Election 2009’s turning point??

L.K. Advani proved yet once again, why he is the Chanakya. As a leader, and the prime minister of this country, I have my reservations against him. But, as a politician and a strategist, yesterday he delivered what could possibly be a crucial blow to the government by calling the Prime Minister to a televised national debate. When Manmohan Singh lashed out against Advani 3 days back, I was surprised and impressed. Yesterday, it was Advani’s turn to impress me.

In an era where political leadership is seeing a global transformation across the world, the educated masses have been hoping for an American style of presidential debate in India. With the PMO refusing Advani’s challenge, the repurcussions, I believe, will be felt as the campaigning progresses, and clearly, Advani has won this round. By inviting Manmohan Singh for an open debate, he has taken responded to Manmohan’s accusations without adding any further mudslinging, character assasination and yet dwelving on his strength, oratory. I am sure that Advani threw open this challenge only because he was 100% sure the Congress would go on the back foot. By squashing his challenge, the Congress has lost out on an opportunity to confuse Advani, and to make a stand that Manmohan Singh can defend himself in an hour of need, and most importantly, convince the educated voters that not only do we have an educated prime minister, but also an assertive one.

In my opinion, the Congress could have emerged more victorious from a national debate. Agreed that in any national debate, the ruling party is always on the defensive as it is easy to highlight their failures from the previous term. Congress could not have dwelved on NDA’s failures as it is too far back into history. That said, I am sure that this was the ideal platform for Manmohan Singh to outline his successes, use numbers to substantiate them, and share his vision for the next 5 years. In a national debate, Advani could not have involved in mudslinging, as this could drive away educated voters. Also, since the debate would have been moderated, both the national parties would have to answer questions relevant to the voters.

Whether the Congress did not trust their PM candidate to stand Advani’s verbose skills or they did not carry out enough reforms to face the electorate, or they realised that their manifesto is more populist than reformatory, this was their one chance to clear the mess they are spiralling towards. And they missed it. Not that the BJP is in any lesser mess. But if at all anything, the centre will be decided by the regional parties, the third front, and the fourth front.

The Indian Election Tamasha is like a James Hadley Chase thriller! No one knows the end… but we all know how we reach the end… In a rather ugly manner!

P.S. If there were to be a national debate in India, it reiterates my belief that post poll alliances must be banned. We must have alliances and PM candidates declared before the elections. If the third front takes itself seriously, they must have a leader capable enough to talk ’sense’ on national TV. Not build statues of herself, create a mess in the name of law and order and extort loot money from the working class. More abt the post-poll alliances, later. :)

P.P.S. If there can be the Bihar-UP Secular front (HAHAHAHAHA), then why can't the educated independents contesting across the country come together and form the 5th front? :) Food for thought...

Ragging - Can’t be eradicated??

Last week a life has been lost due to the thugs in the name of students. The reason behind it is ragging, a culture which is being followed in many a colleges by the senior students. Its happening everywhere in this country. But it seems like, it has been happening more in engineering and medical colleges. That’s how it is getting interpreted. You all may have known the medical college student died due to ragging. But what could have been missed from your notice is suicide attempt of a girl due to ragging in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. It will be shocking to hear what has been done to her. Her seniors forced her to dance in nude in front of them. She is an agricultural engineering student. And well, you must have known now, how evil the minds of an engineering or medical student.

It is said to be that, ragging is a kind of culture which helps to build a good relationship between junior and senior students. There are some fun things which will build some great rapport between them. But what’s happening now or you can take some last 20 years, it is going overboard. It involves physical torture, getting money from the juniors and other things that can’t be said. Those who are the seniors in the college (not all) will think themselves as the king of the college and wants the juniors to do all kind of respects to them. I can say this is an f#@$%ing practice and it has done enough damage. Even I had great rapo with my juniors. But I never ragged them. All you have to do is, talk with them like your bro.

