Everyday Geeta

September 24, 2012 It is a strange situation when people undertake a pilgrimage that is a saatvik (noble, pure action) activity but becomes an expression of tamas (stupid, thoughtless attitude). This India Today report of the Amarnath yātris who produce fake medical certificates of fitness to go to Amarnath is a sad story. This is a quote from the report: Dr. Anita Murthy, who volunteered to serve Amarnath yatris at the Baltal base camp, said most of the medical certificates given to the pilgrims certifying that they were fit for the yatra were obtained through fraudulent means. "Their medical certificates are not genuine. Action needs to be taken against doctors who issue such certificates," she said. According to her, most of the yatris have respiratory, cardiac and orthopaedic problems. "Many yatris do not come with adequate clothing and commence climbing without any acclimatization, attempting to complete the yatra in the shortest possible time. Bhagavad Geeta 18-2

September 23, 2012 The theme of इंद्रियनिग्रह or self control is emphasized repeatedly in the Bhagavad Geeta. Śrī Kṛṣṇa highlights the absolute necessity of self control as a preparatory step to wisdom and self realization. He also warns us of the dangers of the lack of self control as in Geeta 2-67: इन्द्रियाणां हि चरतां यन्मनोऽनुविधीयते | तदस्य हरति प्रज्ञां वायुर्नावमिवाम्भसि ||२-६७|| indriyaaNaaM hi charataaM yanmano.anuvidhiiyate . tadasya harati praGYaaM vaayurnaavamivaambhasi .. 2-67.. For, the mind, which follows in the wake of the wandering senses, carries away his discrimination, as the wind carries away a boat on the waters. So, it was interesting to read Mark Baker's interview in Saturday's Today newspaper in Singapore. Mark Baker is the owner of the Mansion nightclub and is considered to be the Godfather of New York city nightlife. You should really check out www.m2ultralounge.com to see what that means. This is what Mark Baker had to say: "You're in a

September 22, 2012 I am very excited by a recent post from the Hindu Press International . Capt Rajiv Srinivasan, of the US Army, recently addressed a Hindu American Foundation  (HAF) fund raiser in Sugarland, TX on September 7, 2012. One quote caught my attention: Srinivasan, who is from Roanoke, Virginia, found the military life ethically challenging to his beliefs, which he had suppressed. He found that he could not really answer questions about his religion. So he turned to the Bhagvad Gita and the sermon that Krishna gives Arjun on the battlefield resonated with him. Krishna's admonishment to stand up and fight for what is right gave Srinivasan a realization. "All of a sudden, my views about the pacifist nature of Hinduism went out of the window," he told the audience of about 150 people, "and I understood that you have to fight for what you believe in." I then followed up and came across this HAF entry by Capt Rajiv Srinivasan as well as his blog . It i

September 17, 2012 I have run several posts on how role models prove that our noble aspirations can find expression in this life. Continuing this series, I came across this interesting New Delhi entrepreneur Kamal Meattle, first through his Ted Talk on the how ordinary house plants can help clean the air in our homes and offices. That caused me to Google Kamal Meattle and I came across an even better article, that has the wonderful title, "The Mad Hatter of Nehru Place Greens". Hari Om and Namaskar until the next post

June 18, 2012 Click on this video, sit back and enjoy this Mohammed Rafi classic. For lovers of old Hindi movies, this song from Hum Dono is a classic. The lyrics for this song are sourced here . मैं ज़िंदगी का साथ निभाता चला गया हर फ़िक्र को धुँएं में उड़ाता चला गया बरबादियों का सोग़ मनाना फ़िज़ूल था - २ बरबादियों का जश्न मनाता चला गया मैं ज़िंदगी... जो मिल गया उसी को मुक़द्दर समझ लिया - २ जो खो गया मैं उसको भुलाता चला गया मैं ज़िंदगी... ग़म और खुशी में फ़र्क न महसूस हो जहाँ - २ मैं दिल को उस मुक़ाम पे लाता चला गया मैं ज़िंदगी... My free verse translation is as below Enjoying Life, I sauntered along All my worries, I just blew them away So what if I failed, no time to regret Got a kick out of failures, didn’t waste any time Enjoying Life, I sauntered along... The gifts of fate, I took in stride Whatever I lost, just left them behind... Enjoying Life, I sauntered along Towards the state, beyond joy, beyond sorrow Didn’t pause at all, just kept moving ahead Enjoying life, I sauntered al

September 2, 2012 Over 130 Harvard University students are being investigated for cheating in an "Introduction to Congress" exam according to a report in the Harvard Crimson , the campus newspaper. The report quotes an unindentified student: “Almost all of [the students at office hours] had been awake the entire night, and none of us could figure out what an entire question (worth 20% of the grade) was asking,” the student wrote. “On top of this, one of the questions asked us about a term that had never been defined in any of our readings and had not been properly defined in class I have often discussed the topic of role models in this blog. Over dinner at home last night, I raised this topic in the hope to discuss whether students at an elite university such as Harvard should be considered as role models for college students everywhere. Obviously, the coincidence that this cheating occurred in an "Introduction to Congress" exam has attracted the attention of nume