LORD GANESHA

 LORD GANESHA

Yes, apparently, the posting comes a day after Vinayaka Chathurthi - a grand event across India. That I miss Chathurthi schedule is not a serious lapse, as the event lasts for 10 days in most parts. Why such a posting -may be a nagging thought for some. Since Ganesha has wider appeal, I thought, it would not be inappropriate to make a posting on this topic during this festivity.

Ganesha symbolizes ‘totality’ or wholesomeness by every dimension of HIS. Yes, HE is the ‘starter’ of any auspicious event or He flags off any mega event-- be it in public or domestic setting. Besides, as a student of Biology, I perceive quite some interesting lessons from Ganesha worship in this country. The very parentage of Lord Ganesha politely tells us that life owes its origin to Lord Almighty. The elephant- faced God represents a mega sample of animal life -The Elephant. Elephant holds universal appeal to humans of all age and is thus a captivating element for the beginning of worship. My opinion is a mere deduction from a little of my familiarity to Biology. Should it run opposed to some sentiments, please dismiss it off as from an ignoramus who attempts connecting the disparate [though without any ulterior motive].

Elephant stands for Wisdom, tolerance and shrewdness of perception. Also, it represents a massive potential from out of a vegetarian diet. That being so, look at the concept of Ganesha’s carrier [the vauhan]-Mooshika; it is  a tiny rat like or rodent like mammal -[Moonjooru in Tamil] totally unrelated to rat by Zoological reckoning. The rat-like ‘mooshika’ is an insectivore and his movements are like on wheels -as if gliding fast [unlike the rat which runs or jumps].

Antagonists raise the doubt as to how such tiny an animal could carry the big Ganesha; in my understanding, a vauhan suggests some intricate idea. The tiny ‘Mooshika’ is a devotee of Lord Ganesha and it surrenders to Lord. The Lord signifies potential and it should not be viewed as a physical dimension. Secondly surrendering to the Lord confers on to the devotee both will and strength to carry any burden of worldly nature. [Consider how a miniscule like a man controls a massive elephant except by will and potential].

There are some more examples of the how the Religion conceives and advocates Ecosystem harmony as a part of human life.  

Well, Lord Vishnu is depicted in reclining posture over a massive python-like reptile- The Audhi Seshan, while the Lord himself is presented in Human form. This also implies that all forms of life are bound to obey the Lord or serve him. Now, the question is why these kinds of depictions? Conceiving of different animals AS BEING CLOSE TO THE Lord is a safe way of inculcating respect for different animals, so that they are not attacked by humans. Yet another instance is that of LORD Hayagreeva- the Horse -faced form.

Hayagreeva is believed to be the ‘giver’ of mental prowess or capability of cranial power. Frequently, children throng Hayagreeva temples seeking the blessings of Hayagreeva in complete faith of acquiring better brain functioning especially for facing examinations. In fact, they place their pens/ pencil/ instrument box before appearing for examination. That way Horses gain greater value as ‘forms’ of Hayagreeva -the lord of quick witted grasp. Cows are venerated as Goddess “Lakshmi” and are widely respected and held in reverence.

Monkeys by their association with Lord Ram, Cows with Lord Krishna also enjoy natural protection though by religious sentiments. Likewise, Thulsi plant, Mango leaves are held sacrosanct that these plants also stand protected.  So, a deep-rooted cultural value like religion has sensibly sensitized the members to safeguard ECOLOGICAL BALANCE, even if for mere faith. What a wonderful way to educate minds of the value of co-existence of all life forms by infusing the idea that all are products from Almighty and none is superior to Nature.  That is what Environmental protection is all about.

Prof. K. Raman

 

MEDIA, MEDIOCRITY, MOBOCRACY

 MEDIA, MEDIOCRITY, MOBOCRACY

Media pertain to ‘sources’ that provide news to the general public; Mediocrity relates to ‘the quality of not being good and ‘Mobocracy’ means rule by the mob. The three terms presented for title are apparently unrelated. But, strangely in India we can trace a relationship among these elements- Media, Mediocrity, Mobocracy. Our freedom in tracing a relationship between these terms has after all been strengthened by the features of the three components. The media quality not being good is strengthened by mob rule or what goes by ‘large scale belief or popular notion.   Life in India during 1950s-- about 1980s    was sedate with News reported in All India Radio and News papers. Only reporting of occurrences was done for events in and around a town or region. There was only true reporting unlike the present times when News is ‘interpreted’ to convenience to set a narrative.

It dawns to us now, that when news was largely from Government-owned AIR or Door Dharshan, greater objectivity and neutrality were vivid and listeners/ viewers had to merely receive them and there was no need to decipher or derive any inference. Also, News items were presented at just two time slots -a day in regional language and in an equal number in English. Large schedules were allotted for Culture, Traditional music/ dance, Interviews with experts in Science, Law or medicine. Regional programmes were provided for a few hours in the evening and after 8.00 PM or 8.30 pm Door dharshan centres would beam National programmes. In view of such orderly package, time was fruitfully utilized and the dramas were far more simple and sensible in theme.

News papers till around 1990s were furnishing news and now they carry views in place of news. With every medium like Newspaper with a private agenda, truth is a casualty and greater bias due to interpretative writing is visible all over.  So to say, media are delightfully, opinionating- a term so fine by its meaning. Consequently, it has turned quite simple to throw up tantrums as political discourse in building people’s mood in favour of one or the other political outfit -convenient to the media barons. Of late, this trend goes by an effort of ‘setting the narrative’. Despite the high pressure tactics of visual media, knowledgeable people ‘read through’ and stay clear that they avoid watching such media- print or visual. The malady is complex due to gullible viewers who subscribe to those views, being themselves incapable of analysis having already been sufficiently indoctrinated with those narratives rich in rhetoric, spiced with tantrums. Such sources and gullible viewers together can cause disaster to democracy. Soon enough, a new term ‘Mediacracy’ would be welcome to signify crazy media rich in mediocrity and motivated as well as opinionative functioning.  The game found its way into households through innumerable ‘melodramas’ in the name of serials that are viewed by audience with mouth wide open like dead crows, oblivious of live happenings around. Grand idiocy, mediocrity and mobocracy look to be inseparably intertwined.    

Prof. K. Raman

 

 

 

BIOLOGY/ BOTANY -DEMONS

 BIOLOGY/ BOTANY -DEMONS

Till about 1980s colleges had, on their Science faculty-- persons designated “Demonstrators”. In traditional English, ‘Demonstrators’ are PERSONS who take part in public protest over some practice/ stipulation / newly imposed restriction. It was ‘Demonstrators’ that got truncated to ‘Demons’ to that section of teachers in Science departments. Whether or not the term  ‘Demons’ was  used in the sense of traditional English or as a mere abbreviation, the nomenclature found acceptance among students, colleagues and Demonstrators themselves. So to say, they were a clan different from other members on the faculty of such departments of study. In fact, by any reckoning they were functionally distinct from other member teachers though by function all were catering to different facets of learning --like theory / practice.  Truly, they were aspirants to the position of Lecturer by virtue of qualification; yet they had to ‘wait’ for vacancies to the status of Lecturer.

