Yajur Vedi Avani Avittam for the year 2009*
Avani Avittam 5-8-2009(Wednesday)
1.Yagnopa veetha dharana manthra
( Manthra for wearing Poonal)
a.Aachamanam:Shuklaam Bharadharam………. Santhaye
b.Om Bhoo…………..Bhoorbhavaswarom
c.Mamo partha samastha duritha kshya dwara sri paameshwara preethyartham
Sroutha smartha vihitha sadachara nithya karmaanushtanaa yogyatha sidhyartham brhma teja abhivrudyartham yagnopaveetha dharanam karishye.
d.Yagnopaveetha dharana maha manthrasya
Parabrhma rishi(Touch forehead)
Trushtup chanda (touch below nose)
Paramathma devatha (touch heart)
e.Yagnopaveetha dharane viniyoga
Wear Poonal one by one by reciting(poonal should be held by both hands, the tie in the poonal being held above by the right hand facing upwards)
Yagnopaveetham paramam pavithram praja pathe,
Yat sahajam purasthad aayushyam
Agriyam prathi muncha shubram yagnopaveetham balamasthu theja.
f.After wearing all poonals one by one do Aachamanam
g.Remove the old poonals and break them to pieces by reciting
Upaveetham bhinna thanthum jeernam kasmala dooshitham, visrujami jale punarbrahman varcho deergayurasthu me.
h.Do aachamanam.
Summary meaning: I wear the white yagnopavitha that is purifying , which was born along with brahma, which is capable of increasing life .I am sure this would give glory and strength to me.I am destroying the dirty , soiled yasgnopavita .
2.Kamo karshet Japam (5-8-2009 morning)
a.Aaachamanam:Shuklaam Bharadharam…….Santhaye
b.Om Bhoo
c.Mamo partha--- Preethyartham
Tadeva lagnam sudhinam tadaiva, tharaa balam chandra balam thadaiva , vidhya balam daiva balam tadaiva, Sri Lakshmi pathe aangriyugam smaramaami
Apavithra pavithro vaa sarvaavasthaam gathopi vaa , ya smareth pundari kaksham, sabahyanthara suchi , manasam vaachikam paapam , karmanaa
Samuparjitham, sri Rama smaranenaiva vyopahathi na samsaya .Sree rama Rama
Tidhir Vishnu, Tatha vaara, nakshatram Vishnu reva cha
Yogascha karanam chaiva sarvam Vishnu mayam Jagat ,
Sri Govinda , Govinda, Govinda
Aadhya sri bagavatha mahaa purushasya Vishnor Agnaya , Pravarthamanasya , Aadhya brhmana , dweethiya parardhe, swetha varaha kalpe, , Vaivaswatha manvanthare, ashta vimsathi thame, kali yuge, prathame padhe, Jamboo dweepe, Bharatha varshe , Bharatha kande, Mero dakshine parswe. Asmin varthamane , vyavaharike prabhavaadheenam sashti samvatsaranaam madhye , Virodhi nama samvatsare, Dakshinaayane, Greeshma rithou, kataka mase, shukla pakshe, aadhya pournamasyam shubha thidou, Soumya vasara yukthayam, Uthrashada** nakshatra yukthayam, shubhayoga, shubha karana evam guna, viseshana visishtaayam, asyam pournamaasyam shubha thidou, taishyaam pournamaasyam* adhyot sarjana akarana praayaschithartham , samvatsara praayaschithartham, cha ashtothara satha samkhyaa “kamo karsheth manyura karsheth” ithi maha manthra japam karishye.
d.Then chant “Kamo karsheth manyura karsheth namo nama” 108 times
e.Afterwards perform Aachamana and say”Kama manyu upastham karishye” , Om tat sat brahmaarpanam asthu.
*Pournami is for the whole day ** Uthrashada Nakshatra is up to 10.45 AM IST on 5/8/2009 according to the Panchanga.If in any country , you are performing the japam after that change Uthrashada to Sravana nakshtra yukthayam.This would be for example applicable in many parts of USA.This is also applicable to mantras of Maha Sankalpam given below.
Summary meaning:The Brahmin first prays God that the time of doing whatever it may be should become holy and this he is sure is achieved by prayer to God.Then he tells when he is doing this japa, for example which year, which season, which day and so on.And he says that this japa is being done as a repentance for his not perfornming various religious duties during the year that he ought to have performed.The main manthra is a prayer to pardon the lapses which were due to Kama(passion) krodha(anger) and lopa(avarice)
3.Maha Samkalpam
(5-8-2009 after Madhyaanikam and Brahma yagnam*)
a.Aachamanam
b.Shuklam baradharam……..
