The Making of God

by Thanthai Periyar

The time of god

There is no god. One who created god is a fool. One who worships god is a barbarian. Who  said that there is god? Someone said, and we know nothing else about it. But will the one who is the head of the religion and devotees accept this? He will say god came on his own, and no one created him. He or none else has shown god. He will assert that god came on his own.

I only call him a fool who created god. Why are you irritated at this? How is it that I did not know, but you come to know that he came on his own and about his self creation? Please watch carefully. It seems there was god and he was powerful.

This god who was known to him, how is that I could not know? Am I a fool? Am I a scoundrel? Are the two great men who are with me, scoundrels? Are those idiots with you all great men? I question because I have sense. I have the right to use my sense and so I ask.

The making of god

What did he, who said there is god, say to you? First of all there is no god. This idea was of recent origin in human history, which began just 3000 years back. There was no god before this. No one knew anything about the mention of god. It thundered and someone said there is a master for this thunder.

There was wind. In the same way someone said that there was a master for this wind; so about darkness and light. Please carefully watch what I say. These fellows only made out the story that there was a head for each one, and the head of all these heads was Indran. There was one to create, one to protect, one to kill, one to darkness, one to daytime, one to death, one to rain and one to wind.

This is how the head of each department was created, just we have today ministers for each department. The vedas started thus saying that there was a head for each department. For the Christian, god was there only some 2000 years ago and for a Muslim just 1500 years ago. It got changed a little.

The god of the Brahmins started some 3000 years ago, only after vedas. There was no god during the period of Vedas. He created god only after this.

The attributes of god

What did he, who created god at that time, say? He said there is god. When asked about his whereabouts, he said you cannot see. When we asked him how he appears to him,  without being known or understood by  us, he said god is formless and cannot be touched and felt. When asked how to think of god, has said that god cannot be reached through the mind.

Do you call such a person a fool or an intelligent person?  There is a thing that cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be perceived. Then how did you know about it? But he asks us to believe in it. Now tell me, whether the one who says it or the one who believes it, is a fool. Give me any other proof. How can we know otherwise? He did not stop with this. He said god is all powerful, and nothing else moves without him.

He said god needs nothing; that he is of very good character; that he is all graceful loving, and pitiful; that he is everywhere. When asked for proof for all these things, he asks us to believe. What if he is all powerful, but cannot make me believe him? His power was not useful for me to know him. Half of this world population does not believe in god.

Not only me, but 200 crores of people out of a total world population of 450 crores, do not believe in god. God cannot make any of these 200 crores believe that there is god.

One who propagates god, is a scoundrel

Do they stop with this while talking about any god? I say that one who propagates god is a scoundrel. But one who made the gods says that god has no shape or image and that he needs nothing and of good conduct. He said that he is honest. What does that scoundrel who propagates this, do? He builds temples. He makes images for the god who is formless.

Where do you get that image from? Whatever he says, he says by assuming god to be a man. All the religions say that god had no  form. But our Hindus say that god has a form. What form. That can last for ever. Have they got any sense?

One god has one head. Another has four heads, five heads, six heads and so on. He did not stop with it. The enemy of god, ‘Ravana’ had ten heads. In order to enhance the image of Rama, the one headed Rama was made to kill the ten headed Ravana. Therefore he created this false person. Two hands, six hands, ten hands, they went on increasing the hands.

Which sensible man can accept this atrocious grounds? What do we lose without these myths? Can not men live without these myths? Should not men think of all these? How long can we sustain bearing this shame of being a mean sudran? Should not a respectable man think of all these things? There is not even a single god with pure conduct! Siva has five heads and Brahmma has five heads.

Siva’s wife could not differentiate between Shiva and Brahma as both had five heads, and as both look alike. Fearing this, Siva removed one head of Brahma. What kind of justice is this? Why do they need five heads? To eat the rice, why do you require four or five heads? One head for each direction and one to look up to heavens and therefore five heads they say. Why is this stupidity? Where is the basis for this? The one who created god did not talk about six heads but those fellows concocted and wrote.

