"வையை ஆற்றின் காட்சி"

குரவமும், வகுளமும், கோங்கமும், வேங்கையும்,
மரவமும், நாகமும், திலகமும், மருதமும்,
சேடலும், செருந்தியும், செண்பக ஓங்கலும்,
பாடலம்-தன்னொடு பல் மலர் விரிந்து;
குருகும், தளவமும், கொழுங்கொடி முசுண்டையும்,
விரி மலர் அதிரலும், வெண் கூதாளமும்,
குடசமும், வெதிரமும், கொழுங் கொடிப் பகன்றையும்,
பிடவமும், மயிலையும், பிணங்கு அரில் மணந்த
கொடுங் கரை மேகலைக் கோவை யாங்கணும்
மிடைந்து, சூழ்போகியஅகன்று ஏந்து அல்குல்:
வாலுகம் குவைஇய மலர்ப் பூந் துருத்தி,
பால்புடைக் கொண்டு, பல் மலர் ஓங்கி,
எதிர் எதிர் விளங்கிய கதிர் இள வன முலை:
கரைநின்று உதிர்த்த கவிர் இதழ்ச் செவ் வாய்:
அருவி முல்லை அணி நகைஆட்டி-
விலங்கு நிமிர்ந்து ஒழுகிய கருங் கயல் நெடுங் கண்:
விரை மலர் நீங்கா அவிர் அறல் கூந்தல்;
உலகு புரந்து ஊட்டும் உயர் பேர் ஒழுக்கத்துப்
புலவர் நாவில் பொருந்திய பூங்கொடி-
வையை என்ற பொய்யாக் குலக்கொடி-
தையற்கு உறுவது தான் அறிந்தனள் போல்,
புண்ணிய நறு மலர் ஆடை போர்த்து,
கண் நிறை நெடு நீர் கரந்தனள், அடக்கி-
புனல் யாறு அன்று; இது பூம் புனல் யாறு!ஒ என,
அன நடை மாதரும் ஐயனும் தொழுது;

The Vaigai river, daughter of the sky, wanders ever on the tongues of poets, who sing the generous gifts she bestows on the land she has blessed. Most cherished possession of the Pandya Kingdom, she resembles a noble and respected maiden. Her dress is worven of all the flowers that fall from the date tree,the vakulam,the kino,the white kadamba,the gamboge,the tilak,the jasmine,the myrobalan, the pear tree,the great champak, and the saffron plant. The broad belt she wears low around her hips is adorned with lovely flowers of kuru and golden jasmine, mixed with the mushundai's thick Lianas,the wild jasmine,the convolvulus,the bamboo,the volubilis,the pidavam, and Arabian jasmine. The sandbanks,edged by tress in blossom, are her youthful breasts. Her red lips are the trees that spread their red petals along the shore. Her lovely teeth are wild jasmine buds floating in the stream. Her long eyes are the carp, which playing in water,appear and vanish like a wink. Her tresses are the flowing waters filled with petals.

As if she knew the sad fate that lay in store for young Kannagi, the Vaigai had put on her best veil made of precious flowers, and could not hold back the tears that filled her eyes. After passing along narrow paths through the woods, Kannagi and Kovalan reached the bank of the river. Both cried out in wonder:

"This is not a river but a stream in blossom."

Poet : Ilango Adikal

Translated by Alian Danielou

கோதாவரியின் தோற்றம்
2829.       புவியினுக்கு அணியாய், ஆன்ற
பொருள் தந்து, புலத்திற்று ஆகி,
அவி அகத் துறைகள் தாங்கி,
ஐந்திணை நெறி அளாவிச்
சவி உறத் தௌதந்து, தண் என்று
ஒழுக்கமும் தழுவிச் சான்றோர்
கவி எனக் கிடந்த கோதா
வரியினை வீரர் கண்டார்.

2830.       வண்டு உறை கமலச் செவ்வி
வாள் முகம் பொலிய வாசம்
உண்டு உறை குவளை ஒண் கண்
ஒருங்கு உற நோக்கி ஊழின்
தெண் திரைக் கரத்தின் வாரித்
திரு மலர் தூவிச் செல்வர்க்
கண்டு அடி பணிவது என்னப்
பொலிந்தது கடவுள் யாறு.

