The city of Joy

I landed in Bangalore not being airborne but from a second class sleeper coach of a roaring Indian railway express. Bangalore City Railway station it read. The sky was full of Clouds, hence that day was looking a bit dark gloomy. Holding tightly to my grey coloured VIP-Alfa small suitcase and an MRF brown airbag, I took a deep breath of the moist air. I was very much worried and nervous. The station was very crowded, people were greeting each other, the loud voice of the vendors all dissolved slowly into air. I got too worried, suddenly finding myself among unknown faces, an unknown land and unknown languages. A lot of auto and taxi drivers were coming and asking me, where I wanted to go, As if I was a missing child. Restless eyes searched for the guy, Who promised me to see me on the platform. I was clueless where to go. My asset included an SBI ATM card with 5000/- rupees in it and books, many of them. My restless eyes struck to a distant face and it brought me a smile to my face, a real satisfying smile of relief, joy. It was the guy who was to see me.

Then he took me to a big bus stand having many platforms and hundreds of running buses and moving crowd. We were just placed inside a bus with both my hands on the holding bar, the bag on my shoulder and the suitcase in my friend’s hand. It was stopping in many places and many people were boarding the bus. From young men to old, from rich well dressed to poor, from ladies to gents everybody were on board without caring about the crowd and the seat availability. Keeping the suitcase down to give a relief to his hand my friend asked me “So... What is your first impression on Bangalore?” I was not at all happy and it was reflected on my face.But I had to give him a smile. I was not in a situation to answer, rather my mind was full of confusions, Questions and hopes !!! It was like a race of People having different objectives different goals. As if everyone including the buses are running out of time.

After crossing so many roads, Building, flyovers, crosses, streets finally my friend noticed me to get down after around one and half hours. I hated the overcast weather, noise, crowd, big buses, heavy traffic. It was my first experience in any metro city. We started walking towards the house from the bus stop, its near by just 1 km he would say. We crossed level crossing, fields, muddy roads and my body almost gave in to the weight of the bags. Finally the 3rd floor 1BHK apartment was at sight. I smiled again with relief.

Since then I had no idea about the time and it was moving very fast. In the evening I was called to a 'bakery' by my friend. Bun samosa he ordered. Bun samosa was a luxury for me. I took a look around. The place was surrounded by young people. Most of them were like me and they had come to take a bet on the future. A job in IT. It did not take me long neither to get used to the one kilometre walk down in the muddy road till the bus-stop nor hating the bun samosa I considered a luxury. Time was flying and luck was taking my side. And finally I had won the bet. Got a job before running out of the 5000/- rupees, the only sum I had.

Ten years have passed since then. Every time I try to break off, I have fallen in love with city all over again. Her charm holds me in her arms and I feel fully devoted to her lust. Now I seldom take that train, I get airborne. Now I seldom take the bus, I hire cabs. Now I seldom eat bun samosa, I eat Pizza greedily, now I seldom hate the overcast weather, I love it.

This city has given me luck, charm, love, tears, smiles, friends and above all an identity. A respect in the society and a voice of my own. She has spread joy on me. Whenever I think of leaving her behind the past years play before my eyes. They play in slow motion for me to realise that each sight was indeed a scene and I gulp it down my soul. I smile at her and she smiles back at me. She is very open and silent. She does not complain, does not demand. Rather She just waits for other lovers. She is really Lovable...Love you Bangalore....

Linguistic : A journey towards unknown

Good afternoon My dear Friends, 

I have a question for you. Could you tell me, What are common among all Languages? Scripts? Many tribal languages don't have scripts like "Todas" of Nilgiries, "Sourastra " in Tamilnadu. Sound? Then how a mute person communicates!

What are common among all languages are, the embedded essence of Emotions, Feelings and Expressions. Lets say, I am in deep love with a girl. I will say "I Love you"; in Kannada I say "Naanu Ninnanu Preethisuthene";  in Tamil I say "Nan unnai kadhalaikiran"; in Odia I say "Mu tumaku Bhala pae", In Bangali "aame tomake bhalobasi"

 If you observer very closely then you can find the restlessness of the heart that resounds, that reverberates so loudly inside. It means the same in all languages...

