START A BETTER LIFE - 6 - SERVICE/ WORK MINDED

 2. Service Minded – We have two kinds in this. One refined and other coarse.

(a) Refined are the persons whose mental makeup is that of social service. They utilize their time in practicing conscious social service. Let us call them social service minded. They get engrossed in the social work without expecting any returns from the social work. The result of such kind of service is twofold. Firstly they spend the time effortlessly and secondly as there is no attachment while carrying out the service, they don’t get perturbed by the adverse or favorable outcome arising out of that social service.  Not getting perturbed by the outcome is the key to joy.  In the worldly phrase they are leaders. They dwell in the physical world unattached with any outcomes. Examples are – Chatrapati Shivaji, Lokmanya Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi. Recent examples are Narayan Murty, Azim Premji, Narendra Modi, Bill Gates and other giants.

(b)       Other than social service minded (refined) and rationalists almost all, belong to this class - from the successful entrepreneurs to failed beggars. These get engrossed in self service/ work but they get influenced by the end result. This is the major distinction between Social Service Minded just explained and Self Service / Work Minded, – that social service minded get engrossed in the social work without expecting any returns from the social work. This is the only distinction between social service minded and service minded. The whole perspective changes because of this attribute of social service minded from self service/ work minded persons. Self Service/ work minded persons get perturbed by adverse outcomes and get pleased by favorable outcomes. This attitude lands them in constant worry resulting in unhappiness and grief interspaced by some happy moments. This class is common in the society. Materialistic improvement and modernity of the world is because of them. Thriving of science, commerce and trade is because of them.  Growth of economy is because of them. In the worldly phrase, successful service minded persons are pathfinders and achievers. Failed self service / work minded persons are losers and culprits. Examples are entrepreneurs, salaried persons, artists and persons solely working to make money and win bread for the family. Majority of the society is made up by them. Many times they break down when faced by adverse outcomes or succumb to greed in order to achieve more in very less. They are devoid of any anchoring. They remain devoid of joy. They enjoy few happy moments but they seldom remain happy for long, unless eventually with maturity or with effort or with devotion they refine up from coarse to become social service minded or become rationalists.  

Keep reading ...............................and ..Happy new year 

CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT (2019)

Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) – Those persecuted minority Hindu, Sikh, Buddhists, Jain, Christians, Parsi community on religious grounds in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India till 31^st Dec 2014 will be given Indian Citizenship. Pakistan Afghanistan and Bangladesh are Islamic countries. In 2015 Indian Government permitted the refugees to come sans passport. In 2016 the bill was introduced in Loksabha, In Rajya Sabha it was referred to select committee.

North East – to protect the local ethnicity and tribal culture – CAA  shall not be applied to to tribal area of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or Tripura as included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and the area covered under "The Inner Line" notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873.

Why the Act?  - These persecuted were already inside our country staying as refugees in makeshift camps in Delhi and other places. Assam has some 5 lakhs of them. India is the only country for Hindus to get in and get protected if they face religious persecution. Religious persecution happens in these three Islamic countries where the average Hindu percentage has dropped from 20 to less than 04 percent in last 70 yrs. In terms of population the persecuted Hindu population dwindling from 20 % to less than 4 % comes to lakhs who have either migrated, or got killed or got converted forcefully. We welcome them in our country because they don’t have any place to go. They feel India is their natural country. It is in line with our culture of acceptance and to protect who are persecuted on religious lines. Muslims in Islamic countries will not be religiously persecuted ever be in majority.

Why Opposition? – Northeast people feel their tribal ethnicity will be eclipsed by the inflows of these refugees turned citizens. Their concerns have been addressed by keeping many areas out of CAA and introducing Inner Line Permit. At other places the opposition is to milk the word communal, secular create confusion usurp muslim vote bank. Note there are over 800 universities and 38000 educational institutions. The protests are mostly staged and preplanned in Jamia Milia, Jawaharlal and Jadavpur universities and media giving it a color of protest by student community.

Can Anyone Become Indian Citizen?  - Yes anyone can apply for citizenship and as per law will be granted. Recent example of it is Adnan Sami a Pakistani singer. He applied and he is now a citizen of India. 

