Diwali: Celebration of the Light

Today's festival of the year,
To celebrate it with our near and dear;
An occasion to spread joy and merry laughter
and exchange sweets ‘n’ gifts to welcome Varuna’s* daughter.

To remove darkness of the mind...
With the lights of 'diya', crackers of such kind...
That inspires us to remove the darkness of ignorance,
With the knowledge and its significance.

Let us find out out what’s right,
Through the soul of eternal light;
To illumine our surroundings and ignite,
the beacon of wisdom and delight.

A festival that is meant for all,
Not considering any divisions at all...
Either you vow to preserve this proud tradition,
or make our posterity’s future better as a mission...

*According to the Hindu tradition, the Goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi, is the daughter of the Sea God, Varuna.

Karva Chauth: An Expression of Unconditional Love...

Karva Chuth is celebrated primarily in Northwestern Indian states on 4th day of the dark-fortnight in Kartik (Oct/Nov). The practice flourished with married women praying for their husbands' prosperity, wellbeing and long life. The women whose husband served in military would pray for their safe return from war-front and the one whose husband worked or owned farm prayed for prosperity and good harvest during this time.

Karva Chauth celebration
Pic Courtesy: Taru Bhargva

This was also an opportunity for married women to get together with their friends and celebrate...a much needed break from their daily routine to indulge in seeking some pampering, some attention, and some love from their family members.

The basis of celebration is love and sacrifice with few rituals that remained almost unchanged over few centuries. It gained popularity in recent years after Bollywood movies promoted and projected it as symbol of love. However, it didn't appeal to few who considered to be self-proclaimed intellectual and liberal having leftist ideology... or ultra feminist and they always looked down on Hindu festivals and customs, and didn't miss any opportunity to criticize it in various forms and intensity. 

"For them, Done for father = patriarchy and Done for husband = misogyny" as nicely described by Narayan Ranganathan. They concept of family is I, me and myself or 'what is for me' in everything they do. Of course, they do not recognize the family as a unit. Women should just be by themselves, for themselves and of themselves.

Although this tribe is much smaller in comparison with rest of the populations, but, they are influential as their views usual get bigger (and undeserved) platforms to present their mediocre views and logic to make the point on most occasions...

Otherwise, majority of population love it and follow it blindly. They also love to show off their customs, their love for their spouse and of course, their beauty... :)

Karva Chauth in Hong Kong 

Pic Courtesy: Taru Bhargva 

Let me take you through few negative barbs created yesterday, otherwise the festival was well receive and celebrated among most women. It in fact went hi-tech as few could use modern tools and techniques such as mobile app for process of puja or mobile for representing / recreating sieve to see moon through. :)

While opposing the festival in bitter manner, Ms Sonia Chopra wrote in her article, "Some of view modern women have expressed will astonish you and let you think of what the knowledge age done to us...

It's a backward, regressive custom, steeped in superstition and showmanship. Who has the better sari? Better thalis? Better food? Better music for the celebration?

It's a meaningless traditional ritual that enslaves women and chains them to a myth of them being docile, meek, sacrificial tokens to pacify the angry God, who will grant longer lives to those husbands whose wives do not eat for a few hours." 

http://www.dailyo.in/…/karva-chauth-fasts…/story/1/7049.html

In contrast to the harsh comments, there was some milder and funny expression from Mrs Funnybones aka Twinkle Khanna who twitted, "That is a possibility-so I checked longevity records-100 countries where men without anyone fasting for them live longer than Indian men:)"

Ms Rita Banerji, self proclaimed feminist mentioned in her article written through an extremely narrow band, "Today millions of Hindu women, and girls, in India and around the world, will proudly perpetuate a festival whose fundamental tenet is misogynistic."

She further wrote in frustration, "Yet what perhaps is more amazing is the great excitement with which women -- even modern, educated, professional women -- continue to embrace this festival! It has become a fashion statement for celebrities, with Bollywood actors sending out Karva Chauth wishes via social media and female politicians announcing their fasts for their husbands!

Twenty-first-century India's media and gizmo crazy market is happily promoting this misogyny. "

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/…/karva-chauth-a-womanly-cele…/

One middle aged lady commented on my friends Facebook wall - 'Two things Karva Chauth most often portrays- One, a woman’s life is incomplete (or even miserable) without a husband so let’s pray we remain “sada suhaagan” because man is the savior and all that. Second, it also reveals a certain smugness amongst married women as they go about adorning themselves with symbols of ‘suhaag’, which doesn’t play well if you are around them and NOT married! I remember my time when I was ‘of age’ and not yet ‘taken’…oh God I used to hate the display of “being married, so being superior” attitude. 

