A nice message

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 25th Mar 2010 Thu

A Tree As Old As The Hills

Sanjay Dev

I am God’s creation; He who created the cosmos also created me. I am one of the elements of the natural world, and so am perhaps as old as the hills, existing say, for more than 210 million years now, going by the estimates of cosmogonists.
Genesis makes mention of me as the Tree of Knowledge planted by God along with the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, embodying knowledge of good and evil. The one whose fruit was forbidden to eat and which both Adam and Eve ended up eating, succumbing to temptation. And for which transgression they were banished from the Garden of Eden, to toil and sweat for survival.
I am also the Bo Tree, the tree under whose shade Gautama attained enlightenment and became known as the Buddha. I am produced by spore or seed and thus self-perpetuate, as per phytogenesis. That’s about my age, origin and evolution. I have witnessed vicissitudes of times; rise and fall of civilisations. I have survived the Apocalypse that flattened entire Creation and reduced me to a fossil or several fossils – proof of my once-being-there.
Years of survival and the struggle to live, inherent in all living beings, have conditioned me to stand the ground and acclimatise to surroundings, hostile or friendly, no matter! I first make sure that i stand on my own, and then prepare the ground for my near and dear ones. I not only create a habitat for myself but do so for others, too, who flock to my arborous arms. As a tree, one must be pliable when young. You can’t shape me into a mould once i am grown up and my limbs get ossified.
I understand the language of interdependence. And hence have a pact with those who tend to me. I fill their lungs with life-giving oxygen and take in the discarded carbon dioxide to fill mine and nourish myself. To reward others for my upkeep, i give them wood, fruits, rubber, nectar, gum, food and medicinal substances. This constitutes the material exchange. Besides, i also give protection from sun and rain; help stabilise the ground they make their homes on; offer them green cover to counter pollution and rarify the air they inhale.
I can’t be faulted because i keep teaching lessons – audible enough when it blows; visible enough when it blows and pours. I keep beckoning my arm-like branches and fluttering my wing-like leaves. What can i do if thewoods and its inhabitants collectively and separately miss my lessons of peaceful coexistence, communion with nature, symbiotic relationship, self-reliance, coalescence, assimilation and absorption, virtues of charity and giving, growing closely yet apart, vertical growth rooted in horizontal development, unobtrusive communication, standing tall, yet bending with one’s own weight without throwing it around – all this and much more. But alas, it seems they miss the woods for the trees!
I have always known my place in the vast cosmos and respect its limits in the context of my existence or not. Unfortunately, those who study the vastness of the cosmos believe in invading others’ space. Why don’t they just let me be? Ought you to judge a tree by its bark? The tree is known by its fruit, sometimes. How long will i take kindly to it all? If there is no more eco-mindfulness in the world and consumerism becomes the main driver of life and living, would that not impact the entire system? What if ultimately trees lose their ‘treeness’?

Hyderabad - part of history

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 22 Mar 2010 Mon

For Hyderabadis, Bhagmati is vital part of history

Mir Ayoob Ali Khan | TNN

Hyderabad: When international scholar of Urdu and Deccani David Mathews expressed doubts over the veracity of the story that Sultan Mohammed Quli named Hyderabad after his beloved Bhagmati, local experts including writers, historians and academics joined issue with him. Mathews had said, “I am not saying there was no Bhagmati. What I am saying is that more research is required to establish her existence in history.”

Narendra Luther who has written extensively on the history and culture of Hyderabad firmly believes that the debate over the love story of Quli Qutb Shah and Bhagmati, a Hindu peasant girl, was settled long ago. He is firm that Bhagmati did exist, Mohammed Quli did marry her and when he built Hyderabad around the village of her birth Chechlam, he named it Bhagnagar. After he bestowed on her the title of Hyder Mahal, Bhagnagar was renamed as Hyderabad.

In an article published in the biannual journal of Salar Jung Museum in 1996 Luther cited several travellers and historians to debunk the writings of historian Haroon Khan Sherwani denying the existence of Bhagmati. However, Syeda Jafar who has edited the collection of poetry of Mohammed Quli and written the history of Urdu literature supports Sherwani’s opinion.

“North Indian historians such as Faizi, Khafi Khan, Nizamuddin and Abdul Baqui looked down upon the sultanates of the Deccan, some called the Sultanate a mere ‘jagir’ and others even misspelt the name of Mohammed Quli,” she avers. Contemporary historians of the Deccan like Ali Bin Aziz Taba Taba or the writer of Tareekh-e-Qutb Shah do not mention Bhagmati, she points out. Two important poets of the time, Mohammed Quli and Ghawasi, also did not mention Bhagnagar; they had referred to the new capital of Golconda as Hyderabad, she adds.

But K Chandraiah, a civil servant, preferred the Luther line. In an article, The Legend of Bhagmati, in the book Hyderabad: 400 Glorious Years, Chandraiah wrote, “The romance of young Mohammed Quli and the pretty charming lady (Bhagmati) has firm roots in history. The writings of Abul Faizi, Nizamuddin Baksh, Abdul Baqi Nihawandi and Khafi Khan cannot be brushed aside on flimsy grounds that some of them never visited the place and their accounts were based on hearsay.”

