Wednesday 22 February, 2006

కలివి కోడి

ముద్దులొలికే ఈ చిన్ని పిట్ట వినిపించే జాలి కథ నొకసారి వింటారా?



Scientific name: Rhinoptilus bitroquatus
Also known as Jerdon’s Courser

మీరిది చూశారా..?

మీరిది చూశారా..?

1. మాయాబజార్ సినిమాలో జరిగేది అర్జునుడి కొడుకు పెళ్ళి. కాని పాండవులెక్కడా కనపడరు. మీరు గమనించారా?
2. రాయలసీమకు ఆ పేరు పెట్టి ఎన్నాళ్ళో కాలేదు అంతకు ముందు దాన్ని దత్తమండలం అనేవారు. కొత్త పేరెవరు పెట్టారు?
3. "బావా బావా పన్నీరు" పాట వ్రాసిందెవరు?

వీటికి సమాధానాలు తెలుగు విజ్ఞాన సర్వస్వం -te.wikipedia.org. - లో ఉన్నాయి. మీరూ, నేనూ, మనవంటి వాళ్ళందరూ కలిసి సమష్టిగా రాస్తున్న సర్వస్వమిది. మనకేం తెలుసు, మనమేం రాయగలము అని అనుకోకండి. కాదేదీ కవితకనర్హం లాగా మనకు తెలిసిన ఏ విషయమూ చిన్నది కాదు. తెలుసు కాబట్టి అది మీకు చిన్నది.. కాని తెలియని వారనేకులకు...అది పెద్దదే, కొత్తదే.

ఒకసారి చూడండి. మీరూ ఓ వ్యాసం రాయండి. మీ ఊరి గురించో, మీకు తెలిసిన గొప్ప వ్యక్తి గురించో, ఓ సంఘటన గురించో, చరిత్రో, సైన్సో.. ఏదైనా రాయొచ్చు..పూర్తి తెలుగులో. మీకు దాని అవసరం ఉంది. మీ అవసరం అక్కడ చాలా ఉంది.

__దయచేసి మీకు తెలిసిన వారందరికీ చెప్పండి__

http://chaduvari.blogspot.com/2006/02/blog-post_22.html నుండి చిన్న మార్పులతో

Monday 20 February, 2006

కైకేయి

కైకేయి స్వగతం:
దండకారణ్యంలో రాక్షసుల ప్రాబల్యం విపరీతంగా పెరిగిపోతోంది. దక్షిణ ప్రాంతం నుంచి వాళ్ళు తండోపతండాలుగా వచ్చి అక్కడ స్థావరాలేర్పరచుకుని బీభత్సం సృష్టిస్తున్నారు. రాముడు తాటకను పరిమార్చిన తర్వాత కొంత కాలం స్తబ్ధుగా ఉన్న రాక్షసులు మెల్లగా విజృంభిస్తున్నారు. ఈ ప్రమాదాన్ని మొగ్గలోనే త్రుంచివేయకపోతే రాజ్యభద్రతకే ముప్పు వాటిల్లవచ్చు.

నా సాయంతో దేవాసుర సంగ్రామంలో గెలిచిన దశరథుడు ఇప్పుడు ముసలి వాడై మునుపటి చేవ తగ్గినా ముంచుకొస్తున్న ముప్పును గుర్తించడం లేదు. ముసలితనం ఎక్కువయ్యే కొద్దీ దశరథుడు అసలేదీ పట్టించుకోవడమే లేదు. లేకపోతే ఒక వైపు పెనుముప్పు ముంచుకొస్తూంటే ఇంకొక వైపు ఇంతలా సంబరాల్లో మునిగి తేలుతాడా? వేగులు తెచ్చిన సమాచారాన్నైనా వినిపించుకోడా? దండకారణ్యంలో శాంతిని నెలకొల్పే సత్తా ఒక్క రాముడికే ఉంది. కానీ దశరథుడు రాముణ్ణి అడవికి, అందునా రాక్షసులనెదుర్కోవడానికి పంపిస్తాడా? వట్టి మాట! గతంలో విశ్వామితృడొచ్చి అడిగినప్పుడే పంపలేదు. ఇప్పుడు, ఒక ఆడదాన్ని, నేనడిగితే పంపిస్తాడా? ఈ రఘు వంశం వాళ్ళకు ఆడదాని అభిప్రాయాలకు విలువివ్వడం తెలుసా? తెలిస్తే హరిశ్చంద్రుడు అలా చేసే వాడా?