Tailpiece – For a citizen of India irrespective of his faith, CAA is not applicable and therefore nothing to worry at all. They were they are and they will remain proud citizens of out country. CAA will give citizenship to persecuted persons.

RELATIVE CIVILITY

In 1975 Sholay was released. There was huge uproar and many resisted viewing the film. The majority of the families said there was violence and children would get affected. There were gory sights of blood bath depicted in the film. Journalists and experts wrote columns after columns about the violence and how it is gory. Many did not allow children to see the film or if taken the violent parts were locally censored by closing their eyes by the parent till the scene is over. The film started with a weak showing but after some days and as months and years passed by picked up on word of mouth and eventually the film turned out to be huge hit and public saw it number of times.  

After 40 yrs this film is considered as a classic and is held by all as a good film. Now almost every household opines that the film narrative was so perfect that the depiction of the cruel dacoit and his atrocities on the villagers is a piece of art. Most importantly the general opinion is that the filming was within the limits of sensibilities. Nowadays family members along with children enjoy viewing Sholay. No need is felt by parents to close the eyes as they no longer think there are any objectionable scenes in the movie.

‘Mirzapur’ a popular web serial is currently talked about by everyone. The story is of a don in Uttar Pradesh. The direction and acting in the web serial is superb. It has a story which has everything in it. It has vulgar scenes, foul language, abuses, pervert relations. All scenes are explicit. It leaves nothing for imagination. The story is such that the relations in the serial are used and abused as per the pervert imaginations. In the name of depicting the reflection of society it is full of foul abuses and pervert actions. Still it claims in the disclaimer that it is not real story.

In art when one idea is staged by the artist it is best put in a subtle way so that admirers’ imagination is challenged. We adults know so many things. That does not mean when a story is told everything should be shown in the name of reality. For example, as a society we all know what marriage is and what comes after wedding. We can celebrate the event in a saner way involving the family enjoying it or we can make the marriage a show of pervert ideas in the name of reality and make it a vulgar show.

We don’t mind viewing series like ‘Mirzapur’ and enjoying it. Our excuse is; it is a realistic story. We don’t mind violent computer animation games where young children kill opponents. Even if we were to mind, we are still vulnerable because there is ample and easy availability of adult and violent material at the click of the mouse or at the touch of the mobile screen without any censorship. Youngsters without sensing the negative purport of such actions get addicted. Youngsters start thinking that it is correct to view and act in the name of freedom of expression and right to freedom.

Gradually our sensibilities are getting numb. It is reflected in the society and manifested in many ways. The threshold of audio visual violence absorption of the society is up. Under the barb of artistic privilege and freedom of expression the art world and audio video world is becoming a stage for depicting pervert ideas as art. Society’s outlook is changing. In earlier times what society used to think as sane, civil and simple has become uncool slow and unpopular. This is the world of instant gratification. Getting fast results, in satisfying the senses, instant, uninhibited and ample has become normal. Doing anything for two minutes popularity is the in thing. Good or bad regardless. The old stories and films are bore because they are slow. What we want is the end result. We are not interested in the process. Earlier, in the literature, the story used to unfold slowly. The reader used to exercise his imagination. Savor the plot. Now, it is always what next. We have the fast forward button with us. Rush up the tele series. Know the end. In relationship we desire to jump to next instead of relishing the present moment. That’s the norm now.

This happens with almost everyone. It is not that some are like this and others are not. More or less whole society’s outlook is shifting towards instant gratification, fast life and increased threshold for tolerance towards violence, perverseness in real and digital life. What was livid, vulgar and violent yesterday is cool, artistic and real today.

This is nothing new! This is generation gap. Each generation is progressive modern. Each generation seeks more empowerment and freedom. Every generation thinks the last generation was dumb. The last generation never knew how to enjoy (to the fullest). The last generation was orthodox. This generation is risk taker. Last generation was cautious. Every generation thinks on the same lines.

