Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Refreshing Morning Walk             
Dr. Jyoti Patil
  
Morning means new beginning of a new day which is always as refreshing as first blossom of spring. To begin a day with a good happy morning is everyone’s desire. Wordsworth has appreciated the beauty of the morning in ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’ “The earth has nothing to show more beautiful than this morning”. Morning begins with the break of daylight at around 5 o’clock. Morning walkers generally get up early to enjoy the pleasure of free breeze.

There are some favourite places for morning walk in Nagpur. Joggers’ lane of Seminary hills is known for its VIP morning walkers but VRCE now VNIT is haven for morning walkers. Some three to four years ago when VRCE got a huge grant for renovation we started thinking that permission to enter their premises will be stopped. Thanks to the authorities who continue to keep open their gates for morning walkers that consist of old people, young couples, ladies, teenagers and children. The number of old persons is of course on the high as getting up in the morning is becoming rarer and rarer for the young generation. Thanks to internet chatting.

Old people are very serious walkers. They are very regular and punctual and the changes of season, weather disturbance, mood problem hardly bother them. There are some old people who walk as rapidly as a rabbit and look as fit as a young health conscious. There are some who walk with stick in hand. Some walk in groups chatting freely on various topics. Their topics of conversation include Sachin’s Mumbai Indians, Shivraj Patil’s Statement, gruesome murder of Aarushi and their personal follow up. “Arei tumi kaal naahi ale?” “ Mee sunelaa tichya maheri sodayala gelo hoto.” “Tumcha mulga aala kaa Ameriketun?” Ho to firayala gela aahe aaplya mulabala sobat.” There is a big group of senior citizens in VNIT who come from different directions to converge into a lively, happy and carefree bundle of gigglers. To see them enjoy life in the wane of their life is quite refreshing. It is true that in India elders can still enjoy their retired life freely and joyfully without any interruption of their children, at least the morning time.  

There are some couples who come regularly putting an example of ideal spouses who love and care for each other and give good company to each other by starting a day so romantically. It is a happy sight to see these couples sharing the health regime together. They walk together adjusting their speed with their spouses putting an ideal example of complacent married life which is again an Indian prerogative where marriage is considered an ultimate bondage of love to share happy as well as sad moments together. Some couples indulge in small talks about their lives. Some do some yoga exercises, pranayaam or jogging. In VNIT campus you can find a plenty of small lawns, shadowy trees with different fragrances, birds chirping different notes and of course nicely maintained roads, pavements and landscapes all along the roads leading to its different departments. In front of Architecture and Planning Department one can see a lovely couple doing Ramdeobaba’s pranayaam and light exercises in rhythm. Some sit in the front steps of the Library Building doing light exercises and making the sight quite refreshing.

There are some women morning walkers who belong to different age groups. Most of them are in saree, the traditional Indian attire, some wear salwar kurta which is more convenient for today’s woman than saree. Office going women prefer this attire as it saves a lot of time rather than wearing saree. Some wear shirt and trousers and look different and slightly odd in the typical Indian context of the morning at VNIT. There is an elderly short height graceful lady who looks very pretty in saree gets greetings by many passersby. She must be a professor in VNIT. There are some who walk in twos and talk all the way mainly about maidservants and children. But some do the walking quite seriously. 

Some young morning walkers also join this healthy routine. But the number is very less. Some come in the company of their mother or father. Perhaps they are pushed by their parents to follow the healthy way of starting a day. Some of them take a round of cricket ground, entry of which is perhaps closed but they know some secret entry point. Some of the young girls sit on the pavement and do some little talk that gives them energy for the hectic daily schedule. The security service people keep strict vigil on all these activities of the morning walkers who are according to them are trespassers in their area. 

Just in front of the main gate towards Bajajnagar across the road budding skaters do their morning practice while their anxious parents watch their activities with great enthusiasm. Herbal juice stalls on both sides of the gate with louki, gaajar,karela, annanas juices etc are flocked by the late morning walkers who begin their walk after 6.30am. It is really a pleasant sight when the honking and blaring of vehicles have not started  and the city is really green and refreshing with soft soothing wind caressing your bodies and freshening you for the tiring tasks of the day. 
  
