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I READ "Poetic Justice" in Metroplus on January 8. First I thought that it may be about Silappathikaram in which Ilango Adigal fought for the justice through the heroine `Kannagi'. After reading the article once and twice, I found that it is the subtlest distillation of one author's feelings with his profound knowledge in various subjects supplemented by his vast knowledge about human.
At the outset, the author states that `Poetic Justice' implies the triumph of virtues over vices. The author touches gently on the moral values like truth, reality and justice in poetry and boldly suggests drastic punishments to culprits and counterfeits.
The author's observation that people live on hopes inspired and die with doubts, that man is a combination of both virtues and vices and that one should not be personified as embodiment of virtues or epitomes of vices are very unique and they are the messages to the public.
The author regrets about the sufferings of great philosophists, poets etc., who stood firm on their faith and struggled to establish their truths.
His quoting from Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, silently touches the damnation of man, a tragedy of knowledge and power.
He concludes that the whole life will be full of poesy, music, rhythm, harmony; every thought word and deed will get transformed into virtues positively.
The author reminded me to think of why our mother earth was so ferocious and rident towards the mankind on 26th December, 2005 by the unprecedented tsunami, catastrophie/killer waves etc., killing many in many parts of the world rendering loss of everything and leaving the victims in half-death? Has this earth too has vices? Man and earth are similar; both have virtues and vices.
C.P.V. Ratnam,
Madurai-20.
J.VASANTHAN'S "OF dogs and men" (Metroplus dated January 14) made interesting reading. History is replete with instances of devout and loyal dogs.
Let me narrate three examples. The manifestation of fidelity of Ruchi, the Pomeranian of the former congress President, Sitaram Kesri, was quite heart-rending. Ruchi, having lived with its master for 14 years, stopped eating from the day Kesri was admitted to hospital, and breathed its last soon after the master's death.
Preta, the dog, has been going to church every Sunday, walking 25 km to get there. A stray, before being adopted by a family in northern Portugal, she adapted well to her new life but refused to give up her practice of attending mass on Sundays in the neighbouring village where she was born. She leaves her house at 5 a.m. to be in time for the 7 O' clock mass in the village (known as Ermesinde). She has her favourite place near the altar and goes right up to it. When worshippers get up or sit down as part of the ritual of the mass, she does the same. After mass, Preta walks back home. If someone offers her a lift and she knows the person, she gets into the car. Otherwise, she refuses. Preta, in Portugese, means black.
In 1899, a modest gramophone recording establishment of London suddenly found itself caught on a rising crest and swept along to spectacular international success. It adopted the now renowned "His Master's Voice" (HMV) trademark based on a painting by an impecunious artist, Francis Barrand.
The painting featured "Nipper", a faithful terrier listening to a gramophone record so raptly that he seemed to be immersed in listening to his late master's voice.
"His Master's Voice" became one of the brand names of the company's products and was soon an international legend. Nipper, listening to his master's voice became the mascot of the company. It proved to be an embalm of instant and enduring appeal to millions all over the world, perhaps, because it transcended national, social, cultural and linguistic barriers.
D. Pitchumani,
Usilampatti-625532.
JANUARY 14 METROPLUS revealed mostly on arts and cultures. Mr. T. Saravanan elaborately described about various valorous fighting, their techniques and risks. During royal festivals sporting events like mock fights and taming and bull competition are conducted to test the ability of the youth and in this contest, women chose the valour person as their groom.
The correspondent explained about traditional sports which will boost courage in today's youth.
Mr. M.R. Aravindan briefly explained about Alanganallur Jallikattu. How the bulls are trained, their food habits, and how the horns are sharpened, and also told, villagers celebrate jallikattu, as a tribute to the village in order to propitiate goddess Kaliamman. A belief battle, between the man, and the animal, to expose braveness.
Mr. Syed Kirmani's comment on cricketing is much appreciable, he suggests the Indian Cricket team should contain two specialists wicket-keepers, for all the games, because they are like navigators who guide bowlers and the captain. If his advise is implemented, there will be more progress in cricket. He has given useful tips, to the younger generation cricketers.
G. Baskaran,
Madurai-625014.
THE ARTICLE "The price of praise" by V. Irai Anbu is not only distinctive but also descriptive. He is, indeed, candid when he writes that, "praise exaggerated is flattery" (Metroplus, January 22, 2005). The Oxford dictionary defines praise as an "expression of approval or admiration" and flattery as "insincere praise" which in other words is nothing but flattery. The author contends that a true hero never likes hero worshipping. But these days, only rarely do we find a person answering to this description.
It is not unusual that when anyone occupying an exalted position in society presides over a function, speaker after speaker heaps praise on him/her regardless of whether he/she is worthy of such praise.
Besides, it is a wonder that such a person savours all the praise with relish realising or not whether what all was said was just to carry favour with him/her.
Nevertheless, those who are really great disclaim all the praise showered on them, by not putting themselves forward; but such a trait is a rarity in others. Still, we can maintain that craving in a human being to receive praise from every quarter is ingrained and is not therefore a fault to find with. It is at best a need to be satisfied, which we may consider as normal. In the circumstances, to portray all those who are fond of praise, as suffering from an inferiority complex may be a trifle unfair.
V. Krishnamoorthy,
Madurai-14.
IN SARAVANAN'S narration of the Karpaga Nagar area, two things attracted me. That garbage is being collected periodically to ensure hygienic environment and youth volunteers undertake road cleaning every Saturday.
In contrast, as a resident of a very busy city area, I always see heaps of garbage and wastes strewn all over. It is an eyesore and unhygienic. Daily a good number of foreign visitors pass through these streets witnessing such ugly things. They are likely to bear a bad impression. This is to speak of our having an organised civic body, with area wise representatives, who do not care even to provide dust bins on the streets.
Now, here is the importance for this letter. A good number of college students (about 60), approached me recently for guidance to undertake social service. After reading article, I intend using this youth energy for cleaning the streets periodically, to start with.
We have also chosen a few busy areas and hope to succeed in also involving the dwellers, the civic authorities and the ward councillors . This is an experiment for us!
Balasubramaniam Hemalatha,
Madurai-1.
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