How Long Does One Success Last?

How long does one success last? Of course, till the next failure. The thumb rule is not to be affected by your success or failures. Learn from your failures and become a success at the next attempt. Do not not be vain when you are a success. The people who puts up with your tantrums when you are a success knows very well to put you down too when you are a failure. Just be a good human being at all times.

Daily Motivator

The mail I enjoy reading everyday is from an ex colleague who sends the daily motivators. http://greatday.com/motivate/. Anybody who wants to begin your day on a positive note can visit the site and get the daily motivators. Hats off to Ralph Marston who writes the motivators.

Experience

Experience is the best teacher. We learn a lot from our experiences. But, do we need to experience everything to learn? Can't we learn from the experiences of others? A very bad experience I had and I do not want others to experience is the pain when we break the bone.
How do we know what are the things worth the experience and what are best avoided? Do our upbringing and circumstances play a role in helping us decide what we should experience and what is best avoided?

What Really Matters

In our day to day life we do a lot of things, we meet a number of people, we undergo a number of emotions. Many times we wonder if our life is taking the right direction.
Many times we realise that we are not happy with how things turned out for us or how things
turned out in our relationships.
How do we make things work for us? How do we be happy at the end of the day? By doing things that really matters and being with people who really matters.
How do we know what really matters and who really matters?
If you are a person who wants to give back to society, you can take hints from the following
story:
Once there was a very powerful king. He had many wise people as his ministers. He was a very wise and learned person himself. Once his son asked him three questions.
1) What is the most important time in my life?
2) Who is the most important person in my life?
3) What is the most important work in my life?

The King thought for a long time but he could not find the answers. He asked all his learned
ministers. None of their replies satisfied him. He announced a fortune for anyone who could give him satisfactory answers to the questions. Still, he could not get satisfactory answers.
One of his ministers told him that there was a very learned hermit who lived in the jungle nearby. So he went to meet the hermit.
On the way he was attacked by a rival king. As he was not prepared for the attack he got badly hurt. The hermit who heard the noise found the wounded king and nursed him back to health. The king got better and he came to know that the person who had saved him is the hermit who he had come to ask the questions.
He thanked the hermit and asked him the three questions.

The hermit smiled at him and said. "Well son, the most important time in your life is now or the present. You cannot change your past or you do not know what your future has for you. So now is the most important time. Use it well. The most important person in your life is the person you are with at the moment. You do not know if you will be alive to be with somebody else and the most important work in your life is to do good to the person you are with at the moment."

Accident and the Lessons

A few days back while returning home from office, I happened to witness an accident on the road between a Honda Civic car and a 220CC Pulsar. The Pulsar guy fell on the road and was not willing to get up in spite of the passersby helping him. I suppose nothing serious happened other than a few bruises. The Civic guy was more concerned with his car and instead of helping the fallen Pulsar guy he was examining his car for damages and shouting at him for riding the bike rashly.

I remembered the accident I had almost an year back, which was a lot more serious than this one. I was riding pillion on the bike. We were going fast I suppose and at a junction a Tata Sumo coming faster than us from the right hit us. Nothing happened to my friend who was riding the bike. I suffered multiple fractures on my right leg. I have a rod and four screws in my right leg that the doctors then said can be taken out after two years.

The accident did the following things to me:

• A very active person like me was forced to lead a sedentary life.
• Even to go 100 metres I use my scooty PEP+ , as walking is very painful.
• For the first time in my life I remember being completely dependent on others for the first fifteen days after the accident.
• I am afraid to use my car as I think it will be difficult to put the brake and accelerator with my right leg.
• Going for treks and aerobics that I used to do before the accident now remains a distant dream.
• I started counting my blessings. At least I could take the rod out after two years. I did not have to amputate my leg.
• I became more optimistic. I still remember the first time I walked without support after the accident. It was a big victory for me. Now, after a year, people seeing me walk will not realise I have a rod in my leg.

My accident made me put together the following safety rules on the road that I mention to first time drivers/riders and people who ride rashly:

• Always go slow at junctions.
• Never turn the road into a race course.
• Do not take unnecessary ego hassles on the road.
• Be cool and level headed once you take the drivers/riders seat.
• Speed thrills but kills.
• Better late to reach the destination late than reach the destination never due to rash driving.
• Lane driving is sane driving.
• Always horn before overtaking.
• If you want to go left and there is a vehicle in front of you do not overtake the vehicle and go left because the vehicle in front might be going straight. I have seen a lot of accidents take place because of this.
• If there is a bigger speeding vehicle behind you, give side and let it pass.
• Never sit in the drivers seat if you consumed alcohol or allow anybody who is drunk to drive.
• Use the indicators for turns and even if you want to change the lane.
• Concentrate on the road while driving.
• Use the rear view mirror to check vehicles behind.
• Know your vehicle well and the braking time required for your vehicle.
• Keep proper distance from the vehicle in front and also from the vehicle at the side while overtaking.

If these rules are followed almost all accidents can be prevented. Even if somebody else is driving rashly you can follow these rules and save yourself. Remember that there are people who want to see you alive. At least for their sake drive safe.

Possession or Multiple Personality Disorder

Recently I watched the Hindi movie 1920. The storyline of the movie is about possession and exorcism. I have seen a number of movies on exorcism. Possessed person is somebody in whose body an evil spirit or spirits reside. Exorcism is the method in which evil spirits are forced out from a possessed person.
I do not believe in God. I do not believe in spirits or ghosts. When I was younger I often wondered how people got possessed if there were no ghosts and spirits. Now I know that the "possessed person" suffers from a psychological condition called Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) describes Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) as "a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a condition in which a single person displays multiple distinct identities or personalities, each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment. The diagnosis requires that at least two personalities routinely take control of the individual behavior with an associated memory loss that goes beyond normal forgetfulness; in addition, symptoms cannot be due to substance abuse or medical condition". Earlier versions of the DSM named the condition multiple personality disorder (MPD).

The symptoms, causes and treatment mentioned below are what I got from the Internet when I searched for DID.

Symptoms

• Multiple mannerisms, attitudes and beliefs that are dissimilar to each other
• Headaches and other body pains
• Distortion or loss of subjective time
• Depersonalization
• Amnesia
• Depression

Patients may experience an extremely broad array of other symptoms that resemble epilepsy, schizophrenia, anxiety, Mood disorders, post traumatic stress, personality, and eating disorders.

Causes

The causes of dissociative identity disorder have not been rightly identified.
The causes are linked with the following:

• Overwhelming stress,
• Traumatic antecedents,
• Insufficient childhood nurturing,
• An innate ability to dissociate memories or experiences from consciousness.
• Prolonged childhood abuse

Treatment

Treatment of DID may attempt to "reconnect" the identities of the disparate alters into a single functioning identity. Treatment methods may include psychotherapy and medications.

But there is an important question that is bothering me. If there is nothing called possession then how come people with DID has been cured by exorcism? I am waiting to get hold of a psychiatrist or psychologist to get the answer.

