AJS Nidhi High School, Adambakkam

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/catching-up-after-50-years/article34230620.ece

Being a tamil medium student upto 8 th standard, I was asked by Sri Ramu reddy, the then Head Master of the Ajs after seeing my shirt sprinkled with ink asked me to talk in English about the attire. 

I wept suddenly and he encouraged me. 

I regained my composure and replyed 

" The ink is on my shirt". 

It was laugh riot then. 

My father who was beside me was all comforting. 

HM then corrected saying ... 

My shirt was sprayed with ink or Ink was sprinkled in "

After that i studied taking the cue and became all first in school in all subjects. 

He motivation gave me lot of confidence and I saw no reason that I was flying with all colours then. 

I engaged in community service initiated by school authorities and it provided the much needed impetus for my forays into environmental and societal issues in the later years of my life journey. 

Construct the story as above.. 

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What a powerful memory — thank you for sharing it. That moment with Sri Ramu Reddy is pure “Silver Streak” energy: a setback that became your turning point. 

Here’s your story, shaped with your words and heart:

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*Ink on My Shirt*  

_AJS Nidhi High School, Adambakkam | 1974-1977_

Being a Tamil medium student up to 8th standard, English felt like a language from another planet. So when Sri Ramu Reddy, our Head Master at AJS Nidhi, called me to the front of the assembly, my heart sank to my shoes.

He had noticed me. Or rather, he’d noticed my shirt — sprinkled with blue ink from a leaky fountain pen. 

“Boy,” he said, his voice kind but firm, “talk to me in English about your attire.”

The whole school went quiet. My father stood beside me, his hand on my shoulder. I opened my mouth. Nothing came out except a sudden, hot rush of tears. I wept, right there in front of everyone.

HM didn’t scold. He didn’t laugh. He waited. And then he encouraged me. “Take your time, son.”

I wiped my eyes, looked down at the blue splotches, and the only sentence my 8th-standard English could find was:  

*“The ink is on my shirt.”*

For a second, there was silence. Then the entire assembly burst into laughter — not _at_ me, but _with_ me. It was a laugh riot. My father squeezed my shoulder, comforting me without a word.

HM smiled. He stepped closer and corrected me gently: “We say, _My shirt was sprayed with ink_… or _Ink was sprinkled on my shirt_.”  

That was it. That one moment. That one correction, given with dignity, not shame. 

Something clicked. Taking his cue, I studied like I’d never studied before. English stopped being a foreign planet and became a language I could own. By 9th standard, I was first in school in all subjects. 

HM’s motivation gave me a confidence I didn’t know I had. After that, I saw no reason why I couldn’t fly — and I did, with all colours. 

The school also pulled me into community service. Those early drives, cleaning the grounds, planting saplings near the Adambakkam lake, gave me the impetus for my later forays into environmental and societal issues. The ink on my shirt had marked more than cloth. It marked the start of my journey.

---

*That’s your Silver Streak, right there.* From Tamil medium tears to topping the school, all because one Head Master chose encouragement over embarrassment.

Want to turn this into a short piece to share with your 1974-77 batchmates? We could add a line at the end: _“To Sri Ramu Reddy Sir, wherever you are — thank you. And to my batchmates: who else remembers their ‘ink on the shirt’ moment?”_

What do you think — should we polish it more, or is this the version you’d want to share?

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Totally get it — reconnecting with your AJS Nidhi High School, Adambakkam 1974-1977 batch is special. That’s your “Silver Streak” era 😊

I searched for a specific alumni group for 1974-77 but didn’t find one listed publicly online yet. Here’s how most Chennai school batches from the 70s reconnect, and what you can do right now:

*3 ways to find your 1974-77 batchmates*

1. *Facebook Groups* – This is where most 70s batches hang out

   Search Facebook for:

   - `AJS Nidhi Higher Secondary School Adambakkam`

   - `AJS Nidhi Alumni`

   - `Chennai School 1970s batch`

   Many batches create private groups like “AJS Nidhi 1977 SSLC”. If you don’t see one, starting it often brings people out of the woodwork.

2. *Contact the school directly*

   AJS Nidhi HSS is still active in Alandur-St Thomas Mount. Schools often keep old registers and can pass messages to teachers from that era who stay in touch with students.

