The late Madhaviah Krishnan born in Tirunelveli on June 30, 1912, was a pioneering Indian wildlife photographer, writer and naturalist. He studied in the Tirunelveli Hindu High School and developed an interest in literature, art and nature. In his article ‘A Bird Emblem for India‘ published in 1961, says that a decision was made to select a bird as the national emblem of India at a meeting of the Indian Board for Wildlife held in Ootacammund. The Swan, the Peacock, the Sarus crane, the Brahminy kite, and the Bustard were considered against the following criteria for the bird to be declared ‘national’:
It must be well distributed within the country.
It must be recognizable to the average person.
It must lend itself to the formal depiction, i.e., abstract depiction on Government publications, etc.
It must not be confused with the bird emblem of any other nation.
It must be associated with Indian myths and legends and represented in ancient Indian art and sculpture.
The choice was the peacock and was declared the “National Bird of India”.
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Rajasthan High Court judge, Mahesh Chandra Sharma
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Now, to the bane of India, we have the following declaration from Mahesh Chandra Sharma, a so-called eminent Judge of the Rajasthan High Court judge, before his retirement on June 1, 2017:
“Peacocks don’t have sex. The peacock is a lifelong brahmachari (celibate). It never has sex with the peahen. The peahen gets impregnated after swallowing the tears of the peacock.”
What would this ‘eminent and keen observing‘ judge of the Rajasthan High Court say if he sees this video?
A domestic helper, domesticworker or domestic servant, also in extreme instances called “a menial”, is a person who works in an employer’s household.
All over the world, many domestichelpers employed by urban families are people from the rural areas and most of them are live-in domestics receiving their room and board as part of their salaries. Often, their living quarters may not usually be as comfortable as those occupied by the employer’s family members. In most cases, they sleep in the kitchen or in small rooms, such as a box room or closet in the attic or basement of the house.
The domestic helpers do a variety of household chores: clean and keep up the house, cook, do laundry and ironing, buy food from vendors and shops, take care of children and elderly persons; and do other errands such as taking children to school, etc.
The contribution and skill of domestic helpers have been highly praised by some employers, but many households undervalue their contribution.
In the following video, Lisa, a domestic helper from the Philippines, comes to work at the household of Serene, her Singaporean employer. Serene takes Lisa’s passport and work permit, and does not allow her to take a day off. One day, summoned by the Principal of her daughter‘s school Serene realizes that she is inadvertently drilling her daughteron how to treat others badly and needs to mend her own ways and set a good example for her own child about respecting and appreciating others.
One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.‘
The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’
And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”l
And when Jesus saw that [he] answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions
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All the established religions of the world concur in one axiom, namely, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
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In Hinduism
The Hindus, followers of the oldest of the religions now being practised, believe that one’s own Self or Soul is really identical with the Self or Soul of all other creatures. Hence one who injures another injures oneself. In the Hindu Vedas, “Love your neighbour as yourself'” is an inherent precept of unity with the absolute self, ‘That art thou’ (tat tvam asi). So, it follows that because one loves oneself, one is bound to love one’s neighbour, who is not different from oneself”
“This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you.” (Mahabharata 5,1517)
“One should not behave towards others in a way which is disagreeable to oneself. This is the essence of morality. All other activities are due to selfish desire.” (Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva 113.8)
For the devout Jew, all the commandments were to be kept with equal care, but there is evidence of preoccupation in Jewish sources with the question put to Jesus.
In Leviticus 19:15-18, we read:
You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your neighbour justly.
You shall not go about spreading slander among your people; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbour’s life is at stake. I am the LORD.
You shall not hate any of your kindred in your heart. Reprove your neighbour openly so that you do not incur sin because of that person.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your own people. You shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD.
It is a mitzvah (commandment) for every human to love each and everyone from Israel as he loves his own body (self). As it is written, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself“, therefore one must sing his neighbour’s praises, and show concern for his financial well-being, as he would for his own well-being and as he would for his own honour. Anyone who aggrandizes himself at the expense of another person has no portion in the world to come.
