Shri. Dhandapani Desikar

Mogadalai always gives you great many links to materials which you would have missed for sure. Thanks for all those posts by him. In fact, I am planning to collect a selection of those links and make it a single post or web page!! Those links should not be lost in the maze of labels and posts.

Here is the link (Mogadalai's post is here) to Sriram Venkatkrishan's article in The Hindu.

From The Hindu article:

...Born in 1908 at Tiruchengathangudi in Thanjavur district, Mr. Dhandapani Desigar learnt Thevaram, Tiruvachagam and Tiruppugazh from his father. Desigar hailed from a family that boasted of a strong Oduvar lineage with father Muthiah Desigar and grandfather Murugiah Desigar being well known exponents...

...Later he learnt music formally from nagaswara vidwan Sadayappa Pillai. He also learnt Tamil hymns from his uncle Manikka Desigar. His first concert was at a fairly young age at the temple town of Tirumarugal...

...He learnt Isai from Kumbakonam Sri Rajamanikkam Pillai for about five years...

...The resultant financial difficulties mad e him seek refuge in his sister’s house in Kumbakonam and there he began learning music from Pillai. A warm friendship was to spring up between guru and sishya, so much so that when they were both given the title of ‘Isai Perarignar’ by the Tamil Isai Sangam in 1957, the guru did not in any way feel slighted and both cheerfully accepted the honour...

...Given his penchant for Tamil hymns, he was cast in and as ‘Thayumanavar’ (1938), ‘Manikkavachakar’ (1939) and ‘Nandanar’ (1942). The last, made by S.S.Vasan, was the greatest hit of Desigar’s film career and credit for this was shared by him with Papanasam Sivan for his wonderful music. Desigar also acted in a film with a Vaishnavite theme, ‘Tirumazhisai Azhwar’ (1948), besides singing playback in ‘Mudhal Thedhi’ (1955) and ‘Tirumanam’ (1958). His tune for the song ‘Tunbam Nergayil’ in the film ‘Ore Iravu’ (1951) is a work of genius...

...In the 1940s, Desigar, to quote The Hindu, became one of the pioneers of Tamil Isai (Tamil Music) movement and composed songs in Tamil. Such was his love for Tamil that he did not think it unusual to sing songs in that language in T iruvaiyaru during the Tyagaraja aradhana of 1946. The conservative element, however, did not like it and after he finished, organised for a purification rite at the Samadhi!...

...After a successful tenure of 15 years at the Annamalai University, Desigar left rather suddenly in 1970 and returned to Madras for a life of domestic bliss with his beloved Devasena. He remained associated with the Carnatic Music College (now the Isai Kalluri) and also with the Tamil Nadu Sangeetha Natak Sangam (now the Eyal Isai Nataka Manram) till his death...

...M.M.Dhandapani Desigar had passed away on June 29, 1973...

...It was the end of a long life that had been dedicated almost in its entirety to the propagation of Tamil Isai...

Very informative article. One thing struck me in the article. Sriram has quoted The Hindu too often, I think. Citing the source is a good practice when you refer information and materials that are not known widely; and also in support of your opinions and ideas. But he even quoted The Hindu to write "Desigar acted in Tamil pictures, wrote The Hindu."!!!!!!!

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Manmohan Singh - A Liar?

We can understand if the Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh is a servant; a servant to his party and its leader.

But is he a liar? I do not know. Hence there is a big question mark hanging at the end.

From Times of India

PM Manmohan Singh says:

Pratibha Mahila Sahkari Bank Limited had to be shuttered, like 71 other cooperative banks in Maharashtra, because of environmental reasons (A cooperative bank Pratibha Patil had launched and named after herself).

But Reserve Bank of India, RBI, in February 2003, recommended the scrapping of Patil’s bank. The RBI’s report represents a scathing indictment of Patil’s bank on a range of counts from poor loan recoveries to abnormal increase in non-performing assets.

From Indian Express

PM says:

It was not proper to target Patil because many sugar mills in Maharashtra were facing financial problems.

But RBI cancelled the licence citing the following:

1. Financial irregularities
2. Faulty loan policy
3. Her brother admits taking loan from bank meant for women

What did PM imply? Facing financial problems and financial irregularities are at the same level? See what servile power can do to once well-respected finance brain!!!

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Weak and Vulnerable - In Demand

From Arun Shourie's article:

...The 'cooperative' bank for empowering women liquidated under orders of the Reserve Bank. The sugar mill bankrupt, having swallowed over Rs. 20 crore of unpaid loans. We see the very same pattern in the other endeavours of our next President...

...Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, who has been so exercised about enforcing morality on the media, is unmoved. 'A visibly upset Dasmunsi hit out at the NDA for trying to malign Patil's image,' The Indian Express reports. 'In the process, he drew a parallel between Patil's case and "many political leaders" whose brothers, sisters and relatives were loan defaulters and also "electronic media industry" which has been slapped with plenty of notices.' Surely, the answer is to bring them to book too. Surely, the answer is to do what so many of us have been demanding for so long - namely, to publish the names of all bank-defaulters. Not to pick one of them at random and make her or him President of India! ...

