Part 2

Those who missed Part 1 here it is https://t.co/myV2RhzsxJ 1/n

We were all revering Cows and other animals much before all these 'Activists' cropped up. Respecting the environment, the trees and animals are a way of life for Hindus

On the eve of Maattu Pongal, here are a few personal Cow Remembrances 1/n

I was all of 4 when we moved to Vadakara. School was still a year away. We lived in a House named 'Kottaram' (Palace), which had a long backyard. Beyond that was a small house where a Brahmin Family Resided. Mami had a cow. 2/n

Around 2.30 pm, she will call "Konthe" (Colloquial for Kuzhanthai or Child), and that was the sign for me to run across pulling up my half trouser.

A Half Wall separated the houses and I would climb up to watch the guy who milched their cow. 3/n

Once he milched, I will get my quota of a very small glass of raw milk. She never ever took the milk inside without giving me my share fondly. Once I drink it, I played with the calf and then ran back home 4/n

We moved back to Palakkad when I was 9. Grandfathers Agraharam house was 20 kms away and I was a frequent visitor

Thatha and Paatti maintained 3 Cows

The Big Red, Elder Karumi (Blacky) and the Younger Karumi 5/n

Anyone who has been to Kozhikkode (Calicut) know about the Prosperity of the Businesses in the Kozhikkode Angadi (Market). It is still a place buzzing with activity enjoying high level of turnover and tremendous cash flow.

There is a story behind this 1/n

Samoothiris (Zamorin) ruled Calicut from 12th to 18th Century. One of the Samoothiris Chief Minister was the legendary Mangattachan

Once the Samoothiri got a severe pain on his right shoulder, so much so that he was not able to lift his arm. 2/n

He complained to Mangattachan, who asked him to ignore/live with it, without telling the reason.

Mangattachan was forced to be away from Calicut.

Samoothiris pain increased. Many a Vaidyan (Ayurvedic Doctor) from places near & far tried to cure him but in vain 3/n

Kolathiri was a nearby Kingdom, who had a love hate relationship with Samoothiri. As a royal gesture he sent his Chief Physician to treat Samoothiri.

Kolathiri’s physician asked Samoothiri to apply a wet towel on his right shoulder continuously. 4/n

Miraculously his condition improved dramatically in a few days.
Samoothiri was delighted, showered gifts on the physician and thanked Kolathiri.

When Mangattachan came back, Samoothiri gloated and told him his pain was gone. 5/n

Indian Society has indeed changed a lot post 1980s.

The joint family has broken to nuclear families, whose first inclination is on self preservation, as they dont have the support offered by the joint family in the event of any difficulties. 1/n

Added to this, both the parents are working to make a good living, and they have limited the children to at best one or maximum two.

The family doesnt have time for anything other than their day to day activities and social media interactions. 2/n

They do not get involved in civic problems nor to they have active participation in nation building.

They feel their role is limited to paying taxes, even that they do grudgingly, and then question everyone without taking an iota of self responsibility. 3/n

The motto of life is to get ahead in any way, damn its impact on the society.

Hence, garbages are thrown out, plastic is used indiscriminately, bribes are paid to get things moving, waste is prevalent 4/n

and the kids are pushed to his limit so that they undercut their classmates and come ahead in the rat race. Is it any wonder that a kid, who was brought up in this environment, and who is of voting age now, gives a damn about the society and the country?. 5/n

Since Farming is the hot topic now, let us go back in time.

Many know that India was fighting against insufficient food grain production in 1950s.

The irrigation dams were being constructed, but the farmers were still following a monocrop policy that was rainfed. 1/n

The productivity per acre was very low

The threat of famine loomed.

We were dependent on US for feeding our people.

2/n

We always talk of the right man at the right place.

For Indians, that person arrived on the scene by mid 1960s.

The farmers did not have a clue as to how to exploit the benefits of better irrigation to improve agricultural production. 3/n

In their midst walked in Dr.Norman Borlaug, an American, who had done considerable work in the famished Mexico amongst the peasants with considerable success.

Would he be the Saviour? 4/n

One of the problems the wheat farmers of North India faced was that the plants were long which meant it could not support the weight of the wheat at the head, leading to the plant slanting and finally falling off.

The wastage due to this was phenomenal 5/n

One of the tales Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to tell is about a holy man who had given up all his possessions.

His teacher had advised him to make a little hut thatched with palm leaves, in a solitary place away from the public. This he did. 1/n

He began to live there, meditating long hours and going out only to beg his one meal of the day.

But there was one problem.

After his morning bath, the sadhu (holy man) would hang his loincloth on the limb of a tree close to the hut. 2/n

When he returned from the village it would be dry. It would also have some holes in it!

It turned out that rats were running up the tree and chewing holes in the cloth.

Rats will munch on almost anything.3/n

One day he decided to dry it on the roof of his hut.

That was worse.