 Demonstrators were handling Laboratory sessions for UG/ PG students and such personnel were quite authentic in providing laboratory training to students. Their critical training for designing / performing of laboratory exercises proved a significant advantage for appropriate ‘orientation’ of performance skills of learners.  Within the clan referred to as ‘Demonstrators’, a sense of recognition was noticeable among students for Demonstrators from different subjects. Yes, personnel of this cadre from Physics /Chemistry were regarded ‘Gentle men’ by students; those from Zoology were ‘lesser’ gentlemen; those from Botany were dreaded as Demons or Draconian in attitude. To get branded by students- as of a specific category owes itself to the rigidities stuck to by Demonstrators as a part of their training processes in shaping students. Why Biology cadres are ‘nightmarish’ while those from Physics /Chemistry are reckoned ‘gentlemanly? The latter seldom impose conditions for ‘completing’ / submitting the record books for correction. Members from Biology insist on record work being submitted in about 48 hours from completion of laboratory work. Also, the work in Biology requires depiction of structures while in Physics/ Chemistry, no special skills like depiction of features is insisted up on. It is in this facet of work that within Biology teachers Botany demonstrators appear draconian by different parameters. Yes, Botany /Zoology diagrams cannot be made using stencils. All depictions need free-hand drawing of features with right sense of proportion. 

Even more fastidious are the Botany teachers who impose using of pencils of different grades - 2H, H, HB, B, 2B progressively increasing in darkness of the lines drawn.. With low darkness, errors get etched and prove very hard to erase. So, appropriate pencil alone can render justice to the drawing.  Unlike animal parts, PLANT PARTS are to be ‘drawn by observation’ of the specimen, while animal features are presented through charts or bold drawings on black board -making it simpler to ‘follow’. Such a practice is not common for plants, as representative plant samples are different among different geographic territories.  The freedom of using gadgets like scales, set-square, compass are ruled out in biology, causing discomfort to the beginner. With routine practice and training ‘free hand’ drawings can be done more quick and elegant than by using gadgets. The art of depiction of features lies in using sharpened pencils and blunt ones blunt the elegance. Insistence on these criteria by Botany demonstrators for drawing diagrams, make them appear brutal or draconian or Demons Thus they look Demons to the learners.   Basically, demon means an evil spirit, though it also refers to a person with great skill or energy.        

Prof. K. Raman

RUBY, HORLICKS, MANI

 RUBY, HORLICKS, MANI

This is another instant of 1961-62 at Srirangapatna of Mysore. I was in PU C and my brother was a school boy in Trichy. We were in a rented house -a subunit of a two structure building. Both the houses were in a common compound and ours was a rear segment, while the house owners were in the frontal segment. The place was quite comfortable well shaded  and guarded by their watch dog Ruby. Ruby was held shackled by chain in her kennel house made of wood.           Through best part of the day Ruby would be lying all limbs stretched. When some noise of opening the door was heard, Ruby would raise head half-heartedly with partly open eyes to see if someone came by. If some stranger was seen, Ruby would ferociously bark and try to unshackle self in a bid to pounce on the intruder. By 8.00 pm, the door would be locked and Ruby let free to roam around. She would keep vigil through the night and would go to kennel house by 7.00 am daily. Until brought under chain, Ruby would not permit anyone enter the premises. My brother Mani [was extremely mischievous], who had come down on quarterly holidays had a tough time entering the house until the house owners physically held Ruby under check. Regulated by her boss, Ruby stayed quiet. But, every time Mani was seen, Ruby would turn violent displaying all teeth signaling a warning of Kilo bite[kilo=1000].  [Kilo byte is a computer terminology of referring to volume ] a learned borrowing from computer language to imply 1000 bites. Curiously Mani was not daunted by Ruby’s violent gestures. We were worried for Mani’s safety from the ferocious Ruby.

On 4^th day of Mani’s arrival around 7.00 am Ruby was like a tamed circus animal fully obedient to Mani’s instructions. When I asked Mani, as to how he contained Ruby, he just smiled and said nothing. By around 2.00 pm the same afternoon, Mani went to the kennel and released Ruby. The animal was dancing around Mani, as if possessed by a magic spell.

Like a stealthy cat, Mani moved into the kitchen across my mother’s shoulder and brought the Horlicks bottle. He scooped a spoonful of Horlicks powder and laid it in a line on the floor. Ruby quickly started licking the powder and lifted everything off the floor. When she had physically removed the powder, she was profusely salivating and her saliva was dripping uncontrollably. Suddenly, a strange change was noticed of Ruby.

 Yes, lifting her head like the antenna of a radar, she was trying to free her mouth of the mound of Horlicks that had firmly stuck to the roof of her mouth. Just as we humans get restless upon betel nut pieces getting lodged between teeth, Ruby was too busy wiping off the Horlicks mound from the mouth roof by using saliva and tongue. Ruby was obviously delighted by a tasty paste rich in aroma stuck to her upper mouth roof. For removing it Ruby was making circular motions even as she was making efforts to unlock the Sticky Horlicks. Literally, circular motions of body were natural consequences of trying hard to clear the mouth off this nemesis-like bond between Horlicks and her mouth roof. Now, I realized that Mani had floored the animal by offering a very tasty stuff that the animal had not tasted in her life till then. For the sheer delight of the taste the animal dropped her ferocious postures to Mani.

My mom was terribly angry that Mani had fed the dog with such a prestigious stuff like Horlicks. Those were days when Horlicks and Ovaltine were held Royal Beverages. She shouted “no idiot would waste Horlicks on dogs”. Mani said, “if Horlicks is finished we can buy it; if I am finished by Dog bite, where will you buy me? “Mani is not a cheap stuff to buy from somewhere”.  Ultimately, Ruby readily obeyed Mani more than to her genuine masters. Mani, also had the habit replying word for word to anyone.   

Prof. K. Raman

HACKNEY MAN

 HACKNEY MAN

As a part of recalling acquaintances, arises the present write-up about someone, whom I had befriended way back in 1956 and again had the opportunity of meeting him after 3or 4 years in a new place. Incidentally the name ‘hackney’ baffles many who are fairly well- trained in English terms. I picked the term up from the very person whom I name the hackney man. It is essentially a British term to specify men who ‘drive’ horse-drawn carts. Till late 1960s, even carts drawn by cattle or horse were issued Driver licence with defined period of validity. The driver ought to wear it visibly over the biceps -as an authorized person to ferry persons in the cart. The man I am referring to  was one Mr. Gopal by name and he had several qualities that we may not expect from a person of that activity/ trade.

