Unity Among Diversity

By Prajapathi Bhat

I was just analysing the unity among Keralites as i live in a location where majority of them are from Kerala. They speak the same language irrespective of caste, creed or religion i.e Malayalam. No matter how popular or how eminent the person may be, whether based in Canada, Dubai or US Keralites still love their language. Infact in the place where i work the top bosses speak in Malayalam with you if you are a Keralite. Unlike Most of the Indian states which have their own local dialects/languages Kerala boasts of unique heritage and culture

Commnunal Harmony: Incidents that happened in Gujrat or Mangalore regarding communal violence will rarely happen in Kerala as the roots of commnunalism will rarely find a reason to break their unity. Hence we find the popular communal party in India has not been able to secure a single position either in National or State election till now. Anyways this episode of communal harmony should be a modal to rest of Indians.

As i hail from Karnataka where most religions/regions have its own dialect/language i.e Kannada, Konkani, Tulu, Kodava Takk, Beary. Having so many languages become easy for communal forces and groups with diverse interest to hit the soft belly of National Integration. It is a agreed fact that both Karnataka and Kerala form part of India which is pluralistic, multilingual and multiethnic society. But lets not forget that Kerala is the most Socialy Progressive State in India

Literacy: Kerala has India`s highest literacy rate 99%. Access to Primary and Secondary education is available within 1 km for 96% of the population. It is the only state to have banking facility in every village. Also it is the least corrupt state in India!

Tourirsm: Kerala toursim is booming particulary after the Kerala Government Tourism Initiative ‘Kerala-God`s own country’. The tagline God`s own country has become synonym with Kerala these days. It has varied demographics and is named as “One of the ten paradises in the world” by National Geographic `s Traveller magazine. Hill stations include Munnar, Wayanad, Waga, Ponmudi and abundant wildlife sanctuaries at Periyar, Eravikulam. The backwaters, Boat Race and Heritage sites is quite popular among tourists. Also Thrissur Pooram with its display of elephants is another tourist attraction. Also Sabarimala attracts thousands of devotees all around India

Economy: Virtually all of Kerala is connected by roads. The Kerala Gulf boom is
well-known and equals to majority of remittances to state. Kerala boasts of 3 international airports Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. The Cochin international airport is the first indian airport to be incorporated as a public limited company. Kerala’s rate of population growth is India’s lowest. Kerala has the highest life expectancy in the country which is nearly 75 years and 78 years respectively for males and females. Also male to female ratio is significantly higher than the rest of india.

Sports: Kerala contribution to sports apart from cricket is notable.
P.T.Usha(athlete), Shiny Wilson(athlete), K.M.Beenamol(athlete), M. D. Valsamma(athlete), Anju Bobby George(long jump) and Suresh Babu(long jump). Jimmy George was an eminent Volleyball player, rated in his prime as among the world`s ten best players.

Tags: Commnal Harmony, Kerala, National Integrity, Tourism

Billy Graham on technology and faith

Tags: Billy Graham, faith, technology

Hi, are you busy?

Tommy sent a message to Roxy via an IRC using the words above. Whenever we call up our friends, relatives most of them ask the same question than ‘How are you?’ Does busy mean ‘Be under Satan’s Yolk’? Most of us today have grown indifferent to Human Relations and Nature.

Most of the people around the world are going under depression or blues as we have forgotten to enjoy the Natural beauty around us. Pets at home, animals around our homes, beautiful flowers, sunshine and the moon are not visible to us are we are too busy? Most of the psychological counselors suggest us to own a pet or get in touch with nature which will solve most of the depressed and monotonous thought pattern. It’s really appalling that the above suggestions were the basic part of human life some 50 years ago!

West toxication, Sex glamorization and Lust lunacy has killed us spiritually. We have all growing up in spiritual poverty day by day. Though Modernization and technology advancement is bringing real joy to humanity by solving most of the intimate problems and hardships that our ancestors suffered, it’s been misused enormously by us to exploit nature and human instinct. People have begun to worship money and sex as the final God.

