Girish's Blog

SCMM 2012 - Mumbai Marathon

2012-01-15T19:02:00.000+05:30

I was not as prepared for this marathon as the 2011 edition as I had a niggle in the left knee ligament which had got aggravated due to driving. Nevertheless, regular meditation and a diet of fruits and juice for breakfast and sprouted beans with salad of tomato, beetroot, onion and cucumber with butter milk meant that I had a low carb high protein diet which helped – dinner was two whole wheat breads with cooked vegetables. In fact I was doing 10km in just about 65 minutes. I did the 21km trial run on the Sunday prior to the marathon in 2 hours 25 minutes or so. This year there was no need to visit the physio like last two years and in fact I got her sms wishing me for the run the day before. I just ran 6 km every alternate day and rested on Saturday, a day before the run. I was on a complete protein and banana diet on Saturday.

The morning of the Marathon was also Makar Sankranti and Pujya Guruma was to give her discourse at 7.30am. I woke up at 4 am and was in meditation for 45 minutes, after which I got fresh and started my stretching exercises. This time too I carried the camera in a waist belt pouch along with my cell phone. My wife dropped me off at the Mahim causeway-SV Road signal from where I walked down to the holding area. The holding area was better organized this year at the area below the flyover near the Bandra East fire brigade location. It was already around 5.50am and the run was to start at 6.15am. I did some more stretches and then walked into the holding area. There was a huge crowd as there was no separate area for veterans and the non veterans, so we had to wait in the crowd. Some youngsters started pushing their way through to get to the front of the crowd, I let them pass and enjoyed myself by taking some pictures. There were a couple of young ladies who were running for the first time and one of them said that she could not sleep the whole night in anticipation of the run. This definitely reminded me off my first marathon nine years ago, when I too could not sleep the night before!

At 6.15am the run started with the VIP and elite athletes being sent off first after which us junta was told to go. There was a huge roar along with cat whistles from the runners and off we went. I hit the timing chip mat at around 6.20am. The start was very slow as the crowd took a few minutes to spread out. The route had been tweaked slightly so that it had more fluidity for the runners – a definite improvement! I just let the eager beavers go ahead and kept slowing down and giving myself room, as I definitely did not want to be stamped on nor tripped! This year too, like last year, there was a sight which one would probably only get to see in India! As the run started and progressed onto the flyover to a section which did not have street lights, a whole lot of runners suddenly had weak bladders and you could see an entire line of maybe a couple of hundred males standing to water the shrubs planted on the road divider! This year the run was smoother as the start was straight onto the bridge which was wide enough to avoid bunching of runners and I got off to a smooth running rhythm. We got onto the road leading to the sea link, the broader road actually helped in easing the crowd, with the runners also now spread over a larger area.

I continued to run at the speed I had trained for, this year there was water being distributed at the 4km mark on the sea link which was a big help. Once off the sea link, I continued running along at a decent clip and ran non-stop for around 13 kilometers. At the 10km mark I called my friend Deepak and asked where he was, he said he had just passed the 7km mark. He asked me whether I would wait for him after the finish as that is the only thing which would motivate him to finish. I said sure, and told him to soak in the energy and finish, as this was his first marathon attempt. I did not see any of my office colleagues even on the turn at the sea link! I walked and then ran alternately and was well within striking distance of my best time which I had clocked year before last of 2 hours 30 minutes and 53 seconds. I ran up more than half the Peddar Road hill and then downhill. I had picked up a banana from the volunteers on the road and a packet of glucose biscuits. I took photos on Worli sea face, drank water which was being handed over by volunteers and generally enjoyed my run in peace and tranquility with my Guru for company. There were a lot of consistent runners this year and the mass which was moving at 2.30hrs speed was the biggest I have seen so far. On Peddar Road I tried to take a snap of the elite athletes as they passed by, but I was too slow to get them into the frame! I cheered and shouted along with a whole bunch of other runners as they passed by.

About 5km from the finish as we came onto Marine Drive, I saw the Sun up, and stood at a bus-stop to thank it for its energy and generally offered a prayer for providing the earth with light and energy, before moving on after about a minute. We passed a Gujarati dance troupe which was dancing to Gujarati song and music – the energy which was flowing from there was amazing, I was bathed in cold positive energy. A little further down, a Marathi “lezim” troupe was performing and they were just going through the motions – no energy there! Similar energy I felt at the Navy Band performance at the 18km mark. I had completed only 17km in two hours that meant I had just half an hour for completing the last four. At 7 minutes per km it was going to be touch and go! The last two hundred meters or so, I sprinted and finished the race strongly, and finished two and a half minutes faster than last year. In fact this may be my best time so far, I will wait for the official time for confirmation. I collected my refreshments and finishers’ medal and went off to the corporate challenge enclosure, which had a huge crowd waiting for the dream run to start at around 8.55am. I went to the Asian Heart enclosure for treating my knee ligaments as the crowd at the Corporate Challenge enclosure was too huge. I got into the enclosure and was asked by Poonam, a United Way staffer whether I finished! I joked and said no! I took a short cut and came! I took some snaps and when one of the United Way staffers came to talk, I said it was too boring sitting alone when they asked me whether I would like to play some games. I said I was too old for games but young enough for the marathon. They asked me to play arm wrestling with their staffers with a Perk Chocolate as prize. One by one their staffers came and tried to beat me, but did not succeed. I beat about 5 of them for which I got two Perks, when I said I beat five, they said “utna budget nahi hai” – and I laughed out loud. It was all fun!

Around 9.45am my daughter and wife came and we had another photo session. Around 10.30am Deepak came and met us and we had some more photos taken. As we could not spot any more of our office guys, we decided to leave. We met Isha Kothari, an office colleague and the baby in our office, at about 500 meters from the finish line we egged her on to finish, took some snaps and left for home.

It was very disappointing to see the response from the rest of the participants from Geodesic as about 10 people did not show up, including the HR person. Next year I will not recommend participating in the Corporate Challenge as the attitude of the youth in the office appears to be to care two hoots!

Raising money for Project Crayons and running for them was a pleasure and I thank all those supporters who have helped Project Crayons by contributing to their cause. Thanks everyone and God Bless. See you all next year.

EGO AND SPIRITUALITY

2011-12-22T16:06:00.002+05:30

The ego could be called the core or nucleus of the Conscious Mind. Most people spend the vast majority of their conscious time in association with the ego during their waking hours. The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality in day to day life. The ego develops from the individual’s personality and his growth years since childhood in the company of parents. The ego develops and operates on the principle of reality, which strives to satisfy the individual’s desires in realistic and socially acceptable ways. The reality principle weighs the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to accept or reject those impulses.

When you try to analyze the Ego and its subtle manifestations with respect to spirituality, one realises that there are two obvious aspects to ego, namely the life-affirming ego and the life-negating ego. Life-affirming ego is that aspect of consciousness which permits an individual to function in the physical world and the parameters of consensual reality. Life-negating ego is that aspect which considers the ego as evil, an illusion, as imprisoning limitations that need to be transcended.

It can be said that the life-affirming approach to the ego yields better physical and mental health than the life-negating approach. Suppression of natural propensities will only move them underground in the unconscious. We find that checking inappropriate tendencies of the ego coupled with the nurturing of its experience yields a more balanced and natural personality expression. Moreover, the fixation in altered states of consciousness engendered by the life-denying approach can interfere with normalized personality expression.

There are different kinds of egos and they manifest without one realizing its impact at all. Swamiji has said in many of his discourses that having a feeling of not having an ego is also a kind of ego. When one says I feel so sad for so and so person and you end up saying “that poor fellow” – that too is ego in a very subtle form. This is because “I” am feeling bad for that persons’ situation in life. You have to just become a witness – because feeling bad for any person in life is pointless as that person is living his destiny and getting the fruits or stones of his destiny. Similarly, when you feel good for any person to the point where you express it boisterously, that too is the ego in action – because “I” am happy for so and so person. You have expressed overwhelming joy for a certain person – that too is your ego in action. You need to attain a balance and be happy and in bliss regardless of events occurring in your life and in and around you.

It is only through meditation and by becoming a witness to your thoughts that you can try to control your ego. Any anger, joy, jealousy or other extreme emotion is your ego manifesting into your reactive behavior. You will be in a position to eliminate your ego only when you achieve the ability to control your emotions to the extent that you do not get affected by transpiring events – you just become a witness. You may be called hard-hearted and cruel if you do not react the way society expects you to with regard to situations in life. But those reactions are based on societies understanding of events and reactive emotions. One should not get affected by this too – people will have a lot to say, but not reacting or remaining calm with an equitable disposition will help you control your emotions and remain in balance. Remaining in balance in such troubled times is difficult and a huge challenge in the modern world.

Even life-affirming ego will become a hindrance in spiritual growth, when one starts feeling superior about one’s goodness. The idea is to rise above all this and reach a state of non-existence – NOT BEING as opposed to BEING. The moment you reach this high state of consciousness you will have reached the door of salvation and you will be close to seeing the light, as the saying goes. Let us all try to lose ourselves completely so that we can see the light and attain salvation.

What is our Cultural Ethos?

2011-12-07T12:50:00.001+05:30

Mr. Kapil Sibal says that social networking sites are allowing posts which are against our cultural ethos and hence should be banned, if the posts are not removed. He raises the bogey of religious sentiments being hurt and character assassination taking place through such posts, though I have not heard of any such protest to date. All social networking sites have “report abuse” buttons, which once clicked enable the site administrator to take necessary and appropriate action. Politicians and other public figures are the butt of jokes of cartoonists and spoof artists all over the world, as they provide the best fodder with their brilliant behaviour. Case in point BBC TV serials lampooning politicians – “Yes Minister” and “Yes Prime Minister”, which are all time hits.

Somebody needs to explain to our Honourable Minister that the only thing which is against our cultural ethos is the behaviour of Parliamentarians whose egos expand the moment they are elected by the people, thereby forgetting the people who elect them. The moment they are elected they are inaccessible to the ordinary man for five years – they get vehicles with red beacons, they get armed guards as escorts who follow the minister in a convoy – which stops the traffic so that this so called elected VIP gets to pass. I seriously do not understand why politicians need security the moment they are elected – are they afraid of the people, or is it the case that they know that they will not work and want protection against public angst – see what happened to Sharad Pawar! The reaction of his supporters was to vandalise public property in Pune, Baramati and Mumbai – that is our cultural ethos, I guess!

Parliamentarians do not perform the basic function for which they are elected – which is to legislate. The norm is disruption of Parliament, no healthy debate, jumping into the well of the House in protest, preferably by uprooting mikes and shouting at the top of their voices or walking out in protest – this best suits our cultural ethos I guess. The Lokpal bill has yet to see the light of day for the last 43 years. After Anna Hazare’s agitation, the Parliament has decided on a weak Lokpal Bill, even though the nation wants a strong bill – now protecting the vested interests of Government and their babus is our cultural ethos, is it not Mr. Sibal?
Crores of rupees of tax payer money is spent on building roads and national highways, which end up increasing maintenance cost of vehicles, now that is our cultural ethos! The common man has to bear the burden of increasing prices, heavy indirect taxation for which the government does not provide any service – that is our cultural ethos!

Corruption has become the national pass time with 99% of the public indulging in it. Many who do not want to be corrupt end up paying bribes, as without that nothing happens in this country! The aam aadmi suffers from basic level corruption from low level government functionaries who have been excluded from the ambit of the Lokpal Bill. We might as well say, “chalta hai @#$%^&&” and forget about – because that is our cultural ethos.

How many political families who own sugar factories and big business houses who take loans from co-operative banks and nationalised banks respectively actually bother repaying the loans. The sugar factory owned by our country’s President owes the banks crores. Patil, in 1973, had set up a co-operative bank named Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank, to empower women. The license of the bank was revoked in 2003 by the Reserve Bank of India for alleged financial irregularities. According to reports, one of the reasons listed by the RBI for cancellation of the license was the faulty loan policy of the bank and waivers on loan interests given, among others, to Patil's relatives. The nationalised banks latest NPA report indicates NPA’s of over Rs. 40000 crores. This from business houses whose promoters are filthy rich! This is definitely our cultural ethos.

In India majority religion bashing is the norm and pandering to others is the flavour – now introducing muslims in the other backward class category for government sops and subsidies. When will such cultural ethos change? Can we not abolish reservations by have an economic criteria introduced for support of the poor – based on merit and not on religion or caste. But that would then be against our cultural ethos, I suppose.

Nepotism and dynastic rule has become the norm in this country – every politicians, husband, wife, brother, sister, etc wants to come into politics to loot the nation. Nobody says “ask not what the nation will do for you, but what you can do for the nation”. But I think our politicians and bureaucrats have found an answer to the second question – it is simply loot the nation and make hay while the sun shines! That has become our cultural ethos.

This Government, instead of using growth to lay a secure foundation for the future, and create conditions where the scourge of poverty can be removed, has undermined the prospects for growth. We have high inflation, worrying public debt, slowing growth, uncertain currency prospects, falling investment, crushing interest rates. Not a single one of the big-ticket items the country needs has progressed. Centralisation of governance remains endemic. There is no serious progress on GST. There is an energy crisis looming. With the exception of RTI, there is no meaningful administrative reform. These will not happen without serious investment of political capital. Government processes from finance to environment smack of more discretion than before. Agriculture, except where states have taken an initiative, remains stuck. Corruption is endemic. Evasion of responsibility remains the norm. Every single institution, from the office of the prime minister to the cabinet, stands weakened. The capacity of the system to negotiate conflict and grievances is declining. Bills are languishing in Parliament. The use of state power by the Congress has been ruthless, the corrosion of public discourse unconscionable, and the anti-intellectualism mind-boggling. This I guess is our cultural ethos.

Mr. Sibal talks about cultural ethos when his party is ruled by a foreigner!

Wake up Mr. Sibal before it is too late. Start tackling real governance issues rather than trying to convert India into a police state to satisfy your insatiable ego by trying to achieve the impossible.

Ref:"Tomorrows Battles by Mr. Bhanu Pratap Mehta in Indian Express"

Chaitanya Samarpan Dhyan Mahashibir – 7,8,9 November 2011 at Rajkot

2011-11-13T13:38:00.001+05:30

We had booked flight tickets for Rajkot almost two months ago. There were five of us initially, of which three dropped out due to personal reasons and only Deepak Tandon and I took the flight. We met a sadhak couple from Juhu center, who were on the same flight. We landed in Rakjot at 6.15am and took the hired cab to the Ashram situated at Sindhavadar which is about 50km from the airport. The drive took us just over an hour. Just as we neared the Ashram, I saw a huge “Trishul” formed in the clouds, which was welcoming us into the presence of divinity. We reached the Ashram at around 7.30am, registered at the registration counter and went into the residential tent. The tent was huge, with the capacity of accommodating 4320 sadhaks.

The Ashram land had been acquired only on September 5, 2011 and PP Gurudev’s residence was constructed in exactly 57 days, and co-incidentally this was PP Gurudev’s 57th birthday. The Rajkot sadhaks, under the very able guidance of Ms. Jigna Gohil (President of the CM 2011 Committee) had done a fantastic job of preparing the land and then making arrangements for the festival. A gigantic effort had been made to appear very effortless under the Guru energies while setting up the entire event. The entire ground had been covered with green carpeting, including the residential area, dining area, exhibition area and the bathroom area. Earlier, at the breaks there always used to be a rush to find one’s footwear, but this time plastic bags were given to put one’s footwear in and we were told to place them below our mattresses, this, with one stroke eliminated the chaos which used to occur while collecting the footwear during intervals and in the night.

The organizers had given color codes for different sadhaks for allocating timings during meal times, so that participants did not have to wait in long queues. This was an innovation, which will stand the organizers of future events in good stead. The walkways were made wider hence between events the movement of people was much easier and smoother without any pushing and shoving. I did not experience any waiting period during any of the days, which actually helped one enjoy the energy filled atmosphere in a very relaxed manner.

After arrival we relaxed in the bedding tent, had lunch at noon, went to visit the exhibitions and then came back and changed to attend the beginning of the function. At 2.45pm we all assembled in the “Sabha Mandap”, and the comperes, (Mrs. Virkar and Mr. Bhatt) started the program in their inimitable style. The pleasure of attending the function was enhanced manifold with the compering par excellence of these two committed sadhaks, who bring such feeling and love into their words, which is truly amazing – God and Guru bless them to infinity. I was getting a faint rose fragrance intermittently, with my eyes shut listening to the introduction. After the introductory talk, sadhaks who had registered for the “havan” were asked to go to the “havan kund” as the “havan” was to start at 4pm and end by 6pm. The other sadhaks were to stay back in the main tent and watch the Kutch Gurupurnima 2011 video of PP Gurudev’s discourse.

We left for the “havan kund” quietly and in a disciplined manner and sat at our allocated places. At exactly 4pm the “havan” function started with Shri Rambhai along with a trained sadhak conducting the proceedings. With the help of authorized helpers, the proceedings started (there were about 100 “havan kunds” with about 350 participants) and the flame was lit to the chanting of mantras. After establishing the deity the main participants at each “havan kund” was asked to stand up. Just as I started standing up, the flame at my “havan” went off and a huge black ball of smoke started coming towards me as I was sitting facing the windward side. I instinctively closed my eyes, thinking that this smoke will go into my nostrils and eyes, making then both water. But as I stood up, I felt a cold ball of energy encircle my head completely (I feel it every time I think of the experience), but I did not get any whiff of the smoke, so I opened my eyes, and saw that the smoke had moved on to my right after hitting the ball of energy and in the meantime the flame had been lit again. As I sat down that ball of energy was with me, around my head and neck, and then left after a few minutes. I felt like I was blessed with the Guru energies making sure that I was not put to any inconvenience. Later I asked Deepak, who was with me at the “havan”, whether he saw this. He replied that he had, but did not know why the smoke veered away! In due course the “havan” function got over, with Shri Rambhai concluding the program, and Shri Ambareeshji and Shri Anuragji, walking around the entire “havan” area with hands folded as PP Gurudev’s representatives. We were given 5 gifts for participating in the “havan”, the Ganesh murti made of brass (very beautiful), the coconut, a guava, Prasad in a packet and a silver coin vibrated by PP Gurudev with His image embossed on it.

After the “havan” we went back to the residential tent, and relaxed before going for dinner. After dinner, we went to the “sabha mandap” for the post dinner program. At 9.15pm the program got over and we retired for the day. I went to sleep and woke up at 2.15am and freshened up, had a bath and got ready for morning meditation. Once I got back, I woke up the others, and after they had their bath, we went for a cup of tea and biscuits at around 4.30am. We got back and at 5.45am went into the “sabha mandap” and sat down for meditation. This was the big day, the birthday of PP Gurudev who is an incarnation sent to earth for showing the path to salvation for millions of souls. The meditation was conducted by Shri Rambhai, I prayed for a “param shunya” state for myself and prayed for PP Gurudev’s well being along with that of his very large family of sadhaks. During meditation, I was getting the fragrance of roses off and on. At 7am, after meditation, we went for breakfast and were told to assemble at 7.45 am as PP Gurudev and PP Guruma were to enter the “sabha mandap” at 8am.

At around 7.45am we entered the “sabha mandap” and quietly went and sat inside to the sound of chants/bhajans being played. My eyes closed and just before PP Guruma entered, my soul told me that Vandaniya Guruma is coming, and as the thought crossed my mind, conch shells started blowing announcing her arrival to the sound of loud claps from the sadhaks. A few minutes later, I again got the feeling the PP Gurudev was coming, and as soon as I got the feeling, the conch shells again blew announcing PP Gurudev’s arrival. The sadhaks clapped very loudly and there was great joy and happiness all round with a lot of love energy flowing in the mandap.
PP Gurudev then began his discourse. He mentioned that he had got his birthday gift in October itself, as he was blessed with a grandson, thus graduating from Babaswami to Dadaswami. He informed us that the grandson had been christened Shri Chaitanya Swami. We all clapped very loudly to show our happiness. He then mentioned that the message of the Gurushaktis was that henceforth Maha Dhyans would take place instead of Maha Shibirs. The last Maha Dhyan was in 2008 and after that for 3 years there was nothing, as in a very subtle manner the Guru energies were preparing for change, the calm before the storm so to speak! The first Maha Dhyan was held during the international retreat at Dandi Ashram in October. The next one will be held tomorrow and he told us to keep our balance and be ready for great spiritual experiences as all the Gurushaktis will be present for the meditation to be conducted by PP Gurudev himself. He went on to explain that the energy which flowed during the 8 days of the Maha Shibirs would now flow in that one hour of Maha Dhyan, to which there was tremendous applause. He informed us that the energies which will flow during the meditation will help in clearing all the chakras in that one hour. Any sadhak whose root chakra was blocked would start coughing as it got cleared and those whose “swadishthan chakra” was getting cleared would cough at that point and so on. He also mentioned that such Maha Shibirs would now take place and that only one Maha Shibir in one city will take place. PP Gurudev completed his discourse and then the comperes announced that sadhaks had decided to gift a Samarpan Rath to S PP Gurudev, whose ribbon cutting he did along with puja. The video shooting of the entire opening ceremony was done and shown to us later. PP Gurudev also blessed the plots where the Ayurveda and Yoga schools were to be built. In the meantime preparations were going on for the birthday celebration, with each sadhak being given a balloon and chocolate. The cake was brought and placed for cutting, along with a huge greeting card prepared by sadhaks. PP Guruma and PP Gurudev then re-entered the sabha mandap to sound of loud claps and to the tune of “jiyo hazaaron saal…..happy birthday to you”. All the sadhaks were waving balloons and singing along, and once the song was over, the sound of balloons bursting like small crackers was heard for the next few minutes. After that we were all given candles, which we lit, and then did “Arati” of PP Gurudev. By now it was almost noon, and the paduka naman program was to start. After about half an hour it was our turn to pay obeisance to PP Gurudev’s lotus feet. I prostrated myself and kept asking PP Gurudev to give me “param shunya stithi”, moksha and to fill my being with love for the entire universe, so that I could become a fountain of love. I was prostrate for about three minutes in a one on one communion with PP Gurudev. I then got up and as I left, after the paduka naman, I looked towards PP Gurudev and felt his eyes follow me as I left the mandap. I was feeling truly blessed with divine energy and I felt deep inside me that PP Gurudev had heard my prayers. We then went for lunch.

After lunch we re-assembled at 3pm and PP Guruma gave her discourse explaining various aspects in her inimitable style, like a mother, with love and humor. Her mellifluous voice always brings great inner joy. She had composed a bhajan which she sang at the end of her discourse in her beautiful voice, to rhythmic clapping from the sadhaks side. Ambarishji then took stage after the tea break and entertained the sadhaks in his humorous style while explaining the importance of yuva shakti and the efforts and innovations in prachar being undertaken by the youth.

After dinner there was a cultural program with dances being performed by various centers. All the dances were beautiful, but the Shiva Tandav dance performed by the Rajkot sadhaks was special as far as I was concerned. As the dance started to the music and chants of the Shiva stotra, the synchronization and movement of the dance made my body go cold with energy, and as the tandav started, Nandi got disturbed and as Parvati Devi was calming Nandi by moving her hand over Nandi’s head, I felt a cold wave of energy on my scalp, like a hand was moving over my head and neck – this happened twice at the exact moment that Parvati Devi was moving her hand over Nandi’s head. I remembered my trip to Dronagiri in July, where I had my first experience of Lord Shiva and Nandi at the Dronagiri temple. After that we retired for the night having only fruits for dinner so that our stomach would be quiet for the Maha Dhyan the next day.

I went into a sleep of the dead and when I woke up completely refreshed it was 2.45am. I went for a bath, returned and woke the others up so that we could be ready well in time for the Maha Dhyan. I submitted the feedback form on the event and then we assembled at 5.45am, and sat down with our chitta on the crown chakra. There was a lot of coughing going on as the energy levels were quite high. Rambhai started the proceedings at exactly 6am, and the lights were switched off – there was pin drop silence and PP Gurudev’s entry could be sensed as He quietly came and sat down. At 6.15am PP Gurudev started the Maha Dhyan with the recital of the Guru Mantra. In the initial 15 minutes I was just getting into a trance, my breathing had slowed down considerably, but was brought out by a sharp laugh by some sadhak very close behind me, which set my heart beat racing. It took me a couple of minutes to calm down, but I could not get into a meditative state, as intermittent coughing and snoring close behind me prevented concentration – my condition is still very nascent and I have not yet developed the ability to completely switch off yet. With PP Gurudev’s Grace it will happen soon. My legs were also cramping up, and at around 7am, again I felt myself entering a meditative state. Now I felt my consciousness expanding and I could hear, sparrows, pigeons, crickets, the sound of running water from all around the locality, the most tiny sound was magnified and appeared to sound close by. At 7.15am PP Gurudev concluded the meditation program, with prayer and “Shanti Path”. We then left the sabha mandap for our breakfast break. We were already into the third day of the program, and time had just flown by in peaceful and energized surroundings.

After breakfast we re-assembled at the Sabha Mandap with the Trustees explaining various aspects of their activities. Thereafter there was a continuation of the cultural program with dance and bhajans being performed by sadhaks from various centers from Gujarat and Maharashtra. At the lunch break, post lunch I went to the exhibition stall again for taking Akash tatva experience. We were explained the concept wherein you becoming thoughtless by praying to the sky and how because of the infinity in space our mind gets dissolved in its infinity, and then we were told to stand with the left hand up just above the shoulder palm facing upwards and the right palm facing down near the hip, to stand with our eyes closed and feel the universal energy. I felt tingling sensation in my palms as I received universal energy through my left hand and then felt the released negative energy going out of my right hand. It was again an experience which was unique. I had experienced this before too, when my paragliding instructor Tom, from England, had made us relax to exorcise the fear of flying by connecting us to universal energy.

After lunch Anuragji gave a very good speech on his experiences and how the affairs of the trust are being managed. The program was altered thereafter and the Question and Answer session to be taken by PP Gurudev being postponed from 4pm to 5pm. As we had a flight to catch, I told Deepak that it would be better if we sit outside and watch the session on TV as the Q & A session was bound to extend beyond one hour. We took our Prasad and then sat for the session in the exhibition stall. The first question was "Why does Swamiji meet the sadhaks?" This question has been asked before many times, hence briefly the answer is, if you do Guru's karya, the Guru will follow you, much like the cow who who will follow you if you carry its calf! The second question on the fear of death was explained very beautifully by PP Gurudev. Firstly you should understand deat, then you can understand fear. One dies with every breath – you breathe in life force and when you breathe out you die. But if you approach life with the a positive approach thinking that every day is your last day then you could tell yourself, as today is my last day, I will meditate,I will not fight with anyone - why fight while dying? today is my last day, I will do some good deed selflessly; today is my last day I will spread happiness and love to everyone and so on. Why should one fear death, as death is just a moving on a transformation of energy from the body into universal consciousness. There are 3 types of death : Physical death - a good doctor can save you, and death can be postponed. Second, Divine Death: A Saint's blessing can delay it. Last Spiritual Death: no one can save you - because after this you are free, you attain salvation.It was about 6.15, when Deepak and I and all the other sadhaks who had booked flights took their taxis and left for the airport. As we left the organisers had kept sadhaks to see us off and invite us again to the Ashram, truly gracious hosts with a lot of love energy! We reached exactly 45 minutes before the flight departed. PP Gurudev showed us again the concept of JIT (Just in Time) management, as with his Grace we caught the flight back to Mumbai.

I would like to mention in conclusion that apart from the Guru energies and universal consciousness which flow’s at all such functions, this time around the experience was enhanced manifold due to the superb event management and phenomenal efforts taken to make the stay comfortable and hassle free for all the sadhaks. May God and Gurudev bless all the organizers and give them Energy to continue doing such great Gurukarya.

I have written this from memory and the sequence may be wrong in some places - I may have missed some things too, for which I apologize – please excuse me.

JAI BABA SWAMI

Our connection to a living Sadguru and thus to Guru Tattva

2011-10-29T12:21:00.000+05:30

Param Pujya Swami Shivakrupandji in his discourses has said that he is non-existence and has reached the state of “Shunya”. He has mentioned that it was Shirdi Sainath who came in his dreams and told him to accept dakshina and then see his Gurukarya increase manifold. In fact in one of his discourses, on the fourth day, he makes you experience Shirdi Sainaths energy! Swamiji has mentioned that you can see your own Guru in Him, and many sadhaks/sadhikas have seen Shirdi Sainath, Osho, Swami Samarth, etc in Him. Swamiji has said that Guru Tattva remains the same, the Gurus change with the times, but the essence is always the same. When we come in contact with a living Sadguru, what does that entail for the sadhaks? At soul level the sadhak has reached a stage for his further evolution, for him to grow further and move into a different dimension. Hence, the sadhak should realize that there are subtle changes taking place within himself/herself, through the Sadguru’s Grace and through his/her own sadhana and behavior in the material world.

Awareness is very important. Be aware of every moment, every breath you take, you should take consciously – as with every breath taken in, God is coming towards you, and with every outgoing breath you are moving towards God. God consciousness, then slowly starts becoming second nature, once that happens you start connecting to Guru Tattva.

What is Guru Tattva? Tattva means essence or element. Guru Tattva, then, means Guru essence or element. In the most complete sense, Guru Tattva is the natural, inexorable mechanism or process by which manifest life moves from a relative state of ignorance of Self to total awareness or Self Realization. The life process of manifest beings is, in general, a movement toward Self-recognition. The lila, or play of manifest life is a game of forgetting and remembering. We forget we are Shiva consciousness, and we slowly remember. If we dedicate ourselves to sadhana, we remember a little faster. Reality, or Shiva, has the capacity to produce experiences we call “duality” or diversity. This capacity to elaborate a world (Maya) is the nature of Shiva consciousness. The creation is not a decision that happened one day. Creation is ongoing in every moment. The creation arises from, within, and is of the primordial intelligence.

Thus once you connect and understand the concept, it becomes slightly easier to start living it in the material world. Staying fully conscious and aware and doing one’s day to day activity without being affected and by living in the present moment, will slowly and inexorably start taking you inside to your inner core. It takes time and once you start going inside and finding peace, then you will start making it a habit and that will immediately reflect on your face – you will find people saying you look fresh, you look peaceful, you look younger, etc.

Ego is another aspect one needs to take into consideration. I have seen some people mention on some web-sites, that so and so web-site is only meant for sayings of a certain Guru. If someone posts some spiritual matter relating to another Guru, which could be of Shirdi Sainath, Osho, Sathya Sai Baba, etc, then some people object, saying that you should post matter only related to that one particular Guru. On a spiritual site, which is open to the public, such small mindedness is the result of Ego. 'My Guru, your Guru', etc… one should understand that Guru Tattva is the same, all Sadguru’s over centuries have spoken the same language, which is the language of love and light and of Universal Consciousness. Thus reprimanding people on a public forum, that to on a spiritual site, is going a bit too far. There is no point in hurting others for posting spiritual matter relating to other Saints - as long as the matter is spiritual, everyone should read and absorb. The energy which flows from a web-site which has lots of diverse spiritual matter is much higher. One just has to open one’s mind and accept everything in love and light. Ego will only make you blind, deaf and dumb…..lets learn to spread love and light and not get bogged down by individualistic opinions and preferences.

Ill Effects Of Female Infanticide And Foeticide

2011-10-22T10:01:00.000+05:30

In the news papers we read about the stories of female foeticide or infanticide. The National census 2001 has revealed a shocking picture of the skewed child sex ratio i.e. number of female children per 1000 male children in India. The child sex-ratio in 2001 has gone down to 927 females for 1000 males from 945 for 1000 males in 1991.

Experts say female foeticide in India is mostly linked to socio-economic factors. The girl child has traditionally been considered inferior and a liability. It is an idea that many say carries over from the time India was a predominantly agrarian society where boys were considered an extra pair of hands in the farm whereas a girl was considered a liability. It is quite possible that the practice of female dowry arose as a result of reduction in the number of men in India due to constant warring and the genetic robustness of the female fetus. There are no male shortages now, but the practice continues to thrive. Males are considered heirs to property, thus aggravating the problem.

Historically, in the absence of genetic testing, infanticide was the only inhumane option for discarding the female child. This heinous practice continues today in the southern parts of India where families cannot afford an illegal ultrasound test. People in Punjab, Haryana and other Western states can afford illegal tests to determine the sex of the baby and discard it.

The sharp decline in the sex ratio is a matter of serious concern as it is expected to lead to serious demographic imbalances in the future. There is no doubt that this practice, if continued, will shackle the very social fabric of our nation. As females drop in number in a society, society gets destabilized. Similar destabilization, violence and lack of progress is observed in polygamous societies, where females are treated as properties and the source of all violence is to "acquire and control" females.

The attack on the foetus does not begin in the womb - it begins in the minds of human beings; and that's why we need to change the mindsets of the people. The only way to eradicate this evil is to start educating the Indian public that daughters are equal to sons and deserve the same opportunities whether it comes to education, employment or inheritance.

How I got re-connected to Mahavtar Babaji

2011-10-19T15:46:00.001+05:30

I had mentioned in my blog on the visit to Dronagiri that the events leading upto the visit would be documented later. Here it is.

When I was in college (in 1981) my sister-in-law had taken me to Yogoda Satsang Society (YSS) which was formed by Swami Paramhansa Yoganandji in Mumbai. I had on an impulse subscribed to YSS and their Kriya Yoga course. At that time, though I had a spiritual bent of mind, I did not find the idea of writing exams on spirituality too appealing, what with college exams and CA exams! I thought it would be a bit too much! I did pick up an “Autobiography of a Yogi” and read it, wherein was my first brush with Mahavtar Babaji, who is the Guru of Swami Paramhansa’s Guru’s Guru, namely the Guru of Sri Lahiri Mahasayaji. I have read this book three times since, and every time I have always been fascinated when it came to the passage on Mahavtar Babaji, though the whole book, when read again and again throws more and more light on various aspects of spirituality. It just depends on how ready you are to absorb the true meaning of what has been written by the Yogi.

In April this year, a friend of mine called me and told me that he has mailed me a link which gives details about Mahavtar Babaji’s caves in Dronagiri and how to get there. He said that we should plan a visit to the caves, to which I replied that we should do it before the start of the monsoon. That same day, a colleague was sitting in my cabin at office, when a lady colleague who has got a reputation as a palmist came on our floor, and I mentioned in passing to my colleague that she is a good palmist. My friend was very interested and he went to meet her to see what she had to say about him. Later they called me too, and I also showed my palm and she told me certain things about taking care of my health, when I mentioned to her that I have been running the marathon for the last seven years and I have been practicing meditation twice a day for the last two years, hence I am not too worried about my health. To which she replied, in that case I should go to Babaji’s caves, to which I asked her whether she is referring to Mahavtar Babaji’s caves at Dronagiri and she said “yes”! That was the second indication, later in the day I was just browsing through a spiritual video and the last image which came and stayed was that of Mahavtar Babaji, it was too much of a co-incidence and I felt that Babaji was now definitely giving signs that we should go to the caves.

In May, I had gone to Kerala for a CA conference and on our way back, we stopped at Adi Sankaracharya’s math for ‘darshan’. I later came to know that Adi Sankaracharya is also a disciple of Babaji. Next day was my flight to Mumbai. At the airport, I was waiting for my flight when on an impulse I decided to visit the small book shop in the waiting lounge. As I stepped into the lounge, the only book which came in sight was “The Voice of Babaji- A Triology” by V.T. Neelkanthan. I zeroed in on the book and as I took it into my hands, a bolt of very cold energy passed from my scalp (sahastrar), through my body and into the ground, leaving my body encased in a cocoon of cold energy. It was like I had just been touched by Babaji. I was overawed by the experience, just bought the book and sat with it in my hands with my eyes closed, just cherishing what I had gone through, just a few moments ago. Every time I relive that memory the body goes cold again as the energy starts flowing!

Just before leaving for the Himalayas in June, I was going from office to home, when on an impulse I decided to stop at wholesale book shop close to my house, thinking that I would get some more books on Babaji. I walked into the shop, and just went to a dark corner in the shop, where the lights had been switched off, and I started browsing in the dim available light, and there again I saw books on Babaji, I picked up Babaji and the 18 Siddhas by Marshal Govindan and left. It was like I was being magnetically drawn to Babaji. I purchased four copies of the book for myself and the other three spiritual seekers who had booked their passage to visit the caves and left.

Just a day before leaving for Delhi, I got the YSS newsletter, in which the first quote was that of Babaji, along with his photo. I knew we were blessed and our journey to visit the caves would be peaceful and successful, without any hassles. And that is how it turned out to be.
JAI BABAJI

Corruption and Terror - A connection?

2011-09-08T10:31:00.000+05:30

I have been reading and watching with deep consternation the repeated assaults on the innocent public by terrorists who are out to kill for whatever cause they support. Terrorists basically are brain-washed robots who have been suckered into an ideology and are used by their controllers to achieve their so called ambitions. That may be a bit simplistic as some of the terrorists are in it for the money and the adrenaline high it gives, but killing people randomly is too cowardly an act to be justified or condoned.

Where is the connection between terror and corruption you may well ask! After Mumbai was held spell bound by the antics of the half dozen terrorists from across the border that attacked VT and the Taj and Oberoi hotels, the Maharashtra Government immediately ordered 28 high speed patrol boats for the coast guard at a cost of Rs. 250 crores over and above 20 boats allotted by the Central Government of a total sanction for 58 boats. Of these boats as of date only 8 boats are operational to patrol a 700 km coastline. Why you may well ask! You know when the government purchased the boat they forgot to check whether they had the skilled manpower to operate these boats, so instead of training the required number of people and getting the boats operational, the government decides to keep the boats rotting in the docks! Now after investing so much money in the boats, how does one milk more money for the party/politician coffers? Well you have maintenance and repair contracts for brand new boats which are rotting in the docks!

Take the case of blasts in Delhi and Mumbai, the government has time and again said that they will have CCTV’s installed and the monitoring mechanism in place to deter or at least use them to identify potential terrorists. What happens the whole plan goes into limbo because of red tape or some greedy bureaucrat / politician not sanctioning it as he is not getting his cut! Till the next bomb blast happens!

