Panchaamritam - 1
ONE
Meet Elango. Age 12 years. A helper in a roadside automobile mechanic's shop in T.Nagar, Chennai. A town bus speeds past him as he stands near his shop. Elango notices something unusual with the bus; he hears a sharp noise from under the running bus. Yes, the transmission rod - rear axle joint had broken and the bus was about to go out of the driver's control. Elango decided to raise an alarm. He started running along with the bus shouting "stop, stop!" The driver applied the brake and the bus ground to a halt. All the fifty-odd passengers got down and learnt that their lives had been saved by the efforts of Elango. They heaved a sigh of relief. When they looked for the one who saved them all, they found the boy walking back to his shop calmly. A traffic constable who witnessed all this ran up to Elango. In gratefulness he offered to buy a breakfast for him. Elango politely declined the offer and kept on walking toward his workspot.
(Based on a news item which appeared
in the Chennai edition of INDIAN EXPRESS in 1982).
TWO
Meet 14 year old Om Prakash. A roadside dweller of Jammu in Jammu - Kashmir state. Once G.M.Jagtiani, a journalist from Mumbai, engaged him to carry his luggage. He took pity on the boy and gave a little more money. Om Prakash won't touch it. He said he would not accept alms. Jagtiani, in appreciation, left a few copies of his booklet with Om Prakash; asked him to sell them and send him the proceeds after deducting a commission. A few weeks later Jagtiani received the due amount. He was overwhelmed and sent back the same to the boy as a token of his happiness over the lad's honesty. To his utter dismay the money came back with the note that the addressee was dead. Om Prakash had died of frost bite while he was asleep at the roadside in that Himalayan state.
(Based on a Letter To The Editor by Jagtiani published in the Mumbai edition of THE TIMES OF NDIA).
THREE
Dahipara. A hamlet of Orissa 5 kilometres away from the coast. It had - yes, had - a population of 1,050. Of these, 587 were killed by a super cyclone which devastaed 5 coastal taluks of the state in October 1999. Even as the survivers of Dahipara were trying to adjust to their life in makeshift polythene jhuggies in the relief camp, an earthquake struck parts of Gujarat. These villagers of Orissa managed to collect Rs. 7,000. This they promptly handed over to the Chief Minister of Orissa with a request that the amount be sent to the quake hit families of Gujarat.
(Based on a report in THE HINDU dated February 22, 2001)
Meet the people of village Pokharan in the middle of the deserts of Rajastan. They have witnessed two underground nuclear tests, one in 1974 and the other in May 1998. Prior to the second test, one defence department official had a chat with some of the villagers. He hinted that some army men will be patrolling the place as a routine. To his surprise the villagers responded, "Sir, it is the bomb, is it not? We shall keep the secret. Don't worry." They did. Even the effforts of the CIA's surveilance satellites failed to locate the spot of implosion, media reports revealed later.
(Based on a 1998 INDIA TODAY cover story by Raj Chengappa).
FIVE
The intersection of the then Mount Road and Nungambakkam High Road in Chennai was once the 'Gemini Circle'. About 35 years back, on a busy hour, a man lay there on the roadside in a pool of blood, screaming for help. Seemed to be a road accident. Office-goers were rushing to their offices - after a split second glance at the man. Lakshmi had no office to rush to. Once her eyes fell on the pathetic scene, not a second was wasted. She threw aside the construction worker's 'bond' on her head with the spade and her lunch box in it. Gathered the victim, put him in an autorikshaw and sped off to the hospital. This timely step helped save the man. Of course, Lakshmi had to part with her tiny nose - ring made of gold to pay the auto fare. Add to this the loss of that day's wage which Lakshmi would otherwise have earned by dint of hard work at some construction site. But had she the mind to calculate it all? No chance.
(Based on a report in DINAMANI, a Chennai Tamil daily).
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Panchaamritam - 2
ONE
Shivanna,35, works on daily wages at depot 4 of the Majestic bus stand, Bangalore. All the same, his wealth is boundless. They call it honesty. It was October 12, 2001. While on job, he found an envelop among the parcels of a newspaper office. It contained a cheque for Rs.1.75 lakhs. He handed it over to the police.The city police commissioner patted him for his honesty and honoured him. This is actually a déjà vu experience for Shivanna. In 1997, he had found a Rs.43.67 lakh cheque at Majestic bus stand and had passed it on to the police.
