From & To Sathish #6 - Page 169

"When we die, our money remains in the bank... Yet, when we are alive, we don't have enough money to spend. In reality, when we are gone, there is still a lot of money not spent.

A business tycoon in China passed away. His widow, left with $1.9 billion in the bank, married his chauffeur. His chauffeur said:- "All the while, I thought I was working for my boss... it is only now, that I realize that my boss was all the time, working for me !!!"

The cruel reality is: It is more important to live longer than to have more wealth. So, we must strive to have a strong and healthy body, It really doesn't matter who is working for who.

In a high end hand phone, 70% of the functions are useless!

For an expensive car, 70% of the speed and gadgets are not needed.

If you own a luxurious villa or mansion, 70% of the space is usually not used or occupied.

How about your wardrobes of clothes?

70% of them are not worn!

A whole life of work and earning... 70% is for other people to spend.

So, we must protect and make full use of our 30%.

Go for medical check-ups even if not sick.

Drink more water, even if not thirsty.

Learn to let go, even if faced with grave problems.

Endeavor to give in, even if you are in the right.

Remain humble, even if you are very rich and powerful.

learn to be contented, even if you are not rich.

Exercise your mind and body, even if you are very busy.

Make time for people you care about.

LIFE IS SHORT... ENJOY & LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST!!!

Love God and others More!

Take time to PRAY and Read the Word of God!

Drink Plenty of water.

EAT:

Breakfast like a KING,

Lunch like a Prince &

Dinner like a pauper.

Live with the 3 E's--

Energy,

Enthusiasm &

Empathy.

Read more books than you did in 2024.

Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

Sleep for 7 hours.

Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily And while you walk.. Smile.

Don't over do. Keep your limits.

Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

Dream more while you are awake.

Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present Happiness.

Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

Smile and Laugh More.

You don't have to win every argument, Agree to disagree.

Call your family often.

Each day give something good to others.

Forgive everyone for everything.

Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

Try to make at least three people smile each day.

What other people think of you is none of your business.

Do the right thing!

GOD heals everything.

However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

No matter how you feel, Get up, Dress up and Show up. The best is yet to come.

Why Trump won! Did sexism propel Donald Trump to power?

The perils of drawing conclusions from a sample of only two

The Economist, November 9, 2024

AS DEMOCRATS COME to terms with their decisive loss, some have begun pointing fingers at a temptingly simple—and conveniently self-absolving—explanation: it was sexism. America is simply not ready to elect a female president, suggested several news outlets, as it became clear that voters had rejected a woman for the highest office for a second time. In the early hours of November 6th David Axelrod, a campaign strategist turned political commentator, said on CNN that anyone who claimed that sexism did not play a role in Ms Harris’s defeat was simply “wrong”. Patti Solis Doyle, who ran Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign, said to Politico that “the country is still sexist and is not ready for a woman president.”

Meanwhile, angry young women have taken to TikTok and other social-media channels to call on each other to emulate South Korea’s feminist 4B movement, which rejects sex and heterosexual dating, in retaliation against young men voting for Mr Trump. “The good news is that men hate us, so there’s no point in catering to them,” starts one video that quickly attracted over 1.3m likes. “No more kitty cat” for men, adds another.

Yet there is little evidence that Ms Harris lost because of sexism, and plenty that she did not. She suffered from structural disadvantages, including her ties to an unpopular presidency and perceptions of a bad economy, that had nothing to do with her sex. While a minority of Americans do hold overtly sexist views, including the idea that men are emotionally better suited for politics, they are clustered in Mr Trump’s base and so were never likely to vote for Ms Harris anyway. And at first glance, those states with a higher prevalence of sexist views (according to metrics devised by economists at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and National University Singapore) appear to have been no more likely to have swung towards Mr Trump than states with lower levels of sexism.

