Marina Beach

The Marina Beach is the second largest beach in a city after the Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California, the world's longest city beach. There exist, in fact, several longer beaches, including Praia do Cassino in Brazil, Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, Padre Island on the US Gulf Coast, Ninety Mile Beach in Australia and Ninety Mile Beach, New Zealand. A similar beach exists in Dubai, UAE. However, unlike the other beaches, it is an urban beach similar to the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.

The beach begins near Fort St. George in the north to Besant Nagar in the south, a distance of about 12km. A famous characteristic of the beach is the set of stone statues that adorn the roadside area of the beach. Most statues are of Indian/local legends like Mahatma Gandhi, Kannagi, Thiruvalluvar, while others have symbolic significance like the Statue of Labour. Also memorials for M. G. Ramachandran and C. N. Annadurai, former Chief ministers of Tamil Nadu are present on the beach. Recently, a statue of the legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan was installed.

The Marina used to be famed for its pristine beauty, jolly ambiance, and rich ecosystems. The beach and water has become polluted. A proliferation of plastic bags, human waste and other pollutants have rendered many parts of the beach unusable. In recent years, many voluntary organizations have taken up the task of cleaning up the Marina and protecting the ecosystem. Particular efforts include protection of Olive Ridley turtle nests along the Neelangarai section of the beach. Despite these problems however, a visit to the Marina is a sine qua non for any tourist coming to Chennai.

On December twenty six, two thousand and four, a tsunami caused by an earthquake struck the shores of Chennai at around the morining. The entire coastline of Chennai, including Marina beach, was affected. Sea waters engulfed the entire Marina beach, whose width is quite large. Morning joggers, children playing cricket were among those affected. The worst hit was the fishing community settled nearby the beaches. In all, the tsunami left behind two hundred and six dead in Chennai and caused destruction to the properties of the people in the city. While recovery has been difficult, the fishing community has been hard at work rebuilding their treasured coastline to boost their morale and make the area attractive to vacationers. It was held that since it was a Sunday morning, casualties were actually less, given the fact that people throng the beach in evenings.

Madurai Meenakshiamman temple

Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple or Meenakshi Amman Temple' is a historic Hindu temple located in the holy city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva (in the form of Sundareswarar or Beautiful Lord) and his consort, Goddess Parvati (in the form of Meenakshi). The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the two thousand and five hundred year old city of Madurai. This temple has a stunning architecture and a significant testimony for Vishwakarma Brahmins for their master architecture in sculpting this temple.

This was a frontrunner in the election for the modern [seven wonders of the world] for its architectural importance. The Shiva shrine lies at the centre of the complex, suggesting that the ritual dominance of the goddess developed later. The Shiva shrine also consists of an unusual sculpture of the Hindu god [Nataraja]. This famous Hindu marquee and a dancing form of Shiva that normally has his left foot raised, has his right foot raised in this temple.

According to the legend, this is on the request of the Rajasekara Pandya king who asked the Lord to change his position, as he felt that always keeping a single foot raised will pose enormous stress on that, based on his personal experiments in dancing. This massive Nataraja sculpture is enclosed in a huge silver altar and hence called Velli Ambalam (Silver abode). Outside the Shrine, lies huge scultptures carved of single stone and there is a shrine for a giant Ganesh temple, called the Mukuruny Vinayakar. This idol is believed to have been found during an excavation process to dig the temple lake. The Meenkashi shrine is on the left of the [Shiva]shrine and is of scultpturally less valuable than the Shiva shrine.

The most important festival associated with the temple is the Meenakshi Thirukalyanam (The divine marriage of Meenkashi) that is celebrated in April every year. During that one month period, in which most Tamil Nadu temples celebrate their annual festivals, there are a number of events including the Ther Thiruvizhah (Chariot festival) and Theppa Thiruvizhah (Float festival) are celebrated. Apart from this, major Hindu festivals like Navrathri, Shivrathri are celebrated in a grand manner. Like most Shakti temples in Tamil Nadu, the Fridays during the Tamil months of Aadi are popularly celebrated with thousands of devotees thronging to the temple.

Proverbs

A stitch in time save nine. This proverb means that we have to attend to all problem big or small, immediately. Especially smaller problems are more dangerous. Little things must be attended to at once. We know that a battle has been lost for want of a nail in the horse shoe. A virus destroys a whole humanity. A dust particle can cause loss for several lakhs. If we do not mend the cloth or shoe or chappal at once it will give way for further repair and even cause death to the wearer. So we must be prompt in solving problems and doing our work.

Rome was not built in a day. It means that careful planning is necessary for every activity. Any work or job cannot be done in a day. A house construction needs a year for it completion. A student has to plan his study for his future career. It takes a long time to prepare to launch a rocket. Gandhiji was able to win the confidence of the people only by his sheer constant effort and careful planning. Proper thinking for performance of work would help one to attain progress in life.

Make hay while the sunshines. It means that one should make use of the opportunities for one’s progress in life. A student has to make use of his lifetime for his education and future career. If he cannot study at the proper age there is no use in feeling sorry afterwards. A farmer should carryout his work only in proper seasons. Any skill can be learnt or acquired only during the youth. The young should learn many things from the elders when they are alive.

A rolling stone gathers no moss. It means if people do not stick to certain good principles, and change their mind from tome to time they cannot understand life and enjoy it. A stone in water gathers moss but that which rolls in it gathers nothing. Likewise a man who jumps from one job to another several times, cannot learn anything and lead a contented lfe. A scientist gets success because he is continuously and constantly at his work . He is able to find a solution to a problem. Hasty mind will never succeed.