"But now, 18 year of married life, this day is just one more occasion to break the monotony of routine and dress up and party when the moon comes out. A more attentive and pampering husband is welcome any day!!' Although she loved the idea of pampering on the day, but hated the concept of fasting for the husband. So, she was fine being regressive as long as she could hog all the attention."

In reply to her hypocrisy, her friends pointed out categorically, 'You make an interesting point. But don't you think that the same thing you experienced 18 years ago when you were 'of age but not taken' continues today? Don't you think that we are promoting regressive values even as we dress up and party innocently?"

One of my modern professional friends tried to balance her views with her post, "This day will soon be like father's or mother's day to take moments out for festivity. Many people have already left fasting and many like me don't even listen to the traditional "scary" story (of Beera) during the mandatory evening puja. As always, tradition will get a different hue with changing times."

Most of them never wrote about domestic violence in the west, husband's abandoning their families/duties for green pasture (younger women) and leaving their wives behind with the kids to fend themselves alone and many other serious issues in the marriage....leave apart raising their voice against the atrocities in Islam where women are living in under extreme conditions...The love is universal and family concept is universal that you will see through literature across the globe. Otherwise Nicolas Sparks style romance wouldn't have been popular in the West. 

What they have not realized is, women in west had to fight for their rights for centuries, in our country we had not faced such things. After independence all women had equal right in voting, politics, education, profession or civil laws...whoever could use the opportunity could succeed well in their chosen profession, otherwise we wouldn't see most women leaders in their 50s leading banks in India...so, they could manage the struggle to make their ways to the top... South Asian countries have seen women leading the nation, which was not easy in West and, of course, unimaginable in middle east.

Most of these women who criticized would never question the celebration of Valentines Day or Christmas or Ramadan fasting.

If we ever ask priests, doctors, army officers, airport officials and many who witness women (and men as well) saying goodbyes and praying for their spouse for their long life, wellbeing and happiness...it would be an interesting research....If the hospital or airport lounge wall could hear these feelings, one would understand the meaning and intensity of these prayers and selfless love. So, what is difference between praying for spouse in hospital / temple / church and praying for them at home every year? What is so regressive about it?Why do we need to justify our way of expression of love for spouse and family?

Do we need to create a narrow definition of love propagated and projected by ultra feminists? Don't we celebrate our love for parents, husband, wife, brother, and sisters...it is our culture, right?

I think, these kinds of celebration are neither the sign of regressive or oppressive, it is sign of clarity of our thoughts, our intentions, and our way of expressing our love...

Women's Life in America: by Rebecca Billy

This is part of the comments and discussion we had on Quora lately when one of my answers on relationship started getting noticed. I am copying all her comments without modifying, so you can get original thoughts in comprehensive manner. 

"Studies done in the U.S. quite recently have shown that, despite people's expectations for marriage (i.e., that childrearing and household chores will be split equitably), after marriage, it is much the same as it used to be, and women are bearing the brunt of these chores. This is mostly the case among younger people, actually, despite the fact that they are perceived a being more outspoken about equality of the sexes.

My generation, those who married 20+ years ago, actually have been shown to divide household duties more equitably than the current generation of young couples.

So, just in this one small way, we see that what is perceived by others can be very different from what is beneath the surface. When harmful behavior and attitudes are hidden, it can be very harmful, especially when it leads to people denying a problem even exists.

There is often much misunderstanding between cultures, because people--while very different in how they express themselves on the surface--may be much the same underneath. Diversity is part of what makes people so interesting, but human nature seems to come in a fairly consistent mix of good and bad. They just find expression in different ways.

