Celebrating 26th January, Indian Republic Day

An ode to India, my motherland, My Matrubhumi!

I am what I am because I am an Indian.

Words are inadequate and difficult to define
Feeling of love, for this nation of mine.
It is dear to me with its field and farm
For it has taught me all that I am.

Respect for differences and faith in divine
Spirituality is our nation's life line.
Glory of Himalayas, piety of Ganges and gaiety of Goa
India is a land of Ram, Rahim, Christ and Mary amma…

Values & virtues are still alive
Respect for parents, elders and teachers is a matter of pride.
Old live among the young and says the little boy,
Touching elder's feet gives immense joy.

Agreed there is population explosion
Poverty, Illiteracy & Corruption.
Roads are dirty, crowded and pothole ridden,
But for me they thrive with life, warmth and lead to the Eden.

They say West is the best, I beg to differ
Their super-highways, clean cities are empty coffers.
'Cos they lack life and its simple treasure troves,
Food tastes better when eaten with hands and served with love.

Being an Indian, lies in my very existence
Not in its rat race or power grabbing games...
Words are inadequate, and difficult to define
Feeling of pride for this motherland of mine.

Words don't express my gratitude to this nation
I am what I am because I am an Indian.

An ode to the Taj Mahal

"What is love, I do not know. But that by its power, a king gave away his throne".

So apt. So touching. I remember the first time I visited the Taj Mahal, on the marble steps of the tomb a friend recited a few lines which have remained etched in my memory....

"Thousand years from now
When I shall be all but dust and sand,
At the sound of your voice
I will rise again."

Rabindranath Tagore has described Taj as a tear drop on the cheeks of time...God bless their true love

Contemporary human values in a materialistic society

I am not the only one. All of us are dazed, amazed and confused!!! It is a common topic for discussions across the world. People discuss this over tea tables, lunch meets, dinner and almost anywhere and everwhere. I am concerned...Where are we heading? Where are human values heading? What is happening to the world? Why is the social code degenerating so fast? What will be the value system of the generation next? and next? and next? Who is responsible for maintaining the decorum of the society? As usual I have more questions and no answers?

I am thinking aloud for a minute. Where is the starting point for all this?As a society where are we learning from? (At this stage I am not questioning what are we learning?)What is influencing my ideas, knowledge, behaviour and values? Are these influences the culprits? Let us try and analyse them. Here I am speaking purely from my own experiences. In a decreasing order of importance most of the stimuli comes from the Television, Print media (News paper, very little from magazines), My office environment, Home or family, Colleagues/friends, Books, Internet, Radio, Internet, Products and services available in the market. It is directly proportional to the time spent on that activity/in that environment.

Am I aware of these stimuli which is reaching me without my knowledge? Not really. With each passing day there is garbage being pumped into my mind/life. I am absorbing all of it. Some I keep some I discard. So much of all this trash is reaching me that I need a higher processing capability to sort out these stimuli. So instead of spending time and sorting out these stimuli, I let them remain. And so the garbage stays. My mind has become a cockatil of tons of useless information. Television is a mixed bag! Print media is a mixed confused bag of information. Advertisments give confused messages. Society is disconnected from entertainmnet and media. The western concept of Marketing has completely taken over life. All mass communication is exxaggeration, misleading and incorrect. There are too many unwanted magazines on the stands...There is just toooo much of information.

It is time for the society to clean up. Clean up and minimise. It is time for the society to move back to a spartan life. Minimise our material possessions, minimise our activities that fill the day, consolidate human existence, consolidate society and relationships. It is time for each one of us who constitute the society to look in. We are all being driven by the external world. Life like a car is driven inside-out and not outside-in. It is time to spend some quality time inside ourselves. The answers lie within us.