OLD IS GOLD

OLD IS GOLD

I was travelling by train from Mumbai to Palakkad in an Onam Festival special train.  I was not physically well and had no reservation for that journey.  I was in a hurry to reach my native place which is at Vadakkencherry in Palakkad District in Kerala State of India.   My friends managed to get me a place in the upper birth of the compartment.  I climbed my way to the birth and started dreaming about my new career as Manager of a Co-operative Hospital which was very near to my house.

The train began to move and after sometime I woke up from my dream and heard somebody talking loudly.  I looked down and saw an old man in a shabby dress talking vigourously to a bunch of listeners and most of the listeners were young men.  The young people were trying to get in pace with him but they were not able to reach to that level.  The old man looked up and saw me and asked me to join them.  I said I am not well, but he compelled  me to get down and join them.  He advised me not to isolate myself from others which will only increase my bad physical condition.  The discussion was improving and I felt the old man’s advice was correct, since I  felt  better when I began to listen to them. 

The old man was an amazing perosnality and I began to feel  respect  for this man.  He told us that he had studied only upto the third standard in a school at his native place.  But his knowledge about the whole world and the people around him was quite extraordinery.  I was spellbound to note the way in which he carried the discussion.  Actually that was not a discussion but a lecture by this old man and he talked about everything under the earth.   One young  engineer tried to disarm the old man by talkng something about his low academic level.   Then the old man asked the engineer about something about which he was not able to answer.  Then the old man briefed him about the subject and the engineer asked him where from he got that answer.  The old man’s reply was this: “ I HAVE MADE USE OF MY EDUCATION  UPTO THIRD STARDARD AND YOU HAVE NOT”.  What he meant was that by his education he had learned how to read in his native language and he had made use of that to acquire knowledge.  But the engineer was proficient in his mother toungue as well English and Hindi but he didn't  make use of it properly.

Later on when I read the novel SORBA THE GREEK written by Nikos Kazanzakis,  I saw a trace of that old man in Sorba.  I would like to say that the old man was one of the enlighening factors of my personality.  He taught me that ignorance is not something to be ashamed of, but you should have the thirst for knowledge. 

Reading has become an old fashioned habit and we can see that many of the libraries throughout India are not functioning properly.  My native state is Kerala which has the highest literacy level among the Indian states.  In Kerala you can see a reading room & library in almost every nook and corner of the villages.  People were making use of these libraries very much and it was my habit to become a member of the local library, wherever I went and stayed for some period.  I had seen many young and old people coming to these libraries and making use use of this facility to aquire knowledge.   But now the present generation neglects the role of these libraries and almost all of them has an aversion for reading.  This is maily because they have everything at their fingertips in this e wrold.  But my advice to the young generation is to read as much as they can and try to know how much is the contribution of our ancestors to this modern world.

THE HIPPY CULT

THE HIPPY CULT

Somewhere during late sixties and early seventies, there was a bunch  of people  who were known as hippies.  They were known as hippies since they were propagating a cult known as Hippy Cult.  I have read about this hippy cult in an Indian  periodical, and as per that article the hippy cult originated  in America.  The writer of the article claimed that this cult was the offspring of prosperity.  The rich young generation of the then America were quite bored with their life styles and they began to live as a commune which was notorious for indiscipline.  They were against everything which a normal human being stood for.  They were mostly drug addicts and were notorious for their free sex policies. 

These people were fed up with their rich life styles with access to almost everything in the world.  Naturally they began to stand away from all these pleasures of the ordinary youth.  They began to live in  communes outside their families with no rules to bind them and nobody to tell them what to do or what not do.  They began to lead a life full of laziness and they became a bunch of people with no discipline at all.  This does not mean that all the American young generation of those days were hippies.  The hippy cult was propagated by a minority among the rich young generation.  But these minority people  were a severe headache to the government.  They were a shabby looking group of people with long hairs and carelessly grown beards.

Though this cult was not familiar in other countries of the world, young people all over the world began to grow their hair like the hippies.  They just began to imitate the hair and beard styles of the hippies, but not their life styles.  For the young generations of the eastern side, the hippies were just a trend setters.

