ஒரு வாகனத்தில் ஏன் பிரேக் தேவை? அதாவது நிறுத்த கட்டுப்பட்டு கருவி ஏன் தேவை? வாகனத்தை நிறுத்துவதற்கு என்றா நினைக்கிறீர் ? உண்மையில் உங்களால் வாகனத்தை பயமின்றி ஓட்டமுடிகிறது மற்றும் விரைவிவிரைவாகவும் ஓட்டிச்சென்று விரும்பிய எல்லையை அடையமுடிகிறது என்றால் அதற்க்கு காரணம் எது? அந்த வண்டியை ஒட்ட கூடிய தைரியத்தை தந்தது எது ? அந்த வண்டியில் பிரேக் இருக்கும் தைரியமும் எந்த நேரம் தேவைப்பட்டாலும் வாகனத்தின் வேகத்தை கூடவோ நிறுத்தவோ முடியும் என்ற நம்பிக்கை தானே? எத்தகைய  கட்டுப்பாட்டு கருவிகள் இல்லை என்றால் நம் பயணத்தை நினைத்து பாருங்கள் . அது துவங்கிய இருக்காது.

ஆம். நம் வாழ்க்கையில் பயணம் மற்றும் நம் வல்வைசார்ந்த அணைத்து அம்சங்களும் சிறப்பாக இருக்கிறது என்றால் அதற்கு முக்கிய காரணம் நாம் வரையறுத்து வைத்துள்ள கட்டுப்பாடுகளும் க்கோட்பாடுகளும் என்றால் அது மிகையல்ல. இவை நாம் அதிவேகம் எடுத்து வாழ்கை பயணத்தில் தடம் புரண்டு விடாமல் காப்பாத்துகின்றன. இத்தகைய கட்டுப்பாடுகளை ஒவ்வுறு மனிதனும், குடும்பமும் , மாநிலமும் நாடும் பின்பற்றினால் ஒரு அழகான மகிழ்ச்சியான உலகை நம்மால் உருவாக்க முடியும்.

முதலில் சுய மனித பழக்க வழக்கங்களை பார்ப்போம் . வாழ்க்கையின் ஆதாரம் உணவு.அதில் ஏன் கட்டுப்பாடு? தினமும் கட்டு கட்டலாம் எங்கீறீர்களா? சிந்தியுங்கள்.

அமெரிக்கா பெடரல் சுகாதாரத்தூரை ஆராய்ச்சி நிறுவனம் நடத்திய ஆய்வின் படி 86% நாள்பட்ட தீராத நோயாளிகள் உள்ளனர். அந்த நோயிலிருந்து விடுபட அல்லது நோயை குணப்படுத்த செலவிடும் பணத்தை குறைக்க ஒரு எளிய தீர்வு உள்ளது. அது உணவு கட்டுப்பாடு . நம்மை ஆரோக்ஹ்யமாக வைத்துக்கொள்ள ஒரு தடுப்பு மருந்து -உணவு . நல்ல ஆரோக்ஹ்யமான , சீரான அளவான உணவு நம்மை பேராபதிலிருந்து காப்பாற்றுகிறது .

ஆடை . இதில் கட்டுப்பாடு தேவையா? பள்ளிகளில் அவசியம் என்று கருதப்படுகிறது .எனவே  சீருடைகள் . நிறுவனங்களில் அவசியம் என்று கருதப்படுகிறது. ஆடை குறியீயீடுகள் ஆயுதப்படைகளில் அவசியம் என்று கருதப்படுகிறது. முக்கிய நிகழ்வுகளிலும் , திருமணங்களிலும் , மத சடங்குகளிலும் அவசியம் என்று கருதப்படுகிறது. அசாதாரண உடை அலங்காரம் அந்த நிகழ்ச்சியின் உண்மையான கவனத்திலிருந்து திசை திருப்புகிறது. பள்ளிகளில் குழந்தைகள் படிப்பில் கவனம் செலுத்த வேண்டும். திருமணம் என்பது ஒரு உன்னதமான புனிதமான நிகழ்வு. அதில் நம் உடை அலங்காரம் மரியாதை செலுத்தும் விதத்தில் இருக்க வேண்டும். பள்ளியில் கட்டுப்பாடு இல்லாமல் உடை அணியலாம் என்று சொன்னால் எத்தனை பெரு தினமும் விதவிதமான உடை மற்றும் சிகை அலங்காரம் செய்வதில் எவ்வளவு ஆர்வம் காட்டுவர் . நினைத்தாலே தலை சுற்றுகிறது.

