Happiness is no(w)here

Happy  !!  gripping Pongal Test match ! Chepauk stadium C stadium was packed – a boy emerged carrying some juice sachets – shrill loud voice from top – ‘Appy – anAppy’ [Happy – unhappy] (man having juice happy, others staring at him not so happy) – the Crowd burst into laughter !!

 

What was your New Year wish list and how much do you pamper your kids ! – sure, many of us have ‘list of to do’ and that includes ‘many things you want to buy !’ – may be Merc Benz !!  or a valuable diamond ring !!  - heard of ‘Missing tile syndrome !!’ 

Happiness is a state of mind -  primarily  a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy; though some Philosophers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion.  There are simple persons in life, who live life as it is ~ taking things as they come… reads simple, but too difficult to follow !!  For many life is full of expectations, it is unending long ‘wishlist’…there are so many things that we desire to have ~ and many a times wish that we have, what others do not have…  

Some important parts of life are tied mainly to age, such as schooling, employment and health. Others depend more on what is going on in society and the world.  There are bound to be inequalities, more so on the financial front but that has nothing to do with happiness.  

Read in a  thought provoking book   ‘The Geometry of Wealth’ , author Brian Portnoy observes: “Does money buy happiness? The answer to that question can be summarised as Yes, Not really, It depends." 

Intuitively none of us like ambiguous answers like this, but here, it successfully illustrates the complexity inherent in the question. After all, what is happiness? Money can definitely alleviate poverty. It can put a roof over your head, food on the table, warmth, clothing and medical support. Once our basic needs are meet, money’s impact on our happiness has progressively less impact. If you’re a CEO on 3000 crore company, a 5 per cent pay rise isn’t going to move the happiness dial for you enormously.   The recurring theme of movies seem to be that : ‘rich men are not happy ! ~ poor man are !!;  rich men cannot sleep well in luxury beds; poor man, after a hard day’s work can sleep on floor mat !!  ~  tinseldom clichés ~ and we hear from them people who make crores, the listeners are those daily wage earners and commoners who struggle to make their ends meet and yet, we believe in ‘rich ain’t happy’.

Saw happiness in close quarters, this beautiful kid playing merrily with things around  - even as his parents were busy spreading their wares in a temple festival, few miles away from the metropolis.

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
17.1.2025.

  

the photo twins of Triplicane

 

I cannot figure out who is who ! – the double-barrel camera wielding identical twins – Shyam Balakrishnan & Ramakrishnan.

 

Soft, suave, educated, very pleasing, great smiles, extremely well-mannered – they both are gems.

 

Here is one wielding a Nikon camera with 600mm lens and other Fuji with 600 mm. 

15.1.2025

Affection for Cows ~ today is Mattu Pongal

 

Showing  affection for Cows !  ~   Today 15.1.2025  is ‘maattu pongal’

A pic of beautiful Cow and a calf (just born – taken within an hour of its birth)

 

மாட்டுப் பொங்கல்     பசுக்கள் மற்றும் காளைகளை கௌரவிக்கும் நாள்.   

Silambam master and Electric auto

An innocuous Auto-rickshaw and its owner  seen at Triplicane during Bhogi purappadu is the subject matter of this post !!

 

Silambam is an old Indian martial art originating in Tamil Nadu that finds mention in Tamil Sangam literature.  In old movies, especially MG Ramachandran movies, hero would exhibit his talent in silambam fight.  Read that MGR learnt this this martial art from Master Madurai Maadakulam Ravi and some of his movies featuring silambam include Thaikkupin Tharam, Periya Idathu Penn, Mugaraasi and Thanipiravi.  

For modern day cine watchers – ‘Vettupuli’ and his school of martial arts is hilariously famous.  Vettupuli characterized by a big moustache has an army of people under him including – Pei, Thimingalam, Mandaikashayam – his instruction to the three on moving ‘paruthi  moottai’ is eternal content for meme creators ‘adhukku antha paruthi moottai – godownleye irunthirukkalame !’  

Solar power works by converting energy from the Sun into power. There are two forms of energy generated from the sun for our use – electricity and heat. Both are generated through the use of solar panels, which range in size from residential rooftops to 'solar farms' stretching over acres of rural land.  Solar PV is based on the photovoltaic effect, by which a photon (the basic unit of light) impacts a semi-conductor surface like silicon and generates the release of an electron.   

In our School days (9^th Std Science) remember reading about ‘Combustion” used in vehicles.  An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. There are two types - a 4-stroke engine and a 2-stroke engine.  By name,  a 4-stroke engine goes through four stages, or two complete revolutions, to complete one power stroke, while a 2-stroke engine goes through 2 stages, or one complete revolution, to complete one power stroke.   Four-stroke engines are fuel-efficient and operate in four steps:  Intake, Compression, Power & exhaust.  

In recent times, there has been so much said about Electric vehicles – there are many varied manufacturers and we do see many Electric cars and two-wheelers on road – there have been many attempts to push up the sales, threatening that sooner vehicles would not roll out with petrol / diesel engines.  !!   

An electric vehicle (EV) primarily is a vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. Early electric vehicles first came into existence in the late 19th century, when the Second Industrial Revolution brought forth electrification and mass utilization of DC and AC electric motors. Internal combustion engines (both gasoline and diesel engines) were the dominant propulsion mechanisms for cars and trucks for about 100 years, but electricity-powered locomotion remained commonplace in other vehicle types, such as overhead line-powered mass transit vehicles like electric trains, trams, monorails and trolley buses, as well as various small, low-speed, short-range battery-powered personal vehicles such as mobility scooters.  

Hybrid electric vehicles, where electric motors are used as a supplementary propulsion to internal combustion engines, became more widespread in the late 1990s. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, where electric motors can be used as the predominant propulsion rather than a supplement, did not see any mass production until the late 2000s, and battery electric cars did not become practical options for the consumer market until the 2010s. In Jan 1990, General Motors President introduced its EV concept two-seater, the "Impact", at the Los Angeles Auto Show 

Now many Companies are into mass production of EVs.  All-electric vehicles, also referred to as battery electric vehicles (BEVs), have an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine. The vehicle uses a large traction battery pack to power the electric motor and must be plugged in to a wall outlet or charging equipment, also called electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). Because it runs on electricity, the vehicle emits no exhaust from a tailpipe and does not contain the typical liquid fuel components, such as a fuel pump, fuel line, or fuel tank. Learn more about electric vehicles.

 

‘Vettupuli’ mentioned at the start was Santhanam in movie Kalakalappu, directed by Sundar C, starring Vimal, Shiva, Santhanam, Anjali, Oviya.   It was a good comedy film.

 

That  auto-rickshaw seen at Triplicane was dual powered – had a battery that had to be charged for running and a solar panel on top of the vehicle, which too would produce current / charge the battery !!  The man seen standing at the start, its owner & driver is a silambam master.

 
Interesting !
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
14.1.2024