"Linguists?"

People claim to know this, that and so many other languages on their Resume. 

But do these people really know enough of those languages as had been claimed? 

I seriously doubt it! 

See, the one language that flows commonly in all languages is Sanskrit ! 

Except during seasonal floods and occasional flash floods (of emotions), it mostly lies undercurrent. 

The litmus test to gauge the beauty, elegance and degree of refinement of any given language is believed to be the quantity and quality of its Sanskrit content. The more of these two (quantity and quality), the more beautiful, elegant and refined the particular language is reckoned to be. 

Also, until and unless you know its Sanskrit, I (together with my trillion strong co-believing brethren) can't accept your claim to know any language. 

So, any sensible person worth his or her Sanskrit should basically know the mom and baap of all languages before claiming to know any single language! 

How can there be an offspring without the mom and baap of it? Simply illogical you know! 

That being so, I claim to know no language. A few of my friends are multilingual scholars though! 

So friends, can you still, in the light of the above, honestly believe, and confidently claim to know not one, but two, three or more of languages as given on your profile? 

"A great violin maestro passed away........"

So sad to know the passing away of legendary violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman. He was not an accompanying musician but belonged to the exclusive club of solo performers. May his soul rest in peace!

I got nostalgic of the very early phase of my life. My father dearest used to listen a lot to Carnatic music on AIR Vijayawada & Madras besides the Telugu & Hindi film music on Vividhbharati & Radio Ceylon, including that half an hour program of English songs.

Carnatic music grew on me to make me a lover from a passive listener. Father used to take me everyday to concerts of renowned artists arranged during ‘Tyagaraja vaarotsavalu’ at the other town.

Those few decades was a golden era in Carnatic music, what with such outstanding vocalists like DK Pattamal, MS Subbalakshmi, Madhuramani Iyer, Balamuralikrishna, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, ML Vasanta Kumari, Radha Jayalakshmi etc. Voleti Venkatesam was equally good in Carnatic and Hindustani. 

Of those great instrumentalists, besides Lalgudi Jayaraman, Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu too was an outstanding violinist. Palghat Mani Iyer was a great mridangist. 

Outstanding among veena players were Chittibabu and Eemani Sankarasastry. Being hopelessly forgetful, I fail to recall the names of many a gem. 

I was not following Carnatic music these past many years except that I rejoiced the performance of Yesudas and Unnikrishnan.

How I loved the programs on radio those days! Who can equal the charm of that pioneering Radio Jockey – Ameen Sayani? none whosoever - past or present - I can assure you! And can anyone who listened to that play ‘Ganapati’ on AIR Vijayawada ever forget those immortal performances of Nanduri Subba Rao & Seetaratnam?

Well this goes on and on with the end nowhere any near....enough is enough....

Isn't it the sighs of relief what I heard just now?

"Self-belief"

Many a legend across ages and geographies contributed to this universe and mankind in some significant way or the other, making them great and remembered. So are there living legends, who we find in the various fields of human endeavor!

Individual greatness apart, the trait common to them all is their unflinching ‘faith-in-self’ and the resolve to achieve what they believed they could in their chosen field, lacking which, they could never have progressed to accomplish what they did.

One needn’t be dissuaded by the thought that an exceptionally gifted few, aided by favorable circumstances alone can attain greatness. Instead, anybody with purpose can make the best possible efforts to be ‘somebody’ and not remain a ‘nobody’ in life. This effort put in by individuals makes a certain qualitative addition not just to their individual lives but to the society they are part of too!

Mere desire to achieve something noteworthy in life does not take anybody anywhere. One has to strive to hone the requisite qualities to the optimum, ‘self-belief’ being the supreme of them all. This is one quality, parents and teachers would do well to inculcate in children.

Let us briefly look at what factors ‘self-belief’ should ideally be based on. Blind, unsubstantiated belief can bring distress more often than not. 

‘Self-belief’ is consequential to the person’s strength and competence, realized through continuous process of conscious self-assessment. Any individual would do well to attempt an honest and as realistic a self-assessment as possible to eliminate misplaced belief. So much so, a wise man can ill-afford to err in assessing both his capabilities and inadequacies in order to gain self-belief true to his potential. This exercise is more challenging than imagined.

To obtain a fairly good assessment, one needs to employ an open mind. For misread values perforce result in needless pitfalls in life.

Notwithstanding the amount of caution exercised, one can’t help but miss certain dark corners beyond the precincts of normal vision. This inherent vulnerability and unforeseen circumstantial changes too can spell doom, but has to be accepted as something beyond human logic and endeavor. This hapless state is universally attributed to God’s will or to unknown reasons, based on individual conviction and philosophical orientation.

