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Thursday,
May 31, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Jaya’s revenge trail From PM with love A lesson from Nawanshahr |
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Making peace with Pakistan
Satellite as good as abandoned
Branding sex offenders
Government refuses corporation’s request
Now chest cavity
can be bypassed Too busy to be miserable
Most of us messed up inside
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Jaya’s revenge trail TAMIL
NADU Chief Minister Jayalalitha is in a tearing hurry to give the state a clean and
corruption-free government. That is fine but the problem is that her drive for purity will have a retrospective bounce. Which means that all criminal acts of the previous DMK government will come alive and queue up for punishment. Not only the administration voted out this year but even the one Mr Karunanidhi headed between 1971 and 1976, fully 25 years ago. Her immediate target is his son and Chennai Mayor M.K.Stalin. She is also eyeing Sun TV, a Tamil channel owned by the son of Mr Murasoli Maran, himself a nephew of the former Chief Minister. After she lost the election in 1996, her own television channel, Jaya TV, was forced out of business with multiple cases, particularly illegal repatriation of foreign exchange. A former MP belonging to the DMK is in police custody charged with rioting on election day. When he sought bail in the High Court the prosecution fiercely opposed it; it led to a curious result when some supporters and members of Ms Jayalalitha’s AIADMK named in the same case too failed to secure bail. She told the Assembly that she would press the Centre to reopen the CBI enquiry into the Sarkaria Commission report which listed corruption charges against Mr Karunanidhi. His party is part of the NDA and the Vajpayee government will find it embarrassing to oblige her. Maybe it will find some way to invoke the law of limitation to get out of the mess. She has found a contractor to accuse Mr Stalin of demanding and accepting crores of rupees as bribe in connection with building flyovers and highways. A former Minister has been arrested for kidnapping this truthful contractor. It is obvious that the Jayalalitha government is in overdrive to pack off selected DMK leaders to jail. Her claim is her obsession with clean public life but motivation is revenge for her own humiliating arrest and prosecution for corruption. It is a dirty game she has enthusiastically joined. It is a grim tragedy. What makes it shocking is the submissive attitude of her party colleagues and senior officials. They are almost slavish in doing her bidding. A sense of dignity is totally missing as is self-esteem. A newspaper photograph proclaims it all. As she was leaving after the first Cabinet meeting, her ministerial colleagues, all around 50 years of age, were bowing from the waist with their hands folded in reverence. With no one to check her and with rage consuming her, it is vendetta raj in the southern state. |
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From PM with love THE holidaying Atal Behari Vajpayee appears to have been in an expansive mood while going through the wish list of the host State. He has offered several concessions to Himachal Pradesh. The gifts are substantial and others are promissory in nature. The overarching assurance is that the State would not be allowed to suffer any setback in its march towards sustainable development. In real terms, the most significant promise is that the size of the 2001-2002 Plan would not be smaller than that of last year. But on a long term, the most positive spin-off can be expected from the acceptance of the State’s plea for allowing it to execute hydroelectric projects up to 300 MW through the MOU route. Due to the present cap of 100 MW, the State is finding it difficult to float global tenders for bigger projects while following the competitive bidding route. This step will hopefully encourage better tapping of the State’s immense hydroelectric potential. Mr Vajpayee also promised effective intervention in resolving the power sharing dispute with neighbouring Haryana and Punjab. He called for an out-of-court settlement on the issue. It is imperative that legitimate interests of all States are protected. In the same vein, he said the demand for a drought relief package would be considered sympathetically. At the same time, he said the States should generate more revenue. The Prime Minister also announced some specific concessions. The Centre would provide one-time ad-hoc relief to Himachal Pradesh by waiving the surcharge of Rs 38.56 crore pertaining to the Baira-Siul hydroelectric project. Guidelines of the Pradhanmantri Sadak Yojana would be suitably modified to take into account the peculiar needs and problems of the hill States like Himachal Pradesh, he said. That means the State will get more money under the scheme. A visibly rested Prime Minister also announced a grant of Rs 1 crore for the restoration of the Roerich Art Gallery visited by him and the Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute. Besides, he promised the construction of the long-pending Rohtang tunnel and the expansion of the Kulu airport. The problem is that such assurances have been made many times in the past as well. One hopes that words would translate into action this time, and quickly enough. |
