Come what may , how can mother be an ill omen?

Come what  may , how can mother be  an ill omen?

By

P.R.Ramachander

(It had been practice  among  most of  us , that  a widowed mother is not supposed  to participate  in the marriage   of her   children. Though   this custom has almost faded   away from most of our   families, there  was a report  about such  an incident  in  a newspaper (16^th july)   and  Here  is an emotional appeal  to correct this anachronism , penned in Tamil   by the reporter (from post of my friend  Anantha  Narayanan-thanks to him  )

When  a mother who has lost  her   husband,

Feeds  her  baby , did we  say   that,

It is an act of ill omen   and not   desirable,

And   that we   will  feed  her  little baby?

When a motherwho has  lost  her husband  ,

Sends  her  children to  school to study ,

Did we    say   that  it is an ill omen,

And we shall  send them to school.

When the  mother  who has lost  her husband ,

Offers dowry and presents  to the groom,

Did we   say   that   is an ill omen ,

And so  we  do not want them from her.

But when the mother  who has  lost  her  husband,

Comes  to see  her  children getting  happily married,

How    come we   say   that   is  an ill omen ,

And   see to it   that   even  her shadow does not fall there.

But when the   father  who has lost   his  wife  ,

After  arranging the marriage  and comes to attend it,

How come   we do not say that it is act of ill omen,

But   say  it is very appropriate and is very desirable.

Barber who shaved the pride .

Barber  who shaved  the pride .

By

P.R.Ramachander

(I got the idea   from a face  book post by A.G.Kesavan. My thanks are to him)

One  learned  man who was  very proud,

Enjoyed   teasing others  and make them cry.

All people   of the village  avoided   him,

But one day the learned one  saw  Barber.

The Barber  who  was wearing  a torn but clean  cloth,

Was sitting below a banyan tree, along with his wares,

Waiting   for some customer   to come   to get a hair cut or shave,

And the learned man  went near him and asked, “how much for a cut  or shave?”

With all seriousness   the Barber  replied , “Two rupees for a cut,

And one rupee for a shave  sir”   and the learned man laughed,

And told him, “Please  shave my head”   and Barber  respecting,

The age   and knowledge  of the old man , started  his job.

The learned man started  his  usual job   of teasing the Barber,

And  asked him “your profession  begins   with a  bar,

And seems   to end   with   a beer  but  I do not see,

Either  a bar  or beer  in it  , anywhere   near here?”

The Barbar  laughed loudly and said , “You can also  say,

That it begins with a barb” and then the learned  man,

Teased him further , “If   you   start  barbing  others ,

Do’nt you think  , they will shave you off   from this village”

The Barber   replied  “I would not barb   them   but  only,

Barber  them and they would happily look satisfied,

On seeing their image in my mirror   and  would  go away with joy.”

The learned man  replied, “I think you are wrong”

“I always    thought   that   you are  barbaric  people”

And this irked   the barber  and he kept his knife ,

On the moustache  of the learned  one and asked,

“Do  you want   this  moustache  of yours?”

The learned man replied “Yes”   and the barber  shaved it away,

And gave it to the  learned man saying “It is now yours”

And then he kept   the knife near his   bushy eye brows,

And asked  “Do you need this ?”  and learned man said “no”

The barber removed  his eye brows and threw them away ,

And said “ I just did     what you  wanted “ and  this shaved off ,

The pride of the learned man and he  then and there  decided,

“I am as good as any other   and I would not  tease any one from now on.”

The learned man  now further  learnt that  his wisdom  , his power,

His  position and  his wealth  is not meant   to tease  but help others,

And the false pride   in any person   would completely change his fate,

And that   every being on earth  has  some special  god given ability.

   

Wherefrom?

Wherefrom?

By

Viswanath Das

Translated by

P.R.Ramachander

When  dress becomes shorter ,

Wherefrom would   shyness  ever come?

When the flowers have been made of plastic ,

Wherefrom  aroma would  ever come from it?

When the faces   are   being  made up,

Wherefrom  would prettiness   ever come?

When   children start learning  from tution,

Wherefrom would  knowledge  ever come?

When the food we take is from restaurents,

Wherefrom health and strength   ever come?

When  we learn   everything  from   cinemas,

Wherefrom   good conduct   would ever come?

When  Man is running  a rat race behind money,

Wherefrom would  humanity  ever come in him?

When all our actions    spin around  only  WiFi,

Wherefrom would   income ever come?

When devotees wants  are centred on his self,

Wherefrom would    God    ever come?

When all out contacts   are through on line ,

Wherefrom would a mutual meeting ever come?

