my father

Fathers day thoughts make me too nostalgic and emotional..
I have a father whose whole world and dreams revolved around me.. the son right from the day I was born.. I could realize that much later.. He would go to any extent to justify and highlight whatever I tried to do well. He has never found fault with me for anything I did, any time when I blundered and cause hurt for many.. And such episodes were too many..
But he cheated me almost thirty years ago.. He just died. left his body.. and departed.. and that was when I was away from home..on a training.. and could rush back to say goodbye to him after only 24 hours.. Maybe he could not have left that way had I been with him at that time.. But that was the only thing he ever did to hurt me..

He was not a scholar or philosopher and perhaps not  a significant person in any way that the society conceived..
But he was a staunch devotee of Muruga.. the Pazhani Andavar..
He would not refer to the Lord by His many names.
Pazhani Andavar according to him was always Namma Swamy.. our own God..
And he would always repeat, when things were not at all rosy.. Namma Swamy .. our God will solve our problems anyway... He may put us to test , but would never give us up..
But he had some real spiritual wealth with him..
He had come by certain mantrams and certain special ways of worship during his long bachelor life..
He married at 40 and I was born one year later..
And he was planning to teach me all those mantrams..
But I could get only a small percentage of it..
I have to confess that I did not approve much of his spiritual ways and blind faith in Namma Swamy when he was alive..
And I know he was waiting for the time when I would turn around with full faith.
But then death intervened..
Of course I did turn around much later.
Now my faith is absolute and unequivocal.

And he was very particular about one point..
Whatever may be the situation, the poojas and the mantrams should not be appled after taking any Dakshina or other benefits.

He was named as Vaidyanthan but because of his craze for Ganapathy Homam, he got a second name Ganapathy.. and this name stuck so much that most of the people knew him only as Ganapathy..
Only the records of the Government where he served would show his original name..

People used to call him to perform Ganapathy Homam at their homes.. usually he would decline but has performed that in some houses of very close friends..
But then he would not take any dakshina..
I learnt Ganapathy Homam from him..
He used to perform ganapathy homam at home every friday, all days during Karkitakam, all days in navaratri and on every birthday of any family member..

We had often felt skeptic about his craze for that ritual..
He believed that when the fire was in full vigour, and when the God was invoked, and when the Homa dravyam.. essentially a sweet mixture of coconut pieces, jaggery, ghee, and any other permitted edible material was r3ady and if the God is called sincerely with the moola mantram. he believed that Ganapathy appeared on fire with his trunk held up and mouth fully open to received the sweet material..
I remember him, working up his devotion with many chants of moola mantram. and offering the homa dravyam to fire believing in simplicity that Ganapathy was eating..
I really do not know whether his belief is rational or correct, but his faith was beyond any limits..

Yes, I can think of my father only for his blind love for me and for his blind love for our Swamy, and Ganapathy..

And within a year of his departure, I became a father of a Son.. my only possession in this world..

I am a proud father, a very proud father,, because of my Son.
.For me he is the best in this world.. Because of him, it is a very happy fathers day for me..
Pranams to the hallowed memory of my father, who, though left his physical body three decades ago lives with me and lives in me always..
And sweet thoughts for my Son, my only son, who just has the same name as my father.

And when I talk of Krishna I have not doubt that that Krishna is just Our swamy and Ganapthy too..

Chonnam goes to Mundur..

In our agraharam.. there is a story about Chonnam going to mundur .. Chonnam Mundoorukku pona pole..ചൊണ്ണം മുണ്ടൂരുക്ക് പോന പോലെ 

Our agraharam is in the heart of Palakkad town.. and Mundur is a place about twelve kilometers away from here.. a place en route to Mannarkad.. and Mundur is semi hilly.. and full of very fertile arable lands.
The brahmins of the agraharam in yonder years, owned a lot of agricultural lands there..

They would leave the lands in the control of tenants and a few would visit there often and stay in temporary shelters called kalappura.. Such kalappuras were used for extra curricular activities too.. That is a different story.

One brilliant mama in our village had an equally brilliant son whom he christened Swarnam (Swarnapureeswaran or something like that).. and assigned a pet name of Chonnam..


This mama had extensive areas of agriculture lands in Mundur..
He wanted to inspect the progress of agricultural activity and the activities of the tenants at Mundur and also wanted to collect something in cash or kind from them for the daily use of the family..