Slowly the hippy cult vanished from the world, but the remnants of their looks and hair and beard styles were retained by some people who called themselves as geniuses.  Slowly it became an unwritten rule that if you want to be known as genius, then you have to grow your hair and beard.  This became an essential element among the artists, movie makers, writers and even scientists.  Unfortunately women were deprived of this facility of pseudo genius features as they were not able to grow beards like men.

Actually a genius need not be a man with a long hair and a beard.  A genius is the one with an uncommon caliber in a particular field.  But the present day society is full of pseudo geniuses and they pretend they know almost everything under the sun.  It is not possible for man to become a genius in all fields.  Of course there may be a minority who excels in more than one field, but not in every field.  

We have to bear in mind that it is not intention of the almighty God, that every human being has to be a genius.  If every body in this world are genius, then the world will come to a standstill.  So the creator has intended only a minority to become the genius, and a real genius should be very much aware of this fact and he should be helpful to others.  He should thank God for choosing him to help other creations of the almighty God.

THE SACRED WEDLOCK

THE SACRED WEDLOCK

There is a common saying that marriages are made in heaven.  A lot of people believe in this, yet they are very much worried about marriages.  Though the concept of marriage is the same throughout the world, the social implications of marriage have different dimensions in different parts of the world.  Of course, religions also play an important part and they have got different definitions of marriage.

The western countries are very much liberal about marriage and married life.  But they also had conservative outlooks about marriage in olden days, and the present liberal outlook was generated through many a centuries.  Being an Indian, I can make definite conclusions about marriage from the point of view of Indian civilization only.   Formerly, marriage was just a ritual in which a girl was handed over to a man as his pair.  He was to look after the girl and in turn the girl was to organize a family for him, bear his children and so on.  The male domination in married life was clearly defined in olden days and as such women were not having a strong position in married life.  There is a saying in Tamil – KANAVANE KANKANDA DAIVAM – this means husband is the God of wife.  This was almost the same in almost all the eastern civilizations.

The role of man was so dominant in the family during olden days and this has led to so many tragedies for women.  To some extent, the lives of women were horrible then and this suppression has paved way to the women’s liberation movement.  In India this movement was not so evident, yet there were remarkable changes in the Indian society also.  The credit goes to the women’s liberation movement which was strong enough in the western regions especially in the European nations.  

This has resulted in a welcome change in the Indian outlook about marriage.  Women are more liberalized than the olden days and they also play an important role in almost all fields of life.  We can very well say that women of the present day have got a more important role in the family life than in the olden days.   Of course there are some physical features which make women inferior to men, but they are stronger than men in many facets of life.  The modern society has accepted this phenomena and this has related in a strong family life. 

Now there is yet another fact which disturbs very much the positive changes that has occurred in marriage and family life. It is nothing but the increasing number of divorces in our society.  I think the role of parents in marriage is becoming lesser and lesser in modern society.  The number of wrecked marriages are on the increase and it is time to think positively about our children’s lives.  It is the duty of the society  to find a solution to this and save our children’s life.

I think our young generation has gone wrong somewhere in the definitions of freedom.  And of course they are becoming more and more selfish and this of course is not their fault.  We are to be blamed for the upbringing of a selfish young generation.  The joint family concept of the olden days have given way to the nuclear family concept.  This nuclear feature itself is a selfish idea and we must teach our young generation to be more liberalized in their outlook about family and not to consider their family as so neuclear.

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A MAD WORLD

 A MAD WORLD

Almost all the human beings are in pursuit of money and it is a very common phenomena that they forget almost all the human values, while they hunt for money.  This journey towards prosperity has created a mad world and it is an agony that we are part of that mad world.

We cannot criticize people who are in pursuit of money because money is the only way to prosperity, and prosperity is one thing almost everybody likes.  It is quite natural that people want their children to earn a rich living style.  What is worse is that they forget to teach their children about human values, and divert their attention solely towards making money.   Almost all the parents plan their children’s future without considering the whims and fancies of their children.  They  fix a target for their children and most probably the target they set for them will be to become a doctor or an engineer.  It has become a passion of our society to make their children either an engineer or a doctor.  Only a minority think about other professions, and even then those professions will also be of  high esteem.