He said god does not have any form. He said god was above philosophy. It means god is not even truth, but beyond truth. He has no form. Then how did he get these forms? These temples are all full of those images. Is he not who built temple a rogue? Is he not who kept the images a fool? He makes the all powerful god look like a man. He gives him all human form and human attributes.

He says god needs nothing, but he offers food for him five times a day. The fool  gives it. The rogue eats it. Did any one ever feed the god directly? Did he ever notice the reactions of the gods while eating? Did it reach his stomach? We became great devotees because we never noticed anyone of them.

Marriage for the god

He says god needs nothing. But this same fool arranges a wife for this god. One god has two wives; another a thousand and yet another 2000 wives. What is a wife for? Does he realize anything by doing so? Not only he arranges a wife but also arranges marriage for him. Not only once, but every year he arranges marriage for the gods.

The fools we go to attend these marriages never question what happened to the marriage arranged the previous year. Who eloped with her this year? What ailment did she die of, if she died? Or is that marriage valid only for one year? Who questions that? The fool goes to attend the same marriage every year, because god is married, he says. In this way he makes sensible men into idiots.

If god is the personification of purity, why does he need a concubine? There is a concubine for Subramanian; there are lakhs of concubines for Krishna. What are all these for? Are they not beastly? These gods did not stop with the concubines, they had illicit connections with the wives of others, and had been for it. All these things happen in the name of god. It is not only what I now narrate.

The god from Srirangam comes to Uraiyur. The Brahmin thugs carry the god to the prostitutes house, watch and wait for the whole night, and take back the stone idol in the morning. Every year, when there is a festival, in every town, Vishnu goes to the prostitute’s house and Sivan goes to the prostitute’s house. What justice is this? Does man get sense out of god? Or good conduct?

The sympathy of god

He talks of god being love, but which god is kind and sympathetic? Go and see. What ever god you see, each one carries cruel sword, velayudham (the tool for killing) Sulayudham (tool to pierce the body) sword, hammer, etc. These gods carry all these should be in the hands of  rogues. How can they be gods? When love itself is Sivan, why does he need these cruel tools of murder? I say this not for laughter, but for serious reflection.

How he makes a fool of all of us! We remain human beings with all these crude tools. What does god have to do with such weapons? What do the gods, who incarnated as Siva, the son of Siva or Vishnu do with these weapons? They say he killed this one or that one, or the asuras, or the ratchasas, or three crore humans. Are they all sons of the butchers? Or are they murderers? They bear the names of gods.

In Ramayana it is mentioned that Rama killed 3 crores of persons, thereby reducing the  weight of earth itself. He assigned the job of killing humans to gods. If we seriously think  of it, they all may be understood. But we passed by fearing the consequences doing nothing about it. How many of us still remain fools? What does it mean what we criticize? How many has he cheated? How many of them are fools? What is the use of these stories these temples and these gods?

The morals of gods

Instantly he talks about Ramayana, or Kanthapurana or Bagavan or onion. He talks of Vinayaka Purana. In all these narrations, what stands out prominently is indecency and vulgarity.  Which god do you specify to be of good morals? Which god has not indulged in atrocious conduct? Should not the mention of god create atleast sound morals? Having committed all the vulgar criminal acts, and having made us believe that such persons as gods, not even one god seems to be of good conduct.

No god is worth being believed in. How many courts, police and jails? Is this the greatness of god? Therefore the basic reason for man becoming idiotic and for committing evil deeds is nothing but god and the stories about him.

If we change this, man will become honest. If we all turn rationalists, we will harm none. We will realize that everyone is like us. Today religions encourage us to exploit as much as possible. It did not leave any room for development. Therefore, it is only the god, religion, the sastras, traditions, vedas and forefathers who destroyed man’s life and made them animals preventing all growth. You should not mistake me that I am blaming them. But if you spend properly even a little of your sense, you will realize  that whatever I say is right.

When did all of them (gods) come into existence? When were they created, please tell me. It may be 2000 or 3000 years since god was created. After this, the stories of gods and Ramayana were written, say, around 2500 years since. For a Hindu this much only is said. For a Christian it is 2000 years back, and for a Muslim 1500 years ago. Use your sense and reflect on it.

