Panchratnam

ONE

Speaking of installing statues, one finds a statue of Raja Harischandra at the gates of a cremation ground in village Aathur off Cehngalpattu near Chennai (Tamilnadu, Bharat). The legendary Raja worked as a cremation worker in Benaras on the banks of Ganga as a result of his pursuit of life-long truthfulness. It was installed by the efforts of a Swayamsevak of the village, Shri K. Bhaktavatsalu, who passed away on November 24 at the ripe old age of 79. Not only at the last post of life, Bhaktavatsalu was instrumental in reminding people of the ancient cultural identity, practically all along his retired life (He was an engineer in the Tamilnadu Electricity Board). He handed over Rs. 80,000 to the village, being the amount he saved during his two decade old tenure as the manager of the Vishnu temple in the village, thanks to his thrift. He mobilized the villagers to take a regular early morning walk through the village streets singing Thiruppaavai, the centuries old devotional hymn on Shri Krishna by Andaal, a woman saint. To instill a spirit of patriotism, he saw to it that the village celebrated the Indian Independence Day on August 15 and the Republic Day on January 26 year after year. His house in the village bears the plaque `Bharatamata House'. On the day of his demise, he reminded the Jilla pracharak of RSS of his pledge to donate his eyes. The eye donation was duly executed after he left his body peacefully; the donation opened new avenues in the lives of two blind persons.

Based on a report by NS in VIJAYABHARATHAM, December 13, 2008

TWO

Jose Mendoza and his wife Lata of Madhya Pradesh were proceeding to Kerala by the Bengaluru-Kochi express in the night of November 21. They alighted by mistake in Erode and left a bag containing gold jewels ansd cash in the train. They lodged a complaint with the Erode Railway Police. In a quick search on the train led by Sub Inspector Ranjit at the Coimbatore Junction, the bag was spotted and handed over to the couple at Coimbatore the next morning. There were gold ornaments weighing 4 sovereigns and Rs. 11,500 in cash in the bag. the couple thanked the police.

DINAMANI (Coimbatore), November 23, 2008; Idea: Shri. S. Prakash, Coimbatore

THREE

Smt. Pushpa is an employee at the Sims park at Coonoor in Nilgiri district (Tamilnadu, Bharat). On November 1, as she went about her work in the public park, she spotted a handbag. She found in it a gold chain weighing 3.5 sovereigns, a mobile phone and Rs.30,000 in cash. She promptly handed over the bag to the police. The police, in turn, traced the owners of the bag as Keshubhai Visvasas's family who were on tour of Tamilnadu. DSP Dharmaraj appreciated the honest lady Pushpa.

Based on a report in DINAKARAN (Coimbatore), November 3, 2008.

Idea: Shri Guruswami, Coimbatore.

FOUR

Rani Amma is a roadside dweller on the 7^th Lane in Thillai Nagar, Tiruchy (Tamilnadu, Bharat). She earns around one thousand rupees per month by doing menial jobs sprinkling water on shop fronts and sweeping. Once she found a small crowd around a dustbin in front of the Government hospital. A female infant lay there crying, It was lapping up its own tears in hunger. Rani quickly picked up the child and went around inquiring whose baby it was. She found none claiming the child. She fed the child with milk bought from a tea stall. Rani took the child under her protective wings and gave her the name Gajapriya. Six years rolled by. Today, Gajapriya goes to school. She is a class one student of Puthur Ramakrishna Middle School, thanks to the spirit of selflessness of Rani Amma, whose only expectation from Gajapriya is that she should be enabled to lead a decent life even after her (Rani Amma's) time.

Baesd on reports in DINAMALAR, November 15, 2008 (Idea: Smt. Vasantha ) and KUMUDAM November 19, 2008 (Idea: Shri. Raghuramji)

FIVE

The following is from a letter carried by THE TIMES OF INDIA, Chennai, on October 22, 2008: "My father, a retired government pensioner, passed away recently and I had to deal with the pension pay office to arrange family pension to be paid to my mother. When I first visited the office on College Road (Chennai) and looked at the long queue, I was mentally preparing myself for a long haul. I spent some time trying to figure out the concerned department and the procedure involved. A lady employee explained the procedure clearly and gave me the various forms to be filled up. She told me that she would not like to inconvenience my mother but rules required her to come and sign the papers in the presence of a senior officer. She fixed an appointment for my mother to complete the procedure. The employee came to the office to complete the work though she had to go on leave on that day due to a domestic emergency. We were touched when she told us that she did not want to make a senior citizen come again. The lady was modest and declined to give her name when I told her that I would like to record my appreciation for completing the job efficiently". Shri. S D Sankaralingam, Chennai, had sent in the letter. (Idea: Shri. Raghuramji)