Research suggests that the electorate, on average, is not influenced by a candidate’s sex when they enter the voting booth. A meta-study, by Susanne Schwarz, now of Swarthmore College, and Alexander Coppock, of Yale, found that some voters (particularly if they are Democrats or women) are slightly more supportive of hypothetical female candidates. And unlike Mrs Clinton, Ms Harris throughout her campaign managed to avoid one of the few things that studies suggest can measurably hurt a female candidate’s chances with male voters: emphasising the historical nature of her candidacy.

None of this is to say that Ms Harris did not face sexist attacks. T-shirts and caps sold at Trump rallies were emblazoned with “F*** Joe and the Hoe” and “Biden Sucks, Kamala Swallows”. A now-deleted ad, by Elon Musk’s PAC, repeatedly called her “a big old c-word”. After she was announced as the Democratic nominee, sexist language online surged, sometimes fuelled by Mr Trump himself. Google searches for Ms Harris with the word “bitch” rocketed, much as they did after Mrs Clinton announced her candidacy.

But gender can be both highly relevant in an election and yet not hurt the chances of a female candidate. One reason for the speculation that sexism influenced the outcome is that this election became seen as a “battle of the sexes”—stoked by comments such as J.D. Vance’s about “childless cat ladies”—and a referendum on women’s rights. Because of this, several analysts predicted that the gender voting gap could reach a new high as women flocked to Ms Harris and men to Mr Trump.

With only exit-poll data to go on, it is too early to draw firm conclusions. But clearly the central Democratic hope of mobilising women in unprecedented numbers did not materialise. According to early estimates, women did not make up a larger share of the voting population than in 2020, and there is little evidence so far to suggest that the gender gap widened. Damningly, there is plenty to suggest that women (at least modestly) pivoted to Mr Trump. Where in 2020 some 55% of women overall voted for Mr Biden, AP VoteCast estimates that in 2024 Harris’s share slipped to 53%.

It appears that one of the few groups with whom Ms Harris gained ground compared with Joe Biden in 2020 were white college-educated women. Her support among black women remained stable even as it slipped among Hispanic women (although a majority still supported her). As in 2020, a majority of white women seem to have voted for Mr Trump. Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s lead among white men appears not to have increased, but he did see meaningful bumps among Hispanic men and young black men.

What came of the Gen Z “gender schism”? In the final stretch of the election, Mr Trump and Ms Harris actively courted young men and young women, respectively. Before November 5th pollsters were divided on how much weight to give to the idea that young men and women were growing apart. This is the generation most likely to say they lie to loved ones about how they vote, so it is hard to know how honest they are with pollsters. The first exit-poll data paint a similarly mixed picture, and it is too early to say whether the youth gender gap widened. Although talk of radicalisation of all young men is overblown—about half still voted for Ms Harris—Mr Trump has been successful in appealing to grievances among large segments of this age group.

What is clear is that the (relatively) young did not save Ms Harris. Quite the opposite. Among the under-45s, according to AP VoteCast, the swing towards Mr Trump was similar among both men and women and much greater than the very marginal shift in the over-45s. Instead, young people are the group who have shifted farthest, regardless of gender or race. This is not the key variable for explaining Trump’s vote, it’s the key variable explaining the swing. For a party that had hoped to count on both a gender- and a youth-quake, that is damning. ■

How to balance privilege and intersectionality

By Shoba Narayan, Wisdom Circle November 6, 2024

If you are reading this, you are likely a high-functioning super-bright person, which means, at least according to your kids, that you are also “judgey” or judgemental.

Pity those of us with grown children in their 20s or teenage grandchildren. No matter what we say or do, it seems, we are wrong. We are either “privileged” or “patriarchal” or “regressive” or not “intersectional enough.” It was that last phrase that prompted this column.

It began with a fairly innocuous phone call during Diwali. I told my kids that I had been to a flea market in Bengaluru called “Namma Maya Bazaar” which showcased artists, creators, entrepreneurs and performers from India’s LGBTQA+ and other marginalised communities. “It was spectacular to see how inclusive a mela can be,” I enthused. “I mean, there were straight people and gay people all interacting with each other.”

