tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62814449480952729852024-03-12T17:48:39.813-07:00Methinks :)my very own pensive in this virtual world..Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-72684592589964502262015-11-12T21:42:00.000-08:002015-11-12T21:42:00.223-08:00The canary that forgot to sing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The canary that forgot to sing</div>
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caged so long that it lost his song</div>
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or its voice, I don't know.</div>
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Maybe he doesn't know</div>
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that he used to sing beautifully </div>
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Once upon a time.</div>
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Once upon a time, </div>
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this canary was known for his songs</div>
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haunting and enchanting</div>
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singing the songs </div>
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that mankind had forgotten.</div>
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People came from all over</div>
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to listen to his songs.</div>
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Some cried;</div>
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remembering their lost love.</div>
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Some laughed ;</div>
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at their own follies</div>
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Other smiled</div>
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at the loving memories.</div>
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Some called the canary </div>
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a healer, others magician.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But Canary wanted to fly off</div>
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to see another world</div>
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"To spread the music and sing for others"</div>
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he thought. </div>
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He flew to another place; saw the wondrous sights, </div>
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He also met new people</div>
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Canary even learnt new songs.</div>
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Canary then began to sing the new songs.</div>
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"People here; like these songs",</div>
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he thought. </div>
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Canary made new friends, </div>
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and sang some more new songs.</div>
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Slowly he forgot his songs</div>
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the songs that made people cry,</div>
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the songs that made people smile</div>
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the songs that made people laugh.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Once upon a time ,</div>
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he used to sing his songs.</div>
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Now he thinks he lost his voice</div>
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or maybe he forgot those songs.</div>
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I don't know.</div>
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This canary sings no more!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-13011680660088809942015-05-10T16:42:00.001-07:002015-05-10T16:42:05.318-07:00My first video tutorial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here is the <a href="http://www.screencast.com/t/dfr3QJRrk" target="_blank">link</a> to my video tutorial in Hindi using Camtasia Studio. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-84571311233177770392013-03-25T09:43:00.000-07:002013-03-25T09:44:21.534-07:00The child of 21st C<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>I am the child of 21st C</i></div>
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<i>I have witnessed the horrors</i></div>
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<i>of war and mass destruction. </i></div>
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<i>Rapes and murders </i></div>
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<i>I see , are media's play</i></div>
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<i>I am the child of Terrorism</i></div>
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<i>I am the child of Communalism</i></div>
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<i>I am the child of Consumerism</i></div>
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<i>I am the child of pure Violence</i></div>
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<i>I am the child of 21st C</i></div>
<br />
It is hard to find one social cause to be passionate about when society is brewing in violence and corruption. Media reports are about scams, rapes, abuse, political abuse of power and much much more. It is hard to pick one, so I decided to bring them under one umbrella :Violence and Corruption.<br />
India has seen people's movement in the past few years like never before. The public anger and outrage against violence and corruption is evident, but does the solution lie in making a news headline alone? Even the media has forgotten the Nirbhaya incident and Anna has left us with a dream for reformation.<br />
In my teens, I remember , the news that shook the entire world: 9/11 attack: a terror attack unheard before. But that nation replied it with a horrifying wars. All the time, watching news , I would feel sick in my stomach. The idea of killing innocent in such huge numbers was something I couldn't digest then. Now I think, perhaps that was the one solution that civilization could come up with. We do not know any other way to react to such forms of violence without being a schmuck.<br />
It is in human survival instinct to react violently when threatened , but is there a way to reduce the threat in the first place or even check the reaction towards such a threat? Is there a way to stand tall , stay your ground and not be mentally agitated? Is there a way to not succumb to the greed of bribe? Is there a way to humanize the entire civilization?<br />
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To my good fortune, I did find a way and that too at a very young age. Here is a man that I know, who has inspired millions in the world to take the path of non violence. Not a passive -non violence but a very pro- active non violence. It may seem contradictory but when I see him practicing it very single day, I find the hope in me, that I too can become That. Be it the Gujjar protest, the Kashmiri militancy, Assam Naxalists , Bihar caste wars and the conflict resolution in Kuwait, Russia, Srilanka and many other nations; I have seen this man intervene and bring peace in the area. I am referring to HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and his NGO the Art Of Living.<br />
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Generally it is the human mind that complicates the problem while the solution remains simple as the root of the problem. Likewise, the problem of Violence and Corruption now seems huge because it has not been contained when needed. To contain the problem, violence and greed in the minds of people need to be addressed because minds make people, people make society. How to contain the violence in the minds? Meditation.<br />
In the deepest state of relaxation, there is no violence, no hatred and the more one practices meditation, easier it is to stay calm amidst all the chaos. Soon you realize, it is part of your very nature. People do not offend you, things do not disturb you because your mind listens to you, instead of other way around. The freedom from societal conditioning can happen in easiest way through meditation, the clarity in thinking is so much that you no longer project your ideas or judgments unto others but see things the way they are. Psychology tells us of defense mechanisms, but meditation frees us from it.<br />
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<img src="http://jerrystocking.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Meditation-Header1.jpg" /><br />
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Sudarshan Kriya taught by the Art Of Living foundation functions like a precursor to meditation. When you are angry or upset, meditation may not be possible. So Sudarshan Kriya frees you from it, the daily stress, emotional toxins and prepares you to dive into the meditation. The cool dip within your self for just 20 min can bring a change in your very soul. If every individual on the planet meditates for 20 min, then I guess world peace is no longer a dream but a reality.<br />
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<i>I meditate for the better India</i></div>
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<i>I meditate for the better world</i></div>
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<i>I am peace , I am joy</i></div>
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<i>I am the child of 21st C</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
Photo courtesy: jerrystocking.com<br />
Details on Art Of Living: www.artofliving.org<br />
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I thank Indiblogger and iDiya for an opportunity to take part in the blogger contest. You can read other entries here : http://www.isb.edu/idiya/<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-82813591479090271592012-12-22T05:03:00.000-08:002012-12-22T05:03:13.329-08:00How do I Volunteer for a BETTER INDIA???<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /><i>I came across this article <a href="http://www.artoflivingsecrets.com/">here</a>. The author of the article Mr Dinesh Ghodke is a Youth Director at the Art Of Living Foundation with a BTech in Metallurgy from IIT, Mumbai. He also happens to be my mentor and an inspiration to thousands of youth across globe. I thought his words deserve a place in moi blog :)</i><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">India has the most inspiring history with it inclusive rich culture and traditions. There are so many opportunities for entrepreneurship, especially in areas that India can offer to the world, like food, fashion, dance, Ayurveda, Yoga, Information Technology, tourism etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">L</span><span style="color: #222222;">ets look at what measures, baby steps or giant leaps, we can take to resolve the numerous issues plaguing different sectors in India.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Starting from the grass-roots:</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.artofliving.org/art-living-moves-millions-raise-voice-against-poverty" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">Poverty:</a></span><br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnm-J2uDjN2eIbIWphrKX8wG6ZT6QkQRnt05dIWVF969cMdKdvmH7SPjZzZKRuLUCr-YcIiIi4Q2CvYV2N8s3JOIfcmfmTFNRTVtLTMlxSEtMGsQyxM9zOJ7PM8PJjS3AideSEHFljVjk/s1600/aolsecrets-vfabi-poverty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #cc005a; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnm-J2uDjN2eIbIWphrKX8wG6ZT6QkQRnt05dIWVF969cMdKdvmH7SPjZzZKRuLUCr-YcIiIi4Q2CvYV2N8s3JOIfcmfmTFNRTVtLTMlxSEtMGsQyxM9zOJ7PM8PJjS3AideSEHFljVjk/s200/aolsecrets-vfabi-poverty.