Respected friends,
I am made a member in the Kerala iyer google group and Patti thatha google
group . I joined only iyer 23 google group.
>From the number of responses I receive I find a good percentage of members
>wait for my postings. It is a truth.
I have observed M.r Rajaram Krishna Moorthy sends at least ten responses a
day. For him Mr. APS Mani does not set limit. I do not think it is a healthy
discussion. If setting limit is to be done it should be done by moderators
impartially.
One may read the thread mails earlier for the RUDE, ROUGH AND UNPARLIMENTARY
USAGE BY Sri APS Mani. I am not here to read the abusing language of Sri APS
Mani and keep quiet.
Recently there was a posting on Hill (Mala) by me . In central Kerala we call
hills as Mala. While a senior member responded Mala means mountain, In
Malayalam what I have read for mountain the word is Parvatham. MR APS mailed
to me I am adamant. What I know I write. Many are there to read and appreciate
my mails.
I am aged 77 and Know what is adamancy. I can refrain from making any posting
to the google groups. I need not waste my energy and time for getting blamed
and ridiculed. The yard stick should be the same to every body.
I am marking this mail with thread to all the groups. Unless members express to
conitinue postings, sorry , no more posting will appear from me from now
onwards. I will be a reader and personal responder if I desire
Sincerely,Gopala Krishnan
On Sunday, 17 January, 2021, 05:37:40 am IST, APS Mani <[email protected]>
wrote:
A handful group of members have decided approx two years agothat Mr
Gopalakrishnan (GK) limits his postings to three. He sticks to thesame
normally but at times experiments with more than that number. The reasonfor
such restrictions is that in the past he used to post a series of uselesstopics
in large numbers and there was an exodus of members going out of thegroup.
They – quite a few of them who left – appealed for restrictions of hispostings
and thus arrived at the less number, i.e., to three. We would havelost at the
least more than 50 members before we brought out the restrictions. I was
asked to be one of the person to look after that GK does not exceed thenumber
of postings to not more than three. I was volunteering for them. Whenhe
exceeds periodically, I request him directly to his mail account and notthrough
the Group. Yesterday a fourth posting came and I pointed to him torestrict the
postings to three for future. (the request was made directly tohim and not
through the group mail) I have no idea as to why he did - heposted a fifth
one and that is the time I wrote the warning on behalf of allof whom
requested him in the past – to restrict the postings once again, thattoo
directly to him. There is no unparliamentarily words used except torestrict
him to bombard the group with a number of mails as he did in the past. This
he did in the past irrespective of the feelings of many and we do notwant him
to do it again. Now we have the Google group, all the more thediscipline has
to be maintained. The forum should be used by all and not tobe dominated by
GK alone and that is the philosophy. This note is to bringthe matter to the
attention of all. The Forum is going very well and quite afew topics
discussed at length by learned members which are of utmost value toall. Let
that be continued and not DOMINATED by GK and that is what therequest is.
Thanks, best wishes and respects to all. Due credit should be givento GK for
his regular postings and that enables the Group to discuss at lengthon various
topics though GK at times act stone headed. That is secondary butwe value
regular postings but the number of postings should be restricted toTHREE as
decided in the past. For the information of all in the group andrequest GK to
adhere to the norms.
Mani
From: gopala krishnan [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 17 January 2021 04:12
To: APS Mani; Patty Thatha; Iyer; Kerala Iyer
Subject: Re: CULTURAL QA 01-2021-13
Sir,
You areusing unparliamentary words . I am posting this response to groups .
There is alimit to my tolerance . You have exceeded. You are trying to ridicule
a member.Your language is threatening.
Sincerely,
GopalaKrishnan
On Saturday, 16 January, 2021, 09:04:12 pm IST, APS Mani<[email protected]>
wrote:
As if it is avengeance? You are nowhere near that level, in writing style or
in thecommand of knowledge. Your level – I rather restrict mywords. Stupidly
is at its best in your sending this mail beyond yourquota limit. I will next
time onwards put it in the group as suggested bythe 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 be errors
Q1 What areIndian railways unknown facts?
A1 Respected Piyush Goyal Minister of Railwaysand Commerce & Industry
at Government of India October 20-2020
Historyof Indian Railways is a treasure trove of interesting facts and trivia
Manypeople may not be aware that there is a Railway Station in India which
falls intwo different 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
Navapuris Taluka Headquarter in the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra
My note- I am happy to add a QA from quora answered by theMinister of Railways
and commerce.
Q2 What isthe 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.
