A tour of Sringeri and Kollur - 2003

Some years ago my family and I went on a tour of Sringeri and Kollur among other places.

We stayed in the rooms provided at the Mutt. The next day I went to the telephone booth to make an STD call. The man at the booth was a decent middle aged guy and was quite friendly enquiring about my tour plans. Suddenly he said "stay at our Mutt at kollur". "Tell the manager there 'so and so' has sent you", and he scribbled something at the back of the phone bill and gave it to me. I accepted it and just slipped in the side pockets of my bag.

I really did not give it any second thought as my idea was to stay at any one of the innumerable places that normally dot a pilgrim centre. And there was no dearth of them. Or so i thought.

I enquired about buses to Kollur from Sringeri. There was only one mini-bus starting at 8am and it came with passengers from a place a few kms away from the Mutt. But I was assured by locals that normally seats were available and for three of us...it was no big deal.

So next morning a minibus drove in and to our shock - all the seats were occupied. The bus stopped and nobody got down. I enquired with the driver if he could somehow manage to take us. He said that unfortunately the bus was full that day and he had just stopped to load some goods. I was in a terrible fix as my entire tour schedule could go haywire.

Looking helpless and at my wits end I sent out a silent prayer. Suddenly the three men sitting in the front row got down and left the place almost in some sort of hurry. The others in the minibus who were watching our plight were urging us to get in and occupy the seats. I was not so sure. I was worried they might come back and claim their seats. And then there would be the bigger problem of saving my face in front of so many strangers.

Meanwhile the driver came back and enquired what was the matter. He said there is no time and asked us to get in. Also the loading of goods were postponed o the next day as there was some problem in their packing.

The rest of the trip was just beautiful amidst the ghats and hills ....full of greenery and matching weather. We forgot everything and reached Kollur in a few hours.

Once there we were shocked to see a huge crowd of devotees everywhere. We were told that being a full moon day there was some festival. I enquired for accommodation in a few hotels, only to be told that all hotels were full and were being rented out at premium rates. I was again in a dilemma.

Just then i saw the Sringeri Mutt board. Immediately I remembered the slip the man at the telephone booth had given me. I still had no hopes of getting a room at the mutt. However my wife urged me to make a try. I went to the gate and the manager himself was there. He told me no rooms were available.

I told him I knew that but that we had been sent by this person and showed him the slip. Immediately he invited us in and gave us a very good room at the fixed rate which was very nominal. We thanked God for this unexpected development.

So the two problems solved, I was in a particular hurry to thank Mookambika Devi. So we rushed to the temple immediately after a quick wash. Luckily the crowd was moderate at 430pm. We finished the Dharshan and were coming out. I suddenly had another desire to thank the Godess once again. We were standing ouside the sanctum sanctorum. The entrance was filled with devotees and I could not see the deity clearly. I closed my eyes and prayed that She grant me another Darshan. As soon as I opened my eyes there was just no crowd at the entrance and we all had a clear dharshan of the Goddess.....just for a minute and then again it was fully crowded.

My wife then commented about the sudden disappearance of the crowd in front of the Goddess. I revealed to her about my deep prayer to the Devi for HerDharshan.

I always remember this trip with gratitude to Mother Mookambika Devi.

Eliminate the root cause of discontent leading to terror

Let us not forget the root cause of terror lies within us - Indians. We do very little in terms of action, other than paying lip-sympathy to the grave problems plaguing our daily lives in the form of the terrible corruption and the abysmal lack of integrity in all walks of life.

When a disaster strikes these glaring shortcomings stand out and cry for solutions. Let us first do some serious introspection before pointing fingers at anyone, for it is all our weaknesses together that allowed these tragic things to happen.

Let us be bold enough to face facts and call a-spade-a-spade and be aware that the faults lie within us. We need to go in for some radical reform in our mindsets to rid ourselves of this scourge.

Please let us first of all eliminate the root cause of terror viz., discontent leading to unlawful and undesirable activities.

Secondly, the spiritual base of Bharat has degenerated into religious anarchy and unholy confrontations with the confusing concept of secularism.

Thirdly, we, the people of India, are going through a crisis of character who no longer have faith in or prefer to live by the great human values of integrity and honesty in our day to day life.

Lastly, let us follow all our good intentions to their logical end.

End all kinds of discrimination imaginary and real which are perfect grounds for the breeding of terror and violence.

