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Friday,
December 21, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Of Pak-linked
terrorism Nathpa-Jhakri
asked for it |
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Hari Jaisingh
Love stories by the
lake
Image &
image-makers of MEA
Toys not for
children to play with
This cop
fasts for amity
1954 Chemistry: LINUS PAULING
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Of Pak-linked terrorism PRIME MINISTER Atal Behari Vajpayee has rightly stated, "There can be no two definitions of terrorism. Terrorism cannot be divided in bits and pieces." The USA as the leader of the anti-terrorism international coalition should take the December 13 attack on India's Parliament complex by Pakistan-based terrorist groups under the guidance of the ISI as seriously as Washington did when Osama bin Laden's men used passenger planes as missiles to strike at the symbols of the American economic and military might. This is not to expect the USA to fight India's war. This is also not to admit that India cannot find a solution to the problem having its roots across the border. The truth is that it has been behaving like a responsible and mature democracy. It has also been testing the commitment of those who have taken upon themselves the responsibility of eliminating the menace root and branch. But there is a limit to one's patience, as Mr Vajpayee has declared. The coalition engaged in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan should realise its obligations. The campaign against the Taliban is nearly over. The Al-Qaeda factor will take a longer time to be effectively handled. The time has come for the coalition to take on the known terrorist outfits in Pakistan prospering in the name of jehad. By attacking India's Parliament they have proved that they are very much active and working overtime for destabilising the situation in the subcontinent. India has incontrovertible proof to establish the involvement of the notorious Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad in the destardly act and will have to deal with them on its own. But since the USA wants India to maintain restraint so that the drive in Afghanistan does not get weakened, the super power must act in the case of Pakistan-based outfits to New Delhi's satisfaction. Issuing statements will not do. The latest advice to Islamabad through statements from the White House and the State Department that Pakistan should cooperate with India as "India deals with that problem (terrorism)" is unlikely to have the desired impact. What the USA and the other members of the anti-terrorism coalition should do is to tell Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf clearly that under the Bush Doctine, as applicable in the case of Afghanistan, Islamabad must disband within a specified period all the terrorist outfits functioning as jehadi organisations, arrest their leaders, seal their buildings and seize their bank accounts. Terrorist training camps, wherever they exist, should be closed down without delay. All religious organisations should be asked immediately to deposit their arms and ammunition, licensed or unlicensed, at the nearest police station. The steps taken to regulate madarsas
(religious seminaries) are not enough. There should be strict watch on their activities so that the innocent students, who are mostly from poor families, are not brainwashed to indulge in destructive activities. If Pakistan does not act immediately on these lines, the anti-terrorism coalition should use the Bush Doctine and do the job itself. Making India a part of such a drive is not as important as is the result. There is no time to wait. America has accepted, though in a subtle manner, that Pakistan's claim of a freedom fight going on in Kashmir is false. The jehadis misusing the fair name of Islam are terrorists and deserve the treatment meted out to their counterparts in Afghanistan. |
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Nathpa-Jhakri asked for it CONVENTIONAL
industrial wisdom is that one should work like mad today because tomorrow never comes. But in the case of sarkari projects, this adage is made to stand on its head: Don't do a spot of work today for there is always a tomorrow. And as far as mega hydroelectric projects are concerned, words like "tomorrow" are just not applicable. One has to think in terms of eternity. That is what has happened in the case of the 1500-MW Nathpa-Jhakri project. Irked by the long delays and escalating costs, the World Bank, which had provided a loan of $437 million for the ambitious project, has considered it prudent to cry off. The international lending agency is not new to the Indian pace of work. The tempo shown by this particular project, coupled with indecision and irregularities, must have been exceptional for it to suspend the loan. That indeed is the case. The loan was given full 12 years ago and is the oldest in the World Bank portfolio of active loans. It was even extended four and a half years ago from its earlier closing date of December, 1997. The delay did not make anyone mend his ways. So what if the cost of the project escalated from Rs 1,678 crore in 1989 to Rs 9,500 crore now! Add to that the loss suffered because of no generation of power for all these years and you have a first-rate scandal at hand. However, since such "minor troubles" are encountered at almost every project, no heads ever turn, let alone roll. Ironically, there is no trace of repentance in the response of those responsible for the timely execution of the project. On the contrary, they are saying rather nonchalantly that they would now tie up