From & To Sathish #5 - Page 57

Researchers for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority found over 200 dead crows near greater Boston recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu.

A Bird Pathologist examined the remains of all the crows, and, to everyone’s relief, confirmed the problem was definitely NOT Avian Flu. The cause of death appeared to be vehicular impacts. However, during the detailed analysis it was noted that varying colors of paints appeared on the bird’s beaks and claws.

By analyzing these paint residues it was determined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks, while only 2% were killed by an impact with a car.

MTA then hired an Ornithological Behaviorist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills.

He very quickly concluded the cause: When crows eat road kill, they always have a look-out crow in a nearby tree to warn of impending danger.

They discovered that while all the lookout crows could shout “Cah”, not a single one could shout “Truck.”

Piso Pedru means Mad Peter in Konkani. On the occasion of World Laughter day, here is Pedru for you.

Pedru went to a bank to open a S.B. A/C.

After seeing the Form he went to Delhi for filling it up.

You know why?

Form said: 'Fill Up In Capital.'

😀

Pedru standing below a tube light with open mouth.

Why?

Because his doctor advised him: 'Today's dinner should be light !'

😃

On romantic date Pedru's girl friend asks him:

'Darling ! On our engagement will you give me a ring?'

He said: 'Sure ! What's your phone no.?'

😀

Pedru found the answer to the most difficult question ever.

What will come first, chicken or egg?

what ever u order first will come first.

😀

Teacher told all students to write an essay on a cricket match.

All were busy writing except Pedru.

He wrote:'Due To Rain, No Match!'

😀

What does Pedru do after taking a Xerox?

He will compare it with the original for any spelling mistakes.

😀

Pedru & wife buy coffee in a shop.

Pedru : Drink quickly before it gets cold.

Wife: Why?

Pedru : Hot coffee $5 and cold coffee $10.

😀

What happens when Pedrus wife delivers twins????

He does not sleep whole night, thinking who is the father of second child...😝

Manager asked Pedru at an interview.

Can you spell a word that has more letters in it?

Pedru : P-O-S-T-B-O-X.

😯

After returning back from a foreign trip, Pedru asked his wife,

Do I look like a foreigner?

Wife: No! Why?

Pedru : In London a lady asked me Are you a foreigner?

😁😉

Lecturer: write a note on Gandhi Jayanthi

Pedru writes, "Gandhi was a great man, but I don't know who is Jayanthi.

😖😠

Interviewer: just imagine you are on the3rd floor, it caught fire

and how will you escape?

Pedru: its simple. I will stop my imagination!!!

😝😜✌

Pedru : My mobile bill how much?

Call centre girl: sir, just dial 123 to know your current bill status

Pedru: Stupid, not CURRENT BILL my MOBILE BILL.

🙌👉😝😁

Friend: I got a brand new Ford IKON for my wife!

Pedru: Wow!!! That's an unbelievable exchange offer!!!

😘😍

Teacher: "What is common between JESUS, KRISHNA , RAM, GANDHI and BUDHA?"

Pedru: "All are born on government holidays...!!!

😭😂✨

Sir: What is difference between Orange and Apple?

Pedru : Color of Orange is ORANGE, but color of Apple is not APPLE

Don't laugh alone. Happy World Laughter day.

Avan Aval Adhu 178

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn - Benjamin Franklin

If there was one thing, one memory, a student from Kumarapalayam govt school held on to dearly until their last breath, it was the feeling of being loved, cherished and more than anything else, being respected

" Respect yourself and others will respect you ” were one of the earliest sayings that he had heard his master say and then he had spoken for a few minutes on what it really meant. Sargunam remembered everything about that first day when Master had joined their school and how by the end of the day, most of the students were following him like lambs following their shepherd. He remembered it exactly for it had been his father's first death anniversary and he would remember those words that were exchanged between his mother and Master and secretly he knew that he would carry them to his death and in his heart, he knew that they would be the last words he would hear as life left his body.