Hitvada Middle Space (Published on 30th May)
Oh! What’s this life? 
Dr. JYOTI PATIL

Oh! What’s this life? If I want to live it in true sense,
I should choose something to do for others, for the society,
For my country and, if possible, for the whole humanity,
Where there is no space for selfishness and greed.

Some say life is a dream, have a nice sleep and enjoy it,
But I want to see this dream melting into reality,
That reality should be better than the dream,
Where there is no fear and no hatred only love prevails.

Some say life is a tale of woes and worries,
And we have to suffer it, but I see all such emotions,
Are the ingredients of life which give us mental strength,
Focus at high aims to make others comfortable and fine.

Some say life is an endless series of experiments,
These experiments may be fruitful or meaningless,
But I want these tests to be with some genuine goals,
Which can make our life meaningful and of some worth.

Some say life is a journey of a sort in which
We have to change our pace according to terrain we tread,
I wish to make this journey useful and sweet for everyone around me,
As life is not just to live and die one day, 
But to make the world a better place for others.
 
Shun all bitterness, avarice and ill feeling,
And enjoy whatever you have around you with love and kindness, 
To make others feel happy and cheerful. 


Maharshi Swami Dayanand Saraswati

Born when India was engulfed by an era of darkness,
Cultural decay and increasing social sullenness,
As a ray of reason and progress and a spiritual revolution,
To resuscitate India’s glorious past by transforming the Indian society
Maharshi Swami Dayanand Saraswati dawned 
On the National horizon some 125 years ago.

With robust optimism and sincere idealism 
He wanted to dispel the gloom and despondency 
By instilling confidence and energy into the veins of young Indians
When Indian morality was on the decline and fraught
With leviathan problem of caste system.

Lashed out strongly against priest-craft, petrified dogmas 
And meaningless rituals, superstition and bigotry,
He pleaded to end untouchability by saying 
“Untouchables are those who are unteachable”
And promoted women’s education believing firmly
That ‘If you teach a boy you teach an individual but
If you teach a girl you teach the whole family’.

Fought against regionalism, sectarianism and factionalism
He kept a universal goal before him to salvage national pride 
And redeem Mother India from the yoke of British rule.
His wide vision, pragmatism and a streak of patriotism 
Are fully reflected in his educational conceptions, like  
‘Satyartha Prakash’ and ‘Aryabhinaya’ his famous treatises.

As the watchword of Martin Luther King ‘Back to the Bible’
He exhorted the Indians to go ‘Back to the Vedas’
For national salvation and rejuvenation, 
For supremacy of Swaraj and fervid patriotism
And established ‘Arya Samaj’ to remove all the defects of castes system. 

Now, today in the face of terrorism, trauma and troubles
Of all sorts, the intelligentsia who is adrift by falling an easy prey 
To the seductions of western culture, 
Where we justify violence, descend into dishonesty
And accept corruption as an inevitable part of our life
The teachings of Swami Dayanand Saraswati come handy to guide us
Which still make us realize about our rich, 
Priceless heritage and pristine glory.


Don’t Cry for What is Not

Don’t cry for what is not
Be happy for what you have got
You always aspire for what is unachievable
Thinking one day you may get it
Desiring one day you may find it
Hoping one day you may achieve it,

Let’s not cry for what is not
Be satisfied for what you have got 
You always dream for what is unattainable
Thinking one day your dream may come true
Desiring one day your dream may be a reality
Hoping one day you may attain it.

Be happy for what you have got
But don’t stop and don’t cry
You can better try and try
Plan out things and strive for it
Keep your target always before you
Tread towards your target slowly but steadily,

Be happy for what you have got
But don’t be sad for what is lost
Don’t get dishearten for your lot
Row your boat till it comes to shore
Go with your efforts till it comes to success
Toil hard till the end of your strength.

Because the real happiness lies 
Not in achieving the target 
But in striving for it
Once it is done successfully
The result is inevitable and unstoppable.


