when the supporting capacity of nature moves closer to saturation point, nature finds a way to keep things in control. when population increases, our feeling of self worth decreases. if we enough problems to survive, we do our best and our minds function at a life supporting level. We are designed in such a way as to grow by facing, tackling and overcoming obstacles. So we grow in the direction against obstacles we face. /in other words, our minds need obstacles to grow. If there are none, that is the most difficult situation for life. So our minds seek and discover new difficulties.

Onam-the national festival of Kerala

Keralites traditionally celebrate Onam as the time marking the beginning of their new year and as a harvest festival. The festival of Onam is also linked with the myth of Mahabali or Maveli- a ruler believed to have ruled ancient Kerala. This is one story which reveals the cruelty and fascist attitude of Aryans. According to the story, Maveli was the victim of  envy of devas. Maveli was a good and generous ruler which made him popular day by day. Devas, envied by his popularity and growth, accosted Vishnu to put an end to his rule. The legend is that Vishnu went to Maveli in the guise of a poor Brahmin named Vamana, and requested three pieces of land. Maveli consented. to his request. Soon Vamana grew to gigantic proportions and with his two steps, took the whole world, heaven and netherworld(patala) and asked for his third piece of land. Unable to fulfil his promise, Maveli offered his head. Then Vamana placed his foot on Maveli's head and immersed him to Patala, and made him the King of Patala. This is one story which the Aryans failed to cover their wickedness properly. Kerala celebrates Onam as the occasion when Maveli comes to visit his kingdom once every year, according to the wish granted by Vamana. Actually the story symbolizes the conflict between Aryans and the native Dravidians, who were pushed more and more to the boundaries as Aryans prospered. Onam  is a celebration of the multicultural fabric of India, and as the remains of a Dravidian past. During Onam nature adorns itself and bears a festive mood with the characteristic pleasant weather and flowering of all kinds of plants, as though nature harmonizes with the happiness of people.

Importance of Production

One the problems faced by our society is that ours is an increasingly consuming society, at the same time not enough encouragement is given in the sphere of production. We produce less, consume more. And we have globalisation, which means that even if we don't produce, we can consume by banking on multinational producers. In the present scenario, we are too afraid to take risks- we want our children to choose a safe future, by safe I mean they get guaranteed income for a long time, and they do not have to invest either money or time, both of which are essential in production. A good portion of Indian economy consists of  providing services to people: in areas like Information Technology and enabled services, telecommunications, Financial Services(as in banks), Community Services, Hotels and Restaurants, etc. And nowadays people crave for government jobs. All these sectors doesn't involve production, which forms the foundation of a successful economy. With a rapidly increasing population, we need to focus on increasing our production. But our society is groomed from an early level in such a way that people prefer jobs that involve minimum production and maximum wages. One defect of such a system is that it negatively impacts our infrastructure. Everything we produce is of sub-standard quality. Indian goods rank low in international market. We are too compromising in our attitude. The best we have is only valued within the sub-continent. The value of Indian Rupee is ever-falling, when the best brains of our country are either abroad or involved in some sort of job in service sector; there is only a little scope for productive activity in our country. But the mixed socialistic and capitalistic economy of our country is not to blame for this; actually it is one positive thing for us. The problem lies in our way of providing education. We need to reconstruct our education system. The quality of education provided, the variety of courses provided, the organisations (including governmental) entrusted with the duty of providing education, the functioning of bureaucracy involved, researches in this field- all these need to be more organised and rethought about. We need to remove the play of politics in this field, and authorize geniuses at the top. A revolution in the field of education will change every sphere of activity in a country. With such a huge human resource, India need to channelize its man power and use our brains for our own benefit.

primitive justice

primitive justice in humans

The general trend of life on earth is the survival of the fittest, through competition amongst living beings. I began to ponder about this when i happened to see a programme in the National Geographic Channel. It showed two  colts(young ones of a crane) inside a crane's nest. One colt was pecking and hitting the other. The other one must have been tired and exhausted, it remained at the receiving end and didn't counter-strike.Some time later, the parent crane came with food in its beak.The aggressive chick flapped its wings, got the attention of his parent and had all the food alone. The parent did nothing. It gave all the food to this chick and flew away. This is justice- the primitive justice, the justice of nature. We think we deserve a better justice than that, and so we make our own justice, and term it universal justice. But in fact, primitive justice frequently emerges through the facade of human justice, in human societies. It is very plain and straightforeward, but it strikes us cruel and harsh. The one who is more powerful wins, or in other words, the one who is better THAN THE OTHER is preferred. Probably, the other is doomed or forced to change its course. 