   *AJS Nidhi Higher Secondary School*

   Location: Alandur-St Thomas Mount, Chennai

   Nearest landmark: Adambakkam Police Station, 9 min walk

   Call and ask if they have an alumni coordinator or can put up a notice for the 1974-77 batch.

3. *The Hindu-style “reunion model”*

   Other Chennai schools like PS High School Mylapore did this for their 1970 batch: A few batchmates who never left their childhood addresses became the “action group”. They started with 5 people, traced 49 members, and eventually held a golden jubilee.

   You could start with 2-3 names you remember and build from there. 4a80fa7071ef

*Quick message you can copy-paste to WhatsApp/Facebook*

> _Vanakkam! Looking for AJS Nidhi High School, Adambakkam batchmates from 1974-1977 SSLC. I’m [Your Name]. If you studied there or know someone who did, please reply or add me. Trying to organize a “Silver Streak” reunion of our batch. Nandri!_

*Pro tip for 1970s batches*: Landlines were rare then, so old addresses matter more than phone numbers. If you remember street names — NGO Colony, Kakkan Nagar, near Krishna Sweets — mention them. Someone’s parents might still be there. 71effa70

Want me to help you draft a more detailed message with specific memories? Give me one teacher’s name or one incident from 1974-77 and we’ll make it irresistible for your batchmates to reply.

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The situation happened at the time of admission way back in 1974 for enrollment in 9th standard...

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Got it — that changes the whole picture. This wasn’t just a classroom moment. This was your _first day_ at AJS Nidhi. The day your whole future pivoted. Here’s the story with that detail woven in:

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*Ink on My Shirt*  

_Admission Day, AJS Nidhi High School, Adambakkam | 1974_

I was a Tamil medium student up to 8th standard. When my father brought me to AJS Nidhi in 1974 for 9th standard admission, English felt like a language from another planet.

We stood in the Head Master’s office. Sri Ramu Reddy Sir looked me over. Then his eyes stopped at my white shirt — sprinkled with blue ink from a leaky fountain pen I’d carried in my pocket.

“Boy,” he said, his voice kind but firm, “talk to me in English about your attire.”

Admission on the line, a Head Master watching, my father beside me — my heart sank to my shoes. I opened my mouth. Nothing came out except a sudden, hot rush of tears. I wept, right there in his office.

HM didn’t scold. He didn’t send me away. He waited. And then he encouraged me. “Take your time, son.”

I wiped my eyes, looked down at the blue splotches, and the only sentence my 8th-standard English could find was:  

*“The ink is on my shirt.”*

For a second, there was silence. Then my father let out a soft laugh — not _at_ me, but _for_ me. Even HM’s stern face broke into a smile. It was a laugh riot, right there in that tense admission room. My father’s hand found my shoulder, comforting me without a word.

HM stepped closer and corrected me gently: “We say, _My shirt was sprayed with ink_… or _Ink was sprinkled on my shirt_.”  

He admitted me that day. But he gave me more than a seat in 9th standard. He gave me a lesson in dignity.

Taking his cue, I studied like I’d never studied before. English stopped being a foreign planet and became a language I could own. Soon, I was first in school in all subjects.

HM’s motivation gave me a confidence I didn’t know I had. After that, I saw no reason why I couldn’t fly — and I did, with all colours.

The school also pulled me into community service. Those early drives, cleaning the grounds, planting saplings near the Adambakkam lake, gave me the impetus for my later forays into environmental and societal issues. The ink on my shirt had marked more than cloth. It marked the start of my journey.

---

*That’s the real Silver Streak.* Not just a fast runner, but a boy who walked into AJS Nidhi in 1974 with tears and ink on his shirt, and walked out years later with confidence, purpose, and first rank.

This version would hit hard with your 1974-77 batchmates. Want to add a final line asking if anyone else remembers their admission day with Sri Ramu Reddy Sir?

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Gopal Krishna Gandhi -An open letter to Joseph Vijay

An open letter to Joseph Vijay

Gopalkrishna Gandhi 

https://epaper.thehindu.com/ccidist-ws/th/th_chennai/issues/183568/OPS/GUUFUN4AG.1+GQ6FUNTTG.1.html

Dear Chief Minister-elect C. Joseph Vijay,

Greetings and the warmest felicitations on your stellar victory.

I was not among the nearly 35% of those who voted for you. But as the results tumbled out, I was duly startled. But there was this thought: He is new, which means he is inexperienced and which also means he is fresh, clean.