At that point of time he was 40-45 in age and was widely respected in Sivagangai town for his skills of handling horses, training them for being used in carts and in selecting horses from distant places like Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka from where horse-cart owners of Tamil nadu try to buy good animals for using in cart. On such missions, the most sought after selector was Mr. Gopal; he and the owner of the horse cart would together travel to horse market in those places. Gopal’s job was to select the best animal for an appropriate price and select the animal free of defects or sentimental objections like ‘moles’, facial features and central muscle between front legs and the way the animal stands and so on. In addition, specific gender features too were considered auspicious or inauspicious. Gopal was thorough with all those criteria. In fact, my narration of these characteristics was briefed to me and my brother [by Mr. Gopal] when we were school boys in Sivaganga.

Though a 6^th class drop-out, Gopal had a reasonable command over English and used to tell us some grammar rules even when he was just a Hackney driver. Unfortunately his hearing was defective and had to be clearly briefed of the destination to drive the cart. He had a very good control over all horses in the town and could easily tame them if ever they revealed rogue-like tendency. He could quickly restore normalcy of the animal by tricks of where and how to hit the animal. His discretion was more effective than any summary punishment of severe beating of the animal. A travel in his cart was a pleasant experience as he used to talk to the animal in some sounds like ktch, ktch.huh huh or tutta ta tutta ta or pup, pup depending on the horse he was using. He used the whip very sparingly, and if ever using it would carefully hit the mane of the animal instead of all over the body. Curiously, animals were clear as to who the driver was. On a Chitra pournami day carts were not in demand; Gopal took me and my brother in 7 or 8 carts in a sort of a demo and showed how each horse can be made to work like a race horse. Only one horse was whipped once; many responded to his voice signal; for one animal he planted his three fingers [right index, mid finger and ring finger] simultaneously over the back near the tail and the horse simply picked up speed. When we moved out of Sivaganga, we lost contact with Gopal  and by 1960-61 we spotted him in Manamadurai, working for another owner. He was visibly happy when WE SPOTTED EACH OTHER and was very happy learning that I was in SSLC, my brother in 9^th std.

We had to painfully part his company after half-yearly vacation and he wished us well advising us to study much and become officers. He began his career as an Attendant in Brooke-bond who popularized tea in South India by giving free tea for three months in street junctions. His English skill impressed British people who appointed him; since the free tea scheme stopped, all temporary employees had to go. Gopal changed over to horses and did an excellent service to his job requirements. Logically, now it is unlikely that Gopal is around; there could be someone of his category on a different name -for, good ones do not disappear outright.

Prof. K .Raman   

        

CHRISTEN HIM

 CHRISTEN HIM

Am I assigning any duty to our readers? No; yet the title finds place here for the intricacy behind it. Life is a body of experiences that include confabulations, confusions and contradictions. These together justify the title chosen as a tentative ‘relief’ from the difficulty. I am presenting an acquaintance of mine who believes that none else could ever match him in wit or intellect, leave alone his other accomplishments.. In a nutshell, it looks well nigh impossible to locate another of the likes of his, except by error if one tumbles on him.  To make my idea of him clear, I recall my ‘baffled’ experience with him. When I told him, “You are a rare person under the Sun”, he retorted -‘you are wrong, the Sun is under me and I am not under the Sun. 

Such is the ‘supremacy’ of his or at least he believes so. All popular opinions would be blasted to pieces by his assertion “you are wrong”.  He reminds us of one of Murphy’s laws that suggests “the boss is always right even when he is wrong”. All that one would need to get on with him, is to to cultivate the famous adage from magazines -“Laugh it off” Otherwise, he would rip through our peaceful sleeps at nights.

Over three decades +, I am yet to notice an occasion when our man keeps off or pleads unfamiliarity. He would make us feel sad and ashamed saying “I know your father more than what you know of him”. We would stand all ends dried up with this woeful inadequacy of ours to the father. If the expression “Sky is the limit” has any applicability, right away we can hope to fix it on him. 

He has several anecdotes rolled up his sleeves , to be let off at a suitable but unexpected moment. Look at this. He said “When I landed in New york, one man came running to me and hugged me to his heart’s content. When I said Mr. So and so, he was astonished and asked how you identified me though we have not met so far? I told, you were at the gate with a bill for payment- You must be “Bill Gate” AND BEING AT different gates you must be Bill Gates. He has no limits for his fantasies. He would simply baffle telling “A good looking person seeking alms can be named Sundar Pichai and would further serve a shock, late at midnight Sundar called on me requesting meanings for a series of words when he was appearing for XII standard public examinations. Director of school education advised Sundar to take academic help from me. Such was my radiance would be his calm claim.

Prof. K. Raman     

 

 

GUARDIANS OF HUMAN RIGHTS

 GUARDIANS OF HUMAN RIGHTS

If someone comes forward to protect legitimate rights of humans, there can be no objection to it. But, the present happenings in our country reveal that groups with ulterior motives operate in the guise of human right protectors. There is more to it than what meets the eye. Yes, groups are on the prowl looking for opportunities to field self as a human right activist, lending voice for the voiceless. Does it mean that we should suspect such help as ‘motivated by intent of exploitative design’?  Certainly not. There could be a few honest ones too. By and large such activists seem to grab an opportunity to project self as a guardian of the hapless victims of circumstances. Human rights have become an international item of interest and they do have a global network with the stated objective of safeguarding the rights of weak groups that stand vulnerable to denial of rights by authorities.  Ironically, some groups emerge as guardians of rights, while their innate design appears to be something else. Several educated, well employed persons too, identify themselves with such activists; it is an easy route to hog limelight and crave for publicity. I have known a few persons who are professionally incompetent but have managed social recognition through such efforts of self projection.

The basic question is why- small territories need so many groups branding themselves as activists of human rights. Does it also mean that the violation of rights is in such a scale that vigil has to be exercised every minute through several agencies? There is no reason to believe that authorities are not safeguarding rights of citizens and so vigilant groups have come into being. As pointed out earlier, ramifications of such agencies spread on a global scale with some free flow of funds. Chances are that funds are released for a noble cause of protecting rights of humans; taking advantage of such supplies, several entities have sprung up over the last few years.