2831.       எழுவுறு காதலால் இங்கு
இரைத்து இரைத்து ஏங்கி ஏங்கிப்
பழுவ நாள் குவளைச் செவ்விக்
கண் பனி பரந்து சோர,
வழு இலா வாய்மை மைந்தர்
வனத்து உறை வருத்தம் நோக்கி,
அழுவதும் ஒத்ததால், அவ்
அலங்கு நீர் ஆறு மன்னோ.

2829

And the heroes saw the river Godavari

which was like the poem of the great poets,

a sublime ornament on earth

with fields of profound wealth

and its episodes that are watering places

fro rescue form heat, with its flow

through the five landscapes of poetry,

clear and lovely and sweetly running

2830

With her bright face glittering, gracious

as lotus where the bees gather

and glowing eyes of her water lilies

that absorb and hold fragrance

while her hands, the clear waves,

one after another , were picking up and scattering

beautiful flowers, the holy river shone

as if blowing at the noble sight of them.

2831

And O river seemed to cry out ,

cry out and grieve and grieve

with risen love, as if moving the water

were shedding cool drops of tears

spreading from her lovely eyes

of newly open water lilies that had to see

this sadness,those young men who were honest

and faultless living in the forest.

Poet : Kamban

Translated by George L. Hart and Hank Heifetz

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Stumble It!

In Tirupathi, discrimination is at its peak, they make laws to watch the barbers, whether he is charging anything for his work(which he is not suppose to), but they leave the jeeyars, who accept bribes and take people inside, who forces devotees to pay money for prasatham, who gives additional laddu for money. Why there inst any law to stop all this? If you are a Iyer/Iyengar then you can get inside the moolasthanam and dharshan Lord Venkatachalapathy, if you not, then keep your a**** off. Is God so reluctant to non Iyer and non Iyengars? All the purana's and Veda's quotes that God is one and the same to all, he never discriminates souls with caste/sex or race, so why are we doing this with the name of God. Discrimination in any form must be made an offense.
I can keep adding similar experiences, once i went to parthasarathy temple, the poojari will give theertham and tusli for all devotees, i had one Iyengar friend, i use to go with him, when we both go, i usually get less tulasi and less theertham, i use to wonder. One fine day, i asked him, he told, 'people here are like that, chill', I asked him why, he told because he knows you are a non-brahmin, i asked him how, he told, the way you keep your finger when you get the prasatham will tell whether you are brahmin or not and that makes the poojari decide how much to give you. I was awestruck, from that day i stopped going to that temple, heights of discrimination, isn't?
Hope everything changes. Will it?

Thank You.... - PVR'

The notice directs the officials to receive its complaints against RCV and others with regard to illegal tapping of signals, register the same and take action in accordance with law.

Sun TV claimed that it was put to heavy loss due to illegal tapping of signals by the RCV, owned by chief minister's son M. K. Azhagiri and his agents. It filed many complaints but the police either refused to receive them or take action.

This Monday, Sun TV moved high court, and a writ petition, filed by L Jyotheeswaran, authorised signatory of Sun group, contended that RCV and a group of 11 local cable television networks had been illegally tapping the signals of Sun TV and distributing them to viewers.

Qualification: B.Com., DCA.

I have just completed a shitty 2.5 month long internship this summer and I could permit myself very few sources of entertainment this entire summer period. There were entirely only 2 significant events - Dasavatharam and The Dark Knight (FDFS). I also created Chokka Thangam and did some other worthwhile stuff such as watching anime. Now I am all set to leave for India after doing some punnaaku shopping. So this is probably going to be my last post for the next month at least.

In the past 2 years, I may well have watched over 200 Hollywood flicks. I'm so sick and tired of englipees movies that the very fact that I am writing a review must mean this movie is ommala gethu (fucking good). Chris Nolan is one total range director. The Prestige is one of the finest movies I have seen. Memento (the intellectual version of Gajini) was also a very interesting movie. The only mildly disappointing movie from his stable is, ironically, Batman Begins. Which itself was actually great, especially in the context of how pathetic Batman movies previously were.

