MORNING CHORE SETTER

It was another hot summer morning which had led me to take the shelter of an autorickshaw to take me to office. The auto ride sheltered me from the heat and also ensured a light breeze ruffled my hairline giving me the sense of rejuvenation. The quick ride led me to stride in well before time. Settling down under the fan near the entrance, I was taking a quick glance at some editorials of the leading print media houses when I was accosted by a young man. As I addressed his queries, I learnt that he had also chosen the early route only to be pleasantly surprised by someone at office. Soon a colleague of mine dropped in and sought my assistance in the drafting of a correspondence. As I dictated the same, the young man watched the scrawl in Pitman's being written with ease. By the end of the letter, it was clear that he had be blown over by the quick disposal of the matter. He slowly took over the table for discussing my prospects of being a writer. Little did the young one know that the visitors of this site have already suffered enough and are pleading for relief. Playing on the words, I told him that creative writing was different from the mundane official correspondence. This did not deter him in the least and he chided me for not realising that an inherent talent would be lost. Promising to myself that it would form part of my blog, I told him that a sincere effort would be made to allow him to start the day on a more positive note. Days have passed and no clear idea of writing even made a remote swipe at me leaving me with this incident to be placed innocuously on the blog. Any takers for the young man's fancy?

RAMBLINGS OF A SETTLING MIND

The writer's bug bit me once more today that the temptation to log on and start keying out certain thoughts was beyond resistance. The recent readings of the Difficulty of being good, followed by a series on the Upanishads stirred a thought process which was catalysed by a symbolic wakening by the partial viewing of the biopic on the legendary EVR. For the best part of my life, I had held the view that the  man EVR was responsible for the maverick politics in the state of Tamil Nadu. However, the biopic showed that the man lived beyond his times and was a visionary who was a match for national leaders like Rajaji and Gandhi. He has left an indelible mark on the social fabric of the nation without resorting to the politics of the day. He did not even refrain from criticising his own proteges for their errors, mistakes or blunders. No wonder he earned the sobriquet Periyar.

The present day stresses and strains wherein one fails to achieve the goals he sets out to was eating into my vitals. No wonder the books lent me a sense of being to contribute to the society while the biopic made it clear that it was not mythical that it took the whole society to tar one before the achievement is recognised. Evidently, few legends were accepted during their lifetime. Many of their deeds met with disapproval rather than emulation. As in a old lesson in Hindi we had learnt in our High school days, the tendency of the man to crown the person who sets the agenda as divine or a star to make his life easier became the absolute truth. As these thoughts muddled my mind, I felt the urge to record my tributes to the legends who dared to deviate from the set paths, courageously challenged the ritualistic acceptance of a hierarchy, paved the path for a better society despite several inherent flaws in them. The best tribute would be in the form of emulation rather than glorification of these immortals.

Determined that my quest has begun for my purpose to be served, I look to contribute by moulding the characters of men who would be in charge of affairs at various points of society. Impressing a young mind of the need to uphold the cause of the general public at large is not a easy task but now I believe it is no more a daunting task. 

We have seen trainers conduct entry and exit tests on the levels of knowledge acquired but should we not lay a practical lesson on the importance of punctuality and empathy by making each one of them undergo a traumatic wait or delay in the process of training. A mind without ethics would be a wasted mind. Similarly, a corrupted mind would be a danger for the withering fabric of the society. Let us alter the course of training to meet these basic needs and only use the tools of demonstrative effect to at least make each one more responsible and accountable. Training should no more be a tool of academicians to feed data but a tool to educate and mould young minds. The path is known but the need to tread the untrodden trail is a requirement of the hour. Let us not focus on numbers but on the quality of the output. 

Will I successfully tread the path? is a question that time will answer with unswerving accuracy.