Rot in Relationships: Pollution with a difference
By. Dr. Jyoti  Patil

Recently in the newspaper we read that in a spine-chilling incident a youth has killed his younger brother and buried him in his house and in another bloodcurdling incident a Govt. Press worker was axed by his second wife as he tried to kill his stepson under the influence of liquor. Such increasing incidents remind us of rot in relationships where warmth and intimacy in relationships are disappearing and violence, treachery and intolerance are spreading very fast.  

Pollution in Relationship:
Now-a-days we quite often talk about environmental pollution which has become an alarming threat to human life. In environmental pollution we seriously consider air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution and noise pollution. Let us consider another pollution which is perhaps the crux of modern human life. That is the pollution in human relationships. The world has become a global village and we have involved ourselves in the rat race of getting so many things in the shortest possible time. We sometimes get those desirable things but those material achievements don’t give us our heart’s contentment. On the contrary they make us realize one day about the void we have created for ourselves by distancing our family members, our relatives and our friends who in reality make our life worth living.

But in human relations we see today that the father rapes the daughter, the son kills the mother, and the husband sells his wife and keeps an extra marital relation. The pollution level in relationship has reached to the filthiest low, as it is fashionable today to have many girl/boy friends and having intimate relations before marriage is something necessarily required to maintain the friendship and a professional need to keep the position. Recently I watched a television programme in which it was revealed that how a busy Japanese man today can lead a lonely life. Thanks to the Japanese love dolls. This shows the pollution level has acquired dangerous proportions and immediate measures should be taken to eradicate the pollution in relationship.

Live-in Relationship: 
The pollution in relationship begins with the thought of futility of marriage. There are quite a good number of people who think that marriage is a burden and in today’s fast life it is conveniently avoidable. They have the option of live-in relationship, companionship or leading a stag life. Thanks to our Government who is thinking to legalize this relationship in the name of protection of woman’s rights. Live-in relationship is entirely based on shrugging off the responsibilities of maintaining a family and taking care of children. On one hand you want to enjoy the bliss of conjugal life but on the other you don’t want to share the responsibilities appended to it. Two persons living together without the license of marriage is a concept which is absolutely contrary to our Indian philosophy and religious norms as marriage makes a man complete in all respects and a responsible citizen. 

Companionship:
Again to escape the responsibility of marriage, that means maintaining a family the concept of companionship has sprung up in the polluted minds of modern metros. To live a life in isolation is in itself a bitter punishment which can only be understood by them who are really all alone and no one to care for them. Indian social life is woven around family members, relatives and friends. But this relationship only indicates that man-woman relationship is the only relation they want to continue and all other relations are just unnecessary and unwanted. It is true that for some time it looks a wonderful concept but at the end such pollution in relationship leads to only one direction i.e. frustration and futility. The lasting love, warmth and emotional security can only be possible in purity of life. Wrong paths will definitely lead you to wrong goals.

DINK (Double Income, No Kids): 
In metro cities life is so fast and the competition so tough that the youth of today find a life partner from the same profession and both of them work round the clock to maintain a good standard of life. They seem to be so busy in their professional life that they can not think of sparing time for children. As they need to take a long leave for raising a family and perhaps that may hamper their prospects of promotion in the office, they prefer not to have kids (but let me admit that kids are the ultimate source of immense and heavenly happiness for both). The challenges in jobs are so tough these days that even after marriage you don’t have time to understand your life partner as you spend most of the time with some other people. Your life becomes machine-like and you don’t find any solace from your life even when you have chosen your life partner. 

Gay Relationship:
This is a new kind of pollution in relationship. Earlier this kind of relationship was tabooed and considered as a crime against nature. Psychologically it is an outcome of a perverted mind and unnatural upbringing. It is an immoral adventurism of mentally sick persons of the same sex (males). These people need psychological counseling and not legal approval to get married as in some countries gay relationship has been legalized and now they can be man and wife, oh no! Man and man, oh! I am confused. The recent film ‘Dostana’ also reveals some funny sides of this relationship. One Dr. Babu Thomas has rightly suggested in one of the leading newspapers of the city that tomorrow who knows the same people may ask for legal sanction to have relationship (sexual!) with selected animals. Oh God! Lead us to right path.

