Idol Immersion Not Ideal at All!!!

This is not intended to hurt the sentiments of any individual or a group nor is it an act against religion; it is simply a word of awareness!

India is a country of 33 crore deities with an endless number of faiths and castes! The people of India seem to be so very devotional and pious. We celebrate almost each and every festival that comes across our way, though our motives may be varied, beginning right from unconditional devotion and contemplation to the divinity, through freaking out and enjoying the holidays and finally to gain popularity and the ‘Gift of the Illusive World, ‘Money!

But no matter for what purpose we are or pretend to be very ‘pure and religious’ we must re-think upon our actions and their corresponding reactions! Every coin has both the sides! All of us feel that serving the GOD is a task of high reverence! But do we know what does ‘serving the GOD actually mean?

Well, all the festivals that we celebrate have some or the other devastating effect upon  the environment as well as its constituent elements, viz. all of us and each living being! One such festival coming up is Ganesh Chaturthi. Let’s explore its pros and cons.

 Earlier Ganesh Chaturthi was festival depicting the endless cycle of being born from the earth and returning back to it. (By making the idols, celebrating and immersing back into water.) The idols devised were made from the mud and then were immersed into the lakes, rivers and seas. The whole process was carried with utmost decency, but as an when commercialization came into the picture, it hampered the balance of the society and changed everyone’s view point from religious and devotional aspect to the commercial one, which always oversees anything and everything in its way ‘except Profit’!

Harmful Effects:
1.    The water pollution and the waste generated by the non-biodegradable accessories used during the worship.

2.    Noise pollution, Traffic congestion3.    Deaths

4.    The acid content in the waters increased – The acidity of the water rises and makes the water unfit for the animals to live in. The water also is no more potable!

5.   Increase in the Heavy metal contents of Water:  Eg. Iron which increased nearly 10 times and copper which increased by 200 to 300%!

     1)    Water Pollution: The idols that we make are made up of POP, i.e., Plaster of Paris. Plaster of Paris is much cheaper, durable and abundant than the original mud being used for designing the idols. It is a man-made substance that is not Bio-degradable and thus is a great threat to the environment. It is also insoluble in water. The paints used for decorating these idols contain heavy metals like Mercury and Cadmium that cause water pollution. Apart from all these threats other items that are immersed with the idols accumulate on the river bed in layers! These items collectively are referred to as the ‘Nirmalya’. These may include fruits, flowers, incense sticks, camphor, clothes etc. Some of these are bio-degradable but the majority is not, and these substances give a foul smell to the water and cause it become dirty and unfit for consumption. This not only harms our lives but also the creatures dwelling within the water!

     2)    Noise pollution and traffic congestion: There are no less than 15-20 idols that are immersed in the rivers, lakes or seas. Lacs of people gather on the roads and do travel long distances for Ganesh Visarjan. Out of all the excitement there are many shrieks and loud speakers which create immense noise pollution. The whole of the city gets disturbed. It must be noted that in our celebrations and days of entertainment there are others who are fighting with their lives, with the hope one more day!!! There are others who have exams on their heads! There are other officials who have to attend on their jobs at any cost! The amount of noise and traffic generated create a lot of imbalance in the life of such people. On top of that vehicles run of fossil fuels and long runs, deplete the reserves of it and contribute to air pollution!

3)    The loss of life: There are many deaths that occur just due to such practices! There are so many people who get drowned in the water while immersing the idol, there are others who get crushed in the incessant mob and the rest get killed in accidents or due to lack of treatment due to traffic or the closure of hospitals on ‘such so called auspicious occasions’!

Worshipping is an inner job, and if it really comes from deep within the heart, than there is no need to show off or gush down to streets!!! Can such chaotic situations be called ‘Worshipping the lord’? Is it worthy enough to associate the word divinity where inhuman customs prevail? Please do remember that the greatest of the service and the greatest of the religion ‘Is To Serve Others’ For every problem there must be a solution!

