My dream of an independent India…

The day child of a “rich” goes to a Government school, the Government schools will change… there will be tables to write and chairs to sit… there will be blackboard, lights and fans… there will be teachers to teach… there will be will to teach… there will be an educated India… there will be an “equal” India… there will be an independent India!!

SAY NO TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Perfectionism vs. Averageness

“Perfection” is undoubtedly an illusion for there is scope of improvement at every stage and in every completion. Nonetheless, still there is a continuous quest for perfection. It is probably this quest for perfection which is the source of motivation, thrill & successes and also disappointments & failures as well. However, my objective of this write-up is not to encourage or discourage the spirit of perfectionism. It is in fact an attempt to answer a different, probably more important question – perfection in what?

My limited understanding and experience of little more then 25 years journey of life has made me believe that there are 6 indispensable aspects (areas of perfection) of which “life” is all about :-

1. Health
2. Education
3. Money
4. Family & Friends
5. Society
6. Spirituality

The above list is, however, not in any manner a chronological list of aspects with respect of their gravity of importance. To my believe, all the aspects are equally significant and cannot override one another when it comes to their importance in life.


Now, if that is the believe (that all the above six aspects are equally important in life), which I take it as a foundation for answering my self-asked question – “perfection in what?”, then answer unmistakably is - “perfection lies in making a balance between all the six aspect”. But this answer, then again makes me raise another further question – “will that not, indeed, be a quest for averageness?” An attempt to achieve all, without strongly focusing on one, is a task of an average doer or a failure, as commonly called.

This jugglery of questions and answers has made me visualize few imaginary situations.

Suppose-

If I have all the money but no health, then will I be a success?

It I have all the health but no money, then will I be a success?

If I keep working on my spiritual aspect at the cost of other 5 aspects then will I be happy?

If I have all the five aspects except for a just & decent society will I be able to survive?

If I have no education, a loving family or if any of the one aspect is missing, will I have a complete life?

Without giving a specific answer to all the above self-asked questions, which is neither warranted nor uncertain, I would conclude - if quest for perfectionism is a quest for becoming ONLY rich, ONLY spiritual, ONLY healthy or ONLY educated, then I would rather prefer becoming an average or a failure with a desire to fulfill and make a balance between all the 6 aspects. I will dare to be an average.

One who is reading may not fully, or at all, agree with my conclusion. But the reader’s approval is not always an objective of all the write-ups and the same, probably, applies to this one also. However, it goes without saying that suggestions/comments are always desirable and welcome. :P

Rocky Balboa:

“You ain’t gonna believe this...but you use to fit right here. (Rocky holds up his right hand) I’d hold you up and say to your mother, “this kid is gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid is gonna be better than anybody I ever knew”...and you grew up good and wonderful… it was great just watching you everyday… it was like a privilege.

Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world… and you did... But somewhere along the line, you changed... you stopped being you...you let people stick a finger in your face and tell you, you're no good...and when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame...like a big shadow.

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows, it's a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, nobody is gonna hit as hard as life! But it ain't about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward… how much you can take...and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!

Now, if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth! But you gotta be willing to take the hits and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him or her or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that!

I'm always gonna love you no matter what...no matter what happens...you're my son, you're my blood...you're the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, you ain't gonna have a life….

Don't forget to visit your mother…”

-written by Sylvester Stallone

Questioning the beliefs…

Prabhu Mohan said…

“ATHEIST is the one who do not believe in the presence of any omnipotent ,omnipresent and omniscient God.

Reply: If you believe, that there is no gravity, and jump from the 10th floor how crazy it will be! Your argument is like this.....non belief in God doesn't mean, there is not a God. Then, how do you know that God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient? from what source?”

Anuj said…

Hi Prabhu,

If you believe there is “GOD”, who will save you and, under the same impression, you jump from the 10^th floor… how crazy will that be??

Belief in God doesn’t testify the existence of GOD...

I never said GOD is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient… in case you understood it that way, then I am sorry, it is defective communication, probably, on my part…

“GOD” is a word customarily used, since time immemorial, to connote something/someone which/who is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient… (The fact of the same is evident form Holy texts including Geeta, Bible, Kuran, etc…)… and it is that sense of the usage of the term “GOD” which I used in my article “yes, I am an atheist”.