ఇప్పుడు నేనేం చేయాలి? ఎవరి మనసుకు ఎంత కష్టం కలిగినా సరే! రాముణ్ణి తాత్కాలికంగా నైనా అడవికి పంపించాలి. దశరథుడు ఈ ముసలితనంలో రాముణ్ణి ఎడబాసిన దుఃఖంతో రాజ్యపాలన సరిగా చెయ్యలేడు. రాముణ్ణి విడిచి ఉండలేని లక్ష్మణుడు రాముడు కూర్చోవలసిన సింహాసనం మీద తా ను కూర్చోలేడు. ఇక మిగిలిందెవరు? భరత శతృఘ్నుల్లో భరతుడే సమర్థుడు. కానీ ఇవన్నీ ఎవరు నమ్ముతారు? కైకేయి ఇలా చేయమని సలహా ఇచ్చిందని వింటే తన కొడుక్కు రాజ్యం కట్టబెట్టడానికే ఇలా చేస్తోందంటారు. రాజ్యక్షేమం కంటే నాకేదీ ఎక్కువ కాదు.జనం ఇప్పుడే కాదు, యుగయుగాలుగా నన్నే ఆడిపోసుకోనీ. ఇప్పుడిలా మొండిగా వ్యవహరించడమే అన్ని విధాలుగా శ్రేయస్కరం.

ఫిబ్రవరి 21

నేను ఇంతకు ముందు పేర్కొన్నట్లుగానే (కొన్ని నెలలు ఆలస్యంగానైనా) ఈ పోస్ట్ లో తెలుగు వికి నుంచి చదువరి మాటలను అందరి కోసం పొందుపరుస్తున్నాను. రానున్న ప్రపంచ మాతృభాషాదినం (ఫిబ్రవరి 21) సందర్భంగానైనా అందరూ ఈ మాటల వెనుక ధ్వనించే ఆవేదనను అర్థం చేసుకుని ఇక్కడ పేర్కొన్న నిర్మాణాత్మకమైన సూచనలను తప్పని సరిగా అమలు చెయ్యాలని కోరుతున్నాను.
-త్రివిక్రమ్

"ఇది నా అనుభవం. ఇది తెలుగు అసలే రాని తెలుగువారి కోసం కాదు. తెలుగులో ఇంగ్లీషు కలిపి భాషను చంపి పాతరేసే
వారి కోసం. మీరు స్వచ్ఛమైన తెలుగు మాట్లాడేవారైతే దీన్నిక్కడ పోస్టు చేసినందుకు మన్నించండి.