c.Om bhoo
d.Maha samkalpam
Apavithra pavithro vaa sarvaavasthaam gathopi vaa , ya smareth pundari kaksham, sabahyanthara suchi , manasam vaachikam paapam , karmanaa
Samuparjitham, sri Rama smaranenaiva vyopahathi na samsaya .Sree rama Rama rama
Tidhir Vishnu, Tatha vaara, nakshatram Vishnu reva cha
Yogascha karanam chaiva sarvam Vishnu mayam Jagat ,
Sri Govinda , Govinda, Govinda
Aadya sri bhagawatha, Aadi vishno, Aadinarayanasya achinthyaya , aparimithaya, sakthyaa, briyamaanasya, mahaa jaloughasya madhye,
paribrhamatham aneka koti brhmaandanam madhye, eka thame, prithya aptejo vayvakaasaa ahankaradhi -mahada vyakthai-aavaranair- aavruthe- asmin mahathi bramanda-karandaka-madhye aadhara sakthi –koormaa nandathi ashta diggajopari prathishtithasya , athala-vithala-suthala-rasaathala-thalaa thala-mahaathala-pathalakyai loka sapthakasya upari thale, punya kruthaam nivaasabhuthe bhoor –bhuvar-suvar-mahar-janarr-thapa-satyaakhyai loka shatkasya adho bhage mahaa nalayamana phani raja seshasya sahasra phanaa mani mandala mandithe, dighdanthi-shunda dhanda-uttambhithe, panchasath koti yojana vistheerne, lokaloka –achalena valayithe lavaneshu-sura-sarpi-dhadhi-ksheera-udakaarnavischa parivruthe, jambhu-plaksha-saka-salmali-kusa-krouncha-pushkarakhya saptha dweepanaam madhye, Jamboo dweepe, Bharatha varshe, bharatha kande, prajaapathi kshetre dandakaaranya-chamapakaaranya-vindhyaaranya-veekshaaranya-vedaaranayaadhi, aneka punya aaranyaanam Madhya pradeshe, karma bhoomou, rama –sethu-kedharayoo madya pradaeshe , Bhaageerathi-Gouthami-Krishna veni-Yamuna-Narmadaa-Thungabadhraa-Triveni-Malaapahaarini-kaveri- ithyadi , aaneka punya nadhi viraajithe, Indraprastha-Yamaprastha-Aavanthikaapuri-Hasthinaapuri-Ayodhyaa puri-Maayaa puri-Kasi puri-Kanchi puri-Dwarakaa aadi aneka punya puree viraajithe Sakala jagat srushta, parardha dwaya jeevana, bramana dweethiya parardhe, Pancha sathabdhou, prathame varshe, prathame mase, prathame pakshe, prathame divasae, aahni, dweethiye yame, trithiye muhurthe, swayambhuva-swarochisha-uthama-thamasa-raivatha-chakshu shakheshu, shatsu manusha atheetheshu, sapthame vaivaswathe manvanthare, aashta vimsathi thame, kali yuge, prathame padhe, Jamboo dweepe, Bharatha varshe , Bharatha kande, Mero dakshine parswe. Asmin varthamane , vyavaharike prabhavaadheenam sashtya samvatsaranaam madhye , Virodhi nama samvatsare, Dakshinaayane, Greeshma rithou, Karkidaga mase, shukla pakshe, aadhya pournamasyam* shubha thidou, Soumya vasara yukthayam, Uthrashada** nakshatra yukthayam, shubhayoga, shubha karana evam guna, viseshana visishtaayam, asyam pournamaasyam* shubha thidou,
anaadhya vidhya pravarthamane asmin mahathi samsara chakre vichitrabhi karma gathibhi vichitrasu yonishu puna puna anekadha janithwa kenapi punya karma viseshena idhaanimthana manushye dwijanma visesham prapthavatho mama jjanmabhyasa jjanama prabruthi ethath kshana paryantham , baalye, vayasi kaumare yowane vaardhake cha jagrath swapna sushupthya avasthamsu mano vak kaya karmendriya jnanendriya vyaparai kama-krodha-lobha-moha-madha-mathsaryaadhi sambhavithaanam iha janmani janmanthare cha jnana ajnana kruthaanam maha pathakanaam mahaa patathakanumanthratwadeenam , samapathakaanaam upapaathakaanaam malini karanaanam nindhitha dhana dhaano upa jeevanaadeenam aapathrikarananaam jathi bramsa karaanam vihitha karma thyaagaaadeenam jnanadha sakruth kruthanaam ajnanatha asakruth kruthaanam sarveeshaam papaanam sadhya aapanodhanartham
aswatha narayana sannidhou-deva brahmana sannidhou-tryaa trimsath koti devathaa sannidhou-sri visaalakshi sametha visweswara swami sannidhou-mahaa ganapathi sannidhou-seetha lakshmana bharatha sathrugna-hanumt samedha sri rama chandra swmai sannidhou-sri rukmani sathyabhama samedha sri gopala Krishna swami sannidhou-hari hara puthra swami sannidhou-sri lakshmi narayana swami sannidhou sraavanyaam pournamasyaam adhyopakrama karma karishye.Thadangam sravanee pournamasi punyakale sareera shudhartam shuddhodhaka snanam aham karishye
Athi krura maha kaya, kalpanthahanopama,
Bairavaya namasthubhyam anujnam dathu marhasi
*Pournami is for the whole day on 5/8/2009 and ** Uthrashada Nakshatra is up to 10.45 AM IST on 5/8/2009 according to the Panchanga.If in any country , you are performing the japam after that change Pournamyam to Prathmayam and Sravana to Sravishta nakshtra yukthayam.This would be for example applicable in many parts of USA..
Summary meaning:Here again apart from locating oneself with reference to time , one locates himself with reference to place also.We are supposed to live in Jambu Dweepa, Bharatha Kanda which is south of the great mountain Maha meru.Then again this Bhasratha Kanda is blessed with many holy rivers and holy places.Then prayer is done to God to pardon sins committed by word, thought and deed, because this was done inspite of his great grace which made us be born as human beings after several wheels of birth.Also the sins performed during several ages in life is highlighted.Some of the sins specifically mentioned are those done while earning money without conscience, giving money to improper people, actions which did not suit the caste we are born in, sins due to non performance of actions which ought to have been done and so on. We pray God and tell him that we would take bath in holy pure water and then start the veda parayanas which is our duty as Brahmin.
4.Yagnopa veetha dharana manthra
After bath again change poonal by reciting manthra as given in s.No.1.Please note that now a days very rarely people take bath after mahaa sankalpam but do prokshana snanam i.e bath by sprikling of water on the head.
5.Kanda Rishi Tharpanam
1,Aachamanam
2,Shklaama baradharam
3.Om bhoo
4.Mamo partha samastha durida kshya dwara sri parameshwata preethyartham sravanyaam pournamaasyam adhyoyapakrama karmangam kanda rishi tharpanam karishye.
Wear poonal as garland and do tharpanam using water mixed with thil (black gingely) and akshatha
Each manthra has to be chanted thrice and tharpanam done.
1.Prajapathim kanda rishim tharpayami
2,Somam kanda rishim tharpayami
3.Agnim kanda rishim tharpayami
4.Viswaan devaan kanda rishim tharpayaami
5.Saahinkeer devatha upanishadha tharpayami
6.Yagnigeer devatha upanishadha tharpayaami
7.Vaaruneer devatha upanishadha tharpayami
8.Brhamanagum swayubhuvam tharpayaami
9.Sadasaspathim tharpayami
wear poonal in the normal fashion and then do aachamana.
