THE PRESIDENT WHO LIVED AT PAR WITH HIS COUNTRY

 A MAN OF SIMPLE PRINCIPLES

Door Darshan Podhigai, a Tamil Language Broadcast Service telecast an interview with Mr P M Nair, retired IAS officer, Secretary to the Indian President Dr. Abdul Kalam, who authored a book titled "The Kalam Effect."

This post is an extract from that interview.

Dr Kalam used to receive costly gifts whenever he went abroad as it is customary for many nations to give gifts to the visiting Heads of State. Refusing the gift would become an insult to the nation and an embarrassment for India. So, he received them and on his return, Dr Kalam asked the gifts to be photographed, catalogued and handed over to the Archives.

Afterwards, he never even looked at them. He did not take even a pencil from the gifts received when he left Rashtrapathi Bhavan.

In 2002, the year Dr Kalam took over, the Ramadan month came in July-August. It was a regular practice for the President to host an iftar party. Dr Kalam asked Mr Nair why he should host a party to people who are already well fed and asked him to find out how much would be the cost. Mr Nair told it would cost around Rs. 22 lakhs.

Dr Kalam asked him to donate that amount to a few selected orphanages in the form of food, dresses and blankets. The selection of orphanages was left to a team in Rashtrapathi Bhavan and Dr Kalam had no role in it. After the selection was made, Dr Kalam asked Mr Nair to come inside his room and gave him a cheque for Rs 1 lakh. Dr Kalam, a devout Muslim did not have Iftar parties in the years in which he was the President.

He said that he was giving some amount from his personal savings and this should not be informed to anyone. Mr Nair was so shocked that he said "Sir, I will go outside and tell everyone . People should know that here is a man who not only donated what he should have spent but he is giving his own money also".

Dr Kalam did not like "Yes Sir" type of people. Once when the Chief Justice of India had come and on some point Dr Kalam expressed his view and asked Mr Nair, "Do you agree?" Mr Nair said " No Sir, I do not agree with you". The Chief Justice was shocked and could not believe his ears. It was impossible for a civil servant to disagree with the President and that too so openly. Mr Nair told him that the President would question him afterwards why he disagreed and if the reason was logical 99% he would change his mind.

Dr Kalam invited 50 of his relatives to come to Delhi and they all stayed in Rashtrapathi Bhavan. He organised a bus for them to go around the city which was paid for by him. No official car was used. All their stay and food was calculated as per the instructions of Dr Kalam and the bill came to Rs 2 lakhs which he paid. Such a gesture was unprecedented in the history of this country.

Dr Kalam's elder brother stayed with him in his room for one entire week as he wanted his brother to stay with him. When he left, Dr Kalam wanted to pay rent for that room also. Imagine the President of a country paying rent for the room in which he is staying.

This was any way not agreed to by the staff who thought the honesty was getting too much to handle!!!.

When President Kalam was to leave Rashtrapathi Bhavan at the end of his tenure, every staff member went and met him and paid their respects. Mr Nair went to him alone as his wife had fractured her leg and was confined to bed. Dr Kalam asked why his wife did not come. He replied that she was in bed due to an accident.

Next day, Mr.Nair saw lot of policemen around his house and asked what had happened. They said that the President of India was coming to visit him in his house. He came and met his wife and chatted for some time. Mr Nair says that no president of any country would visit a civil servant's house and that too on such a simple cause.

I thought I should give the details as many of you may not have seen the telecast and so it may be useful.

The younger brother of APJ Abdul Kalam runs an umbrella repairing shop. When Mr. Nair met him during Kalam’s funeral,  he touched his feet, in token of respect for both Mr. Nair and Brother.

Such information should be widely shared on social media as mainstream media will not show this because it doesn't carry the so-called TRPs, unlike Trump.

The property left behind by Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam was estimated:

He owned

• 6 pants(2 DRDO uniforms)
• 4 shirts(2 DRDO uniforms)
• 3 suits (1 western, 2 Indian)
• 2500 books
• 1 flat (which he has donated)
• 1 Padmashri
• 1 Padmabhushan
• 1 Bharat Ratna
• 16 doctorates
• 1 website
• 1 twitter account
• 1 email id

He didn't have any TV, AC, car, jewellery, shares, land or bank balance.

He had even donated the last 8 years' pension towards the development of his village.