(Based on a report in DINAMANI [Tamil Daily] of October 16, 2001).
TWO
Revathy Sankaran, a Chennai - based television artiste is also adept at a few fine arts. She is an exponant of quite a few folk art forms as well. But the mention of her hobby made Ramya, a mass communications post gratuate course senior student, sit up while the artiste was being interviewed by her: Revathy Sankaran said she collects human hair. With a purpose. Cancer patients lose hair and go bald at a very young age. Revathy noticed it during one of her solace-giving visits as a volunteer to the Cancer Research Centre, Adayar. She also learnt that the Centre has a gadget which converts locks of loose hair fed into it into wigs for use by patients. Then on, she never forgets to insist everyone she meets to carefully collect the hair that falls while combing the head daily and send it to the Centre. Ramya joined the hair donor brigade only too readily.
(As narrated by an eyewitness).
THREE
The human body has 186 bone joints which allow movements. Performing one Surya Namaskar done in ten steps activates all the 186 joints, says Dr.N.Gopalakrishnan, a senior scientist of CSIR, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and adds, “the WHO has declared that Surya Namaskar is the king of all exercises”.
(Heard at a recent conclave of CHIDAMBARAM, a Chennai-based think tank).
FOUR
“Power corrupts and absolute power absolutely” – not at all in the case of Perumkarunai, the panchayat chairperson of Thellaru, a village near Kanchipuram in Tamilnadu centuries back. A case came up before her one day. Women of the village complained to her that a man tried to misbehave with them on their way to the river to take bath. The culprit was summoned. Perumkarunai pronounced a punishment on him: Everyday, starting the following day, he will have to sweep the entrance of the village Shiva temple clean and spinkle water there for forty days. The next day dawned. To the utter surprise of the villgers, their first lady was seen in front of the temple, broomstick and waterpot in hand, busy cleaning the entance in lieu of the culprit. She explained her action thus: “Yesterday I had to punish the culprit, which I did as a chairperson. As you all know, he is my husband and so to share his hardship, I decided as his wife to undergo the punishment myself.” No wonder the villagers honoured her with the tiltle ‘kudikkurai theertha naachiyaar’ meaning ‘the lady who remedied people’s woes’ and got it inscribed on a stone at the entrance of rhe Shiva temple.
(Based on a DINAMANI report about the rock edict).
FIVE
Meet Smt.Amudhavalli. She works as a graduate teacher in the G.R.M. Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Thiruvaarur (near Thanjavur) in Tamilnadu. Schools or families which want to establish a herbal plants garden, consult her and she happily comes forward with her expertise and distributes to them medicinal herb saplings free of cost as well.
(Information culled from a letter to the editor written by a reader[Smt.M.Chandrabai of Cholavaram] published by DINAMANI, Tamil daily, on October 16, 2001).
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Panchaamritam - 3
ONE
Imagine this: Dawn to dusk, a 64-year old person undergoes a self-imposed grinding schedule for seven months. Does not take rest even for a single day. All this, for the benefit of his village. End your imagination here. In Ayyampaalayam, Tiruchirapalli district, Tamilnadu, Bharat, river Kaveri flows girding the village. Wild shrubs grew all along the bank narrowing the riverbed. Thus, water flow was constricted. Also, the bushes consumed scarce water considerably. Shri.C.Valliyappan single-handedly weeded out the shrubs. He burnt them down so that they will not reappear. He thus cleared an 8 kilometre-stretch of the riverbed in all these months of ceaseless labour. Labour of love, of course. For all this, Valliyappan does not have any income worth mentioning and lives in a rented house in the village. The Tamilnadu state government, in appreciation, granted Valliyapan a sum of Rs.3 lakhs.
(Based on a news item in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, Chennai Edition, November 19, 2002).
