்கும் அதிமுகவுக்கும் மாற்றா ஒரு தலைமை பண்புள்ள கட்சியமைப்பு இல்ல. நாம் தமிழர் மாதிரி ஒரு fundamental extremism எல்லாம் தமிழ்நாட்டோட RSS மாதிரி. அப்பறம் உங்க இஷ்டம்.

அமெரிக்க அரசியலில் இது ஒரு முக்கிய கட்டம். GOP (Grand Ole’ Party) என்ற moniker பெற்ற republican கட்சியின் வேட்பாளர் Donald Trump என்ற ஒரு முக்கியப்புள்ளி. நமது விஜயகாந்த் வகையறா (என்றால் அது மிகையாது). Democrat கட்சியின் வேட்பாளராக (வேட்பாளர் ஆவதற்கே(!)) போட்டியிடும் Hillary Clinton மற்றும் Bernie Sanders. Hillary Clinton நமது அம்மா வகையறா. Bernie Sanders.. 50 பேர் கூடிய ஒரு நிகழ்வில் தனது அரசியல் கொள்கையை (socialistic democracy) முன்வைத்து Democratic Partyயின் வேட்பாளராக களம் இறங்கிய Bernie இன்று அமெரிக்காவின் அரசியல் கட்டமைப்பையே சீரமைத்து வருகிறார். ஜெயிக்கிறாரோ இல்லையோ. அவரது கருத்துக்கள் (அத்தனையும் முத்து) இன்று அமெரிக்க மக்களிடமும் அரசியல் தலைவர்களிடமும் எதிரொலிக்கிறது. Phenomenal. இந்த முன்னுரை அவரை பற்றிய ஒரு சின்ன கருத்தை முன்னிட்டு.

“You know, oftentimes in politics we talk about a candidate rising to meet the moment,” says Neil Sroka with the progressive grass-roots group Democracy for America, which has endorsed Sanders. “But in this case I think what we’ve seen in this election is the moment meeting a candidate: Bernie Sanders, who has literally been fighting on income inequality issues from the very start of his career.”

“சில வேட்பாளர்கள் ஆச்சரியமாக அந்த கணத்தின் அரசியல் கேள்விகளுக்கு பதிலாய் எழுச்சி பெறுவதுண்டு (அறிஞர் அண்ணா, எம்.ஜி.ஆர்.). Bernie Sanders(இன் கொள்கைகள்) பொருட்டு ஒரு புதிய அரசியலே எழுச்சி பெற்று நிற்கிறது”.

நமக்கு ரெண்டுமே இல்ல. இந்த கணத்துக்கான அரசியல்வாதியும் இல்ல.. நம்மளோட அரசியல திருத்தி எழுதுற ஒரு தீர்க்கமான அரசியல்வாதியும் இல்ல..

இது எதுவுமே இல்லாத நம்மகிட்ட ரெண்டு கருவிகள் இருக்கு.
1) தகவல்.
2) ஓட்டு.

உங்களோட தொகுதில இருக்க ஒவ்வொரு வேட்பாளரையும் புடிங்க. http://myneta.info/tamilnadu2016/ ல கொஞ்சம் வரலாறு இருக்கு.

யாரையுமே புடிக்கலன்னா 49 ஓ தான். இந்த அதிருப்தி பதிவு செய்யப்பட்டா தான் நம்ம மதிக்கிற, நம்மள மதிக்கிற ஒரு தனிமனுஷன் அரசியலுக்கு வர வாய்ப்பிருக்கு.. மத்தபடி இந்த தேர்தல் நமக்கு நம்மளோட அதிருப்திய பதிவு செய்ய ஒரு வாய்ப்பு.. அவ்வளவுதான்.

நான் ஆரமிச்சு வக்கிறேன்.. வேற யாருமில்ல.. நம்ம ராசு.. http://myneta.info/tamilnadu2016/candidate.php?candidate_id=1464

ஒரு பார்வையாளனாக, கையாலாகதவானாக ஒரு இனப்படுகொலையயும் இந்த தேர்தலையும் பார்க்கும் அமெரிக்காவில் தஞ்சம் புகுந்த எனக்கு எந்த தகுதியும் இல்லை. இருந்தும் சொல்கிறேன். திமுக ஆளும் ஒரு மாநிலத்தை எனது மண்ணாக என்னால் சகிக்க முடியாது..

