My thoughts and my pen

Should we ask God to stop sending water from the sky? Aft er a respite of five days, it started raining again in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu.  The city is limping back to normalcy and yet to recover from the devastating effects of recent rains.   In this situation, people are praying to God to stop rain.   Rain is a mercy from God.   Imagine a world without rains!   Mankind, animals and plants will perish.  Having said that, how are we to ask God to protect us from its ill effects?  There is guidance from Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) about it: When it is cloudy and it is about to rain, we have to ask, ‘ O God, (bring) beneficial rain clouds.’ (Ref: Al-Bukhari, cf. Al-Asqalani, Fathul-Bari 2/518 ) When it is raining , ask ‘O God, I ask You for the good of it and seek refuge in You against its evil. ’  (Ref: Abu Dawud 4/326, Ibn Majah 2/1228).   When there is a perennial rain, ask, ‘O God, let...

மழைக்கால ங் கள் அறியா வயதின் அழியா நினைவுகள் ஈ ர நாட்களின் இன்றும்   ஈ ரமான நினைவுகள் மே கம் கருக்கையில் அம்மாவின் முகமும் கருக்கும். இ டி இ டிக்கையில் கலக்கம் கூடும். மழை தொட ங் கிய பின் னோ வீ டே நீர்க்காடாகும். சோ று வடிக்க உதவா பாத்திரகள் நீர் பிடிக்க உதவும். நீர் ஒழுகா கையகலத்தில் ஒண்டிக் கொள்ள உடன்பிறப்புகளுடன் அடிதடி சண்டை. நா நனைக்கும் கஞ்சி யிலும் மண்ணள்ளிப் போ டும் , நனைந்த சுள்ளியும் , அடுப்பும். மழை வலுக்க கழிவு நீரும் மழை நீருடன் சங்க மமாகி அழையா விருந்தாக குடிசைக்குள் நுழையும் உரிமையுடன். அவை விட்டுச் சென்ற வியாதிகள் உதவியுடன் அகிலம் விட்டுச் சென்ற தம்பிகள் இர ண்டு , தங் கைகள் இர ண்டு. ஒவ்வொரு மழையும் விட்டுச் செல்லும் தட ங் கள் மறைய எடுக்கும் காலம் ஆறு மாசம் அதற்குள் , ஐய கோ , அடுத்த மழை. இன்று கண்ணில் பட்டது ஒரு வரி – ‘ மழையைப் பிடிக்காதவர்கள் யார்.. ’ எழுதியது கல் வீட்டில் வசித்து நெல் சோ று புசிக்கும் சினிமாக் கவி ஞரா யிருக்கும்.

When my family moved into our flat in Chennai, I hardly knew other residents in that building.  In the evenings, when I go to the ground floor to go for a walk, if I get out of the lift, the number of footwears lying in the lift landing area really irritated me.  I observed that they are all children’s shoes and slippers.  I wondered who can have so many children!  Out of curiosity I asked my friendly next door neighbor about the footwear found in the ground floor.  She told me that Prema teacher lives there and she takes tuitions at home for school children.  This irked me even more.  How can she use her residence for commercial purpose?  I decided to raise this issue during the association meeting. I also found the children causing nuisance like, littering the corridors, sitting on the cars parked and making noise.  Even after living there for 6 months I could not meet her. I was waiting for a chance to meet her so that I ca...

Taxing taxes ‘Are you a tax payer?’ asked my teenage daughter’s friend.  She found this question funny and said, ‘No!’ The reason for her to find the question funny is, she hasn’t started earning.  I started thinking about the tax system in India.  My daughter who has no earnings is not a tax payer ‘only technically’.  But practically, she pays tax!  You find this intriguing?  Let me explain. Every Indian from birth starts paying indirect tax and continues to pay various taxes until he/she dies.  Right from tooth brush to property, whatever you buy you are expected to pay various taxes to state and central governments, with different names like, sales tax, service tax, VAT - value added tax (even if no value is added), etc. There are some taxes levied by state government and some other taxes levied by the central government.  It’s ridiculous, even when the consumer is not selling anything, he has to pay the ‘sales tax’ while he is ac...

START A NEW LIFE!  “Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and remove yourself from the unacceptable.” Said Denis Waitley   When you find something bothering in your life, you need to change what is bothering you.  Make a list of things that you do not like in your life.  Take each item and see if it is changeable or not.  If your two wheeler is giving you a lot of problem, it is changeable.  Either repair it or sell it or buy a new one if you can afford. If you cannot afford to repair or buy a new one, still you are open with the option of getting rid of it and using the public transport until you can afford to buy a better one.  So, this situation is changeable and change it! Secondly, if being the eldest child of your family bothers you, obviously it cannot be changed.  It will be utter foolishness to fret about it. So, as Waitley said, accept the unchangeable.  That will be the wisest thing to do.  Third...

Neem – A Gift From God                        Teenage – is full of dreams, colorful dreams!  You are the hero or heroine of your stories or even movies that you dream.  You are looking for not only approval but something above that – appreciation from around you.  You want to look the best, you want to wear the best and you want to stand out from the crowd.  You don’t realize how much time you spend in front of the mirror.  Cleansing your face hundred times, applying the most expensive cream on your face, but nothing helps to fight a common enemy who is a destroyer of pleasure – PIMPLES!  Everyone goes through this journey at least once in his/her life time.  It might seem to be a trivial matter when you grow out of that phase and look back after many years.  But when you undergo the problem of pimples all over your face that seems to be the most annoying factor in your life...

Ms. A. Samshath Consumerism is at its peak. On one side there’s so much of poverty that even basic amenities are not available to some.  On the other side there’s excess of everything. People get fed up with eating the same kind of food so they go to different restaurants.  Many shop until they drop and come home loaded down with things they don’t really need.  What do people do with so many things? Consider dresses— the common excuse is, “How can I wear the same dress again and again? The dress worn in one party is seen by all my friends.  I don’t want to repeat it at the next party.” The same goes for jewelry: “How can I wear the same set again and again?” People collect personal items from footwear, goggles, handbags, accessories, etc. to furniture, curtains, cushions, and artifacts.  For some, cellphones and other electronic gadgets have to be changed whenever there’s a new one in the market! A lady who had only two children had such a huge collec...