Summary meaning:Tharpanam means really satisfying.By this tharpanam we satisfy the rishi(sages) of Soma(moon), Agni(fire), Viswaan devan(all gods looking after earth), etc.
5.Vedarambham
Though these are essential part of Avani avittam , I am not giving this because Vedic manthraas are very diffcult to transliterate in to English and reading them wrongly would be counter productive.
6.Gaayathri japam (6-8-2009)
For Yajur, Rig and Sama Vedis
1.Aachamanam
2,Shuklaam baradharam
3.Om bhoo
4.Mamo partha samastha duritha kshya dwara sri parameshwara preethyartham Tadeva lagnam sudhinam tadaiva, tharaa balam chandra balam thadaiva , vidhya balam daiva balam tadaiva, Sri Lakshmi pathe aangriyugam smaramaami
Apavithra pavithro vaa sarvaavasthaam gathopi vaa , ya smareth pundari kaksham, sabahyanthara suchi , manasam vaachikam paapam , karmanaa
Samuparjitham, sri Rama smaranenaiva vyopahathi na samsaya .Sree rama Rama Shubhe Shobane muhurthe adya Brahmana dwiteeya paradhe , Swetha varaha kalpe, Vaivaswatha Manvanthare, Ashtavimsathi thame , Kali yuge, Prathame pade, Jambhu Dwipe, Bharatha Varshe,Bhartaha Kande, Mero Dakshine Parswe, Sakabdhe, Asmin Varthamane Vyavaharike, Prabhavadhi Sashti Samavathsaranaam Madhye, Virodhi nama Samvathsare , Dakshinayane, Greeshma Rithou, Karkidaga mase Krishna pakshe aadhya prathamaayam* shubha thidou Guru vaasara yukthayaam sravana ** nakshatra yukthaayam shubha yoga shubha karana evam guna viseshana visisishtaayam asyaam prathamaayam shubha thidou mithyaa theetha prayaschittartham ashtothara sahasra samkya gayatri maha manthra japam karishye.
Start from Pravasya Rishi brahma…. followed by aayathith anuvagasya… and then chant the gaythri manthra 1008 times.
Complete with Abhivaadaye and then complete with
Kayena vacha…….
* Prathma is for the whole day from 6.26 AM IST of 6/8/2009
**Sravana is up to 1.42 PM , afterwards Dhanishta Nakshatra
Please compare the time when you are doing japam to IST and do corrections accordingly.
Appendix Brahma Yagnam.
1. Perform Achamanam
2. Face eastern direction and do “Shuklam baradaram….” Followed by pranayamam “om Bhoo…”
3. Mamopartha samastha duritha kshya dwara sri Parameshwara preethyartham Brahma Yagnam karishye. Brahma yagnena Yakshye.
4. Chant and clean the hands with water
Vidhyudasi paapmanam vidhya me paapmanam amruthath Sathya mupaime
And then chant
Om Bhooo tatsa vithurvarenyam
Om Bhuva Bhargo devasya Dheemahi
Ogum suva Dhiyo yona prachodayath
Om Bhooo Tatsa vithurvarenyam Bhargo devasya dheemahi
Om Bhuva Dhiyo yona prachodayath
Ogum Suva Tatsa vithurvarenyam Bhargo devasya Dheemahi Dhiyo yona prachothayath
5. Chant Vedic manthras
Om Agnimeele purohitham Yagnasya Dheva mruthvijam, hotharam Rathna Dhathamam
Om Ishe Twoje Thwa vayavasthapayavastha Devo vassavitha prarpayathu sreshtathamaya karmane
Om Agna Aayahi veethaye grunano havyadathaye, ni hotha sadhsi bharhishi
Om sanno devirabheeshtaya Aapo peethaye sam yorabhisravanthu na
After this recite if possible vedic manthras that you know like Rudram, Chamakam etc
6. Sprinkle water round the head by reciting
Sathyam Thapa sradhayam juhomi
7. Recite three times with folded hands
Om namo brahmane namosthwagnaye nama pruthwyai nama oshadheebhya namo vaache namo vaachaspathaye namo vishnave bruhathe karomi.
8.Clean the hands again with water by reciting “vrushtirasi vruschame paapmanamamruthath sathyamupaaga”
Do aachamanam
8. Chant “shuklam baradaram….”
9. Do Pranayamam, “om Bhoo…”
10. Mamopartha samastha duritha kshaya dwara sri parameshwra preethyartham deva-rishi-pithru tharpanam karishye.
11. Touch water and clean your hands
12. Do deva tharpanam through the tip of fingers
1.Bramodaya ye deva thaan devaan tharpayami
2.Sarvaan devaan tharpayami
3. Sarva deva ganaan tharpayami
4.Sarva deva pathnis tharapayami
5.Sarva deva ganapathnis tharpayami
13, Do rishi tharpanam by wearing yagnopaveetha as garland and pouring out water from the liitle finger
1,Krishna dwaipayanaya ye rishaya thaan rishin tharpayami
2. Sarvaan risheen tharpayami
3.Sarva rishi ganaan tharpayami
4. Sarve rishi pathnis tharpayami
5,Sarva rishi gana pathnistharpayami
6. Prajapathim kanda rishim tharpayami
7. Somam kanda rishim tharpayami
8. Agnim kanda rishim tharpayami
Put the Yagnopaveetham in normal fashion and pour water from the tips of fingers
9. Viswan devan kanda rishin tharpayami
10. Samihithir devatha upanishada tharpayami
11. Yagnigir devatha upanishada tharpayami
12.Varuneer devatha upanishada tharpayami
Put the Yagnopaveetham and pour water by towards the left
13. Havyavaham tharpayami
14.Viswaan devaan kanda rishin tharpayaami
Pour water by the bottom of the palm towards self
15.Brahmanam swayambhuvam tharpayami
16.Viswan devan kandarishin tharpayami
17.Arunan kandarishin tharpayami
Put the Yagnopaveetham in normal fashion and pour water from the tips of fingers
18.Sadasaspathim tharpayami
19.Rig vedam tharpayami
20.Yajur Vedam tharpayami
21. Sama Vedam tharpayami
22. Atharvana Vedam tharpayami
23. Ithihasa puranam tharpayami
24. Kalpam tharpayami
14.Only those who have lost their father (others go to step 15)do Pithru tharpanam wearing the yagnopaveetham on the right shoulder pouring water between the thumb. And index finger.
