Friday, February 26, 2010

POST OFFICE DILEMMA

CERTAINLY HELPFUL FOR ANYONE

MAILING OFTEN FROM OTHER THAN

A CANADA POST OFFICE

Very Interesting Please read

" I learned something over Christmas that I feel compelled to share with
you.

This won't change your life dramatically or help you survive the
apocalypse but it will save you some $$$.

I recently mailed two identical packages via Canada Post one week apart.

One would think that the postage should be exactly the same...well,
let me tell you...

Pkg # 1 was mailed from an actual Canada Post Office. Postage came to
$11.74. Since I knew a second identical package would be mailed in
about a week's time, I bought sufficient postage for the second pkg
while I was there.

When it came time to mail Pkg #2, I went to the post office in
Shopper's Drug Mart. I handed the pkg to the clerk to be put in the
outbound mail bag, I was informed that I did not have sufficient
postage attached. The clerk proceeded to inform me that I needed to
purchase and additional $6 worth of stamps. After explaining how I
knew exactly what the postage should be, the clerk offered some lame
excuse that Canada Post is unionized and they can say and do anything
with impunity and if I wished to mail that pkg from Shopper's then I
needed to purchase more stamps.

I told the clerk to stuff it and took back my package and headed to
the "real" Canada Post Office, where I would raise hell...

Much to my surprise, the Canadian Postal Clerk took my package,
weighed it and tossed it in the mail bag, and it was it's way...When I
asked if the amount of Postage I had put on the parcel was right she
shook her head and said "yup, no problem"...


The Truth comes out:

Canada Post Offices charge postage for packages at the published
Canada Post rates.

Franchise locations such as Shoppers Drug Mart can charge whatever they
like.

So remember if you regularly mail packages at franchise locations (ie
Shoppers Drug Mart,) you are probably paying too much. Franchise
locations are found in shopping malls, drug stores and private
businesses everywhere. From now on, all of my mailing will be done
from a real Canada Post location.

Still perplexed by what I was told by the girl in Shoppers, I fired
off an email to Canada Post for clarification.

This is the reply I got from them:


Thank you for your message to Canada Post.

A postal outlet is not a federal government agency and is not owned or
managed by Canada Post. For example if the postal outlet is within
grocery store or pharmacy it would follow the stores working hours,
therefore if the store must be closed, so will the postal outlet
inside.
Only Canada Post Depots and Corporate Post Offices are obligated to
follow the price of stamps and postal products that are legislated by
Canada Post. Any commercial and private establishment may charge extra
fees as a convenience to their customers. It is at their discretion to
apply additional service fees to products that they sell. We suggest
visiting a Corporate Post Office in order to avoid paying additional
service charges that corner stores or other establishment may
implement on their products.
Regards,
Veronika Strofski
Customer Service "

How's that for privatization?

Saturday, February 20, 2010

A LESSON IN FAITH

A Lesson in Faith

"Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand. "You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"

"Yes sir," the student says.
"So you believe in God?"
"Absolutely."
"Is God good?"
"Sure! God's good."
"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
"Yes."
"Are you good or evil?"
"The Bible says I'm evil."

The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a moment.

"Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? Would you try?"

"Yes sir, I would."
"So you're good...!"
"I wouldn't say that."

"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"

The student remains silent.

"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. "Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"

"Er... Yes," the student says.
"Is Satan good?"
The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."
"Then where does Satan come from?"
The student falters. "From... God..."

"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"
"Yes, sir."
"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?"
"Yes."
"So who created evil?"
Again, the student has no answer.
"Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness. All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?" The student squirms on his feet.
"Yes."
"So who created them?"
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. "Who created them? "

There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.

"Tell me," he continues. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"
The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor. I do."
The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"
"No sir. I've never seen Him."
"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"
"No, sir. I have not."

"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter.
"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"Yet you still believe in him?"
"Yes."
"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."
"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his own.
"Professor, is there such thing as heat?"
"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
"And is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, son, there's cold too."
"No sir, there isn't."