Every human spends the time available till his death. Some spend the time by indulging themselves in creative pursuits, some spend time thinking about the evolution, some by social work, some indulge in religious rituals, some for earning money and luxuries, some don’t do anything and wait for the time to pass, but  some indulge in activities which are antisocial and against the nature. When many start indulging in activities which are antisocial and against the nature, the slide starts. What does that indicate? It indicates that collectively most of us are moving towards relative insanity. Like thermodynamics entropy, the chaos is increasing. The morality dips and new thresholds are created. Each threshold pulls the sensibility to a new low. This happens with everyone and no one notices that the society as a whole is slipping down the gradient in morality. It is slow but is an all-round decay. We have to see around to know the subtle signs of this decay. The world around us is not as secure as it was. There are cases of molestation, pedophile aggression, psychopath killings, road rage, gun running, exploitation, drugs, corruption, money laundering. There are cases of decreased tolerance towards everyday problems. There are signs of lack of patience in adults towards everyday situations. The are signs of ever increasing inflated egos. There are instances of family break ups, depression, suicides, rackets, mafia, violence and cruelty.

People today accept piercings, tattoo and torn jeans. Older generation people detest this but the same people accept piercings on nose and ears, tattoo saying it enhances beauty. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the society definition of good changes over a period of time, what was not acceptable yesterday will be acceptable and liked today. What is true for physical manifestation also holds true for mental thinking and morality. As a society what was morally unacceptable yesterday, is acceptable today as morality slips. Not only that, we as a society has the audacity to question those who say that the standards are getting lowered. Those pointing towards lowered standards find themselves accepting the lowered standards after a couple of decades. The unawareness of slide in morality due to relative insanity will bring in uncontrollable irreversible damage resulting in end of mankind. Therefore as a society, we talk but don’t walk the talk about family values, pollution, population control and things which affect nature and us.  

The slide is all over and we don’t even feel that it is happening. The slide is irreversible. It is in thinking, it is in acceptance, it is in tolerance, it is in quality, it is in addiction, it is in sensitivity, it is in senses, it is reflected in our art, reflected in what we admire and how we express. World civility is sliding but still we feel normal and we accept the slide. Without knowing we have started our downward spiral. This is relative civility where we keep seeing world as normal as everyone slides together till we reach the brink.

Tail Piece – Can the slide be arrested? Yes and No. Yes the slide can be arrested, for that a new epoch has to begin. No, the slide cannot be arrested. Not in this era. Is this a pessimist view? No this has to happen. Should we stop our efforts in arresting the slide then? No never. The wheel has to rotate. We are just a cog in the wheel of universe. For the new epoch may either start at the end of this era or the new epoch can suppress this era, if the efforts of arresting the slide are practical and herded well by a charismatic leader or movement. Therefore the efforts to halt the slide at the individual level and societal level should not stop. Who knows, one of us may be the one to trigger a new era. Keep trying. Never stop.

उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत । -कठोपनिषद्

START A BETTER LIFE - 5 - RATIONALISTS

There are three personality traits which guide our actions, reaction to the situations and help in forming perceptions. One of the three traits is dominant. The rest two are present in some degree in the individual. As the conscience level increases the dominant personality trait gets sharpened. Knowing the trait helps the individual in making choices and creating comfort zones for self. 

Lets define some personality traits –

1. Rationalists – Persons guided by reasoning. They use this tool to look at their existence as an event in this vast universe and fill the available time trying to understand who they are, why they are here on this earth and try to relate their existence to the vast universe.

They try to understand by reasoning whether the event of they being alive could be attributed only to a chance chemical reaction out of billions happening at every moment which turned it into a special one giving them the intelligent energy and consciousness together to form a living being or is it that they are part of whole universe somehow interconnected and influencing and getting influenced by each happenings in the universe or whole universe is a manifestation of energy and they are also manifestations of that energy with intelligence added?  They try to understand that energy. They try to understand how the energy is manifested as matter.   When the energy gets united again with the universal energy they lose the form.

To know about the energy and its manifestation is one thing. To get convinced require higher thinking. To act after realization of this is the goal. It is difficult operative part in the life. If it is lived after such realization then the individual is true rationalistic.

By reasoning, these individuals try to live the life as a realized one. Once they understand the energy and get convinced then the manifestation goes and energy remains. Once understood the play of energy, the outlook about life changes, wisdom sets in and the rationalist then become one with the energy.

Thereafter till the person is alive, a rationalist passes his time in remaining one with the energy and other things doesn’t matter to the person, or become too trivial to the person to even register and act.

