jabdakhata

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. ...

Some snippets from the "Bharat Bandh" called yesterday - A pregnant woman delivered her baby on train because communist supporters in West Bengal did not let her go to hospital. The baby is in critical condition Trains were forcefully stopped and vehicles were not allowed to ply in West Bengal. Even ambulances did not escape the ire of the bandh supporters in West Bengal This is yet another time communists and BJP came together on the same platform almost hand in hand thus providing a major dent to the "secular" credential of the communists A major economy heading towards a major disaster owing to its major political parties who are majorly evil.

The right to education bill is passed and the government is elated. So is Indian media. Nobody cares as to how hollow the bill is when actual implementation is concerned. Another flopshow of Government is Sarba Sikhsha Abhijan initiative, which is supposed to provide education for all but in the end provides good money for corrupt bureaucrats and panchayat leaders. One CAG report showed sometimes back how money for this scheme from British Government was diverted by officials at district level to buy luxury cars, beds etc, while schools are ill equipped and children do not have quality education. Children from poorer section often do not have any money to buy books and only few schools provide free books and other accessories to them. Thus they end up in search for work.I happened to meet one of these kids who was a school dropout because of poverty, and came to Hyderabad from Bidar, which is about 130 km away, in search of work. When asked why is he not studying, he replied t...

It is a matter of shame that the good tourist places in India are so inaccessible from other parts of the country. Take for instance Ladakh. There is no train station. Only a few flights can go to Leh. Kudremukh in Karnataka is not connected by any train. Most of the hill stations do not have any associated train stations and it takes a lot of patience to plan for travel. Many coastal areas are inaccessible by train or flight.Again even if there are train stations, the trains are not available unless you book couple of months in advance. Roads are mostly pathetic and the operators overcharge. Therefore off the beaten tracks remain off the beaten and the few accessible ones are overcrowded, filthy and overrated. A few others suffer from non development and nonchalant attitude from administration. Most of the hill stations in India were discovered and developed by British and precious little have been done by successive Governments to develop them after independence. Is there any other c...

A certain gentleman named Robert Bhadra (bhadra implies "civil" in Sanskrit) is exempted from any security check in Kolkata airport and that is declared very proudly by airport authority of India in a written instruction in front of the security counter. This certain gentleman (replace Bhadra by "Vadra" and you'll get the sense) is the son in law of UPA chair person, the most powerful woman in India. Both the honorable madam chairperson and the gentleman Mr. Bhadra would do really well and gain some appreciation from general public if they make sure that Mr. Bhadra undergoes security check just like any other layman and do not fall pray to the VIP culture which has so engulfed the nation's political class. With due respect Mr. Vadra/Ms. Gandhi, would you dare to be a little different?

It is often said that desire is like a burning fire. When you want to satiate the desire you are merely pouring butter into it. The effect of butter is to enhance the intensity of fire which consumes everything. Similarly when you go on quenching your desire, the desire multiplies just like that all engulfing fire and you do not know where to stop. Debts get piled up, savings diminish and ultimately you are caught in a death trap. Sounds very familiar? This is situation worldwide today. We do not know where to stop, how to limit our wants, needs and greed. We think that we would be happy by getting this and that, by getting richer. Sadly however that happiness remains as elusive as ever. Ramakrishna Paramhansa in his gospels had given the example of a falcon who has a fish in its talon. It suddenly finds that all the crows are after it. It flies but crows do not leave pursuing it. The falcon then lets the fish go and perches on a treetop, and to its delight it finds that all the crows ...

Earlier I had posted an article on Indian media and their general cavalier attitude. The same was evident yet again after the recent train accident which killed 100s. From the very beginning, without any proper investigation, the Maoist hand began to do rounds, even though it is widely accepted that Maoists generally do not attack civilians deliberately (let me clarify at the onset that I am no Maoist sympathizer and personally would prefer them to rot in hell). Unlike other incidents here the Maoist leadership has not accepted its responsibility. The People’s committee against police atrocities, the local body formed in retaliation to ruthlessness of CPM cadres and police under Budhha rule, who aligned themselves with the Maoists just to save their village from becoming another Nandigram, has accused CPM cadres to mastermind the attack. Media however lapped up the story fabricated by the CID and West Bengal Government that Maoists were behind the attack. No effort to investigate the t...

Is 21st century truly a Chinese century? To answer this, you have to look into the rich and enduring history of China, which is so full of golden periods. China, no doubt is a great civilization and deserves a high pedestal in worldly affairs.Whether Tibet affair is a thorn on its global ambition it is a point which only the enlightened ones can discuss. China has a great history, except for a brief dormant period when Opium trade flourished and a large part of the population was engulfed in widespread poverty. The Great Wall is a testimony of what the Chinese can achieve if they will. China is now everywhere, Chinese immigrants are one of the most successful lot in almost every country that they are in, because they are hard working and always willing to travel that extra mile.China controls the manufacturing world, even though occasional quality problems may create embarrassment. The successful completion of Olympic games tells the world how modern China can transform and transcend. ...