So one evening he called his darling son Chonnam and told him


Chonnam nee nalaikku kaarthaale mundurukku ponam..
ചൊണ്ണം നീ നാളയ്ക്ക് കാര്ത്താലെ മുണ്ടൂരുക്ക് [പോകണം

you should go to Mundur tomorrow morning.

The obedient son agreed as if the fathers order is a Vedavakyam


The next morning the sun rose, and the father was searching for the son to leave instructions as to what he should do at Mundur

He called the golden boy.. and there was no response..
Then he enquired about the whereabouts of his wise son.

No one around  had any clue.


All knew that the  august presence of Chonnam was not felt since early morning..

But by ten O clock in the morning, the son was sighted, running back after a long, long trek

Nee engeda ponaay..  നീ എങ്കേഡാ പോനായ് ? where did you go.. asked the father.

Pat came the reply... Neengal Chonna pole Mundurukku poyittu Vandaachu..    നീങ്കള്‍ ചൊന്ന പോലെ മുണ്ടൂരുക്ക് പോയിട്ട് വന്താച്ചു   I have gone to Mundur and come back as per your directions..

Enthukku daa ponaay.. എന്തുക്ക് ഡാ പോനായ് ? what was the purpose of your travel.. asked the father..

Appa, neengal athu chollalaye.... അപ്പാ നീങ്കള്‍ അത് ചൊല്ലലയെ father , you did not tell me that..

The son had obeyed his father to the dot.. but with no purpose served..

A brilliant father, an equally brilliant son whose weight is worth is gold.. and a great journey..

This anecdote might be found in the annals of many paatti stories with different heroes and dramatis personae..
But our agraharam story goes like this..

We iyers though brilliant in many ways, are capable of extremely absurd actions.. innocently but foolishly..

pooja--what it means to me

The most beautiful slice of time every day in my life is that eighty to ninety minutes in the morning.. serving.the God the way I love.

I am sure that God needs no service from me..and I do not believe He is going to give me any special boons in return. No.

I do not even know whether he accepts my worship..I can never verify.

To collect flowers to be placed at his feet.

To clean the vessels earmarked for his service.

To clean the ground where He is to sit and receive my flowers and praises.

To clean and decorate the little objects in which I believe He presents Himself (I may be right or wrong in that belief.. but that matters a lot to me)

To offer water for His bath.

To offer incense and sandal paste to Him.

To utter many many words in His/Her praise 

To offer some little food for Him/Her..knowing well that I am not good enough to expect that he/she would eat from my hands.

To offer a leaf of Tulasi to krishna.

To offer a leaf of Bilwa to Shankara 

To see Their majestic presence in the light of brightly lit camphor.

To sip.a drop of water that washed their lotus feet.

Yes. I can get all this only if I am living on this earth.

I want nothing from you God except this slice of time where i serve you forgetting myself.

KRISHNA I LOVE YOU

investigation.. the Incometax Style..

I have had eleven years of experience in the Investigation setup of the Incometax Department, six years as an Inspector of Incometax, and later five years as a Deputy Director of Incometax Investigation..

In fact this is a specialized job and not everyone who joins as Inspector would have had such long tenure.. with Search and Investigation operations.. planning, executing and following up, and defending the results too..
In retrospect I am amused with myslef.. I was a puny five footer, a soft spoken, academically inclined fellow with no claims of physical or mental agility..

But then it happened so....

The investigative achievements are not worth recall, because, it is part of the official life, and the government of India has paid me fairly well..
And when there were successes by way of seizure of cash, jewellery etc, the department has given us rewards.. free of taxation..

The department looks professionalised and dapper now..
But fourty years ago, we had to exist and survive on our own ingenuity.
If we received an information and we had to trace a telephone number we would have to sit and read the telephone directory entry by entry.. guessing all sorts of permutations and combinations..
I remember having gone through the telephone directory of madras of 1980 in three voulumes or so each of a few hundreds of pages, that too many times over, just to search the telephone numbers and addresses of suspected tax evaders. No searchable direcories in the web, no googling..
We did not have vehicles.. For reconnaissance we would have to just walk along sprawling roads.. And in the middle 1970s the Chennai Corporation had assigned new numbers to buildings en masse.. and the old and new numbers were totally unrelated..and the entire investigation would be worse that a maze, a jigsaw puzzle..
Reconnaissance was an art, a dangerous, risky game.