In the worldly phrase they are realized souls. Others may perceive them as pessimists but typical rationalists remain calm and in a state of constant bliss in a state of steady intellect. They are very rare to find. In fact such people often lead a secluded life. They dwell in meta physical world. They never come to limelight, they are not famous. Society may not even notice their existence and the state which they are in. Therefore no specific examples of such persons can be given. They are thinkers. They may be scientists who dwell into serious research. They may be yogis and sages. Sant Gnyaneshwar, Ramana Maharshi, August Kekule, Albert Einstein, Newton, Stephan Hawkings (although last three are famous for physical world) may come close to be quoted as rationalists. The followers of this way of life may be termed as atheists. They may be termed as agnostics. They are not of any religion. They don’t consider themselves of any religion. Actual atheists are a result of realization of energy states and consciousness and are rare to find.

Most of the worldly atheists are due to ignorance and many as fashion. Many young who declare that they are atheists declare it to gather more attention or to show how modern they are or how progressive they are in thoughts. Being atheist or not being one has no bearing on whether a person is progressive or not. Many declare they are atheists only to be politically correct. Many are part time atheists as per convenience. True followers of rationalism are called as practitioners of Sankhya Yoga. Many of them are recluse. Many of them lead a very normal average life. what makes them different is their outlook towards life. Keep reading ……………………..!!

START A BETTER LIFE - 4 - WHEN TO START

The 18 Chapters of Bhagwat Gita are dealt in such a manner that the reader will be able to take the relevant exercises as per his mental makeup, interests, inclination, situation and circumstances.

Mental makeup of humans can be divided into categories. The journey of life is all about knowing mental makeup of self and others. The moment our actions are in harmony with the mental makeup, the mental turmoil ends. The tragedy is due to external pressures, we forget to bring our actions in line with the mental makeup for major part of our life.

Studying Bhagwat Gita makes us aware that there are categories of mental makeup. Bhagwat Gita nudges us to discover our mental makeup. Once the mental makeup of self is discovered and we start recognizing the mental makeup of other persons around us, many of the questions get answered automatically. Understanding own mental makeup leads to change in our outlook towards life and expectation from life. Understanding the mental makeup of other persons by us leads to a change in our outlook towards others and expectation from others.

We must try to find out what type we are – Religious having faith in GOD, agnostic, rationalist, workaholic, atheist. Depending upon the level of conscience and temperament one gets naturally inclined towards one of the different ways of leading life as elaborated in Bhagwat Gita, many times unknowingly and sometimes knowingly. So all we have to do is to embrace any one path which one likes as per his temperament. Getting to know the temperament of self and getting aligned with it happens even if one doesn’t study Bhagwat Gita but then this process of knowing about self without external help takes time. Often late in life one understands his temperament, by then it is late to have a course correction.  The earlier a person knows about his temperament it helps him in the journey of life.

What is the correct age to start reading and exercising tenets of Bhagwat Gita –?

To change the outlook towards life and to remain free from depression and become positive in outlook 12 to 24 yrs of age is the best time to start the exercises. This is the best time to transform the mental makeup towards more positive one.  One sees the situations in a positive perspective. It is like insurance policy – the late one starts the more effort one has to put in.  Some parents may feel that to teach and make children understand Bhagwat Gita means to set them on the path of renunciation, sainthood away from worldly matters, away from formal education and playing. They fear that the child would be lost to them and he would be deprived of the worldly life if he follows the path. In fact in our scriptures and Bhagwat Gita it is never said that we have to renounce everything. Such pole positions are never prescribed nor advised in our scriptures. Our scriptures show us the path of leading life to the fullest. Bhagwat Gita tries to inculcate a way of life by which one becomes more positive in outlook, more involved in his work, it infuses more sense in whatever the goal is and gives more meaning to life. 

The second best time to fight the stagnation, depression, loneliness and various other nagging problems is 50 upwards. This can be best achieved by Sadhana or practice and conviction from experience. One starts seeing the world with a positive attitude and with a aim of giving to the society.

Most difficult time to reform and get the meaning of life is 25 to 50. In this period one is totally submerged in materialistic achievements and tries to find happiness in it. The person thinks that earning more money means securing happiness. The hollowness of this is realized just when he is crossing 50. This period is such where a person has least faith and least experience and the person is too indulged in life to practice or learn about Bhagwat Gita.

