Changing Ideologies

Do We Need To Chant Mantras ?

2020-08-29T08:55:00.004+05:30

Disclaimer: The following article is not written with a motive to teach chanting of mantras. Kindly seek a guru for the process.

INTRODUCTION :

In the tradition of Sanatana Dharma, Mantras has its own significance and is widely chanted not only during meditation but also incorporated in yoga, Pranayama and while performing yajnas/havana. Today, in the realm of getting influenced by the west, the population that stays true to the practices have become gradually less. Labelling it as mere religious practice or just a fancy thing have exacerbated the whole situation. Although researchers are also convinced about its scientific implications, yet the science behind is not percolated into society today and is still on a long way to go.

Pic source : Mantra therapy and it's power

WHAT IS MANTRA ALL ABOUT ?

Mantra is basically an acoustic signal which channelizes the ‘biological system (including plants)’ in the combination of sound, breath and rhythm. The Sanskrit Word "SABDAIKAGUNAMAKASAM" means sound is the only guna (quality) that can occupy the space and it can thus spread to all the four elements (air, fire, earth and water). In the words of Don Campbell,

"Chant is not an obscure musical ritual- it is an important tool used by people to heal their bodies, quiet their minds, and bring the sacred into their lives."

THE RESEARCH :

1. FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH :

An article from Psychology today explained the research by Andrew Newberg at Penn, which pointed out that mantra meditation activates areas of the brain such as the thalamus and the hippocampus which is related to sensory perception and to memory function respectively that can help synchronize networks in the prefrontal cortex and thus improves cognitive performance.

An elementary study suggested (effect of Vedic chanting on memory and sustained attention) that vedic chanting can increase in the level of attention by activating cells in the brain. Thus, implementation of the Vedic chanting in routine day life style like any other yogic practices and interventions like asanas, pranayama, meditation etc.

Search Results

Web chanting improves the memory and attention by influencing both the hemispheres

2. THERAPEUTIC USE :

The phenomenal results were from research gate publications of scientific analysis of mantra-based meditation and it's benefits, which explained that "Many Mantras which end with anuswaram (nasal sound) MMM humming boosts the production of nitric oxide in the body", the same chemical that is also produced in playing musical instrument Nadaswaram (Shehnai). This chemical helps 50 trillion cells of our body to communicate with each other by transmitting signals throughout the entire body which include vascular smooth muscular relaxation, resulting in arterial vasodilation and thereby increasing blood flow.

It is also noted that people with diabetes usually have lower levels of nitric oxide than non-diabetic. Indeed, Opiate drug Morphine, the addictive painkiller, works by an increase in Nitric Oxide release and Nitroglycerin and Amyl Nitrite tablets serve as Vasodilators, because they are converted to nitric oxide in the body, to ease angina pain (chest pain).

Also, sufficient amounts of nitric oxide in blood controls blood pressure and when the human body reaches the age of 27 years, the secretion of nitric oxide is at its peak and declines gradually thereafter, which makes it very clear why something like chanting becomes important as we age.

The meditation and Coronary Heart Disease, review article explained that how meditation therapy has been used by some doctors in Bombay Hospital in preventing various diseases particularly cardiovascular ailments. "Meditation was shown to be effective in coronary artery disease and various risk factors involved - particularly hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia (increased cholesterol in blood) and diabetes. Number of studies have shown that regular practice for Mantra Meditation has been useful in reducing blood pressure significantly and lowering cholesterol and blood sugar." The report also declared that it is not clear that how much beneficial meditation is, in compared to 𝛃-blockers, ACE inhibtors (among the major drugs used for coronary heart disease), yet it concluded by creating a scope for future studies so as to establish a non-biased view and utilise it as an therapy.

3. MENTAL ISSUES : (A)

Pic Source : amazon.in

A study by Kumar SaiSailesh et.al in 2016 studied the effectiveness of chanting Vishnu Sahashranama after chanting for just 12 weeks. The test revealed "significant deviation in reduced stress levels were observed after being prone to the consistent listening of this Vedic Chanting." This was assessed using DASS-42 (depression, Anxiety and stress scale) and Serum cortisol test.

Pic source : OM chanting

There has been various studies made for "OM" chanting. While, a pilot study recorded the neuro hemodynamic correlation of 'OM' chanting indicating limbic deactivation and similar observations recorded with vagus nerve stimulation treatment used in depression and epilepsy. On the other hand, study on directional brain networks underlying OM chanting showed the 'modulation of brain regions involved in emotion processing and can be implicated in major depressive disorder (MDD) and raises a potential possibility of the same.'

(B) Dr. Hartzell's research

Dr. James Hartzell performed the research by brain on 21 professionally trained Pandits with similar controlled subjects to study the Sanksrit effect (if the language has something to do with the significance of chanting), although he could not find an answer for it which required lot of funding, but they discovered that intensive verbal training substantially thickens the right temporal cortex associated with speech prosody and voice identity. The interesting finding was it raised a question of whether an increase in this gray matter of verbal memory could make them less vulnerable to Alzheimer's (a neuro-degenerative disorder associated with loss of memory and other cognitive abilities). The Indian Ayurvedic doctors suggested it to be the case and if so, such a training may help, retard or actually prevent its onset.

Pic source : The Hindu.com/The Sanskrit effect

4. IMPACT ON PLANTS :

Experiments were performed by C.R. KARNICK on 10 medicinal plants charged with mantras, as published in the US National Library of Medicine (pg. 143-146). One of the experiments was that of charging the medicinal plants with 'Mantras' and responses to various ailments. The results were that not only the stems and roots show drastic growth in their size but employing those plants for certain conditions also showed better response.