I am not allergic to the term “GOD”… I can call any living/non-living being/thing as “GOD” provided it doesn’t get super-natural treatment/implications…

I do not abuse “GOD” for abusing GOD means giving an identity to something which doesn’t exist… I do not hesitate in going to Temples/Mosques/Gurudwaras as they are, in fact, generally, beautiful piece of architecture…

My reasons, amongst other, for not believing in existence of any “omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient” unit or “GOD” (term as is used in its usual parlance) are:-

1. “GOD” is a creation of weak/selfish human minds… [Weak minds- who need some imaginary support at the time of distress…. Selfish minds- who want to make innocent people fool and earn unworthy income/benefits]. “GOD” is used by oppressors to make people feel better about the distress they experience because of being poor and exploited. In other words God, which generally is the foundation for religion, is nothing but “opium of the masses”.

2. “MIRACLES”, which are generally attributed to the “deeds of GOD”, are deficiencies in the scientific knowledge of human beings and it is, in fact, a “scientific-sin” to attribute “anything unexplained” as “deed of GOD” for that becomes the real impediment in the motivation for expounding the converted reason-based-explanation behind the same…

In any case, I am not against “GOD”… and it is just a matter of belief… however, convincingly-reason-based, atleast for me!!

Anuj!!

"I love you, mother," said little John.

Then, forgetting his work, his cap went on,

And he was off to the garden swing,

And left her the water and wood to bring.

"I love you, mother," said rosy Nell…

"I love you more than tongue can tell."

But she teased and pouted full half the day

Till her mother was glad when she went to play.

"I love you, mother," said little Fan…

"To-day I'll help you all I can;

How glad I am that school doesn't keep."

So she rocked the baby till it fell asleep.

Then slipping softly she took the broom

And swept the floor and dusted the room.

Busy and happy all the day was she,

Helpful and cheerful as a child should be.

"I love you, mother," again they said,

Three little children going to bed.

How do you think that mother guessed

Which of them really loved her best?

—By JOY ALLISON

Gautam Buddha says…

Buddha’s 4 points for simple but disciplined life:

1. The world is full of sufferings and misery. It involves life, death, sickness and grief. Even pleasures are painful because they are short-lived.

2. Desires are the cause of this suffering. They entangle us in the world.

3. We can save ourselves from this misery only by curbing our desires.

4. One should tread the eight-fold path in order to curb the desires.

Eight fold path-

1. right understanding
2. right determination
3. right speech
4. right deed
5. right livelihood
6. right effort
7. right awareness
8. right thinking

Please don’t let me redundant!

I am born on this land; I am also part of this system, like you. Don’t declare me redundant in the garb of advanced technology…or in the attire of insufficient resources.

Give me food to eat; for I am hungry.
Give me education…let me, atleast, also understand your governmental web.

Let me have an “unemployment allowance” for it’s your duty to provide me employment.
You promised me employment… you promised me, you will… I am bleeding in pain… but why your parliamentary ears can’t hear my cries??

We are miserable not because we are born that way...
We are so because you have destined us to be that way.

Poverty is not an evil…
Unemployment is not an evil…
Illiteracy is not an evil…

Your system is an evil…
Your policies are evil…
You are an evil!!

Why increase in working hours has not proportionally increased my level of happiness?
Why this wide gap between me and those very few elite members of YOUR civilization widening day by day?
Why is there so unequal distribution of property?
Why millions of people, like me, are becoming redundant day by day?
Why this system is becoming so insensitive for me?

But you are not safe…you are not secure…you cannot sleep happily at my cost…

The bed you lay on, the building you get shelter from, the food you eat….these things are made up of my sweat and blood… I won’t let my property looted this way… I will take revenge… yes, I will have to take a revenge… for that’s the only resort left to me.

I don’t want to commit suicide anymore… I would rather kill.

I am not weak… I am rising in number day by day… I will throw your governance… I will let YOU redundant.

This land is yours, so is mine… please let me have my share… I am not asking for any more… but please don’t take my life… please don’t let me redundant … please let me live with dignity… I don’t want to die anymore…I am your part only…I am also an Indian, like you!

-by Anuj!

Vatan ki fikr kar nadan…

Vatan ki fikr kar nadan…

Musibat aane vali hai!

Teri Barbadiyon ke mashware hain Aasmano main…

Na samjhoge toh mit jaoge!

Aei Hindustan walo…

Tumhari dastan taq bhi na hogi dastano main!!

-Poet Iqbal

LITTLE EYES UPON YOU

There are little eyes upon you
and they're watching night and day.

There are little ears that quickly
take in every word you say.

There are little hands all eager
to do anything you do.

And a little boy who's dreaming
of the day he'll be like you.

You're the little fellow's idol,
you're the wisest of the wise.

In his little mind about you
no suspicions ever rise.

He believes in you devoutly,
holds all that you say and do.

He will say and do, in your way,
when he's grown up like you.

There's a wide-eyed little fellow
who believes you're always right.