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen !

Today we will understand what Language is? Why study of Language is important for the development of human race? Some research on Language and it’s origin.

Language, is not just about social interaction; Language, is not just about symbol or fancy; Language, is not just about speeches; Language, is used to understand something that is unique to every human being . It is about expression, emotions and feelings. Speech is just a minimum subset of Language. We can communicate using our hand gesture that is body language or sign language. When two Eskimos i.e. People stays in north polar region, meet they rub their noses against each other as a sign of love and respect, some of us fold our hands, some do so by removing their cap from their head. All it means is the same. Here it comes to the first purpose of language. It makes many individual to think together.  Secondly Language create vocabularies of many distinct nature. Can you tell what it is called falling ice in cold countries? Snow fall ! But in Eskimo's language, it has many words. They say "Aput" for the snow in the ground, "Quna" for falling snow and many more. It makes it evident that Language is the source of Knowledge, to understand the verities of happening across the globe, to understand more and more concept that is prevalent around us. So more someone is adept and keen in Language, the more powerful is one's knowledge base. Thirdly, Language is a branch of cognitive psychology. It enhance the cognitive ability of the human race. Lets take an example. When a child is born it uses aaa , ooo, eee and all they are vowels. That doesn't require the lips to connect. Slowly as it grows it understands and express consonants like pappa, mamma, kaka etc. It forms complicated words and sentences. The complexity of pronunciation can directly link with development of mind and brain. People with mental disability find it difficult to speak properly. 

Friends, the scientific study of the Language started not too early but just before 200 years. When Sir William John who learnt Sanskrit came to conclusion that Sanskrit, Greek and Latin were originally from a common language called Proto-IndoEuropean or PIE Language. Many consider Sanskrit as the mother of all Language though this proposition still does not hold a concrete ground.The Languages were spoken before written and they lost forever. Then how people came to this conclusion ? 
Lets see this comparative study:

Pitru: Sanskrit

Pater: Latin

Father: English

Mrutyu: Sanskrit

Mortis : Latin

Murder : English

These words are pronounced similarly.But still If we look closely in these three languages the pronunciation are different. Why is it so? This is address by Laryngeal theory. You may be knowing about larynx and pharynx situated inferior to (below) the mouth and nasal cavity. pharynx is used for swallowing foods and larynx is the vocal cord. Based on the word Larynx the theory is called Laryngeal theory. It says, pronunciation and scripts will be different across the different geographical location. 

Do you know the meaning of "Juggernaut"? It means an unstoppable & destructive force. It is a word loaned from the cart festival of the Load Jagannath from Puri Odisha. Jagannath is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. When British people saw, many people were dying below the cart and which was not stopping or moving back, They got surprised and they came up with the word. But they faced difficulty in pronouncing the word Jagannath. So they pronounce it as Juggernaut. 


Today I shared about what Language is? 3 reason to study language, 1. Bring many people think together, 2. To gain more knowledge, 3. to enhance the cognitive ability. Then the history of Language and about Laryngeal theory of how pronunciation differs geographically.

Friends All these various aspect of language made the study of language to be more scientific and systematic. As word concerns everyone, if I say good words you will be my friend if I say bad words, you can slap my face and leave. The reason is not because of you, nor I, but because the Word is the capsule of feelings and emotion, Word is the bowl of expressions, Word is the sword of your cognitive ability. You are recognized through your word. 

Linguistic, a study of Language, is a journey towards the unknown; unfolding & unraveling many concepts , many facts and many mysteries.

Over to you, Toastmaster...

This was one of my speech[CC7] in Toastmaster International under the guidance of our beloved Chinmaya Nayak Bhai

x

Enigma: The facts & facets of Brain

The brain is an amazing organ. It works all day, every day, for your whole life. That is, until you fall in love…. It is a three-pound organ, which is the seat of intelligence, interpreter of the senses, initiator of body movement, and controller of behaviour. Lying in its bony shell and washed by protective fluid, the brain is the source of all the qualities that define humanity. The brain is the crown jewel of the human body. Today in this speech I will speak, how does this complex & enigmatic brain work?