Sexual Liberation

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

INDIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM - The BEST National Anthem in the World?

"UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) announces INDIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM as the BEST National Anthem in the World" was the subject of a mail that was recently circulated. There is also information on the Internet that it is a hoax email. Check the link http://teck.in/indian-national-anthem-is-the-best-national-anthem.html

The following are the wordings of the national anthem:

Jaana Gaana Maana Adhinayaka Jayehe
Bharata bhagya vidhata;
Punjaba Sindhu Gujarata Maratha,
Dravida Utkala Banga,
Vindhya, Himachala, Jamuna, Ganga,
Ucchhala Jaladhitaranga;
Taba Shubha Naame Jaage
Taba Shubha Ashish Maage
Gaye taba jaya gaatha.
Jana gana mangala dayaka jaya he
Bharata bhagya vidhata.
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he,
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he!

The following is the english translation of the National Anathem:

O! Dispenser of India's destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, the Maratha country,
in the Dravida country, Utkala and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
it mingles in the rhapsodies of the pure waters of Yamuna and the Ganges.
They chant only thy name.
They seek only thy auspicious blessings.
They sing only the glory of thy victory.
The salvation of all people waits in thy hands,
O! Dispenser of India's destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Victory to thee, Victory to thee, Victory to thee,
Victory, Victory, Victory, Victory to thee!

There was controversy regarding making "Jana Gana Mana" as the national anthem of India. Tagore wrote the poem in December 1911 at the time of coronation of George v. Some people considered the poem written in praise of the king. They argued Tagore was calling the king, "the overlord of India's destiny".

Tagore said he wrote the poem in honour of God. In a letter to Pulin Behari Sen,Tagore wrote:
"A certain high official in His Majesty's service, who was also my friend, had requested that I write a song of felicitation towards the Emperor. The request simply amazed me. It caused a great stir in my heart. In response to that great mental turmoil, I pronounced the victory in Jana Gana Mana of that Bhagya Vidhata [God of Destiny] of India who has from age after age held steadfast the reins of India's chariot through rise and fall, through the straight path and the curved. That Lord of Destiny, that Reader of the Collective Mind of India, that Perennial Guide, could never be George V, George VI, or any other George. Even my official friend understood this about the song. After all, even if his admiration for the crown was excessive, he was not lacking in simple common sense."

Vande Mataram was rejected as national anthem of India on the grounds that Muslims felt offended by the song's depiction of the nation as "Mother Durga", a Hindu goddess.

If I was in a position of power when "Jana Gana Mana" was considered for the national anthem, being a rationalist, I would have protested and tried my best to choose a poem with a theme that was not religious but patriotic.

Kerala - God's Own Country

This weekend I am planning to go to Kerala, my native place. Kerala is also known as God's Own Country. The state is also known as God's own country with devil's own people.
If you are a first time visitor to Kerala, you will be amazed by its beauty. There are hill stations, beaches, backwaters, wild life, historic places, palaces, islands and trekking spots. As a tourist you will find the keralites a friendly lot too. They will blow you over by their wisdom and experience. I am proud to be a keralite and the moment I touch the boundary, I enter a mental state of contentment.
But, beneath all this superficial beauty and wisdom, there are some realities that I have noticed. Keralites are very hypocritical. When they are outside Kerala, Keralites are very adjusting people. But once inside kerala something in the wind changes them. They become very opinionated, stubborn, with strong political views, and without dignity of labour.
Long back I read somewhere that the country's highest number of suicides and mental derangement are reported from kerala. A kerala boy living outside kerala might have many girlfriends but once he reaches Kerala, he will not talk to any unknown girls. He will be the ideal son and brother.
I agree there are many negative points in other states of India too. Might be a lot more, but none of the states are marketed as God's own country by the tourist department. When your state has got that tag, you wish God's own people also live there.

My Book

The book I always dream of writing will be called “I am, so am I”. Through my book, I want to give back to society in terms of projecting some issues, creating awareness, and questioning traditions and superstitions. I want to inspire and move millions, both with the plot and the words.

The center character will be a counselor. There will be seven plots in the form of six people coming to the psychiatrist (female) for counseling and one plot is the story of the psychiatrist herself. The six people are 1) an ambitious person (female) in the corporate world. 2) A person (female) with a relationship problem. 3) A gay student coming to terms with his sexuality 4) An Internet addict (male), 5) A person with multiple personality disorder (female) 6) A God man (male).

The book will take give a glimpse into the human psychology to understand why people behave the way they do. The book will also be a motivational book, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.

The central character will closely hold all the seven plots. The book will be both controversial and engaging.

Perception is not Reality

Many a time the truth is not what we already know or what we like to hear. There are many traditions that we follow blindly. Unless we look at some issues of life without any bias for what they are we cannot under the issue as a whole. We evaluate a person or a circumstance according to our perception.
There is a story that shows how changing our perception can give a completely different picture of the situation: -
A young woman was sitting in the airport waiting for her delayed flight. She went and bought a box of cookies to eat and kept it in her cabin bag. She took her seat in the waiting area. Next to her seat was middle-aged man. After reading her magazine for some time, she reached to her bag and took out the box of cookies and opened it. As soon as she took a cookie from the box, the man next to her also took one.
She was stunned. “What an ill mannered man”, she thought. But because she did not want to create a scene over some cookies, she did not say anything and behaved as if she did not mind.
For every cookie she took from the box, the man also took one. At last they came to the last cookie. Then the man did a very strange thing, he took the cookie, broke the cookie into half and gave her half. “This is the height of inappropriateness”, the woman thought. “Wait till I get back to my friends and tell about this strange man”.
The woman’s flight arrived and she left the man still sitting there. In the flight, when she reached to take a tissue from the bag, she found her box of cookies intact. All the while, she was eating from the man’s box of cookies. All on a sudden all the bad impression she had formed about the man changed into good ones. She was able to see the man with a new light. A change in perception led to a change in opinion.

Reservation

The Reservation Bill for professional courses and private jobs has created quite a stir in the Indian sub continent. A large number of students, especially medical students protested against the bill. There were instances of violence too. Political parties twist the issue to their benefits.
The students argue that admissions to higher education and private jobs should be on the basis of merit.
Government is providing free school and subsidized college education to poor students. But a student who is educated from a government school is never at par with a student who gets private education. The quality of government education is very poor. The government should take steps to address this issue of gap in quality of government and private education.
Students who appear for competitive exams for professional courses take tuition. These tuition are very expensive and unaffordable by poor students. The rich kids could take the tuition and pass the competitive exams not because they are superior but just because their parents had money. Reservation for poor students is a way to address this issue unless the government conducts tuition for the poor students or agrees to pay for their tuition costs.
Until the government addresses the issue of quality gap in government and private education and bearing of tuition costs for competitive exams, reservation should be given to poor students. Reservation shouldn't be caste based but all poor students irrespective of caste and creed should get the benefit.
There are people who are of the view that people from lower caste should get reservation because even today it is the lower caste people who do menial jobs like toilet cleaning and sweeping.
What the government can do is go for conditional reservations. In areas where even today there are untouchables, reservation should be caste based. In areas where the caste system has stabilized reservation should be for poor people irrespective of caste. There are even places in India where minority groups like Muslims and Christians bear the burnt. In such places reservation should be given to the minority groups.
It is high time people in India understood the Dignity of labor and came forward to take up any job.