నామటుకు నేను ఇంగ్లీషులో మాట్లాడ్డం గొప్పగానే భావించేవాడిని. తెలుగు సంభాషణల్లో ఇంగ్లీషు మాటలు కలిపి కొట్టడం నాగరికత
అనుకునేవాడిని. తరువాత్తరువాత తెలిసింది..అదెంత తెలివితక్కువతనమో. పట్టుబట్టి తెలుగులోనే మాట్లాడాలని, ఇంగ్లీషు మాటల్ని కలేసి, చిత్తడి చిత్తడి చెయ్యకుండా తేటతెలుగులో మాట్లాడాలని ప్రయత్నం మొదలుపెట్టాను. చక్కటి తెలుగు మాటలున్న చోట ఇంగ్లీషు మాటల్ని వాడరాదని నిశ్చయించుకున్నాను.
ఇప్పుడు నా పరిస్థితి బాగా బాగుపడింది. చక్కటి తెలుగు కాకున్నా, వినవీలైన తెలుగు మాట్లాడుతున్నాను. మన భాష అనే స్పృహ ఉన్నవారందరికీ అలాగే మాట్లాడాలనే ఉంటుందని నాకు తెలుసు. ప్రయత్నలోపమో, అవతలి వాళ్ళేమనుకుంటారనో చొరవ చెయ్యరు. ప్రయత్నం చేస్తే మనమిది సాధించడం గొప్పేమీ కాదు. నేనిలా మొదలెట్టాను...
1. అంకెలను తెలుగులోనే పలకాలి, ఇంగ్లీషులో మాట్లాడే ప్రశ్నే లేదు.
2. వారాల పేర్లు కూడా తెలుగు లోనే పలకాలి.
3. క్రియల్ని తెలుగులోనే పలకాలి. రన్ చేస్తున్నాను, మీటవుతాను..ఇలాంటివి మానెయ్యాలి. (మీరు గమనించారో లేదో, పై మూడూ
పాటిస్తే మన సంభాషణ సగం తేట పడుతుంది)
4. వాక్యం పూర్తిగా ఇంగ్లీషులో మాట్లాడితే సరే, లేదంటే మాత్రం ఇంగ్లీషు వాడరాదు.
5. అన్నిటికంటే ముఖ్యం - తెలుగును నిలిపేది - ఒకటుంది..మన పిల్లలను తెలుగు పిల్లలుగా పెంచుదాం. వాళ్ళతో తెలుగులోనే మాట్లాడుదాం. వాళ్ళచేత తెలుగు చదివిద్దాం. ఆ వీలు లేకపోతే.. రోజుకో తెలుగు పదమో, పద్యమో, నుడికారమో, సామెతో, జాతీయమో నేర్పుదాం. మాట్లాడితే తెలుగు, లేదంటే ఇంగ్లీషు.. అంతే కాని అదీ, ఇదీ కలిపి కొట్టడం నేర్పవద్దు.


అదే మన భాషకు శ్రీరామరక్ష.

- చదువరి (శిరీష్ తుమ్మల)"

Wednesday 15 February, 2006

Me in Teluguwiki

This post contains mainly what I wrote in Teluguwiki in Google groups over a couple of days. I feel it is a fruitful discussion we, a group of Telugu people have had there. In my next post I will try to present others' views as well.
If you find it interesting and want to raise a topic or participate in this kind of discussions, join as a member.
Now read on:

"Hundreds of words from English have already made their inroads into Telugu and successfully "masked" their equivalent Telugu words.
So what? - some may ask. A language reflects the culture, and the ethos of the people who speak that language. For example, consider this:
Respecting elders is an integral part of our culture. But in English language, there are no words to distinguish between elder and younger siblings! In South India, parallel cousins are as good as our own siblings but "jocular" as well as marital relations do exist between cross cousins. But in English there is no such distinction!
(Parallel cousins are children of our father's brothers or our mother's sisters and cross cousins are children of our father's sisters or our mother's brothers)
Still worse is the case when we can not distinguish between a man's elder sister-in-law and younger sister-in-law and between a woman's younger brother-in-law and elder brother-in-law.I can't count how many times I was confused when I hear someone talking about "rice" wondering whether it was 'biyyam' or 'annam'.
It happens only with Telugus. Tamilians' and Bengalis'love for their culture, language and food is well known.
But what I observed when I was in Delhi for some time is that:

In the heart of a cosmopolitan city like Delhi where people from not only every nook and corner of India but also from various parts of the world coexist,
1. A traffic signal is always called a "LAl batti (erra deepam)"
2. Crossroads are always called "gol chakkar".
3. A spoon is always called a "CHEMMACH"
4. Believe it or not, In post offices, I have heard with my own ears more than once an inland letter being called an"Antardeshiy Patr".

The question is about the importance being given to English and also about neglecting Telugu. Well, why should we learn English? The answer is very clear: to get better jobs.
But how should we learn English?This is the biggest question...
and the answer can not be by "Eating English, Drinking English, Speaking English, ..." ALL THE TIME sacrificing our own mother tongue.
It is a myth that English can be learnt only by studying in English medium schools and that too by moving away from Telugu language and Telugu culture. Even in a city like Hyderabad we can see hundreds or even thousands of people who have mastery over 4 or more languages.We have better known examples of PVNarasimha Rao and Puttaparthi Narayanacharyulu who learnt more than a dozen languages each. It is an established fact that Indians in general and south Indians in particular have the natural bility to comprehend different languages easily.
That being the case I fail to understand why people these days are trying to keep their chidren away from Telugu language and culture in their own land only to learn English and that too when it is more clear than ever that the present day children are smarter than their elders.