In the first century BC, Hillel (later known as Hillel the Elder) migrated to the Land of Israel from his birthplace Babylonia, to study Torah. He worked as a woodcutter and eventually became the most influential force in Jewish life. Hillel is said to have lived in great poverty. He was known for his humanitarianism. One of his most famous sayings, recorded in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers, a tractate of the Mishnah), is “If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?”
The following source Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a is usually quoted to approve of Hillel’s indulgence of the gentile and the wisdom of this approach.
Shammai, a native of the Land of Israel was Hillel the Elder’s friendly adversary. Little is known about him, except that he was a builder, known for the strictness of his views. He was reputed to be dour, quick-tempered and impatient.
One day a gentile came to Shammai and said to him: “Convert me (to Judaism) on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.”
Irked by the request of the gentile, Shammai pushed him aside with the measuring stick he was holding.
A few days later this same gentile went to Hillel, and Hillel converted him, saying: “That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary, go and learn it.”
Let us take Hillel’s words seriously and try to understand what he means.
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In Zoroastrianism
That nature is only good when it shall not do unto another whatever is not good for its own self. (Dad istan-i-Dinik)
“Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others.” (Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29)
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In Jainism
“A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated.” (Sutrakritanga 1.11.33)
“One should treat all beings as he himself would be treated.” (Agamas Sutrakritanga 1.10.13)
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In Taoism
Regard your Neighbour’s gain as your own gain and your neighbour’s loss as your own loss. (T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien)
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In Buddhism
“…a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?” (Samyutta Nikaya v. 353)
“Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” (Udana-Varga 5:18)
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In Confucianism
“Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state.” (Analects 12:2)
“Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence.” (Mencius VII.A.4)
Tsekung asked, “Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?” Confucius replied, “It is the word shu–reciprocity: Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.” (Analects 15.23)
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In Islam
“No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.” (#13 of An-Nawawi’s Forty Hadiths)
I am reproducing here a part of the article “‘Love thy neighbour’ in Islam” written for the January 2008 issue of the London-based Faith Magazine. cf. http://www.faith.org.uk (See Related Articles at the bottom for the link to the full article).
Another point needs to be made. Whereas Christian doctrine prescribes loving thy neighbour like thyself, Muslim doctrine prescribes loving for one’s brother (an yuhibba li-akhî-hi) what one loves for oneself. Here, Islam’s wording of the golden rule is not dictated by any of Arabic’s linguistic or syntactical rules but is instead intentional. It is not love thy neighbour, but love for thy neighbour [. . .].” The object of man’s love is again beyond mankind because it is of God. As the eminent medieval theologian al-Ghazâlî (d. 505/1111) wrote, only God is the One who deserves love; man’s love for himself leads directly to God since every man owes his existence to God.
But who is the one for whom we must love that which we love for ourselves? Another important collector of canonical sayings and deeds by and about the Prophet, al-Tirmidhî (d. 278/899), said that “if you love for those you love what you love for yourself, you are a Muslim.” One’s brother is also Muslim and, not unlike neo-testamentary writings, brotherhood is first of all linked to confession, this according to the writings of the Tradition. For many, the Muslim’s brother is a Muslim, the believer’s brother is the believer, everyone is a brother in God’s religion and in His Book, that is to say in the pact with the Messenger, and even a slave is a brother when he prays. The Qur’an itself says that “believers are naught else than brothers” (Qur’an, 49:10) and that “He made friendship between your hearts so that ye became as brothers by His grace” (Qur’an, 3:102-103).
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In Sikhism
Treat others as thou wouldst be treated by thyself. (Adi Grandth)
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In Bahá’í Faith
Desire not for anyone the things that ye would not desire for yourselves. (Gleanings 66)
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Recently I read the following passage attributed to the American Shawnees Indians:“Do not kill or injure your neighbour, for it is not him that you injure, you injure yourself. But do good to him, therefore add to his days of happiness as you add to your own. Do not wrong or hate your neighbour, for it is not him that you wrong, you wrong yourself. But love him, for Moneto loves him also as he loves you.”