The small book-size photo was all that they could afford to get made and it hung out near their hall and around it hung an even smaller jasmine garland. Sargunam had broken down and had begun to wail in pain for it was unbearable. His mother had insisted that he go to school hoping that it would take his mind away from the pain of losing his father.

Then he had felt a hand gently placed on his shoulder and wondering who it was, had looked up and made eye contact with Ravi Kumar their new master for English, Basic science and Physical education.

Master dropping to his knees had gently wiped his tears away whispering, ' Don't worry child. Your father has not gone away somewhere leaving you behind' and tapping his heart, ' he is right there, beating for you, fighting for you and breathing for you.'

Sargunam remembered the gentle hug and the words that had been whispered softly in his ears.

' I too am like a father to you. You are not alone. You are never alone and I will always be here for you and for all the students of this school.'

' Guna, Sargunam, I asked you, how your Master is doing?' and Guna hearing the now, tore himself away from the past and looked at Meenakshi, ' He is doing fine, ma'am. I met him yesterday morning at the first Kodai checkpoint that he was passing through on his way to his friend's resort.'

Meenakshi smiled a smile that was a miscarriage or a pregnancy that had been willingly aborted for unlike a baby being carried through its entire term and successfully delivered, her smile was not carried through from the soul to the eyes but was halted and aborted halfway through at her lips.

Eyes that don't smile while the lips smile in full or half bloom makes for a poor visage and to the trained police eyes of Sargunam, it was clear that she was circling the surface like a predator bird would glide and hang over the waters before diving in for its fishy prey.

Dharmalinga thevar knew very well that Guna had come to meet him with a specific purpose and reason for he was not a man to waste words and time of his own and those around him. Information had reached his ears about the high-level meeting that had been convened by the new IG Asra Garg.

Not wanting to waste Sargunam's time, he politely enquired, ' Guna, I know you are a busy man. So, we will talk as we eat. Is that okay with you or do you want to talk first and then eat or eat and then talk in privacy in my room?'

On the dot, and on cue his Personal assistant Sundaram walked in and in a husky voice whispered, ' Iyaa, we have to leave for the party office ceremony and be there before the ministers and MP's arrive there.'

Dharmalinga Thevar nodded, ' how much time do I have now?'

' Twenty minutes, iyaa.'

' Okay. You go ahead and see to it that all the arrangements have been made as planned and I will join you at the venue.'

If Dharmalinga thevars time constraint was one reason, there was another reason why Inspector Sargunam spoke and spoke about the case for he did not want to slight the women by saying that he needed privacy. He knew better than to antagonize Meenakshi for her anger and vengeance were legendary in and around Madurai.

Also, the case regarding the temple theft and the assault on the victims was a well-reported one and so Guna spoke but kept the information to a bare minimum.

' Iyaa, I will need your help and guidance in solving this case for I and the department feel that a very rich and powerful man is behind these criminal acts.'

Dharmalinga thevar taking a sip of his koozhu bit down on a large onion slice along with a green chilly and with a twinkle in his eyes and with a sparkle in his smile said, ' of course, Guna. It is obvious that some greedy rich pig is behind this sacrilege. A poor man forced into theft might steal a phone or grab a chain but stealing from the Gods is an act that must have been cooked up by a selfish and arrogant man.'

Thamarai, his wife cursed bitterly, ' There is a God and she is watching everything and her eyes miss nothing. She will punish these evil men at the right time.'

Her mother had invoked the name of the Goddess Meenakshi Amman who was the presiding deity in Meenakshi Sundareshwarar Temple forgetting there was another Meenakshi sitting right next to her and little did her parents and the Crime branch Inspector suspect that she was right in the middle of the case that they were talking about.

She raised her hand and declared, ' Excuse me but I need to use the bathroom. I will be back in a few minutes.'

In his head, Inspector Sargunam heaved a sigh of relief for now he could talk freely and without the added tension of Meenakshi right at the table.

