Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je

Courtesy for meaning: http://sufferingsocrates.blogspot.com/

This song represents, in my opinion, the whole purpose of man's existence. This is my favorite.




Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je
[One who is a vaishnav]
PeeD paraayi jaaNe re
[Knows the pain of others]
Par-dukhkhe upkaar kare toye
[Does good to others, esp. to those ones who are in misery]
Man abhimaan na aaNe re
[Does not let pride enter his mind]
Vaishnav...

SakaL lok maan sahune vande
[A Vaishnav, Tolerates and praises the the entire world]
Nindaa na kare keni re
[Does not say bad things about anyone]
Vaach kaachh man nishchaL raakhe
[Keeps his/her words, actions and thoughts pure]
Dhan-dhan janani teni re
[O Vaishnav, your mother is blessed (dhanya-dhanya)]

Vaishnav...

Sam-drishti ne trishna tyaagi
[A Vaishnav sees everything equally, rejects greed and avarice]
Par-stree jene maat re
[Considers some one else's wife/daughter as his mother]
Jivha thaki asatya na bole
[The toungue may get tired, but will never speak lies]
Par-dhan nav jhaalee haath re
[Does not even touch someone else's property]
Vaishnav...

Moh-maaya vyaape nahi jene
[A Vaishnav does not succumb to worldly attachments]
DriDh vairaagya jena man maan re
[Who has devoted himself to staunch detachment to worldly pleasures]
Ram naam shoon taaLi laagi
[Who has been edicted to the elixir coming by the name of Ram]
SakaL tirath tena tan maan re
[For whom all the religious sites are in the mind]
Vaishnav...

VaN-lobhi ne kapaT-rahit chhe
[Who has no greed and deciet]
Kaam-krodh nivaarya re
[Who has renounced lust of all types and anger]
BhaNe Narsaiyyo tenun darshan karta
[The poet Narsi will like to see such a person]
KuL ekoter taarya re
[By who's virtue, the entire family gets salvation]
Vaishnav...

Religion of Terrorism

In the recent past many bomb attacks happened on our society. Some are associating these attacks to a particular sect of people. This article is only to explore more on this front.

Let’s first list out all major attacks in the last decade or so:

12-Mar-1993 / Mumbai, Maharastra: 13 serial bombs exploded killing 200+ people. As Mr. Mayya the then CEO of Bombay Stock Exchange put it, “There was blood everywhere and people were rushing to get out.”

24-Sep-2002 / Akshardhaam Temple, Gujarat: 33 people were killed and 100 wounded. Required the then Deputy Prime Minister to send Black Cats to strategically kill the attackers.

11-Jul-2006 / Mumbai, Maharashtra: 174 passengers killed and 300 injured in a series of seven blasts in Mumbai railways.

While our judicial system is yet to identify and punish all culprits of these blasts (Mumbai blast being an exception), an average Indian has started looking at a specific sect of people with suspicion. The general belief is that a particular sect is behind all terror attacks in India. This further leads the common man to believe that this sect under question is the cause of all problems of this country.

This is indeed not so. Let’s now turn our eyes to other attacks.

21-May-1991 / Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu: Members of LTTE kill our former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

01-Oct-2003 / Alipiri, Andra Pradesh: Naxals attack on Andra Pradesh’s former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and couple of his ministers.

14-Oct-2005 / Mangalore, Karnataka: Anti-Rowdy Squad (ARS) arrested three persons for allegedly supplying arms to Naxals in Andra Pradesh. Two of the arrested were identified as B Venkatareddy and Mohammed Sayyad.

Added to this list is the recent Malegaon blast. Court alone will decide whether a Hindu Monk was involved in this act. But criminals being prosecuted belong to a majority religion.

Is it now easier to pin point at one sect of people for the terror attacks? No, isn’t it? It is difficult and senseless to do so. It is meaningless also, because the problem lies elsewhere.

If we try to thread these attacks, we can form a new religion, the Religion of Terrorism. This religion of terrorism has some concepts (like the famous Hindi saying: Choron ke bhee wasool hote hain – even the thieves have principles):

1. A Cause – Every terrorist outfit has a cause it firmly believes in. At Any Cost – terrorists are ready to achieve their goal at any cost. Their level of commitment is highest and driven by goal in mind.
2. Be Organized - Individual attempts can only lead to pick pockets. Anything beyond pick pocketing needs organized skills. A terrorist need not have to be good in all skill sets. Right people fit in right place.
3. Funding – Here lies the source. There are people – either having firm belief in the cause or out of personal interest – who are willing to share their personal wealth for such causes. It is important to shut these resources than beating around the bush.

The roots of this problem of terrorism are right in our mind set. I will now put little efforts in listing out few of the root causes:

1. Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence:

Circle of Concern defines the amount of concern we have. For example, a father's circle of concern will ideally be his family. Village Head's circle of concern will typically be his village. But there are people like, Mahatma Gandhi (who is another name of non-violence) and Guruji Golwalkar (who saw universal peace through upliftment of cultural values in Indians) circle of concern goes beyond such boundaries. Circle of Influence defines how much of influence a person has. For example, Mahatma Gandhi's Circle of Influence went slightly beyond the Indian borders and touched western countries too. Alas! most of us not concerned about others, but we wish to influence others. Hence our circle of concern is much smaller than our circle of influence.

Stephen Covey states in his famous book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” that we should try to maintain our circle of concern at least as big as our circle of influence. Unfortunately, in the several decades of Indian polity, every one is trying to minimize their circle of concern while going out of their way in increasing circle of influence. No one seems to mind it. I will put it this way: elected politicians are not “concerned” about the people who vote them. They just want these people to remain under the politician’s influence for the sake of vote.

