sowmyam: August 2006

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

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Hindu units of measurement
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Old Indian measures are still in use today, primarily for religious purposes in Hinduism and Jainism. They also are employed in the teachings of Surat Shabda Yoga.
Contents[hide]
1 Time
1.1 Sidereal metrics
1.1.1 Small units of time used in the Vedas[citation needed]
1.2 Lunar metrics
1.3 Tropical metrics
1.4 Reckoning of time among other entities
2 See also
3 External links
//
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Time
The Hindu metrics of time (Kaala Vyavahara) can be summarized as below.

Hindu units of time on a logarithmic scale.
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Sidereal metrics
a paramanu (परमाणु) is the normal interval of blinking in humans, or approximately 4 seconds
a vighati (विघटि) is 6 paramaanus, or approximately 24 seconds
a ghadiya (घटि) is 60 vighatis, or approximately 24 minutes
a muhurta is equal to 2 ghadiyas, or approximately 48 minutes
a nakshatra ahoratram (नक्षत्र अहोरत्रम्) or sidereal day is exactly equal to 30 muhurtas (Note: A day is considered to begin and end at sunrise, not midnight.)
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Small units of time used in the Vedas[citation needed]
a trasarenu is the combination of 6 celestial atoms.
a truti is the time needed to integrate 3 trasarenus, or 1/1687.5th of a second.
a vedha is 100 trutis.
a lava is 3 vedhas.[1]
a nimesha is 3 lavas, or a blink.
a kshanas is 3 nimeshas.
a kashthas is 5 kshanas, or about 8 seconds.
a laghu is 15 kashthas, or about 2 minutes.[2]
15 laghus make one nadika, which is also called a danda. This equals the time before water overflows in a six-pala-weight [fourteen ounce] pot of copper, in which a hole is bored with a gold probe weighing four masha and measuring four fingers long. The pot is then placed on water for calculation.
2 dandas make one muhurta.
6 or 7 dandas make one yamah, or 1/4th of a day or night.[3]
4 praharas or 4 yamas are in each day or each night.[4]
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Lunar metrics
a tithi (also spelled thithi ) or lunar day is defined as the time it takes for the longitudinal angle between the moon and the sun to increase by 12°. Tithis begin at varying times of day and vary in duration from approximately 19 to approximately 26 hours.
a paksa (also paksha) or lunar fortnight consists of 15 tithis
a masa or lunar month (approximately 29.5 days) is divided into 2 pakshas: the one between new moon and full moon is called gaura (bright) or shukla paksha; the one between full moon and new moon krishna (dark) paksha [5]
a ritu is 2 masa
an ayanam is 3 rituhs
a year is 2 Aayanas [6]
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Tropical metrics
a yaama (याम) is 7½ Ghatis (घटि)
8 yaamas 1 half of the day(either day or night)
an ahoratram is a tropical day (Note: A day is considered to begin and end at sunrise, not midnight.)
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Reckoning of time among other entities
Reckoning of time amongst the pitrs.
1 human masa = 1 day of the pitrs
30 days of the pitrs = 1 month of the pitrs
12 months of the pitrs = 1 year of the pitrs
The lifespan of the pitrs is 100 years of the pitrs (= 3000 human years)
Reckoning of time amongst the Devas.
1 human year = 1 day of the Devas.
30 days of the Devas = 1 month of the Devas.
12 months of the Devas = 1 year of the Devas
The lifespan of the Devas is 100 years of the Devas (= 36,000 human years)
Reckoning of time for Brahma.
12,000 years of the Devas = 1 day of Brahma (432,000,000 human years). This day is divided into 1000 parts called charanas. The charanas are divided as follows:
The Four Yugas
4 charanas (1,728,000 solar years)
Satya Yuga
3 charanas(1,296,000 solar years)
Treta Yuga
2 charanas(864,000 solar years)
Dwapar Yuga
1 charanas(432,000 solar years)
Kali Yuga
[7]
The cycle repeats itself so altogether there are 1000 cycles of yugas in one day of Brahma.
One cycle of the above four yugas is one mahayuga (4.32 million solar years)
A manvantara consists of 71 mahayugas (306,720,000 solar years). Each Manvantara is ruled by a Manu.
After each manvantara follows one Sandhi Kala of the same duration as a Krita Yuga (1,728,000 = 4 Charana). (It is said that during a Sandhi Kala, the entire earth is submerged in water.)
A kalpa consists of a period of 1,728,000 solar years called Adi Sandhi, followed by 14 manvantaras and Sandhi Kalas.
A day of Brahma equals
(14 times 71 mahayugas) + (15 x 4 Charanas)
= 994 mahayugas + (60 Charanas)
= 994 mahayugas + (6 x 10) Charanas
= 994 mahayugas + 6 mahayugas
= 1000 mahayugas
as is confirmed by the Gita statement "sahasra-yuga paryantam ahar-yad brahmano viduH", meaning, a day of brahma is of 1000 (maha-)yugas. Thus a day of Brahma, kalpa, is of duration: 4.32 billion solar years. Two kalpas constitute a day and night of Brahma
30 days of Brahma = 1 month of Brahma (259,200,000,000 human years)
12 months of Brahma = 1 year of Brahma (3,110,400,000,000 human years)
25 years of Brahma = 1 kalpa (77,760,000,000,000 human years)
2 kalpas = 1 parardha (155,520,000,000,000 human years) [6]
2 parardhas = 100 years of Brahma, the lifespan of Brahma (311,040,000,000,000 human years)
We are currently in the 28th kaliyuga of the first day of the 1st year of the shvetavaraha kalpa of the second parardha of Brahma in the reign of the 7th Manu, Manu Vaivasvata. This is the 51st year of the present Brahma and so about 155 trillion years have elapsed since He took over as Brahma.
The current Kali Yuga (Iron Age) began at midnight 17 February / 18 February in 3102 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar.
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See also
Hindu calendar
Day of Brahma
Jyotish
Vedas
[edit]