with the Power Finance Corporation to fund the shortfall, as if the World Bank action is no humiliation. Another bold claim that is being made is that there will be no delay in the commissioning of the project scheduled for early 2003. That is a tall order as the World Bank withdrawal is very much likely to set back the project by months, if not years. In any case, it was originally to be commissioned in 1997-98. There is another lobby which has been castigating the World Bank itself for its "haughtiness". It is this attitude which ensures that no correctives are ever applied. The laughable thing is that the authorities are gloating over the fact that the project had made good progress during the past three months and even the World Bank had commended this "achievement". The moral is that if you work at an adequate speed for three months, the sloth and delays of the past decade and more are immediately wiped out. After all, 2002 is not the last year of the calendar. Years come and go. Projects must go on! |
India’s economic balancesheet AFTER
nerve-racking terrorism-related events inside and outside Parliament, the time has come to have yet another look at the state of the economy. For, in the final analysis, the nation's ultimate success will depend on how we perform on the economic front. The Indian economy, as usual, has been in state of drift. Everything has actually been on a slidedown for quite some time, notwithstanding Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha's optimistic rhetoric. Indian realities are indeed harsh. Things have gone from bad to worse with new signs of global recession. As it is, the aftermath of September 11 has given a blow to India's IT industry and related areas. It has deprived a large chunk of talented young Indians of their jobs overseas, especially in the USA. New Delhi has reasons to be worried about the shrinking prospects for jobs and exports under the unjust WTO regime. It is a different matter that, as in other areas of national life, the country's ruling establishment continues to be casual about basic problems, especially in areas of infrastructure, work environment and investment. It is a pity that the seriousness of the problems hardly gets reflected in the response of the ruling elite—from the Prime Minister to the Finance Minister, economic ministers and others. They either talk big or act in isolation. They lack proper perception of issues and priorities for faster growth. At the India Business Meet hosted by the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee threw up a very pertinent poser: Japan is strong in hardware while India has a proven strength in software.
To phir sangam kyon nahin ho pata? Perhaps the Prime Minister cannot provide an honest answer to this poser. But we know what is what and why China is a preferred destination for investment vis-a-vis India. In the first place, we have failed to create the right atmosphere for foreign direct investment (FDI). Too much of bureaucratic tangles are suffocating not only to swadeshi investors but also the NRIs and foreigners who run away from the ruling sharks rather than submitting to humiliating conditions. They are invariably fleeced either for personal gains or party funds. Ironically, right from Indira Gandhi's time the distinction between personal and party funds has ceased to exist. The present NDA alliance led by the once-principled BJP at the Centre and the ruling combinations in the states, with some rare exceptions, have one point of unity: make money while the sun of power shines. In this situation, why should an honourable investor risk his "honour" to the New Class of politico-bureaucratic sharks who may have links with the mafia? One can draw a long list of developments which have contributed to the present messy situation. The second point worth mentioning is that the Indian leadership lacks an economic vision. Its ideas are either wobbly and half-baked or are based on outdated concepts which do not reflect ground-level realities. Three, the political leadership has failed to generate the requisite momentum for economic reforms. Nothing worthwhile can be achieved unless the authorities address themselves to administrative and financial reforms which alone can put India's economic house in order. There does not seem to be any urgency on this count. This is simply because politicians and their collaborators prefer to thrive on populist policies to keep themselves entrenched in the business of power. Four, there have been no visible curbs on unproductive expenses. The government continues with its old habit of extravagance. Most Ministers and bureaucrats do not give the impression that they are representatives of the people of a poor country which is struggling to survive in today's competitive atmosphere. Their extravagance at home and abroad is seen to be believed. All the same, it needs to be pointed out that those at the helm of public affairs at the Centre and in the states behave like maharajas of colonial times. There are some exceptions but the mindset is one of "loot and be happy". The problem here is one of accountability and transparency. Those in power have to reflect the hopes and aspirations of common citizens whom they represent. The moot point is: do they represent 5 per cent of the upper strata of society or over 50 per cent of the population of the toiling masses living amidst poverty or the hard-pressed middle class that lives from hand to mouth for being honest tax payers? Apparently, the gap between the ruler and the ruled has further widened. Here we cannot overlook the problem of vested interests that go on to flourish merrily while