தாய் தந்நை

ஒரு வேளை "தா" என்று சொல்லாமலேயே நமக்கு
உடலும் உயிரும்,
அன்பும் அறிவும்,
பாசமும் அறவணைப்பும்
கொடுத்ததால் என்னவோ
அவர்களை நாம் தாய் தந்நை என்று அழைக்கிறோம்?

- முரளி

முதியோர்கள்

முதியோர்கள்
நீ எப்போதும் உன் தாய் தந்நைக்கு மகன்,
ஆனால் அவர்கள் மட்டும் எப்படி உனக்கு முதியோர்கள் ஆனார்கள்?

- முரளி

Hong Kong

Ocean Park




















Repulse Bay
















The Peak

















I had recently been to Hong Kong (HK) on a short official trip This is my second visit which was for 10 days. HK comprises of a peninsula and Hong Kong, Lantau islands etc.
Hong Kong island is a small island, very busy, noisy, polluted with many skyscrapers.
On the road you can see a mixture of modern and tradition, high raise modern skyscrapers and adjacent small typical Chinese style building. The skyscrapers are so tall and so close to each other that it creates a wall effect. People fear that even wind is suffering due to this.

HK has good public transport, entertainment, lots of shopping mall. I am not sure when people
sleep. The mall (eg Causeway Bay) are even crowded at midnight. During this visit I used cabs and trains(MTR) for public transport. Unlike Singapore, the trains are long. So each exit takes you to different places. My workplaces was at Taikoo place in Quarry Bay. Exit A of Quarry Bay takes me to the place directly. Exit C takes me three Tram (another mode of public transport) stops away from the Taikoo place.

The climate was very cold, foggy and cloudy. Temperature on average read between 14-19 degree Centigrade. No jet lags (same timezone) but my body had to undergo a severe and rapid change to withstand this temperature from the hot and humid weather of Singapore.
Winters is not new to me as I stayed in Bangalore for years. But the difference in weather I felt between HK and modern day Bangalore (they say old old Bangalore was much colder and greener) is that in Bangalore you feel cold during early morning, late evening and while vehicle driving and days are relatively warmer and manageable. But in HK, I felt chill weather all the time except on a Sunday when I went to Ocean Park.

Ocean Park, is an aquarium plus amusement park. Well organized, big and entertaining. A day can be easily spent in Ocean Park. Sea lions, sharks, walrus feature in the ocean aquarium. There are many other beautiful marine beings but these are the three magnificent creatures I wish to mention here since I am seeing them for the first time in my life (discovery+NGC+Animal Planets not included).

I also went off ground in a air balloon in Ocean Park.

Two other place I could cover in the trip - The Peak and Repulse Bay.

The bay is not as big as my Chennai (Madras) Marina Beach, but it has its own beauty. Mountains on three sides and the blue sea on the fourth side with tiny green uninhabited islands visible to our naked in the sea filling your mind with picturesque tranquility. Though the sunset is not visible since it happens behind the mountain on the right guarding the bay, the wait to see the turn of blue sky to orange red, waves and cold breeze keeping you entertained with their unison musical and dance performance is highly rewarding.

I took the peak tram to go to the peak. A peak is a small mountain near the city. It has a watching tower on the top of a shopping mall. It was very cold and windy there. You can get a amazing view of all the well lit skyscrapers, harbors, jetty terminals, highways etc from the peak. Madam Tussuad also afeatures in the peak's crown.

I was staying in Wanchai, Hong Kong Island. Wanchai is a place with lots of night bars, dance clubs, restaurants and SPAs with women freaking out in front of these and on roads gathering customers and clients. Not sure about the rest of HK, but this place is quite a happening place. I saw almost every European and Americans escorted by a local girl. hmm, in tamil we say Kalli muthi poe-ichu (simply it could mean as: things have changed a lot from the traditional, conservative and moral way).

Thought of seeing the Lantau Island giant Buddha statue and Disney Land, but did not find enough time to cover these places.

எப்படி காதல் வருகிறது என்று?

