Pretension Results in Pain

There is a famous quote that the *grass appears greener on the other side*.

So we always have a tendency to compare our position with others and to

imitate to be like them. But the reality is when we try to imitate others,

we would not be able to sustain the show also for a long time.

In this regard, we may find an interesting small story about a donkey and a dhobi. The

donkey had to carry loads of clothes every day for his master. He was very

bored with his tiresome daily routine and always thought that the animals

in the forest are very lucky as they were roaming freely all day and did

not have to do any hard work like him. He felt that among all the wild

animals, animals like lions and tigers are the most luckiest as every other

animal in the forest are afraid of them. He yearned to become a tiger. So

one night when the dhobi was fast asleep, he left for the forest. As soon

as he entered the forest, he started enjoying the chill breeze and was very

elated about his new life there. To his surprise he came across the skin of

a dead tiger. He considered himself very lucky and quickly got into that

skin. And now as he walked in the forest, even the smaller animals started

fleeing away from him, thinking that he is a tiger. Pleased by this

experience, the donkey decided to have some fun with the villagers and his

master as well. So he went back to the village and everyone, including the

dhobi started running away as soon as they saw him. The donkey felt

very happy and soon he reached the master's house. The place and

surroundings were very familiar to him and he felt 'at home'. Soon he saw

the fresh juicy grass in the garden and started relishing it. And out of

joy he started braying loudly. The dhobi realised that it was the sound of

his lost donkey and when he peeped out of his window, he was surprised to

see tiger eating grass. Not realising that he is being watched, the donkey

brayed again and then the dhobi started beating him with a stick and the

tiger skin fell-off and the donkey got exposed.

The moral of the story is that we should not artificially try to be what we

are not. Posing before others for cheap adoration and power is cheating.

Such pretension results in pain. So it is better to be ourselves than to

pretend. In Bhagavad Gita verse 3.6 Lord Krishna says,

*karmendriyaani samyamya / ya aaste manasaa smaran

indriyaarthaan vimudhaatma / mityaacarah sa ucyate*

"*One who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense

objects certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.*"

This wonderful story is taken from the mailing list

learn-bhagavad-gita-asitis@googlegroups.com.

All Glories to God!

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN

This is a very nice story!

Once a lady in a house saw her new neighbour hang the clothes for drying

through her window. She thought for herself that her neighbour is very

dirty and is not washing the clothes properly, as the hung clothes had

stain and dirt even after washing. She observed the same for months

together, and thus nick named her new neighbor as 'The Unclean lady'. Then

suddenly one fine day, she found the clothes of her neighbour sparkling

bright, and immediately reported the same to her husband. Her husband just

smiled at her. When the wife wanted to know the reason for his smile, he

simply replied, "It's only today that I have cleaned our glass windows

after a long time. So you are able to see through it clearly now."

Same is the case with us. We have so many dirt accumulated within us, and

instead of purifying ourselves first, we constantly try to find fault in

others.

I pray God not to give me such fault finding nature for ever. Let me blame myself for All my mistakes, & let me have the quality of appreciating others for even their smallest goodness.

All Glories to God!

For the visually challenged, internet opens up a new world

This Article has reference about me. This was published in Deccan Herald on Wednesday, Jan 4th, 2012, in Panorama


For the visually challenged, internet opens up a new world
L Subramani
For several persons with vision challenge, the internet is the gateway to a brave new world.
So, have they forgotten the raised dots, which Louis Braille -- whose 203rd birthday falls today, January 4 -- invented? Not really, but the computer has
opened up umpteen opportunities which did not exist before.
Every day, Vijayalakshmi (25) opens her personal computer with a reverence only accorded for ‘Thamburas’ and Harmoniums in her line of work. As the synthesized
voice of her screen reader rambles on at the background, she locates the icon she wanted on the desktop and presses the ‘enter’ key hard on it. With a
‘wooop’ sound, the world of Voice Over IP (VOIP), better known amongst the ardent net users as ‘Skype’ opens up.
Skype is worth the hype for several visually challenged persons like Vijayalakshmi, as it has become the lifeline –the way to use their expertise and earn
a livelihood. “I have been doing this for more than three years,” says Vijayalakshmi, the Bangalore-based Carnatic musician who uses Skype to teach nearly
a dozen students, most of whom are NRIs abroad.
“I can’t imagine living without Skype, or, for that matter, without the internet. Not only it turns out to be a wonderful medium for us to expand our professional
and business horizons, but it is also an amazing source of learning. YouTube, for instance, has so many videos (related to music) which I refer to learn.
As visually challenged, we may not be accessing the content in any other method or format.”
While students get in touch with her through Skype to receive their voice lessons, they transfer the fee to her account, sparing Vijayalakshmi the arduous
trips outside home or standing in the long queues to deposit her earnings.
Similarly, there are several thousands of persons with vision challenge who use the net to teach spoken English, creating web content and do medical transcription,
which would have made Louis Braille proud.
Ten years ago, internet was merely a tool for learning and exchanging emails. It had since evolved into a huge social medium that connects the blind with
several professional groups and provide them the best opportunity to earn exposing only their advantages. Many of the visually challenged have formed professional
and interest based groups in Facebook, while others have also taken advantage of Linkedin.
“In the last few years, web accessibility has become an important feature for any website,” said Akhilesh Malani, who works as an accessibility head for
an online start-up offering testing services.
Several tools
“We test for the website’s ability to function with several tools –like the screen reading software the blind use- to ensure they can be used by everyone
without feeling disadvantaged in any way. Thanks to the internet, I, as a visually challenged person, am able to pursue the rather difficult testing job
and continue to learn.”
It came as a scare for many of them, when the news emerged in August that government is targeting social networking platforms (Facebook, twitter and Skype)
to provide access to the user content. “(News of Skype being the target) came as a shock,” admits Maria Durrani, a visually challenged person from Mysore,
who does combined shows for a few online radio stations.
“We’re sure the government has several issues with social networking sites,” said Akhilesh. “things like terror threats, objectionable contents etc, were
on the papers even a few days ago. We’ve nothing against the government taking action against genuine offenders, but at a time when the options of finding
accessible websites (especially those developed for Indians) is pathetically less, banning open and free sites would spell doom for many of us who depend
on them for survival and sanity.”
Despite admitting the vital role internet has come to play in their lives, the visually challenged also acknowledge the special place Braille scripts have
in their lives. “I know Braille, though I don’t use it much,” said Vijayalakshmi.
“We’re still curious about the history of Braille, the way it was invented (when young Louis became blind and created the first raised dots from a similar
set of military scripts used in French army). There’s always the inspiration in it, like how people look at the old typewriters and tele printers.”
“It’s the equivalent of writing long hand,” Maria pointed out. “We may not use it much, but we still find it useful in situations where we can’t use computers
or electronic gadgets.”
Like many habits and practices that evolve with generational changes, use of Braille seem to have reduced amongst the younger generation of visually challenged
who are used to working with computers and other electronic gadgets.
“Braille has its most prolific users amongst the 30 and 40 somethings,” said Dr Rajdeep Manwani, a professor with Bagwan Mahaveer Jain College in the city.
“Braille has certainly been adored by one and all (amongst the visually challenged community) for its simplicity and availability, but when it comes to
its application, it must be said that the younger generation prefer electronic gadgets for the dotted scripts. The fact that modern gadgets give them parity
with others –as computers are used by the visually challenged the same way as the able-bodied peers save for the screen reader—certainly influence their
decision.”

