LINKING RIVERS IN INDIA

It is estimated that there are around 200 rivers in India which are listed and there may be more unlisted rivers. In India the monsoon season differs in different parts. The strong monsoon and the unscientific drainage system often cause flood in different parts of the country. A solution to this problem is linking of rivers. The linking of rivers has the following advantages:

1. The excess water flowing into the rivers which inundates the adjacent areas can be diverted to the areas having deficiency of water.
2. The links can be used as waterways providing opportunities for developing excellent inland water transport system which will be a major attraction for the tourists.
3. The water thus received in drought areas would be an excellent source for irrigation for crops.
4. Better irrigation facilities enables bringing of more waste land under cultivation and thus more agriculture products can be grown.
5. Linking rivers reduces expenditure on flood management and rehabilitation and brings revenue to the government by way more tourism opportunities.

Three years back people in Kerala experienced the problem of flood when water was released from Mullaperiyar Dam. Last week Chennai had the worst experience. A few years back Utharakhand suffered heavily on account of rain and flood. Rain is the source of water provided by the nature and it is our duty to preserve it. Now the rain was is flown into the backwaters and sea. I hope the Central Government will initiate necessary step in this direction.

WEEKEND THOUGHTS

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

Sitting in my office on the last day of the first week of 2013, this thought came to my mind. Where are we going? The first thing came to my mind is the absurdity of the land reforms implemented by the first Communist Ministry in Kerala. There was a specific reason for this subject coming to my mind. On the previous day we had a discussion on this topic.

It was in 1957 that the first Communist Ministry came to power in Kerala. They were busy in bringing out pro-labour rules. They found that the agricultural labourers were widely exploited by the so called Zamindars. So they decided to bring ceiling in land holdings and capture the excess land owned by private land owners. The excess land so captured was distributed among the landless labourers. A good initiative, isn’t it? The successive Congress and Congress led collision governments also followed the same path eying on the vote banks.

Soon the people who were owners of tens and thousands of acres of land became landless or owners of small holdings. My father was employed in a Namboodiri Mana (the house where Namboodiris stayed are known as Mana, Illam etc. in Kerala) who owned vast area of land spread across the State and my father used to travel these places to collect the lease rent from the lessees. After the land reforms all the land were given to the lessees after accepting a small amount as compensation. The large scale subdivision and fragmentation took place in Kerala enabled a large number of people owning small pieces of land. Soon these small landowners realized it was not economical for them to cultivate the land because of the high cost of operation. Many of them filled the cultivable land which gave the state rice to feed the masses to a great extent and sold it as small house plots. Some of them leased-out the land for starting brick manufacturing units. Large scale brick manufacturing converted this cultivable land into deep pools. Now these pools pose threat to the human life in many places. In Malayalam people used to say kulamthonduka (digging pond) for destroying a family or house or assets.

We had joint family system in the state. The parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters lived under one roof. The family had a common landholding. They cultivated in this land and produced paddy, vegetables, fruits etc. We had lot of greenery in the State. The traditional families had the so called Sarppakkavu ( a small thick forest) and ponds in their family property. There were a number of children in the family. So they never felt loneliness. The family members joined together in the evening and offered prayers irrespective of the cast and creed. Every Hindu family had the system of burning the traditional Nilavilakku (oil lamp) at dusk and place it in front of the front door. Grandparents, women and children used to sit around this lamp and chant prayers. They used to celebrate birthdays and festivals during which all the family members sat together and dined. People had time to look after the aged. The older people never felt loneliness. They had the company of the sons, daughters, nephews, nieces and their children. There was no need of Aaya to look after the children. How much pleasant those days were?

Now the subdivision and fragmentation of land played a significant role in bringing up the micro-family culture. As soon as the son or daughter got married, they shifted to a new house. The flat culture came to Kerala only very recently. Before that every one preferred to have an independent villa or house.  As they became independent, they forgot about their aged parents. In many houses aged parents live alone or under the mercy of a servant. On dying they have to wait in air conditioned glass cases till their sons and daughters arrive to conduct the last rites. There are instances where the dead body had to be kept over one month since the sons and daughters did not get leave or they had other engagements like their children’s examination etc. In some cases the aged parents are pushed to an old-age home so that their burden of looking after the parents is limited to sending the monthly charges to the institution. The brothers and sisters meet each other greet only sparingly. In many cases their children did not know each other. What a culture, isn’t it?