governments come and go. They create islands of riches and illusions everywhere. The glitter of their affluence does not mitigate the stark reality of slum-dwellers living in sub-human conditions. In fact, urban India is nothing but a concrete jungle of slums, high-rise buildings and unplanned colonies without basic amenities. Has any serious thought been given how we check the deteriorating housing and civic conditions in the country's numerous towns and cities while saving millions of our villagers from the clutches of operators? What about the poor conditions in rural India which manages to survive without the basic amenities of drinking water, power and infrastructure. Talking of drinking water reminds me of a play which I saw several years ago in Mumbai's Tata Theatre where the visiting dignitary sanctioned a Coca-Cola plant in response to the villagers' complaint about the lack of drinking water facility in their area! It was a sarcastic play. But then satire and sarcasm have ceased to prick the conscience of today's ruling clique! One does not know which side of the economic divide Mr Vajpayee's government stands. The BJP once used to talk about "swadeshi". Many of its leaders have not only forgotten about the strength of self-reliance but also shamelessly press for foreign direct investment even in the print media. Is this a priority area? The BJP-led government at the Centre seems to be guided by the mentality of a petty shopkeeper even with regard to larger national issues who sells his stuff in retail just for a few crumbs. What a pity! What a shame! I am not against globalisation. Nor do I oppose privatisation. But one has to draw a line while evolving economic policies in thrust areas which have to be opened up for FDI for modernisation of industry and strengthening of its infrastructure. We can learn a lot from China. What is regrettable is that the Chinese success in certain areas does not seem to stir our nationalist feelings and prompt us to new thinking in running economic affairs. As it is, the government's financial profile has ceased to generate confidence. High fiscal deficit and the rising burden of public debts have made things worse. The situation is very serious as interest payment alone is likely to absorb a big part of the Central revenue this year. Things will get worse if the current slidedown in terms of the gross domestic product (GDP) continues unabated. And it must be understood that a lower economic growth would not only result in a weak revenue base but also add to the fiscal deficit and debts. In fact, the latest report of Standard and Poor's has already sounded the alarm. It says: "The consolidated general government deficit, about 9 to 10 per cent of the GDP, is one of the highest of all sovereigns rated by Standard and Poor's." It also points out: "A growing share of public spending is diverted to meet interest payments and salaries for a bloated civil service, with public investment declining to only 6 per cent of the GDP from 10 per cent over the last decade." The writing on the wall is clear. But the leadership today has no time to read this writing. It prefers to entertain itself with day-dreams and illusions by talking big without looking at stark realities existing right under its nose. In the changing global order as the world fights terrorism, we ought to remember the lessons drawn from past mistakes and resist short-term benefits and work for long-term targets and priori-ties. Here stress has to be on "the growth that creates jobs, sends children to schools, builds community health centres, empowers the poor to become the actors of their own development, nurtures the environment and spreads benefits equitably" by ensuring broad participation right among the poorest of the poor. Interestingly, this is now the voice of the World Bank as expressed through its vice-presidents (International Herald Tribune) on the event of the Ottawa conference of economic ministers from rich and poor countries. It will be worthwhile to quote two more relevant paras from their article: "Economic growth remains the fuel of poverty reduction. Productivity gains, sharing of research and technology and successful integration in the global economy facilitate growth. As world trade slows and industrial economies battle a recession, it is important to remember this lesson and to open the richest markets to exports of the poorest countries. "As improved agricultural productivity becomes even more of an imperative in regions where rural poverty dominates, the benefits of science and technology must be made available to poor women farmers. Information and communications technologies must spread their benefits to the most remote regions of our planet". The message is sharp and candid. But will our custodians of economic policies change their strategies to ensure faster growth which alone can eradicate poverty within a short timeframe and ensure education to all men and women, proper shelter for everybody and minimum health services? For an economy like India's, right technology mix apart, it is essential to create adequate employment opportunities for the delivery of the fruits of growth to the poor masses. It is time those at the helm came down from their ivory towers. It is not yet too late to realise that social progress, individual freedom, cultural and spiritual fulfilment and economic growth are all interdependent. A modern India and a medieval India cannot peacefully coexist for long without serious social tension. |