Future

The past is gone there is no use being haunted by your past. If you think you are a no one at present. Don’t worry work on you future. It is yours. Start working for it. Write down what you want to be in the future. Don’t set unrealistic goals. I quote a poem I wrote on "Future".

“FUTURE” – An ode

Hail to thee, my beloved

Forever by me bothered

My sole hope, thou knowest

Life to thee, l, owest

The worried of hidden past

The sorrows of half-hid present

Wiped out and made humorous

When thy apparition in mind’s eye credulous

Thy presence makes me feel wonderful

Promises to thee my head full

Night after night tossing in bed

Sleep for me alone dead

Thought after thought mincing heart small

I, for means striving, to make it whole

Oft secure only in thy encircling hands

Oh! What ecstasy! Ere dawn, flying over lands.

Thou art my life, hope, my creation

Otherwise serene my sole recreation

When asked about my inspiration

Thy propelling power, I mention

To them, I say, who call me crazy

“Thou art in thy opinion racy”

Care not about the hidden past

Your struggle canst wipe it least

Little bother about half-hid present

That’s soon to become parcel of past

Yonder the future; grasp it, make it thy creation

There by a protector too, that’s my notion

Welcome to thee my prosperous future

Pine I for thee, than any other creature.

Rules for Sucess

A few basic rules to become a success are:-

1) Failures are the stepping stones to success. If you fail don’t give up hope. Learn from your failures what went wrong and try again.
2) Everything in this world started as an idea so action should follow plans. Knowing what to do and taking the right steps lead to success.
3) Develop your potential.
4) Do not procrastinate.
5) Always have an optimistic attitude.
6) Put in lots of hard work.
7) Pride goes before a fall. Always be humble but be stern whenever necessary.
8) What you think you are, you become. So think of yourself as a success.

Last Words

I would like to quote the last words of a few famous people who were not prepared for their death, who didn’t know what real achievement was:-

1. Caesare Borgia the statesman said “During the course of my life I have made provisions for everything, but I forgot about death, now I must die completely unprepared”.

2. Voltaire the famous cynic had a terrible end. His nurse said “For all the money in Europe I would not want to relieve that evening. He cried for forgiveness the whole night.”

3. David Hume, the atheist desperately shouted his last words “I am in flames!”

4. King Charles IX, said as he died, “My soul, my soul, what will become of you?”

5. Sir Winston Churchill whispered “what a fool I have been.”

6. Lenin died in mental derangement, imploring chairs and tables for forgiveness.

Achievement

Let us look at a poem which talks about real achievement.

Achievement

“That man is a success who has lived well,
laughed often and loved much,
who has gained the respect of intelligent men,
and the love of children,
who has filled his niche and accomplished his tasks,
who leaves the world better than he found it,
whether by an improved poppy,
a perfect poem, a rescued soul,
who never lacked appreciation of earth’s
beauty or failed to express it,
who looked for the best in others
and gave the best he had."

Anonymous

Religious Practices: Rich Lady and Chicken

Let us look at a story which helps us to understand now many of the religious traditions came into practice.

Once a rich lady called some friends together for dinner. She bought chicken and just before cooking, she cut half the chicken and threw it into the dustbin. Her friends were very curious by he act. “Why did you do that”? they asked “My mother used to do it but I am not sure whey she did it.” the rich lady replied. So one day her friends went to her mother to get an explanation.
“Well, my mother used to do it so I copied her” the mother replied. The friends were all the more curious. One day all of them went to the rich lady’s grandmother’s house. The old lady was very old and weak and they thanked their stars that they could meet her before she said farewell to this world. “Well”, she began feebly when the question was put to her, “ at that time we just had a small cooker and we didn’t have a refrigerator, so there was no option but to throw away what didn’t fit in the cooker. At that time chicken wasn’t as costly as today.”

This is how most of our religious practices are. We just don’t question why we do it.

Jumping to conclusions: Blind Men and Elephant

The four blind men had never seen an elephant as they were blind from birth. All of them had heard a lot about elephants. One day someone brought an elephant to them and said “Touch and feel how an elephant is”. The first blind man touched the trunk and said “The elephant might look like a snake because it feels like a snake”. The second blind man touched the ear and said “ you are wrong the elephant might look like a fan”. The third blind man touched the tip of the tail and said “Both of you are wrong the elephant might look like a broom”. The fourth blind man touched the foot of the elephant and said “The three of you are wrong the elephant might look like the trunk of tree”.
Can we say each of them were correct? No can we say each of them were wrong? No, each of their version plus a lot more is the truth. Do we jump to conclusions just hearing one part of the whole?

Gandhiji

When in college I wrote an article “Gandhiji – will he got promotion to the state of a divine being” for the college magazine, which shows how gods are created. The article is written here for your reference.

“Gandhiji – I love him, admire him, respect him – words just can’t express my feelings for that great man, who sacrificed his life for a great cause. But why I have often wondered. This enabled me to develop my “Theory of respect of Admiration” according to my theory, “A person respects or admires or adores another because the better has some qualities which the former wishes to have or are capable of deeds which the former never can”. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had many qualities which I wish to have especially his simplicity, I also think it is very difficult for me to do even a fragment of what he did for this beloved country of ours.

Even though Gandhiji, addressed so by the people respectfully, has been dead only for five decades or so he seems to be a legend to the present young generation. “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one walked on this earth in flesh and blood”.This was the tribute paid by Albert Einstein to Gandhi.

I agree that its difficult to grasp the fact that a man with such a gentle and soft voice,with such a frail and diminutive figure , clad in a loin cloth attained freedom for a vast nation like ours with his simple but very noble doctrines of non-violence and non co-operation. Nations all over the world are proud of one leader or other. But no nation has ever had or will have a great leader like Gandhi. His only weapon was his strong will power. He provoked awe and respect even in the British against whom he fought. They addressed him as the half naked hero. When he died the whole world was shocked as if another Christ had been nailed to the cross. Such was the impact of Gandhi on the times in which he lived.

My love for the great national hero forces me to take a few precautions. I have to take measure to prevent my children from being influenced by my admiration for Gandhi . The trouble is that when I respect him as a great leader they will start respecting him as a guru and their children will start respecting him as a guru and their children( my grandchildren) will in turn respect him as God. This is because as the generation gap increases the original qualities of the person are exaggerated, more and more enabling an ordinary man to evolve into a divine being.

This tendency was present more during the times when people didn’t have as much scientific knowledge as today or when people didn’t have scientific temper. This must be reason why not many religions are created today; there are only variations of present ones. After a century or two the attainment of our freedom from the British will be considered as a miracle performed by Gandhi.

