P S SUNDAR'S ARTICLE ON HIS SON -- 10:

WE MISS BUT RECALL OUR SON ....

By P S SUNDAR

Today marks the 14th demise anniversary of our son Vignesh.

On every anniversary, I had written highlights from the 16 short years he had spent with us.

This time, I thought of recalling his sojourn with us with his motivating article published in Chennai edition of The New Indian Express on July 10, 2002.. ( the scan of the article appears here)..

Express says in this article that Vignesh hoped to become a Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant and Company Secretary like me, but he passed away when he was studying in Plus Two in Chennai.

So, his dreams remained unfulfilled but he lives in our dreams every single day...

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com) 

LIFE ENRICHMENT -- 17:

UPGRADED OLD AGE HOME PROVIDES COMFORT TO DESERTED ELDERS 

BY P S SUNDAR.

A treatise on M N Trust's 'Anbalayam' Old Age Home in Denalai village, 10 kilometres from Coonoor, appears in this blog as LIfe Enrichment - 4 ::Caring for elders, a passion and mission", reachable by clicking :: http://pssundarthinktank.blogspot.in/2013_12_01_archive.html.

The last highlight on the way the inmates deciding to donate their eyes appears as Life Enrichment -- 15 reachable by clicking :: 

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8418786817872308721#editor/target=post;postID=6327245195602307245;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=5;src=postname ..

Now, the Old Age Home has been re-dedicated to the deserted elders with lots of improvements in infrastructure ...

My article on this appears in The New Indian Express as under:: 

A glimpse of the infrastructure and activities at the upgraded Old Age Home now :: 

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)

LANDMARK -- 1 ::

'LEELA 80' -- A CELEBRATION STRESSING VALUES 

BY P S SUNDAR

Leela Raju, daughter of N Lingan, reached 80 years age on March 6, 2016.

we are seeking her blessings

i had documented the following three major articles in this blog on Lingan, the first Badaga lawyer and fist Indian Chainsaw of Ooty municipal council::


1. Lingan's contributions recalled with gratitude::

http://pssundarthinktank.blogspot.in/2013/11/nostalgia-3-lingans-contributions.html

2.  Re-dedication to follow Lingan's great ideals::

http://pssundarthinktank.blogspot.in/2013/11/nostalgia-4-re-dedication-to-follow.html

3. Lingan's 50th death anniversary ::

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8418786817872308721#editor/target=post;postID=7399189425944690158;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=16;src=postname.

Today, my article on 'LEELA 80'  has appeared in The New Indian Express as follows.

photographs have been added to make the blog more visually representative...

 LINGAN – LEELA’S ‘FAMILY TREE’ LAUNCHED

BY P S SUNDAR

The relatives of the world’s first Lawyer from Badaga, the predominant community of Nilgiris and the first post-Independent Indian Chairman of Ooty municipality N Lingan, launched his ‘family tree’ as part of 80^th birthday celebrations of his daughter Leela Raju here on Sunday.

“This is our befitting contribution to my father ahead of International Women’s Day on Tuesday as he had positive thoughts on educating women because of which, I became the second Badaga woman to go to University”, Leela told Express.

At ‘Leela 80’ function, she spoke of the high ideals imbedded in her by her father and urged younger generation to support women education and empowerment.  She exhorted women not to sacrifice their role to groom family members into responsible citizens.

“The family members have pledged to uphold Lingan’s and Leela’s great ideals for society’s overall enrichment”, Leela’s son and General Manager of Gateway Hotel Coonoor R Muralidharan said.

Executives of Gateway Hotel Coonoor greeting Leela Raju

(response can also be sent to : pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)

SEASONAL THOUGHTS:

A CHRISTMAS IN SUMMER

BY P S SUNDAR

Having witnessed Christmas season in many European countries over the years, I had a different experience of Christmas season in Australia and Fiji Island this month.

