Ashok Anchan

Lokpal Bill simplified.

2011-08-19T11:08:00.001+05:30

Forget Anna Hazare. The Jan Lokpal movement can go to hell for all I care. Let us just look at the issues over which the battle between the Government and us citizens is being fought. And then let’s decide where we want to stand, each one of us, on the issue of corruption.

The first question is:
Do corruption and bribery hurt you? If they do, do you want a solution?
If your answer is yes to both, do you think such a solution lies with an independent authority? Or do you think a corrupt Government can fight corruption on its own, and within its own ranks? If your answer is no to that, then we need to create an independent institution to fight corruption.Right? Well, that’s precisely what Anna is asking for. He is asking for a Lokpal that the Government cannot influence nor manipulate. This is the first battle.

The second battle is over four things.

Should the Prime Minister come under the purview of the Lokpal?
Almost everyone I know thinks he should. A honest Prime Minister wouldn’t care. A dishonest one must be supervised.Or else, we will have cases like Bofors that will never ever be resolved.
Should Members of Parliament come under the Lokpal?
I have not met a single person till date who thinks that our MPs are so honest that they need not be supervised. My guess is if a referendum is ever taken, Anna will get a 100% yes to this question, given what people think of our politicians and the standards of probity in public life.
Do all public servants need to come under the Lokpal? My guess is India’s answer will be yes, yes, yes. Every day, in every area of our life and work, we are constantly harassed, intimidated and extorted by corrupt Government officers. The poorer you are, the worse is the torture. So yes, every public servant, every Government officer must come under the Lokpal.
Who should give permission to file an FIR against a corrupt judge? If the Lokpal can look into corruption charges against the PM, the MPs and Government servants, isn’t it only logical to expect it to do the same against judges?

The third and final battle is over an even simpler thing:
The Citizen’s Charter.
Should every Government office have such a Charter which will clearly state which officer will do what work and in how much time? And should an officer who refuses to do his work in time or asks for a bribe to move a filebe punished? The Government says a charter is fine but Government servants must not be penalised if they don’t do their work!
Anna believes that officers not doing their work in time amounts to corruption and must face the same treatment. Isn’t it rather obvious what India thinks about this?

Do we really need a referendum on these simple, basic issues? I seriously doubt it. Every Indian will endorse the idea of a Lokpal as Anna and his team have envisioned it, with the help of thousands of Indians who have contributed online to the process of drafting the bill.

Yes, there are genuine fears that we should not create yet another monster out there, who will make life more difficult for us than it already is. But even that has been addressed rather adroitly by Anna’s team. It is a complex process, true but it also ensures that the choice is wisely made. And what if there are charges against the Lokpal? Well, there’s a provision there too. You can go straight to the Supreme Court and seek justice out there.

So why are we arguing so much over this Bill?
Why is the Government digging its heels in and refusing to listen to us citizens?
Why must Anna go on a hunger strike all over again to press home the point that corruption must be fought back?
I guess it’s a question of both ego and fear. No one likes to give up the power they have, and certainly not the Government. In fact, it’s always trying to interfere more and more in our lives, grab more and more authority, more and more space. And fear? Well, I guess we all know the answer to that. This is possibly the most corrupt Government we have ever had. It has good reason to be scared.

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By Pritish Nandi

गब्बर सिंह का चरित्र चित्रण

2011-02-04T15:24:00.000+05:30

1. सादा जीवन, उच्च विचार: उसके जीने का ढंग बड़ा सरल था. पुराने और मैले कपड़े, बढ़ी हुई दाढ़ी, महीनों से जंग खाते दांत और पहाड़ों पर खानाबदोश जीवन. जैसे मध्यकालीन भारत का फकीर हो. जीवन में अपने लक्ष्य की ओर इतना समर्पित कि ऐशो-आराम और विलासिता के लिए एक पल की भी फुर्सत नहीं. और विचारों में उत्कृष्टता के क्या कहने! 'जो डर गया, सो मर गया' जैसे संवादों से उसने जीवन की क्षणभंगुरता पर प्रकाश डाला था.

२. दयालु प्रवृत्ति: ठाकुर ने उसे अपने हाथों से पकड़ा था. इसलिए उसने ठाकुर के सिर्फ हाथों को सज़ा दी. अगर वो चाहता तो गर्दन भी काट सकता था. पर उसके ममतापूर्ण और करुणामय ह्रदय ने उसे ऐसा करने से रोक दिया.

3. नृत्य-संगीत का शौकीन: 'महबूबा ओये महबूबा' गीत के समय उसके कलाकार ह्रदय का परिचय मिलता है. अन्य डाकुओं की तरह उसका ह्रदय शुष्क नहीं था. वह जीवन में नृत्य-संगीत एवंकला के महत्त्व को समझता था. बसन्ती को पकड़ने के बाद उसके मन का नृत्यप्रेमी फिर से जाग उठा था. उसने बसन्ती के अन्दर छुपी नर्तकी को एक पल में पहचान लिया था. गौरतलब यह कि कला के प्रति अपने प्रेम को अभिव्यक्त करने का वह कोई अवसर नहीं छोड़ता था.

4. अनुशासनप्रिय नायक: जब कालिया और उसके दोस्त अपने प्रोजेक्ट से नाकाम होकर लौटे तो उसने कतई ढीलाई नहीं बरती. अनुशासन के प्रति अपने अगाध समर्पण को दर्शाते हुए उसने उन्हें तुरंत सज़ा दी.

5. हास्य-रस का प्रेमी: उसमें गज़ब का सेन्स ऑफ ह्यूमर था. कालिया और उसके दो दोस्तों को मारने से पहले उसने उन तीनों को खूब हंसाया था. ताकि वो हंसते-हंसते दुनिया को अलविदा कह सकें. वह आधुनिक यु का 'लाफिंग बुद्धा' था.

6. नारी के प्रति सम्मान: बसन्ती जैसी सुन्दर नारी का अपहरण करने के बाद उसने उससे एक नृत्य का निवेदन किया. आज-कल का खलनायक होता तो शायद कुछ और करता.

7. भिक्षुक जीवन: उसने हिन्दू धर्म और महात्मा बुद्ध द्वारा दिखाए गए भिक्षुक जीवन के रास्ते को अपनाया था. रामपुर और अन्य गाँवों से उसे जो भी सूखा-कच्चा अनाज मिलता था, वो उसी से अपनी गुजर-बसर करता था. सोना, चांदी, बिरयानी या चिकन मलाई टिक्का की उसने कभी इच्छा ज़ाहिर नहीं की.

8. सामाजिक कार्य: डकैती के पेशे के अलावा वो छोटे बच्चों को सुलाने का भी काम करता था. सैकड़ों माताएं उसका नाम लेती थीं ताकि बच्चे बिना कलह किए सो जाएं. सरकार ने उसपर 50,000 रुपयों का इनाम घोषित कर रखा था. उस युग में 'कौन बनेगा करोड़पति' ना होने के बावजूद लोगों को रातों-रात अमीर बनाने का गब्बर का यह सच्चा प्रयास था.

9. महानायकों का निर्माता: अगर गब्बर नहीं होता तो जय और वीरू जैसे लुच्चे-लफंगे छोटी-मोटी चोरियां करते हुए स्वर्ग सिधार जाते. पर यह गब्बर के व्यक्तित्व का प्रताप था कि उन लफंगों में भी महानायक बनने की क्षमता जागी.

udaipur_Dec2010

2011-01-03T16:45:00.000+05:30

My Inspiration

2010-11-12T16:16:00.000+05:30

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

-this version is credited to Mother Teresa

Unexpected question and witty answer

2010-10-12T11:14:00.002+05:30

When swami Vivekananda went to USA, a lady asked him to marry her.
When Swamiji asked the reason, she said she was facinatted by his intellect and wanted a offspring with his intelligent caliber.

Swamiji smiled and said, "My dear lady, I understand your desire. Marrying and bringing a child in to this world and understanding whether it is intelligent of no, takes a very long time. Moreover its not guaranteed. Instead, to fulfill your desire immediately, I can suggest a guaranteed way. Take me as your child and your desire of having a child of my intellect is fulfilled".

The lady was speechless....

Moral:
We may receive unexpected questions at times, it depends on how we handle the situation and how witty our answer is...

Success Does Not Happen In Isolation

2010-09-24T10:12:00.000+05:30

There was a farmer who grew superior quality and award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won honor and prizes. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learnt something interesting about how he grew it.

The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors'.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir, "said the farmer, "didn't you know?