1.Soma pithruman yamo angiraswan agni kavyavahana ithyadaya ye pithara
thaan pithrun tharpayami,
2. Sarvaan pithrun tharpayami
3. Sarva pithru ganan tharpayami
4. Sarva pithru pathnistharpayami
5. Sarva pithru ganapanthnistharpayami
6.oorjam vahanthi amrutham grutham paya keelaalam parisruyatham
swadaastha tharpayatha me pithrun trupyatha, trupyatha, trupyatha
7.Aabrahma sthambha paryantham jagat trupyathu
15.Put the yagnopaveetha in the normal fashion
Pour water saying Om That sat Brahmarpanamasthu
And then do aachamanam.
Brahma yagnam(sacrifice to Brahma) is the oblation offered to satisfy Devas, Rishis(sages) and Pithrus(ancestors). It is supposed to be performed daily after Madhyannikam, But nowadays it is done mainly on avani avittam days.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Fat people affect climate more
High rates of obesity in richer countries cause up to one billion extra tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year, compared with countries with leaner populations, according to a study that assesses the additional food and fuel requirements of the overweight. The finding is particularly worrying, scientists say, because obesity is on the rise in many rich nations.
“Population fatness has an environmental impact,” said Phil Edwards, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “We’re all being told to stay fit and keep our weight down because it’s good for our health. The important thing is that staying slim is good for your health and for the health of the planet.” The study has been published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
In their model, the researchers compared a population of a billion lean people, with weight distributions equivalent to a country such as Vietnam, with a billion people from richer countries, such as the U.S., where about 40 per cent of the population is classified obese — having an average body mass index of more than 30. They found the fatter population needed 19 per cent more food energy for its total energy requirements. They also factored in greater car use by the overweight.
“The heavier our bodies become the harder it is to move about in them and the more dependent we become on our cars,” they wrote.
“Population fatness has an environmental impact,” said Phil Edwards, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “We’re all being told to stay fit and keep our weight down because it’s good for our health. The important thing is that staying slim is good for your health and for the health of the planet.” The study has been published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
In their model, the researchers compared a population of a billion lean people, with weight distributions equivalent to a country such as Vietnam, with a billion people from richer countries, such as the U.S., where about 40 per cent of the population is classified obese — having an average body mass index of more than 30. They found the fatter population needed 19 per cent more food energy for its total energy requirements. They also factored in greater car use by the overweight.
“The heavier our bodies become the harder it is to move about in them and the more dependent we become on our cars,” they wrote.
Friday, April 17, 2009
A – Romantic Ride
After visiting the majestic CN tower and the streets of Toronto we finally arrived at the York dale bus station. It was night by that time and winter cold of Canada was in full force. Thought of smoking a cigarette kept coming to my mind to make myself warm, but cannot able to step out of the Bus station since it was closed everywhere. So I settled down in a chair just opposite to my girl and was caressing her through my eyes. Heart of hearts I was longing to get hold of her hands and wanted to give a sense of warmth to it. I was thinking of some scenes like she is holding my hands and resting in my shoulders. But even though it dint happened physically but mentally it happened.
We got into the bus and I settled for a good seat and luckily there was nobody to the side of my seat and I was praying to some gods that my girl should sit next to me. Seconds later my prayers got answered and she sat exactly where I wanted, it was next to me. It was pitch dark outside and inside the bus. Bus started to move from York dale and heading towards Brampton. I was just seeing flashes of light moving past and it was a deaf silence inside the Bus. I started the conversation with my girl and she immediately responded in a low romantic voice which I cannot forget. We started to talk about the family matters and the conversation kept on going. But majority of the time I was just enjoying being with her inside the dark bus. My ears were listening but my heart wasn’t.
After sometime we were silent and I felt that my heart was talking with her heart. So I just got hold of her hand firmly and kissed it slowly and softly. Then I touched her cheeks softly and she leaned on my shoulders. But I was holding her hands and it so close to my mouth and I thought she would have felt my hot breathing in her hands. During this moment the silence inside the bus was growing. I was seeing her face in that darkness. My eyes were blind but my heart saw her face. I felt a serene beauty, impeccable feminity, icing chill in her hands and perfect physical figure. I summed up everything in her to an angel.
We got out of bus in Brampton and we were walking to the apartment. I went to her house and was feeling hungry and ate some food. After that she gave me milk with turmeric powder in it for my cold and cough. The way she gave the milk showed how she cared for me and I felt motherly love during that time. I, at once began feeling like her child. She then started to eat and I was just sitting next to her and in the way she was feeding me her food and I was mesmerized to experience that love and affection in her eyes when was feeding me. I have seen that only once before with my mother in my lifetime. When I was young she used feed me when she was eating, from her plate, the same was my girl was doing. I had the same feeling on that day after a so many years of gap.
Then with the smile in my lips and love in my heart and with the symphony of events of in my mind I struggled to get sleep that night.
We got into the bus and I settled for a good seat and luckily there was nobody to the side of my seat and I was praying to some gods that my girl should sit next to me. Seconds later my prayers got answered and she sat exactly where I wanted, it was next to me. It was pitch dark outside and inside the bus. Bus started to move from York dale and heading towards Brampton. I was just seeing flashes of light moving past and it was a deaf silence inside the Bus. I started the conversation with my girl and she immediately responded in a low romantic voice which I cannot forget. We started to talk about the family matters and the conversation kept on going. But majority of the time I was just enjoying being with her inside the dark bus. My ears were listening but my heart wasn’t.
After sometime we were silent and I felt that my heart was talking with her heart. So I just got hold of her hand firmly and kissed it slowly and softly. Then I touched her cheeks softly and she leaned on my shoulders. But I was holding her hands and it so close to my mouth and I thought she would have felt my hot breathing in her hands. During this moment the silence inside the bus was growing. I was seeing her face in that darkness. My eyes were blind but my heart saw her face. I felt a serene beauty, impeccable feminity, icing chill in her hands and perfect physical figure. I summed up everything in her to an angel.
