Today's Killers or Tomorrow's Doctors: What are we making?

Aman Kachru and his unfortunate parents, friends and family were not the first and sadly, may not be the last to have suffered at the hands of sadistic behaviour of their companions, colleagues or supposedly protectors (College authorities, Police, Administrations, Politicians, and Media).

The four main accused, namely Abhinav, Ajay and Naveen Verma and Mukul Sharma, were remanded to police custody for interrogation till March 16. It took a whole lot of public outcry for the police, to convert the case earlier registered as of ‘’culpable homicide not amounting to murder’’ to one of ‘murder’ under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

However, no case has yet been registered against the college authorities despite failure of the college to take action against unruly elements and undisciplined students despite past history, when first year students of this college had abandoned their hostels and took shelter in a nearby police station only a few years ago!

As eyewash, the state Government has accepted the resignation of the principal and to prevent more back lash during the next months parliament election month, perturbed chief minister declared at Shimla that he would not participate in Holi this year following the tragic death of Aman!!!

All day yesterday, media representatives too from various news channels kept reporting with disgusting lack of sensitivity, the crying, moaning and even the spot interviews of the family and friends of the unfortunate lad. None which includes, college authorities, police, administrations, politicians, and media came forward to reassure that there will not be recurrence of an incident as heinous as this ever, to the Kachru’s and other’s whose sons and daughters are now being ragged or waiting to be ragged, as I write these passages.

Shameless authorities (infact all) have done nothing despite the Supreme Court of the land has ruled some years ago that any form of ragging is to be dealt seriously as a criminal act by the responsible authorities. But as usual rules are made, strictures passed and fires keeps on burning here and there, no one cares until it starts to burn their own homes.

Many amongst the masses have been reacting angrily and suggesting all sorts of punishment to the killers, college and police authorities. They are neither wrong nor their outburst is out place considering their anguish and their past experiences of criminal apathy that now pervades almost all sections of society. These are the voices of helpless citizens who are agonizingly frustrated.

I believe that we Indians are the best firefighters in the world because it takes only a ragging fire for us to wake up and the moment it cools down, we forget everything!

Rules after rules, laws after laws and incidents after incidents have failed to make us wise enough to think ahead and devise or design systems at micro or macro levels. The result, we are seeing in the form of everyone complaining (I too may be sounding the same) but doing nothing.

Teachers and doctors are the true carers and givers (like a mother), law makers and law enforcers are the two are responsible for maintaining an orderly society (like a father) and politicians are supposedly the guiding force from the society and for the society, who can envision the road to take for the good and happiness of all (like a philosopher). Mother never expects anything from a child but can we say the same for a teacher or doctor? Sadly, the so called motherly teachers and doctors have become professionals and behave like one! Should a father create disorder in a home? Sadly again, we can not say the lawyers, judges and police acts anyway as fatherly! And forget the politicians, without naming anyone in particular “netaji” (politician) or a party, can any of us recall one which is unselfish and as true and honest?

Therefore, it is not surprising, if the whole society (family) is experiencing the disorder with no real, lasting or workable solution in sight. I don’t want to sound or appear pessimistic because I am not the one, but the treatment (solution to the problem) is as difficult as the disease (breakdown and disorder in the society) itself. It is impractical and perhaps foolish of me to expect all of us  will become saintly overnight! Although some self proclaimed "Godman" are out there doing very good business in the garb of teaching the art of living, physical and breathing exercises etc. In their so called public sessions, I see innumerable misinformed innocent people or veiled corrupt officials, politicians and businessmen around them taking a centre stage! There is no doubt most (who attend these sessions) are suffering (emotionally, spiritually or physically) and are looking for quick fixes for disappointments, frustrations and illnesses in their lives. However, none that I know and you may also know may have a real or lasting cure of their mental or physical ills! On lighter note, one thing is beside discussion that all these "Godman" have acquired a lot of political clout and have become billionaire  in this process.

Coming back to the selections procedure that we follow in any vocation. We have been placing too much emphasis on the computing power of the brain rather than the guiding power of the soul of an individual we select to be a teacher and doctor, lawyer, judge and policeman.