I think as the citizens have taken to the streets against corruption, so they should again come out to make these moronic politicians see the light of day and force them to implement strong measures to tackle or deter terrorist attacks. We are now so used to these attacks that we do not bother at all, because the day to day struggle to meet two ends meet in these times of high inflation is too much. The government terrorizes the citizens through high costs while those in government enrich themselves and protect themselves with Z-Class security. They should forego security and try to provide security to the citizens rather than massage their egos at public cost.

Each preventive measure against terror gets marred and blocked in red tape and corruption. Why should the public bear this with fortitude all the time? None of the terrorists have been punished so far, all this encourages the adversary to attack again as the perception is India is a soft state! The person who killed a prime minister is still in jail, and asking for mercy. We have justice delivered but no action taken by the government in that case. We have the attacker to Parliament still not hanged, Mr. Kasab is the guest of the state, and crores are being spent to keep him alive whereas farmers are committing suicide because of their desperate situation. So where is the justice? I am of the philosophy that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but in extreme situations where national integrity and security is at stake, then don’t you think one should execute the perpetrators of cowardly crimes against humanity and send a strong message to these cowards that we will not take things lying down!

If we cannot do that, then at least let’s make an example of all those who delay or block acquisition of equipment to prevent or monitor and track or protect the nation and making operational such equipment with trained manpower to handle the same. Let’s hang these bureaucrats / politicians as they are the guys who are safe and steal public money while the aam aadmi dies on the streets!

Visit to Dronagiri – Abode of the Gods (June 18 -21)

2011-06-24T17:06:00.005+05:30

|| Jai Shree Babaji || Jai Shri Baba Swami ||

Shree Mahavtar Babaji and Pandukhuli

The chain of events (this is a separate story by itself) over the past two months leading up to my visit to Babaji caves led me to believe that I was being called by Babaji to pay a visit to his abode. There was great anticipation that something magical was in store for us on this spiritual journey as we sat in the flight. A group of four led by Prem Parasji and including Deepak Tandon (who took the initiative to organize the trip), his close friend Ramesh Ganiga and self formed the eager foursome who were to go to the abode of the Gods where Mahavatar Babaji’s energy and presence is felt in every atom of nature. We flew down to Delhi from Mumbai and as we passed over Ajmer, I felt cold vibrations and goose pimples giving an indication that the Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisty of Ajmer too was blessing us on this trip. All the travel arrangements from Delhi to Dronagiri in Uttaranchal were made by Deepak and Ramesh. Another proof that Babaji works in his own mysterious ways came to light when the taxi driver Rajan Soni, of Sheetal Tours and Travels accompanied us and turned out to be a devotee of Shirdi Sai Nath. Prem and I received a text message from a mutual friend as soon as we landed at New Delhi which read “In the limited time and space we all are in – I am wishing with lots of loving and kindness to all – a new consciousness full of love and joy – the new awakening which will bring about a paradigm shift in this world and in us. Let the higher energies bless us all. So….be….it…..” We had good weather in Delhi and left for Dronagiri at 11 am.

On the way up, Rajan used to keep telling us that this or the other would happen, we kept telling him that, rest assured nothing untoward would happen and we would reach well in time. Rajan Soni had a great collection of bhajans and we travelled throughout listening to some fabulous Sai bhajans which had great energy leading to a cooling of the crown chakra. Rajan told us we would waste about a couple of hours of travel time to pay the RTO tax by entering Ghaziabad. We told him have faith we won’t get any line or traffic and we should be out fast. We had to halt at Ghaziabad and enter the city to pay RTO tax – can you imagine you have to enter the city to pay tax – this tax should be on the highway, sheer waste of travel time as well as diesel! We finished this exercise in 45 minutes as there was not much traffic and no line! Our faith just kept getting stronger with the sensation that Babaji was ensuring that things went right for us! We stopped for a delicious lunch at Skylark dhabha on NH4 on the way to Moradabad. There was great energy, as one closed one’s eyes one could feel Babaji’s energy which was palpable as we were already in his aura. We passed Rampur which left us with another 160km to travel to Bheemtal. The entire stretch after leaving Delhi is so green and lush that it is amazing that a state so rich in natural resources can be so poor.

A small traffic incident occurred at around 4.15pm when a very young boy on a bicycle came bang in front of our car from the right, which made Rajan brake and move to the left, resulting in a motorcycle hitting us in the rear. We were moving very slowly and hence the accident was not too severe, we checked that the motorcycle rider was not hurt and moved on. As we passed the bicyclist, Ramesh and Rajan yelled out words of wisdom to the youth, and the boy just looked askance and smiled – it appeared that Babaji was testing us! Prem said “uski nazar dekho, kaun tumhe dekh raha hai pehchano”. We had tea at Bilaspur at around 5.15pm and then around 6.25pm we reached Haldwani and saw a board welcoming us to Devbhoomi (Land of the Gods). We could feel divinity in the air and in the surroundings.

Prem started singing Babaji’s bhajan which was composed by him, and we accompanied him in chorus, it was great fun and tremendous energy, we could feel ourselves being cleansed in the process. We had not booked any hotel thinking that as it was off season we would get a room easily. But we discounted the fact that it was the weekend, and people from surrounding areas flock to the hills on weekends. Rajan told us he would get us a room at Bheemtal which we reached around 8pm, as reaching Ranikhet at night would have been too risky. Prem kept saying we should go as far as possible, and stop at Garampani which was half way to Ranikhet, and keep trying hotels on the route to Ranikhet. We told the driver that he should not think negatively as we are sure we would get two rooms to stay. Ramesh called his office colleague who is a local, and he told us to go to Garampani just as Prem had said where we would get our rooms! The hotel owner called us shortly and told us that he had only two vacant rooms – we told him that is all we need, thank you! This happened at around 8.20 pm, we reached Hotel Shagun at Garampani at 9.10pm, checked in, had great dinner and retired for the night. After dinner at around 10.15pm Prem got his guitar out and started singing his composition. Deepak was in the room, and as Prem started singing, he went to call his friend but did not return. As Prem sang, I felt the same energy which I had been experiencing off and on over the last two months, but this time much stronger, as my body got covered in that energy field, my eyes closed in meditation and I asked Prem that I could feel the presence of Babaji, he said yes Babaji was in the room, I bowed my head and paid obeisance and prayed for enlightenment to Babaji. Prem continued singing with me softly accompanying him for about half an hour. At around 11pm we retired for the night anticipating a great day tomorrow. Prem told me he had sent the energy to the other room also, thus they too were blessed.

At 5am it was already bright and I sat down for meditation and prayed to Babaji for a great day, saying whatever has to happen will happen as per His wishes. At around 8am, we were all in the balcony taking photographs of the beautiful scenery and then after tea Prem told us all to sit down and he took out his guitar and started singing a bhajan in praise of Guruma. There was so much feeling in the bhajan that as I listened to the bhajan with eyes closed, tear drops started rolling down - he took us to a completely different level! After this we again went to the balcony and as we discussed spiritual matters we were being cleared and as our discussion became more animated, we could again feel Babaji’s energy, he was with us again in the morning. Prem made us stand in a circle and asked us to shut our eyes and meditate. He told us to relax and watch our breath. Prem then explained to us how the energies work. Prem gave Osho diksha to Deepak and Ramesh, and Deepak felt connected and the energy started flowing between the four of us, it was moving in ‘shunya’ a zero-like state. After we opened our eyes Ramesh said that he saw a flame in a golden ball of light in his heart – that was his soul.The experience of Deepak during the “Shunya” energy circle and post that during the bhajan was so divine that he could get not only Babaji’s energy but felt a “Shakti” which was present. We felt that we all four souls were bonded together and there was a “Shakti” which was blessing all of us.

By 9.15am we checked out and left for Ranikhet, as we were driving through Ranikhet I was praying for an ‘Om’ to be visible in the sky, and shortly there it was, as confirmed by the others. We were now on our way to Dwarahat and from there we were to move to Kukuchina. We could literally feel that we were in God’s country - we were travelling through hills with lots of twists and turns as we continually climbed up. On either side of the road were pine forests, lush green cover and a sight for sore city eyes. We were passing through real beautiful country, the atmosphere was divine and nature was with us as the Sun God kept smiling throughout. We passed Dwarahat at 12 noon and moved on to Dunagiri which we reached at around 1.30pm. We got off the car and climbed the 350 steps up to the temple. This is a four ‘Yuga’s’ (one Yuga is said to be an epoch within a cycle of four ages; a complete Yuga cycle from a high Golden Age of enlightenment to a Dark Age and back again is said to be caused by the solar system’s motion around another star) old temple and the presiding deity is Vaishnavi Devi and is called Dunagiri Mata. This is a shakti-peeth, where Bhairavi, the consort of Bhairav or Lord Shiva himself, turns into Vaishnavi Mata. We all went with our offerings and as we were doing the rounds of the temple, I placed my forehead on the wall of the temple just behind the deity and closed my eyes and prayed for “ek shunya stithi” and as I started praying my forehead went ice cold and I saw the vision of Nandi (white – just the head) coming towards me and then a three dimensional image of white clouds in a vibrant blue sky and the Nandi disappeared into the clouds, the clouds dissolved and only a white circle of light was left and I felt I was disappearing into it, I felt somebody standing behind me and I opened my eyes. Prem was smiling at me and told me he was watching my Kundalini energy as I prayed. After that we sat down and accompanied Prem to three bhajans he sang in praise of Mataji. There was so much energy and feeling in the bhajans, it was amazing – I never knew I could sing in tune to anything, but then I guess the energies always make you proficient at the right time. We all enjoyed the bhajans and again during the singing a few tears dropped from my eyes. As we got up, one of the temple attendants came and told us to have “Prasad” at the “bhandara”. Prem mentioned that on Saturday his wife prepares “aloo-puri” for him and that is exactly what was served as “prasad”. We were blessed, as after breakfast we had not had anything in between, it was around 2.15pm when we sat down and had excellent Prasad. It was so tasty that we had a second round and then after that we left for Kukuchina. A slight drizzle had started and the weather had now become very chilly with a cool breeze blowing across the mountains. We reached Kukuchina at around 2.45 pm and went to Joshi’s restaurant. As we got off from the car Prem said the caves are over there pointing east on the far side of the road, below which was a valley and beyond which was the base of the mountain. We asked for Joshiji and asked for his advice – by now the rains had become more persistent. Joshi told us to proceed to the caves which were exactly where Prem had said they were, and then climb up to Pandukhuli where it is believed that the Pandavas spent their one year incognito in exile. If Joshiji wanted he could have told us to stay in his cottage, but he was transparent and said if you have come so far then you must proceed today only and stay overnight at the Ashram as divinity was there and the experience would be unique. It was not a question of money but about service to Babaji.

There was discussion on whether to go to Pandukhuli first and then next morning, climb down to Babaji’s caves etc. At this point Rajan was refusing to come up and Prem was coaxing him to come, when a cat was about to cross his path but turned around and returned, Prem shouted ‘dekha woh billi laut ke chale gayi, ab tu aja’. That’s when his energy changed and he agreed to come with us. Just as we left an unknown person came out and Prem greeted him, and he said “pehchan gaye” and they started laughing and embraced each other. He stayed alone at a temple about two hours away up the mountain in the jungles and was a self realised soul. It was decided that we should have faith and go to the caves and climb up to Pandukhuli thereafter. We got clothes for a day out of our bags and into separate bags, pulled out windcheaters wore them and set out for the trek singing Babaji’s bhajan composed by Prem. After walking for about half a kilometer the rains stopped and the Sun God smiled at us. We could feel Babaji’s energy as we climbed up. Ramesh had a cholesterol issue and was walking slowly with the help of a stick. Prem gave his guitar to him and told him to climb with the guitar. Later, when we reached the top and Ramesh said he was not tired at all, Prem told him, why do you think I gave you the guitar to carry! After about an hour of trekking we reached Babaji’s caves. We were met by a couple who were coming down from the caves and we greeted each other and moved on. As we stepped onto the stairs leading to the cave Shree Shivakrupananda Swamiji’s subtle body came and blessed us. We went into the cave where matting was kept (it was wet), but we sat and paid obeisance by touching our forehead to the ground and then sat for meditation. Prem started singing the bhajan which had now been completely composed with new lines and sounded magnificent in the cave. We sang in chorus, with me making the mistake of singing first time with Prem, instead of singing second time in chorus due to my ignorance. We sat with our eyes closed and were completely encased in a cocoon of energy singing in praise of Mahavtar Babaji. After about an hour of singing and praying we wound up and found that the caretaker had come to lock the caves. Ramesh mentioned that he had an out of body experience and saw his physical body sitting in meditation from above. Prem said Ramesh’s soul came and hugged his soul like they had discovered each other after many births! It was exactly 5pm – and all of us were glowing with the energy and the experience. One could see in each one’s eyes that they had gone through something unique. We hugged each other in gratitude for making this journey happen with Babaji’s and Gurudev’s grace. The caretaker was waiting outside and we asked him how long it would take to reach Pandukhuli, he said about an hour and a half. Post Prem singing Babaji’s bhajan, Ramesh too sang Satya Sai baba’s favorite bhajan followed by one bhajan from Deepak on Devi Ma. These bhajan’s came out of the energy levels being felt by the individual soul. Deepak felt the presence of Babaji, Annai Mata and Lahiri Baba in the cave. Deepak’s soul was thanking them for calling him and showering abundant blessings on him and all present. Lahiri Baba was as usual with his merciful , smiling and sweet face. Babaji was as if looking at Deepak and smiling , Mataji was the one who connected with him and to whom he caught on. Deepak was pleading with her not to send him back and she along with Babaji were indicating that he will need to go since there were obligations of the mortal body to be fulfilled. Deepak was literally reminded of his daughter who had specifically asked him to come back from this trip. Babaji and Mataji finally made him happy by assuring him of their constant presence and connection with his soul. The realization of this was evidenced by him during our journey back to Delhi on Tuesday. We decided to come the next day and asked him if he could open the cave at around 7am for us, he said he would do so by 7 – 7.30am.

Nature was with us all the time, as the sun kept coming in and out of the clouds and the temperature becoming nice and pleasant as we climbed up. The climb to the caves was a cakewalk as compared to the climb up to Pandukhuli. This climb was at an almost consistent 60 degree angle on a narrow well used trail up the mountain. We were told to follow the power line and we would reach Pandukhuli, we kept climbing with very brief halts for rest. On the way up one could hear nature all around, the call of birds, the rustling of leaves in a cool breeze and the “whoosh” of the wind as it blew across the mountains. The energy levels were so high that one did not rest for too long and continued up, and the best part was Ramesh who had a cholesterol problem reached the top ahead of all of us! He said he did not feel tired at all – that was the biggest miracle. On reaching the top Prem and I sat down praying facing the Sun God. It was 6.30pm and the setting Sun was still bright. I was enveloped in Babaji’s energy field and was just taking his name over and over in my mind and I felt I saw Babaji’s image in the Sun. I thereafter sat and meditated and thanked all the presiding Guru’s and deities for a wonderful experience and for bringing us so far without any hardships. Prem was sitting for meditation on the ground when Lord Shiva appeared before him and gave him his blessings.

We then went upto the Ashram and registered our names for the night’s stay. The view from the top was divine and on the other side of the Ashram was thick jungle. We met an American who has been coming there for the past four years – a true seeker of Truth. We got talking and he said his name was Sunita, I said that’s a girl’s name, he then said zero, that’s when I realised he said “Shunyata” meaning zero – a name given to him by his Guru. So he called himself Shunya, and the person was very knowledgeable of Indian customs and mantras. When Prem was explaining to him about Osho, he said Osho – the O stands for shunya, so he is connected with Osho. When Prems and Shunyas eyes met, Shunya told Prem that there was a Shiva temple ten km away and he said that you can have a tremendous and unique experience of conversing with ‘sakshat’ Lord Shiva!!! He invited Prem to come along with him. It was great to see someone from so far and from a different culture to be so familiar with Indian culture and knowledgeable too. It got dark very fast and it also started to rain pretty heavily. We had a hot and delicious dinner served by Krishna and during dinner Prem told Krishna and his two associates to meditate along with Shunya for about five minutes. After dinner we chose a shack which had Shirdi Sai Nath and Shri Purnananda Guru’s photo on the walls with an image of Om in snow in the Himalayas to retire for the night. Here we lit a candle in front of Shirdi Sai Baba’s photo and did the Guru Avahan mantra before Prem took out his guitar and we all sat down in a meditative posture and then he started singing, he took us to a different plane with his bhajans and we just soaked in the divine atmosphere. The candle was crackling all the time indicating our purification. This is when the bhajan “Mahavtar Jai Shri Babaji, Nagaraj Jai Shri Babaji tere sharana aayen hum Babaji, tere sharana aayen hum Babaji, namah namah Shivaya, Om nama shivaya, namah namah Shivaya, Om namah Shivaya ” composed by Prem was blessed by Shri Mahavtar Babaji and now whenever while meditating you hum the tune you will find it echoing in your mind as the tune is now playing in the Universe. We then retired for the night as it had now become very misty and it was raining consistently.

I woke up at around 6am and sat for meditation, while the others woke up in turns, as it was still raining we decided to remain indoors. At 7.30am or so Ramesh and I were chatting with Shunya at the entrance to the Ashram and I mentioned to him that I was praying down at Dunagiri Devi temple for a zero condition and guess what I met “Shunyata” on top – maybe we were destined to meet. Krishna the caretaker gave us morning tea followed by a herbal preparation which was absolutely divine. It kept our hunger at bay till 2pm! Then we went back to our shack and we sat for meditation along with Shunya. Prem sang Babaji’s bhajan with great feeling and we again went into a high meditative state. After the meditation Shunya said that for the last four years he was listening to Babaji’s bhajans but had never heard such a wonderful and enlightening Babaji bhajan before.

At around 9am the mist started clearing up, and then Prem said we will go direct to Dunagiri and there is no point in going back to the caves. He said we will start at around noon and we should be down by 2pm. He also said that we will carry out a yagna for purification of our mind and bodies. He told the temple priest and he readily agreed. In the meanwhile we got fresh, took a bath with available water and got ready. By this time it was around 11.30am.

I will digress a bit and tell you Rajan Soni’s (our cab driver) story. On the way up, he kept telling us this or the other would happen and we kept telling him that Babaji is with us and nothing will happen. He was just doing his job based on his experience which was to keep warning us, but we were also sure that nothing untoward would happen. He kept running away from situations, he did not sit with us at Dunagiri temple while we sang bhajans, he was hesitant to come up, Prem cajoled and coaxed him into agreeing to climb up, he did not stay with us but chose to go to a different room. He also told me that he was proceeding alone slowly ahead to get the car ready, I told him that we were doing a yagna and he should not go, but he refused me, so I did not say anything. When we set up the Yagna, Prem asked for Rajan, I said he had gone, Prem said how can he go like that, he is here only. So he called out his name, and Rajan sauntered in to my complete surprise! Then all of us along with Shunya sat for the yagna. During the yagna, when my eyes were shut I felt I was floating, this happened off and on. While chanting the mantra for burning our karmas, the flame went off, and we had to repeatedly try to light it up, and ultimately it lit up, indicating that our previous bad karmas were destroyed. Prem had never conducted a yagna before and he did it with the pure feeling that the yagna should be successful and he was saying the mantras for the first time. It was a completely miraculous experience. Ramesh went into a trance while standing as the yagna started, Deepak then tapped him and asked him to sit for the yagna. The yagna went on till about 1.30pm after which we packed up and got ready to leave. We had lunch at around 2.30pm, that’s when I realised that none of us had taken a bite since morning, and it was the herbal mix which kept our stomach quiet. During lunch Krishna mentioned that tigers, leopards frequent the Ashram often but do not harm anyone. We were amazed, if we had known earlier perhaps we could have kept a vigil for a sighting! After lunch we started on our return trip to Dunagiri thanking everyone.

Trip down was uneventful, though we again kept experiencing the energy of Mahavtar Babaji and Gurudev all the way down the slope. The amazing thing was after such a heavy trek none of us was physically tired nor were there any muscle pains! By now Rajan had become a complete convert, and was so positive about everything, kept saying whatever will happen will happen with Babaji’s grace and so on. Rajan is a very good driver, solid and safe, never in a hurry, and never going beyond 90km per hour. He is a humorous character and great company and his bhajan collection and belief in the almighty was amazing. Babaji had chosen for us a person with similar feelings and we greatly enjoyed his company.

Our return trip was relatively uneventful except for the fact that we sang great bhajans in chorus and had a lot of fun and kept savoring the experience we all had gone through. While returning we were told in Ranikhet that the road through Bheemtal was closed due to a bridge being repaired, which forced us to go through Jim Corbett National Park. While going to Dronagiri Prem had said that we should go via Jim Corbett route, but that did not happen but on the way back that is exactly the route we were forced to take! This is where Rajan really came into form and said that I will show you a tiger on the road, and as we entered Jim Corbett National Park it was 8pm and we actually sighted a herd of deer and a wild boar crossed our path. The traffic on this road was very heavy due to the other road being closed, which could have scared the animals away - though we were lucky enough to see the deer and wild boar. After Jim Corbett National Park we stopped for the night at Jim Corbett Inn at Ramnagar. We had dinner and retired for the night.

In the morning around 7am after Prem had come out of the bath and was changing the lights went out for a few minutes, which is when I saw Prem’s golden aura pulsating in the dark. At 7.45am we left for Delhi listening to devotional songs. Prem invoked Osho and we felt his divine vibrations in the car. The energy in the car was very high as we were all singing devotional songs with Rajan joining in wholeheartedly. Along the entire stretch to Moradabad there is no dhabha or restaurant – the supposed badlands of Uttaranchal! We were quite hungry when Ramesh spotted a restaurant with the name Sai Nath Dhabha. We stopped there and the owner had such a peaceful look on his face, it was a blessing to eat there. There were photos of all Gurus and Gods on his wall, his food too was tasty. It was like divinity was following us. As we sat down Prem went into Samadhi for a short period of time. We had a filling brunch and left thereafter for paying the RTO tax at Moradabad around 11.30am. Music was playing in the car and as Lord Ram’s bhajan was playing we saw monkeys on the road, all of them went on the side, but one elegant one just stood there and stared at us as we passed by! Later Prem was talking to his wife and she was telling him that Lord Shiva had come to their house and as she said that I felt tremendous energy and a Shiva bhajan started playing in the car – the timing was so eerie that it could not be a co-incidence. Too many such events had occurred for us to believe that they were co-incidences! It was divinity and Babaji at play, we were sure!

On the way back we stopped at a place where the Ganga flows serenely. We took a boat ride in the Ganga and sent our offerings along with a lit lamp into the Ganga, blessed ourselves with Ganga water, offered prayers and returned to the car. We thereafter proceeded to the airport. We wanted copies of Rajan’s bhajan collection, but could not find a cyber café, he sweetly told us to take the CD’s and make copies and distribute them to our friends, as the same CD’s had been copied and taken by some of his overseas customers to as far as Peru in South America. At exactly 4.10pm Rajan dropped us off at the airport. As we got off we hugged him in turn, and as Prem hugged him, I could see his expression change and his eyes become moist, as were mine. A wonderful association with a wonderful human being, we promised to get in touch with him every time we toured the north!

The flight was delayed by half an hour and left at 6pm. We stopped at the book stall and I picked up a book on Guru Nanak and another Osho book explaining 112 different types of meditation. Guess what when we had left Mumbai for Delhi, Prem was explaining to Deepak and Ramesh about Osho’s book explaining different types of meditation! Another incident happened in the flight. Prem was praying to the Sun God from the window, when the person sitting next to me in the aisle seat tapped him to pull the shutter down as the sun was coming straight on his face. I thought to myself how can people voluntarily put away light from their lives. Prem looked at me and I indicated that he should pull the shutter down. You won’t believe what happened next, the aircraft took a slight turn, just enough so that the sun would not come through the main window but from the window which was just behind and Prem could continue with his prayers. I had a smile on my face as once you are one with nature as Prem is, there is no way that nature will not listen to you.

Deepak said the entire trip was perfectly arranged by Babaji with the divine inspiration of “Maa Shakti” ( Annai Maa ). There was not a moment which was spent without the divine presence. Everything was taken care to the “T” and it was successful as the end objective which Babaji had initiated this trip was also achieved. This trip marks the beginning of a new chapter in each one’s life and am sure , as time goes by we will be able to comprehend the events that occurred during the trip.

Photo of Mahavtar Babaji and Kriya Mata

We reached Mumbai uneventfully and started walking out humming Prem’s Babaji composition. We took each others’ farewell with parting hugs promising each other that we will do more such expeditions together.

Rajan Soni contact details for a great driving experience:
Rajan Soni - +919810776968, +919268517527 : Email : rajansoni2006@yahoo.com
Web Site: http://www.wemakeyourtour.com

Jai Mahavatar Babaji, Jai Lahiri Mahasayaji, Jai Shree Shivakrupanandaji, Jai Mataji, Jai Sai Nath, Jai Guruma.

Arrogance of Power is Killing Democracy

2011-06-23T16:35:00.000+05:30

Manish Tiwari on 13 June 2011 said, “Our democracy faces its peril from the unelected and the unelectable….” Pranab Mukherjee labels Anna Hazare a tyrant! Used to politics of mudslinging, the Congressmen have persistently indulged in accusing Team Anna Hazare to deflect public focus from the Lokpal debate. With the earlier allegations like the fabricated CD and plot registration against Bhushans falling flat, they now want the people to believe that Anna Hazare is working for BJP/SS and not for the masses. Only the corrupt, not the democracy, should feel threatened by these mass movements. Democracy is the people, not the Government. And let it be understood by the arrogant in positions of power that democracy is not their personal domain or a ‘members-only club’ where no ‘unelected’ citizens would have any right to play a role. If that were so, shall we assume that Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose and the entire galaxy of our freedom fighters got away with their sins and, given his philosophy, Manish Tiwari would have prosecuted them for being ‘unelected tyrants’. There is a dire need for such people to introspect and explore for a paradigm shift in their outlook.
Given below are 10 observations that will help us analyse Government perceptions vis-à-vis ground reality on various aspects concerning present turmoil on India’s current political field:-
1. No other Democracy in the world has an unelected Prime Minister but India, the world’s largest democracy has. In such a scenario he could as well say, “our democracy faces its peril from its people…’
2. No other Democracy in the world has its PM or President as silent and as invisible as India.
3. No other government in the civilised modern world receives orders from an extra constitutional authority (10, Janpath) as obsequiously as does the Indian Government.
4. No other government in civilised world is ever seen staggering indecisively and so clownishly as our very own Government. First, they made fun of Anna Hazare, then, terrified at the overwhelming tide of humanity in support for Anna Hazare’s call, the stubbornness of the government caved in and formed the Jt Drafting Committee for Lokpal bill. Unable to answer questions raised by the Anna Team, Pranab Mukherjee calls him a tyrant! Next, the top foursome of the government lay prostrate before Baba Ramdev whom they would beat two days later. What kind of ‘Democracy’ is it; and who is destroying it?
5. No other Democracy in the world has as many as nearly a third of its Parliament (Lok Sabha) (162 plus Kalamadi, A Raja, Kanimozhi and more like Maran, Chindambaram etc in the pipeline) facing criminal charges (ranging from trespassing to murder) which is more than 26% increase over the previous Lok Sabha’s record. There are 9 ministers in the central cabinet facing criminal charges including one for ‘theft’. (As per National Election Watch, 76 MPs are involved in serious criminal cases. A total of 522 cases against MPs are pending, 275 under serious IPC sections). What more would you add, Mr Manish Tiwari, to imperil Indian Democracy?
6. As per combined survey (‘International Perception of Corruption’) by world’s highly reputed independent institutions like World Bank & IBRD, Bertelsman Foundation, World Economic Forum, Global Insight and Transparency International Berlin, India ranks at 87 with countries like Albania, Jamaica and Liberia at index of 3.3 (out of 10) – continuously falling from 3.5 in 2007 and 3.4 in 2008 & 2009.
7. No sane system of governance other than a heartless tyrant would unleash such brutality over a most peaceful bhajan singing congregation of innocent men, women and children as was done in Delhi’s Ram Lila ground in the late night hours on 4/5 June 2011.
8. As per media reports (Times of India Ahmedabad, dated 8th June 2011), India not only tops the list of nations having tons of black money stashed in Swiss banks but its cache of black money there ($ 1546 bn) is far more than the combined total of next four countries in the list of black money deposits namely, Russia, UK, Ukraine and China ($ 1056 bn). Contrast this with our poor farmers committing suicides, hapless pregnant women delivering babies at hospital gates and destitute tribal masses fed up with the callous administration finding solace under Maoist rebellion.
9. No other government can boast of so many scams as the UPA Govt.
10. Only DMK seems to be ahead of Congress (so far, at least) in the corruption race – so what if some have crash landed in Tihar Jail!
However, these are merely the facts of reality, not what Manish Tiwari and Pranab Mukherjee would like to believe. They, like their other colleagues in the government, are obviously passing through hallucinations and illusions. In Anna Hazare, they are seeing a heavily armed warrior – ‘a tyrant’ – at the head of an angry army of India’s masses charging ferociously straight into them. The scenario reminds us of Wordsworth’s adolescent thief who was fleeing with his stolen boat but felt the hilltop behind was chasing him so menacingly that the farther he roved the bigger the shadow loomed over him. The more the government tries to shoo away the Lokpal and anti-corruption uproar, the more vigorous becomes the public outcry against corruption. Indian politicians could not have had more decent and loving enemies than Anna Hazare and his candle wielding masses or Baba Ramdev with his devotees practising abstinence and yoga. Arrogant governments in West Asia and North Africa are facing more violent and destructive uprisings. We have a choice to change peacefully.
While anxiety of those in power is understandable, they cannot avoid the problem by facing in the other direction. The tide is unstoppable. The people deserve and demand an effective Lokpal to rein in rampant corruption and they shall have it either with your cooperation or the tumult will crush authoritarian arrogance and install people’s choice.

TAKEN FROM A E-MAIL FORWARD

Om and Guru (Adapted from Osho lectures)

2011-06-03T16:56:00.001+05:30

Hari Om Tat Sat: the divine sound - that is the truth... It is one of the great sayings which have been embedded in the hearts of the mystics since eternity. It is not something theoretical, not something philosophical, it is something existential. Those who have gone within themselves have always heard a strange sound, which can only be called the sound of existence itself. It is difficult to reduce that sound into language. Hence for centuries, as far back as we can go, Om, the sound, has been represented not by any alphabetical word but by a symbol.

Om is the sound of silence; it is a vibration within you which you hear when you are deep in meditation, when your mind is absolutely silent – not even a ripple of a mind wave occurs – that is when you hear the sound - when you have gone beyond all language, all thinking, when there is pure silence, not even a ripple. Suddenly you hear music, a faint whisper which grows louder as you become calmer and go deeper within yourself. There is no instrument playing it. It seems it is simply the very heartbeat of existence. That's why it doesn't matter whether someone is a Buddhist or a Hindu or a Jain or from any of the worlds' religions. It does not depend on your philosophy, on your religion. It depends on the depth of your reach towards your very inner core. There, suddenly, you are overwhelmed.

It is not exactly Om, but Om comes closest to expressing the sound. And the sound has been called the divine sound because it is not man-made. It is eternally here, now. Whoever wants to enter into the stream of eternal existence is bound to hear it. It says nothing, but it vibrates your being to such joy, to such celebration, to such dance that you have never dreamt of before.

The word ‘Hari' is used as one of the names of God. Osho says he does not want to bring God in; He wants to avoid God completely because it brings all kinds of lies behind it, as nobody has ever experienced any God.

There is no evidence, no proof, no argument to support it. The word 'Hari' in itself has another meaning which is far more beautiful than the word God. Hari in Sanskrit means the thief. And the sound of Om, once you come close to it, certainly proves to be the master thief because it simply steals your very heart forever. Then you are part of the existence and you are no longer a separate personality.

You are not. Existence is.

Those who have used the words Hari Om would rather say that it is the divine sound. Osho’s own preference is to say that it is the master thief sound, which has stolen millions of hearts.

But whatever one says, one thing is certain: Tat Sat. Tat means that, and sat means truth.

This sound of Om is our very truth, is our very being. We are made of it. The whole existence vibrates, and through different vibrations of the same sound there are different things, but they are simply different vibrations. A certain vibration creates a tree, another vibration creates a bird, another vibration creates a man, but the whole existence, according to the mystics, is made of sound. This sound is certainly the most sacred, the most divine, because there is nothing more beautiful, nothing more ecstatic. Once you have heard it, even from far away... just a glimpse and you will never be the same person again.

All that we are searching for in meditation is nothing but this master thief. We are searching in our being: what kind of dance, what kind of music goes on there in the living centre of your life.

Strangely enough all those who have entered in have found the same answer, without exception - Hari Om Tat Sat.

Guru
Kabir says: “The only thing worth doing is to wake up my mind.” The God, the REAL Guru, is inside. The word ‘Guru’ is untranslatable. Neither does the word ‘teacher’ nor the word ‘Master’ have that beauty. In fact, the phenomenon of the Guru is so deeply Indian that no other language of any country is capable of translating it. It is something intrinsically Eastern. The word ‘Guru’ is made of two words, ‘gu’ and ‘ru’. ‘Gu’ means darkness, ‘ru’ means one who dispels it. Guru literally means ‘the light’. And you have the light within you.

The Guru, the outer Master is simply a mirror so that you can see your face, so that you can see that you also have the same face, the same possibility, the same potential. And once this has settled in your heart, that “I have also the same potential, the same seed”, a great journey has started. You will never be the same again. Looking into the eyes of a living Master, something synchronizes in you, something is triggered in your being - a process has already started.

The word “Guru” means one who has gravitation, around whom you suddenly feel as if you are being pulled. The Guru is a tremendous magnet, with only one difference. There is a man who has charisma — you are pulled, but you are pulled towards him. That is the man of charisma. He may become a great leader, a great politician. Adolf Hitler had that charisma; millions of people are pulled towards him. Then what is the difference between a charismatic leader and a Guru? The difference is tremendous. The difference is: when you are pulled towards a Guru you suddenly feel that you are being pulled inwards, not outwards.

When you are pulled towards Kabir, Nanak, Buddha, Jesus, you have a strange feeling. The feeling is that you are being pulled towards them and at the same time you are being pulled inwards — a very strange paradoxical phenomenon as the closer you come to your Guru, the closer you come to yourself. The more you become attracted towards the Guru, the more you become independent. The more you become surrendered to the Guru, the more you feel that you have freedom you never had before.

So it is a very subtle difference. Remember it. If you are ‘Pulled’ towards a man and that pull creates slavery, that man is not the Guru. That man may have charisma, may have magnetic power — maybe his great intelligence, his physical beauty, or his sheer vitality pulls you — but you will be going away from yourself. It will be an infatuation. You will be obsessed with this man, and you will be off your center. Avoid such people; these are the greatest mischief-mongers in the world. Adolf Hitler, Napoleon, Alexander — these are the people who have created great havoc, because people feel tremendously attracted and people feel like surrendering.

Remember, if your surrendering gives you freedom, then the man is a Guru, a Master. If your surrendering makes you a slave, makes you a robot — as all the followers of Adolf Hitler were turned into mechanical robots…. They lost their souls; he simply exploited their souls. They lost all their awareness. This happens in the spiritual world also, because these charismatic people are everywhere. So make it a criterion inside: if by the presence of your Guru, of your Master, you are becoming freer and freer, more and more independent; by surrendering, the paradox is happening — that by surrendering you are gaining more willpower, by surrendering you are becoming powerful not impotent — then you are near the Guru.

The Guru is one who pulls you towards himself just to throw you back into your own being. He functions as a mediator; via the Guru, you arrive at your own self. Because you cannot go directly, he helps you via him. But his whole effort is to make you yourself.

A true Guru will never impose himself upon you. He will never impose his life-style on you. He will never give you any rigid discipline. He will not enforce anything on you, regiment you. He will not try to create soldiers of you. No, he will help you to become yourself. He will help you to be yourself, whatsoever that is. He will help to give you more and more understanding about yourself. You will become more and more centered, rooted, near him. More and more you will feel he has given you back to yourself — that which was lost or forgotten, he has made you aware of it.
That’s what Osho said to his sannyasins that he has nothing else to give to them; that he gives them back to themselves. They surrender to Him, and He gives it back to them. It is difficult for them to know themselves right now because they have lived in forgetfulness for so long. They need a shock; He gives that shock to them. But He doesn’t give them any discipline. And He doesn’t force His life-style on them, because each person has to find his own life-style and each person is so unique that each person has to live in his own way. Nobody else’s life-style is going to help one. They will become second-rate, secondhand; and God loves only firsthand people. Never be a carbon copy. If somewhere you are forced to become a carbon copy, avoid that place like the plague, escape from there.

Once you find your true Guru and he guides you onto the path of self discovery, then that is the time your true journey has begun. One perseveres till one sees the light and begins to hear the silence. Light and the sound of silence – that is the Guru and Om connection. The “Brahma naad” – the celestial music; once you hear that there is nothing more beautiful and nothing else left to hear. You will be at total peace with your inner-self listening to celestial music. The outer becomes the inner and nothing else exists, you discover who you ARE, and then there is nothing left to know but eternal peace – THE SOUND OF SILENCE – OM, HARI OM TAT SAT. The divine sound – that is the truth, and you find that only when you have a living Guru to guide you, to show you the light.

~ OSHO ~

Crying FOUL on Corruption

2011-04-14T17:18:00.000+05:30

Post the unprecedented people support to crusader Anna Hazare where the yuppies, puppies, rich, poor, middle class and the entire spectrum of Indian society came together to give a resounding “NO” to corruption, we slowly and surely have the political class and so called opinion makers trying to queer the pitch on the necessity of the Jan Lokpal bill. First, we have politicians and so called intellectuals trying to read too much into the statement made by Anna on the development in Gujarat and Bihar. We have the Sarabhai’s shouting about how human rights have been trampled and there is no development in Gujarat. Looks like the big industry houses are stupid to commit Rs. 15 lakh crore in the vibrant Gujarat summit held this January. This caused so much concern that the UPA Government has let the income tax goons loose on the Gujarat government asking for details of proposed investments. Is the income tax department within its rights to ask for such information? That is a separate question – but it defies logic and does not look like anything other than an instigated attempt at harassment. If an opposition government has to face such nonsense God save the common man!