But that was all the part of the job.. you were paid to do that only.

But the day of search was a real challenge to the officer and the Inspector organizing the raid or search operations.
It was necessary that every known premises of the suspected tax evader and his associates and henchmen should be covered simultaneously, and the commencing time was so sacrosanct.
If the operations covered many cities all over India, still we should ensure that our people knocked at the door of each rendezvous exactly the same time.. anywhere ..

And to maintain secrecy, we would give the search warrants and the briefs--brief description of the operation listing what exactly we expected to find--the route map to reach the place of action etc, in sealed covers, to be opened only five or ten minutes before the strike..
Those days we did not even take police protection for the search operations.

It is was thrilling, and it was nightmarish too

The conduct of a search is more taxing than conducting a marriage.
.Really Taxing on the taxmen

Then we had funny and easy going members in our search parties, who will take everything easy..

We had to spot them and include them in search parties where they can do no harm or damage..

We had little choice and we could not avoid them because when we had to muster a large number of persons just for manpower, we did not bank heavily on efficiency of all.

But still there were some really extraordinarily funny people.

I am remembering on old dandyish Iyengar Inspector,, who will daily come office dressed neatly sporting a Namam(the vertical marks on the forehead made of some special clay, according to religious faith) etc, spend the day for sometime in office and greater time in the canteen, and would get away without much work..
He had only a couple of years to retire, and he had not cleared the qualitying examination which could make him an officer..
So his career was blessed with immunity.

But he was an eager volunteer for search operations..
One added attraction during the searches is that the parties would be served with nice food and snacks at regular intervals.. at government expenses.

This Inspector was a "personal search " expert.. At the time of start of the search operation and if and when anyone leaves the premises when the search is in progress, we would ask all the persons present in the premises or the persons leaving, to hand over to us whatever they carried in their pockets and in their persons. We are empowered to search the persons too..

The lady members were to be searched by ladies in our search parties.. Of course certain restrictions regarding pooja rooms, holy books, and the particular religious practices of the persons whose premises are searched are to be followed.

Our hero, when once he enters the premises would tell all in the party to ensure that personal search should be conducted with reference to all those who are present.. He would tell others to do it , but he would not care to do anything on his own.

During a search, we had taken this man too with us ..
The victim was accosted very early in the morning.. he was a middle aged rustic person, sitting in the toilet with a single bath towel around his waist..
The man was confronted and the search operation went on and on for about 12 hours and it was six in the evening..The person whom we were proceeding against was being grilled all the time and he had little chance to move away from the presence of the officers at any time.
The documents and unaccounted or suspectedly unaccounted money etc were seized, and the Panchanama.. or the seizure mahazar was being prepared.. And the search team was almost ready to leave.
The "personal search" inspector suddenly remembered that the person who had been called from the toilet in the early morning and was being grilled by us all along was not subjected to personal search..
He promptly reported that to the ADI.. the Assistant Director of Incometax, who led the team..
The ADI clearly knew that there was nothing to be gained by making a personal search of the man in question..
The man has nothing on him except a bath towel around his waist and he had just come out of the toilet early in the morning.
.
But the ADI did not want to disappoint our great Inspector.

He told the inspector to carry out the personal search himself, while others attended to the conclusion formalities for the search operation.
The inspector who prided on personal search, approached the victim pompously and informed that he was going to conduct a personal search on the latter..
The victim was already tense and irritated.. He was not exactly suave and effusive at that stage..
He just stood up, removed the bath towel that was all he was dressed with and asked the inspector to see everything.

And our dapper Inspector had the sight of his life..
And an unforgettable experience on personal search..

Dedicated to such funny souls in the Incometax .. past present and future..

our National Anthem

the song Jana Gana Mana adhinaayaka... our National Anthem-- simply stirs our very existence with love, respect and sense of commitment for our India..

and every time we listen to our National Anthem many sweet emotions simply erupt inside.. which are incapable of being expressed in words 

More than the words and music which are indeed sublime, the very thought that it is in praise of our India.. and that it is a unique honour for every Indian to stand up and sing.. fills us with pride..