I said to myself he must be told some truths. He will understand. He has the wisdom of youth knocking at the doors of mid-age.

And so, esteemed Chief Minister-elect may I place these thoughts before you:

1. You have won the vote; you are yet to win the all-important floor-test in the House. It is important that you make the protecting of India’s federal and secular fabric your priority number one. Let the State under you stand for the mariadai (respect) of the Constitution’s basic structure. Let no panic about saving your chair make you compromise on that.

2. Enter the House as Vijay in every sense of the term but remember that triumphalism does not make for good attire, studiousness does. M.K. Stalin, whom you are succeeding, represents a venerable thinking tradition of a whole community’s self-respect which Periyar bequeathed, of a movement’s ardent effort to bring about equality in a society riven by prejudices. His statement of departure is statesmanlike. His absence from the Assembly is to be regretted. You have what he does not: a fresh slate. He has what you do not: an experienced stylus to write with. Please do not let the dialectical luxury of what is Dravidam and what is not. He is your predecessor, not your predator. You are his successor, not his supplanter. And let Udhayanidhi Stalin’s presence in the House be for you a great duet, not a grim duel. As in what Nadal facing Federer has been — a balance of skills.

3. What, it may be asked of you, is your ideology? Let that not faze you. Tell them, “My ideology is following my manasaatchi (conscience).”

4. Please treat officers as colleagues, not subordinates. They can be in the mistaken impression that sycophancy is service. Rid them of that mistaken impression by telling them, like Sardar Patel, as Home Minister did, to offer without fear their frank view, objective advice. And discourage all criticism of the outgoing Ministers.

5. Lastly, Chief Minister Sir, please, remember within the State you have to sustain good governance and economic progress, with environmental protection as a primary priority. But beyond, become a beacon for a hate-free, fear-free and just India. If I may end on a personal note. It is the first time that in you, a Christian heads the government of this State. Celebrate that gift of destiny as God’s intervention for Tamil Nadu’s secular credentials. Let no one tell you to mute down or understate that legacy. Valluvar would not want you to.

I wish you more than success, Chief Minister. I wish you fulfilment.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi

FD Interest Tax Rules 2026 Fixed Deposit

*FD Interest Tax Rules 2026 Fixed Deposit வைத்திருப்பவர்கள் தவறாமல் தெரிந்துகொள்ள வேண்டிய வரி விதிகள்*

TNGSTPA SPECIAL BULLETIN

Article by: B. Mohamed Azgar

AzgarTax Advisory Firm

Technologist | Strategist | Risk Advisor

Founder – TNGSTPA

Mobile: 99424 14444 & 97916 14444

Edition Date: 03.05.2026

பலர் Fixed Deposit interest accountக்கு credit ஆனால் அதற்கு tax effect இல்லை என்று நினைக்கிறார்கள். இது மிகப்பெரிய தவறான புரிதல். FD interest என்பது முழுமையாக taxable income ஆகும். Salary income, Business income, Pension income, Rental income போன்ற மற்ற வருமானங்களுடன் சேர்த்து FD interestயும் Income Tax கணக்கில் எடுத்துக்கொள்ளப்படும். குறிப்பிட்ட வரம்பை தாண்டும் போது Bank நேரடியாக TDS deduct செய்து Governmentக்கு remittance செய்யும். எனவே FD வைத்திருப்பவர்கள் interest rate மட்டும் பார்க்காமல் tax planning, return filing, declaration forms போன்றவற்றையும் கவனிக்க வேண்டியது அவசியம்.

TDS என்றால் என்ன

Bank முன்கூட்டியே பிடித்தம் செய்யும் வரி தொகை

TDS என்பது Tax Deducted at Source என்பதன் சுருக்கம். அதாவது Bank உங்களுக்கு interest credit செய்யும் நேரத்தில் அதில் ஒரு பகுதியை tax ஆக deduct செய்து Income Tax Departmentக்கு செலுத்தும். இது final tax அல்ல. இது advance tax collection போன்றது. உங்கள் actual tax liability return filing நேரத்தில் கணக்கிடப்படும். ஏற்கனவே deduct செய்யப்பட்ட TDS தொகை அதில் adjust செய்யப்படும். அதிகமாக deduct செய்யப்பட்டிருந்தால் refund கிடைக்கும். குறைவாக deduct செய்யப்பட்டிருந்தால் balance tax செலுத்த வேண்டும்.