It quote, " The results ..showed favorable response, digestion increased and their mental agitation subsided, the blood pressure lowered and sleep induced."

They have also performed another experiment, the effect of 'Laksmana' plants on the mental state of females. The result were remarkable. Its findings were :

" The menstrual cycle of the female became regular and the presence of estrogens in the urine was found to be increased. The females were found mentally settled...Later it was observed that it helped in conception issues. "

To summarize, chanting can help us augmenting our memory and cognitive function; from alleviating various illnesses like depression, anxiety, day-to-day stress to chronic debilitating conditions like diabetes, hypertension and several heart diseases. As a matter of fact, chanting the mantras by right pronunciations and faith regularly can help us lead a much better life.

Pic source : images

CONCLUSION :

Chanting is prevalent in almost all communities. Indeed when it comes to chanting what one needs to know is that just chanting 'One, One, One..' for some duration can bring clarity in thoughts but the Vedic mantras have a lot more to do.

It is also very clear that chanting is beneficial not just for humans but for all living entities in general. So much so is the impact that sometimes hearing its recitation can also be of certain importance. It therefore becomes very obvious that people now dive deeper into more of it through yoga and meditation rather than confining ourselves to some timid controversies.

Independent India - Brief view on India's basic problems

2020-08-15T19:05:00.111+05:30

Although 2020 has been regarded as one of the worst year owing to so many bad story and sad news people came across, it is for the same reason that India could not enjoy the Chaitra Navratri (called with different names in different parts of the country), Baisakhi, Eid or Easter's day. But, on 15th August, India witnesses a festival that does not ask the name of our religion. It was on this day 73 years ago, India gained it's complete independence from foreign invasions and after long struggle Indians got it's full freedom. It is to commemorate the day, let us all have a delight to our national festival and at the same time celebrate and try for a better progress of the nation.

Address the Current issue in its roots :

There are tremendous issues in India that need to be urgently addressed. But, here are some of them which ask us to change our mentality and revoke to think where we are wrong.

1. Face the issues not the politics.

There are various problems in India, today, be it poverty, population explosion, socio-economic, environmental issues and so on. But, the youths today seem to have more interest in which political party is doing what. A naked truth to accept, but in times of fast growing technology and speedy news reach, the media that is supposed to be the fourth pillar of democracy actually have become a puppet of what can be sold instead of what should be told. Much of the media today speaks in the interests of some target communities, no matter how deviated it remains from the actual story. But, things don't stop, the youth that are full of vigour is also busy in judging rather than doing. Criticism of now develops into hatred later and this makes the youth less energized to work for the nation.

Pic source : elections.in

Solution : The first thing that India needs is the requirement of those vital youth who have strength to work and not mentality to judge others, this also applies to our individual lives while the nation needs more of such. We must start contributing for the betterment of the society and the nation no matter how small the contribution is. Only then we can achieve what we criticize.

2.Lack of support to our country's men.

As already explained in our A Hero in Need is Hero in Indeed article, of who could be our real heroes, we always fail to support the real heroes. Fighting among which so-called star is better than the other is still gossip. While stories of many heroes remain unsung, the contribution of many scientists and scholars remain unknown both at national and international level, Indians don't show the interest to tribute the real heroes. This is the prime reason of the psychology of Indians being unhappy for being born here. Even while we talk about movies, what population of India actually chooses a better movie in Indian cinema(of any language) over ostentatious content ?

Solution : At our level we may or not be able to achieve something but when we find somebody being extremely talented then it becomes our responsibility to help them and stand for the external and mental support that they need, instead of pulling them down because of jealousy. The more we support our own country men the greater the talents that India will blossom.

3. Mediocrity.

In general words, people call it an average mindset but in real sense, mediocrity is about inconsistent. People thinks that it is in the roots of Indian culture but they fail to notice how Bhagwad Geeta preaches us to do our karma faithfully, योग: कर्मसु कौशलम् explains that do your karma efficiently and with great devotion. Guru Basaveshwara taught that work is worship, highlighting how necessary is to do our duty and that is our real dharma. Shri Krishna says to do whatever you are supposed to, is the real yogi and not everyone becoming a Sanayasi. The height of the mediocrity is such that, we also change the context of our scriptures, our scriptures only caution us to not to have materialistic possessions for happiness but it never ask to not to struggle for progress in whatever form.

Therefore, there are two conclusions, one that our culture in many ways preaches us to do our deeds and have a life to explore supreme truth and rise above to find our hidden potential. The second being that mediocrity is something that came from misunderstandings of our own ideologies. Either way mediocrity is not in our culture and it has over time become our culture.

The genuine point is that it is not that we are happy being labelled as mediocre rather we did not see the other versions of ourselves. We hesitate to start a new exploration either being scared of society or lack of confidence.

India is a fertile land for agriculture and majority of population still relies on agriculture but Indians are more behind being engineers. There are 422 agriculture colleges in India as against to 3325 engineering colleges. India is known to have incredible art and crafts as already discussed in the article in Saving the droplets of India economy of how such a indigenous good would benefit India but we are still struggling into multiple attempts of competitive exams. We do need good engineers, C.A.s and all of such but not in the way that envelopes our real talent. When we talk about achieving or exploring something fresh we will be already threatened in our society, as a waste of time & energy. Being behind a particular field and getting into the rat race is a fine example of the average mindset of Indian society.

Solution : The solution for mediocrity therefore starts from our individual level and reaches to society and then is assembled into our nation. The first thing is to start having the Aatma-Vishwas (self confidence). Secondly, we have to move forward to do what we want to do, no matter where the resistance comes from. As Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam rightly remarked,

As a young citizen of India, armed with technology, knowledge and love for my nation, I realize, small aim is a crime.