This view in itself gives enough material for the brainy ones to argue against its probability by saying that if it were so then equally great national leaders like Lenin, Napoleon, Hitler, Julius Caesar, Alexander and the like would have experienced it. The above mentioned men were to a large extent admired for their physical strength or courage. Their love for service, patriotism etc didn’t extent to the people beyond a certain margin. In a way it is not wrong to say that they were selfish. But Gandhiji’s word’s served as a soothing balm to every aching heart, irrespective of nationality, caste, creed and sex. Even without me mentioning all of you my co-citizens must know his greatness.

I can prove my view by referring to Sree Narayana Guru of Kerala. He was completely against idol worship. He wanted his followers to believe that one’s God was inside oneself. He advised them not to use liquor as it was poisonous. But what are his so called followers doing now. They have fixed his idols in glass cases all over Kerala so that people can ask for his blessings also put money in the attached money box on the pretext of attaining some wish or the other. (giving bribe to gods is common practice now?). The walls of some toddy shops in Kerala are adorned with his framed photograph with an electric candle burning in front of it. The drinkers have their quota of smalls, large or double large sitting below it. What a paradox!!!

Gandhiji’s greatness can be appreciated only if he is considered one among us – a man of the century. He not only preached but translated into practice the ideas of non – possession and voluntary poverty. He came down to the level of the poorest of the poor whom he wanted to serve. I am even ready to give up my life, to prevent our blind people from converting him into a divine being. But the trouble is that then I will got promotion to a great disciple or daughter or whatever the people fancy me to be of Gandhi to whom he appeared in a vision and asked to give up my life for the well being of his followers”.

Easily Gullible People

Most of the people in India are illiterate, the questioning spirit is not developed in youngsters, as a result the people take in anything told to them. For example let us take the issue of Globalization.
Some argue that due to globalization India will be reduced to a consumer state as all the Indian Companies will become extinct because of the cheap goods supplied by the foreign companies. If the MNCs can make profit, why can’t our Indian companies?
Some others argue that MNCs are exploiting the Indian people by not paying them as much as they pay to the American people. MNCs have brought employment to the impoverished regions, improved health care and educational levels, and increased the purchasing power of Indian people. Again there are people who argue that in MNCs people have to do night shifts which will affect the body clock. What about the lakhs of doctors and nurses who do night shifts? Like these many people put forward flimsy arguments on various topics to mislead the easily gullible people.

Lack of Patriotism

In America the world’s most developed country, every American is proud of their country. Even when they are wearing their flag as an under garment it is to show how much they love their country. Indians who are American citizens are proud of America.
We Indians just wait for a chance to get out of the country and live elsewhere. We do not respect our national heritage or take care of public property. In our country some politicians don’t mind sitting down when the National Anthem is sung.

Lack of Hygiene

Indian people especially men, who chew pan tend to spit anywhere. Children should be taught the habit of spitting only in wash basins. If they have a cold they should be taught to spit into a tissue paper which should be thrown in a dustbin. In urban areas people defecate in the open. They can’t be blamed for this. The government should take steps to give them the facility.
"Cleanliness is next to godliness"

Superstition & Tradition

India is a country where lots of superstitions prevail and outdated traditions are followed. People here have great belief in astrology and star signs. Superstitions and traditions are major hurdles in the way of India’s growth.

Female Infanticide

Due to the inequality between the sexes, the birth of a daughter is considered a burden by many families in India. The female fetus is destroyed in the uterus most of the time, the initiative being taken by the mother due to family pressure.
A woman who gives birth to a daughter is looked down by her in-laws. What determines the sex of a child?
The x or y chromosome from the husband’s gene which fuses with the x chromosome from the wife’s genes what determines the sex of a child. So the husband is entirely responsible for the birth of a son or daughter.
In this 21st century where brain is preferred over brawn, the females are marching way ahead of the males. 15 – 25 years from now females will evolve as the superior sex, so mothers should be proud of having daughters now.

Child Labor

Children who should be having their basic education can be seen working. The tomorrow of our country is in the hands of today’s children. If we don’t equip them properly, what tomorrow are we going to have?
Here is a poem which shows children learn what they live with:
"If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world. "

Basic education should be made compulsory for children, parents failing to send their wards to school must be punished. Children above 10 should be encouraged to take part time jobs 3-4 hours a day, so that they will get into the habit of earning a living.

Corruption

India is a very corrupt country. Most of the government employees want to earn money without working. Any one who gets a government job is considered to have won a lottery. They just have to join a union and go on a strike to get things going their way. Most of the police employed to keep law and order are corrupt. Criminals are created not born. When the whole system is corrupt, when most of our politicians have a criminal record, the youngsters are easily drawn towards crime.

Words of Wisdom from Abraham Lincoln

“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift,
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong,
You cannot enrich the poor by impoverishing the rich.
You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they should do for themselves.”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Population explosion in India

India is world’s second most populous nation in the world, while it is only the seventh largest in area. Human resource is the most importance resource of a nation. Illiterate people, people who do not possess adequate training for development, are not resources but liabilities to a nation. Thus development of human resource is essential. General education as well as technical education should be imparted.
Developed nations developed their natural resources only after development of human skills and technology. The development of human resources encourages development of natural resources not only to meet the local demand but also for export.
In order to develop the human resource we have to check the rapid human growth rate. In India the poor have children and the rich have money. As a result a large no of Indian people are below the poverty line.
A country’s prosperity can be calculated by taking the number of people below the poverty line. Every country aims to lower the poverty line. China is on its way to become a developed country by lowering its poverty line. This was mainly possible because China was able to check the rapid population growth rate. One reason behind the poor having these many children is that the women are illiterate, they don’t have a say in their reproductive matters, they are not aware about the contraceptives available.
What do so many children do? The parents compel them to earn for the family at a very young age by doing odd jobs. They don’t get proper education, they are deprived of their childhood, they become an easy toy in the hands of corrupt politicians and terrorists thus becoming anti-social elements.
They in turn corrupt other youngsters thus each day the crime graph will go up and the government has to spend a lot of money keeping a large police force. Crime committed for self existence also will increase. Unless India takes some stern steps like those taken by China to check this population growth, she will be marching towards becoming the most populous country in the world and becoming a developed country will be a far off dream.
No government is willing to take compulsory family planning measure in India due to the fear of hurting religious sentiments which will in turn affect their votes. Only the late Sanjay Gandhi had the guts. Hats off to him! But he died or was he murdered?
India is the world’s so called largest democracy. But a democracy will work in the way it should, only in a country where there is at least 90% literacy ( literacy doesn’t mean the ability to read and write but also the ability to think for oneself). In a true democracy people won’t vote for criminals. The vote bank won’t show a rise if you take film stars for campaign, people won’t be taken in by hollow promises, and last but not the least people cannot be bought with money. If we check the rapid population growth many evils like corruption, unemployment, increasing poverty line, begging, crimes etc. can be checked.

Exploitation

Right against exploitation is a Fundamental Right of every Indian citizen. What is the actual fact? The rich exploit the poor, the strong exploit the weak, the males exploit the females, the big exploit the small, the employers exploit the employees etc. Unless you know your rights, somebody is going to exploit you. Unless you know your duties you are going to exploit someone.

