Girish's Blog

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 a...

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. ...

It has been a long time since my last post – the reason for not writing was there was nothing positive to write home about! Whatever I have written in the past has been a critique on current events of the day. It was just a criticism of the system and what needs to be done to try and set things right. The trouble with life today is that the news on offer in the visual as well as the print media is news that sells, not necessarily news that is good, in fact, it can be safely said that good news does not sell. Today news is run as a business model – wherein TRP’s and eyeballs dictate the ad revenue for the media house. Who the hell would be interested in reading good news – people today are interested in news which titillates, excites, disgusts and which leads to gossip – good news does not set the blood racing you see. So what one reads and absorbs is all kinds of negative news which in turn adversely affects the thought processes of the person reading/watching the news. The programs on...

I distinctly remember the case of two Mira Road residents accusing their father of rape – on reading the article then I had a feeling of revulsion as to how a father could do what he was accused of doing. This case I had discussed with friends and the general feeling was one of abhorrence at the act. The mother was also made a party to the case and was a co-accused for abetting the crime. At that time the two girls were just 15 and 12 years old. The father, Manoj Patel, spent more than a year in jail! The girls were apparently tired of their father putting restrictions on going out in the evening with friends and the final straw came on 31st December 2007, when their father told them they could not go out for a New Year bash. That is when they decided to “teach their father a lesson”. The sad part is the case was converted from molestation to rape at the instigation of a local NGO who convinced the girls to file rape charges against their own father. It has now been proven in court tha...

I have been reading with concern the extended print media coverage on swine flu. I am sure the visual media will be milking this for all it is worth asking inane and heartless questions to victims families such as how do you feel, was the treatment right, etc. Instead of being responsible and presenting a balanced and rational view on H1N1 – we have all kinds of negative publicity doing the rounds. Politicians have now stepped in and are using the SMS service to give their two bits on how to avoid getting the flu! Questions asked by the visual media just help in fanning already insecure minds into rushing for H1N1 testing to already over crowded and inadequately manned testing centers. Our population is such that only large numbers will be generated – more people die on the roads than of swine flu. Out of a populace of nearly 1.25 billion people just a thousand odd have got the flu – and a few have unfortunately died – this does not mean the whole nation goes into a panic and states li...

The expose carried out by the MNS showing how easily a bogus ration card can be obtained nails the lie of proponents who insist that the ration card is a valid document for proving residence and identity. It is a known fact that politicians and builders connive with the rationing officer and the collector’s office for issuing of bogus ration cards. Every election sees a spurt in the issue of fake ration cards for obtaining voter identity cards. Builders connive to get bogus people into the list of people entitled for flats under the SRA scheme by using fake ration cards. Since 2001 the RBI and the central consumer affairs ministry have discouraged the use of ration cards as documents to prove residence or identity due to its easy procurement by paying a price. The Chief Justice of the High Court in Mumbai, Mr. Swatanter Kumar was shown a ration card issued in his name with a Shivaji Park address by the MNS representative! This was genuinely issued by the rationing officer for a price, ...

The flu Pandemic officially named “new H1N1" was first identified in India in April 2009. In simple terms it is called “Swine Flu”. It is a global outbreak of new strain of influenza virus. It covers many areas of India and many people suffered from swine flu. The areas which are mostly affected by swine flu include New Delhi, Pune and Hyderabad. The swine flu showed its virulent effect and a small innocent 14 years old girl died because of swine flu. A Pune girl Rida Shaikh died on Monday August 3, 2009 because of swine flu. She was the first victim who died because of swine flu in India as a result of multiple organ failure. Rida first consulted a local doctor when she reported symptoms of swine flu on July 21, 2009. After two days she recovered and again joined the school on July 23, 2009. But again on July 25, 2009 she felt fever and was admitted to a private hospital – namely Jehangir Hospital - on July 27, 2009. After admitting when her condition worsened she was shifted to...