1.)End all discrimination based on caste, religion, gender and region. We are one people united against all divisions. Make economic criteria the only discriminatory/deciding factor in lieu of all the others.

2.)Bring about transparency in governance making corruption very costly at all levels. Make all information available on the internet to everyone. Make everyone holding responsible positions in government accountable.

3.)Build and establish independent institutions on the lines of the election commission and particularly this applies to the police and investigation agencies.

4.)Let Citizens Committees be formed to act as watch dogs and also vetting good candidates for elections to all governing bodies. This will encourage good public spirited people to enter politics. Let candidates be selected bottom-up rather than imposed top-down.

5.)Change to a Presidential form of government with suitable modifications to suit specific Indian conditions. This will free the President/PM to appoint really capable and proven people to ministerships instead of incompetent politicians. We must encourage professionalism at all levels.

6.)The justice system needs to be completely overhauled. It is very pathetic right from the inhumanised police station constables to the inexorable delays in getting justice for the people. Also the police and armed forces need to be equipped with the state-of-the-art weaponry.

7.) Make the same law applicable to every citizen irrespective of all considerations and make this visible to everyone.

8.)Do away with all reservations and make merit the only consideration for any decision making. Make scarcity a thing of the past and strengthen the supply side of anything required by the people.Let good educational institutions from primary school level (and managed free from political influence) be established and accounted for efficiency and proficiency.

9.)Take steps to prevent exploitation of the disadvantaged and the poor through any form of activities be they religious conversions or sheer political exigencies.

!0.) Make existing democratic institutions stronger and establish them on a firmer foundation as responsible self-regulating organisations/mechanisms.

11.) Make education along with the cost of living of a single child completely free. This will be an incentive to have only one-child families and have an impact on population growth in a positive manner without any coercion.

12.) The electoral system must be changed so that candidates can be approved as well as disapproved. Thus a winning candidate will be truly representative of the electorate.

A vexing problem of an old debt

Recently my friend Baldev Singh came running to me excitedly and in deep shock over a lawyer's notice received from a family in his native town Bhatinda in the Punjab.

Infact this family who are distantly related to my friend allege that one of their ancestors had lent a rupee at 4 percent interest per annum to my friend's ancestor when he was particularly going through great financial difficulties.

By the way a rupee in the good old days went far.

This family had chanced upon the document - a copper plate with details of this loan engraved on it during a recent excavation conducted by the Geological Survey of India which unearthed many facts of a bygone era around the time of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The court finally passed orders that the loan with interest can be recovered from the descendants of the borrower.The court was satisfied that the copper foil document was authentic and it did indeed belong to my friend's ancestor conclusively proving that he (my friend's ancestor) had indeed borrowed that one rupee.

The interest was to be calculated from 25th Dec., 0000 AD to 19th April 2006 AD @ 4%pa on Rupee one - the amount of loan. So the court decided to avoid all ambiguity.

Well... he asked for my advice. I told him that he must pay and settle this issue once and and for all and maintain amicable relations with his community in Bathinda.

Do you think that what I had advised him was correct.Being a little weak in maths he asked me how much should he pay!? I had never passed maths beyond high school in my life. Can you please let me know how much it amounts to?

Please do not bother if you do not know as I do not want to embarass you.

I shall however keep you informed of further developments in the case..only if you are interested. In any case let me know.

My friend has a lot of antique gold coins valued at Rs 1000 per gram.He is willing to settle this debt in gold. How many gold coins should he give in payment?

My friend, Sardar Baldev Singh says he is willing to pay even if it costs the earth (in gold!!) to safeguard his and his family's honour and reputation.

I jokingly told him that the earth weighs 5.9742*10^24 kgs.

However my light hearted remark seemed to fall flat as he deeply engrossed himself on the next course of action i.e., the correct amount to be paid back.

Do you think he will succeed in repaying the amount? I look forward to your suggestions.

Well, Baldev was fortunate in that he had other good friends. And he was advised by a business friend ( who went to school with him) that it would amount to a few lakhs of rupees at the utmost. Baldev came back to me a little dazed after hearing this amount .

I immediately got in touch with a famous financial expert who advises top Govt of India Institutions on very complicated and sensitive financial issues.

After an hour's effort he was nowhere near solving this problem; but he was kind enough not only in honestly expressing his inability to help us in this matter but was also generous in giving us a recommendation letter to a distinguished mathematician.

