A wonderful place in Pudukkottai district of Tamilnadu, India.
“It's no trick loving somebody at their best. Love is, loving them at their worst.”
― Tom Stoppard
Munnar is a town in the Western Ghats mountain range
in India’s Kerala state. A hill station and former resort for the British Raj
elite, it's surrounded by rolling hills dotted with tea plantations established
in the late 19th century. Eravikulam National Park, a habitat for the
endangered mountain goat Nilgiri tahr, is home to the Lakkam Waterfalls, hiking
trails and 2,695m-tall Anamudi Peak.
Long-distance runner John Stephen
Akhwari represented Tanzania in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City with an
unforgettable performance in the marathon. He did not set a new world record.
He did not even earn a medal. In fact, by the time he crossed the finish line,
the sun had set, the winner had been crowned over an hour earlier, and most of
the fans had left the stadium. But Akhwari’s performance still inspires to this
day.
Earlier in the race, while jockeying with other
runners for position, Akhwari was knocked to the ground, badly injuring his
knee and shoulder. He had every reason to pull out just as 18 of the 75 other
athletes did by the time the race was over. But “a voice called from within to
go on, and so he went on.”
A cheer rose up from the small crowd that welcomed
Akhwari as he limped across the finish line in last place, the makeshift
bandage on his knee flapping in the wind. He was fatigued, cramping, dehydrated,
and disoriented, but he had finished. When asked why he would continue running
a race he knew he had already lost, Akhwari replied, “My country did not send
me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”
John Stephen Akhwari was able to endure because he
had a clear vision of his purpose. His decision to finish the race did not come
after his devastating fall; enduring to the end was a decision he made long
before he was injured, long before he left Tanzania. He trained to be a
finisher, not just a participant, and so he kept going.
In the decades since that summer evening in 1968,
John Stephen Akhwari’s words and example continue to inspire countless
athletes—and many others who have a challenging race to run. His story teaches
us that sometimes winning simply means finishing. It teaches us that we can
make it through life’s rough spots one step, one day, at a time. It teaches us
to decide now that we will endure with courage and honour to the end of life’s
marathon.
Commander James Bond RN, code number 007, is a
fictional character created by the British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming
in 1952. The character appeared in a series of twelve novels and two short
story collections written by Fleming and a number of continuation novels and
spin-off works after Fleming's death in 1964. There have been twenty-six films
in total, produced between 1962 and 2015.
Fleming portrayed Bond as a tall, athletic, handsome
secret agent in his thirties or forties; he has several vices including
drinking, smoking, gambling, automobiles and women. He is an exceptional
marksman, and skilled in unarmed combat, skiing, swimming and golf. While Bond
kills without hesitation or regret, he usually kills only when carrying out
orders, while acting in self-defence and occasionally as revenge.
American actor Barry Nelson was the first to portray
Bond on screen, in a 1954 television adaptation, "Casino Royale". In
1961 Eon Productions began work on Dr. No, an adaptation of the novel of the
same name. The result was a film that spawned a series of twenty-four films
produced by Eon Productions and two independent films. After considering the
likes of "refined" English actors such as Cary Grant and David Niven,
the producers cast Sean Connery as Bond in the film. Fleming was appalled at
the selection of the uncouth, 31-year-old Scottish actor, considering him to be
the antithesis of his character. However, Connery's physical prowess and sexual
magnetism in the role came to be closely identified with the character, with
Fleming ultimately changing his view on Connery and incorporating aspects of
his portrayal into the books.
Seven actors in total have portrayed Bond on film.
Following Connery's portrayal, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy
Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig have assumed the role. These screen
versions have retained many traits from Fleming's depiction, although some of
Bond's less fashionable attitudes have been dropped, such as racism,
homophobia, retaining the services of a maid, and in the more recent films,
smoking. Despite playing the same character, there have been notable
differences among the portrayals. Daniel Craig is the incumbent Bond in the
long-running Eon series, and played the part for a fourth time in the latest
film, Spectre, released in October 2015.
O crazy one! O the one who is wearing the crescent moon! O
the great one! O the one who bestows blessings! You have installed yourself in
my mind. I remember you always without forgetting in any manner. O father in
the aruL thuRai temple in the town of veNNey ~nallUr on the southern banks of
the peNNai river! How can I say any more that I am not your slave?
Background:
ArUran was the son of a temple priest. When he was a young
child, the local king liked ArUran so much that he raised him in his palace as
if he were his child. When ArUran was about 16 years or so, his parents
arranged his wedding. On the day of the wedding, an old brahmin came into the
wedding hall and stopped the marriage saying that ArUran was his slave. ArUran
called the old man a crazy person and questioned how a brahmin could be a slave
to another brahmin. The case went to the village elders. The village elders
investigated the evidence presented by the old man and decided the case in
favor of the old man. Thus, ArUran was declared the slave of the old man. The
old man led
ArUran (and others) into the temple and disappeared only to
appear as Siva and pArvathi to ArUran. Siva reminded ArUran of his past and
asked him to sing. ArUran did not know how to start. Siva instructed to him to
start the song with the first words that ArUran used when he saw the old man in
the wedding hall. This is that very first song sung by ArUran. That is why this
song starts by addressing the god as the “crazy one”.
(su~ndharar is the name ArUran in his previous life. After
the above event, he came to be referred by that name only).