The most important factor for this review is however, Rajeev Masand. The man is one total louse. He typifies (along with the Headlines Today pasanga) the film reviewers that everyone love to hate. His review of the movie was so fuckin fake. And the way he just vomits his words out one after the other is simply nauseating. Although, I grudgingly admit I agree with his final verdict. Rendu periya kattaverals up! (2 big thumbs up!)

I recount the scenes that struck me the most and more importantly, my weak memory has managed to retain. The fact that the movie is terribly long compounds my woes. (If you have not watched the movie, don't tread further.)

The movie starts off gethaa. Bank robbery scene. And in the robbery itself, all the robbers kill each other and only one is left standing. This is (rather predictably) the Joker. Then he makes away in a truck loaded with cash and merges into other truckers who appear from everywhere. Geth.

Then there is this Chinese youth called Andy (I think) Lau. He is a crooked accountant from Hong Kong. He comes to do business with Wayne Corporation, but makes away with loads of money. Batman reaches a deal with the police and decides to bring back Lau from Hong Kong by himself so that all the mafioso can be brought to book with his evidence. He does this with the help of geth gadgetry, geth costumes, geth visual effects and geth style. On the whole, geth.

Around this time, Joker aka Heath Ledger (since he lives the role) enters a mafioso meeting. There he does a small trick where he stakes a pencil on the table. The mafioso members anticipate the trick. One fellow however is angry and rushes in to manhandle the Joker. Joker grabs the guy's head and bangs it on the table driving the pencil through his head. This is geth cubed. He also asks the mafia thalayanga to approach him if they wished to kill batman.

Then Harvey Dent, the white knight (maskless do gooder), also Rachel Dawes latest love interest is introduced. He is a fearless good-intending district attorney and with the help of Lau, he manages to put all the mafia madayanga in the docks. The mafia mandainga decide to take the Joker's offer, thus allowing the film to start.

From here Joker takes over. He basically tries to unmask the Batman by blackmailing him threatening to kill innocent prominent people if he does not comply. Batman, thinks about it and decides to give up himself. He conveys this message to Harvey Dent who arranges a press meeting. At the meeting, Harvey announces that the he himself is the Batman. This was an unexpected twist in the plot. Then Harvey is taken to the prison. On the way, the Joker tries to attack the van and take Harvey a prisoner. What follows is a totally exciting chase sequence in which Batman too decides to participate. The most notable aspect of the chase is a monster truck that flips back over front. Uber geth. Then a scene in which Joker challenges Batman to run him over on his bike where the B pulls out in the last second. Fucking cliched. Then the Joker is taken prisoner by the just-in-time cops (another cliche). This part of the movie, while being completely exciting, is also riddled with plotholes. Elaborated later. Also, this scene looks like a fitting climax scene. People invariably look at their watches at this time wondering if they found the movie so exciting that what felt like an hour was actually 2 and a half. It was only an hour though.

The Joker is taken prisoner. Simultaneously, Harvey is kidnapped as he goes home and Rachel Dawes is kidnapped from Bruce Wayne's home. I was wondering, if it was so easy, why bother with the long protracted chase at all? Cinematic liberties I suppose. During a special interrogation by Batman, Joker reveals that Rachel and Harvey have been kidnapped and placed in 2 different places. He interchanges the location of the places when he tells the B and B rushes off thinking he will save Rachel. When he reaches, he ends up saving Dent just as he hears Rachel die (through a phone link) at the other end.

The plotholes: 1. I don't see why other criminals could not have blackmailed Batman this way. I mean, just because Joker threatens to kill people, does it mean Batman should come out of his mask? Or should he focus on going after the Joker like he does to every other villain.

2. The police guy says the Joker plans to be arrested and hands himself over by letting Batman catch him. This sounds stupid. How could the Joker have possibly planned that the chase would go this way with the entrance of Batman and all.

3. After Batman makes an appearance, why the hell is Joker still going after Dent? What purpose does that serve?

4. How could he possibly find out the location of Rachel?

5. How could Joker possibly estimate while in prison with little knowledge of the kidnappings that it would take Batman just enough time to go to the place where Rachel and Harvey were kept and watch them die? (I will update any more plotholes if I come across any.)