And the National Anthem sung and videoed in the backdrop of the supreme sacrifice of our security and military personnel on the black day of Bombay incident of 26/11 makes it all the more sacred..

Sacredness made poignant by the sacrifice of those martyrs

Who will not stand up and sing.?. and who will not shed a few drops of tears to respect and honour those martyrs..?

If someone refused to stand up and listen,.. I can only ask.. How is it possible?

No one is really satisfied with anything..

No one is really satisfied with anything..

In the preface to Valmikiramayanam, we read a slokam

यः पिबन् सततं राम चरितामृतसागरम्।

अतृप्तस्तं मुनिं वन्दे प्राचेतसमकल्मषम्॥

yaḥ piban satataṁ rāma caritāmṛtasāgaram|

atṛptastaṁ muniṁ vande prācetasamakalmaṣam||

it is a eulogy to Valmiki..

Meaning...." He drank the nectar of the whole ocean of ambrosia that is the history of Rama.. still he was unsatisfied and wanted to have more.. we pay respect that Sage Praachetasa.. son of Prachetas,Valmiki.."

The difference between great and not so great appear to be that they choose the subjects about which they should never be satisfied..

Those who pursue wealth and pelf, continue pursuing them and never getting satisfied and always frustrated..

Those who pursue the great and sublime too continue their pursuit without complete satisfaction, but without any reason to get frustrated..

contradictions galore...

I cannot help contradicting myself often because I am just a human being..

It should be the same with others too..

But many consider that they should dish out platitudes and appear to be rational and intellectually correct.. 

That is only one stage in life.. 

The spiritual, and philosophical being inside us will tell us many things and ask us to behave is a prescribed manner.. 

Of course, that facet should be the core ideal inside us.(imho)..

But the intellectual, and the child are also working with us.

The child might make us frivolous and even silly.. 

The intellectual will force us to play roles and prod us to put on a face which would be appealing to the audience.. 

The interaction, the camaraderie and conflicts among these three is an ongoing process which no one can escape.. 

We can see this idea germane in Indian thoughts as also in western philosophy...

Actually the Parent Adult Child model and the transactional analysis, are products of this line of thinking..

But I am just trying to articulate the idea in my own layman's naive fashion.

One advantage for me appears to be that I have read and tried to assimilate many ideas over the years, but I am not indoctrinated.. 

Do not Judge others.. said jesus, but Jesus was Divine.. 

Krishna the blessed lord can tell so many things in Gita and elsewhere..

But the gap between the Divine and the mundane is too wide..

I think it will be okay for us if we can remain just ordinary human and not devilish most of the time.. Maybe we can have rare flashes of divinity too..

But I have to confess, sometimes, I get baffled by my own contradiction..

Love

Love

Love.. I could discover Love in Krishna..

Love, the uneasiness which nags me constantly when I am away from my friends, even though on my own volition.. 

Love is the four letter word which sustains our lives.. 

Love prompted the poets to write..

Love was the prime theme of their poems.. 

Kalidasa, Keats, Shankara and Shakespeare all wrote about love..

And even Shankara the recluse.. 

The four letter word is beyond any definition.. 

Love can have a positive impact, steadying and sustaining the entire gamut of relationships..

The same love can lead to jealousy, strife, wars, massacres, blood-sheds.. Draupadi, Cleopatra.... think of many such names..

There can be no absolute definition for Love .. 

What is God..? if one can define, 

what is evil.. ? if one can define, 

then one can define love too..

Love is the feeling that a mother radiates towards her newborn infant.. which had actually given her all sorts of pain during confinement, and the most insufferable pain at the time of childbirth.. 

So love is forgiveness..

Love for God the Krishna is the culmination of Bhatkti.. 

or is bhakthi the culmination or consummation of the love between the Maker and His creation?.. 

Let us enjoy love, 

let us give love, 

let us live in love.. 

but all the written and unwritten words or thoughts in the universe cannot say what love is. 

If true love is just a myth... then all our lives too are only myths

Sreevathsa Gothram

Sreevathsa Gothram

Among brahmins, Gothra or clan is a very distinctive feature.. Each Gothra is presided over by three preceptor of linear hierarchy..

There was a discussion as to what is the most superior Gothram.

Of course, that issue is only academic.

My post in that discussion thread..