...It so happens that all the events, documents, proceedings in court, communications, etc., pertain to the period before Pratibha Patil was plucked from nowhere to be the Presidential candidate. And they are being recounted today precisely because Pratibha Patil has been nominated to become the President of the country. Till the other day, these were frauds of some district politicians. The murder was of concern primarily to the Jalagaon people. Precisely because Pratibha Patil is likely to become the President, each facet -- the financial frauds, the murder, the deliberate derailment of the investigation -- becomes a matter of urgent national concern...

...So, the only inference is that they (Sonia Gandhi and others) knew of the antecedents of Pratibha Patil and for the very antecedents selected her...

...And that stands to reason. A person who is weak and dutifully submissive is already Prime Minister. But he has one defect - being financially honest, he is not vulnerable. There is always the danger, inconceivable though it seems at present, that at some point, he may throw up his hands...

...So, what is needed is not just a weak person. What is needed is a person who is weak and vulnerable...
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Polyphase

It is dark. Darkness. Am I sleeping? I do not think so. My eyes are wide open. I try to close my eyes to check if they are open. Palpebras squeeze darkness into my eyes. I again open my eyes. Darkness spreads loneliness. I move my hand to see what is around. I cannot stretch hands to full. Confinement of the mind is sin. It arrests growth. But it sustains strength. Till death, that is.

Again I move my hands to touch the roof. Slowly. Slowly. Touch. I withdraw my hands immediately. A messy substance sticks to my nail. What is it? It is dark. Darkness everywhere. I can hear some sounds as if a river flows. As if there is a waterfall. As if someone walks. As if someone dances. As if someone cries. I sharply listen to my surroundings. Where am I? The sound of darkness is the greatest of all burdens. Listen. Sound of darkness travels fast in the medium of loneliness. Faster if fear is present. The presence can be felt. The presence of fear can be smelt. It smells like the sole of a new born baby. It also smells like the petals of fresh flowers that are just bloomed. What is the smell of darkness? Is it… It is.

I am struggling in the dark. I never knew that darkness has a face. I know now. Darkness has a face that smells. Someone pushes me down. Oh! I have been caught. Caught in the stream of existence. Caught. Caught. Naught. My face is facing down. Trying to lift my head. I cannot. I want to get up. I cannot. I can only move my tongue. Tongue licks the ground. Tongue tastes the taste of darkness. How to go out? Wait. Waiting is over. How to go out? Wait. Waiting is over. How to go out? Out of darkness. Out of pain. Out of pain that comes after pleasure. Out of pleasure that comes behind pain. Someone shouts at me. Someone pushes me.

The face of darkness is everywhere. There is light. But it fades now. How about going there? There is light. But it fades now. There is light. It hurts. Am I waiting for something that will hurt me eventually? I am not sure if this is called waiting. Living cannot be put inside the box of waiting. Living is life. Waiting is death. But dying is to face the darkness through darkness. I move my hands. I move my legs. It is dark everywhere. I feel for the first time that there is something with me. Something that cannot go away. Confinement is sin. I open my heart. A cool breeze that soothes.

It is still dark. I taste the sands of time. I taste the heat of fire. I hear the sound of cries. And I have to sleep now. Eternity blows the conch. The vibration that shakes my heart is the first step. I have to sleep now. Eternity blows the conch to make a seed out of me. To create flowers is to live like flowers. It starts drizzling. To create is to live. It starts raining. I lift my head. It is pouring. It is pouring in the dark. Pouring out.

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Lessons All Over

Jim Fedako, an anti-positivist, spots economics lessons during his travel:

1. Man does not need government in order to satisfy desired ends, even in a world of scarcity.

2. It's the arbitrary application of the whims of officials that gets you every time.

3. Government destroys character of the population. A proud population of fishermen is reduced to simple tax consumers.

4. What is sold as a benefit to the community is actually theft from one group of residents in order to benefit the group of residents who grasp the elbows of those in power.

5. Regardless of the obstacles, entrepreneurs will adjust their lives to satisfy consumer wants.

6. Private ownership provides a much better environment.

7. The state steals the wealth of future generations — the children — in order to provide social security for the current generation — the parents.

8. Either we learn our lessons from the Romans or we will be the archeological site of a subsequent generation.

Read more here.

Links:

What is positivism? In three sentences.

Positivism from Marxists site

A General view of Positivism from Marxists site

Positivism as research methodology

Wikipedia on positivism though the quality of that page is disputed.

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Business Wonders

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has dissociated itself from the ongoing media campaign and Internet voting to pick the "Seven New Wonders of the World", saying the exercise is a complete private undertaking.

A press note issued by UNESCO said it is not involved in the campaign and there is no linkage between its World Heritage protection programme and the ongoing campaign.