TWO
The branch manager of Indian Bank, Kancheepuram, Tamilnadu, Bharat, was talking to press persons. At one stage, his voice choked. He was telling them the story of Mangalam. The story: One Shri.Elumaalai, a landless farm hand, had borrowed Rs.1,000 from the bank. Before he could repay in full, Elumalai died. His wife Mangalam managed to make both ends meet by working as a housemaid. She gathered cow dung, made cow dung cakes and sold them. She could thus save enough to remit the loan instalment month after month. The manager came to know the pitiable condition of her family. He offered to write off the outstanding part of the debt. To this the response of Mangalam was: “ Sir, if I do not repay in full, my husband’s atma will not attain shanti”. (Sorry, the last sentence cannot be rendered into English adequately).
(Based on a report in THE HINDU two decades back).
THREE
Vypeen. One of the islands off Ernakulam in Kerala. In early ‘80s, nearly ninety persons lost their lives in a hooch tragedy. Hundreds were hospitalised in the small town of Ernakulam. The hospitals soon ran out of their stock of saline solution. To keep up the level of first aid to the victims, doctors advised intake of large quantities of filtered tender coconut. The word spread. Within hours, bullock-cart loads of tender coconuts from the nearby villages were heaped in front of every hospital in the town. Courtesy: The owners of coconut palm groves. They had learnt of the tragedy. The SOS by the doctors was enough. Spontaneously they despatched the life-saving cartloads. They expected nothing in return but the lives of their neighbours.
(Based on a front page box item carried by the New Delhi edition of THE STATESMAN daily).
FOUR
Five-year-old Lokesh is a pupil of Nidhi Vinay Mandir, a school in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Bharat. He is a heart patient since birth. He needed a surgery costing Rs.80.000. His father, Radheshyam Kuril is a helper in a footwear shop and earns Rs.60 per day. Palak Munchal, the eight year old wonder singer of the same town, came forward to help Lokesh. She raised Rs.51,000 through her charity shows. The event was publicised by the media. Doctors of the Manipal Heart Foundation (MHF) in distant Bangalore heard about the case. They offered to operate Lokesh for free. MHF’s large-heartedness enabled Palak to offer the money to Lokesh’s family. Radheshyam Kuril, Lokesh’s father, requested that the money be used to help other children requiring heart surgery.
( Based on a report by N.K.Singh in INDIA TODAY dated July 31, 2000).
FIVE
Ramaiah’s daughter came back from school with headache one day. The school had no trees and so no shade for children to play. The hot sun had caused her headache. Then and there, Ramaiah resolved to plant one crore (yes,1 followed by 7 zeros) trees in his lifetime. In right earnest, he set out on his bicycle loaded with bags full of saplings. He went to each and every school in his Kammam district, Andhra Pradesh, Bharat. He related the value of each sapling to the school kids and exhorted them to take personal interest in planting, watering and guarding it. They responded in a big way. Soon the number of trees planted by Ramaiah’s unsparing efforts swelled into lakhs. The district authorities took note, and he was co-opted into the government body monitoring afforestation in the area.
Panchaamritam - 4
ONE
A remote hamlet in Nagapattinam district, Tamilnadu, Bharat, has made a giant leap into the pages of the record books. The people of Nagapattinam district, led by Nagapattinam district administration, planted 80,244 tree saplings at Naaluvedhapathi village in Vedaranyam taluk in the district, all in a matter of 24 hours on December 3,2002. The event was an attempt at ensuring a place in the pages of the Guinness World Records.They are already on their way to realise their dream. Of course, on their way, the villagers will have a lot more shade in hot sun.
(Based on newspaper reports the next day. Idea: Shri. Arun Venkat Ramamurthy).
TWO
During World War II, in early 1940s, Japanese forces bombarded Burma(Myanmar). Among several sections of the population which fled in haste was the Nagarathar community originally hailing from Chettinadu in Tamilnadu, Bharat. The main occupation of many belonging to Nagarathar community was pawnbroking (moneylending against mortgaged jewels). While fleeing for life, Nagarathar men carried along ornaments mortgaged with them by the Burmese. They trekked nearly 1,000 miles. Once in their native Chettinadu, these pawnbrokers appointed Gorkhas as security persons and protected the jewels during riots and robberies rampant in Chettinadu in 1942. Later, with permission from the Reserve Bank of India, they carried the jewels back to Rangoon and other places in Burma and meticulously returned every piece of jewellery to its owner to the utter surprise of the latter. For all this, it must be pointed out, on mere trust most moneylending transactions had been going on! It is a rock edict commandment in Velangudi, a village deep inside Chettinadu (now in Sivaganga district) that has instilled the inspiring trait of honesty in those Nagarathar moneylenders.