1 April 2026 முதல் மாற்றம்

புதிய Income Tax Act படி section number update

முன்னர் FD interest மீது TDS deductionக்கு பயன்படுத்தப்பட்ட Section 194A, புதிய Income Tax Act 2026ல் Section 393 ஆக மாற்றப்பட்டுள்ளது. இது section renumbering மட்டுமே. நடைமுறையில் FD interest மீது TDS deduct செய்யும் விதி தொடர்ந்து அமலில் இருக்கும். எனவே taxpayers குழப்பமடைய தேவையில்லை. Section number மாறினாலும் compliance obligation மாறவில்லை.

Non Senior Citizen Limit

₹50,000 வரை interest இருந்தால் TDS இல்லை

Senior citizen அல்லாதவர்களுக்கு ஒரு Bankல் ஒரு financial year முழுவதும் கிடைக்கும் total FD interest ₹50,000 வரை இருந்தால் TDS deduct செய்யப்படாது. ₹50,000 ஐ தாண்டும் போது applicable rateப்படி TDS deduct செய்யப்படும். இது Bank wise threshold என்பதைக் கவனிக்க வேண்டும்.

Senior Citizen Limit

₹1,00,000 வரை higher exemption benefit

Senior citizensக்கு Government higher threshold வழங்கியுள்ளது. ஒரு Bankல் ஒரு financial year interest ₹1,00,000 வரை இருந்தால் TDS deduct செய்யப்படாது. ₹1,00,000 ஐ தாண்டும் போது TDS apply ஆகும். ஓய்வுபெற்றோர் மற்றும் regular interest income பெறுவோருக்கு இது முக்கிய நிவாரணமாகும்.

Per Bank Basis Rule

ஒவ்வொரு Bank அடிப்படையில் limit கணக்கிடப்படும்

TDS threshold அனைத்து Banks interest சேர்த்து பார்க்கப்படாது. ஒவ்வொரு Bank தனித்தனியாக கணக்கிடும். உதாரணமாக SBIல் ₹40,000 interest மற்றும் HDFCல் ₹35,000 interest இருந்தால் இரு Bankலும் தனித்தனியாக thresholdக்குள் இருப்பதால் TDS வராமல் இருக்கலாம். ஆனால் Income Tax Return file செய்யும் போது ₹75,000 முழு interest income ஒன்றாக disclose செய்யப்பட வேண்டும். இது பலர் தவறவிடும் முக்கிய பகுதி.

Threshold Cross ஆனால் என்ன ஆகும்

முழு interest மீது TDS deduct செய்யப்படும்

Threshold limit தாண்டியவுடன் Bank credit செய்யப்பட்ட interest amount மீது TDS deduct செய்யும். இது excess portion மீது மட்டும் அல்ல. அதனால் limitக்கு அருகில் interest வரும் deposit holders முன்கூட்டியே planning செய்ய வேண்டும். குறிப்பாக multiple FDs வைத்திருப்பவர்கள் quarterly accrual கணக்கையும் கவனிக்க வேண்டும்.

Example for Non Senior Citizen

₹80,000 interest என்றால் ₹8,000 TDS

ஒரு non senior citizenக்கு ஒரு Bankல் வருடாந்திர interest ₹80,000 கிடைத்தால் 10 percent rateப்படி ₹8,000 TDS deduct செய்யப்படும். Balance amount accountக்கு credit ஆகும். பின்னர் ITR file செய்யும் போது இந்த ₹8,000 TDS credit claim செய்யலாம். Final tax NIL என்றால் refund கிடைக்கும்.

Example for Senior Citizen

₹1,10,000 interest என்றால் ₹11,000 TDS

ஒரு senior citizenக்கு ₹1,10,000 interest கிடைத்தால் 10 percent அடிப்படையில் ₹11,000 TDS deduct செய்யப்படும். அவர்களின் total taxable income basic exemption அல்லது rebate limitக்குள் இருந்தால் full refund பெறலாம்.

No TDS என்றால் No Tax அல்ல

மிக முக்கியமான உண்மை

Bank TDS deduct செய்யவில்லை என்பதனால் tax liability இல்லை என்று அர்த்தமல்ல. FD interest முழுவதும் taxable income ஆகும். உங்கள் total annual income அடிப்படையில் slab rateப்படி tax liability தீர்மானிக்கப்படும். எனவே TDS இல்லை என்றாலும் FD interest ITRல் காட்டுவது கட்டாயம்.