There is a saying among many brahmins that Sreevatsa gothram is the greatest..

Bhargava, Chavyana, Aplavana, Ourva, Jamadganya, Pancharsheya, pravaraanvita. ( presided by sages Bhrigu, Chyavana, Alavana, Urva and Jamadagni..in linear parental hierarchy)..

I do not belong to that gothram anyway.. No close relatives either in fathers or mothers lineage too do not belong to that gothram..

I am not talking of the superiority of Srivatsa Gothram out of any personal preference|

Bhagavan Sriman Narayana was born in this gothra as Lord Parasurama..

This is in spite of the fact Vishnu had a tiff with Brigu, and beheaded the wife of Bhrigu.. and History repeated when Parasurama beheaded Renuka his mother..

And you know the Srivatsam actually denotes the black birthmark on the Chest of Sriman Narayana formed when he was kicked on the chest by Bhrigu..

I have heard about the superiority of Srivatsa gothram having pravara of five sages instead of the usual three,, from many scholars..

Maybe it is just an school of thought.. I am not one who would try to argue too much on such issue.. 

It is enough if Brahmins and human beings as a whole are united,,

It would hardly matter as to what gothram they belong..

Be the master of yourself first....

भूयो विनयमास्थाय भव नित्यम् जितेन्द्रियः।

कामक्रोधसमुत्थानि त्यजेथा व्यसनानि च॥ ३-४२

श्रीमद्वाल्मीकीये रामायणे अयोध्याकाण्डे

bhūyo vinayamāsthāya bhava nityam jitendriyaḥ|

kāmakrodhasamutthāni tyajethā vyasanāni ca|| 3-42

śrīmadvālmīkīye rāmāyaṇe ayodhyākāṇḍe

This is from Ayodhyaakandam, of Ramamyanam.

We hardly find any words of wisdom when there is gala celebrations around.. That is true even in epics.

I tried to cull out couplets from Valmikiramayanam for my posts,, couplets conveying wisdom and conveying messages to be followed for us as beacon lights in our daily lives..

But such advises usually occur on occasions which are somewhat sad and tense..

We hardly find philosophical messages when Rama's birthday, marriage or coronation is celebrated..

But a lost of nuggets do appear when Rama grieves, plans a fight or Hanuman is desperately running around in search of missing Sita.

Perhaps this is true with our lives also.

We tend to be lighthearted to the extent of frivolity when we are happy and celebrating and serious thoughts flood into our mind when the chips are down.

Of course the context of the quote is supposed to be the planning for a very happy occasion..

But as luck would have it the even got disrupted, proving once again the contrasts that do occur in life.

Rama and the other princes are now grown up, and married too. Dasaratha started to think in terms of paving way for his next generation to succeed him in the throne..

In time, he expresses in open court, his desire to bring in Rama to the realm of administration.. The people, citizen and members of the court, are all overjoyed,,

Rama is summoned to the Royal court, and Dasaratha is formally conveying his decision to coronate Rama as the Yuvaraja..

Even here, while addressing Rama, Dasaratha tends to be very philosophic for once..

God knows whether it is a foreboding..

But his advice to Rama on the occasion is worth its weight in gold.

_________________________________________________________

" Rama, my child, you be humble ever and have complete control over your mind and physical organs.

You must abandon and drive away all your sorrows and also your earthly yearnings caused by lust and control your reactions arising out of rage.."

__________________________________________________________

The advice is really sound..

But for a divine soul like Rama, it would appear superfluous..

Rama is always an embodiment of impeccable character and self control..

And of course, plans to appoint Rama as the second in command of the state was derailed through the interference of Kaikeyi the queen,,

Rama had to live in forest for fourteen years, undergo a lot of challenging situations in life.. like the demise of his father, the loss and recapture of Sita and so on..

In fact Rama, when He became the Emperor had seen all that a human being could see in life before he took up the reigns of the State..

And that maybe one reason why he succeeded so well in his administration..

There is nothing in this world to substitute first hand experience..

Duty first.....