Having come into being, such groups are obliged to register protest over every happening in an area. For instance, when some suspects for a crime are interrogated, Human rights protector groups launch protest over any police action. Certainly, any police excess cannot be tolerated; but, well before such un-toward happenings, these guardians field their volunteers in numbers, causing disruption of traffic and routine movement of personnel to and from workplaces.  May be that the group behind the ‘showdown’ seeks to have media reporting of their vibrant response, justifying the monetary support lent to them. The frequency of such ‘showdowns’ make these groups prominent among political parties. Slowly, these groups have taken political slants and seem to wield influence with specific political outfits. Inevitably, one has to infer that some such groups have the blessings of certain political outfits for causing disruption. Such an inference of ours is fortified, if we observe that for similar social happenings, the same human right groups make a huge fuss or stay totally dormant based on the ruling group in office at the time of such mishaps. Additionally, on instances of child abuse or sexual assault on girls, these groups of human right guardians take diametrically opposed stance- may be playing down the incident when the ally is holding power.

Why is that we are tempted to doubt their intentions?  For instance, on matters of political assassinations, such activists voice themselves against any serious action against assassins and their accomplices. They conveniently ignore the basic tenet that none has any right to end another man’s life. Taking sides in such ghastly events, these activists ignore the sufferings / loss of lives of innocent on-lookers or passers-by; but keep on insisting meager punishment for culprits. It is too naïve to believe that such activists are honest in their effort to safeguard human rights. Their disposition to issues looks rather skewed because they do not regard lives of police or army personnel as much as they stand by disruptive forces or some blatant criminals in any act of crime. By function, they guard the rights of a few humans by choice of convenience, in India.

Prof. K. Raman     

CINE PORTRAYAL / IMAGING / IMAGINING

 CINE PORTRAYAL / IMAGING / IMAGINING

Obviously, I am caught in a labyrinth of confusion -as to what suits the idea that I try to convey to our readers. It all begins with ‘imagining before an image is portrayed or presented in celluloid. When the attempt succeeds, the man [The Director] hits national fame and is sought after by a range of movie producers. He feels on top of the world and presents ideas that seem to be ‘off- beat’ in suggestion.   It cuts ice with most audience; after a reasonable measure of success, the man seems to run out of both ideas  and steam together  before he turns irrelevant in a few years. Little does the Director realize that fresh ideas cannot be incessant unless you ‘lay off’ for a while before a new venture. Such Directors who had a clear perception of how to win over the audience, manage to stay in limelight for long and retain their reputation for originality. So much being the requirement for ‘success’, it is an uphill task to sustain  high quality all through. If some rigid parameters of assessment were clamped, most of these Directors would be declared ‘unfit’ for the task. Movie-making being a private domain with no specific stipulations on quality or attainments, the so-called Directors parade as popular faces in the society. How does it bother us would be a logical interrogation. It does bother us by view of the innate inabilities of movie directors in portrayal of socially relevant or significant professions as teachers/ Professors/ Doctors/ Nurses, Scientists and government officials.  

School teacher/ Professor

Movies try to project them as butts of ridicule; they are clad in comic attire, ear studs, wielding a slender cane -a tool to punish erring boys. A Professor of Physics would be discussing Tamil poet -Valluvar or Avvaiyar -the lone zones known a bit to the Director. As portrayal of supreme scholarship of the Director the most popular formula on black board for English / geography is E= MC^{2 .} Often the movie character[Teacher] is well dressed but keeps interacting in classroom in a language that fails to evoke any respect for the profession. On the audience, the heroine of the movie would be seated in uniform and uniformly exchanging glance with the hero -also on the audience in class XI or II year Degree [both the artistes are in the age bracket of 30+, a grand depiction of scholarship pursuing that level of study for their age] ridiculing the  teacher presented on the screen as a dull head or a muff.

Scientist

Cinema scientist ought to be a male member; never any woman scientist is possible in their screen play. By default, the scientist sports a beard just below the lower lip in a cluster easy to snatch by any passer-by. Being a scientist, calls for a mandatory spectacle, as in the cinema-reckoning a man with normal vision can ill afford to be a scientist. Despite pursuing science, he would be vigorously pursuing a girl [casting science to the winds] romancing near Eiffel tower/ Niagara falls / Trafalgar square.     Picturising romance in these places is rendered logical by making the hero -a scientist on an official mission to these places. [Romancing is the full time mission and any science is incidental or is it accidental in this case?] He would come out with a bizarre scientific achievement of augmenting high energy of ‘lightning’ into a safety pin and using it, half of NEWYORK could be set ablaze. Impressed by its explosive productivity, US President would host a dinner to shower encomia on him; our Director is rich in paucity of idea and makes the hero himself don the role of US President while Kamala Paul would play Amala Harris the VP in the movie. All of them sing in unison the pride of Tamilian and the auditorium bursts into flame by sheer clapping for this achievement. The president clinches a deal with the scientist to make warheads with high energy pin derived from lightning without polluting the land /air / water. What a screen play?

Police officials / Temple priests

Though these two personnel - mind their duties, our playwrights / Directors take delight showing them as anti-social beings and are not society-friendly. Movie Directors -so conscious of society, values, upright morality etc., seldom bother to remember how severely they pollute adolescents by displaying natural contours and shapes of human anatomy in a bid to fill their coffers even as they empty the human minds of any respect for members of the opposite gender. Idiocy is a way of life for them.

Prof. K. Raman

A LESSON -TYPICAL OF HIM

 A LESSON -TYPICAL OF HIM

Who is this ‘HIM’, could be a natural reaction from anyone who has had a glimpse of this title. I am duty-bound to amplify my suggestion of ‘HIM’. He keeps coming to me on and off. If he doesn’t, someone brings him to me with no intention-- bad about it. Yes, the ‘HIM’ is a glorified reference to William Shakespeare, who manages to stare at me through the corner of his eye, to induce a certain degree of awe and respect for that ‘pioneer human psychologist’ who has laid bare the undercurrent of ‘thinking’ in human minds under a variety of circumstances. Who else but ‘HIM’ has said so much of our idiosyncrasies that seem to have entrenched in us, even as we were evolving to our present ‘form’. Be that as it may.  

 A greeting message from Prof. N.S Rengarajan, has set in motion the day’s blog posting. The message reads ‘Shakespeare said -“NEW FRIENDS MAY BE POEMS, BUT OLD FRIENDS ARE ALPHABETS. Do not forget the Alphabets, because you will need them to read the poems”.  Look at the lavish content of this apparent simplicity in suggestion. I am aware and concerned that my ‘understanding’ of the statement of ‘HIS’ SHOULD NOT IN ANY MANNER AGONIZE our friends who visit blog write-ups to look for something interesting. Yet, mind being what it is, ‘indulgence’ is more a response than any intention of trying to ‘impose’ opinion on others.

Coming to Shakespeare, in the present item, he uses analogies Poems and Alphabets respectively for friends --New and Old. I read quite some good message in this. Kindly do not jump to the conclusion that I read between lines. Honestly, on my very first reading it struck [to] me that the man had come into his elements while making the statement.