4. Stop disharmony that hampers public peace.

Nobody can imagine a progressive nation with the everyday riots. India is the only nation where different communities, having internal fights among themselves, literally live together. The unnecessary fights of Hindu-Muslim (the biggest one), has always caused a chaos. It is usually expected for all the communities to have tolerance towards other communities, and is stressed more oftenly. It may sound annoying but how will it sound when you are asked to tolerate your friend or your spouse? Tolerance is, in real sense, actually derogatory and we are expected to do that. By tolerance, it means you do not like them and you will bear the people or their actions. Logically speaking such a thing would actually lead to riots one day.

Pic source : livemint.com

Solution : Be it India or worldwide, the word tolerance for all the communities to co-exist is actually not tolerable. What we need instead is "Mutual Respect" towards the other communities. Mutual respect implies whether you like the belief, practices, ideology of the other communities or not, we shall respect it internally and externally. By respect it means that we should not have a negative feeling of any kind of the personal belief or practices of the other community and should never oppose or attack in physical or mental way. Clearly implying that a Hindu should not interfere with the worship of Jesus and Allah. A Muslim should not interfere with kind and way of practices of other communities and the same rule applies for all the sects and communities. Like if Hindus want to do idol worship or feminine form of worship then with mutual respect, it is the duty of other communities to not to interfere with it in any form. If Christian and Muslim wants to practice their kind of worship and with mutual respect, their way should not be disturbed. Even there is a disputes of issues that can be negotiated to solve the matters rather than triggering a riot that creates disturbances.

5. The undivided India

During the independence, the then India was divided into India and Pakistan. Yet, in today's time there is a feeling of division almost everywhere. Due to striking difference between northern and southern parts of India, the people start calling themselves as North Indian and South Indian respectively. The triggering question is when did the India divide between north and South. ? As the Aryan-Dravidian theory is already disproved enough and seems to be political issue to divide us now can be ignored for we are one.

The divided mindset of India is also witnessing the discrimination of Indians from North-Eastern side with the rest of India. Gopinath Bordoloi challenged Britishers that Assam will be a part of India after Independence and he rose up to the first chief minister of Assam. Could our attitude towards those North Eastern states justify their sincerity towards India ? Our history textbooks also make least mention of North eastern states while they too had made adequate contribution for 'India's freedom struggle'. Hence, we must understand who we are, collectively as a India. When we know who are Indians, only then we can say we are proud of such territory.

Having an have overview to some of the major issues in a subtle way let us understand more of one of the biggest problems we have in our minds that is hindering our growth.

The inferiority Complex

“Intelligence arouses fear and respect, the lack of it keeps one on the narrow minded road of disrespect, stupidity and inferiority complex.” said Michael Bassey Johnson.

But, in case of India, we do not have lack of intelligence nor lack of willpower. In fact, India is the only nation that survives the greatest level of invasion all because of our leader's strength, wisdom, will-power and patriotism for being ready to sacrifice themselves and not let anyone harm the motherland.

It is that, these invasions in the history that Indians have faced, we are more habituated to bow to the Westerners.

Now, let us try to join the dots as to where this inferiority complex is coming from:

1. Our Education :

Our education system is on the same patterns as of before independence. The colonial rulers designed to degrade us through their created loopholes about us. The school books embedded the highness of the British Raj, as India do not have any science and therefore, Indians need to be directed by the west. Students embodied that the maximum we had was primitive farming and textiles. While they deliberately make no mention of metallurgy, chemicals, mechanics, Ayurveda and much more. The history that we read consciously do not emphasize the great architecture, glory, peacefulness of Indian kingdoms. Nor does it stress much about real freedom struggle of many great warriors and hardly a mention of our Gurus. For example, we say that we are proud that India has given yoga to the world. Now, forget about teaching yoga in schools, the schools barely makes a mention of rishis who contribute and their Samhitas, the knowledge as basic as these is known to only who give special interest to history and heritage, so what kind of pride we have about our culture when we do not know it. To compound this, the practices of Indian culture which were supposed to be something else is intentionally shown in negative way. The bigger question is therefore, why are we still reading what our colonial rulers wanted us to read, does all of us want to spew on our culture and have mental slavery towards them ? Are we not vulnerable to learn about our own culture from foreigner's or some random distorted writings even after these many years of independence.?

Secondly, there is a difference between being illiterate & uneducated. The people without having gone to educational institute have shown to have done wonders, while in present day India, many of educated pass-outs still lacks the basic ethics. So how much has degree to do with wisdom, especially with current MacCulay's education that was meant to make us slaves? Also, our education system fills in our mind that Indians who do not study are illiterate, clearly the vast majority being in villagers indirectly making us feel low towards villagers and we don't visualize them in terms of hard work or other skills. In line with this, we shamefully, label them as illiterate while, they might be wiser than us. They perhaps might not be acquainted with present day progress, but whether or not having a degree should never be the criteria for someone's wisdom while many a times the case is otherwise. Moreover, we utter that our culture is great but how much have we overcome the 'uncivilized' label about us that British gave to suppress us. Are/were we really uncivilized or we fairly had better way of doing things ?

2. The battle of languages and inferiority

History was that when Britishers came here they started giving jobs to only those who learned English, adopted English culture and therefore, they became rich while the high class indigenous good was intentionally replaced with fast producing industrial end. End result was the people with English adoption became richer while the poor became poorer. Surprisingly the same trend is seen today. Most of the high paid private jobs in India selects English speaking people. That makes English speaking people rich and non-english speaking poor. The inferiority complex is a double edge sword, on one hand it leads to discrimination between English and non-English and on other hand it degrades the native languages. It is worth noting that countries like china, Germany do not mandates English to teach coding or so, while we have to struggle to first prove our foreign language skills and only then learn subjects like geometry, calculus or thermodynamics.

