Regarding Madurai vs Thanjavur, Chola vs Pandyas once again the madness started.
Madurai is a great city and whatever it has badness its minimal compared with Chennai or Coimbatore. So such one sided comparison not at all necessary.
Regarding Pandyas they were Tamil like Cholas. When you compare with achievements Cholas are best.
Generally Pandyas did mistake again and again inviting foreigners to either for war with Cholas or solving internal feuds.
Pandyas put Tamil miserably when invited Srilankans or Malick Kafur. The brothers royal feud ruined their(2000 years of Pandyas) pride.
So what is the point of fighting who were the best. We need acceptance. Together we are Tamil and we need to take the best among the best.
We need the best as Maharastrians boasting Sivaji. They named Sathrapathi Sivaji Terminal in Mumbai.
We guys fighting instead of accepting the best. Tamil never been united until this Pandyas-Cholas fight goes.
Even Europe was never united.Every European country fought many wars with each other (including two world wars).Tamil kings too did the same thing.
As far as pandyas and cholas are concerned cholas attained some glory during the period of vijayalaya's dynasty.comparably pallavas had the simma vishnu dynasty.Pandyas had their great kings like maravarman sundara pandyan.Cholas and pallavas immortalized their regimes with mahabalipuram and thanjai Periya koil.Pandyas did nothing of that sort.
Venkatesh said "perhaps the gods are busy holding their noses from the stink and just dont have a free hand to kill."
God doesnt kill anybody for urinating.If our child urinates in the wall of our house,will its father kill that child?
I do not know about Madurai but putting Coimbatore and Chennai in the same basket is a big joke. Language, which reflects the nature of a person, can be compared to understand the difference. e.g.: In Coimbatore, you will not find a single auto/taxi/bus driver/conductor to address a customer in singular. We know the polish and cultural depth of the madras baashai!!
I guess it is due to the huge floating population of Chennai. I do not think it is correct to take Chennai to be a true reflection of the great Tamil culture simply because it is modified to a great extent (price for prosperity !!) . Just like Mumbai cannot be a mirror of Maharashtra.
Moments when I read about the Tamil Sangham of Madurai, read PS and walked inside the Periya Kovil made me proud of the lineage I have inherited.
The fact that the kings built stronger temples (which might have served as the cultural center of that village - I have seen Swiss villages built around the church) that stood the test of time/invaders but not-so-stronger forts/palaces for themselves, indicates the benevolent attitude of our kings to OUR people.
Before we get carried away with our great tamil heritage, let us also reflect on the fact that we are basically a very intolerant and intrusive society. Even Coimbatore. Yes, my folks settled there after their retirement and although I have been pleasantly struck by the respectful tamil that the people speak, the really parochial attitudes especially towards women that is present in Tamizh Nadu as a whole really irritates me. I compared Coimbatore to a place like Mysore (where my wife grew up, although she is a Tamil too) and I was completely amazed by how intellectually vibrant, liberal and all embracing a place Mysore was. Although Coimbatore is a bigger place than Mysore, there is an attitude of small mindedness about it that is decidedly rural. And having studied in Karaikudi, I can say that this is a general attitude in Tamizh Nadu (reinforced by the likes of Rajnikanth and other Kollywood idols with their male chauvinistic movies). Maybe we should try and change our attitudes first along with rejoicing over our glorious heritage :-)
One can exercise his freedom of existance by urinating on a temple wall ( or for that matter, any public place ) but others have their rights to atleast inhale pure air, right?
Anyone reading "Kathavilasam" in AnandaViketan? It is an excellent commentary. A few weeks ago the author Ramakrishnan wrote something like "Why come to a city that can't even provide public toilets?" Unfortunately, even if the city provides one, people are comfortable "outside"
The problem is because we tend to set our self interest first and always ask the question "what is in it for me?"
Instead, if we had learnt to think 'this is our country and these are our people' we could have already become a major power.
As I live in Chennai, I can find lot of ppl not using the Public Toilets, because it is not maintained properly, (also, bcos of water scarcity). Of course, the ppl who r using the toilets also should use it properly. Itz the blame of both the ppl as well as govt.
As Ramakrishnan points out, the reason mainly is due to the ppl in Chennai. There are lot of slums in Chennai. Govt. has to make those ppl to realise that every thing is public property. When compared to B'lore, in this regard, Chennai is very far behind.
The ppl will think as 'this is our country' after their basic needs (Fud, Clothes and Shelter) are satisfied. But a lot of ppls still sleep in Road Side (like Charlie character in Anniyan), how can we expect cleanliness from them???
Why just put the blame on people who don't use the toilets. Haven't we thrown waste papers / plastic covers just like that on the road. Myself and a couple of my friends did take a new year resolution in 2000 not to throw waste papers / covers on the road. Don't know how many of them are following. Atleast I follow it. So let us start from us instead of pointing the finger at the low end people.
You know something, I have never known any people as willing to urinate outside or defeacate outside as us subcontinentals. I have been to Africa, to some of the poorest countries there but never say anyone urinating in public. I don't know the reason as to why we do it. It is because everybody does it and so there is some kind of defacto acceptance of this nasty habit? The other thing is of course the lack of clean public urinals. I don't know how it is now, but about 10 years ago, as one entered the Trichy busstand, one was assailed by this pungent urea smell coming from the local urinal. The conditions inside were so bad that people were forced to urinate all around the urinal leading to a surprising increase of NH3 in the air :-) Maybe things have changed for the better now.. I sure hope so or else people will be dropping like flies near Trichy busstand..
You have made a good observation by referring to S. Ramakrishnan of "katha vilasam in Ananda vikatan.
But have you read the Story " Nooru Kazhipparaigal" by the same author in "Kumudam - theeraanadhi" dt 1/6/2005.
he has elaborated about a story revolving around the urinal...
But believe me the same ramakrishnan making good observations , has wiritten the above nooru kazhipparaigal in a manner that you would never believe it was ramakrishnan who has written it.
Has someone crosses the Road, from Bangalore Railway station to Bus stop ( Majestic )? The person, should have practise pranayama for many years to even attempt a action.
This may because, kaalai kadan matrum iyarkai azaipinai vayakattil kazikkum pazakkathinaal... This is good uram for payiru. May be this practise is incorrectly followed in cities too.
No harm in posting messages on this topic. But atleast post the topic. Why should we keep, Madurai Thanjai, Pandyas and Cholas amidst urinals and other stuff ;-)))
2 years ago, I happened to stay at Sterling Resorts Vilpatti, Kodaikanal.
Just adjacent to the resort, on the backside was a vacant plot which was dumped with thousands of empty mineral water bottles. The dumpage was huge. It might need several lorries to clear it off the site...
One can bribe the forest officer at Kodaikanal and get an entry to the Berijam ( or Perijam ? ) lake. The stretch that takes you there is a natural beauty. But the entire road is polluted by our people mainly with the polythene wrappers from Lays, Cheetos kind of items as well as with mineral water bottles... Some could be even found on the lake itself - they claim that the lake is one of the unpolluted kind.
Unfortunately, it is not the people that sleep on the roads that caused the damage. White collar people that think that they have been given the patta for the whole world are the culprits.
Many people that urinate on public places wear decent clothing. So I assume they are not the kind that sleep on the road side.
What is the vision and values we carry to the future generation ?
I hope members of small groups like ours can carry the message and tell everyone out there that this is our country and these are our people and we need to care our country and people for the welfare of our progeny.