Worst is the selection procedure of a politician, who is first selected by a political party, based on how much muscle and money power he has and then get elected, for how much division of votes he can manipulate in his constituency. If we are really looking for a viable solution then we have to adopt a selection procedure of all encompassing the power of not only brain and money alone but also aptitude and personality of the candidate’s suitability for any job. I believe corporate selection procedures follow some of these tests in selecting their personnel; however I doubt if they continue to do any follow ups on their selected candidates subsequently. Thus we see even in corporate sector many deteriorate over a period making them not suitable for the job they do. Because the subsequent assessments in their hierarchical system is only performance appraisal and not personality and aptitude maintenance! I therefore feel that appraisal of performance must also be linked to the individual’s emotional and spiritual personality maintenance and development within the job. I am sure this will help.

In the case of a young man Aman’s death, we can see vindication to what I have said above. Four boys who were training to be life givers in the futures have demonstrated that not only they are unsuitable for the job they were training for but also they have criminal bent of extreme nature with no compassion let alone sound judgment, a prerequisite to be a doctor.

I pray to the soul departed and souls left in agony. May God bless them all with peace and stability.

Happy Holi- Festival of Colour, Joy and Purification

Personal Note: All religious festivals have some spiritual or community message to convey. I believe this was the main reason that festivals came into being. Festivals were the instruments of collective enjoyment, joy and purification of mind, body and soul.  Festival of "Holi" is also one of important festival of "community togetherness', expression of collective joy of an important message  of reminding us to burn our inner impurities before we celebrate.

Significance and Meaning of Different Colours

Red - Purity
Green - Vitality
Blue - Calm
Yellow - Pious feeling

Historically "Holi" was originally known as 'Holika'. The festivals finds a detailed description in early religious works such as Jaimini's Purvamimamsa-Sutras and Kathaka-Grhya-Sutras. Historians believe that Holi was celebrated by all Aryans but more so in the Eastern part of India several centuries before Christ. 

There are two ways of reckoning a lunar month- 'purnimanta' and 'amanta'. In the former, the first day starts after the full moon; and in the latter, after the new moon. According to this purnimanta reckoning, Phalguna purnima is the last day of the year and the new year heralding the Vasanta-ritu (spring season, starting from next day). Thus the full moon festival of Holika gradually became a festival of merrymaking, announcing the commencement of the spring season. This perhaps is the reason for some of the other names of this festival - Vasanta-Mahotsava and Kama-Mahotsava.

Reference in Ancient Texts and Inscriptions

Besides having a detailed description in the Vedas and Puranas (Narad Purana and Bhavishya Purana), the festival of Holi finds a mention in Jaimini Mimansa. A stone inscription carved 300 BC found at Ramgarh in the province of Vindhya has mention of Holikotsav on it. King Harsha, too has mentioned about holikotsav in his work Ratnavali that was written during the 7th century.

The famous Muslim tourist - Ulbaruni too has mentioned about holikotsav in his historical memoirs. Other Muslim writers of that period have mentioned, that holikotsav were not only celebrated by the Hindus but also by the Muslims.

Reference in Ancient Paintings and Murals

The festival of Holi also finds a reference in the sculptures on walls of old temples. A 16th century panel sculpted in a temple at Hampi, capital of Vijayanagar, shows a joyous scene of Holi. The painting depicts a Prince and his Princess standing amidst maids waiting with pichkaris (water colour syringes) to drench the Royal couple in coloured water. A 16th century Ahmednagar painting is on the theme of Vasanta Ragini (spring song or music) shows a royal couple sitting on a grand swing, while maids are playing music and spraying colours. There are a lot of other paintings and murals in the temples of medieval India which provide a pictorial depiction of Holi. A Mewar painting (circa 1755) shows the Maharana (the King) with his courtiers. While the ruler is bestowing gifts on some people, a merry dance is on, and in the center is a tank filled with coloured water. There are several famous Bundi miniature painting on the theme which shows  king seated on a tusker and from a balcony above some damsels are showering gulal (coloured powders) on him.

Legends and Mythology

In the entire North and West India, the Legend of Lord Krishna is also associated with play with colours as the Lord started the tradition of play with colours by applying colour on his beloved Radha and other gopis. Gradually, the play gained popularity with the people and became a tradition. In Bengal and Orissa, Holi Purnima is also celebrated as the birthday of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (A.D. 1486-1533). There are various legends to explain the meaning of the word "Holi", most prominent of all is the legend associated with demon king Hiranyakashyap, His sister Holika, and His son pious Prahlad.

