In servicsince 1992 Probuzz… Monthly News Letter from Probus Club of Chennai

Depending on the area, training courses are tailored to take agriculture from “land to lab”. This training is focused on Agricultural production, Preservation of agricultural produce and promotion of value-added products like mango-pulp-making.

There are Urban Agricultural Development Centres to train those interested in the manufacture of biscuits and chocolates; from Plant-protection to laying of roof-gardens (See para 13.0 elsewhere in this issue).

To tide over the dearth of agricultural labour, mechanisation of agricultural operations from ploughing to harvesting are resorted to.

There are workshops for maintenance and repairs of tractors, harvesters and agricultural implements.

The relentless efforts of these scientists field officers and the farmers, as a team, have paid rich premium. There are 57 varieties of paddy, 70 varieties of pulses, 22 varieties of sugar canes to cite a few. In the field of horticulture, there is tremendous development; resulting in the easy availability of 165 varieties of fruit juices in the market!

If our technologies reach our hard-working and receptive farmers, India can easily be No. 1 in the world in agriculture, Horticulture, poultry, dairy farming etc.

Agricultural development has some-thing to offer to urbanites, like us, as well. There is training centre at Anna Nagar, in Chennai city, geared for training, giving a wide choice, for those interested. These are short-term courses to suit the timings of the urbanites. For more details see Para 13.0 of this issue.

(Based on the speech Dr. P. P. Ramaswamy, retired Dean of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore at our breakfast meeting held on 24th October 2009 – Ed.).

6.0 Corrections and Omissions

Corrections

PROBUZZ October 2009

1. Para 3.4 Item 5 against Sunshine Fund. Probn Mrs. Jayalakshmi Jagannathan donated Rs. 1,000/- (One Thousand only) not Rs. 10,000/-. This is a misprint.

2. Para 7.0 Item 1 is a double entry, hence to be deleted.

3. Para 7.0 Item 2 Probn N. Ramanan paid Rs. 500/- for Sunshine Fund. Hence this item is deleted. But his contribution is to be credited to Sunshine Fund.

Omissions

Para 18 – Mail Box. The letter was received from Probn N. Dharmesh-waran. His name was inadvertently left out.

Errors & omissions are regretted. – Ed.

7.0 Sunshine Fund

1. P. R. Venkatachalam (A 347) 500
(His Wedding Anniversary)

2. P. R. Venkatachalam (A 347) 500

3. T. S. K. Rama Rao 200 (In memory of his mother)

Shri S. T. Muralitharan, a well wisher Donated Rs. 500/-.

9.0 Other Donations

1. Rotary Club of Madras Rs.10,000

2. Inner Wheel Club of Rs. 3,000

Thank you, donors, for your generous donations – Ed.

10.0 Our Networks

Federation of Senior Citizens Association of Tamil Nadu celebrates International Day of the Elderly with a Seminar at Chennai.

In connection with the International Day of Older Persons, the Federation of Senior Citizens Associations of Tamil Nadu, in collaboration with the International Federation on Ageing, Canada (IFA), conducted a symposium on “Life After 60” on 3rd October 2009 at a meeting in Chennai attended by well over 275 senior citizens from the various associations affiliated to the Federation.

Mr. C. Muthukumaraswamy, IAS, Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Department, Government of Tamil Nadu was the Chief Guest. Dr. Jane Barratt, Secretary General, IFA, and Mr. K. R. Gangadharan, Regional Vice-President, IFA attended as Special Invitees.

Welcoming the gathering, Mr. D. Rajasekaran, President of the Federation, said that the object of the symposium was to highlight the fact that life after 60 could be a pleasant experience if elders adopted the right style of life needed to meet the challenges thrown up by retirement and ageing.

Mr. S. M. Chellaswamy, General Secretary, presented a report about the activities of the Federation and appealed to senior citizens associations to get affiliated to the Federation and strengthen its hands in serving the cause of senior citizens.

Mr. Krishnaram Davey (Probus Club of Chennai), Mr. V. P. Subbiah (Tamil Nadu Elders Welfare Association), Dr. S. Krishna- swamy (TNAU Pensioners Association), Mr. P. M. Pandian (TANSAF), Mr. A. Swamina- than (All Bharat Confederation of Senior Citizens and Pensioners Association, Avinashi), Mr. K. Nagasubramaniam and Mr. K. Periyashamy (both of the Tamil Nadu Retd. Revenue Officers Association) spoke about the physical, psychological, financial and sociological problems faced by indivi -duals as they aged and how to cope with such problems.