The battle of languages has also become the battle of culture, people holds that English language is better than Indian languages and accordingly, they believe that English and other westerners are superior to Indians furthermore, they suppose that western culture is stronger than Indian culture.

The point is very clear that the English is exaggerated for it's importance and it's has gained tendency to dominate. Therefore, it is urgent need to re-evaluate our priorities. If the debate is the requirement of English for better communication in professional world, then seemingly though, it should never overtake it's position more than communication. In other words, it should never overtake it's position to destroy the integrity of any Indian languages, per se, as we know with the destruction of languages, we will not only destroy the culture and our glory but also our basic identity.

3. Skin Complexion and substandard.

“The true color of one person is not determined by skin, but by the behavior in it.” remarked, Giovannie de Sadeleer.

Indians have wheatish complexion which is bit yellowish and light brown having the adequate amount of melanin to protect us from various kinds of skin cancers and thus, Indian skin color is on an average the better skin color. Owing to various geographical locations and the genes we would be more whiter or darker. It was again during the Britishers that skin tone became a parameter for one's personality. We say that we got independence back in 15th August, then why is such a thing persisting in our society even today? Can skin color have any connection with knowledge, money or even more the beauty. Everything is already proved but the mentality has not changed yet. Thanks to those skin glowing commercials who still brainwash our minds with the unethical standards, while their products don't even change the skin color. So, why is there a road for racism in 21st century and on top of that the inferiority complex based on the skin color.

4. Validation from our ex-masters..

It's a proud moment if a foreigner praises us, but not when an Indian praises, do they really have more intellect than us? Even the world’s best movies need our Indian technicians, lot of scientists have done tremendous contribution to the science research, so much enough that without our contribution the Science would not have been where it is today. Our ISRO sends spectacular space missions at a fraction of the expense of their foreign equivalents. Some of our sports representatives have give even the best in the world. Forget about history (our ancient Gurus), even today we proved that we do not lack anything yet we want all sorts of validity from them, be it in medicine, technology or anything else. They might be ahead from us and they would have the parameters to guage progress. Despite this, we cannot accept something only if westerners tell us and not Indians, which becomes the root of our mental slavery otherwise.

It is now necessary to consider that inferiority complex leads to low confidence and this accompanies to the lack of achievements and by having meagre accomplishments, we may fall short of enthusiasm to pursue our dreams further. This again make us subjected to mediocrity. Therefore, mediocrity and inferiority complex are inter related and either of it leads to vicious cycle of the other.

Before we conclude, let us refresh some knowledge of India :

1. India's culture is thousands of years old and nonetheless pliable enough to adopt the new ways of life

2. India's constitution promotes every religion and acknowledge even those people who do not follow any religion. India is the only place where you can spot large number of temples, churches and mosques. Such a scene is hardly seen elsewhere and this is real secularism.

3. Indian family values are solid even in the modern times. We still have esteem to our elders and concern to our children.

4. India welcomes guest very wholeheartedly, and treat them next to god. Being kind to Jews in the ancient times while rest of the world showed anti-semitism and kindness and prosperity towards to Zoroastrian (Parsis) when they were threatened by Islamic conquest in the 7th century and they did not allow anyone harm them are probably the best examples of our graciousness.

5. Ever since there is a record of India, it is known to be a peaceful country and it becomes a responsibility to hold the same culture to the future generations.

6. The forest and biodiversity, although declining owing to negligence, is incredible and exceptional.

It is also noteworthy that today, we cannot blame Britishers or anybody else for it has been 73 years of freedom and thus, we had ample time to improve ourselves. Also, it is not that we have to blame west because they too have goodness in their culture nor did the westerners ask us to follow their culture, as we were independent. It is that our culture has been shaped according to our geography, and it validates to our identity Therefore, we have to ensure to shape our future with a balance of the western ideas, technology, etc without hampering our real identity and taking the essence of the real India.

Conclusion :

When we don’t know much about our culture, traditions and our history, when we fail to appreciate it and compare ourselves with other countries that possess wealth and power alone, we are likely to have inferiority complex. Rather than striving for progress, merely criticising our own people and our values, merely playing the blame game and allowing westerners to degrade us would not make the dreams of our great freedom strugglers to come true. We might not achieve in one day, but without effort we will never be able to achieve it.

How long we shall be talking about our past rich culture and wealth and when are we gonna achieve the same today in current atmosphere ? Indians have individually made great contributions but the collective work is insignificant. The greatness of that India, which was before invasions and relevant to today's changes is just a dream. The pollution free environment, technological advancements, R & D, good economy, cannot come with lack of ethics and lack of struggle.

image source : facebook.com/Progressive India

Last but not the least, why cannot we be what we are? When we know well of our condition, our real India, only then we will be ready to compete with the best. Let us not be a mere attention seeker in the land that was known for knowledge and spiritual seekers. Our ancestors gave us a free-India. It is our time to give our upcoming generations a progressive and a better India.

References and worth reading : 1. 10 unsung heroes of North-Eastern states of India

2. Why do Indians have a inferiority complex ?

3. Tolerance isn't good enough : The need for mutual respect in interfaith relations.

My view of Independence day

2020-08-14T12:41:00.009+05:30

Within some hours, India will step into it's 74 years of independence that we had on August 15.