External links
One Cosmic Day of Creator Brahma
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_units_of_measurement"
Categories: Articles needing sources Vedic Civilization Hindu philosophical concepts Human-based units of measure Obsolete units of measure Shabd paths Timekeeping Hindu astronomy
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Calender.......4

Hindu Calendar...3

In the traditional Hindu calendar, the breaks were observed on pratipada (first day of the waxing and waning phase of the moon) and ashtami (eighth day of waxing and waning phase). The main divisions of the year were: season, month, half-month (paksha), day-night and sunrise. However, an alien system (Gregorian) was imposed upon the entire country during the colonial rule. The concept of Sunday as a day of rest is just one example. When the British came to the subcontinent, observance of Sunday as a day of rest was limited to Europeans – Indians worked all seven days. However, in 1842 the Governor of Bombay Sir George Arthur ordered that no government work was to be done either by Indians or Europeans on a Sunday and that future government contracts with outside tenderers were to specify this. As a result, we overtly subscribe to one set of politically correct assumptions that dominate the world today, but these are constantly belied by the reality of our everyday experience. Even though we would now feel quite lost without the Gregorian calendar, many people still think that the weather turns cold only after Diwali (amavasya or the new moon in the month of Kartik) and warm weather only beings after Holi (Poornima or the full moon in Phalgun).
After independence, the government created an Indian civil calendar based on the Shaka samvat in an attempt to have a unified calendar for the country incorporating elements of the traditional calendar and the Gregorian calendar. However, this has done little to limit the loss of knowledge about the traditional calendars, as it has not become popular with our people who continue to follow the traditional system in their region.
We need to acknowledge as well as appreciate the strengths of our society and understand the premises upon which it functions. In order to do this we need be more informed. We are making a small beginning by taking a fresh look at the complexities of the Hindu calendar- the oldest calendar in the entire world (it is 1,9455,885,107 years old). This planner is an attempt to understand the traditional way we perceive the world and the cosmos, even though over the past few centuries we may have been alienated from our original nature. However, this alienation is not yet complete and so we seem to be living in two different worlds - one which was our own and one that is an imposition.
We hope this planner will help us become better acquainted with the traditional component of our world. However, we recognize our dependence on the January to December cycle, and for this reason, have made this planner span a period of 15 months to cover both the Hindu and Gregorian year. We have also included information about our country that has never been taught to us, with the hope it will help reconnect us with ourselves. We can respect others only after we accept and respect ourselves. When we see that in reality there are no opposites only differences; no competition only complementarity; only then can we truly participate in creating a harmonious world where we can mutually enrich one another.
Organization of the Hindu Calendar The Hindu calendar is a combined lunar and solar calendar as is based on the position of both sun and moon. When referring to the lunar cycle we refer to tithi and paksha, but when referring to the solar cycle we talk in terms of sankranti and gate. Festivals and other religious occasions are based both on the solar and the lunar cycles. For example some of the sankrantis (corresponding to the solar calendar) like the Mesh Sankranti (more popularly known as Baishaki), Kark Sankranti, etc. are very important and celebrated throughout the country, while on the other hand important festivals like Basant Panchami, Mahashivratri, Holi, Diwali, Janmashtami, Ramnavami, etc. are determined by the lunar calendar.
The names of the months like Chaitra, Baishaka, etc. are the same in both the lunar and solar cycles. These two cycles cannot be separated and seen in isolation. However, it should also be remembered that these two cycles are not in step. This creates a slight difficulty for those unacquainted with the Hindu calendar as demonstrated by the following example. In 2006, Baishaki falls on April 14th. According to the solar calendar it is the first day (or sankranti) of the month of Vaishakh, but according to the lunar cycle it is Chaitra Shukla Dwadashi (or the twelfth day of the bright half/waxing phase of the month of Chaitra). So it can be seen that according to the lunar cycle it is the month of Chaitra, but according to the solar cycle the month of Baishaka has started.