 

காயும் காலம்

தேகம் தவிழும் இளவேனில் காற்று
நீ நுரையீரலில் காதல் நிரைக்க.. நில்.

இதுவரை கேட்ட இசையின்
மொத்த காதலும் ஊறிய ஒற்றைக்கணமே.. நில்.

வெண்பனியில் இல்லாத சுகம் மென்தூறலில் பெற்ற இக்குளிர்.. நில்.

குட்டியாய் விட்ட மொட்டு மடல் விரிக்க
காத்திருக்கும் மலரே.. நீயும் நில்.

இளவேனிற்கால முன்மழை தூற இதமான குளிரில் மலராகும் இப்பொழுதே.. நில்.

எனக்கென வரையப்பட்ட கட்டத்துள்
வெறிபிடித்த என் உதிரம் நிரைத்து
மீந்த உயிர் வடியும் முன் வருகிறேன், நில்.

திரையிசைத்தமிழ்.எனது வாழ்வும் அனத்தலும்

ஏனோ வானிலை மாறுதே னு ரஹ்மான் இழைச்சுருக்காரு. இசை! நான் ஒரு ஞானசூன்ய இசை ரசிகன். மண்டைக்குள்ள ஆடிட்டு இருப்பேன். That’s my process of getting addicted to a song. ஹோசானாக்கு நான் choreograph பண்ண ஒரு routine இருக்கு.

அந்த பாட்ட எந்த அளவு அனுபவிச்சேனோ தெரில.. choreo செம்ம அழகா வந்தது. ஒரு teenage வாண்டு “That was sexily amazing”னு comment போட்டு தோழியும், அப்போதைய காதலியும் செம்மையா கலாய்ச்சாங்க. ஒரு வர்ஷத்துக்கு மேல ஆச்சு. போன வாரம் தோழி “Its been so long. Felt so good to watch this. Goosebumps all over”னு whatsappல சொன்னா.. she was referring to the video. காதலியுடன் ஹோசானா பாட்டிற்கு நடனமாடிய கொடுத்துவைத்த அழகியல் சார் காதல் எனக்கு வாய்த்திருந்தாலும் பிரிவாற்றாமையில் துவழும் ஒரு சராசரி ஆணாக நான் இருந்து தொலைப்பதால் அவள் சார்ந்த எந்த பதிவுகளும் என்னிடம் இல்லை. அதனாலதான் ஒரு instagrammed shortclipஅ வெச்சு “இவன் நல்லா தான் choreo பண்ணிருப்பான்” அப்படிங்குற ஒரு hypotheticalஅ நீங்க நம்பவேண்டிருக்கு. நீங்க அத நம்பினாதான் “ரீதிகெளளைல கௌரிய நொளச்சு மத்யமால fail ஆகி பரிக்சயால pass ஆகி”னு எல்லாம் எழுதத்தெரியாதவனும் ஒரு பாட்டயே காதலிக்குற அளவுக்கு ரசிகத்தன்மை நிறைந்தவனா இருப்பான் அப்படிங்குற logical extensionக்கு வரமுடியும்.

வந்தாச்சா?
வந்துட்டீங்கன்னு நம்பி கவிஞர் தாமரையோட இந்த facebook (முகப்புதகம்? seriousஆ[1] வா? ) பதிவுல  என்னோட கருத்திடுகைய நான் இங்கயும் போட்டு வைக்கறேன். This needs to be recorded.

* Comment Begins*

முதுகின் மேலே
விழுவதினாலே…
வரிவரிக் கவிதை.

இந்த மூணு வரிக்குள்ள இருக்க disconnect, distortion எல்லாம் வியப்பா இருக்கு.. Oh My God! அப்படிங்கறமாதிரி.. நான் இந்த பகுதிய சரியா புரிஞ்சுருந்தேன்னா ஒரு சின்ன destruction பண்ணி, இன்னொரு (சுமாரான) ஹைக்கூ(மாதிரி) வரவைக்கலாம்..
/
பிரிவாற்றாமை:
“நொடிகள் கசையடி
முதுகினில் விரிந்தது.
வரிக்கவிதை”..
/

இதுக்கு மேல எந்த அளவு இந்த கவிதை – பாடல ரசிச்சுருக்கேன்னு எனக்கு சொல்ல வராது.. அப்படி ஒரு ரசிகனா என்ன நெருடின ஒரு விஷயத்த சொல்றேன்.. I hope you are paying attention.

