Wednesday, December 28, 2011

A Flash Back tp Pre 1947 & Post 1947 Period

A Flash back on Life before and after Independence

The Senior citizens above 75 years can flash back their life before the independence. There will be quite a few episodes to narrate the life we had before the year 1947 & the life we have after the independence. Mainly the difference between the Autocracy & the Democracy is compared. Both are poles apart. The life was peaceful and the relation maintained with people of different denominations was very cordial. There was no ill will amongst men with feelings of caste creed and religion. The social functions were peacefully conducted by all without any pride or prejudice. Even during the times of world wars the people did not starve as the food preserved for the “Rainy days” were available to maintain life & property during the crisis period. A comparative study will reveal the factual position in India during the Pre 1947 & Post 1947 period.



Description Autocracy- King’s Rule Democracy- Janatha Kings
1.Administration

2.Justice




3. Security


4.Food & Shelter

5. Criminal Assaults


6. Service to public.



7. Corruption Fair deal to all without cast creed or religion
Justice to all within a time frame. Justice delayed is Justice denied. This dictum was honoured in full

Security of the Subjects ensured by the King for their life and property.
Everyone gets his/her share of food and water. No scarcity.

Criminals are apprehended and punished without any delay, applying the law forthwith.

Timely attention to the problems of the people in their day to day life. Here I am reminded of old VELUTHAMPY DALAVA.
Very rare. If detected severe punishments meted out to the culprit. Here again the Veluthampy Dalava is remembered!
Unfair deal to all except the followers of the party in power.
Justice to none within a time frame. In most cases the justice is delayed beyond limit causing irrecoverable loss to the people.

Unsecured life and property in the janatha rule. Dangerous situations arise daily.
No fair distribution of food & water and living conditions .

Undue delay takes place and the criminals escape from the clutches of law by intervention of men in authority.

No action taken in time. The requests from people delayed for days together in the departments.


Corruption everywhere. Corrupt thoughts and actions are prevalent in the whole administration. LOKPAL MAY NOT HELP!

I have given here only few of the things which came to my mind while comparing the pre independence and post independence period. I am sure many of us will have a say in this matter. Please add your opinion in this column.

ABRAHAM MANGALATH
.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Politics in Educational Institutions

POLITICS IN COLLEGE CAMPUS
COLLEGE CAMPUS- A POLITICAL ASYLUM?
The recent disturbances in the Educational institutions all over the State of Kerala indicate that imminent disaster will take place very soon in the student community. The youngsters in the college/schools are being misguided and their young spirit of action & energy are misused and misdirected by the introvert politicians to gain their own ends. Violent and destructive methods are unleashed using the young children as weapons and tools to achieve the goal through the watch word “End justifies the means”.
A loyal politician will definitely follow a well defined and planned mode of action for a successful journey towards the goal and will not adopt short cuts and direct action, destroying life & public property. In fact the whole course of action adopted by the ill oriented politicians in motivating the young blood in schools & colleges is highly objectionable and detrimental to the future of the students and the state in general.
The college students during the course of studies in their Alma meter will learn the subjects on different disciplines including the political science. Once they come out of the college they can successfully practice the science of administration for the betterment of the society. But interferences in their studies and spoiling the career by the politician’s entry in the campus will ruin the whole process of learning for grooming the students to be better citizens of the country.
The Government machinery must consider these invasions of politicians in the college campus as a serious crime and the party officials responsible for such trespass must be punished without fear or favour.

Abraham Mangalath

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Mullaperitar Dam- Remedy

MULLAPERIYAR DAM – REMEDY

Fatigue is a natural phenomenon for both living & inanimate things. The structures also get fatigued due to aging. Normally structures have a designed useful life. Beyond the designed life of any structure, constant vigil is to be exercised to check up any deterioration in the ability of the structure to withstand the designed job of that structure.
In the case of the Mullaperiyar dam, it is an old dam constructed with Surki mortar in the 19th century during the British rule. This “Gravity dam” is supported on its own weight against the pressure imposed on it by the impounding water in the reservoir. The pressure of water is concentrated on the Dam at its 2/3rd height above floor level. The principle is that the over turning effect (Upsetting Couple) of the Dam against the water pressure must counter balance by the (Restoring couple) acting at the centre of gravity of the Dam. If the Upsetting Moment is higher than the Restoring Moment, then the Dam is exposed to danger by overturning. Therefore the restoring couple or Moment must be greater than the upsetting couple or Moment. To attain this, the design is taken care of to see that the Resultant thrust of water & the weight of Dam is kept ALWAYS WITHIN THE MIDDLE THIRD RULE. That is the resultant line of force should be within the middle third of the base of the Dam.
The authorities must immediately check the stability of Dam and ensure that the Gravity Force of the dam is greater than the impounding pressure of the water in the reservoir. If the restoring Moment is not sufficient the dam must be strengthened by additional masonry structure at the tail race by widening the base width and masonry stem up to the 2/3 height.
Another aspect to be checked is the strength of the dam against shear force acting at the 2/3rd height. This strength may be low as the Dam is very old. To increase the shear strength of the structure, pressure grouting of the dam with high grade cement must be done at suitable spacing with modern equipments under close supervision by experts specialized in such critical jobs.
But there is no need to get panicky about life of the people around if the present water level is brought down to a safe level as suggested by the Engineers.