SOLAR CYCLEA solar month is the time it takes the sun to travel through a zodiac sign (rashi). The entry of the sun in a rashi is celebrated as sankrant and is also the start of the solar month. Thus there are twelve sankrants in a year. For example, the month of Baishaka begins when the sun enters the zodiac sign Aries.
A solar year has two ayana (halves) of six months each, solar month is further divided in to 30 or 31 gate (days). The northern declination of the sun when it appears to move between the constellation Capricorn and Gemini is called Uttarayan. This corresponds to the movement of the sun from the Tropic of Capricorn northwards towards the Tropic of Cancer. Uttarayan starts on the day of Makar Sankranti. The southern declination of the sun when it appears to move between the constellations Cancer and Sagittarus is called Dakshinayan. This corresponds to the movement of the sun from the Tropic of Cancer southwards towards the Tropic of Capricorn. Dakshinayan starts on the day of Kark Sankranti. The solar year begins with the entrance of the sun into Mesha (Aries) or Makara which is around 14/15 of January.
LUNAR CYCLEThe lunar month (masa) consists of 30 tithis (days) which can begin at any time of the solar day, but for practical purposes they are considered to commences at sunrise and last through the whole solar day. The tithes are grouped into pakshas with 14-15 days each. The Krishna Paksha is the dark half or waning phase, from purnima to amavasya, and the Shukla Paksha is the bright half or waxing phase, from amavasya to purnima. In North India, the lunar month starts on the first day of the Krishna Paksha (Krishna Paksh Pratipada) and the last day of the month is the day of purnima. In Bengal, Maharashtra and South India, the amanta system is used, in which the lunar month instead starts on the first day of Shukla Paksha (Shukla Paksha Pratipada) and ends on the day of amavasya. Each masa is named after the naksatra in which the full moon occurs in each successive month. In South India the months are named after the constellations in which the sun is moving at that time.
Adhika Masa and Kshaya MasaIn order to reconcile the lunar and solar years, an ingenious system was devised. It was ordained that any month in which the sun did not enter a new sign of zodiac would not count and would be followed by another month of the some name. Thus in the lunar month of Chaitra the sun must enter the sign of Mesha (Aries). If it does not, there will be an intercalary Chaitra followed by the proper month of the some name during which the sun does enter Mesha. These intercalary months occur approximately once in three years. By this reckoning, the twelve lunar months are adjusted to the solar year.
There is a possibility that two Sankrantis may occasionally occur in the same lunar month. When this happens, the month to which the second Sankranti properly belongs, is called Kshaya or eliminated month. Eliminated months occur at intervals varying from 19 to 141 years. Intercalary months occur generally seven times in a cycle of 19 years.
The Hindu new year or samvatsar starts on the day of Chitra Shukla Pratipada (the first day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra). But the New Year is celebrated on different days in different part of country. Some regions and communities start their new year on KartikShukla Pratipada (the first day of the bright half of the month of kartik). This would be the time of Diwali. In Bengal and Punjab the New Year starts on the day of Mesh Sankrant (popularly known as Baisakhi), while the Tamil New Year called Pongal falls on the day after Baishakhi (i.e. 15 April).
SamvatsarsThere are many calendars in India. There are over 30 samvatsars (eras) that have been used in different parts of the country at different times. The Vikram Samvat is most widely used today, although the Hijri samvat (used by Muslims), Bangla Samvat, Kali samvat, Kolam samvat, Yazdejardi samvat, Buddha Nirvana samvat, and Mahavir Nirvana samvat continue to be used by some. There is a lot of similarity between different calendars. Festivals are celebrated on the same day with different names in the different parts of India according to different calendar. As per the traditional Hindu calendar each samvatsar (year) is given a specific name and they recur in cycles of sixty years. The names are as follows:Prabhava, Vibhava, Shukla, Prajapati, Angirasa, Srimukha, Bhava, Yuva, Dhatu, Iswara, Bahudhanya, Pramadi, Vikrama, Vishnu, Chitrabhanu, Swabhanu, Tharana, Parthiva, Vyaya, Sarvajitu, Sarvadhary, Virodhi, Vikriti, Khara, Nandana, Vijay, Jaya, Manmatha, Durmukh, Hevilambi, Vilambi, Vikari, Sharvari, Plava, Shubhakritu, Krodhi, Viswavasu, Parabhava, Plavanga, keelaka, Saumya, Sadharana, Virodhikritu, Paridhavi, Pramadicha, Ananda, Rakshasa, Nala, Pingala, Kalayukti, Siddharti, Roudri, Dhurmathi, Dundbhi, Rudhirodghari, Rakthakshi, Krodana, Akshaya,