The rats tore it into shreds, and he had to go and beg a new one in the village. 4/n

When the villagers heard of his predicament, they said, “Who is going to supply you with cloth all the time? Why not keep a cat; that will chase rats away.”

Someone in the village gave him a kitten, and sure enough, the rats disappeared and the trouble stopped. 5/n

I'm teaching a class on race and after reading bell hooks we've moved on to @JohnHMcWhorter. Fact: liberals/progressives generally will never critique the poor moral choices of disadvantaged blacks and tend to blame black morality on "white racism." https://t.co/GEvSKupDox via

Meanwhile conservatives, generally, struggle to confess that Jim Crow was a (Christian) conservative movement. This is why we can't make any progress in 2020. The idea that black people *and* white people *both* have zero moral culpability on our past or present is fiction.

It's not "racist" for a white male to say black men in urban areas commit more crimes in their own neighborhoods and, therefore, are more likely to have contact with police. And it's false that men who commit violent crime & property crime are only doing so because of poverty.

Yes, evangelical Christians, in Jesus name, supported and defended Jim Crow, resisted integration, and struggle with white nationalism as an idol in 2020. Absolutely! Many of their pastors are cowards for never addressing or aiding and abetting it.

Yes, there are cultural patterns in disadvantaged black communities that are not derivative of white racism but emerge from the fact that black men & women, just like white men & women, chose, on purpose, actions that lack virtue & wisdom. Why? B/c all humans are morally flawed.

1/ The “I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most extraordinary speeches in American history. You should read it again. First, a few thoughts about the common American heritage Dr. King relied upon in calling Americans to rededicate themselves to the unfinished work of freedom.

2/ Dr. King delivered his speech in what he called the “hallowed spot” of the Lincoln memorial. More than a picturesque backdrop, King relied on America’s reverence for Lincoln and the common celebration of Lincoln’s words and acts, especially the Emancipation Proclamation.

3/ “Five score years ago…” King echoes the words of the Gettysburg Address. Like Lincoln, King invokes the Declaration of Independence and the fundamental principles of American freedom, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Every person in that crowd knew these words.

4/ The Declaration, Constitution and Emancipation Proclamation declared and established the fundamental American principles of freedom that all Americans knew and believed in. But these principles and promises remained unfulfilled for black Americans.

5/ Lincoln’s audience knew the history of slavery and many had suffered personal loss in the ongoing war. Dr. King’s audience knew the history of violent racism, segregation, and unequal economic opportunity. The Proclamation freed the slaves, “but the Negro still is not free.”

Offered a guy a ride from Yaba to Obalende this morning. Just as we're approaching Alagomeji, uncle asked me if he can drive. Said he's not comfortable being driven by a woman. I parked and told him to come and take the wheel. Once he got down, I just zoomed off. Arrant nonsense

Funny thing is the guy is quite young. He can't be more than 25. How can someone that young have this sort of mentality?

I actually did not think that the guy could have wanted to get away with my car at the time. Now that I think of it though, that's a big possibility. We need to be careful out there. These thieves now have different ways of operating

MY RACIST

If U remember from an earlier post I brought up Sen Elizabeth Warrens remark that "Obama did more for Wall Street than Main Street." I concur. U can ignore poor black people all day, but under no circumstance can U ever ignore poor white

Now Biden must be careful not to repeat the same mistakes of Obama. Biden most go big & go big fast. Fuck inflation. Order the treasury to start printing money. You will not beat Trump by impeaching or prosecuting him. You must beat him on the battlefield of ideas & you do so by-

helping the people he ignored. People with good jobs, food on the table & a roof over their head dont have time to do insurrections. If U help these people, you will choke off the fuel to Trumpism. Some black people will criticize me for taking this approach. My simple retort is-

you can't out-violence white people. We don't make guns. We don't make bombs. We don't make shit. You have to make it such that everyone eats. Otherwise you have to deal with the warning Heather McGhee lays out in her new book: white

Obama did not get this. He made it such that only rich white oligarchs got to feast. Everyone else got crumbs. I need you to get precisely what peace requires. There are a good number of white people in this country which would rather burn this country down than to allow any-

at some point we have to recognise that the financial anxiety young people are living through is not normal. monetising all your hobbies is not normal. hustle culture is not normal. glorifying precarious work is not normal. self-optimisation is not normal.

all these issues have a single root and guess what? it's the economic system we live under!! but we're too fucking exhausted to even see an alternative to capitalism because we're so broken and fatigued by it. it doesn't have to be this way, we can seek a different future.

As Mark Fisher argued, it's easier to imagine the end of the world than it is the end of capitalism. We've been utterly brainwashed by every part of our society to think that everything we're experiencing right now is extremely normal! But clearly, capitalism is failing us.

How about instead of “manifesting” money on TikTok, we work towards building a more equal society? Just a thought.

Incredible! People in the replies to this are like “people who hustle will be relaxing when they get wealthy”. That’s IF and not when and still, that’s not a given. The fact we don’t see having a regular full-time job as enough “hustling” or whatever is so scary to me.