The Three old men

                   A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She didn't recognize them. She said, "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat."
                   "We will not go into the house together", they replied. The woman asked "Why is that?"
One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," pointing to one of his friends, and pointing to another, "He is Success and I am Love". Then he added, "Now go and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home"
                   The woman went in and told her husband about the three old men. Her husband was overjoyed and said "Then lets welcome Wealth and ask him to fill our home with full of wealth." His wife disagreed and said "My dear, Why don't we invite Success?"
                   Their Daughter-in-law was listening and she suggested, "Lets invite Love and ask him to fill our home with love."
                   Then in-laws agreed and invited Love into their house.
                   The woman went out and invited Love into their house. As soon as Love entered the house, The other two also got up and entered the house. The lady asked,"I invited only Love but why did all three of you came in?"
                   The three old men replied,"Where there is Love, we follow."

Hence, Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success.

Through the Looking glass

             A newly married bride came to Mumbai to live with her husband in a two-room flat on the top of a high-rise building. Adjoining buildings were equally tall and windows had always to be kept closed.
             From her window, the young bride could see her neighbor in the next building washing her clothes each morning and hanging them on the clothesline for drying.The girl always found these washed clothes looking dirty, and commented to her husband on the lack of effort by the neighbor.
             Each morning, the bride would look out as soon as she got out of bed, and would variably comment upon the 'dirty' washing. Her husband got fed up with this indulgence of her wife in the neighbor's affairs. This went on for some days.
             One morning, the bride got up and looked out as usual. She was pleasantly surprised to see that the clothes on the line are spotlessly clean. She remarked this to her husband, and added, "Perhaps my criticism reached her ears, and she used a better washing powder."
             Calmly, her husband replied, " I was so fed up with your habit of criticizing the neighbor that today, while you were asleep, I got up early, and cleaned the glass of our window."

Happy New Year 2011

The great Mother

Hi,

Since morning, I am thinking of what to write on today's blog.
Mother teresa appeared in my mind. I don't know why.
So,I am writing about the great mother.

                    Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born on 26th August 1910. Though she was born on 26th August, she considers 27th August as her 'true birthday' because she was baptized on 27th. Her mother and father are Nikolle and Drana bojaxhiu.By the age of 12, she decided to commit herself to religious life and left home at age of 16 to join Sisters of loreto as missionary.
                    Agnes arrived in India in 1929. She took her first religious vows to become a nun on 24th May,1931. At that time, she chose the name of teresa.
                    The Bengal famine of 1943 and Hindu-Muslim violence in 1946 plunged the city into despair and horror. On 10th September,1946; she experienced 'the call within the call'. She began her missionary work with the poor in 1948. She started wearing a simple cotton sari decorated with a blue border. Teres adopted Indian citizenship and began her work to poor and slums.
                    Teresa received permission from vatican to start her new congregation by name 'Missionaries of Charity' at calcutta.Its mission was to care for, in her own words, "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone."
                    In 1952 Mother Teresa opened the first Home for the Dying in space made available by the city of Calcutta. With the help of Indian officials she converted an abandoned Hindu temple into the Kalighat home for the dying, a free hospice for the poor. She renamed it Kalighat, the Home of the Pure Heart (Nirmal Hriday).
Mother Teresa soon opened a home for those suffering from leprosy, and called the hospice Shanti Nagar (City of Peace).
                    In 1955 she opened the Nirmala Shishu Bhavan, the Children's Home of the Immaculate Heart, as a haven for orphans and homeless youth.
                    Its first house outside India opened in Venezuela in 1965 with five sisters.Others followed in Rome, Tanzania, and Austria in 1968; during the 1970s the order opened houses and foundations in dozens of countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States.
                   The Missionaries of Charity Brothers was founded in 1963, and a contemplative branch of the Sisters followed in 1976. Lay Catholics and non-Catholics were enrolled in the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa, the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, and the Lay Missionaries of Charity.
                    In answer to the requests of many priests, in 1981 Mother Teresa also began the Corpus Christi Movement for Priests,and in 1984 founded with Fr. Joseph Langford the Missionaries of Charity Fathers to combine the vocational aims of the Missionaries of Charity with the resources of the ministerial priesthood.
                    Mother Teresa suffered a heart attack in Rome in 1983, while visiting pope john paul II.. After a second attack in 1989, she received an artificial pacemaker. In 1991, after a battle with pneumonia while in Mexico, she suffered further heart problems.In April 1996, Mother Teresa fell and broke her collar bone. In August she suffered from malaria and failure of the left heart ventricle. She had heart surgery but it was clear that her health was declining.On 13 March 1997, she stepped down from the head of Missionaries of Charity. She died on 5 September 1997.Mother Teresa lay in repose at St.Thomas, Kolkata for one week prior to her funeral, in September 1997. She was granted a state funeral by the Indian Government in gratitude for her services to the poor of all religions in India.


