Life can be as green as a Christmas tree.

Life can be as green as a Christmas tree.

Neither snow nor storm can whither the leaves of a Charismas tree. Does not it sound familiar?

“Nainam cchindanti shastraani nainam dahati paavakah;

Na chainam kledayantyaapo na shoshayati maarutah.

(Weapons cut It not, fire burns It not, water wets It not, wind dries It not.”)

 (Geeta -Chapter 2, Verse 23.)

Christmas tree is brought home on Christmas and decorated with full glory. This possibly is the only tree that can survive the onslaught of winter winds and snow in the Western world. Christmas is God’s reassurance that He is with us all the time. The tradition of decorating it during Christmas is age old. Will it be fair to compare Christmas tree with the eternal Soul? Christianity does not talk of the cycle of birth and rebirth and eternity of life. I am rather inclined to believe that He created Christmas tree to remind humanity of the joy of living, the brightness of life and the eternity of life.

Life is living within a physical body and death is the perishing of the body due to accidents, illness or ageing. It is therefore very rational to decorate this body as long as the soul is within this body. We need not decorate this body in the usual terms. By decorating I mean, decorating our overall thinking with noble ideas of honesty, truthfulness and compassion for the less fortunate. We celebrate our festivals with gusto, spend fortunes and forget all our owes during these festivities.

But there are millions who are deprived of basic needs in life. Presently my thoughts are for the people who live on footpaths and have no shelter for the life threatening cold nights. Government provides them night shelter bit no blankets. Some cannot move to the night shelters because of logistics. North India is reeling under a very severe cold spell and colder than even London. News papers are carrying photos of people stranded at the Railway stations because of delayed/cancelled trains. Most of the passengers have woolens on and some have even blankets. Just across the platforms there are urchins in tattered clothes collecting empty water bottles.

Have as much fun as you can but give a thought for these less fortunate people and do weigh your own miseries with that of theirs.    

ALL ABOUT FACEBOOK ADDICTION

ALL ABOUT FACEBOOK ADDICTION

YOU ONLY WANT TO BE LOOKED AT, YOU NEVER LOOK

This is a line from a movie dialogue where the wife blames her husband for neglecting her because he only wants to be looked at, but never looks. This can be said in so many other phrases like:

 You only want to be heard but you do not listen or,

You only want to be followed but you do not follow.

Let me try to apply it on FB posts. Lot of surveys have been made and more will be made. Presently FB is mainly for the younger people. There are few seniors like me. May be many seniors enrolled but found it too fast, like fast food. You order the food, it is warmed in the oven in seconds, handed over to you and you eat it while walking or driving to work or home. It is not like ordering al carte from the menu, waiting at the table for being served at a placid speed and eating it leisurely as if you have nowhere to go. Face book is not the platform for serious discussions.

FB is updating your status on the drop of a hat and wait for the ‘likes’. You do not even expect comments as there nothing to comment. The ‘like’ says everything. For you the ‘like’ is an appreciation and for the person hitting the ‘like’ button is a formality. Yet the measure of popularity is the number of ‘likes’ or comments one gets. Like followers on Tweeter, I was told ‘friends’ and ‘likes’ on FB can also be ‘managed. You know what I mean.

Presently almost everybody who is anybody with a internet supported phone or computer is on FB.The embarrassment arises when you are friend to your children or relatives like chacha-chachi, tau-tai, mama-mami, bhai-behan, beta-bahu, beti-damad, bhai-behan, nana-nani, mata –pita. Some of their or your updates may be revealing. And then it is but natural that there should be mutual race for hitting the ‘like’ button or else what is the use of having ‘friends’ within the family and relatives? Failing to hit the ‘like’ button may end up in severance of relationships by simply ‘unfriend’(ing).

