jabdakhata

When Swami Vivekananda was wandering as a mendicant in Varanasi, he was once troubled by a group of monkeys. He started running out of fear but the monkeys chased him. Seeing this, another ascetic shouted at him, ‘Swami, turn around, face the brutes!’ Swamiji did just that and the monkeys vanished. Later, while recalling this experience Swamiji said that problems in our life are like that of these monkeys. If we run away from the problems, they will chase us and hunt us down, but if we face them bravely, we may be able to beat all odds and emerge unscathed. It is a vital lesson of life that unless we stand up and face the challenges, the challenges will multiply and will eventually destroy us. What is a vital lesson for an individual is also a lesson for a nation and for the entire world. India has repeatedly been attacked but it has not faced the brutes. Time and again for the past 60 years or so it has proved that it is a nation of cowards, non violence and tolerance are just i...

Another terror attacks strikes Mumbai. The pattern is now oft repeated – bold headlines, TV channels running for TRP and excitement, innocents losing lives, families getting shattered, politicians including the heads of the state “condemn” and request people to maintain “calm” (why don’t they just hand over a previously recorded version instead of repeating the same glib statements is something beyond my limited wisdom, and why do media attach so much importance to their repetition is also strange). Another thing that comes up repeatedly, esp. in the media is the “resilience of Mumbaikars”. Now that leads me to wonder, what is meant by resilience? Is it to suffer attacks time and again and do nothing, just go back to old business, forgetting everything – is that what is resilience? Silently suffering all corruption, bad civic infrastructure, monsoon flood – are these all part of the same resilience? To my mind, this is not resilience but far from it, it is cowardice. It is the tendenc...

Ramakrishna was born in a poor Brahmin family, he was devoid of formal knowledge and education but he was not "illeterate" as some of the contemporary studies would like to believe. He got to know of scriptures from various sources like enlightened discussions, but what would be the need of a formal education for a person who is born illuminated. Just as it says in Gita that for a "Brahmavid or the knower of the Brahman, the knowledge of the vedas is as limited as compared to a small water tank in an area which is flooded with water". He did not need to know the scriptures, he was born to teach them from his own direct experience, of arriving at the same truth by following various disparate paths. He was a personification of the Upanishad's profound statement - "There is but one truth, the wise call it by various names". He, using simple colloquial Bengali language, similies and metaphores, clarified effortlessly the most profound and most difficul...

Before getting back to the discussion on Sri Krishna, lets talk about another person who figures very prominently on the divine appearance list. The difference between the rest and him is that 1) He is the most recent 2) His leela or divine play has been well documented and corroborated by various sources. Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa has been varioulsy refered as "Avatar", "Yugavatar", "great saint", "mystic", "sage" and "phenomenon" (the last one by Christopher Isherwood). However, my belief is that nobody, except for a very select few, knew who he truly was, he revealed himself only to his nearest and dearest whom he called as 'Antaranga' or the innermost circle. In his own language, he was "achin gachh" or that unknown plant, ever mysterious and beyond comprehension of ordinary mortal. Vivekananda certainly knew who he was, being his foremost disciple. The very depth of his feeling about Ramakrishna c...

Elsewhere when we look around the world we find similar parallels. Every 500 or 600 years, when a part of the world is submerged under great darkness, there came great men with message of deliverance. In the West when the Roman civilization was at its nadir, when barbarsim, beastliness and debauchery reigned supreme, when ritualism and oppression haunted the Western faiths, both Jewsih and pagan, there appeared a great man with the message of selfless love, compassion who laid the foundation of future European civilization based on what later came to be known as Christian principles. Similarly about 600 years later there appeared another great man who was a karmayogin, who united much of the barabaric cruel and viscious Arabic tribes into a cohesive force on the principles of universal bortherhood and replaced the terrible prevailing practices of the different tribes with a comprehensive rule of law, of worshipping one true god in place of stones and woods so that they could be...

During the 6th century BC whole of India was immersed in a worst form of ritualism. Cast system reached its most loathsome form when the priestly class dominated and the wisdom of the brahmins degenerated into obnoxious practices through misinterpretation of the Vedas. Brahmins used their dominant position in the society to establish their sway and power over everybody, including the kings. The so called inferrior castes and common men were debarred from parctising religion as per Vedas and most of the great truths were anyway outside the reach of common men as there were no documents, every teaching was based on Sruti. In this despondent situation there appeared a prince who had renounced his kingdom and his married life in search of Truth. He was lord Buddha, the enlightened one. He openly embraced everybody and debarred none. People flocked to him, for getting the taste of the eternal peace. And in the next three of four centuries, many great kings, most prominent being Ashoka...