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There are many people
who will say they’re Christians
and they live like Christians on the Sabbath day
But come Monday morning, til the coming Sunday
They will fight their neighbor all along the way
{chorus}
Oh you don’t love God, if you don’t love your neighbor
if you gossip about him, if you never have mercy
if he gets into trouble, and you don’t try to help him
then you don’t love your neighbor, and you don’t love God
In the Holy Bible, in the Book of Matthew
Read the 18th chapter in the 21st verse
Jesus plainly tells us that we must have mercy
There’s a special warning in the 35th verse
Oh you don’t love God, if you don’t love your neighbor
if you gossip about him, if you never have mercy
if he gets into trouble, and you don’t try to help him
then you don’t love your neighbor, and you don’t love God
There’s a God almighty, and you’ve got to love him
if you want salvation and a home on high
If you say you love him while you hate your neighbor
then you don’t have religion, you just told a lie
Oh you don’t love God, if you don’t love your neighbor
if you gossip about him, if you never have mercy
if he gets into trouble, and you don’t try to help him
then you don’t love your neighbor, and you don’t love God
Oh you don’t love God, if you don’t love your neighbor
if you gossip about him, if you never have mercy
if he gets into trouble, and you don’t try to help him
then you don’t love your neighbor, and you don’t love God
then you don’t love your neighbor, and you don’t love God
The mark of the highest skill of a snooker player is the ability to score a century break.
In snooker, English billiards and in other British usages, a century or century break is the scoring of 100 points or more, potting at least 26 consecutive balls from the break off until clearing the table in a frame.
English professional snooker and pool player Ronald Antonio O’Sullivan, OBE (born December 5, 1975), has described a player’s first career century as the “ultimate milestone for any snooker player“.
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Ronnie O’Sullivan at Snooker German Masters 2015 in Berlin (Photo: DerHexer)
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Ronnie O’Sullivan, widely considered as one of the greatest players in the sport’s history is known for his rapid playing style. Due to his mercurial temperament and ambivalent relationship with the sport, Ronnie O’Sullivan has taken prolonged period of leave and has repeatedly threatened to retire from the sport.
O’Sullivan’s achievements in snooker began at an early age. As a child snooker prodigy, he made his first century break at age 10, and his first maximum break at age 15.
In 1992, at the age of 16, O’Sullivan turned professional and because of his rapid playing style earned the nickname “The Rocket“.
O’Sullivan’s achieved his first major professional success by winning the 1993 UK Championship at the age of 17 years and 358 days, making him the youngest player ever to win a ranking title – a record he still holds.
He is also the youngest player to have won his first title in 1995 at the age of 19 years and 69 days.
Over 20,000 century breaks have been recorded by snooker players in professional tournaments.
A century of centuries is the achievement of 100 or more century breaks in a career, a feat few players have achieved to date. Only Neil Robertson has achieved one hundred 100s in a single season, during 2013/2014.
The following players are reported to have passed 100 breaks and at least the given threshold (in 50 break increments) above this, and Ronnie O’Sullivan tops the list with 850.
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The Triple Crown is a collective term used for the three most prestigious major snooker tournaments: the UK Championship, the Masters, and the World Championship. In Triple Crown events, O’Sullivan’s has a record of five UK Championship titles, a record seven Masters titles, and five World Championship titles.
Stephen Hendry has a record of 36 ranking titles. O’Sullivan’s career total of 28 ranking titles puts him in joint second place with Steve Davis and John Higgins and in snooker’s all-time prize-money list, his career earnings of over £8 million put him in second place after Hendry.
As a prolific break-builder, O’Sullivan holds the record for the most competitive career century breaks with 863. He also holds the record for the 13 maximum breaks, the most ratified in professional competition, and for the three fastest competitive maximum breaks, the quickest of which he played in 5 minutes and 20 seconds at the 1997 World Championship.
