service charge

When my daughter first learned to sit, I thought of buying a chair for her. I went to a small shop in Adyar, Chennai. I liked a chair in that shop. But it seemed to be little costly. Then I went to a big shop in T.Nagar, Chennai. There too I found the chair of the same model. But the cost was less than 50 percent of the cost in Adyar shop. Below were the differences that I could spot.





T.Nagar Shop

Adyar Shop

There were only 5 pieces, each in different color.

There were around 50 pieces to select from.

No damage in all the 5 display pieces.

Need to search for a piece without damage from 50 pieces.

Showroom was air conditioned and a person was there to guide us.

No air condition and no person to guide.

Price tag was tied with a colorful threaded, easily removable.

Low quality sticker was pasted on top of the chair to indicate
the price, difficult to remove.



But 100 % service charge for these differences seemed to be little costly for me. So, I searched and got a good piece from the big shop.

You Too Brutus

[ Written by my wife ]

There is a phrase that we normally use whenever a friend does not support us - "You too Brutus". Brutus was a close friend of  Julius Caesar. He betrayed Julius Caesar and killed him from behind. Thus the phrase is said whenever someone betrays others.

But when we see it from Brutus point of view we wont consider it a betrayal. Brutus loved Rome when he was a friend of Caesar. He supported Caesar because he cared for the welfare of Rome. Caesar made Rome more powerful. Then Brutus was brain washed that Caesar was not going to do any good to Rome. He killed Caesar because he loved Rome. Brutus only action was that he loved Rome throughout his life.

It is the angle in which we see an action, changes from person to person and not the action. There is a story in Mahabharata - When Krishna asked Yudhishthira to find out one bad person in the country he came empty handed and when Duryodhana was asked to find out one good person he was empty handed. Thus in the eyes of Yudhishthira all were good and in the eyes of Duryodhana all were bad.

We cannot change the world. We can change the way we see the world.

Once upon a time there was a King. He ordered his men to make everything green in his kingdom. So all where in green color dress but it was hard for the men to make everything green. So they sort the help of the wise man in the kingdom. He went to the King and gave him a green colored spectacles thus making what ever he sees as green. So if we see an action in a positive way it is positive and green. This can be achieved if you see an action in a positive way. This is easily said than done.

tamil song lyrics

Usually different web site provide different lyrics for some Tamil songs which have difficult to hear words in it. I generally get confused whenever I hear two of Kamal Haasan's song. Whenever I hear these songs, I get one of the two different words. Still couldn't figure out what word was used by the author of these songs.

The first one from Anbe sivam movie...
a.
Aatthigam paesum adiyaarkellaam sivamae anbaagum,
Aatthigam paesum nallavarukkoe anbae sivamaagum,

b.
Aatthigam paesum adiyaarkellaam sivamae anbaagum,
Naatthigam paesum nallavarukkoe anbae sivamaagum,


The second one from Dasavadharam movie...
a.
Vizhvuthe yaar aghilum, Vaazhvathu naal aghatum

b.
Vizhvuthe yaar aghilum, Vaazhvathu naad aghatum

I like only the (a) version of these songs. How about you?

art of giving

[ Translation of my article originally written in Tamil for "Vanavil" - hand written magazine ]

Giving gives pleasure to both the giver and the taker. Historically there are many legend hero's known for giving.

1. Taker
2. Giver
3. Others
4. Giving thing
Above are the four that is involved in the process of giving.

Giving thing (4) may not only be gold or money, it could be any value add for the taker. For ex, lifting the bag for others in the train, showing the right path to destination for a friend could also be considered as a act of giving to taker.

The act of giving to the taker should be done without any expectation. If giving is known to others(3), it would be considered that it is done for getting good name from others. If the giver(2) keeps on thinking about the giving process, it could result in reduction in the amount to be given. Hence, the giver may give without the knowledge of others and also without the knowledge of himself. Left hand should not know what is given by right hand. Such a generous person is karna from Mahabharata.

The last but not the least, is the taker(1). Some takers may think that getting would give some difficulties for the giver or may think that what we can give in return to the giver for getting. They may also reject the offer from the giver.

When I was in bangalore, once I was travelling with three friends in a bus. Since the bus was crowded only me and one friend got seat to sit. Others were standing. We four were chatting as the bus moved. After an hour, my friend sitting next to me offered his seat to the one's who were standing. The offer was rejected. After sometime, I stood up and said that my legs are paining after sitting for a long time. Now the friend who was standing took my seat.

Hence if the taker is not aware of the act of giving, it becomes the best. GOD also gives us everything without our knowledge.

By giving, the giver becomes virtuous person. But if the taker rejects the offer of the giver, the giver may not get that benefit of becoming virtuous person. While eating meat, the chicken, turkey etc becomes virtuous by giving taste and filling the stomach of the person who eats. Hear the chicken is the giver and chicken eaters are takers. Killing the chicken is another part of the story, it can be taken as their fate! Fate is powerful!! 


Anything given by GOD or other people, if we accept them fully without any condition we can give the most for the Giver. We need to keep this in mind and accept everything.


    Meaningful charity does not draw the attention to the giver and the others.
    Dignified charity does not draw the attention to the taker and the others.
    In both, the taker plays the important role of accepting without any condition.


P.S: Is this art of giving or art of taking ;-)