Now we have politicians coming out of the woodwork like worms and stating that why are politicians being targeted? Will civil society run the Government? Why not bureaucrats and other civil servants? Doctored CDs are cropping up to try and discredit members of the Lokpal panel, and the dirty tricks department of all political parties have suddenly been activated to tarnish the reputation of panel members. This was bound to happen as the stakes are too high - the prize is getting one’s finger into the budgetary pie of a fast growth economy. The blatant loot of the nation will have someone questioning and prosecuting those guilty – that has hithertofore been the lot of the ordinary citizen – never that of the politician/bureaucrat! That is slowly beginning to happen – wouldn’t that scare the crap out of you if you were from that class of people who were on the loot! I betcha it would! So why blame these cry babies?

The moot question still needs to be answered – why target politicians? My answer is if the head has cancer what can the body do? This question may be answered by – the people elect the politicians – so they are to blame in a democracy! That is fair. But is there a screening process or an educational entry barrier for candidates? We do not have a process to have basic clean candidates at the outset – because that would completely derail the gravy train. We have degrees being bought, honorary doctorates being handed out as freebies to people who do not even have basic education – so a lot of stuff needs to change before things in tomorrows’ India improve.

It is easy to blame the other guy ALWAYS. The change needs to begin with oneself. Have you stopped slipping that fifty buck note to the traffic cop who caught you for jumping lanes/signals? If not, then you need to change first – no point just talking. YOU NEED TO BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO BECOME.

Murti Darshan, Dandi – March 27, 2011

2011-04-01T13:15:00.000+05:30

We checked out of the hotel at around 8am and after breakfast decided to go to the Dham for ‘darshan’ (view) and then to the Ashram. We reached the Dham at around 9.30am and sat down for meditation (we were told not to take more than 10 minutes). We paid obeisance and sat down cross legged for meditation. The energy was very high and I could feel a tingling sensation from the moment I sat down with my palms open. The tingling sensation started from the fingers and through the palm into the rest of the body. A sense of peace pervaded and after ten odd minutes we opened our eyes, took holy water as ‘teertha’ and came out of the meditation hall. A lady devotee had asked me to make certain enquiries at the office, which I duly did and sent a text message on the information she required. One of our companions had an errand to do for the ‘sahitya’ center in Mumbai, for which we went to the Navsari sahitya office thereafter. We reached the office and took whatever was given to take back to Mumbai. As we sat in the car, one of the devotees in the sahitya office told us to go back to the Dham and pick up something which needed to be taken to Mumbai. So we went back to the Dham and one the way we waved out to the person who gave us the parcel as he walked on the road. I had a feeling that we may see him on our way back from the Ashram. We went back to the Dham and picked the parcel for Mumbai and then left for Navsari station, to pick up some peanuts which were requested by Mumbai devotees. I bought them and then we left for the Ashram.

We reached the Ashram at around 11am and after registering went to the Meditation hall where the new idol (Murti) was kept. We got front row seats and as we paid obeisance to the deity, I looked up and saw it – it was saw beautiful that I just kept looking. It is golden in color, with PP Gurudev looking askance with his head slightly tilted to the right with a beatific smile on his face. After taking in an eyeful, I sat down for meditation to absorb the energy flowing from the idol. The moment my eyes closed, I felt cool vibrations, the tips of my fingers started tingling immediately and I sat thus for about 45 minutes, before my eyes opened again. The energy was palpable and was flowing continually.

I again paid obeisance to the idols and then paid my respects to PP Gurudevs ‘paduka’ and stood in silence absorbing the energy from the idols. I stepped slowly backwards, exiting to the main door walking backwards all the time, chanting a mantra in my mind continuously. My companions also stepped out after me after which we went and sat in the cool silence of the new meditation hall. The hall is very big, approximately 18000 square feet in area, large enough to have at least 5000 devotees seated for meditation! After spending about half an hour in silence and solitude, we went for the Prasad lunch. We took our coupons, stood in line and partook in the Prasad. After this we left the Ashram for Mumbai at around 1pm. On the way as we passed the sahitya office, I saw the same devotee walking on the road, whom I expected to see, I waved and gave him a broad smile and then we drove non-stop, except for one halt for re-fuelling and reached Mumbai in four hours flat.

All in all a wonderful experience – looking forward to going back soon!

MAHASHIVARATRI - 2011

2011-03-07T12:51:00.001+05:30

MAHASHIVARATRI – 2ND MARCH, 2011

JAI BABA SWAMI

We had reached Hotel Royal Regency at 7.30pm and checked in. There were 17 of us and six rooms had been booked well in advance in anticipation of the rush. All the normal hotels were booked more than a month in advance and we were left with no choice but to book in this relatively new hotel. The hotel did not have any restaurant, so we had dinner in our rooms and retired for the night. We left the hotel for the Ashram at 4.30am. We were expecting a huge queue on the approach road based on past experience. In fact till about ten days ago the road was narrow, hence our expectation. But PP Swamiji takes care of everything through his mediums, the roads had not only been more than doubled but also made relatively level, plus parking arrangements had been made for the buses which were expected. We just drove into the Ashram very smoothly, parked and left for the discourse mandap (tent). The mandap (tent) was huge, made to house more than 15000 devotees. In fact a person sitting next to me had a registration number of 11236; hence the 15000 number would have easily been crossed.

It was very pleasant early in the morning and the entry smooth with a separate lane for males and females. As we entered we were given a registration token, I got a registration number of 6046. Provision for breakfast and tea had been made for early arrivals, and we took benefit of the same. The arrangements for keeping the footwear was also novel, like you find for cars in a car parking lot, hence there were no chances of losing one’s footwear. I had some work with Madhu Chaitanya volunteers, hence I told my colleagues, Raju and Vasant to wait for me as I would just go and come in a few minutes. When I got back they had entered the tent, though I was sure internally that I would be very close to them when I got to sit in the tent. I stood in line and entered the tent, and sat down after paying obeisance to the subtle form of PP Swamiji’s body. Then I closed my eyes and went into a meditative trance before being woken up by one of the volunteers to move ahead. As I moved ahead and sat, four rows in front of me to my left, I saw a bright orange ‘kurta’ and as I looked in that direction, the person turned around and it turned out to be Raju and next to him was Vasant, so my instinct was vindicated.

With more than 15000 people in a massive tent, you would expect a buzz of conversation or at least a slight murmur, but nothing of the kind happened, as people coming in to the tent were taken to their seats by male and female volunteers, silently and efficiently. Pin drop silence prevailed amongst 15000 plus people, showing great respect to PP Swamiji who was to come later on, and also those who were already into a meditative trance with the chant playing over the public address system.
By 6.30am the entire tent was packed to capacity with a few having to sit outside the tent. After a few announcements, at 7.00am “maun dhyan” started with “Guru Ahawan” followed by the “Guru Mantra”. There were good vibrations and a feeling of great mental peace and positivity engulfed my entire being. Meditating at one time with more than 15000 people is like meditating alone for 15000 plus days individually. Due to the collectivity of pure souls the effect of meditation is phenomenal not only on the individual but also on the surroundings as the energy field so created has a lasting, positive effect on the environment . Meditation concluded at 7.25am.

This was followed by Vandaniya Guruma opening the new meditation hall in the Ashram at 7.30am. The meditation hall was completed recently after the government authorities granted N.A. status to the Ashram land. Inside the meditation hall a huge photo of PP Shiv Baba was on display, PP Swamiji and Vandaniya Guruma were shown in a small house at the side. The entire hall was very cool with positive vibrations emanating inside. Guruma’s arrival into the tent was announced with the blowing of conches as she took her seat on the dais. At around 7.50am Vandaniya Guruma felicitated Mr. Rameshbhai Kansariya who was also a Trustee earlier. Guruma said that Shri Kansariya was a pillar in Navsari for the Trust, giving many of his properties to the Trust for use without any expectations. His vehicles were also used for transportation to the Ashram in early days. Guruma announced with great pleasure, that the Ashram land had obtained N.A. status (agricultural land converted to non-agricultural land), also she announced the shilanyas for Gudi Padva and that Bhumi Poojan for Guru Shaktidham would take place on that day.

At 8.00 am sharp, the blowing of conches announced the arrival of PP Swamiji accompanied with the clapping of 15000 plus devotees. As PP Gurudev entered all of us paid obeisance by bending over and touching the ground with our forehead. The lighting of the lamp by PP Swamiji accompanied by the “Deep Prajolit Mantra” (Lighting of the Lamp) was followed by the “Guru Ahavan” during which I felt very cool vibrations from the crown down to the spine accompanied by a whiff of the scent of roses.

At around 8.10am Mrs. Hema Virkar requests PP Swamiji to shower us with his divine words of wisdom, after which PP Gurudev began his discourse.
He said that he had three good messages to give. Firstly, as announced earlier during the Chaitanya Mahotsav, 2011 is the “Atma Jagruti Year” (Year of Awakening of the Soul). This is the year when collective effort will lead to success. This is when you realize you are a soul. Secondly, this is the culmination of “Gahan Dhyan Anushthan”. This is the “kalash ka din”, that means this is the peak of the 45 days of anushthan. This anushthan has been the best of the five anushthans held so far, as more than 15000 people have come for morning meditation, on this holy occasion of “Mahashivaratri”. Lastly, he said that from Chaitanya Mahotsav to Mahashivaratri, everybody has got together as souls and are now connected as souls. This awakening of the sub-conscious is the awakening of the soul, this experience all will get.

PP Swamiji then explained each of the three points in greater detail.
1) Samarpan meditation has been going on for more than ten years now. From the Himalayas to the common man in society, this experience has come down due to “Guru Ichha” (wishes of the Guru). From Navsari to different corners of the globe this has spread to countries like, UK, Canada, USA, Peru, Germany, the Gulf, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Today, all the devotees are connected through the medium of the internet, thus creating a global collectivity of lakhs of souls. You need to introspect every year on this occasion to check your own status - as to where you were and where you have reached. The first step in this is the Atma (soul) – have you realized that God is within you, have you believed it, have you listened to it, you need to look inside to be one with your soul. Each person has great subtle strength in him, and this strength has been given equally to all. We all are born with these inherent strengths and we die with them, as we fail to recognize them during our living years. If you awaken these hidden subtle strengths, you become a successful individual. These strengths are in a sleeping state, you need to awaken them. Till you keep giving importance to the physical body, you cannot awaken them. The body has full control over the body and even the soul is part of the body and thus acts as the body wants it to. Through meditation if you make your soul strong, then the body can come in control of the soul, if that happens then from inside you, you will start getting alerts, success or otherwise in life depends on your decisions. If you take the right decision at the right time, then you become a successful individual. What is right and what is wrong? Who will take that decision? Based on intelligence each decision has two parts – but the soul will always tell you what is right. Use your soul as your guide then you will always be successful. If you give too much importance to the body, then ego will come – ego of beauty, ego of strength, ego of intelligence – but these are not yours, these you have got because of your parents. All this has come through your parents and knowledge has come through your Guru. What belongs to you? So why does one have any attachment and ego. The name is also of the soul and not of the body – as after death, the body is no more but the name given to the soul inhabiting the body is remembered. Importance is given to the soul not to the body. The body is temporary and the soul is permanent. Till you realize that you will be stuck to your body.

2) Atma ka Sakshaatkaar/ Jagruti: Unknowingly we are stuck to some thoughts. After so many years why have the saints/sages in the Himalayas thought of the need for one more form of meditation? The need arose as there was no anubhuti (experience). Stay in your religion, color, caste, language – all you have to do is connect to “Ishwariya Anubhuti” (divine experience) – don’t leave anything. It is like someone catching a snake, thinking that it is a rope. When another person shouts a warning that you have a snake in your hands, you don’t believe it, as you think it is a rope. Then someone switches on the light and you see for yourself that you are holding a snake and let go of it immediately. Similarly man has caught on to all wrong things thinking that they are right. But when the light was switched on one realized that these were not good. Just as the man let go of the snake when the light was switched on, similarly man has wrong beliefs which he needs to set right and the best way to correct this is through experience, hence experience will set things right. People thought that salvation (moksha) can be got only after death – salvation and death – the difference was never understood. The belief that salvation means death is a mistaken one. PP Swamiji was first given the condition of moksha(salvation) by Shiv Baba (his Guru) and then he was sent by the Guru Shakti’s to do Guru Karya (in service of the Guru). During this Deep Meditation PP Swamiji got an opportunity to meet each and every ‘sadhak’(devotee). Quite a few devotees reached the condition to attain salvation while in a very high meditative state, but they came back on the fear of death. Remove fear from your mind as salvation does not mean death. This is wrong thinking. During this anushthan lakhs of souls have been connected creating a holy union and many Gurus in the Himalayas have given up their bodies and many pure souls have taken birth – thus maintaining a balance. The youth is moving away from spirituality because of wrong thoughts as the youth does not see any change in the behavior of ordinary people. He has expectations of religious people, expecting only good, but this person is also indulging in wrong activities, hence the youth all over the world is moving away from religion. This is because the modern youth connects theory with practical aspects of behavior. If you make him experience the positive side then only will he believe, that is why now the stress is on experience. First you experience and then see for yourself. “Atma Sakshaatkaar” means awakening of the soul, once this happens, then one begins to get directions – what is good, what is bad?; What to do, what not to do? Ask yourself – have you started receiving these directions?

3) Anubhuti (Experience): Samarpan meditation has spread globally because of ‘anubhuti’ (experience). Experience can be more or less based on one’s condition – physical, mental. The first experience is you start feeling good. After that is ‘atma gyan’ – meaning you realize that you are not a body but a soul. Have you realized this? After ‘atma gyan’ comes ‘atma glani’. What do you understand by this? When a lamp burns, stains on the glass are clearly visible – similarly man realizes his shortcomings and then starts feeling bad. You have to get out of this stage. You should learn from your mistakes and do not repeat them. Don’t remember your mistakes as by doing so you will repeat them. The next stage is ‘atma shanti’ – to experience this you may need someone else. When we help other souls without any expectations, we experience mental peace, only those who have experienced this will know.

This was the fifth ‘gahan dhyan anushthan’. During this anushthan the idol for Goa has been given ‘Pran Pratishthapan’ (given life force energy). This is important for you to know – you will get a view(darshan) of the idol as per your individual condition. The last eight days of ‘anushthan’ are very difficult as one becomes unified with the idol after pouring life force into it thereby giving it life. It becomes very difficult to get one’s attention back to the body from the idol. To come back from that condition one needs motivation – that motivation this year has been unique. The ‘Gurushaktis’ do their own thing and things just happen; the next idol goes to Kutch. All these years Guru Purnima was never celebrated on our own land, and we were looking all over for land. The ‘Gurushaktis’ have their own reasons for a particular piece of land. During this ‘Gahan Dhyan Anushthan’ the ‘Gurushaktis’ stated that they wanted to stabilize in Kutch. Many people connected through meditation, but they are not aware in other countries. People who were irregular also meditated regularly during these 45 days, hence there was great collectivity.

All our devotees should be careful of three things, murder, debt and bad thoughts about others with a feeling of revenge. PP Swamiji said that he does not think any of his devotees are murderers, but one should be very careful of the other two. Because these are the things which make you stay away from positivity. There are bad souls who make you a medium; these souls can very easily make out who can be an easy target. Once they make you a medium, it is definite that they will start making you do bad things, as this reduces your thinking capacity. Anger should be forgotten immediately. In a relationship you give/take/forget! Devotees have these feelings. Ask yourselves if you get bad thoughts about others – anger is temporary – but there is a very small difference between anger and bad thoughts. Bad thoughts will result in bad souls making use of you and you become their medium and leave the good path. Bad thoughts are a sure sign of your downfall. There is no salvation when you do harm to others, as in the next birth he will take revenge. You should pray to keep bad thoughts away from you. Many devotees meditate regularly but bad thoughts keep coming to them. Remember bad thoughts and Samarpan meditation cannot go together. You will surely leave meditation if you start getting bad thoughts. Prayer is the solution. During this ‘anushthan’ we all meditated regularly together, hence our receiving ability increased substantially. This increased ability, condition of yours – your collectivity, your pure wishes, the pure wish to have more knowledge, helped me to connect with the ‘Gurushaktis’ and pass on the energy to you – during this phase the fourth book (Himalaya ka Samarpan Yog) has also been completed. I am an empty pipe, and when in high meditative state I connect with a full tank from which I pass on the energy to you. It is your wish. The pipe could be made of iron or plastic, we should look at the energy flowing inside the pipe. When we do that, then we receive the energy; if we look at the pipe then we do not receive energy. If you suck the energy, you will receive it. During this ‘anushthan’ you have received great energy which has made me very happy.

A new book has been completed. These Guru’s have a Guru ‘Shaktisthan’ (Place of Powerful Energies); and without their desire I cannot write a single word – the words used to start coming to me all of a sudden from 3am and used to continue till 6am – three hours every day. I have been able to connect with the Gurus because of your collectivity and wishes – I have gone to the Himalayas and returned. One more wrong thought which people get is that for obtaining salvation, you need to go to the jungles, the Himalayas, become a recluse, remain celibate, etc. By making me a medium, the Gurus have broken this line of thinking. By staying at home as an ordinary person you can make spiritual progress – that is why they selected me. If I can make progress; why not you? You do not have to leave anything. Cigarettes, drinks, etc can get dropped, but not your family. People have got experience of letting go of vices, but nobody has got the experience of the family leaving you because of their practice of meditation. In fifteen years I have not met any female in the Himalayas. If they are there then their aura is such that no one can approach them. Half the population is female – this meditation form is made for females – females can meditate for 365 days in a year. Everything is for males, is a wrong line of thinking, hence meditation does not differentiate on gender. ‘Ardhanari Nateshwar’ (Half male-half female unified form of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva) is an actual fact as in every male there is some female quality and in every female there is some male quality. The soul is neither male nor female. After reaching a certain stage in meditation, male/female does not matter. Hence the Gurus have sent this message of all people being equal. On the holy occasion of Mahashivaratri you become a soul, and then only will ‘Ganesha’ (God of Knowledge) be born. On the holy occasion of Mahashivaratri, every year, you should pause and check for your progress. What progress have you made? What have you left behind? Keep time for yourself, when you give yourself time, then you go closer to your soul, the closer you go, the closer a relationship will be developed, after that the soul will become your guide and start giving you messages. The Gurus started Samarpan Meditation with the idea that they want a progressive, good world. Each nation wants progress, for which they have laws and systems in place. The Gurus feel that all these laws have been created by man, hence they are not successful. Man makes the laws and finds ways to break them. For a good progressive world you need to have internal change, laws are external. With internal knowledge – laws will not be broken. This does not mean that all devotees are pure, change happens slowly, progress is slow, and then slowly your soul becomes your guide, that is why I keep saying meditate, meditate all the time.
Ten years of Samarpan Meditation have passed – both good and bad people will come – you have to decide who you want for company, good or bad. The holy river Ganges flows from a pure place in the Himalayas and as it passes cities, in places like Kanpur it is very dirty. You need to decide where to bathe – whether you want to bathe in clean water or in dirty water. As more and more people join, they will take time to improve - you don’t try to change them. You remain in balance, stay with good people, if you stay connected with good people you will progress spiritually. When I used to wrestle as a youth, I used to fight with stronger people who used to beat me as a result this increased my strength. You choose your company. Many people have had very good experiences, write about these experiences. Maintain a personal diary - you do not need to make it public. The benefit of writing is that in bad times or when you are feeling low you can refer to these experiences and rejuvenate yourself. It is like when you take your car, all problems are related to the car, you check for engine oil, petrol, brakes, etc, these people have come by means of a lift(elevator), and hence they have not faced those problems. Write good experiences, read them in bad times which will balance you by taking your mind away from bad to good. These will give your soul strength. Your soul sees whatever you are doing. This makes you feel good, that means your soul is feeling good. Whenever you feel good, the soul becomes strong, and then it makes so much progress that it starts guiding you, becomes your Guru. This progress has to happen in this year only. PP Swamiji laughingly said, “The next 45 days pretend that you are dead, try and be completely detached, try and become ‘Atma Swaroop’ (Soul like). Think, if you are dead, what will you do? Nothing! If all of you do this, just imagine! I had asked my father to do this. He used to go near my sister’s window and peep in repeatedly. My sister asked my father what was wrong, why was he peeping into the room again and again. He was surprised, and asked, “You can see me?” He thought he had actually become a soul and would not be visible.” In the next 45 days feel that you are dead. You have to reach the condition of the dead.

Make your personal diary of experiences. The three messages which have been given today – you all should take benefit of the same. The Gurus have given these messages to awaken you. I am very happy that so many of you have come together. You should never miss an opportunity to meditate in collectivity. One person meditating alone and meditating with 10000 people is like one person meditating for 10000 days. Guru Purnima will take place at Kutch, on our own land. I used to think - till when will we keep cleaning other peoples land. The Gurus had decided on a place, with improvement in the condition of the devotees, these things have started coming out into the open. You will get benefit from this land. This years’ Guru Purnima will be an unforgettable one.

The youth have taken great care of the ‘Gahan Dhyan Anushthan’ program. These youth will make mistakes, learn and gain in confidence; we need to support them so that in future they will take care of Samarpan Meditation family. I now invite all of you to Kutch.

From 6th of March onwards, the Goa idol will be available for viewing at Dandi. The hall is ready, and from 1st April, devotees will be able to stay at the Ashram. They will have to register as per process by intimating the Ashram authorities through their center ‘Acharya’.

A special request to residents of Navsari and its nearby areas was made by PP Swamiji. PP Swamiji requested them to keep two to four guests in their houses during these 45 days ‘anushthan’ as hotel rooms were difficult to get because of the rush during these days. The Trustees were also requested to start a bus service from Samarpan Niwas to the Ashram, at least two buses to go up and down so that the devotees do not face hardships.

PP Swamiji concluded with blessings to all devotees at 10am.

After PP Swamiji’s discourse, ‘paduka naman’ program was held. At this time Vasant came and gave his ‘aasan’ to me saying that he will become fresh and return. I waited for more than half an hour for him, then got up and stood in line for the ‘paduka naman’ at the same time I was again confident that I would meet them before going for ‘mahaprasad’. As I approached the entry point to the row of ‘padukas’, I looked back and saw Raju and Vasant just behind me. After ‘paduka naman’ we met outside and went for mahaprasad, after which we left the Ashram for our return trip.Those who wished to go for viewing the new meditation hall headed in that direction after ‘paduka naman’ and then proceeded for ‘mahaprasad’.

All in all a very memorable event – seeing PP Swamiji so happy and cheerful and bubbling with enthusiasm gave us all a big boost and spread a feeling of cheer and well-being all around us.
JAI BABA SWAMI.

PP Gurudev’s 45 days Anushthan and Ashram facilities

2011-03-04T12:58:00.000+05:30

PP Gurudev’s 45 days Anushthan and Ashram facilities
P.P. Gurudev, Shree Shivakrupananda Swami Maharaj, entered his 45 day Gahan Dhyan Anushthan (Intensive Meditation) on 17th January, 2011 which culminates on the holy occasion of Mahashivratri. He enters Anushthan every year for 45 days, during which he is close contact with his Guru’s in the Himalayas. He does not have any physical/inter-personal contact with anyone and stays in complete isolation and seclusion in a special room at Dandi Ashram. The only contact is through Vandaniya Guruma and certain select devotees. Communication is by means of written notes only.

This year I had the opportunity to go thrice to Dandi to attend the full day program apart from March 2, which was the last day, being the occasion Mahashivratri. On all three occasions I experienced phenomenal vibrations, and the energy at the Ashram was palpable. In fact every time I prayed for getting the experience of the Himalayas, of Kailas Parbat, the air would become chill with very cool breeze blowing, in fact on the first two occasions the temperature came down to below ten degrees centigrade in the morning. In fact it continued to be so even at 10am with the sun out in mid-February.

The peace and tranquility at the Ashram was amazing. The singing of the birds and the music of the waves at nearby Dandi beach added to the charm and peace at the Ashram.

ANUSHTHAN AND ASHRAM FORMALITIES EXPLAINED:

THIS IS THE FIFTH SUCH ANUSHTHAN. PP SWAMIJI WILL COME OUT OF ANUSHTHAN ON THE OCCASION OF MAHASHIVRATRI AND ADDRESS HIS DEVOTEES AT DANDI ASHRAM. MORE THAN 15000 DEVOTEES ARE EXPECTED.

ON MAHASHIVRATRI, 2ND MARCH, 2011, PP SWAMIJI’S DISCOURSE’S LIVE AUDIO GLOBAL TELECAST WAS MADE FROM 8.00 AM (IST) VIA THE INTERNET.

FOR 45 DAYS PP SWAMIJI IS NOT IN PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH ANYONE AND STAYS IN COMPLETE ISOLATION IN A SPECIAL ENCLOSURE AT DANDI ASHRAM. HE DOES NOT SPEAK WITH ANYONE. COMMUNICATION IS BY MEANS OF WRITTEN NOTES TO VANDANIYA GURUMA AND SELECTED DEVOTEES ONLY.

ONCE A YEAR PP SWAMIJI ENTERS ANUSHTHAN TO ESTABLISH CONTACT WITH THE GURU ENERGIES AND BRING THEIR MESSAGES TO HIS FOLLOWERS.

FIVE MESSAGES HAVE BEEN RELEASED SO FAR BY PP GURUDEV DURING THIS ANUSHTHAN: ‘GULAB KI SUGANDH KA RAHASYA’, ‘VISHWAS SE SAMARPAN’, ‘GANGA KA AVTARAN’, ‘CHAITANYA SNAN’, ‘SANKALP MURTI’. COPIES OF THESE MESSAGES WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST.

THESE MESSAGES ARE READ OUT AT VARIOUS CENTERS ACROSS THE WORLD AND DEVOTEES EXPERIENCE VERY HIGH ENERGY LEVELS AS CONSCIOUSNESS FLOWS DURING THE READING. MANY DEVOTEES ENTER A MEDITATIVE TRANCE AS THE MESSAGES ARE BEING READ. THESE MESSAGES ARE A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION AND KNOWLEDGE FOR THE DEVOTEES. THIS IS A DIVINE FOUNTAIN OF KNOWLEDGE FOR THE FOLLOWERS WHICH FOR MANY ALSO PROVIDES ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS THEY MAY HAVE IN THEIR MINDS.

DURING THE 45 DAYS ANUSHTHAN PP SWAMIJI INSTILS LIFE-FORCE (PRAN PRATISHTHAN) INTO AN IDOL. THIS WILL BE THE FIFTH SUCH IDOL.
THE FOUR IDOLS INSTILLED WITH LIFE FORCE HAVE HITHERTO BEEN INSTALLED IN DANDI, LEICESTER IN UK, MONTREAL IN CANADA AND AJMER IN INDIA IN THAT ORDER. THE FIFTH IDOL WILL BE INSTALLED IN GOA. EACH IDOL IS CONNECTED WITH A CHAKRA (ENERGY CENTER). THE IDOL AT DANDI – ‘MULADHAR CHAKRA’, LEICESTER – ‘SWADISHTHAN CHAKRA’, MONTREAL – ‘NABHI CHAKRA’, AJMER – ‘HRUDAY CHAKRA’ AND NOW GOA WILL BE ‘VISHUDDHI CHAKRA’.

PP SWAMIJI FEELS GOA IS A SPIRITUAL LAND AND ONE IDOL MUST GO TO GOA FOR AWAKENING SPIRITUALITY IN THE RESIDENTS OF GOA. THREE MORE IDOLS WILL BE INSTILLED WITH LIFE FORCE AFTER THIS ONE IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS TO BE INSTALLED AT THREE DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.

WHEN PP SWAMIJI IS IN ANUSHTHAN DEVOTEES ALL OVER THE WORLD MEDITATE IN THE MORNINGS AND EVENINGS IN COLLECTIVITY. AS A RESULT THE COLLECTIVE ENERGY CREATED IS VERY HIGH.

DURING THESE 45 DAYS DEVOTEES EXPERIENCE VERY GOOD VIBRATIONS (CHAITANYA) AND FEEL THE ENERGY FLOWING WHILE MEDITATING IN COLLECTIVITY.
DURING THESE 45 DAYS DEVOTEES FROM ALL OVER INDIA AND ABROAD COME TO DANDI ASHRAM TO MEDITATE AND EXPERIENCE THE VERY HIGH ENERGY LEVELS AT THE ASHRAM.

DURING THESE 45 DAYS THE PROGRAM AT THE ASHRAM COMMENCES AT 4.30AM WITH ‘MANTRA DHYAN’ FOLLOWED BY ‘MAUN DHYAN’. FROM 7AM TO 9AM FOR DEVOTEES WHO HAVE REGISTERED FOR ‘YAGNYA’ (FIRE CEREMONY) GO THE ‘YAGNYA STHAN’ FOR PERFORMING THE ‘YAGNYA’. FROM 9AM TO 11AM PP SWAMIJI’S DISCOURSE ON VIDEO IS SHOWN AT THE MEDITATION CENTER AFTER WHICH THERE IS MAHAPRASAD. THE EVENING PROGRAM IS SIMILARLY HELD (EXCEPT FOR ‘YAGNYA) FROM 4PM IN THE EVENING CULMINATING AT 8PM.

THE SAHITYA KENDRA IS OPEN FOR THE DEVOTEES FROM 8AM TO 8PM. ALL CDS, DVDS, BOOKS, PENDANTS, PHOTOS, SCARFS, ‘MALAS’, CAR STICKERS, ETC ARE ON SALE FOR ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO BUY THEM.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR REST HAVE BEEN MADE FOR PEOPLE WHO WOULD LIKE TO REST IN A SEPARATE TENT. ALSO FOR PARENTS WITH CHILDREN BELOW TWELVE YEARS OF AGE HAVE A REST AREA JUST OUTSIDE THE REGISTRATION COUNTER AS THESE CHILDREN ARE NOT PERMITTED INSIDE. IN SUCH CASES PARENTS TAKE TURNS IN TAKING CARE OF THE CHILDREN AND THUS ENJOY THEIR MEDITATION TURN BY TURN. TEMPORARY SANITARY PROVISIONS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE IN THE ASHRAM.

SELF DISCIPLINE IS ENCOURAGED AND SILENCE IS THE NORM WITH DEVOTEES SPEAKING IN VERY SOFT TONES, OUTSIDE THE MEDITATION HALLTO MAINTAIN THE SANCTITY OF THE ASHRAM AND TO ENJOY THE SILENCE, PEACE AND TRANQUILLITY WHICH PREVAILS THERE.

OVERNIGHT STAY AT THE ASHRAM IS NOT PERMITTED AND DEVOTEES WISHING TO STAY FOR MORE THAN A DAY HAVE TO MAKE THEIR OWN ARRANGEMENTS OUTSIDE THE ASHRAM.

MOTHER TERESA'S WORDS

2011-03-04T10:06:00.000+05:30

The common themes of her words reflect her work with the lonely, the sick, the dying and the destitute. Her unending love came through in her work and in her words. She was forever compassionate towards the loneliness felt by “wealthy” people who on surface had it all. She was also very concerned about the breakdown of families.

Here are a selection of her words which say it all :

• Every-time you smile at someone; it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.

• I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.

• If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.

• Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.

• Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world.

• It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.

• If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.

• Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own.

• Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.

• Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.

• Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in that action.

• Peace begins with a smile.

• Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.

• The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted.

• The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.

• The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.

• The success of love is in the loving - it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done.

• There is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.
We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.

• Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.

• Good works are links that form a chain of love.

• In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.

Mother Teresa’s message of love and hope lives on - it is now up to all of us to continue her work and make the world a better place.

National Highway Asses of India

2011-02-02T11:40:00.002+05:30

I have been travelling by road on the National Highway from Mumbai to Navsari regularly for the last two years. It was always a pleasure to drive in Gujarat as the qualitative difference in the highway tarmac once you passed from Maharashtra into Gujarat was telling. Maharashtra has always collected toll as a matter of right to make money and not for maintenance of roads which is the purpose for which tolls are collected. The Mumbai High Court has also passed strictures on the state government for collecting tolls without maintaining the roads. Gujarat used to be different – the roads were a carpet and the drive a pleasure – the drive to Navsari used to take about four hours as opposed to the bumps in Maharashtra. This was till about eight months ago, when the NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) in all its wisdom decided to start construction of the Mumbai-Delhi Industrial Corridor with the plan to construct bridges to enable flow of fast traffic. In principal, the idea is brilliant and I am not against infrastructure being developed and the associated pain during the execution phase of such projects. But the way the NHAI has dug up about 60km of road on a National Highway in the last eight months and no ongoing work visible, means that the drive now takes a painfully slow six to seven hours.

There is heavy container traffic as vehicles from Nhava Sheva Port use this highway which means continuous traffic jams. With a little more planning they could have completed the project in phases. Looks like this is a plan to scuttle Gujarat’s growth story by trying to slow it down, throwing its highway traffic system out of gear. We have petrol and diesel price rise on the one hand, and bad road planning on the other which results in a wasteful burning of fuel.

A better name for the NHAI should be the title to this note. Hopefully they will wake up and do what is right rather than what political expediency requires. Throughout history we have been done in by our own people – that continues to happen even today. When will we begin to believe in ourselves as a nation and stop parochial behavior which just results in pain to the masses! When will we learn to be a good, honest nation? Our people in power are more interested in lining their pockets rather than working for the larger public good, as their definition of public means themselves and their immediate family and friends.

Is it that we too require a revolution to demand a change in the way our country operates, as is now happening in the Middle East?

Republic of Scams

2011-01-21T12:44:00.001+05:30

This is from a mail by received from a fellow Chartered Accountant.

Total Scam Money (approx) Since 1992:

Rs. 73000000000000 Cr.
(73 Lakh Crore)

Hard to digest ?
Just check the below given details

1992 -Harshad Mehta securities scam Rs 5,000 cr

1994 -Sugar import scam Rs 650 cr

1995 -Preferential allotment scam Rs 5,000 cr
Yugoslav Dinar scam Rs 400 cr
Meghalaya Forest scam Rs 300 cr

1996: -Fertiliser import scam Rs 1,300 cr
Urea scam Rs 133 cr
Bihar fodder scam Rs 950 cr

1997 -Sukh Ram telecom scam Rs 1,500 cr
SNC Lavalin power project scam Rs 374 cr
Bihar land scandal Rs 400 cr
C.R. Bhansali stock scam Rs 1,200 cr

1998 -Teak plantation swindle Rs 8,000 cr

2001 -UTI scam Rs 4,800 cr
Dinesh Dalmia stock scam Rs 595 cr
Ketan Parekh securities scam Rs 1,250 cr

2002 -Sanjay Agarwal Home Trade scam Rs 600 cr

2003 -Telgi stamp paper scam Rs 172 cr

2005 -IPO-Demat scam Rs 146 cr
Bihar flood relief scam Rs 17 cr
Scorpene submarine scam Rs 18,978 cr

2006 -Punjab's City Centre project scam Rs 1,500 cr,
Taj Corridor scam Rs 175 cr

2008 -Pune billionaire Hassan Ali Khan tax default Rs 50,000 cr
The Satyam scam Rs 10,000 cr
Army ration pilferage scam Rs 5,000 cr
The 2-G spectrum swindle Rs 60,000 cr
State Bank of Saurashtra scam Rs 95 cr
Illegal monies in Swiss banks, as estimated in 2008 Rs 71,00,000 cr

2009: -The Jharkhand medical equipment scam Rs 130 cr
Rice export scam Rs 2,500 cr
Orissa mine scam Rs 7,000 cr
Madhu Koda mining scam Rs 4,000 cr"

SC refuses to quash PIL against Mayawati in Taj corridor scam
Orissa mine scam could be worth more than Rs 14k cr

CORRUPTION, MONEY LAUNDERING SCAM, Koda discharged from hospital, arrest imminent
'A Cover-Up Operation':
"It's a scam involving close to Rs 60,000 crores"
Spectrum scam: How govt lost Rs 60,000 crore
India's biggest scams 1, Ramalinga Raju, Rs. 50.4 billion
India's biggest scams 2, Harshad Mehta, Rs. 40 billion
India's biggest scams 3, Ketan Parekh, Rs. 10 billion
India's biggest scams 4, C R Bhansali, Rs. 12 billion
India's biggest scams 5, Cobbler scam
India's biggest scams 6, IPO Scam
India's biggest scams 7, Dinesh Dalmia, Rs. 5.95 billion
India's biggest scams 8, Abdul Karim Telgi, Rs. 1.71 billion
India's biggest scams 9, Virendra Rastogi, Rs. 430 million
India's biggest scams 10, The UTI Scam, Rs. 320 million
India's biggest scams 11, Uday Goyal, Rs. 2.1 billion
India's biggest scams 12, Sanjay Agarwal, Rs. 6 billion
India's biggest scams 13, Dinesh Singhania, Rs. 1.2 billion

1, Jeep Purchase (1948) :- Free India's corruption graph begins. V. K. Krishna Menon, then the Indian high commissioner to Britain, bypassed protocol to sign a deal worth Rs 80 lakh with a foreign firm for the purchase of army jeeps. The case was closed in 1955 and soon after Menon joined the Nehru cabinet.

2, Cycle Imports (1951) :- S.A. Venkataraman, then the secretary, ministry of commerce and industry, was jailed for accepting a bribe in lieu of granting a cycle import quota to a company.

3, BHU Funds (1956) :- In one of the first instances of corruption in educational institutions, Benaras Hindu University officials were accused of misappropriation of funds worth Rs 50 lakh.

4, MUNDHRA SCANDAL (1957):- It was the media that first hinted there might be a scam involving the sale of shares to LIC, Feroz Gandhi sources the confidential correspondence between the then Finance Minister T.T. Krishnamachari and his principal finance secretary, and raised a question in Parliament on the sale of 'fraudulent' shares to LIC by a Calcutta-based Marwari businessman named Haridas Mundhra. The then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, set up a one-man commission headed by Justice M.C.Chagla to investigate the matter when it becomes evident that there was a prima facie case. Chagla concluded that Mundhra had sold fictitious shares to LIC, thereby defrauding the insurance behemoth to the tune of Rs. 1.25 crore. Mundhra was sentenced to 22 years in prison. The scam also forced the resignation of T.T.Krishnamachari.