The human brain is considered to have hundred billion cells. The cells are connected to one another in a network of staggering complexity. A typical cell makes about 10,000 connections to neighbouring cells.   The number of phone connections on earth and the trillions of messages per day would NOT equal the complexity or activity of a single human brain. 

Brain consists of about 100 billion cells called neurons, are on/off switches just like the one you use to control the lights in your home, either in a resting state (off) or shooting an electrical impulse down a wire (on). It has a cell body, a long little wire, called an axon, and at the very end it has a little part that shoots out a chemical. This chemical goes across a gap (synapse) where it triggers another neuron to send a message. These chemicals are called "transmitters“.  There are a lot of these neurons sending messages down a wire (axon). Each of the billions of neurons "spit out" chemicals that trigger other neurons. 

This is the architectural part of the human brain. Now let’s have a test to know amore about our brain. I will show a picture in the next slide where you will see different color name in different color. What exactly you need to do it. You need to read and say the color in which the texts are written. not the actual word. Loudly and quickly.

There is a difference in answer. Some people may find it difficult to read and some may read it very easily. Why because :  Our brain has two halves right and left.  People using left part of the brain are usually logical and analytical.  While those who use right part of the brain are creative, innovative and imaginative. ..If you merely read the words, you are likely to be using your right brain.  Whereas if you read the colors, you are using your left-brain Do not worry If you are too good at Calculus, but find it too difficult to write an essay. It is all about which sides of your brain dominates. 

 We have covered the scientific analysis of Brain. Now lets see how the Psychological part of the Brain. Brain works in four different processes.

First it perceives: If someone is making some comment then our mind start perceiving about what kind of person he/she may be. If he/she makes some statement which you really like, then your mind may perceive him/her as a good else a bad.  So many factors is involved in this process like environment, peer pressure, surrounding etc. One more example of perceive could be : When we reach to the first stage of our adolescence days, the actresses we meet first on the screen become our heartthrob, the sweet heart. This is the way we perceived what beauty is.

Than it discriminates: If a person person’s comments is aligned to your thoughts or if you like the comments then you will accept him/her as good. Else bad. The same way, The girl remotely close to our dream beauty appears beautiful to us, others NO. This is the way mind discriminates Good or bad, Moral or Immoral, Right or wrong, just or unjust. Than we personalise our own definitions.

Based on definition, mind projects itself, we react, we feel pain or pleasure, we feel good or bad, we become happy of unhappy. This is the only the psychological part of how brain works. Which may not be truth for everyone of us. Truth comes in manifold colors….

2 dimensional static images…[Refer the PPT attached]…………

Hence what I am focusing is that the person who made a controversial comment here in table topics may not necessarily be a bad person and the person who told a joke may not be a funny and humorous person. Also other girls who are not alike with your Favorited actresses are ugly. The main thing is  the embedded experience in looking at a thing is  different for different person. not necessarily you are bad or your wife is.

Our brain runs mostly on autopilot and the conscious mind has little access to the factory that runs below it. Carl Jung put it “In each of us there is another whom we do not know”.

Now rest your mind for a while to understand other’s mind perceive. Now to be at peace we should understand mind is too complicated and we are no mind, we are above the mind, we are consciousness, You are the observer, you are not the participant. The mind can change but the true you, is unchangeable.

Supporting PPT: here

Everyone born intelligent

Call it as parental pressure. Call it parental expectations. Whatever you may name it, the result is the same: Children stress. It starts as soon as a child reaches kindergarten. It turns play into competitive sport. It turns the joy of learning into a struggle to excel. It turns friends into social connections and charitable acts into a line on a resume.