After studying German grammer and while studying Sanskrit grammer, I came across some very interesting similarities between the two. Perhaps this is one of the reason why the "Aryan" theory came into existence after Europeans discovered the linguistic similarities of the ancient Indians with Europeans. The similarity is the underlying base for the Indo-Germanic languages. However to my mind the root cause of this similarity is not because European sprache spread across the globe towards the East along with Aryans (the theory has now been established as a bunkum except being tenaciously held by some racists and Marxists), but rather Sanskrit spread towards Europe which was at that point of time a mainly barabarian regime devoid of any capability of constructing a civilized form of language. Sanskrit was probably then as popular as English is today and thus early Europeans eagerly and zealously adopted the syntax as their base. Coming to the similarities that I observed - ...

Rabindranath Thakur (Tagore in English) was a person whom very few can comprehend and even less can speak about. However there are many so called "experts" on him. I do not profess to be one and I am simply delighted to read him and interprete him in my own way. Here is a piece which I got on his viewpoints on religion. Towards the fag end of his life in 1937 he was delivering a lecture in the parliament of religions organized by Ramakrishna Mission. Religions at their most profound level, he indicated, help to reveal a spirit of harmony that bridges the dark abysms of time and space…that reconciles contradictions…and imparts perfect balance to the unstable. Yet, “ when these same religions travel far from their sacred sources ,” he noted, “ they lose their original dynamic vigour, and degenerate into the arrogance of piety, into an utter emptiness crammed with irrational habits and mechanical practices, then is their spiritual inspiration befogged in the turbidity of...

What is the definition of "Ego"? Anything to deal with "me" and "myself"? What is egoism and what is egotism? Are they good or bad? "I am a great leader, I am highly placed, I have influences, I have money, muscle power, I have education, I have a good job, I earn a lot, I can teach you a lesson, how dare you crossed my path!" - these are all statements of egoism, which Sri Ramakrishna used to call "bajjat Ami", meaning the "Evil Self", or "Kancha Ami" meaning "the unripe self". On the other hand he classified "Bhakta Ami", 'Das Ami" (Devotee Me, Servant (of lord) me) etc. as the "Paka Ami" or the 'Ripe Self'. He gave an example of 'Evil Self' (vide Gospels of Sri Ramakrishna or the Ramakrishna Kathamrita) - suppose someone had stolen 10 bucks from you, you thought how dare he steals from "Me", and getting hold of that guy, gave him a good thrashing, to...

While life itself is an endless voyage towards eternity, travel dreams are there probably to remind us that we are all fellow travellers in this great journey. The Shantiparva in Mahabharata speaks of the vast ocean of life 'Sansararanava' where people float around haplessly like pieces of wood, clinging to each other for a brief period and then once again separated. All unions and separations are but fleeting moments, transient and transitory. Therefore all longings are futile, as we are born to be separated and float alone, towards the great refuge. Travel dreams are therefore repeated attempts of our mind to remind us of the stark reality. The inner cconsciousness of which we are unconscious during our wakeful hours tells us that this sensory world which we perceive as real is as elusive as the dream itself. We are out on a long journey, in which we sometimes get lost, sometimes long to return to our near and dear ones but find it difficult, sometimes we simply want to esca...

The mirror within us so so covered with dirt and grime that only repeated and hard polishing can bring about a true reflection of ourselves within us. This mirror enables us to rediscover ourselves, our hidden potential and talent, instill confidence and ensure that the potential is translated into a great energy and enthusiasm towards life and work. The mirror helps us in developing dispassion, detachment and devotion. It also helps us to cultivate renunciation of material pleasures and senseless sensual fulfilment and appreciate the wealth of simplicity and harmony that the nature has bestowed upon us. Our goal in this life is to find the mirror and polish it till it shines and shows us our true nature.

I know that any blog on sensitive issues is dangerous. It might result in losing friends and alienating people. However it is time to be a little bold. There have been many views on the Ayodhya judgment. Most heaved a sigh of relief calling it a balanced judgment. Hindus are predictably happy as they stand vindicated. Muslims are not happy, they feel further alienated in a Hindu dominated society. Many Muslim intellectuals decried the judgment calling it biased and unfair. Many Hindu intellectuals have done the same (i.e. calling the judgment biased and unfair and decrying it, esp. the acceptance of Ram's legitimacy). I have no opinion on the judgment or on the core issue. It is pointless to assume as all the intellectuals seem to assume that Hindus and Muslims can be bhai bhais, that there is no problem between them. On the other hand it is prudent to accept that the relationship is mired with problems for the past thousand years, and then try to see what can be done to address t...