It's been a long time we are free from tyrannical rule of Britishers.

The day always brings a light of merry making in our mindset, whenever we think about it.

Our national flag, Tiranga, waving everywhere, on every nook and corners, shops and vehicles🚙.

School going children are a special treat to eyes.

National flag in hands, tricolor ribbons in wrist, tricolor badges on pockets. Isn't that beautiful?

Anybody who is equipped with a smartphone will change his or her display picture.

Send tricolor images to everyone in their contacts.

We all feel a sense of pride and happiness on that day. We really do. Isn't it?

The sight of tricolor everywhere is beautiful.

That environment filled with songs and vibrations of patriotism all around is energetic.

We surely do cherish our freedom and our democracy.

But the bigger question arises. Are we a proud Indian?

Nobody will deny it, when you ask the question on days like these.

On 26th January, celebrated as republic day, the same sight will be seen.

We all are proud Indians. We love our country just as we love our mother.

But the question arises in mind that does that sense of patriotism is limited only on such days?

Do we really value the freedom we are enjoying ?

Do we know what it cost?

Does patriotism remain the same throughout the year or just on these days.

If yes, then what goes wrong that people start to burn public properties?

If yes, then don't we prefer more of foreign goods and lifestyle, don't we really love India and its culture ?

If yes, then why do we mourn freedom fighter's struggle only on independence day and don't even care when their images are used as a symbol for some message ..

If yes, then why do we literally do not try to emulate the footsteps of our ancestors that guided us for our freedom. Why are they confined just for speeches ?

Does it not imply that celebrations are nothing more than a formal function.

And if really yes then,

What goes wrong that people start to burn national flags, start observing these days as black days.

What happens that people take out rallies in huge members and give out slogans like..

Pakistan Zindabad,

Hindustan Murdabad..

It seems that it may be a act of some outsiders who want to spread anarchy, maybe.

But a sense of shock, chilling feels run down the spine, when you sight familiar faces in those crowds, same faces who held national flags were once mercy making.

What goes wrong such that people shift themselves to a totally different person.

Lots of questions arise in my mind.

What made us to do these acts? do we really loved the country?

or was it a show off ?

Are we really free or just living in some kind of hoax?

Minimalism - a better way of living

2020-07-31T12:29:00.096+05:30

INTRODUCTION

"There are many resources for people's needs. But not for people's greed", said M.K. Gandhi.

Let's spare a few minutes to look around us. What do we see? Latest gadgets, costly goods, expensive products, high end lifestyle and lot more. Have we ever thought about their value or their importance. We have drowned ourselves so badly in accumulating things that we forgot to cherish them. It's so sad to see that we categorize ourselves based on our possessions.

It is to curb this issue that people gave birth to a lifestyle called minimalism.

How it started ?

What is minimalism or minimalist lifestyle? It refers to living a life without having the desire of accumulating more instead of realizing the value of emotions and relationships.

In the Western world minimalist lifestyle started in the 1950s when people realized that material possessions didn't pave a way to a happier life. Whereas our ancestors on the other hand realized that happiness cannot be attained with any possessions but simply by satisfaction and peace. That is where the concept of minimalism aroused.

Our ancestors focused on mental and spiritual aspects greater than hoarding wealth.

Why did our forefathers choose this lifestyle?

When we speak of minimalism, it refers to living with the simplest of possessions. Our forefathers had their meals sitting on the floor rather than huge dining tables and chairs, which not only had scientific implications but also had huge gratification within themselves. They understood that priceless possessions are those which lasts long and provide us with a happiness that doesn't extinguish. Indeed, The vedic scriptures focused on "simple living and high thinking". Moreover, the Vedas simply defined man as, "spiritual souls embodied in materialism".

How disastrous is today's complex lifestyle ?

Today we are so much occupied with the idea of shopping that e-commerce websites alone have earned about 14 billion US dollar to 64 billion US dollar from 2014 to 2020 and are further estimated to rise up to 200 US billion dollar by 2024 just in India, as reported according to stastica.com. But what about us? Every time we see something new in the market we simply buy them just to look cool in front of others or under social pressure. At the end of the day it has abruptly disrupted the lives of many teens and adults today. Therefore minimalism becomes among the latest demands.

Benefits of minimalist lifestyle

1. Happiness: We say having a lot of stuff yields us cheerfulness while psychologists often stress the line "less is more". So the less you pile the more happy you will be. It is scientific that when your brain focuses on plenty of things at once it's efficiency reduces leading to anxiety and panic. This could be the reason as to why cases of mental issues are climbing the graph.

2. Focus: Who doesn't want to have maximum focus ? The lesser you have to work on the more concentrated you become. This of course, holds true with minimalism. We become less distracted and we can not only focus on whatever we are doing and whatever we have but the clarity of thoughts that gets blessed upon us indeed improve all the aspects of our life. We feel more energized, more positive which is a beautiful feeling in itself.

3. Self awareness/ self consciousness: We hoard things subjected to social expectations like if one possesses something we too have the same crave and we go for it irrespective of our needs. But when we start to unclutter to our real needs, we tend to move closer to our authentic self help, thus becoming self aware of what we are in true sense.

4. Opportunity : As opposed to the false belief, minimalism is not staying away from reality. When we become self-aware then we not only become more radical that takes us to the higher level but also paves the way to newer opportunities to explore hidden worlds which otherwise seemed 'out of reach'.

5. Humble : Being humble is the hallmark of real success and real heroes and minimalism teaches us to do that quite easily.

Monetary impacts:

1. It is not difficult to realize that minimalism helps you from overspending. One of the wise planning of money can be done by using the "50-40-10" rule. 50% of the income for daily needs, 40% for additional needs and 10% for saving. Minimalism is the best way to apply this rule.