Ziauddin Ahmed Shakeb, an expert on Islamic and Indian art, said while contemporary Moghul sources such as Abul Fazal, Firishta, and Badayuni discuss Bhagmati, the character is hardly cited by Deccani sources. “There is a grain of truth in the character of Bhagmati. Mohammed Quli was in love with her, he named Chechlam as Bhagnagar which is around today’s Yakutpura. The name of Bhagnagar village can be found in archival records. But the Sultan did not change Bhagnagar to Hyderabad or name Hyderabad after Bhagmati,” he said.

Shakeb made another startling observation: “Mir Momin, the Peshwa (prime minister) of Mohammed Quli did not appreciate the closeness between the Sultan and Bhagmati. Therefore, he decided to ensure that Bhagmati’s character is driven out of contemporary history. So much so that she did not even have a tomb built over her last remains.” He added, “I agree with Mathews that there should be more research on Bhagmati.”

Historian Salma Ahmed Farooqui insists that accounts of foreign travellers should not be dismissed as they are one of the main sources of social, economic and administrative conditions of those times and bring to focus aspects of life that were ignored by local historians. Bhagmati finds mention in the travel accounts of Bernier, Tavernier, Thevenot and Careri, who visited Hyderabad, though it was some 60 to 80 years after the rule of Mohammed Quli ended. All of them refer to Bhagmati as the mistress of Mohammed Quli. “The presence of Bhagmati can be accepted as four travellers have referred to her romantic tale,” she said.

M Abdul Qaiyoom, former deputy director of the department of Archeology and Museum, provides artistic evidence of Bhagmati’s existence. The State Museum in Public Gardens has a portrait of Bhagmati done around 1750 CE. A copy of this portrait can be found at the Salar Jung Museum.

Another portrait was published in the Journal of J J School of Arts, Mumbai, in 1942, but its authenticity is doubtful. “I have come across a Sotheby catalogue which carries a portrait of a Deccani damsel seated on a terrace. It’s by the artist Mohammed Reza-i-Hindi and dated 1760 CE. Though she has not been identified as Bhagmati, her features are strikingly similar to those of ladies in the portraits at the State and Salar Jung museums. I demand that a search for the character of Bhagmati be undertaken afresh in Hyderabad and Europe,” he said.

Conservationist Sajjad Shahed would like to close the debate thus: “All people and places have their own myths, legends and love stories. Hyderabadis have their own love-story, one based on the long poem ‘Qutb-Mushtari’ written by Wajhi and presented to Sultan Mohammed Quli on his coronation. Qutb here is Mohammed Quli and Mushtari is his beloved Bhagmati. Forget about digging up the past; let’s continue to believe in the legend”.

RUINS OF GOLCONDA FORT

It’s raining fish .....!!!!!!!!!

It’s raining fish in this Australian town!

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 1st March 2010 Mon

Melbourne:

Believe it or not, but a town in Australia has witnessed fish raining from the sky twice this week.
Apparently, hundreds and hundreds of small white fish fell from the sky at Lajamanu, about 550km southwest of Katherine. “It rained fish in Lajamanu on Thursday and Friday night. They fell from the sky everywhere,” Northern Territory News quoted Christine Balmer, a resident, as saying. She added, “Locals were picking them up off the footy oval and on the ground everywhere. These fish were alive when they hit the ground.”
Weather bureau senior forecaster on the news channel Ashley Patterson said, “It’s a very unusual event.
With an updraft, (fish and water picked up) couldget up high — up to 60,000 or 70,000 feet. Or possibly from a tornado over alarge water body - but we haven’t had any reports.” Another resident, Laura Balmer, the co-ordinator at the Lajamanu Aged CareCentre, added, “Thank god it didn’t raincrocodiles.” The small white fish are believed to be spangled perch, whichare very common through much of northern Australia. A similar incident had made headlines back in 1974. AGENCIES

Tips on Sleeping Postures

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 28 Feb 2010 Sun

Are you a sleeping beauty?

Do stars use two pillows or three, cuddle their partner or sleep back-to-back? Nona Walia finds out what's behind celebs' bedroom secrets

DO you pose when you sleep? There are very few celebrities who can be sleeping beauties in the bedroom too. Recently, Abhishek Bachchan in an interview raved about how Aishwarya sleeps like a beauty queen! That made us curious. Is there a particular way one should sleep? Interestingly, the way we sleep reveals a lot about our personality and relationships! People evolve individual sleeping patterns over time. Says actor Katrina Kaif, “I sleep on my sides. I don’t like patterns on my bedsheets. I prefer light shades. I don’t like to use anything extra except a pillow beneath my head.”