He was a real patriot and true Indian. So radically different from narcissistic and apathetic leaders around the world.

RIP Dear Dr Kalam

 

GOOD LUCK CHARMS AND SUPERSTITIONS

 Fumsups, Touchwood & Good Luck Charms

An old poem reads something like; “Behold in me, the birth of luck, two charms combined, touchwood and fumsup.” Fumsup was one of the favoured good luck charms of pilots during the World Wars. These are small cherub faced dolls gesturing thumbs-up with both hands. The Irish added four-leafed clover on the doll's forehead to personalize these talismans. 'Fumsups' were also carried by soldiers as lucky charms. Touch wood still remains a good luck ritual or an action to ward of an evil eye. Most people know that belief in talismans or good luck charms is superstitions but that has not stopped us from favouring some ritual or charm for good luck.

People confronting high risk situations or wars such as soldiers or pilots are more likely to display odd behaviors or believe in trusted rituals or good luck charms. This to a large extent is known to relieve stress and anxiety. Pilots are particularly known to have strong beliefs in good luck charms and many of the ilk have funny superstitions. One knows of pilots who continue to wear old tattered chamois leather gloves for a sortie because these assure excellent performance. One of the funniest or strangest ritual of New Zealand pilots during second world war was dancing on the aircraft wing with an open umbrella before getting into the cockpit of their bombers. Apparently, it ensured a safe return post the bombing run to Germany. As compared to this, kicking the tyre or sticking chewing gum on the instrument panel seems pedestrian. During World War One when flying was somewhat of a glamorous but a highly risky hobby, pilots went to ridiculous extent. One French pilot always wore his girlfriend's stocking and another was more creative and carried his girlfriend's garter, removed on a moonlit night. Many pilots during the World War carried a rabbit's paw. Not any paw. It had to be a pink left paw. German pilots were known to scribble their girlfriend's initials on the aircraft and get into cockpit only from the left side. Pilots for a long time have been wary of the number 13 and black cats. In many cases, pilots avoid flying on Friday the thirteenth or if a black cat is seen. There is also the story of a Boeing 747 pilot who wears the same lucky underwear when it is time to perform. So if he is the captain of the 747 you are flying in, no harm in asking him if he is wearing his lucky underwear.

This superstitious belief in good luck charms is not restricted to pilots only. Hard headed scientists known for their disbelief in miracles still have good luck charms. Neil Bohr, the father of quantum theory, had a horseshoe nailed above the entrance door. When asked about this he is said to have replied that he didn't believe in it, "but, people say it brings luck even if you don't believe in it".  Strange indeed. It is reported that an Israeli politician always wears his lucky underwear on election day. There is also the case of a rational lawyer who insists on eating idlis and wadas in a particular restaurant on the identified table before the verdict in important cases is to be pronounced. He considers that it brings him luck and always leads to winning the case.

Good luck charms or objects to ward off an evil eye have been with us from the earliest of times. It is said that these are linked to cultures. Golden toads or bats in China, scarabs in Egypt and swastik in India are good luck charms, whether held in the hand or worn around the neck. Rationality does not imply leaving beliefs behind. Atheists though not believing in God still believe in lucky and unlucky numbers; it is only the belief in future success that motivates entrepreneurs to start businesses or for immigrants to leave everything behind and move to unknown countries. Belief in good luck charms or talismans to a large extent gratifies the emotional needs of human beings. Rationality is therefore  unlikely to stop the yearning for talismans, good luck charms or trusted rituals. So stop bothering about superstitions or opinions of your friends if you are confident that the old gloves or underwear you love wearing assure superior performance.

SOLVE CROSSWORD PUZZLES EASILY LIKE A CHAMPION

 HOW TO SOLVE A CROSSWORD WITH EASE

Got stuck while solving a Crossword Puzzle? And then feel insecure watching others apparently run through the cryptic clues without breaking into a sweat…Relax, here is a guide to solving all crossword puzzles like a literate Don!

Cryptic crosswords originated in the UK ~1923. A cryptic crossword is a crossword puzzle in which each clue is a word puzzle in and of itself. Cryptic crosswords are particularly popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, and in several Commonwealth nations, including Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malta, New Zealand, and South Africa. In the United States, cryptic puzzles are sometimes known as "British-style" crosswords. Enough of this intro. 