Mr. K. R. Gangadharan, narrated instances of great achievements by elders despite the handicaps of age. He released a book titled “Needhi Uyarnda Madhi Kalvi” authored by Thirukkural Kavignar K. Periashamy.

Dr. Jane Barratt said that the International Federation on Ageing, Canada looked at the problems of the senior citizens community as a whole. The problems were basically the same in all countries. The world is aging rapidly and in the next few decades one of the chief concerns would be the problems of elders. Every country had therefore to devise ways and means to cope with them.

Mr. C. Muthukumaraswamy, the Chief Guest said that it was an important duty of youngsters not only to be supportive of their elders but also to show the respect and reverence due to them. Even at times when the elders were at fault, it was upto the younger generation to deal with the issues tactfully and without detriment to domestic harmony and happiness.

The event was sponsored by the Tamil Nadu Elders Welfare association.

Dr. V. Balambal, compered the entire programme in a very elegant manner.

Mr. D. Thangavel, Vice-President, Tamil Nadu Elders Welfare Association proposed a vote of thanks.

(Report received from Shri S. M. Chellaswamy, General Secretary of the Federation of Senior Citizens Associations of Tamil Nadu. – Ed.).

11.0 Internation Day of the Elderly 2009...

1. Probn T. S. K. Rama Rao, born on

1. Probn Bhasker Shah (ID L 63)

2. Probn Prof. (Mrs.) Gomathi Narayanan
(ID L 11)

3. Probn V. S. Govindan (ID A 305)

4. Probn Prof (Mrs.) Jayalakshmi Jagannatha (ID L 16)

5. Probn K. R. Krishnan (ID A 333)

6. Probn T. Rajagopalan (ID A 274)

7. Probn S. Ranganatha Rao (ID L 31)

8. Probn K. Rengarajan (ID L 145)

9. Probn R. Subramanian (ID A 197)

10. Probn G. L. Srinivasan (ID A 287)

Note: Probn V. S. Govindan could not attend that day.

C. Golden Jubilee Award for Probus couples

1. Probn S. Ganesan and

2. Probn (Mrs.) Gopi Aravamudhan and

3. Probn M. S. Rajagopalan and

4. Probn K. Rengarajan and

5. Probn K. Sahasranaman and

6. Probn R. A. Srinivasan and

7. Probn V. Hariharan and

1. Item 7, Hariharans could not attend that day. They generously contributed Rs. 15,000/- to commemorate the occasion. Their cumulative contributions, so far, is Rs. 25,000 to the Scholarship Fund.

2.Probn T. S. K. Rama Rao contributed Rs. 200/- (Two Hundred) to Sunshine Fund, in memory of his mother.
12.0 Felicitations

