Necessity of Awakening of the young people in India

These are the times when population of youth is at high on percentage in the recent history of India. The kind of Democracy which tolerated corrupted political leaders incompetent people in power warrant a change now. The people of this nation should awake from the lull which allowed many social evils to thrive.

Social concerns like poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition, etc., still out there in large scale in India.
Gender inequality and violence against woman and children are at large.
Sustained development could not spread to the whole India and there are still large portion of the nation fare poorly at various social development scales, and long periods of dissatisfaction and contempt on governance resulting in law and order problems, insurgency and terrorism.
Religion, caste, gender, money etc are still used to divide the nation by people in power to achieve their selfish motives and to ensure their existence.
They failed to safeguard the wealth of nature and natural resources and importance of protecting our forests took a back seat in policy making in the prospect of short sited commercial benefits and we now bear the burnt of environmental degradation and unpredictable climate changes that affects the badly affects the main livelihood and key sector of the nation, agriculture.   

The politics in India, means a profession where a person can profit financially and in terms of authoritative power over a group of people, which is totally different from its word meaning:
"The art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs."(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/politics) 

But with current scenarios and experiences of the many generations of people after Independence, the word 'politics' can be given a new meaning as:
"The art or science of cheating and exploiting the people of a nation in the name of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs."

A political party means a group of people who adopts a particular set of ideologies and line of action to influence and exploit a majority among the population and they will faithfully and bluntly cover each other's back when they face any questions or challenges from the public on their selfish motives.

The politicians have failed to deliver on the promises of democracy. The people who are elected by the people , for the people became myopic and can no longer see, hear or understand the demands and concerns of the very people who elected them to lead and represent in nation building beyond the possibility of exploiting. And in the current scenario we see people gathering en masse and coming out in the open very often, conducting mass protests, strikes and processions to voice their concerns and demands to the government, which more often uses highly efficient political tactics and succeeds either in changing the people's attention from the demands at hand or accepts it to be thrown into the long churning machinery of bureaucracy and policy making, later.

The current spur in mass protests and gatherings hints at growing dissatisfaction among the public, and the danger of anarchy which rises from failure of democracy, lurks in the corner.

It is beyond doubt, Democracy is the best available tool to govern and guide a nation forward. But with the experiences we have had as a democratic nation, it is clear that democracy in our nation requires more control features and transparency in governance to stop corruption and inefficiency and also it should be able to attract more skilled and young people to power.

A verdict of peace on Ayodhya

Ayodhya issue became a non issue, thanks to a brilliant verdict which froze the ultras in both the religious groups to their feet. It stopped the sadhoos and fakirs from turning into violent killers and criminals. Now their swords can be used for preparing grounds for farmers and bombs may be to scare birds and animals from destroying the crops.

What we, the general public need is peace of mind, so that we can concentrate on improving our daily lives. Can't these politically religious people do some sacrifice for the betterment and peace of mind of general public, who toils day in and day out to get ends meet in their lives? On the day of the verdict, all over India was on fear. Fear of this so called caretakers of the religions going crazy, doing all looting, rioting, killing and doing all violent things in service of their beloved religions which teaches and adheres to non-violence,kindness, mercy and above all universal brotherhood and love. The general sigh of relief and calmness prevailed after the verdict was delivered, shows what people care most, peace. The verdict was accepted by people all over India with an open mind, regardless of what they feel about its merit , except by some representatives of the Fourth state, some news papers, TV News Channels and other media who could still be reeling about the ratings and profits they might have earned by broadcasting any unprecedented ugly, violent responses to the verdict.

Is it enough to comfort a baby crying of hunger in a poor man's home to tell him that a temple or a mosque is standing tall at a particular place?

What these caretakers of religions learn from their religions? To kill and die for temples and mosques or to show compassion and mercy towards others, need of having a big heart, to sacrifice selfish desires, to spread love?

The whole world is God's adobe, and yet we have constructed so many temples and mosques, and why do we need more?

Heard, both the parties are thinking of going to The Supreme court with their Appeals. Shame on them, the parties to the case, so called caretakers of the religions, didn't you had enough terrorizing our nation of a billion people? and now you are going to waste a lot more money and resources? Whatever may be the result, who cares? Grow up India! It is about time now, we have to concentrate on overall development and well being of our citizens. Awake young India! Clean our beloved India from all these dirty politics and purify our great religions of its fanatic caretakers. What we need is peace, and a positive political environment, in which our future generations can advance and scale the mountains of development and then they will look to us with pride and respect.

