HARBINGER OF GOOD TIMES

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!

Come on, let's welcome the new year !

Hope , cheer and joy are all here!

Bygones are bygones--gone forever.

Mirthful spirit is the need of the hour!

New year.new thoughts and new aims

Chimes the bell,the harbinger of good times!!!

NOORU MATHIPPENN------100%

                                             நூறு மதிப்பெண் !!!

இயல்பாய், எளிதாய் மகிழ்ச்சி வருமே
               எவரும் பெறலாம், இன்பம் உறலாம் !
அயலார் விடவும் அதிகம் வேண்டும்
               ஆசை அதற்குக் குழியைத் தோண்டும் !


ஒன்றைப் பலரும் பகிர்ந்தால் குறையும் .
                உடனே உதிக்கும் அவருள் பிணக்கே !
என்றும் மகிழ்ச்சி பகிர்ந்தால் பெருகும் !
                இதுவே வாழ்வின் விந்தைக் கணக்கு !


துண்டு தோளில் கிடக்கும் போது
                சுற்றி முற்றும் தேடும் நண்பா !
மண்டும் மகிழ்ச்சி மனதில் பொங்க
                மாய உலகில் தேடல் பண்பா ?


அன்பைக் கூட்டி அறிவைப் பெருக்கி
                 ஆணவம் கழித்துப் பகிர்வாய் மகிழ்ச்சி !
இன்பம் ஈவாய்த தரும்இக் கணக்கே !
                 என்றும் நூறு மதிப்பெண் உனக்கே !


இனிய புத்தாண்டு ௨௦0௧௧ இல் (2011) உலகில் மகிழ்ச்சி பெருக வேண்டும் என இறைவனை வேண்டி இப்பாடலை உலக மக்கள் அனைவருக்கும் சமர்ப்பிக்கிறேன்

SRI SESHAASHTAGAM

                தொடராகிய வாழ்வு பெருந்துயரம்  

                                  துணையாகநீ வந்தால் அதுமறையும் .

                இடரேகளைய இதுவே தருணம் 

                                   இனி ,சேஷகுரு திருவடி சரணம் !

                அறியேன்எதுவும் அகிலம் தனிலே 

                                அவமாய்ப் பிறவி அழிதல் அழகோ ?

                சிறியேன் புரியும் செயல்கள் பிழையே 

                                 திருசேஷகுரு மலரடி சரணம் !

               அதுவும், இதுவும், எதுவும் வருமோ ,

                                அறுந்தால் உடம்போ டுயிரின் தொடர்பே ?

               மதியாய், விதியாய்க்  கதியாய் எனக்கே 

                                 வருசேஷகுரு திருவடி சரணம் !

              மனமே தினமே மரமேல் குரங்காய் 

                                மதமே மிகவே கிளைகள் குதிக்கும் 

              இனிமேல் இதைநீ பொறுத்தல் தகுமோ ?

                               எழில்சேஷகுரு திருவடி சரணம் !

            நிழலும் தருமே மரமே , அதைப்போல் 

                            நெடிதேவளர்என் உடல்தான் தருமோ ?

            உழலும் உயிர்கட் குதவப் பணிப்பாய் 

                             ஒளிர்சேஷகுரு திருவடி சரணம் !

           அறிவும், திருவும், அழகும் இணைந்தே 

                           அமைந்தே விடினும் வருமோ அமைதி ?

           பொறிகள் அடங்கும் வழிதான் புகல்வாய் 

                           புகழ்சேஷகுரு திருவடி சரணம் !

          பதறிக் கதறிப் பலநாள் கழியப் 

                           பயணம் முடிந்தால் பயன்தான் உளதோ ?

          உதவிபுரிய உடனே வருவாய் !

                           உறுசேஷகுரு திருவடி சரணம் !

        அருணை ஒளியே , கருணை வடிவே 

                           அகத்தின் இருளை அடியோ டழிப்பாய் !

        ஒருமை உணர்ந்தேன் , உண்மை அறிந்தேன் 

                            உயர்சேஷகுரு திருவடி சரணம் !!!

         

THE 'MONETARY' MESSAGE

During national celebrations and on important festivals our leaders promptly and pompously issue stock messages greeting the people of the country.Any occasion or event without a message from a bigwig is considered incomplete.But most of these messages are routine,stereotyped and worn-out cliches  which are not only insipid but also uninspiring. We are so accustomed to such banalities that we altogether dismiss them without giving them a second thought . Presumably, they are the creations of some secretaries who don't even understand the solemnity of the occasions.

The other day,I got an unusual message which proved to be a refreshing change. It was a different sort of message on three counts.Firstly, it was anonymous. Secondly,it was obviously written with a good intention rather than garnering cheap publicity.Thirdly,it was written on a 'TEN RUPEE CURRENCY NOTE'.On the front side of the currency (on the white space) were the words,"FIGHT FOR PEACE". On the reverse I found the cryptic remark,'HUMANITY IS RELIGION'.

As a rule I abhor the practice of  defacing currency notes as it reduces the life-span of the money. It is also indecent and an act of callousness. But that particular 'monetary message' appeared to be relevant, altruistic and well-meant that,I had to shed my initial resentment and all my reservations.