Atheists, sceptics pessimists and non believers should read and follow Bhagwat Gita as a tool, therapy and self-counselor. One should not view Bhagwat Gita as a religious sermon given by lord Shri krishna. Rather it is to be seen in a different angle – best is to practice Bhagwat Gita as a therapy, as a tool to make life more comfortable, secure and happy. Bhagwat Gita is that antidepressant drug which has good effects and no side effects. Bhagwat Gita is counselor without any prejudice. It is highly addictive though.  

Keep reading …………………………………!!!!!!

DEFENSE CAPITAL PROCUREMENT AND NATIONAL THREAT PERCEPTION

1. Introduction - Army Navy Airforce carries out big ticket capital procurement based on Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) (Attached are Salient features of DPP as Annexure I). An important aspect of procurement process is Acceptance of Necessity (AoN). AoN is defined as follows - The services based on Staff Requirments makes a case before Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) and only after council accepts the necessity, a go ahead for procurement is given. This ensures acquisition is based on a national necessity and not subjective – an individual or head of institution and his whims and fancies. AoN has a validity of six months upwards depending upon which category acquisition is being made. A bench mark or ball park price is decided by a committee which is used not only for negotiations but also for projecting the budgetary requirements for the government to be included in making of the finance budget.

2. Present Scenario - Currently it is felt that this AoN (s) given to the services are not well coordinated. In the sense the capital procurement based on threat perception of each service is good, but better would be capital procurement for three services based upon National Threat Perception (NTP). This will ensure following – Capital procurement would be more focused for the NTP and any kind of repetitions or any kind of attempt at expanding individual service inventory due to false possessiveness would be curbed. By doing this defense capital procurements of our nation can save thousands of crores of National exchequer. There are many examples to suggest this, but only one example is given here other examples cannot be elucidated here due to security reasons.  

1.    xxxx

2.    Smart Fighter Planes - (I am quoting the 4 b. para from a letter sent to Late Manohar Parrikar by me, Thankfully only 36 Rafales were decided to be inducted instead of 100 + as per earlier UPA regime program) --------“Along with technology the combat scene has under gone a change and military aviation has grown into a superior tactical and strategic arm. Present day fighter aircrafts carryout tasks of several aircrafts in one single modern fighter aircraft. With the fantastic capabilities, the emphasis is not on numbers but it is on ‘smart’ capability. This can be seen from the fact that the Royal Air Force and the French Air Force, undertake world-wide commitments with just 225 aircraft of two types each, the French Air Force with the Rafale and Mirage-2000 and the Royal Air Force with Tornadoes and Typhoons. Now we have got a smart plane in Rafale. I heard a former Chief of Air Staff saying they require more Rafales. It is natural to ask for moon as a head of organization. No head of the organization would sincerely trim the organization except for private entrepreneurs. For public funded organizations we see that they get inflated over a period of time. There are 42 squadrons of MIG now slowly getting depleted. No Chief of Air Staff would say that with smart fighter planes we don’t require so many squadrons. Every organisation on public money tends to grow and never try to scale down the force. As a head of the three services I urge to look into this aspect - do we really need all 42 squadrons. 42 Squadrons were when MIG of low technology fighter was available.  I know that cutting down number of squadrons is not easy and opposition may make mountain out of a mole. At the same time there is no need to equip all squadrons with costly smart planes. That way we can have a healthy mix of smart and not so smart planes.” 

3.    xxxx

4.    xxxx

3.    Tailpiece –As a nation we need to curb the tendencies of expanding the kingdom beyond requirement of NTP by each service and therefore the necessity to coordinate the Capital Procurement efforts for all three services. Procurement necessities based upon NTP when viewed from a platform which is at least one level above the Army Navy Airforce services would result in optimum procurement and coordinated spending. This will effect in savings in thousands of crores of Inventory which is over and above that of NTP requirement just to satisfy individual services hunger to expand their domain.