The desire to own independent houses dragged the youths into debt trap. Many of them constructed houses costing a fortune beyond their capacity by borrowing leaving them with no savings and only debt. Imagine that instead of leaving their ancestral home, had they lived there itself by building additional living spaces above the house to accommodate additional members, a common kitchen to feed every one, a common court yard for children to play and lot of fun in the evenings, how much pleasant the life would have been. Now the high debt burden pushed many people to mental agony and in order to escape they started drinking. The government found that by promoting drinking in large scale, they can increase their income. Though Mahatma Gandhi worked against alcoholism, his followers are promoting it. What a contradiction?

The suicide rates in the State are also increasing mainly because of the loss of mental piece. In a joint family system they could have shared their agonies with their kith and kin, brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents. But now the loneliness leads them to depression and the number of psychiatric patients is increasing.  The alcoholism and psychological imbalances made people more aggressive. As a result the number of attacks and murders has increased substantially. Daily we are reading in news paper stories of son killing father and vice-versa, husband killing and the other way too or brothers fighting with each other and killing either one or both etc.

The available land is now being misused. There were three airports in Kerala, Calicut, Kochi and Thiruvanathapuram. Now we have airport in Kannur. A new airport is planned in Pathanamthitta. We need not wonder if airports are constructed in every district. We are forgetting that we are using the precious cultivable land for this extravaganza. How many people are using airlines for their travel in each district? What is the rate of utilization of airline services by passengers? Now almost all airlines are running with huge losses. In 1994-95 the flight charges to Delhi from Kochi was around Rs.10000. In 2006 I could fly to and from Delhi by spending Rs.7500.  But now the charges are again increasing substantially as the airline companies have to pay the utilization charges to each airport which they are using. In the absence of enough passengers, they will end up with huge losses. Instead of constructing more and more airports why can’t we link the existing airports with rail, road and water transport systems with excellent amenities and greater speed?

Speaking about land, I found that lack of proper planning resulted into large area of land being occupied by abandoned roads. Many of these roads are unfinished since the project might have been abandoned midway. Now we cannot use this land for any cultivation purpose.

The pleasant days have gone. The values have been eroded. People have forgotten to love each other. The meaning of love has been taken in the negative sense and not only young girls and women even the older ones too have no safety here. If things are moving like this where are we going?

Let’s enjoy the weekend.

UNIVERSITY JOBS ABROAD

Those who are looking for university jobs can register with www.unijobs.co.nz, which is a useful website which give you a wide range opportunities in universities in Australia and New Zealand. These countries have a number of openings in the areas of medicine, para-medicine and related areas. The University Jobs sends you a list of vacancies in different universities and you can directly apply from the website. Hope you will find this link useful. 

ONE SECOND!!!!!

We have only one second in this world! You don’t believe me, is it not?

But still I would say we have only one second, because I speak from my experience.

2008, February 8. I was coming back home from my Institute. As I was driving through the busy Sea Port- Air Port Road, my mobile rang continuously. Usually, I do not answer to mobile calls while I am driving.  But when I found that it was from my home, I lifted the phone. My wife was online, eagerly inquiring about when I would reach home. I replied “within another 30 minutes.”

When I was crossing the Mathandavarma Bridge at Aluva, again my phone rang. I lifted the phone and again my wife was online. I told her that I would be reaching within another 5 minutes.

I reached home and found that my father-in-law was eagerly waiting for me for taking his supper. One of my wife’s cousins was also there. My wife told that father-in-law was frequently enquiring when I would come, and that was why she called me.

Even without changing my dress, I sat beside him. He closely held the hand of my wife’s cousin with his one hand, and put his other hand on my hand. My mother-in-law started giving him wheat gruel, which he used to take every night. As he was taking the gruel he was talking to us. My wife was standing beside us and looking on.

One spoon..........Second spoon........Third spoon......the fourth spoonful of gruel he did not gulped. Instead he kept it in his mouth. So mother-in-law told him to gulp. But he was staring at us and slowly bent upon my shoulders and closed his eyes.

I found that his heart beat had stopped and there was no pulse.

Really we could not believe it.

There was not even a second to allow him to complete the food.

........................

My neighbor father had woken up as usual and had his usual morning bath, prayer and morning coffee.

He settled down on the sofa in the drawing room. His son was sitting adjacent to him reading the day’s news paper.

He found his father taking a quick nap and did not want to disturb him.

His mother came to the drawing room to remind the gentleman about taking medicine. She had the tablet and a glass of water with her.

She called him. But there was no response.

She went near him and touched his shoulders.

He came down to one side.

Hearing a scream from his mother, the son raised his head from the paper and found his father was no more.

Again one Second!!!!

My close friend Aravindan was comfortably living with family in Surat in Gujarat. He was employed in a company there.

His daughter was studying for engineering in Ahmadabad and son was in school

A few years back during one vacation he went to Ahmadabad to take her daughter back home.

They had planned to go to the native place during that vacation and had finalised all travel plans.