Themost striking 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 of course a low labourintensive economy. On
the other hand TamilNadu relies on manufacturing more which is a labour
intensive industry.This means that Karnataka will inherently have a problem
with spreading itsprosperity to people outside of the elite group getting jobs
in the servicesector.
Human Development
Inthe human development category and within that in the sex ratio subcategory
Karnataka outperforms Tamil Nadu, althoughboth perform well compared to the
national average:
Politics
Inthe category of politics there is a stark contrast with Karnataka
usuallyvoting for two national political parties, one regional in the state
levelwhile Tamil Nadu usually goes with two regionalpolitical parties in both
levels. In the Lok Sabha elections Tamil Naduvotes for Tamil nationalistic
parties while Karnataka usually votes for panIndia nationalistic parties like:
Congress/BJP.
Food
Karnatakahas Mysore Pak which is popular even outside KA while Tamil Nadu has
JaggeryPayasam, Coconut Pitha.
Q3 Whathappened to Samba after the Kuruksethra War?
A3 B Dharuni· February 11, 2018Associate SoftwareEngineer at Bosch
(2018–present)
Samba was the son of Lord Krishna and Jambavati. The eventsrelated to Samba,
the destruction of Yadavas and the demise ofLord Krishna is described in
“Mausala Parva”[Destruction of Yadavas through aclub], 16th of 18 books of
Mahabharata.After the coronation of Yudhishtira,Krishna went back to Dwaraka to
rule over the kingdom. Blessed by the presenceof the Goddess of Wealth
(Rukmini), the people enjoyed a luxurious life. Slowly the curse of Gandhari
about the destruction ofYadavas started taking form. The Yadavas were in
eternal bliss inDwaraka. So much bliss, that they forgot goodconduct, morals
and the importance of discipline and humility.
Oncegreat sages like Vishwamitra, Durvasa, Vashista, Narada were on a
pilgrimage.After visiting various places, they visited Dwaraka to meet Lord
Krishna andBalarama. The Yadavas, who were once virtuous devotees of Krishna,
had losttheir sense of culture and discipline. A group of Yadava boys who saw
the greatsages decided to play a prank on them in order to test their powers.
They dressed Samba, the son of Krishna and Jambavati,as a woman and tied many
robes to his belly so he'd appear as a pregnantwoman. They approached the sages
and asked them to predict whether the 'lady'would give birth to a boy or a
girl. The Rishis realised the truth throughtheir divine vision and were
enraged. In anger, thesages cursed them saying that the disguised boy will give
birth to a bolt ofIron which will destroy the entire Yadava race.
TheYadavas, shocked though but were too arrogant to even apologise. They left
theplace, laughing off the curse as the speech of one who had lost all his
sanity.Things were however very different the next morning.Samba developed
labour pains and soon delivered a mace from within him. TheYadavas were now
struck with fear. They immediately rushed with the mace toAkroora and Ugrasena
and in the presence of Krishna himself; they narrated theweird tide of events.
Then they grind the bolt of iron and threw it intothe sea.
Thetown then witnesses several dark omens. Pests multiply. Sinful acts
multiply,yet no one feels any shame. Everyone has the same terrifying dreams.
Peopleinsult and humiliate their seniors and teachers. Krishnagets concerned,
asks everyone to go on a pilgrimage to the sacred waters of thePrabhas sea.
They do. When they arrive, the Yadavas revel in merrymaking, dance and drink
lots of alcohol.
Theystarted teasing one another, bringing up the gory pasts and gruesome
mistakesof each other. Satyaki and Krithavarma acted asthe starting points of
the doom of Dwaraka. Satyaki had fought onPandava’s side in the battle of
Kurukshetra and Krithavarma, on the Kauravaside. They taunted one another,
bringing back memories of the horrific war. Inrage, Satyaki, jumped on
Krithaverma and cut his head off. The friends ofKrithavarma pounced on Satyaki
and a great brawl followed.
Pradyumna, the son of Krishna, innocent though he was, foundhimself in the
thick of the fight and was killed. As they have cometo the sea shore for a
pleasure, they did not carry any weapons along withthem. 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 were nothing but blades made of
the powderof the same bolt of Iron born to Samba. Thusthe curse of saints
fructified.Each blade of grass became a mace, smashing intothe Yadavas, killing
them instantly. It was a matter of moments before theYadavas lay dead, killed
by their own clan members and in front of their veryKing. 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 cast in the Prabhas seahad been swallowed by a
fish. Inside the fish, the powder has become ametal piece. Jara, a hunter,
catches that fish and finds the metal. Jara sharpens it to make an arrow. He
goeshunting, and accidentally shoots Krishna, while Krishna is meditating,
thinkinghe is a deer. Krishna consoles Jara and then ascended with hisfour
armed form to his abode. Reference:“Mausala Parva”
Q4 How wasthe divorce and widowhood system seen in the Sambandam
concept of marriage inKerala?