சரி இதையெல்லாம் விடுங்கள். சுய மனித பழக்கவழக்கங்களில் கட்டுப்பாடு வேண்டாமா. கட்டுப்பாடு இல்லா பழக்கவழக்கங்கள் நம் வாழ்வை வீழ்த்ததா? மது மாது சிகரெட்டு போன்ற தீய பழக்கங்கள் எத்தனை பேரின் வாழ்க்கையை குலைத்திருக்கிறது.

சோம்பேறித்தனம், பொய் பேராசை பெருங்கோவம் போன்ற குணங்கள் யாவும் கட்டுப்படை கடக்கும் போது வாழ்க்கையை கெடுக்கும் பேரிடராக மாறுகிறது . இதிலிருந்து மீள நம்மக்கு தேவை சுயகட்டுப்பாடு 

Gadgets

Essay written for my younger daughter speech in 7th Std.

The alarm rings and I snooze the alarm in mobile phone. It rings again. I get up and check the whatsapp messages, facebook feeds and then start to get ready for school. Hot water from Geyser, then bread sandwiches from bread toaster, hot milk from microwave oven. Off to school in father's car. Enter Class room and teacher teaches in smart board and smart pad. Back home in evening chatting with friends, live streaming in PC, play games in mobile. Dinner. Set alarm in mobile phone check whatsapp, facebook and then retire to bed for the day. 

Sounds similar to your life style as well. YES. This is what 90% children do today.

Additionally purchases through online apps, travel through online apps, food order through online apps,home work exchange through whatsapp, payments through online apps, list goes on and on. So convenient right. YES 100%. It these gadgets where not there our life would have been totally different. YES DIFFERENT. Please note what I said. I said different and did not say bad/worse etc. Without gadgets life can exist and not really bad life as you may think.

Progression, better time management, more convenience, doing everything right from home, speed of transactions are all boons of technology and gadgets. There is no second opinion on this. It is impossible to think of today's society with out mobile phones and laptops.

These gadgets have indeed helped us in every sphere of progress be it medical, finance, healthcare, consumer service, education, entertainment. All over.

Then what is the problem? Let me tell you. I chat with friends in whatsapp, no eye contact, no personal presence, everything virtual. 100s of friends in whatspp and facebook. But non visits home when I am sick at home. Order everything online, no need to even shake your body. Zero exercise and welcome all diseases of the world. Always on phone call, become more friendly with radiation.

Constantly keep seeing different screens and screen your eyes with spectacles. Purchase new phones in every six months and dispose of old phones, accumulate non-biodegradable waste. Contribute to green-hours effect and increase the earth temperature which leads to melting of ice and flooding of land. So now do you get the Big picture. Every act you do through gadgets has butterfly effect somewhere else and usually this effect is also not for good. These are lead to destruction of earth and human kind.

So what is the solution? As the famous Tamil Quote goes - 

                         "Alavukku minginal, Amruthamum Visham."

Use Electronic gadgets optimally wherever and when ever required. Avoid accumulating and indulging in gadgets forever. For activities that can be done without gadgets, do them without gadgets.  

SAVE YOURSELF and SAVE THE WORLD.