The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior, sub-standard and poor quality corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

The farmer gave a superb insight into the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves. So it is in the other dimensions! Those who choose to be at harmony must help their neighbors and colleagues to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well.

The value of a life is measured by the lives it touches.

Success does not happen in isolation. It is very often a participative and collective process.

So share the good practices, ideas, new learning's with your family, team members, neighbors'

Call of Dharma

2010-09-03T17:23:00.000+05:30

Has this thought every crossed your mind? When everyone around me is having a great time taking the shortest route to instant success, why should I not do the same? Surely, a few shortcuts, a few bending of the rules won't do much harm. This thought has engaged me on many occasions. Why should one stick to one's dharma?

There is, it seems, a sweet gift waiting at the end of a long, arduous wait especially when the time is spent following one's dharma. This is not just good for the individual, it also affects people around us in ways we cannot even imagine. It keeps the balance.

Here's a story from ancient India to illustrate the importance of purity in thought and action. There was once a village by the banks of a river in which lived a few Brahmin families. The courtyard in each house had a yajnakund in which fire rituals were performed. One day, a Brahmin found a piece of gold in his yajnakund. He asked his wife as to how it got there.

His wife told him: "When I was cleaning the courtyard, a bull walked in. I had to shoo it away. But I was chewing on betel leaves. I had to spit before driving the bull away. I spat in the yajnakund." Doing that had turned a part of the kund into gold. The Brahmin was outraged at the pollution of the scared kund. He was seething, but softened when he saw that the piece of gold had, the very next day, bought his wife a silk sari and himself, a silk dhoti.

They then bought a bigger home, hired servants and lived comfortably. The rest in the village were envious. The Brahmin's wife revealed the secret of their material prosperity to her neighbour.

The neighbour, too, spat in the yajnakund and a piece of gold changed their lifestyle. Many houses in that village did the same. Except for one Brahmin.

This Brahmin refused to use the yajnakund for anything but worship. His wife pleaded, but he did not relent. His wife told him she is embarrassed that the other houses are filled with riches while they are stuck on principles. She convinced him that they at least leave the village to save themselves embarrassment.

The husband refused at first saying it would spell disaster. But he gave in on his wife's insistence. Hardly had they left the village that they saw it go up in flames with people quarrelling over petty issues.

The Brahmin told his wife: "This is the catastrophe I foresaw. Wealth earned without toil breeds hatred. So long as even one yajnakund remained pure, order prevailed. With our departure, the village lost all right to peace."

It is only by holding firm in the storm of desire can we weather desire. But the desire for peace must be stronger than all other desires.

[copied from http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_respond-to-the-call-of-dharma_1432858]

If Ramayana was on Facebook....

2010-08-04T12:32:00.000+05:30

Click on each image to read the content.. very nice...

The valour of Bhaaji Prabhu

2010-07-15T10:50:00.000+05:30

आषाढ शुद्ध पौर्णिमा उर्फ़ गुरूपौर्णिमा ...

दिवस होता गुरूपौर्णिमेचा ... १२ जुलै १६६० ... "पावनखिंड - बाजीप्रभूंच्या रक्ताने पावन झालेली. जेथे बाजीप्रभूंनी देह ठेवला. जेथे त्यांनी मृत्यूला सुद्धा ओशाळवले. "

आदल्या दिवशी शिवरायांनी पन्हाळ्यावरुन अद्भुतरित्या स्वतःची सुटका करून घेतली होती. तर गुरूपौर्णिमेच्या दिवशी घोड़खिंड बाजीप्रभुंच्या रक्ताने पावनखिंड बनली. अवघ्या २१ तासात ६४ किलोमीटर अंतर त्यांनी पार पाडले होते. पौर्णिमेची रात्र. चंद्रप्रकाश असूनसुद्धा पावसाळी ढगांमुळे फारसे काही दिसत नव्हते. प्रचंड पावसाचा फायदा घेत शिवराय पन्हाळ्यावरुन निसटले. सिद्दीजोहरला त्याचा पत्ता लागला. पालखी पकडली गेली.

'शिवाजी आपल्या ताब्यात आला आहे' अश्या खुशीत असलेल्या जोहरच्या भ्रमाचा भोपळा लगेच फुटला. त्याला कळून चुकले की हे राजे नसून शिवा काशिद नावाचा दुसराच कोणी तरी आहे. राजे आपल्या हातून निसटले आहेत. त्याने सिद्दी मसूद आणि फाझल खानाला शिवरायांच्या मागावर पाठवले. पाठलाग सुरु झाला ... शिवाजी राजे पालखीचा गोंडा पकडून बसले होते. बाजींचा आवाज त्यांच्या कानावर येत होता. 'चला गनीम पाठीवर आहे.' दर काही मिनिटांना पालखीचे भोई बदलत, वारा - पावसाची तमा न बाळगता, काटेरी रान आणि दगड - चिखल - माती तुडवत ते ६०० वीर विजेच्या वेगाने पळत सुटले होते. उदिष्ट एकच होत - विशाळगड़. हातात नंग्या तलवारी घेउन बाजी - फुलाजी पालखीच्या बाजूने धावत होते. मागचे आणि पुढचे हेर बित्तंबातमी राजांकड़े पोचवत होते. प्रचंड वेगाने पालखी घोड़खिंडीकड़े पळवली जात होती. क्षण अन क्षण आता महत्त्वाचा होता.

सिद्दीमसूदचे सैन्य घोड्यावरुन राजांचा पाठलाग करत होते. त्यांनी थोडा वेगळा मार्गघेतला होता.

अर्थात घोड़खिंडीच्या अलिकड़े राजांना गाठायचे असे त्यांनी पक्के केले असेल. त्यांच्या थोड़े मागून आदिलशहाच्या पिडनायकाचे पायदळ येत होते. राजांचे पहिले लक्ष्य होते पांढरपाणी. एकदा तिकडे पोचले की खिंड गाठणे अवघड जाणार नव्हते. आदल्या दिवशी रात्री १० वाजता पन्हाळगड सोडल्या पासून १२ तासात कोणी थोडया विश्रांतीसाठी सुद्धा थांबले नव्हते. एका ध्येयाने भारावल्यागत ते ६०० वीर विशाळगडाकड़े पळत सुटले होते.

पन्हाळगड ते पावनखिंड एकुण अंतर आहे ६१ किलोमीटर. तर पन्हाळगड पासून ५५ किलोमीटर अंतरावर आणि पावनखिंडिच्या ६ किलोमीटर अलिकड़े पांढरपाणी आहे. पांढरपाणीच ऐतिहासिक महत्व अनन्य साधारण आहे. महाराज पांढरपाणीला येउन पोचलो होते त्यावेळेला घोड्यावरुन राजांचा पाठलाग करणारे सिद्दीमसूदचे सैन्य अगदी जवळ येउन ठेपले होते. धोका वाढत जात होता. कुठल्याही क्षणी त्यांची धाड पडेल असे वाटू लागले. शत्रुला गुंतवायला राजांनी २५ मावळे पांढरपाणीला ठेवले आणि ते घोड़खिंडीकड़े निघाले. अवघे २५ जण आता त्या २००० घोडेस्वारांशी लढायला तयार झाले होते. जास्तीत जास्त वेळ शत्रुला रोखून धरायचे काम त्यांना बजावावे लागणार होते. तितका बहुमूल्य वेळ राजांना खिंडीकड़े सरकायला मिळणार होता. आलेल्या घोडदळाला त्या २५ मावळ्यांनी शर्थीने रोखून धरले. त्यात त्या सगळ्या २५ जणांना मृत्यू आला. पण आपले काम त्यांनी चोख बजावले होते. पांढरपाण्याची नदी रक्ताने लाल झाली होती. राजे घोडखिंडीकड़े जाउन पोचले होते.