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other than in extreme circumstances, Sri Sri says Poverty is simply because of poverty consciousness. Art of Living <i>Yuvacharyas</i> have proved this truth, time and again. Through spiritual wisdom and practices (<i>pranayama & dhyan</i>), the youth leaders have inspired villagers to be amenable for skills learning, <i>shramdaan</i> (group self-effort), de-addiction, zero-budget natural farming etc and thus have raised the standard of living in Indian villages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #222222;">Uddyoginaam Purusha Simha Upaiti Laxshmi</span></i><span style="color: #222222;"> | (Fortune favors the brave AND the hard working). More often than not, we need to get poverty out of people, rather than people out of poverty!<br /><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.artofliving.org/environmental-care-case-studies/chemical-free-farming" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">Farming Issues:</a></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAh6uhI1osPK9XdwyeoGjwhdN1EoLZ0koogGLarNuq79iULJEO_DUKmwg08oE5YrtZGwFu10jKz-Y64iKcGqyhlEDU2-yFrJmeAyH0AvfDARhfwF1YGwTFGpAJ3XmR7JDAK2WSW3dYLA/s1600/aolsecrets-vfabi-indian-farmer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #cc005a; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAh6uhI1osPK9XdwyeoGjwhdN1EoLZ0koogGLarNuq79iULJEO_DUKmwg08oE5YrtZGwFu10jKz-Y64iKcGqyhlEDU2-yFrJmeAyH0AvfDARhfwF1YGwTFGpAJ3XmR7JDAK2WSW3dYLA/s320/aolsecrets-vfabi-indian-farmer.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">India is an Agricultural country. More than 70 percent of India stays in the villages. If we make agriculture ‘glamorous’ (which could help reverse the youth migration from rural to urban areas), raise the self worth of the farmers, provide them natural methods of farming and good irrigation, access to good roads and fair trade practices, it will shoot up our GDP and make the life of our farmers much more happier and prosperous (if the ‘annadaata himself/herself is not sukhi, how can people who consume that food be happy). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To make any 'industrialized' product, say a mobile phone, 10 times more material and resources are required to obtain the final product and yet huge profits are reaped. In farming, you sow 1 seed, it gives back a 100, and YET, our farmers are poor.<a href="http://artoflivingupdates.blogspot.in/2012/12/organic-farming-goes-viral-in.html" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;"> It is simply because of over use ofchemical fertilizers,</a> Genetically Modified (GM) seed culture and middle-men traders; largely owing to the Government.</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://wisdomfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.in/2010/06/intelligent-devotee-wanting-to-be.html" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">Unemployment:</a></span><br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdskhT3aN6InZQH2vXt6SLGeQb0VE_NNAGnxI8ks29qts3VS6ihJUHuB41Bjjn97iDbW2Um-8nrt5Pz0cf9gyqroioVQaI6GYcEiOfj5VFYaO90lzHPm0TFe5fhm3pDcC1xz3MuJ8iQc/s1600/aolsecrets-vfabi-job.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #cc005a; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdskhT3aN6InZQH2vXt6SLGeQb0VE_NNAGnxI8ks29qts3VS6ihJUHuB41Bjjn97iDbW2Um-8nrt5Pz0cf9gyqroioVQaI6GYcEiOfj5VFYaO90lzHPm0TFe5fhm3pDcC1xz3MuJ8iQc/s1600/aolsecrets-vfabi-job.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a huge scope of entrepreneurial development in the areas of food, fashion, dance, Ayurveda (medicines and massage therapy), Yoga and fitness, Information Technology, tourism, 'essentials' service sector in the urban areas (electrical work, carpentry, plumbing etc), and good farming practices in the rural areas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today education is making students skilled but unemployable. 350,000 students appear for MBA in India out of which only 21% get employment. Statistics for engineering and other fields is even worse.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Corporate India could take up vocational skills courses for Youth and life skills or soft skills in colleges (through a program like the Art of Living) which will make them skilled AND employable.</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-19/delhi/35911614_1_candlelight-vigil-india-gate-chalta-hai-attitude" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">Female foeticide and SAFETY FOR Women:</a></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxXenlpEH-WBsvMvcA8HmgMu4rCMTThU3i_bsjukZY98CAVrHtbTHN6FBTfnxc3oQdoZbBvnPwpGm-hPDZeVMTqzuA3F3ih-UN-h510gRywBe-LEcGpitUnqZOKnY_qJQefM4bEi-BEs/s1600/aolsecrets-vfabi-female+foeticide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #cc005a; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxXenlpEH-WBsvMvcA8HmgMu4rCMTThU3i_bsjukZY98CAVrHtbTHN6FBTfnxc3oQdoZbBvnPwpGm-hPDZeVMTqzuA3F3ih-UN-h510gRywBe-LEcGpitUnqZOKnY_qJQefM4bEi-BEs/s1600/aolsecrets-vfabi-female+foeticide.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When safety of women is ensured by effective law and order, if dowry laws are made stricter and implemented properly, property laws are amended to be equally in favour of men and women and the minds and hearts of the society are changed by the spiritual leaders of our nation, the male/female ratio can be brought to healthier levels reducing social ills and crime.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Reformation needs to start at the level of each individual first.</b></span></div>
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<br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://officialsrisri.blogspot.in/2011/01/why-vegetarianism-few-thoughts-to-chew.html" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">Environment:</a></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfmkkLnJmI4zrKBFPNXUmrSUl5JIudwax7M6OSWCX1402RNFMk6qQ_JGvMcytKVsjJP2rg9craSbCoVw3y9DNk07gZZrNHb9xngOeF29F8aavQ_sRS7_kGysvsCI46UM6OlNV09cEHPfw/s1600/aolsecrets-vfabi-environment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #cc005a; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfmkkLnJmI4zrKBFPNXUmrSUl5JIudwax7M6OSWCX1402RNFMk6qQ_JGvMcytKVsjJP2rg9craSbCoVw3y9DNk07gZZrNHb9xngOeF29F8aavQ_sRS7_kGysvsCI46UM6OlNV09cEHPfw/s200/aolsecrets-vfabi-environment.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Go vegetarian. That cuts your ecological footprint by half straight away. Because you are then using almost 30 times less resources in terms of land and water. Also stopping meat consumption, you reduce contamination of land, water and air (reduce global warming through reduction in green house gases). Watch </span><span style="color: #222222;"><a href="http://bit.ly/WhyGoVeg" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">http://bit.ly/WhyGoVeg</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">-Stopping deforestation (at govt level) and planting and adopting trees (at individual level) is a must. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Better implementation of anti-poaching and deforestation laws will save the flora and fauna of the land. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Effective methods of waste management, which can also take care of energy needs. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Green methods of energy generation like solar, wind and water power.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Water harvesting in the fields and also rooftop rainwater harvesting must be implemented.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Reducing dependence on plastic goods and polythene bags. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/healthier-living-new-year_b_1130296.html" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">Health:</a></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3mAiKOApEgo7vg8w3liGObU8LoGpiFqNlfffFFdrxScqUscMmYQTuiWaZNtxqQ_UGKuI1ZiKse1VRmjR5YqoTLFaEEZNA08B5TNz_mZ0w-iTA6AHO00noRV8cWa8yErFSaP0IvkhAOs/s1600/aolsecrets-vfabi-health.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #cc005a; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3mAiKOApEgo7vg8w3liGObU8LoGpiFqNlfffFFdrxScqUscMmYQTuiWaZNtxqQ_UGKuI1ZiKse1VRmjR5YqoTLFaEEZNA08B5TNz_mZ0w-iTA6AHO00noRV8cWa8yErFSaP0IvkhAOs/s200/aolsecrets-vfabi-health.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Clean up the lifelines; our rivers. </span><span style="color: #222222;">Stopping the dump at the Industry or Govt level and spreading awareness and creating community ownership for effective engagement. Once fresh dumping is halted, using enzyme technology can accelerate the cleaning thereafter.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Engaging doctors to conduct free medical checkups, camps and surgeries and using video technology to deliver medical care and even monitor surgeries (as done by <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2012/narayana-hrudayalaya-hospitals" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">Dr Devi Shetty</a> etc).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Natural and age-old methods of medicine should be promoted. The government’s AYUSH (Ayurveda Yoga Unani Siddha and Homeopathy) department is aimed at this.</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlu5-LP9Q4DhaYS4mRdYS08Pvv22FUn37MfgO2UAbH6InRaI3-INXOwhV1pg-YkU1F5-b2O28Z-85VyAbiPD0IzbU-QWvS_i1qzYPEOjvNusOFY0Py2rknQtKr7OpMIJ67HwAKMj8-Pio/s1600/aolsecrets-vfabi-violence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #cc005a; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: initial;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlu5-LP9Q4DhaYS4mRdYS08Pvv22FUn37MfgO2UAbH6InRaI3-INXOwhV1pg-YkU1F5-b2O28Z-85VyAbiPD0IzbU-QWvS_i1qzYPEOjvNusOFY0Py2rknQtKr7OpMIJ67HwAKMj8-Pio/s200/aolsecrets-vfabi-violence.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="178" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0y0jXp3YVA" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">Violence:</a><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlu5-LP9Q4DhaYS4mRdYS08Pvv22FUn37MfgO2UAbH6InRaI3-INXOwhV1pg-YkU1F5-b2O28Z-85VyAbiPD0IzbU-QWvS_i1qzYPEOjvNusOFY0Py2rknQtKr7OpMIJ67HwAKMj8-Pio/s1600/aolsecrets-vfabi-violence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #cc005a; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Food habits make a big difference to mood and habits. Vegetarian diet and reducing white sugar and spice can reduce the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>rajas</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and go a long way to curb violent thoughts and tendencies.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><a href="http://srisriravishankar.org/content/faith-action-conference-combat-hivaids-india" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">AIDS:</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Instead of the traditional approach of ABC (Abstinence, Be faithful and Condom) which doctors and field workers swear don’t work much, we can modify it to the ABCD approach.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">1)<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Awareness</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">2)<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Breath<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>- breathing techniques and meditation can help change habits of people and also increase immunity and reduce the pain that goes with a disease.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">3)<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Care & Commitment<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>- reducing the stigma associated with AIDS, thereby ensuring quicker identification of the disease and necessary steps taken thereafter. Avoiding promiscuous behaviour by increasing commitment to one’s partner can greatly help the spread of AIDS.