Love stories by the lake WHAT is it about a water body that attracts lovers by the droves to its sides? Think of a love story and the picture that flashes on the mind’s eye is that of couples walking arm-in-arm by the Seine in Paris, the Thames in London, the Muskova in Moscow, and closer home, by the beautiful Sukhna. The Sukhna Lake lies nestled in the foothills of the Shivaliks. For as the eye can see, there is uninterrupted greenery. At its outer edge, the sky vaults over to meet the lake at the horizon. The sky is like a huge concave mirror reflecting the waters of the lake, mostly a glorious palette of blue and gold. When it rains, the waters can turn muddy and the smooth surface of the water, becomes a mass of waves lashing the sides. As raindrops drizzle gently, an occasional rainbow, fractures the dull grey of the sky, connecting the heavens and the horizon. The Sukhna by moonlight is spectacular. On a clear night, you can see the lights of Shimla, Barog and Kasauli in the hills. The streetlights cast long shadows over the waters. The stars spangled across the sky wink with silver reflections in the lake. There are hooded lights, mellow piped music and comfortable benches dotting the periphery of the lake. Do you wonder then that Love is definitely in the air by the Sukhna morning and night? On my daily walk by the Sukhna, I dwell on the people thronging its sides. As I look around for the lovers by the lake, I mentally group them into four broad sociopsychological categories: the young uns, the newly-weds, the householders and the silver anniversarians. The young uns; school and college going youngsters, are easily identifiable. Their interactions hurried, yet tentative, their eyes and heads bent furtively to avoid recognition, as they explore forbidden relationships. They are the ones who sit on the benches late into the night, their silences speaking louder than words ever can. The newly-weds are identifiable from a mile. The young woman’s choora invariably a give away, as much as is the possessive air of her male escort. There is no furtiveness here; they are legally wed. Their gestures are open and articulate as they forge their conjugal bonds in the balmy ambience of the Sukhna. The householders are the married couples where some years of togetherness have taken the shine off the conjugal bond. These couples are few and far between. Read at a psychological plane, love appears to wane with time and marriage. The men and women in this category come separately; there are hardly any couples. Spouses either do not have the time or the inclination, or else parental and professional responsibilities keep them apart. Couples in this age group, sitting or walking by the lake, are usually there to resolve differences. Husband’s counsel and assuage complaining wives, trying to defuse stresses generated by or in a joint family/family set-up. In either case most wives and husbands go about their constitutional separately. The silver anniversarians are the older couples, most of whom would have celebrated or would be celebrating their silver anniversaries. Advancing years appear to yield to a comfortable companionship, a mutual inter-dependence. They walk together regularly and peacefully by the shimmering expanse of the Sukhna. They stop at intervals, to exchange greetings with their friends. There’s a warm aura of friendly companionship, an easy unspoken understanding between these couples where, as we put it in Punjabi, an
akh da ishara is all it would take to convey the others intentions. In this category falls my favourite love story by the lake. This silver grey haired couple drives up together in a vintage Fiat. The man puts out her wheel chair, then lifts her out of the car and settles her in it. He arranges her clothes, straightens her bindi and then wheels her out to the waiting vistas of the lake. Sometimes they just sit and talk, and other times he leaves her sitting there, watching the
thronging crowds, while he completes a quick chukker. There’s radiance that surrounds them, a peace that transcends the noise, the bustle and the mundane realities of every day life. Its love at its best, “.....in sickness and in health, till death do us part”. Amen. |
Image & image-makers of MEA INDIA fascinated the world for millennia. “Fabulous” — that was how India was described. Megasthenes, the envoy of the Greek king of Syria at the court of Chandragupta, speaks of “a happy people, of simple manners, frugal, non-litigious, holding truth and virtue in high esteem.” Asian visitors were equally effusive. Hieun Tsang (600-654 AD), a Chinese pilgrim, found Indians “high-minded, upright and honourable.” Al-Biruni (12th c AD), a great scholar of Islam, marvels at the religious tolerance and lack of theological disputations in India. However, those who came from the West to convert India into Christianity or to rule over India, the British in particular, saw India with a different eye. They saw nothing good in this country. Why? Because they wanted to justify conversions or British rule over India. Thus, they did the greatest damage to the image of this country. A word on missionaries: they claim they brought “light” to this country. Tagore says: they started fires. Be that as it may, we have a real problem: we have to change this image. And it is not going to be easy. India continues to be a land of snake charmers, cows and godmen to most people of the West. In 50 years, our men of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) have not been able to change this image. Who is at fault? In one word: our men. We lacked the dedicated, who alone could have changed the image. The NRIs — they are dedicated men — they have done much — in less than ten years! External publicity was once handled by the I&B Ministry for MEA, no doubt against payment. Perhaps Mr