Tamil Original

Vishwanath Das

ஆடை அளவில் சிறுத்துப் போச்சு; நாணம் எங்கு வரும்?
உணவு கலப்படம் ஆகிப்போச்சு; உறுதி எங்கு வரும்?
மலர்கள் நெகிழியாகிப் போச்சு; மணம் எங்கு வரும்?
முகம் மேக்-அப் ஆகிப் போச்சு;
பொலிவு எங்கு வரும்?
கற்பது ட்யூஷன் ஆகிப் போச்சு;
கல்வி எங்கு வரும்?
உண்பது ஓட்டலில் ஆகிப் போச்சு; உறம் எங்கு வரும்?
நடவடி நிழற்படம் ஆகிப் போச்சு;
நடத்தை எங்கு வரும்?
மனிதன் பணமயம் ஆகிப் போனான்; மனிதம் எங்கு வரும்?
உழைப்பே வைஃபை ஆகிப் போச்சு; ஊதியம் எங்கு வரும்?
தொண்டன் சுயநலம் பேணும் போது, தெய்வம் எங்கு வரும்?
சம்பந்தம் எல்லாம் சுட்டுரை ஆச்சு; சந்திப்பு எங்கு வரும்?

(சில மாதங்களுக்கு முன் எங்கள் WhatsApp குழுவில் நான் எழுதிப் பதிவிட்ட ஒரு கவிதை)

Sparrow and bag of emotions

Sparrow and bag  of emotions

By

P.R.Ramachander

(I have taken this idea    from a Whatsapp posting  and  for gaining  fame and name  , they have omitted  the  name of the author. My thanks are   due to the original unknown author )

In one city there   was a  sprightly  sparrow,

And it got bored   and approached   the god ,

And asked him, “I have  nothing much to do,

So please  suggest me a hobby so that I am happy

God said, “I have allotted   each of you sufficient work,

And so taking   another   hobby   will make   you suffer”

But when it insisted  afgain and again , God tied  a bag ,

To it back  and told it to collect   human emotions  in that bag.”

The sparrow was very happy   and whenever it saw  any person,

Who is emotional, It collected that  and put it in that  bag.

It collected passion, anger  , jealousy  , cruelty, Pride ,

Joy, sorrow, bias , Partiality  , avarice and so on and on.

When it saw  one man become jealous   and trying  to,

Bring another person down, It would be happy  to collect that,

When it saw  a  person become angry , the sparrow   rushed there,

With  great joy and collected it and this hobby  made  him very active.

But one day  , When it got up  in the morning, It  found  it,

Very difficult  to fly and it called  “Oh God, Oh God,

I am not able   to fly, please   do help me   and god rushed there,

And told the sparrow, That bag of yours  is very heavy.”

God continued  , “ throw away all the emotions  that ,

You have collected  and then fly   and be very happy  .”

The sparrow could not agree   with God   and told him,

“Emotions are light and I do not think , things will improve.”

God said, “My dear  little friend , try.”  And sparrow let  off,

One jealousy  and one anger   from its bag    and it could feel,

That  it could fly   and so it emptied completly  its hobby bag.

And started   flying  on its own with great speed.

God said, “Your hobby is good but  all that  you have collected,

Are  negative emotions   which are   bound   to pull you down,

And so never go anywhere  near  these  bad emotions,

But only collect  good emotions like joy , truth, sincerity  and so on.”

God continued, “ you would have struggle very to collect   them,

But even sack full of emotions     will never , ever pull you down.

Right from the days of my first creation , I used to tell men about it,

But they were only after  heavy negative emotions  and keep on suffering.”

God concluded “ If only  once in a while   they empty   the bag like you.... ....”

Does Pa (Pavam Appa) know how to cry?

Does Pa (Pavam Appa)  know how to cry?

Translated  by

P.R. Ramachander

(Got the tamil original  from Whatsapp. Thanks to whosoever  wrote this.)

Even  when he slogged  from morn to night for the family,

Even when  he was struggling in life  , to feed his children.

Pa would  never have cried thinking “What a wretched life this is?”

Even when he was carrying  his wife  in his heart,

Even when he   was carrying his children on his shoulders,

Even when he lost the way, bearing  the burden of family in his head,

Even he was  perplexed  due to  his losing   his way  and did not know  how to proceed further,

He stood  just like a rock feeling  that if he breaks  the family will break,

And all  of us   thought that our Pa was made of stone  inside and out.

