From: sp2@cec1.wustl.edu (Sundara Pandian)
Subject: Re: READ/REJECT .. But TRUTH NEVER FAILS ...
Organization: Washington University, St. Louis Mo.
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 17:41:12 GMT

In article <9208192325.AA11386@ha06.eng.ua.edu> bkannan@ha06.eng.ua.edu (Balaji Kannan) writes:
>
>A note to Sundara Pandian:
>-------------------------
>
>    Why do you post summaries of rubbish?

    Are you referring to my article titled,
 "Varna-ashrama-dharma in ancient Tamil civilization - Part 2 " ?
  I don't think that I posted `rubbish' in the Part 1 of that
  article. The quotes that I posted are taken from the book
 "Tamils Thousand Eight Hundred Years Ago " by V.Kanakasabhai.
  V.Kanakasabhai is respected as the Father of Tamil research.
  I accept that his book is very old. He published it in 1904.
  But this book is the first of its kind and though this book
  was followed by many other books on ancient Tamil civilization,
  he is often referred to by others and credited by many
  researchers for setting up an example for research on ancient
  Tamil research. It is true that his theory of origin of Tamils
  was not accepted by many researchers who continued Tamil research
  after him, but `rubbish' is not the word one would use if he 
  disapproves some of the views presented in this book. Moreover,
  the excerpts that I posted are supported with references from
  Tholkaapiyam, Kaliththokai, Chilappathikaaram etc., If you
  disagree with his conclusions, you may counter them with any
  other evidences that you could find to support your claim that
  the views that I posted are `rubbish'. I can't get involved in
  a discussion on this topic  just with a criticism `rubbish'.
 
   
>    Is this a tholaikatchi nilayam or what?

      I don't think that this is a T.V. station.
                      
>
>
>      * Meenan,The Great Soul, wrote some thought-provoking articles
>        today.
>      * Balaji Kannan called Meenan's post an uncensored cr**
>        On second thoughts he apologised... then called it
>        censored cr**.
>      * Not knowing that he had already done damage by apologising
>        Shankar Pennathur urged him not to....
>      * Thiyagarajan has become very naughty these days :-)
>        He has offended a great many souls by offering to build a temple.
>       ..........................

       You are entitled to your opinions. No comments.

>
>     You see, we all have read rubbish once. Don't thrust more on us.

      What I posted are research material. I am actually planning
 to post a series of informative articles on `Ancient Tamil
 Civilization' if there is enough interest from readers. I request
 interested readers to send their opinion to sp2@cec1.WUSTL.edu. 
 I also request readers to contribute articles on Ancient Tamils.

>     Maybe you are trying to control people's thoughts.

     Are you playing a guessing game ?

> About urging 
>     me to "stick to my guns", I remember you wrote one of the dirtiest
>     poems on the net and very reluctantly offered an apology [SCI].
                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^            

     This is not true. I have already replied you in S.C.I. on
 this poem. Since you have raised this issue again, explanations
 are in order.
     There was a time when I stopped posting Tamil poems in the
 net S.C.I. I posted good poems earlier in S.C.I.  under the pen-name
 `Vasishtha', but I got encouragement and criticism only from
 V.Sundar ( V1S@ecl.psu.edu ). I was sad to see a poor response
 for my poems and stopped posting poems but instead wrote vedantic
 articles and conversations.
    On Tamil New Year Day (1992), I posted a Tamil vaazhththu  in the
 traditional style much different from my earlier poems. I posted
 it under the pen-name ( KaNmaNi ) [ compare to KaruNaanidhi ].
 Later, I thought of writing a variation of that posting  as a spoof
 on D.M.K. speakers. I had posted a spoof on Udit Sharma once in
 S.C.I. under a different pen-name. So I added a new first para
 in the first version of my poem and I began as KaNmaNi,
 " vaNakkam ! < applause >
   perundhagaiyaaLar engaL inamaana Srinivaasan avarkaLukkum
   amaidhi nilai Udit avarkaLukkum
   aaruyir iLavaL Vasishthaa avarkaLukkum
   veedu peRa yOgam thEdum
   eedu illaa yOgi-kaLukkum
   en uyirinum iniya udan piRappukaLukkum vaNakkam < applause >

   I don't remember the entire `puththaaNdu vaazhththu', but
 I wrote a few humorous criticisms on `aNNaachchi'.

   aNNaachchi..
   naan unnai KarNan enbEn.
   nee kadarkaraiyil uRangukiRaay.
  ...................

 Then I added a para like  
 " indhi pOraattathil aNNaachchi raththam sindhinaar.
   puratchi thalaivai edhaRkaa raththam sindhinaaL ? < laughter >
   iyarkaiyin niyathi emakkuth theriyum < laughter > "
    
  This was followed by the real vaazhththu on Tamil New Year.
 I tried to present a poem in the way it is usually delivered
 in D.M.K. . As a writer, I like to be honest in my writings.
 When I worked on this spoof on D.M.K. speakers, I really tried
 to write a poem close to what they speak in their meetings.
 That is why I chose not to post on my name as I felt that others
 would mistake me as a D.M.K. supporter. So, I posted it in the name
 "KaNmaNi" .
    The next day, when I read the poem again, I was very sad.
 I felt that I failed in my experiment and that the poem was
 just a trash and nothing more. So I cancelled it but I could 
 not stop many readers from reading it as I took one day to
 cancel it. I felt sad not because my poem did not meet the
 standards of S.C.I. but because it did not meet the standards
 that I keep in my writing. I did not post any apology for
 posting this poem and I don't remember apologising in my reply
 to your posting on this vaazhththu either. It is just that
 I failed in my experiment.
  
>     But you did anyway, hoping to clear yourself. Now.....

    I am always in the clear. I don't have to `clear' myself.

>
>             I didn't know Neo-Gandhis had forked tongues.

   Who told you that I am a `Neo-Gandhi' ?
   I respect Gandhi and his principles `truth' and `non-violence'.

>
>     Policing may be good once in a while. By overdoing it you project
>     an image of total self-righteousness. Difficult to believe that.
>     Finally, this ain't no satire. Got it?

   I don't like the comparison between my `puththaaNdu vaazhththu'
 and your strong flames on Meenan Vishnu. I can't draw any anology.
 Regarding `policing', it is not just me who don't like to see
 flames posted on the net. Also, I don't involve in `personal attacks'
 or `digging the past' .
 
>
>     BK
                                                         S.Pandian
                                                sp2@cec1.WUSTL.edu
>
>       ---------------------------------------------------------------
>      "When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail"
>       ----------------------------------------------------------------

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