Epic Funeral - C.N. Annadurai

The biggest farewell

While Diana’s may be the most widely televised, the funeral of former chief minister of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, C.N. Annadurai, on Feb 3, 1969, still holds the Guinness World Records for the “most attended funeral” with an estimated 15 million. The throng forming the procession in the state capital Chennai can be seen in photos stretching far into the horizon, following Annadurai’s casket in a reverence usually accorded to deities. In many ways the leader, who died of cancer aged 59, was god-like: unassuming in life, and humble among his people, this champion of Tamil rights and culture in India truly deserved his farewell to end all farewells.

The Star

16 December 2013

Our education standard is shamefully low

by Lok Wing Kong

The Malaysian Insider
December 11, 2013

I have predicted long ago that the Education Blueprint 2013-2025 by the Education Minister will not be able to raise the standard of the education.

My prediction is spot on when we were ranked 52nd out of 62 countries for TIMSS and is firmly entrenched at the bottom third place of the Pisa survey, worse than Vietnam.

Singapore is in second place. The young students aged 11 and 12 years from Singapore are better than our 15 years old students in reading, speaking and general knowledge, etc.

I therefore totally agree with former NST editor-in-chief Datuk A. Kadir Jassin that Muyiddin be replaced by the PM’s wife Rosmah Mansor who is more cable and efficient.

Muhyiddin does not fit to be the Education Minister and in fact not fit to be in the cabinet.

The Education portfolio is the most important one to any country and it has been placed in the hands of this man. Worse, education policies since independence have been flip-flopping many times. As the government practises neo-apartheid policies since the introduction of the New Economic Policies (NEP), non-Malays have been grossly marginalised. Since then everything is race-based and “kulitfication” is the name of the game.

Non-Malay students are out of bounce of many things such as public universities of their choice, scholarships, quotas, and so on. Banking licenses and profit making companies etc of the non-Malays have been “robbed” away by the government and handed over to Umno cronies, purportedly empowering the Malays economically.

However, there are many millions of non-Malays who are not financially well off but Umno-BN pretends not to know. Again Umno also ignores the truth that majority huge businesses are already in the hands of their Malay cronies and yet they still ask for more.

NEP is already more than 40 years old, but Najib thinks that the Malays are not already spoonfed enough. Shortly after GE13, he introduced the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Agenda. He ensures that the Malays are overfed to strengthen his grip of power in Umno.

Both mission schools and English medium schools should be quickly brought back to arrest the spiral declining standard of the English language. But the Education Minister and the PM refuse to do so.

The whole education system must be revamped in that the non-performing teachers and university teaching staff must be retired or sacked. This will serve as eye-opener for the rest to pull up their socks.

Don’t waste tax payer’s money to spoil our kids. It takes more than 50 years to reach this appalling state and it will take just as long or may be longer to rectify it. That’s provided Malaysia has produced some impeccable credible leaders who have strong political will to reverse this trend. This type of leaders may never be born in this Bolehland at all.

It is because the BN government only practises race-based and mediocre policies in all fields that Malaysia has become extremely uncompetitive. The public universities are producing rubbish graduates not employable by the private sectors. Government and GLCs are grossly overstaffed, and therefore, the efficiency is very low. Many GLCs are losing money like hell. Why?

Most of the teachers, lecturers, associate and full professors are of mediocre standard producing worse than mediocre graduates. Those helming the GLCs are half-past-six graduates.

Malaysian Airlines has never made money since its inception, instead it continuously bleeds heavily. The government continues to inject huge sum of taxpayers’ money to keep it afloat. Similarly, Proton has been hemorrhaging for more than 30 years. Again taxpayers’ money is used to keep it alive. This list goes on.

It certainly is a pipe dream to expect our graduates to be able to run and manage the GLCs well to produce profits. This is because of our lousy education system and the government’s mediocre race-based policies.

Former de-facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim is perfectly right in saying that without Umno, the Malays will be more advanced and civilised. I cannot agree with him more.

An Indian friend of mine was teaching English, Mathematics and Science in national-type secondary schools for many years. When he was transferred to a national secondary school in which 99% students are Malays, he was called up by the headmaster because the passing rate of his class was low.