4.    Proposal - The NSA or CDS should be the level to decide coordinated capital procurement based upon the NTP.

Annexure I

The Salient Points of DPP

(a)  Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan  (LTIPP) - Procurement or Acquisition process of capital equipment starts LTIPP - with a service (Army, Navy and Airforce) asking for an equipment based on its threat perception and how the services should remain fighting fit in the next fifteen years. This long term plan is then shared with Indian industries so that they can decide, plan and be ready to participate. There are medium term plans of 5 years and yearly plans. The inputs are given to Ministry of Defence (Finance) and Finance ministry for getting budgetary support in yearly finance bill (budget).

                                     

(b)  Request for Information (RFI) – The acquisition process starts with RFI as the equipment which Army Airforce and Navy requires is unique according to threat perception and not available in open market or even if available it has to be changed as per threat perception – typical example 1 – Single engine helicopter that can hover at 6 km altitude (for Siachen Glacier) and carry 150 kg of payload – such an helicopter is not easily available in world market so it has to be designed and developed. Example 2 Nuclear Biological and Chemical detector - not available in open market and where available, that country would not allow for export of such a detector due to their country’s policy or not available due to sanctions.

(c)  General / Air/ Naval Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQR/ ASR/ NSQR) - is a classified document and is based on threat perception gathered, acquisitions made by adversaries, their development plans and information about contemporary technology and equipment available. The documents consist of specifications of equipment which the services would like to acquire to remain fighting fit. Broadly care is taken that single vendor situation is not arised.

(d)  Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) - The services based on Staff Requirments makes a case before Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) and only after council accepts the necessity goes ahead for procurement is given. This ensures acquisition is based on a national necessity and not subjective – an individual or head of institution and his whims and fancies. AoN has a validity of six months upwards depending upon which category acquisition is being made. A bench mark or ball park price is decided by a committee which is used not only for negotiations but also for projecting the budgetary requirements for the government to be included in making of the finance budget.

(e)  Request for Proposal (RFP) - is made and it is kept as open source so that anyone interested can peruse, participate and field their equipment. 

(f)   Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) - evaluates the equipment and out of many vendors some vendors who comply to the Staff requirements on paper are short listed. The short listed vendors are called for field trials and the claim is verified against the staff requirements.

(g)  Offsets - The key objective of the Defence Offset Policy is to leverage the capital acquisitions to develop Indian defence industry by fostering development of internationally competitive enterprises, augmenting capacity for Research, Design and Development related to defence products and encouraging development of synergistic sectors like civil aerospace and internal security. As per DPP for acquisitions more than 2000 cr, 30% of the cost of the project to be ploughed back to Indian businesses so that Indian business and industry grows. It is to be noted that in case of Rafale the offset is made 50%, which is more than stipulated in DPP. 

START A BETTER LIFE - 3 - PATH

Bhagwad Gita is in Sanskrit. Many experts have written about Bhagwad Gita and its purport. Numerous editions are available all over. Still there are misconceptions about Bhagwad Gita. These are summarized here –

Misconception	Reality
Bhagwad Gita is a religious book full of prayers deifying Hindu Gods and religion	Bhagwad Gita is philosophical and not religious. It is a practical guide to lead a life in a joyous manner.
Reading and practicing Bhagwad Gita at an early age would make youngsters shun ambition and therefore the drive to progress would diminish.	In opposite Bhagwad Gita makes them resilient, more practical towards the outcome of the effort and tells how to go towards the goal without burning out oneself  in order to achieve the goal
We think that it is not our right age to read and follow the path shown by Bhagwad Gita. Those who are believers may try to follow the path who in any case would end up being a pujari and not an accomplished person.	Bhagwad Gita tells what a successful life is. In life what is success and what is failure. It tells us what choice to be made in order to lead a joyful life.

To lead a joyful worthwhile life we need some anchoring, assurance, security, confidence and a way to lead the life. The way for this is shown in Bhagwad Gita. If we try to understand Bhagwad Gita, its meaning and inculcate its purport slowly in our life, we would emerge mentally stronger, happier and get sense of achievement at the end of the life.

For the youngsters, reading Bhagwad Gita in Sanskrit and to get its true purport is a challenge. There are so many interpretations and so many translations that the youngsters and current generation simply doesn’t have time, inclination and conviction to read Bhagwad Gita, to understand the Bhagwad Gita and practice the tenets preached in it.