The more you ‘like’ others’ ‘status’ the more you are likely to get ‘likes’ on your own ‘status updates’.  This is directly proportional to your own actions. Some may get more ‘likes’ than what they do in turn but that is because of a formal acknowledgement or respect for your post. There are status updaters who do not ‘like; but expect ‘like’ from one and sundry. It may also be paraphrased as “

You only want to be ‘liked’ but you do not ‘like’

For posting comments one has to read the post but in this time of fast food, not many have the patience to spare time or inclination. Sometimes the first few lines speak what is likely to follow and there is no need to hit the ‘see more’ link in blue.  It may be okay to ‘like’ a photo update but I am at loss to understand what a ‘like’ means when someone’s ‘like’ does not indicate if he/she ‘liked’ if after reading the full post or not.

The moral of the write up is, if you have not already guessed, if you want to be looked at, you have to start looking, if you want to be heard, you have to start listening and if you want to be ‘liked’ you have start ‘liking’.

I know you will hit the ‘like’ button  without reading this post but do it anyway because I am your senior and am in minority. Mind you if you do not do so you will be indirectly telling to back off.

  

"IF WE COULD SEE INSIDE OTHERS' HEARTS": LIFE, in 4 min

INDIA ENTERTAINING UNLIMITED

Ruskin Bond, the famous British writer, living in Mussorrie, India,  was once asked why he preferred to make India his home.He replied ‘because one may die in India due to any number of reasons but boredom is not one of them’. He explained that India is a vast country of many hays and colors and something interesting and entertaining is happening here 24x7 which gives him enough material for his writings.

I think we all will agree with this. India is said to be so many Indias within India. With over 26 languages and innumerable dialects, cultural vivacity, political opinions and diverse food habits, India is a huge Corporate which I call “India Entertaining Unlimited’. Let us take a few recent picks:

Jayalaitha goes to jail in disproportionate assets case but people are talking of her 2000 pairs of shoes, 10000 sarees and of course boxful of jewelries. She was a film actress, a successful actress at that and she was also a ‘friend’ of the great MGR. I do not understand what is the big deal about shoes, sarees and jewelries. If people want to get entertained, so be it.

Take the case of another madam Mayawati,  ex CM of  UP, called ‘behanji’ by her supporters. She too has over 2000 pairs of shoes, 5000 ladies bags, 1000 diamond ear rings and tops and of course equal sets of ladies salwar suits to go with that. Once she sent state aircraft to Mumbai to fetch the imported shoe consignment to Lucknow. She was neither an actress, nor a successful advocate for which she trained but she had millions of supporters who voluntarily contributed to MBDF every year.  She was also a favorite of Kansi Ram, the founder of BSP by virtue of which she inherited his wealth. I again wonder what the big deal about her shoes, bags, ear wears and suits. She has only provided some grit to the rumor mill.

PM Modi launched  SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN  and cleaned the roads. So did some ministers and high ranking Government officials. Today our Cricket God Sachin Tendulkar also took to the broom. A very good start. I wish if they could clean the garbage lying for days behind the residence of our ex PM, MMS. But that would have been showing some favor to MMS and Media would have speculated if he too like Shashi Tharoor is joining BJP. No one is talking about the regular safai karamcharies who clean the garbage of these broom holders round the year.

Maharastra and Haryana are going to polls on 15^th and a good bye has been hailed to alliances. There remains to be seen who sleeps with whom after the results are out. Every one is keeping the options open. Politics is the name of possibilities and it hardly matters with whom you slept with and who really is the father of the child.

Feel free to add more entertaining news. There is no dearth of it.     

  

BURDEN OF PERFECTION

BURDEN OF PERFECTION

The other day I heard someone say that he feels uncomfortable in the company of idiots. This reminded me of William Hazlitt telling his son that if there were no foolish people around who would care for the wise ones. He also said philosophically speaking, foolish people need our empathy rather than ridicule.  This particular person, to me seemed to be one who can never go wrong as he thinks he is perfection personified.

Perfectionists are by nature tend to go into minute details before taking a decision. They take a deep breath before they speak. They do not trust people on their face value. We find them in offices and at home. They are feared and admired with equal measure. It is not that their decisions do not go wrong but they do not hesitate to own them. People in general try to be perfect in whatever they do.  Nobody wants to fail or falter.  Some of our greats, about whose private life we know little or nothing are the embodiment of perfection in public life. There are many such personalities in the field of art, science, literature, performing arts, music and even families. They are hardworking, balanced and cautious. They spend a whole lot of time in meeting the exacting standards of perfection they have set for themselves. They may not show it but they inwardly enjoy the appreciation and rewards that come with perfection.