Whatever we have got in newspaper is very little. I believe that with everybody of you went through the college; you would have bitter experiences about this. When I read that the medical college student was died after beating, it didn’t surprise me. Because, it happened in my college. The seniors (be it my set students or the previous years) used to beat the juniors continuously during nights. I don’t know what is the kind of happiness they are getting out of this? They are thinking that beating juniors is their birth right. I don’t think they are eligible to study or anything. How a person who doesn’t know how to respect another can claim himself an educated person? This is a crime which goes unnoticed and the offenders were left unpunished. The main thing here is that, the students who were going through the ragging will be under enormous stress, which may lead him/her to take adverse decisions.

Colleges:

The college authorities can easily kill this practice. But they didn’t take enough steps to stop this. I don’t know why. If a student gets beaten and complaining it to them, without taking action against those miscreants they are letting it go. This acts as a stimulant for those thugs and will beat those who complained against them. If a person is physically assaulted means it can be complained to police. But these colleges to keep up their reputations don’t moves there and not punishing the misbehavers. Now all it took is a loss of a precious life to look into this one seriously. If they could have done this previously means this wouldn’t have happened. If a student was killed just by beating itself, just see the intensity of it. Now the college president has resigned. Who wants his resignation? Will it bring back that young man?

Parents:

Parents are also reluctant in these issues. In both the cases, the students have told about this to their parents but they didn’t take that seriously. They believe that everything will be fine and college will take care of their son/daughter. If at all they have shown more concern about this means, this could have been stopped. They have missed the time to act and they are suffering now.

Why engineering and medical colleges:

The reason why it is seems to be prominent in medical and engineering colleges is, the news were coming out from there. The reasons could be:

• 
  As most of the engineering and medical are brilliant brains; they can’t cope up with those physical tortures and they are also not ready to voice out their concerns.


• 
  Being an engineering or medical student, they have to stay in hostel which makes them vulnerable to this.


• 
  The arts colleges are mostly for half a day, so there are more escape routes for them from seniors.
  
  

In my thought, the person who is indulging in ragging is a criminal and if it is proved means he/she must be removed from the college and shouldn’t be allowed to study anywhere in the country. They must also get the appropriate jail term. Only with the harder punishments evil practices will reduce. This culture can be removed from the culture books of college. It is not something like corruption which can’t be stopped at a go. If every related authority, puts their heart and work means this evil practice can be removed tomorrow itself. Is there anybody disagree with me??

"ज़िन्दगी यह सफर में है,
कट रहा है रास्ता;

हमसफ़र तो है मगर,
मंजिलें हैं जुदा जुदा..."

The media's right to offend.

Something really queer: If this was a newspaper article, and I said that cat lovers generally smell bad, I'd be breaking the law!
Why? Because, it seems, my statement will offend cat lovers! Sweeping generalizations, satire, and jokes that hurt the sentiments of the minority (yes, yes, cat lovers are rare, people) are not just frowned upon, but are illegal.
To say the least, I think the "law" needs to do some self assessment and stop behaving like a prissy nursery school teacher (and yes, every bit of offense in this article is intended). No matter what spin people try to put on it, penalizing offensive opinions is going against the right to freedom of expression.
First off, the very principle of this law is ridiculous. No doubt, the public expression of offensive opinions is going to cause discontent and anger among people who disagree with the opinion. It might even lead to violence on the part of the offended party. The same way that accusing the school bully of being a jerk is going to cause... problems. But who the hell can blame anyone but the bully for this?
Any offended party has every right to argue the opinion they dislike. Most newspapers, as far as I remember, carry a letters to the editor column. If that route is difficult (say with a news channel), there is always another news source that will be only too happy to publicise informed opinion that counters the offense causing variant.
Isn't that the way we deal with offensive statements in daily life too? If someone says you are an evil mass murderer because you're fat (ahem!), you make an argument to the contrary, you snub the gal, or you ignore her and ask those who support you to ignore her.
If events were to prove that the slur on you was unsubstantiated, the mutt who slurred in the first place is going to be in hot water without you having to cry mama.
The same is the case with a news source. Someone making repeated racial slurs in their columns, or making factually incorrect statements many times is going to be known as biased and unreliable. What is the need for a law to "protect" the sentiments of people?
"To prevent the occurrence of violence!", says the random nut. Eh? Is there some law saying people with hurt sentiments can beat up the "offender"? Last I checked, violence was supposed to be prevented anyway, no matter the source. Or are you going to make the claim that the fatwa against Salman Rushdie is justified under some law?
I fail to see how diverting attention away from people who go Knife! Stab! Murder! every time they disagree with someone is the solution to any problem. It's them the law must concentrate on, not people expressing their opinions!
My second problem with this law is that many times, deliberately offensive opinion, in the form of satire, is a very legitimate way of discussing certain issues. Must this whole way of expression be curbed?
Thirdly, for the law to be effective, someone needs to decide in which cases the offending opinion is truly offensive. So, a few men in ridiculous wigs will decide if my offense is, in fact, valid enough for them to poke their nose in. Really? Then, oh ridiculously wigged ones, explain this to me: since when has it been the purview of the law to decide when a persons feeling is genuine?
Preventing offensive speech, it seems, not only interferes with the right to expression, but also the right to feel as you want about something. Extraordinary, in a system claiming to be a liberal democracy.
It's only to be expected, I suppose, in a society filled with pompous majorities and touchy minorities. But really, wake up people. Deal with offense like adults. Are your beliefs and values so tenuous that you need reassurance from the law that you are correct? Can't you stand up for yourself, as you do in daily life, when someone offends you?
To "mother" law: can you stop treating the media like a bunch of four year olds? The consequences of offending opinions are obvious to them. If they make a choice to go ahead anyway, they can shoulder any legal effect of their actions. All you need to do is ensure that they aren't threatened with violence, which is your job anyway.
And yes, all cat lovers, law worshipers, those affiliated to majorities or minorities... anyone, in fact, who feels offended by my opinions, there's a comments section below. Fight me!