Hiranyakashyap wanted everybody in his kingdom to worship only him but to his great disappointment, his son, Prahlad was an ardent devotee of Lord Narayana (Vishnu). Hiranyakashyap asked his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap as she had a boon that fire can not burn her. However, she was not aware that the boon worked only when she enters the fire alone. As a result she got burnt in the fire while Prahlad was saved by the grace of the God for his extreme devotion. Hiranyakashyap too had a boon that neither human nor animal can kill him, he can neither be killed in the day nor in the night, he can neither be killed on the earth nor in the sky. However, Lord took the form of a half human and half lion to kill him in the presence of all after placing Hiranyakashyap in his lap at the time of dusk fulfilling all condition, against the boon he had.

Well the message here is; no matter how much powerful, schemer, talented and booned you may be. If you are evil with bad schemes, Almighty God will have his ways to punish you when it is appropriate. That evil can never triumph over good and in the long run goodness and devotion will celebrate its victory over evil and narcissism. 

There are also a few other legends associated with the festival - like the legend of Shiva and Kamdeva (God of Love) and those of Dhundhi and Pootana. All depict triumph of good over evil - lending a philosophy to the festival.

Love or Hate! I Choose Not To Hate!

Throughout life, we are faced with choices; choice between ethical vs. unethical, honesty vs. dishonesty, deceit vs. trust, righteousness vs. wrongdoing, and of course one recently popularised love vs. hate. Everyone liked, appreciated and clapped when Rahman said, “He chose love over hate and so he is there”. We all know that not everyone who chooses love over hate will have an Oscar moment! But, what Rahman said at the Oscars’ deserves a thought

Is it easy to choose love over hate as Rahman sounded?

Many spiritual books and leaders of yesterday and today preach to choose love over hate which almost everyone of us (barring a few exception) find difficult or sometimes impossible to choose! Why? Perhaps choosing love over hate is something that a person who is engaged in a philosophical and spiritual vocation may find easier than what most of us are engaged in doing (earning livelihood), as part of our working lives. I have talked and self analysed and found that the choice that exists within us is not “always” what we understand to be between love and hate!. Many complain that their love never got returned with love and their "so called love' always ended in acrimony, bitterness, regret, and even hatred. Strange as it might seem, we do sometimes manage to find hate even in what we believe to be love, as if there were nothing but only hate, fear, anger and pain that rules the course of struggle for our existence.

Let me ask a question; Do we really make a conscious choice or we try to believe, that we have chosen our emotions or more literally our emotion choose us. The answer more likely to be is that our “so called choice” was not a our choice at all. More often than not we don't really choose to be angry, hurtful, resentful, or hateful. Yet we tend to get consumed by these emotions. We behave like "...helpless tools of nature" (Dr S. Radhakrishnan, Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita).

However, nature still gave us the final choice. Nature is at work. Character and destiny are her handiwork. She gives us love and hate, jealousy and reverence. All that is ours is the power to choose which impulse we shall follow. (David Seabury Psychologist)

What do you think of the statement “the absence of hatred is not, an indication of a love” I too, have learned through my contemplation it is in many ways the antithesis of it. We must fight against what is wrong, but if we allow ourselves to hate, that ensures our spiritual defeat ( Dr Radhakrishnan).

Many of us have seen or have a popular poster or a powerpoint presentation saying;

“People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centred.

Love them anyway."

"Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway."

Maybe when we begin with loving people anyway, putting our hurt and anger and angst aside, which is when we are able to give the world the best we have. Often we can't always choose love when our reflex is to hate. But we can at least choose not to hate; we can try to be forgiving, to be compassionate. We may not have the arc lights on us and a televised audience of Oscar’s, but perhaps, when our time is up, we can look back and say to ourselves: `I could choose between love and hate, and I chose not to hate.

Oh' Dear Mahatma Times Have Changed!

My sincere thanks and gratitude to Dr Vijay Mallya MP and CEO of UB Group for spending over 1.8 million US dollars to bring back the personal belongings of the "The father of The Nation". In the past also Dr Mallya has spent a substantial sum to bring back to India, "The Sword of The Tipu Sultan".

All his life "The Mahatma" as he was popularly called in those days in contrast to now; when he is called more commonly; by his surname, Gandhiji, fought for one very important cause out of many, that is "ban on the use of liquor".

Incidentally "The Mahatma" is also the "Father of Nation". I do not know, in what circumstances "The Mahatma's" very few personal belongings (seen here in 2nd picture) went out in private collectors' hand but the irony is that it took hoteliers and liquor barons to pitch in on behalf of the son's, daughters and even his own blood borne great grand son, Tushar Gandhi (who was also sleeping for several years till this auction was announcced!) to save "The Father's" belongings.