The area of the U.S. in which I live is known for its tight-knit communities and close family connections. Except for cases when there has been abuse or trauma, people tend to stay very close to their parents and grandparents and of course their cousins and uncles. But we are still American, so independence is highly valued as well. I know that some Indians cannot understand how someone can leave home at 18, work to put themselves through college, and struggle to establish themselves in a career on their own--don't our parents love us? And, too, the fact that our parents don't often come to live with us, even when old--don't we love our parents? Now that is obviously not the way it works for everyone--it is increasingly more common for young adults to live with their parents after finishing high school, especially, and many people do move in with their children if they start to become frail. But most families do not want to live together like that. Struggling on one's own as a young adult is traditionally seen as a rite of passage, and many older adults prefer to move into a retirement community than to live with their children and grandchildren. Parents who are comfortable financially often contribute to their childrens' education; adult children who can afford to often help their parents with expenses and chores. But people overall are not expected to establish a career or have a good invome before getting married and/or raising a family, so couples often marry much younger than they do in India, and even in other parts of the United States. We do have, for the time being, a workable system of benefits for senior citizens, and people who did not have to invest heavily into their childrens' education may have plenty of money set aside for a comfortable retirement.

I suppose the best way to describe it is that, by and large, people here do not want anyone to do for them what they can do for themselves. That does not mean that people don't help one another, especially families, merely that it is not expected. My mother lives alone in a town not to far from me. Although she and I are not particularly close (which is unusual enough that few of my friends and acquaintances understand it), she is quite close to my youngest sister. They visit one another at least two to three times a week; my mother often babysit my nieces, my brother-in-law mows my mother's yard, etc. A nephew of mine is often doing outdoor chores for my mother. But the thing is, to my mother this issue preferable to living with any of her children. I sometimes suggest that she consider selling her house and property and moving in town near to us, as I know her property and house are a lot of work for her, but she will probably stay there, living alone, until she is no longer able to.

I can well understand how difficult it must be to change a system wherein the older generation is dependent upon the younger. Particularly if you have the burden of providing for your parents while also trying to minimize future dependence upon your own children. And I know that in situations like that, the greatest part of the burden often falls upon women.

Of course all families are different, but the farther South you go and the farther you get from large cities, the more tightly-knit families tend to become. I have much respect for Indian family structure and in some ways I think that I relate better to the sense of family responsibility than I do to some of my more Northern friends in America. We are a pretty diverse lot.

One very sad thing about American television and movies is that because it is so focused on portraying young, pretty people, the older generation is often left out, and it gives the impression that there are no close families in this country. People do not always live close to one another, but--while we may not be close in the same way--I think in our hearts there is still much the same feeling of family obligation and care, that kind of complex mix of wanting to honor your parents and wanting to be true to yourself. It is perhaps less obvious.

Around here we always joke that if you come to visit, people will always try to feed you, and once you've eaten together at the same table, you're probably going to be considered a little like family. In our community, when someone has a death in their family, people cook for them, and come to their home to do chores, and bring them tissues. In other places in America, this behavior might seem intrusive, but here people have very strong connections to one another."

written by - Rebecca Billy

Sanskrit shlokas on 'mother' on Mother's Day!

Here are few lovely Sanskrit shloka on MOTHER to share with you on Mother's Day! This will help us realize how we treated or expected to be treated 'mother' and 'women' in our society during ancient days.

1. आयु: पुमान् यश: स्वर्ग कीर्ति पुण्यं बलं श्रियं ।
    पशु सुखं धनं धान्यं प्राप्नुयान्मातृ वन्दनात् ।।

A man who serve mother truthfully will be blessed with long life, success, haven, fame, Laxmi, wealth, cattle, food grain, and everything.


2. जननि जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसि

After Ravana's defeat, lord Rama said to Laxman, "Own Mother and birthplace are beautiful and greater than haven."
When Laxman, younger brother of Rama asked Lord Rama to acquire the kingdom (Sri-Lanka) after they had defeated and killed Ravana in the war, Lord Rama advised him to hand over the kingdom to Bibhishan, Ravana's younger brother, a rightful king as it was his mother land and Bibhishan inherited it after his elder brother's death. We must respect others' land or wealth (or women) without thinking of acquiring it in anyway.

3. मातृपितृकृताभ्यासो गुणितामेति बालकः ।
    न गर्भच्युतिमात्रेण पुत्रो भवति पण्डितः ।।

Indian mother and father insist on studies so that their child gain adequate knowledge and skill to lead a respectable life. There is a saying - a king is respected within his kingdom, but a knowledgeable person is respected everywhere.