Perfection must be a huge burden. There can be no improvement on perfection as there is nothing beyond it. The burden of not doing wrong must be keeping them on their toes all the times. They cannot go wrong is burden enough. The pressure must be killing.  Failure may be scaring them. The race to perfection may make them recluse as they may not comfortable in the company of lesser mortals. There is no wonder that some of them are not in a position to carry the burden and scum to drugs and alcohol.  Not able to hold the failure on other fronts, mainly family and relationships, they may get depressed and commit suicide.

But then the world would be worthless without these perfectionists. They have created many benchmarks we can be proud of. They have contributed in the field of science, medicines, art, culture, religion, yoga and many other areas making life worth living. It is rather an irony that many of them could not carry the burden of perfection, the latest being Robins William, the actor, who committed suicide.

  

     

Bedu Pako Baramasa - arr. Meghan Quinlan

THE PROBLEM WITH HAPPINESS IS..

THE PROBLEM WITH HAPPINESS IS..

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

The problem with happiness is that you are fine till you find it. Our whole life is a journey in search of happiness but we don’t know what happiness is. A normal life would be just fine and if fact is just fine but we are not ‘happy’ with it. We want to be happy but do not know what makes us happy. A good job, a good house, a good meal, a good night sleep, a caring spouse, loving kids- we have all of them and we are just fine with them but we want happiness. If all this is not, what happiness is? 



Okay, life is just fine but not fine enough to make us really happy. Really happy?  What is that? Oh, I need a big car. Sure enough, save some money, take some loan and have a car. Are you happy now? You wanted a big car and you have it, so you should be really happy. You were just fine with that old small car of yours, it was running, wasn’t it? You found your new car and thought you will be happy but you are just fine only. The statuesque remains. It is the same thing when we have a bigger house, a holiday to a most aspired destination or with a large Bank balance. Will having more cars, more houses, more holidays, and more bank balance help? Does not look so. People already having all these are also feeling just fine.

The so called happiness lingers for a while but sooner than later we return to where we started from. This is about finding happiness in material possessions.

Let us talk about finding happiness in spiritual journey. The world we live in is not real. Our real purpose in life is to find happiness within and for that we need to cultivate spiritual longings. We immerse ourselves in scriptures and Yoga. We visit temples and all religious shrines in search of the happiness. We do find some peace when we are in the temples or in the company of the learned saints but that is all. After a while the feeling of just fine returns. Where has the happiness gone? Will more time in the temples and with the saints help? Does not look so. People who are here for years look just fine if not bored.

The question therefore is why are we running after happiness if being just fine is what we are going get after the long race? We are already just fine, is not that good enough? 

Text Verdurian Hari Lakhera

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EXPERIENCE COMES WITH AGE (?)

EXPERIENCE COMES WITH AGE (?)

Not necessarily, I think. Then what else becomes experience? Of course age is important in the sense that as we grow in years we have the opportunity to try and observe many things in our life time. Experience as per dictionary is Personal trial; Continued observation; knowledge gained by trial and observation; Trial and knowledge from suffering and enjoyment; suffering itself. Age is the number of years a person gas lived.

Let us go back to our childhood and formatting years at home and at school and college. As a child, as we now know, everything was new to us and we asked questions and more questions. Most of these questions and the answers we got were beyond our comprehension but we took those answers for granted because we trusted the people who answered them- our parents and teachers. This experience  in the form of answers were to be tried by us in our coming life.

Let us now look at the experience we gained in our working life. We have worked in our chosen field of training or choice as engineers, doctors, accountants, salesmen, clerks, managers, actors, artists, politician, and bureaucrats and so on. We came across many events that took place during our work span. We call all these events as experience based on our observations and trials.

Let us also look at the events that took place outside our field of work.  There were many events in family, neighborhood and elsewhere.