We got out of bus in Brampton and we were walking to the apartment. I went to her house and was feeling hungry and ate some food. After that she gave me milk with turmeric powder in it for my cold and cough. The way she gave the milk showed how she cared for me and I felt motherly love during that time. I, at once began feeling like her child. She then started to eat and I was just sitting next to her and in the way she was feeding me her food and I was mesmerized to experience that love and affection in her eyes when was feeding me. I have seen that only once before with my mother in my lifetime. When I was young she used feed me when she was eating, from her plate, the same was my girl was doing. I had the same feeling on that day after a so many years of gap.
Then with the smile in my lips and love in my heart and with the symphony of events of in my mind I struggled to get sleep that night.
My toronto dairy
It was on Thursday morning, Nov 27 my flight to Toronto was landing in Pearson airport. Due to heavy cloud cover it got caught in air packets and wobbling around. But I dint feel the shake or even small amount of G-force. I was laughing inside my mind and I could feel some kind of butterflies flying in my stomach. But I enjoyed that feeling. When the cloud cover got disappeared I started seeing the snowy covered roads of Toronto and in the distant I was seeing the CN tower. Suddenly my eyes started gazing the road and were trying to locate the road sign for Brampton from the flight.
After landing I rushed to the door of the flight and was trying to come out as soon as possible to clear the immigration line. After clearing it I went down for the exit door and very close to the door my heart started pumping in exorbitant rate. When I opened the door first time in my life I felt the winter coldness of Canada but my heart was very warm. Then the wait was over and I saw the beauty of my life laughing. She was blushing and laughing and my eyes stopped seeing for a moment and I felt some blankness in my heart and eyes suddenly. Then I felt a rush of blood in my heart and that rush wiped out everything I had and filled with my girl’s laugh and her eyes. I don’t know how to react in that moment. Since, it is the moment of my lifetime. Slowly I regained myself and we started exchanging smiles and words and went to a coffee shop. In the coffee shop I asked her an important question of my life “Do you like me” she said yes but in a way which I cannot forget till my last breadth.
When I suddenly woke up in the early morning of Dec 1 to go to airport to drop off my girl’s sister I felt I wasted some hours in sleeping. So I prepared myself and went to her house and when she opened the door I saw a serene beauty opening the door with twinkling eyes and innocent laughter. The face looked like chirpy squirrel trying to come out from the cozy bed after a good sleep and I could hear a sort of early morning sound of a calm river flowing gently in the forest and I could hear bird’s chirpiness and I felt the freshness of fig leaves in the forest after overnight rain in her face and I could see a morning calm in her smile. I could not have imagined about this day in my life.
On the way back to house from the airport I was enjoying her strides in walk inside the airport and I was silently admiring each step when she walked and the way she was sitting inside the cab. Then after some hours we met again but alone this time. We went to subway for morning breakfast and I was admiring her each and every move she did and I almost felt like I haven’t seen anybody beautiful than this. We reached home again and we spent time talking and laughing but heart of heart I felt like hugging her and to kiss her in her rose petals like lips. But I felt my kiss will make the petals go dry so I thought otherwise.
I wanted to write more but I feel her in my heart, in my hand, in eyes, in ears, in my lips, and in my arms. Thought of her is running very high and I am feeling the blood rush in my heart and I cannot write.
With tears rolling down in my cheeks and with lips drying up and with breath getting heavier I stop my narration with this. Now only words to come to my mind are I LOVE HER THAN MYSELF….I LOVE HER THAN ANYTHING…I LOVE U SOO MUCH...
After landing I rushed to the door of the flight and was trying to come out as soon as possible to clear the immigration line. After clearing it I went down for the exit door and very close to the door my heart started pumping in exorbitant rate. When I opened the door first time in my life I felt the winter coldness of Canada but my heart was very warm. Then the wait was over and I saw the beauty of my life laughing. She was blushing and laughing and my eyes stopped seeing for a moment and I felt some blankness in my heart and eyes suddenly. Then I felt a rush of blood in my heart and that rush wiped out everything I had and filled with my girl’s laugh and her eyes. I don’t know how to react in that moment. Since, it is the moment of my lifetime. Slowly I regained myself and we started exchanging smiles and words and went to a coffee shop. In the coffee shop I asked her an important question of my life “Do you like me” she said yes but in a way which I cannot forget till my last breadth.
When I suddenly woke up in the early morning of Dec 1 to go to airport to drop off my girl’s sister I felt I wasted some hours in sleeping. So I prepared myself and went to her house and when she opened the door I saw a serene beauty opening the door with twinkling eyes and innocent laughter. The face looked like chirpy squirrel trying to come out from the cozy bed after a good sleep and I could hear a sort of early morning sound of a calm river flowing gently in the forest and I could hear bird’s chirpiness and I felt the freshness of fig leaves in the forest after overnight rain in her face and I could see a morning calm in her smile. I could not have imagined about this day in my life.
On the way back to house from the airport I was enjoying her strides in walk inside the airport and I was silently admiring each step when she walked and the way she was sitting inside the cab. Then after some hours we met again but alone this time. We went to subway for morning breakfast and I was admiring her each and every move she did and I almost felt like I haven’t seen anybody beautiful than this. We reached home again and we spent time talking and laughing but heart of heart I felt like hugging her and to kiss her in her rose petals like lips. But I felt my kiss will make the petals go dry so I thought otherwise.
I wanted to write more but I feel her in my heart, in my hand, in eyes, in ears, in my lips, and in my arms. Thought of her is running very high and I am feeling the blood rush in my heart and I cannot write.
With tears rolling down in my cheeks and with lips drying up and with breath getting heavier I stop my narration with this. Now only words to come to my mind are I LOVE HER THAN MYSELF….I LOVE HER THAN ANYTHING…I LOVE U SOO MUCH...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Activists need urgent rehab
Viewers of English-language TV news channels will have noticed the frequency with which a mysterious community called "activists" has begun popping up. On subjects as diverse as education, health, industrialisation and religion, the utterances of politicians, officials, corporates and the man in the street are invariably countered with views of "activists" presumed to have profound expertise on all subjects. There is also an implicit suggestion that the "activists" are detached, selfless and not burdened by the baggage of interest groups. In short, they are a superior and pious voice in the rabble.