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A lesson from Nawanshahr CRITICS of the WTO regime have created an atmosphere of scare. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Finance Minister have frequently voiced their concern that the WTO would ruin agriculture and that the small farmer cannot compete in the global market. Liberalisation and the process of lowering tariffs started in 1991. The successive state governments have done little to educate and prepare farmers for the changing scenario. Near consensus has emerged among major political parties that there is no going back from the WTO agreement. Certain terms can be renegotiated to protect the food security and livelihood concerns of farmers, but there can be no running away from the problem. Fault-finding to make political gains will not help either the state leaders or farmers in the long run. It is in this backdrop that the initiative taken by some progressive farmers of Nawanshahr to take up head-on the WTO challenge is commendable. They have formed a “District Crops Diversification and Marketing Association”. Also involved in this organisation are district-level officials from the departments of agriculture, forest, horticulture and animal husbandry, besides cooperative societies, the Punjab Mandi Board and Markfed. According to newspaper reports, the idea to float this organisation came from Mr Mohinder Singh Dosanj, a progressive farmer of the area and winner of many awards. The Additional Deputy Commissioner is its President and it enjoys the patronage of the Nawanshahr Deputy Commissioner. This association is not just a dream of a few idealists, but an excellent platform for interaction among farmers, government officials and corporate representatives. As a first step, the District Crops Diversification and Marketing Association has tied up with a US-based company, Indo-Ments India, which will supply roots of the mentha plant, whose oil is said to be in great demand abroad for its medicinal value. As an experiment, the plant will be grown in Nawanshahr district. In another significant tie-up the association has procured seed basmati for 100 acres from PepsiCo with a buyback arrangement. The basmati will be grown under the supervision of experts and the growers will be charged Rs 250 an acre for inputs and technical knowhow. Pepsi will buy this basmati at Rs 1,200 per quintal. The association also helps farmers in getting subsidised loans from the National Horticulture Board. By launching this initiative, Nawanshahr has taken a lead over all other districts, including Ludhiana, the centre of Punjab Agriculture University. A clear-cut lesson from Nawanshahr is: don’t blindly criticise the WTO, change ways of farming, cut costs, adopt latest technical knowhow and explore new marketing avenues. This is possible if farmers, experts, corporators and government officials join hands. What has happened at Nawanshahr can, and should, happen in every district. The minimum the state government can do is to provide basic infrastructure to these enthusiasts of a new era. |
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Making peace with Pakistan IT was sudden and dramatic. And let’s face it, it also meant a reversal of the earlier policy of not talking to Pakistan until “cross-border terrorism” in Jammu and Kashmir had ceased. But there is no doubt that Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s invitation to Gen Pervez Musharraf for sweeping parleys at the summit in New Delhi has the country’s broad support, some misgivings here and there notwithstanding. On the other side of the subcontinental divide, too, the situation is encouraging. The military regime has reacted positively to the Prime Minister’s initiative which, interestingly, was accompanied by his decision to call off what is erroneously called the “unilateral ceasefire in” J & K. New Delhi’s somewhat convoluted official position is that it has ended the “non-initiation of combat operations (NICO)”. For, these had failed to produce the desired results over the last six months. To nobody’s surprise, the Pakistani government, even while welcoming the Vajpayee invitation, has sharply criticised the end to the ceasefire. But there is a clear contradiction in the Pakistani stand, as voiced by its Foreign Minister, Mr Abdul Sattar. According to him the “so-called ceasefire was a sham” from the start. If so, why mourn its demise? But then polemics of this kind have become a part and parcel of exchanges between the two neighbours that are somehow unable to become friends. It is also possible that some India-bashing even at a promising juncture is a sop that Islamabad has to offer to the jehadi outfits which are opposed to talks with India. But that is not the only problem. On both sides there is also an irrepressible proclivity to be one up on the other. Most Pakistanis are claiming that their policy has triumphed. Quite a few Indians are boasting, on the other hand, that this country has “called Gen Musharraf’s bluff’ or put him “in a cleft-stick”. But this is not all. At a more serious level, the Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi has tried to queer the pitch by proclaiming