All these trials and observations called experiences prepare us to react suitably to similar situations in future. These experiences become the yardstick for our belief. Younger generation looks up to their elders for advice in times of need because of their experience.

Many of us failed to try and observe the events that happened around us in the years we have lived so far and many of us again have different experience on similar events and therefore different reactions and solutions. The younger generation look up for answers and we have none or we have some vague answers. They start doubting us. We call it generation gap. We forget that trials and observations are ongoing processes and we cannot say this far and no more  as long as our mental faculties are in place.   

Age, therefore, has nothing to do with experience. A younger man/woman may have more experience than an old man because the former took interest in events happening around him and the latter didn’t. Some of us are tremendously gifted and have vried experience but some of us  limited our trials and observations to our field of work and family and did not bother to go beyond that. Our lack of interest in things that did not bring us money or fulfill our selfish ends resulted into a huge deficit of experience. If this is true, it is our duty to tell our children to look outward and gain as much experience as possible, develop interests other than that give them money and personally gain the experience. A little bit of experiencing sufferings will help in understanding what suffering is.

        

WHY HINDU GODS ARE DEPICTED DIFFERENTLY am at loss to understand why Hindu Gods are depicted with special features. Is it becaise they are super humans and that’s why they have many heads and hands? Is it because they all in one or one in all? I have profond respect for my Gods more so because they are beyond my comprehension. In such situation you can either love or hate or just stay neutral and I prefer to respect and that is my personal choice. They are there to preserve, protect and destroy me. It is their will. Could not they do the same by remaining just comprehensible? Or is it the product of our imagination that we have depicted then like that? Contrary to that Christian God is just as human as we are. Muslims do not have any picture of their God and they are saved from this dilema. We have some 33 million God and Goddesses and each one of them is depicted differently.

WHY HINDU GODS ARE  DEPICTED DIFFERENTLY?

It may look rather whimsical but at time I am at loss to understand why Hindu Gods are depicted with special features. Is it becaise they are super humans and that’s why they have many heads and hands? Is it because they all in one or one in all?

I have profond respect for my Gods more so because they are beyond my comprehension. In such situation you can either love or hate or just stay neutral and I prefer to respect and that is my personal choice. They are there to preserve, protect and destroy me. It is their will.

Could not they do the same by remaining just comprehensible? Or is it the product of our imagination that we have depicted then like that?

Contrary to that Christian God is just as human as we are. Muslims do not have any picture of their God and they are saved from this dilema. We have some 33 million God and Goddesses and each one of them is depicted differently.

BEING MODERATELY MODERATE

BEING MODERATELY MODERATE

Lot has changed since we were in schools. The changes are evident in every walk of life from the clothes we wear to the living standards we follow. Even the way we think and act in a given situation. The changes are more dramatic in the way we observe our religious beliefs or dictates.

Let us first talk about dress because that is the most visible. Nothing much has changed as far as men’s dressing is concerned because the poor fellow has a few choices from wide flared to narrow drain piped trousers, from full sleeved to muscle shirts or from flat heeled-wide toed to high heeled narrow toed shoes. Nothing really matters what he wears at home which can be a lungi to a Bermuda. All the designers’ wear for the females, of the females but not necessarily by the females. In those olden days the girls would come to school/college in salwar suits/lahanga kurta /sarees. The salwar suits or lahanga kurta were accompanied by dupattas (scarves). The saree were worn in such a way that only the small angle of the neck was visible. The whole idea was to cover the cleavage. In a way it was regressive because managing the saree was a job by itself and during summer times these dresses were quite oppressive. Things started changing for some good when skirt tops in schools replaced salwar suits/lahanga kurta at least. Currently there is some sort of competition among females in out placing each other by dressing as scantly as possible. The tops are moving upwards and the jeans/skirts are going downwards. So is the case with blowze and saree. It appears what is good for the west is good for us too. The good thing is that there are people liberal enough to accept the change but there are people who would impose dress codes in schools colleges and offices.