Most of us adore ‘thrillers’, be they stories, novels or films where the element of surprise is the very essence of their appeal. But are we game enough for the ‘expect the unexpected part’ we so marvel at in those thrillers happening to our lives, especially the scary ones? No, we desire all things to occur as expected and in no manner than we wished them to!

But then, however judiciously planned and executed, things could still go awry at times. Those exactly are situations where resilience and ‘self-belief’ can save the spirit from a possible demise and sustain the person to regroup the battered and scattered faculties and bounce back to make a better attempt yet again.

Sports persons are akin to fighters with a ‘never-say-die’ spirit. They conjure up enough resilience to stay alive in adversity only to spring back at an opportune time. Not all can be sports persons but sure can be fighters and achievers in life, if only they have the said spirit and that all-important ‘self-belief’.

"Can't we lie in day-to-day life?"

“I always tell the truth. Even when I lie” – Al Pacino

Most of us knew that funny quote.

 All of us know this not-so-funny truth:

“Lies are in multiples while truth is all alone;

Lies are in all hues while truth is just white;

Lies are all sweet while truth is ever bitter!”       

We come across all sorts of liars..er..your’s truly included!

  

Lying is one such malady that all humans fall prey to.

There of course, is an exclusive breed, who we know as ‘politicians’. Being ‘super-human’ or ‘sub-human’ whichever way you perceive them to be, are excluded from this little discussion.

We, normal humans can't escape the ‘bouts of guilt’ each time we lie!

We lie to escape inconvenience, embarrassment, work, responsibility, trouble or to protect self-interests.

We lie to escape loss, make undue profit and to escape shame or punishment.

We lie to deceive others, malign people, ruin lives and such malicious purposes.

We lie for vanity in an effort to falsely elevate ourselves and impress the people around. Some kids do this out of innocence. But we, grown-ups with low self-esteem suffer from this particular itch to lie, more so, with newer audiences. Though largely harmless, this habit further lowers our self-esteem, than enhancing any.  

Ironically, we lie to our own selves!

Lies are but lies whether white, black or whichever.

Lying is but lying whether occasional, frequent, habitual or compulsive.

Rarely we may lie for some good enough cause too, say, to benefit someone needy or to let go off the innocent unpunished. A worthy act indeed, though immoral in its strict sense! 

The question pertinent here is – Do the ends justify the means?

The unambiguous answer is a clear ‘No’. But a commandment in our scriptures provides for a certain exemption which says, “One may lie to save life, wealth or chastity.”

A great many change in social, religious and ethical perceptions occurred during the past many centuries. Moral values got modified in tune with the changing socio-economic scenarios.

Yet, if ever there were one value in this universe that stood the test of all times without undergoing the slightest transformation or trimming down, it is ‘truth’ and truth alone!       

One who attempts to distort truth is called a liar.

A liar had always been looked down upon in all ages and communities. Lying was considered to be one of the most depraved of sins.

Dilution of social and cultural norms, decline in personal virtues and decay of moral fabric in general, accelerated at such a pace over the past many decades, that no single sin or immoral act is despised the same way it used to be. All this is due to narrowed down general outlook and people turning more materialistic and individual-centric.

Except for a few concerned individuals and organizations, modern societies ceased to do anything worthwhile towards upholding existing values or arresting this degeneration.

Well, that’s about the general view of the prevailing scenario.

So, is there some way to press the brake-pedal on this downhill slide? What can, at an individual level, be attempted?

The only effective solution appears to be that parents and elders should instill in children, an appetite for epics, religious and moral stories and children’s literature. Whereby the kids can understand and start appreciating their culture and tradition well before they get whirl-winded in the world outside! Reading habit opens up their horizon and a strong enough foundation is laid for their intellect to flourish on, as they grow up.         

Now let us go about this interesting question, “Can’t we lie in day-to-day life?”

As a general rule we can’t, for the simple reason that we shouldn’t.

Does it not sound ludicrous, what with our societal circumstances and compulsions?

True, it sure does. After all, we do need general acceptance for our existence in society!

Every time we lie, we experience a stab of guilt to our conscience. So, shall we kill our conscience to appease people for acceptance?

No, we shan't.

How then?

Seek ways and means! Where there is intent, there always is a way!

Adaptation without surrender is the trick to be mastered!

It is all about guarding your integrity while being a part of this decadent society.

We are adept at balancing acts in our myriad everyday activities. So, here too, we can!

Churn your mental faculties….debate at length!

Arrive at certain ‘to-be-strictly-monitored exceptions’, as is allowed for any ‘general rule’!

Check if each exemption contemplated is acceptable to your conscience before you worry about societal acceptance.

Once you arrive at your own carefully chosen exemptions, go apply them in life with absolute conviction and resolve! Quite a tough job though!

The ultimate goal of this whole exercise is to set our minds guilt-free!

So, my answer to the question is, “Yes, we can lie....subject to....of course, you know what……