It is now time we throw such issues to the Arabian sea and concentrate on the issues of development of the country and work responsibly and wholeheartedly to eradicate evils like corruption, poverty, unemployment, inflation, etc.

Hindu or Muslim, we are brothers first. Sons of our great nation, Mother India. Long live India...

India: a heaven for Hindu, Muslim and all...

India is a great religious nation. It is here, where great ideas, thoughts and religions flourish. When it comes to religion, Hindu (as a religion) and Islam are the most prominent in India. Whatever the religion India is the most fertile ground for devotion. She gave birth to lots of great devotees, in both religions. The desire for brotherhood, love and understanding between these two great religions was there even from the ancient times. The great saint,visionary Swami Vivekananda had a vision of new India with a Vedanta-brain and a Muslim-body. Even though actions of some handful of people in early years and later by the British tried to saw the seeds of hatred between them that desire for brotherhood and togetherness is still here.

The love, respect and devotion for Islam in India started right from the time when it took birth. The great religion of Islam is believed to have come to India first through the trade routes via sea. We can still see the ancient Mosques in south India which was established by Islam followers who came to India, not so long after its birth in Persia. The most interesting fact is that, the rulers of the land in that times of India, the Raja's and Prabhu's (kings and Landlords), who were ardent devotees of Hindu religion did recognize the greatness of Islam and gave land and other gifts to the carriers of this precious cargo from across the sea (Islam) to establish it in India. Even more interestingly, some of the rulers even chose Islam as their religion. The remains of these dynasties can be found in south India even today and they were excellent rulers and great patriots. But later the entry of Islam through the northern side of India by Sultans from Persia was violent. They were in the process of extending there territories through wars in north India and with them Islam found its ground in large scales.

In later years, as Islam began to blossom and in its peak India produced finest of Islamic thinkers, artists, poets, devotees and rulers. During these times some great people like Kabir Das who recognized the greatness of both Hindu and Islam, tried to highlight the importance of brotherhood and understanding between them. Yet from time to time by the actions or inaction of handful of people of both religions, who were supposed to hold the highest virtues of their respective religions, betrayed their people and great values of their respective religions to cultivate hatred and misunderstanding between people and caused self-imposed separation from each other and even urged people to kill each other. To kill!, to hate each other!, and that is what these two great religions teaches not to do and that is what people did and yet they were regarded as the true practitioners of their religions and called themselves Hindus and Muslims.

After all, religions are just different roads which lead to a destination which is common for all. It is like children of a father taking different roads to reach home after a long day's hard work.

Today in India the scenarios had been changed. Now there are lots of Hindus and Muslims happily lives along side and discrimination and violence are cornered to only some pockets of India where social injustices like poverty, illiteracy and unemployment cohabit. (Non-existence of good basic infrastructure facilities like roads, transportation, schools, hospitals, etc. can also make the children of a country, quarrelsome.) And today hate is a tool in the hands of political parties (both ‘communal’ and so called ‘secular’ political parties) which they use now and then to increase (or decrease) their vote bank (support) and sustain their only means for livelihood they know.

Presently India has the largest population of Muslims living in an Islamic and non-Islamic country and has more happy Muslim people than most of the so called Islamic countries. Today, Islam is in full bloom in India as Hindu religion and irrespective of their religion every Hindu and Muslim possesses a collective identity of "Indian-ness" and works for the progress our great nation as an Indian. Now India is as much as a Muslim nation as Hindu. In this fertile land of ours any number diverse thoughts, ideas and religions can blossom, bear fruit and thrive. This is India, our mother, an Embodiment of Universal Love, she embraces all.

To further our cause we should:-

1.Learn, understand and respect other religions and their teachings.

2.Make more friends and acquaintance with people of different religions.

3.Invite people from other religions to your religious festivals and you should participate in theirs too.

4.Work for the well-being of all.

NB: I request you to send me your valuable comments and any corrections if needed. I welcome all your support in this regard. Thank you.
Dated 7/23/08 7:19 AM

India

'Every place has a heart centre. It is there that all the energy will be concentrated. In the same way, India is the Heart of the World' -Amma

