Peter Sinniah

Shashi Kapoor smk.co@hotmail.com Wednesday, May 24, 2006 12:25 PM peter_sinniah@yahoo.com Re: New comment on All Ye La Sallians Dear Peter, How prompt you are. My blog id is: www.kaikulath.blogspot.com I have written a lot of carp in it, but at least it can help you to decipher the kind of nut I am! I can make out that you are a pragmatist and would therefore measure success in terms of material gains. But I have no use for anything material. I have for ages been keeping away from wherever there is a show of material power - like marriages, parties etc. Rather than 'doing' as an indication of how alive we are, I am into 'undoing' to regain my original heritage - freedom. Ah... spiritual mumbo jumbo, I can hear you say. Maybe so, because finally the words we use to express ourselves are itself so limited. In spite of what I am, if you think you can still have some 'return' from a relationship with me, do continue to write sometimes. Otherwise, we again evaporate into the mists of memory. Love, Venu Venu, I am not really as materialistic as you think I am. Having lost a brother when he was 20 (remember Raymond John) and having come close to death the year after his death, I leave my fate in the hands of God. I could have become more than what I am but tend to also float along struggling to maintain a family of 3 kids and a wife. The only luxury I have is my French Citroen car (second hand) and have not had the luck to buy a house yet. We should explore what we could do together in the our golden ages. Send me some pictures of you, your family, the palce you stay etc. Take care Peter

venu, my apologies and i am thankful u wrote me cos i lost ur e-mail address.... i have lost my password for the blog so need sometime before i post your item whats your blog url best regards peter

Dear Peter, We had communicated via e-mail some years back and suddenly the communication came to a dead end. You said at that time you had some financial difficulties and I could understand that we needed to have a break. Now again I communicate through this blogsphere. Since we last communicated I have become more of a recluse. So sometimes I stay back in the office after work and then I have a cave all to myself (eerie with not a soul in the whole huge building and all quiet). I suppose on such nights I shall be able to blog and communicate with you and all the good folks whom I had the honour to study with and be taught by. If you get on to my blog, you might get to know my mind and how crazy I have become since I left La Salle in 69 and Malaysia in 70. May God bless you, Peter, for your labour of love in keeping the memories of class of 69 as a beacon light for the rest of us to reflect on some of the most gorgeous moments in our life. Love, Venu Publish this comment. Reject this comment. Moderate comments for this blog. Posted by Venu to La Salle Brickfields at 5/22/2006 10:46:27 PM

P.M.C. Menon and 70 kilos of gold

Menon's 70 kgs. of gold as an offering to Guruvayoorappan is an affair between God and his devotee. What has it to do with us? Nevertheless, since the temple and its affairs are within the public domain, comments on the acts of devotees are inevitable. Oftimes, commentary or criticism can clarify or bring out the moral lessons of an action. Firstly, thulabharam is a ritual that has been extant since the temple was built and the ritual exists in many other temples too. A devotee offering thulabharam is the natural outcome of the devotee's devotion to his diety. But when amounts involved are unusually high, invariably the public wonders whether the amount spent could not have been spent more wisely. But how could something earmarked for one occasion be used for another? For other needs, other funds - that's all as far as the devotee is concerned. Therefore I feel we ought to in no way criticise Mr. Menon for what he did. It is well within his right to have done so and may Guruvayoorappan bless him for that. But the 70 kgs. of gold, once donated, becomes the property of the temple and at this level, the question should be about the use the temple puts this gold to. Here public questioning must be pursued with vigor. A temple belongs to its devotees. If devotees are kept in the dark about any aspect of the temple management, then that temple would before long be in the hands of vested interests. This we should be cautious against and it should be in this background that Mr. Menon's 70 kg. of gold is talked about.

[This is an e-mail I sent to Terry of Alaya, after reading a talk by Ishvar.] Dear Terry, I have read this, the second message of H.H. Ishvara I've got since joining. I would tend to disagree with one point - that it's natural to have needs. Needs are what we have all the time and thereby our great feeling of inadequacy. Is it possible to be in a situation of having no needs (except at the subsistence level, of course)? I think the whole spiritual pursuit is to come to a situation where we are free from needs. And this is achieved not by any doing, but by a simple awakening to the truth that we are perfect. I say this much as a comment in passing and not to begin an argument or have a debate. As I keep reading Ishvara’s newsletters and maybe offering my comments, I’m sure clarity would evolve. Love,Venu