Let us consider the suggestion itself of choosing to identify the old with ALPHABETS and the New with POEMS. Alphabets written in any style do not interfere with our recognition of them; but can we right away recognize any poem for its beauty or content? One has to ‘engage’ all faculties of self to bring out the hidden value in a poem. Several encounters with a poem can modify and also mollify our natural responses in drawing the best out of the lines therein. On the very first reading we get some ‘meaning’ which need not conform to what the poet intended suggesting. Once you listen to the interpretations offered by critics / teachers / Professors, it dawns on us that poets / playwrights are intricate in their suggestions; none can dismiss them as of being ‘useless’.  After all, life is a package of experiences and experiences are derivatives of emotions. Emotions - foretold are Poems and Plays. Either of them uses simple words with complex purpose -played to rich effect by great minds.

Alphabets do not change in any feature ascribed to them [old friends]. But words in poems may mean altogether different things in different locales/ contexts [new friends].   How through a simple analogy, HE inducts so much information. Every time you read HIM, you get to have something new from HIS old utterance. I trust, my opinion is not misplaced.

Prof. K. Raman

                                             

 

COMMUNICATION GADGETS

 COMMUNICATION GADGETS

Times were when India survived on systems like post cards, inland letters, postal covers readily distributed to any spot in the country. Till 1990s or so, domestic telephones were in the houses of Doctors, Judges and ministers; the item was placed on a high pedestal and veiled by a thin transparent cloth partly exhibiting the physique much like a movie actress in  steep demand.

 Only after 1995 or so, the stuff became a DOMESTIC FACILITY FOR MIDDLE CLASS / UPPER MIDDLE CLASS Citizens, who waited for 3 years to be blessed with a phone. The wait [3 years] did not cause A RIPPLE, AS THEY HAD LIVED THEIR LIVES WITHOUT PHOINE all those years. [Now,children are unable to stay quiet for half-an- hour without a cell phone].

When more houses sought to have the facility, there was a real boom in telecommunication industry. People were nervous to have STD  link, fearing indiscriminate calls to relatives; those who had it for their children to reach the  parents, resorted to get protected by ‘Dynamic locking’ to preclude use by anyone without the concurrence of elders at home. In a matter of 3 + years, came a device called ‘PAGER’ with a readable screen; crazy men used to mount their pager on to the hip and walk around like high profile police officials. MANY WITH A ELECTRONIC DEVICE STRAPPED TO THE HIP,RESEMBLED PATIENTS LINKED TO HIGH PROFILE NURSING HOMES.

Pager was of no use to speak across; one can text 2-3 line messages- a practically worthless facility. So, had its fastest ‘death’ and none recalls even its name. Abruptly, appeared the ‘CELL PHONE’- a tiny biscuit like stuff with good memory and rapid access to numbers at will. For the first time, phone users were free to walk through and still speak across.. Availing of this human weakness, service providers started fleecing the customer on the pretext of roaming. With the cell phone in hand, girls and boys were more” ROMEO” ing  even without roaming. Slowly in Free India, citizens grew slaves to cell phones. Now, each one has 2 or more phones -ANDROID, GYNOID and what not. They have far reaching potential by way of Audio, visual, text, videos, voice messages WhatsApp facility  and a host of others. Youngsters [adolescents] run berserk with these phones and cause substantial social agony; parents are equally guilty providing these gadgets to children aged 6 or 7 with no concern for anyone’s well being.  How once, we had a peaceful life?  From our days of peace of mind, we have come to days of pieces of mind. 

Prof. K. Raman          

CAME FROM NOWHERE

 CAME FROM NOWHERE

Those of us who have had the [mis] fortune of having to settle in new places every 20 months+ or so, would concur with my  title ‘ Came from nowhere ‘ a personality , volunteering to know if you need any help. He would right away drop into your new premises- may be an official residence allotted, or a rented accommodation that you have chosen to be in. Came from nowhere  [C F N]would immensely suit him , as he presented himself before you on a hot afternoon in the month of May- the time that you had landed in the new place consequent to an official transfer in your government job.  Irrespective of your gender, you presume him be a ‘nuisance- uninvited’, as you are unable to respond to him for his  question instantly as to- ‘if you need any help?’

With the stranger in your verandah, within 15 minutes of your arrival, you are impelled to say -NO; Our [CFN] in no hurry said, OK and left the place. In the next 30 minutes or so, your office peon, witha letter of introduction calls on you and you turn into the house and ask your Mrs. if she needs something , she reminds you of the evening coffee; you seek to know if we can get it from any good hotel nearby and also to arrange for milk supply from the morrow. The office peon hesitantly says, Sir, I shall send a boy who would be at your service whenever you call him. You simply concur-‘OK- send him’ In the next 7 minutes our [CFN] reappears in your verandah and you cast a cold look on him. Undaunted, he stands glued to the place. Even as you try to remind him of your earlier reply to him, he draws your attention to the ‘office letter’, and adds Sir, they advised me to attend your needs. Sir, please don’t hesitate, in this town I am well known. Meanwhile your cell phone turns alive with your immediate subordinate on -line. At the caller’s  behest, hiding the phone in to your pant pocket you ask for the [CFN]’S name; pat drops the reply ‘Chellappaa’. You whisper that name into the phone and man at the other end shouts enthusiastically, yes sir, yes sir, the same person -you can make use of him.

You now tell Chellappaa  to fetch 2-3 cups of coffee, and CFN  quickly asks anything else? You brief him for daily milk supply from the next day on. Before you could finish Chellappaa has flown. In the next 20 minutes CFN reappears with a flask and politely places it on the table and asks for cups. The lady passes on two cups from her baggage. CFN being a smart guy runs around to the back yard wash area and thoroughly cleans the cups and dispenses two steam hot coffees into the cups and rapidly moves out to the verandah.  Sipping the coffee, the official and his wife look at each other in disbelief -suggesting ‘such a fantastic coffee-in this place’. Now madam asks her husband ‘What is his name?’   Well, before the man could respond CFN comes in telling ‘Chellappaa’. .  He collects the cups [with no trace of coffee in both] and brings them back well-washed, and inverts them over a newspaper -too old for current news, and hands over a piece of paper with a phone number. The officer --“is it your number? No Sir, it is shop number, you tell my name, I will be   before you in no time. The man left the place without waiting for money on coffee. After he left, the lady felt awkward of their being too selfish with a man - who runs errands for you even if you just murmur.

Like all higher-ups, ‘Chellappa’ was remembered only when their craving for supper began. The phone number was used and CFN, as ever lent his services before 7.40 pm and said, “Sir milk has been arranged. Sir, they will bring 1 lt of milk but you can get the quantity you need, quality assured Cow’s milk”. Now the lady settled their dues for Coffee, Supper - a modest amount for the excellent stuff hot and tasty at no extra cost at your door step!