I call upon you to increase your circle of concern.Be concerned about your self, family, neighborhood, city, state, country and finally the whole universe. Be concerned about not just the human beings but also about the street dogs, the wild life, trees, etc. This is sure way to lead a meaningful life. You will soon see "connectedness" with the universe.

2. Freedom v/s Independence:

What do you call “15^th August 1947” as? The day we became freedom? Yes? Think twice. There is subtle but very critical difference between Freedom and Independence. For example, think of traffic at cross roads. An unmanned traffic with no control during peak hours is what I call freedom. Everyone is free to move in any direction of his/her choice. There is no one to ask or control. While people might look happy about this “free” traffic, happiness might not last long! This certainly leads to traffic jams and chaos. Sometimes, freedom, if not controlled, can lead to such chaos.

Now, think of a traffic control system developed by the same vehicle users. There will be couple of lights, signals, policemen and guides. Everyone gets to pass through the crossroad without the traffic jam and chaos. This is what I call independence – the shared responsibility of all men and women to bring governance for the welfare of all.

3. Duty v/s Right

We talk about our right to be educated by parents and our right to live an unquestioned life style. What about our duties?

Last week end I had an opportunity to meet former Chief Justice of India Rama Jois. What a well read and humble man he is! He quoted some slokas (script-lets) from Manu Smriti that state difference between “right” and “duty”. For example, it is not right of children to get good education from parents but it is the duty of parents to provide good education. It is not the right of parents at old age to get good service from grown up children but it is the duty of grown up children to look after parents. If it is the right of the citizens to get governance then it is also the duty of citizens to contribute to good governance. Mind you, paying tax is not the only part of duty! Question is: would you pay the tax if you are left alone without any income tax rules or without deduction-at-source? The difference between “right” and “duty” is: “duty” comes from selfishness of serving others where as “right” has residue of selfishness.

When educated minds do not spend time in learning, sharing, and practicing against the religion of terrorism, terrorism will not start to diminish. Let's open dialogs with friends across religions. Wake up, my brothers and sister! Get ready and act, before it is too late, before your next generation blames you for your cowardliness!!

We have to build a peaceful society. There is no choice! As I end this article, my lips speak out these words:

I dream of red rose, not of red blood

I dream of musical ballet, not of mindless bullet

I dream a vision for mankind, not aversion from mankind

I dream of joy for everyone, not of grief for anyone

I dream of fantastic mind, not a fanatic thought

I dream and I dream and I dream of a beautiful world

for their is no beauty without peace and harmony!

Vanavasi Kalyan

Vanavasis (Forest Dwellers), as the name goes, live in forest areas away from the rural civilization. These tribals do not have access to basic infrastructure facilities like, at least one doctor or teacher per tribal area. Concepts like education are far from dream for these folks. Similarly, facilities like roads, electricity, drinking water are also not provided. Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (VKK) is a NGO working for the good of these tribals. VKK is a group of educated and dedicated personnel from various walks of life. Some of the activities taken up by VKK are:
1. Ekal Vidyalay: at least one teacher school per tribal village
2. At least one doctor per tribal village
3. Hostels for boys and girls to facilitate education in rural areas
4. Self-Help Groups for upliftment of economy amongst women
5. Vocational trainings, like cloth stitching, to empower social economy
The list grows endless. To cover it one statement: Vanavasi Kalyan works towards all round development of tribal areas.

Vanavasi Kalyan (VKK) activities are now spread across 5 of the 15 vanavasi populated districts in Karnataka and initiated in 3 districts. VKK has the vision to reach other districts as well as penetrate more in the active 5 districts. It is no easy job considering the lack of infrastructure connectivity in these areas and the lack of awareness amongst these tribals.

Following one-liners are only a tip of iceberg in the stock of Vanavasi Kalyan success stories:
1. Five of the tribal girls are now studying in colleges (a positive spin considering that none of the children attended schools just two decades back!)
2. A group of Self-Help Group women could drive away liquor shops - thus directing men's earning towards betterment of family and society.
3. Libaram (from Ahari tribe of Rajasthan), a three time Olympian with world record and gold medal winner in Beijing Asian Championship, is a product of Vanavasi Kalyan activities.
4. 71 tribals are getting trained by Sports Authority of India is a result of of Vanavasi Kalyan activities.

VKK is looking for philanthropic personnel like you to sponsor one/more of the following:
1. Yearly primary education expenses of a child (Rs. 2,000)
2. Yearly High School education expenses of a child (Rs. 3,000)
3. Yearly College education expenses of a child (Rs. 6,000)
4. Yearly honorarium of a full time worker (Rs. 18,000)
5. One Month honorarium of a full time worker (Rs. 1,500)
6. One Sewing Machine (Rs. 4,000)
7. Yearly expenses of a library (Rs. 10,000)

Please visit http://www.vanavasikalyan.org for more details.

Also, please call us at following numbers and we will be happy to answer your queries:
1. Venkatesh Nayak -- 94800 75149 -- nayakvenkat@gmail.com
2. Dr. Suresh Babu -- 98445 74436 -- suresh_babu@hotmail.com
3. Balasubramanya -- 98445 94422 -- baali.bgudi@gmail.com

Request you to sponsor these activities to help the tribal folks. Your help will go a long way in bringing education and facilities to these forgotten brethren. Looking forward to hear from you.