Politics - A Profession

This post is loosely inspired by the TATA Tea ad where this politician goes to ask for votes and a voter asks him for his qualification and work experience the the important 'job' that he is embarking upon. The politician laughs at the voter, asking him what job is the voter referring to. The voter responds, "The job to run the country".

Do politicians in other countries view politics as a profession? Or is politics viewed similarly across international boundaries? The best way of course to find out is go to that ever useful tool for professionals - LinkedIn. 

Here are the results:

Barrack Obama

Hillary Clinton

Sarah Palin

The apparently technologically challenged Senator John McCain.

I also came across many politicians, prime ministers who have LinkedIn profiles. While having a LinkedIn profile is not a certificate of a person character, one has to appreciate the intent. Reach out to masses, and more importantly, take politics as a profession. Successful leaders, political and otherwise, have a common thread that binds them - their keenness to reach out to masses of different classes.

Unfortunately, in India, this does not seem to be the case. Today, every party can be clearly defined to the class they owe their loyalties to. The SP to the Muslims, the BSP to the Dalits, the Congress and BJP to the upper class and so on. I read an article on IBNLive.com which mentioned that Mayawati lacks the Pan-India appeal. My question is, do the national parties have a pan-India outlook? Unfortunately, the answer is No. And that is why, this election will mark the lowest ebb in indian politics, and will be the highlight of the failure of democracy owing to divisive politics by parties, with a clippered outlook. 

The BJP has been actively and aggressively campaigning off the TV sets while on the TV set, they have been bickering. Advani's website looks fresh, an investment clearly aimed at targetting the younger voters, also borrowed from Obama. SMS campaigning is in full spree as well. While I strongly believe that the BJP have the wrong candidate for the PM's role, atleast the attempt to reach out to young evident voters is evident. This probably marks a paradigm shift from the previous elections. The Congress, despite its hoard of young politicians, has very mediocre websites, and there is a clear lack of innovative thinking in their election campaigns. They came up with ads for different ministries, but what is new in that? By buying the rights to 'Jai Ho' song, I am not really sure, whom are they targetting. The third front is a joke, and I shall not waste my time expecting them to campaign with any issues except Congress-BJP bashing. 

What made the US presidential elections special was Barrack Obama's effective use of technology, which was reciprocated by McCain's camp. Both parties had national issues, which had to be answered. Solutions and strategies were explained to laymen. That is professionalism. And that is precisely what is lacking in Indian Politics. 

