Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

Ramachandran, a Tamil, was hospitable and enthusiastic, keen to take me on a tour of Kuala Lumpur. I would have to see the Maha Mariamman temple and the Batu caves , as "without them a trip to Malaysia would be incomplete," he asserted. The Batu Caves temple, devoted principally to Lord Subramanian swamy, is a big tourist attraction for the entire South East Asia, with people of all religions and nationalities visiting it. Established in 1891, it's a signature spot of Hindu civilizational marks on the Malay Peninsula. Hindu influence, dating back to 2nd century AD, can be seen in Malay culture, language and traditions even today. The "Malay" of Malaysia, and "Pur" of Kuala Lumpur are unmistakably Sanskrit . I was introduced to a vivacious amount of Malaysian history while climbing the 272 steps leading to the Batu Caves. More Chinese Buddhists were praying there than Hindus. The atmosphere was so sublime and enchantingly serene that I felt I was in...

The Tamils of Malaysia, complaining of prolonged oppression by the government, may turn to the LTTE for support and take up arms unless international pressure, particularly from India, compels the Badawi regime to change its attitude, some moderates among them have said, pointing out that several Malaysian Tamils support the LTTE and contribute to the Tigers' war machine in Sri Lanka. In the massive rally of the Malaysian Indians in Kuala Lumpur on November 25, several protesters were seen carrying portraits of Mahatma Gandhi to show their faith in non violence. One of the leaders of that rally called by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), P.Waytha Moorthy, had declared that Gandhi was his role model and even went on satyagraha when arrested. The police used force to disperse the protesters, which drew all round condemnation, including from TamilNadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi, who wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking India's intervention. In an ap...

Malaysian police on Sunday fired tear gas and water cannon to prevent thousands of ethnic Indians from taking part in a rally, declared "illegal" by the government, outside the British High Commission here. The demonstrators, who had gathered outside the Petronas Twin Towers, the second largest building in the world, were beaten and dragged into trucks by the police, witnesses said. The rally call had been given by Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), a non-governmental agency, which has held the British Government responsible for bringing Indians to the then Malaya as "indentured labourers and exploiting them". It has claimed a compensation of $4 trillion. Kuala Lumpur: Thousands of ethnic Indians, a few carrying photos of Mahatma Gandhi had assembled before dawn near the Petronas towers. Several hundreds more had gathered in Batu Caves, a limestone cave Murugan temple on the city's outskirts. The Government had warned...

Jakarta: The catchy song in Malaysia's Truly Asia overseas tourism promotion campaign has hit the wrong note with neighbour Indonesia. The Indonesians have accused the Malaysians of stealing the song - Rasa Sayang, or Feeling of Love - from them and are now considering suing. Indonesian tourism and cultural minister Jero Wacik said on Wednesday he was investigating whether Indonesia could claim copyright and had scheduled a meeting with legislators, one of whom has called for legal action against Kuala Lumpur. "Our two nations come from the same stock, so our songs are sung in Malaysia and the other way around, but for commercial use, ethically there should be a legal notice," Wacik told reporters. "In this case there was none because they (the Malaysians) said they have sung it for ages." The two countries share Islam as their main religion and have close cultural links with similar national languages. Indonesian House of Representatives member...

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian researchers claim they have created a nutty alternative to Viagra based on walnuts in a pill more healthy than its pharmaceutical counterpart, according to a report on Sunday. Kim Kah Hwi, who headed the team of researchers from the University of Malaya , said he was inspired to look into walnuts after reading about their use in history, the Star daily reported. "I read articles about the Romans and French having eaten walnuts for this purpose. I thought if it had been documented that long ago, then there surely has to be something there," he told the newspaper. It took Kim and his research team two years to develop " N-Hanz ", tablets which contain walnut extract and have shown positive results on 40 volunteers against erectile dysfunction. "It takes about an hour for the effects to set in and it will last for about four hours," said Kim. "Furthermore, because it is not a drug, it is safe for those with hypertension or diabet...