For one, in Europe and most countries elsewhere, Christmas season means peak winter and some in snowy conditions.    In Australia and Fiji, it is peak summer now.  I saw sun setting at 8.30 pm and rising at 5.30 am in Sydney.   The day temperature rose to 41 degrees Celsius with television channels screaming that it was historically high heat.   Clearly, it is Christmas in summer.

In Sydney, Christmas celebrations began on November 26 – a month ahead of Christmas – and will go into the New Year.   All over Australia, educational institutions are closed from November till February 2016.   Christmas business is peaking and students are seen working in such business houses to earn some money during their vacation.   This is more so for Indian students who prefer to remain there rather than spend on travelling to home.  I saw Indian postgraduate students (boys and girls) and PhD scholars working as waiters in Indian restaurants like Saravana Bhavan and local Taj.   “Usually, I do part-time work but now being Christmas vacation, I am doing full-time work”, Tinju a post-graduate student from Kerala, told me.

Christmas mood has been set in at Sydney with the icon Christmas Tree at Martin Place where people share their Christmas messages.  So too the  ‘Christmas Green’ at Hyde Park.  I saw volunteers sweating in the scorching sun in Sydney’s Opera House surroundings creating pavilions for Christmas concerts.   The very enjoyable ferry ride from the jetty near Parramatta to Circular Quay via underneath ANZAC Bridge and Darling Harbour Bridge gave me a feel of Christmas season with decorations on many buildings on river bank.

And at Circular Quay, a walk took me to Christmas Village Bizarre with street musicians and magicians in operation.   Further down, the Opera House surroundings stood testimony to Sydney’s determination to provide among the best Christmas attractions this year as I saw pavilions being erected to present music, fun and frolic.  The 200 years memorial at Royal Botanical Gardens also echoed Christmas sentiments.

“Every year, with my friends, we see Christmas and New Year world-class fireworks display at Sydney”, R Subramanian, an engineer in Goulbourn near Canberra said.

“Sydney never fails to impress.  Some highlights now include the world-renowned fireworks of Sydney’s New Year Eve and Sydney Festival”, says Australian Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres.

The Melbourne city has made it free travel in public transport.   I saw Christmas decorations all over the streets in Bourke’s, Lonsdale, Collins, Swanston, Elizabeth etc surrounding The Eureka Skydec.   Restaurants are busy attracting visitors with Christmas specials.  So too are textile shops where sale with discounts happens.   Gifts shops and Santa Claus are everywhere.   There are many Christmas markets in the side-streets.   The youth are spending many hours in the streets, eating, strolling, expressing love and fraternity.  Being summer, the youth are in their minimal possible dress – not so much to speak of Christmas dressing !

And, in the hype of all these, there are candles, cakes, colours, celebrations, cards, carols and countless gifts – but Church and Christ are missing.   “Once I was in New Zealand on Dec 24 night and wanted to attend a Christmas Mass when I discovered that Churches were closed because Priests were enjoying Christmas party with their kith and kin elsewhere”, Rani Baliah, staying in Suva, Fiji, told me.

“We celebrate New Year earlier than most of the world”, Nandu Naidu living in Suva said.    2016 will don there over seven hours earlier than it does in India. 

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)    

P S SUNDAR'S ARTICLE ON HIS SON -- 8::

THE DAY WHEN MY COMMUNICATION FAILED

BY P S SUNDAR

Communication, written and oral as also body language had always been hailed as my strongpoint.   Being a faculty of many institutions, international and domestic, I deliver a lot of lecture on varied topics.   Being a prolific writer in media, not a day passes without my article appearing in some publication or other.   So much so, replying to many people who want to know what I am doing, I have said, “Talking or writing is what I do .. reading and listening to strengthen these!”. 

But then, there was a day when I could not talk what I had to say... And, all I had to say were just three words .. they were words of truth, ground reality and embodiment of an irrevocable reality...

