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By சுப.சோமசுந்தரம் · பதியப்பட்டது
சில காலம் முன்பு 'நானே நானா ?' எனத் தலைப்பிட்டு ஒரு கட்டுரையை நமது இந்த 'யாழ்' இணையதளத்தில் பதிவிட்டிருந்தேன். அதில் வரும் கதைமாந்தர்களும் நிகழ்வுகளும் தமிழ் நிலத்திற்கு வெளியேயுள்ள, தமிழறியாத எனது சில நண்பர்களின் கவனத்திற்கும் உரியவை. எனவே அவர்களுக்காக அக்கட்டுரையை நான் ஆங்கிலத்தில் மொழிமாற்றம் செய்ததே இப்பதிவு. மொழிபெயர்ப்பு என்பதை விட மொழிமாற்றம் என்பதே இங்கு சரியானது. Transformation and not translation. ஏனெனில் வரிக்கு வரி ஆங்கிலம் ஆக்காமல், ஒவ்வொரு பத்தியையும் மீண்டும் வாசித்து செய்தியை எனது ஆங்கில நடையில் தந்திருக்கிறேன். தமிழ் நிலத்தின் சொந்தங்களும் மொழி மாற்றப்பட்டது என்றில்லாமல், ஆங்கிலத்தில் ஏதோ புதிய கட்டுரையாக எண்ணி வாசிக்கலாம். தமிழை மட்டுமே பொதுத்தளத்தில் எழுதியவன் ஆங்கிலம் எழுதுவதையும் வாசித்துப் பார்க்கலாமே ! இனி அந்தக் கட்டுரை : Am I myself ? It's true that we have been brought up with lessons on self-reliance and independence to an extent possible. Perhaps rightly so to a great extent. The tag 'to an extent possible' must have been followed by an explanation that after all one has to depend on his parents up to a stage. This can easily be brushed aside as it is the law of nature for a climber to have a stake; in a lighter vein, 'one's own feet' and 'a ground to stand' are, after all, things provided by one's own parents. Some might come up with a better counsel for that 'extent possible' as one has to depend on the peasant for his food, the weaver for his clothes and so on. Even this can be politely chided on the ground that the beneficiary provides for their livelihood and so it's a matter of symbiosis, not one of dependence on anyone, leave alone the imbalance of a society which sanctions (!) only a hand-to-mouth existence for peasants and others. All these justifications granted, still some basic questions prop up inside me. Didn't someone sometime without any expectation stand for me ? Didn't someone, even not so close to me, lend his shoulders for me to stand on top and see a far-reaching world ? Could I always stand my ground on my own feet ? The moment these questions arise in me, I could hear an emphatic "No, not at all" reverberate in my ears as a heavenly voice; at sixty three, I could visualise those nostalgic memories quickly unfold in my virtual screen. It is not customary in the writers' world to mention real names of characters and so the reader could take the names in this narrative as fictitious. However the characters and the incidents are real. Each one of you must have come across such noble characters in your life. After all, your world is a theatre where you are the hero ! Thought of conveying something to the society. A second thought came up for a moment whether it would be alright if I got into nostalgia and narrated my own life incidents. Consoled myself - it's only natural when one reflects on what he has seen and felt. Generally when a man of scholarly pursuit writes his biography, it is intended to be a lesson to all. For someone like me it's a desire to share some of his experiences in a write-up, if not a book, hoping it to be useful to a common man like him in some corner of the society. In my case it is also a thanksgiving for those who lifted me to where I am today. Right from nursery to post-graduation I have been fortunate (so do I feel) to be put in institutions closer to home. After a doctorate and post-doctoral studies in mathematics for nearly ten years outside my Tamil homeland, I have been doubly fortunate (again, so do I feel) to get settled in a University in my own home town Tirunelveli. Like the idiomatic expression 'Back in the saddle' shall I say, "Back at the stable" after my brief grazeland stint in greener pastures ? During my early days of schooling and collegiate studies in my native Tirunelveli, a few of my illustrious teachers like Prof. Jothimani had their share in making me what I am today. Somewhere else I had a write-up acknowledging them