There’s no single pose that people love. Actor Riteish Deshmukh loves to sleep on his stomach. He says, “I sleep well on white sheets and need an extra pillow to hold.” As for actor Sanjay Suri, he loves to sleep “on my stomach using one pillow”.
E ve r wondered if wellh e e l e d celebrities are messy sleepers or do it like movie stars? Actor Eesha Koppikar sleeps straight on her back. “For me, the foetal or baby pose is ideal. I like baby blue and pink bedsheets and use a thin pillow.” Then there’s actor
Harman Baweja, who is also a baby pose person. “I have my favourite pillow that I carry even when I go abroad.”
Yet, more women love to create the soft ambience that puts them to sleep. Says actor Mahie Gill, “I usually like light coloured or white bedsheets. It makes me calm and I fall asleep instantly. I sleep on my side. I don’t like anything around me.” There are others who don’t like a crowded bed. Says actor
M i n i s s h a Lamba, “I hate stuff around on my bed. But m y f avo u r i t e s l e e p i n g
position is on my s t o m a c h . ”N e h a Dhupia, who loves sleeping on her sides needs “about 3-4 pillows around me”. Actor Payal Rohatgi reveals, “I sleep on my stomach. I can’t sleep on my back. Since childhood, I have used four pillows.”
However, couples confess how some of them like to sleep noseto-nose, while others sleep backto-back! While others sleep in a
foetal position, all curled-up because they want to feel loved. In a recent survey, UK-based relationship expert Corinne Sweet discovered, “Couples who sleep back-to-back aren’t always in a cold relationship, and may be close. A sleeping position is a significant indicator about a person’s state of mind.”
Sleeping styles reveal unusual individuality traits. Actor Shenaz Treasurywala, who sleeps with three pillows, says, “I hug one, put the second under my head and the third between my knees. I toss and turn a lot during the night and when I wake up, I’m often on my back. I need soft pillows. I am a light sleeper and need all the lights off.”
In his book, The Secret Language of Sleep, author Evany Thomas writes that there are 39 sleeping positions, which can be used to interpret the individual’s relationships and personality habits. Interestingly, more men sleep straight on their backs, reflecting confidence. Says artist Ayaan Ali Khan, “I sleep straight on my back. But I make sure the pillow is below my shoulders for my neck to get support.” There are funny bedroom tales too. Cuddling pillows, or your dog! Says actorc u m - m o d e l M r i n a l i n i Sharma, “I land up sharing my bed with my dog! We land up fighting over the blanket!” Cohabit at i o n leads to newer sleeping styles that couples evolve over a period of time. Says writer Raksha Bharadia, “I normally sleep with a slim pillow tucked underneath, halfcurled towards the left mostly. Usually, my back faces my husband except for the days he has earned brownie points.” Model Lisa Haydon says, “I sleep on my side, but need a lot of space as I can get claustrophobic.” It can be tricky for couples to avoid the politics of sharing a bed. Says Archana Puran Singh: “There was a time when I slept with four pillows. Pa r m e e t
sleeps straight on his back with his hands folded on his chest.”
Danseuse Geeta Chandran says, “I sleep with one pillow under my neck and another beneath my legs. Sometimes, I face my husband while sleeping.”
But often the bedroom becomes the war-zone too, if you’re not in your own comfortable sleeping position. Says Dr Avdesh Sharma, psychiatrist, “Everyone has their personal favourite sleeping positions and habits. But these habits reflect our basic instinct to feel protected. Those who sleep on their stomach may want to shut off the world. Most men sleep straight on their back, which is difficult, but it means they feel like a king!”
THE WAY YOU SLEEP!
THE FOETUS l You sleep curled-up, which means you may seem tough on the outside but have a sensitive heart. More women sleep this way than men. STOMACH SLEEPERS l Flat on your stomach, with arms at the head or ears, indicates a brash exterior and someone who may inwardly be sensitive. LOG POSITION l When you lie straight, it means you are easygoing and trusting. THE SPOONING l This position involves partners cuddling and shows fondness. THE YEARNERS l People who sleep on the sides with both arms in front have an open nature but can be suspicious.
BEST WAY TO SLEEP
Sleeping on the back is a preferred position, as it puts the least stress on your spine. But if you place a pillow under your knees, this takes stress off your lower back. If you’re a side sleeper, use a cervical pillow. This is because you want to keep your neck in a neutral position. Place a pillow between your knees. This is comfortable, if you have pain in your hips. Try not to sleep on your side with your arm up over your head, as this causes stress on the nerves. Stomach sleepers cause the most stress to their neck. You should place a pillow under your stomach. Make sure there’s no television or harsh sounds in your bedroom. The lighting, too, should be soft. For luck, your head should point north.

Don’t test your child!

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 21 Feb 2010 Sun

Don’t let your child hit the panic button when exams arrive, says Norbert Rego

SEVEN years ago, Mahesh Podar’s 16-year-old daughter scored 82 per cent in the SSC Board exam, with 92 per cent in science and 65 per cent in languages. Despite this, she couldn’t get admission to the college of her choice, which led her to end her life.