that a plebiscite in Kashmir is the only route to peace between the two countries. He has chosen to do so at a time when Mr Vajpayee’s offer of talks is wholly unconditional. Mercifully, there are two positive straws in the wind. One, the agenda is not proving to be a problem even though New Delhi emphasises the composite agenda of eight points —including Kashmir, security and terrorism — and Pakistan persists with its standard line that Kashmir is the “core issue”. Secondly — and no less importantly — the hurdle of the Hurriyat’s participation in the coming conversations is out of the way. For much too long, both the Hurriyat and Islamabad had gone on harping on “tripartite talks”, with the Hurriyat sitting in at the negotiating table as “the sole representative” of the Kashmiri opinion. All concerned have now given up this absurd position. Pakistan now says that the Hurriyat should be involved in the dialogue “at some stage, in some manner” but it has no place in the bilateral talks between the Indian Prime Minister and the Pakistani Chief Executive. To some extent New Delhi must share the blame for inflating the Hurriyat’s importance and making this outfit, consisting of disparate elements, look larger than life. Moreover, the Hurriyat has never taken part in elections and its representative credentials are questionable, to say the least. There is much to be said for Mr Shabir Shah’s proposal that while Kashmiris must be consulted in finding a solution of the Kashmir problem, a free and fair election must be held first. This alone can decide who has the right to speak on
behalf of the State’s people. In any case, Pakistan ought to be a little circumspect in its overblown talk about the people. For the people of Pakistan have no say in the present dispensation there, as both the PPP and the Muslim League, whose support among the masses is an established fact, will testify. Moreover, if the Hurriyat and other Kashmiri groups must be consulted, why must people of the Northern Areas and so-called Azad Kashmir, under Pakistani occupation, be left out? Some squabbling on this score and several others will doubtless go on. But the key question is where do we go from here? The first and foremost point both India and Pakistan have to bear in mind is that making peace between any two countries is a process, often long and painful, and not an event, no matter how dramatic. To expect a
breakthrough from the very first encounter between Mr Vajpayee and Gen Musharraf would be to fly in the face of realism. Such is the deadweight of history over the last half a century and so thick the overlay of bitterness and distrust on it that to make any advance at all will be a very long and difficult haul. The high road the Prime Minister has talked of so eloquently is strewn with massive obstructions and deadly potholes. Patience and perseverance are the two virtues both sides need. We can take a lesson not only from the Lahore fiasco — the bus got diverted, alas, to Kargil — but also from the horrific developments in West Asia. There is a most detailed treaty, signed eight years ago by Yitzak Rabin and Mr Yasser Arafat and underwritten by the USA. And yet the whole exercise has gone up in smoke, almost literally. A reasonable framework for carrying on the India-Pakistan dialogue exists under the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration, the latter now subscribed to by Gen Musharraf though he had earlier tried to trash it. But the two sides have to come to terms with one stark reality of life. Talks held in the full glare of the international media have serious limitations. The participants have to tailor their private positions and public pronouncements to the prevailing public opinion. One can be sure that the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit will be turned in to a media circus. Even so, the two leaders owe it to themselves, to their people who are craving for peace and to history to make an earnest beginning towards rapprochement. They should then issue clear guidelines to their subordinates to take up the nitty-gritty of peacemaking in talks about which there is no great hype. The really productive negotiations can take place, however, only in complete secrecy, away from the media’s prying eyes and ears. Time was when I was a staunch believer in the Wilsonian principle of “open covenants, openly arrived at”. Experience, including that of the Israelis and the Palestinians in 1992-93 has shown, however, that over highly emotive and sensitive issues, worthwhile agreements can be reached only secretly. Once concluded, these covenants must be made public and duly ratified by the people through Parliament. One other point needs to be discussed with complete candour. There is a rather widespread view that the sudden initiative by Mr Vajpayee - unknown to the foreign policy machine and even to most Cabinet Ministers - is the result of international, principally American, pressure. Whether pressure is the right expression to use in this context is debatable. But there is no doubt that international opinion has been strongly in favour of a resumption of the Indo-Pakistani dialogue and for its continuance without interruption. Heads of State and Government visiting New Delhi or Islamabad or both have said so openly, as has