The world trusts well-dressed cheats and tries to rubbish honest help. Please remember strangers in strange places are not always strange. 

 Prof. K. Raman

 

CHALK- TALK METHOD

 CHALK- TALK METHOD

A time-tested methodology for teaching has been ‘chalk-talk’. From time immemorial, quite a number of people have been shaped by ‘c-t’ as an effective tool. A couple of decades ago, this method was criticized as of being un-refined. Even now I am at a loss to know what is ‘un-refined’ about the working of it. In my reckoning, if refinement has to be looked for it should study the impact on learner instead of trying to dismiss something for being old. If any modern method drastically improves the process of learning, it can be thought of. Coming to the much professed ‘modern’ method, the advocacy has been in favour of using OHP / Printed Charts and subsequently power point slides. Each of them is a clear improvement over its predecessor. Persons in favour of these modern methods are unable to raise convincing arguments to disband the Chalk-Talk’ method. Instead of dubbing it old, why not we accept that it has been a time-tested tool to have successfully ‘educated ‘ multitudes of millions of  students over several generations. Has any modern method generated intellectually superior students? Intellect is a product of mental exercise and not one of physical facility. Besides, at higher levels of learning like graduation or above, several     advanced domains of biology like cell structures, division cycles, developmental changes/ embryology, plant anatomy and a few other topics require physical depiction, even as learners are observing. A final picture as in a chart or power point slide may look neat; but never can help the learner to learn how to ‘develop’ a diagram or ‘where to begin’ and ‘how to proceed’. Learning the functional methodology behind depicting diagrams is equally important especially for aspirants desirous of becoming teachers. Also, learning by observing progressive changes is the right approach for imparting knowledge. If teachers do not take upon themselves ‘duty’ of educating the wards for all components, what else is their job? Hanging a wall diagram or chart can be easily done by peons/ attendants. Therefore, that much significance is integral to ‘Chalk-Talk’ method. I request all modern teachers, to kindly accord due value to a process, like ‘Chalk-Talk’, instead of looking down upon it as an ‘old method’.

Prof. K. Raman

    

ANTICS

 ANTICS

Well, too often we find men /boys who either take delight of certain behaviour or assume that people around are just idiotic novices incapable of judging their demeanour. Too often they ‘present’ themselves in places of historic value or tourism interest. They make their presence felt by speaking loud; also they liberally let off boisterous laughter with the singular purpose of ‘being noticed or heard’. They invariably are young men who have not completed the degree course. Well-dressed, they are mistaken for persons of good background and tempt the tourists to invite them to guide their visit to monuments or historic places in the vicinity. Such a call makes an impact of delight on them; they look for such occasions to familiarize themselves with members of opposite gender in the group more as a thrill than for any clandestine design.  

They -by virtue of familiarity to all business houses in the area make it a point to advise the visitors to look for items exclusive to the place as memento or as souvenir to be passed onto friends back home. In making such appeals to the visitors they are judicious enough, not to inadvertently suggest any motive behind.

Once they clinch a deal with the visitor, they would get highly energized running around in frenzy of sorts , looking for an Autorickshaw or Taxi to ferry them to places in a bid to shorten travel time between places of interest.; they would make it appear that they have arranged the most competitive facility.

At the place of interest -say some monument or a pilgrim spot, they would quickly catch hold of a ‘local devil’ too familiar with the place, history and critical features -generally overlooked for want of precise guidance. Our hero who initiated the deal would ensure that the local expert does not demand any dole, so that the visitor is at peace with the hero. Certainly, our hero would part with some money to the devil, lest he should suffer a quarantine in future visits.  That over, the tourists would now crave for a good place to eat [lunch]. Ascertaining the requirement [the kind of food- vegetarian or otherwise] our man takes  them to a good place but would excuse himself from joining them for lunch; it would leave a huge impact on the visitors of our man’s culture [totally cast to the winds whenever he finds a new group at the railway junction]. Again in the post lunch time he takes them around for a brief shopping and prevails on the shopkeeper to give the best concession to his ‘guests’. [One more win for our hero as of being very helpful]. Well about 40 minutes before their train is due to arrive he puts the guests back to the right platform to alight the train. He manages to make some good money by showing himself affable and not showing signs taking advantage.   Antics help to draw attention; thereafter restraint holds the key to success.

Prof. K. Raman 

WORDSWORTH -The Ambassador of Nature

 WORDSWORTH -The Ambassador of Nature

If I am permitted the luxury of reviewing Wordsworth- the well known English poet, all I prefer to say would be ‘worthy words’. Basically, I am an admirer of Shakespeare; only late in my life, I did realize another goldmine in this poet. Getting to know the serene elegance of poetry at this late phase in life is the nearest equivalent of longing for mother’s lap. Why do I feel so? Age is always a polite intruder with its robust logic while poetry and mom’s lap are places of solace for that child that finds it comforting [these are domains -out of bounds for any logic]. Instead of causing agony to any reader by trying out my ‘interpretation’, it is safer to quote those worthy words of Wordsworth and leave it to the reader for personal evaluation.

“Life is divided into three terms- that which was, which is and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present and from the present to live better in the future” - An opinion free of verbal adoration 

“Knowing that Nature never did betray the heart that loved her; T’ is her privilege, through all the years of this our life, to lead from joy to joy”.  A very early recognition of Nature as a healer of mind

“Therefore, let the moon shine o thee in thy solitary walk; And let the misty mountain winds be free to blow against thee” Suggests that solitude is enjoyable

“The mind of man is a thousand times more beautiful than the earth on which he dwells” - Occasional truth perhaps.

“One impulse from a vernal wood may teach you more of man, of moral evil and of good than all the sages can”- Nature is a greater preacher than humans.

“Poetry is the image of man and nature” -Emotions emerge from nature is the indication

Words worth has also surveyed human life in his way

“Love betters what is best” True love is superior to affection

‘The best portion of a good man’s life: his little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love” Genuine feeling of affection is superior to all acts of display

“The child is father of the man” A deep incisive portrayal on learning

“Memories…images and precious thoughts that shall not die and cannot be destroyed” What our minds hold are eternal and not accessible to destruction

“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. It takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility” Corroborates the previous quote

“She died, and left to me this heath, this calm and quiet scene, the memory of what has been, and never more will be”  Feeling of being left alone on a barren land with only memories to stay along.

These quotes cannot be read or viewed once. These would need several re-visits if one seeks solace.