6, Teja Loans (1960):- Shipping magnate Jayant Dharma Teja took loans worth Rs 22 crore to establish the Jayanti Shipping Company. In 1960, the authorities discovered that he was actually siphoning off money to his own account, after which Teja fled the country.

7, Kairon Scam (1963):- Pratap Singh Kairon became the first Indian chief minister to be accused of abusing his power for his own benefit and that of his sons and relatives. He quit a year later.

8, Patnaik's Own Goal (1965) :- Orissa Chief Minister Biju Patnaik was forced to resign after it was discovered that he had favoured his privately-held company Kalinga Tubes in awarding a government contract.

9, Maruti Scandal (1974) :- Well before the company was set up, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's name came up in the first Maruti scandal, where her son Sanjay Gandhi was favoured with a license to make passenger cars.

10, Solanki Exposé (1992) :- At the World Economic Forum, Madhavsinh Solanki, then the external affairs minister, slipped a letter to his Swiss counterpart asking their government to stop the probe into the Bofors kickbacks. Solanki resigned when India Today broke the story.

11, Kuo Oil Deal (1976):- The Indian Oil Corporation signed an Rs 2.2-crore oil contract with a non-existent firm in Hong Kong and a kickback was given. The petroleum and chemicals minister was directed to make the purchase.

12, Antulay Trust (1981) :- With the exposure of this scandal concerning A.R. Antulay, then the chief minister of Maharashtra, The Indian Express was reborn. Antulay had garnered Rs 30 crore from businesses dependent on state resources like cement and kept the money in a private trust.

13, HDW Commissions (1987) :- HDW, the German submarine maker, was blacklisted after allegations that commissions worth Rs 20 crore had been paid. In 2005, the case was finally closed, in HDW's favour.

14, Bofors Pay-Off (1987) :- A Swedish firm was accused of paying Rs 64 crore to Indian bigwigs, including Rajiv Gandhi, then the prime minister, to secure the purchase of the Bofors gun.

15, St Kitts Forgery (1989) :- An attempt was made to sully V.P. Singh's Mr Clean image by forging documents to allege that he was a beneficiary of his son Ajeya Singh's account in the First Trust Corp. at St Kitts, with a deposit of $21 million.

16, Airbus Scandal (1990) :- Indian Airlines's (IA) signing of the Rs 2,000-crore deal with Airbus instead of Boeing caused a furore following the crash of an A-320. New planes were grounded, causing IA a weekly loss of Rs 2.5 crore.

17, Securities Scam (1992) :- Harshad Mehta manipulated banks to siphon off money and invested the funds in the stock market, leading to a crash. The loss: Rs 5,000 crore.

18, Indian Bank Rip-off (1992) :- Aided by M. Gopalakrishnan, then the chairman of the Indian Bank, borrowers-mostly small corporates and exporters from the south-were lent a total of over Rs 1,300 crore, which they never paid back.

19, Sugar Import (1994) :- As food minister, Kalpnath Rai presided over the import of sugar at a price higher than that of the market, causing a loss of Rs 650 crore to the exchequer. He resigned following the allegations.

20, MS SHOES SCAM (1994) :- Anyone who war old enough in 1994 to read will remember the advertisements- tens of them intriguingly headlined: 'Who is Pawan Sachdeva?' For the record, it was the peak of the public issued-led advertising boom and the ads were created by the Delhi branch of Rediffusion. Sachdeva, the promoter of MS Shoes, allegedly used company funds to buy shares (of his own company) and rig prices, prior to a public issue. He is alleged to have colluded with officials in the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and SBI Caps, which lead-managed the issue, to dupe the public into investing in his Rs. 699-crore public-***-rights issue. Sachdeva was later acquitted

21, JMM Bribes (1995) :- Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shailendra Mahato testified that he and three party members received bribes of Rs 30 lakh to bail out the P.V. Narasimha Rao government in the 1993 no-confidence motion.

22, In a Pickle (1996) :- Pickle baron Lakhubhai Pathak raised a stink when he accused former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and godman Chandraswami of accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from him for securing a paper pulp contract.

23, Telecom Scam (1996) :- Former minister of state for communication Sukh Ram was accused of causing a loss of Rs 1.6 crore to the exchequer by favouring a Hyderabad- based private firm in the purchase of telecom equipment. He, along with two others, was convicted in 2002.

24, Fodder Scam (1996) :- The accountant general's concerns about the withdrawal of excess funds by Bihar's animal husbandry department unveiled a Rs 950-crore scam involving Lalu Prasad Yadav, then the state chief minister. He resigned a year later.

25, Urea Deal (1996) :- C.S. Ramakrishnan, MD, National Fertiliser, and a group of businessmen close to the P.V. Narasimha Rao regime fleeced the government and took Rs 133 crore from the import of two lakh tonne of urea, which was never delivered.

26, Hawala Diaries (1996) :- The scandal surfaced following CBI raids on hawala operators in Delhi in 1991. But it was S.K. Jain's diaries that had heads rolling.

27, CRB SCAM (1997) :- Another scam forged by greed and discovered through accident. Chain Roop Bhansali, a smart-talking entrepreneur, created a pyramid financial empire based on high-cost financing. At its peak, his Rs. 1,000-crore financial conglomerate had in its ranks a mutual fund, a financial services company into fixed deposits, and a merchant bank. That Bhansali knew how to work the system became evident when he also managed to secure a provisional banking license. Then his luck ran out. An executive in the State Bank of India Inadvertently discovered that some interest warrants issued by Bhansali were not backed by cash. The bubble finally burst in May 1997, but by that time investors had lost over Rs. 1,000 crore. This was among the first retail scams in India and it was played out, in smaller avatars, across the country-especially in the South where financial services companies promised returns in excess of 20 per cent and decamped with the principal. Bhansali was arrested for a few weeks and released later on bail.

28, MEHTA'S SECOND COMING (1998) :- The Big Bull returned to the bourses. This time, he allegedly colluded with the promoters of BPL, Videocon International, and Sterile Industries to rig the share prices of these companies. The inevitable collapse happened sooner than planned, Harshad Mehta orchestrated a cover-up operation that included a high=jinks effort by officials of Bombay Stock Exchange to (illegally ) open the trading system in the middle of the night to set things right, but the damage had been done. SEBI finally passed its ruling on the scam in 2001, banning the three companies concerned from tapping the market-BPL, for two years. Mehta was debarred for life form dealing in Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in October 2001

29, VANISHING COMPANIES SCAM (1998) :- A passing remark heard by then Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram resulted in a furore over what was badly-kept secret on Dalal street. Chidambaram was told that hundreds of companies had disappeared after raising moneys form the public. An informal scrutiny revealed that perhaps over 600 companies were missing. Chidambaram ordered a probe by SEBI. The SEBI probe conducted in May 1998 revealed that while many companies are not traded on the bourses at least 80 companies that had rises Rs.330.78 crore were simply missing. Later that year, the Department of Company Affairs (DCA) was asked to probe and penalize these companies. DCA still investigating. Investigations continue to this day.

30, PLANTATION COMPANIES SCAM (1999) :- It was as innovative a swindle as any effected in the world. Savvy entrepreneurs convinced gullible investors that given the right irrigation and fertilizer inputs, teak, strawberries, and anything else that could be grown, would grow anywhere in the country. The promoters could afford to collect money from investors and not worry about retribution (or returns, for that matter). For, plantation companies fell under the purview of neither SEBI nor Reserve Bank of India. Indeed, they didn't even come under the scope of the Department decided to change things in 1999, enough investors had been gulled: 653 companies, between them, had raised Rs. 2,563 crore from investors. To date, not many investors have got their principals back, just another affirmation of the old saying about money not growing on trees.

31, Match Fixing (2000) :- Mohammed Azharuddin, till then India's cricket captain, was accused of match-fixing. He and Ajay Sharma were banned from playing, while Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar were suspended for five years.

32, KETAN PAREKH SCAM (2001) :- Ketan Parekh's modus operandi wasn't very different from Harshad Mehta's. If Mehta used banker's receipts, then Parekh used pay orders to ramp up the prices of his favourite scrips (the K-10). Apart from money form the banking system Parekh also rerouted money from corporated like HFCL (Rs. 425 crore), and Zee (Rs. 340 crore) to good effect. He was caught when pay-orders issued by Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank bounced. Although the total amount involved in the scam was just Rs. 137 crore, the impact was far greater.

Apparently, when a bear cartel sensed Parekh was in trouble, it stepped in and leveraged a dip in the NASDAQ to bear down stock prices. The resultant slump in the markets happened soon after Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha presented what he considered his best budget ever. Under pressure from the government, SEBI investigated the scam and heads began to roll. Among them: the entire management team of BSE, including its president Anand Rathi, CSFB, First Global, and, in an indirect connection, P.S.Subramanyam, the Chairman of UTL Evidently, for the 18 months that PSS was Chairman of UTI, the Trust had mirrored the actions of the bull cartel. The result? When the market tanked, so did the NAV of its holy cow, the US-64.

33, Tehelka Sting (2001) :- Tehelka, an online news portal, used spycams to catch army officers and politicians accepting bribes, in their sting operation called Operation Westend. Investigative journalism turned another corner in the country.

34, Stockmarket Scam (2001) :- The mayhem that wiped off over Rs 1,15,000 crore in the markets in March 2001 was masterminded by the Pentafour bull Ketan Parekh. He was arrested in December 2002 and banned from acccessing the capital market for 14 years.

35, Home Trade Scam (2002) :- Under the pretext of gilt trading, Rs 600 crore was swindled from over 25 cooperative banks in Maharashtra and Gujarat by a Navi Mumbai-based brokerage firm Home Trade. Sanjay Agarwal, CEO of the firm, was arrested in May 2002.

36, Stamp Paper Scam (2003) :- The sheer magnitude of the racket was shocking-it caused a loss of Rs 30,000 crore to the exchequer. Disclosures of the mastermind behind it, Abdul Karim Telgi, implicated top police officers and bureaucrats.

37, Oil-for-Food Scandal (2005) :- K. Natwar Singh was unceremoniously dropped from the Cabinet when his name surfaced in the Volcker Report on the Iraq oil-for-food scam.
What India Could Do With Rs 73 Lakh Crore?

Build: 2.4 crore primary healthcare centres. That’s at least 3 for every village, at a cost of Rs 30 lakh each.

Build: 24.1 lakh Kendriya Vidyalayas at a cost of Rs 3.02 crore each, with two sections from Class VI to XII.

Construct: 14.6 crore low-cost houses assuming a cost of Rs 5 lakh a unit.
Set up: 2,703 coal-based power plants of 600 MW each. Each costs Rs 2,700 crore.

Supply: 12 lakh CFL bulbs. That’s enough light for each of India’s 6 lakh villages

Construct: 14.6 lakh km of two-lane highways. That’s a road around India’s perimeter 97 times over.

Clean up: 50 major rivers for the next 121 years, at Rs 1,200 crore a river every year.

Launch: 90 NREGA-style schemes, each worth roughly Rs 81,111 crore.
Announce: 121 more loan waiver schemes. All of them worth Rs 60,000 crore.

Give: Rs 56,000 to every Indian. Even better, give Rs 1.82 lakh to 40 crore Indians living BPL.

Hand out: 60.8 crore Tata Nanos to 60.8 crore people. Or four times as many laptops.

Grow the GDP: The scam money is 27% more than our GDP of Rs 53 lakh crore."

THE ART OF GIVING

2011-01-20T17:29:00.002+05:30

This is adapted from a mail I received.In these days of daily scams, here is some food for thought - Learn the "Art of Giving"

The Art of Giving

"Rivers do not drink their own water, nor do tree eat their own fruit, nor do rain clouds eat the grains reared by them. The wealth of the noble is used solely for the benefit of others! Even after accepting that giving is good and that one must learn to give, several questions need to be answered.

The first question is: When should one give?
We all know the famous incident from Mahabharat. Yudhisthir asks a beggar seeking alms to come the next day. On hearing this, Bhim rejoices that Yudhisthir his brother, has conquered death! For he is sure that he will be around the next day to give. Yudhisthir gets the message. One does not know really whether one will be there tomorrow to give! The time to give therefore is now.

The next question is:
'How much to give?'
One recalls the famous incident from history.
Rana Pratap was reeling after defeat from the Moghals. He had lost his army, he had lost his wealth, and most important, he had lost hope, his will to fight. At that time, in his darkest hour, his erstwhile minister, Bhamasha, came seeking him and placed his entire fortune at the disposal of Rana Pratap. With this, Rana Pratap raised an army and lived to fight another day. The answer to this question how much to give is: "Give as much as one can!"

The next question is:
'What to give?'

It is not only money that can be given away. It could be a flower or even a smile. It is not how much one gives but how one gives that really matters. When you give a smile to a stranger that may be the only good thing received by him in days and weeks! "You can give anything but you must give with all your heart!"
One also needs answer to this question: Whom to give?
Many times we avoid giving by finding fault with the person who is seeking. However, being judgmental and rejecting a person on the presumption that he may not be the most deserving is not justified.
“Give without being judgmental!"
Next we have to answer:
'How to give?'
Coming to the manner of giving, one has to ensure that the receiver does not feel humiliated, nor the giver feels proud by giving. This gives rise to unwanted ego.

In giving, follow the advice 'Let not your left hand know what your right hand gives. Charity without publicity and fanfare is the highest form of charity.
'Give quietly!'
While giving, let not the recipient feel small or humiliated. After all, what we give never really belonged to us. We come to this world with nothing and will go with nothing. The thing gifted was only with us for a temporary period. Why then take pride in giving away something which really did not belong to us?
Give with grace and with a feeling of gratitude.

"What should one feel after giving?" We all know the story of Eklavya. When Dronacharya asked him for his right thumb as "Guru Dakshina, he unhesitatingly cut off the thumb and gave it to Dronacharya.
There is a little known sequel to this story. Eklavya was asked whether he ever regretted the act of giving away his thumb. He replied, and the reply has to be believed to be true, as it was asked to him when he was dying.

His reply was "Yes! I regretted this only once in my life. It was when Pandavas were coming in to kill Dronacharya who was broken hearted on the false news of death of his son, Ashwathama, and had stopped fighting. It was then that I regretted the loss of my thumb. If the thumb was there, no one could have dared hurt my Guru!
The message to us is clear. Give and never regret giving!

And the last question is:
‘How much should we provide for our heirs?' Ask yourself 'are we taking away from them the gift of work? - A source of happiness?
The answer is given by Warren Buffett:
"Leave your kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing!"

One would conclude by saying:
Let us learn the Art of Giving,
and quoting the Saint Kabir:
"When the wealth in the house increases, when water fills a boat, throw them out with both hands!" This is the wise thing to do!

Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2011

2011-01-17T21:12:00.003+05:30

I was not as prepared for this marathon as the 2010 edition as most of December had gone indisposed due to cough and cold. Nevertheless, more than a year off drinks and a more scheduled and disciplined lifestyle meant I had increased stamina. In fact I was doing 10km in just about 65 minutes. I did the 21km trial run on the Sunday prior to the marathon in 2 hours 25 minutes or so. On the earlier Saturday, I tried matching my younger daughters’ folk dance steps and matched to tweak the muscle tissue on my left knee. The older you become the younger your mind thinks it is, but in actuality the body does age and if you listen to the mind and do something stupid the body says, “boy, are you stupid!” and promptly gets damaged. I called the physiotherapist and she told me to rest for a week, and when I told her that I cannot rest as the event just a week ahead, she said ok, apply ice packs and take Combiflam, if required. So that’s what I did for the entire week and just ran 7 to 10 km every alternate day and rested on Saturday, a day before the run. I was on a complete protein and banana diet on Saturday.

The morning of the Marathon was also the day PP Gurudev was entering the first of forty five days of deep meditation and we had been told to meditate both morning and evening. I woke up at 4.30am and was in meditation for half an hour, after which I got fresh and started my stretching exercises. This time I had decided to carry a camera in a waist belt pouch. Because of the waist belt I also had two oranges peeled and had kept the same in the pouch as refreshment for the latter half of the run. My wife dropped me off at the Mahim causeway-SV Road signal from where I walked down to the holding area. The holding area had been changed at the last moment from the MHADA ground to the area below the flyover near the Bandra East fire brigade location. It was already around 5.50am and the run was to start at 6.15am. I did some more stretches and then walked towards the start line. There was a huge crowd as there was no separate area for veterans and the non veterans, so we had to wait in the crowd. Some youngsters started pushing their way through to get to the front of the crowd, I let them pass and enjoyed myself by taking some pictures. There were a couple of young ladies who were running for the first time and one of them said that she could not sleep the whole night in anticipation of the run. This definitely reminded me off my first marathon eight years ago, when I too could not sleep the night before!

At 6.15am the run started with the VIP and elite athletes being sent off first after which us junta was told to go. There was a huge roar along with cat whistles from the runners and off we went. I hit the timing chip mat at around 6.20am. The start was very slow as the road was narrow before it got onto the flyover with a lot of bunching up and some pushing. I just let the eager beavers go ahead and kept slowing down and giving myself room, as I definitely did not want to be stamped on nor tripped! This year there was a sight which one would probably only get to see in India! As the run started and progressed onto the flyover to a section which did not have street lights, a whole lot of runners suddenly had weak bladders and you could see an entire line of maybe a couple of hundred males standing to water the shrubs planted on the road divider! This was a first, and I was tempted to take a photo but let it pass as it would not have been in good taste! The going was slow till about one and a half kilometers as the crowd was too heavy on the narrow road, with youngsters darting in and out and cutting across your running path! This actually is dangerous as if anyone had to trip it could have caused injuries to a lot of people with the oncoming runners stamping or stumbling over those who could have gone down. But nothing of the sort happened, and as we got onto the road leading to the sea link, the broader road actually helped in easing the crowd, with the runners also now spread over a larger area.

I continued to run at the speed I had trained for, and after around five and a half kilometers on the closing stretch of the sea link, my left knee kind of buckled as the surface was much harder with less buoyancy than the earlier stretch. I slowed down a bit and continued by favoring my left knee a bit while running. Once off the sea link, it became easier and the pain eased a bit and I continued running along at a decent clip and ran non-stop for around 12 kilometers when my left knee told me to take it easy. This is the first time I did not see any of my office colleagues even on the turn around after Century bazaar! I walked and then ran alternately and was well within striking distance of my best time which I clocked last year of 2 hours 30minutes and 53 seconds. I ran up more than half the Peddar Road hill and then downhill. I kept eating the oranges I had carried took some photos on Marine Drive, drank water which was being handed over by volunteers and generally enjoyed my run in peace and tranquility with my Guru for company. On the way I passed an HDFC Bank runner whose T-shirt said they were running for Project Crayons the same NGO we were supporting, and I tapped him on the back and said we are running for the same cause. He smiled and we kind of bonded for a moment before moving on!

About 4km from the finish I heard someone call my name and I was surprised to see a resident of our housing society, Amit who was running for Striders, a running club. We jogged together for some time and he told me run Girish run, so I ran and pushed off at a clip, I lost him after that. The last two hundred meters or so, I sprinted and finished the race strongly, I was a couple of minutes slow than last years’ time, a better start could have probably helped in beating last years, time. I collected my refreshments and finishers’ medal and went off to the corporate challenge enclosure, which had a huge crowd waiting for the dream run to start at around 8.55am. I got into the enclosure and was alone for quite some time, after which a couple of young office colleagues came and took photos with me before pushing off for their dream run. I then took my refreshments, and a couple of known faces from United Way of Mumbai came and asked me why I was limping, I mentioned my knee being under stress, upon which they guided me to the Asian Heart enclosure. There I was treated by a nurse who applied a muscle spray and ice pack which kind of helped relieving the pain. I went back to the enclosure and waited for our office colleagues who started trickling in from 10.30 onwards. Once a majority of our colleagues joined us we had a photo session and then left for home.

Raising money for Project Crayons and running for them was a pleasure and I thank all those supporters who have helped Project Crayons by contributing to their cause. Thanks everyone and God Bless. See you all next year.

Technology mapping the benefits of meditation

2010-12-27T10:05:00.003+05:30

Over the years PP Gurudev has been telling us about the benefits of meditation and its effect on the aura of the person. He has told us that before any illness manifests in the physical body it is first visible in the aura of the person. Hence if the aura could be analysed first, then it would be possible to provide a medical solution before the illness occurred. This is now happening with the introduction of Resonant Field Imaging.

A non-profit organization “Institute of Technical Energy Medicine Inc" was established in 1994 in the US to research and develop cutting edge technologies in the fields of energy medicine and bio-energy science. The company changed its name in 2002 to Innovation Technologies and Energy Medicine Inc. The company has developed a system Resonant Field Imaging System with which you can easily monitor the auras of humans, animals and even plants, as well as evaluate the energy fields of non-living objects.

With the use of RFI and other available modern alternative therapies like craniosacral balancing and aura reading it is possible to for medical practitioners to use this information for diagnosis in their mainstream medical practice.

A recent article in the Times of India dated 19th December, 2010 by Atul Sethi explained how a touch of positive energy could heal and cure. Medical research in alternative therapies is now progressing to such levels that it has become possible to measure the changes in one’s aura instantly by using a hand held machine which monitors the energy field and gives complete readings instantly. This data is then analysed by the alternative therapy practitioner based on the displayed readings on the subjects’ energy field. This reading is used to look for defects that might cause physiological and physical problems.

Among the community of energy therapy practitioners it is well known that disease could occur because of an imbalance in the energy patterns of an individual. PP Gurudev has mentioned time and again that all problems occur in an individuals’ life because there is imbalance within the person concerned, hence he needs to meditate for six months and first balance himself, so that all his problems physiological, mental and economic get sorted out by themselves. Thus balancing oneself through meditation, results in a positive change in the individuals energy field thereby transforming negative or bad energy into positive energy.

Dr. Sujata Vaidya of Pune’s Institute of Integrated Medicine says energies that govern the functioning of the body include thoughts, reactions, perceptions, knowledge, experience, and so on but none of these are measurable, tangible or visible, yet there is proof that they have an impact on the body (reported in TOI).
With greater research on the aura or energy field, it appears that science and spirituality are converging to find out the beneficial effects of meditation on mind and body. Through the practice of meditation it has been proved that the functioning of the brain changes. Dr. Fred Travis has shown how compelling changes occur in the images of the Unified Energy Field based on our thoughts. He along with his colleagues has shown that thought and behavior have a material impact on the functioning of our brain. The quality of the functioning of the brain determines the quality of the functioning of the mind. If you want a creative mind you need a creative brain. If you want a calm and alert mind you need a restful and alert brain. The brain sends electrical impulses through its network, every time you experience something new the brain registers it and the network gets a little stronger. The brain is like a river with many tributaries with 70% of the brain cells changing their mapping every day. (ref. Soulaura.com)

With greater advances in para-psychology and bio-engineering it will see the convergence of science and spirituality, wherein the tangible benefits of meditation can actually be measured by scientists. This data could then be used for the promotion of meditation and spirituality for the benefit of mankind leading to a much better and peaceful world tomorrow.

Yes Minister! Yes Prime Minister!

2010-11-22T11:27:00.001+05:30

If you happened to view the above two BBC TV serials, I am sure most of you would remember these rib-tickling serials of yore. The mention of these serials is necessitated by the fact that these were a commentary on the British bureaucracy whose Westminster model we inherited. The bureaucrats used to confuse the ministers with their bureaucratese to perpetuate their perks and control over Government, with the assumption that it is not politicians who run Government but the bureaucrats. In a large part it is true, as the bureaucrats form the crucial backbone of the Government to ensure the policies and program of the Government of the day are executed in a silent and efficient manner. In theory this is all fine – but with reference to India – what does happen in reality? In view of the various scandals which have seen the light of day recently from the CWG scams, Adarsh Housing scandal, Karnataka land scams, Maharashtra mining scandals, and the list could prove endless – someone needs to examine the role of the bureaucrats!

I have written often in the past on the unholy nexus between politician, bureaucrat, builder and underworld nexus. In most cases it is the politician (mostly with a criminal background – just check the profile of our state and central parliamentarians) who provides the protection and encouragement to abuse power for personal gain. When the scandals come out in the open, the politicians’ heads roll due to real-politik – but what happens to the bureaucrat? For a politician - losing power is as good a slap as any – he may not be punished in the real sense, no prosecution and no jail; unlike the common citizen who is made to pay for minor crimes where the cost of prosecution is more than the cost of the crime itself!

Have you ever heard of a bureaucrat coming in the line of fire – he does in very rare cases – but that may just result in a denial of promotion or a transfer with all perks in place. The punishment for those in power and in the control of power should be exemplary as their responsibility is more than that of others. Unfortunately the same power is abused to get away in the loot of the nation for personal gains. The poor do not benefit from various schemes as most of the money gets drained by the time it reaches the ultimate “beneficiary”.

Unless we take advantage of the current situation to put in place checks and balances to prevent the rot from deepening further we will see an economically rising India (in spite of corruption) with a rising rank in the global corruption index. We need to have people with proven integrity to be in charge of a new investigation and prosecution agency just for bringing speedy and exemplary justice for those abusing power for personal gain. This could check the economic drain as well as reduce over a period of time the need for black money – thus cleansing up our politics which really is what feeds of this black money!

Well let us find the strength to whip lash our current lot of bureaucrats and politicians into doing their jobs honestly so that we could have a bright future for those who are being born and are yet to be born. The cleansing has to start NOW!

Cost of Corruption and who pays for it?

2010-11-15T12:59:00.005+05:30

I wonder if one realizes the cost of corruption in Rupee terms unless one sits down to analyze the monetary impact on the common man. Corruption in India is rampant and a cancer which is eating away into the moral fiber of the country at the same time making the population cynical, with most people saying “what can we do? – our country is like this only”. For one, you can say that you will not participate in corruption at the individual level – it could be as minor as passing on ten bucks to the traffic cop who stops you for a traffic violation.

If citizens participate in corruption, this becomes a self perpetuating cycle with everyone wanting to take the easy way out. With this attitude what happens? The people in power (read Government) or wearing a uniform as a symbol of power, know that they can always extract their pound of undesirable flesh as the common man does not have a choice. One pays to get legitimate work done, even with all legal clearances in place, thus the cost of executing that job just keeps going up. It could be a road construction contract, a building contract, or any of the innumerable tenders which the Government floats every year. You are all aware of the Adarsh Housing Society scam, the Telecom scandal and the recently concluded Commonwealth Games scandals.

It is public money which was abused for the Commonwealth Games, Government lost money by giving away land cheaply for the Adarsh Housing scandal, the telecom scandal has reportedly cost the ex-chequer Rs. 1.7 lakh crores! All these costs keep adding up and the Government instead of rationalizing taxes and reducing the tax burden on the common man increases it by way of cesses and surcharge. These cesses and surcharge continue even after the cess/surcharge levied has served its purpose. All this leads to high living costs. For people living in Mumbai, buying a house is like a distant dream. A 2BHK apartment in far of suburbs like Dahisar cost upwards of Rs. 90 lakhs.

Yesterday I was speaking to a builder who accepts only cheque payments, he mentioned that after buying a property from a landlord, registering it, obtaining approvals from all tenants, the proposal after being passed by the Urban Development Ministry went to the ex-Chief Minister for final approval. This proposal was a completely above board all approvals in place, all pay-offs done, but it was delayed for more than eight months as the Chief Minister delayed in affixing his signature. According to him the cost of delay in commencing the work to his company was Rs. 1 lakh per day. When we asked him who bears this cost, he says he passes it on to the consumer – basically the end-user, the man on the street is the guy who pays for all this corruption. No wonder property prices in Mumbai are amongst the highest in the world!

Apart from the huge financial cost to the common man due to corruption at every level of Government, the sad part is the common man ends up bearing the burden of this corruption by paying for it through higher prices and higher taxes. It is high time we start saying no to corruption and force the Government to have HONEST people in the various vigilance departments. At least let us try and make a beginning by having our vigilance forces transparent and above board and not like the CBI which has exonerated Haryana Police Chief of charges in the remaining three cases, thereby allowing the Supreme Court to let a convicted rapist and an abuser of power to walk free!

CHAITANYA MAHOTSAV – DANDI – 7, 8, 9 NOVEMBER 2010

2010-11-13T07:43:00.005+05:30

JAI BABA SWAMI

I was packed and ready to go to Dandi a good two days before the departure date of 7th November. On 6th November I reached home a bit late and had received instructions from our ex-acharya to take a printout of the list of “sadhaks” and “havan” (holy fire ceremony) participants of Ambuja center, Andheri. I took the printouts and placed them on the packed bag in the living room, as we had decided to leave at around 6am, and I had to pick up a “sadhika” at Bandra, ex-acharya at Juhu and the last at Virar. A couple of months earlier, a “sadhak” from the Juhu center had asked whether I would be joining them in the hired bus for the Mahotsav and I had replied that I would be travelling in my car.

I went to bed at 9.30pm and woke up at around 4.00am to get ready for departure. After morning ablutions and prayers, it was exactly 6am when I went to take the car key from its regular place, to my shock the keys were not there, a thought crossed my mind – don’t tell me I am not destined to reach Dandi – but I erased that thought immediately and started looking in the last two- three places which I could have kept the key the previous night before going to bed. I did not find the key! So I took my bag down and kept it near the car and returned home to look for the key, after another unsuccessful search, I decided then and there that I had to reach Dandi and will think about the missing key on my return, so I took the duplicate set and left on my journey. At Juhu as I picked up the ex-acharya – he asked for the list, and I realized I had forgotten the list on the settee, in the confusion of the missing car key! We came back home, took the papers and left. In an hours time, we reached Virar and picked up Raju, who then took the wheel. We were doing good time and at around 8.45am we saw a huge traffic jam on the highway, and Raju drove the car on to the wrong side on a hunch, and we proceeded at a fairly quick clip with emergency lights on. We drove for almost eight kilometers and the jam still continued, as we neared Charotee town, our car came to a stop in the jam on the wrong side of the road. I told Vasant that we should offer some “seva” in trying to clear the jam, and we got off and walked to the junction at which the jam started, as we approached a traffic cop, the line in which our car was stuck started moving. The cop told us that a tanker carrying chemicals had overturned and caught fire last night at around 10pm and continued to burn. The fire brigade was just dousing the container with water so as to cool it and prevent it from bursting. We saw the fire burning, and the cops had even stopped the oncoming traffic because of the fear of a blast, we walked back and cleared the way for the vehicles coming from our lane, got into the car and left on the way to Dandi. There was very light traffic as all the heavy vehicles were stuck in the jam, we stopped at Parsi Dhaba for breakfast, and still reached Dandi at 11.15 am. The bus carrying the Juhu “sadhaks" reached at 3.30pm, we were told.

We took the registration sheet and collected the identity cards for the “sadhaks" from the registration counter, took our bags and selected our beds in our enclosure. We collected the “havan” passes and then went for Prasad lunch at around 1pm. After lunch, we got fresh and relaxed a bit, as the program was to start at 2.30pm. We were told that the “havan” would be at 4pm and reporting time was 3.30pm, hence we were staying put in the tent. One of the “sevaks” came and told us that we should attend the opening of the mahotsav and PP Gurudev was expected any time. We reached the program enclosure at 3.20pm, PP Gurudev entered at 3.30pm and welcomed us all. After the welcome address, those who were to participate in the “havan” were told to assemble in the “havan kund” area immediately. It was around 3.45pm and we went to our respective “havan kunds” – there were 171 “havan kunds” with an average of four participants per “kund”. The climate was very pleasant and a cool evening sea breeze was blowing when the ceremony started. With the clear chant of Sanskrit shlokas by Rambhai and his team, the ceremony progressed, from the inviting of the divine energies and invocation for divine blessings and so forth. As the ceremonies progressed Lord Ganesha’s idol was purified and consecrated after which the holy fire was lit. For two hours the "havan" progressed with the beautiful Sanskrit shlokas being chanted and repeated by us. I was getting a faint aroma of roses intermittently throughout the ceremony. There was no smoke and no heat in spite of 171 havans being lit, the ceremony concluded with Rambhai exhorting us to do “jay jaykars” loudly so that Dandi village residents should hear and feel our joy! Which we gladly did with resoundingly loud “jay jaykars”!

After the ceremony we paid obeisance to PP Gurudev’s photo and took our Prasad and were told to proceed for dinner as the next program was to start at 8pm. We went back to our beddings and sat down, decided to get fresh and then go for the Prasad dinner. As it was only 6.30pm, we thought we would go later for the Prasad, and left at around 7.30pm. By the time we reached the food enclosure, almost everybody had finished their dinner. We went and took our plates (no line you see), I got a bit of rice, some salad and half a glass of butter milk and an apple, my fellow “sadhaks” in the group did not get the butter milk and were waiting for “daal” (curry), I too waited for a bit and as announcements started for all the stragglers to assemble in the main “mandap”, I sat down and ate a mix of rice, butter milk and salad. I asked the others if they were coming, they said they would come after dinner, so I left alone for the “mandap”. Before 8pm I reached and took my seat and sat with my eyes closed. The announcer said that we would be having a bhajan (devotional songs) evening to be lead by Rambhai in the presence of PP Gurudev and PP Guruma. The bhajans started with “Aamay Tara Ren..Guru mara antar na ajwala”, “Baba Swami Dham Mogar Ruda Gaam”, then “Baba Swami Dhamma bole jheena mor”, “Prem ras se bhari Guru Mayya laage”, “Mere Gurudev tujhe baar baar vandana”, “Baba tujhe milneka satsang hi bahana hai”, “Sunkar karuna pukar Sadguru aa jaana”, Karlo mere Swamiji se pyar amrut barsega” and some bhajans by a twelve year old boy. Rambhai sang these bhajans non-stop for two hours – my eyes were closed for almost an hour and my hands were clapping away very loudly as if they had acquired a life of their own, my lips were loudly accompanying Rambhai’s bhajans and I was in a complete state of blissful trance -completely thoughtless. My eyes opened after an hour and I saw that almost everyone was standing and clapping and dancing; I too stood up and saw PP Gurudev waving his hands and bathing us with divine energies and at the same time clearing us of our negative energies. The atmosphere by now had become chill, like the climate of the “Himalayas” had descended upon Dandi Ashram. There were 5000 plus “sadhaks” filled with bliss, clapping, dancing and chanting in a frenzy. I had only heard from friends about Rambhai’s devotional song effect and how PP Gurudev always blessed all those present due to the power of Rambhai’s devotion as reflected through his bhajans. I consider myself really blessed to experience this first hand as PP Gurudev stood up and filled us with divine energy. For two hours this continued, had the compere not intervened, I think this session would have continued through the night with no letup in the songs or in the intensity of the clapping. At 10pm the session ended with the night temperature down to maybe 12-14 degrees centigrade… I saw my hands- the fingers adjoining the fingers which had gold rings on them had become black, with the left hands mound near the thumb having turned completely black with the clapping due to the ring on the index finger of my right hand – not only that my left hand got locked near the thumb and was paining due to the intensity of the clapping, I pushed back with my right hand and relieved the pressure on the left hand. I had not felt pain nor did I get a single thought for those two hours as I soaked in the energy and participated in the joy of Rambhai’s bhajans – I was TRULY BLESSED that night and really fortunate to enter the “mandap” just in time!

We went to bed at around 10.30pm, I woke up at 3 am and got fresh, had my bath and lay down peacefully for the morning meditation which was to start at 5.45am. After me, the others got ready one by one and we reached the “mandap” at around 5.30am and sat down in silence preparing ourselves internally for the meditation session. At exactly 5.45am Rambhai started the session with Guru Ahavan and Guru Mantra. The climate was cold and by the time the meditation was getting over, for the first time, I could feel cold waves of energy coming out of the center of both the palms – almost 22 months after starting meditation. There was a tremendous sense of peace and calm as we meditated and bathed in the divine energy present at the ashram.

After breakfast we attended PP Gurudev’s pravachan wherein He explained in detail the reasons for the new Guru Shakti Dham, the problems being faced by the Ashram in Dandi, the need for living quarters for the “Aajeevan Sevadhari’s”, various plans for the future and He also announced that the next year will be “Jaagruti” (Awakening) year for all “sadhaks” wherein Guru Karya will pick up great pace and also new fields of karya will open up. As usual, it was a very inspiring speech, filled with emotion and passion which enthuses us “sadhaks” to spread the divine message to more and more people. One could see the emotion affecting quite a few of the “sadhaks”, including me, as we were moved to tears with his words. We then had a 45 minute tea break and were asked to re-assemble at 10.45am. He mentioned that we must all be feeling good after yesterdays bathing in energy (chaitanya ke ganga me nehalaya).

After the tea break, as it was PP Gurudev’s birthday we were all given balloons to inflate and wave during the birthday celebrations and cake cutting. We all participated very enthusiastically in the birthday celebrations, with Guruma looking on lovingly at the grand celebrations. We waved the balloons and sang Happy Birthday and then burst the balloons in celebration as PP Gurudev cut the cake. At around 11.15 am the birthday celebrations were over, and the “paduka naman” program started. All the volunteers were first requested to come and pay obeisance to do the “paduka naman”. The compere had announced that during the program of “paduka naman” devotional songs would be sung by Smt Sumangala and her daughter Krishna. PP Gurudev intervened and said that the stage for the singers should be moved behind the line where the “padukas” had been kept and also said that no one should walk between the “paduka” and PP Gurudev as that could create problems. After this re-arrangement, the program started and as each row of ladies and gents completed the “paduka naman” they were told to proceed for lunch. Our group also completed the “paduka naman” and we proceeded for lunch. As the sun rose, the previous days chill had completely gone and the temperature was up to around 30 degrees centigrade. After our Prasad, we went to our enclosure and relaxed a bit before the re-assembly at 2.45pm.

The post lunch session was kept for the Trustees to explain various plans and tell us in minute detail the problems which were being faced at Dandi Ashram, the plans for the new Ashram at Mandvi, Kutch, plans for Goa and Maharashtra, etc.