Solutions:

    1)    STOP CELEBRATING THIS FESTIVAL IN THIS FASHION! Instead help the poor and the needy, help the ones who are really in desperate need. Do not waste resources like money in useless and worthless rituals!

If not…..

    2)    Return to the traditional use of natural clay idols and immerse it in a bucket of water at home.

    3)    Build an idol of stone or brass and use it every year. Perform mock/fake immersions!

    4)    Say no to POP – Plaster of Paris idols!

    5)    Use other biodegradable materials like Paper-Mache to create Ganesh idols.    

6  6)    Encourage people to immerse the idols in tanks of water rather than in natural water bodies

Last option and not preferred at all…..

    1)    If POP idol is used, sprinkle a few drops of water, indicating symbolic immersion and then send it for re-cycling and using it next year.

Caste and Caste Systems a Slow Poison

Today we all follow different faiths but have the same motive of doing so! Indeed, every religion has its own culture. Religion is the highway through which one traverses unto his final terminus! This destination is the same for all, though the paths may 'seem' very different. It is just because we have created that gradient. A highway remains a highway in India so does it in Europe, the difference just being that it is named differently here than there! Each one of us is somewhere or the other interconnected in this multifarious relation of being a ‘Human’.

Religion is a way to concentrate on our faith or deity. It helps us reducing the evilness in the society. Religion keeps us near to the lord. Religion in its true sense is much more than what the mortal words could ever blabber! The human nature is but quite dynamic, as though the gurgling stream flowing from the ‘top of a mountain’, being chaste from the origin, flowing o’er crests and troughs, mingling with mud, pouring down the steep edge of the boulder and vanishing into the ‘cosmic reservoirs’! All becomes calm again and flows in the harmony of nature!

‘Unity is Strength’. As did the ‘Pangaea’ bifurcate, so did the human race. Humanity is not regional or national, it is a global perspective, but today we prove to be what we shouldn’t have ever imagined in our wildest of the wild dreams! Today there are 7 continents, 196 countries and over 2 lakh cities with Thousand-billion people dwelling in there! With the passage of time people started to develop all the ideas about religion. Innumerable religions were devised, all filled with interesting stories and concepts, all derived from the 'ubiquitous nature' of the mankind! Each of which kept on expanding as did the case of ‘every atom’s origin’! Everyday thousands of new cobwebs get weaved around, adding to its intricacy! 

The love and humanity, transformed into hatred and selfishness! The religion which taught righteousness, love, unity, humanity and the staunch willingness of performing the duties got de-thrown by the so-called wits or to be more specific, the 'priests'! The center of life altered from ‘duty to deity’! The downfall of humanity was given the ignition which later has leaped across the globe burning down all the goodness of the society to ashes!

When our thirst wasn’t quenched even after getting divided into so many different religions we still broke it down into the castes! It cannot have but devastating effects! How ironic it seems to divide a single wide path into a numerous narrower paths which eventually obstruct the passage of the vehicles itself! Indeed when the immortal Gods take a hand in this matter they cannot do but weep or rescind this ‘illusive world of illusions’!

Caste system is a major barrier of our society today. We feel awfully proud of having secured a high rank in technological innovations and the industrial development across the globe, but indeed all that that's there is merely a complement to the real life of the people! The chief principles of the 'golden era' prove to be vital and eternal as long as the men would survive.

India earlier was divided into 4 main castes, i.e. Brahmin, Kshatriya, Viashya and Kshudra. The four Vedas are the foundation of the Hindu religion. The 'Vedas' stated that, "It is the Brahmins who were born from the mouth of the GOD, Kshatriyas evolving from the hands, Vaishias from the thighs and lastly the Kshudras from his toes." Brahmin in turn has 84 bifurcations! The roots of this system have penetrated deep into the society! And it was no one other than people like you and me who formulated and penned down the Vedas! Well the Vedas are nothing but the reflection of the thoughts and beliefs of the people of that age! It is an inevitable truth that "Nothing in this world is permanent but Change". Just giving it all a bit of thought may lead us to conclude that with the passage of time and the advent of ideas, the traditional concepts must be revived and subjected to change! We must reflect to find out, why we do adhere to our religious scriptures so much that we tend to forget the day we are living in!