Here, one word of caution: Imparting primary education in a language other than the child's mother tongue renders the whole education meaningless. The child has to relate what is being taught in the class room with what is being faced in the outside world. This is possible only when the language used in the class room is the same as the language used at home and in the suroundings and the language the child is most comfortable in ie, its mother tongue. Otherwise, the child will get the feeling that the moment it enters the school, it is entering an entirely different world far removed from reality.This does not augur well either to the child or to the education system.

There are several people around us who don't know what an uTTi is. Such things will survive only in Bhagavatam stories.

English is a truly international language. It has its own regional flavours in various parts of the world. Still there is a long felt need to "Indianise" it more to better suit our cultural requirements. The process is going on (eg, we have introduced "co-brother" to English in addition to an embarrassingly ambiguous brother-in-law and have successfully converted 'enjoy' into an intransitive verb) but it needs to speed up.

English has many thousands of words which do not have equivalents in any other language leave alone Telugu and new words are being added to it every day. But one sensitive point we must note here is that every word is Anglicised before being added to it. But Telugisation is not done when importing words from English.
For example, "Bandicoot" is an English word taken from the Telugu word "Pandikokku". But not a single syllable in the English word has retained its original form. 'Pa' has become 'Ba'.'di' has become 'Di'. 'kokku' has become 'coot'. This is something like 'Suddhi'. Same is the fate of "kAsuneTTu" which has become 'cashewnut'. I am not suggesting to distort every English word we use as a revenge against English. But consider this:
Telugu is called the Italian of the east because in both the languages words end with small vowels (hAyi golipe hraswa achchulu-pondikaina poTTi achchulu). I have read somewhere that only these two languages have this property. This renders songs composed in these languages suitable for any tune (RAga) by conveniently stretching the last vowel or cutting it short. That is why the "prathamA vibhakti" Du,mu,vu,lu were imposed on almost every word imported into Telugu from Sanskrit by ppropriately appending one of the four letters at the end of the word. eg, RAmah has become RAmuDu, kAvyah has become kAvyamu, gOh has become govu, etc.

Just like every person has a personality of their own, every language has its own personality. But with the onslaught of English many languages are losing their identity.

Actually institutions like Telugu Academy, Telugu Viswavidyalaym, AdhikAra Bhasha Sangham should take up the task of retaining the originality and uniqueness of our language. But can we really hope that they wil do it?

Recently in a movie song, phrases like heerAdhiheeruDu, sTArAdhisTAruDu were coined.
Staradhistarudu sounds good but heeradhiheerudu is absurd and unacceptable.

Let me write briefly about the state of Telugu literature. Lately, there are new literary forms introduced into Telugu like Haikoos and nAnees. The streams of literature are steeming except drama. If one laments that in the past one hundred years there is no Telugu drama that stands anywhere near Kanyasulkam, we can't refute it. (If only Yandamuri continued writing dramas.......??)
But all other literary forms have greatly developed in style, and the topics they deal with are greatly diversified. Especially short story is said to be passing through its "Golden Age" now. Regarding novels, every year, at least a couple of good or great novels are coming out. We have Sannapureddy Venkatarami Reddy's "KADi", Chandra Latha's "RaegaDi Vittulu" etc on one side and novels like "Thapana" on the other. I don't follow poetry keenly and so I can't say anything about it. Regarding the Publishing houses, Prajasakthi
Book House has published a great number of books on children's literature. I suggest you regularly follow magazines like Rachana, Patrika, and more important: never ever think you are too old to read (Telugu) Chandamama.

In this discuusion when I said earlier "Actually institutions like Telugu Academy, Telugu Viswavidyalaym, AdhikAra Bhasha Sangham should take up the task .... But can we really hope that they wil do it?" I meant developing the language to meet the present day needs so that people using Telugu can have access to the latest developments in various disciplines.

Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky was recently voted as the world’s greatest living intellectual defeating great scientists like Stephen Hawking. He is basically a linguist but has done yeoman service to the information revolution because it was his pathbreaking study of grammars of natural languages of the world that led to the development of grammars for computer languages. He classified grammars of languages into 4 types and this classification is known as Chomsky hierarchy.
The following passages are reproduced from wikipedia. Remember Turing test? It is a test designed by A.Turing to identify whether the answers to the questions are given by a machine with Artificial Intelligence or a human being. It is a litmus test for machines with AI.
- 3vkrm
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is the Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky is credited with the creation of the theory of generative grammar, often considered the most significant contribution to the field of theoretical linguistics of the 20th century. He also helped spark the cognitive revolution in psychology through his review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior, which challenged the behaviorist approach to the study of mind and language dominant in the 1950s. His naturalistic approach to the study of language has also affected the philosophy of language and mind (see Harman, Fodor). He is also credited with the establishment of the so-called Chomsky hierarchy, a classification of formal languages in terms of their generative power.Along with his linguistics work, Chomsky is also widely known for his political activism, and for his criticism of the foreign policy of the United States and other governments. Chomsky describes himself as a libertarian socialist, a sympathizer of anarcho-syndicalism, and is often considered to be a key intellectual figure within the left wing of American politics.According to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index, between 1980 and 1992 Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any living scholar, and the eighth most cited source overall.
Chomsky hierarchy
The Chomsky hierarchy is a containment hierarchy of classes of formal grammars that generate formal languages. This hierarchy of these grammars which are also called phrase structure grammars was described by Noam Chomsky in 1956 .
Formal grammars
A formal grammar consists of a finite set of terminal symbols (the letters of the words in the formal language), a finite set of nonterminal symbols, a finite set of production rules with a left- and a right-hand side consisting of a word of these symbols, and a start symbol. A rule may be applied to a word by replacing the left-hand side by the right-hand side. A derivation is a sequence of rule applications. Such a grammar defines the formal language of all words consisting solely of terminal symbols that can be reached by a derivation from the start symbol.
Nonterminals are usually represented by uppercase letters, terminals by lowercase letters, and the start symbol by S. For example, the grammar with terminals {a,b}, nonterminals {S,A,B}, production rules
S → ABS
S → ε (where ε is the empty string)
BA → AB
BS → b
Bb → bb
Ab → ab
Aa → aa
and start symbol S, defines the language of all words of the form anbn (i.e. n copies of a followed by n copies of b). The following is a simpler grammar that defines a similar language: Terminals {p,q}, Nonterminals {S}, Start symbol S, Production rules
S → pSq
S → ε
See formal grammar for a more elaborate explanation.
The hierarchy
The Chomsky hierarchy consists of the following levels:
· Type-0 grammars (unrestricted grammars) include all formal grammars. They generate exactly all languages that can be recognized by a Turing machine. These languages are also known as the recursively enumerable languages. Note that this is different from the recursive languages which can be decided by an always halting Turing machine.
· Type-1 grammars (context-sensitive grammars) generate the context-sensitive languages. These grammars have rules of the form with A a nonterminal and α, β and γ strings of terminals and nonterminals. The strings α and β may be empty, but γ must be nonempty. The rule is allowed if S does not appear on the right side of any rule. The languages described by these grammars are exactly all languages that can be recognized by a non-deterministic Turing machine whose tape is bounded by a constant times the length of the input.
· Type-2 grammars (context-free grammars) generate the context-free languages. These are defined by rules of the form with A a nonterminal and γ a string of terminals and nonterminals. These languages are exactly all languages that can be recognized by a non-deterministic pushdown automaton. Context free languages are the theoretical basis for the syntax of most programming languages.
· Type-3 grammars (regular grammars) generate the regular languages. Such a grammar restricts its rules to a single nonterminal on the left-hand side and a right-hand side consisting of a single terminal, possibly followed (or preceded, but not both in the same grammar) by a single nonterminal. The rule is also here allowed if S does not appear on the right side of any rule. These languages are exactly all languages that can be decided by a finite state automaton. Additionally, this family of formal languages can be obtained by regular expressions. Regular languages are commonly used to define search patterns and the lexical structure of programming languages.
Note that the set of grammars corresponding to recursive languages is not a member of this hierarchy.
Every regular language is context-free, every context-free language is context-sensitive and every context-sensitive language is recursive and every recursive language is recursively enumerable. These are all proper inclusions, meaning that there exist recursively enumerable languages which are not recursive, recursive languages that are not context-sensitive, context-sensitive languages which are not context-free and context-free languages which are not regular.
The following table summarizes each of Chomsky's four types of grammars, the class of languages it generates, the type of automaton that recognizes it, and the form its rules must have.