So he fictitiously passed those who failed by adding extra marks here and there and he received no more shelling thereafter. He never faced this problem while teaching in the national-type schools. Every year there are 1000–1200 Malay students scoring CGPA of 4.0 (via matriculation) vs. only about 400–450 non-Malay students scording CGPA 4.0 (via STPM). – December 11, 2013.

I AM BACK

It is a rainy Sunday evening today. Sitting alone in the office and while surfing the net, I suddenly remembered my personal blog. I logged in and found out that the last I visited my blog was in 2010. 3 years has since passed and so many things has happened in my life, leaving me as a transformed person in certain aspects. Financially and professionally, I have gained a little and lost a little. But deep down, I am still the same old Mukilan - stubborn, lazy, spend-thrift, an angry man inside but calm outside and never forget to scold God and religion.

2010 was a rewarding year. Business was very good. Managed to settle a few debts which I inherited from my first divorce in 2002. But, I am a poor debt-collector. A lot of my students did not pay their fees and I was forced to write-off a few thousand ringgit. I ventured into a new business but in the end lost RM15,000 to an old childhood friend.

My relationship with my second wife was not good. It was getting from bad to worst. She openly demanded for a divorce. She went to the extent of sending me a divorce petition but I refused to sign it. So, our war extended to 2011 and in June 2012 we were officially divorced. But, I lost my 3 room walk-up apartment which  I loved dearly. I worked very hard to buy the apartment and I have a lot of fond memories of it. Anyway, there is nothing much I can do about it. What is broken is broken, what is gone is gone. But, life has to go on.

The year 2011 was not so good. My business volume was down by half. I was struggling throughout the year. My mother's health was getting bad. Both her kidneys failed. In September 2011, she was admitted in the hospital and the doctors said she has to go through dialysis. Fortunately, my father was a civil servant. So, the government took care of her medical bills. But, I couldn't afford the daily expenditures. On most of the days, I will have less than RM10 in my pocket. On 8th December 2011, 3 days after her birthday, she breathed her last. I had only RM5 with me. But, somehow I managed.

After my second divorce I had a few relationships, but none worked out. I have become wiser now and very careful in choosing my companion.

My reputation rose in the last 2 years. I left the Malaysian Dravidian Association and formed Periyar Rationalist Integrity Movement for Enrichment with my friend Vinthai Kumaran. I became the Vice-chairman and my friend is the Chairman. We managed to raise RM42000 within 18 months of its inception, I was also asked to take over an ailing NGO in Kluang. I conduct Thirukural and Tamil classes for the students around Kluang.

I wanted to shave my head for good and I finally did it in June 2012. I am happy now for I have done something that I always wanted to do but too worried about the negative comments from those around me.

I have a bought a car - Perodua Alza. So, life has got a little easier.

I have developed a new hobby, gardening and revived an old hobby, photography.

I am taking my father for a 15 day South India tour. This is something which I wanted to do for a long time. After overcoming a series of obstacles, I have finally done it. I am writing this post on the eve of our departure to India.

I now recall Frank Sinatra's song "I did it my way"

Regrets. I had a few,

but then again,

too few to mention.

I did what I have to do,

and saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course,

each careful step along the byway.

And more, much more than this,

I did it my way.

Yes, there were times,

I'm sure you knew,

when I bit of more then I could chew.

But through it all,

when there was doubt,

i ate it up and spit it out.

I faced it all and,

I stood tall

And did it my way.

Auditor General's Report- Deja vu

by Rashvinjeet S. Bedi
The Star - 5/10/2013

Every year, when a new Auditor-General's report is published, the mismanagement of funds and irregularities highlighted in previous reports are forgotten amid fresh outcry for accountability of public funds. These are just some of the “old” cases in the respective years reports that made the news.


2011
1. Rail expensive: Delays to the 329km Ipoh-Padang Besar electric double-track rail project cost the Government an extra RM3.6bil in costs - on top of its RM12.49bil contract value.
The project was found to have been delayed by 669 days, incurring additional costs on, among others, land acquisition (RM698.17mil), compensation for squatters (RM37.64mil), consultant’s fees (RM265.96mil) and electricity reconnection chargers (RM203.48mil).