Mani Shankar Iyer, MP, had something to do with the takeover of this work by the MEA. The idea was: IFS could do better. It could not, for it is not trained to handle publicity. Even today the External Publicity (XP) Division depends on PIB, PTI and UNI for press material. Alas!, even they — PIB, PTI, UNI — are not trained to produce material for a foreign audience. There was a time when the information officers of the Indian embassies were from I&B. But no more. Now they are all IFS men. They hardly produce anything. Their main job is PR — public and press relation. Do they achieve anything? We can never know. No study has been done. The XP Division itself does not produce anything. Nor has it a regular programme for supply of material to embassies. It comes alive on special occasions like August 15 and January 26, when it mails out a package of material — mostly written for Ministers. There was a time when the Director of the XP Division was the most powerful Joint Secretary of the MEA. As the spokesperson of the GoI, he was exposed to the most powerful persons in the country. His nearness to the Foreign Minister ensured his career advance. As spokesperson, he is one of the main sources of information to both Indian and foreign press. The daily press briefings and issue of press statements are important activities of the Director. But over the years, his authority has been devalued with constant interference by the PMO. This was blatantly in evidence during the Agra Summit recently when Mrs Nirupama Rao, the present spokesperson and Director (and the first woman to occupy this job) was almost tongue-tied. She is a competent IFS officer, but with too many bosses, her work has suffered. During the last ten years or so, four Directors have come and gone, which shows the scant regard the MEA attaches to the work of the division. Only Pavan Varma made a serious effort to study the work of the XP Division. None was given time to make any significant contribution to the work of external publicity. This is unfortunate. That is why the men who handle the documentaries and the flagship publications should be given a longer tenure. An effective information work is necessary for two reasons: (i) to change the image of India, and (ii) because India is a global player today. The GoI cannot rely on newspapers for this work. It has to be done by the government — not for today or tomorrow but for ever. We, therefore, need a cadre of media men under the MEA, specially trained to handle external publicity. These men can serve as information officers, as editors of the various journals published by MEA, and as producers of documentaries. They can even be deputed to the External Publicity Division of All India Radio. “India Perspectives” is the flagship publication of the MEA. It is a monthly, brought out in ten foreign languages. It reaches mainly India’s friends and its sons (NRIs). It began as “March of India” in 1963 and was under the editorship of some of the great names in the media world such as K.K. Nair (also called Krishna Chaitanya), a polymath, who was considered an encyclopedia, Ram Mohan Rao and K.G. Joglekar. Later, it appeared as “Indian and Foreign Review” — all the while under the I&B Ministry (MEA used to pay for its services). Those were days of non-alignment when India had a sense of mission, which was reflected in the journal. With the transfer of the publication to the MEA, it came out in 1988 as “India Perspectives” with greater emphasis on culture and civilisation of India. The present editor has done much work to raise it to a world class journal. Production of documentaries on India’s culture and civilisation, as also its achievements, is an important part of the work of the XP Division. Equally important is the documentary work on bilateral relations. All these call for high specialisation. Naturally, this is an area which calls for a thorough review. In our age, with the shift towards audio-visual publicity, the work of documentary must be given the greatest importance. |
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Toys not for children to play with THE glint in the sand caught seven-year-old Ali Mohammad’s eye and he picked up the shiny metallic object to show it to his brother and sister. But, when he hit his new-found toy with a rock, it exploded, blowing his hand off, ripping his brother’s leg apart and tearing a hole in his sister’s abdomen. Their father, Ghulam Mohammad, accepts the horrific tragedy with the resignation of a people for whom death has become an everyday occurrence. “This was an act of God,” he said simply, wiping his tears. I cannot blame anyone”. Kandahar was already one of the most heavily mined areas in the world before the United States began air attacks to oust the Taliban regime that harboured Osama bin Laden and cut off their escape route to Pakistan. The United Nations estimates five to 10 million land-mines litter Afghanistan, killing or maiming 10 people everyday. Mohammad, a nomadic herdsman in Hilman province north of Kandahar, does not know what the object was that seriously injured three of his five children, but he says there were aerial strikes on the area two days earlier. Meanwhile, in what passes for an emergency room at the Chinese hospital, nurses change the dressing over the bloody stump where Ali’s hand used to be and fumble to find a vein to inject his sister, four-year-old Gul Bibi, with painkillers. The children’s chances of survival are slim. Ali Mohammad, Bor Mohammad and Gul Babi were too young to understand the war in Afghanistan or the internecine squabbles between rival tribal chiefs. They were simply looking for a toy.