Recognitions and Awards:-

1. Padma shri in 1962 
2. The Jawaharlal Nehru award for International understanding in 1969. 
3. India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna in 1980.
4. In 1962, Mother Teresa received the Philippines-based Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding, given for work in South or East Asia.
5. In 1971, Paul VI awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize, commending her for her work with the poor, display of Christian charity and efforts for peace.
6. The United Kingdom and the United States each repeatedly granted awards, culminating in the Order of Merit in 1983, 
7. Honorary citizenship of the United States received on 16 November 1996. 
8. Mother Teresa's Albanian homeland granted her the Golden Honour of the Nation in 1994.
9. Universities in both the West and in India granted her honorary degrees.
10. n 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace prize, "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat to peace." She refused the conventional ceremonial banquet given to laureates, and asked that the $192,000 funds be given to the poor in India.

The beatification of Mother Teresa took place on 19 October 2003, thereby bestowing on her the title "Blessed."
So, Agnes has become Blessed Mother Teresa.
 
 Many many salutations to the Mother.

Merry Christmas.

LEARNING FROM MAHABHARATA

Vyasa & Ganesha

Mahabharata is the great epic ascribed to Vyasa. It was mentioned that it was Lord Ganesha who wrote down the text to Vyasa’s dictation.

It was a story of a dynastic struggle for the throne of Hastinapura. The struggle is between two branches of family ‘Pandavas’ and ‘Kauravas’.

Vysya is not only author of the epic but also a character of the epic. He is grandfather of kauravas and pandavas. He makes occasional appearances in the story as a spiritual guide. He is also author of 18 Puranas and Splitter of Vedas.

Mahabharata starts from marriage of Ganga and Santanu and ends with the fall of Yadavas. It was divided into 18 parts called ‘Parvas’. The great philosophical text ‘bhagavad Gita’ forms part of Mahabharata.

Mahabharata has great relevance even today. The techniques used in this epic are true today. Some issues are discussed below:-

Scientific relevance:

      (1)    It was mentioned that Kauravas were born in 100 pots. This is similar to what we see as ‘Test Tube’ babies today.

      (2)    Sanjaya, the chauffer of Dhrutarashtra, father of Kauravas narrates the happenings in the war field while staying at capital city. This is similar to the present ‘live Relay’.

Relevance in the field of Management:

      (1)    The great scholar and management guru of the world, Shri Krishna is the character of Mahabharata. He is the advisor of Pandavas and was responsible for” Dhustha sikshana and sistha rakshana” (i.e. punishing the bad and protecting the good). He was the recitor of the greatest philosophical text ‘Bhagavad Gita’.

Yaksha-Yudistira

      (2)    Vidura, the minister of Pandu and dhritarashthra is a very scholarly person who has great management skills. One can know about his skills through a book named ‘Vidura Neethi’.

      (3)    Mahabharata has ‘Bhisma Parva’, ‘Drona Parva’, ‘Karna Parva’ and ‘Salya Parva’ which describes about the war strategies, manner of conduct of war and ethics of war.

The episode of ‘Q&A between Yaksha-Yudishitira’ shows the wisdom of Yudistira. One can learn about the duties and how important to perform their duties. It has a great philosophical relevance.

Another great Philosophical masterpiece of Mahabharata is ‘Srimad bhagavad gita’ recited by lord Krishna himself to Arjuna, one of the Pandavas to clear the moral dilemma of Arjuna. Krishna explains t he duties of a warrior and elaborates on different Yogic and vedantic philosophies, with examples and analogies.

We can also learn the consequence of a bad habit. Yudistira, the elder of Pandavas is known for his wisdom but was fond of dice game which led to lose their wealth and made their lives miserable and even led them to go to forests for 14 years.

Krishna preaching the Gita

One can learn about the impact of negative attitude. Duryodhana, the elder of Kauravas has a negative attitude of cheating their brothers and enjoying entire kingdom. At last, it led to the fall of kauravas and death of all his brothers and well-wishers.

There is also a concept ‘Theory of Human Behaviour’. In which one learns that ‘A person starts learning even when he is in mother’s womb’. This is true in the case of Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna. Abhimanyu learns how to enter Padmavyuha, one of the toughest war strategies when he was in his mother’s womb itself.