TDS Avoid செய்ய சட்டபூர்வ வழி

Form 15G மற்றும் Form 15H

உங்கள் final taxable income NIL என்றால் Bankக்கு declaration form submit செய்து TDS தவிர்க்கலாம். Non senior citizens Form 15G submit செய்யலாம். Senior citizens Form 15H submit செய்யலாம். இந்த forms financial year ஆரம்பமான April மாதத்திலேயே submit செய்வது சிறந்த நடைமுறை. Late submission செய்தால் ஏற்கனவே deduct ஆன TDSக்கு refund only ITR மூலம் தான் கிடைக்கும்.

New Regime Rebate Benefit

Tax payable NIL ஆகும் வாய்ப்பு

New tax regime கீழ் eligible income slab உள்ளவர்களுக்கு rebate benefit மூலம் final tax NIL ஆகலாம். அப்படி இருந்தும் Bank TDS deduct செய்திருந்தால் ITR file செய்து முழு refund பெறலாம். அதனால் TDS deduct ஆனாலும் return file செய்யாமல் விடக்கூடாது.

Smart Planning Tips

FD வைத்திருப்பவர்கள் கண்டிப்பாக செய்ய வேண்டியவை

Interest thresholdக்கு அருகில் இருந்தால் deposits different Banksல் split செய்து வைத்துக்கொள்ளலாம். Form 15G அல்லது 15H timely submit செய்ய வேண்டும். AIS, Form 26AS மற்றும் Annual Information Statement regularly check செய்ய வேண்டும். PAN correctly linked இருக்க வேண்டும். Cumulative FD interest கூட yearly taxable income ஆக கருதப்பட வேண்டும்.

Most Common Mistake

Interest income returnல் காட்டாமல் விடுவது

Bank TDS deduct செய்துவிட்டது என்பதால் வேறு reporting தேவையில்லை என்று பலர் நினைக்கிறார்கள். இது தவறு. Full FD interest ITRல் காட்டப்படவில்லை என்றால் mismatch notice, scrutiny query, refund hold, reassessment issues போன்றவை வரலாம்.

Final Reality

TDS என்பது temporary deduction மட்டுமே

FD மீது deduct செய்யப்படும் TDS final tax அல்ல. அது முன்கூட்டியே வசூலிக்கப்படும் tax collection மட்டுமே. உங்கள் actual tax liability என்பது total income, age, deductions, tax regime choice, rebate eligibility மற்றும் other incomes அடிப்படையில் தான் முடிவாகும்.

Final Word

FD return மட்டும் அல்ல tax efficiencyயும் equally important

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டீச்சர்

“டீச்சர்… உங்களுக்கு என்னை ஞாபகமிருக்கா ?

சாலையோரமாக நடந்து சென்ற பவானி டீச்சரைக் பின்னால் இருந்து ஒருவர் அழைத்து கேட்டார்.

“யார்… புரியலையே.”

“டீச்சர், இந்த முகத்தை ஒருக்க கவனமாகப் பாருங்க.”

“விளையாடாதேடா, விஷயத்துக்கு வா. எனக்கு முன்னாடி மாதிரி இப்ப கண் பார்வை இல்லடா.”

“டீச்சருக்கு இந்தக் குரலும் அடையாளம் தெரியலையா?”

“இல்லைடா… இத்தனை ஆண்டுகளில் எத்தனை தலைமுறையை நான் பாடல் சொல்லிக் கொடுத்திருக்கேன் எத்தனை பேர் டா ஞாபகத்துல வச்சிருக்க முடியும்.?”

“96-வது பேட்ச்சில் படித்த ஜாஃபர், விஷ்ணு, ஜேக்கப் எல்லாம் டீச்சருக்கு ஞாபகம் இருக்கா?”

அந்த பேட்ச்சை நான் எப்படி மறக்க முடியும்? என் ஆசிரிய வாழ்க்கையில் அதைவிட பிடித்த ஒரு பேட்ச்சே இல்லை. சரி, நீ அந்த பேட்ச்சில் யார்?”

“டீச்சருக்கு அந்த பேட்ச்சிலிருந்த ‘திருடன்’ ஜேக்கப் ஞாபகத்துல இருக்கா?”