ANI Postal staff detained for delivering old letters Villagers in Orissa detained postal employees for hours for delivering letters that had been posted two years back. A postman at Beda branch post office was assigned to distribute letters in five villages in Bargarh district, about 430 km from Bhubaneswar. He had not been distributing letters for the last two years. He had instead been hoarding letters in his house at Beda village. The villagers had brought it to the notice of the authorities but to no avail. Villagers discovered at the postman’s house at least 93 letters posted two years back. They sent the letters to the superintendent. Last week a junior engineer recovered hundreds of undelivered letters at the postman’s house. He brought this to the notice of the postmaster, who along with his colleagues tried to distribute the undelivered letters to the people concerned. When they went to the village of Banabira, furious villagers detained the entire lot, the Samaya newspaper said. They were rescued by the
police. IANS Red wine prevents fat intake Weight-watchers who insist on a tumbler of water with a meal rather than a couple of glasses of red wine might not be helping the cause after all. Research in Australia has found that a drop of red wine actually aids dieting by preventing the uptake of fat into the body. Water, in contrast, does nothing but slake your thirst. The study, the work of Sebely Pal and Mary Naissides at Curtin University in Western Australia, was prompted by the common view that red wine is a tonic. The pair took eight post-menopausal women and tracked the rate at which the fat from their meals was taken into circulation. They found that drinking red wine with a meal curbed the uptake of fat into the system.
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This cop fasts for amity HE is a Hindu, but this policeman in Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand state, has been fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan for three decades in the hope of promoting communal amity. Rameshwar Oran, a tribal, who is presently the Additional Director-General of Police, began fasting during Ramadan in 1968 during his college days to give a Muslim friend company. He has never stopped since, even though his friend is now settled in the Middle East. “Fasting has now become a part of my life. I continue with it, official work notwithstanding,” said Oran. “Giving the Muslims company during the fasting is a small attempt on my part to contribute to communal harmony. And it had helped me several times to create harmony in communally sensitive districts”. He recounted that when he was Superintendent of Police in sensitive districts like Chaibasa and Jamshedpur, earlier part of Bihar, his Ramadan fasting helped promote friendship between Hindus and Muslims. Reminiscing about his stint in Chaibasa, Oran said: “The emergency (in 1975) imposed by Indira Gandhi left deep scars on the minority community of the city. It was but natural to have reservations about a non-Muslim at the helm of affairs in the police department. Regaining the Muslims’ confidence was the need of the hour”. Asked how he began fasting during Ramadan, Oran said he was a devotee of Lord Shiva and used to fast every Monday. His Muslim roommate and friend Mohammed Iqbal followed suit, fasting with him on Mondays. So, when Ramadan came, in a reciprocal gesture, Oran joined his friend in fasting. And his family supported the decision. Oran said he sees fasting as a character-building exercise. “It always prepares you to face any eventuality as it hones and tests your perseverance and capabilities”.
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Be like pine trees, which do not change colour Although they bear the weight Of continuously falling snow. Emulate the strength of the pine tree On the seashore, Which stand the fierce sea breezes Of the four seasons. Learn from the evergreen pine tree In a lonely garden In winter decay It changes not its colour. Stout are the hearts Of the men who toil At their honest calling, Enduring heat and cold. — Japanese Emperor Be the sun (giver) not the moon (receiver of influence). *** The ever-shining light of family dignity of a person will flicker and die away when the darkness of indolence prevails. If a person desires to increase the greatness of his family status, he must destroy indolence in himself. Procrastination, forgetfulness, indolence and sleep these four form the ship in which they sail who are doomed to ruin. — The Tirukkural, 601-02, 605 *** The eyes that do not enjoy the Divine vision are like the eyes painted on the feather of a peacock; and the feet that do not repair to Him are like unto trees, standing immobile at one place. —Sri Shukdeva in Shrimad Bhagavata, 2.3.22 *** To what purpose should I carry my eyes and other senses when my very life is futile. Alas! how shameless are all those to me! I feel they are like stones and dry fuel, if without a vision of Lord Krishna they survive. —
Sri Krishna Chaitnaya Charatamrita Madh Lila, page 145. *** Not till ye have my direct vision, cycle of rebirth, the womb of eternal pain shall cease. —
The Bhagavad Gita, 2.59 *** Those who give charity And look after the welfare of others Are ever happy. —
Sama Veda, 285 *** He (the Gurmukh) wakes in Sahaj He is always busy in chanting the Praises of the Lord. —
Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Var Saroth M 4, Shlok M 3, p. 646 |
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