Simultaneously, Joker plots an escape. He irritates his guard (a high ranking official actually) and asks him for a phonecall. The guard advances menacingly, but is surprised by the Joker who then uses him as a hostage. He then asks the other guys for a phone to make a call. The others agree to the request and give him one. Immediately, you realise it is to blow up some sort of bomb (I myself thought the one at Harvey's place.) However, he actually blows up some explosives packed into a dead fellow prisoner's stomach and escapes prison. (How the hell is smuggling weapons in a guy's stomach so easy huh?)

This leads to the climax. Joker convinces Two Face (Harvey, now with half his face missing) to go on and exact revenge from the people around him who let him down and led to the death of Rachel. Harvey obliges and sets off. The Joker also spends the rest of his time usefully and blows up an entire hospital in a geth sequence, apart from making an attempt on the Mayor's life and killing inspector Gordon instead.

Then B builds this new machine using microwave stuff to detect the presence of Joker through others' mobile phones. Joker's voice is identified. He is shown instructing a couple of ship passengers that the ships are bombed and the remote for the bombs lie in each other's ships. He says the people who press the button first will survive while the others die. He says if they don't press in half hours time, he will kill the people in both ships anyway. This is fundamental game theory based example and the Joker's psycho purpose is to prove that we all are animals inside (like the Joker himself) and it is only a veneer of so called "humanity" that allows us to conceal our hidden animal instincts. Then B locates the Joker and goes after him. This while the ship's passengers debate furiously if they should press the button. After some exciting fight sequences with the Joker's men (who pose initially as hostages) the B finally reaches Joker. The ship with normal citizenry decide with a vote that they favor blowing up the other ship. Only, no one wants to press the button themselves. One man tries but "loses" heart and does not press in the end. The other ship, full of prisoners, has the guard holding the device pass it on to one of the prisoners so that he can do the dirty work. The prisoner takes the device in hand and throws it out. Unexpected. Geth. But it exploits another cliche. How many times indeed have we seen this concept of villains-are-bad-but-normal-people-are-badder on screen anyway? Then we hear some "awe-inspiring" dialog from Batman about how good is still left in the world. (Yeah right. When the only thing that prevented the citizen's ferry from blowing up the other was a lack of courage in pressing the button!)

Also, the person who makes the arrest is none other than Gordon, who miraculously returns from the dead. Another major loophole. When Gordon falls down, the cops around him check his pulse and declare him dead. Was the operation to make him dead started right then anyway? What I am getting at is, did they decide to keep him undercover the moment he was shot, where he might have actually bled to death if he had not been taken to a hospital? It sounds absurd to say the least.

Then B fights the J and in the end, after some irritating dialogs which felt as if they were lifted straight out of Unbreakable, he manages to have J arrested once more. The B then sets off to find Dent. Dent was actually on a killing spree killing all those he felt responsible for the crime. He finally takes Gordon's (whom he holds primarily responsible for Rachel's death) family to the same spot as himself and Rachel. He calls Gordon over there and attempts to kill his family in front of his eyes. to make Gordon share his own experience. Enter Batman. After some interesting histrionics and emotional dialogs, Batman overpowers two-face and makes him fall to his death.

Then in a rather interesting twist, Batman decides to take the blame for Harvey's murders as he is after all a anti-hero. He does this because if Harvey is convicted, the city will lose its one beacon of hope and the Joker's plans would succeed completely. This is just about the only senti dialog I can empathize with. In the end, Harvey is given his maranaanjali and Batman becomes the villain. Ending was also geth, even if a bit long.

Talking about stuff like meesic, screenplay, cinematography etc.. is meaningless in a hollywood movie of this budget. And Nolan is ultimate geth. Bale does a great job. And odes can be written about Heath Ledger's performance. This was one of the finest acting performances I have witnessed. Made me respect actors just a tad more (I normally don't rate them very highly). I am almost certain he gon get a posthumous aascar for this. Unless somebody comes out with something better. In which case, I certainly am gonna go to theatre to watch it.

So overall, the movie is gethoo geth. Please take your family, yourself and your dog if possible and be prepared to have some ultimate fun.

By Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe

I now take this opportunity in the week of the remembrances carried out throughout the country on the 25th Anniversary of Black July to demonstrate the culpability of the Jayawardene regime in inciting and manipulating the pogroms prior to and during the period of Black July. This is done not with the intention of reviving old wounds but that we have to recognise historical facts for what they are and that it is only through such recognition that reconciliation can be achieved in the long run. There are some with a particular mindset who still does not wish to acknowledge that what happened in Black July was a premeditated state pogrom and to suggest that what happened were spontaneous riots by the Sinhalese people. On the contrary as this article will suggest it was a premeditated and calculated pogrom against the Tamil people. The Sinhalese people in large numbers gave sanctuary and refuge to the hapless people during those weeks.

The findings of the Presidential Truth Commission.

The mandate of the Presidential Truth Commission appointed in the year 2001 was to inquire into the nature, cause and extent of the gross violation of human rights and the destruction and damage to property committed as part of the ethnic violence which occurred during the period commencing from the beginning of the year 1981 and ending in December 1984, with special reference to the period of July 1983, including the circumstances which led to such violence. The Commission was required to investigate into the following amongst other matters: whether any person, group or institution was directly or indirectly responsible for such violence; the nature and extent of the damage, both physical and mental, suffered by the victims of such violence;

The findings of the Commission bear witness to the fact that the events of July 1983 were orchestrated and manipulated by the political authorities and the state. The systematic violence perpetrated against a helpless and defenceless people was not a spontaneous riot; rather, it was planned and executed with judicious care. It was an act of collective punishment for the acts of terrorism committed by a small group of people. The state, which has the responsibility of protecting its citizens, became a perpetrator in crimes against its own people. (my emphasis)

Ramifications of the Neo Liberal Policy of J.R. Jayawardene

In my book on Development and Conflict I outline in detail the ramifications of the Neo Liberal policies initiated by J.R. Jayewardene, and the consequences of these policies and its bearings on the pogroms initiated since 1981 to 1983. What follows is a summary of this chapter.

The introduction of the open economic policy - when regulative mechanisms were dismantled, when the system of quotas, permits and licenses was abolished, import-export trade was liberalized, the public sector monopoly of some commodities was abandoned, and subsidies were reduced - had a fundamentally differential impact on diverse communities. Whilst the objective of the government was to remove the bottlenecks of a state- regulated economy to insure the free play of market forces in all areas, this policy had unintended and far-reaching consequences on the ethnic front.

It was not only the Sinhalese industrial class that was vociferous in its complaints with regard to import liberalization; middle-level traders also interpreted the rise of commercial profits as “Tamil entrepreneurs getting rich at the expense of the Sinhala”.203 Their complaints found eloquent expression in the Sinhalese language national press as well as in the controlled Sinhalese press of the government. Unlike the Sinhalese industrial class represented by the Ceylon National Chamber of Commerce which complained against the penetration of foreign capital into the country and the general impact of import liberalization on local industry, Sinhalese middle- and small-level traders directed their agitation against the traditional Tamil entrepreneurs. Newton Goonesinghe, translating some of the articles which appeared in the Sinhala newspapers, shows how this competition in trade has been perceived by Sinhala middle and small level traders. Divayina in August 1983 published articles by a number of Sinhala merchants, for instance:

Our merchants rarely had an opportunity to import essential commodities. Up till now trade in these commodities in Pettah has continued to be a monopoly in the hands of people who are not citizens by descent. Our people had no room in the paper market, which covers an area of one square mile.204

The president of the Sri Lanka Small Industrial Association who was interviewed by the same newspaper said:

As a society which allocates first place to commerce evolved, commercial power got alienated from the majority Sinhala and went to the minority national groups.205

It is also important to note that the Ministry of Industries, Mr. Cyril Matthew, (dismissed from the Cabinet in December 1985) had been a consistent and articulate champion of the Sinhalese trading community, a most vocal protagonist of Sinhalese trading interests, and a severe critic of minority business interests. Some of his views were published in popular pamphlets and books as early as 1970 and have been widely distributed since 1983. In these publications he complains that foreign and minority owned business ventures had retarded the development of Sinhala business and calls for measures against alien traders. Some of his writings, excerpts of which have been translated, show a clear coincidence of interest between the different fractions of the Sinhala merchant community. His views are given some prominence here because during his interlude as Minister of Industries and Scientific Affairs, he became both a symbol and an expression of these Sinhalese merchants’ interest. As far back as in 1970 in “The Unseen Enemy of the Sinhalese” (1970), anti-minority views are given clear expression:

If this a genuine national government, it should appoint a commission to look into the unfortunate situation of the Sinhala traders as a result of the influence of the Indians, and take remedial measures. Also, in order to save the Sinhalese from the dangers created by foreigners and Indians controlling trade and large plantations in this country, they should be driven out forthwith.