नृशंसमनृशंसंवा प्रजारक्षणकारणात्।

पातकम् वा सदोषं वा कर्तव्यं रक्षतां सदा॥ 

राज्यभारनियुक्तानामेष धर्मः सनातनः। २५--१८

श्रीमद्वाल्मीकिरामायणे बालकाण्डे 

nṛśaṁsamanṛśaṁsam vā prajārakṣaṇakāraṇāt|

pātakam vā sadoṣam vā kartavyam rakṣatām sadā||

rājyabhāraniyuktānāmeṣa dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ| 25--18 

śrīmadvālmīkirāmāyaṇe bālakāṇḍe 

Ostensibly to protect a Yajna or fire sacrifice being conducted by him, sage Visvaamitra takes the boys Rama and Lakshmana with him to the forest.. 

Various stories and anecdotes are explained to the boys during their sojourn with the sage.. 

In the first lap of their journey into the forest by foot, they enter the forest called Taatakaavanam, where the fierce demoness Tataka was residing.. She was a nightmare to all living beings in the forest as also the inhabitants of the human settlements around the forest.. 

She was extremely cruel and killed and destroyed others without any scruples, but she had terrible strength which could not be matched by others around in any sort of combat.. 

The sage, in the company of Princes Rama and Lakshmana comes face to face with the demoness, and, as usual the massive lady starts her threats and abuses, now directed at the sage and the princes.. 

Vishvamitra without any hesitation instructs Rama to send an arrow at her and finish her off.. 

Rama knows that the task is very easy for him.. But He is in a dilemma because He was facing a woman in combat, and killing a woman was abhorrent for a warrior.. 

Then Visvamitra reminds Rama of His duties as an enforcer of law, a representative of the King who is duty bound to protect his own subject.. 

The above sloka in Valmikiramayanam, Balakandam, comes as an advise and strict instruction by sage Visvamitra to Rama 

" When a duty is cast on a King or his representative in the interest of protection of the Subjects of the Kingdom, such person is bound to act irrespective of the fact whether that act is virtuous or contemptible, whether it is a grave sin in public eye, or whether it is likely to attract a lot of criticism. 

This is the eternal Dharma or rule of conduct for a king who is interested and dutybound to protect the subjects dependent on him' 

Rama followed the instruction and slayed Tatakaa.. and the rest in legend. 

Vishvamitra's advice would sound Machiavellian, but when the defence and protection of the State and the citizens are concerned, all other scruples should be relegated to the background.. 

I think this happens in realpolitik ..irrespective of political systems, and time-frames in history..

dignity while serving others...

dignity while serving others.....

अवज्ञया न दातव्यो कस्यचिल्लीलयापि वा।अवज्ञया कृतं हन्न्याद्दातारं नात्र  संशयः॥
१३-३३ श्रीमद् वाल्मीकि रामायणे बालकाण्डे

avajñayā na dātavyo kasyacillīlayāpi vā|

avajñayā kṛtam hannyāddātāram nātra samśayaḥ||13-33

śrīmad vālmīki rāmāyaṇe bālakāṇḍe

In the first Kandam of Ramayanam.. the Balakaandam, Dasharatha the king of Ayodhya is planning to conduct a Yajna for begetting children.. The preparations are on.. The main minister and aide of the king, Sumantra, is running around meeting the sages, while personally monitoring the effective conduct of the yajna..

As the news of the gala function spreads, people of all classes and status are thronging the capital city..
Arrangement for the stay and the creature comforts of all guest are being arranged under Royal patronage..
As is quite common in the activities of government servant, Sumantra is shrewd in anticipating brash, authoritative and patronizing attitude on the part of the government servants..
He presents the  report of his activities to the great Sage and preceptor Vasishta..
When informed about the preparations for the yajna, 

Sage Vasishta  is issuing strict instruction to his own men:

" The services rendered and gifts given to the honoured guests should not be with disrespectful and derisive attitude.. Nor should there be any lightheartedness or jocular attitude on the part of the employees of the king.

Service rendered and gifts given with derision and lack of respect would kill or annihilate the person who makes the gift.. There is absolutely no doubt about it. "

(the Sanskrit verse quoted above says this)

Here the services are rendered on behalf of the King and the slip on the part of the servants of the state would cause damage to the king himself

A Prime Minister to a king in India, maybe more that five millenniums ago was so dedicated and so conscious of his duties to the State..

Sumantra had to ride the chariot which took away Rama Sita and Lakshmana to the forest later on..the saddest duty he would have performed in his life..

He was also present as the Prime Minister on the occasion of the Coronation of Rama as the Emperor of Ayodhya years later..

death is just a change of state..