This line of thinking has created a very serious problem in the mind set of our children.  A student who is not academically brilliant to reach such heights mentioned above, thinks himself inferior to others.  Actually there is no reason for them  to feel inferior because the world cannot survive with only high achievers.

At this point, let us think a little about the balance of nature the almighty has provided us.  Just think about a society which is full of highly educated men such as doctors, engineers and other professionals.  Is it possible for a doctor to perform his duties without  other people’s help ?  Can an engineer build his career without anybody’s help ?  We have to understand that the existence of this human race mainly depends upon their mutual dependence.  It is a common fact that a human being needs the help of his fellow beings and he instead has to support others for their existence. 

There is no need for anybody to feel inferior to others,since he or she is also a strong pillar of the society without the support of which the society will collapse.  A cobbler, a painter, a factory worker, a farmer, a house wife and everybody else are as important as any others in this world.  We should have that confidence in our mind that nobody can survive in this world without the help of others.

Every human being should have the knowledge that this world belongs to every living thing in this earth. He is not the only one who deserves a honorable living in this world.  Every others has an equal right of opportunity and they also deserve a honorable living in this world.  The parents should educate their children about this so that they become an indispensable part of this beautiful world.  

Let us hope for the emergence of a world in which every human being complements others and helps for building a peaceful world.  Let us be free from the hatred we feel towards others in terms of race, colour and   let us feel no barrier to extend our love towards others.  Also let us change this mad world into a sober world without any barriers of caste, colour and creed. 

mohandas4652@gmail.com

HUMAN VALUES

HUMAN VALUES

The human beings are bound to perform certain duties as the rulers of this earth.  Out of all the living things in this earth, it is the human beings who are blessed with superior brain functions.  Or in other words, God has created the human beings to rule this earth.  To rule the earth does not mean that they can use everything in the nature for their own benefits.

Of course the human beings as the rulers of this earth has certain duties to perform.  Their primary duty is to preserve the nature and transfer the same to the next generation.  It has to be born in mind that this earth and all its infrastructure are not meant for the present only.  We have to be aware that this nature was handed over to us by our ancestors and it is our duty to preserve it carefully and hand over it to the next generation.   Moreover, nature is not meant for the human beings only.  All the living things in this earth have a right in this earth as we human beings have and it is our duty to make sure that they are properly taken care of.

It seems that we have willfully forgotten this duty of the human beings and we are travelling through a path that is detrimental to the safety of this earth and its inhabitants.  We don’t even understand that the birth of the nations occurred just for a convenience of administration.  Our neighbour is not our enemy and there are no such things called our land and their land.  If we examine the history of the earth, we can very well see that we had been wrongly guided by our rulers and thus we began to see our neighbouring countries  as our enemies.   We had been taught by them to think only of our country and not to bother about what is happening in the other side of the world. 

We have taught by them to  invent new weapons which we can use against our neighbours.  We have been taught by them to point our nuclear weapons towards any city in this earth, so that we extinguish the whole population of a  region.

Similarly, we had been misguided by the religions also.  Religions had taught its followers that this the only religion which provides you a heaven.  The pragmatic thoughts of religious clergymen had exploited the human beings to such an extent that they even began to consider  other religions as something to be terminated from this earth.  This had given birth to the to very bad phenomenon of this earth  known as “terrorism”.

What happens  now is that we are slowly forgetting  our duty as human beings.  We often think ourselves only as Indians, Chinese, Pakistanis, Americans,  Europeans etc.,  but not as a single community that dwells in this earth.  And we are not bothered about preserving this earth and its nature and pass it over to the next generation.  Instead we think only of ourselves,  only of the present and we we forget about the next generation who has to succeed us.