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">4)</span></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.vvmrc.com/the_therapy.htm" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">De-addiction:</a></span></b><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- almost 20% of HIV is transmitted through needles by drug users</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> -Direct youth towards sports, dance, yoga or service. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> -<a href="http://bit.ly/SmokingAd" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;">Create humour campaigns to make addictions shameful.</a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> -Equate smoking, drugs, drinking (even social drinking etc)<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://bit.ly/BawaOnAddiction" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">with weakness</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says there is no 'one right solution.' </span><span style="color: #222222;">Multiple solutions and a multi-pronged approach by a large number of people at every level can expedite the resolution of any colossal problem.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">He says an action done out of a sincere good intention will NEVER go waste. Since we have it on the highest authority, with all sincerity and with a spark in our heart, lets</span><a href="http://www.vfabi.org/" style="color: #cc005a; text-decoration: initial;"> Volunteer for a better India.</a></span><br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dropping cynicism, skepticism, mistrust, distrust, disbelief, and a defeatist attitude, lets start somewhere. And do something. And know that victory will be ours. Satyameva Jayate! Jai Hind!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">P.S. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4;">Another growing trend today is Depression:</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4;"> </span></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px;">The World Health Organisation (WHO) has predicted that depression will the biggest killer on the planet from 2020. Time we took a proactive approach rather than a reactive one (only when a suicide occurs). </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px;">Create ways for the citizens to engage in community service. (the more a person is engaged in activity and with people, the more tamas (Prana Shakti or life force energy which brings inertia and laziness) is in control, less are the chances of depressive and suicidal tendencies.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px;">For children and youth, opportunities need to be made to shift from sedentary indulgences like excessive TV/computers to more active sports, family picnics or outings, dance and drama, singing, music or cooking festivals.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-75431727267749132522012-10-09T15:28:00.001-07:002012-10-09T15:28:23.838-07:00Every wives tale<br><div class="gmail_quote"><br><br><div><div><div style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt">Nothing disgusted her more than the unwashed utensils in the sink. Oh wait, there was fallen socks on the floor and the wet towel on the bed.. She liked things clean and organized. There was nothing wrong in wanting your kitchen to be impeccably white and she liked them to remain that way. White was pure beauty and it was hard to keep things white. But she did it. Everyday she scrubbed her kitchen four times. Once in the morning, then after cooking, then in the evening after the children came back from school ( they always spill something on the table) and then before retiring to bed. <br> People thought she was obsessed, but she saw nothing wrong in it. I mean, compared to so many other obsessions, this seemed to be a rather healthy obsession. This was the only thing she loved to do, made her feel in control in an otherwise ordinary life.. Her spotless kitchen made her feel extraordinary. It was her pride.She would even smirk at the mess in the homes of her' working' friends. When she saw their apologetic faces, she felt rewarded. Each time she felt that, harder she worked to keep her home cleaner. <br> People say obsession in life makes your life miserable but the pleasure and power that it gives is enormous. This obsession was the only thing that kept her sane. Her sanity was imprisoned in this obsession. It wasn't like she could talk about it, her obsession towards cleanliness. No wife can talk about it. What triggers this sickening feeling of inadequacy, knowing that the cup will never be full. Every wife has suffered this in silence, with almost Zen like stoicism. You cannot talk about it, no one does. Instead , you clean.<br> <br><br>Sent from my Windows Phone<br></div></div></div> </div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><a href="http://www.priyadutta.blogspot.com">www.priyadutta.blogspot.com</a><br> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-37996862514491411112012-09-03T07:39:00.002-07:002012-09-03T07:39:40.461-07:00Assam is on a time bomb<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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And the clock has been ticking for a long time.</div>
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<a href="http://www.assam.org/" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Assam Portal">Assam </a>was originally home to a number of indigenous tribes, who had been living there for centuries. A few years after independence, the government of India, while giving Scheduled Tribe status to these indigenous inhabitants had divided the region in tribal belts and blocks.</div>
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<a href="http://artoflivingsblog.com/2012/09/03/assam-is-on-a-time-bomb/assam-nyishi/" rel="attachment wp-att-1544" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1544" src="http://artoflivingsblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/assam-nyishi.jpg?w=645" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 10px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); display: block; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 621px; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Assam- tribal women in farms" /></a></div>
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That land was marked to be held only by tribals. However, due to occupation of land by the ever increasing stream of immigrants, the number of tribal belts and blocks has reduced to nearly half the original number now. Besides, non-tribals continue to occupy more and more land in these areas. Furthermore, many of these tribes were given unequal ST status, creating divisions among them, even though they have the same cultural background.</div>
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<a href="http://artoflivingsblog.com/2012/09/03/assam-is-on-a-time-bomb/with-art-of-living-dimasa-people/" rel="attachment wp-att-1546" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1546" src="http://artoflivingsblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/with-art-of-living-dimasa-people.jpg?w=645" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 10px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); display: block; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 621px; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="With Art of Living - Dimasa People" /></a></div>
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The Dimasa people, for instance, who are one of the earliest settlers in the region have been divided into areas that fall under Assam and Nagaland. The administrative classification is such that they are a minority in both states. Moreover, due to use of weapons and threats during elections, they are not politically represented. In some places, their historic monuments were removed by bulldozers and the areas turned into markets.</div>
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<a href="http://artoflivingsblog.com/2012/09/03/assam-is-on-a-time-bomb/assam-illegal-immigrants-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-1548" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1548" height="237" src="http://artoflivingsblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/assam-illegal-immigrants1.png?w=645&h=237" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 10px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); display: block; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 621px; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Assam - Illegal Immigrants" width="645" /></a></div>
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On the other side, the government has turned a blind eye to decades of unchecked infiltration from Bangladesh. The infiltration has been so unchallenged and undocumented that the muslim refugee camps themselves have been housing over double the total muslim population on record in those areas. The immigrants initially came and started settling with Indian muslims and married into their families.</div>
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On one hand, the aborigines were divided by the ST classification while on the other, the Bangladeshi immigrants joined the Indian muslim inhabitants with familial bonds, and began laying claim to rights and privileges.</div>
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The Central government turned a blind eye to these developments allowing minority to turn into majority and threatening the identity of these indigenous tribes in their own land. The Assam assembly has about 20 representatives of Bangladeshi origin.</div>
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Due to government apathy, the issue, which was originally about land occupation, today has unfortunately assumed a distinctly <a href="http://artoflivingsblog.com/2012/07/28/two-villages-shimmer-in-the-gloom-of-assam-riots/" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Three villages shimmer in the gloom of Assam Riots">political and communal colour</a>. And the ripples of this communal conflict are being felt all over India now. It is the short sighted and narrow minded strategy of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Votebank" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Votebank politics ">vote bank politics </a>that is now threatening the security of the whole country. This should be a lesson for all of us not to elect any candidate or party indulging in vote bank politics.</div>
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<a href="http://artoflivingsblog.com/2012/09/03/assam-is-on-a-time-bomb/assam-bsf2/" rel="attachment wp-att-1549" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1549" src="http://artoflivingsblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/assam-bsf2.jpg?w=645" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 10px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); display: block; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 621px; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Assam- BSF2" /></a></div>