I saw the following video posted on Facebook without any description, leaving viewers to speculate.
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As of today, this video on Facebook has 4,310,649 views, 7.7K likes, 8,784 shares and 23 Comments.
The first comment that I saw at the top said, “What the hell is going on.”
This video of a woman stirring the contents in the pot over a fire was followed by a video that shows an easterner recycling plastic using machinery that produces rice-shaped plastic pellets for manufacturing plastic products.
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After the above videos followed the image of a packet of Thai Milagrosa Scented Rice with Chinese letters displayed prominently .
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A packet of Thai Milagrosa Scented Rice with Chinese letters displayed prominently.
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Putting three and three together, almost 95% of the Facebook readers deduced that the woman in the first video was making plastic rice.
One wise person popped up the question, “What is happening in the world today?” and another, weak in geography said, “Read your labels at all times. If it was made in China leave it on the shelf.” And a ‘know-all’ person from Oba, Nigeria wrote a lengthy comment on “How to Identify Plastic Rice or Fake Rice“.
By the way, not all Facebook members are fools. A woman from Nassau City, New Providence, Bahamas, said, “There is fake plastic rice, however, that’s not what the lady is doing in this particular video… Yall so silly I would explain what that is but nah it’s so hilarious. ” But she never revealed what she knew. Maybe she herself did not know what it really was.
Finally, a comment by Shana Wiltshire from Brooklyn, New York who said, “Lol.. this is how rice goes from brown to puffed white rice… nothing wrong with this… and it’s an Indian method not Chinese“, assuaged my curiosity.
Yes. The woman in the first video was making popped puff rice.
Here is a video showing the indigenous method of making popped puff rice for sale in India.
Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. (Matthew 26:14-16)
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Hank Williams Sr
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The greatest American country music artist of all time, Hiram Hank Williams Sr., a singer-songwriter and musician, was country music’s first superstar. He earned fame with songs like “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Hey, Good Lookin’,” “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive,” “30 Pieces of Silver” etc.
Hank Williams loved the music broadcast over radio and the hymns sung by the church choir. He learned to sing folk and country music. His mother presented him his first guitar. It cost her $3.50 which she paid fifty cents a month. Young Hank, determined to play the guitar, contributed to the cost with the money he made as a shoeshine boy and selling peanuts on the street.
Along with this early success Hank’s behavior became erratic. He often showed up at live performances drunk. Later he became a regular on the “Louisiana Hayride,” a regular Saturday night performance hosted by a radio station in Shreveport. His performance on this show greatly increased his popularity. In 1949, the release of “Lovesick Blues,” carried him into the mainstream of music.
Hank Williams died suddenly of a heart attack in the back seat of his Cadillac in the early morning hours of New Years Day in 1953 (January 1, 1953) at the age of 29.
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Hank Williams Memorial
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Despite his short life, Williams has had a major influence on country music. In all, Hank Williams recorded 35 singles. Of these, 11 songs ranked number one in the Billboard Country&Western Best Sellers chart. With five of the 35 songs released posthumously, he earned a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 2010, 57 years after his death, the Pulitzer Board awarded Williams a special citation for song writing.
As an ardent fan of Hank Williams, I used his song “30 Pieces Of Silver” to create the following video clip as a tribute to him.
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Lyrics – 30 Pieces of Silver by Hank Williams, Sr.
Tis’ a sad but true story
From the Bible it came
And it tells us how Judas
Sold the Savior in shame
He planned with the council
Of high priest that day
30 pieces of silver
Was the price they would pay
30 pieces of silver
30 shekels of shame
Was the price paid for Jesus
On the cross He was slain
Betrayed and forsaken
Unloved and unclaimed
In anger they pierced Him
But He died not in vein
‘Twas on there on the hillside
The multitude came
And found our dear Savior
Then took Him away
They bruised and they mocked Him
Thorns was crowned around His head
And His garment of purple
Showed the blood stains of red
Far off in the mountains
With his face towards the sun
Judas begged mercy
For what he had done
He gave back the silver
For his heart filled with strife
Then there in the mountain
He took his own life
30 pieces of silver
30 shekels of shame
Was the price paid for Jesus
On the cross He was slain
People in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday of November. It is a national holiday in the United States and people celebrate the day with religious fervor.