It may be unfair to lump "activists" into the umbrella category of NGOs. There are many non-profit organisations that perceive themselves as philanthropic bodies, charities, religious trusts and even social organisations which occasionally dabble in "social work". They raise their own resources, have nothing to do with the Government but hate being clubbed with "activist" NGOs. What distinguishes normal NGOs from "activist" groups is funding, political involvement and what the Americans call attitude. The "activists" tend to be globally funded, politically Left-liberal or worse, and blessed with the conviction that they know best and everyone else is garbage.
At the 1999 Seattle summit of the World Trade Organisation, The Economist estimated some two million NGOs in the world; of these, about a million were in India. The numbers have increased over the past nine years, more so because a growing number of entrepreneurs have discovered business potential in NGOs. To be fair, most activists are not racketeers, though they have an insatiable appetite for publicity, business class travel and endless conferences in exotic places. Activists from the so-called Third World which, tragically, still includes India, have also developed considerable skills in guilt-tripping angst-ridden Western liberals and UN-sponsored bodies into doling out lavish grants. The grants are ostensibly aimed at facilitating "people's empowerment", a euphemism for good salaries, many conferences, media lollipops and sponsorship of agitations that impede national progress.
The activists ostensibly want to "help people help themselves". Some genuinely try to help the informal sector get legal protection and end up getting thrashed by goons. Others, rope in starry-eyed TV reporters from privileged backgrounds and gap-year radical tourists to give legitimacy to movements that seek to prevent steel plants in Orissa and dams in Gujarat.
"Activists" have different priorities but what binds them together is a passionate desire to keep alive the problems that justify their existence. In recent years, for example, activist bodies have been accused of grossly exaggerating the incidence of AIDS in India. The unstated reason: The massive availability of international funds to fight AIDS. In Gujarat, the "activists" have also been accused of keeping riot victims in a state of permanent dislocation because it helps score political points.
In the old days, the "activists" were derided as harmless but over-zealous jholawalas and relegated to the margins of civil society -- despite their bogus claims of actually representing civil society. In recent times, thanks to lavish global patronage, some deft "advocacy" and strategic political interventions against the former NDA regime, the activists have inveigled themselves into the decision-making making process. The inclusion of "activist" icons in the once all-powerful National Advisory Council chaired by Sonia Gandhi was a signal to the UPA Government to accommodate seemingly radical concerns in the development process. The results have been catastrophic.
Take the case of urban planning in Delhi. The sudden collapse of all systems of traffic management in areas outside Lutyens' Delhi is widely blamed on the construction of the High Speed Bus Corridor. Billed as a system favouring cyclists and bus commuters and flaunted as the success story of Bogota (Columbia), it is likely to be a major factor behind the Congress' near-certain electoral defeat in Delhi later this year. Yet, as is now apparent, this hare-brained, regressive scheme was sold as a progressive pro-poor measure by activists who have no stake in the future of India.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was the greatest triumph of the "activists". Now operational in 330 districts at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore, it was supposed to do for the Congress what Operation Barga did for the CPM in rural Bengal: Make it electorally invincible. The interim results point to a monumental disaster and CAG's draft report speaks of a 97% under-performance.
In normal parlance this means unmitigated disaster but "activists", egged on by a mindless section of the political class, now want Rs 30,000 crore from this year's Budget to make this profligate, corrupt and unproductive scheme national. They want a dedicated bureaucracy and membership of a so-called Employment Guarantee Council to run NREGA as a form of parallel Government. They want to turn disaster into calamity. A distraught Government, afraid of admitting its Italian blunder, may well oblige.
Finally, "activists" have poured into sensitive bodies like the Minorities Commission. Established as a well-meaning talking shop for those who couldn't be accommodated in Parliament, it has become a malignant influence on society. From giving predictable template reports on "attacks on minorities" by a despicable majority, it has moved into tampering with national security. The interference of Minorities Commission activists in the arrest and interrogation of terror suspects in Andhra Pradesh is a warning. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile.
Democratic societies operate on the principle of indulgence. However, when minuscule unaccountable "activists" start holding the nation to ransom on the strength of misplaced certitudes, it is time for correctives. An urgent rehabilitation programme for "activists" is overdue.
It may be unfair to lump "activists" into the umbrella category of NGOs. There are many non-profit organisations that perceive themselves as philanthropic bodies, charities, religious trusts and even social organisations which occasionally dabble in "social work". They raise their own resources, have nothing to do with the Government but hate being clubbed with "activist" NGOs. What distinguishes normal NGOs from "activist" groups is funding, political involvement and what the Americans call attitude. The "activists" tend to be globally funded, politically Left-liberal or worse, and blessed with the conviction that they know best and everyone else is garbage.
At the 1999 Seattle summit of the World Trade Organisation, The Economist estimated some two million NGOs in the world; of these, about a million were in India. The numbers have increased over the past nine years, more so because a growing number of entrepreneurs have discovered business potential in NGOs. To be fair, most activists are not racketeers, though they have an insatiable appetite for publicity, business class travel and endless conferences in exotic places. Activists from the so-called Third World which, tragically, still includes India, have also developed considerable skills in guilt-tripping angst-ridden Western liberals and UN-sponsored bodies into doling out lavish grants. The grants are ostensibly aimed at facilitating "people's empowerment", a euphemism for good salaries, many conferences, media lollipops and sponsorship of agitations that impede national progress.
The activists ostensibly want to "help people help themselves". Some genuinely try to help the informal sector get legal protection and end up getting thrashed by goons. Others, rope in starry-eyed TV reporters from privileged backgrounds and gap-year radical tourists to give legitimacy to movements that seek to prevent steel plants in Orissa and dams in Gujarat.
"Activists" have different priorities but what binds them together is a passionate desire to keep alive the problems that justify their existence. In recent years, for example, activist bodies have been accused of grossly exaggerating the incidence of AIDS in India. The unstated reason: The massive availability of international funds to fight AIDS. In Gujarat, the "activists" have also been accused of keeping riot victims in a state of permanent dislocation because it helps score political points.