2.One of the remarkable features of minimalist style of living is it differentiates between "wants" and "needs". Spending on 'needs' is the best way of saving money. As the money spent on needs can be saved later.

Is minimalism even practical ?

Can we buy happiness ? if the answer is yes then probably our whole life was a lie. Happiness is not a consequence after gaining something, it is feeling in the journey in realizing who we are, this could happen maybe through the challenges we take each day to unravel our hidden potential or maybe through something like meditation. Minimalism is all that it leads. Ratan Tata, Abdul Kalam, Warren Buffet, Manik Sarkar (chief minister of Tripura) were the best examples that possesive lifestyle is neither related to pursue success nor is it indicator of succesful people.

How can it be brought in picture?

Thanks to the adoption of western world in our lives, complete minimalism might be next to impossible. Nevertheless, we can execute it to an extent that little glimpse of it would be like a feeling of heaven. If we gotta start it from scratch then we should detach ourselves from something that is taking our real happiness and making us dependent and incapable. Like starting to switch to walking instead of mounting on a bike every time or simply making use of whatever we have instead of always buying a new one. Economists would indicate that this could harm our business and growth. Think of long term! It will actually make us more strong, capable and broad minded thus making us have more potential to the bigger economy as even resource scarcity is the plight of the hour.

Basic approach :

1. Think before you buy, why do you feel that you need, what you don't need ?

2. If you are feeling bored then give a try to unload the belongings that are not required and just keep it aside for some days and after over a period of time, when you will have seen that you don't need them, it's time to donate it , so that it might be of help for others.

This is as equivalent as cleaning your phone storage and our device becomes very efficient afterwards, the same will be the case with our lives (the only difference is that you cannot donate from your phone data).

Note, such a thing doesn't just give freedom from physical possessions but also provides mental detachments.

3. It might be quite difficult but driving ourselves makes better health than driving machines. This is the point when minimalism will start giving its fruits.

4. Minimalism doesn't ask you to stop cravings, it instead takes you to the position where your possessions are simply priceless, so try to target them.

Minimalism and Religion

In sooth, the religious practices are what lead to spirituality and that in turn make us life real worth. Although the concept of minimalism emerged from the Sanatana Dharma and the Indian culture very long back, but now, this phenomenon is nowhere confined to any community. Today, minimalism prevails for whoever cherishes it, introspects it and adapts it.

CONCLUSION

Our essential stuff is our subjective issue, what might be essential to us might not be to others and vice versa. Minimalism chiefly asks you to make space for your essentials and make life simpler and better, if not best.

What in the end can we do by consuming more and enjoying least? Let us consume less and enjoy the peak. Let us not get controlled by any of our possessions, instead control our possessions. Our goal in life is to rediscover our true self. This can be done only when we focus on ourselves and our betterment. Happiness is a state which needs to be attained by the mind. No materialistic possessions, luxuries or high end lifestyle can fill the void that is caused by the lack of self awareness.

A hero in need is one indeed

2020-07-09T15:49:00.020+05:30

INTRODUCTION :

Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan... these names require no introduction. They are hailed by masses as their heroes. But let me ask you a quick question, Vikram Batra, Manoj Pandey, Keishing Clifford Nongrum, do these names ring any bell?

Jog your brain hard, yet very few of us are familiar to these names. These two among many are the brave souls who fought and sacrificed their lives for this country ensuring people like us lead a calm life.

The oxford dictionary defines a hero as a person who is admired by many people for doing something brave or good. But kindly ask anyone around who is their favorite hero, seldom a name rather than some actors come up. When did the lines between being a hero and being an actor blur so much that there lies no difference now ?

Let us mean no disrespect to the actor's profession, but we forget that what they do is just for our entertainment and not something that makes us call them heroes. Indeed, when it come to profession every profession has heroes but we need to know who our real heroes are!

WHAT WENT WRONG ?

We gotta ask this question ourselves that what that did entertainment industry show such that it became the major headlines. Who devoured what? Why is it relevant for whose kid wore what ? We have exceptional philanthropists, oustanding teachers, splendid artists, applauadable oylmpians, noble doctors and who not..should they not mean us anything ?

THE REAL CULPRIT..

A meagre part ours seems strange yet is the sordid truth, we see what we wish to. And if that wasn't enough, the better part of the 2010s came up with something new. THE SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER.

With a steep rise in social media from 2005 this decade had been a revolutionary one with a rise in cell phone as well as internet users. This came with its own perils, cyber bullying and the instagram worthy life that isn't the same in reality.

"How did a famous actress loose her post pregnancy weight gain ?". Why do we fail to realize that, this is she paid for and that's the source of her livelihood. We lead different lives, our priorities differ.

IMPACT

Majority of us can tell the story of our favorite film with exquisite detail but we hardly know much about the pages of the history where there are tremendous story unheard giving a hint about the future of this country. Can you really expect that the film industry will be able to depict the past with accurate facts and concepts?

So much is the impact of our bad taste that we fall behind our illusionary hero meanwhile genius like Vashishta Narayan Singh of Bihar left this world without putting forward his knowledge. This would not have happened if we had supported him. It would not be startling to understand most of suicides happen because of lack of real support rather than any other cause.

VASHISHTHA NARAYAN SINGH

HOW REAL HEROES EXIST ?

When sheer dedication to work for humanity put their heart and soul for society then is when the heroism develops. We are annoying when powerful celebrity is influencing their relative for their jobs, but how does it sound when a social activist sacrifice their respective battlefield meanwhile his or her child rise up and say "I TOO WILL WORK FOR SOCIETY AND READY TO DO ANYTHING FOR IT".