Podar believes, “The exam system should be overhauled. Also, parents should not put pressure on children over studies. Sometimes, it’s very difficult to gauge the level of depression that children go through. Hence, they should be taught about mental health.” Today, Podar visits various schools in Mumbai to bring about awareness among children.
Four years ago, Anthony Furtado lost his 17-year-old son to depression during the class 12 exam. He advises parents, “As exams approach, children should be told not to worry or panic, get stressed or depressed.” Furtado shares his experience with friends and strangers. He tells children, “Failure is always a stepping stone for success. Life is short and precious, live it. Life is beautiful, enjoy it.”
Rima Nayak was in class 9 and tense about her exams. Her parents recall, “She found Maths difficult and the school threatened to fail her. One day, she took an overdose of drugs. In her suicide note, she said she hated school.” They are still in a state of shock, despite the incident happening three years ago.
The common thread that runs through these cases is a poor understanding of a person’s strong points. Biologically, a child’s brain is divided into the left and right brain.
Explains Dr Jitender Nagpal, psychiatrist, Vimhans Hospital, New Delhi, “The left brain develops analytical functions and contributes to numerico-mathematical functions with speech, language as also the primary functions. However, a collaborative partnership of the left and right brain is needed for holistic development.” Sharmistha Mukherjee, Kolkata-based clinical psychologist, maintains, “Right brain is responsible for visual and processes information in an intuitive and simultaneous way, looking first at the whole picture, then the details.” Dr R Manoj, Chennai-based clinical psychologist, says, “Experiments have shown that most
children rank high in terms of creativity (right brain) before entering school. The limitations on the functions of right hemisphere comes from our academic approach which give excessive importance to mathematics, logic and language based on memorised information. Because of this, only 10 per cent of these children will rank ‘highly creative’ by age seven and it reduces to only two per cent of the population by the time they are adults.”
Psychiatrists say left brain-dominant people take up professions like medicine, accountancy, engineering and law, while right brain-dominant one often pursue a career in the arts — painting, dance, music and sports. Parents should understand this ‘brain game’ and let their children explore their inherent talent.
Tips to parents
Talk less and smile more. Hug your kid a little longer and a little stronger in distress. Share your feelings with kids, encouraging them to do the same. Encourage laughter in the family. Discuss studies with them and discuss movies and fun too. Help them recall positive memories. When they are excessively quiet, irritable, have low or increased appetite, talk about death or dying, rush them to a counsellor and not to an astrologer. Parents should sleep enough and eat on time.
(Inputs from Dr Harish Shetty, psychiatrist,
Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital, Mumbai)
Tips to children
Study as much as you can. Scan what you know well and read what you are not sure about. Sleep for eight hours and eat well on time. Play for half an hour, it helps memory and confidence. View exams like a party, and answer the best question first. After a paper, do not do a post-mortem. Share your tears and fears with your best teacher, family members or a counsellor. Play happy sentences in your internal iPod (brain) all the time. When down, sad or scared, recall the time when you were at your best and play the memory completely.
(Inputs from Shalet Fernandes,
Mumbai-based clinical psychologist) norbert.rego@timesgroup.com

Ads that sell, but care

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 21 Feb 2010 Sun

Save Tigers! Donate Blood! Save Petrol! As more and more corporates jump onto the social advertising bandwagon, Anuradha Varma does a reality check of how true are their intentions!

AS Stripey, the orphaned tiger cub runs for cover, lost in his misery, the viewer’s heart goes out to him. And as the crescendo builds, with cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni and footballer Baichung Bhutia endorsing the cause in the TV commercial, it’s only the hard-hearted that doesn’t want to save the tiger!