4. मातृवत परदारेषु परद्रव्येषु लोष्टवत्। आत्मवत् सर्वभूतेषु यः पश्यति स पंडितः।।

A noble people treat and respect all the women (except his own wife) as mothers. They consider others' wealth as dust and have no intention of acquiring it in anyway. In addition, they also treat and love every living-being or creature and cause no harm to them in anyway.

5. माता मित्रं पिता चेति स्वभावात् त्रतयं हितम् |
    कार्यकारणतश्चान्ये भवन्ति हितबुद्धय: ||

Mother, father and friends are the only people who are interested in your well-being in real way. Thinking of 'good' about you is part of their nature and they do it without any condition or expectation or personal gain. So, value them as others in your life may have business/professional relationship based on certain spoken or unspoken terms and condition/benefits.

6. आदौ माता गुरौ पत्नी ब्राह्मणी राजपत्निका
    धेनुर्धात्री तथा प्रथ्वी सप्तैता मातरः स्मृतः

The ancient Indian tradition teaches us to respect our own mother first, then others in following order - teacher's wife (a brahmin lady), a queen, a cow, a foster mother and the mother earth.  We consider them as MOTHER and respect them at par...

7. मातृदेवीम नमस्तुभ्यं मम जन्मदात्रिम त्वम् नमो नमः ।
    बाल्यकाले मां पालन कृत्वा मातृकाभ्यो त्वम् नमाम्यहम ॥

I salute my mother who gave me birth; I also salute my other mothers (women) who added knowledge and wisdom to my actions and life to make me a good human being.

8. मातृ देवो भव् पितृ देवो भव्
    आचार्य देवो भव्, अतिथि देवो भव्

Let you be one who worships mother, father, teachers and guests as 'God'.

When we study our ancient scripture, we realize that there is profound respect given to mother and women in general. So, read the original scripture to know yourself.

Mother's Day

Brahmagupta's contribution to Mathematics

Against the popular perception, I would say that none including Aryabhat has invented ‘zero’ because the concept of ‘zero’ was always part of our life in different way academically or professionally since the origin of the universe.

Brahagupata’s major contribution to modern science and technology was - how to use zero in mathematical calculations that is used as base to calculate every field. He has formed the set of rules in the mathematics for positive and negative number in addition to forming the rules for using zeros in calculations and that has become the basis of mathematics and rest of the field including economics, finance, physics, chemistry, astronomy and so on…

Brahmagupta was born in 598 CE and died in c. 670. He lived in during king Vyagrahamukha in Bhillamala (modern Bhinmal) a capital of Gurjaradesa Chapa dynasty, one of the largesst kingdoms of Western India in parts of southern Rajasthan and Northern Gujarat.

He studied 5 traditional siddhantas in Brahmapaska in one of top schools for the astronomy during those days.

He also studied his predecessors’ (Aryabhata I, Latadeva, Pradyumna, Varahamihira, Simha, Srisena, Vijayanandin and Vishnuchandra) work to continue their research work. His rules of zero is in continuation of Aryabhata I ‘s work.

Brahmagupta gave the solution of the general linear in chapter eighteen of Brahmasphutasiddhanta,

bx + c = dx + e equivalent to x =< (e−c) / (b-d)


In chapter eighteen of Brahmasphutasiddhanta, Brahmagupta describes operations on negative numbers. He first describes addition and subtraction,

18.30 (Additions)

· 3 + 4 = 7 (a positive number)

· -3 + (-4) = -7 (a negative number)

· -3 + 4 = 1 (positive number)

· 3 + (-4) = -1 (negative number)

· -3 + 3 = 0 (zero when both positive and negative numbers are same)

· -3 + 0 = -3 (negative number)

· 3 + 0 = 3 (positive number)

· 0 + 0 = 0 (no difference)

18.32 (subtractions)

· -3 – 0 = -3 (negative number)

· 3 – 0 = 3 (positive number)

· 0 - 0 = 0 (no difference)

· 3 - (-4) = -1 (negative number is added)

· -3 – 4 = - 7 (negative number is added)

18.33(Multiplication)

· 3 * - 4 = - 12 (one negative and one positive product becomes negative number)

· 3 * - 4 = 12 (two negative becomes positive)

· 3 * 0 = 0 (any number multiplied with zero is zero)

18.34 (Division)

·     3
     ----  = 1 (positive number)
      3

·    - 3
       ----  = 1 (positive number)
      -3

·    0
    ---  = 0 (zero)
     0

·     3
     --- = -1
     -3

·      -3
      ---  = -1
       3

·    √0   =  0

·    0 square   = 0

·    0
    ----
     0

·    3
    ---- = undefined
     0

Except the last definition of zero, we use all his rules in the modern mathematics.