A4 ArunMohan (അരുൺ മോഹൻ)· January9-2021 Lives in Kerala, India
(2016–present)
Howwas the divorce and widowhood system seen in the Sambandam concept of
marriagein Kerala?I have made a detailed answer on the concept of Sambandham
culturethat prevailed among erstwhile upper castes of Hindu society of
Keralatraditionally before it ended by 1940s-50s eracompletely.
Youcan read my original answer on the concept of Sambandham as I don’t need
toexplain the system again here.
Arun Mohan (അരുൺ മോഹൻ)'s answerto What is Sambandham in Kerala?
Thebasic tenant 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 sexual relationships were toproduce
offsprings and beyond which there is no sanctity to the relationship.So
technically there was no marriage culture as such, rather it worked fully on
live-in relationship style.
Thebasic advantage of this system is commencement and termination of
relationshipat will and instantly. There were no hugerituals or process for
start of this sort of relationship as well as endof this relationship as the
society were both Polyandrous(women entering into sexual relationship as many
as men as she likes) as wellas Polygamous (men entering into sexualrelationship
with as many as women he likes).
Ina 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 started quickly. In those days,Nair or Nampoothiri
or Kshyatriya men in their trips around would identifyladies of higher
castes/communities, normally in temples or 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. Sambandhamworks only if lady’s uncle and senior members of
family agree to it. Ifthey agree, he will visit in evening soon after
Sandyavandanam (lighting lampsfor evening prayers) and offer a piece of cloth
(Mundu/Dhoti) to the lady withwhom he wish to enter into a sexual relationship.
When the lady accepts theMundu, the Sambandham has officially been commenced.
The acceptance of Mundu from a man is called Pudamuri (Pudavameans marital
cloth and Muri means acceptance) and thats the officialindication of start of
sambandham.
The lady is supposed to keep the Mundu with her untiltermination of Sambandham.
The existence of Mundu signifies the ongoing Sambandhamrelationship. General
rule was that, at a time, only one Sambandham can bedone, but in Travancore
side, it wasn’t that strict, so a lady can havemultiple Sambandhams at a time.
The only condition is that, she shouldremember, who gave which Mundu to her.
One thing to note- Sambandham happens at woman’s own house.There was no legal
marriage, so the lady will never leave herhouse. Rather the man who will be
known asSambandhakaran (or consort as in British English terminology
records)lives in wife’s house as long as Sambandham goes on. Thats why the rule
of OneSambandham at a time existed. If the love was muchstronger, the
Sambandham shall go forever and the man will live in wife’s houseforever.
However officially he will be an outsider in wife’s house andcan’t own or
manage wife’s properties. He can simply stay there and live thereas long as the
wife pleases OR till her natural death.
Inall ways, the so-called consort or man’s status in this relationship is
alwaysinferior to the status of woman. He was an outsider and never enjoyed
anyprivilege or status in woman’s perspective.An old pic of Queen Sethu
Parvathy Baiwho sits in a throne like chair with her consort- Rama Varma Koyil
Thampuransitting on a stool to signify his lower position
Now to the question-How divorce works in Sambandham?
Itsthe most easiest process. Divorce is called Ozhimuri in Malayalam and
underSambandham, Ozhimuri, its very instant and quick. The lady has full right
todecide whether she wants to continue the Sambandham or not as the
relationshipworks under lady’s pleasure. The Sambandhakaran hasno much say on
this. If he doesn’t want to continue, he can cease visiting thelady’s house as
he has no personal responsibility to the lady. But he can’t cancel Sambandham
by himself. Whereasthe lady can.
For lady to cancel Sambandham, she has to simply return backthe Mundu which was
given during the start of Sambandham.