By 3.30pm the cultural program started with garba, and various dance forms being performed by “sadhaks" from different centers. At 5pm we broke for tea and re-assembled at 5.45pm for Guruma’s pravachan.

Guruma is truly everyone’s mother as she spoke in her mellifluous voice on various topics, advising “sadhaks” and also singing one of her compositions for us. It is always a great pleasure listening to Guruma talk as she speaks with such love and in such a loving manner that her voice has a completely calming effect on her listeners. After Guruma’s pravachan we left for dinner – the difference in temperature this night as opposed to the previous night was a good 12-15 degrees centigrade.

At 8pm we attended the next cultural program, wherein the Ganesha dance performed by Mulund “sadhaks" and the Dashavatar dance performed by Rajkot “sadhaks” being truly outstanding with a lot of energy flowing. Every time I closed my eyes I sensed the energy with my body going cold from head to toe in continuing waves. The dashavatar program was repeated by popular demand with the permission of Guruma, after which the program ended for the day. The amount of divine energy which one could sense was awesome even in the cultural program due to the blessing of PP Gurudev and the presence of GuruShakti. We retired for the night, completely tired as it had been a long day, with the night temperature at a pleasant 27 degrees or so, I had a good nights’ sleep.

I was woken up on Tuesday morning by Shri Shantaram Bapu at 3.30am after which I had my bath and got ready for morning dhyan. After the dhyan session, the question-answer session started with PP Gurudev answering a host of spiritual questions from ““sadhak”s”. This session got over at 9am after which we got our breakfast break. At 10am we re-assembled for talks on Madhuchaitanya, sahitya, etc by the persons in charge of the same.

After lunch, there was a program of experience sharing by overseas “sadhaks”. “sadhaks” had come from Singapore, Canada, USA, London and Germany to share their experiences. Shirley from Singapore mentioned that she did the first meditation camp in 2004 and started actually meditating from 2008. She mentioned that the first time she sat in front of PP Gurudevs photo in 2008 she felt cold energy waves bathe her from head to toe. Earlier this year, one morning as she was preparing to sit for meditation she felt tremendous cool energy waves coming from PP Gurudevs photo, and as she stood experiencing there was a phone call from her husband saying that he was involved in a serious accident but had escaped with a few minor bruises. The time of the accident was exactly the point in time when she got the cold vibrations – she said that PP Gurudev had sent her a message that her husband had just been protected by the GuruShakti. Yogeshwari from Germany mentioned that when she attended last years’ Chaitanya Mahotsav she was surprised to see a balloon being given to her and she thought he is a saint why should he be celebrating his birthday with balloons. This thought kept bothering her and this year again when she was given the balloon and she was inflating it, she suddenly got her answer and burst out laughing. She explained that what is an inflated balloon – it is the same air outside as inside, separated by a thin membrane – just like our ego, if we keep our ego we are trapped in a small dimension but if we let go of it then we are connected to the large universe outside. I found this explanation lovely and true. There were other “sadhaks” who gave their experiences, of which the one from London mentioned that he could actually see the atomic particles floating in the atmosphere in the form of twinkling stars. He said that he did not believe this, so he tried it in his bathroom at night and saw glow of light in the bathroom and mentioned that he can actually see things at an atomic level – he ended by exhorting all of us to meditate regularly so as to individually reach a state to connect with universal consciousness.

The thanks giving ceremony started thereafter, with one of the trustees reading out a long list of people who had helped in making the function a grand success. PP Gurudev had already come and was waiting at around 4.15pm and the compere requested the trustee to wind up quickly. PP Gurudev, then gave a concluding pravachan and told us that we would meditate for 5 minutes before winding up the program. After we chanted the Guru Ahawan, PP Gurudev told us to repeat after him three times “Mai ek shudha atman hoon, mai ek pavitra atman hoon” (I am a clean soul, I am a pure soul) and then we sat for meditation. As we completed the meditation a few drops of rain fell and PP Gurudev mentioned that the Guru Shaktis themselves had indicated the end of the program. We got out quietly, collected our bags, took the Prasad on returning the registration card and left for Mumbai filled with peace and calm and taking back cherished memories of an unforgettable experience.

On the way back we experienced heavy rainfall all the way to Mumbai. I reached home at around 11pm after dropping the other “sadhaks”. As I reached home, I saw that the Kandeel lamp was not on though the blinking lights were on. As I entered, the thought of the missing car key again came to mind. I had my dinner and then decided to change the kandeel lamp. I opened the drawer in which spare bulbs are kept. I removed about five bulbs but they were of a higher wattage and placed them in a bowl, I found a bulb of correct wattage and connected it to the kandeel, came back and started keeping the other bulbs in a cabinet on top of the drawer. As I was picking the last bulb, I saw something black behind two books, it was the car key! My mom had told me that the house maid had looked all over the house and had not found it, and I had given up hopes. I went to tell my mom the good news; she had just gone to sleep. As I called out to her and told her the news, she got up and told me that she had just retired two minutes ago after lighting a lamp in front of PP Gurudevs photo praying for the keys to be found. As she said that I felt cold energy flowing from head to toe. Co-incidence? I think not – it all points to PP Gurudev leading me systematically, step by step in the direction of where the key was kept!

JAI BABA SWAMI.

Ganesh Darshan, Dandi , 18/19 September, 2010

2010-09-27T12:01:00.002+05:30

We had registered our names for Ganesh Darshan well in time. There were five of us who planned to go by road to Swamiji’s residence for Ganesh Darshan. One of the younger sadhika’s dropped out as her college was re-opening on the 15th, and we had an immediate replacement as Mrs. Poddar from Juhu center said another lady who had joined the Samarpan movement of late was keen on coming with us. A day before we left, I was told that two sadhaks had come from Singapore and had booked a car to go the for Ganesh darshan and they could take one person if anyone wanted to go. In the meantime, the student sadhika said her college opening had been postponed and she wanted to come with us, I informed her that my car was full though I could check if she could be accommodated with the sadhaks from Singapore. That did not materialize as the logistics were too much to manage and the student dropped out. Her mother told me to get her Swamiji’s discourse audio cassettes which were not available in Mumbai anymore. I said I will try.

We left at around 7am from Mumbai and reached Anmol hotel and checked in at around 1pm. We had lunch and then left for the Dham for Ganesh darshan which was to start at 3pm and end at 9pm. Before leaving for Dandi I had fervently prayed for “no rains” so as to have a nice darshan. Swamiji blessed us with a bright and sunny day. We reached the Dham at 2.30pm and got in line by 2.40pm. I could see the Dham’s entrance about 70 feet away. As we were barefoot and the sun was beating down relentlessly, the ground heat was making it difficult to stand, and I was also sweating profusely. I managed to keep my mind away from the discomfort, by chanting a non-stop silent mantra (Om Swami Namo Namah, Shree Swami Namo Namah, Baba Swami Namo Namah, Shree Sadguru Swami Namo Namah). It passed 3pm and the line was not moving at all, and behind me the line had become very long (more than 3000 people visited). We were informed that those who had come from Mumbai and outside Navsari and who had trains and buses to catch were being given preference. At 3pm, live bhajans started, once the bhajans started the flow of energy and the vibrations too started. On closing my eyes, in spite of the heat and the sweating body, I could feel myself going cold internally from head to toe. The energy one could feel was palpable and an experience which needs to be sensed to understand. The moment I opened my eyes, I stopped feeling the energy, with closed eyes and the mantra going on in my mind the energy flow would start again. Slowly, the line moved forward, and by 4.45pm we had completed the Ganesh Darshan taken the Prasad and come out of the Dham.

After the darshan Mrs. Poddar asked if we could stop by the Sahitya office which was on the way to our hotel, if it was open. To our luck, the office was open and we stopped and went to the office. As we entered the office, Umesh, the person in charge told us that the office was closed, but the moment he saw Mrs. Poddar he smiled and welcomed us in. As we were looking at the items on display, I spotted the cassettes which Sweety (the student) had wanted. I asked Umesh if I could purchase and he said yes, and the cassettes on display were the last few in stock (production of audio cassettes had stopped). I bought them and informed Sweety that even though she could not accompany us, I had got her audio cassettes. I have a firm belief that Swamiji takes care of each and every sadhaks needs and desires in his own subtle way – we just become mediums in the happening of events, that’s all!
As we left, another car stopped and people got off to come to the Sahitya office, but were told that it was closed. We then left for the hotel. We sat down to share our individual experiences and then at 7pm we sat for meditation. After meditation we went for dinner and retired for the night at around 9.45pm.

Our room was on the fourth floor and facing the road. The room was extremely hot as we were on the top floor and the noise from the traffic below made sleeping an impossible task. We moved the bed directly below the fan, but to no avail, I could not sleep at all. I then got off the bed, took a pillow and slept on the marble floor, though it was cooler, the constant car honking and the train whistles made my wish for a good nights’ sleep, just that, a wish! At around 1.45am, I remembered the piece of paper which had the Singapore sadhaks phone numbers kept in my shirt pocket. I took out that piece of paper, and in a fit of inspiration, made two ear plugs and shoved them into each year. The sound then subsided and I got to sleep for about two and a half hours. I woke up at 4.15am had a bath and got ready as we had to leave for the ashram at 5.30am.

After I got ready, Raju too got ready, I checked with the ladies and they too were ready. Mrs. Poddar said we will check out, and so we did at 5.30am and left for the Ashram. We were thinking that due to the relentless heat the road to the Ashram would be open, but no such luck. A couple of locals told us to take the beach route to the ashram. We took the car to the Dandi beach, and as we were getting out of the car, a Tata Indica came and parked next to us- a couple got out and started walking briskly towards the ashram. It was around 6am and twilight had broken out, the 3km walk along the beach was extremely enchanting. One could hear the sound of the sea waves and smell the sea and at the same time you could hear the “miauw” of peacocks in the marshes beyond the beach. The sound of other birds and crickets along with the call of the peacocks accompanied us all the way to the ashram. There were three dogs on the beach and one of them kept coming up and circling me, taking a pat on the head, going ahead, then going to play with her friends and as I passed her, she would come and walk with me for a distance and then the same routine would repeat itself. This dog gave us company right up to the ashram. We entered the ashram at 6.50am, and Mrs. Poddar had to sit for the “chitta shuddhi havan” at 7am along with her friend. We reached the “havan kund” at exactly 7am – the three of us who were not participating sat down for meditation and the other two ladies along with two other couples who had registered sat down for the havan. At exactly 8 am the havan got over, the Sanskrit shlokas for the havan were being recited in tandem by a sadhak and a sadhika who had been trained by Shri Rambhai, the pronunciation and diction were so clear, that the mantras falling on one’s ears early in the morning was like celestial music.

After the havan, I approached the two sadhaks who had got off from the Tata Indica and asked the lady “ You are Meera, right?” She asked how do you know?, I introduced myself and told her that I was the one who was in touch with her for the seat in their cab for Sweety. I was sure that I would meet this couple somehow at Dandi, and my feelings were vindicated! She asked me if I had come with my family, and I told her that we were all part of the same “Samarpan” family. After that brief talk, we left for Murti darshan and dhyan.

At around 9.10am we left the ashram for our walk back to the car from the beach. Swamiji blessed us with cloudy weather with a cool sea breeze, which helped us in our walk back to the car. As we got out of the ashram and started walking on the beach, a moth came and sat on my right hand, this moth stayed on my hand for almost the entire walk back, I blew it on its way as it tried to walk up my arm below my shirt sleeve. We reached the car and left for Mumbai at around 10.30am The trip back as usual was very quiet, as each one of us was lost in one’s own thoughts. Leaving Dandi, is always difficult, as the peace, calm and serenity is something one can only dream of in a megalopolis like Mumbai!

A Samarpit Sadhaks Narration of messages received from Gurudev

2010-09-06T11:40:00.003+05:30

JAI BABA SWAMI

This is being posted with the permission of the author who wishes to remain anonymous, as the messages he has received from Gurudev are universal and are for sharing with everyone. The post is original, except for some minor editorial corrections.

Hi Girish ... Jai Baba Swami ... this is what we had spoken during our trip to Goa. Swamiji with his immense grace has got this done, I do not know why this is done, how this is done and for whom this is being done. Whatever "HE" has been wanting to communicate has been put down. Some of these are experiences which I had in his omnipresence.

Om Ganeshaya Namaha , On Saishwaraya Namaha ,Om Gurudevaya Namaha , Om Shree Shivkrupanand Swami Namo Namaha.

Please read the word "Guru" as "Paramatma" in the entire text.

1. Time discipline -- Get up, sleep, eat, exercise in time and with regularity. If there is medicine to be taken, please take the same in time. No spiritual master or GURU will advise against taking medicine or taking care of your body, however do not go overboard in caring for your body.

2. Manushyata -- not limited to fellow human beings, should be extended to plants and animals. We as human beings have got a greater responsibility of extending brotherhood and harmony amongst ourselves and amongst animals / insects / flora / fauna. It is the lack of this quality in ourselves which is causing problems ( both man-made - problems of war, terrorism and ecological problems causing imbalance in nature ) around the world

3. Give yourself time for meditation and be alone with your atma. Sit alone and try to connect with your atma, start a relationship with your self and you will find that you will seek guidance from your atma and your atma will guide you. Over a period of time, there will be no seeking or guiding, it will become a automatic process, atma will overtake the function of the body, brain and mind to move this bodily vehicle in the direction of salvation.

4. Guru Karya - what your body and mind does, is with Guru's wish hence it is Guru Karya. Do not compare this with others and feel belittled. During chaitanya mahotsav of Nov 2009, there were people who were narrating their experiences and I was thinking that the people who were getting the opportunity to do "Guru Karya " are very lucky.

On coming back to Mumbai from the Chaitanya Mohatsav in 2009, I went for a walk after meditation at the center, where I got this message :
-- if your "Samarpan" is complete, then whatever is being done by the body/mind is as a "Madhyam" and since the "Samarpan" is towards Guru, the body's actions are performed as per Guru's wish and is therefore "Guru Karya".
-- Hence, as a "Sadhak", what is required from us is complete surrender, with "Shuddha Bhav" towards Guru, rest whatever is happening will be with Guru's wish and grace and will always be his "Karya" which he gets done.
-- There is not a single moment in your life whereby the Guru is not with you , he is always there as the very "air" which you breathe, he is the "life prana" which keeps you "Chetana maya", the moment you connect to him you become "Chaitanya maya" -- this is because you become one with the Guru who is "Chaitanaya Swarup"

5. Accept the situation (Sthiti and Paristhiti) -- We often find ourselves in a "Sthiti" ( situation ) and the way we react or approach the situation decides the "Paristhiti" which we find ourselves in. If a person has "Samarpan" towards the Guru, he / she should learn to accept the situation in which he / she finds himself / herself. The Guru will never allow the devotee to be in a situation which the devotee is not supposed to be in. Further the situation will be controlled completely by the Guru and hence the "Paristhiti" of the devotee will always be good. Guru will always ensure that what his devotee gets is what is good for him, rather than what is wanted by the devotee.
Learn to accept the situation in which you are in as it is the wish of your Guru

6. Accept the people with you in such situations. Remember, Guru has accepted you with all your good and bad qualities. Since the situation in which you find yourself is due to Guru's wish, the people with you in the situation are also due to his wish. It may be seen that a person often tends to forgive his children, parents etc. ( near and dear ones ) and his tolerance towards others is less, this is due to the fact that he has accepted the child as his own , the relationship with his parents ( kith and kin ) as his own, whereas for others the tolerance is not that much hence the irritation, ego etc. takes precedence while dealing with "others".

Most of the times we are not able to accept the people with us in a particular situation or we take the people with us in a particular situation "for granted", which restricts us from accepting the situation itself. The attitude which should be developed is that, since Guru has accepted us with all our shortcomings, we should also accept the people around us whole heartedly with what we perceive as their shortcomings. By only thinking about their shortcomings we will be taking their negative traits. With lots of love, would thus suggest that we pray that our atma and chitta should be concentrated on the positivity around us and should not stick to any negativity. One should pray for Sadguru to bless and shower his blessings in such a manner that one looks within for ones "shortcomings", which have been accumulated over various births and with his "Karuna" give us strength to overcome all our "shortcomings". It is only the power of Guru which can help a person achieve this, provided he has surrendered completely to the GURUSHAKTI.

7. Ego display - counter with super ego reduction , become like a child -- As Gurudev has pointed out many times during his discourses that one of the most important pollution is "Thought pollution" , most of the problems we encounter in our daily lives is due to the EGO which is so subtle in all of us. As Sadgurudev has mentioned time and again "A poor person too has the ego that he is poor", which clearly indicates that EGO has got nothing to do with big, small, rich, poor, male, female etc, rather it is to do with the attitude of "Acceptance and Surrender". This is what has been lacking in all of us. As Gurudev has been consistently mentioning about innocent sadhaks who are given special attention by him, this is so since :

a. The innocence is genuine hence the actions of such a person is like a child, this compels the "Guru mauli" to take special care of the child. The genuineness cannot be faked but rather can be developed with "Atma Shuddi", "Chitta Shuddi", complete surrender to the Guru. When one completely surrenders to the Guru, the person actually has to develop complete "Shraddha" and ""Saburi" which ultimately results in the attitude of "Surrender". It is only due to this can one achieve "Atma and Chitta Shuddi"

b. When there is complete surrender, there is trust which brings out the innocent quality which all of us have, but over a period of time, we have covered the same with thick layers of thoughtful ideas which have become our attitude / ego. This does not allow us to go to the deep buried secret of our own innocence as we usually do not make an attempt to penetrate the thick layers and have got into the habit of adding to existing layers and creating new ones too with regularity. No matter how thick these layers are and how deep our innocence is buried, if we follow Sadguru's guidance ( some of them are indicatively mentioned in the above points ) we can still reach there and do not have to fake our innocence, but rather will attain "Atma and Chitta Shuddhi" which will ultimately bring out the ever glowing innocence within us.

8. Value add in the situation /position you hold in office, society , home -- This is a special gift from "Guruma" who has always been inspiring and explaining to all of us in such a manner that we understand and relate to our daily life. Though she is a perfect "Siddha" she acts like a common "Sadhak". She comes down to our level and connects with each one of us to explain in simple and lucid language with practical ( day to day ) examples, on "How to become an ideal Sadhak". Her "Swarup" is "Chaitanya Mayi" and "Ananda Swarup". I shall try and put some understanding to the statement which she made.

We all play various roles in our life ( son, daughter , brother , sister , hold various positions in professional life ). Whatever situation we are in, we should always strive to add value through our skills, knowledge and efforts. God has given us the position along with the responsibility to fulfil particular assignments, while one should not go overboard in doing so, but at the same time if one does not do justice towards the responsibility, it does not do justice to the role/assignment, which is not right.

During my visit to "Om Shanti Ashram" at Mount Abu last year, I had the good fortune to meet one of the "Dadiji’s". I had asked her my doubt as follows :

"We sadhaks strive to attain spiritual growth for which we are expected to behave in a particular manner, i.e. be soft spoken, be kind, be compassionate , not to hurt anyone etc. However such approach in our office life may be taken as a weakness. This can happen in our role at home too. Dadiji , What is the right approach ? Please guide."

Dadiji spoke in kind words which were very effective and assertive: "Beta, when we are in office, we have a certain responsibility towards the work and the position which we hold, if we do not do enough to reach the objective, it is unfair to the organization which is giving you the means of living. Some times in office you may come across instances where you have to be strict, take unpopular decisions to do your work or to get the work done. If you would be soft and compassionate always, there are chances that people may take you for granted, which if it happens consistently may lead to failures and thus hurt your self-confidence. Being strict or taking an unpopular decision, based on a situation, by itself is not wrong, as long as you do not get involved in it and make it a personal issue ( as Swamiji would say - it should not touch your chitta ). By practicing of detachment of yourself from the actions (in the words of Swamiji - think of me and leave everything to me, i.e. submit all your actions to me with complete surrender, samarpan,) will help in achieving both the objectives:
a. getting the work done as required and
b. not owning up the action and the karma phal
This can only be achieved by constant practice ( "abhyas" ).

While at work, we all will have pressures to deliver as per certain objectives. However, when one carries the pressure of work ( role in office ) to one’s home life ( role as a father, mother , son , daughter, brother, sister, husband , wife , friend etc ) there is a possibility that the person may create "stress". Similarly if he carries his home life to office, he will not be able to do full justice to his job. Hence Guruma has mentioned that a "Sadhak" has to understand and identify the difference between "pressure" and "stress" and then strike the right work-life balance.

All "Guruma" wanted to convey is that, we should practice ( do abhyas ) to strike balance for which "samarpan" and "dhyan" is necessary. We, as Sadhak's should hence do "Samarpan Dhyan" consistently so that our "stithi" and "paristhiti" remains balanced.

9. Look at other people as atma, understand the "Swarup", look beyond the body. Especially for males, when you look at females, understand the potential "Shakti" - This is a problem mostly with males and of late gaining popularity with females fast, whereby there is always an attraction towards the opposite "ling". Swamiji has mentioned in various discourses about this problem with males (some of them are sadhaks too). One day, again after meditation, I had been for a walk where Baba was kindly explaining to me that -- look at another person as an "Atma" and try to understand the "swarup" instead of looking at the "roop". This again will come with practice. He instructed me thus - as soon as you see a female and your mind / brain starts to go in a particular direction , you start chanting my mantra ( "Om Kriya Babaji Namaha Om" ) , this will not only divert your attention but also purify your thoughts. Over a period of time, with practice, whenever you look at a female, you will invariably think of me which will automatically cleanse any bad thought coming in your mind about the other person.

10. For spiritual progress there are 5 essential elements "Atma Shuddhi", "Chitta Shuddhi", "Atma Niyantran" , "Chitta Shuddi" ( first 4 ) and finally "Guru's Grace" (5th) without which spiritual progress is incomplete. None of the first four is possible without the 5th or we can also say that even if a person achieves the first four, without the fifth, progress will be extremely slow.

11. Understand the difference between good and pleasant. Good should be for the Atma and Pleasant for the body. The choice is left to every individual sadhak. Normally a person always looks at pleasant and often ignores the good. Swamiji has mentioned this in his discourses that when atma takes control of the body, the persons actions are always towards good. This is the good which is not only for oneself, but for the overall good of the surroundings. Lord Krishna too has instructed Arjuna as follows :

Krishna -- "Always strive to become a Rishi "
Arjuna -- "Prabhu , I do not understand"
Krishna -- "When a normal person sleeps, Rishi is awake, and Rishi sleeps only when the normal person and society as a whole is awakened. Do not equate this with the physical sleep and awakened state. While a normal person is bothered only about himself, his physical body and his surrounding, the actions of a Rishi is such that it benefits entire society as a whole."

Swamiji also has been urging us to be with our atma and perform actions which will not only help us but will be beneficial to the society as a whole. This can be done only when we start understanding the difference between good and pleasant.

JAI BABA SWAMI

Guru Purnima – Goa – July 23 to July 27

2010-08-02T10:30:00.002+05:30

JAI BABA SWAMI

I had been waiting eagerly for July 23 - co-incidentally my elder brothers’ birthday too – in fact I barely slept on the night of the 22nd, waking up every hour to see whether it was time to leave. I woke up at 4.15 am and got ready for departure. After my bath I sat down for meditation and the cool vibrations emanating from PP Gurudev’s photo augured well for our 600km drive down to Goa. I prayed for our safe journey – we were seven people travelling in two cars – as it was raining very heavily throughout the previous day. At 6.30 am, I left with my mothers’ blessings, along with Raju, picked up two others from Juhu and Andheri West and another sadhika from Andheri East and left for Airoli where Deepak Tandon stayed. We were waiting for another sadhak who came from Thane, and in the meanwhile, we had breakfast at Deepaks house. Deepak’s wife Sharmila told us that she will come by train in the evening, so in effect we became seven travellers from eight. Deepak and his wife are bhakts of Sathya Sai Baba and they took us to the “devghar”. As I closed my eyes and prayed, the cool vibrations felt were amazing, the family is truly blessed to have such divine presence in their house.

At 7.30pm after the last sadhak, Manoj, came we left for Goa via the Mumbai – Bangalore road which is a part of the golden quadrilateral route. We stopped on the expressway for tea and snacks at around 9 am. As we left, I got a call from a friend saying that it had really started pouring in Mumbai and the TV news was showing that the Bombay-Goa road via Ratnagiri was closed. I told him we had planned two months ago that we were going via the Kolhapur road, and we were confident that PP Gurudev would be with us throughout our journey. We stopped for lunch at around 2pm at Tawandi, in Karnataka, and believe me, it was one of the most pleasant drives on a beautiful and smooth road. We did get intermittent rain on the way and one tense moment when a trailer carrying Mahindra tractors went out of control and missed our vehicle as we overtook it by the proverbial whisker. We were confident nothing would happen to us and that faith took us onward on our drive through the Amboli Ghat - one of the most beautiful roads you will come across anywhere in the world. Lush green fields with different hues of green on either side of the winding and twisting road, as we drove up Amboli Ghat the road became misty with fog arriving in gentle swathes across the road, thinning and thickening as we progressed. Rain added to the beauty and the pleasure of the drive as we totally connected with nature with the blessings of PP Gurudev. We stopped for filling petrol and having a cup of tea around 4pm on the upward slope of Amboli Ghat. After filling petrol, we went to a small restaurant for tea and as soon as we entered the restaurant, it started pouring cats and dogs, elephants and rhinos. We could not see a meter ahead of us in the blinding rain. Fog had also started to float across the road, I was confident that the rain would stop as we finished tea – this has been my experience in the last two monsoons after joining the Samarpan meditation movement, it rains every time I get into the car, home or office, and stops when it is time to leave – strange but true. My confidence was proved right, as the rain reduced to a slight drizzle as we finished our tea and got into the car – PP Gurudev had again ensured that we enjoyed the rains but were not affected adversely by it. As we drove up the Ghat we came across numerous waterfalls cascading down from the hillside on our right and a deep valley to the left. The visibility became almost zero for about ten minutes of the drive and with PP Gurudev’s blessings we passed that stretch safely admiring the natural beauty of the ghats as we slowly drove down. Once out of the Ghats we reached Sawantwadi and thence to Porvorim where we went straight to the ground where the Guru Purnima function was to be held. We reached the ground at 6pm in the evening after one of the most wonderful drives on beautiful roads going through the thick of nature and arriving at our destination as fresh as daisies.
We connected with fellow sadhaks from Bangalore and Mumbai who were already there in Goa for the function. Ravikiran and Ananth met us at the ground and showed us the preparations. Ravikiran gave us directions to his Hotel, where we stayed overnight. The function was to start from 4pm on Saturday, so we retired at around 10pm and left for the ground next morning by 8am. We registered for the function and took our ID cards and then we had breakfast at the ground after which we got a request for giving “seva”. The ground had been levelled and the pandal was prepared for taking in 6000 plus sadhaks, a separate dining area connected to the main pandal, from which one could go to the “exhibition” and “sahitya” stall. From the exit to the dining area one could go to the cloak section with separations for ladies and gents. All in all, if one was disciplined and got in early, one did not have to leave the pandal and go into the open ground and get caught in the rain which was incessant, from heavy to very heavy at times. The pandal was so beautifully made by contractors from Gandhinagar, with every care being taken to ensure that water did not enter the pandal. The ground was of red loam with pebbles all over, hence walking on the ground would hurt the feet, for which black soil, most likely from Calangute beach was being put over the red loam. We joined in offering seva in laying the black soil inside the pandal, once that was done, we were asked to do the same outside on the pathway. We started with 8 to 10 sadhaks and in half an hour or so had swelled to 100 plus people working at a frenetic pace to lay the black soil. We worked like a labor gang, picking up “ghamelas” filled with sand and passing it on to the sadhaks at the end to put on the ground and level it, there was a return chain of people to convey the empty ghamelas. It was great fun, and we were singing bhajans and dhuns as the work progressed. By 1pm we had finished laying the sand and a lady sadhak from Rajkot started singing Rambhai’s bhajan “Tame tararey“ and we all started doing garba to the tune and sang along with her. As the song and dance gathered momentum I was experiencing cool vibrations from head to toe in spite of sweating due to the seva. After giving seva on the ground we went into the pandal to help other sevaks in laying the mattresses for the sadhaks to sit. By 2pm we were more or less ready to receive the sadhaks. We were informed that due to heavy rains the railways had cancelled all trains going through the Konkan, the roads were also blocked because of flooding of the Sindhudurg river. Many sadhaks then hired buses and took out their cars to reach Goa by 4pm. Quite a few could not make it on the 24th and sadhaks kept coming even on the 25th till late evening. Deepak informed us that his wife had arrived in time for the function. When we met her she said that when she left in the evening, she asked her aunt for a couple of plastic bags, but her aunt gave her a bagful of plastic bags. These bags came in extremely handy, as the passengers in the bus all suffered from motion sickness and the bags were used for those who were vomiting. It is amazing how the Gurushaktis put their devotees to work in helping others. Sharmila’s purpose for going by bus was in carrying the plastic bags for those affected – no one else had carried these bags! Such are the ways of the Guru!

We went back to the hotel and freshened up and changed into fresh clothes and drove back to the ground. By 4.30pm, the sadhaks had all gathered and the pandal looked like a sea of orange caps! Mrs. Virkar announced that we would begin with meditation, and we all sat down for group meditation in PP Gurudev’s aura. After meditation, the organisers announced how the logistics would be taken care of, as 115 hotels had been booked with 80 buses organised in two batches for the sadhaks to come to the venue and then leave for the hotel. These hotels were all within a radius of 20 km from the venue, hence a delay by any one person would delay the entire batch. The sadhaks were told to have discipline and follow the instructions of volunteers appointed for each bus and hotel so that the arrangements were not disturbed. PP Gurudev and PP Guruma’s arrival was after the logistics announcements for which we closed our eyes and sat down for PP Gurudev’s and PP Guruma’s arrival. Blowing of conch shells announced the arrival of PP Guruma first and then PP Gurudev. We all bowed down and prayed in obeisance on their arrival. We listened in silence to the discourse from PP Gurudev who welcomed us on our arrival and gave us his pearls of wisdom. He told us that many of us faced problems because we were not sure of whether to go to Goa or not and hence arrived in a very unstable condition as a result he could not come for meditation with us. He explained that the human body had ten “dwars” starting with the “mool dwar ” followed by “mutra dwar” the two ears, two eyes, two nostrils, mouth and the tenth and last the “sahastrar” or Guru Dwar . He told us that on Guru Purnima all the Guru Shaktis will be present and we should all ask for the “Dasham Dwar” to be opened for us and this will definitely happen to all in this lifetime. The energy flowing during the discourse could be felt on the body by means of cool vibrations with sandalwood fragrance coming through once in a while. At around 9pm the program ended for the day and we had dinner and left for the hotel allotted to us at Khorlim in Mapusa, ten km away from the venue. We retired for the night as the next day was Guru Purnima and we had to reach the venue by 5.30am.
At Atmaram hotel we were eleven people to a room with a single bathroom. I woke up at 2.30am and finished my morning activities in 15 minutes, after which one by one everyone got ready turn by turn. We left for the venue at around 5am and reached in 15 minutes. We parked the car and walked to the venue with a slight drizzle welcoming us. We settled down in the pandal for the day to begin with morning meditation. At 6am sharp the day’s program started with morning meditation. The vibrations started flowing with the Guru Ahawan and Guru mantra. As PP Gurudev had said Guru Purnima is the one day in a year when all the Guru Shakti’s are present and energy is flowing constantly, all you had to do is be in a position to absorb the energies. This can happen by staying in balance through meditation twice a day - morning in solitude and in the evening in collectivity. The morning meditation was again a great experience and after a few announcements, we dispersed for breakfast. PP Gurudev asked the sadhaks to meditate regularly and this would be his Guru dakshina. At that point an announcement was made for volunteers to give seva in the dining area. Our group of six all volunteered and registered ourselves for seva in the dining area. As the program of diksha progressed and after that the cultural program which we could watch on TV, we were involved in cleaning the dining area and then we were given instructions and explained our roles by the person in charge of dining. This is the first time I was involved in ushering and directing the sadhaks in such large numbers through the lunch program which began at around 12.15 and continued till 3pm. After that an announcement was made that there were only five minutes for paduka darshan, and as I had not done the darshan, I looked for Deepak, who was not visible, then ran for the darshan. I got in just in time and the last paduka was there for darshan - I may have been the last person who took the darshan after which the paduka was removed from display. I returned to the dining area and sat down for the tea break. All the time I could feel the chaitanya flowing with whiffs of sandalwood aroma coming now and then.

It started raining very heavily after lunch and then one of the plastic and cloth roof sections in the dining area collapsed due to the accumulated weight of the water. We then got to work with plates in removing the water and getting the place ready for evening tea and dinner. We managed to clear the water which helped the tea and dinner program to conclude uneventfully. After the program, Deepak realised his sandals were missing, I told him not to worry as I had a brand new pair which I had purchased three weeks ago for just such an eventuality. As luck would have it the pair turned out to be a perfect fit. Just imagine, the fate of the new sandals were decided three weeks earlier, which means PP Gurudev prepares the sadhaks for all eventualities and takes care of all his/her needs with great compassion! We returned to our hotel rooms around 9.30pm and retired for the day as very happy and lucky individuals who had the fortune to offer seva during Guru Purnima. As PP Gurudev says, by doing Guru karya one takes care of the left channel (Chandra nadi) and regular meditation helps take care of the right channel (Surya nadi) thus keeping the sadhak in balance. All one should ensure is that whatever one does is done selflessly without the “I-factor” meaning the ego creeping in to mar spiritual progress.

It was now raining very heavily and the rain continued through the night. I woke up again at 2.30am completely refreshed and got ready followed by my fellow sadhaks. We left at 5 am and reached the venue at around 5.20 am, put on our jackets and pulled out our umbrellas and walked down to the venue. We went straight to the dining area and were not really surprised to see the entire area – both ladies and gents section full of water as 4 sections had collapsed and were in urgent need of repair. As soon as we saw the problem, we obtained plates and crates from the kitchen along with rugs to remove the water and mop up the area. At 6am we sat for meditation and after that there was a question-answer session which was taken up by PP Gurudev. This session extended upto 9.15 am which helped us by giving us enough time to remove all the water and swab the place clean so that the sadhaks could enter the dining area without getting their feet wet. After the breakfast session, the program continued and we sat back to enjoy the cultural program on TV. At 11 am we were called together and told that due to the dampness of the ground we would have to adjust by having lunch in buffet fashion. The plan was made to have eight counters and one counter for repeat diners. The organisers had kept 3 hours for lunch considering that sadhaks were still coming to the program venue due to late arrival of trains and buses. Once the sadhaks were told to go for lunch a strict program was adhered to where the sadhaks were directed to counter one and so on so that no crowding took place. We were running up and down seeing that no counter remained vacant for long and people just moved in a continuous stream. After initial hiccups things started moving like clockwork, the sun was out slightly and the area was now hot and humid with the smoke coming from the kitchen making the eyes burn and I was sweating profusely too. Suddenly in the midst of the lunch program I found myself going cold, I went to Vasant and asked him whether he was feeling cold, he gave me his hand – his fingers had gone ice cold, there was tremendous energy and my body was going cold from head to toe in waves. We continued with our directions to the sadhaks – and you won’t believe at 1.35pm Dharmenbhai informs me that the rush was over – more than 6000 people had finished their lunch in one and a half hours. Subsequently it was announced that PP Gurudev had done the rounds of the dining area in his subtle body – no wonder everything went as clockwork – with Guru energies at work everything just happens smoothly. No wonder I felt tremendous energy at that time! We had our lunch after the sadhak rush was over and waited for the concluding session of the program.

With time on our hands we decided to visit the sahitya stall and made our purchases, then we went to the exhibition where PP Gurudev’s photos were placed and an exhibition which showed the effects of pollution on water was on display. At the exhibition there was tremendous energy flowing as the sadhikas explained the effect of pollution on water with reference to how our minds get polluted. When the water flows down from the Himalayas it is clean and pure and is always flowing, but once it enters the cities it becomes stagnant and starts getting polluted. Similarly man in an open and clean environment is away from thought pollution but when he enters the city there is tremendous thought pollution which affects a person’s balance. The body of a human consists of 70% water, hence it is very important to maintain balance and ensure that one is not affected by such pollution. The exhibition concluded by showing water which was sent for analysis to Germany in bottles after PP Gurudev’s dhyan maha shibir in 2007. Seven bottles were sent covering each chakra and the crystal formation of the vibrated water showed the positive effect of meditation on water, with the crystal formation for the Sahastrar chakra being the most compact and beautiful!

After attending the exhibition, we went back to the dining area, watched the remaining programs on TV and listened to PP Gurudev’s concluding pravachan. PP Gurudev mentioned that he would have loved to do meditation with us, but the sadhaks had come in an unstable condition and would not have been able to take the vibrations emanating from him. He spoke lengthily on the administration of the Samarpan movement and how one should ensure that ego should not develop due to taking up posts in the movement, either as Acharya’s, co-ordinators, Maha Acharyas or Trustees as this hampers the spiritual development. After the pravachan, we paid obeisance to his holy presence and concluded the program with Shanti Paath. Sadhaks were requested to attend the prasad dinner and then disperse after surrendering their registration cards at the registration counter and collecting prasad from there.

We helped in removing and stacking up the mattresses as we were planning to leave the next day. After completing this karya, we went out only to find that Deepaks wife, Sharmila had also lost her slippers – looks like PP Gurudev had cleared a lot of negativity from their lives – as negative energy collects in the footwear.
We then left and went shopping for flipflops for Sharmila and Deepak. In Goa all shops close early, hence we were lucky to get the flipflops, we then left for Mapusa where the rest of the shopping was completed by our fellow sadhaks. As we parked our cars at the hotel, we looked up into the night sky with the full moon coming out – in the silhouette of the moon we saw “Aum” formation coming and going a couple of time. We felt truly blessed at the divine sight. On the return journey on Tuesday, we were three cars fully loaded with 15 people. Ramnath, who was originally to come with us in his car, at the last moment had decided to go by train, which got cancelled due to heavy rains and had to revert to his original plan of driving down was with us on the return trip. With him was Ananth Khamankar and his family, we offered to take two sadhikas from Airoli center as there were two vacant seats on the return trip.