Red Tapism

It is a common complaint that files don’t move very fast in government offices unless some bribe is paid. What is the origin of such a practice? Some people had the money, they were not disciplined enough to stand in the queue. They lured the government employees with money to get their work completed before the work of the people who were in front of the queue. Thus the practice of paying bribes came into scene. Stern steps should be taken by the government. Both the bribe payers and the bribe takers should be severely punished. The common man should not pay a penny extra than the amount required.

Fundamental Rights and Duties

Given below are the fundamental Rights and Duties of every Indian citizen.
Fundamental Rights
1 Right to Equality.
2 Right to Freedom
a) Freedom of speech and expression
b) Freedom to assemble peacefully and without arms.
c) Freedom to form associations or unions.
d) Freedom of movement throughout India
e) Freedom to reside and settle in any part of the country
f) Freedom to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.
3 Right to freedom of religion.
4 Right against exploitation.
5 Cultural and Educational Rights.
6 Right to Constitutional remedies.
Fundamental Duties
1) To abide by the constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National anthem
2) To cherish and follow the noble ideas which inspired our national struggle for freedom.
3) To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
4) To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so.
5) To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people.
6) To value and and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture.
7) To protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and have compassion for living creatures.
8) To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of enquiry and reform.
9) To safeguard public property and to adjure violence.
10)To strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity, so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of achievement.

Do you have a clear conscience?

There is a story which goes like this:

Once upon a time there was a very powerful and wealthy king. He had four wives.
The forth wife he loved very much, he loved her the most. He looked after her well, gave her delicious things to eat, spend a lot of time with her.
The third wife also he loved, he showed her off to the neighboring Kings. They envied him because of her. He always feared that one day she would run away with one of the neighboring Kings.
The second wife was also loved by the king. She was very wise. The King would always go to her for advice. She was very loyal to him.
The first wife loved him very much. He did not take much care of her. He did not feed her or clothe her well.
One day the king was badly wounded in a battle. He was on his deathbed. He knew his time had come to say farewell to the world. He thought of his four wives.
He called his fourth wife to him and asked her “I loved you the most, if I die now will you come with me?”. “Of course I won’t”, answered the fourth wife and walked away.
He called the third wife, “My time has come to say farewell to this world, will you come with me”, he asked her.
“No I won’t I have a lovely life ahead of me I will marry some one else and live happily”. She answered and walked away.
The King called the Second wife “I have always come to you for advice and you have never failed me, if I die today will you come with me”?
The second wife answered slowly “That would be impossible, At the most what I can do is, see to that all your last rites are done properly”.
“I will come with you” said a feeble voice from the corner of the room. The king turned to look at his first wife who was rarely noticed and taken care of by him. He was filled with remorse “If only I had taken care of you and loved you when I was capable, what a fool I have been, please forgive me” he said crying.
If we look at our lives we can notice that each of us has four wives in life.
The fourth wife is our body, to which we pay a lot of attention, to make ourselves attractive, the body becomes mud after we die.
The third wife is our wealth, which we like showing off, but which goes to someone else when we die.
The second wife, are our friends and relatives who will forget us after our death.
The first wife is our soul, according to many religions it is our soul which will remain with us after our death. To those who are not very religious, your fourth wife is your conscience, many a time we don’t have a clear conscience we have a prick of conscience.
When we are young we think, we are immortal or we have many more years to live and that we will sober down when we become as old as our grandparents, thus we indulge in the pleasures of life, each according to their means with a desire for more. For many men the three W’s in life are “wealth”, “women” and “wine”.
Buddha has said “Desire is the cause of all misery”.

Night Humors

This is one of my poems which show the changing attitudes of a person in childhood, adulthood and old age.

Night Humors

There was a time I with aching heart watched,
The sun hides behind the curtain,
The cows and crows homeward bound
The darkness swallows the earth
Confusion and fear filled my heart,
With passion great, I cried………..
“oh! Why is it so? Why is it so?”

This is the time I with bubbling youth watch
Moon and stars through gloom smile
Happy glow worms here and there glide,
All woes temporarily removed
Vague happiness fills my heart
With passion great, I screech……………
“Wow! It’s great to be so; it’s great to be so”.

There will be a time I with open eyes watch,
Murder and violence behind night protected,
Mask of preachers readily removed
Meaninglessness of life will painfully be felt
Understandable numbness will fill my heart
With passion great I‘ll muse ………………
“Yeah! Life is to be so, life is to be so”

What makes you impure?

Once upon a time a lion catches a young man who had just got married.
“Please leave me, I have just got married I want to enjoy life a little more”, pleaded the young man.
“No, I can’t do that, but I will give you two options:-
1) I will eat you only after killing you.
2) I will eat you alive part by part, so that when I eat each part of your body, eg: your legs, hands etc. you will feel the pain” replied the lion.
If you were in the young man’s place which option would you have chosen? Of course, 90 percent of us would select the the first option.
Suppose you kill a hen and put it to the ground after a few days you will find only the skeleton.
Cut a potato in half and put it on the ground after a few days it will grow up into a potato plant.
So you exercise the first option of the lion when you are eating non vegetarian, food and the second option when you are eating vegetarian food.
When you are chopping the potato or any vegetables for your dish it is crying loudly in a voice you can’t hear, till it goes inside the frying pan. Do you have any idea how much pain and stress the potato undergoes? Because you cannot hear the potato scream you think your act is justifiable?
How will you justify this if you are vegetarian just because you are against killing and you look down on the non vegetarians?
It is not what goes into your mouth and then your stomach that makes you impure, but what comes out of your mouth as rude words and your evil thoughts and your evil actions that make you impure.

Genre of my Blog

I was divulging deep into myself to find out why there are long absence in between posts. The reason dawned on me after much thinking. It was not because i was not comfortable putting my thoughts to black and white, it was not because I did not have topics to write about, and it was not also because i did know to write.
It was because I had not decided upon the nature of topics I would write on my blog. Till now, I suppose I have written about controversial topics from a rationalist perspective. I did not want the blog to be biographical or I did not want people reading my blog to quench their urge to peep into somebody else life.
I have decided that whatever I write on this blog will be to question the reader's normal thought process. To look at everything from a different perspective.

Communal Violence

I recently read in papers about the communal violence against Christians in Some parts of Karnataka, especially Mangalore. The attackers, I wish to call them terrorists, claimed the attack was because the Christians were trying to convert the poor Hindus to Christianity by luring them with money and other gifts.
Right to Religion and Right of expression are fundamental rights of every Indian citizen. People have the right to follow any religion they want and people also have right to tell about their views and religion to others and make them accept those views and religion as long as it is not forced or done at gun point.
Many of my colleagues, although they were against the act of violence by the terrorists were of the opinion that Christian missionaries were at wrong as they were trying to buy the people with money. Their argument was these people are illiterate and cannot think for themselves.
Me being a rationalist, my question is, what is wrong in buying people if they are willing to be bought? What good is a religion to a person that he is willing to change for money? Is violence the solution? Can't the terrorists buy them back if they can be easily bought?
Every election we see politicians buying poor people and getting elected. What do they do after coming to power? How come all of us are quiet about the politicians? At least, the christian missionaries have left lucrative opportunities and are trying to serve not make themselves richer.