செம்ம காண்டா இருக்குங்க.. “மாஆஆஅட்டும் தான்.. பார்க்கிறேன்”னு சிஃத் ஸ்ரீராம் பாடுறப்போ. சந்தம் எக்கச்செக்க எடத்துல செயல்பட மறுக்குது.. முதல் தடவ கேட்கறப்போ ரொம்ப நெருடலா இருந்தது.. Complete discomfort.

The wanting of not compromising the poetic value is not lost on me. But where does this end?

“இது ஏதோ அரவேக்காடு திமிர்ல பேசுது”னு நெனச்சுராதீங்க.. இந்த Phenomenaவ “ஐ” பாட்டு வந்தப்பவே கவனிச்சாங்க சிலர். இப்ப எல்லா consumersஉம் அத தான் பேசுறாங்க.. சந்தம் சரியாவே இல்லன்னு.

சரி அதையும் விடுங்க.. any good artists will lead the way in shifting the consumer’s (listener’s) taste. ஆனா சந்தம் இல்லாம பாடினார்னு கம்பரயே கலாய்ச்ச ஊர் இது..

“நாராயணனை நராயண னென்றே கம்பன்
ஓராமற் சொன்ன வுறுதியால் – நேராக
வாரென்றால் வர்ரென்பேன் வாளென்றால் வள்ளென்பேன்
நாரென்றால் நர்ரென்பேன் நான்”
– காளமேகப்புலவர்.

/
For the uninitiated:
ஒன்னுல்ல. கம்பர் நாராயணன நராயணன்னு பாடிட்டாறு. ஏன்னா அந்த பா வகையோட விதிப்படி ( சீர், அடி, தளை et.al)னு இருக்கு.. கம்பர் ஒரு சின்ன freedom எடுத்துக்கிட்டாரு இந்த விதிக்குள்ள எழுதுனுமேன்னு.
/

உங்களுக்கு என் point தெளிவா புரிஞ்சுருக்கணும் இருந்தாலும் சொல்றேன்.. for the sake of being clear.

கம்பரயும் செல்லமா ஒரு தட்டு தட்டிருக்கார் அவரோட சமகாலப்புலவர் – நண்பர். எனக்கு தெரிஞ்சு (பெருமதிப்பிற்குரிய) பட்டுக்கோட்டைக்கும் கண்ணதாசனுக்கும் இதுமாதிரியான “peer review” இருந்தது. கடைசியா அய்யா வாலி அவர்களும் இது மாதிரியான verbal transactionsல இருந்தாரு. Healthyஆன விஷயம் இல்ல?

“தொட்டால் பூ மலரும்” பாட்ட இசைப்புயல் மீள்-இசையமைக்க, வாலி ஒரு எடத்துல (பழரச தோட்டம், பனிமலர் கூட்டம்) சந்தம் தட்டும்னு சண்ட போட்டிருக்கார். “ஆணவமா ரஹ்மான்?” ங்கற வரைக்கும் போயிருக்கு. அது அப்பறமா ‘பனிமலர் கூ.. கூ.. ட்டம்.. ட்டம்’னு சீரமைக்கப்பட்டத பாத்துட்டு மன்னிப்பும் கேட்டாரு. வாலிக்கு இந்த நவீன இசையோட வடிவம் தட்டுப்பட்டதுக்கு அப்புறமாதான் (innocent mistake) மன்னிப்பு கேட்ருக்காரு (பெரிய மனுஷன்).

நீங்களும், பிற கவிஞர்களும் (மதன் கார்க்கி – Please) ரஹ்மான் இத மாதிரி கொடுங்கன்னு கேட்டாலுமே எங்களுக்காக, தமிழுக்காக, இந்த எதிர்வினைய பதிவு செய்ங்க..

மாஆஆட்டும் தான் பார்க்கிறேன் வேற..
கூ.. கூ.. ட்டம்.. ட்டம் வேற..

மற்றபடி எனக்கு உங்க மேல படு பயங்கர மரியாத.. 2009 – 2010’கள்ல உங்களோட இலங்கைத்தமிழர் நலன் சார்ந்த கோபங்கள் எங்களை அடைந்ததில் இருந்து.