We fight many a battle in life, the main motive invariably being that of self-aggrandizement. But the idea of 'Fighting for peace' (what a lovely paradox!) in these troubled times can emanate only from an enlightened soul. In this world we live as Hindus, Christians, Muslims,Buddhists etc.-forgetting the basic fact that we are all human beings.Our religious faith has failed to evoke humanitarian sentiments in our stony hearts. But, is it not the core of all religious tenets?.The writer,by his observation,'Humanity is religion' subtly pinpoints our folly and exhorts us to have a humane approach.

Flooded with these thoughts I lost myself in a reverie.
Suddenly,I remembered William Wordsworth"s immortal  lines:
"And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils"

The profoundity of the message ,like Wordsworth's daffodils,made my heart dance with ecstasy.

RISE AT DAWN

Little children,rise at dawn-
Behold all the joys of morn!
An early bird chirps or sings;
Fragrance rides on airy wings;
Pearly green grass tops aglitter;
Colourful butterflies all flutter.
Children dear,do not miss
Morning's glory and its bliss!


(I wrote this small poem for my son Shankar,when he was a little boy)

SUN--Translation of Subramania Bharati's Prose-poem,'GNAYIRU' translated by R.NATARAJAN

                                                  SUN

Oh sun !
What have you done to
darkness ?

Have you
               driven it?
               slain it ?
               or
               gobbled it up ?

Did you conceal it
in your kissing embrace
with hands of rays ?
 
Is darkness your 
foe or food?
Is it your lady love
dismayed at your
absence thro' the night   
and thus
turned black ?
 
Overjoyed at your
emergence,
did it imbibe your
radiance and blend
with you ?
 
Are you both 
children of the same mother?
Did your mother
ordain
both of you
to protect the world
by 
coming in turns?

Are the two of you
immortal ?
or the
divine elixir
itself? 

We hail you both!
 Oh sun!
 We hail you !

LORD KRISHNA!!!

                                           

The mellifluous mesmeric music

flowing forth from your

magic bamboo flute

transcends time and

thrills our palsied hearts

through the passing aeons.

Your sweet little childish pranks

on the perennial Yamuna banks

have become delightful legends

drenched with dews of

divine nectar.

Anklets tinkle, bracelets twinkle,

 your tender feet sprinkle

dust

which dispels  births  and also deaths,

as you start

dancing.

The playful smile on your

charming cherubic face

cleanses us of all our

karmic sins.

You are at once the simple

cow-herd boy and the

celestial holy incarnation.

Your Gita is at once the

gateway to worldly knowledge

and the grand,

graceful culmination of

great spiritual wisdom.

Our hearts, like balls of butter

melt by the warmth of

ineffable love  and intense devotion.

Krishna! steal our hearts and grant

salvation to our

suffering souls !  

Life is a fairy tale

Flights of imagination carry young children to their exclusive world of fun,frolic and fantasy.

It is the fairy tales which lend colourful wings to their imagination.There,in the fairy-land,children come across mischievous elves,treasure-guarding gnomes,diminutive dwarfs and awe-inspiring ogres.With bated breath they witness daring princes and dainty princesses atop flying horses and weird witches casting evil spells on hapless victims.

Whenever I see acollection of fairy tales my memory races back to the good old days.When I was a small kid my father got me a big volume of fairy tales from calcutta(kolkatta).I still remember vividly all the minute details of the book.It had a fine glossy green cover with pictures of winged fairies hovering over tall flowers and lazy elves leaning upon huge mushrooms Clear bold letters and catchy line drawing illustrations made the stories more attractive.

The first story was "Jack and the bean stalk".Every time I went through it,I was afraid that the giant might catch hold of Jack before he could climb down the bean stalk. I felt greatly relieved when Jack chopped it down with agility while the giant was on his way down from very great height. I could still hear the 'THUD" of the giant's downfall.I felt like warning the innocent Snow white against the guile of her step-mother queen and the naughty Goldilocks against sleeping on the cosy cot of the "little bear". The emperor's new clothes greatly amused me and the "three little pigs' taught me a moral.

As I reached the high school level,I had an interesting encounter with a fairy when my eyes fell upon "La Belle Dame Sans Merci",the lovely lyric by John Keats.In it Keats talks about a "faery's child" who enslaves a"  knight at arms". She takes him to her "elfin grot" (cave of an elf) and lulls him to sleep. Finally she vanishes leaving him "alone and palely loitering". All this wonderful descriptions took me to an altogether new world.

There are many who might think that these fairy tales are merely":sweet nonsense", not deserving any attention or interest. Cold logic stuffed deep into them has displaced all the subtle sensibilities and sublime feelings.It requires the innocent fancy of a child or the ecstatic insight of a poet to discover the true worth of these treasures of joy.Hans Christian Andersen,the giver of great many fairy tales,rightly observes,"Every man's life is a fairy tale,written by God's fingers".    