I am back

After a long absence from blogging in spite of my new year resolution to make at least one entry every day, I am back today (after almost seven months).
The reasons were many for the absence. I can quote work pressure to family issues. At the back of mind I am burdened by thinking that I was lazy.
When I was not blogging, yes, I had the prick of conscious I get every time I break a new year resolution. But I do not think I am back just to be true to my new year resolution. As I mentioned in the very first entry I think I have reached a stage where I want to put my thoughts in black and white. I have reached a stage from thinking that my thoughts and views are private to thinking that I do not mind making them public.

Love

Bible I Corinthians Chapter 13:1-7 talks of love it goes like this:-
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding going or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres”
Love should be unconditional. Youngsters should be thought to differentiate between lust and love, infatuation and love etc.

Death

Once a person dies, he is forgotten after sometime unless he is very famous like Shakespeare or notorious like Hitler. Each religion has its own theory of what happens to the soul after death. One thing we must realize is that when we are on this earth, if we do something worth while for our fellow human beings, other than being selfish, we can die satisfied. If it is not the case, all the wealth we have amassed or the knowledge we have gained or the degrees we hold or the number of religious places we go to won’t give us any satisfaction and we will die a terrible death. The last minutes or days or even years in our life will be spend regretting our actions. The thought that if we had one more chance we could undo all the awful things we did will haunt us day and night.

Some religions believe that the rites performed after the death of a person would allow a person’s soul to go to heaven. One thing the living relatives of a death person should keep in mind is that the money they spend on the last rites and the feast after that is of no use. How they served the dead person while he was alive is what counts. There is no use spending money on a corpse. It would be better to donate the corpse’s eyes or any organ which can be used, to bring relief to any living person.

Crime & Punishment

Criminals like thieves, dacoits, murderers, pedophiles (child abusers), rapists, bribe takers etc. are people with psychological problems. There are many crimes committed for self existence which can only be dealt with stern policies taken by the government. Some crimes could be avoided if the criminals exercised self control.

Many won’t commit crimes if they have an element of fear. So if we had rigid laws to punish criminals the crime graph would come down. If we had such laws like cutting of hands of robbers and bribe takers, making eunuchs out of rapists and pedophiles, blinding murderers, rewarding whose who give the whereabouts of even small criminals and keeping their name confidential, the crime graph would show a downward trend after each year and most of the jails wouldn’t have been filled above capacity. Before giving these harsh punishments the criminal should be studied by eminent physiologists to check out if the crimes had been committed just for the money, pleasure or kick of it or if it was due to some deep rooted physiological problem which can be cured through psychiatric treatment and counselling.

Upbringing of Children

Most parent/s have no idea how to bring up their own children. Some bring up their children like puppets, at a single command they are expected to obey. Some bring up their children without any discipline. The parent/s are controlled by the children. Children are also individuals like the grownups. They also have egos that can be hurt and that can be boosted.

The children are the responsibility of parent/s till they are old enough to look after themselves. The parents should be their first role model to prepare them to face this beautiful/ugly world (depends on the outlook).

But it is also true that the parent/s have only one life to live and that they should live their life according to how they want and the kids in no way should dictate how they live their life if they are emotionally and physically provided for. This applies to the parent/s too. The children should be allowed to live their life, marry whoever they want, follow any religion and only give advise when asked unless if they don't advise the outcome will be fatal. The children should be taught to think for themselves. In short parent/s and children should be best friends. If this is the case the world would be a wonderful place to live.

Age 1- 10 is the time when special attention should be given to the character formation of the child. The parent/s should realize that what they are bringing up are not pets but citizens who will shape the future of our country, our society. So they should be shaped to be an asset to the society and not a liability or as anti-social elements.

If a child passes in all tests but if he fails in test of life it will be a great disaster and the parents are to be entirely blamed for it but if a child passes in the test of life it may or not be to the parent/s credit.
If we give more time and love to our children and bring them up in a proper way, a lot of violence from this world will vanish. It is not the amount of time that you give your children that matters but the quality of the time you give them even if it is not very much.


Alcholic Father and Sons

Once upon time an alcoholic man had two sons. The man used to come home drunk every night and beat up his wife and children.

The children grew up, the younger son grew up to be an alcoholic and a criminal. In Jail he blamed his father for ruining his life. “If I had a good father instead of an abusive one I might have been a better man today, he ruined my life from the beginning” he said.

The elder son studied well and became a great lawyer. He was teetotaler, he married and had a great family life.

When someone asked his motivating force “My father” he replied. “I saw how badly he behaved with his family and now he degraded himself after drinking so I made up my mind that I will never be like him, that I will never drink or abuse my wife or children”

Marriage

Is marriage a necessary institution?

Once there was a reality show on star world “Temptation Island”, where 4 couples who were considering marriage, plan to put their dedication to test. The four couples were separated and tempted by 26 singles for 14 days on an Island. What an excellent way of testing if the couples are ready to be true to each other for the rest of their life.

Many youngsters especially in India are sex starved and they just consider marriage as a free license to sex. As a result they don’t stay faithful to each other for a long time because most of the time the children doesn’t have a say in the matters of their marriage other than whether they find their future spouse physically attractive. Even if it is a love marriage the youngsters just take the sex angle into consideration. Children above eighteen should be taught about safe sex, sexually transmitted diseases, encouraged to go out on dates and allowed to choose their partner.

Marriage is made a costly affair in India, where a lot of rupees is spent. Most of the time the bride’s family has to bear the burnt, like paying a huge a huge dowry and bearing the costs of the marriage. Is all these necessary?

For people who are pro marriage, marriage should be a resolution taken by two people to spent the rest of their life together and be faithful to each other. If they want to give a party to celebrate their marriage it should be the couple who bear the cost and not their parents. If a few people take the decision to conduct such marriage then after some time a positive trend can come about which can decrease the inequality between the sexes.

After marriage it is also very necessary that the husband and wife live separately from their parents. If either the husband’s or wife’s parents are dependent on the children for their expense they should provide and when the parents (either the husband’s or wife’s) are too old to look after themselves the children should look after them. If there is only a single parent who happen to live with the couple, the parent should make it sure not to interfere in the couple’s affair and only to give advice when asked for without any bias and without taking sides in a quarrel.

For the people who are against marriage, they should not be forced to marry. Marriage should not be seen as a necessary institution. There are many homosexuals in this country who wants to marry. Why do we deny them the right?