We all know what a puzzle looks like. It is usually set on a scrabble board, with certain provisos. The top first quarter must be the mirror image of the bottom fourth quarter. It is the same with the top 2nd quarter and the lower 3rd quarter.  I have included 8 Down as an example of a clue is a word puzzle in and of itself. A quick glance at the package of clues below reveals: Members of the family are out, I stress (7). The solution will be a 7-letter word that means 'members of a family'; 'are out' indicates that there is an anagram or reworking of 'I stress.' SISTERS is an easy solution.

You do not need to be a wizard at vocabulary, nor do you need to be a spelling Bee. The crossword will add one word to your vocab every time you solve one and improve your spelling immeasurably. But you do have to think out of the box. The setters are devious people and you need to approach them with devious intent.

1		2		3			4	5		6		7		8 S
														I
9							10							S
						11								T
12									13					E
								14						R
15					16							17		S
				18
19											20			21
										22
23		24					25
						26
27									28
29									30

 Now for the clues:

 

Start  with the anagrams. You may recognise many others as you glance over them, but let them be for Round 2.

Abbreviations: Certain words have abbreviations in jargon or slang. Some examples are as follows:   Doctor: md/dr; Sailor: ab; American soldier: gi; silent/soft: p or b; very silent or very soft: pp or bb; time: era/eon/age;Shakespeare:bard; owe: iou; ?/!: something unusual.  We'll keep learning as we go along. Remember, each clue is a word puzzle in and of itself. In effect, there will be two clues in what you first see as a single clue.

Across: 12,23,25,29; Down: 8,14,17.

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12.It’s eaten as an aperitif(8). An eight letter word, as seen (8). ANISETTE is close to an aperitif. 

23.Drunken RAF ace holds it for a drink.(6) Drunken is a clue for anagram. The solution is something from the words RAF & ACE that can hold a drink: CARAFE

25.I covered for one who may have deserted her husband.(8) may have is a clue for anagram. There you go: DIVORCEE

29. It’s a tree used in a composition(8) Composition is both tip-off and solution. TREATISE

Down

8. Members of a family are out, I stress.  SISTERS --Please see the 1st diagram. This square is missing.

14. He takes little pleasure from organising ice acts.(7) ASCETIC

17. A rich man’s form of lawlessness(9). ANARCHISM

You do get some letters slotted. They will help later.

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 Across --4: Scanning the books for money owing on the horses. Whenever ‘owe’ features, rest assured that IOU will form part of the solution. The solution is an adjective, so expect an S. IOUS. Horses/ scanning give you stud farm and studying. So: STUDIOUS.

13. Disinclined to write an article on poetry(6) , ending in E. The only articles possible are A/AN.

Poetry: VERSES  Soln: AVERSE

30. Let pass(6). Soln is a synonym for BOTH let and pass, with an M as 4^th letter. PERMIT.

Down—6. Labour in a manner of speaking. Here, labour is a part clue. Manner of speaking= delivery. Women’s labour, when about to deliver. DELIVERY

7. Do come up with our bouquet. DO come up=OD, add OUR, ODOUR. 

Now for the next lot:

11. Surprise opening by the French. Opening-synonym is start. French ‘the’ is always le. So, STARTLE a synonym of surprise.

21. Is tense (7) Tense can be anxious or present/past/future. PRESENT.

22. In a European, it is courteous. We have O & E. IT goes into some European and we get a synonym of courteous. Polite? POLE is a Polish citizen. Put IT in and get POLITE.

24. Loot includes stock (5), starting with R and ending with E. RIFLE.

26. Examination success for soft headed dunce. Soft is B/P. Dunce=Ass. P on ASS=PASS.

2. Blooming good example of self interest (9) The I-S-S give us a clue. And Trump has often been described so. NARCISSUS. It is also a rather rare flower.

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 Now for the tricky ones.

Across:

10. Sore times for ships(8). Times could be ERAS, AGES, etc. The one we want is EONS. One synonym for sore is GALL. GALLEONS, ships of times gone by.

9. One hundred  in  a capital city said to be poor. This is a brilliant brain teaser. One hundred is 1C or IC. Capital city is York or New York. IC can fit only as YORICK. Yorick is the famous skull in Hamlet, which the prince takes from a gravedigger and says: “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well.”

Kiss is good.