राजांनी रायाजी बांदलाला ३०० मावळे सोबत घेऊन खिंडीमध्ये शत्रूला रोखायचे काम दिले. पण आपल्या मालकाऐवजी म्हणजेच रायाजीऐवजी मी ह्या ठिकाणी थांबतो, तुम्ही रायाजीला सोबत घेऊन विशाळगड गाठा, असे बाजींनी राजांना सुचवले. बाजींची स्वामीभक्ती येथे दिसून येते. आता राजे उरलेले मावळे सोबत घेऊन

विशाळगडाकड़े नि घाले. बाजींनी खिंडीमध्ये आपली व्युव्हरचना केली. चढणीवरच्या आणि आसपासच्या झाडीमध्ये गटागटाने मावळे तैनात केले. प्रत्येकाकडे गोफणीतून भिरकवायचे दगड आणि ढकलायचे शिलाखंड जमा केले गेले. शत्रु टप्यात येण्याची वाट बघत सगळे दडून बसले होते. १२-१३ तासांच्या अथक वाटचाली नंतर सुद्धा निवांतपणा नव्हता. निर्णायक लढाईसाठी आता ते ३०० वीर सज्ज झाले होते. पूर्वेच्या दिशेने घोड्यांच्या टापांचे आवाज ऐकू येऊ लागले. थोड्यावेळात शत्रु नजरेत येऊ लागला पण शत्रुच्या नजरेत लपलेले मावळे काही येत नव्हते. त्या अवघड निसरड्या वाटेने एक रांग धरून सिद्दीमसूदचे घोडेस्वार उतरु लागले. गोफणीच्या टप्यात शत्रू आल्यावर बाजींनी एकच हाकाटी दिली आणि अचानक शत्रूच्या अंगावर दगड बरसू लागले. घोड्यांनी कच खाल्ली. काही उधळले. काही सरकून पडले. एकच गोंधळ उडाला. कित्येकांची डोकी फुटली, बाकी जिवाच्या भीतीने मागे पळाले. मावळ्यांनी हर हर महादेवचा नारा दिला. पण शत्रू इतक्यात मागे सरकणार नव्हता. घोडेस्वार पुन्हा उतरु लागले. मावळ्यांनी पुन्हा दगड भिरकवायला सुरवात केली. ते शत्रूला काही केल्या पुढे सरकू देईनात. साधारण ४ वाजत आले होते. थोड़े मागून येणाऱ्या आदिलशहाच्या पिडनायकाचे पायदळ आता खिंडीकड़े येउन पोचले. ते अधिक वेगाने ओढ़यापलिकडे सरकू लागले. आता मावळ्यांनी त्यांच्यावर शिलाखंड ढकलायला सुरवात केली. त्यामुळे पायदळाची पांगापांग होऊ लागली. अखेर तासाभरानी शत्रूला वर पोहोचण्यात यश मिळाले.

आता आजूबाजुच्या झाडीमधून बाजीप्रभू आणि इतर मावळे बाहेर पडले आणि प्रत्यक्ष रणमैदानात शस्त्राची लढाई सुरु झाली. एक-एक मावळा त्वेषाने लढत होता. दहा-दहा जणांना पुरून उरत होता. बाजींच्या तलवारीच्या टप्यात येणारा प्रत्येकजण यमसदनी जात होता. स्वतःच्या देहाची जणू काही त्यांनी तटबंदी करून घेतली होती. बाजींचे थोरले बंधू फुलाजीप्रभू सुद्धा तितक्याच त्वेषाने लढत होते. इतक्यात शत्रूने फुलाजीप्रभुंवर डाव साधला. ते खाली कोसळले. त्यांच्या हातून खड्ग गळाले. बाजींनी एक नजर त्यांच्याकड़े पाहिले. ते म्हणाले, "दादा, तुम्ही थोरले. पहिला मान तुम्ही घेतला." फुलाजीप्रभुंची तलवार त्यांनी उचलली. आधी एक ढाल - एक तलवार घेउन लढणाऱ्या बाजींनी आता दोन्ही हातात तलवारी घेतल्या होत्या. त्यांचा आवेश पाहून शत्रूचे धाबे दणाणले होते. बाजी आता अधिक त्वेषाने लढत होते. त्यांच्या देहाची आता चाळण उडाली होती. रक्ताचे अर्ह्य ओसंडत होते. हे काही आपली वाट सोडत नाहीत असे पाहून पिडनायकाने आपल्या एका पायदळ सैनिकाला ठासणीच्या बंदूकीतून बाजींवर गोळी झाडायला सांगितली. ती गोळी बाजींच्या खांद्यात घुसली. बाजींचा शस्त्राचा एक हात थांबला. लढता-लढता ते खाली कोसळले. पण त्यांचे प्राण काही जात नव्हते. त्यांचे कान विशाळगडाकड़े लागले होते. राजे जोपर्यंत गडावर पोचून तोफांचे बार देत नाहीत तोपर्यंत त्यांनी मृत्युला ठणकावून सांगितले " तोफे आधी न मरे बाजी. " बाजींच्या मनाची घालमेल होत होती. त्यांच्या मनात अखेरचे विचार सुरु होते.

सरणार कधी रण प्रभू तरी हे ... कुठवर सहु घाव शिरी ... !
सरणार कधी रण प्रभू तरी हे ... कुठवर सहु घाव शिरी ... ! धृ

दिसू लागले अभ्र सभोवती ... विदिर्ण झाली जरीही छाती ... !
अजून जळते आंतरज्योती ... अजून जळते आंतरज्योती ... कसा सावरू देह परी ... !

सरणार कधी रण प्रभू तरी हे ... कुठवर सहु घाव शिरी ... सरणार कधी रण ... ! १
होय तनूची केवळ चाळण ... प्राण उडाया बघती त्यातून ... !

मिटण्या झाले अधीर लोचन ... मिटण्या झाले अधीर लोचन ... खड्ग गळाले भूमिवरी ... !
सरणार कधी रण प्रभू तरी हे ... कुठवर सहु घाव शिरी ... सरणार कधी रण ... ! २

पावनखिंडित पाउल रोवून ... शरीर पिंजे तो केले रण ... !
शरणागतीचा अखेर येई क्षण ... शरणागतीचा अखेर येई क्षण ... बोलवशील का आता घरी ... !
सरणार कधी रण प्रभू तरी हे ... कुठवर सहु घाव शिरी ... सरणार कधी रण ... ! ३

तिकडे विशाळगडाच्या वाटेवर राजांच्या मनाची घालमेल होत होती. रणगर्जनेचे आवाज त्यांच्या कानावर पडले होते. पण त्यांना पुढे सरकणे भाग होते. विशाळगडाला वेढा घालून बसलेल्या सुर्वे आणि दळवी या आदिलशहाच्या वतनदारांच्या सैन्याला कापसतत २१ तासांच्या वाटचालीनंतर राजांनी विशाळगड गाठला आणि गडाच्या किल्लेदाराला त्वरेने तोफांचे बार देण्याची आज्ञा केली. ते बार घोड़खिंडीमध्ये ऐकू गेले. त्यानंतरच समाधानाने बाजींनी आपला देह सोडला.

"इतिहास हा केवळ सांगण्यातून किंवा ऐकण्यातून कळत नसतो तर तो अनुभवायला देखील लागतो."

पावनखिंडितला हा अनुभव असाच एक अविस्मरणीय असा आयुष्यावर कायमचा कोरला गेलेला.

[-The above contents were taken from a mail forwarded by a friend.]

Does Bandh really solve the problems?

2010-07-12T11:55:00.000+05:30

Does Bandh really solve the problems?

July 5th 2010. Call was given by opposition parties in India, especially by NDA and CPM with their allies, against price rise. They argued that the present government is anti-poor and not checked the price rise.

Agreed, the prices are rising. But wasn't it rising when they were in power? What did they do at that time? Has Bharat bandh brought the prices down the next day?
The answer is No.

On the contrary, these bandh, which were meant to be pro poor, was done all the wrong things. The prices increased double fold on next day. The vandalism done by the parties, has to be mended with tax payers money, which could have been used for some constructive work.

Some people enjoyed the extended holiday with their family, sitting at home and spending time with family. The political parties which have done the big hoopla were at dinner party enjoying their so called success. However the poor, who has to work daily for survival, had to go to bed with empty stomach.

The Bandh, given by the Mahatma was not meant to settle the personal scores. At British Raj, the bandh never disrupted the public life. Moreover it was peaceful and the protester belonged to the poor section.

So one can argue, do we need to sit mute and not to protest. The answer is NO. Bandh is not a solution. Instead of that why not all parties sit together and find a solution. There are other ways to show frustration. In the current transparent world, web and media has the biggest reach. Why not galvanize the public support and show the displeasure.

Buddha's Advice to Calm a Disturbed Mind

2010-06-13T11:31:00.001+05:30

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers.. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they
happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, "I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there."

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, "How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!"

So he came back and told Buddha, "The water in there is very muddy. I don't think it is fit to drink." After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake.

This time too he found that the lake was muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same. After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back. The disciple reached the lake to find the lake absolutely clean and clear with pure water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said," See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be.... and the mud settled down on its own - and you got clear water. Your mind is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don't have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.