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The rules of engagement for our security forces on the Bangladesh border are very different from those on the Pakistan border. On noticing any suspicious activity at the Bangladesh border, all that the patrolling soldiers can do is blow a whistle or flash a light, which in turn makes them a vulnerable target. Due to administrative callousness and reduced security, the region is functionally very conducive for anti-India agencies. As a result, a number of <a href="http://artoflivingsblog.com/2012/08/01/ex-guerillas-get-a-new-life-with-art-of-living/" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Ex guerillas get a new life with Art of Living">terrorist organizations </a>have sprouted in the region. Weapons and anti-India links are found regularly in arrests, encounters and surrender of militants in the region. Let us not forget the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Assam_bombings" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="2008 Assam bombings">2008 multiple bomb blasts </a>in Guwahati.</div>
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<a href="http://artoflivingsblog.com/2012/09/03/assam-is-on-a-time-bomb/brihot-bangladesh-bangistan-or-gr-bangladesh/" rel="attachment wp-att-1550" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1550" height="447" src="http://artoflivingsblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/brihot-bangladesh-bangistan-or-gr-bangladesh.jpg?w=645&h=447" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 10px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); display: block; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 621px; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="brihot-bangladesh-bangistan-or-gr-bangladesh" width="645" /></a></div>
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There is already talk of Greater Bangladesh, which hopes to include Assam, West Bengal and other north eastern states of India. A large number of immigrants and have even trickled down to Bihar and Orissa. This is a step-by-step repeat of what happened in Kashmir. The demography of the region was changed by driving Kashmiri Hindus out by force and the region made volatile by spreading violence and terror. There is a clear lack of political will even to address grave security issues in our country. Corruption and greed has blinded us to such a degree that we do not mind <a href="http://www.timesofassam.com/headlines/bangladesh-in-adverse-possession-of-assam-land-says-india-govt/" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Bangladesh in adverse possession of Assam land">conceding pieces of our own motherland </a>– the same motherland for which, just a few generations ago, our forefathers sacrificed everything, including lives.</div>
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<a href="http://artoflivingsblog.com/2012/09/03/assam-is-on-a-time-bomb/assam-land-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-1551" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1551" src="http://artoflivingsblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/assam-land1.jpg?w=645" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 10px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); display: block; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 621px; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Assam land" /></a></div>
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A democracy functions in its true essence when its people are <a href="http://artoflivingsblog.com/2012/08/20/n-e-exodus-art-of-living-ashram-turns-a-safe-haven/" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="N E Exodus: Art of Living Ashram turns a safe haven">awake and aware</a>. When narrow and selfish mindsets take over, it loses all direction and becomes distorted. We have been a ‘sleeping giant’ for too long. We need to wake ourselves because the explosions we’ve been hearing all around us are not merely alarm bells but battle cries.</div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://dearnakul.blogspot.in/" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #cd4517; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Nakul's blog">- Nakul Dhawan</a></em></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">P.S. I saw this article on the <a href="http://artoflivingsblog.com/2012/09/03/assam-is-on-a-time-bomb/">following blog </a>and decided to share.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-24841628225429184082012-07-20T11:22:00.001-07:002012-07-20T11:22:04.083-07:00Story<div><div style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt">Sometimes you can't trust the voices in your head. The voice that says, " Go kill" so clear that you think someone might hear you... All you need to do is to strangle that pretty neck and snap it with your bare hands. Effortless and easy. Perhaps she deserved it or may be not.. But when the head is messed, reason eludes you. <br> The idea of murder is like an obsession or even an addiction. First you just begin to imagine the scenes in your head, and then they enter your dreams. Because in your dream , you are the king and you serve justice to people. Soon, the dream possesses you so much, you can no longer sleep. To murder is to redeem oneself from those nightmares of bloodshed. To murder is to seek solace and to put an end to this farce. To murder is to end a lie. To murder is to be courageous enough to witness the macabre. Murder is the last cry of a helpless soul.<br> <br><br>Sent from my Windows Phone<br></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-31843636491731240752012-05-15T10:51:00.000-07:002012-05-15T10:54:24.384-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Pain she could take..numbness she couldn't handle. You think the other person no longer has an hold over you and then comes a phone call... and you are numb inside. If there was pain, it was easy to understand..numbness is hard to fathom. It is like a distance dream of yesteryear.. vaguely familiar but a dream.. mostly beautiful that is how she liked to remember.<br />
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They say memories are lovely. Yet she somehow couldn't think of any of them together. It seemed all hazy.. Does this mean she has moved on finally? Is freedom this feeling of detachment and numbness or is this just a phase till another object of obsession came along. Life seemed to be moving from one dream to another...</div>
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Mostly fast paced dream sometimes mind-numbing slow...so slow that you can feel every second pass by you..doing nothing just watching and you wonder what have you been waiting for..</div>
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She waited for perfect love since the time she could remember. Was it the movies that encouraged the idea, or those countless sitcoms that she and mum would watch together over a hot cup of cocoa; she didn't know. But an ideal soul-mate was what she wanted always. But every time her heart was broken and with every pain she resolved harder to get it right the next time. </div>
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Soon the next time turned into a game of wait.. long long wait marked with extreme loneliness, frustration and sadness... then the loneliness didn't matter much.. It became a part of her, she accepted it and soon she became numb to everything around her. Nothing moved her, nothing affected her. Some would say she achieved peace finally. Some say she is plain old hag.<br />
" I don't know who I am anymore. I know not what is happiness, I know not sadness. I don't care for peace nor give a hoot about it! I only exist now...waiting... "</div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-70611659915395436612012-05-10T11:12:00.000-07:002015-11-12T21:47:54.897-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Let me cry just this one time,<br />
I know you like to see me smile;<br />
and laugh all the time.<br />
But I am not the pretty doll anymore,<br />
Let me cry just this one time.<br />
<br />
Let me be real just this one time,<br />
I know you don't quite like reality;<br />
neither do I<br />
But I can't be in a fairy tale anymore<br />
Let me be real just this one time.<br />
<br />
Let me bare my soul out this one time<br />
I know secrets are meant to be hidden<br />
away for no one to find ..<br />
But I cannot handle the guilt anymore<br />
Let me bare my soul just this one time.<br />
<br />
Let me just breathe this one time<br />
I know the society likes order and peace<br />
and I do not wish to displease them<br />
But I cannot take these chains anymore<br />
Let me just breathe this one time<br />
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-51251473343908822692012-05-01T11:26:00.002-07:002012-05-01T11:28:48.545-07:00Time and I<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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Time and I have share a history;</div>
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a history of mutual apathy,</div>
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mockery and abject dismal.</div>
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I refuse to give him his due</div>
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and he hates my guts.</div>
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<br /></div>
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*****</div>
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Time has never learnt to wait</div>
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for he knows not what is love.</div>
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Ask me, what it is to wait..</div>
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what it is to long and cry</div>
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and feel the unbearable pain</div>
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and continue to wait...</div>
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<br /></div>
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*****</div>
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Time and I can never be friends.</div>
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Time and I have nothing in <span style="text-align: left;">common</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Time and I </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">ignore each other</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">*****</span></div>
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I don't know Time anymore</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Not that I knew him before</div>
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He does not affect me anymore</div>
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I live in my world with no Time..</div>