The caste system is present even today! Diffusion and osmosis are the naturally occurring processes, which 'nullify the gradient between the high and the low'. Thus the ‘Law of Nature’ teaches us to be in harmony and quash all the differences between each other, but our adamant nature doesn’t allow us to do that! The higher caste people seem to have a problem with the lower caste people and vice-versa! It becomes almost impossible to thrive in an environment which has nothing to do but abuse each other!

‘Love’ a four-letter word, is more powerful than the even the most destructive Hydrogen bomb on this Earth. When the angels talk in the heaven they won’t have any other word sweeter and more effective than this! Love has the invincible power to curb the most violent of the wars or rage one of ‘em! The world would have been overwhelming with happiness and prosperity today, only and only if we even tried to listen to the mellifluous beats of our heart!

The framers of the Indian constitution had the ambition to see its citizens touch the highest of peaks in the world in all spheres of life. One of the very initial laws made was ‘Abolition of Un-touchability and the introduction to Aarakshan for the initial ten years’. Both of these laws were made to unite the people of India and work for the ‘Betterment of India as a whole and not themselves individually’. The hearts and minds of the people of India had been filled with so much of filth that they couldn't accept the new ideology. And it is quite natural to deny to something that opposes an age old custom! But the ultimate truth is that ‘Nothing is permanent but Change’. We need to be constantly pondering over the current affairs, our customs and the way of life, rationally! Then and then can we assure the well-being of the society, as there is always something or the other to resuscitate!

Many people are of the opinion that today the lower caste people are discriminated but as many think the right opposite! In India people do believe that “It has been 65 years after the independence but still the lower caste people have not been able to cope-up with the dignified citizens even after the Aarakshan and lot many other policies offered by the government to them. So it is whose fault?” The citizens of India are also of the opinion that Aarakshan which was given to them was only for the initial 10 years after the independence (So that the lower caste people can align themselves with the upper caste people) but today the corrupt ministers just for their own ‘position’ allocate Aarakshan as if distributing cakes! It is a fact that Aarakshan also sometimes becomes a hindrance to the progress of the society as a whole, as not all lower caste people are so talented. Thus if they get a job which they aren't worthy of than it creates a havoc which is a condition in many of the government offices! So many people today feel that low caste people have actually overpowered them!

But on the other hand no one can deny to the fact that no less than millions of low caste people suffer due to all these inhuman practices! The behavior of an individual and that of towards others accounts for 90% of the reciprocating-reactions. It has the potential to shape the attitude of his and others! The same can be applied here! When even a small lot of lower caste people are harassed by the upper caste people, or the unworthy lower caste people spoil the lives of the upper caste people, neither of them can resist it. Hatred embarks from here! It is truly said that 'an eye for an eye makes the world blind'.

Today our society faces a major conflict among the lower caste people and the upper caste people. Thousands of upper caste people may be suffering due to Aarakshan or other such practices. Many lower caste people might be expressing hatred against every upper caste person whether he is good or bad. And equally the lower caste people do suffer! The issues related to caste and caste system not only creates gradients and discomfort in the society but also hamper the fraternity and peace of the world! For example the India-Pakistan wars, Un-touchablity and even more cruel customs are all somehow or the other related to caste and religions!

Well our constitution has made it a legal offence many years ago! But it is still prevalent! Today if the government officials come for the census report, they have a special column in their list for caste and religion! Why the hell do you need to specify all such details! How is a 'Stupid Common Man' expected to step out of this shallow attitude when the mass administrating body itself is not able to perceive the fresh ideas and think out of the box!