The complete cycle of one year was traditionally divided into six ritus (seasons) as follows:
Season
Months
Vasant (Spring) Chaitra and Vaishaka (March-May)
Greesham (Summer) Jyashtha and Ashadh (May-July)
Varsha (Rain) Shravan and Bhadrapad (July-Sept)
Sharad (Autumn) Ashwin and Kartik (Sept-Nov)
Hemant (Winter) Margshish and Paush (Nov-Jan)
Shishira (Early Spring) Magh and Phalgun (Jan-March)
Panchang (Almanac)
In India the panchang is used for reckoning time and thus regulating the social and cultural life of the people. Panchang means having five limbs. A panchang is so named because it gives information regarding the five basic divisions of time. These are the: (a)Thiti (phase of the moon) (b)Vaar (day) (c)Nakshatra (star or constellation through which the moon is passing) (d)Yoga (total distance traversed by the sun and moon from any specific point) (e)Karana (half a thithi)
In additional, the panchang also gives tables for the correction of the time of sunrise at different longitudes, the time taken by the sun to traverse each rashi (zodiac sign) and the moon to traverse each nakshatra, the positions of the sun, moon and other planets, time of sunrise/sunset, auspicious day, date, time for various rituals, etc.
Panchangs are used at two levels: (a) in the house and (b) professionally by pundits. At the household level panchangs are used for checking when to keep fasts, auspicious time for starting puja etc. The pundits use it for casting horoscopes, deciding auspicious dates and time for major events like marriages, moving into a new house, etc.The Hindu Concept of TimeThe Hindu concept of time is extremely vast and divided into yugas and mahayugas. They are calculated as follows:One human year represents one for the divine.360 divine days make one divine year12,000 divine year makes one mahayuga.
One mahayuga is divided into 4 yugas, which are called: Krita, Treta, Dwapar and Kali.In terms of human years:Kali Yuga = 432,000 yearDwapar yuga = 864,000 year (dwa means twice)Treta Yuga = 1,296,000 year (tre means trice)Krita Yuga = 1,728,000 year (4 times Kali Yuga)
Hence one complete mahayuga is equal to 4,320,000, (4.32 million) human years.The following are considered the ruling gods in each of the four yugas:Krita Yuga Sri RanganathaTreat Yuga Sri RamaDwapar Yuga Sri KrishnaKali Yuga Sri SrinivasaSeventy-two mahayugas constitute one manvantara (i.e., the life of Manu) and fourteen such manvantaras make one day (kalpa) of Brahma. This works out to 4.35 billion human years (72 x 14 x 4.32 million).
Param and Para Ardham
Brahma’s whole day is 8.70 bilion human years (1 day of 4.35 billion human years + 1 night of 4.35 billion human years). Thirty such days make one month for Brahma (i.e. 8.70 x 30 = 261 billion human years) and 12 months make one year. Brahma is supposed to live for 100 such years, which works out to 313.2 trillion human years. This is called Param and half of it is Para Ardham.
The Span of Time
Time, or kala in Hindu philosophy, is considered in three ways/ranges. The first is cosmic or epochal time determined in terms of the life span of Brahma. The second range is Panchang time, measured in units of days and months used in determining the seasons etc. The last is horological time for measuring the duration of the day and is determined by lesser units.
Each unit of time in all three ranges is believed to have two wings and to be made up of a day and night separated by twilight periods. A unit is, therefore, made up of dawn (usha), twilight (sandhya) and night.
The truti (particle) is the smallest unit of duration. In modern term it ranges anywhere between one ten thousand millionth of a second to one kshana (moment).
The kshna (moment) loosely ranges from 2/45th of a second to about four seconds.
The nimesha/mimisha (blink or twinkling of an eye), strictly the time taken for the upward or downward movement of the eyelid, is equal to four kshanas.
The lava (fraction) is the duration of a completed blink (i.e., the time taken to shut and open the eyes in the act of blinking) is equal to 8 kshnas.
The vipala (fleeting) is the duration of four and a half nimishas or about two and a half complete blinks.
The tala (handclap) is the time taken to bring the hands together in the act of clapping. It ranges from one quarter to three quarters of a second. It is extremely elastic unit.
The anu-druta (half druta) is equal to one and a quarter vipalas or half a second.
A druta is the duration of two anu-druta.
The laghu is the duration of a handclap and two or more finger counts. A finger count consists of the thumb touching the tips of the fingers in turn. It equals two drutas, one and a half kahthas or about two seconds.