Dear TM and guests…

Few weeks back, I went to my sister’s house. She has a 4 years old daughter. In the evening as my sister was teaching her. I found my niece answering all most all of my sister’s questions. ‘Oh she is learning well!’ I commented casually. To that my sister gave me a frowned look and complained that my niece was doing well till last year and that she had secured first in her section by scoring 98%.  But this year she had scored only 95%. Other students are improving but she is not doing well

I started thinking. Is she old enough to be measured?   When parents started talking like this before the children, won’t it be adversely impacting their young mind? My sister’s only concern is the number of marks my niece will score next year.  Irrespective of socioeconomic status, as parents we all want our kids to have a better life than what we did. Hence  Instead of nurturing a generation of happy young adults who feel driven to succeed, parents who are hyper-focused on doing everything "right" have created a country full of kids who are stressed-out, burned-out, and depressed. All parents seems to be preoccupied with "a narrow and shortsighted vision of success," and that we rely on our kids to "provide status and meaning in our own lives

YoungMinds, an NGO, focuses the children's mental health, says nearly one million children between the ages of five and 15 now have mental health problems like depression and anxiety and the numbers look set to keep on rising. Gavin Baylis, a spokesman for YoungMinds, says, 'In the past 20 years, mental health problems have got worse, they are being shown in younger children and they are getting more complex.' Over 50% of the World's children are brought up in stressful conditions, says UNESCO.

We have to realize that everyone is important and special in different way.  A knife cannot do the work of a needle.  If the innocence and peace loving animal rabbit, tries to be furious and cruel to make horror, then it will simply loose its value. It will not be admired and loved. They are good at their own place with respect to their skill and properties.

As parents, we have to learn our jobs as we go along. Although we love our children, we soon realize that love isn’t all that’s needed. We need patience and creativity too, and sometimes, these qualities seem to be in short supply. Learning how to be a parent will probably continue until all your children are grown up. Because each child is unique, what worked with Joe will not necessarily work with Sally, and what worked for Sally probably will not help you cope with George. There are many different goals and there are many different way to achieve that. The same formula will not work for everyone neither everyone can be placed at number one.

I am telling you a small story. There is a famous quote it says, “Early bird catches the worm”.  After knowing this a mother bird tells it’s lazy children to get up early and go for worm. They got up early but that day they did not find any worm. Because what had happened is in the same day, as the worm started getting up early their mother told them that, “Why are you getting up early? Do you want to be eaten by the early rising birds?”  This clearly shows that the same way may not work for everyone. We should know where are we placed, whether our children are birds or worms? Based on that we should do what is suitable for us. It does not matter what the society or the market or your manager or parents want. What really matters is, what the kid wants and what her interest & passion are. If she continues doing that then she will be a satisfied and successful person.

Do not compare your kid with anyone else. Take your child out of the current rat race. She is good in her own place and she is special. Only thing is we should try finding what her speciality is and start exploring that. That is the way she will develop. Everyone without an exception has some or other talent – something that comes easy to them. It could be talents of numbers, playing with piano, getting along with people, business, and swimming. If you can find something you are really good at, you are more likely to succeed at it. You have given yourself a head start.

This was one of my speech[CC9] in Toastmaster International under the guidance of our beloved Chinmaya Nayak Bhai

The forbidden fruit...

A common question, I am facing nowadays : So when are you giving us a treat? Any good news? Any updates? Some people even ask me the question very directly: When are you getting married?

Often I do not have the answer ...hence, I have been trying to avoid these questions in many ways.Sometime I say : Just now I have started my career. I need to settle and gain confidence in my job....Some other time I say: I am doing my higher studies and after completing it, I will jump to get married....But nowadays there is a change in my answer. I say : "Yaaa....Marriage is fixed in heaven and I am waiting for that to happen on earth"....But how many more days can I escape from these questions by giving these answers ...

Many people think that I am already married and having children as well. Recently, a new joinee in my dept; asked me about my marital status on the lunch table. As a joke, I answered that I am married and have two children. After that they started asking about those children...It was very funny for me at the time...But, many such incidents forced me to think about my marriage. I thought it was time for me to get married..I talked to couple of my friends who are married and asked for some suggestions...I got lot of a comments, and many were quite negative. One friend told me : You are a happy person man, be happy for couple of more years. Do not get married so soon. Remember one thing, "All tragedies are finished by a death, all comedies by a marriage". Remember this and then decide. Another friend said: If you think you have lived enough then only think about marriage.. No marriage is a success & no one is happy after marriage. That is the reason "The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret ". Also a happy marriage is a matter of give and take; the husband gives and the wife takes. ...Be careful before you face such a shocking surprise.