duly and so in this article I prefer to focus on some memorable occurrences in those greener pastures and after I got to my stable. All these are going to be my reminiscences of some saintly or divinely characters who rendered selfless support to me. If it reminds you of some of your trysts with divinity, it's all but natural. It was the first time I left my native town for my PhD at IIT Kanpur. From my Thesis Supervisor Prof. Udhay Bhanu Tewari, not only did I learn mathematics but also some basic principles of life. The latter he taught me by his deeds, with his art of living. Briefly said, he was scholastic. That there were many other Professors too of wisdom to teach me a lot in life speaks volumes of the institution. Recalling one or two glorious moments I had therein befits the title of this article. Nowadays there is a strict time limit for the duration of a PhD program which fortunately was not so at that time at IIT Kanpur. With the recommendation, usually genuine, of the Thesis Supervisor the candidate was granted period extension with scholarship. Normally any candidate would like to finish the work as soon as possible and get settled in life at the earliest. Rarely did some people go for an extension. Under these circumstances, the Institute suddenly implemented a five-year restriction on PhD scholarships, perhaps under instruction from the Government. We went on a protest with dharnas, hunger strikes and so on. The then Mathematics Head Prof.J.D.Borwanker called me and spoke, "If you are financially constrained, we are here to take care of you. You can be accommodated in some research project under due process and that could provide you a breather to complete your PhD as well. Why do you have to join the agitation ?" As a student of that age and as a guy caught in a web of affection of his teachers, how could I teach my teacher, "A struggle is not for one's self" ?. However the point I want to make here is that "We are here for you" is a divinely voice anytime anywhere. Immediately after I submitted my PhD thesis, my Supervisor Prof.U.B.Tewari recommended me for a position at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Mathematics, Punjab University, Chandigarh. In the mean time my brothers, all younger to me, had settled in jobs. I had to get married sooner than later, since my brothers were waiting in the wings for marriage. So it all happened in succession as we had not grown enough to defy the social system of the time. I came home for my wedding and stayed back for nearly four months. Equivalently one can say that I had a long honeymoon back home. By that time I got an offer of lectureship at Punjab University in response to Prof.Tewari's recommendation. People at home insisted on my declining the offer, keeping in mind the turmoil in the distant Punjab at the time with unprecedented militant activities and the fact that I was no more a bachelor when I got the job offer. I dropped a line (by post, for that was the only option of the time; I am a pre-historic monster) to Punjab University declining the offer politely (in words; in deed it was arrogance on my part). I did not even ask for the advice of Prof.Tewari who got the job for me. The lame excuse I had was that telephone (only landline was known) was not available in my vicinity and postal correspondence sometimes would take two weeks one way. I landed in Kanpur four months after marriage. The undue period I had taken at home was pretty cool with Prof.Tewari. However I had to bear the brunt of his all justifiable wrath for kicking off, for petty reasons, one of the rarest job opportunities. Throughout the reprimand it was clear to me that his entire fury was not for his efforts having turned into a futile exercise but was out of frustration whether I would get such a nice job again. After two days he called me and said, "Send an application for a post-doctoral position at the Indian statistical Institute (ISI) Bangalore. I