Sampath-Musings

  FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:         EXTRA SENSES OF ANIMALS AND BIRDS   CERTAIN WONDERS IN THE WORLD WE OVERLOOK       You may not believe, yet it’s true! Yes, we generally tend to dismiss some truths as being figments of wild imagination, tell-tales, concocted stories, or make-belief. We, humans, braggingly think and boastfully claim that we are more intelligent and superior to non-human living beings like animals, birds, rodents, reptiles, flies, insects, and the like, and consider them as ordinary, pitiable, and even unworthy mortals. This is a wrong idea. But alas, they have different abilities you can’t even imagine that are incredibly awesome. At the top among them are their intuition and the ability of premonition or presage i.e. foretelling/forewarning of certain impending natural calamities - such as earthquakes, storms, tsunamis, heavy downpours, and so on - just minutes, hours or days in advance. We ignore - deliberately or ...

  FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:     PROBLEM/WORRY-FREE LIFE   Is there anything like problem/worry-free life? Certainly not! Problems and worries are part of the life game/scheme  Difficulties in your life do not come to destroy you but embolden you to face challenges, revitalize your body and mind, and bring to the fore your hidden potential to overcome trying times.   Smooth roads make no good drivers, smooth seas make no good sailors, and clear sky makes no good pilots. A problem-free life will not produce experts/masters. So, be bold and face challenges.   Our body has three laboratories - physical, chemical, and psychological. Even if one goes wrong, faulty, amiss, or astray, diseases or other problems crop up. It is well-nigh impossible to prevent or avoid certain problems altogether in life. Face them courageously.   The worst problem to overcome is worry and fear. Handle a problem as an opportunity as it usually comes with a solut...

  FROM SAMPATH’S DESK: KOLAM/RANGOLI   In simple parlance, KOLAM ( கோலம் - in Tamil) is a geometric floor drawing with many criss-crossing horizontal and vertical lines and curves with diverse designs and decorations to give it a distinct eye-catchy shape. When Kolam is coloured appropriately, it is RANGOLI, an improved version of the optic feast. The origin in terms of time is very difficult to fix. Needless to say, Kolams are an inseparable part of Indian/Hindu culture. Thamizh Margazhi is a special month for Kolam/Rangoli.    In South India, it is an age-old daily tradition and custom to draw Kolams in front of houses which, besides being a facelift, are considered to symbolize auspiciousness and good luck, inviting The Goddess Lakshmi and invoking Her Blessings and Grace for wealth and prosperity, apart from keeping the evil spirits at bay. On festive occasions, there will be special formats/shapes of Kolam and Rangoli outside our homes. It is also a t...

  FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:           TIFFIN/LUNCH BOX-CARRIER   Water and food are sine qua non for life-sustenance. After all, one works and earns for his livelihood which includes mainly food, among others.   In the years of yore, people lived in pockets of human habitats. People pursued their respective professions and sought out their livelihood only locally. They didn’t move and/or venture out to too-far places nor was there any necessity for the same; in short, their movements were very much restricted. After finishing their work, they would go home, take food in the house, and proceed further. Since there was no ‘too-long absence’ from home in a day, they didn’t feel the necessity to take their food along whenever they went out.   The advent of modern education, knowledge explosion, industrialization, mind-blowing innovations, development of infrastructure of sorts, employment opportunities, worker mobility, etc. has p...