There are some areas in which I am never interested; one of these is politics.

Our Central and State Government Administrations may be bringing in many reforms. But unless poor people and ordinary common folk (like me) are not benefitted, there is no point in the Governments' Action Plans due to their skewed list of priorities.

Even today, our law and order situation hasn't improved,  Education for all children is not achieved, etc. etc.

Let me narrate my personal experience in the past fortnight in my attempt to  apply for Aadhaar card, when I find time.

What I mean to say is that our Government Administrations at the Centre and here at the State level are no better. There was one exception which people with right sense of mind would easily spot: Tamilnadu Governance under the leadership of Shri M G Ramachandran many years back.  This was a golden period with least corruption and other evils.

Teacher Fest

Today is an auspicious day in the Hindu calender. It is the birth anniversary of Veda Vyaasaa,  an incarnation of Shree Mahaa Vishnu. I'll try to provide relevant links when I use my computer (the operating system of which crashed).

As I am writing this post, I have the pleasure of viewing a fabulously interesting TV programme on how Governments in countries such Singapore and Taiwan popularise cycling.  I think that policy makers in our country should learn lessons from such programmes and implement them here as well.

In this post, I am glad to share a recent photo of my good friend Jose, about whom I have mentioned in earlier posts. 

Divine Marriage

As I write this post, I have the joy of viewing the divine marriage of Shree Raama with Shree Seethaa Devi at the famous Bhadraachalam temple, thanks to Bhakthi TV channel.  (If my beloved mother were alive, she would have derived the joy of viewing the program).

An oasis in the TV media desert

Any sensible person knows that most of our TV programs are meaningless.

One of my most favourite TV channels is Tokyo based NHK. This morning I had the pleasure of viewing an interesting program known as 'FIRST CLASS'  on this channel. It involved a Stanford University professor and a few students. The professor was involving students into identification of problems and finding out meaningful and cost effective solutions.

The program took me down the memory lane to all my students and colleagues in different countries toward a common goal: Need based innovation and Quality education.

(I have mentioned about my experiences in my earlier posts).

Today we see that children don't listen to their parents, teachers and elders. Well, this used be the case when we were young too. 

When men of my age were of school going age, in most households mothers used to be religious whereas fathers were busy in going to work, going to the bank and shouldering other home related administrative responsibilities. 

In general, boys used to emulate fathers more than mothers, when it came to attitudes and behaviour. I was no exception.     

I think that if I had developed spiritual interest like my mother, I would not have come across many difficulties in life. For example, if I had done Sandhyaa Vandanam every day immediately after my Upanayanam, I would not have got into a wrong marriage in 1982. This would have made my life and thereby my parents' lives, happier.

Similarly if I had listened to my father and took English Literature as my main subject in my first degree, I would have done my master's and probably Ph D and helped many students excel in the language (My father used to be proud of my English language skills). But as memorisation was very important in first degree exams in English Literature in those days, I dreaded taking up English Literature. (Even today in most Universities in India, English Literature and not English Language Teaching is offered as Main Subject at the first degree level).

As a Sanskrit verse says, mother, father, teacher and guest should be treated like God.

Divine Solace to a depressed mind

As I write this post, I am experiencing the Joy of viewing Shree Lakshmi Nrusimha Sahasra Naama (Thousand Names of Shree Lakshmi Nrusimha) paaraayana congregation in Bangalore via Sankara TV channel. It is a solace to my depressed mind with nearly a month having gone by since my beloved mother passed away.

In previous posts, I have mentioned about Shree Ganapathi Satchitananda Swamy; he founded and runs the Avadhoota Datta Peetham. Today is celebrated as the 75th birthday of this great spiritual master. The swamy's 3.5 square metres book 'Bhagavath Geetha' (meaning 'God's Song') in 18 languages entered Guinness Book of World Records today.

A few years back he organised a one crore Hanumantha Japa congregation in Andhra Pradesh. This service too got recognised in Guinness Book of World Records.

Had my beloved mother been alive today, she would have seen the proceedings on Bhakti TV and would have experienced the joy. (I inherit my interest in religious aspects from my beloved mother).

Reema Lagoo

Heartfelt condolences to the family members of talented actress Reema Lagoo who passed away before dawn this morning. As far as I have known, she was one of the few dignified artistes such as Satish Shaw, Mohan Ghokale, Om Puri, Jaspal Bhatti and Mrs Jaspal Bhatti. I think that her TV comedy serials such as 'Thoo thoo mein mein' will be remembered by people for years to come.