We would get glued  to our ma but stay far away from our pa,

Though all the worlds  we had ever  told him can be written behind a  stamp,

When we   fail in life, we would seek first pa’s iron hands  and not ma’s  loving hands,

He might never have hugged  and kissed  us at any time,

Pa  is a sensitive  being   struggling  in the ocean  of family burden

He  has never told us  at  any time that,

The food we eat ,  the dress  that we wear, the  degrees we have earned

Are due to the ever flowing sweat  of his  body ,

Though he  has never even  talked  four  words with us,

He would be heralding   through out the city   about the greatness  of his kids  ,

WE who go on incessantly talk   about the   affection of our mother,

Possibly never  once   felt the need  to tell about   the affection of our Pa

If moustaches  start showing  in our upper lips ,

He would jump in joy  and

If we one day  we become   taller  than him,

His heart would beat faster saying ,

Still I am taller than him, but one day,

He would allow  us to overtake   him  ,

And with great generosity  feel extremely glad ,

WE can be sure Pa would behind there  every moment in life,

But no one says “Behind every successful man,  stands his  Pa.”

He does not know how   to show his affection,

He does not know   how to fondle you  and cheer you up,

He does  not how to act like a  film star , He does not know how to tell his worries,

He does not know    how to save  money for himself,

That mad Pa    does not know , how to even cry.

When the   grown up son bombards him ,

When he is made  in to a servant by his daughter in law,

Just for the sake of food to fill his belly  ,

Or When he is thrown in to an old age home,

He did not  know   how to cry,

For he bears all that for his son’s joy,

Whether  you want to show affection or when you want to cry  ,

Pass on your feelings immediately to him.

When your eyes  fill up  with tears  due to the death of the Pa of your Pal,

Or   when some one  old  known to you breaths his last,

And like a lightning   you realize  his great   affection,

And  run and rush to see   him once ever more  ,

Your Pa  may  be seen to be laughing perhaps ,

In his   garlanded photo   hung on the wall,

For  he did not   ever  knew   how to cry.

Tamil Original

(Thanks to the author whoever  he is)

அப்பாவிற்கு அழத்தெரியாது

குடும்பத்திற்காக  மாடாய் உழைத்த போதும்!

பிள்ளைகளின் பசியாற்ற ஓடாய் தேய்ந்த போதும்!

என்னடா வாழ்க்கை இது என

ஒருநாளும் அழுதிருக்க மாட்டார்!

மனைவியை நெஞ்சில் சுமந்து!

பிள்ளைகளை தோளில் சுமந்து!

குடும்ப பொறுப்புகளை தலையில் சுமந்து!

போகும் வழி தெரியாமல்

விழிபிதுங்கி நின்ற போதும்!

தான் கலங்கினால் குடும்பம் உடைந்துவிடும் என கல்லாய் நின்றவர்!

நாம் அவரை கல்லெனவே நினைத்துவிட்டோம்!

அம்மாவிடம் ஒட்டிக்கொள்வோம்!

அப்பாவிடம் எட்டி நிற்போம்!

முகம் கொடுத்து பேசிய வார்த்தைகள்

சொற்பம் என்போம்! ஆனால்

தோல்வியில் துவளும் போது பிடித்துகொள்ள அப்பாவின் கைகளை தான் முதலில் தேடுவோம்!

நம்மை அள்ளி அணைத்து முத்தமிட்டதில்லை என்றாலும்!

தள்ளி நின்று உணர்ச்சி வெள்ளத்தில் ததும்பும் ஜீவன் அது!

நாம் திண்ணும் சோறும்!

உடுத்தும் உடையும்!

படித்த படிப்பும்!

அப்பாவின் வேர்வையில்தான் என

ஒருநாளும் அவர் சொல்லிக்காட்டிதில்லை!

நேரில் நம்மிடம் நாலு வார்த்தை கூட பேசாதவர்!

ஊர்முழுக்க நம்மை பற்றிதான் பெருமையாக பேசி திரிவார்!

அம்மாவின் பாசத்தை அங்கலாய்க்கும் நாம்!

அப்பாவின் பாசத்தை உணரக்கூட இல்லையோ!

நமக்கு மீசை முளைத்தால் அவர் குதூகளிப்பார்!

தோளுக்கு மேல் வளர்ந்துவிட்டால்

அவரே உயரமானதாக உணர்வார்!

வாழ்க்கையில் நம்மை முன்னே நடக்கவிட்டு பின்னே நின்று பெருமிதத்துடன் ரசிப்பார்!

நம் வாழ்க்கையின் பின்னால் அப்பா எப்போதுமே இருப்பார்!

அப்பாவிற்கு பாசத்தை வெளிபடுத்த தெரியாது!

அப்பாவிற்கு கொஞ்ச தெரியாது!

அப்பாவிற்கு போலியாய் இருக்க தெரியாது!