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Thanksgiving Dinner (Photo: oldstrathcona.ca)
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People get together with their loved ones, invariably devour large amounts of food centered around an enormous roasted turkey, and like angels and saints praise and thank God for all that they have.
Traditionally, the beginning of the Christmas shopping season starts in the United States on the following day, the Black Friday. Most major retailers open their sales outlets extremely early on Black Friday to kick off the holiday shopping season and offer promotional sales.
The name “Black Friday” originated before 1961 in Philadelphia, after the disruptive movement of pedestrians and heavy vehicle traffic on the day-after-Thanksgiving Day and used broadly in other regions around 1975. Later, a new explanation of the term started circulating: “Black Friday” indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit and are back in the black.
Though Black Friday is not an official holiday, many non-retail employers give their employees the day off, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers.
Earlier, retailers opened shop on Black Friday at 6 am. However, in the late 2000s, many retailers opened their retail outlets at 5 am, and some opened at 4 am. Big names including Target, Kohls, Macy’s, Best Buy, etc. open at midnight. Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, broke the Black Friday tradition in 2011 by opening its store on Thanksgiving evening.
Four years ago when I was in the United States, a week before Thanksgiving Day, a friend from India called me over the phone . He said that he had heard that on Black Friday electronic goods could be bought at bargain prices in the United States and requested me to buy a laptop for him. Little did he know about the madness that inundates the United Stupids of America (USA) on Black Friday.
On Black Friday, the American people unitedly become stupids by transmogrifying from angels to demons.
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Black Friday – People waiting outside a mall.
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They stubbornly gather outside malls, some from midnight on chattering and shivering, undaunted by the bitter winter cold, and wait for the shops to open.
When the shops open their doors, the stampede begins.
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Black Friday Shoppers rushing into the mall.
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Black Friday Shoppers rushing into the mall (isource)
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Black Friday Shoppers rushing into the mall.
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They behave like crazed animals. They barge into the malls like raging bulls. They trample and maul one another to buy more stuff that they already have or absolutely do not need; just 24 hours after offering thanks for how much they already have.
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Frenzy buying on Black Friday (Photo: telegraph.co.uk)
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That is Black Friday for you in the United States of America. No other country in the world can boast of such a frenzied day.
Here is a video clip depicting the madness of the United Stupids of America for you to decide whether you too want to join these berserk folks and avail bargains on Black Friday.
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
John, Chapter 10: 11-14
I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them.d
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, …
Note: I have used the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Bible – John, Chapter 10
At the end oflife, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.” – Saint Teresa of Calcutta
Mother Teresa – A painting by Mark Sanislo
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Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the “nun of the gutters”, a champion for the poor, the dying and the unborn died on September 5, 1997.
Scarcely two years after her death Monsignor Henry D’Souza, the then Archbishop of Calcutta, requested Pope John Paul II to dispense with the five-year waiting period required before beginning the process of beatifying and canonizing Mother Teresa.
As a fitting climax to a process that stretched on for almost 19 years, Pope Francis on Sunday, September 4, 2016, a day before Mother Teresa’s 19th death anniversary, formally declared Mother Teresa, as the newest saint of the Catholic Church at a ceremony that drew 100,000 pilgrims from around the world to St Peter’s Square in Vatican City.
“For the honour of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops, we declare and define Blessed Teresa of Calcutta be saint and we enroll her among the saints, decreeing that she is to be venerated as such by the whole Church. In the name of the Holy Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.“
Pope Francis, however, acknowledged that despite the fact she now has a formal title as “Saint Teresa of Calcutta“, she will always remain “Mother Teresa” to the world. The pontiff said:
“We may have some difficulty in calling her ‘Saint’ Teresa, her holiness is so near to us, so tender and so fruitful that we continue to spontaneously call her “Mother”. She made her voice heard before the powers of this world so that they might recognize their guilt for the crime – the crimes of poverty they created.”
