India is vying with other countries to come first in several fields. Our motherland will have the dubious distinction of having the largest number of obese people by 2020 according to a Chennai-based hospital.  

Currently India ranks second with 155 million obese citizens, while China has 190 million.  If this trend continues, the number of obese people living in the country will cross the number of obese people in China by 2020.  

There are 42 million obese people living in the US, while in England it stood at 8.8 million. Improper food habits and lack of physical activities are the main reasons.

P.S.: Will I be correct if I assert that Chennai has the largest number of sweet-shops among all the cities of the world?

After reference to sweet shops, I have something less palatable, that too, a controversy. Chief Minister Karunanidhi the other day referred to Ms Jayalalitha as ‘Thirumathi Jayalalitha.’ Asked by a reporter if she is not to be called ‘Selvi Jayalalitha,’ he said, “As long as she calls our Government a ‘minority Government,’ I will refer to her as ‘Thirumathi Jayalalitha.’ The women’s wing of the AIADMK, led by its vociferous leader Valarmathi vehemently criticised the CM for what it called his ‘uncivil’ comments! This was enough for the DMK party organ to come out with photos showing Jayalalitha and Telugu star Shoban Babu. Indirakumari, who left the AIADMK and joined the DMK, also joined issue with the AIADMK women’s wing.  

Well, at times, the kettle might call the pot black and the frying pan would stand up for witness!

P.S: Thirumathi might stand for ‘Mrs’. Its true and literal meaning is ‘the abode of Thiru or  aishwarya or Lakshmi’

Demonstrations and strikes by the learned advocates are nothing unusual these days. I think it was Mr Justice A.S. Anand, the then Chief Justice who raised a relevant question. “Against whom is your strike aimed? All the three sections affected by your strike viz. the court, your client and your own family are innocent and they have not done any harm to you. For someone else doing or not doing something, in order to attract that person’s attention, why target these three innocent sections? The labour union, while going on strike, targets the management which is doing some injustice to it. When government servants go on strike, their target is the Government which is not listening to their grievance. In your case, for the harm done by somebody, you are targeting somebody else by your strike! Is it correct?”

Well, the advocates of the Madurai Bar Association staged a demonstration recently demanding that their welfare fund be increased to Rs five lakh, besides a monthly assistance of Rs 3000 for young lawyers, like in Karnataka. Among their other demands were bank loans for setting up offices and purchasing books.

And you know what the advocates of the Dindigul Bar Association did? They went to the extent of picketing the car of the District and Sessions Judge and raised slogans, demanding an integrated court complex for the district which had been bifurcated long ago from Madurai.

There are five temples in Tamil Nadu, dedicated to the five elements. Thiruvanaikovil is for water. Interestingly, a couple of drinking water purifiers have been donated to Sri Jambukeswarar Akilandeswari Temple at Tiruvanaikovil by the Kent RO Systems Limited. After all, purity in mind and heart is an essential key to salvation!

While on the subject of temples, our own renowned singer K J Yesudas, along with his family members, recently offered worship at the famous Parthasarathy temple on the banks of river Pampa in Aranmula in Kerala. Yesudas went to the temple early in the morning with his wife Prabha and sons Vijay and Vishal.  

He also took part in the `snake boat feast,' one of the main offerings at the temple in connection with the famous Aranmula boat race being held during the Onam festival. Parliament members P J Kurien and P T Thomas accompanied Yesudas while performing the snake boat feast offering outside the temple.

I once listened to his rendering soul-stirring songs on Sri Rama at the Thiruvayyaru Thyagaraja Aradhana Festival. G K Mooppanar was in the front row listening to him.

This is indeed our dear Mother India.

Yogi S Sridharanji has commenced his elucidation on Yoga through the columns of Chennaionline under the title “The Great Gift from India” and I am happy it is well received. I am sure it be rewarding for all of us to benefit from this illuminating series.

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