(Based on a reference in ‘CHETTINADUM SENTAMILUM’, a book by Somale published in 1984 by Vanathi Pathippakam, Chennai-600 017; Page 601).
THREE
While the microbiology department of the University of Kuopio in Finland is doing an impact assessment of cow urine on allergies induced by animal allergens, Shri. Virendra Jain of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Bharat, buys 50 litres of cow urine from dairies, filters it by distillation and distributes it to the persons with various ailments from ‘stomach trouble’ to cancer who queue up in front of his house every morning. Three years back, Shri. Jain says, he had treated his mother’s cancer after ‘doctors’ gave up all hope. She survived and got rid of the cancer completely.
(Based on an OFFTRACK item carried by INDIA TODAY, May 21, 2001).
FOUR
It is daybreak. Sixty-year-old Shri.R.Muthuswami walks up to a house, invites the family living there to the village temple and walks back to the temple. When the family comes to the temple, he feeds them after they worship. He walks to nearby villages too to invite one family a day to the temple. This is part of Muthuswamy’s daily routine. Other aspects of his routine include helping about 100 village children of elementary classes in their lessons from 4 to 6 in the evenings, in the temple premises. He stays in the temple itself; only occasionally goes to his house nearby. Why Muthuswami has chosen this temple – centric life? Because it is he who built the temple in that village. His native village: It is Murungapatti in Salem district of Tamilnadu, Bharat. It took him Rs. 21 lakhs to construct the temple. The amount comprises donations from the villagers to the tune of Rs.15 lakhs and – this is important – Muthuswami’s retirement benefits (he served as an elementary school teacher from 1961 to 2001). Here, a little simple but inspiring arithmetic: On his retirement, Muthuswami had received Rs.7 lakhs. Of this, he gifted Rs.50,000 each to his two sons and the remaining Rs.6 lakhs to the son of Lord Shiva, that is Karthikeya, the presiding deity in the Murungapatti temple ! Add to this Rs.4,000 per month that he offers to the temple. This one is his pension amount !!
(Based on a DINAMANI report).
FIVE
Raghavaiah, the roadside cobbler. As any repairer of chappals and polisher of shoes is described. One fine morning, he started setting up shop – spreading his tools. On the platform near the Railway colony bus stop in Ayanavaram in north Chennai. Just then his eyes fell on a bag lying on the road. Raghavaiah picked it up. He found it contained Rs. 12,000 in cash and some documents and handed it over to the neighbourhood welfare association. Things moved fast after that. The owner of the bag was identified and was informed. He was called to Ayanavaram to take possession of his bag. One Palani was the owner. He intended the cash to be remitted as his daughter’s school admission fees. On recovering his bag in tact, Palani was greatly relieved. In gratitude, he offered a sum to Raghavaiah. Politely refusing to accept it, Raghavaiah started walking towards his roadside shop.To stitch torn chappals all day for a few rupees each.
(DINAMALAR,Tamil Daily, reported this event on 19-6-2002 and ANANDAVIKATAN, Tamil Weekly, featured it beautifully in its issue dated 7-7-2002. ‘CHENNAI MEDIA CENTRE NEWS’, a Tamil fortnightly, patted both these publications for having brought to light this great act of goodness of Raghavaiah).
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Panchaamritam - 5
ONE
The ministry of defence is working towards developing secret codes using Sanskrit (of late, spelt as Samskritam). The 'Panini methodology' of the language is to be applied in keeping the information under wrap. In his work Ashtaadhyayi, we find Panini’s method of coding in which maximum could be said in a little space. This involves two steps comprising a combination of 4000 sutras. First, a sutra once used in his work is never repeated, and is replaced by a code, says Dr. Prakash Pandey, assistant director for research and development, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. Second, Panini created situation-based principles, termed adhikar sutras, wherein you find a change in code once in a few hundred words making it impossible for an intruder to comprehend anything. At this rate, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and all the hacks in Muslim countries may hasten to learn Sanskrit even before the Hindus do, to break the codes, that is! Even if a terrorist breaks a code using Panini methodology, he will not be able to decode, as he will not be in a position to decipher which code had been used for what purpose. This can really solve many problems that the ministry of defence faces for lack of a reliable coding system. Union home secretary N. Gopalaswami had announced that a software firm in Bangalore he had asked to develop a coding system after studying the methodology used by Panini, informed Dr. Pandey.