Mr. Ratan Tata and the flat tyre!

2010-05-06T10:06:00.000+05:30

One of Mr. Ratan N Tata's first assignments was the stewardship of the ailing electronics company in the Tata portfolio - Nelco.

Story goes that a team of senior managers from Nelco was driving to Nasik along with RNT. Halfway into the journey, the car had a flat tyre, and as the driver pulled up, the occupants - including Mr. Tata - got off for a comfort break, leaving the driver to replace the tyre. Some of the managers welcomed the forced break, as it allowed them a much-needed chance to light up a cigarette. Some used the opportunity to stretch, and smile, and share a joke. And then, one of them suddenly noticed that Mr. Tata was not to be seen, and wondered aloud where Ratan Tata might have vanished.

Was he behind some bush?
Had he wandered off inside the roadside dhaba for a quick cup of tea?
Or was he mingling with some passer-bys, listening to their stories?

None of these, in fact while his colleagues were taking a break, Ratan Tata was busy helping the driver change tyres. Sleeves rolled up, tie swatted away over the shoulder, the hands expertly working the jack and the spanner, bouncing the spare tyre to check if the tyre pressure was ok. Droplets of sweat on the brow, and a smile on the face.

In that moment, the managers accompanying Ratan Tata got a master class in leadership they haven't forgotten. And that's a moment that the driver of that car probably hasn't forgotten either.

Questions to ask:
When was the last time I rolled up my sleeves to do a task much below my hierarchy?
Do I wait for the big opportunity to showcase my leadership?
Is that big opportunity ever going to come?
Am I trying to manage upwards so much that I lost the feel of the field?

Ideas for action:
Humility is the essence of success. Be humble and even teach your children to be so.
To reach the top and remain there, always start from the bottom, else your days at the top will not last long.
Practice leadership in small things instead of waiting for the big crisis or a major product launch.
Seek to find opportunities to lead in everyday moments.
Build your leadership skills one baby step at a time.

"It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing."

Why we shout when we are angry?

2010-03-31T16:50:00.001+05:30

A saint asked his disciples, 'Why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?'

Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout for that.' 'But, why to shout when the other person is just next to you?' asked the saint. 'Isn't it possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice? Why do you shout at a person when you're angry?' Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint.

Finally he explained, 'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other through that great distance.' Then the saint asked, 'What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, why? Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is very small...' The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.'

MORAL: When you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words that distance each other more, else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.

About Competition

2010-02-15T16:51:00.000+05:30

Who sells the largest number of cameras in India ?
Your guess is likely to be Sony, Canon or Nikon. Answer is none of the above. The winner is Nokia whose main line of business in India is not cameras but cell phones. Reason being cameras bundled with cell phones are outselling stand alone cameras. Now, what prevents the cell phone from replacing the camera outright? Nothing at all. One can only hope the Sony’s and Canons are taking note.

Try this.

Who is the biggest in music business in India?
You think it is HMV Sa-Re-Ga-Ma? Sorry. The answer is Airtel. By selling caller tunes (that play for 30 seconds) Airtel makes more than what music companies make by selling music albums (that run for hours). Incidentally Airtel is not in music business. It is the mobile service provider with the largest subscriber base in India . That sort of competitor is difficult to detect, even more difficult to beat (by the time you have identified him he has already gone past you). But if you imagine that Nokia and Bharti (Airtel's parent) are breathing easy you can't be farther from truth.

Nokia confessed that they all but missed the smart phone bus. They admit that Apple's I phone and Google's Android can make life difficult in future. But you never thought Google was a mobile company, did you? If these illustrations mean anything, there is a bigger game unfolding. It is not so much about mobile or music or camera or emails?

The "Mahabharata" (the great Indian epic battle) is about "what is tomorrow's personal digital device"? Will it be a souped up mobile or a palmtop with a telephone? All these are little wars that add up to that big battle. Hiding behind all these wars is a gem of a question – "who is my competitor?"

Once in a while, to intrigue my students I toss a question at them. It says "What Apple did to Sony, Sony did to Kodak, explain?" The smart ones get the answer almost immediately. Sony defined its market as audio (music from the walkman). They never expected an IT company like Apple to encroach into their audio domain. Come to think of it, is it really surprising? Apple as a computer maker has both audio and video capabilities. So what made Sony think he won't compete on pure audio? "Elementary Watson". So also Kodak defined its business as film cameras, Sony defines its businesses as "digital."

In digital camera the two markets perfectly meshed. Kodak was torn between going digital and sacrificing money on camera film or staying with films and getting left behind in digital technology. Left undecided it lost in both. It had to. It did not ask the question "who is my competitor for tomorrow?" The same was true for IBM whose mainframe revenue prevented it from seeing the PC. The same was true of Bill Gates who declared "internet is a fad!" and then turned around to bundle the browser with windows to bury Netscape. The point is not who is today's competitor. Today's competitor is obvious. Tomorrow's is not.

In 2009, who was the toughest competitor to British Airways in India?
Singapore airlines? Better still, Indian airlines? Maybe, but there are better answers. There are competitors that can hurt all these airlines and others not mentioned. The answer is videoconferencing and tele presence services of HP and Cisco. Travel dropped due to recession. Senior IT executives in India and abroad were compelled by their head quarters to use videoconferencing to shrink travel budget. So much so, that the mad scramble for American visas from Indian techies was nowhere in sight in 2008. ( India has a quota of something like 65,000 visas to the U.S. They were going a-begging. Blame it on recession!). So far so good. But to think that the airlines will be back in business post recession is something I would not bet on. In short term yes. In long term a resounding no. Remember, if there is one place where Newton 's law of gravity is applicable besides physics it is in electronic hardware. Between 1977 and 1991 the prices of the now dead VCR (parent of Blue-Ray disc player) crashed to one-third of its original level in India . PC's price dropped from hundreds of thousands of rupees to tens of thousands. If this trend repeats then tele presence prices will also crash. Imagine the fate of airlines then. As it is not many are making money. Then it will surely be RIP!

India has two passions. Films and cricket. The two markets were distinctly different. So were the icons. The cricket gods were Sachin and Sehwag. The filmy gods were the Khans (Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and the other Khans who followed suit). That was, when cricket was fundamentally test cricket or at best 50 over cricket. Then came IPL and the two markets collapsed into one. IPL brought cricket down to 20 overs. Suddenly an IPL match was reduced to the length of a 3 hour movie. Cricket became film's competitor. On the eve of IPL matches movie halls ran empty. Desperate multiplex owners requisitioned the rights for screening IPL matches at movie halls to hang on to the audience. If IPL were to become the mainstay of cricket, as it is likely to be, films have to sequence their releases so as not clash with IPL matches. As far as the audience is concerned both are what in India are called 3 hour "tamasha" (entertainment). Cricket season might push films out of the market.

Look at the products that vanished from India in the last 20 years. When did you last see a black and white movie? When did you last use a fountain pen? When did you last type on a typewriter? The answer for all the above is "I don't remember!" For some time there was a mild substitute for the typewriter called electronic typewriter that had limited memory. Then came the computer and mowed them all. Today most technologically challenged guys like me use the computer as an upgraded typewriter. Typewriters per se are nowhere to be seen.

One last illustration. 20 years back what were Indians using to wake them up in the morning? The answer is "alarm clock." The alarm clock was a monster made of mechanical springs. It had to be physically keyed every day to keep it running. It made so much noise by way of alarm, that it woke you up and the rest of the colony. Then came quartz clocks which were sleeker. They were much more gentle though still quaintly called "alarms." What do we use today for waking up in the morning? Cell phone! An entire industry of clocks disappeared without warning thanks to cell phones. Big watch companies like Titan were the losers. You never know in which bush your competitor is hiding!

On a lighter vein, who are the competitors for authors? Joke spewing machines? (Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, himself a Pole, tagged a Polish joke telling machine to a telephone much to the mirth of Silicon Valley ). Or will the competition be story telling robots? Future is scary! The boss of an IT company once said something interesting about the animal called competition. He said "Have breakfast …or…. be breakfast"! That sums it up rather neatly.

-Read it in one of the e-mail forwarded

Best law suit of the century - True story

2010-02-05T12:48:00.000+05:30

A Charlotte, NC lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against fire, among other things.

Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the lawyer filed claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires." The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.

The lawyer sued... And WON!

In delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer "held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable fire" and was obligated to pay the claim.

Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires."

After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!

With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.

This is a true story and was the First Place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.

