Auto Aristotle ! - roadside learnings !!

Do you know what is ‘Lyceum’ ?- it was best known to be a school of philosophy – this is a post is on ‘learning that we get on streets’ !  ~  a powerful message on avoiding bribes. 

பிச்சை எடுத்தாவது படி !  ஆனால் படித்து பதவிக்கு வந்தபின் பிச்சை எடுக்காதே !!

 

A trip to Chennai (or for that matter most Indian cities)  would never be complete without an encounter with them……… the ubiquitous three-wheelers painted yellow and called ‘auto-rickshaws’.  In the city so well connected by road, rail, sea and air.  - a drive  in this [the peculiar sitting posture of the driver, the cuts and turn-arounds of the vehicle – its capacity to turn at right angles and wade through milling crowds], the language of its drivers, the missing meters and the bargain – can all force mortal fear in you no ends. 

 

File photo of Mr Balaji, a friendly auto driver of Triplicane kulakkarai

 

In the Ajit starrer ‘Attahasam’ – Karunas  is an auto-driver – Ajit & Co would pull the vehicle from backside, as the vehicle could not move –  help would be sought – first Ajit would adjust the mirror and allow the vehicle to move ~ next Ajit, would stop a way-side auto – adjust its mirror, then vehicle would move – confused Karuna would mumble on the logic  !! ….. in the super hit ‘Basha’ – Manikkam (Rajinikanth) is a humble auto driver who helps the needy. He also keeps away from unnecessary fights and quarrels.  

All great philosophies and philosophers of the world have been those who made man premier of their teachings. The first entity that man encounters in this boundless universe is his own self. Centuries before, Socrates, who was influenced by Sophism,  asserted that the real subject of man’s knowledge is the man himself. Out of copious philosophers who emerged in ensuing phases some assumed prominence in comparison to others.Philosophy (from Greek  philosophia, literally "love of wisdom") is the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. The term was probably coined by Pythagoras.  

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”  -  Aristotle.   

Aristotle (384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, and the arts. As the founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy in the Lyceum in Athens, he began the wider Aristotelian tradition that followed, which set the groundwork for the development of modern science.  

Aristotle was revered among medieval scholars as "The First Teacher", - his works contain the earliest known formal study of logic. Aristotle was appointed as the head of the royal Academy of Macedon. During Aristotle's time in the Macedonian court, he gave lessons not only to Alexander but also to two other future kings: Ptolemy and Cassander. Aristotle encouraged Alexander toward eastern conquest, and Aristotle's own attitude towards Persia was unabashedly ethnocentric. 

There are many Aristotles locally and sometimes you find their writings on Auto rickshaws.   Some times such thoughts are mind boggling and thought-provoking.  Here is one found in Bharathiyar Salai recently. 

 

It roughly translates (but so catchy when you read it in Tamil) :  Begging is not wrong if it for Education; but  ‘ one should never beg after reaching official  status by virtue of education’  conveying  meaning “never take bribes”. 

The Lyceum  was a temple in Athens dedicated to Apollo Lyceus ("Apollo the wolf-god", best known for the Peripatetic school of philosophy founded there by Aristotle in 334 BC. Aristotle fled Athens in 323 BC,and the university continued to function after his lifetime under a series of leaders until the Roman general Sulla destroyed it during his assault on Athens in 86 BC.The remains of the Lyceum were discovered in modern Athens in 1996 in a park behind the Hellenic Parliament.

 
Interesting !
 
With regards – S Sampathkumar.
11.4.2024