So, it was a case of being in difficulty to utter not a lie but truth.. a truth so hard to digest despite years of mental preparation ..  

These three words came up to my throat every time I had to mention to my contacts but they failed to raise above that stage at ease, got swallowed in sorrow and forced me to exert a greater effort to eject them from my throat.

In the Indian epic Mahabharatha, Bhagavad Githa enjoys a special status for the communication skill of Lord Krishna in making a confused Arjuna clear in mind.  In the other epic Ramayana, Hanuman excels in communicating to Lord Rama the truth of his having sighted Goddess Seetha in Ashok Vanam in Sri Lanka for which He is hailed as ‘Sollin Selvar’ (Master of word).

Both these epics, however, describe the verbal numbness a parent undergoes –  a scenario diagonally opposite to these communication excellence .. and that happens when a parent (father or mother) witnesses and passes through the saddest moment of his/her child (son or daughter) dies.

Irrespective of ‘Poorva Janma prathipalan’ (impact of previous birth) concept of explanation, ‘Puthra marana Dhukkam’ (sorrow on child’s demise) causes communication failure.

And, in my case, the three words I had to say were ‘My son died” .. this day (Oct 21) 12 years ago.. when our son, Vignesh, left us forever to a destination beyond our imagination at an age of 16 years...

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)

LIFE ENRICHMENT -- 16::

DETHAN CONTINUES TO RECEIVE RECOGNITION FOR HIS 'THIRD EYE' PHOTOGRAPHY

BY P S SUNDAR

A treatise on the expertise of the celebrated photographer of Coonoor Dethan Punalur appears in LIFE ENRICHMENT 3 -- LEARNING THROUGH LENS in this blog .. reachable by clicking :: http://pssundarthinktank.blogspot.in/2013/12/life-enrichment-3-learning-life-through.html.

Dethan continues to receive a plethora of recognition, the latest being as among the top 10 photographers of the year 2015 by 'Foto Wide' Malayalam monthly devoted to photo technology and creativity.

Dethan's 15 photographs earned this credit -- three under five categories.  

Here is a presentation on them::

I.  SCENERY :: 
  

HAPPY JOURNEY

MILKY MORNING

A GOLDEN TRIP

II HUMOUR::

EVENING PRAYER

UMBRELLA BACK POLICY

NAUGHTY NEW GENERATION

III.  NEWS::

FOOD PATH !

MOTHER

OPEN HOUSE

IV. WILD LIFE

BE CAREFUL 

THE FIGHT

THE SYMMETRY

V. WEDDING::

MUHOORTHAM

THE PORTRAIT 

KANYA DHANAM

(response can also be sent to:: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com) 

LIFE ENRICHMENT -- 15 ::

ORPHANED ELDERS TO DONATE EYES

BY P S SUNDAR

A treatise on M N Trust's 'Anbalayam' Old Age Home in Denalai village, 10 kilometres from Coonoor, appears in this blog as LIfe Enrichment - 4 ::Caring for elders, a passion and mission", reachable by clicking :: http://pssundarthinktank.blogspot.in/2013_12_01_archive.html.

Now, another magnanimous contribution of the Old Age has come to light -- the decision to donate eyes of inmates when they die.

“This is in response to Government of India’s call to donate eyes during the on-going ‘National Eye Donation Fortnight’.  We will link with hospitals which harvest eyes and enlist inmates support to donate their eyes”, N Ramamurthi, Trustee, told me.

RAJESWARI & RAMAMURTHI INTERACTING WITH INMATES

“In the seven years of our functioning, we have had 57 inmates.  The youngest at present is 64 years old and the eldest is 93. We face death regularly and give them decent farewell”, Managing Trustee Rajeswari said.

SEEMA

“They are not only poor but, in most cases, deserted by their kith as burden and waste.  By helping them donate their eyes, they send a message to the world that they are more useful to society than even kiths who deserted them”, Seema, co-ordinator for Medical Psychiatry, added.

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)