Prayer, Ethics and Virtues are the only things that can keep us really happy and rest all follows. Though being busy is not wrong and is necessary sometimes, taking break from your busy schedule is also important. After all life is meant to be enjoyed, though suffering is also an inevitable part of it!

You can also find living examples of people who found real happiness in simple things. Google about Karl Rabeder, Austrian Millionaire and find what changed him.

Kodachadri, a trekker`s paradise

Kodachadri, a trekker`s paradise

As we all know, kodachadri is a popular trekking spot for trekker`s all over Karnataka. We recently had a chance to visit this beautiful God`s own creation. After a month of planning and Google search we finally began on our journey to Kodachadri on a summer day. Summer season is excellent for trekking Kodachadri as there will be less leeches and rain.

We started from Udupi at 7:40 am to Kollur via Kundapur-Vandse. Kollur is another popular religious place in particular for its temple. After some purchase of eatables at Kollur we boarded bus to Sagar at 11:45 am. Kodachadri falls in between the route to Sagar at around 20kms from Kollur.

We got down at Kodachadri Trek start point, its around 10 kms of trek to reach the summit from there. Just after 2kms of trek some of us were attacked by leeches and had fun teasing each other on the issue. Actually none of us was spared by leeches! After 4 kms we came across a small hut-shop where we had good taste of Lemon soda. After a refreshing drink we started again to halt for lunch at a government school at 1 km from hut-shop.

After a heavy lunch we purchased lemon grass oil to protect us from further leech attacks at a hotel cum shop near the school. Next 5 kms of our trek would be to climb the mountain admist thick forest. The path is often trodden and not lonely as there are Butter Milk camps every 1 km on the mountain. We often took rest here and there for every half hour of trekking.

At around 4:30 we reached the temple which is around 2 kms below the kodachadri summit. Here we filled our water bottles and after splashing some water of temple pond, we started again. It was thick mist as we were near to Kodachadri summit. The visibility was poor, but somehow reached the summit at around 6:00.

At top we had fun with camp fire and eatables. We also met a couple of co-trekkers from various parts of country. The night was very cold and we all slept under the shelter of ‘sarvagna theertha’ small temple built in memory of Shankaracharya. The next day we started off at 8:00 am. The journey down was easy and we got a bus from Kodachari trek start point at around 11:30. It was one of the most cherished Trek of us all.

Tags: dobinf, karnataka, kodachadri, trekking

Best Poem By Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Interested in poems, do visit ebooks.gutenberg.us

Cow Slaugther, a Crime?

There are lot of discussions about cow slaughter these days. I would like to present my viewpoint in terms of what “Gandhiji” had written in his book “Freedom’s Battle”.

I myself respect the cow, that is, I look upon her with affectionate reverence. The cow is the protector of India, because, it being an agricultural country, is dependent on the cow’s progeny. She is a most useful animal in hundreds of ways. Our Mahomedan brethren will admit this.

But, just as I respect the cow so do I respect my fellow-men. A man is just as useful as a cow, no matter whether he be a Mahomedan or a Hindu. Am I, then to fight with or kill a Mahomedan in order to save a cow? In doing so, I would become an enemy as well of the cow as of the Mahomedan. Therefore, the only method I know of protecting the cow is that I should approach my Mahomedan brother and urge him for the sake of the country to join me in protecting her. If he would not listen to me, I should let the cow go for the simple reason that the matter is beyond my ability. If I were over full of pity for the cow, I should sacrifice my life to save her, but not take my brother’s. This, I hold, is the law of our religion.

When men become obstinate, it is a difficult thing. If I pull one way, my Moslem brother will pull another. If I put on a superior air, he will return the compliment. If I bow to him gently, he will do it much, more so, and if he does not, I shall not be considered to have done wrong in having bowed. When the Hindus became insistent, the killing of cows increased. In my opinion, cow protection societies may be considered cow killing societies. It is a disgrace to us that we should need such societies. When we forgot how to protect cows, I suppose we needed such societies.