I apologize if I overstepped my boundaries.

* Comment Ends *.

We are back here. My Blog.

எனக்குன்னு ஒரு உலகம் இருக்கு, உங்களக்குன்னு ஒன்னு இருக்க மாதிரியே. எனக்கு தமிழ்னா கொள்ளைப்பிரியம். என்னதான் பீட்டரா வாழ்ந்தாலும் (toefl 116/120) எனக்குன்னு ஒரு cadence, என்னோட தமிழ்ல இருக்கு. I am very proud of that and I make it very visible.
Like my BMW Z4’s nameplate.

இதுல (my world) வார்த்தைகள்ல உணர்த்த முடியாத உறவுகள் உண்டு. Penpals in this hyperconnected web மாதிரி ஒரு விஷயம். அதோட intimacy வேற. ரகுசி, பிரபு, நட்டு, வெங்கிராஜா, அண்டோனி அன்பரசு, கவிஞர் கருப்பு அவர்கள், கொரிய நிருபன் மாதிரி bro நண்பர்களும்; மயில், சிக்மாஃபியா, riyazdentist, புதசெவி, msathia, rskumaran மாதிரி அண்ணன்களும், sricalifornia, lakshmi மாதிரி அக்கா அவங்களும் renu, ajitha, kannamma மாதிரி buddies. எனக்கும் ரகுசிக்கும், எனக்கும் பிரபுக்கும் எல்லாம் வித்தியாசமே சொல்ல முடியாத அளவு ஒற்றுமை இருக்கும். ரியாஸ் அண்ணன்லாம் என் ஊரு. என் best friend ஓட ஆதர்சம். சீக்கிரமா twitterக்கு வந்துருந்தா வதிலை மாநகர கலக்கிருக்கலாம். இன்னிக்கு என் வீட்ல எதாச்சும் situationன்னா ரியாஸ்ண்ணா இருக்காருங்குற ஒரு peace of mind இருக்கு. இவங்க எல்லார்ட்டயும் இருந்து நான் கத்துக்கிட்டது எல்லாம் என்ன என் வயசு பசங்கட்ட இருந்து மொத்தமா தள்ளி வெச்சுருச்சு. I am glad it did. அதுவும் twitterக்கு வந்த புதுசுல எனக்கு இருந்த திமிர்க்கெல்லாம் அளவேயில்ல.. I would have been like “poda mayirei” to my old self.. அப்படி ஓரு பீச பொறுத்துட்டு மயிலண்ணனும், சிக்மாஃபியா அண்ணனும் செம்மயா engage பண்ணாங்க. I learned how to disagree with someone’s point and respect them all the same. Something my peers would never learn for the next 10 years at least. அதுலயும் sicmafia எல்லாம் செம்ம பெரிய motivator. 172 pound பையன் 270 pound deadlift, 200 pound squatனு போயிட்டு இருக்கேன். He pretty much is the reason behind my getting fit.

I am drifting intentionally. Let me set up this stage to pay respects to this man. Kryes. Random article ஒன்னு படிச்சுட்டுருந்தேன். “கண்ணே கொஞ்சம் மூங்கில் சாப்பிடு”ன்னு சங்கத்தமிழ் யானக்காதல nchokkan பிழிஞ்சுருந்தாரு.

எனக்கு ஒரு பிரச்சன உண்டு. I like reading comments more than the post. Reddit வளர்த்துவுட்ட பழக்கம் இது. அன்னிக்கு அந்தப்பதிவுல comments sectionல ஒருத்தர் பூந்து விளையாடிருக்காரு. I am literally feeding off of the energy in his comments. Like I am chuckling. Romanticism meets Tamil meets high octane intellectualism. மெரண்டுட்டேன். அப்போ அவரு anon32 அப்படின்ற பேர்ல comments போட்டுருந்தார். எனக்குனா யாரிது அப்படின்னு செம்ம ஆச்சர்யம். இது மாதிரி ரெண்டு தடவ நான் உணர்ந்துருக்கேன். மொத தடவையா அரவிந் கண்ணையன் blog படிச்சப்போ.. அப்பறம் பிரபஞ்சக்குடில் படிச்சப்போ..