OUR REAL HEROES

Let us have a look at whom, we failed to give their much needed esteem.

1. In the hands of good teachers lies the progress of the nation. Barun Biswas, a school teacher in SUITA, WEST BENGAL, co-founded an organisation that protested against a local criminal gang who use to gang-rape and create a terror. He was murdered eventually by one of those Suita gang.

2. IAS officers have the power to change the administration. It is through this DK Ravi, from Kolar district of Karnataka had launched an official crackdown against illegal sand mining and illegal land enroachment. He set a target of procuring 1000 crores from them. Sources say that he has hanged himself in his residence because of threats he got.

3. Jadav Molai Payeng, rightly known as forest man of India, from nomadic tribe of Assam; has been working in forest since 18-20 years. He alone transformed a barren land into forest. A hero like him conveyed that even a single person is enough to bring about the change. He grow a 1360 acre forest land which is now known as Molai forest. This forest now witnesses the Bengal tigers, Indian Rhinoceros and huge variety of plants and trees.

4. Born in USA but worked for India. Chaursita Chakravarty researched on DNA proteins even with scanty funds initially. She studied the basis of molecule and effects of change in molecular basis of DNA. She is recognized to have published single-author papers in the fields of theoretical chemistry and chemical physics, the structural and dynamics of liquids, water and hydration and nucleation and self-assembly. She also fought against gender discrimination in STEM of which she was a part of. Her bravery is explicit when she was authoring the articles for three long years in the face of being diagnosed of cancer

5. Arunimha Sinha have proved that disability is matter of perception. The girl from Ahmednagar, Uttar Pradesh have persuaded in climbing many peak mountains (including Mt. Everest) with a prostethic leg. A national level volleyball player lost her leg because of gang who drove her out of moving train and she was unstoppable and thus became the first differently abled women to climb highest peak.

6. Real enterpreneurs are those who convert small amount into larger ones. Jaswantiben Popat, Pravitaben Thodani and 5 others can be best example of that. They borrowed 80₹ from a social worker to establish a business of 800crore rupees today. The special feature is indeed that it surged women empowerment such that 43000 women are working in this Lijjat papad enterprise spread to 81 branches.

7. When there is determination to work, social activist like Saraswati Gora emerges. Hailing from Vijayawada, she served as leader for Atheist center campaigning against untouchability and the discrimination of caste system. It has also established family courts, help to provide training of women in Panchayati Raj and lot more.

8. If we are capable we must do it, proved Shaheen Mistri from Mumbai. She had concerned for the children and underprivileged and slums area, so she founded the Aakansha foundation to enable them to maximize their potential, it was established in 1991 and currently it reached to 6500 children. The foundation has a school project which ventures to provide high quality serving low income communities.

9. A hero can be from common people like us. Rajesh Kataria from New Delhi who attended a wedding and thus got the inspiration to lay the foundation of "Daana Paani-Sabke Liye foundation". He and his team distribute food, clothes and such essential needs including education to poor. It also opened school for Pakistani Refugees, named Unnati ki ore and an old age home, ARSA Vrid Ashram. They also teach karate to girls, aware poor people about sources of income and lately they have provided ration to needy during the hard times of coronavirus.

The list cannot end here, but we might fall short of words to express our gratitude to all the real heroes of our nation. It is therefore high time that we recognize real heroes rather than only cherishing the film industry who cannot even be called heroes unless otherwise.

CONCLUSION :

Getting dressed like film industry may or may not impact to people, but really following the foot steps of who has done so much good may make your life better. Admit that even if you don't appreciate the farmers, they will still work for you. Even if you still don't talk about soldiers they will perform their duty. Therefore if you talk about the great personalities your prestige will literally increase and not theirs.

References : https://freshinspirations.wordpress.com/

https://iftheycanyoucan.in/

https://www.scoopwhoop.com/

https://www.wikipedia.org/

image source : https://images.google.com/

Saving the droplets of Indian economy

2020-07-02T16:38:00.011+05:30

"Little drops of water, little grains of sand. Makes the mighty ocean and the pleasant land".

Just like the quote says our country's economy is also made up of tiny droplets - cottage industries and traditional products.

INTRODUCTION :

India is known for its abundance in culture, traditions and morality. These cultures and traditions is not just seen in our teachings but also our products. From the holy Ayurvedic drugs to luxurious silk clothing we have proved to the world that we have it all.

THE DOWNFALL

With the rise of industrial revolution in 18th century, began the downfall of India's traditional goods. The British imposed huge taxes on indigenous goods and the imported British goods paid very less or no tax. Cottage industries were shut down, our wealth was looted leaving Indians with pain and poverty.

REAL UPSURGE ?

Even now after 73 years of independence we still find ourselves running towards MNCs, imported goods and foreign brands for daily needs. This shows that we are still colonized when it comes to economy.

Majority of the working Indian population was and is still engaged in the agriculture sector. Growing crops, fishing, poultry and animal husbandry were among the tasks undertaken by them. They manufactured handicraft items that were losing their charm with the introduction of the industrial goods. The demand for these goods began to decline.

Today, the standards have been raised so high that luxurious goods are not just goods but a way of life. Choosing cool drinks over tender coconut water shows the high standards we have.

TRADITIONAL PRODUCTS HAVE LOST THEIR WAY..

We are so occupied with the idea of western goods that we forgot to have a look at the journey our ancestors have been through. Today we hardly have any little idea about ayurveda, handicrafts or any other traditional practices. Our busy lives have no time left to know the uses of herbs present in our lawn.

