Think or sink!

[Visalakshi Ramani]

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Something ...Something.

The watchman of that factory could not figure out why an empty wheelbarrow was being pushed off by a worker everyday.

He would search under the hay in the wheelbarrow for
anything that was hidden and being smuggled out of the factory.

But he could not find anything any day.
This went on for a very long time.

Until the last wheelbarrow disappeared no one knew that the man was smuggling the wheelbarrows themselves and something inside the wheelbarrow!

Can we label this as 'the human camouflage' - since something is done to hide something else???

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

A proverb a day to brighten the day!

562a.
Fürchte nichts!
Bedrohe niemanden!
Lebe und lass die anderen leben!

562b.
Fear nothing!
Threaten no one!
Live and let the others live!

footnotes:
Fürchte = Fear
nichts = nothing.
Bedrohe = Threaten
niemanden! = no one.
Lebe = Live
und = and
lass = let
die = the
anderen = others
leben! = live!

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

Something...Something

When we lived in the company quarters allotted for us ( in 1980s) , I could see the workers entering the main gate of the factory from my terrace.

The first shift started at 6 A.M. Each of the worker used to carry a tall tiffin carrier fondly called as the 'train tiffin carrier'. I used to wonder at those women who had got up so early and prepared a sumptuous meal for those workers.

Later I came to know that they were just carrying those vessels empty. Later during the day, those would get filled up with all the goodies offered by the canteen for a paltry sum. The carrier would be full when the workers go back home in the evening - with enough food for the entire family.

They got all kinds of snacks and fried food everyday - without moving a muscle and without spending money in buying the ingredients.

Somethings run far deeper even when they appear to be something else.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

A proverb a day to brighten the day!

563a.
Der Schein kann täuschen.
Es ist das, was wir uns selbst projizieren wollen.
Gesprochene Worte zeigen, wer wir wirklich sind.

563b.
Appearance may deceive.
It is what we want to project ourselves to be.
Words spoken reveal who we really are.

footnotes:
Der = The
Schein = appearance
kann = can
täuschen = deceive.
Es = It
ist = is
das = that,
was = what
wir = we
wollen = wish
projizieren = to project
uns selbst = ourselves as.
Gesprochene = The spoken
Worte = word
zeigen = show
wer = who
wir = we
wirklich = really
sind = are.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

Something....Something

Something we do to someone, at some point of time, comes back to us - may be even decades later. The good we do comes back as a good thing for us and the bad we do comes back as a bad thing for us.

The 'doctor of the poor folks' had treated a woman who was visiting her kin and kith in another town and became sick. The doctor treated her - a perfect stranger - as one of his own patients. She got well miraculously. This had happened may be 5 decades ago.

Now the grandkids of that good doctor had caught on COVID - 19, despite all the precautions they had taken to avoid it.

Not even their own servant would enter the household and work for them - at a time when they need physical assistance most.

Lo and behold!

A young woman offers to work for them to repay the gratitude her family own to the doctor's family! The young grand daughter of that lady who had fallen sick, is now helping the grand children of that good samaritan.

Is it true that the good and the bad we do will affect the seven generations to come???
Whenever we do anything we must make sure that it is something good for someone and not something bad for anyone!

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

A proverb a day to brighten the day!

564a. Nicht angeforderte Kredite und nicht besuchte Freunde sind für immer verloren.

564b. Loans not demanded and friends not visited are lost forever.

footnotes:
Kredite = Loan
Nicht = not
angeforderte = demanded
und = and
Freunde = friends
nicht = not
besuchte = visited
sind = are
verloren = lost
für = for
immer = ever.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

Something...Something

Somethings have to change with the changing times. But many of them don't!

In ancient days knowledge was passed on and preserved by listening and memorizing.
Shruti and Smriti were the words used to denote this process of listening, repeating and committing to one's memory.

Printing was unknown. Making handwritten copies on palm leaves or papers was laborious and time consuming. Those days the Students had no other distractions.
They would devote all their time, energy and abilities in learning and memorizing.

But today everything is available to everyone at the touch of a finger! Do we still have to learn everything by heart? Memorize the lessons and reproduce them in an exam set for 3 hours to prove what you have learned in 3 or 4 or even 5 years?

To make those unfortunate students who fail to get through in one exam, repeat all the papers equals to making them fail in more and more subjects and forcing them to quit?
We make the rules. We set the patterns. We must have the wisdom and courage to change the rules and patterns when they have become obsolete.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

I am happy to inform that my very first blog https://vannamaalai.wordpress.com/
- originally with 185 Tamil poems and their English translation on spiritual topics
- now has 216 Tamil poems and their English translations

I will be giving the liks to the new additions @ one per day.
Happy reading!
Civil Comments and mature discussions are also welcome!

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#186. பொய் சொன்ன வாய்

பெருந்தனக்காரர் நியமித்தார் ஒருவனை பொறுப்பாகத் தன் சொத்தைப் பாதுகாக்க. பெருந்தனக்காரருக்கு பல வேலைகள் – பலப் பெரு நகரங்களுக்குச் சென்று வர வேண்டும். பொறுப்பாளனை முழுவதும் நம்ப…

vannamaalai.wordpress.com

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

A proverb a day to brighten the day!

565a. Stehlen folgt Spionage.

565b. Stealing follows spying.

Thieves do not break into every house.
Their loot must be worth their trouble.

They study carefully which house is worth breaking in.
First they study and spy well and then they strike!

footnotes:-
Stehlen = Stealing
folgt = follows
Spionage = spying

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

Something...Something.