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than -458 degrees. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.
"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"

"Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it isn't darkness?"

"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light... but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, Darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?"

"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion must also be flawed."

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"

"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it. "Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"

"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."

"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester indeed.

"Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided. "To continue the point you were making earlier to the other students, let me give you an example of what I mean."

The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out into laughter.

"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir. So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers.

"I guess you'll have to take them on faith."

OPEN LETTER TO SHAHRUKH KHAN

Open letter to Mr. Shahrukh Khan !!!

Your name is a household phenomenon in Indian and even beyond her borders. Your fame has put you in the Newsweek "most powerful people list" recently. However, as you may recall from your recent experience in New Jersey Airport, real life is a little different - it does not always follow the path predicted by a scriptwriter or director.

Of late, we have been reading about your opinions and statements on matters beyond the celluloid world. Nothing is wrong in it. You live in a free, democratic country and are entirely entitled to your opinion.

But as a common man, also from the same soil, I think I have the right too to raise a few points that may not conform to your views of the real world.

I hope you will read it out.

When recently, the Pakistani players were not selected for the IPL, it was almost predictable that NDTV, the award-winning, mouthpiece of our Indian liberal media select you for your views and you certified that "It (Pakistan) is a great neighbour to have. We (India and Pakistan) are great neighbours. They are good neighbours."

I have a few words to say about those statements.

One may recall your effort to clarify the Pakistani team captain, Shoaib Malik"s apology to the Muslims, living all over the world, for failing to win the final T20 match against India, likely much to the embarrassment of a lot of Indian Muslims, as expressed by Shamin Bano, mother of the man of the match, Irfan Pathan.

What was more embarrassing was your effort to try to defend Shoaib in a subsequent interview, "I don't think he meant to segregate Muslims and Christians and Hindus and say this was a match between Islam and Hinduism. I don't think that..."

I doubt whether Shoaib talked to you personally about his thought process at that time. You did not really have to respond for somebody else but perhaps you could not resist the temptation to show your brotherhood and solidarity.

This reminds us again of Dr Ambedkar"s observation that, "The brotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man. It is brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only."

Partition of India was what Pakistan wanted and got. It was painful to millions but many more millions in present India have been spared. Since then Pakistan has offered us only hatred. It has imposed on us three major wars, the Kargil insurgency, the Kashmir conflict, the series of serial blasts, the routine violation of border ceasefires, attacks on the Parliament House and the recent Mumbai 26/11 attack.

Did you have these in mind when you talked about them being good neighbours?

In another interview you had tried to explain the concept of Islamic Jihad. "I think one needs to understand the meaning of jihad .. I've understood the essence that jihad is not about killing other people; jihad is about killing the badness in you."

May be you understand jihad better and deeper than the superficial meaning of what we, the rest of the mortal mankind, overburdened and terrorized by the inter-religious, intra-religious and sectarian violence that is plaguing the world in the name of Islam today, do. For we, the less educated, cannot really make a difference between Jihad and Qatl, between Jihad by heart / soul, Jihad by pen and Jihad by sword or between lesser and greater jihad.

We wonder, whatever its meaning may be, does it minimize the significance of the mindless killings that we see today
in the name of Islam, across borders, all over the world? Does it change the nature of the killers whether you call them holy warriors, mujahidins, fedayeens or plain suicide bombers?

We agree with you that terrorism has no religion. But hopefully you will also agree with the people who perceive that most terrorist in the world today happen to believe in the scriptures of Islam. They actually believe that they themselves are the true Islamists.

The so called "moderate" Islamist, perhaps does not want to contradict them or may be does not dare to speak out against them. You have probably not forgotten the FIR against you for listing Prophet Mohammed as one of the most unimpressive personalities in history, the threats from which you had to skillfully wriggle out. Others who are not so fortunate, famous or flexible are suffering lifetime, as Tasleema Nasreen or Salman Rushdie would testify. For blasphemy in Islam is punishable with death, even for a believer.