ஆனா இந்த தடவ நான் என்னோட ஆச்சர்யம் கலந்த மரியாதைய பகிர்றேன். In twitter of course. Raguc பாத்துட்டு அடுத்த நிமிஷம் அவரோட எழுத்துநடைய கண்டுபுடுச்சி எனக்கு mention போடறான், அவரயும் mention பண்ணி. அப்போ அவர் North Africa I guess, missionல இருக்காரு. ஒரு மூணு மாசம் கழிச்சு வந்து Hi சொன்னாரு. அந்த நிமிஷம் ஆரமிச்ச அந்த ஆச்சர்யம் கலந்த மரியாதை பெருகிகிட்டேதான் போகுது. அந்த comments எல்லாத்தையும் படிங்களேன் தெரியும்.

இந்த கதை எல்லாம் எதுக்குன்னு கேக்குறீங்களா?

நான் ஒரு அரகுற. காளமேகத்தோட diss track தான் தெரியுமே தவிர கம்பர் எதுல என்னா பண்ணி வெச்சாருன்னு எனக்கு தெரியாது. Try googling it yourself. என்ன search string போட்டாலும் அவா ஓட propaganda பதிவுகள் தான் வருதே தவர matter கெடைக்கல. கடல்லயே இல்லியாம்.

எங்கப்பாக்கு தெரிஞ்ச தமிழ் எல்லாத்தையும் எனக்கு கத்துக்கொடுத்துட்டாரு. நமக்கு போக்கிடம் ஒன்னு தான்.

That my dear readers, is the set up to introduce the man of the hour. Thanks for reading my rant log. உங்கள நெனச்சா பாவமாதான் இருக்கு. என்ன பண்ண? 🙂 வேற எதுனா அறச்சீற்ற தாழ்வு மண்டலம் சென்னைய (or newyork) நோக்கி நகர்றப்ப சந்திப்போம்.. வர்ட்டா.

Now you think about how my personal life is tied around AR Rahman’s experiment warranting a Sanga Tamizh precedence set by Kalamegan thus introducing you all to KRS anna and his kamban proficiency (and all the other characters in my story). You think about that alright? 🙂

[1] வெள்ளக்காரன் CERNனு தான் சொல்லுவான். ஏன்னா CERN – Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire. Englishல அது பேரு The European Organization for Nuclear Research. வெள்ளக்காரன் EONRன்னா சொன்னான்? அதனால முகப்புத்தகம்னு சொல்றது.. அப்புறம் PETAக்கு வி.அ .பு .க  அது இதுனு ஆறுச்சாமி levelல எல்லாம் எறங்க வேணாம். பெட்டா’னு சொன்னாலே போதும். IMHO.

Being Indian: My thoughts on being an agent of democracy.

I am writing this in the eve after shipping a relief consignment to Chennai. We (12 other good friends of mine) collected somewhere near 1.5 lakhs. My mentors and friends in my hometown (Batlagundu, TN) has contributed money and efforts in shipping it off.

There is something I wanted to share. Something I realized being a part of this.

A volunteer, a veteran teacher – headmaster from our group tells me that we are sending 50 blankets worth of 16,000 Rs to Chennai. The inadequacy hits me. 50 blankets? You mean we can only provide 50 blankets to the people that are suffering? To what end man? Its not even enough for a single file apartment, let alone a complex. Let alone an area. Why am I doing this? I know for sure that this isn’t survivor’s guilt.

Its not survivor’s guilt because I didn’t get this life easily as you did. I am now an engineer in a leading semiconductor manufacturing firm, at 27 years! I expected to be here an year earlier but screw that. What I have is not survivor’s guilt.

The point is, I am inadequate. I have always been blessed with wonderful friends and together we did what we could but what we did doesn’t even comes close to what needs to be done. Its a gargantuan task getting Chennai and Cuddalore back to its feet. But with a heavy heart, this is where we stop. Accepting our inadequacies.

But wait!

There is more. You and I can be inadequate. Moving on forward, Actor Siddharth and RJ Balaji has to stop at some point before politicians stop them. You and I need to stop asking these two wonderful men to step into politics. They will do it if they want to but by merely expressing your will for electing them to be your rulers makes them a threat to everyone else that wants to rule. You get it?

We need to stop. But what needs to be done remains undone right? I have been thinking about it. Some asswipe from Mumbai thinks its alright if we are dying. Reddit’s r/India thinks we brought this upon ourselves by choosing dravidian parties over a national party. But you my brother, you and I know, for all their faults, ADMK and DMK is all we have got. We certainly don’t want BJP’s crazies running this state. Do you know why?