The nation's government found herself helpless, quoting a high court's order! Well, don't we all know about this kind of silly escapades, right from a babu to the top man in the country always has a rule to hide behind either to do some thing utterly selfish or not do something righteous. They find where they break a rule for the good and better of others! The real reason could be anything but one thing is sure that "the real GANDHI" is dead and buried and there is no place for him in the heart of the nation, barring a few exceptions like the one who were bidding at the New York auction house Antiquorum, in the for the nation's pride!. I would like to call it nation's pride because it suits. Calling it a ego trip emanating from the power and egotistical aura that these philanthropist's have acquired due to stinking wealth from all that "the Mahatma" fought will be literally demeaning their kind gesture!

One more thing I would like to express about the rules, that rules are guidance to create a uniformity of actions of many who are supposed to follow them. Times change and so should rules, if rules are to stay alive for a living society. They ought to be as dynamic as society is or else they help in stalling the progress of the very society they were made to help regulate .

Is this left of our Nobel profession?

Gradual degeneration of professional values in almost every walk of life does not surprise any more. High  priests, doctors, judges, lawyers, leaders,  teachers or administrators name any profession or vocation where we don't see  a rapid fall of all those values which the very same person is supposed to behold! The least said the best.

This case of PGI Chandigarh's cardiac surgeon who was also heading his department is probably the first of its kind in the world where the "supposed life giver" was operating and minting money even from dead bodies! Shame, shame shame.

What do I read in this episode?

It was not possible for this scandalous practice to go on for several years without the knowledge of many who were around the accused surgeon Dhaliwal! But look at the irony, no one dared to bring this to the notice to the public at large!

Why?

Afraid of being persecuted? why bother? nothing will happen? and some similar sounding voices will come up.

Let us ask ourselves, how many of us are also aware of rampant scandalous practices of different nature perpetuated in our profession? and what do we do about it? Most of us do nothing about it!

This instance of successful prosecution of a senior heart surgeon Dhaliwal from a reputed institution of national prestige must help to repose some faith in the scared or unconcerned minds (all is not dead), so that more such corrupt and dirty weed can be eradicated from the Nobel profession of medicine.  

Copyrighted: Strange Death Routes!

Death has always been a mystery to us all. Following is a list of some intellectually challenged people who found some really wicked ways of crossing the barrier.

Kiss: Li Po was a great Chinese poet and even far greater was his thirst for alcohol. One very sloshed night, the great poet was boat- cruising down a river, when he stumbled upon the reflection of moon on the water. Mesmerized and awestruck he tried to kiss the moon, fell over in river and died!

Fly: In 1159 Pope Adrian IV, after a roaring speech against Emperor Frederick I, went to take a drink form a fountain. While drinking, he swallowed a fly and gagged to death!

Job Appointment: Italian poet Severino Ferrari was confined to an asylum when he got the news of his appointment at University of Bologna as the professor of literature. Ferrari got extreme excitement and was so stunned that he dropped dead!

Snooker Shot: Mr. Raymond Priestley was playing a  normal game of snooker with his friend, in his garage in Melbourne. Attempting to play a trick shot, he climbed on the crossbeam and hanged himself upside down by his legs. He lost his balance and fell headfirst on the concrete floor. He died later with brain damage!

Cleanliness: on August 23, 1903, Pat Burke of St. Louis Montana took his first bath in 20 years. It killed him. In contrast the famous "Nawab of Avadh-Wajid Ali Shah", it is said died when a cleaner passed by him, as he could not bear the stink!

Beard: Mr. Hans Steininger was known for his long beard. Well, one day in September 1567, while climbing a staircase leading to the council chamber of Brunn, he stepped on his beard, lost his balance, fell down and died!

Hot Tub: In May 1979, the LaRoya couple from Simi Valley, California, set out for a backyard party. They seized their drinks, laid down the spa, perfectly set the water at 110F and fell asleep, never to wake up again. They both died with a mix of hyperthermia, alcohol poisoning and heart disease!!

Low Blow: Harry Houdini is probably the most famous escape artist  world has ever known. In 1926, while in his dressing room, he was unexpectedly attacked by a student. The young man struck two or three unexpected slugs in his stomach. Houdini died later from peritonitis!

Goat Hair: A Roman praetor, Fabius, chocked to death because of a single goat hair in his milk!

Laughter: A Greek stoic philosopher, Chrysippus, went into an outburst of laughter and died while watching his drunken donkey attempt to eat figs!

 

 

(Adapted from multiple internet sources)