Lesbian Relationship:
Since ages perhaps this kind of relationship has been reported, but this does not mean that pollution of this kind can be promoted to pure and clean relationship. Again this is something very extraordinary and against the nature’s law which can only lead to filthy darkness of relationship. A woman having any relationship with another woman as shown in some bold Hindi movies like ‘Fire’ is highly unacceptable to any civilized society. If this happens their adjustment with the society is very difficult which can only lead to more complications and further pollution in relationship.

Partner Swapping:
Exploitation of delicate relationship is something which is really alarming. Now when we talk of partner swapping, I am reminded of a film ‘Lajja’ in which the husband seems to be so Westernized that he does not see anything wrong in sending his wife to somebody else to please that person to get professional favour. It is again acutely alarming if such concept has crept in Indian middle class, family loving people. In clubs and late night parties married couples exchange their partners by exchanging their car-keys or by some other means. It is something which is a grave threat to the basic texture of family life and values. Here the pollution level has gone so high that if proper attention is not given, life in general will become a burden and the end of true human relationship is certain. There will be more cases of suicide, murder and family violence and more problems of depression, stress, sleeplessness and mental ailments like phobia, schizophrenia, epilepsy, hysteria, etc. We must make ourselves aware and act immediately to stem this dangerous rot.

(Appeared in Dainik Bhaskar on 13th Dec. 2008)

Dada Rochiram Thawani: 
An Unsung Hero of our Freedom Struggle

By Dr. JYOTI  PATIL

Great lives are always sublime but humble and modest in their attitudes who do not know their own worth it is up to us to see their greatness in their selfless dedication for their concern to others.

Dada Rochiram Thawani in his nineties is still going strong and fit to make the younger generation blush. He is popularly known as ‘Chacha Nehru of Sindh’ because of his love for children and dedication for the country. Whenever asked about his age he answers that he is not 92 years old but 92 years young. It is true as he is still going hale and hearty without taking any medicine or having any disease. He still has a charisma to make the children burst with clapping and cheering whenever he comes to talk to them. The children enjoy his company and celebrate their special occasions such as Birthdays, parties and festivals with him as he always gives them a jocund company.

As a young man he participated in the freedom struggle from Sindh, now in Pakistan as he was highly motivated by Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, Bhagat Singh, Jawaharlal Nehru and Hemu Kalani. During Congress session in 1933 at Karachi, he was assigned duty as a volunteer outside Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram. As per Gandhi’s clarion call that young people should leave Govt. jobs and join the freedom struggle, he left his Govt. service and became Assistant Provincial Organizer of Congress Seva Dal.

During freedom struggle he was assigned the duty to visit different cities of Sindh Province to motivate the young people to join the struggle and intensify it by proper planning and coordination with other leaders. He had to change his name and identity for this revolutionary activity. But ultimately he was arrested on 26th Jan 1943 and remained in prison for two years. His whole family participated in the freedom struggle and earned name as “Nehru Family of Sindh” as ten members of three generations of his family were arrested for participating in the struggle. Young Rochiram’s father, his two elder brothers, their wives, his elder sister, his wife, his son and his niece were labelled as freedom fighters and were arrested to thwart the activities taken up by them. Aruna Asaf Ali was given shelter by them during her stay in hiding.   

Later unfortunately the decision was taken to divide the country into two parts and his family got shifted to India but young Rochiram had more tasks to finish and he stayed back for the welfare of the rest of the Hindus in Pakistan. He took systematic military training by State Military of Rajasthan for the safety of Hindus in Pakistan. 

He left Sindh for India in December 1947 as there was a great influx of Hindus from Pakistan and he was assigned to monitor the safe passage for the people who were coming from Sindh Province and appointed as Docks Captain on behalf of Ministry of Rehabilitation, Govt. of India. He refused accepting any salary for the work and did the work honorary for the country. He worked in different capacities for relief and rehabilitation work up to 1955. After reorganization of states in 1956, He was appointed member by the Govt. of India in the committee for starting industries in so called refugee colonies of the state, but he refused any salary for his service to the nation.