                 Ironically, it can be said that primitive justice, in its most savage form, is present in human communities. In no other living community is the one with lesser power so ruthlessly exploited or so brutishly executed or so violently humiliated or so abjectly crushed as in human community.  (Of course, there is an opposite side too.)  All those police and military atrocities against the weak and defenseless are also included in the examples of the serving of primitive justice. Those who believe in any other justice are in a make-believe world created by humanity. The structure that holds the humane justice stands only when all is well and smooth. When catastrophe arrives, this make-believe world falls apart. This phenomenon was visible in the Europe just after the Second World War.

                  Such is the world we live in; the losers have no consolation. That means, if you are a living being, it is your objective to acquire power,  to discover ways to be on top so that you are not crushed in the weight of the world. There are no excuses for being weak.

moderate vs extremist

Why should I be a Hindu partisan? I would rather like to support a secular organisation rather than be a religious fundamentalist.

  

Because you are a Hindu, it would be disgraceful if you do not  stand with Hindus.

If Hindus were to support a Hindu group and Muslims were to support Muslim group,  wouldn't that cause division between people and create polarisation? How can a polarised country be united? Moreover, the essence of Hinduism is its freedom and diversity. If  Hinduism was to function as an organised religion, wouldn't it be against the spirit of Hinduism itself?

Because of the peculiarities of certain religions(e.g. Muslim), they cannot go in harmony with other religions. They form a separate unit in the society.They are not taught to compromise with other religions. In India,if Hindus form a Hindu organisation, it is treated as ultraist and fascist; and Muslim organisations are given the tag of being secularist. Such is the pseudo-secularism that exists in our country.

Extremism of any religion is bad for the country. Saffronisation of the country is as dangerous as islamisation. This will not promote openness  among people. Man should essentially be free. Polarisation obstructs this free thought. Polarisation creates bias in our thoughts, however unintentional it may be. Forming religious groups, especially with political designs, leads to mistrust, suspicion and fear in the opposite community. Consider this situation: If a person from one community is beaten up by another person from another community, the general feeling of the people is that they should take revenge upon the other group; they  want not just the culprits to be punished,  but they want the entire community to be persecuted. Instilling such a mindset in young minds is not an advisable way of human development.

The general trend of Muslims all the world over is to congregate together, and if they are powerful, they dominate the  social activities in the area. In many customs and beliefs, Hinduism is just the opposite of Islam.Considering many countries where Islam is a minority religion,the support India gives to Islam is noteworthy. There has been a growth in the percentage of population of Muslims in India since Independence. In 1951, Muslims constituted about 9.9% of the total population; but now it has risen to 14.4. But take the case of Pakistan, where Islam is the ruling religion. In 1951, Hindus constituted about 22% of Pakistan's population. But now it has come down to a mere 1.2%. This shows the need for Hindus to stand together. In case of any attack against Hinduism,Hindus will have to defend by organising themselves to protect their beliefs and way of life. Why does an ideal country build and maintain an army? Not because they want to attack and conquer others,but they need to defend themselves from foreign domination and to assert themselves in the international community. Same is true with Hindus.

When did this Hindu spirit originate? Before the coming of  outsiders, there was no religion called Hinduism. None of the sacred texts of Hindus says about a religion called Hindu religion. And later, when it was recognized as a religion it was plagued with malpractices and evils like caste system and Sati. later various reform movements and outside influences brought the Hindu religion to the present state. It can be argued that Hinduism felt the need to reform when other religions and British rule seemed to threaten them. No civilisation can be destroyed from outside, but from within itself. History has proved it again and again. So there is no point in making Hindu extremist organisations to protect the religion; its protection lies power of its content; its own depth of thought or belief. The Hindu organisations that claim to protect and preserve 'Hindutwa' have nothing but political and other motives. Moreover, the era of religions must come to an end, because the destructive effect of religions felt in the current scheme of the world is more than the constructive effects they claim to have. Man ought to become more global in his outlook, wider in his perspective. The attack on Hinduism is similar to attack on any individual or organisation, it must dealt with like any criminal case with good and strong governance. The motive of forming religious organisations may seem justifiable, but more often than not, they usually end up in creating undesirable results. 

This is not a practical solution at all. The wider outlook and pacifism sounds very pleasing to the ears, but this is just a Utopian ideal. If someone comes to hit you in your house, you will not talk philosophy to that guy. You will have to attack him. It is a natural reaction among living beings. 
(cont.d)

INDIA IN ELITE CLUB 

On January 6 2014, ISRO's GSLV-D5, powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine, put GSAT 14 into orbit. By doing so, India powered itself into the elite club of U.S, Russia and France. Presently, cryogenic countries are U.S, Russia, France, Japan, China and India.
Both U.S and Russia had refused to give the technology to India. The successful operation of cryogenic technology has enabled India to defy the bossy attitude of U.S and other hot-shot countries. Way to go India and ISRO! This is just an entry into the scene. India is beginning to make its presence felt in the global arena.