In the old days, the "activists" were derided as harmless but over-zealous jholawalas and relegated to the margins of civil society -- despite their bogus claims of actually representing civil society. In recent times, thanks to lavish global patronage, some deft "advocacy" and strategic political interventions against the former NDA regime, the activists have inveigled themselves into the decision-making making process. The inclusion of "activist" icons in the once all-powerful National Advisory Council chaired by Sonia Gandhi was a signal to the UPA Government to accommodate seemingly radical concerns in the development process. The results have been catastrophic.
Take the case of urban planning in Delhi. The sudden collapse of all systems of traffic management in areas outside Lutyens' Delhi is widely blamed on the construction of the High Speed Bus Corridor. Billed as a system favouring cyclists and bus commuters and flaunted as the success story of Bogota (Columbia), it is likely to be a major factor behind the Congress' near-certain electoral defeat in Delhi later this year. Yet, as is now apparent, this hare-brained, regressive scheme was sold as a progressive pro-poor measure by activists who have no stake in the future of India.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was the greatest triumph of the "activists". Now operational in 330 districts at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore, it was supposed to do for the Congress what Operation Barga did for the CPM in rural Bengal: Make it electorally invincible. The interim results point to a monumental disaster and CAG's draft report speaks of a 97% under-performance.
In normal parlance this means unmitigated disaster but "activists", egged on by a mindless section of the political class, now want Rs 30,000 crore from this year's Budget to make this profligate, corrupt and unproductive scheme national. They want a dedicated bureaucracy and membership of a so-called Employment Guarantee Council to run NREGA as a form of parallel Government. They want to turn disaster into calamity. A distraught Government, afraid of admitting its Italian blunder, may well oblige.
Finally, "activists" have poured into sensitive bodies like the Minorities Commission. Established as a well-meaning talking shop for those who couldn't be accommodated in Parliament, it has become a malignant influence on society. From giving predictable template reports on "attacks on minorities" by a despicable majority, it has moved into tampering with national security. The interference of Minorities Commission activists in the arrest and interrogation of terror suspects in Andhra Pradesh is a warning. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile.
Democratic societies operate on the principle of indulgence. However, when minuscule unaccountable "activists" start holding the nation to ransom on the strength of misplaced certitudes, it is time for correctives. An urgent rehabilitation programme for "activists" is overdue.
Monday, December 8, 2008
MUST WE PAY FOR VIP SECURITY ?????
The diatribe against politicians following the fidayeen attacks is extremely disconcerting, but not entirely unjustified. Till now, we did not get to hear of or read about what people in this country think of their politicians, although we had a fairly good idea about it, because the views of the unwashed masses rarely find mention on prime time television or the front pages of our so-called national newspapers. Now that we have the bold and the beautiful who can be spotted at the ‘happening places’ in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and wherever else it’s ‘happening’ denouncing politicians and blaming them for holding India up to ridicule, 24x7 news channels and newspapers competing with instant television to grab eyeballs are tripping over each other to publicise the views of the la-di-da crowd as profound observations on the pitiable state of our country, a nuclear weapon state which aspires to emerge as a great power. Ask Binapani Adok of Baltitola Lane in Howrah, and she will tell you what she has always thought of politicians every time she has had to stand in a mile-long queue at the local ration shop. There’s nothing profound about her profanity, but at least it’s far more honest than the balderdash dished out by television channels and newspapers this past week.
It would, however, be wrong to brush aside the angry voices we have been hearing on the streets ever since the hideous bloodletting in Mumbai as inconsequential. Indeed, it could prove to be disastrous for the political class to pretend that the popular mood will calm down before long and life in this wondrous land of ours will be back to ‘normal’. For, there are some genuine concerns that are being voiced and the solutions that are being proposed should cause alarm among politicians and set alarm bells ringing. After suffering the callous indifference of those in power, whether at the Centre or in the States, and fed up with the cynicism of politicians who are solely obsessed with themselves and feathering their nests, people have begun asking why they should pay taxes to keep their rulers in comfort while they are left to fend for themselves. There’s a groundswell of anger over the elaborate security arrangements that politicians ensure for themselves and their families while leaving the citizens at the mercy of jihadis and assorted criminals, to be killed, maimed, raped and denied the security of life and property which is their inalienable right and the Government’s primary responsibility. If politicians believe that it is the state’s job to protect them, here’s what the people believe: We would like to see them suffer for a change. The ‘VIP’ sees himself as a ‘Very Important Person’; the people now pity him as a ‘Very Impotent Person’.
Politicians have only themselves to blame for being seen as objects of ridicule, scorned and loathed by the masses. They claim to be servants of the people, but actually believe that they are more privileged than the rest, that their lives are more precious than those that are lost in terrorist attacks. They see themselves as indispensable to India; the nation has begun to see them as eminently dispensable. It is this inflated sense of importance, of being able to manipulate the system, that has resulted in the creation of the ‘VIP’ who must be provided with round-the-clock security in the form of bullet-proof vehicles and gun-toting commandos. It is immaterial whether the ‘VIP’ actually faces a threat to his or her life, what is important is that their security cover should shock and awe the masses. This is not about protecting their ‘precious’ lives, but projecting their ‘status’ and ‘prestige’. So we have the likes of Mr Ram Vilas Paswan and Mr Amar Singh (just two of the many such politicians) who coerce the Government to deploy commandos to guard them and their families — to be upgraded from ‘X’ to ‘Y’, from ‘Y’ to ‘Z’, and from ‘Z’ to ‘Z+’ security cover is a measure of the political clout, social status and prestige of the self-annointed ‘VIP’. After becoming Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Ms Mayawati demanded that she be provided with SPG cover, meant for ‘Very Very Important Persons’ like the Prime Minister, former Prime Ministers and, of course, the presiding dynasty of the Congress. Upset over being denied similar privilege, she has commandeered 350 policemen to provide her with security cover night and day, and travels in a 25-vehicle cavalcade. Each time she decides to take a ride in her bullet-proof SUV, traffic is stopped, shopkeepers are asked to down their shutters, pedestrians are made to stand facing away from the street. The Prime Minister and his leader make do with only traffic being stopped and the roads being cleared of potential assassins among exasperated commuters.