As over a lakh speak up on social networking sites, there is a movement that looks ready, with nowhere to go! Should the ads have focused more clearly on the message? Says adman Prahlad Kakkar, “The commercial tugs at one’s heart, but it’s directionless. Perhaps, the makers never expected an overwhelming response.”
Adds Aamir Jaleel, executive director, Lowe Lintas, part of the team that conceptualised Tata Tea’s effective Jaago Re campaign, “Yes, social service advertising has to give an answer, tell people exactly how they can contribute. It can’t just be about holding a candle to a cause,
which only helps get rid of guilt. The Aircel brand connect seems slapped on. It risks the viewer wondering if they just decided to invest their crores only for publicity. It’s a good cause, but it’s sudden and out of nowhere.”
Says Sivanand Mohanty, creative head, Dentsu Communications, behind the Save Our Tigers commercial, “We needed to approach wildlife conservation from a less expected angle than ‘poachers are killing tigers, let’s save them’. When watching The Lion King, why do our eyes well up when Mufasa dies? Because a father died trying to save his son. This led us to the creative idea, which seeks to make every Indian ‘feel’ for our national animal. A tiger is beautiful, majestic and dangerous, but a six-month-old cub is just another baby that needs his mother to survive.”
Tata Tea’s Jaago Re campaign, which talked about corruption (Ab Se Khilana Band, Pilana Shuru) and voting, which saw 28 lakh registrations on their website, and Idea, that spoke about causes like illiteracy and environment, according to Kakkar, changed the rules of the game. He says, “Suddenly, a social message was part of the main advertising campaign. Earlier, clients would give you Rs 2 lakh and the ad would run in the middle of the night.”
Interestingly, both brands didn’t start out wanting to do a public service campaign, but the social connect helped their brands stand out. Ashwin Jacob Varkey, creative director, Lowe Lintas, “For the Idea ad, where we say that a number can be one’s identity, we could have shown a CEO calling out a name at a meeting, and more than one hand going up, and pointing out how a mobile number is unique. Instead, we brought in a caste system, which had more impact as it stood for social change, and acted as a brand differentiator.” Jaleel echoes, “With coffee shops opening up, tea had become a middle-class, middle-aged drink. To make it as cool as coffee, we had to link it to coffee and the youth. The ad focused attention on the problems we were ignoring.”
The impact is higher
when a brand and social
advertising go seamlessly together. These ads, Jaleel maintains, are different from an Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan speaking up for polio. Some other commercials stand out in this space, like Incredible India’s Atithi Devo Bhava campaign featuring Aamir Khan, sending out a clear message on how to treat visitors to the country, the blood donation ad where a girl sprints to help an elderly man after having donated blood with the tagline proclaiming “Neki ke liye pehlwan nahin insan hona zaruri hai”. Environment is also a key theme, whether it’s the Save Our Tiger campaign or Nokia’s ad talking about recycling.
Say Priya Pardiwalla and Steven Mathias, senior creative directors, JWT,
who worked on the PCRA petrol conservation campaign, where the son tells his father not to keep the car running at a red light, “Children are a fantastic influence. The ad tells you how to save petrol and save money, which has an impact.”
However, is there more method required to
the creative bursts? Admits AA Rao, director, media, Ministry of Environment, “Environment is global concern. However, the efforts need to be more focused.”
As for saving the tiger, Gurdeep Singh, chief operating officer, Aircel India, maintains, “We’re in it for the long haul with World Wildlife Fund-India and NGOs. It’s a start. Consumers are looking beyond a transactional connect with a brand.”
The writing is clear — a social message needs to be followed up with a strong brand connect possibly partnering with NGOs and others to get the message across! anuradha.varma@timesgroup.com

Stripey, the tiger cub in the Save Our Tigers commercial

Aamir Khan, the face of the Atithi Devo Bhava campaign

PCRA’s petrol conservation commercial

SCAR OF WAR:

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 15 Feb 2010 Mon

An expert defuses a World War II bomb discovered on a building site on Sunday in the Normandy city of Caen. Allied planes had dropped 10,000 tonnes of bombs on Caen in mid-1944 after the D-Day landings to retake France from Germans

A nice message

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 15th Feb 2010 Mon

Come To Terms With Multiple Identities

Discourse: Swami Sukhabodhananda

An old man died disappointed in life. He was honest and could not tolerate dishonest people. When he met the Lord in heaven, he asked, ‘If human beings are your creation, then all of them are your children. Why are there so many differences amongst them?’
God replied kindly: “Each person who is born on this earth has a unique message to offer to the world. It is only through these lessons one understands life and godliness.”
When people tell lies, it implies that things are not as they seem. Learn to look behind the facade. When someone dies, it reminds us that nothing is permanent. Life is impermanent. So don’t take life for granted.
When one criticises you, it teaches that no two people are alike. When someone breaks your heart, it teaches you that loving someone does not always mean that love will come back to you the way you want it to. When someone cheats you, it teaches you that the root cause of evil is greed.
Even good deeds offer their own messages. Hence, the world is like a university teaching us in unique ways always. Let your life be one of learning.
Learn to do everything with love and devotion. Be grateful for everything. Then you will receive Divine Grace. This is the law of life.
With devotion, your third eye or intuitive eye opens, and you would see many meaningful coincidences occurring in your life. You will see the hand of God blessing you in mysterious ways.
We might think we are individuals; actually we are a collection of many identities. The one in you who listens to me is different; the one that creates problems is different. I am a father, with reference to my son, a son with reference to my father, and a boss with reference to my employee. Therefore there are several identities in one individual. How to achieve a balance with so many identities? How to transform the negative ones into positive?
Buddha advised his disciples to move around with five seekers, so that their presence would impact the other. One’s purity would empower the other.
Atmasmaranam or self-remembrance is an important aspect in life. We have to remind ourselves of the great teachings of enlightened masters. When we are forgetful, unconsciousness takes over. We have to become conscious and remember that we have to decouple ourselves with the ‘wrong’ self.
The wrong self has its survival games. We have to see them clearly and understand. Observe how the wrong self is a function of the ‘lower self’ and the game of life is to operate from the ‘higher self’. This is not difficult, but one has to practise with joy. Don’t work for joy; instead, work out of joy.
Truth does not disempower. Whatever the truth, one should be able to see it. Truth does not operate in a way to please one. Truth reveals the facts of life. Do you want to be with fact or fiction?
Further, we can unify all the various identities we have at our disposal. That is the alchemy that spirituality invites us to experience. We can do that only if every identity in us is driven by a principle. Be principle-oriented. The foundations of our lives must be based on goodness.
Every identity should be anchored on transformation. Transformation means growth. If all identities are transformed, then we become individuals. Or else, we would be like those seated in a chariot with each horse galloping in different directions. Let all horses run in the same direction.