We prided ourselves for Muslims helping Hindus and shared pictures of Muslims inside the temples right? I believe we only did that because of what is happening in the rest (read: most) of India. I don’t think this is an unexpected behavior. We have always helped each other. Muslims provide holy ashes to the pilgrims of Sabari Mala, in their Vavar mosque.

An excerpt from the wikipedia’s page for the Vavar mosque reads

“En route the pilgrimage to Sabarimala during the makaravilakku season almost all of the Ayyappa devotees will come to Erumely and perform the ritual. Pettathullal starts from the small temple situated at the heart of Erumely town known as ‘Kochambalam’. From there the dance procession advance to the Muslim mosque called ‘Vavar palli’ opposite to Kochambalam and the devotees worship ‘Vavarswamy’.

Hindus in and around Ramanadhapuram celebrate Santhanakoodu festival. Scenes like Hindu youths carrying a palanquin alongside Muslims and Hindus and Muslims feasting together are normal and is a recurrent event everyyear. If this state was run by BJP, I am not sure if we would have had those facebook posts of Muslim – Hindu solidarity to begin with.

I am not even going to insult my readers by explaining why we don’t need Congress.

All of this is to tell you guys that we are fine with DMK and ADMK. If there is a new power, I totally welcome it, but I bet my life I am never going to vote for a BJP or a Congress entity in my life. So we have reached a quandary. DMK and ADMK is all we have got and this flood, the aftermath and our inadequacy are still posing a big question. I honestly think I know where the solution lies, or at least a meek of a possible answer that could lead us towards having a better government.

It starts right here by you guys reading these two articles. It is not hilarious as a meme, neither does it come with a like button. But this is how we start. First article is personally written for his own oration by Raghuram Rajan, our RBI governor and a fellow Tamizhian. If you choose not to listen to your Government’s premier economical system’s (a guiding and controlling authority of this country’s bankers) chief authority, please don’t bother asking for a better government because you don’t know what a better government is. Raghuram was a “Chief Economist and Director of Research – International Monetary Fund”. If you are ever reading anything that you think is of value to India’s future, then you read this.

https://rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_SpeechesView.aspx?Id=941

Relevant Excerpts:

/ Strong government does not mean one that is only militarily powerful or uses its intelligence apparatus to sniff out enemies of the state. Instead, a strong government is also one that provides an effective and fair administration through clean, motivated, and competent administrators who can deliver good governance.
Rule of law means that government’s actions are constrained by what we Indians would term dharma – by a historical and widely understood code of moral and righteous behaviour, enforced by religious, cultural, or judicial authority.
And democratic accountability means that government has to be popularly accepted, with the people having the right to throw unpopular, corrupt, or incompetent rulers out./

If you read the article, which you should, you will come across this line.

/The rule of law is needed to prevent the tyranny of the majority that can arise in a democracy, as well as to ensure that basic “rules of the game” are preserved over time so that the environment is predictable, no matter which government comes to power./

What could he mean by the term “tyranny of the majority that can arise in a democracy?”. It could mean Maharashtra’s beefban. The government of MH was voted and backed by the majority and their tyranny is making beef consumption as illegal. Let’s not talk about the Mohammad Iklakh Saifi’s fate in Uttar Pradesh.

Raghuram proceeds to say
/By ensuring that all citizens have inalienable rights and protections, the rule of law constrains the majority’s behaviour towards the minorities./. We failed didn’t we?

When you realize how he connects this three pillars of democracy to his own turf, economics, you realize this man’s understanding. I love this guy. So should you, I think.

 So how does Raghuram displays this sort of comprehension and understanding of the problem statement? Because he was willing. He read Fukuyama. He thinks about the problem. He finds a path to a solution. This is exactly the essence of what I am going to ask you all to do here.

Okay. But how does this become relevant for our current predicament?

Excerpts from this article again.
/For instance, a business approval process that mandates numerous government surveys in remote areas should also consider our administrative capacity to do those surveys well and on time./

In our current flooding situation, the analogy breaks down to this:
Business Process – Buildings.
Government’s Mandate – Geographical Survey.
Administrative Capacity – Having enough surveyors to meet the pace of the business process, in this case, no                                                                 of permits filed. Administrative capacity also means that these surveyors are to                                                                     make sure they actually be present at the site, survey, make sure the building is in a                                                             legally allowed landscape. Follow up after the building is built to make sure it is                                                                     within the allowed limits like number of storeys and such.