After Nandigram comes Lalgarh. Every day the bhadralok CM of West Bengal is getting unmasked and what is coming out is sending a shudder down the spine.When the villagers of Netaigram in lalgarh area had assembled outside a house to protest against armed camps of CPM cadres residing inside, there were several rounds of firing on them and many of them got killed on the spot. The below photos are taken courtesy a local Bengali daily. When recently the home minster sent a letter to the CM, asking about presence of armed camps in Lalgarh, instead of acknowleding the problem the CM haughtily responded to it, as if leaders of the left parties are not accountable to any one, not definitely to the consitution. More lies and propaganda were spread often through the friends in the media, of alleged nexus between opposition and Maoists. When that story was not bought a new line of attack was conceived - terrorize them to teach them a lesson, the same tactics which ...

The muscle power of political parties in India is known. Their obnoxious representatives hijack any thin effort towards Governance. Vile and corrupt, most of these politicians thrive on money, muscles and corruption. Their proximity to big and corrupt business houses is known. In the matters of corruption most of the political parties including the two major ones are birds of same feather that flock together. In matters of expressing their power and in moral matters they are not very apart. Not very far behind are the parties who claim themselves to be representatives of the poor. It is in interest of every political party that muscle power, money power and the cycle of massive corruption continues because then they will be able to look into their own selfish interests. It is only the amount of the loot with which they have disputes. The one who gets into power gets a major share and therefore everybody fights an election - to have power and more power. The recent killing of a politici...

We got our income tax refund, but a substantial amount was deducted from the original claim of Rs 40000/-. Only Rs 35000/- was refunded and that too including interests. That means about Rs 7000/- was withheld by income tax office – why, nobody knows. It took a long time and two visits to the Income tax office to get the refund. The refund for assessment year 2009-2010 was provided in October 1 2010, almost 14 months after filing return. The same income tax office which levies a high penalty on the non-payment of income tax within stipulated time, payed a paltry and miserly interest. We tried all options – calling up the IT ombudsmen in Hyderabad, filing RTI and filing first appeal after RTI was not responded. The IT ombudsmen was at first sympathetic and became very formal on the second occasion. The IT assessment officer Range 12 was at first apologetic and on our second visit became very non-chalant, as if she was not born for handling such petty issues. The Right to Information wa...

Why is there so much anger in the media over CWG mess? Media is behaving as if they have suddenly woken up to the deficiencies of Governance and corruption in India. We who encounter it day in and day out know better. We know that the Government services will not be able to deliver any goods - because our roads are poor despite paying road taxes and they are increasingly becoming poorer - because we have filthy cities as garbage remains dumped on roadside - because we have virtually no sanitation and sewage disposal which during monsoon season either often comes up on the roads or contaminates the drinking water causing all sorts of diseases - because we have no public urinal and people relieve themselves on the roads along with dogs - because we do not provide toilets to poor and underprivileged and they defecate in public - because our roads remain inundated with flood water during monsoon - because our flyovers take an eternity to get completed causing colossal loss of publi...

Many articles are being written in favor of and in opposing multi brand retailing, but nobody is sure of a common ground. While multi brand retail would create jobs, it would also endanger the livelihood of unorganized retail industry. Thus arguments of both proponents and opponents are true, but the problem is none of them are appreciating the complete picture. Many small retail businesses may go bankrupt because they cannot simply afford the economy of scale and scope that big retailers enjoy. This is already a possibility with so many big Indian names entering the retail fray. This will be an even more menace with names like Walmart, Carrefour, Seven Eleven or Mark and Spencer with their deep pockets entering the arena. Small retailers have their margins eroded through wastages at various levels. They do not have an efficient IT infrastructure for managing sales or inventory, a sophisticated distribution and supply chain, access to easy credit or a reliable vendor base from where th...

Nobody likes weaklings even if they are good at heart, everybody likes strong, determined approach. Nobody likes to be led by a weak and incompetent leadership even if it is good at heart, everybody likes to be led by a strong and confident leadership. In a end, a weak and vacillating leadership brings more evil than a strong and resolute leadership which may do some wrong. There is no respect for the weak and coward. Therefore if a nation is led by a bunch of cowards, that nation as a whole loses respect, its moral character changes and evil thrives. When a country finds itself in stupor it is detested even for the reasons for which it is not in fault. Its enemies can cry shriller to draw attention to perceived misgivings and wrong doings and the world at large listens to them, even if they know that it is hogwash. This is because, the world fears strength, courage and confidence. This is the reason why Hitler went unchallenged for full four years even while attacking one country afte...

On the day of India's independence, let's pray to the nation's God to give us courage, strength and confidence. we see around us cowardice and weakness galore. We see a weak and vacillating leadership who is unable to take any major decision, we see a vast corrupt machinery called bureaucracy which has neither ability nor willingness to rise out of lethargy and drive changes, we see a weak and corrupt entity called politicians who have no feeling for the nation and its people and are only after power. We see a weak and apologetic media and intellectuals who do not speak from their heart. In short, we see all wrong pictures. Then again, we see what we are, the outer world is merely a reflection of what and who we are inwards. There are many stories of success, strength, courage in the face of adversity and inspirational leadership that could make another Mahabharata, which are shaping the destiny of this nation. Future of India will not be decided by a weak and impotent pol...