the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan. To factor this into the making of policy is not succumbing to foreign pressure. However, there are some disturbing intimations in New Delhi’s unusually cool air, including some from the foreign policy establishment, that it would do us no harm to have some foreign “facilitator” for India-Pakistani talks. The idea is premature at best and dangerous at worst. India is still paying a heavy price for having gone to the U N in the hope of getting justice and receiving power politics instead. To be sure, circusmstances have changed since then. The Cold War is over. There are signs of change in America’s South Asia policies. But how these tentative changes in approach will jell remains to be seen. No third party meddling in the bilateral process should be thought of at this stage. |
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Satellite as good as abandoned INDIA'S experimental communications satellite GSAT-1, launched with much fanfare by the country’s first Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) on April 18, is drifting and is as good as abandoned. It was to reach the designated parking slot above 36,000 sq km in deep orbit, but fell short by 1,000 km. All the fuel onboard was exhausted in trying to raise it to the required height. But the desired results could not be obtained. As a result, the satellite has been drifting. The Master Control Facility at Hassan (Karnataka) has been repeatedly losing contact with the 1,540-kg satellite. It had a life span of three years, but because of the drift mode, it is not a functional satellite any more. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has tried to make light of the failure by saying that the satellite was only an experimental one and that there had been no impact at all on communication or transmission links. Preliminary investigations suggest that the shortfall might have occurred because of the underperformance of the Russian cryogenic engine. The second launch of the GSLV scheduled for next year is also to be powered by a Russian cryogenic engine. A Republican in revolt No single law-maker has made front page news across the world as Senator James Jeffords of the USA. By withdrawing support to the ruling Republican Party, he has dramatically shifted the balance of power. No, it is not defection in the conventional Indian sense, nor he is the first to shift political loyalty in the dollar kingdom. His is an ideological revolt, precipitated by clumsy handling by the party leadership and the White House. He is a known liberal with strong views on education and subsidy to dairy farmers, an important part of his electoral base in the state of Vermont. The White House snubbed him by not inviting him to the Teacher of Honour function which featured a teacher from his own Vermont. When he protested, President Bush’s aides darkly hinted at ending dairy subsidies. He was sidelined by the Republican Senate leadership in the committee to set the education agenda. His cup of woes was overflowing. So he quit the party, declaring that he would be an independent and support liberal and moderate programmes. That means he would vote with the opposition Democrats on issues of healthcare, education for every child, free prescription medicines to all elderly citizens irrespective of their financial status and a less rapid tax cut that only benefits business. The decision of Senator Jeffords to realign his political preference has sent shock waves in the White House and the Republican Party. The Senate seats were evenly divided — 50-50. With the casting vote of Vice President Dick Cheney, the Republicans controlled the Senate and all its committees. Now Mr Jeffords has changed it to 49-50 plus one independent tilting clearly towards the Democrats. So the weightage of the casting vote is lost. The Democrats are back in total control and they will set the legislative agenda and guide legislative work.. The ultra conservative programme of President Bush is out and the liberal or moderate programme is in. Mr Bush’s base will revolt and that spells trouble for his re-election. The Republicans are desperately trying to lure Georgia Democratic Senator Miller to formally cross over to restore the numerical superiority. He has voted with the Republicans on all issues. Two comments on the US congressional tradition. Cross voting is common and liberals from both parties often support similar legislation or amendments. There is no three-line whip as in India. Two, exit from a party is not unheard of. Three of the present Senators walked out of the Democratic Party to swell the ranks of Republicans. One famous man made a similar journey long before he developed any political ambition. An actor in B grade movies, Ronald Reagan, left the Democratic party in the forties hating its leftist policies. Yes, he did precisely that for precisely that reason. A Vedic city Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi had a Vedic dream. The dream may soon come true. Where? Like most modern dreams not in India but distant America. The US of A is after all the country where most global dreams see the light of day? The report that the world’s first Vedic city may be set up in Iowa should give Dr Joshi the opening to attack his countless Indian