SIVARATRI

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 12th Feb 2010 Fri

Special Night Of Divine Rest And Wakefulness

Discourse: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Shiva means your very self, the purest Self, your innermost core. Shiva means good or benevolent. The word ratri in Sanskrit means that which relieves you from three types of agony – ethereal, mental and material. At night everything becomes quiet and peaceful. The body gets tired and goes to sleep. ‘Shivaratri’ literally means that night which infuses the Shiva tatva or the transcendental principle to the three instruments: the body, mind and speech.
Shivaratri is a night of deep rest. It is the night that takes you into its lap, comforts you and gives rest. When the mind rests on the lap of the Divine, that’s real rest. Like the mind, memory and intellect, Shiva is also a tatva or principle in us. Shivaratri is when the Shiva tatva and Shakti become one.
The jagran in Shivaratri – staying awake all night – is not just forcing oneself to be awake or sing devotional songs. It is about being consciously aware of the inner rest that sleep brings everyday. When you surpass a certain layer of sleep, samadhi happens. Samadhi is often referred to as Shiva Sayujya, the presence of Shiva, a state of deep rest with alertness, which brings freedom from all identities. Kabir Das calls it koti kalpa vishram – a billion years of rest consolidated in a moment. When you come out of it, you experience certain pleasantness and reduced entropy, which brings an unusual freshness to the mind and senses.
The linga in Shiva temples symbolises identification or sign through which you identify someone as being male, female or neutral. The Divine is beyond the three genders; hence the Divine is called Ekalinga, or unigender. What is that one gender? The Self, the Atma. The Self is beyond body, mind or intellect; it is beyond likes and dislikes. Ekalinga is the Lord of the Self.
On Shivaratri, the Shiva Shakti merges into the whole universe. Shiva has been associated with destruction; but transformation, new beginning for the better, can only happen when something is destroyed. Shiva is the factor of transformation. ‘Sham’ means peace and good and ‘kara’ means one who does that. ‘Shankara’ means one who gives peace and does good.
The whole of Creation is the dance or play of Shiva, the tandav or dance of one consciousness, one seed, which manifested into a million species in the world. The whole world moving in an auspicious rhythm of innocence and intelligence is Shiva. Shiva is the permanent and eternal source of energy – the one and only eternal state of Being.
There is a story related to Shivaratri, about the union of Shiva and Shakti. The primordial and dynamic energy is wedded to the transcendental. Shiva is the silent witness and Shakti is chitti or chidvilasa, the energy that plays and displays in infinite space. Shiva is the formless Being; Shakti is manifestation in the field. This is the recognition of the dual aspect of matter and energy, prakriti and purusha, the dravya and guna – substance and its qualities. Recognising the underlying non-dual nature of Brahmn is Shivaratri.
It is only wakefulness that brings out this knowledge in our consciousness and Shivaratri is the night to celebrate the wakefulness of one universal consciousness without falling into the unconscious sleep state. Breaking the pattern of unconscious sleep gives you a glimpse that you are not a mechanical apparatus but a legend in Creation. To recognise the Shiva tatva, you have to be awake.

A BLOT IN HISTORY Germany rebuffs scholars, says no to Hitler reprint

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 6th Feb 2010 Sat

Munich: In Germany, an author is granted an ironclad copyright for 70 years after his death, apparently even if he is subsequently regarded as one of the greatest mass murderers in history and a dark stain on the national character.
Hitler’s copyright on Mein Kampf, in the hands of the Bavarian government since the end of the Nazi regime, has long been used to keep his inflammatory manifesto off the shelves in Germany. But with the expiration date looming in 2015, there is a developing showdown here over the first German publication of the book since the end of WW II.
Experts at the respected Institute of Contemporary History in Munich say they want to prepare a critical, annotated version of the book for release when the copyright expires 70 years after Hitler’s suicide in his Berlin bunker.
"We hope to prevent neo-Nazi publications by putting out a commented, scholarly edition before that," said Edith Raim, a historian at the institute. Mein Kampf is one of the central texts if you want to explain National Socialism, and it hasnt been available in a commented edition at all in Germany.
But the Bavarian government opposed the idea, citing respect for victims of the Holocaust. In a statement Thursday, the Bavarian Finance Ministry said that permits for reprints would not be issued, at home or abroad. This also applies to a new annotated edition, said the statement, adding that the state would use all means at its disposal to proceed against any violations. There was also disagreement as to whether the book might be banned as Nazi propaganda. The Bavarian govt said that even after expiration of the copyright, the dissemination of Nazi ideologies will remain prohibited and is punishable under the penal code.
But Raim said that diaries by prominent Nazis like Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler were already available. AFP

KEEP IT SAFE! Losing your phone is a very irksome experience, and so...