Watch out this space for part II on his other contributions in calculating complex mathematical formulas.

References:

Brahmagupta (598–668)," Department of Mathematics, Simon Fraser University (British Columbia, Canada), http;//www.math.sfu.ca/histmath/India/7thCenturyAD/Brahmagupta.html (February 17, 2006).

"Brahmagupta (ca. 598–ca. 665)," Wolfram Research, http://www.scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Brahmagupta.html (February 17, 2006).

"Brahmagupta," School of Mathematics and Statistics, St. Andrews University, http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/∼history/Mathematicians/Brahmagupta.html (February 17, 2006).

"Brahmagupta," Vidyapatha, http://www.vidyapatha.com/scientists/brahmagupta.php (February 17, 2006).

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Brahmagupta.aspx

Exotic raw banana recipe - Kanchakalar Khosha bata and Kanchakalar kofta Curry

This an exotic recipe from Bengal using raw banana. You can use banana skin and banana to make two recipes as both banana and skins are loaded with nutrition and brings health benefits. Both the recipes are easy to make and sure to satisfy your taste buds... :)

Kanchakalar Khosha bata (raw banana chutney) and Kanchakalar (raw banana) kofta curry. for 4

Basic preparations
- 2 raw banana
- 2 medium potato 

Cut both the ends of the banana and wash it well
- Boil separately these raw banana with skin and potatoes 
- Remove the skin of soft boiled banana for making Kanchakalar Khosha bata (raw banana chutney)
- Use the raw boiled banana and boiled potatoes for making Kanchakalar (raw banana) kofta curry.
- Save the water once you take and use it for cooking. It is loaded with nutrition.

Kanchakalar Khosha
Ingredients:
- 2 boiled raw banana skins as mentioned above
- Ginger as per you taste
- Green or red fresh chilies as per taste
- Salt 
For Saute'
- 1 tea spoon mustard oil 
- 1/2 tea spoon Kilonji 
- 2 red dry chili

Preparations:
- grind banana skin + ginger + salt + green chili + add little left over water after boiling the banana. Make little watery paste

- sauté the paste with mustard oil + Kilonji + red dry chili and allow it to cook for a min to let the fragrance of oil and spice get into the paste. 


Kanchakalar Khosha Bata is ready

----
Banana Kofta Curry
- 2 boiled raw banana + 2 medium boil potatoes as mentioned above
- ginger 
- 2 cloves garlic 
- green or red fresh chilies as per your taste
- 2 red dry chilies
- 1 tomato
- 1 tea spoon garam masala
- red chili powder (optional)
- 7-8 almonds
- half bowl chopped onion
- 3-4 spoon flour 
- chopped coriander leaves 
- mustard oil for cooking

Preparations:
For banana kofta or pattice
- Mash boiled banana + boiled potato in equal quantity 
- Add chopped onion + green chili + coriander leaves + salt and + 3-4 spoon all purpose flour + add left over water after boiling banana and make small pattice.
- Shallow fry these pattice in regular oil
- Soak 7-8 almonds and remove the skin. 
- Make a paste of soaked almonds.
- Make a paste of 1 tomato + small ginger + green or red fresh chili
- Heat oil and add black paper + bay leaf + 2-3 chopped garlic in the oil and fry
- Add tomatoes paste + turmeric powder + red chili (if you want really spicy or skip it) + Garam masala + salt and cook for a minute
- Add left over water after boiling banana + hot water, if require + almond paste and cook
- When all cooked, just add fried pattice and cook for a min.

Kanchakalar kofta Curry is ready.

Why Hindus visit temple?

I have been asked several times by my foreign  friends - Why Hindus visit temples?
After researching and talking to few experts, I found few reasons. Apart from spiritual need, people went to temple for social and scientific reasons.

Darshan: We visit temple for Darshana or see the 'sight' of the supreme lord. This helps the devotee to connect the god mentally and emotionally. It also help in concentrating fully with god and forgetting the rest of the universe around us. This 'Dhyana' or mediation creates vacuum in our continuous flow of thoughts that facilitate to attain peace.

