Sir,You are using unparliamentary words . I am posting this response to groups
. There is a limit to my tolerance . You have exceeded. You are trying to
ridicule a member. Your language is threatening. Sincerely,Gopala Krishnan
On Saturday, 16 January, 2021, 09:04:12 pm IST, APS Mani <[email protected]>
wrote:
As if it is a vengeance? You are nowhere near that level, in writingstyle or
in the command of knowledge. Your level – I rather restrict mywords.
Stupidly is at its best in your sending this mail beyond your quotalimit. I
will next time onwards put it in the group as suggested by the InnerGroup.
Mani
From: 'gopala krishnan' via iyer123[mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 16 January 2021 20:49
To: Patty Thatha; Iyer; Kerala Iyer
Subject: [iyer123] CULTURAL QA 01-2021-13
CULTURAL QA 01-2021-13
Being a compilation there may beerrors
Q1 What are Indian railways unknown facts?
A1 Respected Piyush GoyalMinister of Railways and Commerce & Industry
at Government ofIndia October 20-2020
History ofIndian Railways is a treasure trove of interesting facts and trivia
Many peoplemay not be aware that there is a Railway Station in India which
falls in twodifferent states
NavapurRailway station, on the Surat - Bhusawal line, is a unique station as a
part ofit is in Gujarat, while the other part is located in Maharashtra
Navapur isTaluka Headquarter in the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra
My note- I am happy to add a QA from quoraanswered by the Minister of Railways
and commerce.
Q2 What is the difference between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka?
A2 Ashank D'souza 16-1-2021· Lives in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Economy
Karnatakaand Tamil Nadu are two major economies in South India and together
with Keralathey have higher or equal GDP as 13 other states:The blue colored
statesproduce the same GDP as the 13 yellow colored states.
The moststriking difference in the two economies is that Karnataka s economy
whichwhile registering higher growth rates for the past decade mostly relies on
the service industry and which is ofcourse a low labour intensive economy. On
the other hand Tamil Nadu relies on manufacturing morewhich is a labour
intensive industry. This means that Karnataka will inherentlyhave a problem
with spreading its prosperity to people outside of the elitegroup getting jobs
in the service sector.
Human Development
In the humandevelopment category and within that in the sex ratio subcategory
Karnataka outperforms TamilNadu, although both perform well compared to the
national average:
Politics
In thecategory of politics there is a stark contrast with Karnataka usually
votingfor two national political parties, one regional in the state level while
Tamil Nadu usually goes with tworegional political parties in both levels. In
the Lok Sabha electionsTamil Nadu votes for Tamil nationalistic parties while
Karnataka usually votesfor pan India nationalistic parties like: Congress/BJP.
Food
Karnatakahas Mysore Pak which is popular even outside KA while Tamil Nadu has
JaggeryPayasam, Coconut Pitha.
Q3 What happened to Samba after the Kuruksethra War?
A3 B Dharuni· February 11,2018Associate Software Engineer at Bosch
(2018–present)
Samba was the son of Lord Krishna and Jambavati. Theevents related to Samba,
the destruction of Yadavas and the demise of LordKrishna is described in
“Mausala Parva”[Destruction of Yadavas through a club],16th of 18 books of
Mahabharata.After the coronation of Yudhishtira, Krishnawent back to Dwaraka to
rule over the kingdom. Blessed by the presence of theGoddess of Wealth
(Rukmini), the people enjoyed a luxurious life. Slowly the curse of Gandhari
aboutthe destruction of Yadavas started taking form. The Yadavas were ineternal
bliss in Dwaraka. So muchbliss, that they forgot good conduct, morals and the
importance of disciplineand humility.
Once greatsages like Vishwamitra, Durvasa, Vashista, Narada were on a
pilgrimage. Aftervisiting various places, they visited Dwaraka to meet Lord
Krishna and Balarama.The Yadavas, who were once virtuous devotees of Krishna,
had lost their senseof culture and discipline. A group of Yadava boys who saw
the great sagesdecided to play a prank on them in order to test their powers.
They dressed Samba, the son of Krishnaand Jambavati, as a woman and tied many
robes to his belly so he'dappear as a pregnant woman. They approached the sages
and asked them to predictwhether the 'lady' would give birth to a boy or a
girl. The Rishis realised thetruth through their divine vision and were
enraged. In anger, the sages cursed them saying thatthe disguised boy will give
birth to a bolt of Iron which will destroy theentire Yadava race.