Every character in this great epic teaches something to the readers. Its worth reading ‘The Mahabharata’ which is called as the fifth veda.

Few facts about INDIA

INDIA is a vast country with huge population. It is the birth place of many scholars of ancient, present and also future. Though it is still a developing nation, it is performing well in all respects across the globe.

Lets know some interesting facts about India.

THE NATIONAL EMBLEM

The national emblem of India is adapted from Sarnath lion famously called as ‘ASHOKA PILLAR’. Three lions are visible, fourth being hidden from view. The wheel appears in centre of abacus with bull on right and horse on left. The words ‘Satyameva Jayathe’ which means ‘truth alone triumphs’ are inscribed below the abacus in devanagari script.

THE NATIONAL FLAG

Horizontal TRI-COLORED flag of deep saffron (representing ‘Courage and sacrifice’) at the top, white (representing ‘Peace and truth’) in the centre, dark green (Representing ‘Faith and Chivalry’) at the bottom in equal proportion. The ratio of length to breadth of the flag must be 2:3. In the centre of white band, there appears a wheel (Chakra) having 24 spokes.

            The design of national flag was adopted by constituent assembly on 22-7-1947.Its use and display are regulated by Flag code of India,2002. The final design of national flag is proposed by Pingali Venkkiah of Andhra Pradesh.

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

JANA GANA MANA is the national anthem of India. It was written by Rabindranath tagore of  Bengal. It was adopted by Constituent assembly on 24-6-1950. It was first sung on 27-12-1911 at Calcutta session of Indian National Congress(INC). Playing time is approximately 52 Seconds. Tagore’s version of National anthem is as follows:-

“Thou art the ruler of minds of all people,

Dispenser of India’s Destiny.

The name rouses the heart of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha, Of the Dravid and Orissa and Bengal.

It echoes in the hills of Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of the Jamuna and the Ganges and is chanted by the waves of Indian sea.

They pray for blessings and sing they praise.

The saving of all people waits in thy hand,

Thou dispenser of India’s destiny, Victory, victory, victory to thee.”

THE NATIONAL SONG

VANDE MATARAM is the national song of india written by bankim Chandra chatterjee of Bengal. The first political occasion when it was sung was 1896 session of INC.English translation of stanza as given by Aurobindo is as follows:-

“I bow to thee, Mother,

richly watered, richly fruited,

 cool with the winds of the south,

 dark with crops of harvest,

The mother!

Her nights rejoicing the glory of the moonlight,

Her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom, sweet of laughter, sweet speech,

The mother, Giver of boons, giver of bliss.”

NATIONAL CALENDAR

SAKA ERA calendar is national calendar adopted by the Indian Government. It contains 365 days with  Months  named as Chaitra, Vaishaka, Jyaistha, Asadha, Sravana, Bhadra, Asvina, Kartika, Margasira, Pausa, Magha and Phalguna.

THE NATIONAL FLOWER

LOTUS (Nelumbo Nucipera Gaertn)  is the national flower of India. It is a sacred flower and occupies a unique position in the art and mythology of ancient India and has been the auspicious symbol of Indian culture from time immemorial.

THE NATIONAL ANIMAL

PANTHERA TIGRIS (Total 8 species known) (Rare species are ROYAL BENGAL TIGER) is the national animal of India. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger, its pride to become national animal of India.

 THE NATIONAL TREE

INDIAN FIG TREE, FICUS BENGALENSIS is considered to be national tree of India. Its branches roots themselves like new trees over a large area. Hence, these trees are considered to be immortal and is an integral part of many myths and legends of India.


THE NATIONAL RIVER

THE GANGA OR GANGES river is the national river of India. It originates in snowfields of Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas as Bhagirathi river. It is later joined by other rivers such as Yamuna, Alakananda, Son, Gumti, Kosi and Ghagra. The Ganga river basin is the ost fertile and densely populated areas of the world.

THE NATIONAL FRUIT

MANGIFERA INDICA, commonly called as MANGO is National fruit of India. It is a rich source of vitamins A,C and D. In India, there are over 100 varieties of mangoes of different sizes and colours. They have been cultivated in India from time immemorial.

THE NATIONAL BIRD

INDIAN PEACOCK, PAVO CRISTATUS is the national bird of India. It is a colourful bird with velvet feathers and a slender neck. The male of the species is more colourful than female. The dance of male fanning out the tail and preening its feathers is a gorgeous sight.

THE NATIONAL SPORT

HOCKEY is India’s national game.

THE INDIAN STANDARD TIME

GMT+5.5 HOURS is the Indian Standard Time (IST).