shall send a recommendation". Seeing me bewildered and speechless, he added, "All these six years you stayed here, you have had a good record. Of course, at the end something went wrong. For that matter we can't leave you in the lurch". All the noble things written in your religious holy books came to light for me without my reading even a bit of it. There came a change in the playfield and of the play, but the story line of some great men of scholarship holding my hand never saw a change. How could great men be made for commoners like me ? This could be the case for many of us. Perhaps the answer lies in the description of the terms like greatness, scholarship and so on. At times we might have come across people who did something evil to us, knowingly or unknowingly. But at times we had people who did the noblest things for us without any expectation whatsoever. To give a poetic touch, let me say that these noble gestures of people account for the existence of Planet Earth and its dynamism on some or other axis. In my next institution ISI, Bengaluru they had taken a policy decision not to allot guest house flats for long term visitors, just before I joined there as a post-doctoral fellow for two years. I had set my mind to look for a flat on rent in the city. Prof.V.S.Sunder and Prof.Alladi Sitaram told me that the advance amount would siphon out all my savings and then the monthly rent and other expenses would land me in a tough budgeted life in a city like Bengaluru. That they could think for me and make the administration reconsider its policy decision showed their concern, care and empathy towards their fellowmen. Also Prof.Subashis Nag reminding me of my term at ISI coming to an end in four months and asking me to apply to ICTP, Trieste, Italy with a promise of sending a reference letter to the institution is like a dream sequence for me. To people who pray to their Almighty for some favour and supposedly get it, I always have a question, "If you name such an extra-terrestrial power as God Almighty, then how should I refer to someone on this earth who got me what I needed, without my asking for it ?". When I was a PhD student at IIT, Kanpur Prof.S.Kumaresan from TIFR, Mumbai came as a Visiting Professor to our department. He had also served as Visiting Professor at Princeton. Besides being a great scholar in mathematics, his spectrum of knowledge is so wide that one can discuss with him anything under the sky that is of substance. I had the opportunity of interacting with him at the department and also at the dining hall of our students' hostel. I learnt good mathematics from him, particularly his analytical thinking inspired me a lot. Needless to say, I gathered knowledge outside mathematics too. Perhaps he identified some spark in me which I realised years later. Later from TIFR Mumbai, he moved to University of Mumbai and then to University of Hyderabad. By then he had founded an illustrious program for undergraduate and post-graduate students in India aspiring to do mathematics. It is under the auspices of the National Board for Higher Mathematics and is called 'Mathematics Training and Talent Search program' (shortly, MTTS). It has crossed thirty two years of its successful running under the directorship of Prof.Kumaresan. In its fifth year, I incidentally met Prof.Kumaresan. His immediate reaction was, "Oh, out of sight out of mind. You have been missed out. Next year you should come to teach at MTTS". I took it as his recognition for my clarity in the fundamentals and my teaching skill. This programme has given me a great opportunity to teach students from every nook and cranny of this great country. It has given me great times to live and interact with scholarly people from many premier Institutes of this country. I have earned their respect and regards and all this is thanks to Prof.Kumaresan. First he found me as a teacher and then I found myself. Till date, for around twenty