M P Abraham IRSE (Retd)
Chartered Engineer & Registered Valuer

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Death The Beginner

DEATH THE BEGINNER
Our life on this earth can be compared with the crossing of a heavily flowing stream or river without any external ay assistance from anyone. The struggle starts from the day we are born and ends on the day we leave this world. The Birth is the Home bank and the Death the Far bank of the river of life we have to cross and successfully reach the Shore of ITERNITY. Our life on this Earth takes on the pros & cons of the struggle to reach the other end of life ie the far bank of the River.. The short sojourn on this fleeting life on earth gives us the challenge to swim in the dangerous stream of life amidst reverse currents and also favourable flow taking us to the Shore of happiness & peace. The guiding “ Light House” is the radiating Love of GOD through the Sun, Moon & Stars.
The Death does open the Door to the other side of Life without Time & Space. At the time of death he/she is fully conscious about what is happening around, but cannot express the feelings as the life is in its transition stage from physical state to the unknown world. As we were not aware of the period before our birth, the future also is unknown to us. The period of our short stay on Earth is the only space available for us to carry out the assigned job and to be prepared for the Internal Life. The soul leaves the body and watches all that are happening around and it gets into the realm of the Universe,- moving anywhere it chooses without the control of Time & Space. This stage continues till such time HE comes in Clouds to take His people to the promised- Internal Life. This mystery is not known to human beings. Even the SON does not know the exact time when GOD the father decides on the final Call. At the Trumpet call the dead come out of the tombs from far & near and stand before GOD for His assessment of the life and work of each person, He had entrusted with specific job. This “Entrance Test” is already been prophesied by the prophets through Bible and we are looking forward that Big Day of Judgment. The portion of the Bible as it is written in the book of Ezhekiel Chapter 37 is worthy to be quoted in this context as it confirms the life after death.
(New International Version, ©2011)
Ezekiel 37
The Valley of Dry Bones
1 The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’”


Abraham Mangalath

Saturday, October 29, 2011

POLITICS IN COLLGE CAMPUS

COLLEGE CAMPUS- A POLITICAL ASYLUM?
The recent disturbances in the Educational institutions all over the State of Kerala indicate that imminent disaster will take place very soon in the student community. The youngsters in the college/schools are being misguided and their young spirit of action & energy are misused and misdirected by the introvert politicians to gain their own ends. Violent and destructive methods are unleashed using the young children as weapons and tools to achieve the goal through the watch word “End justifies the means”.
A loyal politician will definitely follow a well defined and planned mode of action for a successful journey towards the goal and will not adopt short cuts and direct action, destroying life & public property. In fact the whole course of action adopted by the ill oriented politicians in motivating the young blood in schools & colleges is highly objectionable and detrimental to the future of the students and the state in general.
The college students during the course of studies in their Alma meter will learn the subjects on different disciplines including the political science. Once they come out of the college they can successfully practice the science of administration for the betterment of the society. But interferences in their studies and spoiling the career by the politician’s entry in the campus will ruin the whole process of learning for grooming the students to be better citizens of the country.
The Government machinery must consider these invasions of politicians in the college campus as a serious crime and the party officials responsible for such trespass must be punished without fear or favour.

