Tributes to Veer Savarakar

 

We join the nation in paying our respectful tribute to Swatantryaveer Veer Savarkar on his 131st birth anniversary! May he inspire us all with a new spirit of national re-awakening! It was Veer Savarakar who made Indians aware about the First War of Independence of 1857 through his famous Book on the subject.

Please visit: http://www.savarkar.org/en/veer-savarkar to learn more about this national hero!

Mother’s Day.

Had published a blog on the Mother’s Day last year. I am here by publishing the same again. It reflects the importance of motherhood in Indian context. Even though the tradition of respecting mothers in a ceremonial manner was started in US, the importance of motherhood in our country can never, ever be exaggerated.

Mother’s Day was initiated in Philadelphia (USA) by Ms. Anna Jarvis is 1907. It is a great gesture to honour our Mothers. Many countries today celebrate Mother’s Day in their own ways. We must appreciate Ms. Anna Jarvis for her noble initiative.

In India, when we celebrate Mother’s day indeed we must pay respect to our Mothers and celebrate the occasion in whichever way we want. But more importantly, we must also remember and pay homage to the great mothers our country had been blessed with. I would like to mention three names from the many that can be chosen from the pages of history. These are:

Jijabai – mother of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

Maharani Lakshmibai – Jhansi ki Rani, and

Vidyavati – mother of Shaheed Bhagat Singh

 

Jijabai – also known as Rajmata Jijabai the great queen mother who instilled all the qualities in Chatrapati Shivaji. His exceptional courage, bravery and application of mind in direly fearful circumstances were all gifted to him by his mother. It is said that Jijabai had fervently prayed to Goddess Bhavani to bless her with a son that would liberate the divided and disheartened hindus from the tyrant rulers of the time who severely tortured and persecuted them. Shivaji’s mother instilled in him the patriotic values and the burning desire to liberate the people from tyranny. History is witness to all his brave encounters with the Mughals and the Deccan Sultans. His war strategies and the lightning fast tactics would amaze the best generals of his time. His agility, alertness and fast decision making power remains a lesson for all leaders of all times. This day let us pay our respects to his mother Rajmata Jijaba who was the force behind him.

 

Maharani Lakshmibai – At a very young age she married the Maharaja of Gaekwad and bore him a son. However the baby did not survive for long. The Maharaja then adopted a young boy as Prince and future heir to the throne. However the Maharaja did not survive after this adoption. Lakshmibai had to fight all odds to get her adopted son due and legitimate recognition by the British. The stories of her bravery are etched in the annals of india’s glorious history. Till the very end she fought for the honour of her state and for the rights of her only son – the heir to the throne of Jhansi.

 

Vidyavati – who can match the sacrifice of the great mother who decided not to go to bring the dead body of his young son because she did not want anyone to witness the tears in her eyes. The stories of her motivation towards her son comprise a great honour for our country. Let us remember the tremendous mother of Shahid Bhagat Singh.

I am urging my readers to share these views with friends.

Modi’s Journey of Life in Pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Auspicious Akshaya Tritiya.

 

Akshaya Tritiya, also known as Akha Teej, is a holy day for Hindus and Jains. It falls on the third Tithi (lunar day) of Bright Half (Shukla Paksha) of the pan-Indian month of Vaishakha and one of the four most important days for Hindus.^[2] It is an auspicious day of the birthday of Lord Parasurama who is the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. On this day Veda Vyas and Lord Ganesha began to write Mahabharata.

 

In Jain and Hindu calendars, some days of the month are absent in counting and some days (tithi in lunar calendars) come extra, but Akshay tritiya is one day which is never “absent” from the lunar calendar.
The word “Akshaya” means the never diminishing in Sanskrit and the day is believed to bring good luck and success. It is believed that if you do charity on this day you will be blessed. On Akshay Tritiya, Mrutika worshiped.

 

The day is considered auspicious for starting new ventures. The legend is that any venture initiated on the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya continues to grow and bring prosperity. Hence, new ventures, like starting a business, construction, etc. is performed on Akshaya Tritiya.

Thanks for reading.

Life’s Lessons from Shakespeare.

Shakespeare was born in April 1564. Some people say he was born on 22^nd April others opine 23^rd April 1564. He died at the age of 52 years on 23^rd April 1660 that means almost 400 years ago.

 

How is it that his popularity as a dramatist has not faded out? The reason is his philosophy, the wisdom that we find in his plays and the energizing wit and humor of his comedy.   In fact, these transcend the limits of time and space. He has dealt with human emotions – anger, ambition, jealousy, credulity, indecision etc: these habits are found in the people even today.

In this post I propose to discuss his wisdom as is evident from the 3 pieces I have picked from 3 different plays.

HAMLET

 

Hamlet was a victim of indecision. Indecision was the bane of his life. Unfortunately today also we find many of us suffer from indecision. In the process we undergoavoidable mental agony. I give below the oft quoted words of Hamlet.

To be, or not to be: that is the question: whether’ it’s nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them?

In sharp contrast are the following words taken from his play As You Like It.

As You Like It.