 I do not understand why people see the movie first and then they tell you not to watch it because it is a waste of time. They themselves never miss any chance to watch any movies but they will not give you a single chance to watch any. The same way people get married but they will try their best to convince you not to marry....I strongly believe that all married people are jealous, they do not want others to get the things what they have already achieved, experienced & enjoyed. Finally in spite of so much negative feedback, I decided to get married.... 

I thought of telling my mother first. One day at home, I was seated on the sofa and she came with a cup of tea. Handing over the cup to me, She took a seat beside me.... I turned to her and then with hesitation I started, "Mom, Do not you think that I should get married now? " She came a bit close and in a relaxed voice, She told, "Son, Why do you worry? So many people older then you are still yet to be married...there is still time for you" ... Suddenly one questions popped up in my mind, "Why you and my father got married where as the chief minister of orissa Mr Naveen Patnaik (much older then you ) is still yet to marry...." But I did not feel good to express this aloud.. Instead, I tried to convince my mom, I told, " Mom, Who do I have in Banglore? I am sick of eating food outside. Also I am feeling very lonely, all my friends are married and they are occupied in their own lives and they dont have time to meet me..I am getting irritated and also I am getting older day by day and it is very difficult to get a match if I get too old...“ My tea got cold.. But... I won her over. Then to my surprise my father called me to his room. I was seated & He started telling me, "Son, Now it is time for you to get married. we are looking for an engineer bride for you“. I suddenly stood up ! I replied, "Papa, I want a nice girl to marry not an engineer.. I want a life partner who supports me through out my life, not a competitor who challenges me at every moment...He gave me the example of my mom and how she was not working and how he suffered while providing for the family. After all these long arguments, finally, somehow I got a chance to express my view on choosing my life partner before my father. I got irritated after getting so many negative comments from all the people I faced including my father. Even at this age he has a problem with his wife..I did not understand why people think their married life as a burden for them. Why do they not understand the best part of married life? Why do their hearts not feel the great feelings of marriage, „union of two souls“ ? Every unmarried person knows how exciting a married life is, but there is no fun in just knowing.. we have to experience and feel it. How would it be, if someone would be waiting for you when you return from a long tiring day at the office....At the door step..As soon as you knock the door a beautiful lady will eagerly open the door...How all your office tension vanish on seeing her beautiful smile...How would it be if some special one, prepares food especially for you to eat... How lovely it would be, eating that food... Why people do not feel this...At least someone will be there always with you whenever you are sad. Someone will come to you to support you, to be with you.. to stay with you for a life time, leaving all her near and dear ones apart... If you see a lot of affection, love & care in her eyes then how would you feel... That is the real world, real life... After telling all these as well, if I ask, many of you will still advice me not to marry...I agree Marriage has no guarantees, but if a gaurantee is what you're looking for, go live with a car battery with life time warranty....Marriage is something like this: If you are given a very good bat and ball, but you do not know how to play cricket. then it is your fault if you do not enjoy....I would recommend you to learn how to play, then play and enjoy. It may be a bit difficult learning things but that is the way to go...

With all such experience, finally I decided to taste the forbidden fruit... Considering the Great Philosopher Socretise's line: By all means marry; if I get a good wife, I'll be happy. If I get a bad one, I'll become a philosopher.

Cheers !

This was one of my speech[CC6] in Toastmaster International. 

The man by the windows...

The man by the windows...

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours and hours. 

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to

his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods when his world would be broadened and cheerful by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a green & beautiful park with a lovely lake full of water. The lake was full of different colors of lily & Lotus flowers and leaves. Ducks and swans played on the water coupled. Children sailed their model boats and they were very happy seeing their moving boats and lights. Young lovers walked arm in arm, some were sitting very closely below the flower plants and bushes. Flowers of many colors were  bunched together and spread across forming a natural rainbow. Grand old trees make more attractive the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this extreme beauty detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window sketched it with descriptive words.

Days and Weeks passed by. Then, unexpectedly, a dark and sinister thought entered in the mind of the person who was placed at the other side of the window. Why should the man by the window

alone experience all the pleasures of seeing everything while he himself never got to see anything? It didn't seem fair. At first thought the man felt ashamed. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and he found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window--that thought, and only that thought, now controlled his life.