TheOzhimuri customs is simple. The lady summons the Sambandhakaran, but
won’tallow to enter 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 main door in front of him.That signifies
termination of Sambandham with that man and he must leavethe house. He will
have no more visiting rights to the lady’s house.Ozhimuricustoms vary from
region to region, though returning of Mundu is more commonacross Kerala. In
Malabar side, 10 threads fromMundu is taken and its twisted in front of the
Sambandhakaran and broken intotwo and thrown opposite sides. That means the
relationship is brokenforever. This custom is locally known as
Noolacharam(Nool- Thread, Acharam- Ritual)
InKochi and Central Kerala side, Mundu is returned in hand and door is shut
tosignify Ozhimuri
In Southern Kerala side, instead of Mundu, the betal leaf boxof Sambandhakaran
will be kept at the Padipura door(main gate door) by the maid when he makes a
visit to the lady’s home. The actof keeping Betal Leaf box at the gate door
signifies, he is no more welcome tothe home and Sambandham has officially
ceased. His personal effects will bealso kept outside, which he can collect and
leave.
Ascene from Malayalam movie- Ozhimuri when the martriach of the family
decidedto terminate her relationship with her Sambandakaran by placing betal
leaf boxoutside the house that symbolizes end of relationship and he has to
leave thehouse
In all cases, Ozhimuri was arbitrary and fully decided onwill of the lady.
Incase, both lady and Sambandhakaran continues the relationship forever and
ifthe lady dies first, then an automatic Ozhimuri happens. In such case, the
manloses his right to live in that house and must leave after completion of
Pelaperiod (16 days from date of death)How Widowhood system worked
Well, there is no concept of widowhood among upper Hinducastes of Kerala in
past(barring Tamil Brahmins and Nampoothiri ladies whofollows Patriarchal rules)
Therewas no marriage at first place, so how there will be widowhood in event
ofdeath of husband. Infact there was no husband itself. The man was
calledSambandhakaran which means Consensual Mate or just a consort…
Deathof Sambandhakaran effects nothing to the lady and her children born to him
ashe was an outsider. Even the traditional mourning rules (Pela) will not
applyover them as he was no one for them. He was just a consensual sexual
partneronly
This was one key reason, Kerala never had any concept ofwidowhood or its
related issues
See,in traditional Hindu marriage codes, a Marriage means setting relationship
for7 lives, 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
whywidowhood was a big deal and created lot of tortures or hardships for widows
inreality as they were supposed to fast to get back the same man as husband
innext birth. Its for this reason, at the time of marriage, 7 steps/rounds
aremade around the sacred fire to signify the commitment made for 7 lives
(SaathJanam ke Rishte as said in Hindi).
Thisnever worked in Kerala. Even today, Malayalee Hindus never do 7
roundsaround Fire (barring some communities like Nampoothiris or Tamil Brahmins
etc)as we never enter into any marital vows of 7 lives. Asa result, in Kerala
Hindu culture (for all communities barring Nampoothiris),marriages are more of
social contract prevailing between 2 individuals in thislife time. Its never a
matter of 7 lives. We never perform marriage in front ofsacred fire (Agni) or
invoke Agni thro’ a homam. In many traditional Indianmarriages, the rational
behind invoking Agni thro’ a Homam or a Havan etc is tohave Agnideva (God of
Fire who is also the divine messenger of gods) solemnizesmarriages on earth on
behalf of Gods. So only Agni can break a maritalrelationship (in form of
cremation when Agni takes the body). Thats whywidowhood concept do exist incase
husband dies and wife stays back.
But as Kerala never had sanctity for marriages, we neverinvoke Holy fire for
Kerala marriages even today. As a result, noneof the marriages are solemnized
by Agni, hence no widowhood concept even today.Since 1940s, many North Indian
concepts crept into Kerala system thro’renaissance movement. So widowhood
concept also came, but not severe or hard asone sees in North India, other than
avoiding wearing Kumkum on forehead orbright color sarees (that too now
reduced).
InSambandham times, there was no Widowhood concept among those who observes.
Sayingso, this wasn’t applied to Nampoothiri community who followed
typicalpatriarchal rules as seen in North India. So Namboothiri women
seriouslysuffered horrors of widow hood and never had liberty of easy divorce
at will
Mynote- 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 childrenborn had high regard
to father iyer. Even in my college days I knew ofsuch relations in central
Kerala.
Q5 What areinteresting facts about Parad Shivling?
A5 DevKumar January 1-2021 Former Teacher. Have you ever notice the
Structure ofBhaba Atomic 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 day nuclear reactor is aninspiration of that energy
creation.
Thewater comes out from the Shivling is never consumed. Also no one is allowed
tocross the spout during padakshina.
Just like that the water released from the nuclear reactorcannot be consumed as
it polluted with radiation
All the above QA are based on Quora digest to me on 16-1-2021.Quora answers
need not be 100% correct answers
Compiled and posted by R. Gopala krishnan on 16-1-2021
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