INDIA is one of the oldest continuing civilizations in the world.
INDIA has a Population of more than 1.1 Billion people.
INDIA covers an area of 32,87,263 sq km of earth.
INDIA has 22 officially recognized languages.
INDIA has a literary tradition of more than 2500 years.
INDIA still has more than 2000 year old dance forms.
INDIA is a land of diversity.
India's terrain varies from the Himalayas,Deserts,Plateaus,Coastal areas, tropical rain forests,etc.
INDIA has a work force of 450 million (est.)
INDIA is a republic of 28 States and 7 Union Territories.
They are:
1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Arunachal Pradesh
3. Assam
4. Bihar
5. Chhattisgarh
6. Goa
7. Gujarat
8. Haryana
9. Himachal Pradesh
10. Jammu and Kashmir
11. Jharkhand
12. Karnataka
13. Kerala
14. Madhya Pradesh
15. Maharashtra
16. Manipur
17. Meghalaya
18. Mizoram
19. Nagaland
20. Orissa
21. Punjab
22. Rajasthan
23. Sikkim
24. Tamil Nadu
25. Tripura
27. Uttaranchal
26. Uttar Pradesh
28. West Bengal

Union Territories:

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands
2. Chandigarh
3. Dadra and Nagar Haveli
4. Daman and Diu
5. Lakshadweep
6. National Capital Territory of Delhi
7. Puducherry

dated 8/8/08 7:18 AM

Terrorism & 'War on terror- A Wrong Choice and its Worst Reaction.

Human race on the face of earth is at least 2,50,000 years old now. Violence in difference forms were present in human history right from the very beginning, when we started to enjoy possession of things like fertile land, valuables, and other pleasures. It left numerous scars in human history in a number of ways. Violence in the form of war is still the ugliest face of it. It inflicts pain and suffering en masse to mankind.

Basically the reasons of violence and war vary from greed, self-pride, economic factors, ect. People wage war for authority, material wealth, and they wear the mask of virtue, and righteous. Now the perpetrators of violence and suffering on humanity have two different faces;
(i) the so called ‘terrorists’ and
(ii)the modern imperialists who orchestrates the so called ‘war-on-terror’. Both are equally guilty of inflicting pain and suffering to humanity.

Terrorism, includes terrorizing a particular group of people or a country by so called terrorists who themselves proclaim to be messiah’s of a group of people or country who suffer great hardships and injustices (mostly unimaginable in developed countries) in their day to day life. Terrorists rise from countries whose people have a long history of suffering. They born in pain and live in great sufferings, like poverty, injustice, illiteracy, unemployment, diseases and face death many times over in their daily life until they actually face it in most painful circumstances.

Terrorism which rises in a country in the pretext of saving that country from its hardships is like making a hole in the ship to drain the storm water. And when another country tries to ‘liberate’ that country from terrorists by attacking that country is like a snake biting a man who has just got a hit by a thunder- strike.

How terrorism grow.

Terrorism or a terrorist group has many faces. In the initial phases they show concern and sympathy to the basic genuine problems of a country or a group of people who suffer some kind of hardships from within the country; from government or a section of the public, or from outside the country; from other countries. These terrorist group, may be a handful of people in the initial stages (in whose brains these misguided ideas first arises), will try to associate itself with a larger cause or much widely respected ideas, beliefs or personalities; like an idea of a prosperous nation, a great religion, ect.

Even though it has roused by genuine aspirations of a concerned, patriotic citizen for a peaceful, developed nation, but choosing of terrorism as its means is the most foolish, and selfish decision one can make. It is foolish because it increases the hardships of the people they are acting as saviors. It is selfish because they don’t consider the trauma of the victims and their loved ones and scars of a violent terrorist attack can bring to a society, and ‘War on Terror’ is no less a ‘Terror’ to mankind than Terrorism itself.

This highlights the urgent need of practicing the principles of Ahimsa (non-violence), which is more powerful than any weapon and more productive than any war.
Dated 8/14/08 9:40 AM

A Prophesy on Terrorism...

Even though the following observation was made by Swami Vivekananda(1863-1902), more than 100 years ago, we can see that these are more relevant today than ever before.

"The one great advantage of Bhakti (Devotion to God) is that it is the easiest and the most natural way to reach the great divine end in view; its great disadvantage is that in its lower forms it oftentimes degenerates into hideous fanaticism. The fanatical crews in Hinduism, or Mohammedanism, or Christianity, have always been almost exclusively recruited from these worshippers on the lower planes of Bhakti. That singleness of attachment (Nishthâ) to a loved object, without which no genuine love can grow, is very often also the cause of the denunciation of everything else.

All the weak and undeveloped minds in every religion or country have only one way of loving their own ideal, i.e. by hating every other ideal. Herein is the explanation of why the same man who is so lovingly attached to his own ideal of God, so devoted to his own ideal of religion, becomes a howling fanatic as soon as he sees or hears anything of any other ideal (or concept).