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*** </div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com2Mangalore, Karnataka, India12.9141417 74.855956812.8522337 74.7769928 12.9760497 74.9349208tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-63077012229371949882012-03-03T10:00:00.002-08:002012-03-03T11:03:21.765-08:00WHEN JOURNEY MEANT MORE THAN DESTINATION<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); color: rgb(19, 79, 92); "><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); color: rgb(102, 0, 0); "><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); color: rgb(19, 79, 92); "><blockquote><br style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); color: rgb(102, 0, 0); "><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); color: rgb(19, 79, 92); ">This post has been published by me as a part of the <b>Blog-a-Ton 25</b>; the Silver Edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following <a href="http://blogaton.in/"><b>Blog-a-Ton</b></a>. The topic for this month is 'When Journey Meant More Than Destination'.</span><br style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); color: rgb(102, 0, 0); "><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); color: rgb(19, 79, 92); "></span></blockquote></span><br style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); color: rgb(102, 0, 0); "><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); color: rgb(19, 79, 92); "></span></div></span> <div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">Beauty was not her thing</span> .<span ><span style="font-size: 100%;">She had ordinary wavy but stubborn hair that refused to stay and fell all over her face. The pimpled cheeks ( thank you, puberty) and the hideous </span>glasses<span style="font-size: 100%;"> which she had since 9th </span>standard, said she was anything but pretty. That made her work hard and study.</span><div><span > </span><div><span >But competition was fierce; and struggling in a premium institute to prove herself was beyond the word frustration.Turns out, there were many more smarter than her, and better looking too. " Life is indeed a bitch.. " she thought. Moreover, it turned out semi stalking a guy for 3 months was not a pleasant thing either. Well, what do you do, when the guy is the smartest on campus ( who FYI had traveled abroad to present papers in conferences , and was a brilliant playwright) but look at him and give a goofy smile at every failed attempt of casual conversation. </span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >There is always research help that one can pretend to ask. But how long can that conversation last?</span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >Then like in any other movies, off came few tresses, and roommates who redesigned the wardrobe made her believe she was indeed a hottie. But then, she never did care much for looks, was it for him that she did it? No! She did it for herself. Yet, he did talk to her after the play . "Maybe beauty makes an impression after all, sometimes better than the brains", she thought.</span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >And soon began the late night chats and the long walks..neither admitted anything. She wasn't sure and he wasn't ready. They talked longer hours and soon she decided to tell how she felt, he wasn't ready then. But when he was ready, she thought may be it wasn't love. The roommate who heard the stories thought both were crazy. ( not crazy in love, just the usual crazy)</span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span > They did talk later too, may be about the feelings too, I don't remember but she told me about what he said to her about their first meeting;</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "> " I noticed you in hostel mess, with glasses on and unkempt hair and knew that I could </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; ">come</span><span > over and talk" She figured he didn't care for her looks and those words changed her. Did they get into the relationship? No, they didn't. She told me, it wouldn't work out and they didn't want to try. </span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >Was there any point in the whole story and talks that went on for months? Was there any point in the confession of feelings which later changed with the season? Was there any point in that long moonlight walk when he told her she looked beautiful? Perhaps not. Perhaps the point was not to be in a relationship, that is no end. There is only meeting of two worlds. Perhaps the point was not to meet but to just be in each other's presence with no end road or destination. Just the journey and the presence.</span></div></div></div><div><span style="color: rgb(19, 79, 92); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); "><div style="text-align: justify;"><br style="color: rgb(19, 79, 92); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); "><span style="color: rgb(19, 79, 92); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); "><blockquote><br style="color: rgb(19, 79, 92); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); "><span style="color: rgb(19, 79, 92); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); ">The <b>fellow Blog-a-Tonics</b> who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective <b>posts</b> can be checked <a href="http://www.blogaton.in/2012/03/rules-and-reminder-for-blog-ton-25.html"><b>here</b></a>. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following <b><a href="http://blogaton.in/">Blog-a-Ton</a>.</b></span></blockquote></span><br style="color: rgb(19, 79, 92); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); "><span style="color: rgb(19, 79, 92); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(244, 204, 204); "></span></div> </span> </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-37638839029962660592012-02-06T23:52:00.000-08:002012-02-07T00:17:40.524-08:00Something to ponder onCame across this article again via forward. I am not politically that aware yet thought I should share this here.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size:130%;">______________________________<wbr>__________________________</span></span></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:18pt;" lang="EN-GB" >THE STATESMAN</span></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:18pt;" lang="EN-GB" >Special Article </span></b></div> <div style="text-align: justify;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 89, 193);" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size:100%;">O1 February <span> </span>2012 </span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><b><span style="color: rgb(67, 67, 67);font-size:12pt;" lang="EN-GB" >President and the Army</span></b><span style="color: rgb(67, 67, 67);font-size:12pt;" lang="EN-GB" ><br /> Must Intervene And Save The Institution</span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">By MG Devasahayam<br /><br /></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">THE President made a profound statement while addressing the nation on the eve of the 63rd Republic Day: “While bringing about reforms and improving institutions, we have to be cautious that while shaking the tree to remove the bad fruit, we do not bring down the tree itself.” But, under her nose an institution called the Indian Army is being rudely shaken and being brought down by the very government she is presiding over. Despite being the Supreme Commander of India’s armed forces she has not even lifted a small finger to stop that.<br /><br /></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Republic Day is an occasion of joy and celebration because on that day in 1950, “We, the People of India, gave ourselves a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic anchored on Justice, social, economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and of opportunity and to promote among them all Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation”.<br /><br /></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Sixty-two years have passed and every year we go through the ritual of celebrations and parades with the armed forces in general and Army in particular in the vanguard. It is the members of these forces who have defended and protected our democracy through their valour, sacrifice and total sense of patriotism, bereft of any political ambitions as in our neighbouring countries. It is largely because of them that India stands tall as a sovereign Republic.<br /><br /></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Among the armed forces, the Army is the largest and the most visible face. The chief of that force has a special status in the nation’s affairs, irrespective of his place in the order of precedence. The present government at the Centre has lost the faith of a vast majority of the people because of colossal failures almost on all fronts, except mortgaging the nation’s assets and resources to MNCs. Now the Chief of the Army Staff himself has lost faith in this government and has knocked the doors of the Supreme Court seeking justice.<br /><br /></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Instead of resolving the matter amicably by rendering substantial justice to the General, worthies of the kleptocratic state have the cheek to display indulgence. They claim that even if the apex court order goes against the Army chief, the government will not summarily sack him. What morbid magnificence after treating General VK Singh in the shabbiest manner possible!<br /> </span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">The controversy is supposed to have arisen due to different sets of records maintained on the General’s Date of Birth (DoB) in the Adjutant General (AG) and Military Secretary (MS) branches of the Army headquarters. There are facts in the public domain suggesting availability of several records and documents in the AG Branch ~ school register, matriculation certificate, father’s record of service in the Rajput Regiment, form No. IAFZ-2041 filled up in IMA ~ establishing the General’s DoB as 10 May 1951.<br /><br /></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">The MS Branch is stated to have an application form for the written entrance exam to the National Defence Academy signed by a 14/15-year-old boy and some assorted papers mentioning Singh’s DoB as 10 May 1950. The two branches have not reconciled the documents for over four decades.<br /> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">The Attorney General and the MoD are sticking to the MS Branch records in determining the General’s DoB as 10 May 1950 because it is this branch which is responsible for the promotion and posting of senior army officers. This is the spin that is going around.</span></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;"> </span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">But a confidential communication dated 01 Jul 2011 (A/4501/01/GEN/MS(1)) from Lt.-Gen. GM Nair, Military Secretary to Defence Secretary, tells a totally different tale. On four occasions:<br /> -No: 2 Selection Board, Sept 1996 ~ Fresh case 1970 batch for promotion to the acting rank of Brigadier;<br />-No: 1 Selection Board, 25 Oct 2001 ~ Fresh case 1970 batch for promotion to the acting rank of Maj. Gen;<br />-No: 1 Selection Board, 18/19 Sept 2003 ~ Special Review (Fresh) Case 1970 Batch for promotion to the acting rank of Maj. Gen; and<br /> -Special Selection Board, 30 Sept 2005 ~ Fresh case 1970 Batch for promotion to the acting rank of Lt. Gen.<br />The date of birth of the General Officer (VK Singh) put up by the MS Branch and considered by the Selection Boards was 10 May 1951.<br /> </span><br /></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">This means that the MS Branch had accepted, adopted and documented 10 May 1951 as the DoB for empanelling Gen. Singh for promotion and posting as Brigadier, Maj.-Gen. and Lt.-Gen. in 1996, 2001, 2003 and 2005 respectively. Where then was the dispute and the occasion for the former Amy Chiefs to talk to VK Singh in 2008 and 2009 and make him ‘accept’ 10 May 1950 as his DoB? </span><span>On what grounds was the ‘statutory complaint’ of the Army Chief rejected, reportedly without the knowledge of the Prime Minister, forcing the General to go to the Supreme Court? The government owes an explanation to the people.</span></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><br /><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Looking at the state of the Republic one tends to lament and despair in the manner of Marcellus in Hamlet, having just seen the ghost of Hamlet’s father, the late king of Denmark: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”</span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><br /><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Considering the way things are being handled even by an otherwise god-fearing man like AK Antony, there seem to be ghosts looming in New Delhi. <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >One is the MNC lobby that is incensed with General Singh’s principled opposition to the deployment of the Army to decimate the tribal population of Dandakaranya forests to hand it over to mining interests. The General had said: “We cannot do this on our own people. Naxalism is not a secessionist movement.’’