Abraham Mangalath

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

HIDDEN TREASURES OF KERALA

THE HIDDEN TREASURE
It is a blessing in disguise that we could open out the Treasures kept by our predecessors – the kings of Travancore. In the olden days our kings of the state of Travancore were very prudent and shrewd in administrative skills and they could foresee bad times ahead. Therefore they preserved the wealth in the form of gold & silver in secret and sacred places (Temple sites) so as to be safe from the robbers and miscreants.
The ancient rulers of the State of Travancore always wanted to keep their Subjects happy and they did everything for the benefit of the people of the State. These Rajas amassed wealth –Gold & Silver and other precious items from far & near and preserved them in secured places, lest it may be robbed off by the Foreign rulers or kings of the neighboring states. These treasures were brought to the exchequer by forcefully from other rulers using the tactics of “Beg, Borrow or Steal”. Donations and offerings from the devotees also were collected and preserved in the vaults of the Temple.
The monetary value of the Gold & Silver might have been negligible at that time of procurement, but the Kings had the insight to Estimate the value of these treasures in the future years to come and therefore realized the importance of the safety of these valuables. The best place of security was found to be the Temple away from the public view of the hidden treasure. In olden days entry to this Temple also was restricted or banned for the common man to avoid any possible theft.
Now that we have traced out our resources, our Destiny towards a better tomorrow is certain. Therefore we should diligently act upon the utilization of the “Unknown Wealth hitherto and make use of the treasure with utmost care & sanctity. First step is to get rid of all our DEBTS and restore our financial status, utilizing part of the asset duly capitalizing for urgent purposes. The lion’s share must always be kept as reserve for the RAINY DAYS.

Abraham Mangalath

Thursday, June 30, 2011

LOKPAL


LOKPAL
From the day one of man’s life on this earth began, he was experimenting with the surroundings for better means of living for his security and comforts. In this long race he has formulated many gadgets to set right his life style in harmony with nature and the other living and non living species. This background was kept as our “anchor block” to sort out the issues that confront us in our modern life ensuring security to our life and property and goodwill of our neighbors.Now as it is, we have almost all the elements to run our life’s business much better than ever before. The most important being our TEXT of Administration- the Constitution of India- Our sacred GEETHA/BIBLE/KHURAN and this Holy Book as I may call it, propels the line of action of all of us. The three formations, The Legislature/The judiciary/The Executive are the three “Moorthies” to handle the Sacred Book.
Of late, we on our struggle to attain greater heights in our position amongst the nations of the world, took shortcuts and plunged ourselves in an irreversible “Muddle” and lost sight of our “guiding star”- the provisions of the Constitution. If the constitutional provisions are meticulously followed in style & use with absolute involvement, we would have been in an enviable position in Social/Economical and technical fields.But what happens! We are trying to be over sensitive and suddenly burst into abstract ideas of improvements in the Administrative machinery resulting in an awkward situation. As we know, corrupt mind begets corrupt thoughts and corrupt thoughts beget corrupt actions leading to all types of evil doings. Though we have inbuilt provisions/remedies in our administrative system we always run on slipping gear and resort to counter arguments and try to find out shortcut solutions. We continue endless discussions on one subject without any End result!
Such situations only have given rise to the idea of forming LOKPAL. I feel that such formation of a separate body of Experts to set right our evildoings will not cure our “ailments”. It will only be a “Pillar to post” journey only to bounce back to “square one”. We do not expect any Angels or Archangels to run or administer the LOKPAL. It has to be manned by the same human beings as in the case of all other Institutions! They are also of the same flesh & blood and will not have any Supernatural powers to outlive human weakness. By introducing such system we will be forced to continue to live in Chaos & Misery without any remedial measure to come back to normal and peaceful existence in our country with people of different tastes and social environments.
Therefore what can be the ultimate solution? May I suggest that we should continue to apply corrections in our thoughts & actions concentrating in the provisions of the “Constitution of India” and set right things by the correct application of mind with a WILL without fear or favour.
I am sure that our present administrators will put their shoulders together and pull us out from the fathomless pits we are falling into! William Shakespeare said “ FRAILTY is thy name woman..Now we can correct it as “CRUELTY & CORRUPTION is thy name…

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

OUR MOTHER EARTH

The Satellite Earth is moving arround the SUN in its Diurnal Rotation. By nature there cannot be any variation in its movement causing Day & Night. But man's thirst for probing into the mistery of creation has given rise to unbearable climatic changes in the Atmosphere resulting in the unnatural behaviour of the Sea. The balanced system of the Universe is tilted due to uneven errosion of the Strathoshere due to disintegration of the ozone layer caused by the relentless experiments for space travel and other investigations by the Scientists.

The Creater GOD has done all that required for the living species to survive. The man has even forgotten the Creater and started exploring the nature there by imbalancing the ecological equilibrium. The Sea raging & surging is caused only due to this torture to the Earth and so we have to suffer loss of life & belongings during such natural calamities like SUNAMI.

Men predict on such ill effects of the nature but cannot find a solution as the whole Universe is controlled by the Creater of Heaven& Earth.

Chapter 46 of the Psalms read-

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come and see what the LORD has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress

The recent happenings on the shores of JAPAN and earlier disasters will definitely open our eyes and we may adore and worship the GOD ALMIGHTY to protect us and keep us out of all the Perils and dangers of this life on Earth