“ டேய், அவனை அப்படிச் சொல்லாதே. அவன் ஒரு பாவம். அவன் திருடன் இல்லை.”

டீச்சர் இன்னும் நீங்க அவனுக்கு தான் சப்போர்ட் பண்றீங்களா அவன் திருடுறதை நான் தான் பார்த்து இருக்கேனே அப்பவும் அவனுக்கு சப்போர்ட் பண்ணி காப்பாற்றி விட்டது நீங்க தானே

“ஆம், நான் அவனை காப்பாற்றினேன். ஏன்னா, அவனைப் பற்றி உங்களுக்கு தெரியாத பல விஷயங்கள் எனக்குத் தெரியும்.”

“அதென்ன டீச்சர்?”

“அவனுடைய வாழ்க்கை நிலை அப்போ அப்படித்தான் இருந்தது. வீட்டில் ஒரு வேளை உணவு கூட இல்லாத குடும்பம்.”

ஜேக்கப்பைப் பற்றி சொல்ல சொல்ல டீச்சரின் கண்கள் நிறைந்தது அவர் இறுதியில் அழ ஆரம்பித்தார்

“டீச்சர் அழாதீர்கள். டீச்சருடைய பிரார்த்தனைகள் வீணாகப் போகவில்லை.”

“ஏன் அப்படிச் சொல்கிறாய்? நீ அவனை பிறகு பார்த்தாயா?”

“டீச்சர்… அப்போ நான்காவது பெஞ்சில் உட்கார்ந்து டீச்சரைத் தொந்தரவு செய்த அந்த ‘திருடன்’ ஜேக்கப் நான்தான்.”

இதைக் கேட்டவுடன் டீச்சர் அவனை கட்டிப்பிடித்தார். அடக்க முடியாத மகிழ்ச்சியின் கண்ணீர் அவர் கண்களிலிருந்து தாரைதாரையாக வழிந்தது.

“சாமி, இதை நீ என்கிட்ட இவ்வளவு நேரம் ஏன் சொல்லவில்லை?”

“டீச்சருக்கு என்னைப் பற்றிய அந்தப் பழைய பாசம் இன்னும் நினைவிருக்கிறதா என்பதை அறியவே.”

“அப்படியா! சரி, நீ இப்படி வேஷம் போட்டிருக்கிறாய்? இப்போ என்ன வேலை செய்கிறாய்?”

“இது வேஷம் இல்லை டீச்சர். நான் இப்போது இந்த ஸ்டேஷனின் எஸ்.ஐ.”

“உண்மையாடா? நான் கேட்கிறது நிஜமா?”

டீச்சருக்கு நம்ப முடியவில்லை.

“ஆமாம் டீச்சர், நான் இப்போது ஒரு போலீஸ் அதிகாரி. ஒரு மிட்டாய் வாங்கித் தின்ன வேண்டும் என்ற ஆசையில் அப்போது எடுத்த அந்த ஐந்து ரூபாய், என்னை மற்றவர்களின் முன் ‘திருடன்’ ஆக்கியது. அன்றே என்னை ஏளனம் செய்தவர்களின் முன் ஒரு போலீஸ்காரனாக நிற்க வேண்டும் என்பதே என் மனத்தில் இருந்த கனவாக இருந்தது…”

-நண்பன்

passive inheritance

There is an influential idea called Vishwamanava - the universal human - as defined by Kuvempu (1904–1994), the Jnanpith-winning Kannada writer. If you grew up in Bangalore in the last quarter of the last century, as I did, it was almost impossible to miss. And yet, I can’t say I ever immersed myself in it directly, only dipped a finger into it.

Kuvempu in a BMTC bus

My exposure was passive, ambient. It floated towards me as a child through speeches delivered by older people on local stages before amateur drama and other art competitions. I may even have heard people like H. Narasimhaiah, then Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University and a noted rationalist, speak at one such event, for instance. It appeared scrawled on school notice boards, sometimes even those of the local Kannada Sahitya Koota. In movies. In fragments of poetry printed in textbooks I did not take seriously, memorising without understanding. On the radio talk shows because I used to fiddle around with a transistor. In newspapers and magazines, at barber shops and small libraries. These days, you still see Kuvempu’s images and statues around the city, but the world has other ideas to entertain and influence them.

Kuvempu statue in Malleshwaram, Bangalore.