He had applied for leave and that was sanctioned.

All of them were happy.

They were returning home from Ahmadabad to Surat in a bus. His daughter was sitting adjacent to him.

The bus moved and both of them were talking.

After some time she found that he stopped talking and was dozing.

She did not wake him up. She looked through the window and was watching the scenery.

As the bus took a turn, he leaned to her shoulders and she realized that he was motionless.

At first she could not believe. But soon she realized the truth and suddenly scream came out of her throat.

The bus stopped suddenly and people surrounded them.

Again one second!!!!

.........................

The Doctor and family had gone on a holiday outing with their friends and relatives. They had hired a houseboat and decided to spend their time in the Vembandu Lake. 

They spent lot of time with fun and entertainments in the middle of the lake.

After the sumptuous lunch, they decided to go back and started their return trip. As the boat was taking a turn, the Doctor climbed up the boat to take photographs.

Unfortunately he lost balance and fell into the lake.

Everyone was watching as he fell into the deep lake.

The boat crew immediately jumped into the water to save him. But they could do nothing, before that the body had vanished and could be recovered only in the next day morning.

Again one second!!!!

A few years back one of my colleagues in the bank, a senior official, went to his native place with family.

Whenever he go to this place he used to swim in the river. He was an expert swimmer and used to swim across the river.

On that day also he jumped into the river and swam.

His wife, son, daughter, brother everyone was watching him swim across the river. He reached the other shore and came back.

As he reached the middle of the river, suddenly he went down.

 Everyone thought that he was diving.

He then came up and waved his hands then went down again. People on the shore waited for him to come back again.

But he did not. His body could be recovered only on the next day.

It was a matter of one second!!!

The story of one second never ends.

It continues for ever.

We know his presence through the absence of our most loved one.

We know he was here through the loss of our dearest.

We do not know when he will reappear.

All of us are passengers in a train.

The entry station and exit station are predetermined.

The unsolicited visitor will be at our exit station to take us with him.

Rarely we get prior information before we reach the station.

But it is sure we have to get down at this station.

For some people the journey is pretty long, but for some it is short; there a few who enter and exit soon.

So think of; during this journey, why should we quarrel with each other?

Why can’t we make good friendship and make the journey a pleasant experience; not for us, but for others.

Recollect your own experiences of this one second and share with others and make them understand the value of time.

The time is too precious. It is for doing something good, something creative, and something useful.

Now always this story of one second when you do something.

Then

I can accept my one second with delight.

SENTIMENT MARKETING

Can we use sentiments as an effective marketing tool? By asking this question I could raise many eyebrows. But around 35 years ago a group of youngsters in a pretty remote village in Kerala could put this into practice. I was a member of that group and we were not aware of what we were doing really. But when I now find the fruits of our yesteryears’ efforts and I feel proud of it.

35 years ago, I was studying for commerce graduation and very little knew about marketing techniques. We were a group of ten and out of this five including me were running tutorial classes for students from pre-school (at that time there was no KG classes) to 10th Standard in a shed attached to my house. On one holiday, while we were engaged in our usual chatting in the office room, some one brought the topic of the festival in the Siva Temple in our village. This temple had a special ritual that every year the doors of Goddess Sriparvathy used to be kept open for 12 days starting from the day on which the Star Thiruvathira falls in the month of Dhanu (December/January). There was a belief among the villagers that if the unmarried women could come here and offer Pattu (A piece of Yellow or red Silk Cloth) and Thali (a pendent made of gold which usually the bridgoom ties on the neck of the bride at the time of marriage), next year they would come with their husband to offer prayers. This was a belief among the rural folk and people from nearby villages used to visit the temple. Though there was some rush on some days, the temple authorities were finding it difficult to meet the cost. Hence some of the families used to offer to meet the expenses for conducting one day’s pooja. This festival did not get much publicity and more ore less confined to our village and the adjacent vilalges. Though the elders had attempted to convert this as a big festival, they had to drop after two years because of lack of public support and financial crunch.

This was the background when we discussed about this issue. We were quite discouraged with the failure of our elders including my father, but decided to try our hands on it. But we did not have money to start the process and no body was there to finance us because they thought that our efforts would also be a big flop. We had only our self confidence and the severe criticisms from our elders with us as the start up capital. We needed funds to print notices, make hoardings, build two big shamianas one in the junction in front of the temple and other in front of the Sriparvathi Devi’s sanctumsanctorium plus the allied expenses. At the that time the marriage of one of the group members’ cousin sister was to take place and with his influence we managed to get the work of decorating the shamiana and the house on condition that we would take all the decoration materials with us and no cash payment need be made. The father of the girl agreed to this and accordingly we all together did the decoration work excellently. After the marriage we collected all those materials so that we could use the same thing in the proposed shamianas for the temple festival