Astronomy and Mathematics in Ancient India.....2

Astronomy and Mathematics in Ancient India: "Astronomy and Mathematics in Ancient India
URL: http://www.cerc.utexas.edu/~jay/india_science.html

Astronomy
* Earliest known precise celestial calculations:
As argued by James Q. Jacobs, Aryabhata, an Indian Mathematician (c. 500AD) accurately calculated celestial constants like earth's rotation per solar orbit, days per solar orbit, days per lunar orbit. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, no source from prior to the 18th century had more accurate results on the values of these constants! Click here for details. Aryabhata's 499 AD computation of pi as 3.1416 (real value 3.1415926...) and the length of a solar year as 365.358 days were also extremely accurate by the standards of the next thousand years.
* Astronomical time spans:
The notion of of time spans that are truly gigantic by modern standards are rarely found in ancient civilizations as the notion of large number is rare commodity. Apart from the peoples of the Mayan civilization, the ancient Hindus appear to be the only people who even thought beyond a few thousand years. In the famed book Cosmos, physicist-astronomer-teacher Carl Sagan writes '... The dates on Mayan inscriptions also range deep into the past and occasionally far into the future. One inscription refers to a time more than a million years ago and another perhaps refers to events of 400 million years ago, ... The events memorialized may be mythical, but the time scales are pridigious'. Hindu scriptures refer to time scales that vary from ordinary earth day and night to the day and night of the Brahma that are a few billion earth years long. Sagan continues, 'A millennium before Europeans were wiling to divest themselves of the Biblical idea that the world was a few thousand years old, the Mayans were thinking of millions and the Hindus b"

Astronomy and Mathematics in Ancient India....1

Astronomy and Mathematics in Ancient India: "Hinduism is the only religion that propounds the idea of life-cycles of the universe. It suggests that the universe undergoes an infinite number of deaths and rebirths. Hinduism, according to Sagan, '... is the only religion in which the time scales correspond... to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of the Brahma, 8.64 billion years long, longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang' [See 5]. Long before Aryabhata (6th century) came up with this awesome achievement, apparently there was a mythological angle to this as well -- it becomes clear when one looks at the following translation of Bhagavad Gita (part VIII, lines 16 and 17), 'All the planets of the universe, from the most evolved to the most base, are places of suffering, where birth and death takes place. But for the soul that reaches my Kingdom, O son of Kunti, there is no more reincarnation. One day of Brahma is worth a thousand of the ages [yuga] known to humankind; as is each night.' Thus each kalpa is worth one day in the life of Brahma, the God of creation. In other words, the four ages of the mahayuga must be repeated a thousand times to make a 'day ot Brahma', a unit of time that is the equivalent of 4.32 billion human years, doubling which one gets 8.64 billion years for a Brahma day and night. This was later theorized (possibly independently) by Aryabhata in the 6th century. The cyclic nature of this analysis suggests a universe that is expanding to be followed by contraction... a cosmos without end. This, according to modern physicists is not an impossibility. "

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Hindu Calendar.....2

We saw how the Hindus keep their calendar alive till this day. It is very difficult to explain each word and the calculations go with it. I would urge the viewers to use the internet search engines like Google. Type words like Yuga, Kala, Hindu Panchanga or anyword connected with the Hindu Calender and then click search. You will find enormous treatise on this subject. You will be proud of Hindu Wisdom. You will start looking at Vedas, Ithihasa and Puranas and other works of our forefathers in a more scientific angle.

