100 WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT TAMIL NADU

Many of us often read about the Great Pancha Bootha shrines, the shrines sung of by the 12 Alvars (Vaishnavite saints), the Six Abodes of Lord Muruga, and of the hundreds of temples sung by the Great Four Saivite saints. For those people already familiar with Tamil Nadu, this is very much treading a well beaten path. Instead, in this article I would like to present a checklist of 100 alternative sites to visit beyond the usual tourist centres: 1. Connemara Library - Chennai 2. Saraswathy Mahal Library - Thanjavur These two libraries host very rare books. 3. The Honey Falls - Courtalam (the other falls are well known - Shenbaga Devi,...

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IS INDIA REALLY SHINING?

Yes! It certainly is shining in the malls, in the PVRs, in the pubs & nightclubs, in the flyovers and high-rises of the metros. It is shining in the glitz and glamour of the high income class living in modern luxuries. We have certainly come a long way from what we were. The revolutionary economic changes made after the 1991 economic crisis has certainly changed the face of the country for the better. BUT…..this is not the whole picture. This is just a very small part of the real picture of the nation taken as a whole. Is India Really Shining ??? Still, people live on the streets and pathetic slums. Still, the homeless are...

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A tale of being at peace with what one already has

One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish. About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. “You aren’t going to catch many fish that way,” said the businessman. “You should be working rather than lying on the...

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NINE THINGS THAT COULD POSSIBLY DISAPPEAR IN OUR LIFETIME

Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come.  1. The post office Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills. 2. The cheque Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with cheque by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process cheques. Plastic cards and online transactions...

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WHY RELIGION AND SCIENCE CAN'T GET ALONG

Almost after every prayer, five times a day and particularly after the Juma prayers, millions of Muslims in mosques and at homes, pray for the destruction of the ‘enemies of Islam’. This practice is going on for centuries, but today what we find is that the “non-Muslims” of the developed world excel Muslims in every sphere of life, while the circumstances are fast worsening for the Muslims of the world. The reason is simple: While the majority of Muslims rely on the supernatural and the metaphysical, a greater number of “non-Muslims” in the developed world base all their inferences on naturalism, the foundation of science. It was 1991,...

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BANNING THE BURQA

Canada's ban on burqa follows that of France, Tunisia, Turkey, and Syria, and is meant to ensure that those taking the oath of Canadian citizenship are actually reciting the oath. The fact remains that wearing of clothing that completely or almost entirely covers the face is fundamentally at odds with public life. Is wearing the burqa a religious obligation? Perhaps not! Women do not wear burqa when they perform Hajj. Does it have to do with Culture? Yes, but which culture? Is this Culture of tribal areas where women wear shuttle cock burqas, or Punjab where we find those black burqas?  However, if the objective is “show of chastity”...

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IF DIVISIVE RELIGION IS THE PROBLEM, WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

Arguing with believers is generally futile and leads nowhere. But, just think of all the time squandered on argument for eons and consider how the individuals involved might have spent their time more productively. Nobody can deny the divisive influence of religion. No one and no institution has all the answers. Isn't that a fact? Rather than argue incessantly, attack the problem at the root and branch. The difficulty directly stems from the forced conscription of children into prescribed belief systems they are commanded to follow. Leading children into heteronomy and away from autonomy does them a disservice because it places barriers...

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