Mohrahit Writings

Meaning of Varchasv

Mohit Garg — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:57:00 +0000

Varchasv is a very positive Sanskrit word derived from Varchas which means 'radiance'. Some meanings of Varchasv include:

Circle of influence
Overwhelming radiance/aura
Superiority, Supremacy
Greatness, Expertise

Varchasv has a deep meaning. To comprehend it better, spend some time understanding the meaning of the following:

आपका varchasv सदा बना रहे

वर्चस्वी भवः

उसको सलाम करो जिसका वर्चस्व हो

Everyone desires varchasv in whatever they do

सूर्य का वर्चस्व सारे solar system में है

सबने उस राजा का वर्चस्व स्वीकार किया

The word exudes a strong "Satvaguna" and "Rajoguna" character which makes it stand for peace, inner strength, action, focus and positive energy. It has similar aura around it as words like greatness, experts, kings, हुकूमत, etc.

Shubh Deepawali :: Nurturing Leaders

Mohit Garg — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:17:00 +0000

Deepawali Diya (Via)

The amount of light an earthen lamp can spread around itself depends a lot on how it has been built. The kind of material used,... whether it has been dried properly,... the kind of edges it has,... the structure, shape and stability of its base etc.

Similarly, the impact a leader can have around him/her depends a lot on the kind of grooming they have received,... the kind of mentoring they have received,... the kind of tapasya they have undertaken,... their ability to stay stable and calm even while traversing rough territories etc.

Grooming Lamps (Via)

As we grow older, we realise that we not only influence our own lives but also of our next generation. The environment we create around ourselves, is the environment our children will be groomed in. Our ability to leave a mark on this world depends a lot on our ability to mentor the young generation around us...

We are the kumhars who can shape and define their characters...

Shubh Deepawali :: Utilizing Ourselves

Mohit Garg — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:30:00 +0000

(Image Source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0CwNhelDqBo/SKXKf41Q4rI/AAAAAAAABRA/di6BCUnMJWw/s400/diya_small.jpg)

An earthen lamp can be used in many different ways. However, its life becomes meaningful only when it lights-up the area around itself.... when it burns itself.... when its desire to enlighten consumes it...

Working towards a goal which consumes us is the only way to live a meaningful life. How are we utilizing our life? Do we have an aim to consume us? How are we spending our time?

Let us pray that this Deepawali...

... everyone who needs a meaningful vision in life gets it....
... those who have the vision, get the courage to start walking on its path....
... few who are walking on the path, have enough faith and courage to continue on it...
.... those handful who have achieved it, have the humility to help others around them...

Bhopal Gas Leak: Twenty Five Years

Mohit Garg — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:45:00 +0000

December 02, 2009 was observed as the twenty fifth anniversary of the Bhopal gas leak disaster – the worst industrial disaster in world history (1). Several media articles were published and protests carried out. Experts warned of the dangers still lurking in the factory premises and the government officials made some statements and carried out solidarity visits to the affected region.

The question that crops up is that why should the situation be still so tense twenty five years after the unfortunate incident? What has made it so difficult for everyone to forget this incident? There have been other horrible disasters in India claiming several more lives; however, those are rarely talked about in the same breath as Bhopal.

What is so different about Bhopal?

The Jantar Mantar in New Delhi is the showpiece of civil society campaigns, protests and dharnas. Almost every time one passes by the monument, one is able to see some or the other protest march, some groups staging a dharna etc. However, there is one group which seems to have a perpetual protest stall at the place. Nine times out of ten, one can observe Bhopal gas leak affected fellow citizens fasting and/or staging protest dharnas. So common is their presence that one may not be surprised if the unassuming layman considers their stall a permanent part of the place instead of a temporary protest base.

One is compelled to wonder as to why are these people still protesting after so many years of the unfortunate event. In fact, it would not seem naïve to believe that those genuinely affected may have long left for the heavenly abode while their survivors would have grown up and should now be moving forward in life instead of spending time in a never ending perpetual protest. Perhaps, this is exactly the opinion the Union environment Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh espoused when he recently made his infamous statement (2).

However, consider the fact that the health implications of the disaster led to severe crippling diseases including genetic defects (3) maiming generations permanently. Add to this the fact Union Carbide, the company which operated the unfortunate plant was let off with a monetary fine and the court cases have been dragging along thereby delaying, nay, denying justice. A recent report from CSE shows that the factory has still not been cleaned up and that is still polluting the region. In fact, twenty five years later, thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste is lying around and over time has seeped into the groundwater leading to another round of slow poisoning (4). Perhaps, these are some of the issues that the affected citizens are fighting for – their basic fundamental rights; rights which the constitution of the country guarantees to each citizen.

Given both the extent and length of this struggle, it would not be too farfetched to claim that the combination of the disaster and the handling of its aftermath have created a new social stratum – that of “Bhopal Gas Tragedy Victims”. The affected citizens would empathise with each other and their social bonds would have been strengthened through the years of tears and sorrow. The very fact that the struggle has spanned generations brings in an element of permanence in this stratification. This is a baffling realisation. While every civilised society would like to immediately correct the wrongdoings of such magnitude, the state in this case has completely failed to provide real substantive democracy to the affected citizens. In fact, the lack of legal justice even after so many years makes one wonder whether the procedural aspects of legal equality and legal rights of this group have been upheld at all.

Instead of actively addressing the issues at hand, one sees attempts to sweep them under the carpet – be it the statement by the minister (2) or the plan to construct a memorial in remembrance of the victims (5). Those in positions of responsibility intend to forget the issue while those who have been marginalised continue to struggle for their rights.

