Gomathi: Golden Tamilachi And Not Golden Indian?
At the drop of a hat, politicians in Tamilnadu rush to corner mileage. DMK offers Rs 10 lakh and a little later AIADMK gives Rs 15 lakh to Gomathi Marimuthu, the Trichy girl who won gold in 800 metres dash at the Asian Athletics Championship in Doha last week. Amid this competitive honouring spree, urban naxal elements were active in marking their presence. A group led by crorepati pro LTTE padre Jagat Gasper Raj arranged a press meet for Gomathi tomtoming. She was made to recall her childhood poverty only to point a finger at the Central government. An employee of the Income Tax department on sports quota for years, Gomathi was tutored to wail over her tattered shoes that she wore during the running race. Later she confided that she wore those shoes as it was her lucky pair thus effectively blackening the faces of those urban naxals. But the damage was done. She was made a tool to run down the national government. One fondly remembers the flying Indian Milka Singh who broke world records at the track running barefoot in the sixties. He was called by Pakistan president Ayub Khan “the flying Sikh” instead of flying Indian. Gomathi too was held up as “Thanga Tamilachi” (Golden Tamil woman) and not as Golden Indian, betraying the parochial thinking raising its head in Taminadu polity.
Paradigm Shift in Studies Choice: Why Not Ayurveda or Sanskrit?
Today (May 5) 1.34 lakh Tamilnadu students wrote NEET exam (27,000 students more than last year). Incidentally, in a recent interview, Dr. Saravanan of the Tamilnadu chapter of National Medicos Organisation replied: “why not Ayurvda?” when asked what is the future for those students who don’t pass NEET. That is a new way of thinking. Failing in exam is not the end of life. The students should always look for an alternative. Why should they not think about joining the two-year ITI (Over 100 trades are available now) to hone up a skill, ask friends of parents. Future will be secure, they assert. At the same time, requirements of the industry will be better served. They could also think of learning our ancient language “SANSKRIT”, as more learners seek it with every passing day, hinting that more staff will be needed. When there is a paradigm shift in choosing studies, options are unlimited.
"Rs 1 Lakh Crore Enough To Quench Thirst Of South"
VIT Chancellor G. Viswanathan, recalling his interaction as a Parliamentarian with the then Minister for Water Resources K.L. Rao during 1967, said Rao felt that even though all rivers in the country could be linked with the Ganges, it would be easy to link the Godavari with the Cauvery and if we link these rivers, south India will not face any problem for water. Speaking at a National Waterways Development Technology at Vellore, Viswanathan pointed out that the project can be done at an inexpensive cost and no State would oppose it. “India’s budget is about ₹28 lakh crore and if we allocate₹1 lakh crore to link rivers the scheme can be implemented in one year. The Central government has spent ₹5 lakh crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. If the Centre had spent this amount for interlinking of rivers, a lot of farmers would have benefitted,” Viswanathan said. “If we interlink rivers from the Palar to the Tamiraparani in Tamilnadu we will be able to take water from one river to another during floods. We have about 40,000 lakes and waterbodies in Tamil Nadu and we have to protect them by desilting them,” he added.
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