2. The Defence Ministry saw cost overruns in excess of RM1bil in the construction of married quarters facilities (RKAT) for members of the Malaysian Armed Forces.
Based on the audit, the cost to develop 38 RKAT across the country stood at RM3.206bil as of December 2011, nearly double the ceiling allocation of RM1.742bil set under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

2010
3. Off target: The RM142mil RazakSAT remote sensing satellite, which failed to operate fully a year after its 2009 launch, was found to be off-target when capturing images.
The Auditor-General’s  Report said the images, which were supposed to be observed from Sungai Buloh and Subang, had deviated 37km from its original target.

4.Boxed in: Almost RM64.7mil worth of new scientific equipment had been left in their boxes for as long as three years due to the delay in building the Assembly, Integration and Test (AIT) laboratory.
The delay was caused by the late approval of the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry to construct the laboratory.

5. Paid for no work: Payments totalling nearly RM1.7mil were made to contractors without any work being done at three state funded religious schools in Sabah.


2009
6. Quiet theatre: The RM43.84mil Shah Alam Royal Theatre was found to have been unused since being completed in August 2008. The building, which was intended to stage plays and orchestra performances, had not been utilised after the contractor handed over possession to the Shah Alam City council.

7. Rich council: The Bentong municipal council paid RM871 for a toilet sign that could have been bought for RM65. The council overspent on furniture and fixtures by RM80,594 including RM38,700
on a set of spiral pendant lights that cost between RM1,500 and RM9,200 in the market. A total of RM49,420 was spent on 14 nyatoh timber leg armchairs, or RM3,530 each, although the market price for a unit was RM990.


2008
8. Super-expensive-computers: Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Mara Balik Pulau in Penang purchased two units of Acer Aspire-5052ANWXMI laptops for RM84,640.


2006
9. Screwed by prices: The National Youth Skills Institutes (IKBN) under the Youth and Sports Ministry was found to have paid RM224 for a set of screwdrivers that had a market price of RM40, a car jack that cost RM50 was bought for RM5,700, a digital camera that cost RM2,990 was bought for RM8,254.  For the 13 items that the report highlighted, the Government paid RM8.39mil more than the market price at that time.

10. Under utilised: The Customs Department  under-utilised its RM290mil information technology system but were planning to spend another RM451.30mil to develop a new one.


2005
11. Extra expenses: Selangor incurred an additional RM21mil in expenses for the delay in constructing two slaughterhouses. The original cost to build the two slaughterhouses
was RM8mil.

12. More repairs needed: Despite RM65.51mil spent on construction costs and a delay of two years, the Gelami Lemi Fresh Water Fishery Research Centre in Jelebu, Negri Sembilan, had to undergo further repairs. The contractor, did not follow specifications, resulting in poor construction.

2004

13. Deals Gone Bad: Three water privatisation deals caused the Sabah state government to be saddled with debts of RM888.08mil.

14. Out of order: The RMAF said it was unable to repair flight simulators for the Hawk and F/A-18 jet fighters in Butterworth because of a lack of funds. This was despite it signing a RM50.3mil contract covering training, hardware and maintenance with a
private company in 1988 and extended to April 2005.

15. Complex under-utilised: The RM25mil International Sea Sports Complex in Labuan was left unutilised for nearly two years since it started operations in June 2001. In 2003 and 2004, only 51 activities including the Labuan International Sea Challenge, Labuan
Arts Festival, Aidilfitri Open House, and governmentdepartment and private functions were conducted at the complex.

16. Delays increase cost: Delays in building four district police headquarters (IPD) plus quarters in Raub, Gua Musang, Kerian and Perak Tengah caused the Government to suffer at least RM5.85mil in losses.

2003
17. Way above market price: The Government paid up to 36% above the market price for certain medicines used in public hospitals and clinics despite sourcing them through open tenders. Although 140 contracts worth RM425mil were awarded through open tenders between 2001 and 2003, 83 contracts worth RM283mil went to one supplier while the rest were distributed among 11 others. 2002

18. Below par pool: The so-called international-sized pool at the RM45.5 million Darul Ehsan Aquatic Centre fell short of the required measurements set by the swimming world's governing body, Fina. The length of the aquatic centre's pool is less than 50m, the standard for an Olympic-sized pool. 1999

19. Expensive tailoring: A total of RM3.02mil was paid to alter uniforms at the Armed Forces between 1997 and June 1999. The alteration fees for the 11th Royal Malay Regiment at Semenggo Camp, Sarawak, was RM31 per uniform while for the 15th Royal Malay Regiment Sri Miri Camp, it was RM68. At the Sungei Besi air force base, it was only 70 sen.