12.1 Probians having Birth Anniversary
in December 2009

1. Sakunthala S Mrs 3 2814 0248

2. Subramanian D V 6 2435 2838

3. Geettha Viswanathan 7 2440 4136

4. Nathan M 7 98418 30000

5. Bhavani Shankar 10 2813 3162
Joshi V 2813 3062

6. Ramaswamy N 10 2834 1144

7. Srinivasan A 10 2834 1599

8. Jayaraman T R 12 2466 1998

9. Mirza Ismail A 12 98847 23228

10. Nalini Moorthy Mrs 12 2847 4111

11. Rajagopalan N Dr 12 2450 1169
99405 25904

12. Rao B S 12 2374 4064

13. Ramakrishnan R Mr 13 2498 6545
94444 28514

14. Narayana Babu P 15 2654 1461

15. Rajasankar K Dr 15 2434 2329

16. Rangaramanujam K 15 Not available

17. Santhana Krishnan PS 17 2641 1938

18. Srinivasan S 17 2436 0068

19. Subramanian S 17 2432 7338
(Ch-17)

20. Suganthi Premkumar 17 2641 3252

21. Indira Ramanathan 20 2847 4405

22. Kumarasamy M B 20 2434 8704

23. Subramanian V 20 2493 8368
(Ch-28)

24. Bhat V S 21 98409 76254

25. Govindasamy N 21 98845 74834

26. Jamuna Ramasubra- 21 2434 1044

27. Gopalakrishna A S 22 080-

28. Kishen Bhatia 22 2836 2243

29. Gopalakrishnan S 23 2815 3924
93821 66062

30. Krishnamurthi N Capt 23 2836 1355

31. Maninarayanan N 23 2499 6960
5210 9380

32. Ratnam G 23 2493 6319

33. Kothandaraman A V 26 2499 7213

34. Pandian G S 26 93810 57750

35. Rama Rao T S K 26 2499 4430

36. Sivagaminathan K 26 6201 8755

1. Mohana 2 2499 6905

2. Sukanya 3 2472 1268

3. Pushpa Srithar 5 2827 9916

4. Helen Khader 6 2434 4394

5. Saroja Vedanthachari 8 2433 0877

6. Thilakavathy 9 2834 1144

7. Jayam 10 99401 35160

8. Durga Bai 12 2441 2087

9. Lakshmi 14 2495 3052

10. Jayalakshmi Sampath 14 2449 0227

11. Malathi Sridhar 14 2435 0924

12. Savithri 16 2447 5451

13. Revathi 20 2847 4510

14. Kousalya 24 2474028

15. Lalitha Srinivasan 26 4284 5354

16. Parvathy 28 2493 8224
Gopalakrishnan 98410 96866

17. Radha Pandian 29 2835 1166

18. Radha Govindasamy 29 98845 74834

2. Pandian P M Probn & 1 2835 1166

3. Rajasankar K Dr Probn 7 2434 2329

4. Balakrishnan V Probn 7 2498 3939

5. Desikan K Probn & 12 2481 2823

6. Raman K C Probn & 14 2499 2682

7. Balakrishnaiah K V 29 2490 3188

Wish you all many happy returns of the day. May God bless you all with good health, happiness and a peaceful life. Probn D. Sugunaraj, will be sending, Probus greetings to all the above. (Thank you, Probn Sugunaraj – Ed). Kindly donate to our Sunshine fund generously – Ed.

13.0 Training Programmes at Urban Horticulture Development Centre (TNAU), Chennai-40

1. Indoor Care and Maintenance.

2. Flower Arrangements.

3. Kitchen gardening and Vegetable growing.

4. Roof-Gardening.

5. Bonsai Making.

6. Fruit and Vegetable preservation.

7. Dry Flower production and Arrangements.

8. Landscape-Gardening.

9. Preparation of Spicy Products.

10. Medicinal Plants Production and Marketing.

11. Organic production of Fruits and Vegetables.

12. Preparation of Soya Products.

13. Preparation of Sweets and Savouries.

14. Vocational Training.

15. Mushroom Cultivation.

16. Vermi Composting.

17. Preparation of Milk Products.

18. Preparation of Ready Mix Food items.

19. Preparation of Bakery Products.

20. Chocolate Making.

21. Dietary Habits of diabetic Patients.

22. Preparation of Soups and Salads.

23. Herbal Cookery.

Professor and Head

Urban Horticulture Development Centre

New No. P. 44, 6th Avenue

(Near K.4 Police Station)

Anna Nagar, Chennai-600 040

Phone : 044-2626 3484

14.0 On Equality and Equity

The phrase I had used in one of my talks “Equality is not a virtue, Equity is” touched a good response in one who heard that and it was Probn K. Venkatachari who asked me to expand this into a talk. Here is the result.

Equality is a much admired word and policy. To start with the beginning, are we born equals? Everyone has a unique DNA. Some are healthy and some are born to wealth. Some are brainy and some brawny. Each man is designed to contribute differently to society and so equipped differently. Nature shuns equality.

And then we grow. A batch of students may study under the same teacher and is given the same notebooks to write the alphabets and words and so on. But every one takes to a different handwriting. Our growth does not care for or respect equality. A caring mother would deny fried food to one child who is fat and feed the other skinny child with that food. Her sense of equity triumphs over equality where she finds no sense. Equity is equality with justice and that is what is wanted.

If the intention of nature is to have us all as equals our mental attitudes should also be equal. We should react in the same way when put before the same circumstances.

Equality is drabness and ennui. Equality is unnatural. Equity makes up for that.

