Reinforcing our basic fundamentals

We are now a clueless nation (of deja vu). We seem to have forgotten our indigenous values for good living. Some of us are preoccupied with what is called dirty politics. It is true we need healthy politics, and it is equally true that politics is integrated with every human activity. But our leaders coming from the three major communities call themselves ‘politicians.’ 

Except for a few individuals, the rest seem to be unaware of what they should do to the polity to which they have obligations to fulfil. They are privileged citizens who have power without responsibility. They have forgotten our values, nay, our individual cultures and understand ‘politics’ as a way to popularity and a career where one can make a quick buck. They have found the easy way to achieve this adapting the technique of throwing away of any decency and earn bucks by hook or crook. In other words, they become corrupted. To eradicate corruption, we need to learn or re-learn wise sayings of our religiously oriented and experienced men and women from the four religions. 

The writer, as a Saivaist Tamil Lankan, can comfortably translate into English some of the suggestions. They are valuable for all of us whether we are ordinary citizens or so-called politicians. 

I shall take some gems from one compilation called “Moothurai” (sayings of yore). 

In Tamil literature, there were several female poets called ‘Avvaiyaar.’ Today, we have a Lankan born Canadian writer by the name Avvai. One of the earlier Avvaiyaars is attributed to have written in Venba metre some of his work including Moothurai or Vaakundam30 maxims. 

Following are several of them the writer likes: 
01. Do something good to others without any expectation 
02. Helping a hardened person will be like writing on flowing water 
03. A widow’s beauty is useless even when beautified 
04. The good, even when others harm them, will remain like a whitened conch after it’s burnt out 
05. However much you try, it will only happen at an appropriate time 
06. Its good to see the good, listen to them and tell others of their goodness 
07. It is bad to associate with the bad 
08. Just as water fed to the paddy runs through canals and waters the grass, because of the good of one, it will rain 
09. One who cannot read then note in an assembly is only a dead tree 
10. Poetry of an incompetent poet is like the dancing of a turkey imitating a peacock