We ape the west in every possible sense. Why can't we ape them as far as the professionalism in politics is concerned? If not a LinkedIn Profile, atleast a blog that outlines strategies. Post 2009 elections, both national parties will rework their strategy towards regional politics. But, at a time when there has been record number of new voters, a hung parliament can take us many years back.

It will be interesting to see how Indian Politics evolves from this!

And I stopped taking my education for granted!

Hello everyone, this is my first post on Jagruti. In my own life, short and therefore lacking in experience though it is, I've come across quite a lot of issues ranging from domestic violence, incest, obstacles to woman's education and career, dowry deaths, suicide, ragging etc and a host of other social evils that has bothered me or the people I know, friends and family. These are not stories that I read about in newspapers, but the truths in many modern and supposedly civilized homes. While growing up, I used to hear or witness these horrid stories and wonder what brings about the savage beast in man which leads him to commit such crimes.And most of the times, I regret to admit, I couldn't do much but remain a mute spectator because my family didn't want to get into any mess. I'm just 23 years old, and I've seen the worst kind of men possible. But I still think that the world is a beautiful place, and there's still lot of hope. I'm a medical student and while working in the hospital, I've encountered people from all sections of the society and their plight made me realize how vast the range of human suffering was. Seeing a woman lose her husband in a bomb blast, but still keeping strong to care for her injured child and many similar instances sure made me sad but most importantly brought me to marvel at the resilience of the human spirit, the ability to move on despite hardships. Hearing about is different, witnessing first hand the pain people go through every day changed my whole perspective of life. All of a sudden, missing a class picnic wasn't the reason to sulk for a day! There are things far more important than that going on. We all have faced tough stuff in our lives, and few stumble and take along time to recover, while the rest recover soon, and few never recover. All I want to do through this platform is share my experiences, what have I seen...and if it strikes a chord with anyone suffering from a similar problem and help them realize they are not alone and recover faster...I would feel I have made up for years of being a mute spectator. I also hope to create awareness among the rest of the people, so that they can help someone in need.

Today I want to talk about a 30 year old girl, M. She's from a village in Bokakhat, Assam and a distant relative of mine. Her father is a farmer and the responsibility of supporting a huge family has been a huge financial burden on him always. They are 4 daughters, and 3 sons one of whom died in childhood. M had always been academically inclined despite the hardships in her family. She resolved to study and get a good job and not get married at 14 like her elder sisters. Her parents were reluctant about her studying further than 8th standard, but her two elder brothers had always been supportive. The eldest brother, used to work in the farms in the morning, attend college during the day, and sell vegetables in the evening. And M started giving tuition classes at the age of 13! While growing up, they didn't have electricity in their village and couldn't even afford notebooks to write on what was taught in school. She passed her matriculation exams without writing a school note, and relied on her memorizing whatever the teacher taught!!

The elder brother got a scholarship and went off to study in Chennai. The second brother dropped out of college to sell vegetables and support the family. M told her parents of her decision to go to the capital of Assam to pursue her higher studies after her 12th board exams. They refused saying it was too expensive and she lost a year of studies. She didn't sulk at her misfortune. Instead she worked doubly hard, and within a year gathered enough money to fund her education for the first year of B.A in Guwahati University. She worked part time and managed to fund her education and also send some money home each month. It was then, in 2001 that I first met her. I didn't even know she was a part of our extended family. She used to come over to our home on weekends from her university hostel, and I got to know her better. I was astonished at the hardships she suffered while growing up and ashamed at myself for neglecting my studies at times. I got the best of educational facilities, and took it for granted, never even gave it a thought how almost 2/3rd of the population of India who live in villages, struggle day and night to get a good education. That was a turning point in my life, and I took an extra interest in my studies rather than mugging up before exams.

M has now completed her M.Phil degree and her elder brother is a professor at a reputed college by now. She too is trying to get a teaching job at college, but their is dirty politics involved and despite good grades she hadn't been able to secure a job. Jobs are being given in the college at her hometown, on the basis of how much money the candidates can give!! The man who is responsible for recruitment of new professors, straight away told her that the rates start at 3 lakhs and go up to 6 lakhs!!! She can never afford that money and as much as I know her, would never resort to bribing to secure a job. She has again taken up tuition while she's looking for a job. I feel so sad that with her qualifications, and sincerity, and ability to work hard...a person so capable...a person who has struggled all her life to study hard and get a good teaching job...is stuck due to selfish bureaucrat officials who even today hampers the progress of deserving youths and go unpunished. What should be the action taken to bring justice to individuals like M?