When we reached him at his residence in a hill station he had just woken up from a leisurely siesta and relaxing on his easy chair. He looked perfectly fit and in good health for his 70 years.
He welcomed us heartily (his cheerfulness perhaps explained his good health) and after the usual preliminary enquiries and introductions we broached our problem to him.

He laughed at our "troubles" and made fun of us to get agitated over so simple a matter. He recounted some really serious problems he had encountered while in service. He was in no hurry to solve our problem. He assured us of his help while tea was being served and we let it at that while we listened with awe to some of his exploits that involved mind boggling maths.

He asked his maid to get the computer up and going. He proudly said that she was an MSc in maths. We were impressed.

The calculations followed briskly making us gasp. We could never imagine a genius lived in iur midst. What followed was terribly shocking. Baldev can never in his dream pay the debt of his ancestor. Why? the calculations below gives you the answer.

(((1.04)^2006.313569282)/1000000)/(5.9742*10^24) = 2500 globes ... the actual size of the earth in weight and made of gold.

The End

Education as it is today

"All that is essential for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing". Edmunde Burke

Everyone talks of education, how it is so important and so on for a developed society. But even though everyone talks so concernedly about it are we really furthering the cause of education? I think here we fail to make one important distinction, that is between literacy and education. Today the schools and colleges just turn out hundreds of literates most of them "uneducated".

The graduates from all these institutions are hardly equipped with any life skills. They can not cope with many of the situations life throws at them ... being more or less babes in the wood.

I feel that primary education must equip every individual with the skills of proper expression, thinking, drawing, calculating and writing. The curriculum must include speaking, singing, playing, dancing and acting. Infuse in the young minds a love for nature and the fine arts. Life can be made blooming beautiful, full of hope and promise only if we aspire for it. Children must be inculcated with faith and love for the truth.The young students must be imbued with ethical values and universal principles.... develop confidence and faith in themselves.

There should be no examinations of any kind other than informal ways to check whether the children are learning what they are taught. This way they do not miss out on their wonderful childhood and grow up into healthy human beings. The examinations must be administered only from the 9th std/class when children turn 14 years and serious studies must begin only at this age.

All these are missing in today's educational centres ... though there is no dearth of so called 'centres of excellence'. It is all about marks and certificates rather than knowledge and skills.

Our priorities seem to have gone horribly haywire ... and the worst part - the people who seem really worried about this seem to be in a helpless miniscule minority.

It is nothing strange for like in every other field of human activity education today has lost its meaning in its mad rush for the fleeting and insignificant things of life. The society and the teachers have failed each other.

I remember my teacher often said "the society creates the criminal and pays for the crime".

Let us be optimistic that the wheel of time will ensure that once again a time will come when all these disturbing trends shall be reversed for good.

Reservation in educational institutions:

Education or sophisticated literacy - whatever else you may call it - must be available to everyone irrespective of any considerations. Towards this end the Government must find solutions to meet the demand for quality education through opening of more such Instutions. Instead the politicians are taking the country for a ride along caste and communal lines. They keep endlessly reiterating their resolve to once-and-for-all end the retrograde caste system ... and promote a 'secular' state, while all the time they keep these divisions (along caste and communal lines) in our society alive ... with the tacit support of a very selfish people who are too willing to be taken for a ride (which is also free). Can we blame the politicians alone for all this?

The solution:
Let us be aware that these politicians are our servants. They have no right abrogate to themselves the role of masters... which the people out of laziness and selfishness have willingly conceded to them. It is time to wake up. Mere complaining will not do. NGO's must be formed to create awareness and take up public projects that further common public interests. Unless such leadership is forthcoming everything will be talk, talk and talk of which Indians are best known for and NO action. Let us start with opening really good schools for the poor. Poverty is the greatest enemy of mankind. It is mostly poverty that breeds all other vices in society.

Let us evolve as a first step NGO's that take up projects for training and employment. People from all walks of life, who are well-off and also skilled must contribute atleast 4 hrs of free selfless service every week (I have outlined a plan below) as a group and ameliorate our social conditions and endeavour to bring about a just society improving our "Gross National Happiness" as in Bhutan. Action must be our watch word.

The lessons from Goa elections

The counting of votes was completed yesterday after the elections were held on Sat. June 2nd.

As usual like in recent years it was a near hung assembly. With only 40 seats this seems to have become an endemic problem that cannot be solved unless the electoral system is reformed.