Everybody who is anybody in politics preaches equality among the citizens and equality between the two genders. There should be equality among men and women, they cry from rooftops. Men and women are made different and are to serve different purposes. Men are born to be muscular and women fleshy. One is conditioned by testosterone and the other by Oestrogen. Women’s propensities and sensibilities are different from men’s. Women have better development of the right side of the brain. This makes a woman arrive at conclusions (right or wrong) faster than men who have to analyse first before conclusions. Women have a greater capacity to take a total synthesised view better than men. Their ability to care for children, in the house or school is superior to men’s. A sensible equity here will promote nature’s gift and equality would be ill-conceived only to kill nature. Equality is a travesty of that Justice which is equity.

This being so, why should the word equality sound so great? Why should “equality” be given such a great approbation? Our great poet declared Namellorum Samamenbaduridiyachu. This is to be taken only in the sense there is no superiority and no inferiority. Sense of superiority and inferiority is a product of our two-dimensional thinking. We work on paper and put down things from top to bottom which makes the top item being superior to a the bottom item. World in reality is three-dimensional. In a spherical ball, what is up and what is down, what is left and what is right? We have to grow into this reality of three dimensions.

Why grow? Why not be static? Because if you do not grow, you do not glow. Glow is important for us. Bharat is so named because Bhasi ratah iti Bharatah. In other words, Bharat is where people delight in the light. Nothing is inferior and nothing superior to anything else. Everything is different and should stay unique for better service to community.

Chapters and verses are quoted to stake a great claim for equality. If we take the Bhagavad Gita, there are 13 verses (II:38, 48, V:18, V:19, VI:29, VI:32, IX:29, XII:18, XIII:27, 28, XIV:24, 25 and XVII:54) dealing with the so called equality. A simple examination of these verses will show that what is actually meant is an equality in attitude and justice which is equity and empathy as opposed to sympathy.

Equality and sympathy have a built- in belief in superiority and inferiority. Equity and empathy meet the needs of justice.

Great claims are made that all religions are equal as “they all approach to the same God”. Hindus make the most of these people pleading “equality” with other religions. (Others do not make this statement). What then about Hindus who do not believe in any God? Of the six sastras we have, three (Mimamsa, Vaiseshika and Samkhya) which do not admit of God though they respect the Vedas equally well.

Advocates of superiority and inferiority bring in about Sattva, Rajas and Tamas; saying that Sattva is the superior one and Tamas the most inferior. Fact is that all the three are required together. None is superior and none is inferior. You cannot have only the steering in the car or only the engine. Brake (tamas) is of great importance to a vehicle and so in every other place.

I started at the beginning, the birth. To end I may refer to the claim that we are all rendered equal at death. Religions say that our individuality is preserved and then judged by God on one day. Some religions believe in retribution or reward in the next birth according as to how we have lived in this life here. This means that religions believe in preservation of our unique characteristics at the end. Equality is a catchy slogan. Equity is noble Justice.

Let us honour our sense of equality by dumping it and honour justice by adopting equity. Equality leads us to the dumps. Equity leads us finally to equanimity and beatitude.(This is the gist of the speech received from Probn T. R. Jayaraman. Due to space-constraint, this had to be abridged, though reluctantly. This is a part and parcel of the Spiritual of Philosophical meeting held on 30th October 2009. – Ed.).

15.0 Wedding bells

Probn CA. P. Pattabiraman celebrated the marriage of his son Chi: Dr. CA. P. Vijay Anand with Sow: A. Swathi, on 1st November 2009, at “Anna Arivalayam” auditorium, Teynampet, Chennai-18. Many Probians attended the marriage to bless the married couple. We wish the newly-weds a very long and prosperous married life with good health and cheer throughout.

16.0 Dates to Remember

NOVEMBER 2009

28-11-2009 (Saturday) 9.00 a.m.

Monthly breakfast meeting at Russian Centre of Science & Culture, Chennai-18.

Dr. P. Sureshchanderpal

Probn M. Arunachalam

Probn R. Subbaraj

EC Meeting at AASI

Probus group–Theosophical Society, Mylapore Lodge (TS) –Spiritual and Philosophical Meeting at M.P. Aanand Matriculation School, Mylapore, Chennai-4.

Probn Lakshmipathi speaks on Thirumazhisai Alwar.

Contact: Probn T. R. Jayaraman, Ph 2466 1998

Probn V. L. Aiyar, Phone: 2499 2329