Late one night as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running in. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, and along with that, the sound of breathing. Now there was only silence,  deathly silence. 

The following morning the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was very saddened. She called the hospital attendants to take it away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window.

The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all by himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. To his surprise, It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded, "The earlier man was blind and could not even see the wall....Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you through his words." 

This is a story by Harry Buschman with a great moral. It says there is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.Lets all think about one way we can bring someone  happiness....

Cheers !

The wonderful gift...

The wonderful gift …

Got a call from postman, could not think what would it be? I went to collect it. He told me to sign in his register. I could able to see a small parcel beautifully packed. Get confused. Is it some card from someone? Who that someone may be? What occasion it may be? Puzzled completely...After signing there He handed over that pack towards me. I could not control my curiosity but to open it. A small letter:

My dearest! Hope you are very good there! Do you remember me & my words! Just wanted to remind you to do things what many wonderful people do. Hence I thought of sending this book.

With lot of Love...

Your Mother.

I remember the childhood days, How she used to gift books on any special occasions like birthdays and Diwali and used to inspiring me to read that. It became my habit. Today I am going to share you all the benefits of reading books:

Mental stimulation

If you do not use your brain cells, you will loose it. Reading makes use of the brain. It is a good mental activity instead of doing unproductive things during your idle time. It uses the brain cells of your brain, stimulating it to gain more information- making you a whole lot smarter than what you were before having the habit of reading. "Law of diminishing returns"

Enhances creativity

Reading a book makes use of your imagination too. If you read, you tend to create a mental picture of the scenes that is described on the book. You are exposed to new ideas and new stories that can get your creative juices flowing especially during the thinking process.

Improving Interpersonal skills

 Reading different books written by different authors enable children to imitate the way in which these writers put down their thoughts. In that way then can understand different people’s thought and get a feel of how to behave with with other people in the world. Reading is something like rewriting the same book for yourself again.

Talking points

 Have you ever experienced being on a date without anything to talk about? Well, if you happen to read a good book, this can start off a conversation. Sharing good information is a great way to jump start any boring discussion. You can talk about the characters of the book, the plot, the value it gave you or any interesting things that you want to talk about.

Be inspired

 There are a lot of inspiring stories that you can get from books. These stories can help you be inspired and aim for your goal in life. There are touching stories and stories with great value passed on from generations to generations and these are all documented in books.

Relaxing

 Reading books is considered to be one way of entertaining or relaxing. People can enjoy an interesting book to relieve stress after a working day. For some people, reading books becomes a relieving pill for their tired minds, which is vital for their existence. For teenagers, reading good books can bring a great deal of pleasure. Being interested in reading, they will avoid the addiction of online games or violent films which are tremendously dangerous for their development. Therefore, parents are advised to encourage the children to read as many books as possible. Reading helps forgetting bad things as well as remembering good thing and make you a perfect man.

Boosting confidence

Reading books brings more confidence to the readers in communication. When you have a solid core of knowledge, you will be able to make sure of what you are going to say or what you hear from other people. No one can look down on you due to your deep knowledge and correct information, which is important for your self-esteem

 Improving self-dignity

 It is undoubtedly undeniable that a reading habit enables you to gain admiration and respect from others. For the old, reading books plays an important part in assisting them not to be left behind of the young. By improving knowledge with the updated information that they get from books, they can keep their minds fresh and also be aware of the new things or changes in life. They still feel confident in communicating or educating their children.

Improves concentration and focus

It requires you to focus on what you are reading for long periods. Unlike magazines, Internet posts or e-Mails that might contain small chunks of information, books tell the whole story. Since you must concentrate in order to read, like a muscle, you will get better at concentration. If you want to break the monotony of a lazy, non-creative and boring life, go and grab an interesting book. Turn the pages to explore a new world filled with information and ingenuity, “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”

To Silence the Ever moving Mind:
Reading is kind of a meditation. Here our mind concentrate on single thing. Single subject, single thought and single focus. That is nothing but meditation. This has both physical, mental as well as Spiritual benefits. Mind calms down when we read, It gets more productive and creative. Hence in Indian philosophy "Swadhyaya" is given special place. That is one of the step in Patanjali's Astanga Yoga under Niyama.  

