Current climate in crisis

According to an authentic report and from our personal experiences, we find very hot climate currently. I am 74 years old. I have usually seen rainy season beginning in June itself. But this year, although 3 weeks have gone by after June ended, we have not had any significant rains.

According to our revered Sacred Sanaathana Dharmaa Scriptures, rainy season begins somewhere around this time every year. In sanskrit, the four months long rainy season is known as Chaathur maasya. This year, there is no trace of rain still.

Thus our climate stands unstable the cause of which is obvious human self centered atrocities such as carbon emission, deforestation etc. In spite of frequent multinational climate conferences, no significant steps seem to be taking place to fix the problem. 

It looks like we are forcing our climate to stand on a tightrope.

I think that our Governments are not taking practically possible steps on this issue.

Courtesy: CARTOONSTOCK

Table manners

This morning I read a very meaningful article. It presented the real picture of how most of our children and many adults behave in our own country and abroad.

It is very common for many people to cough without closing their mouth at the dining table and not to wash the wash basin after mouth wash. For this reason, I avoid using restaurants. If there is no alternative, I look for a dining table with empty chairs. After sitting in the chair and placing order for some item, as I begin eating, some one occupies the chair opposite to that of mine and coughs loudly without closing his/her mouth or not turning his/her face away from the table. I have experienced this many times in restaurants and a few times at the restaurant near my current residence. Such things have happened only when our own Indians share dining tables. I have never come across such odd behaviour in westerners. I think that our fellow Indians should learn table manners from westerners although table manners are very clearly explained in detail in our respected Sanaathana Dharmaa Scriptures. 

In one of my previous posts, I have mentioned about very well behaved children of an Indian couple at restaurant in Phnom Penh when I was having my lunch. I congratulated the couple and their two sons for the good behaviour of their children and for their role as effective parents. When I asked the gentlman where he worked, he said that he was Indian ambassador to Cambodia. He thanked me and said that I was very welcome to the embassy. His simplicity was exemplary. He said that he was from West Bengal and his wife, from Kerala. I think that all parents of today's children and youth should learn a lot from this couple.

Musical bridge in generation gap

All of us come across different types of people every day. Day before yesterday as I was taking lunch at the common dining hall, I happened to see a pleasant looking man (who seemed to be in his forties) and his wife. He had a nicely tied hair in his head, and was clad in half trousers and a T shirt. He smiled at me and I reciprocated. 

On the next day when we met at the dining hall, he asked me whether I worked abroad. I replied, "Yes, for a few years." I asked him how he thought that I would have worked abroad. He replied that he thought so from observing my table manners and my behaviour after lunch. 

(I have the habit of using only 3 fingers when eating food such as idli and dosa, and only the tips of fingers of my right hand whenever I eat food such as cooked rice and vegetable gravy. When eating fruits such as banana, I used to cut them into small pieces and then eat, instead of cutting the fruit after keeping it in my mouth. Our Scriptures mention that once any food is taken into the mouth, it becomes impure like saliva and hence should not be brought out and ate again. When eating sandwiches, bonda, samosaa etc. I use a knife and fork. I learnt the art of using a fork for eating noodles from my Cambodian colleagues. I tried to use chopsticks a few times, but in vain. I consume only vegetarian food. When drinking any liquid, I drink it without my lips touching the container. In other words, I don't sip the liquid. I don't drink alcoholic beverages.

In the dining hall, after eating, I push the chair to it's initial position. I clean the wash basin before and after I wash my mouth).

Yesterday when meeting the gentleman, we had a small conversation. When I was mentioning about my liking softrock music by groups such as The Beatles, he replied that he too liked their music and mentioned 'A Hard Day's Night' by the group. It was amazing that a person who is many years younger than me shared his liking songs by The Beatles. He and his wife spoke in perfect Hindi as well in addition to Tamil and English. A mini multilingual Bhaarath varsh!

My conversation with the pleasant mannered gentleman and his wife was interesting and meaningful. 

 

Divine Discourse

It was joy listening to respected Shree Chinmayaanandh Baapujee's divine discourse on Shreemadh Bhaagavath Kathaa on Aashthaa TV Channel this evening. 

He explained the meeting of our mother earth and Dharma (Righteousness) and their conversation as heard by King Pareekshith.

The trilateral conversation is respected to contain deeply significant aspects of spirituality such as human sin and it's causes, need for physical and mental control etc.

Chinmayanand Bapujee Maharaaj

Jai Shree Lakshmi Naaraayanaa🙏

Divine Discourse

It was joy viewing Shree Raam Kathaa by respected Morari Bapujee this morning. He gave the discourse from Kericho, Kenya. Besides explaing about Lord Shree Mahaa Vishnu's incarnation Lord Shree Raam's life history on our planet, he mentioned the importance of Guru in our aadhmic journey.