In our case, the drowning of Chennai during December 2016, if there were enough honest surveyors doing their job, the buildings in the lakes and streams would not have had their permit. Now you can simply say “why bother to go into such details boss? If the government did its job means these buildings will not be there no?”. That’s the problem. You were not willing to demonstrate a structural understanding of the problem but yet you demanded to be taken care of, that too only after you have been hit. But see.. Raghuram said this before TN flooding. Not because he was a victim. But because he was able to structurally understand our country. Because he was willing. He thinks about the problem. He reads Fukuyama. He finds a path to a solution. He provided answers because he saw it coming. We are not Raghuram to read Fukuyama. But we definitely can read what our RBI governor says and ingest. This may not make us provide answers. But it will make us ask the right questions. So I am saying, it doesn’t matter if DMK or ADMK is in the power. If you ask these questions, any government will have to respond. Our collective insight guides the government because we hold the voting right isn’t it?

The second article is by Edward Snowden. It is a link to his answer during a reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything – a sort of interview where any one can ask him questions). There are reasons that we should read what Snowden has to say. Treason. That too against the United States of America. A CIA employee turned NSA contractor, has leaked documents that shook the US Government and people. But what does that tell us? An engineer, if he has to work for CIA and NSA, he had to be good. Super good. If he chooses to work for his government, as opposed to making money rain on him in a corporate jungle, it indicates he had good intentions. What makes a very decent human being(Buddhist, Ascetic) to commit a treacherous act against the world’s most powerful country? This is exactly why you read what he has to say.

Comment
byu/_EdwardSnowden from discussion
inIAmA

The first excerpt.
/Well, when we look back on history, the progress of Western civilization and human rights is actually founded on the violation of law. America was of course born out of a violent revolution that was an outrageous treason against the crown and established order of the day./

The second excerpt.
/Ultimately, if people lose their willingness to recognize that there are times in our history when legality becomes distinct from morality, we aren’t just ceding control of our rights to government, but our agency in determing thour futures./

The third excerpt.
/In such times, we’d do well to remember that at the end of the day, the law doesn’t defend us; we defend the law. And when it becomes contrary to our morals, we have both the right and the responsibility to rebalance it toward just ends./

There you have the reason for Snowden doing what he did. Make no mistake. His actions resulted in the death of several American heroes, who were deep undercover. It also exposed people who were helping America but were not citizens of America, resulting in their death and torture. Unacceptable. He has to be held accountable. But there is a lesson to be learned. Morality Vs Law.

Edward Snowden’s examples ranged from Alcohol Prohibition to Gay Marriage where some things that are considered illegal are actually moral or better, not immoral in case of Alcohol Consumption.

You see there is a clash of ideas here? A lack of a wonderland between what Snowden wanted vs what he did? Could all the deaths he caused be rationalized because of the wanting of morale? Isn’t there a hypocrisy? There are questions in that AMA and there are his answers. A dialogue. A dialogue that should have happened before Snowden caused all these deaths? And your reason to read all of this is to know that such dialogues need to happen in India, among us, before we have our Snowden’s choose to make martyr’s out of our country’s finest.

A great guy I know broke up with his insanely beautiful girlfriend because he chose to serve our country while she wanted to go to USA. If that guy ends up dead because an Indian snowden starts making his own call because us, the ‘garden variety’ – ‘meme sharing’ – ‘instantly emotional’ – ‘economically well fed’ – ‘Messiah expecting’ normal Indian youth were not engaging ourselves in a meaningful dialogue.

For a meaningful dialogue to happen, the following has to happen. We have to be willing, We have to read. We have to think about the problem. We have to find a path to a solution. Then, we engage in a dialogue with others about your solution. A dialogue where you express your solution. Hear their solution. Argue. Nurture.

