NOYYAL

Those who are familiar with Coimbatore need no introduction to the Noyyal river. The Noyyal which flows through Kovai has long since been neglected and abused by the people of Coimbatore. Smt. Vanitha Mohan, who had organized "Project Siruthuli" - a concerted effort to revive the fast receding ground water, lakes and the like, was much applauded for her efforts to fight encroachments on the banks of the lakes at Kurichi and Valangulam; and removal of the water hyacinth from the lakes at the above two places and at Singanallur (where a boat house had been earlier declared open - but closed now, owing to the abundant growth of the water hyacinth).

Quite a lot of the people and organizations, business establishments contributed their mite for the 'Project Siruthuli' and good effort was made to remove the water hyacinth growing from the water, especially at Valankulam. Free from this plant menace, the lake looked very appealing. But, now the plant is growing fast again on the lake - which makes one wonder whether the effort was really worth it? Personally, I feel that it would be wiser to reach a permanent solution as far as these plants are concerned.

Following this she started another movement, "Noyyyalukku Nooru". It was effort to collect Rs.100/- per person for the upkeep and maintenance of the Noyyal river. Period. This is gaining momentum, though at a slow pace.

Second language

I don’t know about how others feel, but I feel that I should share my views about the recently issued state government’s order regarding the second language or Hindi being taught in the schools today.

All of us know that the present government is against Hindi being taught in the schools as second language. Fine. But what about those hopeful parents who wish that their wards would complete higher education and fill up those vacant posts in the north? And what does this bloody order do? Just dampen the spirit of a number of hopefuls.

As an affected parent, I can say that my child does not stand a fair chance with those who have already been taught Tamil as their second language. Why? Because my kid, from her pre-kindergarten to her Lower kindergarten has been learning Hindi. And what happens now? She is forced to learn what her friends have taken 1-2 years in just a month! Something similar to joining a marathon two laps behind of schedule. Doesn’t it sound absurd?? (One can imagine what it is to learn a language, a new one). And I am not the only one worried by this idiocy. Even the thought that you are not alone suffering this act of stupidity by the government does not offer any solace. The fear, the anxiety, and the uneasiness will last till the kid completes her education, where a ‘just pass’ alone isn’t enough in the highly competitive world.

I would certainly term this as act as yet another of its impressive failures. The earlier one was imposing a ban on ‘Da Vinci Code’. Yet another instance was the ban (of the Centre) on the blogs following the blasts in Mumbai. If the government were that much worried about blocking blogs that were causing/were bound to cause hate/anxiety, it should have considered blocking or banning only those which promoted hate, not order a general ban on all the blogs. This high-handedness was one more classic example of sloppy administration; proving that it does not have sufficient level headed politicians to manage the government.

Update: My stand against the state’s decision on the second language stands good. In fact, renewed every time I get to see my child’s grades in that subject in her class tests. LOL.