Do I have to spell out the fate if it is a non-believer?

It is due to the inherent intolerance and exclusivity of Islam itself despite your effort to convince us that there is an Islam from Allah and very unfortunately, there is an Islam from the Mullahs.

Here is an historical insight from writer Irfan Hussain, "The Muslim heroes who figure larger than life in our history books committed some dreadful crimes all have blood-stained hands that the passage of years has not cleansed. Indeed, the presence of Muslim historians on their various campaigns has ensured that the memory of their deeds will live long after they were buried...Seen through Hindu eyes, the Muslim invasion of their homeland was an unmitigated disaster."

So why should the "non-believers" care to accept them? Why should the majority of Indians like to welcome back such disasters again?

Since partition, India has come a long way in progress and development to her current status and is projected as an economic superpower in coming decades while Pakistan is perceived as a failed state on the verge of disintegration.

What does India have to gain by offering neighbourly friendship to such a hostile and failed state?

India has never been an invader and is not in conflict of any other Muslim country. None of the wars and conflicts with Pakistan was instigated by India. In the current geopolitical situation, one can argue for the Muslim world's grudge and anger against Israel or the west and USA but one fail to fathom why India should also be at the receiving end and why Indians should be the second largest group of people to die from terrorists attacks. Indian majorities do not have anything to do with the Danish cartoon or the death of Saddam Hussain; so why should they suffer from Islamic havoc on those occasions.

In almost all occasions of terrorism, questions are raised about possible role of Pakistan, its terror bases and its terrorist organizations, as either directly or indirectly involved. Be it state sponsored (as recently admitted by President Zardari) or by non-state actors, Pakistan or Pakistani born are prime suspect in terrorist activities all over the world. ISI has been accused of playing a role in major terrorist attacks including 9/11 in the USA, terrorism in Kashmir, Mumbai Train Bombings, London Bombings, Indian Parliament Attack, Varanasi bombings, Hyderabad bombings, Mumbai terror attacks or the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.

Do you believe these are marks of a good neighbour? Then what is the reason for your preaching of love towards Pakistan?

Perhaps, as you said, because it is your ancestor's homeland, you have a soft feeling for Pakistan and cannot see the difference. On the eve of accepting an honorary doctorate from a British university, we heard you say, "I really believe we are the same ..when you come away from India or Pakistan you realize there is no Indian or Pakistani - we're all together. We are - culturally, as human beings, as friends"

Which Pakistanis are you referring to?

The Pakistanis belonging to the land, admonished as the epicenter of global terrorism, not just by India or USA but even by its friendly allies like Iran or China.

Or is it the self-created, Talibanic Pakistan, who still imposes Jijya on the non believers or finds pleasure in blowing up girl's schools.

Are you talking about its President class like the current Mr. Zardari, vowed to wage a 1,000-year war with India or the late Mrs. Bhutto who started Jihad in Kashmiri that lead to the exodus of Hindu minorities from the Muslim majority state of India, as refugees in their own country?

Are you referring to Pakistanis loyal to the ISI and the military who train their soldiers with only one objective, i.e. to fight Hindu India?

If your mind is concerned about the faceless mass of Pakistanis, does it also include the dwindling minorities?

Or are you just concerned about the celebrities and the social elites?

It is true SRK that we belong to the same human species but it is hard to stretch the similarities much further between "us" and "them".

We from the same original land of Bharat but we want to keep her intact, they want to break it into thousand pieces.

Our ancestors happen to be the same. We acknowledge and adore the heritage but they abhor and decimate whoever is available in an attempt to wipe out the link.

We are culturally the same. We have created the culture over centuries what they dream to destroy in moments.

Ours is a 10,000 year old civilization, theirs is a 62 years old country undoing whole human civilization.

We extend our hands repeatedly to promote friendship and amity; they give us ISI, Lashkar, Harkat, Kashmir, Kargil and 26/11 in exchange.