That’s when my daughter asked in a silky casual voice, “Ma, do you know what intersectionality means?”

I braced myself. Now, I consider myself fairly open and tolerant. I have my biases but am working through them. The tone of my daughter’s voice told me that once more, I had said something wrong. Worse, I knew nothing.

Turns out intersectionality is something that we all experience in India. The basic idea is that all discrimination and oppression is linked (or intersectional). If you are an upper-caste man with a disability, the discrimination you will experience is different from a lower-caste able-bodied man who is wealthy. For women too, discrimination based on skin colour, good looks, caste, class, age, and sexual orientation are all different. In other words, we all feel oppression and discrimination in some fashion or the other — even white men, who are often considered the epitome of ‘male privilege.’

Got it, I told my daughter. I goofed, yet again; didn’t know what I was talking about. The question is what was one to do about it? As always, she forwarded me lots of articles and reading material. Since when did my kids become my teachers, I thought to myself peevishly. In my generation, we wouldn’t dare to correct our elders, I told my daughter. “Don’t be passive-aggressive,” was her response.

The good news at least for those above 50 is that many of the things that my daughter was talking about could be addressed by a simple practice: listening more, speaking less. As you age, there is a tendency to pontificate; particularly to younger folks. They may know a lot more about AI, dark-verse and intersectionality, but you have ‘lived’ more than they have and therefore the assumption is that you know more. In India, it is part of the cultural norm. Elders are allowed to speak. They are given air-time in family gatherings while the youngsters either sit silently with bored faces or check their phones. This is very apparent during festive family gatherings for Diwali or Christmas.

But intersectionality, as my daughter explained it, helped me this Diwali season in one specific way. I did four things in all our family gatherings where the ages ranged from 10 to 90. I watched my language – which we all do these days. I became aware of what it meant to have a “privileged position.” Skin colour, education, able-bodied, Cis-gender, middle-to-upper class. All of this played into my identity and what I said. The only difference was that I became aware of how this played out in my behaviour. The last thing was to listen with a learning attitude. I asked questions. I didn’t presume to know. I tried not to make obnoxious jokes about “youngsters these days.”

Guess what? My world expanded as a result. I became “cool” with the kids. They wanted to hang out with me. I learned how complex their worlds are and how tricky it was to navigate. My respect for their intelligence and worldview grew. I still think they are thin-skinned, but that may be my “age privilege” speaking.

All of us have intersectionalities in our identity. Before you dismiss it as one more fad, you might want to pay attention to yours. Oh, and check your privilege while you are at it too.

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Respiratory virus season is officially here, making it a prime time to catch a cold.

Avan Aval Adhu 708

Closing his eyes and wearing a spiritual countenance that reminded all of them of a Monk, Buddha requested Gayatri to eat something and then told the others that now would be a good time for a snack or a cup of coffee.

Tara and Dhana getting up requested Gayatri to remain seated while they prepared something for her to eat, and bending down, Dhana ruffling the head of the little Fox asked it to follow them into the kitchen in case it was hungry.

Tara returned a few minutes later with a plate of wheat bread that had been heavily layered with peanut butter and a bowl of apples that was covered with slices of cheese and placing it in front of Gayatri went back to the kitchen and soon came back with Dhana carrying a huge buckets of freshly cooked Pop Corn.

Buddha looked balefully at Dhana who shrugging his shoulders casually declared, ' Don't be like that. Your stories are a much better experience than going to the movies. So, why not enjoy them in full comfort and pleasure?'

Then turning to the women, Dhana told them that after Azhagan, Buddha most probably knew more than anybody else about the history of the earth and in detail.

Buddha opening his jaws growled laconically, ' If only you knew the truth'.

' What do you mean by that? What truth do I have to know or I don't know already, Buddha?'