<br /> </span>Former Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat saw another, even mightier ghost, when he said: “Former Chief Justice of India JS Verma has said Singh had brought in probity and honesty. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);font-size:130%;" >He is being moved out just when large arms deals are going to be signed. This means that the arms lobby and a few people who are going to be affected are behind this.”</span></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><br /><span style="font-family:Calibri;">To this could be added the ‘victims’ of the<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" > tough stand taken by General Singh on corruption, particularly former Generals involved in the Sukna land scam and Adarsh Housing Society scandal.</span></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><br /><span style="font-family:Calibri;">This is probably why a specious and non-existent theory of ‘line of succession’ was dug out and touted about for rejecting the army chief’s statutory complaint. The ‘line of succession’ is a concept which is anti-democratic and related to royalty and monarchy. Why then is the Attorney General repeating this ad nauseam? Obviously in support of the MoD’s sinister agenda.</span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><br /><span style="font-family:Calibri;">VK Singh belongs to a family that boasts a martial tradition. He hails from Bapora village in Haryana’s Bhiwani district, a district that I had the privilege of raising and building up as its first Commissioner when it was established in December 1972. This village, hardly a couple of miles from Bhiwani, had a large number of serving soldiers and ex-servicemen. Being an ex-soldier myself, I had closely interacted with the simple folk of this village.</span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"><br /><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Men of General Singh’s ilk serve and die by the Army’s standards of integrity and honesty. When men like him and the Army he commands are impaled, it is the people who bleed. Pray, does not the President, who swears by institutions, have a duty to effectively intervene and save this institution from further damage? The nation awaits an answer.<br /><br /></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;">The writer is a retired IAS officer</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:12pt;"></span></span></div> <div style=";font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><br /></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-15005982004853157562012-01-25T03:08:00.000-08:002012-01-25T03:15:28.135-08:00How cow slaughter became legal in India?I got this as a forward by Sam John , a very good friend of mine. So you see cows being sacred is not entirely a religious issue. There is something more to it than what we choose to see. So here it is:<br /><br />Those were the times when India was at the peak of Mughal Rule. The rulers<br />of a large part of India were muslims and guess what, they had banned Cow<br />Slaughter in that Mughal Empire. Nobody dared to kill cows and eat beef in<br />that Muslim Empire.<br />The Mughal Empire and Cow<br /><br />Babur, who invaded India all the way from Kabul and established the Mughal<br />Empire in India, despite being an orthodox Muslim had banned Cow Slaughter<br />in his empire. All successive Mughal Emperors – Humayun, Akbar, Shah Jahan,<br />Jehangir, Aurangazeb, and then even Ahmad Shah had banned Cow Slaughter in<br />their kingdoms. Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan who ruled the Mysore State in<br />the present day Karnataka had made cow slaughter and beef eating a<br />punishable offence and the crime would be punished by cutting off the hands<br />of the person who committed the crime!<br /><br />Today in India we have over 36000 slaughterhouses! How did this massive<br />turn around take place?<br />Cow and The Hindu Civilization<br /><br />To understand that first we need to get back to the importance of cow in<br />the ancient Hindu civilization of India. Cows are the most sacred animals<br />to the Hindus and this is not without any reason. In fact the very word Cow<br />in English is derived from the Sanskrit word*Gau*for Cow<br />Hindus believe that all Gods and Goddesses live inside a Cow<br /><br />One of the most important reasons is that cows have been the backbones of<br />Indian families and the Indian agricultural system ever since the dawn of<br />this ancient Hindu civilization. Apart from the extensively used Cow’s milk<br />which the ancient Indians used to collect only after the calf has had its<br />share, the most important use of Cows was in Agriculture. Without Cow the<br />Indian agriculture in those days was as good as gone, and this was one of<br />the prime reasons why Hindus being nature worshippers also worshipped Cow.<br /><br />Cows had their own shelters called Gaushalas (large places where the cows<br />lived) which were many a times larger than the homes where people lived.<br />There used to be people exclusively to look after the well being of the<br />cows here and many a times they used to be the cow owners themselves who<br />used to clean the Gaushalas everyday, feed the cows, take care of their<br />health and so on . Every single festival of harvest had cow worship, house<br />warming ceremonies had the ritual of taking the cow inside the house first<br />and then pray to it to make the house prosper and flood with food grains,<br />milk and butter.<br /><br /><br />Cows being fed at a Gaushala<br /><br />Note that those were the days when food was grown in a healthy natural<br />process. There was no industrial revolution, no artificial fertilizers, no<br />chemical pesticides and insecticides. The entire Indian agriculture was<br />based on the nature’s best fertilizer – Cow dung, and one of the nature’s<br />best pesticide – Cow’s urine (along with the neem based solutions) were<br />used extensively in the agriculture. Buttermilk again which is a derivative<br />of Cow’s milk was used as an effective fungicide and weedicide.<br /><br />And not without any reason, the Indian agriculture in those days was<br />extremely productive thanks to the cow products. Farmers were happy, crops<br />came on time, yield was high, prices were low for food crops, kingdoms even<br />used to export their agricultural output, granaries were always filled,<br />milk was abundantly available and so were its derivatives like Butter, Ghee<br />etc which formed an important part of the Indian diet. Every religious<br />institution, big farms, farmers, diary owners all had thousands of cows –<br />the cows which had made the Indian economy rich and healthy.<br /><br />Even today in African deserts were growing food is difficult and whatever<br />grows must give a rich yield for people to have adequate food, fermented<br />cow’s urine is used as a natural pesticide. Compare this with farmers today<br />who spend thousands and thousands of rupees on artificial fertilizers and<br />chemical pesticides, which not only make the food unhealthy, but also make<br />the soil unproductive over time.<br /><br />Cow slaughter and slaughterhouses are banned even today in Nepal. In India,<br />very few are aware of the fact that Article 48 of the Indian Constitution<br />(Directive Principles of State Policy) says clearly that the government<br />must protect the cow, its progeny and other cattle used in agriculture, not<br />just because the cows are sacred to Hindus but because Cows have been the<br />backbone of Agriculture and milk production in this country ever since the<br />dawn of civilization. To millions of poor families in India, even today<br />Cow’s milk is the only source of nutrient to their kids and babies.<br /><br />In India states like Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Chattisgarh,<br />Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka etc have already banned Cow slaughter (Karnataka<br />being a very recent addition). Cuba banned cow slaughter after its people<br />virtually ate up all the cattle leading to a scarcity of diary products.<br />Even Iran has banned Cow slaughter and note that it was at the request of a<br />non-muslim –Seth Merwanji Framji Panday that Iran – a muslim dominated<br />nation banned cow slaughter. <<a href="http://www.fravahr.org/spip.php?article61" target="_blank">http://www.fravahr.org/spip.<wbr>php?article61</a>> Now<br />compare this with India today where our politicians are prepared to sell<br />anything in return for votes.<br />British Rule and Slaughterhouses<br /><br />Both Mahathma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru had declared before Independence that<br />they would ban Cow slaughter in India after Independence. Obviously they<br />didnt impose it. Why? Thanks to Robert Clive who had converted the Indian<br />muslims (who never ate beef till the end of Mughal era) into believing that<br />beef eating was their religious right. Cow slaughter had become a vote bank<br />issue. How? Read below.<br /><br />Robert Clive – the so called Founder of the British Empire in India who was<br />twice the Governor of Bengal too – on entering India was astonished and<br />amazed to see the success of the agricultural system here. He went on<br />researching the reasons for the success of the Indian agriculture and<br />discovered the root – The Holy Indian Cow. The entire hindu life style<br />revolved around this animal, not just religiously, but socially. Cow was an<br />integral part of a Hindu family as was any other human member in the<br />family. He even found that in many places the total number of cattle was<br />more than the number of humans living there.<br /><br />OK, so he decided, to break the backbone of agriculture in India – the holy<br />cows have to be targeted. And thus was opened the first slaughterhouse of<br />cows in India in 1760 by Robert Clive at Kolkata. It had a capacity to kill<br />30,000 cows per day. And anyone can guess within a year’s time how many<br />cows would have been killed. And within a century India had very little<br />cattle left to sustain its agricultural needs. And Britain as an<br />alternative started offering artificial manure, and in this manner urea,<br />phosphate etc started getting imported from England. Indian agriculture had<br />started becoming dependent on west invented artificial products and was<br />forced to give up home grown natural practices.<br /><br />Guess what, till 1760 most of India had banned not only cow slaughter, but<br />also prostitution and drinking wine was banned as well. Robert Clive made<br />all three legal and removed the ban.<br /><br />Now the British had hit two birds with a single stone by this move. The<br />first was to break the backbone of the Indian agriculture ie making cattle<br />not available for agriculture. And the second?<br /><br />Well, obviously Hindus did not work as butchers at the slaughter houses<br />opened by the British. And of course the British were well known for their<br />divide and rule policies which they practiced throughout their colonial<br />kingdoms then. So what did they do? Well, they hired muslims as butchers<br />and this was done in almost every slaughterhouse they opened. And this<br />slowly pushed the muslims into believing that beef eating was their<br />religious right.<br /><br />What the Mughal empire had banned had been turned into a practice by the<br />British empire. What Babur and Akbar termed as a crime was converted into a<br />norm by Robert Clive. And today the soil of India is filled with artificial<br />fertilizers and pesticides while the holy Cow cries in the slaughterhouses.<br />While there were over 70 breeds of cows in the country at the time of<br />independence, today we have only 33 and even among them many breeds are<br />facing extinction.