In the central market in Colombo, in the Pettah, the local Sinhalese traders today do not control even 5% of the trade. Power is almost entirely in the hands of Indians, Borahs, and Sindhis. The export-import trade is completely in the hands of foreigners. A person who travels from Colombo Fort to Wellawatte could see how many Sindhi shops there are on either side of the Galle road. Every single one of these trading establishments was started after an independent government was set up in Sri Lanka in 1948.A fact that should be especially mentioned here is that the wholesale and retail trade which was about 68 years ago in the hands of the Sinhalese in Colombo, as well as in the Uva, Sabaragamuwa, and the central regions, is now completely in the hands of Indian Tamil nationals. This has not happened spontaneously. It is the result of an organized move by Indian Trade Unions and other organizations to supply Indians with cash and other necessities to purchase Sinhalese-owned business enterprises and buildings. Because of this farseeing and organized plan of the Indians, the number of Sinhalese traders has become reduced by about 90% and they have been replaced by a similar number of traders.206

Findings of the Government Task Force

Eye witness reports provide a vivid and terrible picture of the unfolding violence which continued to escalate for more than ten days in Sri Lanka in July 1983. What was clear from the pattern of violence which unfolded itself was its planned and premeditated nature, particularly the systematic attempt to undermine the material existence of the Tamil community living in the South.

A Government appointed task force was set up to assess the extent of damage. Its report covered only 116 industrial operations within a 20 mile radius of Colombo.

The study assessed losses in terms of production exports and employment and estimated the physical damage done to factories and the loss of working capital. Losses were heaviest in the garments industry which had grown spectacularly during the period of Import Substitution Industrialization, and in the Coconut Milling industry which had compelled the government to impose an export ban following the damage to nine of the country’s top mills. The task force estimated the physical damage to be in the region of Rs. 500 million (US $20 million). The cost or damage to buildings, plant machinery and equipment is greater than the damage to operating capital, the report stated. The loss of raw materials and finished products was particularly high due to fire and looting. Such losses accounted for 46% of the total loss to capital. The replacement value for machinery, plant and equipment alone could be about Rs. 1,75 billion. The task force report puts the total work force in damaged industries at nearly 15,000. 32 industries in the export sector, their total value of exports in 1982 estimated at Rs. 650 million and where their export orders for the next 12 months were worth about Rs. 800 million. These industries include garments, coconut oil, fruit canning, desiccated coconut, rubber and leather products.207

It should be noted that the industries damaged were entirely Tamil owned business houses, some of which had benefited from the import substitution policies of previous regimes.

The above extracts from newspapers and government surveys indicate only the extent of the damage to industries and factories within a 30-mile radius of Colombo. These reports do not analyse the damage to the numerous small and medium scale shops which were destroyed not only in the outskirts of Colombo, but also in numerous smaller towns in the Central provinces, particularly in Kandy, Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, Banderawella Nawalapitiya and Matale Neither do these reports analyse the wholesale damages to people homes, private property and savings.

The President and his handling of the ethnic conflict.

Another incident narrated by Sirisena Cooray reveals the responsibility of J.R. Jayawardene for the July riots of 1983 which virtually changed the character of "the ethnic conflict" and also Sri Lankan history for the worst: This quote is taken from the memoirs of Sirisena Cooray, a close associate of the President and who was the Major of Colombo at the time.