GrammarLanguagesAutomatonProduction rules
Type-0Recursively enumerableTuring machineNo restrictions
Type-1Context-sensitiveLinear-bounded non-deterministic Turing machine\alpha A\beta \rightarrow
"\alpha\gamma\beta"
Type-2Context-freeNon-deterministic pushdown automatonA \rightarrow \gamma
Type-3RegularFinite state automatonA \rightarrow a and

either A \rightarrow aB
or A \rightarrow Ba


Automata theory: formal languages and formal grammars
Chomsky
hierarchy
GrammarsLanguagesMinimal
automaton
Type-0(unrestricted)Recursively enumerableTuring machine
(unrestricted)RecursiveDecider
Type-1Context-sensitiveContext-sensitiveLinear-bounded
Type-2Context-freeContext-freePushdown
Type-3RegularRegularFinite
Each category of languages or grammars is a proper superset of the category directly beneath it.

Padmavyuham

The designers say that the following is a model of Padmavyuham described as a battle strategy in ancient Indian works on war.

Friendship

True friends are rare. Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel!
-Shakespeare.

Here is a checklist that tells the difference between a Simple friend and a Real Friend

A simple friend doesn't know your parents' first names.
A real friend has their phone numbers in his address book.

A simple friend brings a bottle of wine to your party.
A real friend comes early to help you cook and stays late to help u clean.

A simple friend hates it when you call after he has gone to bed.
A real friend asks you why you took so long to call.

A simple friend seeks to talk with you about your problems.
A real friend seeks to help you with your problems.

A simple friend wonders about your romantic history.
A real friend could blackmail you with it.

A simple friend, when visiting, acts like a guest.
A real friend opens your refrigerator and helps himself.

A simple friend thinks the friendship is over when you HAVE an argument.
A real friend knows that it's not a friendship until after you've had a fight.

A simple friend expects you to always be there for them.
A real friend expects to always be there for you!

Now some quotables about FRIENDS and friendship followed by a Special Friendship System

"The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had. " -Unknown

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." -- Anais Nin

"We are all travellers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend" -- Robert Lewis Stevenson

"True friends are those who lift you up when your heart's wings forget how to fly." -Unknown

"Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light." -Albert Schweitzer

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." -unknown


"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same." –Unknown

"Much of the vitality in a friendship lies in the honouring of differences, not simply in the enjoyment of similarities. " -James L. Fredericks

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow, Don't walk behind me, I may not lead, Just walk beside me and be my friend." -unknown

"Friendship make prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it."--Cicero Mood

"You can hardly make a friend in a year, but you can easily offend one in an hour." -- Chinese Proverb

"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow."-- Alice Walker

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you."' -- Winnie the Pooh

"A friend is one who knows all about you and likes you anyway." -- Christi Mary Warner


"A friend can tell you things you don't want to tell yourself." -- Frances Ward Weller


"To know someone here or there with whom you can feel there is understanding in spite of distances or thoughts expressed ~ That can make life a garden." -Goethe


"Silence is the true friend that never betrays." -Confucious


"True friendship is like sound health, the value of it is seldom known until it is lost." --- Charles Caleb Colton

"The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend." -- Henry David Thoreau


"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can by trying to get other people interested in you." -- Dale Carnegie


"In times of prosperity friends will be plenty; in time of adversity not one in twenty." -- English Proverb


"My best friend is the one that brings out the best in me." -- Henry Ford


"If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country." -- E. M. Forster


"Life without a friend is death without a witness." -- Spanish Proverb

"Find the one that makes your heart smile. "~Unknown


"Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel it hurts you, it will probably hurt the other person, too." ~Unknown