Without making an attempt at knowing what is there in Bhagwad Gita, youngsters feel knowing about Bhagwad Gita is boring and uncool. It is like the key to happiness is with them but they don’t know it and they don’t believe that what they have is key to happiness. It is an awkward situation. They don’t know what Bhagwad Gita is all about so they are not inclined to read it, thinking it would be a boring religious book full of rituals out of sync with today. They don’t read so they don’t know what is there in it. They face day to day problems in life. Then to resolve the problems they start their quest. After whole round of external probing when they come to the latter half of their life they come to know about Bhagwad Gita but then the major time of their life has passed by so they let it go. Not because they would want to let it go but they just cannot then change their life style and their thinking. So they continue remaining in self-created depressed environment or continue struggling with emotions.

It is like a lady searching for a needle on a road and villagers helping her in finding the needle. From morning till evening they search without success. A senior person was passing by and he asked them “ what are u searching?” Villagers told him “They are helping the lady find a lost needle, but still are unable to find”. The wise asked “by the way where did you lose the needle?” The lady pointing towards her house answers “I lost it in my house”. Surprised, the wise person asks “you lost in your house and you all are searching here, you will never be able to find whatever you try.” When the wise asked, asks why there were searching there in broad day light instead of searching in the house he was told that they were searching there outside because there was enough sunlight here, there in the house it was all dark. To this the wise man says “You will never find it here unless you take the light inside your house where you have lost the needle”. Our whole life goes in searching happiness outside when actually it lies within. We never find it like that needle as we search at a wrong place.  

Here is the gist of Bhagwad Gita which can be easily read, understood and followed. There is also a guide what to follow, how to follow and what all to follow. Based on the temperament of the individuals, different paths are suggested to be followed which gives maximum benefits in terms of leading a happy life.

Bhagwad Gita has 18 Chapters and 700 shlokas but more about such details later. Considering the present times, societal norms and readers’ outlook relevant shlokas are interpreted. Only reading and understanding Bhagwad Gita would not give any benefits nor will it solve any problems. Only if we follow it with conviction, then will help to change our attitude and outlook towards life and that will get translated into joy and happiness. Keep reading………………….!

ARTICLE 370 - THE END OF BHASMASURA

Article 370

My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir – this was the book written in 1991 by Jagmohan Malhotra (known as Jagmohan) who was Lt Gov of Delhi and later Governor of J & K from 1984 to 1989.

He had given the exact problem of Kashmir, the steps to be taken to ensure its integrity with our nation. In those steps he had devoted a full chapter on article 370. What is article 370, how can we deal with it and how to take it out.

Today we remember this book as new dawn awaits Kashmir.

Almost all political parties were waiting for someone to bail the cat. Once Bharatiya Janata Party (its earlier avtaar as Bharatiya Jana Sangh was consistent since last 68 years in asking for repeal or abrogation or making it ineffective of article 370 and article 35 A) took the plunge almost all the political parties except confused Congress, nonexistent Left, NCP etc all other parties supported it in one way or other either by voting or by abstaining.

Like a Bhasmasura Article 370 itself was used along with Article 367 amended (some clauses added) by Presidential order C. O 272 and then 370 (1) and (3) were used to suppress the article itself.

A very innovative way to circumvent the problem!

With credits to Wikipedia, Abacus, and Indian Government following links are given for the learned persons to understand more on article 370 and Presidential Order C.O 272 -

double click the links to read more - 

More about Article 370

Presidential Order C.O 272

  

Article 367

START A BETTER LIFE - 2 - FUNDAMENTALS

We need to know the answers to these questions. We understand them well when we are receptive and open minded. So with an open mind let us know the answers. Where can we find them?

For this we go to fundamentals. The answers normally which we seek from counsellors, teachers, babas, satsangs, gurus, agencies, schools, philosophies, sermons, tutorials and even this piece of write up, get adulterated and colored based on the individual understandings, interpretations and state of mind of both reader and that of writer. Therefore whenever we seek answers we should go back to the gold standard.