(Idea: Shri. Arun Venkataraman).
TWO
The following letter appeared in "Dear Abby," a syndicated column published in hundreds of U.S. newspapers: “Dear Abby, I am a Hindu woman living in the 'Bible Belt' [southern USA]. Many of my friends and acquaintances are Christians, and they are all wonderful -- except for one thing. Some try in small, subtle ways to convert me to their faith. With Christmas approaching, I know what's coming -- boxes of baked goodies with little brochures and pamphlets tucked inside all about Jesus and the Christian faith. I wish you would remind people that all of us in this diverse nation should respect the faiths of others. To try to convert someone to your faith implies that you consider your religious beliefs superior, and that is just plain wrong. I know these gestures are well meant, but I wouldn't dream of sending Hindu brochures with my holiday goodies. Abby, what is a tactful, but firm, way of dealing with this?" Signed, Happy Hindu In The Bible Belt. Abby's response: Dear Happy Hindu, much as you would like, you are not going to change people who feel it's part of their religious commitment to "save" you. Ignore the brochures and enjoy the goodies.
(Based on a CHICAGO TRIBUNE (December 21, 2002) feature under headline ‘American Advice Columnist Responds To A Hindu's Concern’).
THREE
A Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh, Bharat) boy has literally had his niche carved in the galaxy for his brilliant invention. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US, has named '12509 Pathak' - a recently spotted minor planet between Mars and Jupiter - after Madhav Pathak - a Class X student. "We feel proud to name the minor planet discovered by LINEAR programme in honour of students and teachers recognised by Science Service Programmes", says a letter from the Lincoln Laboratory, US. Pathak has earned the rare honour for his innovation 'Nova Front Face Braille Writer' that helps the visually handicapped to read and write from left to right like a normal person. The visually impaired person writes from right to left and then turns over the punched paper sheet to read what is written.The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR) of India has got this invention of Madhav patented as co-assignee. Pathak is being awarded first prize, carrying Rs 50,000 cash at the CSIR Diamond Jubilee Awards, for 'Invention of School Children'. .He has also bagged the World Intellectual Research Organisation (WIPO) Award for the "Outstanding Student Inventor". (Yoga master of world renown, Shri. B.K.S. Iyengar too had been honoured likewise years back. The Ministry of Federal Star Registration, USA, had named a star in the northern hemisphere after the master. )
(Idea: Shri. Arun Venkataraman).
FOUR
S.Satyamoorthy(now 66) had to retire prematurely in 1993 since he suddenly lost vision in both eyes. He was working as Office Superintendent in Chennai Port Trust. He has been writing for children in Tamil magazines for decades under pen name ‘Pooram’. He is the recipient of several awards for his literary work. A native of Pudukkottai, he lives in Triplicane, Chennai. Every day, he ventures out taking the help of others, to teach Veda recitation to about 15 boys. “ I have learnt Vedas. One cannot learn Vedas with the help of printed books or pre recorded cassettes, you see”, says Satyamoorthy. On January 13, 2003, he was awarded ‘Vidya Seva Ratna’ by Kanchi Sankaracharya.
(Based on a DINAMANI report of January 12, 2003.)
FIVE
He was just 36. But, late Shri. Gulshan Kumar was so successful in selling his T-series cassettes that he reached the top of the list of Income Tax payers for 1992-93. The total amount that this staunch believer in God paid as tax that year was Rs. 3,94,88,913 (a little less than Rs. 4 crore). While other businessmen express their pride at evading taxes, Gulshan Kumar whose turnover that year was Rs. 200 crore, felt that paying his taxes was equivalent to charity. “I dreamt of the gods telling me that the best way to please them was through charity, be it through giving alms or contributing to the government’s coffers ”, he said. Shri. Kumar had started his career as a fruit - juice shop owner in Delhi; he was reportedly murdered by members of Mumbai’s underworld, for ignoring their extortion threat.
(Based on a ‘PEOPLE’ column item in
BUSINESS TODAY, October 22—November 6, 1993).
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