We left Mapusa very reluctantly at around 6.30am on the return trip – it is always difficult getting away from such energy in such sylvan surroundings. We stopped for breakfast at Sawantwadi and then continued on through the Amboli Ghat. We had great fun on the way back, stopping at the top of Amboli Ghat getting into the waterfalls on the way, taking photographs, feeding monkeys with acorn. The return journey was quite uneventful, except that Deepaks car got punctured after Kolhapur. In fact I was expecting this, as before we started out Deepak had stopped at a petrol pump for filling gas and also having air filled in his tyres. When I had called he had said he was filling air in the Stepney too – Deepak is so connected with Guru energies that I was quite confident that his car would get a puncture on the return trip. After that the trip was quite uneventful, we stopped for tea at Lonavla and reached Deepak’s house in Airoli by 7.45am. The trip to Mahim from there took two hours as we got stuck in major traffic at Powai – but all in all it was a wonderful trip, spiritually uplifting and fulfilling.

Jai Baba Swami

SSC Education – game of chance!

2010-06-24T16:14:00.000+05:30

Mr. Vasant Purke State Education Minister for schools and Mr. Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, the education minister have done a complete hatchet job for over 16 lakh SSC students in Maharashtra. For the last three years the Ministers have been fooling around with the admission process and have been made to eat crow every time by the Courts. Being an Education Minister, one would think that he would be the first to learn his lessons. But politicians I suppose are in a different class where “learning lessons” is not taught! This year too, the High Court has thrown out of the window as unconstitutional the Education Ministry’s best 5 subject percentage notification. All SSC schools were informed much before the exams about the best 5 rule, as a result lakhs of students have concentrated on only five subjects so as to get a high percentage. The SSC results proved this – almost 14000 students getting more than 90%, more than 40000 students getting between 80-90%, as a result of which the ICSE students numbering about 8300 having a best of 7 average would have had hardly any chance of securing admission in a decent college of their choice.
Last year after objections from parents the so called percentile system was stopped after intervention of the High Court, this year too, the same has transpired. The “Educated” ministers are probably trying to play vote bank politics and are trying to gain cheap publicity with their antics, which would be ob better display in a circus – where children’s careers are not at stake! Guess what! It is the Congress government which has been consistently embarrassing the High Command by their foolish last minute policy changes. Once bitten, twice shy – that is what one would think, but with our guys, it is once bitten try again and get slapped again and again – displaying true Gandhian philosophy of non-violence to the Courts.
With just less than 8300 ICSE student in Maharashtra, the State Government has tried to woo the Maharashtrian families where more than 16 lakh students appeared. What happens to these students now? The State Government has issued mark sheets based on best 5 subjects. Are they going to withdraw all mark sheets or are they going to issue fresh mark sheets to all the students based on the High Court decision? If that happens what happens to the psyche of those students have already been put on a pedestal by the media? What happens to those students whose marks in the remaining subjects brings their average down to 80-90 levels from high 90 levels? Instead of helping relieve the stress of students and their parents we have these buffoons increasing stress levels all round. Whom are you trying to upstage 8000 odd students from ICSE?
What is the solution to this mindless behavior? Will it not be easier to build more colleges, increase the seats so that education, becomes a right for every child wanting to learn? Is not the Governments duty to provide affordable education for all? We have technical/medical education institutions being owned by politicians of all hues – where money takes the front seat in the form of capitation and annual fees as opposed to facilities for students and quality teachers for providing quality education!
High time we sent our Ministers to school so that they can distinguish between what is right and wrong – preferably to a Gurukul where they get their mental foundations laid by a spiritual Guru!

Life is too cheap in India – Bhopal gas tragedy proves it!

2010-06-21T12:41:00.003+05:30

I was in my final year of studies for CA when the Bhopal gas tragedy occurred in December 1984. I distinctly remember articles warning of an impending tragedy as the company cocked an arrogant snoot at the Government and its officials. If you recollect in those days the Indian economy was not doing too well and we depended a lot on the benevolence of the US. We as a political class have always been used to doing “haanji” to our rulers – earlier the British as colonialists and subsequently to all the economic power houses who have wanted to milk India dry.

We, unfortunately have always had extremely callous Governments which approach the people only during elections. With a teeming population with very little health care for the masses, a tragedy like Bhopal in any other country would have had the Government come down like a ton of bricks on the management of the entity, but our country behaved as gracious hosts and escorted the culprits out of the country. Just look at what Mr. Obama has done to BP – made them shell out US$ 2 billion for polluting the environment off the US coast!

In India it is only people who were affected – just over half a million, poor people whose voice no one wants to hear – the Government of the day negotiated a settlement of Rs. 713 crores in 1989 which meant that on an average each victim received Rs. 12410 only! Did I not mention life in India was CHEAP!! More than 20000 dead, 573000 affected people, offspring of those affected being born with permanent disability. Whose fault? Who pays? Its easier to get a huge corporation to pay for affecting the environment, as flora and fauna have more monetary value than poor old Indians you see! This is what this circus which has been happening since the court verdict has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt!

A court which took twenty five years to arrive at a judicial verdict, which itself speaks volumes for the latent interest shown by various Governments to this burning issue! People in the opposition are now crying foul! What did they do when they were in power? Why is it always the people who suffer? Those in Government line their pockets during their years in power so that they go to the next elections with begging bowls in hand!

How many people have actually received compensation? The figures tell a sorry tale of corruption and money disappearing down bureaucratic and political black holes! Sad that we cannot respect our own fellow human beings! Sadder still that we end up appearing as buffoons to the rest of the world as the end game, in what is the world’s worst gas tragedy is played out!

God bless the victims and hope sanity prevails and justice is done and seen to be done – at least as far as compensation is delivered fairly and equitably to those affected by the tragedy. There is no point in going after a witch hunt – it would be better to apply a soothing balm to those affected so that feelings of revenge and remorse are removed.

Sevadhari Shibir at Dandi – May 21 to 23, 2010 – A sadhaks memories

2010-06-02T16:07:00.007+05:30

Jai Baba Swami

At 6.45am on May 21 five of us left by road for Dandi for attending the sevadhari shibir. From my centers CIFE as well as Ambuja-Andheri, I was the only person attending this shibir, hence I was to travel alone by car. A couple of weeks before leaving for Dandi I had requested my ex-Acharya to check with his contacts at other centers whether sadhaks/sadhikas who were to attend Dandi shibir but had not got their travel arrangements in place could travel with me. Through his efforts, Shri Prem Paras called to say that his wife and he would join me on the trip. I requested him to see if two more sadhaks could join so that we had a full load and could travel in collectivity. We got two more ‘samarpit sadhikas’ from Juhu Center and I was happy that we got a full car load – as it is more beneficial travelling together in positive collectivity, sharing experiences along the way. The previous day I had asked my office to give me five writing pads and five pens to carry to Dandi. It so happened that my instinct proved right, as three of my companions had forgotten to bring the pads and pens – my carrying the pads and pens for everybody made everyone happy, including me. We had a lot of fun and shared interesting experiences – all my companions were far more experienced and had done far more Gurukarya than myself and I benefitted immensely by just listening to their experiences.
On the way we listened to Times Now’s adhyatmic music collection and enjoyed the gentle rhythms emanating from the music system. We reached Dandi at about 12.15pm and registered ourselves for the Karyakarta Shibir. Once inside the Ashram, I felt at peace with myself within the protective aura of Parampujya Gurudev and Pujya Guruma. The ladies went to their quarters, Prem and I went to the gents tent on the Ashram grounds. We selected our mattresses for the three day camp and put our bags and Prem’s guitar. Prem who is a music composer and has sung in quite a few Samarpan programs, had carried his guitar on the trip. We were requested to proceed for the mahaprasad lunch and then report to the shibir hall at 2.00pm sharp. We had our Prasad, after which we went to the meditation hall which has P.P. Gurudevs’ Moorti which will leave for Ajmer at the end of May. While taking the darshan, the energy flow made my eyes close and after paying obeisance I sat down for meditation for about half an hour along with Prem.
We entered the shibir hall at 1.45pm to be well in time for the start and took our place amongst the rest of the participants. I closed my eyes and listened to the “dhun” being played over the music system as the hall gradually filled up with participants. There was a small buzz and the air was ripe with expectancy, I felt at peace with myself in an atmosphere of complete tranquility. The video screen displayed a quote from P.P. Gurudev in Hindi which basically said “A good volunteer / swayamsevak is one who does not complain about anyone; and about whom no one else complains”. Shri Anuragbhai, the eldest son of P.P. Gurudev welcomed the participants by stating that all those present were those blessed fortunate persons who had the opportunity to do Gurukarya. He mentioned that Gurukarya is teamwork and if everybody worked as a team then the karya becomes effortless with the blessing of P.P. Gurudev. He also mentioned that those who do the karya should do so as if they are doing service or prayer in a temple without having any expectations. He then quoted the definition of a good karyakarta given by P.P. Gurudev telling us that we should strive to be those who do karya without generating complaints or complaining about anyone.
If one understands P.P. Gurudevs definition in entirety then the concept of “who is a good karyakarta” becomes very clear. This small definition has a great deal of depth in it. This would include the following:
• A person who attends the center regularly for meditation,
• A person who helps the Acharya and other sadhaks voluntarily,
• A person whose whole attention is at P.P. Gurudev’s lotus feet,
• A person who voluntarily shares the Samarpan family philosophy and meditation technique with all those who show interest,
• A person who has self discipline and always behaves and acts within the rules and guidelines issued by P.P. Gurudev through the authorized persons,like Trustees, Pramukh Acharyas, Acharyas, Sanchalaks,
• A person who is sensitive to the needs of others and behaves accordingly,
• A person who does karya selflessly without any expectations other than spiritual progress,
• A person who strives to live in the present moment without thinking about the past and contemplating about the future,
• A person who does karya with entire devotion and attention on the Gurukarya rather than attention on other sadhaks,
• A person who does karya without generating any ego about “I” doing the karya, and one who accepts that he is only a medium doing the work of a far greater power and energy source.
• A person who does not give anyone else cause for complaints, nor complains about others,
• A person who thinks, talks and acts in a positive manner,

The 2pm session was taken by the Managing Trustee Shri Umesh Paiji, explaining to the participants the functioning of the Trust and its various committees and the manner in which the Trust hierarchy works. This was essential for the participants to understand the flow of information and the effort which goes into organizing any major Trust activity. He also shared his experience on how he progressed from “sadhak” to “Managing Trustee”.
Thereafter we had a narration of Gurukatha by Shri Mohit Kacha – this was a daily feature and was very well received by all participants. Even though he spoke in Gujrati – his narrative style and spiritual knowledge left us spell bound waiting eagerly for his next session. After a video presentation of the 2007 Chaitanya Mahotsav, day one ended at 9.30 pm with everyone retiring for the day.
Under the moonlight, with a very strong and cool sea breeze we retired for the day. I promptly fell asleep and woke up the next day at 3.30am. Taking care not to waste water, I managed my morning ablutions and bath in a bucket of water as we were told that water is more expensive than milk. Both Prem and I went for morning meditation facing the rising sun. The meditation session was from 5 am to 6 am, after which both of us went and lay down in the cool morning breeze on the lawn waiting for the sun to rise. At 6.45 am we went for Murti Darshan and sat for meditation for another 15-20 minutes absorbing the divine energy flowing from the Murtis.
At 7.30am Shri Bihag Lalaji explained in very a lucid and detailed manner how to organize a Samarpan program in the best possible manner. He made the presentation very simple, interactive and interesting making each and every participant understand the steps involved in organizing a event – whether it is a Shibir at the center level or a mega event like a Mahashibir or the Chaitanya Mahotsav. He asked the participants the meaning of the greeting “Jai Baba Swami”, wherein one of the participants explained that while saying “Jai Baba Swami” one sees P.P. Gurudev in the sadhak, and hence the greeting is offered with the same degree of love and respect as one would while greeting P.P. Gurudev himself. He explained that while doing karya one should have both “skill” and “will” so that the karya is done efficiently and smoothly. He made the participants greet each other in a very happy frame of mind by saying “Jai Baba Swami” which generated a great feeling of goodwill with a lot of positive energy. Towards the end of the program he made us meditate for five minutes all the while softly telling us that our aura was spreading in the neighborhood, then the Ashram, then Navsari, state of Gujarat, entire India, the world and then out into the Universe – his soft exhortation made one actually feel light and gave the sensation of floating away into the universe. It was beautifully done and I felt a great sense of inner peace enveloping me.
Mrs Nimishaben Lalaji then gave a session on “Practical Hints for Gurukarya” explaining that all Gurukarya is with the blessings of Swamiji and is performed best in collectivity. If you have an issue with anybody means that the issue lies actually with you. One needs to be balanced for performing Gurukarya and ones attention has to be on P.P. Gurudev’s lotus feet all the time. Always one has to remember that one has to be at peace, have courage and be responsible for the Gurukarya we have volunteered for.
The afternoon session was taken by Shri Hemant Ramaniji who explained the importance of the group and that the group formed with the blessings of P.P. Gurudev is our strength. He then went on to explain in a very informal and entertaining manner the kind of mistakes which are made while filling forms and also that one’s sentiments are not good while doing karya. Shrimati Sharmila Patil then very nicely explained the importance of discipline and the manner in which a sadhak is expected to behave and dress. This was followed by a question and answer session, wherein doubts of participants were very nicely addressed.
After mahaprasad dinner on the second day, I went and sat on the bench facing the sea with my eyes closed. The beautiful smell of the sea and the soothing sound of the waves in the cool breeze made me thoughtless and gave a great sense of peace, comfort, security and well being, the moonlight added to the charm of a very beautiful day.
On Sunday, May 23 I woke up thoroughly refreshed at 3.30am for the morning rituals. After finishing my bath, I woke up Prem and waited for him to join me for the morning meditation. After he returned, we both went for morning meditation in a very tranquil and peaceful environment, absorbing the energy inherent at the Ashram. We then went for Murti darshan, where Prem was joined by his wife, as it was his birthday. I quietly wished him the best in life on his birthday. After Murti darshan we went to the hall and sat down in quiet contemplation and in great anticipation as P.P. Gurudev was going to take the first session for answering questions. At 8.00 am sharp P.P. Gurudev entered the hall and after the Guru Vandana we waited for the pearls of wisdom to emanate from P.P. Gurudev. P.P. Gurudev explained to us that the fastest way for spiritual progress is through selfless Gurukarya, as Gurukarya helps you forget the past by controlling the Chandra nadi and regular meditation helps in controlling the future by taking care of the Surya nadi. He explained that Gurukarya should be done keeping in mind that you are only the medium and all the karya happens through Gurudev and his divine blessings. Gurukarya should be done for gaining internal peace and with no other motive in mind. Keeping one’s entire attention on the Guru while doing karya is called Gurukarya. P.P. Gurudev answered all questions and also informed the sadhaks present that he had spent the first ten years in doing Gurukarya and now the responsibility of doing Gurukarya was handed over to the sadhaks, the next ten years He would be spending in strengthening the foundations of the Samarpan administration. He stated very firmly that he would like discipline amongst His followers, and does not mind the family reducing by 50% as long as he has sadhaks who are disciplined and follow the tenets and guidelines laid down by P.P. Gurudev and His authorized representatives.
After another session of engrossing Guru Katha by Shri Mohit Kaccha we left for Mahaprasad. After Mahaprasad, we came to our tent for packing our bags. One of the sadhaks requested Prem to play something on his guitar and for the next 15 minutes we listened to and accompanied Prem in two bhajans which he sang in praise of P.P. Gurudev. This session had brought almost all those present in the tent to come and sit/stand around our bedding. One of Prem’s friends then announced it was his birthday, and the love and affection then showered on Prem by all the sadhaks was amazing. We then sang “Happy Birthday Prem” which moved him greatly and he mentioned “yeh sab Swamiji ki leela hai”.
A concluding session was taken by Shrimati Sharmila Patil, Shri Hemant Ramani and Ms. Ujwalaji and advise was given to all those present on various do’s and don’ts. During the session one of the sadhaks mentioned it was Prem’s birthday and Shri Ramaniji asked him to sing one of his bhajans for all those present – he sang with tremendous passion and devotion moving me to tears. His bhajan, enjoyed with eyes closed generated good vibrations, cooling the body internally from head to toe. After some more discussions the session ended with Shanti Paath and we were all told to surrender our registration badges and collect the synopsis of the three day session at the exit.
As usual I left the Ashram with difficulty, carrying with me the inner peace and tranquility gained during the stay. We all left together with fond memories and a great learning experience.

Tribute to a pure soul

2010-05-25T17:36:00.002+05:30

My earliest memories of my uncle Shri Sadashivrao Tinaikar who merged with Universal Consciousness last Saturday (22nd May 2010) are of travelling with him in the Government Jeep as kids during his visits to the interior when he was in charge of the Transport department of the Government of Maharashtra. This was just after my father passed away in August 1973. My brother Paresh and I along with our cousins visited almost all of Shivaji’s forts in Maharashtra – those are very fond memories of a very kind gesture on his part to make us not feel the loss of our father and take us along with him.

He was an extremely simple person with very few needs, his example of how to lead life as a Public Servant needs to be followed by all bureaucrats if this country needs to become a better place to live in. A person who never accepted any gift from any person ever as a Public Servant, a person who helped the needy within the framework of the law – he was a person who was worshipped by almost all his subordinates and colleagues. My aunt also requires special mention as she too would ask people to take back gifts so as not to upset my uncle. An officer and a gentleman – upright and straightforward, not afraid to call a spade a spade and hence a bane to the Shiv Sena politicians as they were in power when he was the Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai. He never ever entertained the contractors and hence became a round peg in a square hole, as the politician-bureaucrat-contractor nexus got broken during his tenure. The gravy train stopped, as a result of which the Shiv Sena supremo at a public rally at Shivaji Park called him a kidney stone – he did not allow the corrupt nexus any leeway at all and it became impossible to milk the system during his tenure you see!

He was always a spiritual person with great knowledge and insight into spirituality –I have seen him in a “samadhist” state for hours at a stretch while meditating at home. During his stint as Under Secretary for Tribal Affairs he was able to meet a lot of spiritual souls, such as Navsari ke Baba, Swami Pranavananda of Chaalisgaon, Gagangiri Maharaj, Khopoli and we were all fortunate to have come in touch with these spiritual Gurus through him. His deep meditation, in my opinion, had led him to be a self realized person during his lifetime. In 1982 when he was on his way to meet Navsari ke baba, he had an heart attack on the railway station and collapsed on the platform – a stranger came and helped him up and into his compartment, placed a tablet on his tongue and left without saying who he was. My uncle recovered enough to comfortably complete his journey and return without any further problem – what more evidence do you need of the strength, love and power of a Guru towards his disciple.

My uncle was an amazing artist and could sketch anyone’s portrait in five minutes flat. All his paintings have amazing depth and quality – you realize that all his paintings are a labor of love and the depth and quality of his paintings come through his self realized spiritual status.

I have personally tried to emulate his high moral standards and live by his principles in my professional life – I have learnt a lot just by observing him and his life style – simple, tough, kind hearted, honest, straightforward and loving. A great soul - whom I am extremely proud of – like I said before an officer and a gentleman to the core. May his soul merge with Universal Consciousness and rest in peace for ever. God Bless.

Paragliding at Pawana

2010-04-28T14:18:00.002+05:30

Paragliding at this site is always a pleasure as the site is so scenic and beautiful and in tune with nature that is sets you at peace with yourself. One can just sit there all day by oneself and enjoy the natural beauty with which one is surrounded.

I reached the lake site at around 2.30pm before the rest of the crowd got in and sat below a tree to protect myself from the sunlight. There was a gentle breeze which helped in keeping one cool. After some time a couple more paragliding students joined me and a while later Parsha came down in the jeep with the gliders.

There were a group of overseas students, probably French, from their accent, though I am not sure. I decided to get some kiting practice as I had a lot of cobwebs in my mind with my last flight experience where I had got caught in a “venturi” and had an interesting experience. I did some kiting for a couple of hours – I had assistance for about ten minutes, with all the trainers busy with the “new” students and not much time for an “old” student. I did manage to get to control the glider for a couple of minutes at a time, but it was hard going and extremely tiring as I had to rill in the lines and straighten out the glider every time it collapsed and then go back to raising the glider overhead for kiting. After doing this ‘n’ number of times, I told Ganpat at around 5 pm that I was bushed and too tired to continue. I folded the glider, again single handed – no assistance from anyone, except from a local who helped hold one end of the glider while I was folding it – God bless him! I folded the glider, and put the harness, glider, and helmet into the case and zipped up. Avi said he would climb up the hill and I told him I would join him.

The climb up the hill was fun – though slightly tiring (no glider on the back though) – and we reached the top in about fifteen minutes. I was carrying water and consuming it in gulps after climbing up every 20 meters or so. Avi mentioned that I was unusually quiet, and I said everyone seemed to be busy with others and it was ok. I told him, that I had to come this time to fly, else I may not have come back to fly ever again. I mentioned I had to get whatever fear was there out of my mind. As we reached the top, Avi went to get his camera from the car.

I sat down on a piece of rock and closed my eyes while facing the setting sun and tried to connect with the energy flowing in such pristine surroundings. For about twenty minutes with my eyes closed, I felt the energy flow through my body continuously – a continuous kind of internally cooling effect, moving in circles from top of my scalp down the body to my feet and back – it was an amazing experience. I just kind of relaxed, and waited for the jeep with the students to bring the gliders to the takeoff site where I was sitting. After the jeep came up with the other students, everybody was asked to pick up their gliders and get ready for take off.

I waited for my turn patiently, and was the second last person cleared for takeoff. The winds were beautiful and if the gliders had been brought up by about 5pm we would have had a much longer flying window. After putting on the harness, connecting the glider, and getting it ready for takeoff, my turn eventually came. I ran and lifted the glider, but somehow my mind was probably blank and I was not running fast enough and pulling the brakes enough for a take off, hence I hit the ground twice before eventually taking off. I had a pretty smooth flight, Avi asked me to chart my own course – I took a left as the glider slowly descended, then turned around again and found myself approaching the landing area. Avi realized I was in two minds and asked me to take a right as I was too high, then as the glider descended I turned left again for making the landing approach and landed light as a feather, just ten feet away from the landing spot. I killed the glider, mushroomed it and carried it in. By the time I had landed the last pilot had taken off, and as it was getting dark I decided to pack the glider. I laid out the glider perpendicular to the wind and spread it out completely prior to folding it up. Folding a glider without assistance is very difficult and again with some help from a local villager, I managed to fold the glider and pack it along with the harness and helmet.

At the debrief session everybody went through their flights and my turn came last. Avi again mentioned that I was unusually quiet, and I said yes probably I was trying to get over my last flight in the beginning of April, hence the not too smooth takeoff, though eventually all went well.

The other thing which kept me quiet was contemplating the lack of assistance from trainers, I can understand from the point of view of the training school I am an old hand and do not require that much assistance. With new students coming in every week I do understand that it may not be practical for having someone guide you all the time, but at the end of the day I am still a novice pilot aspiring for a club pilot rating, and should be helped and guided, especially as due to my professional pre-occupation the time gaps between flights is very long – in some instances a year or more. Given this situation, I do not think it would be practical for me to continue flying, as the time gaps between my flying is not likely to reduce.

I do recommend this sport to all who would like to enjoy freedom in the open skies – from experience I can telling you cannot get a better high – both figuratively and literally.

Paragliding at Shelar - an unforgettable experience

2010-04-04T18:34:00.004+05:30

Saturday, April 3, 2010 we were told to assemble at Rangoli restaurant at 1pm – the usual assembly point. Because of the Easter weekend there were a lot of holiday makers as well flyers. We encountered a lot of traffic in Lonavla, but reached around 12.30 and had lunch at Rangoli. I was having a very uneasy sensation on waking up, something telling me not to fly today, but I had a friend who had come just to watch and decide for himself whether he should take up the course, hence I decided to go.

After lunch at around 2.15pm we left for Shelar, two Bullet motorbikes, two jeeps and my car. On the way, the jeep which Avi was driving had a close shave with a drunk villager on a motorbike. I was behind the jeep and had a clear view of the incident. The road ahead was clear in my line of sight, which means the motorbike was on Avi’s side of the road (guy must have just returned from the US) driving on the wrong side! Suddenly I saw the bike as he swerved out of the way of the jeep and a small plastic bag containing biscuits hit the side of the car and fell down. Avi stopped his car and I stopped too. The bike rider got off along with his pinion rider to collect his bag of goodies, seeing that they were ok, Avi started his jeep and I followed – this must have got the drunks goat, as he turned his bike and came and stopped in front of the jeep, and forcibly tried to get cars key. Whereupon we all got out of the car and tried to pacify him but being drunk, there was no question of him calming down – ultimately it was left to TJ to get out of the car and tell him off. He left threatening TJ that he will “see him” in the village in the evening.

We reached Shelar at around 3pm, and the site around 3.15pm with our gliders. The weather was wonderful, bright and sunny with steady winds at around 25 kmph when we reached. While chatting casually Vinod, asked me about my wrist watch and I told him that it was scratch proof, whereupon he jokingly commented “scratchproof yes – but is it crash-proof?” (almost prophetic) but I very confidently told him that I had no intentions of crashing!The P2’s started their kiting sessions and the P1 their hops. At around 4.30pm we were asked to go up the hill with our gliders to take off at around 5pm. We climbed up the hill with our gliders – believe me at this age it is a grind, but I still managed the climb with a little bit of effort. Took some water from Vinod and was more or less set to fly. Avi, briefed the P2’s on flying and for me it was a kind of refresher as I would be doing a long flight after almost a year. I was the second to take off after Harshal at around 5.20pm. The take off was smooth and I flew straight and then turned right under radio instructions of Ganpat. I flew the ridge line - right to left and back till I gained some height. I was very comfortable flying the ridge line and I gained height till I was parallel to the top of the cliff. At that point Ganpat instructed me on the radio to fly in the ‘V’ of the cliff at the right of the hill side. As I turned right and left in the V, I found myself soaring ever higher with the lift being achieved due to the ‘V’. I must have been at around 3000 feet, when I started enjoying the panoramic view from that height. I was in a more or less thoughtless state repeating a chant in my mind. The view was so awesome that for a few minutes, I forgot myself and I kept absorbing the silence and the beauty and the peace up there. After the initial calls of ‘good flying’ by Ganpat, there was radio silence, I realized that whatever maneuvers I was trying were not working and my glider was stationary. Then after a few minutes I thought I was caught in a venturi, as the glider started moving backwards, it was then that I was waiting for instructions which never came, it was only after the glider had gone way over the ridgeline that the radio crackled and I heard TJ’s voice asking me to find a place for landing. The glider by now had gathered speed and was taking me far away from our actual landing zone. I passed one village below me and then I heard Avi’s voice telling me to land in a very large open area which was just below me. I must have been at a height of around 50 feet, and I decided that is where I wanted to land, but as I was flying after a very long time, the basic of increasing descent were in the cobwebs of my mind. The ‘ess’ turns and the big ears would have got me down but the recall did not happen. I started pulling the brake lines to slow down and descend, but I guess I pulled the brake lines to the extent where the glider would stall, one of the fundamental and most stupid of errors. My mind was blank and I think my body was following Avi’s instruction of landing in the open area. The glider stalled, that’s when I realized, I had goofed up big time and I corrected by letting the brake lines go free completely. The stall sent me feet up into the air and then the pitch took me back, I saw the glider above me ballooning again and I took control again by pulling on the brake lines slightly till it steadied. The last call I heard was TJ’s, asking me to find a place for landing.

I could hear village kids shouting below me because for them my antics in the sky must have seemed spectacular (suicidal?!). As I came closer to landing, the glider had a lot of ground speed and I tried slowing it down, but there were gusts of wind which were making it difficult to land, in fact as I came down to land, a gust came and took me over my landing spot and beyond to ground at a lower level, where I touched down at a run – like getting off a running train. I managed to land safely at around 6.30pm, and I was trying to figure out a way to clear the lines of thorns when I heard shouts and a gang of 20 odd village boys came shouting at the time of their voices. In the meanwhile I called Avi on his cell and told him that I had landed safely and all was well. Another elder villager, helped me untangle the lines from the thorn bush – this took about 15 minutes. After that I mushroomed the glider and started the long trek back. The kids were becoming a real nuisance, with some of them bordering on insanity, throwing stones and slippers into the mushroom. I really freaked out and told the guys to get lost before I became violent. One kid had a spoilt tape running all the time “money de na money de na” for the entire duration of the time – almost an hour of trek back. The kids were all misguiding, with no one wanting to help a stranger, only two kids were helpful, as they had at some point worked in carrying the glider with one of the clubs. They guided me to the village, by which time I was really pooped, my mouth totally dry for want of water. In the village I asked for water, and I got ‘lota’ of cool well water which was like manna from heaven – I don’t think water ever tasted so beautiful before.

A village elder then fired the kids and told them to get lost, that’s when I got rid of them. The trek back involved an up and down climb with the mushroomed glider on my back, avoiding thorn bushes to protect the glider, man I tell you I was really thankful that I run the marathon otherwise this ordeal would have left me down and out for the count. My trek was through bushes, sugarcane fields and what have you. After the water break, we got onto a plane area and with the help of the two kids, folded the glider and put it back in the case. By this time the harness was weighing like a ton on my back which needed to be removed for relief. I got it off and packed the glider and harness into the case. I asked the boys to carry the harness for me up to the car park. After the sun had set, the wind started blowing in cool gusts which was really refreshing. The trek back was tough, as the boys were now leading in the dark and trying to find their way – I used my cell phones torch to light the way. At around 8.15pm I reached the parking lot where Avi was waiting and my friend Pravin were waiting for me. I gave the glider, the helmet and radio to Parsha, and drank lots of water – as the 5km trek had really drained me. I gave both the boys enough money to see them go away smiling.

Later at the de-brief at Rangoli, Avi told me that I was lucky to be alive and I had used a lot my good karma to land in one piece. My fears on not flying were proved right – but I guess destiny has to play its part, and I am sure my Guruji has saved me from a far greater impending disaster as a result of these 5 odd seconds of madness which I lived through! Throughout the one hour ten odd minute flight I was relaxed and did not panic, as I knew my Guru was with me and nothing would happen – but that still does not mean that I should push my luck in the manner in which I did! But alls well that ends well and I look forward to flying again shortly, hopefully a much better and experienced pilot because of all that I went through!

Garland Politics and Roadside Poo

2010-03-18T10:55:00.001+05:30

Mayawati is once more in the news for all the wrong reasons or maybe right reasons depending from which perspective you read the news. The BSP purports to be a part of the poor for the poor and by the poor, but the manner in which the current head of the political party is garlanded with currency garlands would raise doubts as to the motto even in the eyes of die-hard loyalists! On Monday, March 15 (ides of March) she has been gifted a Rs. 5 crore garland purportedly made of 50000 Rs. 1000 currency notes and yesterday another more modest garland of Rs. 18 lacs! The political ‘chamchas’ claim that henceforth they won’t give her floral garlands but garlands made of hard cash only. This raises the question as to where this money is utilized – a person who rose from poverty to such riches in a short political life-span with hardly any questions being raised by the revenue authorities, has done very little to alleviate grass roots poverty in her state. Her major achievements are building Ambedkar gardens on public property at a huge cost to the ex-chequer which have now been stayed by the Supreme Court. These garden consist of Elephant statues and statues of the founders of the party including her own statue!

Another report which struck my mind was the report which was released by WHO-UNICEF on the number of people defecating in the open. The report has figures for 2008 which show that India has 658 million people defecating out in the open that is 58% of the total of 1.1 billion people worldwide doing it out in the open. No wonder India is still a majorly agrarian economy – the amount of natural urea available for fertilization would be mind boggling!

Don’t you think it is a tragedy that shameless politicians show such a vulgar display of wealth and power when we have such a high percentage of the population without basic facilities for completing their daily ablutions in private. What is the use of those garlands of hard currency when most of the population of her state shits out in the open – maybe Mayawati and her ilk shut their eyes or better still she and her ilk may be using helicopters to avoid both the masses and their exposed arse’s.

Hooky with Indian Hockey

2010-03-08T14:26:00.002+05:30

One more Hockey World Cup is past the stage where the countries which progress and the one’s which will play for pride have been sorted out. Unfortunately the two sub-continental teams which used to dominate the world hockey stage will only be playing for pride – they can be happy reflecting on past glory.

When we beat Pakistan in the opener, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi announced a Rs. 100,000 award per player – a bit pre-mature I thought at that time – which has proved to be correct. What is the point in playing politics with sport – just shows we have extremely shallow thinking and cannot see the bigger picture.

The administrators are going to end up blaming the players for a “lackluster” show – but where does the fault actually lie? A bit of introspection on the part of the administrators will lay bare the truth. After all a team is just as good as the system in which it functions and the system is only as good as the people who administer it. If we have to really succeed then a complete overhaul is required, starting with the Government’s approach to the national game (it is hockey you know and not cricket as some would claim!). Any student of management will tell you that change always begins at the top and development happens from the grass roots. The sad part is that I doubt whether the current crop of administrators at Hockey India would be able to accept this bitter truth and take steps to change for the better so that we are ready for the next World Cup.

The test which Hockey India faces is the democratization of the set-up which means elections. So far FIH has let us get away with it because we are the hosts and have given a deadline for having elections by middle of this year. If the administration does not correct its errant ways, we will not be allowed to participate in future international tournaments. High time the powers that be stopped playing hooky with the sport. I just hope the administrators have their vision rectified by going in for a corneal transplant and doing justice to the sport and national pride. Jai Hind.

One year of Samarpan Meditation

2010-03-01T09:39:00.002+05:30

On February 2, 2010 I completed one year of Samarpan Meditation – one year in which life has become structured, simple and peaceful. As I look back on the past year I realize that a lot has changed in my life though life around me continues in the same fashion. In the last one year I have had a lot of experiences, the key ones I would like to share with you.

My first trip to Dandi was on 23rd April, 2009 – this trip had been postponed twice earlier for one reason or another. This time too, our friend Ramnath Kamath was to come, but the night before departure he cancelled his trip due to some urgent personal commitments. My friend, Deepak and I decided to go along with Raju based on the directions e-mailed by Ramnath. Ramnath had told us that those who are destined to reach Dandi will definitely reach, and those who are not will under no circumstances reach the Ashram. We left at around seven in the morning and on our way to Dandi, at the second toll there was a serpentine queue when Raju decided to take the vehicle off the road and onto the mud track. Thereafter we progressed to a point where we had to get back on the road. As Raju tried to get on the road a truck obstructed him and he had to go straight as a result of which the rear suspension got stuck on the tar road as half the vehicle was on the mud track and the other half on the tar road. Ramnath’s words flashed across my mind, and I thought maybe we are not destined to reach Dandi. Unfounded fears though, maybe Swamiji was just testing us, my friend and I got off from the car, looked at how it was stuck and asked Raju to reverse and take it on the mud track and then back on to the road. After this incident we reached Dandi at around 11.30am and after registration went to the meditation chamber where PP Swamiji’s statue is kept. My first experience while meditating came here, it was like I was ensconced in a cocoon and the feeling I got was of being in a very comfortable nebulous embrace. When I opened my eyes about 45 minutes later, there were just a handful of people in the chamber as opposed to an almost full chamber when we entered. My friends had gone for the Prasad, where I found them. After eating the Prasad we left again for Mumbai, and I had the feeling that I should keep coming back. The feeling of peacefulness is so all pervading that one does not feel like leaving, but I guess life has to go on and one’s family responsibilities faced!

In July we went for the Guru Purnima celebrations at Pushkar from the 6th to the 8th. We had booked flight tickets from Mumbai to Jaipur for the 6th and return on the 8th well in advance to get the cheap rates. We were again travelling with Ramnath and a couple of his friends, the trip from Jaipur to Ajmer, where we were blessed with the ‘darshan’ at Ajmer Sharif Dargah. From there we left for Pushkar by taxi, and reached our hotel where our bookings were made by the Trust. As this was my first experience of staying in collectivity – we were eleven people in a room with two bathrooms, I woke up at 2.00 am to complete the mornings formalities before anyone else woke up and then relaxed. As the morning program was to start at 5am, I thought it prudent to be ready well in time so as not to miss anything. On the second day we were to take Diksha, as this was our first Guru Purnima, the experience I got while taking diksha is something which needs to be experienced to be believed. While performing the “aarti” and when the poojari was instructing us to inhale the positive energy and exhale the negative energy, the aroma which I got while inhaling in the 50 degree centigrade heat was such that I did not want to stop inhaling at all! But after a point you can’t inhale any more and I exhaled the negative energy to be enveloped by a nice feeling of well being. Throughout the three days at Pushkar, one could get the aroma of either roses or sandalwood during PP Swamiji’s and dear Guruma’s pravachans. On the second day we sat without any semblance of discomfort for more than eight hours in 50 degree heat and at the end of the day, there was no feeling of tiredness either. Ramnath and his friend Ananth had booked an airconditioned room in a hotel and convinced us to also shift to the hotel as there was no point going for meditation with PP Swamiji on the third day without being refreshed. As there was logic in the argument we too shifted to the hotel. The last day was very eventful! The seniors in the group (by experience and long connectivity with Samarpan panth) had decided that we should skip the post lunch session from 2pm to 5pm as we had to go to Jaipur to catch the 8.30pm flight to Mumbai. This made sense as it is an almost 4 hour drive to Jaipur from Pushkar. We had called the taxi at 2.30pm to our hotel, imagine our discomfiture when the taxi did not arrive even at 3.30pm. We were continually calling the driver and he kept telling us he is reaching in five minutes, by 4.30 pm were in a panic and Ramnath and I decided to walk down to the main road to check if we could get another taxi. As we reached the main road, we saw a taxi rounding the corner and stopped it, this taxi turned out to be ours – it was a Chevrolet Tavera and we quickly took him to the hotel and loaded our bags into the vehicle. Ananth had to get his wife’s musical instruments from the registration counter at the mela ground. When we reached the mela ground, we saw that PP Swamiji had concluded the program at 4.30pm and people were already leaving the ground. Ananth got his wife’s musical instruments and by the time we hit the road it was just past 5pm, leaving us about 3 hours to reach the airport. On the way out of Pushkar, on the Ajmer bypass, there was construction work going on which held up the traffic for over fifteen minutes, we had to request our driver to plead with the contractor to let us go as we had a flight to catch. As we passed this first delay, we noticed our driver continuously talking on the phone and driving at a leisurely pace, there was no way we could reach the airport at that speed. Once we reached the expressway to Jaipur, I jokingly asked him whether I should drive as he seemed to be very busy talking on the phone! To my surprise he readily agreed, and gave me the drivers seat. With the AC in the car on, it was like driving a truck, I did not come below an average of 100km per hour and we exited the expressway and got onto the road to the airport at 7.30pm. As we approached the airport around 7.45pm, the driver decided we needed to fill diesel, our blood pressure was high by that time, we told him not to waste time and take us to the airport straight. Which he did, we reached just before eight, unloaded our bags and ran to check in when the security stopped us and told us that we had to go to the new terminal which was five km away! You should have seen the way Ramnath, Ananth and I ran to try and stop the taxi from getting away. We caught him in the nick of time brought him back to the airport, reloaded the bags and set off for the new terminal castigating the driver for bringing us to the wrong terminal. We had not gone a kilometer when the taxi completely ran out of diesel, it was now past 8pm and were in a near state of panic but were all the time consoling ourselves that PP Swamiji was testing us and we would not miss our flight. As we got out of our vehicle, I saw a Qualis slowing down on the other side of the road, Ramnath and I ran towards the vehicle and requested the driver to drop us to the airport. The driver said this was a company vehicle and we should ask his boss. We pleaded with his boss who readily agreed (Jai Baba Swami), we transferred all our luggage and reached the new terminal at 8.30pm (flight departure time) and were rushing for check in when the security told us to relax as the light to Mumbai was just landing and we had ample of time to check in! We offered him money for the trip but he refused, saying it was nice that he could help! You can imagine the relief on our faces and then we mentally apologized to PP Swamiji and also thanked him for not letting us miss our flight!