This kind of love is somewhat like the canine instinct of guarding the master's property from intrusion; only, the instinct of the dog is better than the reason of man, for the dog never mistakes its master for an enemy in whatever dress he may come before it. Again, the fanatic loses all power of judgment. Personal considerations are in his case of such absorbing interest that to him it is no question at all what a man says — whether it is right or wrong; but the one thing he is always particularly careful to know is who says it. The same man who is kind, good, honest, and loving to people of his own opinion, will not hesitate to do the vilest deeds when they are directed against persons beyond the pale of his own religious brotherhood. " -

-Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) .

You can read more on Swami Vivekananda's teachings on this site:**http://cwsv.belurmath.org/ **

Wake up! Our Country needs you.

Our country, our beloved mother, is in pain. She suffers from terrorism, hunger, corrupt leaders and her irresponsible, lazy people. Attacks on our motherland with help from outside the country and with the traitors inside, in the name of terrorism is killing her children, young and old. The freedom and unity of our country is in danger; from our enemies, religious fanaticism (of Hindu, Muslim and Christian), local favoritism and separatism of regions (of Tamil people in Tamil Nadu, of Telungu people for Telungana, of Maradthi's in Maharashtra, as in Assam, Bihar). The factors that hurt our progress are increasing and getting stronger day by day. Where are the men and women of Iron-Will in our country? Are you still sleeping in this hour of distress?

The infidel politicians of our country are making her weak and insecure. They 'serve' our country to satisfy their own greed of money, power and other selfish-needs. They value their respective political parties than our beloved country. The principles and policies of each political party in our country are so diverse that some of them are contradictory in nature. The basic principles and ideologies of some political parties even weakens our nation's integrity and often times over rides the common interests of the public. Often times there are cases when the different States of our country and the Center is ruled by different political parties and the decisions, policies, recommendations and programs by the Central Government is not followed and duly ignored by the State governments and vice verse. This includes policies on our national security and overall development of the country.

Our country has a diverse culture. Our countrymen follow different ideas, principles, religions, languages, clothing, etiquette, cuisines, etc. We in the middle of all these diversities are united in our Indianess. We unite in the name of one country, INDIA. But the politicians in our country see we people as their 'vote banks'. They cash in on our diversities. They treat us in groups based on religions, castes, wealth, etc. It is necessary for them to divide the people into small groups, the interests and opinions of which can be easily manipulated to their favour in elections and to get to power.

It is easy to break a stick than a bundle. If we are divided into different fractions or groups of people, based on our religion, castes, mother toung, ect., it will be easy for the politicians to keep us occupied in silly pursuits, like the progress of a particular group of people based on different factors, say religion or caste, etc., rather than focusing on the development of the entire nation. Focusing on identifiable groups of 'vote-banks' and catering to their petty needs, will make the job of the politicians and political parties easy and it will help them to enjoy their tenure at the government without bothering much into the core problems of our country and its overall development. The interests and needs of a particular community, when compared to that of the whole country will be very meager. Raising a cat is much easier than raising a Tiger. It is more beneficial for the politicians to appease a small group with small appetite which will in return will make the number and support them in power, than the country as a whole for the collective good.

Now we are in an age where the patriotism in our country is very low. (We show some glimpse of it for brief periods only when some national disasters happens.) Now a days we often mistake communalism, separatism, local or regional favouritism for 'patriotism', thanks to powerful politicians and so called ‘national leaders’ who manipulates and misguides people’s mind and perception beyond rationale. Our own people can conspire against our country for money, greed or for personal gains.

The values in our society are degenerating, we became more selfish, and globalization made us slaves of consumerism and materiality. We were so engrossed in the pleasures inside our four walls that when the alarm bell of terrorism at Mumbai (26-29Nov 2008)shook our consciousness and woke us up through the little black box (T.V.). By just changing the channels could have given anybody to realise what the mess we are in. We are in deep muddle of our own ignorance. We are in a fool’s heaven. When the terror strike was showing 'live' on T.V. by News channels for three days the other channels were showing the daily soup opera's, reality shows and the like as usual. This shows that we are missing something in our lives as an Indian. There are no uniting factors other than a less productive, time consuming slothful game of cricket, and most depressingly most people just prefer to watch than play. There are no role models or national heroes or ideas which can lead this country into a new era, or which can be looked upon by our younger generation for inspiration and run the wheel of progress faster in the right direction.

It is in the youth that she looks for hope. It is in her children she has faith.

Wake up! Act now! for a better tomorrow. Awake Arise and Go on for a peaceful and productive tomorrow.
Dated 11/30/08 7:33 AM