"Friends are God's way of apologizing to us for our families." -- Unknown


"Love is blind, but friendship closes its eyes." -unknown
(Needs an explanation: friendship closes its eyes by choice, at its own discretion and opens when it is required)

"But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine." -Thomas Jefferson

"An ounce of blood is worth more than a pound of friendship." -Spanish Proverb

"Friends are born, not made." -Henry Adams

"A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The only rose without a thorn is friendship." -Unknown

"My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life." -Lee Iacocca

"Hold a true friend with both your hands." -Nigerian Proverb

"A friend is a gift you give yourself." -Robert Louis Stevenson


The following is a Special Friendship System

....... A Friend....

(A)ccepts you as you are
(B)elieves in "you"
(C)alls you just to say "HI"
(D)oesn't give up ! ! on you

(E)nvisions the whole of you (even the unfinished parts)
(F)orgives your mistakes
(G)ives unconditionally
(H)elps you

(I)nvites you over
(J)ust likes to be with you
(K)eeps you close at heart
(L)oves you for who you are

(M)akes a difference in your life
(N)ever Judges
(O)ffers support
(P)rays for you

(Q)uiets your fears
(R)aises your spirits
(S)ays nice things about you
(T)ells you the truth when you need to hear it

(U)nderstands you
(V)alues you
(W)alks beside you

(X)-plains thing you don't understand
(Y)ells when you won't listen and
(Z)aps you back to reality

PASS IT ON TO EVERYONE YOU CONSIDER A FRIEND OR WOULD LIKE TO HAVE AS A FRIEND !!!!

An Essay on Cow

An Essay "Indian Cow"

You'll forget your English by the time you finish reading this. This is a true essay written by a successful candidate at the UPSC Examinations. The candidate has written an essay on the Indian cow:

You can check the veracity of this fact from the pages of The Hindu at the following URL:
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/08/11/stories/1311110a.htm
Excerpts of this classic essay are provided at the end of that article.

Indian Cow

"HE IS THE COW. The cow is a successful animal. Also he is 4 footed, And because he is female, he give milks, [ but will do so when he is got child.] He is same like-God, sacred to Hindus and useful to man. But he has got four legs together. Two are forward and two are afterwards. His whole body can be utilised for use. More so the milk. Milk comes from 4 taps attached to his basement. [ horses dont have any such attachment]
What can it do? Various ghee, butter, cream, curd, why and the condensed milk and so forth. Also he is useful to cobbler, watermans and mankind generally. His motion is slow only because he is of lazy species, Also his other motion.. gober] is much useful to trees, plants as well as for making flat cakes[like Pizza] , in hand and drying in the sun.
Cow is the only animal that extricates his feeding after eating. Then afterwards she chew with his teeth whom are situated in the inside of the mouth. He is incessantly in the meadows in the grass. His only attacking and defending organ is the horns, specially so when he is got child. This is done by knowing his head whereby he causes the weapons to be paralleled to the ground of the earth and instantly proceed with great velocity forwards. He has got tails also, situated in the backyard, but not like similar animals. It has hairs on the other end of the other side. This is done to frighten away the flies which alight on his cohesive body hereupon he gives hit with it.
The palms of his feet are soft unto the touch. So the grasses head is not crushed. At night time have poses by looking down on the ground and he shouts . His eyes and nose are like his other relatives. This is the cow....... "

We are informed that the candidate passed the exam, and is now an IAS!

Twamevaaham

There are some wonderful short stories in Telugu which deal with the sensitive issue of the kind of relationship that exists or that should exist between man and woman, lovers or spouses.
Chalam wrote several stories and novels including the great shocker called "Mydanam".
Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao wrote "ADavalasina Abaddham" in which he placed love over and above the marital relationship, which solely depends on the nuptial ceremony. The hero in it risks his marital life in his quest for true love but in the end, wins both birds at one shot.
There are some other great stories I have read about true love and understanding between wife and husband. I don't remember the names but one was written by Chaya Mallik and another one by Sannapu Reddy Venkatarami Reddy (both published in Rachana several years ago) the details of which I can provide later.
But the reason why I am writing this is the story I have read in 6-11-2005's Eenadu Adivaram magazine.
You too read the story and post your comments: The Story