Prof. K. Raman   

 

THE ALL PERVASIVE

 THE ALL PERVASIVE

Needless to state-- as to what the title pertains to. It ably fits two important entities -The Almighty and The Air. Given my limitations to embark upon such a theme as ‘The Almighty’,  my option narrows down to ‘The Air’. The Indian  Medicinal system and religious faith accord a divine status to the all pervasive and describe it “Vaayu”.

Our familiarity to the medical status of ‘Vaayu’ looks clearer than what we know of the divine entity -“The Vaayu” . In any case the prefix “all pervasive” fits well to the medical entity; this is because, ‘vaayu’  which refers to any vapour or gas can spread itself to anywhere as its spontaneous attitude. Our perception of ‘vaayu’ as an internal component in human system reveals a like -behaviour by its ability to diffuse into every possible space, narrow or wide and between muscles and bones. Consequently, at places ‘vaayu’ may get trapped or arrested. Such confined gas tries to escape by constant effort by expanding. However, the felicity with which ‘vaayu’ manages to enter a space seems rather effortless, while, its freedom of escape from the ‘trapped site’ looks distinctly low The trapped gas keeps effort of ‘escape’ causing spasmodic pain in certain places. This is due to muscle being compressed by expanding gas and repeated effort of gas expansion causes spasm or repeating waves of pain. Application mild pressure over the area of abdomen showing spasm may help to ease the gas pressure. Some massaging can help too.

If the gas origin is traceable to select food items, avoid eating such food stuff. Use of warm water containing a pinch or two of ajwain or omam can relax the spasm and expel the gas. Another home remedy can be tried with Cumin [jeera] also boiled in water can help to get over the severity.

Use of asafetida powder [Hing] in buttermilk can also help to expel gas. Those who are not used to Hing, may use Garlic in relieving gas pressure.

GAS or ‘Vaayu’ is all-pervasive in the sense that people of all age-groups get to experience ‘vaayu’ as an uninvited visitor who fails to find his way out.

Prof. K. Raman

     

 

THE BOY UNDER THE GRIP OF LOVE

 THE BOY UNDER THE GRIP OF LOVE

‘Love is too young to know what conscience is'   Love is a smoke made with fumes of sigh’ are 2 quotes from Shakespeare. They come in handy to my present effort of recalling an interesting experience we have had from our student days in Annamalai University during 1965-67. It was then that I was a student in P G -BOTANY.

As all of you are aware, the place is a residential system except for a handful who hailed from nearby Chidambaram or adjoining villages. Most of our life in A U Campus would be our hostel life, as in a day classes last for 6 hours and 18 hrs are spent in hostels. Being a slightly big village, Chidambaram held no attraction for students who hailed from bigger towns, cities or state capitals. The prospect of acquiring a PG degree was a higher preference compared to mere living in better towns. None should infer that AU Hostels were a bad place to live in. Never; it was the best place to live in for the excellent food, a host of friends drawn from different other departments of learning. It would simply baffle you, when I say the hostel campus housed 10 different Dining facilities [Mess] numbered 1- 10; 5 each were allocated for vegetarians and non -vegetarians. All the 10 systems boasted of brilliant cooks, just to preclude chances of student unrest on account of food.   

At the PG level students are generally from different institutions and so, our I PG was spent in careful silence of understanding the system and members from other departments. The zone referred to as hostels was for just students of Arts, Science and Commerce. Engineering and Agriculture had their own campuses and hostels.   

It was in II PG that our familiarity to things around and persons fructified into a better blend and greater understanding. The hostels for PG boys had rooms for 2 each except the corner rooms big for 5 persons. Most members were from Physics, Botany, Geology, Statistics and a few from Mathematics. The Physics/Botany gang was vibrant with some liberal flow of English, cracking jokes /anecdotes and so on. Most evenings were spent on such items listed above and the corner room became a meeting point for whoever wanted fun. There were 2 persons Sarathy by name. One of them from Physics, the other -Botany. Physics Sarathy had a flair for grammatic English and could clear doubts in English. It is this skill of his that enlivens the episode -- ‘The boy under the grip of love’.   Another Physics boy Kumaresan was in love with a girl relative of his. He had confided this to Sarathy and the two used to speak in whispers when we were around. But, slowly the message leaked and more boys would throng the place for some ‘sensational development’. It nearly became a daily topic; the emboldened Kumaresan sought ideas from friends as to the modalities of carrying out his mission of marrying the girl against stiff opposition from both sides -as the families were at logger-heads due to family feud for years. Some suggested ‘You kidnap her and marry her’ Some suggested you both ‘run away and stay in hiding’. At this suggestion one Samuel said “It would be a runaway success” or a ‘runaway’ hit”.

Kumaresan got confused and said both mean the same ; but Samuel said, ‘No, runaway success means you will marry’; ‘runaway hit’ will mean both your parents will Chase you and hit both of you from behind until you fall unconscious’. There was a huge laughter. A couple days later, endless laughter gripped Sarathy who holding a piece of paper was uncontrollably laughing ending in pain in his waist. Kumartesan brought the then lone panacea ‘Eucalyptus oil’ to help his English guru from pain. 

Kumaresan had scribed a letter in English to his girl friend to sustain his profile  as a  PG student, beginning as Dear XXXX, “ Who who all should not know , now knowing this not able to resist letter writing”…. Etc, etc. 

Sarathy started laughing more when Kumaresan said in tamil “yaar yar ellaam therindhuvidakkoodaadho avargalukku therindhu vittadhu aanalum naan kadidham ezhudhuvadhai niruththa mudiyavillai”. The first 3 words were straight translation [yaar yar ellaam] who who all , beyond which Sarathy could not proceed and he made Kumaresan sheepishly laugh around at his own urge to translate.

‘Love is too young to know what conscience is’ was modified a bit to suggest

‘Love is too young to know what science [of translation] is’ and thereafter, Kumaresan was practically addressed "who who all" by his class friends.

Prof. K. Raman                                                     

 

                                             

 

THE SERVANT MAID

THE SERVANT MAID

If someone could easily be branded ‘recalcitrant’ it should be the servant maid. None needs to entertain an iota of doubt over my statement or assertion. Possibly, the latter fits the most. Yes, as early as the times of Poet Subramanya Bharathi, these persons have stuck to the tradition of recalcitrance as a part of their professional acumen. From which school of management these people graduate is a curious issue to understand. Yes, no matter where this clan works- a metropolis, a city, a town, a village or a hamlet -non-descript so to say, they have uniform code of [mis]conduct. Am I any opposed to their mode of living? Not at all, but, I do suffer their idiosyncrasies that draw me to the brink of patience, whoever I have engaged for the job. All the same, as Poet Bharathi had put it, sans them several things grind to a halt even when they step in late for the day’s chores allotted to them. They are the excellent human resources to get on to your nerves and can conveniently deliver unabated replies to all steaming hot questions. Keeping cool on the face of adversity is their forte that readily justifies their being on the faculty of some Management Schools to ‘teach’ composure’ as a subject.  