Idol: God is humanized in the form of 'idol' that helps devotee to concentrate on an object. It gives a definite shape or form to our imaginary thoughts. In addition, every god or supreme power has certain characteristic to his/her personality and we ultimately wish to have them or improve in those area.

Rituals: Rituals in Hinduism are in different form. One set of rules are for temples and another for personal life. Temple rituals revolves around "pranpratishtha" or installing the idol of a deity in the temple with proper rituals of invoking god/goddess with sanskrit chanting, bathing the idol with milk, water, honey, clarified butter and yogurt (panchamrut i.e. 5 nectors or liquids), dressing up with cloth, flowers, ornaments, offering food and singing bhajan (devotional songs).

Every ritual invokes human 5 senses - touching(touching the deity), seeing(seeing the deity), tasting (panchamrut), smelling (flowers, camphor, and other things), hearing (the chanting, arti, bhanjan)...bring 'self' the present state or in temple completely.

On daily basis the worshiping is done in smaller scale to invoke and sleep the god in the form of idol. The same process is followed at home in much smaller scale.

There are other rituals in Hinduism are meant for social occasions such as marriage, and death and so on... this signifies the life and meaning we have for every part of the life and the way we accept and respect it. These rituals associated with the special occasions reminds us our duty or role or 'dharma' during that phase. Most of them are beneficial and scientifically  proven. For example, the silver toe rings are part of acupuncture  therapy that regulates uterus function in women and avoid diseases associated with. It also improve a sexual desire in women and therefore forbidden for unmarried  or widows to wear them.

Concept of Brahma: This concept remind us the value of I. I am Brahma. So do others. The temple may have one of more deities whom we worship or devote ourself with the concept of I am one part of the universe. I am also God. The devotion teaches us to let go off "I" that is main cause of stress and conflict in the personal and professional life.

Architecture: Most ancient temples have magnificent architecture that have scientific as well as spiritual significance. The scientific meaning of the temple architecture is associated with the scientific construction that includes the decor, angles, lights, the environment and the other things.

The common features of the temples are:
1. Central sanctum enshrines for the main deity
2. Secondary sanctums are for other deities such as Ganesha, Nandi and so on...
3. The space for the trained priest to perform rituals
4. The space in-front of the main deity is for devotees to stand/sit to worship or attend the Arti
5. The outside areas  either within the temple premises or outside the temple premises meant for public for attending social functions or discourse
6. There is additional space for devotees for pradkshana or parikrama or walk around the garbha graham or main section of the temple, but this is within the premises/external boundaries of the temple.

Pradaksihina or Parikrama: The reasons behind pradkshana is - we consider god is center part of our action, our thought and our world. When we go around, we keep the deity at the center of the gravity and consider it as the main focus of our existence. This concept usually helps devotees to consider to take life as it comes or consider this is devoted to the god /universe and we all are part of it. This is one of the ways to keep our mind balanced and peaceful by removing the focus from 'self' or 'I'.

The role Temples in Society: Temples, in general, played a larger role in the society that provided educational, social support in addition to providing them an emotional, and a spiritual support. Most temples in ancient India were also served as educational institutes or gurukul and the center for social gathering in the evening. The additional space within the temple is provided to people to held social rituals and ceremonies. The spiritual guru used the same space to give the discourse that taught most to stay away from materialistic, physical or emotional vices. The environment also helped to inculcate the basic virtue through friendship, forgiveness, humility, tolerance, courage, guidance and more...thus improving overall improvement.

International Women's Day: Role, Responsibility and Realization

On this Women's Day, I salute my mother and all those other women who silently and selflessly work for the betterment of their families, and in effect the society. In their endeavour to help their spouses and kids, they often surrender their own identity. This, mind you, is one of the biggest sacrifices made by countless women across the globe.

Having said that, I am often reminded of a favourite topic from the 1980s and 1990s urban India: Women’s Lib.

A few days ago while again thinking about that subject, some questions criss-crossed my mind. In the name of that “liberation” (real or a derived one) are we actually losing out on something bigger? Doesn’t that freedom also entail a strong sense of “responsibility”? What about the larger consequences for the institutions of family and society?

These questions are tricky and their answers manifold.

Actually social changes are so tedious that sometime it takes decades before they even manifest themselves for better or for worse. Therefore, the latent benefits of traditional values are neither understood nor appreciated by most of us.