.

aagaayak koorai

விருப்பத்தைத்   தெரிவித்தா  பிறந்தேன் ? கூட்டை
             விட்டுயிர்தான்  போம் நாளும்   அறிதல் உண்டா ?
கருப்பையை  விட்டு வெளி   வந்த  நாளாய்க்
             கா டடையும்   நாள்வரையில்   ஏற்றத்  தாழ்வு
திருப்பங்கள்  வந்துபோதல்  இயற்கை  அன்றோ !
            செருக்கடைதல் , துயரடைதல்   இல்லை, இல்லை !
உருப்படியாய்  வாழ்நாளில்  உலகிற் காக
            ஒன்றேனும்  செய்தபின்பே  உயிர்துறப்பேன் !


வேதனைகள்   வாழ்க்கையிலே   வந்த  பின்னர்
           வெம்பிமனம்   புழுங்குவதால்  பயன்தான்   என்ன ?
சோதனைகள்   அடுக்கடுக்காய்  உற்ற  போதும்
           சுமக்கின்ற  வலுவென்றன் தோள்கட்  குண்டு .
சாதனைகள்   புரிந்திடுவோர்  புகழைப்  பாடும்
           சரித்திரத்தில்  நிலையான  இடம்பிடிப்பேன்!
ஈது எனது  கொள்கைஎன   ஆன தாலே
         எதுவரினும்   சந்திப்பேன் , வெற்றி   கொள்வேன் ! 


இப்புவியில் வெற்றிபெற  வேண்டு மென்றே
        என்னுள்ளம்  கருதியபின்  தடைதான்  என்ன ?
ஒப்பில்லா  உள்ளம்தான்  உயர்ந்து  விட்டால்
       உரைக்கின்ற  சொற்களுடன்  செயல்கள்  எல்லாம்
தப்பின்றித்  தவறின்றித்  தளர்வும்  இன்றித்
       தகவுடனே  நொடிப்பொழுதில்  தடை கடக்கும்
அப்பொழுது   நெடுங்கடலும்  குளமாய்  மாறும் !
        ஆகாயம்  என்வீட்டுக்  கூரை  யாகும் !!!
 



 
 

A MORN IS BORN

Heralding the birth of  yet another day
Thro' the window peeps a stealthy ray!
Perched atop a hut, the cock crows!
The cow from its shed loudly bellows!

At the dawn when this world looks vibrant
Mother Nature's beauty is simply exuberant !
Methinks no earthly language can sing her glory.
Words fail when emotions prevail is the usual story

The red sun rising from the green sea down
Looks like a ruby on an emerald crown!
It embellishes the excellence of Nature-
And fills me with joyous rapture!

The eastern canvas is full of hues-
How many reds ,yellows and blues!
Can any painter of the rarest kind
Imagine so many shades even in his mind ?

The invigorating breeze of the morn
Gently soothes the hearts forlorn.
Come on! Cheer up! Here's a New Day!
When the sun shines,let's make hay!

HUMAN ZOO

I am a zoo by myself
But, with a difference -
domestic and animals wild
reside side by side.

The buffalo in me
wallows with glee
in the cesspool of life -
stagnates and rots.

The fox vile
cheats with guile
all the while.

The hounds of desires
bound after
fleeing and fleeting
formal pleasures,
fame, fortune and
filthy lucre

The brutal tiger
kills even the good,
if it is food.
The weak and the tame
are here for its
mere hunting game

The cage of  hatred
does not allow
the peace-loving dove
to spread out its
silken wings in the
serene sunny sky.

Yet,
From the withered shed
the tethered cow
still calls the calf
to come and drink the
milk of endless kindness.

P.S: This poem was awarded top prize in the in-house journal of my organization.

TALES OF OLD TIMES....

In my mind's eye I could visualise the by-gone childhood days. Adversity did not in any way affect our joys and cheerfulness, nor could it blunt our sense of contentment. In fact ,as the Bard had put it,"Sweet were the uses of adversity". We learnt to live within our means with the greatest amount of satisfaction.

Our wants were few and simple and even if one of them was fulfilled we were  greatly thrilled and  elated. As we understood the value of each and everything,we appreciated the difficulty of our parents in making both ends meet. So we never expected them to buy everything under the sun.

We made kites with old newspapers glued with 'sotrupparukkai'  (morsel of cooked-rice) and never thought of buying one from the shop. We used to give names to our kites ( I remember having named one such kite, "Vettri" (victory) which, ironically, was cut several times in the 'deals' that ensued that evening)

'Trade' was a very popular indoor game and we ourselves made it with lots of imagination and skill. The currency notes were made out of cigarette packs and the hard covers of old school copies(notebooks) were used for making the 'towns' and 'cities'. I hope people will not think I am bragging, if I say that our 'Trade' was far superior to the ones that were available in the shops. How I wish I preserved to show it my progeny.

We walked to our school merrily and wihout any complaints. Even now, my heart gets heavy when i recollect my brother's unfulfilled desire to own a second hand cycle all for himself at the time of his school final. I should say that it never had any effect on our happiness those days.

Ofcourse, Democritus was not an ordinary soul to say 'Happiness resides not in possession and not in gold, the felling of happiness dwells in the soul"