The other area is about religion. There are fundamentalists and there are liberals and moderates. There are rebels who would eat meat and drink alcohol much against the dictates of the tradition and there are moderates who would not mind this happening in moderation. There are fundamentalists who would want their women to dress in a particular way and there are moderates who accept the changes in moderation. There are people dead against inter cast marriages and there are moderates who do not put any hurdles.

Another area is the value system. These days it is quite common for men and women frequenting bars and discotheques and enjoying the fare late into nights. Not only dress codes or food habits or religious beliefs have changed but also the entire gamut of our way of living has changed. It will not be very correct to say that this change is visible only among the educated and upwardly mobile strata of our society. Even the middle class and lower middle class is not untouched. We should not be surprised if we find a jean top clad teenaged girl in some remote village of our country.

Moderation in moderation is good but the point is how moderate the moderate should be. Simply put how to define moderation.     

CHAI PE CHARCHA (DISCUSSIONS OVER TEA)

CHAI PE CHARCHA (DISCUSSIONS OVER TEA)

It all started some 66 years back in 1947 and a seal of approval was stamped in 1950  by the makers of our sacred Constitution. The charcha (discussions) resumed centering around the subject of lifting of the life of the scheduled casts and Scheduled tribes who formed a major chunk of our population. The charcha continues.

Then came VP Singh and who  expanded the scope of the charcha to OBCs (other backward classes). Charcha continues.

Meantime, more and more tribes- Jats, Gujjars, Yadavas- vied for entering the ambit of the subject of charcha because unless you are ‘the subject’ of charcha you do not count. The latest entry is that of Jains, a community known for its expertise in trade and commerce.The charcha continues.

But it was not just enough. We had already ‘charchaed’- discussed SC, ST, OBC, Jats, Gujjars, Yadavs, Jains. Charcha is something in our control, changing their lot is not.

Not satisfied with their won performance, the subject was given religious and communal colors. Neither the lot of the targeted minority improved nor the Mandir was built. Charcha, however, continues.

Then one fine morning the PM to be realizes that he was once a chaiwala (tea vendor) who made it big by becoming the CM of the most developed State in India. If he can do it why not every chaiwala? His propaganda managers did a quick survey and found that there are as many chaiwalas in the country as many chaipeenewalas-tea drinkers. They thought it was time to have charcha on them and with them. Overnight sprung an army of chaiwalas dispensing masala tea to everyone who passed by. The special brew was named after the PM to be. The chaiwalas will be charchaed –discussed for a few months and then dispensed with like a fly from a milk cup as was done with SC< ST< OBC< JATS>GUJJARS>YADAVS >JAINS etc.

THE CHARCHA WILL BE NENEWED ONCE EVERY FIVE YEARS.NEW AVENUES WILL BE EXPLORED IN THE MEANTIME. NEXT IN THE QUES ARE BRAHMINS.

  

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CM OF DELHI

Honorable Chief Minister Shri Arvind kejriwal Saheb,
I am an AAP supporter. In fact I became AAP supporter after reading its Election Manifesto. It fired the imagination of many people like me who supported you and on whose support you became the Chief Minister.
But I am disappointed not because 700 liter water per head per day has not reached every household, not because not a single contract worker has been made regular employee, not because the Janta Durbar was mismanaged, not because not a single election promise has been fulfilled, not because the Law Minister used abusive language but because you sat on Dharna. I have the following reasons:-
1.    You were well aware that Police is not under Delhi Government. You should have taken opposition into confidence and tried to reason out the issue in the Parliament rather than taking law into your own hands. This way there is no difference between you and a common criminal.
2.    You should have waited for the outcome of the investigation ordered into the Khirki episode before launching your agitation.
3.    Your Law Minister is equally responsible for the unfortunate happenings. No one has the right to brand someone, particularly a woman, as immoral. You asked for the suspension of police officers but did not take any action against the Minister.
4.     You started your Dharna with your demand of suspension of five police officials, then scaled it down to transfer and finally agreed forced leave for just two. It shows you are not sure what you want.
5.    You threatened to disrupt the Republic Day Celebrations. Sir, this is the only success story our country has over the last many centuries. No one has the right to abuse it. Talked of
6.    You put so many people into inconvenience as your Dharna disrupted the Metro Service.
7.    You could not handle the AAP supporters present there to keep order.
8.    You  talked of flooding Rajpath with people on 26th Jan. You should know that there are many like you who can also bring their supporters and create disorder.
9.    You used this Dharna to prepare for 2014 General Election and garner support in your favor.
10.    You neglected your work to run the Government.  Work at the Secretariat came to stand still for two days when all of you were at the Dharna Sthal.