He has donated his entire pension amount for the welfare of the poor people of the society and is a regular donor to Dayanand Arya Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Mahatma Gandhi Centennial High School, Girls School and Rajkumar Kewalramani College for library, computers, basic amenities and awards to students as well as teachers for excellence in various fields. He is still serving the country in his own limited way, making Nagpurians to be proud to have such a living legend amongst them.

To see his ever helping and always happy countenance one feels it is true, “smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.”

Power of Love
By Dr.Jyoti Patil

The power of love is unimaginable and immense. This can be understood by them only, who have experienced this bliss, as it is not so easily available to everyone. It is something very rare and out of lakhs of practical people only a handful of them are blessed with this tender emotional bliss of God. It is pure, serene and ultimate. It is absolutely not that tendency which is prevalent today in the name of love. I only became lucky enough to see this divine power from a distance when this feeling just ruffled me with HER fond memory

One day when I came back home an unexpected news was waiting for me. I was informed by my neighbour that she had done something very extraordinary which was just opposite of what she looked to be. My thoughts rolled back some seven years ago when she was living next door to me. At that time she was a chubby lovely little girl, with typical Maharashtrian looks, curly hair neatly and tightly parted and plaited into two, big grey eyes, fair colour. She was docile and decent. She was studious and obedient. She was homely and coy. She was almost tacit. 

Whenever I happened to meet her while going out or coming back she would politely leave the way to let me go with her demure smile. This is one characteristic which is perhaps vanishing rapidly from the attitude of today’s young generation. They are taught so meticulously in public schools to follow etiquettes. But being polite to everyone, greeting or wishing elders and giving them respectful preference are being comfortably forgotten or thrown into dust the moment they come out of their training.  

In flat scheme culture it is a routine not to recognize even your next door neighbour and pass by them as if they have seen nothing. Even a friendly smile becomes very expensive and they don’t want to waste it. 
But this little girl was different, she was going to a Marathi medium school, she followed all the etiquettes which are taught in public schools as curriculum. I always praised her demeanour and gave credit to her mother who always seemed to guide her.
 
She had a little brother who always accompanied her to school.  Quite often both of them go out together to play, to tuition classes and to market. It was really a pleasant feeling to meet such a pretty girl who always seems to brighten up her surrounding with her lovely smile and modest attitude. 

She helped her mother in her chores like an obedient child and I really felt from the bottom of my heart that those who are blessed with daughters are really blessed with god’s best blissful gift. Daughters always exude a feeling of enchantment in their surrounding with intimate emotions that everyone around them feels gratified.  I feel it is true that daughters are really the fulcrum of sweet home and without them the home becomes just a house. Their mere presence brightens up the whole atmosphere and the house becomes a home in real sense.

The little chubby girl has now transformed into a beautiful young girl and has shifted to a new house. I came to know that she is studying in a reputed college. I had all the praises for her as I always aspired for a daughter. Any way I tried to compensate this void by treating her as my daughter. 
But that day when I heard this unexpected news (rather expected from any teen when they are merely led by emotions) about her elopement with one of her class fellows, I could not believe my ears. I thought that there must be some mistake; she can not do something like this. Her temperament as far as I know is not of that type who can dare to do such a bold thing.

But I was wrong; it was true that she left her house without telling her parents to live her life according to her own wishes. I don’t know how far she will be successful in her independent search for happy life. I can only wish her all the happiness in her future life. Perhaps destiny has planned this to happen in her life. I guess that her passion for her newfound love must have made her to muster that much of courage to face the world on her own. It is the power of love that has won in her case.   

(Article for Middle Space, Hitavada, appeared on 16th Jan ‘09)
Unique Bond of Friendship
By Dr. Jyoti Patil

It’s really highly surprising to find such a close-knit, selfless and intimate bond of friendship in today’s highly practical world where everything is done in such a calculated manner to get the optimum benefit out of any connections or relations you intend to nurture. In such practical world today loyalties, integrities and almost all the relations whether named or unnamed are subject to rapid changes that too, not for the better but for the worse.

But if you find in such a filthy mire of sticky relations, a relationship which is pure, serene and lasting and moreover strong, selfless and without any expectations, your  first reaction will be an expression of surprise, a feeling of disbelief. 