Actually there is no end to anyone or anything ..

Death is just a change of state, at the most..

Just like birth, it is an enigma..

The person who is born as a son or daughter, was there with the father and mother for eternity.. in parents, grand parents.. and going back to the first living cell created by God..

But the parents and others get elated at the new arrival..

Celebration is okay but it is only symbolic..

And

while leaving the body, the person just distributes himself and continues in all those who are dear to him.. as sweet memories..

There is no end..

And it is just that he departs to another world.. and we many not be able to contact him--

for there are no cellphones, telegrams or post offices. connecting us there.

But then, he will be there, patiently waiting for others to join them.

.

Death is not real..

So the grief is also just symbolic.. 

===============================================

For someone asking for the evidence for the above statement:---

 Regarding birth, no explanation is necessary.. 

You will know about death.. if you have really faced the departure of someone who meant everything to you and for whom you meant everything.. in such cases, you cannot just live in this world if you do not have the expectation that the separation is not final...

You think and decide.. 

Nothing wrong in accepting what is believed by elders as true.. and there is  nothing  wrong in disagreeing too.. 

Belief by instinct is far better than belief by adherence to Shruti..

Anyway, shrutis believe that the son is just a rebirth of his father... 

आत्मा वै पुत्र नामासि.. 

if that is so , the parent does not die if he leaves behind an offspring.. and life continues through shared DNAs.. 

But all this is attempted reasoning.. 

Instinct says life is just a continuum.. 

Again Gita says so in so many places.. 

na jaayate mriyate vaa kadaachit, .. 

vaasaamsi jeernaani...

 dehee nityam avadhyaH ayam.. etc.. 

 But I stated what is above from the emotional standpoint..

 and without emotions,, 

I mean the sublime emotions.. 

our existence is of little worth.. 

I am not prepared to seek evidence for this, 

and 

I do not feel any evidence is necessary for this belief..

in power, out of power...

For a person in power, especially when the balance of power tilts either in his favour or against him, it can be quite challenging to maintain the golden balance and have his foot firm on the correct line of control.. 

And the line gets redrawn willy nilly with time, with changes in himself as also in people around him..

The precise mindset is vital..

However, the greatest danger is that either sycophants or even well meaning colleagues and subordinates just form a sort of wall between the man in power and the stark realities outside and he is lulled into a comfort zone which can be unreal or exaggerated.. 

The wall gets taller as the power of the boss escalates.

And real life hits him like a hard punch on a sandbag when the power once wielded by him and/or the source thereof gets depleted..

So ultimately it seems a down to earth attitude is a sin qua non for the boss (whether he is mostly right or wrong) if he is to survive..

books should live for ever

books should live for ever

No books, either toeing the lines of those who are in power today or those which are branded as tainted or distorted by many ,, should ever be destroyed..

We should never forget that there is always room for more than one view in any matter, and the dissident strains always air the alternate views.. and decency and democratic ethos make it inevitable that records of unpalatable views or happenings should be kept in tact..

If the present dispensation feels that the past thinking was wrong, they have the choice to express their views and convince the people..

The Indian system of Philosophy always took note of this idea.. 

While articulately putting down an old idea, the scholar never hesitated to state what the old idea was..

In the High Courts and the Apex Court, cases are decided after hearing both sides, one side staunchly opposing the other one.. 

However the arguments of both the litigants are taken on record, discussed in detail even in the speaking order, and then the decision is given in favour of one of the litigants. 

The dissenting notes of any of the judges who are in the minority are also made part of the judgment.. 

And if a constitutional bench of the Apex Court finally decides an issue against the verdict of a division bench, it does not follow that the papers relating to the decision of the Division bench are destroyed or blacked out..

May sanity prevail.

measure of success.

But I wonder what is the exact measure of success...

Ultimately, if I can convince myself at the end of the day that it was not wasted, I can say I was successful.. But after all the show of mirth and boisterousness, if I am retiring to bed in the night with a feeling of emptiness, I am unsuccessful..

And about talent... I have to state that the feeling of fulfillment will visit us after satisfying many factors, and talent can play only a minor role or even no role at all in the process..