' My Lord, what I meant was, that there is no before, or after, for there is nothing to compare Him, our Father with anything on this planet? Not me, not you and the other Lords and princes and princesses'.

Dhanashekara Pandyan's hand that was full of pop corn, froze in mid-air, and did not reach its final destination, that had been his mouth. Dropping his hand and dropping the pop corn into the bowl, he stared hard at Buddha as the ramifications of their constant companion rampaged all around his mind.

' Forget us, Buddha. But what about Raman?'

' What about Lord Raman, my Lord Dhana?'

' I thought he was as strong or had become stronger than father after that episode in Hyderabad?'

Buddha opening his eyes, smiled and said, ' My Lord, there is a gap between strong and as strong and when it comes to Him, even a sliver of a crack will feel like a chasm that is a million miles wide. I hope someday, he will talk more about it to you and to the others.'

Unable to quell her curiosity, ' My friend, Buddha, why do you use the words " to you and to the others "? are you excluding yourself?'

' I am Princess Tara for I know a little more than Lord Dhana and the others. But that little more is exactly that.. a little more and please do not mistake it for a lot more'.

Now that everyone were settled down and busy stuffing themselves with food, Buddha began narrating the story of how and why Azhagan was addressed as Father.

' There could have been many reasons why the tribals considered, the little Azhagan as a God and considered him a father-figure. In Hindu culture, a person looks at another person who has helped him or rescued him from danger as a superior person and feel that they owe that person their very life. If you do the math, a father is one of the two who is responsible for the creation of a new life along with the mother.

It is not for simple reason why Indians are called emotional people and fanatics even when it comes to displaying their gratitude.

But, in the case of Azhagan, and the tribals seeing him standing there on the mountain, it was a totally different ball game altogether, for they literally saw him as a Lord Muruga in his Palani Malai avatar.'

' Forget them tribals and this incident that happened several centuries ago. Even today, in the 21st century people will react the same way if a young lad rescues people, by bravely fighting against ten adults who were known killers by all.'

' Correct my Lord. It does not matter who or what age they are, Bravery in the face of death is an act that people revere and look up to like they look up to God. But, in our King Azhagan's case, they literally saw him as the deity they worshipping and had been doing for more than two thousand years.

The worship of Lord Muruga is called " Kaumaram " and the son of the supreme three-eyed deity Lord Shiva has been worshipped for more than two thousand years all around South India.

But the exact reason,why Azhagan was called Father, is because, amongst his thousand names and mantras, he is also called " Thagappan swami " '.

Tara smiled and said, ' Swami means Teacher, guru and an esteemed person ' and looked at Buddha who replied , ' Exactly, my lady.'

' Okay, we know what swami means. But what does Thagappan mean.. ' Gayatri asked and forking an apple and a slice of cheese into her mouth, stopped, froze and began to chew frantically and then swallowing hurriedly exclaimed, ' Thagappan... Thag appa ' and turning to Dhana, ' appa means father, right?'

Buddha growling happily, told her that she was right.

' Exactly, my queen. So, Thagappan means father and swami means.. teacher or guru.'

Tara looked confusedly at Gayatri and asked Dhana, ' Mon Amour, I was named " Tara " after Kali, another version of Goddess Shakti, the wife of Lord Shiva. So, I know a little about Indian Gods and Goddesses.'

Turning to Buddha, she asked, ' My friend, I thought Lord Shiva, the three-eyed God, was the supreme deity in Hinduism. That being the case, then how can his son, Lord Muruga, become his father and teacher?'

' Good question, my lady and like I said earlier, for this part of the narration, I have to tell you a little story from the Puranas. Specifically from the Skanda Purana aka Kandapuranam.

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Why are we letting algorithms rewrite the rules of art, work, and life?

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Belly flab is like a storage unit for the rest of your body.

https://pennedbypro.wordpress.com/2020/06/03/understanding-the-art-of-sagara-sangamam/

Understanding the Art of Sagara Sangamam

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Teaching Kids How to Make Nutritious Meals