The next day while meditating at home, I got a very strong aroma of roses, the aroma was all pervading even after my meditation was over. I called my younger daughter Vallari and my mother and asked them if they could get any aroma – both of them confirmed that they could smell roses. I told them dear Swamiji was present with us and to fold hands in obeisance.

Sometime in September last, I went to the Mukteshwar temple in Juhu with a friend after meditation. As we came onto the floor which had statue’s of different saints, I got a very nice feeling, we paid our obeisance to Shri Gajanan Maharaj, then Shri Akkalkot Maharaj and as I came in front on Swami Nityanand, my entire body from head to toe went ice cold and I just sat on the ground with my eyes closed for fifteen minutes.

I had gone to Bangalore with a colleague to do Guru Karya for a week as PP Swamiji was to hold a Maha Shibir there. I stayed in the Malleswaram Acharya’s (Ravikiran Shirali) house and enjoyed my stint doing Guru Karya, we went to schools, offices and houses and were quite enthusiastic about the karya. In fact, we were told that only after our visit did the local people start joining in doing the karya and Guru Karya gathered momentum and some force. On the last day, I was to stay at Shridhar Mani’s house as the airport was close from his house. That morning, he told me to come for meditation in his meditation chamber – this chamber is locked and only used for meditation. The chamber has a very pure air about it and the ambience is completely conducive to meditation, talking inside is a strict no. After meditation, he told me to stand against the wall and walk towards PP Swamiji’s photo inch by inch with my palms facing outwards and eyes closed. As I neared the photo, my entire body started going cold from head to toe and as I write this I experience the same feeling. The entire body went ice cold and it is an experience I truly cherish.

We had also gone to Anand for the Maha Shibir, there too I experienced waves of cooling every minute or so - internal cooling like my insides were awash with menthol. In Bangalore, for the Maha Shibir, I once again experienced the cool waves during PP Swamiji’s discourse. After the discourse we went to the ISKCON temple close by. There too the cool menthol like internal vibrations made me feel like sitting in the temple for meditation.

Sometime in December, I was looking at purchasing a property in Virar. The deal was almost finalized and I had given a cheque for 10% of the value as token. While meditating I asked Swamiji for guidance as the investment amount was large and I did not want to get stuck in legal complications after buying the property. The next day morning after meditation at the center, I started getting tremendous negative feelings about the property and decided to cancel the deal. I called the property owner and asked him not to encash the cheque. As this was a Sunday, it was possible to take back the cheque. A few days later I came to know through a friend that the property was mortgaged to a bank and against which recovery proceedings had already commenced. I am sure I was guided by Swamiji in taking the right decision.

There was a traffic incident in January this year, while going for meditation to CIFE Andheri west from my office in the east. There was heavy traffic, and a motorcycle overtook me from the left and came in my way and I hooted hard at him – the traffic must have been moving at about 20km per hour and I must have touched his exhaust. The man parked his motorcycle with his colleague standing near the motor cycle. He came to the car and raised his hand to hit me stating that why should he not hit me as I had hit his motorcycle, completely forgetting that he had come from behind and in front of me in a very rash manner. In earlier times, my blood would have been racing and I would have been spoiling for a fight, but this time nothing of the kind happened, I just very coolly told him that there was a lot of traffic and such things happen while apologizing to him. After ranting and raving for about two minutes, he just turned around and walked away. As I was going for meditation, I thought to myself this looked like a test of my balance which I seem to have passed.

My entire life style has changed in the last one year, liquor has stopped, watching TV has stopped, leaving me with more time for physical and spiritual activity. A morning run, meditation and evening group meditation. Day begins at 4.30-5.00 am and ends at 9.30-10am. There is a lot of internal peace and tranquility. Jai Baba Swami.

Budget 2010

2010-02-27T11:24:00.000+05:30

Once you go through the fine print in Budget 2010, you ask yourself what does it actually do - for R.K. Laxman’s “common man”. Everybody is waxing eloquent on the budget – calling it a budget for the “aam aadmi”. I would like to debate that for a moment – who is India’s aam aadmi? Is it the educated employed, is it the uneducated employed, is it the farmer, is it the son of the soil, is it India’s super rich, or is it the vast majority of unemployed who cannot afford to have a square meal a day? I leave it to you to decide who is India’s aam aadmi.

Who has the budget benefited? This is a no brainer, with the salaried tax payer and individual tax payer getting a lot of relief through stretching of the tax slabs. There is a little bit of everything for taxpayers who benefit. But what is the percentage of tax paying populace of this vast country? Excise has been raised on petrol and cement which will have a ballooning effect on prices of food and housing. The common man who is looking for relief from the high food prices may have to wait some more time for the “budget benefits” to kick in.

On the economic front even though the budget has been a decent exercise in balancing – much will depend on delivery. It is a known fact that fiscal discipline on the expenditure side is very difficult to contain with politicians of all hues taking on unviable projects for their constituencies which ultimately end in benefiting the politician and his close coterie! To bridge that gap you end up taxing the common man with more of indirect taxes!

Trying to keep the budget deficit pegged at 5.5% is going to take a herculean effort, as the fiscal management bill faces a lot of resistance. Nobody like to tighten his purse strings in government – more you spend the more chances that you end up making some money for yourself. Just have a look at first time politicians who suddenly become wealthy after five years in government – whether at local, state or national levels.

I would prefer to wait for six months to see whether the budget delivers on promise and actually manages to cut down on the budget deficit – talk is cheap, performance is what matters. I sincerely pray that this government performs so that the entire nation benefits.

Geo – Paragliding Feb 2010

2010-02-25T15:59:00.001+05:30

The first batch of Geo Pilots started off on their paragliding course on the 19th of February from Mumbai. We had twelve adventurous souls including our Chairman who put their hearts, bodies and minds into completing the course. Day one started out with introductions students with trainers and instructors at Rangoli restaurant, Kamshet. After being briefed about the course, going through the training booklet, signing off on the Templepilots indemnity our boys were ready to fly.

We went off to a new site at Kara about 60km from Pune, a flat plateau. We had three vehicles, of which one managed to do off-roading very well – Scorpio belonging to Sanjay Sarkar – the two hired vehicles a Tata Safari and Chevrolet Tavera played safe and did not venture to do the steep climb to the training site. Our boys got off and walked in the afternoon sun for their first feel of a paraglider.

A lot of the trainees had stated that they had done a lot of adventure sports but those were all connected to the ground. There were a lot of apprehensions on flying as their feet would not be touching the ground. Tom (a Brit doctor who is now part of the Templepilots team) made us do warm up exercises specific to handling paragliders. After the warm up exercise he made us close our eyes and join our hands in a “namaste”, then rub our hands together while telling ourselves that we are going to fly and that we would be connected to earth through our energy field and there was nothing to fear. After a minute or so he told us to take our hands apart and feel the energy between the palms of our hand. I could actually feel my hands pulsating back and forth – it actually felt like there was a heart beating between my palms. This was truly fascinating – you guys should try it out sometime – as what you actually feel is your “aura”!

The first task was being introduced to the various parts of a paraglider, how to connect to the harness and how to handle the glider. Once that was done, our trainee pilots moved over to ground handling of the glider. This is real physical activity, as you have to run and get the glider over your head and keep it there on the run. The trouble is wind speed and direction affect glider balance and so does the hand position at take off. So we had a bunch of trainees, a majority of whom were not physically active before joining the course, suddenly forced into rigorous physical activity. By the end of the day everybody was pooped and ready to drop dead for the night. After de-briefing on the activities during the day and being briefed about the activities for the next day, we all left for our hotel in Lonavala. All trainee pilots were asked to fill in their log sheets and read certain sections of the training manual.

The second day began at 11am with a round of theory and the instructors going through the log sheets. The practical training schedule for the day included take off, hop and landing. The training site was at Shelar, a beautiful site for paragliders. We reached first at around 2pm followed by other flying groups. Shelar site is a good one kilometer hike through grasslands, this trek warmed up all our trainee pilots. After the instructions on what was expected of the trainee pilots, Tom made us do warm up exercises and then the prayer asking us to stay connected to earth while we fly. This was a day full of incidents as everybody was expected to run and lift the glider and take off on a gentle slope and then land. This is the most difficult part of the course, as ground handling in varying wind conditions is tough, not only on the trainees as also on the instructors, as the instructors to have to run along with the pilots and encourage them and shout out instructions. We saw a lot of our trainees falling on their face, buttocks and sides before finally getting their act together. The incident which is however etched in memory happened with one of our senior executives. He ran with his glider up, though he was bent forward and low to the ground, as his glider tilted to the left, Avi (the chief flight instructor) yelled “pull the right brake, pull the right brake), but in that fraction of a second, I don’t think Sanjay heard the shout, and as he was already tilting left he pulled the left brake and released the right brake to zero, as a result of which his glider gathered momentum and became a para sail dragging him about 150 feet in less than five seconds in a quarter circle. He zipped, bumped, hit a ditch, whirled and landed on his back after the glider had lost complete momentum. I was already running towards him and reached him just seconds after he stopped, followed by Kamlesh our HR and Tom the team doc. Sanjay had lost a lot of skin on his left hand - which took the brunt of the drag, bruises on his right hand and a dazed look on his face. Tom checked to see if he had any broken bones, then checked whether he was in shock, when he saw all was well, he cleaned up his wound. In the meanwhile I had immediately on reaching Sanjay disconnected the glider from the harness, mushroomed it and kept it aside, then helped Sanjay get out of the harness. A true sport, once Sanjay realized all was well, he walked back and said he will continue with the hops. After some time his back got sore and he could not do the hops, but his walking up the slope to tell the rest of his mates that “all ij wail” (3 Idiots ishtyle) really helped boost the rest of the guys who were in a panicky frame of mind after seeing the incident in fast forward mode! 3 cheers to Sanjay for being a true sport and an inspiration to the rest of the gang!

Everybody was cleared for their first flight by the end of the day, with almost everybody getting their take offs and landings perfected. Day three were the written exams which everyone cleared – a couple with some pushes from the instructors! On Sunday, we went to Pawana Lake, a beautiful and breath-taking site for the first flight. Sanjay went on a tandem flight with Tom, and was truly kicked about his flight, he is definitely going back to complete the course. I was asked to do the demo flight, with Parsha telling me in my ears that it would look bad if I landed on my bum! I did the demo flight and thankfully did not land on my bum! After me, everyone flew and landed perfectly! So the fear of flying alone was gone once and for all from everyone’s mind. Four of us who had landed first left for the hill after packing the gliders for our second flight. I sat on the roof of the Tavera as the vehicle was full with gliders and flyers! The second flight was an independent flight with no radio assistance from the instructors – I landed away from the runway into some bushes with my left foot getting stuck in a creeper thus bringing me to my knees – my first knee landing in ten flights! Post the flights we packed all the gliders and proceeded back to Rangoli for de-briefing and for getting the certificates on completion of the P1 paragliding course.

Well guys hope to see all of you again for the P2 course – hope to see you soaring again free as a bird with nary a care and thought – high up there just you and the wind in your ears!

A big thank you to all the flying instructors, Avi, Anita, Tom, TJ, Parsha, Ganpat and their assistants - a joy to train with guys with a great attitude and a spirit of fun while maintaining the decorum and seriousness which such training requires. A truly great group to train and fly with. Three cheers to all you guys!

Sachin – 20 years on and still going on sixteen….

2010-02-25T11:21:00.001+05:30

Yesterdays 200 in 50 overs against South Africa – one of the top teams in the world – not a Kenya, Bangladesh or Zimbabwe – was a truly master-class performance shutting up hopefully once and for all the detractors in the media and outside. I still remember all the visual media hatchet men on India TV Aaj Tak and assorted channels talking about Sachin should make way for younger players. This, when they were aware that he was battling injury and STILL averaging around 40 in both one dayers and Tests!

The know all commentators on TV – guys who have probably used a cricket bat for washing clothes and nothing else – trying to put down an icon and a person who talks little and only performs! Anyone who does this for a living must be a very small person indeed! This recalls a quote by Malcolm X in 1964 “The press is so powerful in its image-making role, it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. This is the press, an irresponsible press”….”If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppresses and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” This statement is truer for the visual media, with commentators pontificating and putting forth their views on what is right and what is wrong on a very gullible and malleable viewer-ship. I distinctly remember arguing with friends that Sachin will play a few more years and that he is responsible enough to decide when he should quit – I used to walk out of discussions which were negative about Sachin and switch news channels denigrating him.

You will notice that people take great pleasure in putting down a person who has reached a peak which others can only dream of. Take Tiger Woods for instance – the jury was out on him so fast because of a personal weakness for the flesh – but does that take away his achievements on the field? With Sachin – he is squeaky clean and has maintained an iconoclastic image for the last twenty years and more. He approaches the game with the same child like enthusiasm today than when he first set out. Players have come and gone but he just continues to climb higher and higher. During Sunil Gavaskars time too, I used to switch of the TV the moment he got out. After watching poetry in motion you do not have the desire to read prose! That’s how it was with me and still is today!

The same people who put him down will now sound paeans to him – sound bites – just waiting to pounce on him the next time he performs at a slightly lesser standard - a standard set so high by him for himself – not a standard imposed on him. He is like Sergei Bubka, Yelena Isinbayeva, Usain Bolt – athletes who keep raising their bar ever higher – as they are competing only against themselves.

The man remains as humble and approachable today as he was at the start of his career – he is a true human being – a Yogi – who is at peace with himself – does not need to prove anything to anybody – he has done it all – need I say more!

Hats off to a living legend and a global icon!

The Mumbai Tiger’s kittens – miaow

2010-02-06T10:15:00.000+05:30

Well, well, well it has ultimately happened – the cubs have ultimately proven themselves to be kittens that too spoilt ones at that! Rahul Gandhi by one swift stroke proved to the rest of us (me too) that he has the makings of a statesman. Traveling by train while all the rabble rousers with black flags were waiting at the airport was undoubtedly a stroke of genius – connecting with the masses and showing the kittens the way forward for inclusive politics.

The demonstrators’ black flags will have to be shelved for a later day – so sad na, tch tch tch! Both the kittens are claiming that what he did is high drama – well agreed – but that is drama with class for the mass population! The kittens are left chewing sour grapes, slurp, slurp, slurp, burp, burp, burp! The burps I am sure are leaving a foul taste in the mouths of the kittens – like the saying goes “the best laid plans of mice and kittens go to waste”.

Coming to the moot question which now dwells in the minds of the kittens – “the Marathi manoos” (by the way I am one too) – “Mumbai is for Marathis”. To them I ask how many Marathis do you find driving taxis, autos, on construction sites, road building, etc. If you find one, you will be very lucky. The entire cities infrastructure has been built more or less with the blood and sweat of labor mainly from Bihar, UP, TN and Kerala. That is because the Marathi manoos finds these jobs below his dignity – he would prefer an armchair 9 to 5 job with lots of perks and no work preferably. The average Marathi manoos is lazy and does not like to work – that is why it is easy to rabble rouse and get them on the streets to vandalise and loot private and public property. Who is stopping the Marathi manoos from doing hard work on construction sites, road building etc – no one – but he would prefer to go hungry rather than do jobs which would affect his inflated ego.

The kittens have grown fat and rich – how? Have they ever had a job or a business, did their father have one from which they have inherited such wealth? Have the revenue authorities ever asked these questions? Well it is now a given that they have crores in wealth, drive vehicles costing upward of Rs. 50 lacs (try earning and then saving that kind of money honestly, you’ll know what I mean!). They dabble in real estate – with the kind of wealth they have looted/amassed they can very well employ the Marathi manoos or form a company employing only Marathis which could contribute to the national economy. Will they do something like that – naaaaaaa – you know why? Talk is cheap, that’s why! Doing requires effort, planning etc. Now who wants to work! Miaaow, I am used to being a spoilt cat! I would love to roar, but the only sound which emanates when I make the effort is a whiny miaow!!

It is time for the kittens to grow up and try and join the national mainstream with constructive politics rather than divisive, parochial politics, lest they find themselves thrown into the political wilderness with complete rejection by the masses!

Rash of suicides – is there a solution?

2010-01-20T15:32:00.001+05:30

The number of suicides amongst the youth, students and working youngsters in the recent past is extremely disturbing to say the least. This just points to the pressure the youngsters face from parents, peers, teachers and society which just manages to send these guys over the edge.

Our system of education needs to be revamped and a grading system introduced as suggested by Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots. The ranking system is a caste system which just manages to shame sensitive students into thinking they are no good – when that may actually be far from reality! I have an elder brother for whom academics was a piece of cake – I was always compared to him during my school days. There were rewards for doing well in school for him and I used to get the wooden spoon . But that really did not bother me too much – as I had decided mentally that my elder brother was in a different class academically and there was no way I was even going to try and compete! In fact I was happy being average and ranking between 15 -20 in a class of 40 whereas my bro used to vie for the top 3 slots! I never had the problem of figuring out where I lost one or two marks in maths, physics etc. as I was least bothered in trying to figure out where I lost forty – fifty marks – I was always happy getting what I got.

Where I live, there was another boy (an only child) who was extremely good at academics and games – in fact he always used to be down playing. He was a perfectionist – anything new he tried was always practiced and perfected! A top ranker in school always – achieved effortlessly without compromising on other activities. During the SSC exams there was a paper leakage at the center where he wrote his papers, as a result the papers were examined a little more rigorously and he obtained 86%. He did not top the Board results as expected by his mother. A neighbor asked her for sweets on his SSC results as is the norm in India and the lady was rebuffed by the mother stating that her son had not got a rank – the son who was standing behind her overheard this – can you imagine the mental trauma he would have gone through. As parents we cannot afford to be so insensitive – most of the parents in India want their children to come top achievers because they want to vicariously achieve their ambitions through their child. This kind of burden should never be put on any child! During the HSC exams there was mass scale copying and re-exams were held and again this boy did brilliantly but did not get the marks to get into medicine in Mumbai. He was getting admission outside Mumbai but his parents did not permit him to go as he was an only child! This boy ended up doing B.Pharm, then BSc, then HSC Commerce – he became a complete psychological wreck – in complete denial, not speaking with anyone and crying if you tried to approach him. In short he became a complete recluse – by the time I completed my CA he was still doing B.Com – a potentially brilliant doctor who could not make it because of parents misplaced sense of protection. A career gone down the drain – today he is a book-keeper in book store.

What I am trying to get at is that the parents should ensure that the child has an absolutely normal up-bringing without putting additional pressure on his/her academics. The SSC/HSC results never dictate what life has to offer. I know so many people who have done BSc, Engineering, etc but end up in banks or doing finance. Many times you end up studying something which has absolutely no bearing with your employment in later life. That is where our academic curriculum needs to go a drastic change – our system encourages mugging instead of understanding – it’s a memory based system rather than an analytical one which can help one as one goes ahead in life.

The kids today should realize that taking one’s life is not a solution – specially when they have not experienced the joys of LIFE. The parents, teachers, peers should understand that each individual is made differently – comparing results, denigrating, insulting and being sarcastic after exam results will only help in eroding a child’s confidence and morale. One needs to understand and encourage children to do their best – give them good values in life and teach them that life is not a bed of roses and the real education is the one which one gets as one faces the trials and tribulations in life.

SCMM 2010 – end of another successful marathon

2010-01-17T17:39:00.002+05:30

The marathon this year was different in the sense that the half marathon started from Bandra and ended at CST whereas the full marathon, dream run and other events began and ended at CST. As I have been running the half marathon for the past three years after graduating from the Dream Run, for me the start point was in Bandra. This was close to home and it just took me ten minutes to get to the venue.

As this was the first time that the marathon was being held from two venues, I expected certain logistic problems to crop up as the usually do in such cases. From my point of view the entrance to the holding area for corporate challenge participants, veterans and general runners should have been separate. The coporates pay quite a hefty chunk for their runners, plus the runners themselves raise money for charity so a different treatment was expected, as it has happened in the past. Once we entered the holding area we were cloistered together for almost 45 minutes. Luckily it was not as cold today as it was in the recent past, otherwise the nearly 45 minute stationary position one had to endure in the enclosure would have definitely cramped up the calf muscles and made the run a non-starter for me. A staggered start for elite participants followed by the corporate challenge runners followed by the veterans and then the general public would have made the start a little less exhausting.

At sharp 6.45am the starting gun went off and the runners started moving on to the road – it was one moving mass of humanity – 11000 runners is a lot of people, to be beaten only by the mass for the dream run. The run started from the MMRDA grounds at Bandra, past my daughters’ school and then turned on to the flyover which connects to the sea-link. I thought the run had started from MMRDA, but to my surprise when we turned onto the road leading to the sea-link on the flyover, near the SV road exit, the timing chip marker mats were placed – that is a good one and a half kilometers from the starting point – it would be a better idea to have the holding area close to the start point – maybe the glamour of the sea-link run blinkered the organizers! I hit the timing chip mats at around 7 am and that was when the real run started. Moving ahead of the mass of humanity was a test of patience and speed, but eventually as one reached the sea-link one could get enough space of one’s own to run at a comfortable pace. We had 15 people running from our company, but I did not come across a single colleague till the end of the race. The run on the sea-link was refreshing in the cool morning breeze and relatively clean air - it took me about 30 minutes to run the 5.6km distance on the sea link, and on to Worli sea face. We turned left after leaving the sea-link and ran on till we reached Cadell Road and turned back from there on to Worli sea face. The intermediate timing chip mat was placed just after the U-turn off Cadell Road.

The atmosphere as usual was electric with a lot of people – young and old – lining the streets to encourage the runners and give biscuits, oranges – one fruit which really refreshes you on the run. The various media teams on the road having their parties – song dance and music – it really shows that Mumbai has a never say die spirit and I love the city for it.

As I was passing the race course, I saw and cheered the front runners of the full marathon as they literally flew past us. The entire stretch from here on was full of people encouraging the runners with placards stating “YOU CAN DO IT”. I had targeted completing the run between 9.15am and 9.30am – I finished around 9.21am just as the Dream Run commenced.

As I entered the Corporate Challenge enclosure I was the only person there as none of the half marathoners had come back. I had my wife and daughter for company as we relaxed, took some photos and I stretched to relax my tired muscles. At around 10.45am we had quite a few of my colleagues back from the marathon and we had a photo session, then I pushed off to meet the Project Crayons (the charity we run for) personnel near the Metro theatre. We met them and had a short conversation and photo shoot with them too. My wife and daughter joined me at Metro, and I got one of the dirtiest looks I ever have had (you know the saying “if looks could kill……”) from my daughter (a Scorpio dirty look to boot for delaying her!!). Sonal from Project Crayons said that you better go else your daughter will make chutney out of you. On that note my marathon 2010 got over.

Last but not the least, A BIG THANK YOU to all those who contributed to our cause.

The mini ice age starts here

2010-01-12T12:24:00.003+05:30

This is a post by David Rose, UK Mail, 10th January 2010 - it is worth a read as it throws the theory of Climate Change by proponents of green house gases for a complete toss. A must read if you are keen on knowing whether the world as it is today is going to end and whether the politicians who are trying to monetise carbon credits are right or is it a new financial scam in the making.

The bitter winter afflicting much of the Northern Hemisphere is only the start of a global trend towards cooler weather that is likely to last for 20 or 30 years, say some of the world’s most eminent climate scientists. Their predictions – based on an analysis of natural cycles in water temperatures in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans –challenge some of the global warming orthodoxy’s most deeply cherished beliefs, such as the claim that the North Pole will be free of ice in summer by 2013.

According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado, Arctic summer sea ice has increased by 409,000 square miles, or 26 per cent, since 2007 – and even the most committed global warming activists do not dispute this.

The scientists’ predictions also undermine the standard climate computer models, which assert that the warming of the Earth since 1900 has been driven solely by man-made greenhouse gas emissions and will continue as long as carbon dioxide levels rise. They say that their research shows that much of the warming was caused by oceanic cycles when they were in a ‘warm mode’ as opposed to the present ‘cold mode’.
This challenge to the widespread view that the planet is on the brink of an irreversible catastrophe is all the greater because the scientists could never be described as global warming ‘deniers’ or sceptics.

However, both main British political parties continue to insist that the world is facing imminent disaster without drastic cuts in CO2. Last week, as Britain froze, Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband maintained in a parliamentary answer that the science of global warming was ‘settled’.

Among the most prominent of the scientists is Professor Mojib Latif, a leading member of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has been pushing the issue of man-made global warming on to the international political agenda since it was formed 22 years ago. Prof Latif, who leads a research team at the renowned Leibniz Institute at Germany’s Kiel University, has developed new methods for measuring ocean temperatures 3,000ft beneath the surface, where the cooling and warming cycles start. He and his colleagues predicted the new cooling trend in a paper published in 2008 and warned of it again at an IPCC conference in Geneva last September. Last night he told The Mail on Sunday: ‘A significant share of the warming we saw from 1980 to 2000and at earlier periods in the 20th Century was due to these cycles – perhaps as much as 50 per cent. 'They have now gone into reverse, so winters like this one will become much more likely. Summers will also probably be cooler, and all this may well last two decades or longer. ‘The extreme retreats that we have seen in glaciers and sea ice will come to a halt. For the time being, global warming has paused, and there may well be some cooling.’

As Europe, Asia and North America froze last week, conventional wisdom insisted that this was merely a ‘blip’ of no long-term significance. Though record lows were experienced as far south as Cuba, where the daily maximum on beaches normally used for winter bathing was just 4.5C, the BBC assured viewers that the big chill was merely short-term ‘weather’ that had nothing to do with ‘climate’, which was still warming. The work of Prof Latif and the other scientists refutes that view.
On the one hand, it is true that the current freeze is the product of the ‘Arctic oscillation’ – a weather pattern that sees the development of huge ‘blocking’ areas of high pressure in northern latitudes, driving polar winds far to the south. Meteorologists say that this is at its strongest for at least 60 years.

As a result, the jetstream – the high-altitude wind that circles the globe from west to east and normally pushes a series of wet but mild Atlantic lows across Britain – is currently running not over the English Channel but the Strait of Gibraltar. However, according to Prof Latif and his colleagues, this in turn relates to much longer-term shifts – what are known as the Pacific and Atlantic ‘multi-decadal oscillations’ (MDOs).

For Europe, the crucial factor here is the temperature of the water in the middle of the North Atlantic, now several degrees below its average when the world was still warming.

But the effects are not confined to the Northern Hemisphere. Prof Anastasios Tsonis, head of the University of Wisconsin Atmospheric Sciences Group, has recently shown that these MDOs move together in a synchronised way across the globe, abruptly flipping the world’s climate from a ‘warm mode’ to a ‘cold mode’ and back again in 20to 30-year cycles. 'They amount to massive rearrangements in the dominant patterns of the weather,’ he said yesterday, ‘and their shifts explain all the major changes in world temperatures during the 20th and 21st Centuries. 'We have such a change now and can therefore expect 20 or 30 years of cooler temperatures.’

Prof Tsonis said that the period from 1915 to 1940 saw a strong warm mode, reflected in rising temperatures.

But from 1940 until the late Seventies, the last MDO cold-mode era, the world cooled, despite the fact that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continued to rise.

Many of the consequences of the recent warm mode were also observed 90 years ago. For example, in 1922, the Washington Post reported that Greenland’s glaciers were fast disappearing, while Arctic seals were ‘finding the water too hot’. It interviewed a Captain Martin Ingebrigsten, who had been sailing the eastern Arctic for 54 years: ‘He says that he first noted warmer conditions in 1918, and since that time it has gotten steadily warmer. 'Where formerly great masses of ice were found, there are now moraines, accumulations of earth and stones. At many points where glaciers formerly extended into the sea they have entirely disappeared.’ As a result, the shoals of fish that used to live in these waters had vanished, while the sea ice beyond the north coast of Spitsbergen in the Arctic Ocean had melted.

Warm Gulf Stream water was still detectable within a few hundred miles of the Pole. In contrast, Prof Tsonis said, last week 56 per cent of the surface of the United States was covered by snow. ‘That hasn’t happened for several decades,’ he pointed out. ‘It just isn’t true to say this is a blip. We can expect colder winters for quite a while.’ He recalled that towards the end of the last cold mode, the world’s media were preoccupied by fears of freezing. For example, in 1974, a Time magazine cover story predicted ‘Another Ice Age’, saying: ‘Man may be somewhat responsible – as a result of farming and fuel burning [which is] blocking more and more sunlight from reaching and heating the Earth.’

Prof Tsonis said: ‘Perhaps we will see talk of an ice age again by the early 2030s, just as the MDOs shift once more and temperatures begin to rise.’ Like Prof Latif, Prof Tsonis is not a climate change ‘denier’. There is, he said, a measure of additional ‘background’ warming due to human activity and greenhouse gases that runs across the MDO cycles. 'This isn't just a blip. We can expect colder winters for quite a while' But he added: ‘I do not believe in catastrophe theories. Man-made warming is balanced by the natural cycles, and I do not trust the computer models which state that if CO2 reaches a particular level then temperatures and sea levels will rise by a given amount. 'These models cannot be trusted to predict the weather for a week, yet they are running them to give readings for 100 years.’

Prof Tsonis said that when he published his work in the highly respected journal Geophysical Research Letters, he was deluged with ‘hate emails’. He added: ‘People were accusing me of wanting to destroy the climate, yet all I’m interested in is the truth.’ He said he also received hate mail from climate change sceptics, accusing him of not going far enough to attack the theory of man-made warming.
The work of Profs Latif, Tsonis and their teams raises a crucial question: If some of the late 20th Century warming was caused not by carbon dioxide but by MDOs, then how much? Tsonis did not give a figure; Latif suggested it could be anything between 10 and 50 per cent.

Other critics of the warming orthodoxy say the role played by MDOs is even greater. William Gray, emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Colorado State University, said that while he believed there had been some background rise caused by greenhouse gases, the computer models used by advocates of man-made warming had hugely exaggerated their effect.

45 Lessons in Life

2010-01-12T11:11:00.000+05:30

To celebrate growing older, Regina Brett once wrote the 45 lessons life taught her. These lessons are good and will apply to all readers universally.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Hooky with Hockey

2010-01-12T10:29:00.000+05:30

The powers that be (read Suresh Kalmadi), decided a new body was in order to set right the mess in Indian hockey, as a result of which Hockey India was formed in place of the Indian Hockey Federation. Hockey administration has become a completely rudderless ship caught in a major storm in the high seas. Caught in the churning and frothing political waters, the sport has taken a complete back seat and the administrators are apparently making hay while the players are frothing at the complete disregard by the powers that be for their welfare.

The players have gone on strike for the past few days as the promised match fees and piffling daily allowance has not been paid to the players for more than a year. Hockey India has a sponsorship deal for the national hockey team (men and women) which works out to Rs. 3.03 crores annually. If you account for the kit, training etc, I do not think the cost will go beyond Rs. 75 lacs a year for 50 players. This leaves a balance of Rs. 2.25 crores to be utilized for motivating the players by giving cash incentives to the team for international performance. A sum of Rs. 50000 per player per game should be good enough for the team to perform without thinking about monetary issues. Cash rewards can be given for winning major tournaments, but if this happens who will pay for the junkets of the administrators – who in many cases exceed the number of players – all on a free fully paid overseas junket.

It is so sad that the National team has to resort to threats and blackmail for something as routine as match fees which are not paid but only promised. Compare this with our cricketers and the cricket board which rakes in money by the oodles – though only ten countries in the world play the game. Hockey with a major international following, the national game to boot, is in such a sorry mess that it makes you puke. The administration of the game should be left to sports professionals who understand the game rather than thick skinned bureaucrats and politicians as realistically depicted by Shah Rukh Khan in his movie “Chak de India”!

Looks like our World Cup woes will continue with the administration of the game a complete disaster. The national team not practicing because of money – sad, very sad – looks like our national game is only going to disrepute and is slowly becoming a national shame as far as sports is concerned. Hopefully, something good will come of all this – the administration may be given to people who understand the game so that politicians with their eyes on free junkets are kept away from ruining the game more than they already have. Enough of playing hooky with hockey in India, I say!!

Advice from an Israeli Agent

2010-01-11T16:37:00.001+05:30

AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ!! - (received through mail)

Juval Aviv was the Israeli Agent upon whom the movie 'Munich' was based. He was Golda Meir's bodyguard, and she appointed him to track down and bring to justice the Palestinian terrorists who took the Israeli athletes hostage and killed them during the Munich Olympic Games.

In a lecture in New York City he shared information that EVERY American needs to know -- but that our government has not yet shared with us.

He predicted the London subway bombing on the Bill O'Reilly show on Fox News stating publicly that it would happen within a week. At the time, O'Reilly laughed, and mocked him saying that in a week he wanted him back on the show. Unfortunately, within a week the terrorist attack had occurred.

Juval Aviv gave intelligence (via what he had gathered in Israel and the Middle East) to the Bush Administration about 9/11, a month before it occurred. His report specifically said they would use planes as bombs and target high profile buildings and monuments. Congress has since hired him as a security consultant.

Now for his future predictions. He predicts the next terrorist attack on the U.S. will occur within the next few months.

Forget hijacking airplanes, because he says terrorists will NEVER try and hijack a plane again as they know the people onboard will never go down quietly again. Aviv believes our airport security is a joke -- that we have been reactionary rather than proactive in developing strategies that are truly effective.

For example:

1) Our airport technology is outdated. We look for metal, and the new explosives are made of plastic.

2) He talked about how some idiot tried to light his shoe on fire. Because of that, now everyone has to take off their shoes. A group of idiots tried to bring aboard liquid explosives. Now we can't bring liquids on board. He says he's waiting for some suicidal maniac to pour liquid explosive on his underwear; at which point, security will have us all traveling naked!
Every strategy we have is reactionary.

3) We only focus on security when people are heading to the gates.

Aviv says that if a terrorist attack targets airports in the future, they will target busy times on the front end of the airport when/where people are checking in. It would be easy for someone to take two suitcases of explosives, walk up to a busy check-in line, ask a person next to them to watch their bags for a minute while they run to the restroom or get a drink, and then detonate the bags BEFORE security even gets involved. In Israel, security checks bags BEFORE people can even ENTER the airport.

Aviv says the next terrorist attack here in America is imminent and will involve suicide bombers and non-suicide bombers in places where large groups of people congregate. (i.e., Disneyland, Las Vegas casinos, big cities (New York, San Francisco, Chicago, etc.) and that it will also include shopping malls, subways in rush hour, train stations, etc., as well as, rural America this time. The interlands (Wyoming, Montana, etc.).

The attack will be characterized by simultaneous detonations around the country (terrorists like big impact), involving at least 5-8 cities, including rural areas.

Aviv says terrorists won't need to use suicide bombers in many of the larger cities, because at places like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, they can simply valet park a car loaded with explosives and walk away.

Aviv says all of the above is well known in intelligence circles, but that our U. S. Government does not want to 'alarm American citizens' with the facts. The world is quickly going to become 'a different place', and issues like 'global warming' and political correctness will become totally irrelevant.

On an encouraging note, he says that Americans don't have to be concerned about being nuked. Aviv says the terrorists who want to destroy America will not use sophisticated weapons. They like to use suicide as a front-line approach. It's cheap, it's easy, it's effective; and they have an infinite abundance of young militants more than willing to 'meet their destiny'.

He also says the next level of terrorists, over which America should be most concerned, will not be coming from abroad. But will be, instead, 'homegrown', having attended and been educated in our own schools and universities right here in the U.S. He says to look for 'students' who frequently travel back and forth to the Middle East. These young terrorists will be most dangerous because they will know our language and will fully understand the habits of Americans; but that we Americans won't know/understand a thing about them.

Aviv says that, as a people, Americans are unaware and uneducated about the terrorist threats we will inevitably face. America still has only a handful of Arabic and Farsi speaking people in our intelligence networks, and Aviv says it is critical that we change that fact SOON.

So, what can America do to protect itself? From an intelligence perspective, Aviv says the U.S. needs to stop relying on satellites and technology for intelligence. We need to, instead, follow Israel's, Ireland's and England's hands-on examples of human intelligence, both from an infiltration perspective as well as to pay attention to, and trust 'aware' citizens to help. We need to engage and educate ourselves as citizens; however, our U. S. government continues to treat us, its citizens, 'like babies'. Our government thinks we 'can't handle the truth' and are concerned that we'll panic if we understand the realities of terrorism. Aviv says this is a deadly mistake.