What am I to do when a blood-brother is on the point of killing a cow? Am I to kill him, or to fall down at his feet and implore him? If you admit that I should adopt the latter course I must do the same to my Moslem brother. Who protects the cow from destruction by Hindus when they cruelly ill-treat her? Whoever reasons with the Hindus when they mercilessly belabour the progeny of the cow with their sticks? But this has not prevented us from remaining one nation.

Lastly, if it be true that the Hindus believe in the doctrine of non-killing, and the Mahomedans do not, what, I pray, is the duty of the former? It is not written that a follower of the religion of Ahimsa (non-killing) may kill a fellow-man. For him the way is straight. In order to save one being, he may not kill another. He can only plead–therein lies his sole duty.

But does every Hindu believe in Ahimsa? Going to the root of the matter, not one man really practises such a religion, because we do destroy life. We are said to follow that religion because we want to obtain freedom from liability to kill any kind of life. Generally speaking, we may observe that many Hindus partake of meat and are not, therefore, followers of Ahimsa. It is, therefore, preposterous to suggest that the two cannot live together amicably because the Hindus believe in Ahimsa and the Mahomedans do not.

These thoughts are put into our minds by selfish and false religious teachers. They pretend to study the manners and customs of all peoples, God has given us a limited mental capacity, but they usurp the function of the Godhead and indulge in novel experiments. They write about their own researches in most laudatory terms and hypnotise us into believing them. We in our ignorance, then fall at their feet.

Those who do not wish to misunderstand things may read up the Koran, and will find therein hundreds of passages acceptable to the Hindus; and the Bhagavad Gita contains passages to which not a Mahomedan can take exception. Am I to dislike a Mahomedan because there are passages in the Koran I do not understand or like? It takes two to make a quarrel. If I do not want to quarrel with a Mahomedan, the latter will be powerless to foist a quarrel on me, and, similarly, I should be powerless if a Mahomedan refuses his assistance to quarrel with me. An arm striking the air will become disjointed. If everyone will try to understand the core of his own religion and adhere to it, and will not allow false teachers to dictate to him, there will be no room left for quarrelling.

Every Day Is A Good Day

Let me share with you a strategy I use
To avoid being flooded with feelings of
Gloom, depression and fear.

Every day is a good day.
But when I’m experiencing
A day full of frustrations,
I don’t call it a bad day,
I call it an “interesting” day.
This habit keeps me
From being overwhelmed
With negative emotions.

Why does this work?
Repetitive thoughts
And words create feelings.
Those feelings create a positive or
Negative behavior pattern.

If I tell myself it’s a bad day,
I began to feel defeated and exhausted.
If my day has one issue after another,
If I tell myself it’s an “interesting” day
This keeps my open to gratitude, hope, solutions,
Resiliency,and sometimes even a sense of humor.

I try to monitor my words when
I’m feeling in a slump so I can avoid those
“knot in your stomach – stressful – anxious -
Sickening – I’m losing it” feelings.

I had one of those “interesting” days recently
And reminded myself to stop,
Do some deep breathing and re-group.

If you’re having an “interesting” day,
Let these words minister to you.
Sometimes the children are screaming,
The boss is irritating,
The traffic is slow and
The bill collectors won’t go.

Sometimes you feel strong and confident.
Sometimes you’re full of regrets and
Wonder where all the time went.

Sometimes you feel like you want to give up.
Sometimes you’re too tired to move
’cause you have so much to do.

Sometimes you’re lonely and
Wonder if love will ever come.

Sometimes you’re glad to be alone
To think your own thoughts.

Sometimes life is easy and sometimes hard.

Today be grateful that you’ve come this far.
Breathe in peace, faith and hope.

All the answers…I do not know.
But I’m here to say, count your blessings.
Don’t give up.
You can make it.

Little miracles happen each day.
Don’t miss them because you’re focusing
On your pain, frustrations and fears.

Constantly work on the five main things
You need to live in peace and harmony

1) Love,
2) Faith,
3) Hope,
4) Compassion
And of course
5) your life purpose along with family and friends.

Without these in your life….
Life can drive you crazy.