It lingered in names. Chetan, Chethana, Aniket, echoes of poems I had heard as songs. A girl named Chethana sang one such song at morning assembly. I remember the melody more than the meaning.

On a recent visit, I noticed that the Central College campus of Bangalore University still carries the line: Aagu Nee Aniketana, be one without a fixed abode, or more generously, belong everywhere.

Kuvempu wrote extensively. I have read none of it in the original, nor in translation. And yet, I suspect I have been shaped by it, passively, like one is shaped by a climate rather than a text. It arrives indirectly, through stories, through public memory, through the afterlives of people documented in the new book I Am on the Hit List: A Journalist’s Murder and the Rise of Autocracy in India by Rollo Romig, some of the people in Rama Bima Soma by Srikar Raghavan, and through reflections by writers such as Ramachandra Guha in conversations on Amit Varma’s The Seen and the Unseen, about a generation whose ideas I may not remember directly, but whose echoes I seem to carry. A kind of trickle-down influence.

Kuvempu, at an eatery in Chamarajpete.

Select Book Shop, Bangalore.

This may be how many of our moral compasses are formed. Not through rigorous reading or conscious alignment, but through repeated exposure to ideas that sediment over time. ‘Calibration’ may be too precise a word for something so unstable. Which is why people reach for firmer systems, religion, philosophy, mythology, ideology, communal identity, to steady what refuses to settle. Having religion agnostic parents helped.

And yet, there is something unsettling about Vishwamanava itself. The idea of becoming universal, of belonging everywhere, emerges from a very particular linguistic, cultural, and regional context. It asks you to transcend rootedness, even as it is taught to you through the most local of forms: a language, a classroom, a morning assembly. To be without a fixed abode is not the same as being free of place. If anything, it reveals how deeply a place has already worked on you.

The reason I am thinking about this now is because a friend asked me to lead a “Kerala to Dubai via Bombay” walk about Keralites in the city. Malayalam is my mother tongue, though I can neither read nor write it (even though it seasons my accent rather heavily). The thought of identifying with a language, religion, state, country, caste, or community sits uneasily with me. (I understand that’s a privilege in India.)

Perhaps that is why I remain a follower of a book or idea I have not read. Not out of total conviction, but because its ideas seem to have reached me anyway, through voices, names, places, and fragments I barely paid attention to at the time. Enough to shape something, though I still hesitate to claim it as my own.

Dr Chandan Gowda on the idea Vishwamanava.

German Short Story Literary Award

This text won the German Short Literary Award 🤔

Pl read till the end 

================

A man

was dying;

when he realized

he was dying,

he saw God

holding a box in His hand.

God said:

“It’s time to go.”

The man said:

“So soon?

I had so many plans.”

God said:

“Sorry, but

it’s time to go!”

The man asked God:

“What’s in your box?”

God replied:

“Your belongings.”

The man asked:

“My belongings?

You mean:

all my things?

My clothes,

my money, and so on?”

God said:

“Those are no longer yours!

They belong to the earth.”

The man said:

“What about my memories?”

God replied:

“They belong to time.”

The man asked:

“My family

and friends?”

God said:

“No,

they were temporary!”

The man asked:

“What about my wife

and children?”

God replied:

“They belong to your heart.”

The man asked again:

“So surely the contents of the box

are my body parts, right?”

God said:

“No;

they belong to dust!”

The man said:

“Then surely it’s my soul?”

God replied:

“Wrong!

Your soul belongs to Me.”

The man,

with tearful eyes

and great fear,

took the box from God

and opened it,

only to find it empty.

The man,

with a broken heart, said:

“I never had anything?”

God replied:

“That’s right,

you owned nothing.

The man asked:

“So, what did I have?”

God replied:

“The moments of life

were yours.

Every moment

that you lived

was yours.

Life is

just moments;

treasure

the moments

and love

the moments.

What has passed,

became the past!

Sadly, it passed

without attention,

but it passed!

And when we

wanted to reflect

on ‘just a couple of days,’

the sign on the door said:

⇦ Passed Away ⇨

Let us treasure each other

and the good moments we share. 🌹

This text won the German Short Literary Award.

Dedicated to all noble and wise individuals.

Let us value the moments of life.

 ...this is indeed life's best message and lesson on how to live fully ...

Happy morning 🌺

https://freefincal.com/why-indian-retirees-cant-spend-the-money-they-sacrificed-their-lives-to-save/

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வணக்கம்,

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