Thirukkural - 1330 Tamil Couplets in an Ancient Form

Landmark bookstore at Ampa Skywalk mall, Chennai has Thirukkural couplets in a nice book form. Each Kural is followed by its meaning in lucid Tamil. Narmada publishers are selling the book priced at Rs.100.

Support the Girl Child - Nalandaway's Kannamma Project

Click here to donate for a girl child.

Five Minutes Back!

When someone calls you "Stupid" you get angry. You become very angry with the messenger of the word 'Stupid' and fight or argue with him/her.

You should just think if five minutes before the person called you 'Stupid', were you the most intelligent person. Or at least perceived as a clever person. Five mins before the bad message or tag name was given to you, you were happy and self-confident. So, has your status quo or image changed in just five minutes and have you gone from hero to zero? So, before u get wild, think of the 5-min rule and be happy.

I also remember the forward mail message about a 100 rupee note. Even if the 100 rupee note is crumpled many times, its value remains the same.

Nalandaway presents Kannamma

Click here to donate for a girl child.

NalandaWay Foundation works with children from challenging situations from the poorest districts in India, helping them raise their voices and issues through theatre, visual arts, music, dance, radio and films. Since inception in 2003, Nalandaway has reached out to over 6700 children across five states in India and helped them learn creativity, life skills and self-confidence to create the lives that they truly want to create.

Nalandaway helps marginalised girl children who are housed in residential care centres. The girls include orphans, juvenile delinquents, children rescued from bonded labour, sex work, conflict areas, refugees, children affected by HIV/ AIDS etc. These children are emotionally disturbed, have been physically abused, are prone to violent behaviour and may have been involved in crimes. They often fare poorly in school, yell or physically fight to handle social conflicts and are highly likely to engage in risky behaviours such as substance use, or unprotected sex. NalandaWay’s arts-based rehabilitation programme has helped such children overcome depression and disruptive behaviour and make successful transitions into the society.

In order to bring about a change in the lives of many more such girl children, 25 Champions have agreed to support the cause of the girl child. Every champion has pledged to raise $2000 from their network of friends, relatives and colleagues and help spread awareness about this issue.  The funds raised would be utilized for rehabilitation through arts, life skills development, academic support, vocational training and livelihoods assistance for these children. All beneficiaries in the project would be marginalised girls including orphans, destitute, street kids and other girl children from similar situations currently in Government homes in Tamil Nadu, in the age group between 12 and 20. 

Visit Kannamma to buy the music video of tamil poet Bharathiyar.

Anuradha Koirala - CNN Hero of the Year 2010

Anuradha Koirala and her group Maiti Nepal, have helped more than 12,000 victims of Nepal's sex trafficking business. Koirala says that children aged 13-14 years come with broken limbs, are pregnant and test HIV +ve.

Me and Superstar Rajini by Singer Mano - Mouna Raagam Music Troupe

Naanum Superstar Rajiniyum music program on 5th December, 6:00 pm at Kamarajar hall. Tickets cost Rs.300 and Rs.150. Call 98412 45869.

An Introduction to Blogging - in Tamil

Note: Use headphones for audio clarity.

Austrian Millionaire Karl Rabeder Gave Away All his Wealth

"Wealth," says Rabeder "does not create happiness. For 25 years i worked like a slave for things i did not want or need. Now my dream is to have nothing." After giving away all his things including his house, Karl has set aside a change of clothes, two boxes of books, and a laptop for his new life in the mountains.

Rabeder describes his growing disaffection with big business and the consumer society. He says," We are like sheep with a barking dog to the left of us, making us anxious about the global financial crisis and loss of jobs. And another barking dog to the right of us, warning us for the need for expensive insurance if we fall sick. So, we work for the future without being able to live in the here and now."

Karl says,"I'd look at the faces of people around me and wonder if there was a terrorist attack. Then i realized that the anxious expressions were a standard in the developed world. In terms of happiness Europe, Japan, and the USA were underdeveloped."

Karl has founded a web-based non-profit mymicrocredit.org that matches prospective investors with projects in developing countries.

Source: Reader's Digest

Missing Beats of Eugene Xavier

It was a misfortune to hear about the demise of Beats music troupe keyboard player Eugene Xavier on Deepavali day. The name Eugene evoked an awe in me. He was a Ph.D in engineering and authored quite a few books. He held very high positions at Infosys and Hexaware.

He was my senior at Anna University, but i never met him during college days. I first saw him in 2009 when CEG music troupe members met for an informal rendezvous at D'Mellos. Eugene organized the music bash and bore all the expenses. He was an enthusiastic and cheerful soul.

All the Beats music troupe members are in shock as Eugene is just 44+. Eugene is survived by his wife and daughter. We pray for his soul to rest in peace. We will surely miss you Eugene at all our future rendezvous.

Eugene on Keyboard

Happy Deepavali

Parthiban - Change Agent without Protocols

Banking On Change (12 min version) from Pilgrim Films on Vimeo.