A Letter to My Daughter - 1

Dear Abhima,

Today, I want to write to you about how should you see "LIFE" - not in the biological sense, animals, plants etc, but to say as to how do we lead our lives.

Many poets, thinkers and philosophers have tried to describe how should one lead a life.

The regular questions, which come to our minds are:

1. Whether we should be success seeking?
2. Whether we should be rich and work towards it?
3. Whether we should lead a simple life?
4. Whether to concentrate and dedicate to service of humanity?

If you see around you, you can find people with different aspirations and ambitions in life. It is not possible to say which is right or which is wrong.

If say, one could easily say that people should lead their life in service to mankind and that is the right way, then everyone around us would have been doing that! Or, if we could say that everybody should work only to get more money and that is right, then, well, almost everyone around us would have been doing that.

No, it is not the case. LIFE has to be a balance of all these. It has to be a mixture of all these. One should work, have ambitions, keep studying, make money, relax, help others, service the society and have a commitment to the environment also.

Now, I feel that is a life well lived!

Having understood what makes a life meaningful, now you may ask how to achieve it. That is not difficult. What is difficult, though, is to understand how much relaxing, how much reading, how much money making and how much service is required to complete a meaningful life. And thats where people differ among each other.

You want to watch TV? Yes, you want to relax. How long?
You want to study? Yes, you want to improve your knowledge. How far?
You want to work? Yes, you want to make money. How much?

That is where Abhi, you should be clear. Because, if somebody misses this understanding on the balance of money, recreation and knowledge seeking, they would be working while they were to relax and studying while servicing people. This misunderstanding confuses our priorities and spoils all our relationships, which are very vital in having a pleasant stay on this earth.

Setting your priorities in life is important. Work while you work, play while you play, maintain relationships when you must and make money when are supposed to. All these are important. Money, knowledge, relationships and Moral values - all shape ones life and destiny. You are considered successful in life only when you have all of them. When you have only a few and in the process missed out others - your life will be deemed incomplete.

So, strive hard to equip yourself, gain more knowledge, be wealthy, help others and in the process - keep your relationships!

I hope you will appreciate this.

Please do write your opinions, doubts and differences in a long mail to Appa.

With love,
Appa

சாமி

குருதி கொட்டும்

கிடா தலை

சாராயம் வழியும்

படையற்த் தட்டு

அடுத்த வெட்டுக்கு

ஓங்கி எழும்

அரிவாளை நிறுத்தவியலா

பரிதவிப்புடன் பார்க்கும்

சாமி

நோவாவின் படகு

நீயற்ற நிதர்சனம்
எரியும் ஹைட்ரஜன்
தீர்ந்த அந்திம சூரியனாய்
சுருங்கும் வாழ்வின் கணங்கள்
நேரப் போகும்
குளிர்ப் பாலையின்
முதல் ஊசிகள்
செருகப்பட்டுவிட்ட
என் கண்ணீர் படிந்த
மிக நீள் இரவுகளில்
மோத ஆருமற்று
வெறுமைகளால் நிறைந்து
அலையும்காற்று
நீ எனக்கிட்ட

அந்த

முதல் முத்தத்தின்

வெம்மையிலும் ஈரத்திலும்

விளைந்து விடாதா

அழிந்து விட்ட

இந்தவுலகின்

முதல் உயிர்

My First Day at School

s I walked into the sunlit room
Which was filled with strangers all around
Sitting in rows and columns with teacher standing
With a book and marker in her hand.

The Classroom was pink in colour and chairs blue;
With all tables with books.
She introduced me to the class with a smiling face
I was late for an hour but relieved that no class was there

A

I was very curious and excited to know the students’ names
Which was of no luck;
The students were all seeing me with smiling faces
Some asked my name, but never told theirs

Classes went fast with strange teachers
Who gave so much work to do.
I can see happy faces and sad faces
Who are missing their holidays at home.

At last bell rang at 2.30 pm and
There my father was, waving his hand at me.

- DEVASENA SARAVANAN

Muzium Negara, Kuala Lumpur

Built at the behest of the then Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, the modern Muzium Negara (National Museum) replaced the old Selangor Museum. Designed by famed Architect Ho Kok Hoe, the structure is 362 feet long and 124 feet high at the central point. The architects’ design for the museum included two murals, each 115 feet long and 20 feet high one on either side of the main entrance. The murals were designed by Cheng Lai Tong.



The architect designed the outside of the building so that the first floor appeared to be supported on 26 concrete pillars, extending at intervals along the full length of the building, thus including a feature which is typical of all traditional Malay house.

Inside Batu Cave

Light & Shade Play