The “Hum do, humare do” (We two, ours two), or these days “We two ours, one” family culture, together with the economic independence achieved by women have added that strong sense of individualism to the modern society, especially in the urban scenario. Thus, making modern women (and men) feel oppressed when sharing home with their parents, in-laws or other elders of the family. These days, a joint family may just include parents of either spouse or both. For instance, in Mainland China, the government’s ‘One Child Policy’ has resulted in parents of both spouses often sharing a home together!

In India, lack of presence of elders at home is leading to depletion of age-old knowledge and wisdom among youngsters that has conventionally been passed one generation to the next. As a consequence, we have been very slow in realizing the value-based upbringing that present day kids have been missing out. In fact, tradition is actually the backbone that has kept our culture alive for centuries in the Indian family system.

Interestingly, compared to several other ancient civilizations, the Hindu civilization has managed to retain its continuity over the past several millenia. According to Indian politician and economist Subramanian Swamy, the Hindu civilization is among the 46 ancient civilizations listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). While 45 other civilizations have disappeared, the Hindu civilization is the only one that has survived. The traditional family system has played a key role in helping Hindus retain their culture and tradition despite 800 years of Islamic rule and 200 years of Christian rule under the British East India Company.

Some of us may like to argue about availability of plenty of knowledge in other different modes; but I personally feel that valuable time could be lost just trying to 'judge' the relevance of that information.

The impact is being felt not only in India, but most part of the globe. The Time magazine’s recent cover story ‘I, Me & Myself’ makes for an interesting read.

The young minds today are swayed by popular media that essentially promotes this 'I, me and myself' culture, which is neither good for individuals, families or the society; of course the same isn't good for a nation too. It only serves to foster an increased sense of greed and lack of empathy, which lead towards a highly materialistic yet empty lifestyle, with possibly negative impact on both personal and professional lives of individuals.

So is there is a real need for us to revisit traditional value systems, including the joint family, as they may have a hugely positive impact on youngsters. If such arrangement isn’t feasible, we can make up for that through simple acts such as celebrating festivals together or taking family vacations.

While letting go of that 'deceived sense of freedom', let us think of our children and their future so that they learn the basic value of life such as ethics, love and sacrifice, ultimately, learning to lead a contended and peaceful life.

It may sound somewhat primitive, but it doesn’t take a lot to ponder over the benefits of imbibing centuries old wisdom.

Second Spring - review

Here is the review of Second Spring by Shweta Kesari 
The end was not how I supposed it to be,but it is the way it has to be.Authoress has done a great job while knitting the plot.Her straightforward views let readers think sharply and her candid note on life would let readers realize how things take a turn nowadays.But obvious, with a change in time,stories has changed, and also the way human reacts, but to know who is the one to hold your hand till eternity is the vital decision to lead a happy life. I quite appreciate the note this story ended on.The story succeeded in showing readers a new facet to life.Through the protagonist Avantika, authoress brings a message for readers that it is easy to flow in the whirlwind of emotion , but hard to take a wise decision at the proper time.
A book which has more than a story to serve to readers.

Rating : 4.1/5

Reviewer : Shweta Kesari

Second Spring

To read it further - /http://madhyapradesh.johntext.de/review-of-second-spring/

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Holi - poetry

Holi

Holi

#Holi #India #Indianculture #Hinduism #life #festival #celebration #sandhyajane

26/11

This poem is dedicated to all our forces and their mothers for giving their brave children to the nation.

Poem on - Indian Election 2014

Why Modi?

Some say he is smatter & some say he is hard-worker;
Some say he is manipulator & some say he is developer;
Some say he is traitor & some say he is leader;
Some say he is actor & some say he is thinker;

But, in this election,
none can ignore that he the ONLY factor
for making this nation stronger and better….

-- Sandhya Jane

Honesty 

Honesty has its own price…
When we praise development, people hear party;
When we praise leadership, people hear person;
When we praise governance, people hear communalism;
When we praise alliance, people hear opportunism;
When we praise patriotism, people hear fanaticism…

Friends, do not try to find any hidden meaning,
which is just not there, because,
This is a wall of 'truth', not a fiction;
This is wall of 'honesty', not a mystery,
and here is NO place for sycophancy or treachery …

-- Sandhya Jane

(written in Mar 2014 during election)

(written in Mar 2014 during election)