It was really a soothing and pleasantly surprising experience for me that day when I decided to have an informal chat with a well-known senior citizen who happened to be a devout freedom fighter during the British Raj, as I intended to write an article on him. I took his appointment to talk to him in detail about his personal and public life. Apart from all the details since his childhood reminiscences, he emotionally traced and traversed everything which he felt important in his life. But he unintentionally skipped one very important thing which seemed to him not worth mentioning as that is a part of his daily life even today. Luckily his lovable daughter-in-law who happened to be his ardent fan came to serve me some eatables. She pointed out that special feature of his life that is his routine every Sunday since 40 years. 

It was that unique friendship which this extremely polite and generous old man is still nurturing. It is a group of some 18 to 20 members. They started meeting every Sunday to continue their old relationship since the days of partition. They passed through every phase of good and bad times during these years but their friendship group remained unscathed and unbroken. This was a unique way of spending their Sundays by holding a get-together to commemorate their bygone days when they were forced to leave all their movable and immovable property behind to migrate to partitioned India. It was an absolutely painful, horrible and traumatic experience for them to see massacre of Muslims by Hindus and Hindus by Muslims in a fit of mob frenzy. The situation was so tense that they could not think of anything else except saving their lives but even in that situation they helped each other. When they landed safely in India, they started settling down with each others help. 

They did not forget their days of uncertainties and turmoil. To keep their bond of friendship intact they decided to meet on regular basis come what may. They decided to meet on every Sunday at the residence of one of the members of this unique group with alphabetical order of their names. It is a get together followed by a dinner party in which everything is prepared at home, from an appetizer to the sweets served at the end.  The unique feature of this meeting is that the male members (specially sons and grandsons) of the member who is arranging the meeting that Sunday will arrange and serve in the party. Female members are relieved from serving. And it used to be a big occasion when a member’s turn comes to hold this unique get together. 

Now only 16 members are left as other members have joined the heavenly abode to continue their ethereal friendship in paradise. The remaining members never fail to congregate at the pre-decided venue and on the stipulated date to continue their unique bond of friendship until they are here. It is true that true friend ship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation. 
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(Article for Middle Space, Published on 3rd Nov.2008)
Guidelines for Happiness 
By Dr. Jyoti Patil

“Happiness is but an occasional episode in the general drama of pain” says Thomas Hardy, a famous English novelist who immortalized Tess in one of his Sussex novels, who suffered immeasurably as the President of Immortals has planted only sufferings in her life. Happiness in Tess’s life was a distant dream. She wanted to be happy but happiness eluded her all her life and at the end of the novel she was caught by the police for murdering Alec D’Urbervilles, the villain who had seduced her. Sometimes life is really grim and full of throes only. But it is not always so, for some people life is a dream, a really sweet dream. All ideal conditions are provided to them and they have all the luxuries of life. They enjoy life to the fullest but happiness sometimes eludes them the moment they come back to ground reality. 

Happiness is a prized feeling in human life. As our life is full of twists and turns, it brings many surprises that sometimes makes us sad and sometimes makes us happy. But it is also true that happiness and sadness are quite often individualized and their parameters differ from person to person. What is sad for one person may be a source of extreme joy for some other person.  

 I have seen a boy of my neighbourhood being very sad on the declaration of HSSC results. He was sad to the extent that for a week he did not talk to anybody. The reason was that he could not secure 95% as expected by him and only had to be satisfied with 91% of marks. On the other hand, his friend who only managed to secure 65% of marks was extremely happy and distributed sweets amongst his friends as he had never expected such high percentage. It shows that it quite often depends on your temperament whether a particular thing gives you happiness or sadness.  Happiness is nothing but a feel of refreshing relaxation and a light mood.

It is an oft-repeated cliché that happiness comes from within but the more you chase it the more elusive it becomes. Of course, we all want to become happy in life and try to seek it from various ways. Generally speaking we feel we could be happier, if we have more money, more opportunities and more beautiful looks. We always want to be happy but hardly experience happiness when we are closer to it. When we choose to be happy and try to seek it in the smallest and insignificant events, we are really happy - be it meeting someone on the way, a child’s pranks, a group of giggling youngsters, light-hearted moments, some refreshing news or remembering some fond memories. 
I have seen people go for luxurious vacations to enjoy life to the fullest but when they come back you may find them in the same foul mood. Outer things give you transitory pleasure and not heart’s contentment. Heart’s contentment only lies in making others happy when you really want to be happy.