Guru Shishyaa

L to R: Lord Lakshman, Hanumaanjee, Lord Shree Raam and His wife Shree Mahaa Lakshmi 

Jai Shree Seethaa Raam🙏

Shree Mahaa Vishnu and His wife Shree Mahaa Lakshmi Fest

Today is a very auspicious day in the Hindu Calender. This day is Ekaadashi. Dharmaa (Righteousness) is the presiding deity on this day and like all deities, it acts under Shree Mahaa Vishnu's Command. Devotees observe full or semi-fasting on this day as prescribed in our Scriptures.

According to our Sanaathana Dharmaa Scriptures, all deities reside in the cow; this is why cows are revered as 'Gho maathaa' in our country. 'Gho' and 'maathaa' mean 'cow' and 'mother' respectively.

Today is a very auspicious in the Hindu Calender. On this day, housewives perform Gho Padhma Vratham.

Deities residing in the cow

Shree Mahaa Vishnu and His wife Shree Mahaa Lakshmi 

Jai Shree Lakshmi Naaraayanaa🙏

Sparrows scarcity

A few years back I read a well written article on disappearance of sparrows from our concrete jungles which we call 'cities'. Every resident in our cities know this odd reality and how human self centered desires causes this extinction.

Half an hour back I heard a delightful sound of a sparrow at one of the windows in my house. I tried to catch it in my camera without disturbing the tiny bird. Thank God, I succeeded in my attempt. Following is a photo of the sparrow:

It is well known that sparrows possess enormous skill in constructing good looking and effective nests as shown in the following photo:

There is a popular story about sparrows in Panchathanthraa, a children's story book. This story mentions a sparrow and the theory of karma as mentioned in our Sanaathana Dharmaa. Let me share the story here.

Krishnam Vande Jagad Gurum🙏

Four months' semi_fasting

Today is a very auspicious in the Sanaathana Dharmaa (Hindu) Calender. The day marks the beginning of Chaathur maasya vratham.

The Chaathur maasya vratham is explained in detail in this article.

Krishnam Vande Jagadh Gurum🙏

Down the memory lane

This afternoon as I was browsing through a few online magazines of my choice, I came across a very interesting article. It took me back to my school days. My parents encouraged us to read good books and magazines. 

My father used to bring children's books in English as well as in Tamil, two languages in which I was most proficient. (My mother tongue is Marathi but it is significantly different from Marathi that is spoken in Maharashtra. My maternal and paternal ancestors are believed to be descendants of Marathi people who accompanied King Sarfoji when they left Maharashtra and settled down in Thanjavur in Tamilnadu and other places in Southern India. What we speak in our homes is known 'Thanjavur Marathi'). I was regular reader of 'Kannan' , a monthly children's magazine in Tamil and 'Chandamaamaa', a children's magazine in English. Besides, I used to regularly read 'Yoing Folk's League' in The Illustrated Weekly of India, a popular weekly magazine of those years. Whenever we visited our maternal grandfather's house, I used to enjoy reading books in my grandfather's library (a room filled with nicely arranged books in racks). He had a wide variety of good books including ancient Indian classics, books by Bertrand Russel, Leo Tolstoy etc. 

My mother used to explain stories such as 'Ugly duckling' written by a British author and was part of our English language textbook. She also taught English Grammar using a graamar book written by Wren and Martin; this book was considered a gold standard in those years.

I remember how I was encouraged to draw pictures and paint them using water colour. I fondly remember my water colour box and the brushes that came with it.

Those were golden years. Thanks to Rajiv Eipe for enabling old guys like me at 70 plus to revisit their boyhood years.

Courtesy: Google Images

Courtesy: Google Images

Memories of Mahindra Jeep

Reshma (my sister's daughter) informed me that her husband bought a Mahindra 7 seater car recently. They had a 5 seater car.

This info took me back to the 1990s when I was working in a school and an NGO.

In the mid 1990s when I was working in PREPARE, a Chennai based NGO, I had to travel to Odisha and Andhra Pradesh frequently. Sometimes, I myself used to drive the NGO's Mahindra Jeep (as shown in the following photo) to visit villages covered in our Education Projects.

Similarly when working as Principal in Rani Lakshmi Bai Public School in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh, in 1997, I derived some pleasure in driving a Mahindra Jeep and taking my teaching staff to a nearby dam during a weekend. I think that I gave some rest to the Jeep's driver. My staff seemed to enjoy the visit to the dam and back. The CEO of the School told me that he would provide a Maruthi Suzuki for my personal use.