And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

These words, I find, are even more relevant today than were in his own time. ‘Exempt from Public Haunt’- we are in dire need of getting a break and going to the nature from our daily hectic life. And the best place is back to the nature. We have lots of resorts by the sea side, on the scenic mountains, and similar places where we are away from ‘Public Haunt’. As Shakespeare says we can speak to the trees enjoy running brooks/trees and find all the goodness of the world in nature.

Finally I have picked up a very significant point from the tragedy- Macbeth. :

Macbeth 

 

When our actions do not, our fears do make us traitors.

The philosophy of this word is as true today as at any time. Often we do not want to act as Williams yet due to our fears we are motivated to indulge. In many other plays to I find Shakespeare’s massage to imbibe courage in ones personality, speaks louder than words.

Thank you for reading.

Rise of Social Media

Befooling people in the age of social media is losing one’s own credibility. Social media is a platform where an ordinary man can express himself/herself without spending any money or without using any influence. One doesn’t have to depend on anyone in power to use the media. Because, no power is controlling it. Should the owners of any popular site decide to exercise any control or should they try to create some kind of influence on any issue, this is bound to be construed as personal agenda. Personal Agenda is against the spirit of Social Media.


Social media is fast growing only because it is free and fair. Regarding freedom, I reiterate that if there were no freedom of expression, Social Media would never have achieved the popularity it has gained in such a short time. Another very important factor in its favour is that it is participative. Anyone can start a discussion, contribute to the existing one; start a group or join one already there. Besides, it is not just confined to exchange of views or ideas. We can share pictures, movies, audio/video files etc. Undoubtedly, Social Media encourages to be social, to be creative and effective. It is a boon in this Brave New World.

Earlier, Television gained its popularity because of the ease of entertainment without the arduous task of going out to the theatre one can watch a programme news or even a movie: all sitting in the comfort of your home. But it took quite some time. Where television swayed the mind of people, lots of program producer emerged. Training institutes for training programme producers also came into being. The channel owners provided the infrastructure and producers created such programmes as would engage the audience. Producers who applied their mind and understood the audience likes and dislikes could make such serials which continued for years. But there is a rub. Some people did find that these serials offer no value and were a ploy to engage them. The TV was termed an idiot for which I consider it is. More on this some other time.

But so far as Social Media is concerned, it is also engagement, but it is of a different kind. Here each person becomes a participant if he/she desires to be one. There are always group of people who share their views. There are people who have comments to offer. And as said above, it is not limited to discussions. Sharing of pictures, videos, knowledge on different subjects are both engaging and entertaining. It is for each one of us to make full use of this unique Free Gift.

Thanks for reading.

How to Change Habits

On Sunday 30/3/2014 we had a very useful discussion regarding managing CHANGE in life. The subject was how to inculcate good habits and how to ward off, the bad ones. Each participant was advised to identify 10 good habits of their friends, colleagues or of family members which each wanted to imbibe in their own personality.

At the same time they were also asked to identify 5 bad habits of their own which each wanted to give up. Besides, what efforts have been made so far to give up the bad habits were also to be explained? Since it was a Speech Training Session, the participants were supposed to detail clearly each point with examples.  These examples could be chosen from their own lives or those of others known to them. A heartwarming open and interesting discussion led to a number of conclusions.

First of all it’s necessary to understand how habits work. A habit is a kind of repetitive behavior for which you don’t think. You don’t have to apply your mind to check up anything before you take action. Let’s examine with some examples. If you wake up at a particular time, you don’t need any alarm to remind you. Taking bath and getting ready is also done as a matter of habit. If you were to check the time you take for getting ready everyday it will be more or less the same.  Taking your breakfast fast is also a habit which need consistent efforts to bring about the desired change.



Does it mean that we cannot change our habit/habits which we want to change? No, it doesn’t. We certainly can with required will and efforts. However some habits can be changed by once own efforts, where as some others require professional help. But in both the situations one needs to adopt a systematic approach. First of all we must state clearly what new habit we want to adopt. It’s always better to write in your journal in clear terms. For example, if you have wanted to go for a morning walk but habitually you get up late, you can change this habit. After writing in your journal about your decision to start doing for a morning walk regularly you must fix up the date for starting. The first few days you may have to use the alarm which will wake you up at a particular time. It’s necessary not to laze around after the alarm. Just get ready and go for a walk. It is said that it is normally take 21 days to form a habit.

Now I give another example. If you suffer from stage fright and you cannot speak to a group by standing up, you need a professional help. You also require a firm determination that you will overcome the stage fright because it is impeding your progress. Further, you must carefully select the professional. It is like going to the right doctor for getting the ailment eliminated. With appropriate efforts and continuous practice one can definitely overcome the bane of stage fright. In today’s environment, it is necessary. In colleges you have to give presentations, and wherever you work, once you are in a senior position, you need to give presentations to your bosses.



Even if you are an entrepreneur and doing your own business, you need to motivate your staff and for this also you need great confidence. Besides, you must not have any fear of facing the people from the stage.
In my next posting we will take up how to form some other good habits.

Thank you for reading.