Happiness should not be mistaken for pleasure. Pleasure is very transitory in nature and stay with you till that event provides you the feeling. Just as you get a very expensive and nice gift from some unexpected quarters, but when the gift is lost or damaged the next moment, you feel a great disappointment and happiness vaporizes immediately.  

Making others happy is the best way of lasting and true happiness which is of permanent nature and can be called contentment or mental satisfaction. Make somebody happy around you; bring a smile on somebody’s face by helping him/her. The secret of real happiness lies in making the atmosphere around you joyous and jocund by making others happy.

Keep smiling, keep showing kindness, keep neglecting minor setbacks, keep adjusting with what you have and keep forgiving others’ mistakes are some guidelines for happy life. It is rightly sung by Jalia Carney: ‘Little deeds of kindness, little drops of love, Help to make the earth happy, like the Heaven above.’     
                                     ----------     ----------                                   
(Article for Middle Space, published on Sunday12th Oct ’08)

Dishonesty, the Best Policy?

By Dr. Jyoti Patil

Honesty is losing its lustre in this breakneck competitive world today where the morals of the past are rapidly being replaced by new and baffling Moral Codes. If Honesty is the Best Policy, why was Hansi Cronie met with humiliating end in life?  And what is happening to other big wig cricketers who saved their skins by projecting lies and claiming themselves clean? What happened to G R Khairnar and Arun Bhatia who raised their voices against the land mafia and took stringent action against the powerful builders and politicians’ nexus in Mumbai and Pune? Kiran Bedi, the super cop is paying the price for being honest and sincere and had to take voluntary retirement only because of her “WORST” policy.  

Therefore, I want a suitable change in the saying “Honesty is the Best Policy”. I want to make it “Dishonesty is the Best Policy” or for that matter “Honesty is the Worst Policy.” I know many may object to it but hold, let me explain my point of view. The advocates of truth and honesty might say that without these two attributes life can not sustain as in any relationship or dealing, they play a very important role. Without honesty even a robber or a cheater can not go along. I know a gentleman who fought all his life against corruption of his boss in the education department and as a reward for his honest work he was demoted, suspended, harassed and ultimately terminated from service with many police complaints against him. Perhaps this may remind us a young engineer in Bihar who had to sacrifice his life for exposing corruption in road and bridge construction work. 

As life is always considered as an unsolved mystery, we can see many examples where a person has to suffer because of his honesty. Be honest at least for a day and see what problems crop up for you. If a clerk while seeking leave from his office informs his boss since he does not feel like seeing his face or he is not in mood to see any office papers and feels like enjoying a movie, he wants casual leave for a day. What will happen to him the next day can be well imagined. For getting a good job, a good match in life, easy entry into a temple for darshan or to get some work done easily; it has become essential to use falsity and lies. If you insist to be honest, be ready to pay a heavy price. 

To make life smoother and comfortable dishonesty plays a very important role. To get any work done in today’s complicated world it becomes easier when you grease the palms of concerned persons. Just as it is said ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ now I can say ‘A bribe for a work makes your life smooth and easy and keeps all tensions away’. It is today’s success mantra which has a greater power, prospects and potential to provide you with the best in life. The bigger your dishonesty is, the greater your status will be. Look around and you will find many fine examples of such species as they are in good numbers today. They are big, powerful and successful. If you find a person talented and unsuccessful in life, be sure that he might be having one tragic flaw i.e. honesty in his nature.

Today we don’t believe in honesty easily but we believe in dishonesty very easily. For dishonesty you need not take any oath but for truth and honesty you have to take an oath in an attempt to prove that what you are saying is correct. Keep it in mind, honesty is a disease today and dishonesty a treatment for many a disease. So my dear friends, it is up to you whether you want to keep yourself happy and tension free in life or to follow what Raja Harishchandra had done to make his life a great suffering. 
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(Article published in HITVADA Middle Space on dt. 21 Sep. 2008)