Some things become priceless when given to the right persons.
Others become worthless when given to the wrong persons.

Once I had carried a rice plant with all the seeds in tact carefully from Kerala to A.P
It so happened that my inseparable little companion and dance student needed one for her science project. She was elated when I gave her the rice plant in tact. None of the other students in her class could get hold of one.

On other occasions I have watched costly saris being presented to women who don't wear saris - just for what we call as 'dumbam' or 'daambeegam'. These saris get recycled and end up with GOK who!

It is the thought and the need that set the value of any gift and not the actual costs or other hooks attached to it.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#187. கருணைக்குத் தாய்க்குலம்

கற்பதும், கற்பிப்பதும் கடமையாக இருந்தது முற்காலத்தில் அந்தண குலத்தினருக்கு. வாழ்ந்தனர் வறுமையிலும் செம்மையுடன்; வாழ்ந்தனர் வறுமையிலும் பெருமையுடன்; சீலகுரு ஒரு ஏழையாக இருந்தால…

vannamaalai.wordpress.com

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

A proverb a day to brighten the day!

566a.
Nichts kommt aus nichts.
Nichts geht ins Nichts.
Dinge ändern nur ihre Form und ihren Namen, verschwinden aber nie.

566b.
Nothing comes out of nothing.
Nothing goes into nothing.
Things just change their shapes and names but never disappear.

footnotes:
Nichts = Nothing
kommt = comes
aus = out of
nichts = nothing.
Nichts = Nothing
geht = goes
ins = into
Nichts = nothing.
Dinge = Things
ändern = change
nur = only
ihre = their
Form = form
und = and
ihren = their
Namen = names
aber = but
nie = never
verschwinden = disappear.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#188. அரசனின் அத்வைதம்

“சர்வம் பிரம்ம மயம்” என்றார் குருநாதர்; “சகலமும், சகலரும் சரி சமம்!” என்றானது. வெகுவாக மகிழ்ந்தான் இது கேட்ட அரசன்; வெகு நாளாக விரும்பினான் ஒரு சேடியை. மறுத்…

vannamaalai.wordpress.com

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

Something ....Something.

These questions keep bothering me!
Is mercy killing really justified?
Is aided suicide really justified?

They Maybe or May Not Be !
It depends on the person and his or her reasons to wish to die rather than live on!

Some people fear financial crisis which they are unable to solve.
Some people suffer physical ailments which is beyond their endurance.
Some people fear for their reputation and their image.

Whatever be the reasons for wishing to die before one's time is over -
whether they are physical, financial, medical or moral or even imaginary,
man has no right to take off his own life or that of anyone else!

If One who is born to suffer and bound to suffer ... he will have to suffer.
A small consolation is the belief that "Sufferings wipe out our past sins!"

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

A proverb a day to brighten the day!

567a.
Wenn Sie anbieten, einen Stuhl zu kaufen, werden Sie gezwungen,
ein Bett, einen Tisch und einen Stuhl zu kaufen.

567b.
If you offer to buy a chair, you will be made to buy a cot, a table and a chair.

It is not the camel in the tent that takes more than what was originally offered to it.
Most humans do it too - without feeling a pinch of discomfort or an iota of guilt.

footnotes:
Wenn = If
Sie = you
anbieten = offer
zu = to
kaufen = buy
einen = a
Stuhl = chair,
Sie = you
werden = will be
gezwungen = forced
zu = to
kaufen = buy
ein = a
Bett = bed,
einen = a
Tisch = table
und = and
einen = a
Stuhl = chair.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

Something....Something!

Something is being offered out of sheer kindness and generosity.
Something else is being purchased - with least regard
to the original offer and the original cost.

Man knows inherently how to extract
more than what is being offered to him.

The technique is behind the free S.S Spoons
and the 'buy one and take home two' schemes.

It is courtesy to talk to the donor and discuss the details before the purchase.
After all he is the one who is going the shell the money anyway.
We have to make sure that the price doesn't become a bombshell.

Transparency in dealing with the others creates mutual trust
and this gives happiness to the giver as well as the recipient.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#189. குருடர்கள் கண்ட யானை

இறைவனை முன்னிட்டு விதண்டா வாதம் இன்று நேற்றல்ல என்றென்றும் நடப்பது. “தான் கண்டதே சரி” என்று கூறுவர் – மேலும் “தன் இறைவனே உயர்ந்தவன்” என்றும் கூட முதல்வன் ஒரு…

vannamaalai.wordpress.com

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

A proverb a day to brighten the day!

568a. Der Körper ist die Ursache von Glück und Leid.

568b. Body is the cause of both happiness and sorrow.

The Soul or Atma is sath-chith-aanandham.
Permanent happiness is the nature of the soul.

But every living being suffers and becomes sad.
Because the soul is trapped inside a physical body.

So the happiness and sorrow felt by the physical body
gets transmitted to the soul as well.

footnotes:
Der = The
Körper = body
ist = is
die = the
Ursache = cause
von = of
Glück = happiness
und = and
Leid = sorrow.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#190. நாயினும் கடையேன்

கடைத்தேறும் வழியைக் காண்பிக்கத் தேவை கடவுளை உணர்ந்து கொண்ட ஓர் உத்தம குரு. சென்றான் ஒரு மனிதன் ஒரு குருவை நாடி;சொன்னான் தான் பணிவு கொண்டவன் என. தெரியும் பணிவு கொண்டவனைப் பார்த்தாலே!பரிந்து எடுத்துச…

vannamaalai.wordpress.com