The next issue was about printing of notice. We decided to contribute our one month’s fee collection for this purpose which we could take back once we start getting collections. Thus we printed notices. We collected old white dhotis from the houses for decorating the shamianas on condition to return them after use. We collected jute sacks which we attached tightly to a wooden frame to make hoardings. One of our group members was a carpenter and he helped us to make the frames. We did not have money to pay charges to artists for writing the hoardings. During those days walls of houses were painted with lime with a pinch of blue. We applied the same paste on the jute sacks to make white background. We did not have money to buy paint. So we bought some black oxide and red oxide from the hardware shop and also used blue ink tablets to write the boards. Our punch line was about the “unmarried girls get married with in one year”. At night we took these hoardings to places like Kalady, Aluva, Perumbavur, Angamally etc. and placed this at prominent places. Our teams visited as much places as we could, distributed the notices and collected contributions. We also arranged a procession on the first day from the Mana (house where Namboodiri families lived) where the divine ornaments were kept and took them in a decorated chariot with the accompaniments of percussion instruments and bhajans. Though the number of persons visited had not increased substantially, that year we could manage the festival without loss. We repeated the process every year and slowly the flow of pilgrims started increasing.

When we found that our efforts were getting good results, we managed to get published the reports on the festival in the leading news papers. Then people started coming from other places too. The interesting part was that every year few girls got married after visiting the temple and that became proof of our claim and these experiences went around by word of mouth. More than 35 years have passed since we started this process and I left the village in 1978. Now the temple is known not only in Kerala but across the world for this festival and lakhs of people visit during these 12 days. A number of dignitaries come to this temple every year to pay offers. The festival has now become a big event of the village and generates income sufficient for the next one year for most of the families in the village.

Many years have passed and I could realize that we were marketing the sentiments only when I started teaching business management students. My colleague, who was a marketing lecturer used to quote this as an example of marketing strategy. Yes! Now I can proudly tell that sentiments are excellent tools for designing marketing strategies. Later or many other temples also using this technique, may be with out knowing the intricate aspects of marketing.

Sentiments can be used as an effective marketing tool only if we can instill confidence among the people by showing the positive results. Once a few people see the results and believe it then they will spread the message around and soon the news will spread rapidly attracting more people; the increase will be geometrical. Using Sentiment marketing is very dangerous also because in this process we are playing with the beliefs of the people. If they find that what we were propagating is false, they will turn against us and will produce negative results. In stock market operations also we use the sentiments to a great extent to push up the prices of scrips.

WAR AND PEACE

War is the culmination of desire. Human desire is the cause of all destructions. The following chart will tell you how this happens:

Desires will attract us to others living style. We may want to own what our neighbours, friends or other relatives have. But our means may not permit us to own these We become greedy and will do what ever possible to grab others wealth.. Then we feel envy about them. If the envy is not controlled it will lead to distress because of our feeling that we are not able to enjoy the life. This feeling of deprival of enjoyment will lead us to think negatively about the others and we will always try to find fault with them. We will not see the goodness within them, whereas we sill make all attempts to dig out their badness. The process will develop hatred with in us. The hatred will get us away from others and we will consider others as our enemies. When others also think in the same style there will be clashes between people leading to war. War can be between individuals, groups or countries. War brings destruction. Destruction is not only the physical assets but human life and peace of mind. Always tension prevails and the life becomes miserable. Countries will suffer with high expenditure because of war and cost of rebuilding the economy and will have to face poverty and unemployment. Ultimately we may need the help of others whom we considered as enemy at one point of time. We will feel that we are living in a Hell.

If this is the one side of the coin, the other side is peace. Peace is a positive word whereas war is negative word. Peace is soft where as war is aggressive. Peace brings prosperity whereas war brings destruction. If we want to bring peace we have to abandon our desires. Let us see how abandonment of desires brings peace.

When we abandon our desires we will look at only or capability and capacity. We will understand our limitations. We will learn how to adjust with our limited resources.. We stop looking at how others live and start to practice self discipline. Self discipline enables us to live with in our means. The result is that we will be happy with whatever we have. We will love our family, neighbours, friends, relatives and all. We will be affectionate to all of them. The love and affection which we exhibit will earn more and more friends and well wishers to us. We will be able to live with out fear of attack. Our life will be peaceful. Peace and tranquility spreads around us. Peace and tranquility creates conducive environment for construction and production leading to lot of employment and generates surplus for supplying to others. We will not be greedy and will be compassionate to others. Our life will be happy and pleasant. We will enjoy the Heavenly life in the earth.

Now decide what we want. Peace or War?