Here is the link:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/216568/for-visually-challenged-internet-opens.html

All glories to God!

THE COMPLETE VANDEMAATARAM

During the first week of August 2011, I received a call from Aksharam (Bangalore office of Samskritha bhaarathi in Girinagar), to sing Vandamaatharam on the day of ‘Bhaaratha maatha pooja’, which was on August 13th 2011.

Surprisingly, they wanted me to sing the complete version of the song, which I wasn’t aware of. From the schooldays, we were taught to sing up to “shubhra jyotsnaam…” paragraph. But, I explored on the net & found 4 more paragraphs apart from the 3 I already knew.

Then I learnt it in full & sang on the event in the raga Desh & Eka tala. That was a very great & unique learning experience for me.

Below is the complete lyrics & meaning of Vande Maatharam.

Vande maataraM
sujalaaM suphalaaM malayaja shiitalaaM
SasyashyaamalaaM maataram ||

Shubhrajyotsnaa pulakitayaaminiiM
pullakusumita drumadala shobhiniiM
suhaasiniiM sumadhura bhaashhiNiiM
sukhadaaM varadaaM maataraM ||

Koti koti kantha kalakalaninaada karaale
koti koti bhujairdhRutha kharakaravaale
kepale maa tumee apale
bahubaladhaariNiiM namaami taariNiiM
ripudalavaariNiiM maataraM ||

Tumi vidyaa tumi dharma
tumi hR^idi tumi marma
tvaM hi praaNaaH shariire

Baahute tumi maa shakti
hR^idaye tumi maa bhakti
tomaara i pratimaa gaDi
mandire mandire ||

TvaM hi durgaa dashapraharaNadhaariNii
kamalaa kamaladala vihaariNii
vaaNii vidyaadaayinii namaami tvaaM

Namaami kamalaaM amalaaM atulaaM
SujalaaM suphalaaM maataraM ||

ShyaamalaaM saralaaM susmitaaM bhuushhitaaM
DharaNiiM bharaNiiM maataraM |"

Translation by Shree Aurobindo

Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
bright with orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Dark fields waving Mother of might,
Mother free.

Glory of moonlight dreams,
Over thy branches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease
Laughing low and sweet!
Mother I kiss thy feet,
Speaker sweet and low!
Mother, to thee I bow.

Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands
When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands
And seventy million voices roar
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?
With many strengths who art mighty and stored,
To thee I call Mother and Lord!
Though who savest, arise and save!
To her I cry who ever her foeman drove
Back from plain and Sea
And shook herself free.

Thou art wisdom, thou art law,
Thou art heart, our soul, our breath
Though art love divine, the awe
In our hearts that conquers death.
Thine the strength that nervs the arm,
Thine the beauty, thine the charm.
Every image made divine
In our temples is but thine.

Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen,
With her hands that strike and her
swords of sheen,
Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned,
And the Muse a hundred-toned,
Pure and perfect without peer,
Mother lend thine ear,
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
Bright with thy orchard gleems,
Dark of hue O candid-fair

In thy soul, with jewelled hair
And thy glorious smile divine,
Lovilest of all earthly lands,
Showering wealth from well-stored hands!
Mother, mother mine!
Mother sweet, I bow to thee,
Mother great and free!

Jai Hindh!

All Glories to God!