-Quirky Mon.
http://quirkymon.blogspot.com

Pack Up your bags Folks

Hear All my wise friends. I think it is time for us to pack up our bags, Apply that visa and run away some where, for the elections to happen in our country are showing some very negative results.

The regional parties are expected to score so well, that you can very expect yet another Deve Gowda, I.K. Gujral or V.P. Singh as your next Prime Minister.

And the credit would be bestowed upon the large National Parties, who are looking so tired, so damm pessimistically sad this election season.

Intellectually bankruptcy is at it is lowest in all sectors across India at the moment and politics and governance are not aloof to this trend. We already saw a trailer in this present government, which first went along the lines of the communists, and then begged and fell to convicted criminals, corrupt politicians, just to sustain their position.

We are not ignorant of what is happening in Pakistan. What started off as a fractured mandate for the Nawaz Sharif's party and slain leader Benazir Bhutto's party, has turned into a murky political battle, thanks to the fact that no one holds the majority in the Parliament thier.

And if there are two men, slugging thier egos out in our neighboring country, in the world's largest democracy, just every leader with little regional presence has laid out his/her prime ministerial ambitions in front of all of us and What will happen when a dozen of such parties and thier leaders combine to form a governement?

I never applied for a passport, as a mark to show what a patriot I am, who will never move out of my country, irrespective of how many flaws it may have.

But if the results come, as they are expected to come, I think I will need to re - draw my future plans.
For, this fighter can fight the system and problems plaguing it, but is no mood of fighting a billion plus population, who are adamant on bringing up doom upon themselves.

Jai Hind!!!

LOKAKSHEMATRUST: lokakshema international mission trust

LOKAKSHEMATRUST: lokakshema international mission trust

The Great Indian Elections

The Elections in India are round the corner. The verdict can be a sad one for our democracy if the smaller, regional parties win large amount of seats, like it is expected.
I will be writing in detailed posts for the next one month if time and space here permits me to do so.
Also, I would like to appeal to all of you, to contribute regarding elections, and the process of elections and politics happening around the world.

What better idea to kick start a special awareness campaign on politics then with this website

called www.nocriminals.org

The guys at this site, tell us about criminal backgrounds of our elected representatives so as to prevent criminalization of politics as much as possible.
These things apart, my personal opinion on this site is the educational info they are handing about on all Member of Parliaments of the previous Lok Sabha is an awesome idea.
I never knew that even in those days, Vajpayee studied M.A. political science. I mean i find such data fascinating.

Coming back to their real theme, these people also have some sort of SMS service so that data on your M.P. gets straight into your mobile in box.

A great effort, Please do check out this website. And write in here your views on it

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
This post was emailed by

Tushar Mangl

http://tusarkrmangal.blogspot.com/

Epitome of Equality

First of all This is not to demean any religion..
I am a Hindu by birth, but yes I respect all religions .I offer my daily prayers , fast on holy days , but there was something that was disturbing me .
God as per me was a Friend, someone who was by my side always , someone who was a dear friend , but this is not what everyone else thought , for others he was the Judge who gives his verdict always and punishes anyone and everyone .

Walk into any temple and you would see , if you have money , you will be treated in a way as if you are the ONLY disciple of the God . I have had too many experiences where I was treated as a second class citizen in the temple . Why? Well I could not afford giving thousands as donation. This is not how it should be , God looks at each one of us with the same divinity .As I mentioned God for me is a friend, so tell me, do we chose friends based on their bank balances? Do we give our verdict on them ? then how can God do it?
I know many of us would say that Friends do judge us , blah blah.. But You know true friends are those who accept each others differences , they do not try to change each other , they do not judge each other - they just ACCEPT each other . Same is for GOD :)

There are beliefs in Hinduism ( many of them are controversial ) like only men can do puja of Hanuman ji, why such partiality . There are also many other practices in other religion as well , which pinch me , but I refrain from writing about those as my knowledge in those religion is limited.