யாருக்காவுது தெரியுமா எப்படி காதல் வருகிறது என்று?
தெரியாது, காதலித்தவனுக்கே தெரியாது.
தெரியாத ஒன்றை கேட்டும், படித்தும், உண்ர்ந்தும் அறிந்துக்கொள்ளாம்.
அவ்வாறு செய்ய இயலாத ஒன்று, அது காதல் தான்.
காதல் செய்யாதவன் இருக்கிறார்களா?
இல்லை, கடவுள் கூட காதல் என்னும் காந்த அலையால் தாக்கப்பட்டவன் தான்.
இவன் ஏன் நமக்கு தெரிந்ததேயே சொல்கிறான் என்று நீங்கள் நினைக்காலம். ஏன் நானே கூட எப்படி தான் நினைக்கிறேன். என்ன செய்வது? காதல் என்னும் கடலில் தீக்முக்காடி முத்துக் குளிக்க சென்றவர்கள் இப்படி தான் ஊறுவார்கள்!

தமிழில் ஒரு சிறிய கடிதம

பல வருடங்களுக்கு பிறகு நான் என் அப்பா அம்மாவுக்கு தமிழில் ஒரு சிறிய கடிதம் எழுதினேன். என் கைகள் நடங்கின.வார்த்தைகள் வர மறுத்தன. வடித்தவை பிழைகளுடன் தடுமாறி எழுத்துகளாக மாறின. முன்பு தொலைபேசி, ஈ-மெயில் வந்த காலத்திற்கு முன்பு ஒரு முக்கால் ருபாயில் வரும் இன்லாந்து லெட்டரில் கொஞ்சம் கூட இடம் விடாமல் கடிதம் எழுதியது ஞாபகம் வந்தது. உள்ளுக்குள் நானே சிரித்துக் கொண்டேன்.

ThalaiNagaram

I happen to see the movie ThalaiNagaram in TV. It was a real surprise for me that it was from Sundar.C who directed my all time favorite Anbe Sivam. Even though I could not find anything wrong in his attempt but at the same time nothing to praise. Why Sundar?

Library

If there is one place in the world where I would like to spend rest of my life then it is the library. Internet has brought information to us just a click away. But I still feel that libraries can never be replaced. Internet is a ready reckoner, available everywhere and anywhere. Books are heavier, non-interactive, unavailable. But to master something and enjoy reading, I feel it can be only through a book.

When I see the ocean of books in the library, I feel humiliated and humbled. When am I going to read all these books? But every time you get this feeling there is a new source of energy flowing in propelling me to read more and many more. I remember those days I used to spend many hours in children section of Mylapore Ramakrishna Mutt library with my younger brother reading Tintin and Asterix. These days I invent time to keep my reading habit going. OK it is time for me to do some reading. Bye bye.

Life in Singapore

Life has been always hectic for most of us. India has many places to go around. But I had never ventured out in India over the weekends or during holidays. Reasons could be many - Inadequate facilities in transportation, accommodation, information etc. So we get contend that India has many places to offer but we have never been too. Many of us, Indians, say that we have not seen Taj Mahal yet (or any other important places in India)!! Is it a matter of pride?

Singapore is a very small city country. It has many (in fact only few) avenues for entertainment travel and sports (many thousands of Shopping malls). Over many weekends we plan and execute visits to these places one after the another. We are tempted to cover all the places in Singapore. Reasons could be only few - adequate facilities in transportation, information etc. What could be driving us for this change in Singapore?
Is it money or facilities or Countable availability of places?

But sometimes I feel in Singapore to ease our stress we take these weekend trips. But over a period of time we get bored and tired with heavy work over the weekdays and tiring outing on weekends.

I never felt bored in India. May be it is happy to be at ease. Who can defy Newton's First Law of inertia?

Cricket

I love cricket. I am not only a good fan of cricket but a pretty decent player too. I had played cricket so much against the liking of my father. I wasn't even worrying that I was jobless when I played the game. Unfortunately I never tried to play at any big level. Cricket thought me gamesmanship.
Now I have totally stopped playing cricket but feel contend. Cricket will be always there fresh in my memories until my death.

தை பூசம்

நான் வாழும் சீங்கபூரில் தை பூசம் மிக சிறப்பாக கொண்டாடிப் பட்டது. இதை பார்க்கும் போழுது தமிழர் மனம் பக்தி மற்றும் சந்தோசத்தால் பரவசம் அடைந்தது.