Today the issue is not to bring the lower caste people up or to pull the legs of the upper caste people; the issue is to stop the discrimination on the grounds of caste, creed and religion! Discrepancies and difference of opinion always lead to the worse of the effects! As the opposite of Masculine power cannot be Feminine power, similarly the opposite of Upper caste people can never be Lower caste people, even though the Lower and Upper are antonyms of each other! As long as the caste system prevails the issues among the people would never cease because ultimately the caste system has seeped into our blood! 

  

Winners have a solution to each and every problem and in contrast losers have a strong sense to find staunch problems even in the best of the solutions that could ever exist! If we believe that we are really successful than we are under the greatest influence of the artifices! One can never progress until and unless all the inhumanity is bashed!

The solution itself cannot be to bring up the lower caste people or create some laws that will bring them up! Because by creating such laws there are always chances that either the upper caste or the lower caste people would suffer! If suffering of the lower caste people is not good so would be that of the upper caste people! I repeat that today the problem is not to bring up any of the castes or to pin point someone. We need to identify our real enemy which is 'behind the screen' destroying us! 

The real issue is all due to the Religious beliefs of people which is carried forward from ages. Today we are taught from childhood that you have to pray to GOD otherwise you cannot become a good person! You must know how to perform particular rites if you're a Brahmin! Come one, what the hell is that, all bullshit! What difference does it make if you manage to become a 'human'! Even Bhagwat Gita stresses on the importance of duty, Ramayana stress on the principle of being righteous and following the duty! And of course each one of us has our own way of thinking and way to behave and react! The religion has actually stained our society indeed! It is much similar to the water left stagnant from months! Change and innovation is the key to success! The caste system needs to be ceased in order to bring up our society! There are many problems that arise just because of castes and even if you create a law or amend the constitution, the same caste system's exists in the blood of our society! Until and unless the caste system is abolished one cannot think of all humans being considered as humans and equal! Caste divides people! The spirit of nationalism can only prevail where there are no division! But look at the scenario we all talk merrily about caste and we feel proud to be of a particular caste or religion! 

It is really absurd to think that the castes would be dissolved over night! It is not just the job of the government and the upcoming generations to abolish the caste system, but it is the great responsibility levied on each one of us. Government is a body elected by the people and it is meant to work for the people and moreover it is a body made from the citizens of India! It is the sole responsibility of each and every citizen of India to rise against any injustice done or against any unhealthy ideology! We all need to change and mold ourselves according to the time and situations, we cannot be the stubborn mules and staunch followers of the craziest and devastating thoughts of the world, like the way we did before. We are too fussy and possessive about them! Let's eliminate them to become better humans! Let's break through the barriers of castes and religions and contemplate the divinity within ourselves! 

Going Green and Re-cycling or donating the Text Books!

We buy so many textbooks every year. And we are planning to go PBL and E-Books but meanwhile we still have a lot many text books. What most of the people do after the exams get over is to throw the text books away! I've even seen students shredding off the textbooks to pieces! Textbooks are not at all respected after the exams get over.

Innumerable papers are wasted every year. That includes the art work, the study materials like text books and written papers. (Best of the art pieces can be kept but the works of the great artists like me should be given for recycling instead of giving everything back home! Because no one actually cares about all that stuff! We use so good papers for art, while many students across the country use recycled and waste papers for their main studies!) So can we have a rule in the school wherein all the textbooks as well as the written record/art work are collected back at the end of the year? The best option is to give them to someone who cannot really afford them or at least send it for re-cycling. Similar process should be done, with all the written record of all students. (Because ultimately those papers are either flown off as planes or shred to pieces!)

With all the textbooks and written records, each year we can make really be productive and make the best out of the waste and can go green! Firm announcements should be made regarding returning the textbooks and the written matter. (if and only if the some tangible reason is mentioned he/she may be exempted)

The Bhagwat Geeta

Subject: Why we read the Bhagavat Geeta, even if we can't understand it?

An old farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavat Geeta.

