IJELLH (International Journal of English Language, Literature in Humanities) Vol.

7, Issue 4, April 2019 90

Dr. V. P. Rathi

Assistant Professor of English

Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College

Pasumalai, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

mannarrathi6@gmail.com

Paving New Roads to Wisdom: Reading T.T. Rangarajan’s Unposted Letter

Abstract

T.T. Rangarajan, fondly called as Mahatriya Ra, has delivered messages through his

writings to the society appealing to all sects and the nations. His Unposted Letter is an

anthology of short essays with profound thoughts and ideas reflected on our day to day life

activities, situations, workplace and in work from trivial matter to sublime thought and this

inspirational and positive thought book is a powerful medium for communicating deeper

truths of human nature and character of life. T.T. Rangarajan has given simple,

straightforward and profound suggestions to the society. The entire book is designed with a

purpose of pouring out life wisdom to the hearts of the readers. He has posted many letters of

ideas to the society through his Unposted Letter. Mahatriya Ra wants people to look back to

the days of past as a time pf perfect harmony and peace.

Key words: Truth, Ideas, letter, sublime, inspiration

The modern culture exploits and provokes the moments of ambivalence that structure

social authority. With the changing times and values, the family, like the rest of the society

has undergone radical changes. Right family gives right dosage of culture and custom to the

child to make a person a good human being. Life is straightforward and straight, however as
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our psyche is enjoyed excessively numerous inconveniences, that we miss seeing the basic

procedure of life. We search for the confused things for the arrangement, while reality exists

in the least difficult of thing. Mahatriya Ra, T.T. Rangarajan, the Spiritual Master’s

frankness was as pronounced a phenomenon of his personality as his sweetness. His

messages to this society are an appeal to all sects, all nations, in fact, to the whole world.

Science, art, philosophy, religion, and all the revelations in the domain of thought and human

experience are like an open book to him. The focus of this paper is to emphasize the society

to live in a peaceful manner.

Great literature can be educative and inspiring, that is why one is often deeply moved

by what he/she experiences. T.T. Rangarajan the writer taken for study is a spiritual master

and motivational speaker who has dealt with various facets of human relationships most

intensely. T.T. Rangarajan instructs man to achieve the objective of his life and face

challenges, of which the psycheis the most important one that pulls him far from the imperial

course made accessible for him. His book Unposted Letter is a treasure not only for the

Indians but also for the entire humanity. This book has a universal appeal and acceptability.

This nonfiction book motivates one to look with positive attitude towards life. It is an

outstanding work which immensely benefits all sections of people. T.T. Rangarajan in one of

the chapters entitled “You are more important than every THING that has come into your

life” implores: “You are bigger than every THING you own. You are more precious than

every THING you possess. You are more important than every THING that has come into

your life” (16).

The major problem for each person is not the people in the outside world but their

own hearts and minds. Both the mind and heart must be cleansed first of all. There will not

be peace without a change of heart and especially without the inward transformation. When

the roads are filled and scattered with many thorns, man cannot spread a large blanket to
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cover the thorny areas. Instead, he can wear a pair of shoes being unhurt by the thorns. It is

easy and better to change himself rather trying to change the whole world. Lord Buddha has

also said: “Let us inspect our thoughts that we do no unwholesome deed; for as we sow, so

shall we reap. Goodwill towards all beings is the true religion; cherish in your hearts

boundless goodwill to all that lives.” (Buddha 293)

Man is responsible for his own destiny and this present life is nothing but the result of

what he has done in the past. If man wishes to reap a better harvest, he has to enrich his own

life. Man must begin to study his own life and he must look into his own character. He must

analyse his own thoughts and actions and very soon he will find that the effect in this life is

caused by what he himself thinks and does. T.T. Rangarajan discusses what is stress

management? He clearlyexplains:

All stress and tension in life is nothing but the accrual of psychological

pressure caused by the gap between when something should have been done

and when it was eventually done. Procrastination is the most certain way to

shorten one’s lifespan. Postponement is the signature of underachievers. Life

will not postpone our death. So, let us not postpone our life. (25)

Echoing the words of Socrates, in the chapter entitled, “Great Minds discuss ideas.

Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people” T.T. Rangarajan discusses

gossiping is the most uncivilised activities of the civilised people. Gossiping is ruthless

entertainment to the people and it is vulgar indulgence. The people who gossip would exist

in this world only to satisfy the spectacles of others. Millions of people’s lives can be saved

only when a few people stop gossiping and stop making news out of them. The mind and

heart of the people must be the seat of peace and not the seat of somebody else or a little

thing that keeps disturbing.

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When the question of success is discussed, one can give only a subjective answer, the

distance taken by time between thought and action is called success, whereas Winston

Churchill, the former Prime Minister of England defines Success as: “Success is going from

failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.” (qtd. in Brainy Quotes). Mahatriya Ra, T.T.

Rangarajan remarks: “Nobody succeeds all the time. Nobody is destined to remain a failure

either. Success is failure delayed and failure is success delayed. Neither is failure final nor is

success permanent. Today’s success and today’s failures are just another step in the long

journey of life.” (97)

T.T. Rangarajan has awakened the inner minds of his readers through his inspirational

book. Man must be awakened to build his future and he must not try in vain to renovate his

past. To put in his own words, “Stand on your today and look at your tomorrow, not at your

yesterday” (82). Here, one is remembered of the immortal lines of Fitzgerald’s translations

of Omarkhayyam: “Dead yesterdays/ unborn tomorrows/ why fret about it, if today be

sweet?” (qtd. in Goodreads) (This has not figured in the work cited) Mahatriya Ra clearly

says, “Life is not a journey of going two steps forward and one step back. That happens only

when man lives his life without awareness... without learning from his experiences” (29).

The most precious resource is man himself. Some resources are being wasted or

inefficiently wasted. Man must find out what are his potentials, resources and must improve

upon it. Whenever one does a work with love and happiness, one becomes happy forever. In

the words of Mahatriya Ra, “In dedication, you give of what you have and what you can. In

devotion, you give yourself. Any work can become a prayer if performed with the sacredness

of devotion” (UL 63). One is remembered of the immortal lines from The Bhagavat Gita,

“Set thy heart upon thy work, but never on its reward. Work not for a reward, but never

cease to do thy work” (Chapter 2, 2:47). Sirshree in The Spirit of New confesses: “Happiness

is already present within man all the time. One need not visit a garden or cinema to obtain it.
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One need not wait for a promotion or a wedding to be happy. All you need to do is just

remind yourself, that there is no way to happiness; happiness itself is the way!” (Sirshree

162)

The ideas reflected in the book are like pearls born out of oysters and those pearls are

wisdom revealed by his chiselled words through each chapter. T.T. Rangarajan has given

simple, straightforward and profound suggestions to the society. All the chapters in the book

are worth reading and he pours out life wisdom to the hearts of the readers. He has talked

about the achievements of all legendary heroes such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Swami

Vivekananda, Barack Obama, Mahatma Gandhiji, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, DhirubhaiAmbani,

economists andhis friends. He has discussed various topics such as attitude, work, success,

failure, life and situations. It is a book of self-help and inspirational one.Worldly riches give

reputation, hope, satisfaction and pleasure to the good and the just only but money cannot

buy love and respect. Man must realise the truth that virtue alone can bring real happiness.

With God, man is a hero and without God, man is zero. A man who is free and not enslaved

by any other person and when he is able to perform his duties nobly, charitably and sincerely,

he will be honoured by all. And it is worth to conclude this article by echoing the words of

Mahatriya Ra, “Without God, I cannot. / Without Me, God will not. / God plus me / Anything

is possible.” (124). It is our day by day development in the outside world and our more

profound association with God from inside that increases the value of our regular day to day

existence. Mahatriya Ra T.T. Rangarajan has posted many letters of philosophical ideas to the

society through his Unposted Letter.

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Works Cited

Rangarajan, T.T. Unposted Letter. Sivakasi: Frozen Thoughts, Srinivas Fine Arts (P) Ltd,

2009. Print

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, A.C. Bhagavad Gita As It Is. Macmillan Original Edition

Hardcover, 2016. Print.

Buddha Quotes. Master ChoaKok Sui. The Ancient Science and Art of Pranice Healing.

Phillippines: Institute for Inner Studies, INC., 2012. Print.

Sirshree, Tejparkhi. The Spirit of New: Ten Thinking Approaches to Bring a New Turn in

Your Life. O! Publishing, New Jack Printing Press Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, 2013. Print.