Tuesday 14 February, 2006

జరాసంధ

మహాభారతంలో నా దృష్టిని అమితంగా ఆకర్షించిన యోధాగ్రేసరుడు జరాసంధుడే. జరాసంధుడి పాలనలో ప్రజలు కష్టాలపాలైనట్లు నాకు గుర్తు లేదు..అయితే అతడు వందల మంది రాజులను బందీలుగా పట్టుకున్నాడట-శివుడికి బలి ఇవ్వడానికి! నమ్మశక్యంగా లేదు. ఆ కథల కల్పన కృష్ణుడిని దేవుడి అవతారంగా చూపడానికీ, అతడి ప్రత్యర్థులను కౄరులుగా చూపడానికీ జరిగిన ప్రయత్నంగా అనిపిస్తుంది. ఎందుకంటే అతడు కృష్ణుడి ఆధిపత్యాన్ని మాత్రం ఎప్పుడూ అంగీకరించలేదు. వాళ్ళిద్దరి రాజ్యాల మధ్య దాదాపు 20 సార్లు (18 సార్లా? 21/24/28?????? పాత చందమామలు తిరగేయాలి) హోరాహోరీ యుద్ధం జరిగింది. అయితే జరాసంధుణ్ణి నేరుగా ఎదుర్కొనే సాహసం కృష్ణుడెప్పుడూ చేయలేదు. మహాబలశాలి అయిన బలరాముణ్ణి ఉసిగొలిపే వాడు.
ఈ బలరాముడు కల్లు ప్రియుడు, హలధారి. కోపమొచ్చి ఆ హలంతో హస్తినాపురాన్నే పెళ్ళగించాడట ఒకసారి. ఇంకొక సారి అదే హలంతో పిల్లలు పలక మీద పిచ్చిగీతలు గీసినంత సుళువుగా యమునానది మార్గాన్ని ఇష్టమొచ్చినట్లు మార్చిపారేశాడట. ఈ బలరాముడే జరాసంధుడికి సరిజోడీ. ఎటూ తేలకుండా ఇద్దరూ రోజుల తరబడి కొట్టుకునే వారు. ఈ జరాసంధుణ్ణి జయించే మార్గం తోచక కృష్ణుడు కొట్టుకునే వాడు. చివరకు "యమునాతీరమునా.. సంధ్యాసమయమునా.." హాయిగా ఉండలేక మథురనొదిలేసి ఎక్కడో దూరానున్న ద్వారకకు పారిపోయిందీ జరాసంధుడికి భయపడే!
వీణ్ణీ, వీడితో బాటుగా దుర్యోధనుడినీ తనకు అడ్డు రాకుండా తొలగించుకోవడానికి అతడాలోచించిన మార్గాల్లో అద్భుతమైన దాన్నే అమలు చేశాడు...వీళ్ళను ఓడించడానికి అవసరమైన భుజబలశాలురు, చిరకాలం తన చెప్పుచేతల్లో ఉండిపోయే బుద్ధిహీనులుగా పాండవులను సరిగ్గా గుర్తించాడు.
కర్ణుడి విషయంలో ఎంత జాగ్రత్తగా ఉన్నాడో చూడండి: ఎంతసేపూ కర్ణుణ్ణి ఇటువైపు వచ్చేయమంటూ తనే వెళ్ళి చెప్పడమో లేక ఆ పిచ్చి తల్లిని చెప్పమనడమో చేస్తాడే గానీ పాండవులకు మాత్రం విషయం తెలియకుండా జాగ్రత్త పడతాడు - కర్ణుడే తమ పెద్దన్న అని తెలిస్తే పాండవులు ఎక్కడ తనను వదిలేసి అతడితో కలిసి దుర్యోధనుడి పంచన చేరుతారో అని భయపడి.
చివరకు అన్నీ కృష్ణుడనుకున్నట్లుగానే జరిగాయి-జరాసంధుడి చావు, కౌరవుల పతనం, తన మాట వినే పాండవులకు రాజ్యాధికారం.