I happen to visit a Gurudwara , very close to my Institute , and I must say I am not only impressed but mesmerized . Let me describe my first visit a bit meticulously .

It was guru nanak jayanti , at around 12 pm , I and my friends decided to visit the Gurudwara.
As I entered I saw a man helping all the devotees keep their shoes , very generously , looking at his attire , I was confused , as generally in Hindu temples , which I have visited, the one doing this job is paid by the trust, and he just does this mundane job in exchange of salary .
But things were different here , completely different ! .I walked in after washing my hands and legs, and as I entered , the main hall where people offer prayers .As I walked in I saw a lady siting on the Dias and reading the The holy Granth . I was more than sure that she must have been a priest or someone on similar lines ,(My knowledge was based on my experiences in temples - Where only the authorized person "Pandits" are allowed to perform puja . )

As I walked put of the hall, towards the place arranged for the "langar" . My friends enlightened me about the assumptions I had made . :)
The person who was helping with the shoes was not doing his task ( as in not as a job) , but was doing "SEWA" , helping the mankind . I was surprised - little did I knew there was more to come.The Lady reading the Granth was no priest she was just like us - in Gurudwara anyone could read the holy book - so unlike the temples .. How beautiful isn't it ?

As I walked towards the sitting arrangement, I realized that men and women were equal there. Everyone had their head covered , unlike temples which I had visited where only women were suppose to cover their heads...
During the next 15-20 minutes I was served with the most delicious food by the most humble people .The people serving food were also doing sewa :) In fact the food was cooked by people doing sewa . There were also people washing the soiled utensils all for sewa . :)

It's amazing ! people irrespective of their religion, their social standard, their attire , their bank balances were together - and all they were doing was SEWA ! they were ONE as if a Divine force had glued them together .

The entire environment was amazing , people helping each other , serving food to each other ,cleaning others soiled utensils, managing the shoes of others .
There was no special treatment for the rich, everyone ate together under one roof , served together , no partiality.None at all !

After that one visit to Gurudwara , I must say I am addicted to it , I try to visit it every Sunday and do sewa .I look at it now as a epitome of Equality , where all are treated as one .
The best thing was there was no condition like " only Sikhs allowed " - it was open to all .Anyone who wanted to seek blessings of Baba , and do sewa to mankind was welcomed there .

We as a society should learn from this, and help each other , instead of hating each other , instead of judging others on the basis of partial knowledge - we should love everyone , we should look at each other with uniformity . We should help the mankind and that would only give us solace .

Sewa is one of the most difficult yet Simple things to do. But once done it would leave us with a feeling divine enough to wipe away all the negativity , a feeling powerful enough to bring a lasting smile on the face .
:)

All India Audit & Accounts Association: Circular 05-2009

All India Audit & Accounts Association: Circular 05-2009

Happy Women's Day

Another Women's day is here. International Women's day I must rather say.. Celebrated to honour women all across the planet.

Honour my foot!!

But my question is does the world ‘International’ exclude India?

They treat women like a piece of @%#$ and celebrate women's day to cover that all up. They will stand up and bow to the women power on March 8 every year to justify the rest 364 days of the year.

The gentry of the society will hold seminars, award functions to show respect to women liberation, honour their achievements and celebrate their abilities.
As soon as this day passes, things get back to normal.

Indians are big time hypocrites. Their mythology, their culture tells them to treat women like goddess- they worship young girls in the days of Navratri, and as soon as it is over, they do not hesitate to kill their unborn and even born baby girls in the greed of a son who would lead them to Moksha. How justified is it to kill a living being in the desire of a state beyond your own life which none has seen?? How could they have the guts to abandon a new born baby in the trash bins to let them be scratched by strays?

Girls do not get an education as their parents think it will be useless for them. At times they are deprived of education to help the parents bring up their younger siblings or just because they can work as maids and earn an extra bite.

As per the culture, they have to treat their women- their daughters in law, wives as goddess Lakshmi that symbolises wealth and prosperity but they do not fear while beating them up for not bringing the cash and kind in- from their parents as in dowry. They are not afraid to burn them alive, to hang them to ceiling fans, to make them pop sleeping pills and what not.