detractors. To strengthen his case for promoting the study of Vedic science, art and astrology, he can point out to the fact that the American project was not promoted by a group of Hindu fanatics, but by enlightened Americans. The proposal was cleared by responsible citizens of Iowa because they are convinced that the Vedic way leads to “maximum health, well-being and success” in life. The rationalists may squirm at the idea, but how can a Vedic city be brought into existence without the help of the derided “vaastu shastra”? It will also incorporate the ancient principles of Maharishi Sthapatya-Veda. In the words of the Vedic city developer Rodgers Badgett, “the goal of every community should be to promote the highest level of health, happiness and success for its citizens. The profound insights of Vedic science give us a comprehensive framework for enlightened living”. The State of Iowa City Development Committee has allotted a 654-acre site for the proposed city. Needless to say that the new township will be developed around the already existing facilities created by organisations run by the most famous non-resident Indian spiritual guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The moral of the story is that if you have a dream for which there are no takers in India, travel to the farthest corner of the West for making it come true! |
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Branding sex offenders CIVIL rights lawyers in Texas said on Tuesday that they would appeal against a judge’s order that sex offenders on probation should be “branded” with signs on their homes and cars warning the public about their past offences. Since a judge in the coastal town of Corpus Christi ordered over a dozen men with sexual offence convictions to use the signs earlier this month, one has attempted suicide and two have been evicted from their homes. Others have reported death threats against themselves and their relatives. Manuel Banales, the judge who ordered the use of warning placards and bumper stickers stood by his ruling, arguing that the offenders had “only themselves to blame”. “Between protecting the safety of children and protecting the rights of a person on probation for sex offence, the balance has to tilt towards the children,” Judge Banales said. The red, white and black house signs say: “DANGER: Registered Sex Offender Lives Here”, and provides a phone number to call in the event of “suspicious behaviour”.
The Guardian Drink may help smokers quit Duke University researchers said on Tuesday they were seeking to team up with a drug company to fund clinical trials of a nicotine solution that can be added to drinks to help smokers quit. In an initial clinical study involving just 25 smokers, 20 per cent were able to quit after six months, typical results for smoking-cessation products like nicotine gum and patches, said Eric Westman, an assistant professor in the department of medicine at Duke University Medical Center. "One of the advantages of the oral solution is that it involves a hand-to-mouth action, similar to that of smoking," he said. "Also, the nicotine is metabolized fairly rapidly, providing a quicker nicotine boost than is provided by a nicotine patch." Westman and two other Duke researchers were awarded a patent for the nicotine solution in April. In the study, participants were given packets of the solution, and with each beverage consumed nicotine equivalent to smoking about one to three cigarettes.
Reuters Amorous monkey on the prowl A sex-crazed male monkey has caused an uproar in a central Sri Lankan town, stalking and attacking girls in public and flirting outrageously with cats and dogs, a newspaper said on Wednesday. The monkey has roused the anger of residents of Kundasale by following young women around the town, jumping on them without warning and clinging tenaciously until it was chased away with sticks and stones, the Daily News reported. Apparently having little success with human females, the primate also makes advances on other animals to which it has “a very strong affinity (particularly) cats and dogs of the opposite sex”, the newspaper said, adding the creature fed its libido by stealing chocolates from local shops. The monkey business has outraged the town in Sri Lanka’s conservative rural heartland where public displays of affection are frowned upon even between humans of the opposite sex.
Reuters Where Musharraf was born
In and around a dilapidated block of apartments in the old quarters of Delhi, residents walking gingerly down the snaking lanes and by-lanes have a dream: of hosting General Pervez Musharraf. Gola Apartments, which have risen over the years like a ramshackle block of dominos placed one over the other, is where Musharraf was born before the British colonial rulers partitioned the subcontinent. Naturally, people in and around the Gola Apartments are eagerly waiting for Musharraf. “I am writing a letter to Musharraf and will personally deliver it to the Pakistan Embassy and the Indian government, asking that he should come and visit the area where he was born,” said Hemchand Gola, in his 40s, one of the three brothers who own the Gola Apartments. Gola unfolds a moldy, yellow map of the old Nahar Wali Haveli, the 24,817 sq feet mansion on the site on which the apartments stand.