The cracked pot

2009-12-08T14:30:00.000+05:30

A sage in India had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his shoulder. In that two pots one had a crack while the other was in perfect shape.

At the end of the long walkfrom the stream to the temple, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to the temple.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its imperfection as it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the sage.
"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts."

The divine sage smiled and said lovingly, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw. So I planted flower and fruit seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers and fruits to decorate the temple. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the temple."

Moral:
Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives interesting and rewarding.

We should take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them.
Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.
Remember to appreciate all the different people in your life.

Read somewhere in book.

Bad vibes and good viruses

2009-12-08T12:20:00.000+05:30

Last night we ran our first teleseminar on Intention, which was fantastically well-attended by people all over the world. If you missed it, we’ll be running another one soon on developing intuition, so stay tuned.

One of the questions I repeatedly receive during workshops such as last night’s is how to protect yourself from the collective negative effect and intention of a group. Why do certain groups fairly irradiate ‘bad vibes’ and others joyful ones? Why is it that when you attend certain events you are elated and yet others leave you feeling utter depressed? How can you prevent yourself from becoming ‘infected’ by it, most people ask? What kind of psychic protection do you need?

Recently I found a fascinating answer to this, in the work of Professor Sigal Barsade, who teaches management at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Transformed office
As a young graduate student, Sigal went to work one day and noticed that something fundamentally had changed – something that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. There were no new employees, no change of management and no change of scenery, but she might have strayed into the wrong office, so different was the atmosphere from usual.

The general mood, usually so edgy and stressful, had completely transformed. Those who’d stared at her and barely acknowledged her before now looked up from their work and smiled. Workers who’d usually spent the entirety of every day glued to their computer screens took breaks to chat around the coffee machine.

For the whole of that blissful week, the group with whom she regularly worked was more relaxed and sociable than she’d ever thought them capable of. For the first time, she began to look forward to going to work.

The following week, the veil that seemed to have been lifted abruptly dropped. The collective mood was back to normal – tense, testy and sullen.

Barsade was confused by it all. Nothing was different about the week, and yet the whole of the office had been profoundly affected – for the worst. When Sigal cast around for an explanation, the only difference – the only variable to which she could attribute this change – was the return of a petulant co-worker from vacation.

The negative virus
Even though the woman didn’t work with Barsade’s group, so palpable was her complaining and snappish temperament that it had engulfed everyone who worked at the company, like a virus raging through the office and infecting everyone in its path.
Barsade, who was in the midst of her master degree in business at the time, began to think of this employee’s moodiness as a contagion. Perhaps it was, she thought, that people were walking ‘mood inductors’.

She decided to test what she began calling ‘the ripple effect’ of emotion by devising an ingenious experiment with students at the Business School. In her experiment, she created four groups of students, who were to act as managers assigning a pay bonus among their employees, with each manager acting as an advocate on behalf of his own team member.

The mood regulator
Unbeknownst to the students, Barsade had placed a cuckoo in the nest of each group – a drama student who was asked to act out a different amount of pleasantness and energy in each group.

The results were striking. Even though ‘Rick’ had offered identical participation in every group, each one was profoundly affected by his moods and, what’s more, the members of each group responded in kind.

When Rick was upbeat, so was that particular group; when he exuded pessimism and negativity, his bad mood infected every other member of the group and they were less likely to cooperate with each other. When he was calm and happy, the group was more likely to bond and work with each other productively.

The effect was not only insidious, but also completely unconscious. Even when the separate groups filled out questionnaires, all attributed their own effectiveness within the group to other factors — never to collective mood.

Rick’s effect on each group also extended to all encounters he had with group members on campus in subsequent months. Those with whom he’d acted positively greeted him warmly; those in groups in which he’d been the group pessimist continued to greet him hostilely or with chilly silence.

Positive is more contagiousBarsade made another fascinating discovery, however: Rick’s positive moods were more socially contagious than his bad moods, and were more likely to act like a giant virus, overwhelming the group. In fact, when Rick was in his positive state, the group actually gave him more money than he’d asked for.

Barsade concluded that both kinds of emotion – positive and negative – are contagious, but that positive emotions are the more powerful and stimulate others to be more cooperative.

Emotions are virulent viruses. Almost immediately our emotions infect others; elements in our brains and bodies immediately begin to copy theirs. (If you don’t believe this, try to resist smiling when someone — even a newscaster on TV — smiles at you.)

During a recent study in which participants listened to a speech read by an actor, alternately using happy, unhappy or neutral inflections of speech, when the participants were asked to rate their own emotional states, in every instance, their own emotions matched those of the speaker while he was reading the speech.

Furthermore, when they were asked provide their attitude toward the speaker, they were least fond of the speaker with the unhappy voice.

An ugly mood
I was witness to the power of emotional contagion at a conference we once ran in London. During question time, a member of the audience began to heckle one of our speakers, who had made a number of fascinating, but controversial points.

Almost immediately the mood turned very ugly, and the entire audience took it in turns to verbally attack the speaker. The collective mood, formerly so positive, had been thoroughly hijacked.

These were early days in my speaking career, and as master of ceremonies, I wasn’t sure how to restore audience confidence or order.

I picked up the microphone, went back to the initial questioner’s question, politely but firmly defended our speaker from attacks and went back to address the unfair methodology of the heckler.

Then, to try to dispel the icy silence, the speaker and I jointly told a joke, giving everyone our widest smiles. Order and confidence were immediately restored, the mood had lifted and at the break, the heckler approached our speaker to apologize.

Perhaps the best antidote to negativity is not protection at all, but examining it from the perspective of relationship. Rather than reacting to negativity, simply start your own virus — a contagion of good will.

November 13th, 2009 by Lynne McTaggart
http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/bad-vibes-and-good-viruses.htm

Hear the Unheard

2009-09-08T17:43:00.000+05:30

Back in the third century there lived a King named Ts'ao. He had a son name Prince Tai. Since Tai was to succeed his father as King, the King wanted the Master Teacher Pan Ku to teach the boy the basics of being a good ruler. When the Prince arrived at the temple, the master Pan-Ku sent him alone to the forest. After one year, the prince was to return to the temple to describe the sound of the forest.

When Prince Tai returned after a year, Pan Ku asked the boy to describe all that he could hear. "Master", replied the Prince, "I could hear the cuckoos sing, the leaves rustle, the humming bird hum, the crickets chirp, the grass blow, the bees buzz and the wind whisper and holler." When the Prince had finished, the master told him to go back to the forest to listen to what more he could hear. The Prince was puzzled by the Master's request. Had he not discerned every sound already ?

For days and nights on end, the young prince sat alone in the forest listening, but could not hear any sounds other than those which he had already heard. Then one morning, as the prince sat silently beneath the trees, he started to discern faint sounds unlike those he had ever heard before. The most acutely he listened, the clearer the sounds became. The feeling of enlightenment enveloped the boy. “These must be the sounds the Master wished me to discern,” he replied.

When Prince Tai returned to the temple the Master asked him what more he had heard. “Master", responded the prince reverently, "when I listened more closely, I could hear the UNHEARD - the sounds of flowers opening, the sound of sun warming the earth, and the sound of grass drinking the morning dew." The Master nodded approvingly. "To hear the Unheard," remarked Pan-ku, "is a necessary discipline to be a good ruler. For only when a ruler (read also as leader) has learned to listen closely to the people's heart, hearing their feelings un-communicated, pains unexpressed, and complains not spoken of, can he hope to inspire confidence in his people, understand when something is wrong, and meet the true needs of his citizens. The demise of state comes when leaders listen only to superficial words and do not penetrate deeply into the souls of the people to hear their true opinions, feelings and desires."

Homage to our Heroes

2009-07-31T11:36:00.000+05:30

Vivek Pradhan was not a happy man. Even the plush comfort of the air-conditioned compartment of the Shatabdi express could not cool his frayed nerves. He was the Project Manager and still not entitled to air travel. It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the admin person, it was the savings in time. As PM, he had so many things to do. He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to some good use.

Are you from the software industry sir," the man beside him was staring appreciatively at the laptop.

Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop now with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car.

"You people have brought so much advancement to the country sir. Today everything is getting computerized. "

"Thanks," smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a look.

He always found it difficult to resist appreciation. The man was young and stocky like a sportsman. He looked simple and strangely out of place in that little lap of luxury like a small town boy in a prep school. He probably was a railway sportsman making the most of his free traveling pass.

"You people always amaze me," the man continued, "You sit in an office and write something on a computer and it does so many big things outside."

Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naivety demanded reasoning not anger. "It is not as simple as that my friend. It is not just a question of writing a few lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it." For a moment, he was tempted to explain the entire Software Development Lifecycle but restrained himself to a single statement. "It is complex, very complex."

"It has to be. No wonder you people are so highly paid," came the reply.

This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence came into his so far affable, persuasive tone.

"Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we have to put in. Indians have such a narrow concept of hard work.. Just because we sit in an air-conditioned office does not mean our brows do not sweat. You exercise the muscle; we exercise the mind and believe me that is no less taxing."

He had the man where he wanted him and it was time to drive home the point.

"Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway reservation system is computerized. You can book a train ticket between any two stations from any of the hundreds of computerized booking centres across the country. Thousands of transactions accessing a single database, at a time concurrency; data integrity, locking, data security.
Do you understand the complexity in designing and coding such a system?"

The man was stuck with amazement, like a child at a planetarium. This was something big and beyond his imagination. "You design and code such things."

"I used to," Vivek paused for effect, "But now I am the Project Manager,"

"Oh!" sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over, "so your life is easy now."

It was like being told the fire was better than the frying pan. The man had to be given a feel of the heat.

"Oh come on, does life ever get easy as you go up the ladder. Responsibility only brings more work. Design and coding! That is the easier part. Now I do not do it, but I am responsible for it and believe me, that is far more stressful. My job is to get the work done in time and with the highest quality. To tell you about the pressures, there is the customer at one end always changing his requirements, the user wanting something else and your boss always expecting you to have finished it yesterday."

Vivek paused in his diatribe, his belligerence fading with self-realisation. What he had said, was not merely the outburst of a wronged man, it was the truth. And one need not get angry while defending the truth. "My friend," he concluded triumphantly, "you don't
know what it is to be in the line of fire."

The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization. When he spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that surprised Vivek.

"I know sir, I know what it is to be in the line of fire," He was staring blankly as if no passenger, no train existed, just a vast expanse of time.

"There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the cover of the night. The enemy was firing from the top. There was no knowing where the next bullet was going to come from and for whom. In the morning when we finally hoisted the tricolour at the top only 4 of us were alive."

"You are a..."

"I am Subedar Sushant from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak 4875 in Kargil. They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a land assignment. But tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life easier. On the dawn of that capture, one of my colleagues lay injured in the snow, open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker. It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety. But my captain refused me permission and went ahead himself. He said that the first pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to put the safety and welfare of the nation foremost followed by the safety and welfare of the men he commanded. His own personal safety came last, always and every time. He was killed as he shielded that soldier into the bunker. Every morning now, as I stand guard I can see him taking all those bullets, which were actually meant for me. I know sir, I know what it is to be in the line of fire."

Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of his reply. Abruptly he switched off the laptop. It seemed trivial, even insulting to edit a word document in the presence of a man for whom valour and duty was a daily part of life; a valour and sense of duty which he had so far
attributed only to epical heroes.

The train slowed down as it pulled into the station and Subedar Sushant picked up his bags to alight.

"It was nice meeting you sir."

Vivek fumbled with the handshake. This hand had climbed mountains, pressed the trigger, and hoisted the Tri-colour. Suddenly as if by impulse, he stood at attention and his right hand went up in an impromptu salute. It was the least he felt he could do for the country.

PS: The incident he narrates during the capture of Peak 4875 is a true-life incident during the Kargil war. Capt. Batra sacrificed his life while trying to save one of the men he commanded, as victory was within sight. For this and his various other acts of bravery he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra the nation's highest military award.

Live humbly, there are great people around us, let us learn!

Winners are too busy to be sad, too positive to be doubtful, too optimistic to be fearful and too determined to be defeated!

Jai Hind.

My note :
I and my ladak gang were the fortunate ones, who saw the battle ground and the place renamed after Captain Batra.

The every inch of Drass-Kargin sector witnessed the valor of our Army and now stand as tall testimonial of our victory.

The proud and most memorable moment was when the entire gang sang the National Anthem in front of the martyrs memorial. With flowing tears and lump in our throat, when we all shouted, Jai Hind, we meant it from our heart.

When I see people fighting on stupid issues like domicile, caste, identity and preferences; I think what might our great heroes might be feeling. Have they shed their life, for us, so that we fight on those issues. So friends think twice before you think arguing any issue.... is it worth fighting? will it make our heroes happy.
.

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver

2009-07-22T09:52:00.000+05:30

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver andget back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watchhim at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fireand let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner andpurifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'

He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy --when I see my image in it.

'If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Pass this on, someone needs to know that God is watching over them.

And, whatever they're going through, they'll be a better person in the end.

'Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spendit when u are alive!

Credit : Malachi [3:3]