Do you think that the Indians nationals who died in all the above wars, the Indian soldiers who lost their lives in cross-border ceasefire violations or the Indian civilians who are killed by the ISI trained Islamic terrorists and their affiliates, in all those serial blasts, all over the country, willfully sacrificed their lives as a friendly neighbourhood gesture?

Can you face the families of the victims of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or the martyrs of the Kargil war and try to explain to them that "They are good neighbours. Let us love each other?"

Can you explain why the two gunmen at Cama hospital, during the Mumbai carnage, asked the man who gave them water, what his religion was, and shot him dead when he said he was a Hindu?

If you cannot, then perhaps you understand why the majority of India does not consider Pakistan as a good neighbour to have.

Perhaps you believe that the peaceful religious co-existence that you created in your home (and we appreciate that) can be extended to the large world outside. As you rightly said, we Indians trust and do accept everybody but what you did fail to mention was that it is the Indic tradition, essentially coming out of its pre-Islamic Hindu ethos.

If you think otherwise, show us a single Islamic country where the non-believers enjoy the same equality as the believers. Since partition, the Hindus left over in Pakistan and Bangladesh has suffered terribly. Strictly Islamic countries, like Saudi Arabia, do not allow any other religions to exist. Hindus working in the Gulf countries are not allowed to practice their religion in public. Saudi Arabia insists that India sends only a Muslim ambassador. Hindu Muslim unity by and large has generally been a matter of Hindus trying to please or accommodate Muslims. One cannot forget when Vajpayee was extending his hand for peace Musharraf was planning the Kargil insurgency.

Let us remind you, your own statement "I am a Muslim in a country called India . We've never been made to feel this is a Hindu country."

Can you find me a Hindu in Pakistan who can reciprocate that sentiment?

Some years ago, another Mr. Khan, first name Feroze, from your fraternity was banned from entering Pakistan for saying, "India is secular unlike Pakistan".

That is the basic difference of the land of "Hindu" India from the Islamic "pure land" of Pakistan.

So please do not ask us to love Pakistan.

Please do not lump the people of India and Pakistan together. We Indians are proud to preserve our separate identity.

And please do not insult the land that gave you your life, name and fame, by claiming that her worst enemy, who wants to break her into 1000 pieces, is a great neighbour.

Otherwise it would be sad if somebody accuses you of putting your religion ahead of your country.

Please give it a thought.

Regards,

Arindam Bandyopadhyay

Thursday, February 4, 2010

[ EXCELLENCE ]

Excellence

A German once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby.
Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?"
"No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage."
The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked.
"There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work.
"Where are you going to install the idol?"
The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high.
"If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked.
The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."

The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not.
"Excellence" is a drive from inside, not outside.
Excellence is not for someone else to notice, but for your own satisfaction and efficiency...

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Worth a read

This was written by a Canadian woman, but oh how it also applies to the U.S. , U.K. and Australia


THIS ONE PACKS A FIRM PUNCH

Here is a woman who should run for Prime Minister!

Written by a housewife in New Brunswick , to her local newspaper. This is one ticked off lady.

'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not
started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001 and have continually threatened to do so since?

Were people from all over the world, not brutally murdered that day,
in downtown Manhattan , across the Potomac from the nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania ?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible,
burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a few Taliban were claiming to be
tortured by a justice system of the nation they come from and are fighting against in a brutal insurgency

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents
for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start
caring about the Holy Bible, the mere belief of which is a crime punishable by beheading in Afghanistan .

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking
off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed
throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Afghanistan come
out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by
hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search
of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the Canadian media stops pretending that their freedom of speech on stories is more important than the lives of the soldiers on the ground or their families waiting at home to hear about them when something happens.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a CANADIAN soldier roughing up an Insurgent terrorist to obtain information, know this:

I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank:

I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat,and 'fed special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts:

I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled 'Koran'
and other times 'Quran.' Well, Jimmy Crack Corn you guessed it,

I don't care!!