Where will be this earth if things  move on the same path like this ?  Hopefully there are some isolated sounds  from all over the world against this.  It is a positive sign that we have begun to turn our ears to this sound.  Let us hope that a day will come when all the nations, their inhabitants and their rulers and all the religions understand the essence of human values.  Let us hope for a leadership that enlightens the whole world  to a bright future.

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THE MONEY POWER

THE MONEY POWER

There was no currency system during the ancient times and I think, most probably the human being were leading a peaceful life then.   The role of money in the modern society has gone to such an extent that money rules the world. 

Money, of course is an essential thing for living in this world, but the prominent  role of money has gone to such incredible heights that it has grown far beyond the human beings.  Now the super power that rules the earth is Money.  The most easy way to earn money is to acquire power.  Of course there are many more ways to earn money, but power and money is such a strong combination that it makes you more or less omnipotent.

In olden days when there was no currency system ,  there was a system known as the Barter System that helped men to procure the basic necessities of life.  For example  men who produces food grains will exchange their food grains to buy cloths.  The men who weaves cloths will exchange their cloths for getting food grains.  The human beings were having a thorough understanding that they are bound to complement each other, in order to exist in this earth. 

And then came the real villain – MONEY.  I am not a man who is against the development of the world.  Of course the currency system has got its own importance in this world since the economic development of the whole world depends upon the currency system.  I am not an advocate of anti currency system, but what I want to point out is the changes  that occurred  in the outlook of the human beings.   We began to depend upon money for every thing.  It has gone to such an extent that we respect those with sound financial set up.  The able man is the one who makes money and now a days we are least bothered about the means to make money.

Money has got an prominent role in almost 80% of the crimes that is happening all over the world.  Money mingled with power has become a strong addiction in the modern society.  This has paved  way to the corrupted society that we live in.  Corruption has become a very common thing in our society.

I have heard about two good people who did no carry money with them.  One was Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa  and the other is his disciple, Swami Vivekananda.  Swami Vivekananda has travelled to many countries, but he did not carry money with him.  Swami  Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a man who  had not touched money with his hand. 

I am not a man who think money is the reason for every tragedy in the society.  It is the outlook of the human beings towards money, that has to be changed.  We should  be aware that money is just a means for the smooth functioning of the society and helps us to transact with others. 

MALE AND FEMALE

 MALE AND  FEMALE

There is a concept in Hindu mythology about Lord Siva depicting him as “ARDHANAREESWARA”.   The concept is that  Lord Siva and Parvathy are one and the same like two sides of the same coin.  Have anybody thought about this concept of equal importance to the female as that of the male ?  We don’t know when this concept has formulated since it is a very very ancient concept.  It means that even from such ancient days,  women are considered equal to men.

Then how come it happened that the society considered women as inferior to men ?  The Indians with the help of Manusmrithi regarded women as inferior to men.  Somehow or other, it was the same  all over the world.  Let us have look at Manu’s version of women.  It says like this:

PITHRO RAKSHATHI KAUMARE

BHARTHRO RAKSHATHI YOWANE

PUTHRO RAKSHATHI VARDHAKYE

NA STHREE SWATHANTHRIAMARHATHI

This was explained by scholars that “women are protected by -  father at their childhood, by husband at their youth, by sons at their old age , and as such women does not deserve freedom”.

This was widely quoted to point out that women are inferior to men.  But I think Manu was not such a meager personality to think of women as inferior to men.  In my opinion Manu’s quotation has to be interpreted like this:

Manu points out only at the masculine and feminine structure of the male and female.  “As men are more masculine in body character, they are bound to protect women during all the stages of life.  And women are not free from this protection since this a protection of love and kindness”. 

But what about position of the women folk now a days ?   We can see that there are reservations for women in all the three tier system  of Panchayats and even in the assembly and the parliament.  What is the meaning of these reservations ?  It means that we are not ready to see women as equals to men.  There is no question of reservation when  we men are ready to accept women as equals to us.  This quality is lacking in men even in this century and hence we make only reservations for women.  

What we have to do is give up this so called feeling of superiority over the women folk and then there will not be any need to offer reservations to the women.

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