I have taken these lines from the speech of Mr.P.Chidambaram, our Finance Minister. This is from the opening lines of his budget presentation.
"The Young people of India are building castles, it may appear that these castles are in the air, but as Henry David Thoreau said : If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them"
I think these lines sum up the aspirations of many Indians such as myself... looking on ahead with an optimism that can only take us miles ahead... The world is already closely watching the pace at which our country is developing!! And oh yes, Mr. Bush is here!!!! I guess he's thinking of wat he can take away from here!!!! Guess he know's there's no way he's gonna get away with bullying China and so he's trying to extend his "helping arm" here with us!!
Swami Vivekananda's immortal words:
" We reap what we sow. We our the makers of our own fate. The wind is blowing; those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their way, but those which have their sales furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind?????.......
We make our own Destiny"
I guess that sums up all we need to know in life!!!!
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Among the various communities of South India, the Nadars have perhaps clearly evidenced the impact of change over the past 200 years. Considered by high-caste Hindus in the early nineteenth century to be of extremely low status, the Nadars – toddy-tappers, climbers of the palmyra palm – suffered severe social disabilities and were among the most depressed communities in the Tamil country.
When history dawned on the Nadars, traditionally known as Shanars, they were found principally in the two southern districts of Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari. Palmyra climbing and toddy tapping were their traditional occupations. The entire family was engaged in producing different palm products such as fermented juice, jaggery, baskets, mats, cots, and roof beams.
Trade in a small way supplemented their livelihood. Local caste associations (sangams) grew out of this channel of commerce. A tiny fraction of the caste, known as Nadans, were wealthy landowners. In the Hindu caste hierarchy the Nadars ranked very low because of their association with alcohol.
The Nadars have had a turbulent and colourful history. Their struggle to rise above their depressed condition assumed dramatic forms in a series of escalating confrontations between the caste and its antagonists.
Hostility to the efforts of Nadars to establish a new status resulted in a series of violent outbursts culminating in the riots of 1899 known as the Sivakasi Riots. Their old name of ‘Shanar’ was abandoned and the honorific title ‘Nadar’ was adopted. The Justice Party government adopted the term in all public records from 1921.
Because of their sensitive response to social and economic change over the past century and a half, the Nadars have today become one of the most successful groups in the South, in both economic and political terms, and command considerable respect. From among their numbers have come leaders in business, industry and other professions; With foresight, the Nadar community elite controlled management of local temple festivals and established a network of institutions such as schools, colleges and hostels.
From the breast-cloth controversy through the sack of Sivakasi to the Nadar Mahajan Sangam, the Nadars’ rise, exemplifying the processes of mobilization in Indian society, provides rich material for an analysis of the social life of a community in change.
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