And his eyes are always opened,
and he watches day and night.

You are setting an example
every day in all you do,
for the little boy who's waiting
to grow up to be like you.

-From The Moral Compass, edited by William J. Bermett, Simon 8 Schuster, New
York, 1995, pp. 52

Mother…child…love, care, shelter and a smile! Yeh kadamb ka ped agar maa…

Yeh kadamb ka ped agar maa hota yamuna thirey!
Mai bhi uss per baith kanhaiya banta dhirey dhirey!!

Le daiti yadi mujhe bansuri tum do paise vali!
Kisi tarhan nichey ho jaati yeh kadamb ki daali!!

Tumhe nahi kuch kehta per mai chupke-chupke aata!
Uss nichi daali se amma, unche per chad jaata!!

Vahin baith fir bade mazey se mai bansuri bajata!
Amma-amma keh vansi ke swarr se tumhe bulata!!

Sun meri bansi ko maa tum itni khush ho jaati!
Mujhe dekhne ko tum bahar kaam chhod ker aati!!

Tum ko aata daikh bansuri rakh mai chup ho jata!
Patton mai chhip ker fir dhirey se bansuri bajata!!

Bahut bulane per bhi maa jab nahi utter ke aata!
Maa, tab maa ka hriday tumhara bahut vikal ho jaata!!

Tum aanchal faila ker amma vahin ped ke nichey!
Ishwar se kuch vinti kerti baithey aankhen michey!!

Tumhe dhayan mai lagi daikh mai dhirey dhirey aata!
Aur tumhare failey aanchal ke nichey chhup jaata!!

Tum ghabrakar aankh kholti per maa khush ho jaatin!
Jab apne munne raja ko godd mai hi paatin!!

Issi tarhan kuch khela kerte hum-tum dhirey dhirey!
Yeh kadamb ka ped agar maa hota yamuna thirey!!

-By Subhadra Kumari Chauhan

“Congratulations! Things have settled, they have agreed”

“Congratulations! Things have settled, they have agreed”... my parents are more then happy. It sounds so simple. Like emancipation from an unwanted burden. Like a simple numerical equation. But it has completely left out one factor - me. And how can I, or even my parents, get right answer without that?

“No bad habits, a good career, a good family. What more do you want?”

“A man, a husband, a good companion...man who hears my voice when I speak...who understands me even when I don’t...”

But my desires are so elementary compared to ‘a good job, good family and no bad habits’ that I am ashamed to reveal them. But I have nothing to worry. No one asked me, and I am not going to tell anyone.

Until today it has always been, “they have refused”. And I had always wondered, how do they know, after seeing me for just a few minutes that I won’t do? How can they know anything about me at all?

Doubts have always plagued me- how do one look into a man or a woman in a couple of minutes? And also, that can the whole of a person be known even in entire life?

Sometimes I feel we are all destined to be strangers to one another...forever sealed in separate partitions called ‘self’.

Why am I thinking all this?
Why am I writing all this?
I don’t know.

Why had I imagined the choice was mine?
It had never been mine.

I surrender my illusions and embrace the reality...Congratulations to me! Things have settled...they have agreed.

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.

-George Washington (1732–1799)
The first President of the United States (1789–1797)

Principles of Humanity or A Brutal Struggle

Struggle is the father of all things. It is not by the principles of humanity that man lives or is able to preserve himself above the animal world, but solely by means of the most brutal struggle.
-Adolf Hitler

Religious persecution- bleeding struggle for dignity, liberty and literacy!!

“Everyone has the right to education.”
— Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Since 1979, the government of Iran has systematically sought to deprive its largest religious minority of the right to education. Specifically, the Islamic Republic of Iran has for more than 25 years blocked the 300,000-member Bahá’í community from higher education, refusing young Bahá’ís entry into university and college. The government has also sought to close down Bahá’í efforts to establish their own institutions of higher learning.

The government has used a very simple mechanism to exclude Bahá’ís from higher education: it has simply required that everyone who takes the national university entrance examination declare their religion. And applicants who indicate other than one of the four officially recognized religions in Iran — Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism — are excluded.

The idea that there should be Messengers of God after Muhammad is viewed by many Muslims as heresy — and is one of the underlying theological reasons for the persecution of Bahá’ís.

Between 1979 and 1998, more than 200 Bahá’ís were killed or executed, hundreds more were wrongfully imprisoned, and thousands were fired from government jobs, had businesses closed, and were denied pensions.

Over the last 25 years, the only source of protection, encouragement and hope for the Iranian Bahá’í community has been international concern, as expressed through the United Nations, by governments, and in the news media.