விந்தையடா

பெரியார் பாதை என்று ஆத்திகம் பேசி வந்த மதிப்புக்குறிய நமது மாண்புமிகு தமிழக முதல்வர் கலைஞ்ர் கருணாநிதி இப்போது அவசியம் சென்று பார்ப்து சாமியார்களை !!! என்தை விந்தையடா உலகம் இது!!!

Dreams

Dream world.

We all dream. Some live in dreams and some make their dream come true. A dream in reality is called aim or ambition. A dream in conscious mind is what we think of. But this thinking is limited and more analytical. In dreams we think of many abstract things, event and drama. True that a sleep without dreams is sound sleep. It generally can occurs after a total physical worn out. But not often we get such a sound sleep and some have trouble of even getting a sleep. So dreams are more or less certain to come to all of us.

What may come in dream? When we are young in dreams we see images of what we see in real life. When children see a horror movie they get horrific dreams. The same is not the case when we grow up. We are influenced by what we had seen in childhood and also by new topics: future life, sex and romance.

Our success in life all depends on how much we pursue our dreams.

Haven't you started dreaming?

My first Tamil attempt

Greetings in Tamil.

வணக்கம்

The Meaning of Failure

Article I read recently in a forwarded mail and found it very thought provoking.

The Meaning of Failure – By Dr. Annette Colby, RD

Failure is one of those life experiences most of us would rather not encounter. Generally we tend to connect failure with intense self-judgment and inner criticism. The fear of failure is so strong, we often become hesitant to focus on inner dreams because of past failures. We would rather not fail again.

It’s easier to say, “Oh well, I tried” then to view failure as what it really is: an expected component in the process of change. Failures are so difficult because they trigger and initially reinforce limiting beliefs that we already hold about ourselves.

Beliefs which may include: I’m not good enough to have what I want (unlovable, undeserving, unworthy). Related life issue of love I can’t have what I want (different, an outsider, alone, nothing, should not be on earth at all). Related life issue of belonging and acceptance I’m not good enough. I am basically a bad person, and this is the reason for my failure (defective, flawed, imperfect, bad, fat, guilty, imperfect, failure). Related life issue of esteem I’m powerless to effect change (hopeless, useless, defeated). Related life issue of survival, self, empowerment, perseverance. My needs and desires will not ever be met (vulnerable, helpless, afraid).

Related life issue of security Failure in itself isn’t so bad; it’s the belief that gets triggered along with the associated uncomfortable emotions that we wish to avoid. It’s often painful to face a belief rising to the surface that suggests we are unworthy or unacceptable. Somewhere in our lifetimes, the word failure became synonymous with the word “loser.” There’s often great embarrassment and even shame for grownups to have this experience of failure. Yet as children we repeatedly allowed ourselves to fail. Without failure none of us would have learned how to walk, talk, write, or even ride a bicycle. As adults, we shy away from new experiences to avoid risking failure.

Truth about Failure “Knowledge rests not upon truth alone, but upon error also.” – Carl Jung, 1875-1961, Swiss Psychiatrist

Failure is not bad. Actually, it’s probably the only way to become successful. The obstacles, setbacks and stumbling blocks are an anticipated aspect of any journey. Failure is really just feedback telling us to adjust the plan or to try a new approach. It is essential to success. While it’s certainly a giant leap to welcome failure with open arms, perhaps we can begin with acceptance that failure is a natural aspect of every ultimately successful journey.

The only true failure is when we concede defeat and absolutely give up. Failure is when we beat ourselves up and learn nothing from our setbacks. Confucius is quoted as saying, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.” If we embrace our failures along with our successes, learning from each, we will grow and achieve. The only people who do not fail are those who fail to try.

A little known formula for success is that success happens because of failure. Legend has it that Thomas Edison attempted 10,000 different filaments before successfully creating the electric light bulb. When asked if he ever felt discouraged with so many failures, he answered none of his attempts were failures. They were each successful experiments in finding what didn't work!

Henry Ford went bankrupt 3 times before he created a car that worked. Colonel Sanders was 65 years old when he tried to sell his chicken recipe. He took this recipe to over 1,000 restaurants before he found a buyer. Walt Disney spoke with over 297 banks before he was able to attain a loan for his successful dream.