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 29 Jan 2010 Fri

If you’ve lost one before, you’ll know how losing a cell phone can ruin a perfectly good day in seconds. First, there’s the whole feeling of loss, especially if it’s been gifted or you really liked it or you worked hard to get it. Then there’s the panicked searching, calling the number, maybe even going to the cops, who’ll laugh at you, the cancelling of the SIM, asking for a new one and buying a new, disgustingly cheap phone. Then you realise your entire social life – in the form of all your friends’ numbers – is gone and start mailing everyone asking them for their numbers. Finally, you break down when you realise all those photos, ringtones, and softwares you had so carefully collected over the last few months needs to be collected all over again.
Painful, isn’t it? Follow these tips and you can avoid the ordeal all together.

• Get a belt loop, the kind people use for ID cards. A little kindergarten-ish but a few smirks are better than 35k down the drain, and you get brownie points for innovation.

• Use a screen protector. Not just touch screen phones, but all phones need this – it’s all too easy to put it into a purse /pocket with your house keys or loose change and cry afterwards. On the same note, avoid decorative stuff that hangs off it – it’s very 14-yearold and will scratch the screen and surface as well.

• Get a sachet of silica gel – it’s those little grey packets in the pockets of new jeans, you can keep one in purse /bag. It absorbs moisture and keeps your phone dry.

• Choose the right covers. Too big, it’ll fall out. Too small, you’ll scratch it while struggling to get it out.

• Take it to proper service centres. When there’s a problem – they can check if it’s in warranty period and fix it for free. Local repairmen will not only charge, but also invalidate the warranty so the service centre can’t give you free service next time.

• Don’t buy phones from the grey market. There’s hardly any difference now. Keep the bill. Buy a five-rupee file and file it, shove it in the back of your cupboard. If it lasts, it lasts; but if the phone breaks down, it will hopefully break down within warranty period.

• Don’t accept anonymous bluetooth files. Evil programmers worldwide are dreaming up phone viruses in their spare time, and there’s no protection yet. A bad virus can not only wreck your phone’s software, but can jump to your friends’ phones as well.

• Keep it away from tables where there’s food / drink / coffee. Nothing like a nice dose of hot, greasy butter chicken to, um, add some spice to your phone’s death.

• Buy hands-frees, use the speaker when you can. You save your brain from being microwaved, and especially for people who talk a long time, you avoid cramped arms. Also, your ear sweats after a while, seeping into your phone. Don’t use the phone when you're sweating.

• Sand and dust particles will kill your phone like Uma Thurman killed Bill. It’s the worst thing to happen to slider and swivel phones; if you have one of these, use a cheap backup no-moving-parts spare phone when travelling, going to a seaside resort, outdoor trips – treks, picnics, excursions, etc. If you can’t do that, switch it off and leave it safe in the hotel room. The great beyond is filled with potential phone killers like water, dust, rain, sand, cold, snow, falls, heat, and sweat; leave the good phone at home, avoid it completely.

• Lastly, don’t forget to record your IMEI number. All you need to do is type *#06# into your phone and the serial number that appears is your IMEI number. If you happen to lose your phone, the police will be able to track it down with this number.

HISTORY OF THE PRESIDENCY

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 23 Jan 2010 Sat

Rajendra Prasad
(1884-1963)
Term of Office | January 26, 1950 to May 13, 1962
First President of independent India. A freedom fighter, Rajendra Prasad was the only president to serve two terms in office

Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
(1888-1975)
Term of Office | May 13, 1962 to May 13, 1967
A prominent philosopher, writer, a Knight of the Realm who held the position of vicechancellor of Andhra University and Banaras Hindu University. He was also made a Knight of the Golden Army of Angels by Pope Paul VI

Zakir Husain (1897-1969)
Term of Office | May 3, 1967 to May 3, 1969
He was vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University and a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. Husain died before his term of office ended

Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri
(1894-1980)
Term of Office | May 3, 1969 to July 20, 1969 and August 24, 1969 to August 24, 1974
The only person to have the distinction of serving as both acting president and President of India. V V Giri was
a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, and his previous positions included minister of labour and high commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
(1905-1977)
Term of Office | August 24, 1974 to February 11, 1977
A veteran politician, he held various cabinet posts including food & agriculture, education, industrial development, etc. He died in 1977 before his term ended, and was the second president to have died in office

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (1913-1996)
Term of Office | July 25, 1977 to July 25, 1982
N S Reddy was the first CM of Andhra Pradesh. He was the only MP from Janata Party to get elected from Andhra. He was unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha on March 26, 1977 and relinquished this office on July 13, 1977 to become the 6th President of India

Giani Zail Singh
(1916-1994)
Term of Office | July 25, 1982 to July 25, 1987
Zail Singh served as Punjab CM and later as Union home minister in the Indira Gandhi government

R Venkataraman
(1910-2009)
Term of Office | July 25, 1987 to July 25, 1992
A former freedom fighter, he first served as minister of finance and industry and later as minister of defence