There is one other problem I have seen among Indian youths. If I don’t share your belief, you start to attack me personally. I don’t watch cricket anymore. I am a Tamilian that doesn’t respect Rajini Kanth anymore. I am an Indian that doesn’t believe on Modi (photoshopped image? Seriously? ). I am a Tamilian that thinks Hindi can only be ‘my choice’ to learn and I love my language. I was born Hindu and an atheist by choice. I am a non – Brahmin in this sea of US – MS – corporate job Brahmins that still think it is cool to brag their caste #Tambrahm or to have an “Iyer” attached to their facebook name, despite it not being their registered name. Think about how many personal attacks I face every single day? I don’t give a fuck anymore but guess what. I am willing to engage in a dialogue with you telling why I believe so. I have always been. I can have a perfectly rational conversation with someone who believes in everything I don’t believe in without getting into personal attacks. I don’t not respect you based on what or where your stance is. I do so after knowing why you have taken that stance.

Instead of asking RJ Balaji to run this country for you, why don’t you start giving a damn.

Why don’t you practice being an active agent of democracy every single day?

If all of us read enough and take part in engaging each other in this decorum filled dialogues, we will build a better future, a better government. We don’t have to feel inadequate against these shows of natural disasters and such because we have been adequate enough on all the other days in such a way that we have built a system that prevents people from dying from Tsunami, Flood, Earth Quake or just a death of a 12 year old who lost his grip in an overwhelmed metro bus.

I mean celebrate Rajini, share CSK memes, post #Tambrahm selfies on instagram but also follow what is happening in your country. Talk about it.

Now let me rub it on you. This mindless devotion for your actors and cricket team. You know what that cultures? I am sorry I have to dig this again. One of you, a CSK supporter called Actor Siddharth “thevidiya paiya” (Bastard) because he tweeted in support of Deccan Chargers. I couldn’t find the tweet but there is a YT video. Now that you know who Siddharth actually is and what he did for Chennai and Cuddalore, I want you all to remember the guys who called him a bastard because he supported a different IPL team. Interestingly, a quick search on google to find the guy who did it back then yields this result.
https://twitter.com/ramuajithian/status/499474352522682368

I rest my case.
If you still think I have been wrong in my article, come over for a conversation.

My thoughts on the Nobel prize for physiology and medicine – 2015.

It is my long standing that the traditional medicine (in India) is infested with bogus, unscientific claims but it works when it is done right.

DRDO came up with herbal drugs and it is the leading scientific organization of the country and an important scientific – military organization in the world.
http://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/English/index.jsp?pg=tot.jsp

Most of the scientists – inclusive of the nobel laureautes, will be quick to dismiss the traditional medicine as it would disrupt their established structure of the funding – research – marketing complex. It is very possible that after years of research, you develop a particular affinity to the process and genuinely regard it to be the only scientific method to cure diseases.

The Nobel prize for physiology or medicine is awarded to the chinese medical scientist Dr. Tu Youyou for discovering ‘artimisinin’, an anti-malarial drug.
http://qz.com/517202/how-traditional-chinese-medicine-finally-won-its-nobel-prize/

It is great news. It is a personal pleasure  to see the world’s most important organization, honoring a scientist that used unconventional yet ‘scientific method’ to discover a most important drug.

There is a lesson to be learned dear India. If we were to use modern and scientific methods to reinvent our ancient knowledge, mostly acquired through repeated trial and errors (almost a monte-carlo method), in the fields of medicine and agriculture, there are hidden crests with valuable information, to be unearthed.

I do recognize and admire the magnificiency of the work done by the GOI, establishing a database for the traditional knowledge
http://www.tkdl.res.in/tkdl/LangDefault/common/Home.asp?GL=Eng and medicinal plants http://www.medicinalplants.in/. The TKDL single handedly fends off any claims on certain produces i.e Neem, Spices (Bio-Piracy), brought on by foreign countries and organizations. The folks at “The Institute of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology” seems to be good at doing what they do but I would insist on creating a scientific awareness – like our Green Revolution.

I am pretty sure this falls under swach bharat and most of the Hindutva and NaMo bakhths can get behind this idea. Heck, we can even have another viral dp change revolution, yeah? Only, this time, there will be substantiated evidence for the ground and a real complex to build.

I can’t call myself a physics student if I don’t record how awesome a shape shifting neutrino is. I was baffled by the mere idea that these neutrinos could very well have more than one identity. I am a little bummed by the implications regarding my safe haven that is the SM model of Physics but this is exciting. I read somewhere that “There is no known physics theory that is true at every scale”. I guess its Lawrence Krauss, the reknowned physicist from ASU, my alma mater, whom I never got to meet !