What is
intelligence ? – what is wisdom ? – is that related to one’s education only –
does that come by early education in great institutions !! – what happened to
daily wage earners and small shop owners during Covid ? – Qs, Qs and more! – this post is on this man appearing in this photo .. and my
admirations !
At Thiruvallikkeni
(anglicised Triplicane) – there are famous roads – Beach Road (now Kamarajar
Salai), Bells Road, Triplicane High Road (Tram Road), Dr Besant Road and Bharathi Salai ………… even today, for those living in
Triplicane, the Barathi Salai, is remembered by its earlier name ‘Pycrofts
Road’. The road winds from Presidency
College / Marina Ground, Triplicane Bus stand, Victoria Hostel, Gosha Hospital,
many Book publishing shops (and platform shops selling
old priceless books in evening), Ratna Café, Zambazaar, Amir Mahal, an
ancient house once visited by Nethaji Subash Chandra Bose and more… about some
decades ago, it had some famous photo studios – Chandrika, Vanitha, Pandian
….and cloth shops like Popular Swadeshi Stores (sadly it longer exists as is
Murali Café)
In
criminology, examining why people commit crime is very important in the ongoing
debate of how crime should be handled and prevented. The occurrence of a crime
depends on two things: the presence of at least one motivated offender who is ready
or willing to engage in a crime, and the conditions of the environment in which
that offender is situated, to wit, opportunities for crime. All crimes require
opportunity but not every opportunity is followed by crime.
Then most killers know
their victims and plan to execute the crime. Generally disgruntled affairs,
property disputes, jealousy, family squabble, public squabble, political
rivalry, crime and more are given as reasons for murders. Rarely, (that too in Western Countries) –
there are random killings, killing with the 'thrill' of taking a human
life. In the
interesting ‘The King of Torts’ of John Grisham, the hero takes on the case of Tequila Watson, a man
accused of a random street killing.
The King of Torts (2003)
written by John Grisham remained in the
top 15 for over 20 weeks of its debut.
In the thriller, Clay Carter, a
poorly paid public defender reluctantly takes on the case of Tequila Watson, a
man accused of a random street killing. Watson insists that he somehow wasn't in
control of his body when he pulled the trigger, a story which Clay tries to
dismiss, but can't get out of his mind.
It leads to a drug named Tarvan;
drug addicts experimented on
illegally by an unnamed pharmaceutical company, and mass law suits that follow!
The Innocent Man: Murder
and Injustice in a Small Town is a 2006 true crime book by John Grisham, his
only nonfiction title as of 2020. The book tells the story of Ronald 'Ron'
Keith Williamson of Ada, Oklahoma, a former minor league baseball player who
was wrongly convicted in 1988 of the rape and murder of Debra Sue Carter in Ada
and was sentenced to death. After serving 11 years on death row, he was
exonerated by DNA evidence and other material introduced by the Innocence
Project and was released in 1999.
I am so fond of
Sujatha, the great intellectual writer, who raised the level of Tamil novels to
hitherto untouched echelons. His
brainchild Ganesh-Vasanth lawyers, possessed the best brain, but perhaps owned
a Premier Padmini car ! ~ in English
fiction, things are far different. Have read a couple of English novels; by
John Grisham. In
‘the Summons’, Ray Atlee, is a law
professor with a good salary at the University of Virginia. He has a brother,
Forrest, and a father, known to many as Judge Reuben V. Atlee. Ray is sent to
his father's house in Clanton, Mississippi, to discuss issues regarding the old
man's will and estate. In such stories,
heroes would upon realizing a good earning would buy a Ferrari, a Private Jet,
a red Lockheed at that.
John Ray Grisham Jr. is an
American novelist, attorney, politician, and activist, best known for his
popular legal thrillers. His books have been translated into 42 languages and
published worldwide. Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University and
received a J.D. degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in
1981. He practiced criminal law for about a decade and served in the
Mississippi House of Representatives from 1984 to 1990. His first novel, A Time
to Kill, was published in June 1989, four years after he began writing it.
According to Academy of Achievement his books have sold 300 million copies and
he has written 28 consecutive number one bestsellers. Grisham's first
bestseller, The Firm, sold more than seven million copies .. ..
this is no
post on John Grisham or English novels.
Covid 19 did affect people economically, many were not able to earn as
shops and establishments remained closed and business was affected badly. .. .. now shops are open – in Pycrofts road,
in the evening one could find many platform shops selling School/college books
and many others .. .. and you could find some priceless treasures too.
A couple of days back, was amazed at the answer given by this
gentleman selling books on the road platform nearer Murali café in Pycrofts
Road, Triplicane. Just as I was gleaning
the books, he started the conversation stating – many English novels are
available. As I zeroed on ‘The confession’
of John Grisham – he said, there are more Grisham books available with him.
Awestruck – I
asked him – whether he reads those books and how come, he knows John Grisham by
name. The answer was simple – ‘we go by
the demands’ – sir. Often people ask and
that way, I know, Dan Brown, John Grisham, Jeffery Archer .. .. .. .. and added
that he has Kolaiyuthir kalam, En iniya iyanthira and Sorgatheevu of Sujatha !
By the looks,
the man would not have completed his school and would have been forced to try
many a jobs trying to make ends meet – really appreciate the spirit, sales
skills and knowledge of this bookseller. Perhaps he is not alone, a couple of
years back (when was searching for some Engineering books) met Kalaiarasan in
Moore market – who could reel out the syllabus and books of various disciplines
of Engineering, could recall the price of the book, quoting half of that and ..
.. surprised me no ends by stating the price of a particular book to be Rs.950
– quipping, this is a British publication, you can scan the code and convert
the rate in British Pounds to Rupees and pay half of that to me.
Wisdom is not learnt in Schools and books – lot of that is available with such people like these book-sellers too !! Respects and regards to all those possessing conventional and practical wisdom !!
31st July 2021.
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