Handwriting Contest - Write India - My Mom's short Para

Handwriting Contest - Write India

Hand written essay by me Mom. Date: Some where in Oct 2017

I dont remember when I have written my last handwritten letter. Yes Now I remember vaguely. It was an official correspondence 20 years back. Now due to technological improvements and social media apps like facebook and whatsapp, the need for writing letters is very minimal.

Even though it may be out of context, I would like to mention that the best government owned postal department is in very depleted condition now. Since the usage of its services has come down drastically the world's best postal services of which is India is in distress condition. The Government is trying to improve the condition by offering many services through the portal department. The enormous growth of courier services is also playing a part to stop growth of post offices. We the people to should realize and give helping hand to postal services.

Not only for improvement of postal department, even for our own benefit we should encourage writing.It is an art by itself and also improves creativity and hand-eye coordination. Now through this contest I have been provided an opportunity to write after so many years to test my handwriting and writing ability. I am thrilled and excited. Letters can be saved as treasures and I am going to save this one for my daughter and grand daughters. I am reminded of the days when I used to work in Bank and write lots and lots of letters and also everyone used to appreciate my neat work and handwriting. Writing was monotonous then and now I am really liking to write this short essay after so many years and enjoying it. Thank you.

THE NEW THINGS I WOULD LEARN FROM MY GRANDCHILDREN WHEN I AM 64

Essay written by my daughter for some contest. 8th Grade.

I wake up hearing the buzzing sound of my alarm in my Lenovo Tab, turn on the mobile data and check the number of likes for my trendy picture in Facebook, change my status in Whatsapp and ask my friends how they are, give comments and likes in twitter. Then I get up from my bed and brush my teeth with an automatic toothbrush and watch some special programs in my digital T.V. Eat bread and chocolate sauce. I ask my mom to buy goods online if she asks me to go and buy the grocery from the nearby store. I book movie tickets in my laptop and sit under air conditioner for hours. I hear trendy songs and watch viral videos in YouTube. Speak with my relatives and friends who are in foreign countries through Roam and Skype. I study for my exams with the help of books available in Play Books. This is how I travel through life. But my grandparents are people who practice the old style of like walking to each and every places for their daily needs and the also are not interested in the modern way of life.

New technological advancements are constantly happening around us. Life will be boring without a CHANGE in everything. Technology has developed and raised the standard of living for everybody. The only thing that doesn’t change and remain constant in this world is CHANGE.

If the changes do not happen, as a 12 year old girl, I wouldn’t be enjoying the new technological luxurious life that I am enjoying now. No soft beds in my house, miles to walk down the south, no A.C.s to fight the hot sun, no cell phones for communication only pigeons. I cannot imagine such a boring life. I sometimes wonder how my grandparents lived in such a primitive world.

When I discussed about this with them they told that they were happy at that time than now in this fast-running world. They said that it is now tough for them to cope-up in this world. There was no complexity in life then. As technology started to grow and reach the peak, people belonging to the older period feel left out. They are unable to cope us with the technological advancements and thus unable to progress along with others. Thus the elderly people find it difficult to get accustomed to the new phase of world. They also get frustrated in learning the technology and thus the life becomes tough for them in this advanced world.

Nowadays it is not so weird in not having a bank account rather than a Facebook account. All the memorable quitters are also in twitter. No one is bothered in getting rice, wheat or gram, everyone wants to join Instagram.

All these has forced elderly people to learn the newest technology. Wherever it may be from buying a pair of shoes to a large palace, everyone has the necessity to give their phone number, e-mail ID, etc. This has made my grandparents come behind me for everything from switching on their smart phones to doing all wonders in the INTERNET. Daily I need to teach them how to use Whatsapp, how to check the mobile balance, how to use an automatic toothbrush, how to set up an e-mail account, etc. My grandparents think that wisdom doesn’t come through age, it comes through the new technological advancement. They are open-minded to learn every new thing they see around this beautiful world.

