The swelling of the finger beyond a limit!

Dear Priya
If you are thinking of 'Nallar oruvar ularel' when you mention the rain and 'some samaritan's good deed', my friends always interpreted 'ularel' as blabbering. So whenever I started talking, they would say 'cheeniya has started talking.It is sure to rain any time now!' The present above average spells of rain can be attributed to my senile ramblings!
Sri

 

Dear Viswa
Thank you for your kind words.
The First Edition of Darwin's 'The Origin of Species' was probably stolen and thrown into the junk yard by an irate monkey awfully upset over it being compared to the human beings and spoken of as their forefather. It is quite natural. Even I would have felt equally angry if I were a monkey! That particular monkey would be angrier if it came to know that it had made a man super rich by its thoughtless act.

I would say that this expression should be referring to people living beyond their means. That is the root of all acts of greed. Coming to the use of fingers, a devout person may say that they are for using the Rosary or counting 'Gayathri Mantra'. Lesser mortals use it for other purposes. Using them to scratch the back of the head would mean that he is expecting some favour. Scratching the chin with them would indicate that he is as confused and undecided as ever. Showing the longest finger is an obscene gesture. According to Wikipedia the first photograph of someone showing his middle finger was taken in 1886.Between then and Kohli in Australia, millions have gainfully employed this gesture to show their resentment. It was one of the most ancient obscene gestures that was prevalent even in Ancient Greece. Maybe even Socrates showed it to the fellow who brought him the cup of hemlock poison.

Your input about the use of fingers in worship is indeed very useful. I know that all the Faith healing, Pranic Healing and similar methods of healing use the fingers effectively to transfer energy. In most of the religious chanting of Hindus, it starts with the touching of the centre of the head , tip of the nose and the centre of the chest. Fingers do have both positive and negative uses!
Sri