If one compares this struggle to other calamities of this magnitude, it is only natural disasters which come to light – Gujarat earthquake 2001, Orissa cyclone 1999. However, these were handled with utmost care and led to no social stratification. In fact, it would be hard to imagine the civil society even remembering these incidents a few years hence. The affected citizens in these cases were swiftly supported and helped to recover and get back to normal lives.
There is no question of justice in most natural calamities. There is a sole focus on relief and rehabilitation. On the other hand, the case of Bhopal had two dimensions – justice, and relief & corrective action. The state seems to have made some progress in providing relief and rehabilitation. However, the legal justice aspect is completely missing. In fact, it is a shame to the state that Union Carbide could not even be made to reveal the composition of the poisonous gas and it got away citing “trade secrets” (1).

The failure of the Indian democracy is unambiguously clear. The dream of substantive democracy and fraternity seems a mere pipedream when the state itself is unable to uphold the principles of legal equality and justice. The bigger fear is that the social fabric of the nation would continue to be torn by the creation newer social strata through such failures.
The solution is extremely easy to put in words – “the government should handle this better”. However, its implication and implementation is out of the scope of this write-up. That said, however, any feasible solution needs to essentially include speedy justice to all affected stakeholders. Unless that happens, this new social stratum would only get stronger with time.

Works Cited

Sinha, Indra. Bhopal: 25 years of poison. Guardian UK. [Online] December 03, 2009. [Cited: December 20, 2009.] http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/04/bhopal-25-years-indra-sinha.
Times of India. The toxic truth about a terrible tragedy. Times of India. [Online] December 04, 2009. [Cited: December 20, 2009.] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/The-toxic-truth-about-a-terrible-tragedy/articleshow/5298036.cms.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy. http://www.copperwiki.org/. [Online] http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php/Bhopal_Gas_Tragedy.
CSE India. Subterranean Leak. Down to Earth. [Online] December 01, 2009. [Cited: December 20, 2009.] http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover.asp?foldername=20091215&filename=news&sid=22&sec_id=9.
Government to build memorial for Bhopal gas tragedy victims. Andhra News. [Online] September 13, 2009. [Cited: December 20, 2009.] http://www.andhranews.net/India/2009/September/13-Government-build-memorial-28195.asp.

Shubh Deepawali :: Enlightening Each Other

Mohit Garg — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:49:00 +0000

[Image edited from: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/83/277115835_005ee4a967.jpg]

Shubh Deepawali :: Enlightening Each Other

Leaders are lamps... they not only enlighten the world around but also light other lamps...

However, leaders themselves need to keep their flame alive...
They need another leader as a constant companion...
Someone who can not only give a stable light source in the storms of life...
But a person who can re-ignite the flame inside them if it gets lost...
A fellow traveller who can continue to stably enlighten the world even if their own flame wavers...

Two leaders together can do a lot more than each individually...
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts...

This Deepawali, let us find the leaders around us and work together to enlighten the world...

IF.....

Mohit Garg — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:34:00 +0000

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

- Rudyard Kipling

Thanks Anshul for sending this across...

(Source: http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_if.htm)

मार्ग दर्शक

Mohit Garg — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:32:00 +0000

तू न पूछ रास्ते में काहे,
आए हैं इस तरह दो राहें ;

तू ही तो है राह जो दिखाए,
तू ही तो है अब जो यह बताये;

जाएँ तो किस दिशा में जाएँ...

- स्वदेस

Tears of hopelessness...

Mohit Garg — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:21:00 +0000

I woke up today morning and was checking my email. A friend had sent a message "What is happening in Mumbai?". I did not fully understand it and replied in jest to him....

... Then I opened rediff.com and all hell broke loose inside me...

... I had thought that the days of gunmen roaming streets are over and bomb blasts were the norm -- my mind had always argued that making a bomb is easy and detecting is hard ... this time it was guns... scores of people with them ... and loads of ammunition ... roaming about on the streets ... those streets where so many like me roam around ... streets which were among my favourite places in Mumbai ... several policemen died... several insignificant people like me also perished ...

Bombs are scary enough ... but Guns? And 30-40 people carrying them? In the heart of the city? Is the Government sleeping? Are we going back in time? The ATS chief dead. Two senior cops dead. More than 100 officially dead.

Is the situation really so hopeless? The government may have no reason/incentive to act. But what about me? I need to save myself. But I do not know if I can do anything. I do not know what to do. Whom to approach. Where to start... Maybe this will be another time when I will just shed some tears which will dry up with time...

Shubh Deepawali :: Spreading Knowledge

Mohit Garg — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 09:01:00 +0000

[Image Source :: http://karachi.metblogs.com/archives/images/2005/11/Diwali%20Lamp1.jpg]

Shubh Deepawali :: Spreading Knowledge

A Lamp is not just a source of light, it not only illuminates the world around but, in fact, has the ability to enlighten more Lamps...
There is only one Fire in the world... and only a Lamp can kindle it...

Leaders are like Lamps...
they enlighten and create more Leaders around themselves...
There is only one Knowledge in the world... and only a Leader (or Guru) can kindle it...

This Deepawali, let us pray that we enlighten ourselves to Lead the world towards Knowledge...

Q & A

Mohit Garg — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:12:00 +0000

[Image Source: http://oygirl.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/question.jpg]

In life there are several questions which are unanswered... there are several answers which are unquestioned...

Is answering the questions and questioning the answers more important that living itself?