Source :http://denial.bahai.org/index.php

HC issues notices to DU Cont of Exam and VC

New Delhi | Friday, Feb 8 2008 IST

The Delhi High Court today issued notices to the Controller of Examination, Vice Chancellor and Dean of the External Examination Cell of Delhi University and the Superintendent of examination of St Lawrence Convent School to appear before the court regarding a petition filed by one Tarawati who was denied to appear in an examination in November 2007.

Appearing before Justice Gita Mittal, Anuj Aggarwal, Lawyer for Tarawati said the girl who hails from a poor family had taken addmission in BA pass course in Delhi University. She got a compartment/re-appear in Political Science examination but when she appeared for the exam, her name was not there.

The counsel said following verification of her admission ticket, she was given the question paper and the answer sheet but after 15 minutes, the superintendent entered the room and forcibly took away the question paper from her. She was not allowed to appear in the examination. She lost one year because of the insensitive attitude of the officials and examiners. Therefore, she should be suitably compensated as well as a discipilanary inquiry should be conducted against the superintendent, the counsel said.

-- (UNI) -- 08DI47.xml

There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right....
Martin Luther

Achilles dragging Hector's lifeless body

Messenger Boy: Are the stories true? They say your mother was an immortal goddess. They say you can't be killed.
Achilles: I wouldn't be bothering with the shield then, would I?

Messenger Boy: The Thesselonian you're fighting... he's the biggest man I’ve ever seen. I wouldn't want to fight him.
Achilles: That’s why no one will remember your name.

Delhi High Court reserves order on unauthorised schools

22 November 2007

The Delhi High Court has reserved its orders on a petition, filed by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Social Jurist, seeking directions to the Delhi government to curb the menace of unauthorised schools, mushrooming in the capital.

A bench comprising Chief Justice M K Sharma and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, after hearing arguments of the petitioner Ashok Aggarwal, who had sought directions to be passed to Delhi government to monitor the unauthorised private schools in the capital, reserved its judgement.

Ashok Aggarwal and Anuj Aggarwal of Social Jurist had approached the court to regulate all the unauthorised schools running in the capital. There are more than 10,000 schools which are running without any approval or permission of the government and about six lakh students study in these schools.

These schools have not any monitoring system or guidelines and proper fee structure nor proper teaching staff. Every school should be regularised and follow some guidelines which are uniform for each school, said Ashok Aggarwal.

(UNI)

Alexander the Great (July 20, 356 BC – June 10, 323 BC)

While in India, Alexander took ten of the Brahmins prisoner. These men had a great reputation for intelligence, so Alexander decided to give them a test. He announced that the one who gave the worst answer would be the first to die, and he made the oldest Brahmin the judge of the competition.

Which are more numerous, Alexander asked the first one, the living or the dead? "The living," said the Brahmin, "because the dead no longer count."

Which produces more creatures, the sea or the land? Alexander asked the second. "The land," was his answer, "because the sea is only a part of it."

The third was asked which animal was the smartest of all, and the Brahmin replied: "The one we have not found yet."

Alexander asked the fourth what argument he had used to stir up the Indians to fight, and he answered: "Only that one should either live nobly or die nobly."

Which is older: day or night? was Alexander's question to the fifth, and the answer he got was: "Day is older, by one day at least." When he saw that Alexander was not satisfied with this answer, the Brahmin added: "Strange questions get strange answers."

What should a man do to make himself loved? asked Alexander, and the sixth Brahmin replied: "Be powerful without being frightening."

What does a man have to do to become a god? he asked the seventh, who responded: "Do what is impossible for a man."

The question to the eighth was whether death or life was stronger, and his answer: "Life is stronger than death, because it bears so many miseries."

The ninth Brahmin was asked how long it was proper for a man to live, and he said: "Until it seems better to die."

Then Alexander turned to the judge, who decided that each one had answered worse than another. "You will die first, then, for giving such a decision," said Alexander. "Not so, mighty king," said the Brahmin, "if you want to remain a man of your word. You said that you would kill first the one who made the worst answer." Alexander gave all of the Brahmins presents and set them free, even though they had persuaded the Indians to fight him.

- http://www.e-classics.com/ALEXANDER.htm (source)

Aim of life

“The aim of life is no more to control mind, but to develop it harmoniously...not to achieve salvation here after, but to make the best use of it here below...and not to realize truth, beauty and good only in contemplation, but also in-the actual experience of daily life; social progress depends not upon the ennoblement of the few but on the enrichment of all... Democracy or universal brotherhood can be achieved only when there is an equality of opportunity in the social, political and individual life."
(Page 124 of Jail notebook)
-Bhagat Singh