Shankar Dayal Sharma
(1918-1999)
Term of Office | July 25, 1992 to July 25, 1997
Sharma had been chief minister of MP, and then Union minister for communications. He also served as the governor of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra. As vice-president, broke down in the Rajya Sabha while witnessing an ugly row by the members

K R Narayanan (1920-2005)
Term of Office | July 25, 1997 to July 25, 2002
India’s first Dalit president. Served as India’s ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, China and the US. Regarded as an independent president who set several precedents and enlarged the scope of the highest constitutional office

A P J Abdul Kalam
(born 1931)
Term of Office | July 25, 2002 to July 25, 2007
Eminent scientist and visionary who played a leading role in the development of India’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes. Kalam also received the Bharat Ratna and has authored 4 books

Pratibha Patil
(born 1934)
Term of Office | July 25, 2007 -
Patil is the first woman to become the President of India. She was also the first woman Governor of Rajasthan. In 2009, Patil followed Kalam’s prededent and flew in a fighter aircraft

Mind Management Is The Key Swayam Vishvas

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 30th Jan 2010 Sat

When we are afflicted with a disease like malaria, we don’t treat each symptom like fever, pain and shivering, one by one. We just treat the disease and the symptoms automatically vanish. So deal directly with the mind and symptoms like stress and strain will disappear. Vishvas meditation is mind management.

There is no attempt, however, to control the mind; the idea is to go beyond it. The mind is compared to a monkey drunk with the wine of desire, stung by the scorpion of jealousy and possessed with the demon of pride. Lust, greed, jealousy, anger, ego, tensions, reactions, grudges, depression, stress and strain are, however, the symptoms and not the disease.
The common misconception is that meditation is concentration of mind and various techniques are taught to achieve this. Meditation has got no technique. There are techniques for concentration. Concentration is a mental exercise between the mind and the object of attention. But meditation is neither a mental exercise nor a practice. Meditation is a direct and natural process beyond the mind itself. Meditation is not concentration; it is the mother of concentration.
Remember, concentration is where one tries to control thoughts, where thoughts get dissolved naturally, enhancing your powers of concentration, memory, will, right thinking and fitness.
When your thought current is interrupted – which means that all thoughts are fixed on one object – it is concentration. But when the flow is uninterrupted, that is meditation. This is when the thought is not fixed on any oneobject, rather we just remain a non-doer and directly watch thoughts as a neutral energy without any judgement, analyses, participation, visualisation, imagination, contemplation, suppression, repression, condemnation or concentration. Meditation is a non-doing entity where you are simply a seer, witness, you are an observer of the mind’s happenings. To watch is our true nature. It is a natural, nondoing state. No effort is required to watch. We all have full potential to look within directly as we all are blessed with the ‘Third Eye’.
Meditation is mind management. It is not forcing the mind to be quiet. It is to find the quiet that is there already. We are children of bliss. We suffer from stress and strain because we gave all the powers to the mind and made it our master. Not only that, we consider ourselves nothing but the mind.
Mind is matter. It has no power of its own. It is useful in the external world but in the spiritual, internal world, it has to be overcome. Otherwise we will be the victims of mental and physical diseases. Meditation is seeing the mind as a witness, a neutral energy. It is not interfering with the intricacies and doings of mind. Just be a seer, be a witness. We just stay in our own source, in our true nature: All-bliss.
We are happy when the mind is cheerful. We are depressed when the mind is gloomy. We are at the mercy of the mind that waxes and wanes. We consider ourselves nothing but mind. It is blasphemy to consider ourselves as victims of an unforeseen incident when the unending Bliss is flowing within all of us. Meditation is mind management. Meditation is homecoming.
The writer is a member of the Vishvas Foundation. E-mail: vishvas@vishvas.org

Day of destiny: Why 26 Jan became our Republic Day Praveen Dass

The following article was published in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Hyderabad edition on 24th Jan 2010 Sun:

No political campaign in history has ever succeeded without symbolism. India’s freedom movement was no exception. Its careful adoption of many potent symbols helped unite a large, diverse land to fight for freedom in singular fashion. January 26 was one such symbolic choice, a selection made to recall a distinct moment in the long march to Indian independence.

That choice of date was made at the 1930 Lahore session of the Indian National Congress, where the Tricolour as we know it was raised for the first time. It was decided there that January 26 would from then on be marked by all freedom fighters as ‘Purna Swaraj Day’, a call for complete self-rule. This was an Independence Day before the actual event.
August 15 was not a matter of choice given to the Congress, as events hurtled to make the British transfer power to Nehru’s provisional government on that day in 1947. India gained freedom to become a dominion then, still formally owing some allegiance to the British Crown — it’s why coinage and stamps of that period still retain a bust of George VI.
A constituent assembly was formed soon after to rectify that, and a drafting committee was given the responsibility of coming up with a Constitution. It did that job admirably by the middle of 1949, and the assembly approved a new constitution on November 25. It was signed by all members on January 24, 1950 and came into effect two days later, as Rajendra Prasad took office as President of the new ‘Republic of India’. Almost by design, it appeared, January 26 had returned to the national consciousness, always to be celebrated as Republic Day.