On Krishna's chariot stands Shikhandi

2009-07-17T09:44:00.000+05:30

It was the ninth night of the war at Kurukshetra. The exact midpoint of the legendary 18-day bloodbath. Not the start, not the end, but the middle. The war had been inconclusive. Sometimes the Kauravas led by the old sire Bhisma had the upper hand; sometimes the Pandavas led by the young warlord, Dhristadhyumna, Draupadi's twin brother, had the upper hand. A see-saw that was going nowhere.
"Bhisma loves us too much to defeat us," said the Pandavas.
"Yet not enough to let us win," reminded Krishna. "He must die, if dharma has to be established. " But Bhisma had been given a boon by his father that he could choose the time of his death. No one could therefore kill him. "If we cannot kill him, we must at least immobilize him."
"But no one can defeat him," said the Pandavas. "Even the great Parashurama could not overpower him in a duel. So long he holds a weapon in hand he is invincible."
"Then we must make him lower his bow," said Krishna.
"He will never lower his bow before any armed man."
"What about an armed woman?"
"A woman? On the battlefield? " sneered the Pandavas, forgetting they themselves worshipped Durga, the goddess of war and victory. "But it is against dharma to let women hold weapons and step on the battlefield. "
"Who said so?" asked Krishna.
"Bhisma says so. Dharma says so."
"Dharma also says that old men should retire and make way for the next generation so that the earth's resources are not exploited by too many generations. But Bhisma did the very opposite. He renounced his right to marry, so that his old father could resume the householder' s life," argued Krishna.
"He was being an obedient son."
"He was indulging his old father at the cost of the earth. That vow spiraled events that has led to this war. It is time to be rid of him, by force or cunning, if necessary. We must find someone before whom the old patriarch will lower his bow. If not a woman, then someone who is not quite a man."
"What about Shikhandi!" said Dhristadhyumna. "He is my elder brother. He was born a woman. But my father, Draupada, was told by the Rishis that he would one day become a man. Though born with female genital organs, Shikhandi was raised a son, taught warfare and statecraft. He was even given a wife. On his wedding night, the wife, daughter of king Hiranyavarna of Dasharna, was horrified to discover that her husband was actually a woman. My father tried to explain that actually Shikhandi was a man with a female body and that Rishis had told him he would someday acquire a male body. The woman refused to listen. She screamed and ran to her father and her father raised an army and threatened to destroy our city. A distraught Shikhandi went to the forest, holding himself responsible for the crisis, intent on killing himself. There he met a Yaksha called Sthunakarna who took pity on him and gave him his manhood for one night. With the Yaksha's manhood, Shikhandi made love to a concubine sent by his father-in-law and proved he was no woman. The wife was therefore forced to return. Now, it so happened, that Kubera, king of the Yakshas, was furious with what Sthunakarna had done and so cursed Sthunakarna that he would not get his manhood back so long as Shikhandi was alive. As a result what was supposed to be with him for one night has remained with him till this moment. My elder brother, Shikhandi, born with a female body, has a Yaksha's manhood right now. What is he, Krishna? Man or woman?"Krishna knew things were more complex. Shikhandi, may have been raised as a man and may have acquired a manhood later in life, but in his previous life, he was a woman called Amba, whose life Bhisma had ruined. Bhisma had abducted her along with her sisters and forced them to marry, not him, but his weakling of a brother, Vichitravirya (a name that means `queer masculinity' or `odd manliness'). When she begged Bhisma to let her marry the man she loved, he let her go. But the lover refused to marry Amba, now soiled by contact with another man (Bhisma). Distraught she returned, only to have Vichitravirya turn her away, and Bhisma shrugging helplessly. "When you have taken the vow of never being with a woman, what gave you the right to abduct me," she yelled. Bhisma ignored her. Amba begged Parashurama, the great warrior, to kill Bhisma but he failed. Exasperated, irritated, she prayed to Shiva. "Make me the cause of his death," she begged. Shiva blessed her – it would be so, but only in her next life. Amba immediately leapt into a pyre eager to accelerate the process.
"I think, Shikhandi should ride into the battlefield on my chariot. Let Arjuna stand behind him," said Krishna. The tenth day dawned. The chariot rolled out. Behind Krishna stood the strange creature, neither man nor woman, or perhaps both, or neither, and behind him, Arjuna.
"You bring a woman into this battlefield, before me," roared Bhisma seeing Shikhandi. "This is adharma. I refuse to fight."
Krishna retorted in his calm melodious voice, "You see her as a woman because she was born with a female body. You see her as a woman because in her heart she is Amba. But I see her as a man because that is how her father raised her. I see her as a man because she has a Yaksha's manhood with which he has consummated his marriage. Whose point of view is right, Bhisma?"
"Mine," said Bhisma.
"You are always right, are you not, Bhisma? When you allowed your old father to remarry, when you abducted brides for your weak brother, when clung to future generation after future generations like a leech, trying to set things right. There is always a logic you find to justify your point of view. So now, Shikhandi is a woman – an unworthy opponent. That's your view, not Shikhandi's view. He wishes to fight you."
"I will not fight this woman," so saying Bhisma lowered his bow without even looking towards Shikhandi.
"Shoot him now, Shikhandi. Shoot him, now, Arjuna," said Krishna, "Shoot hundreds of arrows so that they puncture every inch of this old man's flesh. Pin him to ground, immobilize him so that he can no longer immobilize the war."
"But he is like a father to me," argued Arjuna.
"This war is not about fathers or sons. This is not even about men or women, Arjuna. This is about dharma. And dharma is about empathy. Empathy is about inclusion. Even now, he excludes Shikhandi's feelings – all he cares about his version of the law. Shoot him now. Rid the world of this old school of thought so that a new world can be reconstructed. "
And so Arjuna released a volley of arrows. Hundreds of arrows punctured every limb of Bhisma's body, his hands, his legs, his trunk, his thigh, till the grandsire fell like a giant Banyan tree in the middle of a forest. It is said that the earth would not accept him for he had lived too long – over four generations instead of just two. It is said the sky would not accept him because he had not fathered children and repaid his debt to ancestors. So he remained suspended mid-air by Arjuna's arrows.With the fall of Bhisma, the war moved in favor of the Pandavas. Nine days later, the Kauravas were defeated and dharma had been established.
Without doubt, Shikhandi changed the course of the war and played a pivotal role in the establishing of dharma. He was without doubt a key tool for Krishna. A cynic would say, Shikhandi was used by Krishna. A devotee will argue, Krishna made even Shikhandi useful. But his story is almost always overlooked in retellings of the great epic Mahabharata, or retold rather hurriedly, avoid the details. Authors have gone so far as to conveniently call the Sthunakarna episode a later interpolation, hence of no consequence.
Shikhandi embodies all queer people – from gays to lesbians to Hijras to transgendered people to hermaphrodites to bisexuals. Like their stories, his story remains invisible. But the great author, Vyasa, located this story between the ninth night and the tenth day, right in the middle of the war, between the start and the finish. This was surely not accidental. It was a strategic pointer to things that belong neither here nor there. This is how the ancients gave voice to the non-heterosexual discourse.
Shikhandi embarrases us today. Sthunakarna who willingly gave up his manhood frightens us today. But neither Shikhandi nor Shthunkarna embarrassed or frightened Krishna or Vyas. Both included Shikhandi in the great narrative. But modern writers have chosen to exclude him. That is the story of homosexuals in human society. Homosexuals have always existed in God's world but more often than not manmade society has chosen to ignore, suppress, ridicule, label them aberrants, diseased, to be swept under carpets and gagged by laws such as 377. They have been equated with rapists and molesters, simply because they can only love differently.
Indian society, however, has been a bit different from most others. Like all cultures, Indian culture for sure paid more importance to the dominant heterosexual discourse. But unlike most cultures, Indian culture did not condemn or invalidate the minority non-heterosexual discourse altogether. Hence the tale of Shikhandi, placed so strategically. Hence the tale of Bhangashvana, retold by none other than Bhisma to the Pandavas, after the war before he chose to die.
Yudhishtira asked, "Grandfather, who gets more sexual pleasure – men or women? What is sweeter to the ear – the sound of father or mother?"
Bhisma replied, "No one knows really.. Except perhaps Bhangashvana, the only one who was both man and woman. Bhangashvana was a great king, with many wives and many sons. Indra cursed him to be a woman. So he lived as a woman, took a husband and bore him children. He was thus a man to his wife and a woman to his husband. He thus had two sets of children, one who called him `father' and another who called him `mother'. He alone is qualified to answer your questions." Such ideas will never find mention in most scriptures around the world. But they are part of our cultural inheritance.
Clearly many keepers of culture have not heard the stories of Shikhandi, or Bhangashvana or of Yuvanashva, the king who accidentally became pregnant and delivered the great Mandhata, or of the two queens who made love to each other to produce a child without bones (bones being the contribution of sperm, according to mythology), or of Mohini, the female form of Vishnu, who enchanted even Shiva, the great hermit. Clearly they have chosen to ignore that every year, in Brahmotsavam festival, the image of the Lord Venkateshwara Balaji, who is Vishnu on earth, is dressed in female garments reminding us all of Mohini. Clearly they are oblivious of how Shrinathji in Nathdwara is lovingly bedecked with a sari, the stri-vesha or women's attire, in memory of the time he wore Radha's clothes to appease her. Clearly they are not aware of Gopeshwarji of Vrindavan, Shiva who took the form of a milkmaid so that he could dance the raas-leela with Krishna. And they certainly have turned a blind eye to the rooster-riding Bahucharji, of Gujarat, patron goddess of many Hijras.
Western religions have, and will, look upon Hinduism's cross-dressing gods as vulgar and perverted. The British mocked us so much during the Raj that we went into apology and denial. Now an entire generation does not even know about these tales and these deities and these rituals. Westernization did not change bedroom habits; it has led to an embarrassed denial of our sacred scriptures..
One thing we must grant the homosexual – he has united the cantankerous right wing. He has done what the constitution of India could not do – bring the radical Islamic cleric, the saffron robed yogis, the Bible-bashing clergyman to same side of the table. Together these self-proclaimed guardians of culture would like the homosexuals to be made invisible once more.
Baba Ramdevji would for sure celebrate the celibacy of Bhisma. If he would have his way, he would, perhaps, drag Shikhandi to the mental asylum and teach him breathing exercises until the Yaksha's appendage drops and he/she chokes and gasps into heterosexuality. But not Krishna. On Krishna's chariot, Shikhandi – as he/she is – will always be welcomed.

[http://devdutt. com/on-krishnas- chariot-stands- shikhandi]
On Krishna's chariot stands Shikhandi
Published in Sunday Midday, Mumbai, 12 July 2009

Work can speak better than words

2009-06-19T17:21:00.000+05:30

A man once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?"

"No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage."

The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked.

"There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work.

"Where are you going to install the idol?" The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high.

"If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked.

The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."

The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not. "Excellence" is a drive from inside, not outside.

Full utilisation of resources

2009-03-27T15:46:00.000+05:30

Buddha, one day, was in deep thought about the worldly activities and the ways of instilling goodness in human beings. One of his disciples approached him and said humbly " Oh my teacher ! While you are so much concerned about the world and others, why don't you look in to the welfare and needs of your own disciples also."

Buddha : "OK.. Tell me how I can help you"
Disciple : "Master! My attire is worn out and is beyond the decency to wear the same. Can I get a new one, please?"

Buddha found the robe indeed was in a bad condition and needed replacement. He asked the store keeper to give the disciple a new robe to wear on. The disciple thanked Buddha and retired to his room. A while later, he went to his disciple's place and asked him "Is your new attire comfortable? Do you need anything more?"
Disciple: "Thank you my Master. The attire is indeed very comfortable. I need nothing more"
Buddha : "Having got the new one, what did you do with your old attire?"
Disciple : "I am using it as my bed spread"
Buddha : "Then.. hope you have disposed off your old bed spread"
Disciple : " No.. no.. master. I am using my old bedspread as my window curtain"
Buddha : " What about your old Curtain?"
Disciple : "Being used to handle hot utensils in the kitchen"
Buddha : "Oh.. I see.. Can you tell me what did they do with the old cloth they used in Kitchen"
Disciple : "They are being used to wash the floor."
Buddha : " Then, the old rug being used to wash the floor...?"
Disciple: " Master, since they were torn off so much, we could not find any better use, but to use as a twig in the oil lamp, which is right now lit in your study room...."