The plight of widows is not hidden from anyone here. They are looked upon as inauspicious beings. They are deprived of basic amenities of life, be it food or bedding.


Prostitution is a social evil that has emerged from the desires of men in the dark of the night; in the day light, those same women are treated as untouchables who satisfy their needs. I wonder how do they provide their services without being touched.

I ask why the women in their own vicinity cannot breathe free. Why do have to think before stepping out of their homes? Why do they have to bother about eve teasing? Why cannot they wear apparels of their choice? Why are they treated as an object of lust and not as a human being?

Rape victims in our country as treated as if the accident caused to them was their own mistake.
Coming on to those big names, who think of themselves as the contractors of religion and culture. Who has given them an authority to touch another woman who is none of their concern in the first place let alone beating them up?

I fail to understand this funda, that in a country with such hollow society, one section celebrates the women’s day..

Oh by the way, Happy Women’s Day!!

I Want Peace!

Peace is a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations. It is true that this definition goes beyond personal relations and holds good for relations between nations, groups, races and sects of people living in this world. It is aptly symbolized by a white dove or pigeon. A flying bird, which is not easy to catch hold of; however, we never stop running after it. Only a clean and saintly mind would be able to catch hold of peace in its true sense. Peace is defined by different people in different ways. Some say if they have lots and lots of money, they will be at peace. Some think if they are famous, they will attain peace. There is another group of people who thinks that peace lay in God. They work towards meeting and unite with God and that is the way they choose to conquer peace. There are still different types of people who have defined peace in still different ways. All of us move in a direction we think will give us peace and we move on until affected by an external force which shatters our faith and we take on a different route – again to arrive at peace! Almost like Newton’s law of motion, is not it? But, this is how it has been. Some search for peace in earthly belongings, some search for it in love and some search for it in their work (Karma)… A few attain peace, by the last breath of their lives. For some, even that is not so – peace elude them throughout!

Happiness and peace are two different states. One may be happy but not in peace; however, one in peace is happy – almost always. Happiness is with you and peace is a mutual state of thought. If you are at peace with yourself, with your soul you ought to be happy. We will talk about it later. Let me tell you a short story here that I heard yesterday which prompted me to write this. You will enjoy this.

One fine day a lady went to a spiritual Guru (a preacher) and told him, “I want peace.” She was confident and very much happy to have zeroed in to this question. For she knew that if she attains peace, she will be happy! The Guru asked her to repeat her question/ask. She reiterated aloud, “I Want Peace.” The Guru smiled at her. He said, “Get rid of the first word and say it again.” She said, “Want Peace.” The Guru told again with a smile in his face, “Get rid of the first letter again and say.” The lady shouted out, “Peace!” “There you are, my lady,” the Guru said with a smirk. “Now you have reached ‘Peace’. Is it not what you wanted to have?” “No!” She said. She told that she just did not want to have the word peace, but wanted absolute peace for herself. She wanted to be at peace with her family and friends. She wanted to be at peace with her husband and children. She wanted to be at peace with herself. The Guru held her hand and told her in the calmest voice, “My lady, if you get rid of the first two words (‘I’ and ‘Want’), as you have done just now, you will attain peace for sure; for, peace is within yourself. When you will stop thinking only about yourself and you will dispose of all materialistic wants, yearnings and desires, you will be at peace! There will be no more dissatisfaction, discontentment or covet in your life and you will be happy with whatever you have and in whatever you do. This is peace, my lady. Go, work on this now.”

I am not sure if the lady understood the notion or how many of us would understand the same; but this is all about attaining peace. This story was told to me yesterday by Rajesh Madhavan, who heard it in his childhood from one of his beloved teachers. I wish, I could meet that teacher of his!

Peace is inside us – inside oneself. We need not go out to look for it. Satisfaction and Self Esteem are two things to reflect on in the route to achieve peace. One thing that is in absolute necessity in today’s world is peace. If all the nations and sects are in perfect synchronization with each other, there will be peace worldwide. Peace can never come riding on the shoulders of terror or atrocity. May you be in peace – may God bless us all with it. May there be peace all around us – making Earth a better place to live in!

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Thus Spake Tan!

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