Devastation in the Nilgiris

(courtesy Prince Patrick)

The Difficulty of Doing Good

A record breaking amount of rain in the Nilgiris.

Reports of people being buried under landfalls and houses that crumbled under the onslaught of continuous rain and wind and mud that came suddenly sliding down trickled in by word of mouth because power lines lay broken as trees crashed everywhere blocking off road access for many hours. We didn’t have access to radio and were spared the sights on TV news channels for a few days.

But even looking around the school in our area where as many as 200 people were housed in 3 rooms tugged at the heart.

I thought since it was on my doorstep I should go see what was happening. Harassed officials were slowly getting a semblance of order. Food was donated by several charitable organizations and delivered by the hoteliers associations. A couple of plastic tanks supplied water. A medical team came everyday to attend to any signs of spreading disease
.
Everyday was spent waiting for the minister to come and solve their problems. After three days, his PA turned up and gave them Rs.2000 each. Later a blanket was supplied.
Of course, it all became a matter of survival of the fittest. It is really tough in this kind of situation to impose any kind of discipline. Sifting the genuinely-in-distress from the hangers on who were there to see if they could get any freebies is a sensitive issue. In that short space of time, officials can hardly visit the affected areas and identify the people who have lost the most. They rely on the area ‘s leaders who are not too reliable. Given the politics of the situation, I think the government did a great job with immediate relief.

(pic courtesy: The Hindu)
Still people had many wants and demands. A few friends and I collected some used clothes and took them there in a hurry. But the officer in charge was loath to distribute them. Every time some kind of relief appeared, numbers seem to double magically. And fights escalated. He didn’t want any more trouble than he could help.

Now the school has been emptied. Some people have gone back home and hopefully to their jobs. The truly displaced and the jobless are housed in another location. They wait in hope for more hands and relief measures to help them.

We have become a nation where we wait for someone to help us out. But can we truly blame people who are so poverty stricken that they have to grab all they can?

Zapping the Gap

Once you stop writing; it’s difficult to start writing again. You wonder why you should.
But maybe it’s a habit that doesn’t let go off you so easily.

So here I am again.

Woken up by the torrential rain and wind that hit us in the Nilgiris, so hard. Leaving so much devastation. I took my camera to take some pictures but somehow it didn’t work. Probably it meant that we shouldn’t be getting voyeuristic pleasure out of other people’s distress.

But people were anxious to show how much they’d suffered. .Cracks in the walls, roofs, broken walls, damaged floors, mud hanging over on the pitch of the roof,.
Hoping that we’d help in some way .The pathos of a new house for a new young couple with just a window frame left standing over the rubble; the roof blown away.

After a while, you are not absorbing anymore of the sad scenes because life is going on around you .
Five small kids sitting around a carom board in the watery sunshine on a ledge above a road half covered with mud and stones.
That picture stayed with me and helped obliterate the others a bit.

Lessons From Living - People Savvy

Getting along with the people we share this planet with



Be nice – Ravi (45)

Treat others the way you want others to treat you –PC (55)

A simple smile works wonders though its your enemy.
Accept the people the way they are and not for the way you want them to be.
You are never right always to comment and judge other people _ Haru (20)

Love your enemies – Janet, (49)


Don’t open your mouth in the wrong place. Someimes, its better not to show you know something even when you do –Girija (35)

One thing I learnt however is to keep my mouth firmly shut when others are voicing their opinions about things and people close to them. You are damned if you agree and damned if you don't !!!! Raji Muthukrishnan (62)

To keep smiling always. To take things light. And to shut my big mouth though I feel am right. Gitanjali (25 and newly married)

I leant not to cheat anybody – not to believe anybody – enjoy a little without crossing any limits- believe in gods, -there is nothing in the world without them- whatever you do- keep in your mind that everybody are watching- us.
Forget the past try to be the best in the present –
Take life as your challenge –and reach your destiny – Girija


'no matter what its the skill or knowledge one has speaks' –Rajesh ramanujam (35)



Listen to your elders – swarna (32)

When in one trouble one approaches the person with willingness and the ability to solve your problems –
I realize that when people come to you in trouble, all they want most of the time is a listening ear.
BJ Krishnan (63)

The one lesson that I have learned and have realized is that balance is the essence of life. Too much of anything, including good things like being too nice is harmful :).
Oswin Samuel (25)




Real everyday stuff that works –
Getting up earlier than your family so you have time for yourself is a great start
-kallu
An early morning walk in fresh air even if its only 5 min to get the milk is a great start to the day -kapu
When you are really desperate; turn to your family even its only to fill up lifebuoy questionnaires -sind
No matter how bad the situation, Happiness is just a bar of chocolate away –Dachu (25)
80% of the work is done by 20% of members in a team- sindhu (22)

Lessons From Living -III

Qualities that help along the way!


To achieve our greatest part of endurance is "COURAGE" –Aristotle –contributed by Kumari (44)

Patience-Ramkumar(30)

Gain or learn by experience –Goutham
It is always better to make life simple and uncomplicated as possible. –Anita N(40)
Attitude and individuality matters a lot. - Haru

Money is the deciding factor. Better to realize it late than never –Anandhi (45)

Lost opportunities in money making deals are my only regrets – so don’t be afraid to take risks – Ramesh (45)

Must say that the best thing I have learnt would be that I am going to lose as much as I can win, so I take both as well - however, I hate not having competed - so, try and compete - win or lose is not that big a deal ! – vijaykanth (53)

Get to the bottom of the problem" - be it professional, personal, national... - mahendran (49)

Expectations hurts. (ouch! That hurts)

Be sure there is a problem in the first place before working hard to solve one – Newton (49)

Work hard..no substitute for hard work ..Sheela (45)

The big results can be achieved by altering the small things – Babu (29)

To accept changes and to be a lot more humane –Geetha (45)

Lessons from Living!! -II

Happy people about happiness! – The (B)Right Attitude


`Always look on the bright side of life ... Babu (age 50)

Anything may happen anytime.. people will change … so enjoy life.. dont take things seriously why kavalai??? – Sajit (age 15)

Happiness lies in what you have got. And not in what you feel have lost. –Kalai (50)

Be happy with what you have while striving for better things-Kapu (43)

That every day is better than the rest – Banu (49)

Do what you deem right within the bounds of reason – Jyothi (25)

live life to the fullest and for the moment only. –Sastha Prakash (30)

Highly philosophical


In life nothing is permanent. so making far fetched plans ahead can be redundant sometimes. Life itself is only a phase that we pass through so as long as we at are it, I believe we live righteously.
In short love and be loved. Goutham (48)

We always searching for something in our life which exists and not exists but need to have space for everyone and everything in our life.- damu (35)

Mystery story Writers

One of the things that add such a huge Zing to my Life I've discovered is a Well- Written-Mystery-Story I go about with such a glow the whole day, its worth it to read lots of these:-)

A recent addition to my list of Favorite Authors is :

Josephine Tey- Elegant Prose - I can't reveal any more mysteries.
Other favorites :
PD James -
Sue Grafton - the A is for ... - lady With a zingy, irascible detective Kinsey Malhone
Mary Higgins Clark - though Ive mostly given up on her.. too horrifying
Ruth Rendell - Macabre but a scholar
Ngaaio Marsh - I've read only one but it was great
Mary Stewart - Unbeatable for mystery undertinged just slightly with romance
Agatha Christie- where one begins

Male writers:
Dick Francis - a very intelligent mind
Lawrence Sanders - though his Commandment books are good, his madly gay detective Mcnally really holds
Raymond Chandler - Style
Giovanni Guareschi's Don Camillo - tho this isnt detective fiction actually