"The day we heard about the killing of the 13 soldiers in Jaffna I went to see Mr. Premadasa. He was on the phone to the President. There was a lot of tension in the country and we were extremely worried about the way things were moving. Mr. Premadasa turned to me and informed me that the President is planning to bring the bodies of the dead soldiers to Colombo, to be cremated at Kanatte. Mr. Premadasa had been trying to get the President to change his mind when I walked in. When he saw me Mr. Premadasa said: “Sir, Sirisena is here; you ask him”. And he put me on. The President told me: “Cooray, these people want to bring these bodies to Colombo and cremate them at Kanatte. What do you think?” I said: “Sir why do you want to bring these bodies to Colombo? These are not people from Colombo. If you bring the bodies here there will be problems”. This was precisely what Mr. Premadasa had been telling the President before I walked in. Afterwards Mr. Premadasa told me that they had decided against bringing the bodies to Colombo; we were both extremely relieved.

That was when SP Ariyaratne came to me and told me that there was a radio message from the PM asking me to contact him urgently. When I called Mr. Premadasa he too was extremely upset and worried. He told me about the new decision to bring the bodies to Colombo that evening and asked me to make the necessary arrangements. He told me that the President is planning to attend the cremations and he too was expected to be there. He knew full well there would be problems but he had no choice in the matter. The decisions were made elsewhere and he was just informed of them. If the President listened to Mr. Premadasa, the ‘83 July riots could have been avoided and the history of this country would have been different.. And as Mr. Premadasa and I predicted, rioting started immediately afterwards. I later heard that the Army wanted the bodies to be brought to Kanatte and that the President succumbed to their pressure. It was a terrible time and the worst part was that we were almost powerless. We could do nothing to stop the killing, the destruction. The President made a mistake in putting the Army in charge of restoring law and order. After the killing of the 13 soldiers the mood in the military was a very dangerous one and they were not really motivated in stopping the violence. If the Police had been given a free hand they would have done a better job. During this period President J.R. Jayawardene was reduced to a state of helplessness. Mr. Premadasa and I used to visit him every day. That was the only time I saw JRJ being speechless. The Army was not taking orders and I think we were very close to a state of mutiny. That was why the Air Force was called in eventually and they quelled the riot."209 (President Premadase and I, Our Story)

By Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe

இதைவிட பல்வேறு ஸ்பிட்ஷீட் வார்ப்புருக்களும் உள்ளன.

கூகிள் டாக்ஸின் புதிய வார்ப்புருக்கள் கலக்கல் தமிழ் இடைமுகத்துடன் கிடைப்பது மேலும் அருமை. காண்க.

When I Asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face

When I Asked God for Brain & Brown
He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve

When I Asked God for Happiness
He Showed Me Some Unhappy People

When I Asked God for Wealth
He Showed Me How to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Favors
He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others

God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted
He Gave Me Everything I Needed

Swami Vivekananda

So never feel bad for what GOD has given us...
He knows every thing...

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON

An Emeritus Professor of Tamil in the University of Jaffna, Prof. Sivathamby is considered an outstanding Tamil scholar. He has written more than 70 books and monographs and presented and published 200 papers at international seminars and journals. In recognition of his scholarly achievements in Tamil Studies, the Tamil Nadu government conferred on him in 2000 the Thiru V. Kalyanasundara Mudaliar Award. Sivathamby is a Visiting Professor of Tamil to universities in India (the University of Madras and the Jawaharlal Nehru University), England (Cambridge), Finland and Norway.

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Newcomers Ratheesh and Priyashree play the lead role. The supporting cast includes K Bhagyaraj, Nalini, Pandu, Kottachi and Manobala.

Bhagyaraj hogs the limelight and manages to leave his mark in the brief role spicing it with his unique style of wit and punch dialogues.

Newcomer Ratheesh and Priyashree have done their best to be noticed.

Ratheesh hails from a poor family and manages to secure good marks in his school final examinations. He gets admission in a prominent college in Chennai. He falls in love with Priyashree, who studies in the same college. His life then takes an unfortunate turn.

He gets acquainted with a group in the college and goes the wrong way. He takes to drugs and liquor. Realizing his folly, he decides to end his life.

He conveys his decision through an audio cassette and sends it to his parents. Enters K. Bhagyaraj, a do-gooder, who helps Ratheesh overcome all his problems.

Newcomer Dashi has come up with a couple of hummable tunes.

Produced by Adhavan creations, 'Maanavan Ninaithal' is a movie that could have been made better had the director infused pace in the screenplay. The narration too could have been placed in a better order.

Taking into considering that this is Gnanamozhi's maiden venture, a pass mark can be given.