Aviv recently created/executed a security test for our Congress, by placing an empty briefcase in five well-traveled spots in five major cities. The results? Not one person called 911 or sought a policeman to check it out. In fact, in Chicago, someone tried to steal the briefcase!

In comparison, Aviv says that citizens of Israel are so well 'trained' that an unattended bag or package would be reported in seconds by citizen(s) who know to publicly shout, 'Unattended Bag!' The area would be quickly & calmly cleared by the citizens themselves.

Unfortunately, America hasn't been yet 'hurt enough' by terrorism for their government to fully understand the need to educate its citizens or for the government to understand that it's their citizens who are, inevitably, the best first-line of defense against terrorism.

Aviv also was concerned about the high number of children here in America who were in preschool and kindergarten after 9/11, who were 'lost' without parents being able to pick them up, and about our schools that had no plan in place to best care for the students until parents could get there. (In New York City, this was days, in some cases!)

He stresses the importance of having a plan, that's agreed upon within your family, of how to respond in the event of a terrorist emergency. He urges parents to contact their children's schools and demand that the schools too, develop plans of actions, just as they do in Israel.

Does your family know what to do if you can't contact one another by phone? Where would you gather in an emergency? He says we should all have a plan that is easy enough for even our youngest children to remember and follow.

Aviv says that the U. S. government has in force a plan, that in the event of another terrorist
attack, EVERYONE's ability to use cell phones, blackberries, etc., will immediately be cut-off, as this is the preferred communication source used by terrorists and is often the way that their bombs are detonated.

How will you communicate with your loved ones in the event you cannot speak to each other? You need to have a plan.

If you understand, and believe what you have just read, then you must feel compelled to send this to every concerned parent, guardian, grandparents, uncles, aunts, whomever. Don't stop there. In addition to sharing this via e-mail, contact and discuss this information with whomever it makes sense to. Make contingency plans with those you care about. Better that you have plans in place, and never have to use them, then to have no plans in place, and find you needed them.

If you choose not to share this, or not to have a plan in place, and nothing ever occurs -- good for you! However, in the event something does happen, and even moreso, if it directly affects your loved ones, then this e-mail will haunt you forever.

Telling yourself after the fact, "I should have sent this to so and so, but deleted it as so much trash from old Bill Jones, plus, I just didn't believe it", will not change anything. You were alerted, had the chance to do something, and instead of erring on the side of caution, you chose to disregard, if nothing else, a sensible, valuable warning.

Government’s Austerity Drive

2009-12-24T10:54:00.001+05:30

The UPA government announced an austerity drive in September this year, with all overseas travel on hold, five star bookings a strict no-no and local travel only by economy class.

One should realize that the politician is in a class of his own – no morals, no ethics just pure thick skin – hence it wasn’t long before it was noticed that travel used to happen economy class with a compulsory upgrade to business class, five star bookings continuing but in proxy names and so on.

There is always a slip between the cup and the lip - for our home grown politicians hypocrisy is a way of life – how many people do you know who can lie with a straight face and also think that they do so for the greater public good! Very few I am sure, unless of course you are fortunate enough to have politicians amongst your social circle!

Not content to make a mockery of the so called austerity drive, the UPA government has surpassed itself by passing the air travel bill for Ministers. This bill was probably one of the fastest bills ever passed in India’s parliamentary history by both Houses giving their accent without any debate. The bill allows Ministers to take along any number of their relatives and companions to avail free air travel at the same rates at which traveling allowances were payable to them and their family. This bill has apparently been passed so that the Ministers can be brought on par with MP’s who are allowed to travel with their spouse or legitimate children (the implication in the statement is significant!) or step-children, as also the Minister’s companions or relatives to travel on their own or with the Minister. This is a carte blanche given by the Ministers to themselves for unlimited air travel which in theory could mean an entire flight being booked by a Minister for free for travel with his/her coterie. I really won’t be surprised if this actually happens! These are the guys who want CEO’s to cut their salaries or for a cap to brought on their salaries – guys who actually contribute to the growth of the nation and also pay taxes which in turn go into paying for the freebies being enjoyed by our super bunch of 544 citizens representatives!

With such freebies being enjoyed by our elected representatives are you really surprised that the common citizen ends up bearing the cross with higher taxes – the latest being the tax on perquisites. If you ask me the tax on perquisites is akin to the freebies on air travel – don’t you think these bozos too should be taxed? As it is, their wealth increases on an average more than a 100 fold every five years with no one asking questions as to how they have become so prosperous in such a short time. Just imagine an ordinary citizen amassing wealth in this fashion – you will have the revenue authorities coming down on him/her like a ton of bricks to extract their pound of flesh and a token amount for the government!

Even at the level of local government we see sheer wastage, inefficiency, bogged down infrastructure projects with cost escalation and the common man bearing the burden!! With money going down the drain (usually the drain is lined with politicians and bureaucrats), it is always the common man who faces hardships in the form of lack of water, electricity, roads, decent housing and also the happy job of paying more and more every passing year in the form of higher taxes which they pay for the inefficiency and greed of our elected representatives and lethargic bureaucracy!

Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2010

2009-12-23T15:02:00.002+05:30

The countdown to the SCMM is under way with just 24 days to go. The biggest and most loved sporting event in Mumbai’s sporting calendar is just round the corner with an expected participation of more than 30000 people from all over the world.

I am sure all the amateur participants for the half and full marathon have been training very hard these past four months or so. The idea of participating in this grand event is two fold – to find out one’s own endurance level and to see how much one can help the under-privileged by raising money for their welfare.

There will be a lot of celebrity participants adding glamour to the event along with pageants and fun-loving peopke in the Dream Run category adding color and joy to the event.

This year the half marathon and the full marathon will start at the same time – 6.45 am on January 17, 2010. The full marathon will commence from CST and terminate at CST and will go over the newly constructed sea link from Worli to Bandra and back. The half marathon will start from Bandra and terminate at CST and go over the sea link. As far as I am concerned what really excites me is the chance to finish my half marathon amongst the front runners of the full marathon. It has actually set my blood racing with the thought of completing the run with some of the top athletes of the world. I have been training pretty hard and have targeted a time of 2 hours 15 to 20 minutes for completing my run. If that happens then I should definitely be part of the lead pack of the full marathon.

Apart from the sporting angle to the marathon, the “giving” angle is far more important as this tests the heart of the participants when it comes to helping the less fortunate living amongst us. I am confident that my colleagues have been doing their bit in raising money for the charity of their choice. It is important to learn the art of giving very early in life, as the more you give the more you get – whether in the form of more income or more blessings. Ultimately all good acts end up benefiting the giver in more ways than one. I pray that all amongst us are generous enough to do their bit for making the Charity Event as big a success as the actual sporting event.

Illegal construction and its consequences

2009-12-23T10:31:00.001+05:30

It is a well known fact – though spoken in hushed tones – that illegal construction in Mumbai goes on with the complete blessings of the political class and the underworld financiers. The need to post this blog has arisen with the Honorable Bombay High Court ordering the demolition of 17 illegal floors of a twenty four storey structure built at Kandivali. This building had the BMC approval for only seven floors but went on to construct seventeen additional floors. This raises a lot of questions which need to be answered and which I feel the Honorable High Court should also take into account for passing strictures against those responsible for whatever has transpired.

I am sure that the BMC, the ward officer, the executive engineer at the ward were fully aware that illegal construction activity was going on – why was it not stopped at the stage when the 8th floor was being constructed? Why did the concerned officials wait till seventeen more floors were built – I am sure they were not built in a day! The BMC staff keep visiting construction and building repair sites to check on water consumption so that water charges can be levied – if that is the case then why allow construction at all? The BMC will levy its taxes while illegal construction goes on and also collect graft for allowing the construction to happen. The BMC in the past has condoned illegal construction as a norm rather than as an exception – so in this instance why would buyers think that the construction would not get regularized? What has happened to the Hiranandani’s case at Powai – talks of levying a Rs. 2000 crore penalty for violation of land development agreement for 92.2 hectares in February 2009 was reduced to Rs. 218 crore – and that too has not been paid and collected!

All this begs the question – why should the buyers only be punished? – they have probably lost their lives savings! Don’t you think that the amount paid by the buyers to the builder should be recovered from the BMC officials if not the BMC for allowing the rampant illegal construction to continue under their benign blind eye for at least two years! The Municipal commissioner probably woke up because he may not have been offered adequate compensation for regularizing the illegal construction.

I am not saying that illegal construction should be regularized – but just look at the state of the city – everything gets regularized – with slums being regularized with the cut off date being pushed further down with each passing election – so that illegal vote banks can be nurtured. The BMC has officially admitted that there are 26 lakh bogus ration cards and they are still counting. That means 26 lakh bogus citizens demanding free houses in lieu of slums. Who pays? The honest tax payer of course – so does it pay to be honest in this country? Ask any right thinking citizen and you will probably hear a vociferous “No” for an answer. But like everything else in this country – the attitude remains “chalta hai” and life goes on as usual.

Traffic Incident

2009-12-22T17:35:00.002+05:30

This post will probably highlight the state of our roads, the apathy of the BMC, the quality of drivers to whom driving licenses are given, all of which leads to traffic congestion and in many cases road rage.

This morning the traffic was particularly bad on the way to office, and the car had not moved from 9.05am to 9.20am on the road approaching the traffic signal on the Andheri Kurla Road near Hotel Kohinoor International, so I decided to walk the half a kilometer or so to office. As I weaved my way through the cars and motorbikes zigzagging between cars and the pedestrians, I realized the reason for the massive traffic jam. There was a huge depression on the Andheri-Kurla road at the traffic junction with water seeping out of some damaged underground pipeline. The Versova-Ghatkopar metro is being constructed on this stretch which may have contributed to the damage.

The BMC “constructs” roads to perpetuate their right to make money through contractors for road repairs, hence shoddy work gets rewarded – and we think we are going to be a Shanghai or the new International Finance Center to replace Dubai! The traffic cops at the junction are over burdened in trying to control traffic which has burgeoned beyond imagination with more than 300 new vehicles being registered every day in the city – wish the roads could keep pace!

As I passed the stretch on to the lane leading to MIDC, I was careful enough to use the narrow footpath so that traffic flow would not be affected by my jay walking! I had crossed Elegant Business Park and was proceeding at a brisk space towards my office when ahead of me I saw that the footpath was occupied by a huge garbage bin – I had no choice but to walk on the road to circumvent the bin – the sad part was the garbage had not been cleared by the BMC conservancy staff and it had overflowed from the bin on to the road. As I moved from the footpath onto the road, a Maruti Swift decided that I must be a part of the road and thought it fit to run into me – he actually hit me from behind on my right leg, bringing me down on my knees and helping me slightly twist my left ankle in the bargain! (this with the SCMM marathon round the corner!) I was fuming by then, because another 5 seconds and I would have circumvented the garbage bin and would have been on the footpath, I asked the joker to open the passenger side door. He was arguing with me that I was on the road, I asked him did I have a choice – please look at the garbage and the bin occupying the footpath. The guy says he did not see the garbage bin – a 6 foot high 5 feet wide garbage bin was somehow invisible to the guy, like maybe I too was invisible and maybe that’s why he managed to bump into me! I looked down and saw my shoe was soiled with garbage and I got still more bugged, I saw a box of tissues in his car, and demanded some from him to clean my soiled shoes – by that time he had a pretty scared look on his face as I was giving him a lot of “English” and he had decided that silence was the better option to verbosity! This guy was probably in his late thirties – early forties, executive types with a tie and all – and he did not have the judgment to steer his car past me nor the patience to wait for five seconds till I passed the garbage bin! This raises the question - on what basis are driving licenses issued by the RTO! By the way my car reached the office at 10am - a good half an hour after me - a distance of only 500 metres!

With the cities infrastructure at a virtual breakdown stage is it any surprise that traffic incidents and far more serious traffic accidents take place? Road rage is common – as every minute counts while one has to reach the office on time for fear of late marks, loss of pay etc. Does the Government ever think of cutting the salary of ward officers and engineers who perpetuate a system where apathy, indifference and a skin thickened by graft is the norm? Some day – hopefully in my lifetime – I may get to see the city of my birth as a world class city worth living in. Hopefully…..

CLIMATE CHANGE IS NATURAL: 100 REASONS WHY

2009-12-22T16:12:00.002+05:30

Friends -this is one article which I wish to share. We have the developed countries trying to arm twist the rest of the world for economic benefits without any scientific backing. Makes interesting reading...enjoy...

Climate change campaigners: 100 reasons why climate change is natural and not man-made - UK Express, Tuesday December 15,2009

HERE are the 100 reasons, released in a dossier issued by the European Foundation, why climate change is natural and not man-made:

1) There is “no real scientific proof” that the current warming is caused by the rise of greenhouse gases from man’s activity.

2) Man-made carbon dioxide emissions throughout human history constitute less than 0.00022 percent of the total naturally emitted from the mantle of the earth during geological history.

3) Warmer periods of the Earth’s history came around 800 years before rises in CO2 levels.

4) After World War II, there was a huge surge in recorded CO2 emissions but global temperatures fell for four decades after 1940.

5) Throughout the Earth’s history, temperatures have often been warmer than now and CO2 levels have often been higher – more than ten times as high.

6) Significant changes in climate have continually occurred throughout geologic time.

7) The 0.7C increase in the average global temperature over the last hundred years is entirely consistent with well-established, long-term, natural climate trends.

8) The IPCC theory is driven by just 60 scientists and favourable reviewers not the 4,000 usually cited.

9) Leaked e-mails from British climate scientists – in a scandal known as “Climate-gate” - suggest that that has been manipulated to exaggerate global warming

10) A large body of scientific research suggests that the sun is responsible for the greater share of climate change during the past hundred years.

11) Politicians and activiists claim rising sea levels are a direct cause of global warming but sea levels rates have been increasing steadily since the last ice age 10,000 ago

12) Philip Stott, Emeritus Professor of Biogeography at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London says climate change is too complicated to be caused by just one factor, whether CO2 or clouds

13) Peter Lilley MP said last month that “fewer people in Britain than in any other country believe in the importance of global warming. That is despite the fact that our Government and our political class—predominantly—are more committed to it than their counterparts in any other country in the world”.

14) In pursuit of the global warming rhetoric, wind farms will do very little to nothing to reduce CO2 emissions

15) Professor Plimer, Professor of Geology and Earth Sciences at the University of Adelaide, stated that the idea of taking a single trace gas in the atmosphere, accusing it and finding it guilty of total responsibility for climate change, is an “absurdity”

16) A Harvard University astrophysicist and geophysicist, Willie Soon, said he is “embarrassed and puzzled” by the shallow science in papers that support the proposition that the earth faces a climate crisis caused by global warming.

17) The science of what determines the earth’s temperature is in fact far from settled or understood.

18) Despite activist concerns over CO2 levels, CO2 is a minor greenhouse gas, unlike water vapour which is tied to climate concerns, and which we can’t even pretend to control

19) A petition by scientists trying to tell the world that the political and media portrayal of global warming is false was put forward in the Heidelberg Appeal in 1992. Today, more than 4,000 signatories, including 72 Nobel Prize winners, from 106 countries have signed it.

20) It is claimed the average global temperature increased at a dangerously fast rate in the 20th century but the recent rate of average global temperature rise has been between 1 and 2 degrees C per century - within natural rates

21) Professor Zbigniew Jaworowski, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection in Warsaw, Poland says the earth’s temperature has more to do with cloud cover and water vapor than CO2 concentration in the atmosphere.

22) There is strong evidence from solar studies which suggests that the Earth’s current temperature stasis will be followed by climatic cooling over the next few decades

23) It is myth that receding glaciers are proof of global warming as glaciers have been receding and growing cyclically for many centuries

24) It is a falsehood that the earth’s poles are warming because that is natural variation and while the western Arctic may be getting somewhat warmer we also see that the Eastern Arctic and Greenland are getting colder

25) The IPCC claims climate driven “impacts on biodiversity are significant and of key relevance” but those claims are simply not supported by scientific research

26) The IPCC threat of climate change to the world’s species does not make sense as wild species are at least one million years old, which means they have all been through hundreds of climate cycles

27) Research goes strongly against claims that CO2-induced global warming would cause catastrophic disintegration of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets.

28) Despite activist concerns over CO2 levels, rising CO2 levels are our best hope of raising crop yields to feed an ever-growing population

29) The biggest climate change ever experienced on earth took place around 700 million years ago

30) The slight increase in temperature which has been observed since 1900 is entirely consistent with well-established, long-term natural climate cycles

31) Despite activist concerns over CO2 levels, rising CO2 levels of some so-called “greenhouse gases” may be contributing to higher oxygen levels and global cooling, not warming

32) Accurate satellite, balloon and mountain top observations made over the last three decades have not shown any significant change in the long term rate of increase in global temperatures

33) Today’s CO2 concentration of around 385 ppm is very low compared to most of the earth’s history – we actually live in a carbon-deficient atmosphere

34) It is a myth that CO2 is the most common greenhouse gas because greenhouse gases form about 3% of the atmosphere by volume, and CO2 constitutes about 0.037% of the atmosphere

35) It is a myth that computer models verify that CO2 increases will cause significant global warming because computer models can be made to “verify” anything

36) There is no scientific or statistical evidence whatsoever that global warming will cause more storms and other weather extremes

37) One statement deleted from a UN report in 1996 stated that “none of the studies cited above has shown clear evidence that we can attribute the observed climate changes to increases in greenhouse gases”

38) The world “warmed” by 0.07 +/- 0.07 degrees C from 1999 to 2008, not the 0.20 degrees C expected by the IPCC

39) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says “it is likely that future tropical cyclones (typhoons and hurricanes) will become more intense” but there has been no increase in the intensity or frequency of tropical cyclones globally

40) Rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere can be shown not only to have a negligible effect on the Earth’s many ecosystems, but in some cases to be a positive help to many organisms

41) Researchers who compare and contrast climate change impact on civilizations found warm periods are beneficial to mankind and cold periods harmful

42) The Met Office asserts we are in the hottest decade since records began but this is precisely what the world should expect if the climate is cyclical

43) Rising CO2 levels increase plant growth and make plants more resistant to drought and pests

44) The historical increase in the air’s CO2 content has improved human nutrition by raising crop yields during the past 150 years

45) The increase of the air’s CO2 content has probably helped lengthen human lifespans since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution

46) The IPCC alleges that “climate change currently contributes to the global burden of disease and premature deaths” but the evidence shows that higher temperatures and rising CO2 levels has helped global populations

47) In May of 2004, the Russian Academy of Sciences published a report concluding that the Kyoto Protocol has no scientific grounding at all.

48) The “Climate-gate” scandal pointed to a expensive public campaign of disinformation and the denigration of scientists who opposed the belief that CO2 emissions were causing climate change

49) The head of Britain’s climate change watchdog has predicted households will need to spend up to £15,000 on a full energy efficiency makeover if the Government is to meet its ambitious targets for cutting carbon emissions.

50) Wind power is unlikely to be the answer to our energy needs. The wind power industry argues that there are “no direct subsidies” but it involves a total subsidy of as much as £60 per MWh which falls directly on electricity consumers. This burden will grow in line with attempts to achieve Wind power targets, according to a recent OFGEM report.

51) Wind farms are not an efficient way to produce energy. The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) accepts a figure of 75 per cent back-up power is required.

52) Global temperatures are below the low end of IPCC predictions not at “at the top end of IPCC estimates”

53) Climate alarmists have raised the concern over acidification of the oceans but Tom Segalstad from Oslo University in Norway , and others, have noted that the composition of ocean water – including CO2, calcium, and water – can act as a buffering agent in the acidification of the oceans.

54) The UN’s IPCC computer models of human-caused global warming predict the emergence of a “hotspot” in the upper troposphere over the tropics. Former researcher in the Australian Department of Climate Change, David Evans, said there is no evidence of such a hotspot

55) The argument that climate change is a of result of global warming caused by human activity is the argument of flat Earthers.

56) The manner in which US President Barack Obama sidestepped Congress to order emission cuts shows how undemocratic and irrational the entire international decision-making process has become with regards to emission-target setting.

57) William Kininmonth, a former head of the National Climate Centre and a consultant to the World Meteorological Organisation, wrote “the likely extent of global temperature rise from a doubling of CO2 is less than 1C. Such warming is well within the envelope of variation experienced during the past 10,000 years and insignificant in the context of glacial cycles during the past million years, when Earth has been predominantly very cold and covered by extensive ice sheets.”

58) Canada has shown the world targets derived from the existing Kyoto commitments were always unrealistic and did not work for the country.

59) In the lead up to the Copenhagen summit, David Davis MP said of previous climate summits, at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and Kyoto in 1997 that many had promised greater cuts, but “neither happened”, but we are continuing along the same lines.

60) The UK ’s environmental policy has a long-term price tag of about £55 billion, before taking into account the impact on its economic growth.

61) The UN’s panel on climate change warned that Himalayan glaciers could melt to a fifth of current levels by 2035. J. Graham Cogley a professor at Ontario Trent University, claims this inaccurate stating the UN authors got the date from an earlier report wrong by more than 300 years.

62) Under existing Kyoto obligations the EU has attempted to claim success, while actually increasing emissions by 13 per cent, according to Lord Lawson. In addition the EU has pursued this scheme by purchasing “offsets” from countries such as China paying them billions of dollars to destroy atmospheric pollutants, such as CFC-23, which were manufactured purely in order to be destroyed.

63) It is claimed that the average global temperature was relatively unchanging in pre-industrial times but sky-rocketed since 1900, and will increase by several degrees more over the next 100 years according to Penn State University researcher Michael Mann. There is no convincing empirical evidence that past climate was unchanging, nor that 20th century changes in average global temperature were unusual or unnatural.

64) Michael Mann of Penn State University has actually shown that the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age did in fact exist, which contrasts with his earlier work which produced the “hockey stick graph” which showed a constant temperature over the past thousand years or so followed by a recent dramatic upturn.

65) The globe’s current approach to climate change in which major industrialised countries agree to nonsensical targets for their CO2 emissions by a given date, as it has been under the Kyoto system, is very expensive.

66) The “Climate-gate” scandal revealed that a scientific team had emailed one another about using a “trick” for the sake of concealing a “decline” in temperatures when looking at the history of the Earth’s temperature.

67) Global temperatures have not risen in any statistically-significant sense for 15 years and have actually been falling for nine years. The “Climate-gate” scandal revealed a scientific team had expressed dismay at the fact global warming was contrary to their predictions and admitted their inability to explain it was “a travesty”.

68) The IPCC predicts that a warmer planet will lead to more extreme weather, including drought, flooding, storms, snow, and wildfires. But over the last century, during which the IPCC claims the world experienced more rapid warming than any time in the past two millennia, the world did not experience significantly greater trends in any of these extreme weather events.

69) In explaining the average temperature standstill we are currently experiencing, the Met Office Hadley Centre ran a series of computer climate predictions and found in many of the computer runs there were decade-long standstills but none for 15 years – so it expects global warming to resume swiftly.

70) Richard Lindzen, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote: “The notion of a static, unchanging climate is foreign to the history of the Earth or any other planet with a fluid envelope. Such hysteria (over global warming) simply represents the scientific illiteracy of much of the public, the susceptibility of the public to the substitution of repetition for truth.”

71) Despite the 1997 Kyoto Protocol’s status as the flagship of the fight against climate change it has been a failure.

72) The first phase of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which ran from 2005 to 2007 was a failure. Huge over-allocation of permits to pollute led to a collapse in the price of carbon from €33 to just €0.20 per tonne meaning the system did not reduce emissions at all.

73) The EU trading scheme, to manage carbon emissions has completely failed and actually allows European businesses to duck out of making their emissions reductions at home by offsetting, which means paying for cuts to be made overseas instead.

74) To date “cap and trade” carbon markets have done almost nothing to reduce emissions.

75) In the United States , the cap-and-trade is an approach designed to control carbon emissions and will impose huge costs upon American citizens via a carbon tax on all goods and services produced in the United States. The average family of four can expect to pay an additional $1700, or £1,043, more each year. It is predicted that the United States will lose more than 2 million jobs as the result of cap-and-trade schemes.

76) Dr Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, has indicated that out of the 21 climate models tracked by the IPCC the differences in warming exhibited by those models is mostly the result of different strengths of positive cloud feedback – and that increasing CO2 is insufficient to explain global-average warming in the last 50 to 100 years.

77) Why should politicians devote our scarce resources in a globally competitive world to a false and ill-defined problem, while ignoring the real problems the entire planet faces, such as: poverty, hunger, disease or terrorism.

78) A proper analysis of ice core records from the past 650,000 years demonstrates that temperature increases have come before, and not resulted from, increases in CO2 by hundreds of years.

79) Since the cause of global warming is mostly natural, then there is in actual fact very little we can do about it. (We are still not able to control the sun).

80) A substantial number of the panel of 2,500 climate scientists on the United Nation’s International Panel on Climate Change, which created a statement on scientific unanimity on climate change and man-made global warming, were found to have serious concerns.

81) The UK’s Met Office has been forced this year to re-examine 160 years of temperature data after admitting that public confidence in the science on man-made global warming has been shattered by revelations about the data.

82) Politicians and activists push for renewable energy sources such as wind turbines under the rhetoric of climate change, but it is essentially about money – under the system of Renewable Obligations. Much of the money is paid for by consumers in electricity bills. It amounts to £1 billion a year.

83) The “Climate-gate” scandal revealed that a scientific team had tampered with their own data so as to conceal inconsistencies and errors.

84) The “Climate-gate” scandal revealed that a scientific team had campaigned for the removal of a learned journal’s editor, solely because he did not share their willingness to debase science for political purposes.

85) Ice-core data clearly show that temperatures change centuries before concentrations of atmospheric CO2 change. Thus, there appears to be little evidence for insisting that changes in concentrations of CO2 are the cause of past temperature and climate change.

86) There are no experimentally verified processes explaining how CO2 concentrations can fall in a few centuries without falling temperatures – in fact it is changing temperatures which cause changes in CO2 concentrations, which is consistent with experiments that show CO2 is the atmospheric gas most readily absorbed by water.

87) The Government’s Renewable Energy Strategy contains a massive increase in electricity generation by wind power costing around £4 billion a year over the next twenty years. The benefits will be only £4 to £5 billion overall (not per annum). So costs will outnumber benefits by a range of between eleven and seventeen times.

88) Whilst CO2 levels have indeed changed for various reasons, human and otherwise, just as they have throughout history, the CO2 content of the atmosphere has increased since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and the growth rate has now been constant for the past 25 years.

89) It is a myth that CO2 is a pollutant, because nitrogen forms 80% of our atmosphere and human beings could not live in 100% nitrogen either: CO2 is no more a pollutant than nitrogen is and CO2 is essential to life.

90) Politicians and climate activists make claims to rising sea levels but certain members in the IPCC chose an area to measure in Hong Kong that is subsiding. They used the record reading of 2.3 mm per year rise of sea level.

91) The accepted global average temperature statistics used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that no ground-based warming has occurred since 1998.

92) If one factors in non-greenhouse influences such as El Nino events and large volcanic eruptions, lower atmosphere satellite-based temperature measurements show little, if any, global warming since 1979, a period over which atmospheric CO2 has increased by 55 ppm (17 per cent).

93) US President Barack Obama pledged to cut emissions by 2050 to equal those of 1910 when there were 92 million Americans. In 2050, there will be 420 million Americans, so Obama’s promise means that emissions per head will be approximately what they were in 1875. It simply will not happen.

94) The European Union has already agreed to cut emissions by 20 percent to 2020, compared with 1990 levels, and is willing to increase the target to 30 percent. However, these are unachievable and the EU has already massively failed with its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), as EU emissions actually rose by 0.8 percent from 2005 to 2006 and are known to be well above the Kyoto goal.

95) Australia has stated it wants to slash greenhouse emissions by up to 25 percent below 2000 levels by 2020, but the pledges were so unpopular that the country’s Senate has voted against the carbon trading Bill, and the Opposition’s Party leader has now been ousted by a climate change sceptic.

96) Canada plans to reduce emissions by 20 percent compared with 2006 levels by 2020, representing approximately a 3 percent cut from 1990 levels but it simultaneously defends its Alberta tar sands emissions and its record as one of the world’s highest per-capita emissions setters.

97) India plans to reduce the ratio of emissions to production by 20-25 percent compared with 2005 levels by 2020, but all Government officials insist that since India has to grow for its development and poverty alleviation, it has to emit, because the economy is driven by carbon.

98) The Leipzig Declaration in 1996, was signed by 110 scientists who said: “We – along with many of our fellow citizens – are apprehensive about the climate treaty conference scheduled for Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997” and “based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot subscribe to the politically inspired world view that envisages climate catastrophes and calls for hasty actions.”

99) A US Oregon Petition Project stated “We urge the United States government to reject the global warming agreement that was written in Kyoto, Japan in December, 1997, and any other similar proposals. The proposed limits on greenhouse gases would harm the environment, hinder the advance of science and technology, and damage the health and welfare of mankind. There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of CO2, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate.”

100) A report by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change concluded “We find no support for the IPCC’s claim that climate observations during the twentieth century are either unprecedented or provide evidence of an anthropogenic effect on climate.”

My tryst with Samarpan Meditation

2009-11-12T16:56:00.001+05:30

From my college days I had a curiosity and a bent of mind towards the spiritual. I did not have even a foggy idea of the meaning of spirituality, but I used to go and attend Swami Chinmayanand’s discourses on the Bhagwad Geeta, and because of my uncle being a Secretray to the Tribal Ministry, we got to travel with him and meet a lot of Saints. I had the fortune of being blessed by Gagangiri Maharaj at his Khopoli Ashram, had met whom we knew only as Navsari ke Baba who was a devotee of the Sun God and Swami Pranavanand at Chaalisgaon in Maharashtra. I guess I was blessed to meet these holy souls. I have always had a very powerful inner voice which I ignored in my youth and which always ended in my being a loser for not listening to the inner voice. Whatever trials and tribulations I have faced in life, I think were just preparation for me to be introduced to Samarpan Meditation as taught by Parampujya Swamiji.

A friend of mine and an ex-colleague, Mr. Ramnath Kamath came to my office at the instance of another friend to talk on meditation sometime in December 2008. I actually met Ramnath after almost twenty years. We talked and discussed meditation and other matters of the soul for an hour or so. He handed over CD’s of the Surat Shibir and a couple of other CD’s along with the introductory booklet on Samarpan Meditation. I took those CD’s and went home. The CD’s were just lying in the house for a month or so – sometime in January this year I reached home early and as only my mother was at home, I decided to listen to the CD on the home theatre system. The moment I started playing the CD, I was hooked, my eyes did not open for two hours, the duration of part 1 of the CD. The next day I came home early just to listen to the next part – on Muladhar chakra and again my eyes did not open for the entire duration of two hours. This time my family members, I sensed, were becoming uncomfortable, and I did not have the portable MP3 player, hence I stopped listening to the CD so as not disturb the balance at home. On February 1 my friend called me at around 4pm and asked me if I would like to attend the eight day camp on meditation which was being held at CIFE new campus at Versova. I work in Andheri East and at such short notice there was no way I could leave office and go, so I told him that I would come from the next day. So from February 2 I continuously attended the shibir along with my friend and my driver, Raju, – coincidentally it was a video shibir of Surat, the one I had already started listening to. The camp was from 6.30 to 8.30 which was a comfortable timing to leave office and reach CIFE.

On the fifth day, that is the day when Swamiji introduces the sadhaks to meditation and asks them to sit in the lotus position in the dhyan mudra with eyes shut and says that now you will experience something, cold waves on the hand, vibration, heat or nothing. My hands for five seconds or so went ice cold – like a block of ice was floating above them – after that I was hooked. The next day when I went to office I told my boss, that I had at last found my Gurudev. The next day during the course of the discourse, Swamiji mentioned that all you have to do is pray to Him for anything which is self less, not material and to alleviate the pain of someone else. Incidentally one of my office colleagues uncle was missing for the last four days or so and the uncle had a son who was to appear for his SSC examinations this year. The girl used to be very worried as the son had gone into depression and had stopped studying. That morning during my prayers, I prayed from the bottom of my heart to Parampujya Swamiji for this family to get news of the missing gentleman. I reached office at nine in the morning and was going through my e-mails, when at around 9.30 this girl comes online and informs me on Instant Messenger that they had just located her uncle somewhere in Nasik. I told myself that was really fast for a prayer to be answered – there are those who told me that this was just a coincidence but I choose to believe that it was through the power of prayer that this happened. If one does not have belief then I personally think it would be very difficult to progress spiritually. When at the end of the eight day camp I was asked to speak about my experience this is what I had cited.

After the eight day camp, we were told that we needed to do a follow up of 45 days of meditation to be eligible to be admitted to the Samarpan family. The timings were 5.30pm to 6pm at CIFE, my first reaction was that this won’t be possible and I asked our Acharya, rather naively, whether the timing could be changed, and he said no. I decided to leave early for office everyday so that I completed my due time in office. I decided to leave office everyday at 4.45 pm so as to reach by 5.30 pm and informed my boss accordingly. In normal days it takes about an hour to travel from Andheri East to Versova with all the construction activity of the Mumbai metro in progress – but you will not believe for those 45 days it took us (Raju and me) only 20 minutes to reach CIFE for meditation – it looked like the roads were kept free and signals open for us to reach well in time! I just missed two days – the first Sunday, when dhyan took place at 6.30 am and on another day I could not go because government officials were at the office and did not allow me to leave.

In these 45 days my entire demeanor changed, I became more calm, irritability stopped, temper disappeared, in fact my entire approach to life underwent a transformation. Raju also had a wonderful experience – he had a daughter who had not commenced walking even after eighteen months. Doctors had tried everything, and said she was normal, but they did not have a clue as to why she had not started walking. During the 45 day period she started walking – both of us are of the opinion that it is with Parampujya Swamiji’s blessings that she started walking.

Egotism and Humbleness

2009-11-05T13:13:00.001+05:30

This is one story which needs to be read and the message therein absorbed. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did – it has been modified slightly to read better.

Once a King called upon all of his wise men and asked them, "Is there a mantra or suggestion which works in every situation, in every circumstance, in every place and in every time. Something which can help me when none of you is available to advise me. Tell me is there any such mantra?" All the wise men got puzzled by the King’s question. One answer for all the questions? Something that works everywhere, in every situation?
In every joy, every sorrow, every defeat and every victory? These were some of the questions which cropped up into the minds of the King’s advisors. They thought and thought.

After a lengthy discussion, an old man suggested something which appealed to all of them. They went to the King and gave him something written on paper. But the condition was that King was not to see it out of curiosity. Only in extreme danger, when the King finds himself alone and there seems to be no way out, only then he’ll have to see it. The King agreed and put the papers under his Diamond ring.

After a few days, the neighbors attacked the Kingdom. It was a collective surprise attack by the King’s enemies. The King and his army fought bravely but lost the battle. King had to flee on his horse. The enemies were following him. His horse took him far away into the Jungle. He could hear the enemy troops and sound of galloping horses following him and the noise was coming closer and closer. Suddenly the King found himself standing at the end of the road - that road was not going anywhere. Underneath, there was a rocky valley – a thousand feet deep. If he jumped into it, he would be finished and he could not return because it was a small road. The sound of the enemy’s horses was approaching fast. The King became restless. There seemed to be no way.

Then suddenly he saw the Diamond in his ring shining in the sun, and he remembered the message hidden in the ring. He opened the diamond and read the message. The message was very small but very great. The message was – "This too will pass."

The King read it. He then read it again. Suddenly something struck him- Yes! It too will pass. Only a few days ago, I was enjoying my kingdom. I was the mightiest of all the Kings. Yet today, the Kingdom and all its pleasures have gone. I am here trying to escape from my enemies. However when those days of luxuries have gone, this day of danger too will pass. Calm came on his face. He kept standing there. The place where he was standing was full of natural beauty. He had never known that such a beautiful place was also a part of his Kingdom. The revelation of the message had a great effect on him. He relaxed and forgot about the enemy soldiers following him.

After a few minutes he realized that the noise of the horses and the enemy was receding. They moved into some other part of the mountains and were not on that path. The King was very brave. He reorganized his army and fought again. He defeated the enemy and regained his lost empire. When he returned to his empire after victory, he was received with much fanfare at the door. The whole capital was rejoicing in the victory. Everyone was in a festive mood. Flowers were being thrown on the King from every house, from every corner. People were dancing and singing. For a moment King said to himself," I am one of the bravest and greatest King’s. It is not easy to defeat me..:

With all the reception and celebration he saw an ego emerging in him. Suddenly the Diamond of his ring flashed in the sunlight and reminded him of the message. He opened it and read it again: "This too will pass" He became silent. His face went through a total change -from the egoist he moved to a state of utter humbleness.

If this too is going to pass, it is not yours. The defeat was not yours, the victory is not yours. You are just a watcher. Everything passes by. We are witness of all this. We are only the perceiver. Life comes and goes. Happiness comes and goes. Sorrow comes and goes.

Now as you have read this story, just sit silently and evaluate your own life. Think of the moments of joy and victory in your life. Think of the moment of sorrow and defeat. Are they permanent? They all come and pass away. Life just passes away. There were friends in the past. They have gone. There are friends today. They too will go. There will be new friends tomorrow. They too will go. There were enemies in the past. They have gone. There may be enemies in the present. They too will go. There will be new enemies tomorrow and they too will go.

There is nothing permanent in this world. Every thing changes except the law of change. Think over it from your own perspective. You have seen all the changes. You have survived all setbacks, all defeats and all sorrows. All have passed away. If there are problems in the present, they too will pass away, because nothing remains forever. Joy and sorrow are the two faces of the same coin. They both will pass away.

Who are you in reality? Know your real face. Your face is not your true face. It will change with the passage of time. However, there is something in you, which will not change. It will remain unchanged. What is that unchangeable? It is nothing but your true self. You are just a witness of change.

Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, “Make Me Feel Important/good.” Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life……!