In 1974, Sillaiyoor Selvarajan, a well-known artiste of Radio Ceylon, in charge of producing a radio program sponsored by the People’s Bank, saw a 30-minute comedy play staged by S. Ramdas at D. S. Senanayake College in Colombo.
Enthralled by the play, Sillaiyoor Selvarajan requested Ramdas to lengthen the play for broadcasting as a serial over the radio. Young Ramadas readily agreed and wrote the script and dialogues for the radio comedy “Koamaaligalin Kummaalam” (Hilarious Antics of Clowns) with the message of national unity. Ramdas took hints from the Indian Tamil film “Bharatha Vilas” directed by A. C. Trilokchander starring Sivaji Ganesan and K.R. Vijaya, which emphasised national unity among families hailing from different Indian ethnic groups living in separate portions in a mansion named “Bharatha Vilas“.
Instead of bludgeoning directly into the ethnic amity, and unity in diversity among families belonging to different ethnicities and religions living in separate portions under one roof in a large house, he presented humorously the peaceful coexistence of those people .
Radio Ceylon broadcasted the play continuously for 90 weeks, sponsored by the People’s Bank.
Ramdas, a Brahmin in real life cast himself as “Marikkar”, a Colombo Muslim with the proper enunciation of a Colombo Muslim.
B. H. Abdul Hameed, a Muslim in real life, took on the role a Brahmin named “Iyer”.
K. A. Jawahir (alias Abu Naanaa), another Muslim acted as “Thanikasalam” the villain.
T. Rajagopal took the role of a gentleman of Jaffna origin named “Appukutty”, and S. Selvasekaran took on the role of a Sinhalese named “Upali”.
The play became immensely popular. I too became an enthusiastic fan and listened to the play every Sunday at 4 pm.
In early 1976, Malkar Mohamed, who listened to this weekly radio drama decided to produce it as a film. Ramdas readily agreed when Mohamed expressed his desire.
Ramdas enthusiastically penned the story and dialogues for the film titled “Komaligal” (“The Clowns”).
S. Ramanathan, an experienced personality in the Sinhala film industry consented to direct it under the banner of Amarjothy Movies.
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B. H. Abdul Hameed and S. Ramdas in a still from the film ‘Komaligal’ (1976)
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The original actors of the radio play “Koamaaligalin Kummaalam” – S. Ramdas, B. H. Abdul Hameed, K. A. Jawahir (alias Abu Naanaa), T. Rajagopal and S. Selvasekaran – took on their respective roles in the film. Sillaiyoor Selvarajan and his wife Kamalini Selvarajan acted as lovers in the film.
The film “Komaligal” produced in 45 days and screened on November 22, 1976, at 6 theatres, became a box office hit and ran successfully, better than any other previous Sri Lankan Tamil movie.
Here is a video clip of the song Ennadi Sithi Beebee written and sung by Ramdas in the dialect of Colombo Muslims. This song became an instant hit even though he mimicked “Ennadi Raakkammaa“, a popular song of that period, sung by T. M. Soundararajan in the Indian Tamil film ‘Pattikkaada Pattanamaa’.
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Sathyavaageeswara Iyer Ramdas alias “Marikkar” Ramdas born on May 5, 1947, in Sivagangai, in Tamil Nadu, India passed away on July 13, 2016, at the residence of his daughter Priya in Besant Nagar, Chennai. Though Ramdas is no more with us, the memories of “Marikkar” Ramdas will forever live in the hearts and minds of his numerous fans in Sri Lanka, India, and all over the world.
D. B. S. Jeyaraj, a former journalist of the Tamil daily newspaper “Virakesari” has written an excellent tribute titled ‘“Marikkar” Ramdas: The Brahmin who transformed Into a Muslim‘ wherein he writes about “Marikkar” Ramdas and describes in detail the history and making of the film “Komaligal“.
Impressions 