Prohibiton

Man is born in this world to enjoy life. James Mase field writes in his poem that God created this earth only for joy. Every man has to be proud that be belongs to humanity. The spoil themselves and their family. It is a daily tug of war in the family of the drunkard. So we should not waste our life in evils like drinking. Drinking, people think, gives them a sort of bliss when they get used it, they lose the control of the body and the body ceases to function.

Slowly they become a block of wood in this work. The spoil themselves and their family. It is a daily tug of war in the family of the drunkard, between the husband the wife and a daily torture to the affected ladies. A nation’s growth depends not only on financial soundness but also on moral strength. The condition of the drunkard is deplorable. This habit is started only for temporary relief but developes into a permanent one and an incurable disease afterwards.

Government thinks of its financial improvement. So it relaxes prohibition. But addiction to drinking leads to weakening of the manpower which results in decrease in productivity of a nation in all the fields. A nation’s growth depends not only on financial soundness but also on moral strength. The glass door of the shop was broken into pieces. The drivers of both the lorries and the ambassador car died on the spot. It is the duty of mankind to realize it and help such people transform their life.

We should not forget that we are the real property of our nation. It causes accident also The lorry driver do drunk and drive at once broke the median after hitting an ambassador car, and went straight into the shop killing two pavement dwellers. The glass door of the shop was broken into pieces. The drivers of both the lorries and the ambassador car died on the spot. The first lorry struck against the light post pushing down the innocent cyclist injured. So we should start working to eliminate this evil.

Spend your summer vacation

I had vacation for two months, April and May. My friend who is in Madurai invited me to stay with him. So I left for Madurai on tenth of May. My friend had come to the station and took me to his house. His house was very big. There was a garden too. He took me round the garden and told me about the names of various plants. Everyday he would tell me about each plant and explain to me about its growth.

He took me to Sri Meenakshi Temple. It was a very big temple. There was a tank called golden Lotus tank in the temple. Then I visited Thirumalai Naicker Paalce. Each pillar was very huge. I wondered how big it was. The city itself was beautiful. The streets wree naked after the Tamil month. The river Vaigai is flowing there. There was no water at that time.

He took me to Chitrai Festival. I had a Darshan of Sri Alagar. There was a large gathering in the river. Then we visited the Chitrai exhibition at Tamkim Grounds. Then we visited the Gandhi Musuem where the pictures of the life and deeds of the father of our Nation were exhibited. His Father gave me valuable advice. He also taught me English in twenty days.

I returned to my town happily. We went there on a Sunday. We selected a spot the falls and kept our things there. There was not a huge crowd then. We all applied Oil on our body and stood in the falls. Water was flowing at a tremendous speed. All the oil was washed away. We enjoyed bathing in the falls. Then we ate our tiffin brought from our home.

Accidents

Last summer, I saw a fire accident in a slum near by my street. There were a hundred huts in that slum. I saw huge clouds of dark smoke passing into the sky. I was shocked but anxious to see the spot. So I ran to the slum. I saw most of the houses were consumed in fire. About fifty people got burns and were badly attacked. They were being taken to hospital by ambulance vans.

Since it was hot summer, the fire quickly spread throughout the area. I understood from the crowd that by the time the fire engine reached the spot, fifty percent of the houses had been completely charred to ashes. People gathered there and the residents poured water, and threw sand to put out the fire but in vain. Anyhow the fire troop struggled heavily and put the fire. I heard from the conversation among the public that the cause of the fire was piece of burning cigarette thrown by a drunkard.

Fire, it is a well known fact, is a good servant but a bad master. We have to be very careful with it. I saw a spine chilling accident which could not be forgotten in my life. It was not a single accident but a chain of accidents. Suddenly I heard a thundering noise when two lorries collided with each other. A lorry went out of control and hit another lorry which overtook it.

The second lorry at once broke the median after hitting an ambassador car, and went straight into the shop killing two pavement dwellers. The glass door of the shop was broken into pieces. The drivers of both the lorries and the ambassador car died on the spot. The first lorry struck against the light post pushing down the innocent cyclist injured. The crowd dispersed cursing the drivers of the lorries who had no sense of responsibility.

Human Values in Education

Education is to impart knowledge, skill, peace, understanding and gentleness. Knowledge is transformed into wisdom by good education. Schools and universities impart knowledge and develop the skills in students. The values we acheive from education must closely be linked with man’s intellect, will and heart. So education should give importance to moral values such as truth, honesty, love peace and obedience.

Acquisition of knowledge and development of skills without discipline will be of no use to humanity. So education should give importance to moral values such as truth, honesty, love peace and obedience. Character alone maketh a man. The education which moulds one’s character perfect is a good education. Respecting all the religions and serving. Schools and universities impart knowledge and develop the skills in students.

Respecting all the religions and serving one’s society for its betterment must be the basic value of education. They loss control of the body and the body ceases to function. Slowly they become a block of wood in this world. Skills such as a subject skills, technical skills, writhing and reading skills will be useless without moral values. Gentleness is one of the values explained by Sri V. K. Gokak, critic and prolific writer. It means the ability to remain calm and not to loss temper when insulted.

Cardinal Newman in his essay, ‘Gentleman’, writes that a gentleman avoids clash of opinion, clash of feelings, etc., to make life smooth around him. Skills such as a subject skills, technical skills, writhing and reading skills will be useless without moral values. Slowly they become a block of wood in this world. Gentleness is one of the values explained. People blame science for modernizing wars. Bronowsk says that science is not responsible for the existence.