அப்பாவிற்கு தன் கஷ்டத்தை வெளிக்காட்ட தெரியாது!

அப்பாவிற்கு தனக்காக எதையும் சேர்த்து வைத்துகொள்ள தெரியாது!

அந்த பைத்தியத்திற்கு அழவும் தெரியாது!

வளர்த்த கெடா மாரில் பாய்ந்த போதும்!

ஒருவேளை சோற்றுக்காக மருமகளுக்கு வேலைக்காரனாய் மாறிப்போன போதும்!

முதியோர் இல்லத்திற்கு தூக்கி வீசப்பட்ட போதும்! அவர் அழுதவரில்லை!

நம் சந்தோசத்திற்காகவே எதையும் தாங்கும் ஆன்மா அவர்!

பாசமோ! மன்னிப்போ! அழுகையோ! உணர்வுகளை அவரிடம் உடனே  வெளிப்படுத்தி விடுங்கள்!

ஒருவேளை உங்கள் நண்பனின் அப்பா மரணமோ!

உங்கள் அப்பா வயதுடைய யாரோ ஒருவரின் மரணமோ! 

உங்களை புரட்டி போட்டு!                            அவர் பாசம் புரிந்து!

அப்பாவை தேடி ஓடிரும்போது!

வீட்டில் அப்பா சிரித்துக்கொண்டிருக்கலாம்

புகைப்படத்தில்!!                            

பாவம் அவருக்குதான் அழத்தெரியாதே!!

Man whom we do not know

Man  whom we do not know

Translated by

P.R.Ramachander

(Based on Tamil post  by my face book friend  Meena Rajan.Her text is given below  my translation )

Man is not the one   who does not know  how to cry,

But One who  knows how to swallow  tears

Man is not the one   who does not know how to be affectionate to others,

But one who locks his  emotions in mind  and,

Does not know     how to express  them in words,

Man is not the  one   who   keeps on  searching for jobs,

But one  who is in the rat race  to get   recognition  for his work.

Man   is  not the one   who is mad  to earn more  money,

But is the one who runs  to fulfil  wants of those  who depend on him.

Man is  not the  one   who does not know to laugh or smile,

But is the one who becomes baby before  those  who show affection to him.

Man is not  engaged in perennial search of love from women,

But one   who  searches for  meaning  of his life from a woman.

Man  is not the one   who is rough , angry fool,

But  is the  one who    does not know how  to act  ,

And  shouts  in anger  and later  shed tears ,

Unknown to every one  , as he  should not cry.

Meena Rajan

🌺ஆண் அழத் தெரியாதவன் அல்ல..
கண்ணீரை விழுங்கத் தெரிந்தவன்..

🌺அன்பில்லாதவன் அல்ல..
அன்பை மனதில் வைத்து சொல்லில்வைக்கத் தெரியாதவன்..

🌺வேலை தேடுபவன் அல்ல..
தன்திறமைக்கான அங்கிகாரத்தை தேடுபவன்.

🌺பணம் தேடுபவன் அல்ல..
தன் குடும்பத்தின் தேவைக்காக ஓடுபவன்..

🌺சிரிக்கத் தெரியாதவன் அல்ல..
நேசிப்பவர்களின் முன் குழந்தையாய் மாறுபவன்..

🌺காதலைத் தேடுபவன் அல்ல..
ஒரு பெண்ணிடம் தன் வாழ்க்கையைத் தேடுபவன்..

🌺கரடுமுரடானவன் அல்ல..
நடிக்கத் தெரியாமல் கோபத்தைக்
கொட்டிவிட்டு வருந்துபவன்....

Who follows whom is important

Who follows   whom is important

By

P.R.Ramachander

(Based of on a tamil message in Whatsapp .I am sure it must be available in the web. My acknowledgements to original author)

One teacher   was trying   to teach arithmetic  to students,

And in the class   one student   was neither  listening nor attending to the class,

The teacher   then  called the student by name  ,

And told him that he wanted to know what he has understood.

Then the teacher on the board    wrote  1000,

And asked the student   to tell the class , what it is,

That student   without care  told , one thousand,

The teacher   then added a 0 at the  end and made it 10000,

And asked the student   what it was ?what is it now,and the student  told , “Ten thousand”

And then the teacher rubbed of   the 0 which he added at the end,

And added it    at the  beginning  and made it 01000,

And again asked   the student  , what it was then, and the student said,

“It is only  one thousand sir, by adding 0  you have not  got anything.”

The teacher   then told  the students ,”When a good for nothing,

Follows a thing of value, its value suddeny increases,

And if a  good for nothing leads a thing of value,

The valuable as well as good for nothing  remain the same”