five years, I am in association with this prestigious programme and I consider it a bliss for me. If the divine beings I acknowledged before blessed me with the basic necessities of life like job, accommodation etc., the divinity in Prof.Kumaresan got me a place in his world of scholarship. After I got settled in the University in my place Tirunelveli, Prof.Tho.Paramasivan, a well-known Tamil scholar and Anthropologist, kindled my passion in literature and encouraged me to speak and write in this direction. Like Prof.Kumaresan, Prof.Paramasivan might have identified a spark in me in my other interest - literature. Thanks to him I have a memorable retirement life, securing a modest place in the literary world of my surroundings. Whenever I think of my mentors I get overwhelmed and seem to go on a deifying spree, as is evident from this write-up. True to this spirit of mine and given the fact that Prof.Paramasivan is an anthropologist, it is fair on my part to fit him in the frame of my folk-deity. A friend and philosopher Prof.S.Thillainayagam guiding me in all walks of my life is a boon that I wish for my lifetime. Being a Professor of English, he is known for precision and brevity in choice of words. Hence my brief reference to him, true to his style. Thanks to all these mentors, I got fixed in a job and earned the place that I deserve, however modest, in the world of knowledge. Then the quest, already simmering inside me, for being useful to the society in a larger sphere found an outlet through the teachers' organisation MUTA. It's a larger body not restricted to just my University campus. I have to name many of the stalwarts (they prefer to be referred to as comrades) who shaped my thinking, taught me Marxism through their deeds. The list being long, on everyone's behalf, I prefer to name Prof.V.Ponnuraj and Prof.M.Nagarajan as their representatives. Again, as usual, I register them here as my mentors in this field. In any workplace, a great majority of people can be classified into two categories. One category has a policy (!) of 'total surrender' to the ruling class; the other one deals with the ruling class in a naive, unprofessional way and get embroiled in serious problems due to a bad approach. I learnt from my comrades how to make our point with the administrators without engaging myself in personal tirades against them. With this, sometimes I could even win a grudging admiration from the worst of administrators. The other day after my retirement from service, when I had to ask for an exemption on some matter for someone connected to me, I got a welcome response, "Sir, you stood for us all through. We shall stand for you and the matter in hand right now is a trifle". Such incidents make me proud and remind me of my comrades who made me what I am in the common society. Particularly, Comrades Ponnuraj and Nagarajan with their selfless dedication to the society, not just for the co-workers, made me understand the very first verse of a Tamil Sangam literary work 'Purananooru'. Briefly it says that this universe stands on the support of those whose efforts are directed towards the society. To conclude, whether it is the world of mathematics or of literature or of social activism, in all I stood on the shoulders of giants. Can I at any instance claim, "I myself did it" ?. The moral I derive from all these is that I have to stand for others wherever possible. If so, someone will come to narrate all that and leave it to posterity. That will be the trail I leave on this soil to prove that once upon a time I was here. -
By kandiah Thillaivinayagalingam · பதியப்பட்டது
"தோழனாய் நீயிருக்கத் துன்பமேது...!" "தோழனாய் நீயிருக்கத் துன்பமேது அன்பே ஆழமான உன்இதயத்தில் நானே இருப்பேனே! அழகான என்னுடலும் உனக்கே தருவேனே அழலாக பாசம் நெஞ்சில் சுடர்விடுகிறதே ஈழம் தந்த வீரனே வாழ்கவாழ்கவே!" "காதலர் தினம் ஆண்டுக்கு ஒன்றல்ல காலம் முழுவதும் அன்பின் நாளே! காமம் ஒருபக்கம் நட்பு மறுபக்கம் காத்திருப்பேன் என்றென்றும் எந்தன் பாதிக்கு கார்த்திகை தீபத்தின் நாயகன் நீயே!" [கந்தையா தில்லைவிநாயகலிங்கம், அத்தியடி, யாழ்ப்பாணம்] -
