Change Agent

I was reading a book written by a Jain monk. It gives a perspective of Jain beliefs vis-à-vis scientific discoveries. The book starts with telling a tale about a Hindu Brahmin who once was a critic of Jainism but became a follower later in his life. The author says this Brahmin accepted Jainism and Lord Jineshwar because of the wisdom and knowledge spread in the Jain scriptures and philosophies. It made a good start for a good read. Just some chapters ahead, and I found one explanation difficult to swallow. . The author, in order to show how great Lord Mahaveera was, writes this elaboration: . The personality of Mahaveera is the reflection of his inner working of mind. He is called ‘Jina’ who is emancipated from the sway of passions. The ‘Jina’ means one who has conquered the passions. . And behold his image! It is the embodiment of divine tranquillity and pose. His hands do not carry any arms which are always suggestive of the feeling of enmity or hate. He stands alone without any fe...

. As the world is, we can see certain things coming to us. One of these, as shared by many friends is: There is 100% surety that some time in the life of your son or daughter, s/he will be approached by a Christian evangelist who would like to inspire him/her to convert into Christianity. This can be done by one's teacher, one's boy/girl friend, one's colleague at work, or one's neighbor. But it will happen for sure. In those testing times of psychological manipulations, there would be certain things which would come to help one to persist and survive. It is the depth with which one knows one's own religion. I think all of us would agree with this. But along with this, it is my opinion that we should also expose our children to the real facts about other religions. . So let me ask you a question: Do you celebrate Christmas (Christ + Mass) as the birthday of Jesus Christ? If you do, then you yourself may have become part of the missionary propaganda. And if you know ...

. From what I have understood, if there are some basic practices in Hinduism which are rooted to the most fundamental elements of our belief and psychology, then “Mother Worship” or “Feminine Worship” is one of these. Recently I saw something which made me think in the direction leading through this text: . As we know, Mumbai has a huge population of Christian religious converts (along with neo-Buddhist converts too). I believe it is because in a loose-n-large city like Mumbai there are less social stigmas attached against conversion. With presence of highly active dalit christian organizations as well as huge network of missionaries and NGOs, the city is a good missionary fodder ground. While traveling by a local bus, I came across one joint where a small temple was erected by the side of the road. At first glance, the temple seemed to me like one of goddess Durga or Parvati. But when I looked cautiously I was shocked to see that it was an idol of mother Mary (virgin mother of Jesus ...

. Sometimes, reality is more interesting than fiction. . We were to celebrate Traditional Day in office, the next day. We had received an email asking colleagues to come in the traditional attire. Last time we had celebrated it, it was a fun day which had ended with prizes being given to the best (traditionally) dressed males and females. A lot of men had come in colorful Kurta-Pajamas. Ladies were the real flag bearers: they had come in sarees and varieties of them. A Bengali lady and a Keralite lady '" their sarees and appearance gave glimpses of our unity in diversity. . As the day had started with this news about next day being a Traditional Day, some of us got into talking about it. The lady who sits in a cubicle next to me, made my day. She is a Christian. Having read this email, she stood up from her desk. She looked around for some favorite faces. After some time, she found one other colleague from another department, whose name indicated he was also a Christian. '...

. Watched James Cameron’s flick “Avatar” and didn’t enjoy it. When it comes to successfully bringing imagination live on the screen, I would give him 10/10, but are not movies to enjoy? I found it too emotionless, too weird (characters were awful to watch), and so typical a storyline (team goes to exploit the unexploited; conflict arises in team, lady members are humanistic and in the end mother earth/planet is saved). One interesting part is that the fictional Navis are too ‘human like’; just giving them a tail doesn’t help. On a weird thought, the main character looks like Lord Ram; I guess somewhere they have taken inspiration from Him (The Navi's body is blue, eyes wide and he uses bows and arrows.) Though of course the characters are very weird looking. . I had heard about this movie first when someone asked for the director’s written declaration at the beginning of the movie that “avatar” doesn’t have any relation with Hinduism per se. But I see that the director was sure abo...

'Life is lived King Size buddy!' flamboyance was evident in his words. Why only words, it looked at his face, it hanged on his body, it peeped from his car; it just appeared in the air around him. . 'I am calling our entire group. With family. Let us check out what and how they are doing.', he was talking to a friend, about the get-together he was organizing. Reason for the party was not needed; but this time in its pretext he wanted to track who was doing what. He was always competitive' Competitive to describe him would be misguiding; he had a complex which made him feel and show his power; in all its colors. . 'Adi, can we visit Ratan's place on his birthday?' Mini found him alone and grabbed the opportunity to talk for a while. Otherwise no one knows when he would return back and in what mood. And with who friends and talking about whom. She and their marriage have survived. Survived in true literal sense: what if she had to sacrifice her real self t...

