I was reading the tsunami news with shock.Tamilnadu has faced a devastating disaster.I also read the news in different media.No media carried positive reports.All was negative.For eg..
Sun Tv--"TN govt failed to help tsunami victims.But central govt only is helping."
Jaya TV--"people thank JJ for timely help"
Kumudam--This magazine curses sea.
vikatan--gives tales of tear and sorrow.Tells about fishermen who have quit fishing and have gone inland.
lost everything sit and cry cursing sea and their fate.I dont blame them.If I had lost my children and spouse in sea I would have done exactly the same thing.
But I read in PS part 5 what kalki had said.He said "people during chola days did not bother about floods.If they lost a house in flood,they will rebuild it with vigour.Since cholanadu had such valiant people chola kings could accomplish great deeds"
PS also narrates how paluvettarayar fought the flood valiantly.At the age of 64 he defeated flood and came back inspite of a tree and a building falling upon him.
That might be fiction.But i believe that this is how our ancestors would have fought natural disaters.One thing about our ancestors was sure.They werent afraid of death.
Malayaman says in PS "I had six sons who equalled arjuna and bheema.I lost every one of them in wars.I never cried when they died".was this old man afraid of death?
This attitude made our ancestors accomplish great deeds.They very easily swallowed sorrows and deaths.They were valiant and starred death face to face.They did not cry like our media does today.
Japan has had various tsunami and earthquakes.It even had 2 atom bomb attacks.But they did not sit and cry.They rebuild their country with vigour.Recently when hurricane Ivan attacked florida, people of florida did the same thing.American media never carried such negative report which our media carries.Our media carries this report only"everything is gone.all is lost.finished..."
It seems that americans and japanese have the valiant nature which our ancestors carried.we have lost it somewhere in the due course of time.
This flood has attacked chola desam and pandya desam violently.But these countries are famous for their valour.after being enslaved for 400 years pandyas recouped and defeated cholas after losing everything.They had such valour.
Flood cannot destory our will.I read stories about fishermen quitting their business and people waiting for govt aid(which will never come).Lets take a leaf from our ancestors and face things positively.why should fishermen quit thier business?are they afraid of sea?
A well written note. I remember reading about an observation of Ravi Bernard (TV anchor) when he visited Israel. Even when there was a suicide attack on a bus the previous day, a popular news paper in Israel devoted major real estate on its front page to cover the good farming practices invented by a local farmer. The death toll and details about the attack was a small news item tucked away in a corner.
I just finished reading the first two volumes of Udaiyar written by Balakumaran. Given how deeply Raja Raja was entrenched, it must have required valiant effort and motivation over generations by Pandiyars to win back their kingdom. The degradation in quality of kings after Rajendra could have contributed but we still cannot take away the credit from the Pandiyars. Rightly said that we need to learn from our ancestors.
I don't think enough time has passed since the disaster for the people to show resilience. They will eventually run out of tears and pick up their lives and try and get on with it. But as of now, at least let us not begrudge them their tears.
I was some 6 Km away from Poompuhar when the tsunami struck.. Initially, there were very vague reports of disaster and vehicles were turned back..
On the way back to Mayavaram, I saw families walking with children, few possessions and even their cattle walking all the way away from the coast towards safety.. The scene was heart rendering. I was reminded of the destruction portrayed by Kalki in PS in the wake of the cyclone.. and his words about the resilience of the people.. I came to know of the extent of the disaster later..
He had written about the floods that once in a while Kaveri became very eager to join her lover "Samudhira rajan" and races towards him.. I guess that this time it was his turn..
Times have changed.. but I believe that human nature is as resilient as ever.. I pray that people have the strength to rebuild their lives..
Comparing ancient war victims with tsunami victims can not be correct. u can compare ancient warriors with current army people fighting in kashmir. they are equally good
Donot compare us with Japanese & Isrealis .. Everybody has their own merits & demerits .. i believe we are better than them in many other ways
coming to facing things positively
I think it is too early to say. In general time will make these people stronger and they will come back to normal life in due course.
Regarding the media hype. i think they are doing what is expected out of them. they are giving over hype .. no doubt but no harm in it . thats is the power of media and will be helpful in getting funds and help from all over india and abroad. Donot we need them for speedy recovery
why fishermen are not going to sea ? i donot know how much truth in it . As per my communication with couple of fishermen and asked them what kind of help they want ? they replied strongly that they wanted their boats back .. could u take them as pazuvetayars of modern era ..
Inrespective of Era's survival of fittest is the key for any Race. Tamil society is having it all to survive for many centuries.
In allign with what u feel
I heard that Manmohan singh rejected US Aid this time. i donot know how much it is true though
&
Nagapatinam prople are not taking the used clothes & heard that some of them are not receiving the relief materials stating that they can manage on their own.
Dear kamal, I am not heartless to say that people who lost everything in tsunami should not cry.They are common men,like most of us.I would do the same thing if i was an unfortunate victim.
I was only comparing the attitude of our current generation with that of the past.You dont even have to go to the past to find out how our ancestors faced death.You have to go 18 miles south of rameshwaram-to vavuniya and yaalpaanam to see how our brethren there face death.They face it more valiantly than us.There women and children face death more bravely than the rest of the world.They are equal to israelis and japanese in this aspect.
Current tamil generation in tamilnadu is not the heirs of warriors like paluvettarayars,rajadithan,rajendran and malayaman.Only the eelam tamils can claim to be their decendents.we dont have that eligibility.
Our current priorities are washing cut outs of matineee idols with milk and starting fan clubs for jothika and simran.we are no more a civilization that produces great poets,warriors and businessmen.we are a civilization that produces clerks,unemployed graduates and "samanjadhu eppadi" type of poets.
when i see eelam tamils,when i see how they preserve their language,how they produce valiant warriors like prabhakaran,charles antony et al, about how they produce poets like kasi anadan--i understand how our ancestors would have lived.
I would blame the media equally for this.Our mass media like movies,journals,tv etc have castrated our youth.People like major saravanan,abdul kalam are some cause for hope.
Its not only unique to tamilnadu.If we see current orissa,would we believe that their ancestors were the great kalingas,who even challenged the mighty asoka and krishnadeva raya?
If we see current biharis would we believe that their ancestors were magadha kings like asoka and chandragupta mourya?
Telling such people about how their glorious past and illustrious ancestors,about how they faced death and grief,is not heartless I believe.
Tamil society will survive till eternity.But will it survive by speaking english and forgeting tamil?will it have cinema idols as its leader?If a civilization that had chief ministers like anirudhar,sekhizar and kamarajar produces chief ministers like our current lot and survives till eternity is that a cause for celebration?
But eelam tamils will protect our civilization.There is no doubt about it.