But, little did he or her parents realize that behind her wicked smile that resembled a hooded cobra lay a dangerous and far more evil mind like the dreaded tarantula spider that sat in its webbed burrow waiting for its prey and regularly ate snakes that wandered into its path.

A snake. A spider. Deadly poisonous creatures that moved unerringly towards their prey and always, almost never missed with their fangs.

Inside the bathroom, she whispered, ' There is no time. You have to move tonight and get it done for the cops have begun hunting your men. Follow my instructions and stay away from any more interactions with them and with your friend in Chennai. Dismantle your phone and any other phone that you have used and file a complaint that you lost it last night and only realized it today morning.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kOqvgGIehA

https://cookingfromheart.com/kambu-koozh-pearl-millet-gruel/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4hYF2PJaa0

Avan Aval Adhu 179

I need. I need to be needed. I need the feeling of being needed. I want. I want to be wanted. I want to be wanted by the person that I want. I want and need the person who does not want me or need me.

Ravi would willingly lay down his life for Madhu. Madhu would willingly lay down her life for Ravi. Meenakshi would willingly lay down her life for Ravi but... She would also willingly kill and sacrifice other lives for the sake of Ravi and her needs.

Life is not always black and white. It is grey. As there's no right or wrong, it depends upon the perception of the person. Because in every action, there's a reason. Grey or gray is an intermediate colour between black and white. It is a neutral colour, meaning literally that it is "without colour " because it can be composed of black and white.

If Ravi and Madhu are one colour and that colour is white. Then Meenakshi must surely be the opposite colour of them both and that colour must be black and maybe occasionally grey. But, in what colour do I, the writer describe her in if not white for her love for Ravi is pure and maybe, even purer than Madhu's love for Ravi. It is just that circumstances led to her becoming black, grey and all but white.

When is love just that, love and when does it become an obsession. Is the love of a mother for a child, obsessive? Can it be called that? Maybe. Yes. When the mother stifles the child's mental growth and needs and manipulates and steers her baby to need only her. Then it is obsessive. When a person becomes obsessed with their faith, God and loses all sense of perception, judgement and begins to kill others who follow a different faith, then that is obsessive and is indeed an obsession.

Singing songs, writing poetry and loving from far after being told to stay away from is decent and forgivable. But, stalking, watching, hovering and hurting oneself when one sees the object of affection with another is definitely, an obsession.

Funny. So, is Ravi's love for Madhu an obsession? Yes and no. A man pining for a woman who left him when he was barely an adult does vaguely sound obsessive. But, he poured all that energy caused by the pain of losing her and went about living his life in a calm and constructive way. But, yes. Still vaguely obsessive and maybe a bit or totally mad. Who knows? I am a person who believes in cause and effect. Action and reaction. For, in between the two sides, is where life plays out its games. A game of life or a game of death. Death, WTF? Death of body or death of the soul and trapped in a living body?

Like Meenakshi's soul trapped in her body. Like Meenakshi's love trapped in her soul. Like Ravi's love trapped in every cell of his body. Is that only love or is that love for Madhu, a dream that vanished when you woke up dreaming it. Like that beautiful soap bubble that dies the moment you touch it.

Avan Aval Adhu 180

There was a reason why Meenakshi had not chosen to remain seated at the table and listen in while her dad and Inspector Sargunam discussed the Sadaya Perumal temple case in which her dumb husband was involved along with many other such thefts.

Meenakshi knew her parents very well and she also knew very well that her parents knew her even better than she knew them. She knew that her father who had loved her more than her late brother and even her mother which was telling for their bond was a real strong one and ran deep would have noticed and he was a man whose eyes saw everything and missed nothing. There was only one person in this world who scared her and that was her father and there was a reason for that mortal fear

' I would have surely reacted and knowing my father, he would have noticed and picked up on the slightest, and faintest reaction of mine and that is something that I don't need right now ' Meenakshi thought as she dialled a number that she had called an hour earlier.