One last thought for the day:

Only five defining forces have ever offered to die for you:

1. Jesus Christ

2. The Canadian Soldier.

3. The British Soldier.

4. The US Soldier, and

5. The Australian Soldier

add Israeli Soldier
One died for your soul, the other 5 for your freedom.

YOU MIGHT WANT TO PASS THIS ON, AS MANY SEEM TO FORGET ALL OF THEM.

AMEN!


Monday, February 1, 2010

Democracy of a high standard

Democracy of a high standard — ancient example
Friday, Oct 10, 2003
http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/2003/10/10/stories/2003101001421200.htm

The inscriptions on the walls of the Sundaravarada temple in Uttiramerur, near Kanchipuram, show how democracy was practised 1,000 years ago. DR. R. NAGASWAMY elaborates.



The towering gopuram of the Sri Sundaravaradaraja Perumal temple at Uthiramerur. — Pic. by A. Muralitharan.
THE KUMBABHISHEKAM on June 8 last of the Sundaravarada temple of Uttiramerur, Kanchipuram district, was the culmination of a great renovation work.

This temple was built around 750 A.D. during the Pallava rule, but underwent a second great renovation in the hands of Rajendra Chola in 1013 A.D., and again in the reign of the great Vijayanagar Emperor, Krishnadevaraya in 1520 A.D.

The village is known for its historic inscription of a written constitution that deals with elections to the village assembly, qualifications required of candidates contesting in elections, circumstances under which a candidate may be disqualified, mode of election, tenure of the elected candidates and the right of the public to recall the elected members when they failed to discharge their duties properly and so on.

It is interesting how in every aspect of life the highest standard of democracy was enforced in Uttiramerur.

Fines for wrongdoers

A 10th Century record deals with how to administer fines imposed on wrong doers in the village. Those who were fined for misdeeds are classified into criminals ("dushtargal"), fined by the great village assembly and the serving elected members of the village assembly who were fined.



Inscriptions on a wall of the temple. - Pic.. by D. Gopalakrishnan.

The great assembly met and decided that the fines imposed should be settled by the administrators of the village, through the Village Assembly, within the same financial year, failing which the Village Assembly itself would get the matter settled. This suggests that as the Village Assembly also had a judicial function, it could impose further fines and get the same realised. Regarding the second category it was decided that the elected members of the subcommittees, their servants, the village scribes and the village guards, who were punished for default, the cases should be settled by the village administrators (under the supervision of the Village Assembly), failing which the Village Assembly itself should collect the fine, within the same year.

The village administrators would be individually fined one "kaanam" (money) for their failure to discharge their duty. The record makes it clear that the elected members of the Village Assembly could not escape punishment by virtue of their elected memberships. The defaulting administrators were also dealt with severely.

Testing gold quality

Another record dated 921 A.D. was a regulation passed by the Village Assembly. As gold was in circulation for commercial transactions it was found necessary that the gold offered should be tested for its fineness to the satisfaction of the community.

A committee was elected by the villagers to test the gold by rubbing it against a touchstone. Four members were elected by the pot ticket method by the merchant community of the village, two members by the military garrison and two by the oil mongers.

Those who stood for this election had to be skilled in testing gold and for their upright conduct. They had to be neither too old nor too young. They should be taxpayers. Non-tax paying men were considered unsuitable for the work. All together 10 members were elected for a stipulated period.

The Gold Testing Committee, called "Pon Vaariyam", was strictly prohibited from using rough stones, which would lead to greater loss of gold while rubbing. They were also expected to recover the gold dust from the touchstone, at the end of each day and deposit it with the village assembly. Once in three months, they were obliged to go before the village assembly and swear that they had not committed any fraud in the testing. Also people were so proud of their oaths and sworn statements that they would sacrifice their life rather than break their own sworn statements.