Buddha smiled in contentment and left for his room.

If not to this degree of utilization, can we at least attempt to find the best use of all our resources at home and in office? We need to handle wisely, all the resources earth has bestowed us with ….both natural and material so that they can be saved for the generations to come.

Convert your biggest weakness to your biggest strength

2008-08-25T14:33:00.000+05:30

A 10-year-old boy decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. He began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.

"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"
"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened. "No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue." Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. "Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?" "You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm." The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

Ripe Time

2008-06-21T10:30:00.000+05:30

Upagupta was the handsome bhikku of Lord Buddha. He was so handsome that all females of that time dreamt to be with him. When the dancer of Bhimbisara saw him, she proposed him to accept her.

Upagupta looked her from head to toe. Looking her beauty and sculpted body, he smiled. Ignoring the wealth, liesurness and comfort, she had taken the begging bowl and expressing her desire to be accepted by him. With loveable smile he told her, "hey beautiful, when the ripe time comes, I promise to accept you. ".

Ripe time means a lot. When the fruit ripens, it not only changes its skin colour, it becomes soft. From sour it becomes sweet and juicy. And at last it drops from the tree by itself for the benifit of others. Life too is like that. With thousand experiences, we move forward and try to achieve the meaning of life.

But the dancer not understood the meaning of ripe time. Dejected she went back. She became rich and famous and reached the zenith of her dance. Kings, rich merchants and common people thronged her place with gifts. However, time never stops... Slowly diseases took grip on her. She became ugly and her adorers started to ignore her.

In her last time, her thoughts found stablility in spirituality. She told God, I born at the place which you chose. Done my job without any complaint. But with "Ego" of "I, Me and Mine" brought downfall of me. I forgot you. I am now back. Please accept me as I am. Let me not fail again. She was weeping and pleading silently.

Suddenly a reassuring hand toucher her cheeks and wiped off her tears. It gave her support to stand. She slowly opened her eyes and this time she saw smiling Upagupta infront of her with same brightness and beauty. He told her, the time is ripe now, come with me.

A Life in the Day Of the Buddha

2007-09-27T14:15:00.000+05:30

Pilgrims visit Bodh Gaya on Vaishakha Purnima day as it marks the three major events in the Buddha’s life: His birth, enlightenment and passing away

Born as Siddhartha Gautama on a Vaishakha full moon day, he married Princess Yashodhara when he turned 16, and 12 years later, a son was born to them। Soon after, he renounced the world and practised austerities and mortifications for six years. He was disappointed for he found no solution to human suffering.

Siddhartha meditated under a Pipal tree on a Vaishakha full moon day। Spending the night in deep meditation, he discovered the technique of Vipassana and the law of dependent origination. He realised that there was suffering in the world, and that we had to find a way to remove this suffering. He discovered that the body was made up of astacalaps — the entire mass of body and mind is in a continuous flux and flow of vibrations. An ignorant mind reacts to pleasant and unpleasant sensations gene-rated in the body, and this produces defilements. Once the mind stops reacting to these sensations, generation of new defilements is arrested. When accumulated defilements emerge, they disappear and the mind becomes free of them. Attaining supreme Enlightenment, Siddhartha became a Sammasambuddha.

The Buddha became liberated from suffering due to disease, old age, attachment, death and decay। He now discovered the noble Eight-fold Path. His first disciples were the Panccavaggiya Bhikkhus. Addressing them at Sarnath, the Buddha said: “There are these two extremes which should be avoided by one who has renounced — indulgence in sensual pleasures and addiction to self-mortification. Abandoning both these extremes, the Tathagata adopted the Middle Path which promotes knowledge and which tends to peace, higher wisdom, enlightenment and complete liberation.

The Eight-fold Path includes “right understanding, right thoughts, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration”। He said: “Birth, decay, disease, death, attachment, unfulfilled desires — all lead to suffering.’’ Further, he preached that, “It is this craving which produces rebirth, accompanied by passionate clinging, welcoming this and that (life). It is the craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence and craving for non-existence...” It is the complete separation from and destruction of this very craving, its forsaking, renunciation, the liberation therefrom, and non-attachment thereto.

Imparting the Dhamma for 45 years, the Buddha heralded a social and spiritual revolution by opening the doors of Bhikkhu Sangha to all people। At the age of 80, he visited Pava and stayed in the mango grove of Cunda. Falling ill after his last meal, he travelled to Kusinara, where he instructed Ananda to spread his upper robe between twin Sal trees, and informed him that the end of his life had come. A large number of monks and followers assembled around him to pay their last respects. He explained to them that the Dhamma would be their guide. He said: “Vaya-dhamma sankhara, appamadena sampadetha’’ — Decay is inherent in all component things, work out your own salvation with diligence. The Buddha attained Mahaparinibbana on a full moon day of Vaishakha between 500-350 BC.

Buddha Purnima assumes great importance especially when the world faces challenges of violence and terrorism in various forms. Buddha said that just as fire cannot extinguish fire, war cannot solve disputes. Enmity cannot overcome enmity; it can be overcome only with love. Disputes can be settled through dialogue and negotiation, not by war.

Buddham Sharanam Gacchami
Dhmmam Sharanam Gacchami
Sangam Sharanam Gacchami

Ramayana - importance in modern life

2007-09-25T19:52:00.000+05:30

End of incarnation of Ramachandra was approaching. One day Kala – The time expressed his desire to meet Rama to discuss some secret topic. King Rama agreed. However, Kala kept the demand, that if anyone disturbs the meeting, then that person should be imposed capital punishment. Rama summoned his brother Lakshmana and told Kala’s demand.

While Lakshmana was guarding, Sage Durvasha came and wished his desire to meet Rama. Lakshmana told about the meeting and consequences of breaking the demand. Sage, who was known to his anger, threatened, either allow him to meet or get ready to annihilation of entire Ayodhya.

It was catch twenty-two situation for Lakshmana. If agreed he had to face his death, if not the destruction of the Ayodhya. Lakshmana like Rama was the follower of Dharma. He opened the door. Lakshamana faced consequence and saved Ayodhya.

Ramayana is the great epic. It has inspiration for all for all time. As per father’s wish, Rama left his rightly kingdom and went to forest for twelve years sacrificing his royal leisure. Despite knowing the hardships of jungle life, Lakshmana followed his brother. Princes Seeta, born and brought up in royal palace, smilingly escorted her husband with jute clothes. To help and protect Rama, great mother Saumitra allowed her single son to bear the hardship. In absence of her husband, Urmila had forgone all royal pleasure and lived like hermit. Keeping Rama’s shoes on throne, living like sage and eating roots and fruits, Bharata ruled Ayodhya. Keeping vigil like real protector, Satruguna stood by his brother Bharata. For justice, Vibhishana abandoned his brother Ravana and joined Rama. Without rest and caring for life, the entire monkey army built the bridge across Indian Ocean and fought with demons. Keeping the image of Rama in his heart Hanuman showed the real meaning of Bhakti.

To keep the words of common laundry man, Rama who kept his entire life for the upliftment of justice, truth and democracy, became ready to banish his wife. What husband said was right believed wife Seeta, and got ready to go back to jungle without tears. Like this Ramayana, describes the sacrifice and morality, in every step of the life.

Some say it’s the work of fiction and some say its just a myth, while for countless it’s the story of inspiration. Today for the sake of personal gain, people are ready to kill their own kins and countrymen. Every one knows it is hard to follow any spotless character Ramayana, but there is no harm in taking inspiration and practicing it. Today the world is torn between personal gains and power abuse. The person having power wants to conquer through any means and pays no heed to common men. Wife demands damage if husband doesn’t fulfill her wish. Seeing slight opportunity, husbands stray out. Brother help other if there is any personal gain and ready to dump relation if he has the power.

All religion tells us to practice Dharma. Dharma in correct meaning is Sheela or pure character. Dharma doesn’t mean religion or dogma. Dharma is universal. Let all of us kindle the light of dharma in our life. In its gestation period it is very vulnerable from mean and greedy poachers. However once it finds its root, like a banyan tree it becomes strong and withstands any turmoil protecting its owner.

Let there be peace everywhere.

Om shanti, shanti, shanti

Choti si Aasha

2007-09-20T16:35:00.000+05:30

Small Wishes but profound meaning :)