The cost to the tax-payer? According to one estimate, Rs 250 crore is spent every year on providing security cover to our ‘Very Important Persons’. An additional Rs 184 crore is spent on securing the lives of the ‘Very Very Important Persons’. In Lutyens’ Delhi, 10,000 policemen of various ranks are deployed every day to protect 391 people. Had there been 1,000 policemen on duty at Gateway of India on November 26, the massacre at Mumbai may have been averted. But if you were to point out to a ‘VIP’ that the discrimination is obnoxious, that his fixation with security cover has resulted in the people being rendered vulnerable, he would take great offence and insist that it is important to protect the ‘leader’ so that the ‘led’ can be governed. What good is a democracy unless its politicians are safe and sound? Who’s to tell them that along with democracy the political class is threatened when citizens start looking up to the Army for deliverance? So, like our national assets, for example oil installations and airports, the politicians must also be protected at the tax-payers’ expense.
The most frustrating part of it all is that there’s nothing we can do about it. The Delhi High Court, which has been hearing a PIL on ‘VIP’ security, had acidly commented last year that “politicians are not national assets that need to be protected” and that the “security cover given to political leaders is often a nuisance for the common man”. The court had also observed, “If there is a threat to the lives of the politicians, they should remain in the confines of their homes and offices… You should not let these men (politicians) come out.”
The courts may not be able to force the VIPs and VVIPs to stay at home, but the people can. All we need to do is honk every time we see a ‘VIP’ on the road, honk louder when traffic is stopped, and raise such a din that the ‘VIP’ is left fuming at his impotence. And if we have the guts, we could, collectively, refuse to pay taxes to a Government of the few, by the few and for the few. Any takers?
It would, however, be wrong to brush aside the angry voices we have been hearing on the streets ever since the hideous bloodletting in Mumbai as inconsequential. Indeed, it could prove to be disastrous for the political class to pretend that the popular mood will calm down before long and life in this wondrous land of ours will be back to ‘normal’. For, there are some genuine concerns that are being voiced and the solutions that are being proposed should cause alarm among politicians and set alarm bells ringing. After suffering the callous indifference of those in power, whether at the Centre or in the States, and fed up with the cynicism of politicians who are solely obsessed with themselves and feathering their nests, people have begun asking why they should pay taxes to keep their rulers in comfort while they are left to fend for themselves. There’s a groundswell of anger over the elaborate security arrangements that politicians ensure for themselves and their families while leaving the citizens at the mercy of jihadis and assorted criminals, to be killed, maimed, raped and denied the security of life and property which is their inalienable right and the Government’s primary responsibility. If politicians believe that it is the state’s job to protect them, here’s what the people believe: We would like to see them suffer for a change. The ‘VIP’ sees himself as a ‘Very Important Person’; the people now pity him as a ‘Very Impotent Person’.
Politicians have only themselves to blame for being seen as objects of ridicule, scorned and loathed by the masses. They claim to be servants of the people, but actually believe that they are more privileged than the rest, that their lives are more precious than those that are lost in terrorist attacks. They see themselves as indispensable to India; the nation has begun to see them as eminently dispensable. It is this inflated sense of importance, of being able to manipulate the system, that has resulted in the creation of the ‘VIP’ who must be provided with round-the-clock security in the form of bullet-proof vehicles and gun-toting commandos. It is immaterial whether the ‘VIP’ actually faces a threat to his or her life, what is important is that their security cover should shock and awe the masses. This is not about protecting their ‘precious’ lives, but projecting their ‘status’ and ‘prestige’. So we have the likes of Mr Ram Vilas Paswan and Mr Amar Singh (just two of the many such politicians) who coerce the Government to deploy commandos to guard them and their families — to be upgraded from ‘X’ to ‘Y’, from ‘Y’ to ‘Z’, and from ‘Z’ to ‘Z+’ security cover is a measure of the political clout, social status and prestige of the self-annointed ‘VIP’. After becoming Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Ms Mayawati demanded that she be provided with SPG cover, meant for ‘Very Very Important Persons’ like the Prime Minister, former Prime Ministers and, of course, the presiding dynasty of the Congress. Upset over being denied similar privilege, she has commandeered 350 policemen to provide her with security cover night and day, and travels in a 25-vehicle cavalcade. Each time she decides to take a ride in her bullet-proof SUV, traffic is stopped, shopkeepers are asked to down their shutters, pedestrians are made to stand facing away from the street. The Prime Minister and his leader make do with only traffic being stopped and the roads being cleared of potential assassins among exasperated commuters.
The cost to the tax-payer? According to one estimate, Rs 250 crore is spent every year on providing security cover to our ‘Very Important Persons’. An additional Rs 184 crore is spent on securing the lives of the ‘Very Very Important Persons’. In Lutyens’ Delhi, 10,000 policemen of various ranks are deployed every day to protect 391 people. Had there been 1,000 policemen on duty at Gateway of India on November 26, the massacre at Mumbai may have been averted. But if you were to point out to a ‘VIP’ that the discrimination is obnoxious, that his fixation with security cover has resulted in the people being rendered vulnerable, he would take great offence and insist that it is important to protect the ‘leader’ so that the ‘led’ can be governed. What good is a democracy unless its politicians are safe and sound? Who’s to tell them that along with democracy the political class is threatened when citizens start looking up to the Army for deliverance? So, like our national assets, for example oil installations and airports, the politicians must also be protected at the tax-payers’ expense.
The most frustrating part of it all is that there’s nothing we can do about it. The Delhi High Court, which has been hearing a PIL on ‘VIP’ security, had acidly commented last year that “politicians are not national assets that need to be protected” and that the “security cover given to political leaders is often a nuisance for the common man”. The court had also observed, “If there is a threat to the lives of the politicians, they should remain in the confines of their homes and offices… You should not let these men (politicians) come out.”
The courts may not be able to force the VIPs and VVIPs to stay at home, but the people can. All we need to do is honk every time we see a ‘VIP’ on the road, honk louder when traffic is stopped, and raise such a din that the ‘VIP’ is left fuming at his impotence. And if we have the guts, we could, collectively, refuse to pay taxes to a Government of the few, by the few and for the few. Any takers?
Friday, March 7, 2008
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