<br /><br />Guess what happened to the man who started all this? Robert Clive became a<br />opium addict and later committed suicide by stabbing himself with a pen<br />knife after being unable to withstand the pain caused by the illness that<br />had resulted from opium addiction.<br /><br />If you like to read more You can check out:<br />Origin And History Of Cow Slaughter And Beef Eating In<br />India<<a href="http://www.hitxp.com/articles/history/origin-cattle-holy-cow-slaughterhouse-beef-conspiracy-india/" target="_blank">http://www.hitxp.com/<wbr>articles/history/origin-<wbr>cattle-holy-cow-<wbr>slaughterhouse-beef-<wbr>conspiracy-india/</a>><br />PUBLISHED JUN 28, 2010, UNDER: HISTORY<<a href="http://www.hitxp.com/articles/history/" target="_blank">http://www.hitxp.com/<wbr>articles/history/</a>><br /><div class="yj6qo ajU"><div tooltip="Show trimmed content" id=":88" class="ajR" role="button" tabindex="0"><img class="ajT" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif" /></div></div>http://www.hitxp.com/articles/culture/sanskrit-greek-english-latin-roman-words-derived-pie-proto-indo-european-language/Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-6286252772425699872012-01-05T10:18:00.000-08:002012-01-05T10:18:20.147-08:00Why Should You Vote? | The March – Against Terrorism, Against Corruption<a href="http://www.themarch.in/why-vote/#.TwXpYMtR92k.blogger">Why Should You Vote? | The March – Against Terrorism, Against Corruption</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-80817523430561916452012-01-03T01:10:00.000-08:002012-01-03T01:23:20.093-08:00Tale of words IV<span style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Read</span><a href="http://priyadutta.blogspot.com/2010/06/tale-of-words.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(76, 69, 154); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> Tale of words I</a><span style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> and </span><a href="http://priyadutta.blogspot.com/2010/06/tale-of-wordsii.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(76, 69, 154); font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Tale of words II</a> and <a href="http://priyadutta.blogspot.com/2011/10/tale-of-words-iii.html">Tale of words III</a><div><br /></div><div>If only B knew the language of Silence, the language of the Yaksha, the language of the Nature....To catch the gap between the words, to feel the life in between the breath, to sense the touch without the actual touching and to feel the presence in the absence is what makes life worthwhile..That is what the tale of words is all about.. not to breath meaning into the words but to know the space within the letters and to know the words... the language of the Yaksha. But then could A say it all to B? He would have to betray the language that he just learnt then. All A said to B was , "Listen to the whispers of the infinity .." and smiled.. </div><div>Together A and B walked back... </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-45162351015126755712012-01-01T10:42:00.000-08:002012-01-01T12:03:05.035-08:00It is time to make some resolutions again.. Meanwhile what did I do in 2011 and what it taught me....<br />1. Vini wedding :<br />That is how the year started and What a start!! ( Happpy Wedding Anniversary Vini btw:) and what I learnt?? Letting go is easier than I thought :)<br /><br />2. Manavathe courses and organisation:<br />I learnt to delegate work, interact with people over phone and get things done in time. Never in my dreams I thought I could do all that, that too while I was teaching full time in a college with super hectic routine :) Help will come to you, but you need to ask and stretch your hands first.<br /><br />3. My lovely blog saw many stories, poems and posts making me realise that I am actually creative:) heartbreaks can be utilised to go inward and write better ..<br /><br />4. Mathemagic by Bawa:<br />It was like a dream come true:) The session after as well. I learnt that work can happen when all are involved and making all of them involved is a skill that we need to learn :) teamwork sounds good, hard to practise which is why we have Sohum and Sowhat:)<br /><br />5. I am ACTUALLY SUPER FORTUNATE!!! I can even say I am luckier than Girin too :) and that I realised very slowly but I am glad I realised that this year<br /><br />6. Joined Ballroom dance class: If you love something, you need to go for it!!! Grab the opportunity while you can..and I am sooooo glad that I did..dancing brought back the balance that I needed in life (since I was considering VRS from the path of spirituality :))<br /><br />7. I feel I am now more closer to family ( I do not know if they feel the same ..hahhahaha)<br /><br />8. As a lecturer I have evolved learnt the ropes of my trade and is still learning :) ELTAI conference in VIT evoked the research spirit in me but then laziness took over<br /><br />9. After so much cribbing, now that my single days are almost over. I am more than ever grateful that I got to be single for sooo long.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Everything is perfect the way it.. Kuch karna nahin hai, bus dekhna hai</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-2925667150526473602011-12-08T09:43:00.001-08:002011-12-08T10:05:09.042-08:00Connecting the dotsI understand what Steve Jobs said when he said his <a href="http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html">speech</a> on 'connecting the dots' . For a year I wondered what was I doing teaching English in an Engineering College. I do love my students, but my job felt meaningless (considering how the Engineering students in India feel they need know English, no matter how pathetic their language is) Of course when the foreign students came along, it was a blessing and an honour to teach them and realise the joys of this profession and how rewarding it can be. I did miss teaching literature in a degree college, I felt my talents were better suited for a school or a degree college NOT professional one. <div>That is when I got to talk to this girl in yes plus, who I had the fortune of meeting:) and it was these year in Engineering College that made me realise Engineering and Arts are not at the logger heads. It was my year in this college that I worked which helped me talk to her the words that she needed at that time:) What more to say, She got the nudge that was needed. ( nudge was all that she required, not even a push) :) </div><div>So what I thought was meaningless somehow made sense. If my one year of work helped me realise what she needed to hear which in turn changed her life.. then I must say, the Universe is super intelligent! It is my stupidity that I doubt the Intelligence and its ways:):) and Universe has a very nice way of making me realise it :):)</div><div><br /></div><div>Dedicated to the one who always has a way with me; for whose presence in my life I amsuper duper forever grateful for and to the Universe for bestowing me with THAT presence</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-1029473072717616732011-11-23T11:08:00.001-08:002011-11-23T11:28:32.669-08:00Change<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Seasons change;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Like the rest of us.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Some notice,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Some pretend to see</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Some ignore.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Some are just far away.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Seasons change;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Like the rest of us.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Always they hope,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Never they do,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Fools don't realise,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>They both don't exist </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>in the absolute.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Absolute is relative here </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>coz one day fool changes too.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-6893854129880621542011-10-19T10:48:00.000-07:002011-11-18T10:39:44.746-08:00Tale of words IIIRead<a href="http://priyadutta.blogspot.com/2010/06/tale-of-words.html"> Tale of words I</a> and <a href="http://priyadutta.blogspot.com/2010/06/tale-of-wordsii.html">Tale of words II</a><br /><br />A and B needed to know the secret behind words. They went to the hills and began to search for that one person who knew. People said he was very old. No one knew when he was born. They all remember him staying at the top of the hill in a small hut and looking at the valleys below. Nobody knew his name, we can call him Yaksha. Yakshas know all the secrets and so did he.<br /><br />A and B reached the place of Yaksha and saw him waiting for them as if he knew they would come to him. He did not say a word and merely looked. They sat in front of him not knowing what to say. For a moment they forgot the purpose of their journey. Having travelled all over they just relaxed looking at the valleys below along with Yaksha.<br /><br />They kept staring for along time. Perhaps this was some sort of prayer and they sat with him. They kept thinking about their friends, their village, their wives. They thought why they had come there. They thought about the people in the valley. They thought about Yaksha and what he did for a living<br /><br />It began to grow dark yet not a word was uttered among them. A and B had rested well and figured it was time to talk to Yaksha. But he kept looking down at the valley. A and B decided they were hungry and cooked few vegetables and rice. They gave some of it to Yaksha.<br /><br />After food Yaksha went in and got few blankets and laid them out on the ground and lay staring at sky. "More staring!!!" thought B and looked at A. A however lay next to Yaksha and stared at the sky which was now light with stars. "If I have come all this way, I might as well do this" thought A.<br /><br />B also decided to lay down as he had no where else to be. He couldn't lay there doing nothing. He started counting stars and went up till 16,740 and then decided to stop. It made no sense. A and Yaksha continued to stare at the sky in silence. B decided he would look at the stars and see what kind of animals he could find in the sky. He saw camel head, pig snout, a whole elephant, a bear and he could even see his grandma's face.<br /><br />A lay for long time staring ta the stars wondering if they would speak to him. Wind was blowing gently across his face and soon it began to whisper softly in to his hear. At first he couldn't hear it clearly but soon he could hear them sing. The song telling him about the words.. it was song of the words. He fell asleep with sweet melody singing into his ears.<br /><br />Next day morning A woke up early and made a cup of tea for the 3 of them. B wanted to go back to the town as he felt the whole journey was a waste of time and Yaksha knew nothing.<br /><br />A decided to take leave of Yaksha and went up to him. He kissed his feet and looked into his eyes. A could not thank him and he knew there was no point thanking. His tears washed the feet of Yaksha. Yaksha smiled at him knowing that he had arrived and watched him go back along with B.