1998
20. Expensive Door: Yayasan Melaka, a foundation fully-owned by the state government to provide scholarship for poor students, purchased a door for RM25,000, toilet and floor mats worth RM11,000 and 25 designer briefcases worth RM38,750 among many others without calling for tenders or supporting quotations. Altogether, the foundation was found to have breached financial procedures in spending a total of RM639,423.

21. No letter for RM1.6bil in loans: Two loans totalling RM1.6bil were given to Perwaja Terengganu Sdn Bhd in 1997 and 1998 in which no letter of agreement was signed
between the company and the Government.

22. Failure to check account: The Defence Ministry failed to monitor an account which paid for the purchase of military equipment from the United States, resulting in a discrepancy amounting to US$32mil (RM121.6mil). As there was no monitoring done, about US$66.7mil (RM253.5mil) was withdrawn from the account although the
equipment supplied was worth only US$34.7mil (RM131.9mil).

1997
23. Poor revenue management: The Immigration Department in Damansara Town Centre did not bank in 4,680 bank drafts worth RM32mil in 1997. They were not cashed within the bank draft's validity period of three to six months. Of the amount, only 1,757
bank drafts worth RM14.97mil were recovered from those who issued the drafts.

24. Medical tools lying idle: Audit checks found 55 pieces of medical equipment worth RM1.41mil lying idle in government hospitals and dental clinics. The equipment included two operating microscopes each worth RM49,950 in Muar and Kangar Hospital, both unused for more than 19 months.

1995
25. Fund for disaster victims abused: The Malacca state used money from an emergency fund meant for flood and fire victims for the purchase of five Mercedes Benz cars for state executive councillors, a RM279,250 on an official car for the Malacca governor's wife, a RM271,500 car for the Chief Minister and a Proton Perdana costing
RM60,644. Other purchases included RM13,160 for a computer table and RM13,300 for two chairs. Altogether RM10.18 million for 29 expenses was drawn from the emergency fund in 1995.

1993
26. Exorbitant seminar: The Melaka state government paid RM194,204 for a political party seminar. The Chief Minister's Office paid for the purchase of fountain pens as souvenirs for the delegates and organisation costs totalling RM168,394. Another RM25,810 was for a dinner for seminar delegates. The government also undertook three purchases involving RM216,084 without calling for tenders in 1993. They include the purchase of 1,434 food packets costing RM81,594.