வினா: உங்களுக்கு அமெரிக்க குடியுரிமை உள்ளது என வைப்போம். ஜனாதிபதி தேர்தலில் நவம்பர் ஐந்து 2024 உங்கள் வாக்கு யாருக்கு? ••••••• ♻️ -
அவர்களது தூர நோக்குகள் என்ன விசுகர்? -
By ஈழப்பிரியன் · Posted
உண்மை தான். ஆனாலும் தமிழ் தேசியத்தை நேசிக்கும் மாவீரர் குடும்பத்திலிருந்து மக்களை எண்ணி ஏதாவது ஒரு வழியில் விடிவு வராதா என்று ஏங்கி எழுத பொதுமகன் போடா போ.பொத்திக் கொண்டு உன்ரை வேலையைப் பார் என்ற மாதிரியும் எண்ணலாம். ஏனென்றால் கருத்துப் படங்கள் ஒவ்வொருவர் கண்ணிலும் வித்தியாசமாக படும். மற்றும்படி கவி அருணாசலம் வரையும் எல்லாமே நானும் ரசிப்பேன்.
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மனவலி யாத்திரை.....!
shanthy posted a topic in கதை கதையாம்,
மனவலி யாத்திரை.....!
(19.03.03 இக்கதை எழுதப்பட்டது.2001 பொங்கலின் மறுநாள் நிகழ்ந்த ஒரு சம்பவத்தின் நினைவாக பதிவிடப்பட்டது இன்று 7வருடங்கள் கழித்து பதிவிடுகிறேன்)
அந்த 2001 பொங்கலின் மறுநாள் அவனது குரல்வழி வந்த அந்தச் செய்தி. என் உயிர் நாடிகளை இப்போதும் வலிக்கச் செய்கிறது. அது அவனுக்கும் அவனது அவர்களுக்கும் புதிதில்லைத்தான். அது அவர்களின் இலட்சியத்துக்கு இன்னும் வலுச்சேர்க்கும். ஆனால் என்னால் அழாமல் , அதைப்பற்றி எண்ணாமல் , இனிவரும் வருடங்களில் எந்தப் பொங்கலையும் கொண்டாட முடியாதபடி எனக்குள் அவனது குரலும் அவன் தந்த செய்திகளும் ஒலித்துக் கொண்டேயிருக்கும்.-
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பாலியல் சுதந்திரமின்றி பெண்விடுதலை சாத்தியமில்லை
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Friday, 16 February 2007
காதலர் தினத்தை வழக்கமான தமது அரசியல் நிலைபாடுகளை பொறுத்து அணுகும் செயலை பல்வேறு தரப்பினரும் உற்சாகமாக செய்து வருகின்றனர்.கிரீட்டிங் கார்டுகளையும், சாக்லடுகளையும் விற்க அமெரிக்க கம்பனிகள் சதி செய்வதாக கூறி காம்ரேடுகள் இதை எதிர்த்து வருகின்றனர்.அமெரிக்க கலாச்சாரத்தை திணிக்க முயற்சி நடப்பதாக கூறி சிவசேனாவினரும் இதை முழுமூச்சில் எதிர்க்கின்றனர். தமிழ்நாட்டில் பாமக ராமதாஸ் இதை கண்டித்து அறிக்கை விட்டுள்ளார். பாகிஸ்தானிலும், அரபுநாடுகளிலும் இதை எதிர்த்து பத்வாக்கள் பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டு அதை மீறி இளைஞர்கள் இதை கொண்டாடியதாக செய்திகள் வந்துள்ளன.-
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ஒரு சித்தர் பாடல்
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எனக்குப் பிடித்த ஒரு சித்தர் பாடல் (எந்தச் சித்தர் என்று மறந்து விட்டேன். கட்டாயம் தேவை என்றால் சொல்லுங்கள் எனது ஓலைச் சுவடிகளை புரட்டிப்பார்த்து பின்னர் அறியத் தருகிறேன்)
நட்ட கல்லைத் தெய்வம் என்று நாலுபுட்பம் சாத்தியே
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சுட்ட சட்டி தட்டுவம் கறிச்சுவை அறியுமோ?
பொருள்:
சூளையில் வைத்துச் சுட்டுச் செய்த மண் பாத்திரத்தில் வைக்கும் கறியின் சுவை எப்படியானது என்று அந்தப் பாத்திரத்துக்கு விளங்குமா? அது போல, எம்முள்ளே எருக்கும் இறைவனை நீ அறியாமல் ஒரு கல்லினுள் கடவுள் இருப்பதாக நம்பி வெறும் கல்லை அராதித்து வழிபடுகிறாய்.-
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கடவுள் இருக்கிறாரா.............?
வானவில் posted a topic in மெய்யெனப் படுவது,
களத்தில் தற்போது சமயம் சம்ம்பந்தமாக பெரியா கருத்து பரிமாற்றம் நடக்கிறது, அங்கே கருத்தாடு பெரியவர்களே, அறிஞோர்களே உங்களால் இறைவன் இருக்கார் என்று ஆதாரத்துடன் நிரூபிக்க முடியுமா...........? முடிந்தால் நிரூபியூங்கள், நிரூபித்து விட்டு உங்கள் கருத்து மோதலை தொடருங்கள்-
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சமூகத்துக்கு பயனுடைய கல்விநிலை எது?
narathar posted a topic in பேசாப் பொருள்,
சமூகத்துக்கு பயனுடைய கல்விநிலை எது?
பேராசிரியர் சோ. சந்திரசேகரன்
இன்று நாட்டில் உள்ள கல்விமுறையையும் அதற்கு அப்பால் உள்ள கல்வி ஏற்பாடுகளையும் நோக்குமிடத்து, பல்வேறு கல்வி நிலைகளை இனங்காண முடியும். அவையாவன: ஆரம்பக்கல்வி, இடைநிலைக் கல்வி, பல்கலைக்கழகக் கல்வி உள்ளடங்கிய உயர் கல்வி, பாடசாலையில் வழங்கப்படும் (1-11 ஆம் வகுப்பு வரை) பொதுக்கல்வி, தொழில்நுட்பக்கல்வி, வளர்ந்தோர் கல்வி என்பன, இவை தவிர கருத்தாக்க ரீதியாக முறைசாராக் கல்வி, வாழ்க்கை நீடித்த கல்வி, தொடர்கல்வி எனப் பலவற்றை இனங்காண முடியும். இவற்றில் ஆரம்பக்கல்வி, இடைநிலைக்கல்வி, உயர்கல்வி என்னும் கல்வி நிலைகளே முறைசார்ந்த (Formal) கல்வியின் பிரதான நிலைகள் அல்லது கூறுகளாகும்.
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