<br /><br />B watched the whole scene and thought something was up with AAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-91794563569647379422011-10-12T11:15:00.000-07:002011-10-12T11:16:30.089-07:00To be brain dead... is sometimes a joy:)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-17628383650066458032011-09-09T10:29:00.000-07:002011-09-13T04:22:24.211-07:00Just another taleIt was 11.30 in the morning and all her household chores were done. Manu was at the tour and children would come back from school only in the evening. The house felt strangely empty. When her Mother-in- Law used to be around, she would have endless chores of cleaning the Puja room twice a day, arranging for the Puja, making garlands, cleaning the lamps and preparing prasadam while her mother-in- law watched her like a hawk to see if she did it all right.<br /><br />It must be an Iyer family tradition or the law of nature, but it is a known fact that mothers in law and daughters in law can never be friends. She did not expect a friendly Mother-in- Law, her mother had taught her well about that if not anything else. Her Mother- in- Law was not exactly a vile woman, but she was not an angel either. Be it in the kitchen about the true tamil sambar taste, or how sweet adirasam was supposed to be; Or her wardrobe on the colour of her sarees , and the length of her blouse sleeves; the woman had problem with everything she did And she always complied to her wishes only because Manu wanted her to. But now things had changed.<br /><br />She now had the floors of the kitchen redone with vinyl flooring. The one that she always wanted and painted the kitchen in beige colour instead of yellow. Kitchen now looked sleek and modern and grinding stone now was replaced by the machine which saved her a lot of time. That was one thing her Mother- In- Law never let her buy. She believed that dosa batter was better if it was grinded in the stone with hand and made her grind it for hours together especially when her daughter and Manu's sister came down from US. While the family listened to her sister in law' stories with accent, she sat in the kitchen grinding.<br /><br />Things were different now, she had things her way. Victory some how doesn't taste as sweet as she imagined it would. There was no regretting the decision she had made. Manu supported her this time. It was for everybody's good, thinking this she went to her cupboard and decided to clean it. Her Mother In- Law insisted on keeping the house spic and span and made sure she kept it that way. Guess, although her mother- in- law was gone, she has managed to stay on.<br /><br />While cleaning the cupboard, something fell down. She looked at the beautiful brown hand embroidery patterns on the plain white cloth. It was a design that she seen on a cushion at the backseat of her friend's car years ago. She loved the design so much that she had copied it on the tissue paper and had to reproduce it on an old white salwar. It was an Egyptian Pharoah with intricate golden jewelery. She started it at the time she was pregnant with her Aditi, her first daughter. She couldn't finish the design and it was left lying in the cupboard for years until now.<br /> <br /><div>People always asked her why not try the sewing machine that gave several options and made patterned stitches of several kinds and all you had to do was choose the type and let the machine do the rest. But she loved her Nani's method of hand stiching. Her Mausi wanted her to learn knitting. A true girl from Shimla must know knitting was what her mausi used to say. But knitting was never her thing. Her love was embroidery. She loved to watch her Nani meticulously prick and dip the needle and gently pull them out; in and out, in and out and slowly as if out of magic; flowers, elephants, peacocks, village women would appear. It fascinated how stitch by stitch, inch by inch, a form appeared out of nothing. It had been her passion for long. But being married into an Iyer household and learning the customs that were almost alien, she just didn't get time for it.<br /><br /> </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-74735383082097764132011-08-16T10:41:00.000-07:002011-08-16T10:43:51.417-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><h2 style="font-size: 16px; margin-top: 1em; ">" India on the streets " by Chetan Bhagat</h2><p style="margin-bottom: 1em; ">We have all had that one uncle who keeps on reminding you how India is terrible. He tells you about how every government authority takes bribes - from the RTO to the ration shop to the municipality. He will tell you how no government department does its job well - the potholed roads, abysmal conditions at government schools and poor healthcare all being examples to support your uncle's theory. It is hard to argue with him, for he is right. Things don't work. There is no justice. Power talks. Equality doesn't exist. All of this, even though uncomfortable to hear, rings somewhat true.
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<br />However, the uncle goes on to say this: "Nothing will ever change." He is convinced that our society is damaged irreparably, and India is destined to live in misery. Uncle Cynic goes on to doubt almost everyone, assumes the worst in people, and anyone who is trying to improve the country is branded as someone with a hidden agenda.
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<br />This is where i think the uncle gets it wrong, horribly wrong. For it is one thing to point out the problems, it is quite another to give up trying to fix them. Cynicism is not a counter-argument, it is an attitude. For the fact is we still have good people in the country: in society and even in government departments. It is just that they are crushed.
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<br />I don't want to give you the reasons why you must support Anna Hazare. It is almost beneath Anna's dignity that he actually has to beg or make a case for support when he is fighting for you, against an abusive, corrupt regime. Still, let me do a quick recap of the facts.
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<br />Anna did a fast in April, which became the nation's movement and spread virally. Concerned, the government agreed to make a good Lokpal Bill, shook hands with the activists and in principle agreed to Anna's version, designed to truly check corruption. Since then, the government has insulted Anna's team, thrown away their draft, and come up with its own almost pointless draft of the Lokpal Bill.
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<br />The draft the government is presenting to Parliament will not check corruption. Only 0.5%, or one in 200 government officials are under its purview. Your corrupt ration shop, RTO, passport office, panchayats or municipal authority will not be covered. State scams will not be covered - yes, the Adarsh society scam or the Jharkhand scams are all out of its purview. The prime minister is excluded as well. Ever heard of a corruption law in a democracy that only applies to a certain section of people?
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<br />The government is throwing magic dust in your eyes - and counting on India's illiterate and ignorant to not know the difference. However, you reading this are educated. You know when wrong is being committed. You know that while you have lived your life with corruption, you do not want your children to do the same. A bad Lokpal Bill may not affect you today - but tomorrow it will hit you when your child does not get a college seat, when your hospital gives shoddy treatment, when your government work doesn't get done. We live in a poor country - poor not because we don't have what it takes to be rich, but because our leaders have let us down. We have given them too much power, and they consider our vote as a mandate to steal and be incompetent. They hate accountability. However, without accountability, our progress will stall. There are countries where the average income per person is 50 times more than in India. Don't we deserve the same?
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<br />Thus, whatever your personal view on Anna, it is not him but his cause that needs support. The government can crush a few activists. However, it cannot crush India on the streets. A peaceful, firm, decisive protest is every Indian's birthright, and must be exercised in times of need. Come Monday, and we Indians have a job to do. We have to save our country's future.
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<br />A word for the government too. Just what exactly are you thinking when you are trying to shove an impotent law down people's throats? And what makes you feel that threatening, crushing or insulting Anna will take away people's need to rid India of corruption? Anna did not create an anti-corruption sentiment, he merely tapped into it. Crushing Anna will not take away that sentiment. It will just make it fester more. Right now, the movement is still controlled. By going back on your word, displaying arrogance and not listening to the people, you are risking the country's descent into chaos. Be careful. Accountability is much easier to deal with than anarchy. Fix the Lokpal Bill now, please.
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<br />Finally, for the people of India, it is time to prove Uncle Cynic wrong. There is a bigger truth than his 'nothing ever changes in India'. That truth comes from the Gita, which states "Nothing is permanent". The Gita also says, "When the pot of sin overflows, something happens to restore order." Now, it is up to you to determine if the pot of sin has overflowed. It is for you to say what it means for Indians to act out their dharma. And you, and only you, will decide if it is time to come on the streets.
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<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em; "><i>I got this as a forward. makes a lot of sense. So thought I should share it here. Happy Independence Day!!!</i></p></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-8949772527622134152011-08-07T10:51:00.000-07:002011-08-08T00:35:11.900-07:00what is life without friends....Well, I promised myself that I shall blog once a week, but madam muse ain't that kind today. So have to make do with a random post. Today is friendship day. It is strange how earlier it meant such a great deal, those bands, wearing yellow or white salwars declaring your love for your friends, thinking it is always going to be the same and will never change. Time fools us , and soon you know things around you change so much that you can hardly begin to recognise yourself. I am not talking about the 'grey hair, wrinkled nose' syndrome, but things beyond that. The madness which was so inherently a part of your growing years is now at the back seat.
<br /><div>This is what I thought but then came a group chat with all hyd frens 4 of us- safa, asmita and sneha and me.. making me believe that few things never change and madness continues:):):):)</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Happy friendship day all</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-89675594976651860062011-07-29T11:15:00.000-07:002011-11-18T11:40:40.946-08:00Truth or LiesIn the dark corners of the mind<br />lies fear, anxiety and desperation<br />to strip naked and be true<br />unto me is what I want<br />But can you accept the truth?<br />Can you face the reality?<br />I cant be true without<br />hurting the people I love<br />I need to hence choose<br />Truth or the lie<br />Half baked truth or half baked lies<br />Neither will hurt you nor pain me.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6281444948095272985.post-22401182716057721632011-07-28T12:55:00.000-07:002011-11-18T11:40:08.761-08:00Growing upToo many words unsaid, <div>perhaps for the best. <div>Convey my fears and pains, </div><div>sorrows but all in vain.</div><div><br /></div><div>Falling in love used to be easy</div><div>now that too seems like work.</div><div>Since when did things become so hard?</div><div>Wish I never had to grow up..</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12563561658427232203noreply@blogger.com0