The National Weight Control Registry is a research study established in 1994 that seeks to gather information from people who have successfully lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least one year. They investigate long-term successful body weight-loss maintenance. They report that everyone who successfully loses and maintains this loss has tried to achieve success before. Part of their success was what they had learned from past failures. The Lesson of Failure What’s the lesson in this? Successful people fail more often than unsuccessful people. In fact, they fail over and over and over again. It’s the failures themselves that provide learning experiences. Wisdom and enlightenment to succeed come from failure. Successful people don’t give up because they’ve failed. Instead they sit back and view these experiences as learning opportunities.

As we go about the process of achieving a goal or dream, we will run into all sorts of obstacles, limitations and setbacks. Why? Because we don’t know how to do whatever it is we are trying to do. On top of that, we don’t believe we can actually have what is wanted. Encountering obstacles, even a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, doesn’t prove we can’t have what is wanted. We’ve simply reached the edge of a boundary. Not knowing how to do something can threaten self-esteem and confidence. This is where expansion of the spirit is possible.

What do we tell ourselves when we find ourselves facing a failure? This is the point where we teach ourselves new leadership skills of converting threats into opportunities. We can learn how to allow support from above and below. Admitting we don’t know the next step (but we’ll know soon) demonstrates faith in ourselves and faith in being supported. To be successful, we need to design an alternative paradigm for failure. In other words, redefine failure in a manner allowing ourselves to see whatever happens not as failure, but as “information.” From there, it becomes possible to gather and access this new information and include it in a revised plan.

During the momentary failure, we must be able to recall the excitement of the long-term big picture vision while intentionally choosing to listen to the supportive inner voices. Then we can stand strong once again in our original desire and dream, while determining how to best adjust the plan and the next action step.

Failure can be used as another tool on the continuous journey to a deeper appreciation of self and love for self. We have choices: Failure can be utilized either as a way to close our heart down even more to ourselves and others, or the experience can be a stepping stone to opening our heart even further. We can view failure as evidence of our inherent internal flaws as a human being. Or we can look to find the emotional and spiritual lessons embedded within the failure.

To be human is to experience failure. Nothing is, or ever was, wrong with who we are. Failure can guide us toward a leap of faith. We are capable, ultimately, of overcoming any obstacle, any problem or any situation connected with our dream. Why else would we have a particular dream unless it was ours to manifest? From within we can find the courage to walk toward what we really want in life. We can learn to encourage and support ourselves through the good times and especially the bad times. Love that you are overcoming fear and attempting something new -- no matter what the outcome. Of course there will be failures along the way. An entire new set of skills is being learned. When an occasional failure is experienced -- get up, dust yourself off, access the new information, believe in yourself and begin again.

About the Author:

Helping people let go of self-destructive thoughts, emotions and behaviors has been the life work of Dr. Annette Colby. Her fascination with the power of the mind, emotions, spirituality and physicality has led her to become a leader in the field of personal growth and consciousness. She is a valued counselor and an inspiring teacher, as well as an independent writer, mentor and guide. She is a highly sought-after trainer with a unique ability to inform and inspire individuals to open their hearts, love more openly and pursue their dreams.

My first step

I always wanted to write my thoughts. Sometimes I used to have a personal diary where I used to make note of my thoughts and expenditure details. Often I used to feel the burden of protecting the privacy of my personal diary. Many times the dairy has turned out to be my rough note book after the personal data pages removed .

Actor Kamal Haasan, once wrote in a Tamil magazine that all the intimate expression of love between lovers which in (g)olden days used to be in the form of invaluable poems, folk songs etc, has survied history. But presently these expressions has transformed into SMS, phone calls and Emails. They are not documented and stored.

I could overcome my apprehensions that I had on writing when I heard about blog and read the blog page of my dear friend Sathia (http://msathia.blogspot.com/). I drew inspiration from reading his good posts. I realised that people all over the world are pouring their thoughts through internet. I felt that I can now go and mingle with the romans in rome.Thanks to my friend Sathia for opening my eyes into the world of blogging.

I hope I can fulfil my longing for writing.

Hello World

Hi
Hello World. This is G.Muralidharan from Madras (Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India.
Welcome aboard to my world.
In this world you can read, see and feel on varieties of topics.
Hope your stay in this world is a thrilling experience.