The Yadavas,shocked though but were too arrogant to even apologise. They left
the place,laughing off the curse as the speech of one who had lost all his
sanity. Thingswere however verydifferent the next morning. Samba developed
labour pains and soon delivered amace from within him. The Yadavas werenow
struck with fear. They immediately rushed with the mace to Akroora andUgrasena
and in the presence of Krishna himself; they narrated the weird tideof events.
Thenthey grind the bolt of iron and threw it into the sea.
The townthen witnesses several dark omens. Pests multiply. Sinful acts
multiply, yet noone feels any shame. Everyone has the same terrifying dreams.
People insult andhumiliate their seniors and teachers. Krishna gets concerned,
asks everyone to go on apilgrimage to the sacred waters of the Prabhas sea.
They do. When theyarrive, the Yadavas revel in merry making, dance and drink
lots of alcohol.
They startedteasing one another, bringing up the gory pasts and gruesome
mistakes of eachother. Satyaki andKrithavarma acted as the starting points of
the doom of Dwaraka. Satyakihad fought on Pandava’s side in the battle of
Kurukshetra and Krithavarma, onthe Kaurava side. They taunted one another,
bringing back memories of thehorrific war. In rage, Satyaki, jumped on
Krithaverma and cut his head off. Thefriends of Krithavarma pounced on Satyaki
and a great brawl followed.
Pradyumna, the son of Krishna, innocent though he was,found himself in the
thick of the fight and was killed. As theyhave come to the sea shore for a
pleasure, they did not carry any weapons alongwith them. They saw the long
grown grass in abundance along the sea shore. Theypicked up the grass stems and
beat and killed each other. Those grass stems werenothing but blades made of
the powder of the same bolt of Iron born to Samba. Thus the curse of saints
fructified.Each blade ofgrass became a mace, smashing into the Yadavas, killing
them instantly. It wasa matter of moments before the Yadavas lay dead, killed
by their own clanmembers and in front of their very King. Except Krishna, all
Yadavas were killed.
Krishna’scharioteer Daruka and another one called Babhru only survived. Krishna
asksDaruka to go to Pandavas, tell what had happened and ask Arjuna to come
withhelp. Some of the powder castin the Prabhas sea had been swallowed by a
fish. Inside the fish, thepowder has become a metal piece. Jara, a hunter,
catches that fish and findsthe metal. Jara sharpens it tomake an arrow. He goes
hunting, and accidentally shoots Krishna, whileKrishna is meditating, thinking
he is a deer. Krishna consoles Jara and then ascendedwith his four armed form
to his abode. Reference: “Mausala Parva”
Q4 How was the divorce and widowhood system seen in the Sambandam
concept ofmarriage in Kerala?
A4 Arun Mohan (അരുൺ മോഹൻ)· January 9-2021 Lives in Kerala, India
(2016–present)
How was thedivorce and widowhood system seen in the Sambandam concept of
marriage inKerala?I have made a detailed answer on the concept of Sambandham
culture thatprevailed among erstwhile upper castes of Hindu society of Kerala
traditionallybefore it ended by1940s-50s era completely.
You can readmy original answer on the concept of Sambandham as I don’t need to
explain thesystem again here.
Arun Mohan (അരുൺ മോഹൻ)'sanswer to What is Sambandham in Kerala?
The basictenant of Sambandham concept is consensus Live-in relationship. The
basicconcept of Marriage and husband-wife relationship or
father-mother-childrenconcept of family was not allowed among most of upper
Hindu castes. So the basic purpose of sexualrelationships were to produce
offsprings and beyond which there is no sanctityto the relationship. So
technically there was no marriage culture assuch, rather it worked fully
onlive-in relationship style.
The basicadvantage of this system is commencement and termination of
relationship atwill and instantly. Therewere no huge rituals or process for
start of this sort of relationshipas well as end of this relationship as the
society were both Polyandrous (womenentering into sexual relationship as many
as men as she likes) as well as Polygamous (men enteringinto sexual
relationship with as many as women he likes).
In a way,Sambandham system was much more sexually open system with no baggage
ofone-man/woman life time commitment etc. Due to this, many of traditional
Hinducodes of chastity (Pavithratha) or marital vows or marriage concepts
donotapply in Kerala context.