The drastic change in lifestyle and economy in the past two decades have manipulated our thought process. We have failed to understand that 'Bhandini' and 'Chikkan' work is as beautiful as denim jeans. So the next time you have to wear a 9 yards saree or dothi do it with a pretty smile on your face. Also in the next festival of our culture like Ganesh Chaturti, use clay murti over the synthetic colors it will not just melt in the water easily but does not cause harm to the environment. This is how sustainable celebration would promote their business and your festival with happiness. Cause this festival itself that reminds that the "human who is made of clay goes back to its descent"

SOME OF THE MOST INDIGENOUS PRODUCTS..

The first idea that comes to our mind about indigenous products of India, is none other than clay pottery, clay pottery of Thiruchigadi of Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu is famous for it. The speciality of it is that only women does this craft with spiritual and ritaulistic subtleness.

There are also Blackstone pottery at Longpi, known as "Royal Pottery" in Manipur. Here, they don't need the wheel to get crafted, it is rather done with the hands and with the help of moulds. They are indeed functional and are polished with local leaves which have some medicinal properties. Do you expect this kind of dedication in those bulky industrialized products ?

If you thought that metal related profession was inclined only to industries then you need to have look at the lost wax metal casters of Ektal, Chattisargh and bell metal artisans of Sarthebari, Assam. You should also not miss the mesmerizing metal mirrors of the Aranumala, Kerala, which have existed from the Vedic period of history.

The greatness of the indigenous products is that they make from pure, organic products. In view of this, let us also admire that Ajrack block printing of Kutch, Gujarat where each piece of fabric is washed 20 times only to put patterns and motifs printed using hand craved wooden blocks. This art was passed down since 3000 year old legacy while most of them have been lost during 2001 earthquake. Yet, that was a natural calamity but what we are doing to our culture is extremely sad.

(You can read more about such indigenous products on painting, grass mats, etc in additional references put below).

THE LITTLE RESPONSE THAT WE GOT

Luckily, government has provided cottage industries, SMEs to promote handicrafts, textile and handlooms with opportunities like Make in India, skill India, Aatmanirbhar Bharat etc. SMEs could also have the good time with Industrial policy revolution (IPR) 1970, 1980 and 1990 which exclusively reserves their products and help promote them in terms of capital and production. All such is a silver lining for our country to progress and gain what it has lost. But that is nothing when we don't come forward ourselves.

WHAT NEXT ?

We must admit that the step to back to indigenous (both the SMEs and the traditional) goods can also cater to the awful situation of unemployment and its vicious cycle.

Now as citizens the responsibility is in our shoulders to shed the age old concept of Indian and International goods and encourage the production of traditional goods. You may or may not be able to manufacture traditional goods but you can buy them. Like the saying goes, "if you can't climb the mountain, cheer for the mountaineers. They may forget the singer but they will not forget the song."

References : https://www.thebetterindia.com/143044/lesser-known-unique-handicrafts-handlooms-india-villages/

https://www.worldofchemicals.com/534/chemistry-articles/the-insiders-chemistry-guide-to-ganesha-festival.html

Pic Credits : https://www.thebetterindia.com/

For additional information:

1. https://yourstory.com/smbstory/india-brands-reviving-handicrafts-artisans-smbs

2. https://www.treeganesha.com/blog/

The first step

2020-06-22T15:11:00.003+05:30

CHANGING IDEOLOGIES : THE CURRENT SCENARIO

There are two ways to deal with the things that are out of order : either endure it or resolve it.

We talk about Unity in diversity but we are divided within ourselves as high and low based on so-called caste system and economic backgrounds. We discuss about hygiene in other countries but litter around as and how we wish. We confabulate about technical advancements of other nations underestimating how much knowledge and intellectual brains has gone out of this nation and the list can go on.

Irony is, we on one hand buy fairness creams and on other hand make discourse on racism. It is also amusing that how we have developed various methods on sustainable development but have also lost our enormous forest cover (now 21.67% as of 2019) in the name of urbanization.

But what's worst of all is, as noted by many indologist, we don't even know who we are and we tend to fail to describe ourselves usually. On the other hand China, France, United states, Thailand and other nations are aware of themselves, their ethinicty and culture and are proud of that.

https://fairgaze.com/interested-article/unity-in-diversity-in-india.htm
MULTIETHNICAL INIDA

What about us ?.Yes we do belong to the nation which is a multilingual, multi-ethnical, with a vast history of culture and is secular at the same time. But, as an individual we unfortunately have no idea of who we are and to what exactly our ethics, our language and our culture in reality even is. All we have is hearsay and a bunch of manipulated books with extremely distorted versions of our past only to defame and make us feel low and uncivilized.

The truth is India had undergone many forceful invasions and the last invasion, in particular, have left some good things which they had done intentionally to meet their own needs, but they on the other hand have not just extorted our tremendous wealth but even stole the rich culture, science, arts and spiritualism and regarded it as nonsensical and irrational but indeed they exploited it and labelled it as 'superior' and 'high minded'. Thus is the outcome that at this day, the west is attempting to get more insight about east while the east is bowing down to western culture.

Though it may seem unnecessary to open history books but it is not about what we lost it is about what we are even gaining ? If this doomed land is what we want to give to our next generation then let it go in the way it is going or otherwise we gotta wake up for ourselves, our mother nature, regain our self-worth.

Therefore this blog is to unravel the truths of lost culture, taking lessons from history, to highlight on how to restore mother nature and get back the lost glory, emphasizing why we should strive for it.

image source credits : https://fairgaze.com/interested-article/unity-in-diversity-in-india.htm