Equality

The main type of inequality which should be wiped out is that between the genders. If we take a closer look those who consider women inferior are women themselves. They are the ones who let men get away with the view that women were created to serve and obey men. The women should realize they have equal rights as men, in no way are they inferiors. Men and women are different, not better or worse, just different. There is no need for them to give a dowry to get married. The women should realize that they don’t need looking after. They should not marry a man who wants dowry. They should get a job to stand on their own feet. Once married the house hold chores must be equally shared by both.

Let us take a look at a few present situations. The tension between mother-in-law and daughter-low, the female secretary who takes advantage of the married bosses sexual advances, women allowing themselves to be shown as a sexual commodity or servants at home in advertisements, serials and films, the women who always have to live in constant fear of their husbands, the women who nag their husbands at home, the women who feel compelled to give in to their husbands sexual advances, the high rise of female infanticide with the mother’s consent, the women whose only interest in life is attending parties to compare their attire to those of others present, and many more. The root cause of all these and many more are due to the fact that there is no equality between the sexes.

Why should the women always take her husband’s name after marriage? In that case why should children take the father’s name? Can’t the children be allowed to choose their first, middle and last name and their own religion when they are old enough to think for themselves? Should parents have children with just the selfish intention of having someone to carry their name, obey them and then take over their property? One thing a woman should keep in mind is not to be carried away by a man who is extra courteous to her. Most probably he will have only one thing in mind – to have sex with her.

There are businessmen like Mr. Narayana Murthy of Infosys, Whose vision was to make even his driver a millionaire one day. There are lots of businessmen in our society who earn lakhs of rupees every month but are not interested in paying their employees well. What such employers should keep in mind is that by paying their employees well, they are indirectly making profits for themselves. Let’s take the example of an employer who owns a button and fastener(zip) company . If he pays his employees well, the purchasing power of his employees will increase, they will buy more clothes for themselves and their family as a result the demand for button and fasteners will increase. The employer can employ the best talent and also reduce his frequent recruiting costs .

Employees should be devoted to their job and be responsible. They shouldn’t have a servile attitude towards their employers. Even in this 21st century there are people who consider themselves superior due to their caste or colour. It is high time they realised that the plight of the king and the pauper is the same, one day both of them become dust. There are people who belong to the lower caste who think it is due to their fault and they don’t mind being treated cruelly. It is time everyone realised irrespective of sex , caste, creed, colour that all are equal. People should live and let live.
The main evil of inequality is that some people are victimized. There are various NGOs which work for such people.

Homosexuality

Can we criticize a person who has blonde hair or is left handed? Same way we can’t criticize a person who has a female brain in a male body or vice versa. Statistics show that over 30% of teenage suicides are committed by gays and lesbians and that one out of every three trans genders commits suicide. It seems that the realization of being stuck in the “wrong body” for rest of their lives is too much for them. Most of these homosexual teenagers were raised in families or communities that taught hatred and rejection towards homosexuals or in religions that had tried to save some of the victims through prayer or therapy. There is scientific evidence that shows that most if not all homosexuality is inborn. Gays and lesbians do not choose their sexual orientation any more than heterosexuals. Scientists have shown that homosexuality is an orientation that is unalterable, it is not a choice. Many religions criticize homosexuality saying that it is against nature. Sex for procreation is natural and should be between a man and woman. Sex for pleasure or bonding can be between any two consenting adults.

Lead a Happy Life

Looking around we see a world that has lost its priorities. Is life all about eating, drinking and making merry? Should happiness in life be equated with the wealth one amasses irrespective of the means? This world can be made a better place only by people who know what real happiness is.

Let us see what life is and what changes we can bring about in life to lead a happy life. Life is an interval between birth and death. The length can be between one minute and 100 years. Even shorter or longer. Many things we do in life are based on our past experiences, upbringing and the values imbibed by us from our immediate surrounding.

All of us want to lead a happy life. Here are some important rules to live a happy life:-

1st Rule – Do to others as you would like them to do to you. You don’t like to be cheated, you want to be loved, you want to be respected, and you want others to behave well. I f you behave well with others, others will behave well with you.

2nd Rule – Be slow to anger. If you think being short tempered is a fashion you are mistaken. The most admired person will be the one who has learned to control his anger.

3rd Rule – Don’t be a hypocrite or a person having two faces, one in front of others and one evil side which only you are aware of. Always translate into action the good you preach.

4th Rule – Put some principles in your life that is going to bring happiness to you and others.

5th Rule – It is always better to give than to receive. When you do favors for others don’t expect anything in return. Once in a while do favors to people who won’t be able to repay you.

6th Rule – If you are not a professional lender of money, lend money to those people from whom you don’t mind not being paid back. Lend only the amount you can afford not to want back. Borrowing and lending of money has spoiled many relations.

7th Rule – Learn to say ‘No’ to people some people are “people pleasures” they just don’t like to displease people by saying “No” even though they have no intention of keeping their “yes”. This will eventually make you an unreliable person.

8th Rule - Be fast to forgive.

9th Rule – Train yourself to always use the magical words “please” “sorry” and “thank you” in your conversation. Mean it also. It can do wonders for you.

10th Rule – Do not let your right hand know the kind deed your left hand did. People want to be appreciated, people want to be somebody. So most of the time their deeds are directed towards getting the necessary outside attention, even when they are doing charity work they make it a point to be sure that people have seen it and they will be glorified.

11th Rule – Always have an urge to refine yourself from what you already are.

12th Rule – It is not what goes into your mouth and then your stomach that makes you impure, but what comes out of your mouth, as a result of your evil thoughts and your evil actions that makes you impure. Many religions make a big hue and cry about eating non-vegetarian food. Even vegetables have got life.


13th Rule – if it is up to you to avoid a fight or quarrel please do it. You can disagree with people or say firmly no to people without crossing the line to end up in a quarrel or even a fight.

14th Rule – Be a disciplined person. Always set a time table for yourself. The time you get up, time you go to sleep, time you spend working, time you spend with your family, the things you want to do with your family, the time you spend for yourself, the time you spend partying etc.

15th Rule – Always be a student. Throughout your lifetime, try to acquire some new skill or another. Do some correspondence course.

16th Rule – Grow old gracefully. Even if you are physically old, you can be young at heart and keep your body in shape.

17th Rule - Always be ready to gift a smile and have a sense of humor. Let the butt of your jokes be always yourself.

18th Rule - Don’t use foul language. If you do you will fall in the eyes of others and in your own eyes.

Make India a better place

Being an Indian have we tried to find out why India is still a developing country when Japan which was atom bombed and destroyed in the second world war is a world power to reckon with, why the so called powerful western countries won’t dare to take China for granted. Even a small country like Bangladesh can attack India and get away with it, thus getting for India an adjective ‘soft’. To change India’s present plight we will have to change the outlook of our population root out many social evils.

India is still a developing country after five decades of independence not because India lack natural resources or human resources or the technical know how or the financial know how but because Indian society has some evils which happen to be the root cause. It is the duty of each Indian citizen to think what role to play in rooting ut these evils to make India a better place.

I love my country. Each Indian citizen can appreciate the country and lead a happy life in the country if each of us knows our rights and fulfil our duties.