Yours Truely,
Hari Prasad Lakhera
B-5/395, Sector 8, Rohini,
Delhi-110085.

NOMADS OR SEEKERS ?

NOMADS OR SEEKERS?

Some lucky Verdurians are planning to have a pleasure trip to the only ‘heaven’ on earth Kashmir. I understand VAS and Savi are planning to entertain the group with latest Bollywood dance steps. 

Another 65 Indians have been selected to ‘one way’ ticket to Mars. One Mr. Jain, an Indian, based in the USA is planning regular flights to Moon. I too have travelled a lot for office work and pleasure and pilgrimage after retirement and been to almost all airports, railway and bus stations in India and a few in foreign countries. I can claim to be an International Travelers.

There is a community in Rajasthan called ‘banjaras’ who never stay at one place for long. They move with their belongings and members of the family from one place to another. For livelihood they do various jobs like blacksmiths, potters, artisans and roadside circus performers called ‘nuts’. They are true nomads. We have heard and seen the ‘backpackers’ from the West called Hippies. Once I met a Londoner in the caves of Ajanta and Ellora who was on the move for almost four years then. He started from London and went to places and when money fell short did odd jobs, stayed in cheapest accommodations, ate frugal food and fell ill too but nothing stopped him.

 What takes us to visit unknown destinations?  Is it the boredom of staying at one place or the inquisitive nature of humans to explore new places, people and ideas? Are we seekers or simply nomads? And then we return to where he started from, to our place of origin or roots. Strange it may look but we have an unfulfilled desire to experience something new because we are not satisfied with we already have.

Another equally strong logic may be to explore the unknown. Our saints and sages have given their lifetime to bring to us the mystery of the unknown as they experienced it during their own nomadic ways.

And then there are people who have not moved anywhere from their place of birth. They lived and died there. They did not have resources but more than that they did not have the inclination and courage to take risks of travelling to unknown places, talk to unknown people and experience a different culture.

Verurians in Kashmir will figure it out, I think. But for this nomadic way of life Amarnath would have remained hidden from us. Thanks to the Muslim ‘gadria’ (goat grazer) who saw it on his nomadic trails and informed of the existence of ‘Shiva lingam’. Nehru used to get his quota of drinking water from Chasme- Sahi. May be because bottled French water was not available then. It surely was not for the love of his homeland.

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY REWARDING JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF MAGICAL BEAUTY.

   

  

MANKIND, CHILDHOOD AND THE STORY TELLERS

MANKIND, CHILDHOOD AND STORY TELLERS

Blessed are those story- tellers, who, for generations have saved the childhood of mankind. Once mankind loses its story tellers, it also loses its childhood. In every country and in every community parents/grandparents tell bed time stories to their children. These stories have survived for centuries. All of these stories are moralistic in content. They tell about victory of truth over untruth, honesty over dishonesty, loyalty over disloyalty, kindness over cruelty. They tell about courage, adventure, love, faith. Two such story books which come to mind right now are Hitopadesaar and Panchtantra.  Blessed are the kids who have someone to tell them these bed time stories. Later on in their lives they come face to face with real life stories.

I guess in literary field there are many more story tellers than poets or essayists. Thousands of stories are told in form of short stories, long stories, and novels. Our own epics like Ramayana, Bhagwat and Mahabharat are also in story format. These story tellers keep us grounded by presenting to us what exists but our open eyes do not see. Thousands of stories are scattered around us but only the observant eye and mind with a very large heart can express them in words.

But for these story tellers, mankind would be very poor with neither a heart nor a soul.