But what is the solution ... that will be acceptable to everyone?

I have been reading about 'single transferable vote' and working out hypothetical cases whether this will suit Indian conditions.
Ref: http://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/es/esd/esd02/esd02d
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote
http://www.compulink.co.uk/~rosenstiel/stvrules/index.htm
http://www.youthstart.org/STV/
My preliminary impressions are this system too fails to take into account the wishes of "ALL" people.

I often wonder how the electorate of any constituency can re-elect a person who is well known to be corrupt and unreliable. It really beats me!! Could this be due to faulty electoral system or is it that the people want to commit harakiri? I would rather believe it is the former and hence my efforts to devise a truly representative polling system.

The politicians are supposed to be the servants of the people and they serve the society particularly when elected to hold office. Instead it has become reversed ... people elect these politicians as their masters and have no say at all in running their lives.

May be as a first step we need to grade candidates on similar lines given in http://www.rd.com/gradethecandidates.do...

A Unique Community Betterment and Social Welfare Project

A Unique Community Betterment and Social Welfare Project through "Local Exchange Trading systems" with the following characteristics and rules.

And the motto: "Be the change you want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi

1.Members join by paying a minimum amount which will be credited to their accounts with the NGO. This amount will enable them to trade to the extent of their credit in their accounts.

2.This amount can be increased with more contributions into their accounts by the members. No amounts so deposited are withdrawable by cash at any time till maturity period is completed.

3.The amounts are returnable without any interest after the end of a fixed or specified term or on the happenning of a specific event.

4.If so desired these amounts can also be in the form of donations or contributions to a specific or otherwise Corpus Fund of the NGO in which case the only difference is they are not returnable to the donor at any time.

5.A simple and appropriate private banking system may be devised to record all transactions between the members by the issue of cheques or local currency of specified denominations or a smart card or by any other means that is cost effective and efficient.

6.All members rendering service are credited with (say) "Volunteer Credits" which they can redeem by buying products marketed by the intended beneficiaries thus boosting their well-being. The beneficiaries may become members without any deposit or contribution.

7.These beneficiaries in turn can use their "Volunteer Credits" so earned by them (from the voluntary members in exchange for services and products) for transacting in services and products between themselves thereby leading to more creative employment amongst them.

8.Each such community shall endeavour to be holistic by having optimum number of members so as to represent all shades and categories of products and services. There can be several more of such separate economic communities so that each one of them develops self reliance and full employment potential. Trading between communities can also be facilitated at a later period.

9.This will develop a more co-operative spirit and goodwill among members of the community unlike today's conventional currency system which promotes stressful competition among the people with all its attendant evils.

10.The returns from investments of funds received through deposits and contributions (or donations) into the corpus will be credited to the NGO's account, (just like if it were any other individual member), for spending in ongoing community betterment activities. The actual amount of returns will be added to the corpus fund and reinvested.

Note: 1.For further information please look up "Community Currencies" and also 'LETS' or 'Local Exchange/Energy Trading Systems' using any search engine (say) Google or Yahoo or Clusty.

2. Each volunteer must be willing to contribute (say) atleast 4 hrs of selfless service per week on an average.

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change!! - Wayne Dyer

Vedanta - Ultimate in Spirituality

Vedanta talks only about the Self. It is beyond religions and occupies the vast higher space of spirituality. It discusses the Universal Consciousness and how to attain it. I particularly refer to Advaita Vedanta. This great Science of Spirituality is fascinating. One can get a very good understanding of the subject through a lot of reading and reflection .... and the latter is an absolute must to the serious spiritual seeker.

One can read the works of Adi Shankaracharya, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj and many other great souls like Swami Chinmayananda ... to just name a few great realized masters.

Remember that all religions are essentially the same. It is when some overzealous converts who fail in their over enthusiasm to recognize the obvious unity underlying all religions cause misunderstandings and problems to arise.

In this context it would be appropriate to add conversions of any kind related to one's faith arises when this essential understanding is missing. Also efforts made in this direction only shows the underlying level of ignorance in understanding their own religions. What we need to do now is to transcend to the higher realm of Spirituality from the narrow suffocating confines of religion.

Fanaticism and dogmatism are no longer viable in any sphere of thinking.... whether science, humanities or religion. Nothing is clearcut into black and and white. Between these two extremes lies a huge grey area. This grey area need not be disturbing as this provides the opportunity for limitless creativity.
Continued.....