Read more here.

The campaign was launched in 2000 by Bernard Weber in his private capacity. Why did the UNESCO release the disclaimer now?

Is there a business angle to it? Maybe an enterprising way of building the brand value!!

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Crest and Trough

From Khuswant Singh's autobiography - got from here:

“But, to be honest, what inspired me to write were not great authors but second-rates, mainly Indians, who had been published in England and the United States. I read Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R. K. Narayan. I felt I could write as well as they, and if they could be published abroad, so would I. I was not far wrong in my self-estimate.”

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Writing is Sadhana

Makarand Paranjape writes:

...I am not sure I’ll see Raja Rao again. Rao, who turns 97 on Tuesday, is not the man he once was...

...The last time I met him, in America, he could not remember the names of his own books, among them such acclaimed works as Kanthapura (1938) and The Serpent And The Rope (1960), which brought him international renown years ago...

...After a decisive event in which, as he put it, he prostrated before Ramana Maharshi in Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, weeping till the floor was bathed in his tears, Raja Rao finally turned further southwards, to the ashram of Atmananda Guru in Kerala...

...His classes were very popular. He was known to walk into the lecture theatre filled with 250 young, inquisitive minds and say, “You may ask me any question you like.”...

...Raja Rao considered his writing a sadhana, a spiritual discipline. Reading him is also a sadhana. Like the great Russian writers Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, his fiction elevates the spirit, taking the reader to a higher plane of consciousness...

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Source is One

Raja Rao writes:

"Whether it is through Dante or Shakespeare, through St Thomas Aquinas or Nietszche, you come back to the Upanishads and the Vedanta, realising that wheresoever you go, you always return to the Himalayas, and whatever the rivers that flow, the waters are of the Gangotri."

Memory of the World Register

UNESCO launched the Memory of the World Programme, in 1992, to guard against collective amnesia calling upon the preservation of the valuable archive holdings and library collections all over the world ensuring their wide dissemination.

The mission of the programme is available here:

1. To facilitate preservation, by the most appropriate techniques, of the world's documentary heritage.

2. To assist universal access to documentary heritage.

3. To increase awareness worldwide of the existence and significance of documentary heritage.

There are four entries associated with India.

1. India - The I.A.S. Tamil Medical Manuscript Collection: Mostly Tamil Medical Manuscripts preserved at the Institute of Asian Studies reflect the ancient system of medicine, practised by yogis. This system explains the methods of obtaining medicines from herbs, herbal roots, leaves, flowers, barks, fruits etc. The proportions of the ingredients as well as the specific processes are explained in detail. (added in 1997)

2. India - Archives of the Dutch East India Company: Nominated by Netherlands with co-operation from India, Indonesia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. (added in 2003)

3. India - Saiva Manuscript in Pondicherry: Within a collection of 11 000 manuscripts that concern mainly the religion and worship of the Hindu God Siva, is included the largest collection in the world of manuscripts of texts of the Śaiva Siddhānta. In the 10th century CE, this religious tradition, a major current of Hinduism, was spread right across the Indian subcontinent and beyond, as far as Cambodia in the East. It long represented the mainstream of Tantric doctrine and worship and appears to have influenced every Indian theistic tradition. Its surviving texts, the majority of them unpublished, range from the 6th century CE to the colonial period. This unique collection thus furnishes much of the dwindling evidence remaining today for scholars to reconstruct a chapter in the religious annals of humanity. The collection is presently housed in the French institutions of research in Pondicherry. We have now framed a collaborative Indo-French project with the Indian government’s National Mission for Manuscripts. Our ultimate objective: to put the whole Śaiva collection online and so make it available to scholars throughout the world. (added in 2005)

4. India - Rigveda: The Vedas are generally known as the scriptures of the Hindu community. However, being among the first literary documents in the history of humankind, they transcend far beyond their identity as scriptures. The Rigveda, the oldest among the four Vedas, is the fountain source of the so-called Aryan culture in all its manifestations that spread beyond the Indian subcontinent to large parts of South and South East Asia, as well as parts of Central Asia. This valuable treasure of the ancient world has been preserved in the form of manuscripts in India, and handed down over centuries from generation to generation. Out of the total number of 28,000 Manuscripts housed at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, the 30 manuscripts of the Rigveda form a valuable part of the collection. These manuscripts evince several unique features in terms of scripts, accentuation marks and support material used, among others. Even the pioneering Indologist, Prof. F. Max Müller, used one of the Rigveda manuscripts currently at the Institute to prepare his famous critical edition of the Rigveda, complete with a translation of one of the earliest known commentaries – that of Sayana. The material in this collection of Rigveda manuscripts was also used to prepare the well known Critical Edition of the Rigveda by the Vaidika Samshodhana Mandala, a premier institute in Pune for Vedic Studies. These manuscripts are of a high value as unique examples of the intellectual and cultural heritage not only of India, but of the world. (added in 2007)

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