Hindu calendar......(1)

How the Hindus remember their calendar? A very simple method had been evolved and it continues even after many thousands of years, from father to son and from a Teacher to his desciple, generations after generations by oral recitation. The method is like this:
Before performing certain day-to-day duties ( including morning bath), a declaration ( Sankalpa) is made. It runs like this:-
1. Salutations to the Gurus ( Acharyas).
2. Blessings of God invoked.
3. Prayer ( to Lord Vishvakshenar) for carrying out the duties without any hindrance.
Now the recitation of the calender:
!. By the will of Lord Mahavishnu (VishnorAgjaya)
2. Now running( Pravarthamanasya)
3. During the period of First Brahma( Adhya Brahmanaha )
4. In his second half (Dwitheeya Parardhe)
5. In Swethaswaraha Kalpam ( swethasvaraha kalpe )
6. Vaivasvathamanvanthram ( Vaivasvathamanvanthare)
7. In Kaliyugam (Kaliyuge)
8. in the first part of ( the above) ( Prathamepade)
Now, the geographical location of the performer
1. In Bharatha Varsham, In the Island of Jambu ( Jambudweepe,Bharatha Varshe)
2. In the continent of Bharatham (Bharatha Khande)
3. In the Era Saka (Sakabthe)
4. In the South of Holy Mountain Meru (Meroho Dhakshineparsve)
5. In Presently Running(Asmin Varthamane Vyaharike
6. In the period of Sixty Years Beginning From Prabhava( Prabhavadeenam Sashti
Samvathsaranam Madhye
7. In the year Vyaya( Vyaya Nama Samvathsare)
8. In the Southern Phase of the Sun(Dakshinayane)
9. In Summer(Krishmaruthow)
10.In the month of Kataka(Katakamase)
11.In the Full Moon phase(Shulapakshe)
12.On the auspicious day of Fullmoon (Pournamasyam Shubha Thithow)
13.On Wednesday(Sowmyavasara Yukthayam)
14.On the Day of Shravana Star(Shravana Nakshathrayukthayam)
15.On Yoga (Vishnuyoga Vishnu Karana, Shubha Yoga Shubha karana)
16.On Karana (as above)

Finally the declaration of the duty to be performed is done

That is how the calendar beginning from billions and billions of years ago is kept current till this day. This calculation is very near to the present day scientific calculations. We are the proud owners of such scientific knowledge.

So please follow this method to keep this alive and transfer this knowledgeto the posterity.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Upakarmam

This year, Upakarma festival falls on wednesday the 9th Aug. To know how and when to perform the ritual, log on to www.ahobilam.com and click Upakarmam(Avani Avittam). The ritual is available in both audio and visual forms.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

A Rare Humane Behaviour...........

A wrong notion about Chennai Auto Drivers being argumentative, quarrelsome and always in pursuit of excess fare is dispelled by my experiense with an Automan.........
In a late evening during a return journey from my daughters residense, after getting down from the city bus at CLRI Bus Stop, I went upto Madhya Kailash Road Junction to catch a City Bus or
share auto to go to Perungudi. It was past 8.30 P.M. and there was no sign of any public conveyance. I was reluctant to part with excess money as the autos charge almost double the justified fare(The present day generation laughs and sometimes gets annoyed with this mindset). I love walking and so I just started walking the distance to the next bus stop about 1.5 km away. . Already it was past 9PM. After passing thru half the distance, an automan slowed down his speed, requested me to get into his auto. He said, with all humility, that an elderly man like me should not walk at this time of the day on this poorly lit road with speeding traffic and he would leave me at the next bus stop. I got into the auto heeding to his request.
I got down at the next bus stop and profously thanked him. I offered the autofare and AMAZINGLY HE REFUSED TO ACCEPT ANY. He just drove away without a second look..........A rare humane behaviour indeed........