As I said, Sambandham can be startedquickly. In those days, Nair or Nampoothiri
or Kshyatriya men in their tripsaround would identify ladies of higher
castes/communities, normally in templesor any public places.When they like her,
they may approach her uncle or mother at her family house.In some cases, they
do directly approach to lady’s house out of intention toform an alliance with
the family. Sambandham works only if lady’s uncle and senior members of family
agreeto it. If they agree, he will visit in evening soon after
Sandyavandanam(lighting lamps for evening prayers) and offer a piece of cloth
(Mundu/Dhoti)to the lady with whom he wish to enter into a sexual relationship.
When thelady accepts the Mundu, the Sambandham has officially been commenced.
The acceptance of Mundu from a manis called Pudamuri (Pudava means marital
cloth and Muri meansacceptance) and thats the official indication of start of
sambandham.
The lady is supposed to keep the Munduwith her until termination of Sambandham.
The existence of Mundu signifiesthe ongoing Sambandham relationship. General
rule was that, at a time, only oneSambandham can be done, but in Travancore
side, it wasn’t that strict, so alady can have multiple Sambandhams at a time.
The only condition is that, sheshould remember, who gave which Mundu to her.
One thing to note- Sambandham happens at woman’sown house. There was no legal
marriage, so the lady will never leave herhouse. Rather the man whowill be
known as Sambandhakaran (or consort as in British English terminologyrecords)
lives in wife’s house as long as Sambandham goes on. Thats whythe rule of One
Sambandham at a time existed. If the love was much stronger, theSambandham
shall go forever and the man will live in wife’s house forever.However
officially he will be an outsider in wife’s house and can’t own ormanage wife’s
properties. He can simply stay there and live there as long asthe wife pleases
OR till her natural death.
In all ways,the so-called consort or man’s status in this relationship is
always inferiorto the status of woman. He was an outsider and never enjoyed any
privilege orstatus in woman’s perspective.An old pic of Queen Sethu Parvathy
Bai who sitsin a throne like chair with her consort- Rama Varma Koyil Thampuran
sitting ona stool to signify his lower position
Now to the question-How divorce works inSambandham?
Its the mosteasiest process. Divorce is called Ozhimuri in Malayalam and under
Sambandham,Ozhimuri, its very instant and quick. The lady has full right to
decide whethershe wants to continue the Sambandham or not as the relationship
works underlady’s pleasure. TheSambandhakaran has no much say on this. If he
doesn’t want to continue,he can cease visiting the lady’s house as he has no
personal responsibility tothe lady. But he can’tcancel Sambandham by himself.
Whereas the lady can.
For lady to cancel Sambandham, she has to simply returnback the Mundu which was
given during the start of Sambandham.
The Ozhimuricustoms is simple. The lady summons the Sambandhakaran, but won’t
allow toenter into the house. Rather make him stand at the forecourt
(Thirumuttum).Then either she or her maid will come out, give the mundu to
Sambandharakan and shuts the maindoor in front of him. That signifies
termination of Sambandham with thatman and he must leave the house. He will
have no more visiting rights to thelady’s house.Ozhimuri customs vary from
region to region, though returning ofMundu is more common across Kerala. In
Malabar side, 10 threads from Mundu is taken and its twisted in frontof the
Sambandhakaran and broken into two and thrown opposite sides.That means the
relationship is broken forever. This custom is locally known as Noolacharam
(Nool-Thread, Acharam- Ritual)
In Kochi andCentral Kerala side, Mundu is returned in hand and door is shut to
signifyOzhimuri
In Southern Kerala side, instead ofMundu, the betal leaf box of Sambandhakaran
will be kept at the Padipura door (main gatedoor) by the maid when he makes a
visit to the lady’s home. The act of keepingBetal Leaf box at the gate door
signifies, he is no more welcome to the homeand Sambandham has officially
ceased. His personal effects will be also keptoutside, which he can collect and
leave.
A scene fromMalayalam movie- Ozhimuri when the martriach of the family decided
to terminateher relationship with her Sambandakaran by placing betal leaf box
outside thehouse that symbolizes end of relationship and he has to leave the
house
In all cases, Ozhimuri was arbitrary and fullydecided on will of the lady.