Appointment of Professors

Another interesting record deals with an establishment of a higher institution of learning and the qualifications prescribed for the professor, the method of appointment and the duration of his service. As this was related to a Vedic college, the qualifications required mastery of the Vedas. For instance, the incumbent could not be a native of that village but one who came from other regions. It was believed that the teacher from the same village might take things easy and not do full justice to his profession.

The second clause states that the teacher should have mastered one Veda completely in addition to mastery of grammar, "Mimamsa", and the two religious systems, "darsanas". Alternately he should have mastered one of the Vedas, in addition to grammar with commentary ("Vyakarana" with "bhashya") and Logic with commentary and classical notes ("nyaaya" with "bashya" and "tika") and etymological science ("nirukta") with commentary.

Those who are conversant with ancient Indian learning know that these are very high standards compared to this age, where a professor of Ancient History, for example, need not have even basic understanding of Sanskrit or epigraphy to interpret the original sources of ancient Indian culture.

The Ancient Educationists on the other hand insisted on multi-dimensional understanding of the relevant subjects as the best system of education. The record states that the teacher is appointed for a period of only three years at the end of which one has to take an examination for another term of appointment. The endowment with all the stipulations was created by a gentleman of the village in association with the Members of the Village Assembly, which would monitor the functioning. Here one finds that local democracy played a vibrant role in keeping the standard of education high.

Protection of village tanks

The maintenance of the village tank received top priority. The work was looked after by the Tank Supervising Committee whose members were elected from among the non-serving members of the Village Assembly. Their tenure was also limited to three years. In this way a great number of people were involved in managing the affairs of the village. The duty of the Tank Supervisory Committee was maintenance of tanks, irrigation, levying of tank taxes and utilising the funds so collected for the same purpose. The work of this committee was so inspiring that many people, including women, came forward and endowed money for tank maintenance.

The committee also had to de-silt the village tanks once in three months and strengthen the tank bunds by widening and raising its height. The sluices and overflow channels were to be maintained properly. Uttiramerur shows the best example by providing a large number of records dealing with this type of secular transactions of the village Assemblies of Ancient India.

There is an example of road maintenance. A road, continuously used by the villagers and cattle, became unfit for use. The village assembly acquired lands from owners who had cultivable lands adjacent to the road. The long road was about 48 feet wide. The assembly purchased land 14 feet wide from all the owners, who were willing to part with the land for a common cause and the road was re-laid.

Efficient election system

It would be appropriate to close this account by referring to the election system that was in vogue. The record is a clause-by-clause document of high efficiency and those who drafted it could be considered constitutional experts.

The salient features were that a person should have a minimum educational qualification, should be above 35 years of age and below 70, should own a minimum of landed property, should have a residence built in his own land and finally, should be a tax payer. Only such men, who felt it was their responsibility to contribute to the governance, were allowed to contest. It was obligatory that a legislator should understand at least what he is legislating, as these acts affect the life of the people. In disqualifying a candidate, primary importance was given to elimination of corruption. Not only corrupt persons but those who abetted corruption and the near relatives, were debarred from contesting an election for seven generations.

Those elected could be recalled any time if they were found not discharging their duty properly. With all these rigid rules if one got elected he could not contest the next three consecutive elections. And one could contest only for three terms throughout his lifetime and should make way for other members and families to get elected. Uttiramerur definitely shows the way in democratic participation extended to a larger section of society, exerting at the same time constant vigil and scrupulous enforcement of the Law, without favours or prejudices.

In place were several committees such as the Annual Administrative Committee, Tank Committee, Gold Committee, Field Committee, Garden Committee, etc. which were all democratically elected under the overall supervision of the Annual Committee.

Each serving member is debarred from standing for any other committee within three terms. Many of the evils prevalent today were anticipated 1,000 years ago and this made the Constitution framers, men of great vision, who deserve to be at least remembered. Uttiramerur, in this context, has a message to be acknowledged.

(The author was Director of Archaeology, Tamil Nadu).