Nowadays media is crazy about God-men, but not about men of gods. For instance not a single newspaper mentions anything on Swami Vivekananda’s birthday but a lot of newsprint is wasted on some god-men’s sexual exploits and consequences. Hilarious but pitiable is the condition of spiritual stupor into which this country has denigrated itself. Media is anyway a reflection of the socio cultural condition prevailing in a particular time. They sell what sells with the public. And what sells with public is dirt. Media also shows how the followers of the same god-men feel cheated and self proclaimed columnists in editorials raise doubts on the concepts of chastity and Brahmacharya as written in scriptures. That’s why it is said in Sanskrit – ‘Gandusha Jalamatrena Shafari Pharpharayate”, which is similar to the proverb “Empty vessels sound much”. The article writers are those empty vessels, without adequate knowledge or research they would like to draw attention to their opinions. Ramakri...

A question that often comes to my mind is that why are we still the part of an entity called Common Wealth? It is a colonial legacy, it constantly reminds us that once we were servants of a mighty imperialist nation which is now fast going downhill. Perhaps our political leaders like to remind us of our colonial past, perhaps it helps in getting some aids. It certainly does not help the international cause, being on the same bench with some rogue nations who have gone more downhill than their erstwhile ruler. Point is, why waste so much tax payer's money with this extravaganza? What will the entire nation gain through this? even if that means infrastructure development of a single city, can't this happen in isolation? Why do we need an event for developing infrastructure? what is the return that we are expecting? More tourist inflow from commonwealth countries? Hogwash. Most tourists in India are from non commonwealth countries like USA, Japan and Germany. Who will spend thei...

  Just read this news to decide for yourself. Judiciary is beyond any comment? But do we have any conscience collectively as a nation? Does not seem so, else a rapist could not have been qualified for civil services or acquitted as a result of that. This does not happen in any civilized nation. SC rejects women panel's plea against rapist IANS | New Delhi The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition by the National Commission for Women (NCW) challenging the Delhi High Court order setting free a rapist on the ground that he had "redeemed himself" by clearing the civil service exam while in prison. The apex court bench of Justice Harjit Singh Bedi and Justice C.K. Prasad rejected the appeal by the NCW on the ground that it has no locus standi to challenge the high court verdict setting free Ashok Kumar Rai. The NCW appeal was dismissed after Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran, appearing for the state of Delhi, said that they did not intend to challe...

Stoicism as a philosophy originated in ancient Greece by a sage called Zeno in the third century before Christ. The ideals and preachings of Stoicism finds echo in eastern monist thoughts, particularly Vedanta in India. One of the most famous patrons of Stoicism was Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor who was an adoptive son of the Roman emperor Antonius Pius, in the second century after Christ. In his book called "Meditations" he had provided a comprehensive overview of how Stoic principles work in practice. Stoicism deals with self control and control of emotions to understand universal reason, not to get perturbed either in happiness or in sorrow. The same concept is echoed in Upanishads "Dukheshnanudignamana Sukhecha Vigataspriha" theme (remain steady and equally composed under both joy and sorrow) which is recurrent in Vendanta as well as Bhagavat Gita, where the lord Krishna advises people to remain calm and steady under all circumstance and devote all fruits ...

Excerpts from "A World Split Apart" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Replace "West" by "Indian political class and media" and you get the truer picture. A decline in courage may be the most striking feature that an outside observer notices in the West today. The Western world has lost its civic courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, in each government, in each political party, and, of course, in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling and intellectual elites, causing an impression of a loss of courage by the entire society. There are many courageous individuals, but they have no determining influence on public life. Political and intellectual functionaries exhibit this depression, passivity, and perplexity in their actions and in their statements, and even more so in their self-serving rationales as to how realistic, reasonable, and intellectually and even morally justified it is to base s...

Sometimes back there was some initiative by a leading newspaper group in India to identify future leaders. Novel initiative no doubt, but it was mostly a marketing gimmick. Reason is simple, you cannot identify leaders through a marketing campaign. Leaders are identified through their work and attributes. True leaders do no need to go to a market place and beat their drums. True leaders do not need followers, followers need true leaders. As Ramakrishna Paramhansa used to say - "you do not need to write on your forehead that come people, I am a leader, I'll teach you, lead you. If you have right kind of attributes God will make you a leader, even if you do not want to be one." People will find the true leader and will follow him/her themselves. A Gandhi ( an I am talking about the only one true Gandhi who could abdicate all power and adulation, not the other power hungry ones)  emerged when there was a right situation for him to do, he was not picked up by some newspaper. ...