In case,both lady and Sambandhakaran continues the relationship forever and if
the ladydies first, then an automatic Ozhimuri happens. In such case, the man
loses hisright to live in that house and must leave after completion of Pela
period (16days from date of death)How Widowhood system worked
Well, there is no concept of widowhoodamong upper Hindu castes of Kerala in
past(barring Tamil Brahmins andNampoothiri ladies who follows Patriarchal rules)
There was nomarriage at first place, so how there will be widowhood in event of
death ofhusband. Infact there was no husband itself. The man was called
Sambandhakaranwhich means Consensual Mate or just a consort…
Death ofSambandhakaran effects nothing to the lady and her children born to him
as hewas an outsider. Even the traditional mourning rules (Pela) will not apply
overthem as he was no one for them. He was just a consensual sexual partner only
This was one key reason, Kerala never had anyconcept of widowhood or its
related issues
See, intraditional Hindu marriage codes, a Marriage means setting relationship
for 7lives, not just this life. Once a man and woman enters into a
marriagerelationship, it means both man and woman will serve each other for 7
lives. Ifhusband dies first, she has to sacrifice all pleasures of life and
fast tillend of her life, to get back the same husband in next birth. That’s
why widowhoodwas a big deal and created lot of tortures or hardships for widows
in realityas they were supposed to fast to get back the same man as husband in
nextbirth. Its for this reason, at the time of marriage, 7 steps/rounds are
madearound the sacred fire to signify the commitment made for 7 lives (Saath
Janamke Rishte as said in Hindi).
This neverworked in Kerala. Even today, Malayalee Hindus never do 7 rounds
around Fire (barring somecommunities like Nampoothiris or Tamil Brahmins etc)
as we never enter into anymarital vows of 7 lives. As a result, in Kerala Hindu
culture (for allcommunities barring Nampoothiris), marriages are more of social
contractprevailing between 2 individuals in this life time. Its never a matter
of 7lives. We never perform marriage in front of sacred fire (Agni) or invoke
Agnithro’ a homam. In many traditional Indian marriages, the rational
behindinvoking Agni thro’ a Homam or a Havan etc is to have Agnideva (God of
Fire whois also the divine messenger of gods) solemnizes marriages on earth on
behalfof Gods. So only Agni can break a marital relationship (in form of
cremationwhen Agni takes the body). Thats why widowhood concept do exist incase
husbanddies and wife stays back.
But as Kerala never had sanctity for marriages, wenever invoke Holy fire for
Kerala marriages even today. As aresult, none of the marriages are solemnized
by Agni, hence no widowhoodconcept even today. Since 1940s, many North Indian
concepts crept into Keralasystem thro’ renaissance movement. So widowhood
concept also came, but notsevere or hard as one sees in North India, other than
avoiding wearing Kumkumon forehead or bright color sarees (that too now
reduced).
InSambandham times, there was no Widowhood concept among those who observes.
Saying so,this wasn’t applied to Nampoothiri community who followed typical
patriarchalrules as seen in North India. So Namboothiri women seriously
suffered horrorsof widow hood and never had liberty of easy divorce at will
My note-Many Tamil iyers came to Kerala had relations with nayars at one
time.Irrespective of what is told above due to the relations lot of
landedproperties they could get from nairs. The children born had high regard
to fatheriyer. Even in my college days I knew of such relations in central
Kerala.
Q5 What are interesting facts about Parad Shivling?
A5 Dev Kumar January 1-2021 Former Teacher. Have you ever notice the
Structure of BhabaAtomic Research Centre BARC resembles like a Shivling ?
Watercontinuously flows through nuclear reactor to keep it cool. A water pot is
aalways placed over shivling to pour water on it continuously. The function
ofShivalinga is very close to a nuclear reactors which generates
universallypresent energy which we call the energy of Shiva, which is unlimited
anddivine. The modern daynuclear reactor is an inspiration of that energy
creation.
The watercomes out from the Shivling is never consumed. Also no one is allowed
to crossthe spout duringpadakshina.
Just like that the water released from the nuclearreactor cannot be consumed as
it polluted with radiation
All the above QA are based on Quora digest to me on16-1-2021. Quora answers
need not be 100% correct answers
Compiled and posted by R. Gopala krishnanon 16-1-2021
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