The man in Chennai answered on the second ring and said, ' Amma, it is all done and I will call you back the moment the work is finished.'

' This is very important. I repeat this is very important and there should be no mistakes. It does not matter how much money it will take to get this done, but get it done and call me once it is done.'

She walked out of the bathroom and found the dining hall empty went into the kitchen to ask her mother about it.

Her mother was slicing something with her back turned to her.

Seeing her mother's back turned to her and seeing her occupied with her kitchen duties, Meenakshi decided that she would be wasting time by asking her anything and was about to leave when her mother spoke to her with her back still turned to her.

' They left a few minutes ago. It would give me great joy and peace if you leave now and never come back.'

Meenakshi's face turned a fiery red with anger but her mother spoke before she could manage even a breath in retort.

' You are an unclean person. It does not matter that you are my daughter and our only child but please, I am warning you, don't ever step foot into this house again in such an unclean state.'

Thamarai suddenly turned and Meenakshi was startled to see her mother's eyes red and full of tears, and then her eyes dropped down to the sharp knife that her mother held in her right hand and also saw the large bowl of sliced onions and smiled casually and said, ' For a moment I thought you were crying but I see now that you have been slicing onions.'

Pointing to the people around the house, ' You have nearly five people in this house to help you. Then why are you doing this menial job?'

Thamarai stared daggers at her daughter and said, ' These tears are a gift from the onions that will subside after ten or fifteen minutes and after rinsing my eyes. But the stain that you brought into my house today and the stain and stench of your life that you brought into our lives can not be rinsed or washed away. The tears and our fears that you cause will not subside and will never....'

Raising the sharp kitchen knife, ' Two things that are very sacred to me. My husband, and the goddess who sits in that temple' and pointing to the temple tower that was visible from the kitchen window, ' I will not let you or anyone insult them. This is my final warning to you. If you dare repeat this sin again, I swear on my husband that I will tell him and leave it up to him to handle you.'

Thamarai shook her head sadly, ' I thought that you would change and get better but you have not and after all these years you are only getting worse and becoming more evil.'

Pointing to the door, ' Get out and remember my words and warnings and my promise before you dare to step foot in our house again. Get out.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFx2B7C_0Y4

Music. Songs. Songs from all languages and from all over the world. Not only from this world for mad me some time listen and go into a trance hearing sounds from the Universe itself.

These are a few of my favourites right now and are on repeat mode.

Some of them you might have heard and some you might have not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrM6GEWAWHc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC8AmhPUJPA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfy5S93chgM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UriXGcrXFTA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqJsrQGm1YI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVbcScsMUxk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i50K2Gv0QiY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXT7X_bf9lU

*COWS DON’T GIVE MILK.,..*

A father used to say to his children when they were young — "When you all reach the age of 12, I will tell you the secret of life".

One day when the oldest turned 12, he anxiously asked his father what was the secret of life. The father replied that he was going to tell him, but that he should not reveal it to his brothers.

—The secret of life is this: *The cow does not give milk*. "What are you saying?" Asked the boy incredulously.

—As you hear it, son: The cow does not give milk, you have to milk it. You have to get up at 4 in the morning, go to the field, walk through the corral full of manure, tie the tail, hobble the legs of the cow, sit on the stool, place the bucket and do the work yourself.

That is the secret of life, the cow does not give milk. You milk her or you don't get milk. There is this generation that thinks that cows GIVE milk. That things are automatic and free: their mentality is that if "I wish, I ask..... I obtain."

"They have been accustomed to get whatever they want the easy way...But no, life is not a matter of wishing, asking and obtaining. The things that one receives are the effort of what one does. Happiness is the result of effort. Lack of effort creates frustration."

So, share with your children from a young age the secret of life, so they don't grow up with the mentality that the government, their parents, or their cute little faces is going to give them everything they need in life.