Do before you die

Every beginning comes with an ending, every Sun raise comes with a Sunset, and every birth comes with a death. Everything has 2 sides as created by the creator. If there is a high, there is a low; if there is a dark, there is a light; if there is ignorance, there is knowledge. That’s the law of nature. We may not realize that but we cannot deny that.

So considering this, there will be a day when I need to give back everything which I have accumulated. Of course all of the things which I have and I am claiming as owner are just my accumulation and nothing else. Neither I have created any of them nor I am owning that completely. This is a game of time, which I am playing. They were not mine and for now they belong to me and someday will come, irrespective of I want or not, they will go back. They includes all my properties & emotions, relations & relative, information & mind, including the whole body. Only thing which is unknown till now is When is that D day. That’s the goal of this game. If mankind would have known that, they would have lived entirely a different life then the current life. They should have played the game entirely different then they are playing today.

In this earth everyday night, millions of people go to bed, out of them thousands people do not get up. May be some of them have lived enough or some of them early goer. Everyday millions of people go out of their home and there are thousands who never come back to their home alive. This is not the instance of one particular day but the fact of everyday. We are the only set of most fortunate people who are still not out. Still there are fortunate people whose relatives/near/dear are also not out. So When we get up in the morning, that itself is a bliss and sign of fortunate. Also when we get up in the morning and come to know that all our side people also wake up with us, then it is fact of delight. But still we all agree that the day will come when we will go with that thousands number and not in millions.

So once I make sure that I am fortunate as well as delight as I got up in the morning and came to know that all my near dears are also there, what should I do till I go to bed and join a period of uncertainty? Is not it worth thinking about. Should I accumulate more and more? Accumulate more money, more people, more fun, and more miseries? If I have to leave them, then what is the point accumulating them? If there is no point accumulating things, then Is not it important to know the real game? Is not it important to know the truth behind all these? This is for all of you to have a deep thought on this.

I have decided mine. I understood that the whole world, even the whole universe, even the whole cosmos are not many as they appear but there are just one. Left hand may think that there are 2 hands but for the complete body; all the body parts are not many but just a single unit, the same body. But till the point we are identified with a small part of this universe we cannot see the oneness. To experience the oneness, we need to be the feelings of the whole cosmos. Such a kind of concept is not digestible to the mind. Because it has own us completely, acquired us, covered us fully. Being a lateral entry in our body, still mind claims all possession. Yes, when we born, we never felt the presences of our mind, when we passed our entire childhood days we never got acquired by our mind. Slowly we accumulated emotions & information, worldly material possession and sensual comfortless, relative identity and false dignity. Mind started assuming that, all the accumulations are nothing but me, it keeps growing with the same kind of ignorance and I am here. So If I try to experience the whole cosmos using this mind then it is quite impossible. A farmer is farming on his land and decades after it is discovered that there is a goldmines below the land. Farmer has no idea as his business is just in the surface of that land. So is the case when I try to understand the feelings of oneness using my mind? So solution is going beyond the mind.

Is it possible to go beyond the mind? When I enquired about this then I got to know that, “Yes, it is very much possible”. The first step is to make the mind silenced. Mind is an ever moving ever talking, ever listening, every sensing entity. It never stops, not even when body sleeps. Then how to Silence the mind?  Further enquiry leads me to a sloka in Gita

असंशयं महाबाहो,मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् |   अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय, वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ||

Meaning: O mighty-armed son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by constant practice and by detachment.

So life itself is a Yoga. Yoga is union.  We need to be very careful with which we are united, if it is with ignorance, if it is with unreal, if it is with darkness then we need to detach from there. That can be achieved by uniting to the truth, uniting to the knowledge and uniting to the light. So true life is all about practising this transformations. True life is all about living to realise “Aham bramhasmi”.  It is realising that “I am not a human being trying to have divine experience, but I am a divine being trying to have a human experience”

So Do before you die!!