Down:

1.  A heavenly spree?(7) The ? suggests some jiggery pokery. SKY suggests itself as heavenly. LARK is the closest one gets to a spree. So, SKYLARK.

3. Firework lecture (6) Only ROCKET fits this one. Lecture would then mean a disciplinary talk.

18. Invite trouble because of appearance in a satirical show(3,3,2). Invite=ASK; Satirical show = SKIT. There is an overlap here, because we know inviting trouble is asking for it. ASK FOR IT.

19. Simple: BACK OUT

Across:

1.We have SENTRY. Apparently, half of us is S, on door =entry, so SENTRY. A default soln.

20. Doctor is DR/MB/MD/GP. We already have _A_P. Here we have morning AM in GP, GAMP. Gamp is an acronym related to the medical world.

Down:

I know the soln is TEAR, but can’t reason why. Looks like A drops into TER, where TER is an abbreviation for total expense ratio. 

 

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 There you go, the crossword done and dusted.

Let’s look at another. Here are the clues:

Let’s first look at the anagrams.

Yellow highlighting for the letters, Green for the hint, Blue for the clue.

Across: 18,27,28

Down: 1,3,7,8,14,

Across: 18. Sort of roll, A-E, etc? (9) ELECTORAL (roll)

27. Cast in a very bad shape (7) SATANIC

28. Organise a gay reel with zest (7) EAGERLY

Down 1. Sweet courses prepared (7) SUCROSE

3. Spider natural at spinning (9) TARANTULA

7. Add to the confusion of the general (7) ENLARGE

8. Rude tot has to be made to be taught. (7) TUTORED

14. Act I lines sadly lacking in flexibility (9) INELASTIC

 

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 A quick look shows that there was little to gain.

Now for some others:

Across: 15,16,24,26

15. Consented to give up a vice (5) Consented=Agreed. Remove A: leaves GREED  the vice!

16. Where men fought in an era that was backward. Where men fought? Ring-no; field? No; theatre? No; arena? Possibly. So read backwards, get ARENA

24. There’s pure chaos starting a tunnel to break out (5) ERUPT

26. Daughter of Minos gives a song with close backing(7) Daughter of Minos was Ariadne.

Song-ARIA. Close=end, backing, i.e. reverse END to DNE. ARIADNE.

Down: 16,17,20

16. Charming things to wear(7) Plural. Amulet is a charm. AMULETS

17. Make the most of an adventure(7) EXPLOIT

20. Gamble a great deal on a patched up tyre. A great deal=LOT; tyre=TERY; LOTTERY. Plenty of hints with blanks filled.

 

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 So much easier now, with letters in place. Take 1 Across.

Wreck that's broken up, with little hesitation (7). Little hesitation is 'ER'. That's broken up=SHATT. So, SHATTER.

9 Across: Made provisional arrangements(7). Past tense, so ending is D. C_ _ _ _

R_D. Arranged provisions(food, etc.) 

11. Giant group of stars (5) O_ _ _ N = ORION. The book says:"Orion is one of the most conspicuous constellations and contains many bright stars."

23. Advantage of having a superior worker (5,4). Superior =higher/better/upper/ Only UPPER fits 5 letter word. Worker=ANT/HAND/ Logically, UPPER HAND. The U,P & A fit in.

Down: 

2. A great step forward in equestrian posture, A_T_I_ _  Step forward=STRIDE. ASTRIDE.

4. Added recommendation for a jockey (5) Remember theorems in Geometry? They usually had a rider. Meets requirement for a Jockey.

15. Swelling body of people(9) G_T_R_I_G =GATHERING

19. Nearer the circle or up beneath (7) R_U_D_R = ROUNDER

23. D_A_E, Bowler. DRAKE

Across:

12. Official record holder (9) Begins with R. ends with R. Hence human person, a records keeper, or REGISTRAR.

13. Performance of capital detachment(9) Here Capital =Head. Hence EXECUTION, which also means performance. And detachment of the head. 

25. I am uppermost in his thoughts(7) E_O_ _ _T  =EGOTIST

22 DOWN becomes REIGN.

Almost there!

6 Down should be SNAPS: It means both breaks up and photos.  

That gives us 5 Across: French currency included cents. DESCENT

Which leads to 5 Down, DILIGENCE

which takes us to 10 Across: LEAFLET

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QED.