Madrasapatinam

I generally don't enjoy Tamil movies except for a few movies starred by Kamalhaasan, Satyaraj and Sivaji Ganesan. But there is one particular movie released this year which really attracted me. The storyline is somewhat different from others. It blends history and romance. The casts were selected carefully and in my opinion they gave their best.
I am not good at writing movie reviews. so,I copied the following movie review from Wikipedia.
The movie begins as an elderly English woman Amy Wilkinson (Carole Trungmar), almost at her deathbed in London, wants to come down to Chennai in search of a young man Ilam Parithi (Arya) whom she last saw on 15 August, 1947 to return a Thaali (the sacred thread tied around the neck of the bride by her groom) of his mother, which he gave her as a sign of stating that she belongs to India and nobody can separate them. However, after a turn of events, she had married another man from her hometown and thus felt that the thali was no longer her property.
Amy Wilkinson arrives in Chennai with her granddaughter Catherine (Lisa Lazarus), equipped only with a picture of Parithi that was taken sixty years ago. Wilkinson interrogates various people about Parithi's whereabouts. In the process, she recalls the events when she had first visited Chennai, and the chain of events that took place:
A young Amy (Amy Jackson), the daughter of the Madras Presidency Governor, visits Chennai (then called Madrasapattinam) along with her translator Nambi (Cochin Hanifa) and encounters Parithi, whom she calls "brave man". Parithi, a member of the dhobi (launderer) clan is also an experienced wrestler who trains under Ayyakanu (Nassar). He openly opposes the British officials who attempt to build a golf course in the dhobi clan's dwelling place. He challenges a cruel racist officer named Robert Ellis (Alexx O'Nell), who is also Amy's suitor, to a wrestling match to decide the fate of his clan's home. Parithi is successful, and Ellis vows revenge.
Following a series of secret meetings between Parithi and Amy, love blossoms between them, and Parithi affectionately calls her "Duraiyamma", a polite term of addressing British women. However a major threat comes in the form of independence for India on August 15, 1947, which means that all White officials and their families, including Amy, would have to leave India. On the eve of independence, all of India is celebrating. However Amy and Parithi, determined to be together, run away and are hunted by an angry Ellis and his force. An Indian policeman helps the two of them by hiding them in a clock tower on top of the Madras Central Railway Station, but they are discovered by Ellis. After a fierce fight, Ellis is killed and Parithi is badly wounded. Amy helps Parithi to escape by casting him with a life-raft into the Coovom river, before she is captured and taken back to London. She had never known if Parithi survived, or what his fate was.
Back in the present, Wilkinson is urgently called back to London to have a life-saving operation. But she is determined to find Parithi and, by chance, encounters a taxi driver who assumes that she would want to visit a charitable trust named Duraiyamma Foundation. The driver shows her around the foundation, which has organisations providing free housing, education and medical care (which were all promised to the dhobi children by the young Amy several years ago). She realizes that the Duraiyamma Foundation was established by Ilam Parithi, and named after her.
When she asks the driver what became of Parithi, he leads her to his tomb, and reveals that he died twelve years ago. She kneels before the tomb and claims the thali necklace as her own. She declares "It's mine!" before quietly passing away on Parithi's tomb. Her granddaughter mourns for her, and the taxi driver is dumbfounded to learn that the old woman was "Duraiyamma" herself. The epilogue shows Parithi and Amy (as they were in their younger days) in the afterlife, depicted as a 1940's-style Madrasapattinam. As the credits roll, a series of montage images are shown, illustrating the transformation of Madrasapattinam of the 1940's to modern-day Chennai.
I normally don't feel sad after watching a movie but this movie made me ponder about life's difficulties, separations, and the sorrows that accompany it

Asliza-my old friend

It was 1975. I was in Standard 5 Red (1st class) in Sekolah Tunku Mahmud (1). As usual Ravindran, my best friend and i always sit together in the class. Our class teacher was Mr. Robert Gan. We had the same teacher as our class teacher when we were in Standard 4. I think he must have noticed our friendship when we were in Standard 4. So, when we progressed to Standard 5, he seperated us. He made us sit at the opposite corners of the class. Ravindran was made to sit at the left corner and I was made to sit at the right corner of the class.

My neighbour was a long-haired sweet looking girl. She was a quiet, shy and a reserved person just like me. Unlike now, those days, I don't talk to girls at all. There are a lot of female classmates that i have never spoken to during my schooldays.

So, how am I to spend the rest of the year sitting beside this girl? It took sometime for us to break the ice. I slowly begin to talk to her by asking for a pencil or eraser. Most of the time I go to school without stationeries. I usually borrow from Zam-Zam who was sitting behind me. So, now I got an additional person to aid me. Our friendship slowly blossomed. I remember there were a few occassions when she teased me. According to her, I helped her by putting a tick for inaccurate answers just for her to gain additional marks. But I can't remember that.

The days passed by and we became good friends although not very close. The reason was I didn't want to be teased by my friends. I can't remember much about us, as both of us were very shy. But, I was kind of respect her. So, who is this girl? Yes, she is Asliza Ahmad.

She left our school a year later after her father was transfered to Kuala Lumpur. Since then I did not hear about her until March this year through Facebook. At first I was a bit reluctant to contact her as I was unsure. She started the conversation by asking whether do I still remember her.

Our friendship is now reestablished after 35 years. She has been an air stewardess and held many other positions in the airline industry as well as in the corporate sector. She is very knowledgable and dynamic.

She is now staying in Shah Alam and has a lovely son. We communicate almost daily. Both of us have so much to talk but so little time.