His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagawat Geeta just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand, I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagawat Geeta do?"

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water."

The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house.

The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before here turned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.

The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.

Out of breath, he said, "SEE.... it is useless!"

"So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.

"Son, that's what happens when you read the Bhagavat Geeta. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of GOD in our lives."

This is beautiful story – it is inspiring.

Please forward.

Make War, Not Love - Must Read, Infer and Implement in the real life

Really inspiring poem, must read. Plz share it ppl Moral: Wrong things can never be right. If not by love or any of the humanly ways, they understand, than by force it should be ended. Wrong things need to be crushed anyhow. We can take an example from history, the French Revolution. It was full of bloodshed but due to that, their lifestyle have changed!!!

Make War, Not Love

Except for those who make the guns And profit from each bomb and plane,

No one wants war; we all want peace. "Bring them home!" people complain.

There are better ways to solve all this; We'll get together and negotiate;

With diplomacy, we'll calm them down; With loving hearts we'll end the hate.

But loving hearts don't understand

That demented tyrants want it all.

No talk, no love will change their minds. Only war will cause their fall.

Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, too, Total power was their goal.

Saddam Hussein, Amin, and more, Ignored the talk, and gained control.

Despicable, depraved and more, With viciousness, they kill their own.

So we send our soldiers off to hell To keep freedom as our cornerstone.

Was 9/11 not enough To show us just how far they'll go?

Will we acquiesce to terrorists, These devils, the lowest of the low?

Reluctantly, we have to fight;

So while pundits chatter and discuss, We'll use our might to take them out, To keep the thugs from killing us.

By Joanna Fuchs

Be bold, Rise up and Break the Silence! Shake the world with Innovation!

Let me start off with a short story: 

A man died and went to the house of god, furious and bubbling red with anger! He was so enraged that he directly started fighting with GOD. He said that the Earth is filled up sinners and their dirty sins. It is wrenched in blood due to the greedy people in it. Humanity has vanished from the face of the earth. Things have worsened! Nothing is in order. In spite of so much happening out there you are least concerned!!! So many things happen day after day and they keep on happening without a check! Are so heartless? Aren't you the one who takes of the world? If you are actually present than why the hell didn't you send a messiah?

God was listening to all these with utmost patience. Without even a slightest sign of anger god tittered and said, "My dear son, it was you whom I sent for that purpose!!!"

The short but effective words of GOD stoke through the heart of that man. He was dumbfounded and stood still as if he was a stone!!!

Each and everyone's life is filled with various problems. No body is left out. Problems are thrust upon us when we are capable of handling and correcting them and thus it becomes our duty to tackle the problems which affect us and others in our day to day lives. There are 2 ways to live the life, 1) to get adjusted to whatever is happening and other is to be bold and change it. It is upon us to choose the right way! The first way can be very easy to pick up but hard to follow but the second is hard to pick up and easy to follow! Following is the greatest thing!

The Greatest Political, Religious, Social and Economical Threat

Imagine a country with a single political party!!! Today's scenario is much similar to racism and the discrimination done on the basis of religion or something like the caste system, where people fight for no staunch reason! Where people fight their own brothers and sisters! Where the integrity is broken down and the harmony turns into a race among the people working for the same cause!!! It does not matter against whom I fight. What come may I want 'SUPREMACY'!!! Let's Pray for a government with a singel political authority! (Prayer is the commitment to work and perform)

The innovative touch from our lives has vanished!!! Imagination is more important than knowledge! If we can just understand, interpret, think, imagine, use our discretion and act accordingly, 95% of the problems would be eradicated! The race for supremacy has stained our society so much that we have gone blind! In each and every single thing we wanna be the best and the supreme but we would not consider the other parameters for living a life! Sometimes letting things go for universal well being is a great honor! 

Again envy is the ulcer of our soul! Looking from a wider perspective would cure all the so-called, illusive, petty but fatal problems!

Never be narrow-minded and self-centered in any sphere of life!