What are the fundamentals? Fundamentals are – our cognition (with riders which will be discussed as we progress in these discourse), Vedas (Vedas are Sruti. श्रुती in Sanskrit means to hear. It is said that with deep thoughts the Rishis heard their conscience and crystallized the answers to questions in the form of hymns. The knowledge was passed from one generation to another by memorizing it) – The Vedas contain hymns. These are prayers, rituals and philosophy of life. The philosophical portion in Vedas is upananishad उपनिषद. There are many upanaishads.  Upanishads cover various aspects of life with the aim of improving conscience of mankind.  Brahmasutras are based on Vedas and outlines philosophy covering life and answers various questions on life. The Vedas and Brahmasutras give out reason of our existence, final destination and in doing this guide us to lead a happy life.

Puranas (Smrutis – स्मृती means memory. They are called by this name because Puranas were passed on from one generation to other as stories legends based on the memory and therefore it was subjected to grandiose imagination sometimes) elucidate history of mankind. The history at that time was never documented as it is today. Rather it used to be passed on as legends, stories and poems from generation to generations. Therefore mythology is often said to be non-documented unchronicled history with lots of gaps.

A time came when a necessity was felt to sift and collate the philosophical discussions from Vedas, Upanishads, Brahmasutras and compile it in a concise form. Rishi Vyas did this onerous task and brought forth Bhagvad Gita. Therefore Vyas is revered as Ved Vyas the first editor. He is is referred as first Guru. Guru Pournima is celebrated to respect this Aadya Guru by us. This month Guru Pournima is being celebrated and this part is dedicated to Ved Vyas.

Bhagvad Gita or simply Gita has answers to the questions about life. The way to lead the life as elucidated in Gita is equally useful for initiated and uninitiated. It is useful for persons of different temperament, and different schools of thought including those who are agnostic and atheists. It is also equally relevant to different religions. This is because; in those times when Gita was edited, there were no religions but only a way of leading life. In fact there was no religion called as Hindu.

Gita is a philosophical document. Still it is considered to be a Hindu scripture. This is because it is associated with God Krishna who is believed by Hindu religion as a prominent Hindu God. Persons believing in other faiths may find it difficult to assimilate. We know we can assimilate things better if we have faith in the doctrine or in the concept. If faith is not there then the path given in Gita will not change the person. Ultimately change comes from inner voice. Gita or any other book can only guide. If Gita is studied with an open mind, persons with different religions would find it equally suitable in getting the all-important answers of life therefore keep reading ……………………

WAY TO START A BETTER LIFE

START A BETTER LIFE (STABLE)

In every walk of life, whether a person is salaried, or in management, self-employed, businessman, artist, homemaker, laborer, policy maker there happens to be many instances where we find ourselves confused, depressed, frustrated, insecure and weak. We often come across persons who are well off but unhappy, persons who are lonely, those who think void in their relations, those who think they haven’t achieved anything, persons who think why for they are living and still alive and also we come across persons who think what more different and interesting is ahead in their otherwise boring and repetitive life. We come across persons who think they are alone and no one with them, persons who think they are lonely even if they are surrounded by people and those who think the relations and friends are not up to their expectations. Those who are well settled, have a grudge they are not celebrity, they are not popular. Sometimes people feel a void even as they have everything for themselves. Those who are celebrity have a grudge that they don’t get personal space. People mistake daily difficulties and term them as miseries of life and further get depressed and sink their morale.

In our life, we often come across predicaments, whether to do a thing, or not to do. We come across dilemma whether to act or not to act. We get confused whether to say a thing or not to say. We have to make a choice whether to be or not to be. Predicaments are the result of conflicts. Conflicts arise from beliefs, ethics and morals. Conflicts arise from faith, from learnings, from convictions, from principles, while tackling circumstances in life. 

We see people being restless. We meet persons in search of something and still don’t know what is that something that they are searching for. We then start thinking that living a life is very difficult.

Is there any way out? There are philosophies, there are sermons by mass leaders, there are classes, there are tutorials, there are satsangs, there are babas, there are gurus, there are counselling sessions, there are antidepressants, there are addictions, there are drugs,  there are shopping binges, there are eating binges and there are more kind of distractions to somehow make life forget the misery. Are they effective? To some extent yes but the effect subsides quickly and again the doom looms large. Seems life is going haywire, seems it is going to be difficult each passing day and therefore becomes difficult to pass each day.

How to be in control of life? How to be in control of emotions? How to be happy? How to lead a worthwhile life? It requires experiencing life in a different perspective. We will try to visit this perspective. Watch this space and ………………….. Keep reading.