If a dog wanders all the day, even limping and sick, and finally it manages to eat some muck and could yell in satisfaction, its day is made.. But if the same dogs keeps vigil as a sentry to its master all day long, and for some silly reason it is kicked by its master then its day is completely lost.. 

Where does talent come in here? And are we much better that that dog?

bright light after darkness

true, we enjoy nice things as even nicer when we have had occasion to come in contact with ugly things...

सुखं हि दुखानि अनुभूय शोभते घनान्धकारेषु इव दीप दर्शनं

sukham hi duhkaanyanubhooya shobathey ghanaandakaareshu iva deepadarshanam..

. this is a quote from Mrichchakatikam.. the famous Sanskrit Drama of Poet Shoodraka... 

meaning... 

"pleasures and comforts in life look very bright and excessively blissful, when we attain those after suffering a lot of sorrow.. It is like seeing the bright wick of a lamp suddenly after getting mired in pitch darkness... "

But my point is, even though some darkness may be of some use to us, we need not seek out darkness just to find greater pleasure in brightness..

If our complexion is black.. I am blessed with that, and I use some talcum powder to look fair, it is okay.. 

But a person with fair complexion need not smear his face with soot and then wash it off to prove that he is having a reddish complexion..

such wonderful incidents did happen..Iti ha aasa

Mahabharatam is an Itihasam.. meaning "Iti ha aasa" "इति हा आस " " such wonderful incidents did happen" (Wonderful does not mean the incident was right or wrong in itself..)..

It is a chronicle.. the incidents have been recorded by the author ( believed to be Vyasa the Krishnadvaipaayana who is also seen as a character in the epic)..

If you read Bharatham without any prejudices or pre-conceived notions, it can be seen that various incidents have been recorded as faithfully as possible keeping in view the huge canvass that had to be covered.. 

Each character would have said something to justify his own action, but one cannot see or feel that the author or anyone has asked us to accept that some actions are right and some are wrong..

In a report all things would be recorded, as faithfully as possible..

The original text may be treated as the most reliable chronology of events..

The choice to treat any act of commission or omission by any of the characters, be it Krishna, Pandavas, Kauravas and so many others .. is the prerogative of any reader or interpreter who chooses to read the epic with fair intelligence and if possible, with an open mind..

The opinions mouthed by the characters as recorded in the epic need not be accepted as right or wrong.. The things just happened.

And evaluation of virtues or vices contained in any action by a person, even if it is a puranic or Aitihasic character, can vary with the social ethos as well as the personal mental make up of the reader..

Nothing is right or wrong in absolute terms

contrast makes things brighter

I was reading from Aurobindo.. 

The sage is a very practical and Independent thinker who would never subscribe to any spiritual rules without first analysing the issue threadbare.. 

He was saying in one of his treatises that ultimately the real nature of the world and its constituents is something, some unknown, but eminently knowable mean or central point exactly between Materialism on one side and Spiritualism on a diametrically opposite point.. 

If a person is to make an attempt at knowing that unknown but knowable core, he could sneak into the centre and look for it.. but then even though the sneaking in may not be much difficult, he would not know that knowable in the proper sense..

But a person who traverses the extremes of spiritualism, and also the extremes of materialism would finally reach the golden mean through trials,, and even errors..

The rough edges of that person would be rounded by the hits he receives from materialism as well as spiritualism, as he oscillates, and gradually the oscillation attenuates and he stops at the right place.

Judging by this logic, Vishada is definitely a nice trigger or indirectly a facilitator for the bliss to take the central stage.

One poet said.. One's realization will be valued in its proper perspective only if a lot of grief and toil goes into achieving the bliss, It is like the ecstasy of a person who is mired in darkness is provided with the sudden brightness of a lamp..

सुखं हि दुखान्यनुभूय शोभते घनान्धकारेषु इव दीपदर्शनम्

to be human....

to be human....

Happened to read a quote from a respected speaker and spiritual leader extolling the importance of being "Human" and concluding that to be human was almost the be all and end all for us..

There is a different angle to this

To be human is also in fact to imbibe a bundle of tendencies, habits, prejudices which are natural to human beings.. 

Just recall the saying "to err is human",, 

Perhaps the guru meant by human only the good things in a human being.. 

But then is that not too much of a presumption?..

Every quote, even if it is from Vedas or Socrates or Chanakya, when read in isolation can convey meanings which were never intended,