What makes them a distinct ‘brand’?

They imbibe all cultures/social practices typical to their place of living. [Yes, even if migrants they quickly adapt to the habits, customs, dress pattern with no hesitation.] You and I would not disband our identities, so quick as they do. In a matter of 5- 6years or so, their language too imbibes the local terminology and they look near natives for all practical purposes. Even in places like Mumbai, persons functioning as the domestic help are drawn from nearly all parts of India, except perhaps from Delhi. Only if one intensely questions them for their nativity, the details may emerge. They offer a lesson or two to all of us. They practically are not educated, but do not shy or shun travelling to distant places for earning a livelihood. Look at our boys /girls with higher secondary education, in need of job; they do not deem it convenient to venture into Bombay or Delhi, fearing the language over there; but those unlettered women seek to work in places totally strange by language and tradition. Mental grit seems to progressively decline as one gets educated. 

Real brave hearts are such men and women who blindly take a foothold in a distant land, live under a ‘roof’ not worth the name [along waste land next to pavements]cook some moderate food and move away to work at dawn. Such harsh realities of life help to harden their grit further. They deserve sympathy for ‘facing’ life. They don’t rush to end their life for not being able to procure a job in reasonable time [our boys jump from 4^th floor [for low scores] crashing themselves and hopes pinned on them].  

Though I admire several of their facets of promise, I cannot ignore the way they handle their employers. They report for work when convenient; if you insist on their time they would simply suggest you leave the key with neighbours and after the work I shall hand them over to them again. Till such time, we are convinced of their trustworthiness, leaving the key in the neighbourhood is anathema to our peace. Though we have nothing worth the name to be robbed off, what little we have could be sufficient a cause for our agony of losing them. At some point of time the key issue turns minor and we settle for a mutually convenient secret place from where to retrieve it. These hiccups are typical of metropolis where the inmates are employed and are to rush to different locales for work requiring to travel for an hour or more. So, the nagging servant maid’s service is inevitable nor dispensable. 

This is not the lone grouse. They would chill your spine telling that for 20 days I would be away for my sister’s wedding  in Karnataka or Kerala and that it is her turn to ‘contribute’ in cash and kind for the event. They would not even wait for your reply, leave alone your concurrence. Another tickle of sorts daily is the way the broom is left in a place to be an eyesore for any visitor. Those domestic helps in smaller towns are as recalcitrant as recalcitrance could be; yes, they would hang our linen for drying exactly on the cloth line meant for the inmates of another house. We would not be aware of the ‘freedom’ of our maid until the affected party tells us to remove the fabric; even if you permit their using our cloth line, they would start preaching morals saying ‘sir, use what is meant for you, we do not trespass into your facility‘ as if by design we try to avail of the other man’s facility.

With all these short comings, the servant maids of the present day are too conscious of ‘self esteem’. If you offer to part with the old dress of your children to them, they would simply turn down the suggestion saying’ my children do not use old fabric, please give it some orphanage’.  Yet we get on with them,  as we have no equal or better option.

Prof. K. Raman

 

SOME UNRELATED ‘LOOK ALIKES’

SOME UNRELATED ‘LOOK ALIKES’

As had been frequently suggested in our blog write-ups, English as a language is quite fascinating for some while ‘frustrating’ to an equal number or more. What makes our brethren get frustrated is their inability to grasp the nuances of pronunciation of words; most of us tend to pronounce every letter in a word -much the same way as we would do in Indian languages. But ‘language traditions’ in English are far different from what are familiar with and to make things complicated, we are oblivious of such lingual traditions; this can be largely ascribed to our native teachers who venture into English teaching without a specific orientation to the domain of ‘phonetics’ in that language.

Try pronouncing the words Superfluous, Restaurant, Colonel, cadet corps, Corpse, Rapprochement and verify them with a standard dictionary to find out that our utterances would not pass for English with any native speaker of that language.  It would be a ‘kill’ for them, even as we are delighted of our vocabulary!

LOOK AT THESE

These are seemingly related, but are disparate

FEEL, FELL, FELLED, FELT

Feel = recognize by contact or touch, At times it may also mean a mental judgment

Fell is not only the past tense o the act of falling or Fall; Fell also means ‘cut down’   Felled is of course the past tense of fell. ‘Felt’ is the past participle of ‘Feel’. He felt insulted when shoes were hurled at him; when he had done the same  to someone else, he was more ‘insulated’ from any feeling.

‘BUILD,BILL, BILLED , BULLIED

BUILD = To construct or progressively develop in an organized sequence          

Bill -a legislative motion that attempts to make a law or modification thereof.                BILLED= To give a bill for payment to a product or service; it may also mean a bird with a bill; the bill is a ‘beak’ of some typical form or shape.                              BULLIED = To forcibly impose some idea by use of pressure or muscle power to make someone obey a particular order or guideline.[Past tense of bully]    

FISH, PHISH, FISHING, PHISHING              

FISH                                                                                                                             ‘Fish’ is too common a term to cause any discomfort for its meaning and despite the precise names for several varieties thereof, we use the generic term ‘Fish’.                        Fine, now look at ‘Phish’                                                                                                 ‘Phish’ is a sneaky or fraudulent approach of collecting sensitive information about a person from sources like the internet.  

‘Fishing’ = act of catching fish in singles or in herds using devices like net.

‘Phishing’ = the act of ‘employing tricky tools like fake addresses to cheat a person to share critical data that may be used to ‘rob’ him /her of possessions in bank.

SLOT,SLAUGHT                                                                                                                  The two words sound alike but have no relationship between them.                               SLOT= A vertical or horizontal opening in a machine to accept coin/Currency or a chip card for carrying out a command placed to the system. Another meaning is to provide a time schedule by which some work may have to be performed.

SLAUGHT = To kill; the act is slaughter and the allotted place is the slaughter house. Other derived words are   Manslaught, Onslaught . Often Slaughter is used in speech/ writing.

BUST, BURST   Their pronunciation is not identical as Burst is pronounced BUST with stress on U for a slightly longer duration;   and it means a quick enthusiastic activity / sudden explosion as in a gas balloon. BUST= To break something to unusable state / arrest someone for bad acts. Another meaning is the area of torso around the chest and back as in a statue or a photograph of a person.

SLIT, SPLIT   Obviously, the words are quite different by phonetic value.               SLIT= make a straight narrow cut /opening                                                                              

SPLIT = To make or cause something to divide into 2 or more parts or units in a line. Political parties get split on dissent.

There are several such ‘look alikes’. But they may be completely unrelated.

Prof. K. Raman