Venkataramanan Ramasethu

Cross Over, Learn — Deep Reflections The greatest secret of life is this: the journey where we must learn to save ourselves. No one outside can hold us up forever. Every person carries their own battles, their own wounds, their own long nights, and their own silent tears. That is why this illusory world teaches us a lesson it never speaks aloud: life may hurt us, but it becomes a failure only when we refuse to learn from that hurt. “To cross over” is not a race; it is a cleansing of the mind. Those who hold on to the past without forgiveness, without release, keeping yesterday’s wounds alive in their hearts, will never find peace. Pain knots the mind; only the act of moving forward can untie it. Expecting new peace while holding on to old wounds is like searching for light without stepping out of the darkness. “To learn” is not a cure for pain; every wound carries a message: – It teaches us whom to trust and whom to walk away from. – It reveals how fragile the heart can be,...

Merry Christmas 2025 May the light of Christ fill our hearts and homes with peace, mercy, and hope. On this sacred day, may Emmanuel — God with us — lead our steps, watch over our lives, and grant us grace for the year ahead. “For unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” — Luke 2:11 Wishing you a blessed and holy Christmas. May Christ remain with us, within us, and before us, always. Venkataramanan Ramasethu 25 December 2025

A treasured memory from my 3rd-year BOptom days at the Elite School of Optometry, Chennai, captured at an Optometry conference in Dehradun, 1998. Seated from the left is my close friend and batchmate Krishna Shanmugasundarom; standing beside him is me. Seated next is Late Rajeswari Mahadevan, with my immediate senior Jayarajini Vasanth standing behind her. Beside Raji sits my batchmate Late Jaikishan Jaikumar. Years have passed, yet the friendships, laughter, and bonds of those college days remain timeless—forever etched in the heart. Venkataramanan Ramasethu 23 December 2025

“Majhe Majhe Tobo Dekha Pai” is one of those rare Rabindra Sangeet compositions where Rabindranath Tagore allows the soul to speak in a whisper. The Beloved appears only in fleeting moments—like sunlight breaking through clouds—leaving the heart yearning for permanence. This is not a song of worldly romance, yet it feels romantic. Tagore uses the language of love—yearning, separation, and the fear of loss—not for a human lover, but for the Divine. The clouds rise from within us: ego, attachment, and illusion, momentarily veiling what is always present. Romantic in emotion, spiritual in essence, the song lives in a sacred in-between space where prayer sounds like love—and love becomes prayer. — Venkataramanan Ramasethu 22 December 2025

Cinema Paradiso (1988) — a love letter to cinema itself. Giuseppe Tornatore distils memory, longing, and the ache of growing up into a final reel that feels like a personal confession. Ennio Morricone, with Andrea Morricone, composes not just music but remembrance—each note carrying the weight of lost theatres and first loves. Philippe Noiret’s Alfredo stands eternal as the mentor every dreamer needs, while Salvatore Cascio and Jacques Perrin embody innocence and nostalgia across time. Trivia worth cherishing: the iconic final montage was built from censored kisses—once forbidden, now immortal—turning repression into poetry. A film that reminds us: cinema doesn’t just show life, it preserves it. — Venkataramanan Ramasethu 18 December 2025

If Bharathi’s writing was fire, that fire was not meant merely to burn the political chains that bound a nation; it was also a ray of light that entered the darkest chambers of the human soul. His creative force did not remain within what we today call “poetry”; it moved freely across the vast expanse of “the philosophy of liberation.” When India of that era was being crushed under foreign oppression, Bharathi, with the vision of his inner eye, perceived the Russian people in a distant corner of the world rising in their own struggle for freedom. He transformed that same human longing into flashes of lightning through the gentle, musical cadence of Tamil. His words, travelling beyond all boundaries of thought, became a rare bridge linking the soul of Tamil with the universal spirit of humanity. And that is what we realise— Bharathi’s writing was not a storm that rose for India alone; it was a thundering cry for the liberation of humankind itself. When Russia’s empire was tr...

Reflections on Bharathiyar’s Birth Anniversary — December 11 (Birth: 11 December 1882 — Death: 11 September 1921) The name Subramania Bharathiyar does not merely denote a poet in the history of Tamil; it signifies an awakening, a resurgence, a spark of fire. He stood as a lighthouse for the human spirit. Within the brief span between his birth and death, he left behind a radiance of thought that continues to guide us across centuries. In Bharathiyar’s mind lived a vastness—an unshakeable conviction about the inalienable truth of human freedom. When he declared, “We must destroy the demon called fear,” it was not an ordinary statement; it was an intellectual thunderclap against every chain that binds our inner selves. His poetry, his speeches, his unwavering resolve—each of these were voices that forged the spiritual strength of humanity. For him, equality was not a mere ideology; it was the fundamental justice of human existence. Bharathi’s vision that placed wo...

Change the mindset that whatever we think must happen immediately… What comes to us naturally, in its own time, will always be of true quality…!! The human mind is a marvellous instrument. It has the power to create dreams; at the same time, it cultivates an urgency that those dreams must materialize instantly. These “immediate desires” have almost become the ailment of our modern age. In a world that delivers answers within seconds, the mind too insists on travelling at the speed of a moment. But life moves at its own rhythm. It is like a river; it does not flow according to our wishes — it flows in its own course, deepening us as it moves. Instant achievement may offer a momentary taste of success. But what is the depth of that success? Does it transform us? Does it truly elevate us? Most often, it does not. The greatest gifts life gives us — inner peace, intellectual maturity, spiritual depth, professional mastery, and wisdom in relationships — do not come instantly. They arrive onl...