*Remember*

*Cows don't give milk; you have to work for it.*

~Author Unknown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1biUJQubro

Avan, Aval Adhu 181

Dharmalinga Thevar in his own unique baritone but soft and smooth sounding voice said, ' Subbu, please stop under that large tamarind tree and then leave us.'

' Okay Iyaa ' Subbu replied and then slowly came to a halt under the tree and instead of getting out of the car, turned and addressed Inspector Sargunam, ' Sir, I met Ravi Iyaa yesterday evening.'

Sargunam smiled and said, ' I too happened to meet him but earlier in the day and he looks fine, Subbu sir.'

Subbu, Dharmalingam's driver hung his head and said, ' Sir, I know why you are using the word sir to address me instead of calling me Subbu anna like before. But, you are a police officer now and not just anybody or an ordinary civilian like me, sir and I don't want to make it a habit for I can imagine the reactions of others if they hear me calling you Guna instead of sir or Inspector sir.'

' Agreed. Okay, Subbu anna. But remember to call me as you have called me all these years when we are alone.'

Subbu smiled shyly and nodded and alighting from the vehicle slowly shut it behind him and went towards the police vehicle that was following them.

Constable Rajan saluted and happily greeted him, ' Subbu anna, how are you?'

' I was doing fine but not now and not after being saluted by you.'

Constable Rajan's remonstrances were waved away and he was admonished by Subbu.

' You are a cop and you drive Inspector's sir's vehicle.'

Constable Rajan nodded, ' yes, but you drive MLA sir's vehicle and more importantly, you are Iyaa's driver and have been for more than 30 years. So, in my books, your posting is equal to that of a DSP or SP of police even.'

Inside the vehicle, Dharmalinga Thevar looked at Guna fondly and thanked him for agreeing to travel with him as he headed to the party function.

He turned and stared at the busy traffic that was doing its best to give the two parked vehicles a wider berth than usual.

Guna knew better than to say anything and waited patiently for Dharmalinga Thevar to start their conversation.

He did and after a few moments of contemplating not about their clandestine meeting but having contemplated on the right words to say to Sargunam.

' Guna, I will give you all the help you need to carry out your investigation. Go, where you need to go and have to go and I will back you up 100 per cent and until the culprits are brought to justice.'

Inspector Sargunam smiled and said, ' Thank you, iyaa. Obviously, you realize....' and stopped speaking seeing his benefactor's hand being raised.

' Please, don't thank me for there is no need of thank for I am just doing my duty. I know how difficult it will be for you and the department to go ahead with this case on your own for you might stumble at roadblocks such as money power, political power and caste power that will come in your way.'

' Sir, it is not just about those three but also about family connections for we all belong to the same community and most of us are related to each other closely and distantly.'

' I know that Guna ' Dharamlinga Thevar whispered sadly and then took a deep breath and exhaled it away as if he wanted to be rid of the burdens that seemed to be tormenting him, ' It should not matter. None of the reasons should matter when it comes to doing your duty. We are all equal in the eyes of the law. If anyone is guilty of such heinous acts and sacrilege then they should not be spared.'

He smiled and looked at Sargunam and said, ' Remember one thing and never forget that, Son. '

' What is that, Iyaa?'

' Remember what your master taught you and remember to do what he would do if he was in your position. Do you think he will baulk and walk away when faced with such difficulties?'

Guna shook his head, ' No. Never. My master would not stop if it is God himself who is guilty of a crime.'

' So, there you have your answer and there you have all the motivation that you will ever need to go about not only doing your duty but also how to live your life the right way.'

Then suddenly he smiled and whispered, ' so, what do you think of this lady that has come into our lives?'

Guna too smiled happily, ' She seems to be just right and made for him sir. I am praying to God to join them and I hope it works out.'

Dharmalinga Thevar sighed sadly, ' I too am wishing that son for I think Master iyaa has suffered enough and hopefully God will bring some peace and happiness to his soul.'

There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” “The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.” “Some old wounds never truly heal and bleed again at the slightest word.