52 years later, when I am 64 years I think I would learn a number of new inventions from my grandchildren. They would just be like a mirror and reflect the same thing I do to my grandparents. Scientists tell that a few decades later the air would be filled with the machinery sound of ROBOTS, roads would be filled with DRIVER-LESS VEHICLES, MIND-READING HOTEL SERVERS, etc. What is the worth of $500,000,000 if we doesn’t even know how to make use of robots around us? We must know how to call, sit and tell your destination to a driver-less car. When I am in that situation I would feel like a small ant in a huge world.  There would be machines to bath me, wake me, even machines to dress me up, prepare my meals and give remedies for my psychological problems.

Now I wonder how I am going to learn all these things and the most difficult task of learning the codes and languages of these machines. I would be totally dependent on my grandchildren who would guide me as a teacher in all circumstances. I understand the struggle of my grandparents now very much.

My grandchildren can be the people like me who are affectionate and help their grandparents, or can be those who are not interested in teaching me. I must be mentally and physically ready to face that phase of the world in future, whatever be the environment. Those days of my life would become hectic and difficult if I don’t have an open mind to learn.

 I must be open-minded and ego-less like my grandparents to learn and grasp the new things around me. Knowledge or wisdom must be iron pins which would be attracted by every magnet called as humans in any point of time. I would also experience the true happiness of life through my grandchildren. I would learn the innocence in their smile, and learn the honesty from their talk, learn what hard work is when they study for their mechanical exams and I would reach the true destination learning every bits and pieces which I didn’t enjoy when I was young due to its unavailability.

I would also teach them the important keys to open the door of happiness and success which I would have learnt from my journey through life. Not only when I am 64 would I learn from my grandchildren, all through life I would be open-minded like my super grandparents and grasp everything around me with interest in the new TECHNOLOGICAL WORLD!!!!!!!!!  

HISTORICAL CONNECTION BETWEEN INDIA AND KOREA.

Essay written for Korea Contest by my Daughter

Tasty Korean noodles, beautiful city of Seoul, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Gagnam style dance, dad’s Samsung smartphone, mom’s LG washing machine, and our Hyundai car strike me when I hear Korea. Korea is twined with my life!!! I Googled further and came across facts about establishment of Kim dynasty by an Indian Princess from Ayodhya, spreading of Buddhism by monks who travelled from India. I further found many more facts to prove pre-historic relations between countries:-

•    Korean language has so many words present in Tamil. Ex: AMMA, APPA.
•   The Hangeul alphabetical system has no clear demarcation between “Cha” - “Jha”, “Pa”- “Bha”, “Ga” - “Ka” similar to Tamil.
•   The traditional dance of Korea Grand Drum resembles Tamilnadu dance–Thappattam.
•   Mountain gods San-Sin and Muruga are worshipped in Korea and Tamilnadu respectively.
•   Tamilnadu Pandiya dynasty coins minted with two beautiful fishes resembles Korean coins.
•   Transformations between animals and humans is common in both country’s religions. Ex: Jambavathi, bear women.
•   Both countries have bright yellow summer fruits (pear and mango) as national fruits and tigers as national animal.
•   Both follow lunar calendar and align traditional activities to it.
•   Women have large ear lobes due to wearing of heavy rings and practice of lifting heavy stone to test strength of men prevail in both countries.
•   Arranged marriages are common and parents seek the words of fortune teller. People do not marry with same family name, similar to Gothra in India.
•   Korean’s staple food is steamed rice along with number of colorful side dishes (vegetables and meat) similar to Indians.
•   Korean women tie their hair in a braid till marriage and put a knot similar to Indian women after marriage.
•   Family structure in both countries is similar. Elders are respected. Elder son takes leadership role.
•   Both Koreans and Indians are hard-working, workaholic, caring, sharing, creative, imaginative and talented.

We students of India and Korea would strengthen our relationship and work together for a better tomorrow.