. These days media is fascinated with two names: Headley and Rana. What makes the case interesting to me in the first place is how Indian media is using the names of “Headley” and “Rana” repeatedly, without ever clearly mentioning the real names of these two! . Real name of Headley (David Coleman Headley) is Daood Sayed Gilani and he is a Muslim. His father’s name is Sayed Salim Gilani, while his mother was Serrill Headley. Born in Washington to his parents, Daood Sayed Gilani attended school in Pakistan after his parents broke up, and then his mother took him to the US. Later on he became a US citizen. And this Daood Sayed Gilani changed his Muslim name to a Judaeo-Christian name to hide his Muslim identity' . Real name of Rana is Tahawwur Hussain Rana. His wife is Samraz Rana Akhthar; and both of them were born in Pakistan. Tahawwur Hussain attended his Military College in Pakistan, before migrating to Canada and becoming a Canadian citizen in 2001. Both Tahawwur Hussain Rana...

. Five years ago, the BJP had strongly opposed inclusion of Shibu Soren as a minister in the UPA government as he had several criminal charges pending against him. Today, the same BJP joined Shibu and his JMM to form a government in the state of Jharkhand. . These two sentences may appear to make a “full story” until I shout objection! . One, the BJP now is not the BJP that was 5 years back. How? The BJP, until some time back used to believe that issues like corruption, terrorism and food price hike can make “election issues”. And hence, the party would oppose inclusion of criminal and corrupt politicians in the UPA govt (there were plenty of such faces). What the last general election has proven without doubt is in contrast to any such hint. This has also been proven in many other election results, e.g. the recent one in Maharashtra. Indian voters have accepted the most hitting issues like corruption, terrorism and price-rise as a 'fact of life' and they just don’t make their ...

Ma had gone out of her bedroom and now she was alone It was about 12 now. It was still not late as such; as she had to study late night for her preparations. But today it seemed time didn't pass The headache didn't relieve even a bit She was suffering from cold and the resulting headache. Whenever she suffered from cold, it seemed she was sent to live a hell. Today the doctor had asked her not to take any painkiller due to some other complications. So she had no choice but to tolerate She picked up her phone again Her fingers didn't move She tried again She keyed in a number Her thumb didn't move to press on 'call' She tried again and then warm tears made her cheeks wet After fifteen minutes of silent cry, she picked up the phone again Should she call? Will it be wrong to call? Who knows: he may be married by now And how will he react? Will he scold her or say something pinching? Will he talk soft? Will he understand her? Will he cut the phone? She had no answer...

He knew something was wrong. Or at least something had changed. It showed in the way Paras behaved. But he was not sure what could be done to correct the way things were going on For some months now, whenever he returned to home, Paras ran towards him. Not that he never ran to him before, but now he felt Paras was doing so because he felt lonely. And he feared it would be terribly tough for a kid of four to feel lonely Seema was always a bit more mod and advanced than him. Was it that had attracted him towards her? Anyways, this was not relevant now. What mattered now was the wellbeing of their 'family'. And he would do anything for his. Even now, it was time to act. But most difficult was to decide: where and how On Sunday, they had gone to the waterfall after about two months. While they enjoyed every moment in and out of water, something happened on the returned journey. The engine of their car started getting overheated. At one point, he had to stop the car and they just wa...

Ramayana tells the story of Lord Ram. Lord Ram is considered Maryada Purushottam मर्यादा पुरुषोत्तम (Ideal Man), someone whom we all Hindus take inspiration from. Ram stood for equality of all human beings: his were actions based on dharma. So it is interesting to see his stand on varna system and caste system. Researchers say there were no birth-based caste system at that time in Sat Yuga, like we currently see it around. Varna system was very much there, but it allowed freedom to people based on their occupation and inclinations. I read a portion of an article which lists examples of how Ram never discriminated based on castes. This may be enlightening to many: Lord Rama cared for all human beings and was around people from all castes. There are many examples proving this beyond doubt: Maharishi Valmiki, the composer of the original Ramayana was a Bhil Adivasi. Lord Rama, with his brother Laxmana, visited Maharishi Matanga’s Ashram ' Rishi Matang was born into the lowest 'cas...

I read this interesting doha from Tulsidas who was a contemporary of great king Akbar during the Muslim invasion of India: "It is a legend that a blind, old, poor, Muslim, feebled by age, was pushed down to earth on the street by a running pig. Lamenting "Ha-ram, Ha-ram, Ha-ram has killed me", he breathed his last. His call to "Ram" at the end of his life, though inadvertent, removed all his sins and he entered the kingdom of the Lord. If someone were to recite "Ram" with love and devotion, his gains would be beyond description." Source: Kavitavali 176