Who is the white sheep?

Neeyaa Naana is my favourite hunting haunt for blog topics. Usually me a big fan of debates, especially the tamil ones like pattimanram. Neeya Naana is a modernised version of pattimanram except that its biased to the core by its anchor Gopinath. He wouldn't allow any thought process against his own view and perception and makes sure the show is always unidirectional. But at times, it raises above its mediocrity, courtesy some really good speakers, who manage to sneak in their point, right under his nose. Recent one on "How to identify Nallavan" was one such topic that caught fancy.

It was a dumb show by any standards considering that the speakers were competing with the anchor in bringing the script down to the extent possible. It was a callously handled attempt to such a wonderful topic. The very first question posed to one section of the audience was an interesting one that failed to live up to its potential - "define nallavan". Every single one of the speakers were hell bent on defining who is not a nallavan and what would they consider as bad habits. Surprisingly not  a single soul identified themselves as nallavan!!! Romba nallavangappa neengallam. Despite prompting by Gopi, for the right sense this time for a change, they kept dwelling on describing the bad guys. How difficult it is to define a good person??!!! Well, if you attempt honestly, its pretty difficult. In fact the most difficult question across ages, a definition for which has been so difficult to comprehend and follow and has undergone so many changes!! If you recollect Vikram Betal stories, most of the judgements would be to decide who was good and who wasn't. And that's just the tip of the big berg. It was so sad to see, no one was prepared enough for the topic and totally screwed it up.

How do you really define goodness when one man's nectar is others poison and when even god is no rule light (vidhi velakku you see) to this!! Rama killed Ravana is the quintessential favourite sentence for active voice passive voice question. But Rama killed Vaali will raise a lot more voices on whether it was a good thing or bad!! Goodness cannot be defined by taking a few constraints or rules or qualities. Even if you involve the Lord, its something which is as measurable as infinite. Thirukkural, the one book that has answers for everything, tries to define goodness by categorising it in so many different titles. Even the good old valluvar has tough time to fit the qualities of the inner self in his usual tenner self. So, is it that difficult to define goodness?? Reminds of a discussion thread in a forward I read about light and dark. You can define brightness but not darkness was the theme. How can  you make dark more darker for its mere absence of light. How can you increase darkness?? Likewise, does one need to realise bad things more to appreciate goodness? is that the reason why people find it so difficult to absorb and believe goodness?

Ivlo pesariye...nee sollungareengala...tho vanten. First of all, if you ask me am I good or bad, I would say, it changes with the instant. When I am having good thoughts, clean habits, devoid of jealousy towards other, with helping mindset, performing my essential duties and keeping away from doing and supporting evil, I consider that I could qualify for being good. When I slip on any or all of these points I undoubtedly become bad is my gut feeling. Idhuku melayum pesalaamnu thaan thonuthu...appalika innoru topical link aagikaren...ippothaiku apeetu..appalikka repeetu..varta :)