Fruits of Science – Importance of Scientific Temper

“A little learning is a dangerous thing drink deep or taste not the perennial spring”.

William Shakespeare

Unless we realise the importance of scientific temper, we cannot make this a better place. An educated fanatic is more dangerous than his uneducated counterpart. In the middle of the nineteenth century in 1989 a book was published in England which brought the conflict between the dogmatic and the scientific outlook to a head. The book was “The origin of the species” by Charles Darwin. Darwin’s book was epoch making , it produced vast impression and helped in changing the social outlook more than any other scientific work. He used this to show how species of animals had changed and developed by natural selection. Many people had thought till then that every species of animals including man had been separately created by God and had remained apart and unchangeable since then. Darwin showed by a mass of actual examples that species did change from one to another and this was the normal method of development . A few years later Darwin published another book “ The descent of man” in which he applied this theory to man. This idea of evolution and of natural selection is accepted by most people now , though not exactly the way Darwin and his followers put it forward. Darwin theories have been criticized by many scientists , but his general idea still hold. It is quite common thing for people to apply this principle of selection artificially to the breeding of animals and the cultivation of plants and fruits and flowers.If man produce such changes and new species in a relatively short time interval , what could not nature do in thousands or millions of years.

We have modern technology , but our thinking continues to be primitive in many ways. We still believe that far off stars govern our future or the lines on our hands has something to do with our fate. Everybody would like to have the fruits of science but the scientific temper is not so popular. The entire history of humanity shows that it is the scientific temper which is the most precious heritage of humanity.

What is scientific temper? Scientific temper is an attitude of mind which calls for a particular outlook and pattern of behaviour. The spirit of inquiry and the acceptance of the right to question and be questioned are the fundamental to scientific temper. It is the result of constant human labour , search and struggle. While science is universal, established religions are divisive. Science and technology does not have solutions to all human problems at any given time. But science does not sit down and pray for things to happen but seeks to find out why things happen. There lies in science the search for truth on one hand and the betterment of humanity on the other.

“Scientific temper is an attitude of mind, an open rational mind, questioning curious, critical mind – a tomorrow’s mind instead of yesterday’s mind, resistant to rigidity and resilient to change”.

H. Nayudamma

“The mind that questions and questions with a serious intent and purpose and tests and verifies the answer it gets, has a dynamic quality about it which enables it to forge ahead in the world of thought and things.”

Swami Ranganathananda

It was due to this scientific temper that many scientific discoveries were made. May of the scientific discoveries like the telegraph, the telephone, the automobile and later the aeroplane changed the life of the people greatly. Science measured the farthest heavens and also the invisible atom. It lessened the drudgery of man and life became easier for millions. Science also evolved many methods of destruction. But this was not the fault of science. Science increased man’s command over nature but man with all this power did not know how to command himself.

Today, the common man is not much bewildered by many of the discoveries of science not because he has grown accustomed to the surprises of science but because the paradoxes are too technical to understand. Since the beginning of scientific revolution in the 16^th century it has transformed the globe and radically altered human society. It led to the industrial revolution and the development of electronic and computer technology. It has given us the conveniences of modern life, made rapid communication and travel possible, including the great adventure into space. Scientific progress has dramatically increased food production, enabled us to control many diseases and has contributed enormously to the betterment of the human life. For large sectors of the population science is simply equated with the latest technological innovations, which are gladly accepted because of their economic benefits.

Superstitions are easy to make but hard to destroy. Scientific attitude and rational outlook should become a way of life. We want scientific thinking to destroy superstition which has darkened our lives.

“ I think men of goodwill, men and women who are interested in science will try to enlarge the areas of light and try to fight darkness”

Mrs. Gandhi

Religion – "Look Before You Leap”

Religion has been the basic dividing force between human beings. We saw it on Aug 15 1947, we saw it in the destruction of the mosque in Ayodhya, we saw it recently in the riots in Gujarat

More blood has been shed in the name of religion than any other cause each religion claim to know the truth. Even goes to the extent of saying theirs is the only truth. In fact what they know is just the half truth it is like the story of the four blind men and the elephant.

I am a Christian, I go to the church, I take part in the communion, but I don’t believe Jesus is the son of god or a divine being. I take Christianity as a way of life. I consider Jesus a great man. I want to obey his teachings because by following most of his teachings I have learnt to lead a happy life. I would like other to take up Christ’s teachings because Christianity in its purest form can reduce a lot of evil from this world. This doesn’t mean I don’t consider myself spiritual. Being spiritual should be having the spirit to do right to others and to yourself.

As of now there is no concrete proof to show if man created god or god created man. If there is god, he/she/it will be the only god. As of now no religion seems to have concrete proof that there is the true god. There are many religion the basic message of every religion is to lead a good life. Islam’s mainstream message is of peace, but many of Islam's fanatics undertake terrorist activities saying “There is no better way to show god you love him”. They quote verses from the Quran to justify themselves. No wonder a great writer indirectly called the verses satanic verses. Ramayana and Mahabharata are great books, but its characters have become Gods and Goddesses. Even in this 21^st century, intoxicated with religious fanaticism, many people want a temple build at a place where there was a mosque. Their claim is that it is the birth place of Lord Rama and the Muslim invaders to India had destroyed a temple and build the mosque there. Isn’t this Talibanisation of India? If Harry Potter was written by Mrs. Rowling thousand or two thousand years back, the young wizard Harry Potter would have been a child god and worshipped by millions now.

Many people do good to please God and go to heaven, isn’t it selfish? Many people believe confessing after each wrong committed will enable god to forgive them and they don’t have any qualms about doing wrong. Many believe that taking a dip in some so called holy river will wash away all their sins. In some religion people worship animals and don’t mind killing human beings.

Graham Stains who did a lot of good to the tribal and backward people of Orissa was brutally murdered. One of the main accused Dara Singh is considered as a hero by some religious fanatics he escaped punishment and he contested the elections too. The religious fanatics say he was fighting against Christian terrorism. If our government and educated people allow such horrid acts to go unpunished, even allowing the fanatic illiterate people to elect the ones behind this horrible crimes as their representatives to parliament, then what right do we have to speak against cross border terrorism? Against Islamic fanaticism?

We don’t mind being in the dark. Why don’t people do good to be refined beings? Why can’t people train themselves to think only those thoughts which they won’t feel embarrassed about it they were thinking it aloud? Why not people do only those things which they won’t feel ashamed to talk about to others? By “others” I mean righteous people, people who have a spiritual aura about them. There are also many people who do a lot of wrong but are not embarrassed about it doesn’t feel ashamed to talk about it to others. Such people are chronic Psychological patients and needs treatment. Many of our political leaders who have a history of crimes should be under treatment in asylums or behind bars and not in the parliament.

In the January 2002 issue of Readers Digest there was an article by Vince Rause which said that there was evidence that humans are hardwired to believe in God. For some “God is just a perception generated by the brain” while for others “The brain has been wired to experience the reality of God”. Which is true? Let each consider his version true and not look down on the other or become fanatics holding on to his beliefs.