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Government refuses corporation’s request
BOMBAY: The Corporation today considered a letter from the Government in reply to the proposal made by the Corporation to concede to them the right to determine the number and location of liquor shops within the town and island of Bombay. The Government, while regretting inability to accept the Corporation’s proposal, observe that the Corporation, through their representatives on the Excise Advisory Committee, will have ample voice in determination of number and location of shops and other matters connected with them. After an interesting debate it was resolved to record the letter and address the Government once again in the matter. |
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Now chest cavity can be bypassed A bypass procedure that transforms veins into arteries without opening the chest cavity could one day offer treatment for patients with severe coronary artery disease who cannot undergo traditional bypass surgery or angioplasty, experts said. A case study in Germany published in Tuesday’s Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, documents the first nonsurgical bypass using catheters to make the coronary vein a conduit for blood flow around the diseased coronary artery. The catheters are inserted in a leg and threaded into the coronary arteries. Stephen Oesterle, Director of invassive cardiology services at Massachusetts General Hospital, and his researchers successfully conducted the new procedure, called percutaneous in-situ coronary venous arterialization, or PICVA, in November 1999 in Germany. “This is newsworthy because we have explored using the coronary veins. We have shown that the technology can be used in humans,” Oesterle said. The study patient, a 53-year-old German man, had severe chest pain from a heart artery blocked by atherosclerosis, a buildup of fatty deposits in vessel walls. He was not a candidate for bypass surgery or angioplasty because his artery was almost completely blocked, Oesterle said. Now, more than a year after the procedure, the patient remains pain free, he said. The new procedure is considered safer and less painful than traditional bypass surgery, which requires opening the patient’s chest, temporarily stopping the heart and harvesting vessels from the leg or chest. But Oesterle warns that the procedure would not necessarily be preferable to angioplasty or bypass surgery. “If we could do angioplasty, we would do it,” he said. “But there are 4,00,000 patients who can’t do it because their arteries are badly diseased or too damaged. We think we can capture a lot of patients who are not candidates for angioplasty or bypass surgery.”
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Too busy to be miserable MANY centuries ago Marcos Aurelius said: “No man is happy who does not think himself so”. Psycho-analysts go a step further: “Acting happy is likely to make you happy”.“Feign optimism” and it promotes happiness. The best recipe for happiness is “To be caught up in activity” and remain busy almost and always. A Japanese psychologist says: “Our people are too busy to be miserable. They have less time for introspection. That is the secret of longevity of the Japanese. An average female is 85 and a male 81 in lifespan and more than 11,300 crossed century and in ratio to the population, highest in the world. Robert Frank in his book “Luxury Fever: Why Money Fails to Satisfy in an era of Excess”, claims that decades of rapidly increasing affluence and lavish spending has not made anyone happier. Previously life used to have God at the centrestage. Now Godlessness has spread, so we are unhappy. We have very scant time for our enjoyable activities. Social gatherings keep one busy, active and happy, but if one is glued to TV inside a room, that does not bring happiness. Its pursuit has to be made within itself. Stress has a great impact on our daily life. In a famous book “Fruits of Frustration,” Dr
N.S. Rupra says: “Presently, stress is the commonest and the fastest growing disease in the world, which hits people of all ages and in every walk of life. The common stresses which give rise to tensions are infectious operations, physical threats, promotions, change in environments. In case of individuals who are sensitive and over react to the day-to-day problems there may be more wear and tear of the body which may lead to a paralytic situation, when the vital supply line of Anrenaline is disrupted.” WHO has changed the definition of health “as a stage of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely absence of disease”. Most of the persons are victims of tension and stress due to many aspects of life e.g. health, wealth, name, fame, children etc, but the factor that crowns them all is “peace of mind”. A silk worm creates a web for its own destruction out of its secretion. So man creates these cares and worries for his own destruction out of his own ignorance. Worry is a mental poison and it has a corroding effect on all tissues. Finally CARNEGIE. D. Says: “The tendency to brood of fret/never solved any problem yet/worry is like a rocking chair/that takes one no where. |
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Most of us messed up inside More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. The desire to pray is a deep inner longing of the human being. Prayer is our medium to reach a higher power centre, to commune with the invisible being, the creator of all things. Prayer is not a refuge of weaklings or a childish petition for material things only. Prayer is an innate, internal and personal activity for the fullest growth of our personality. Only in prayer do we achieve the complete and harmonious synchronisation of body, mind and spirit that gives the human body an unshakable inner strength. Human beings are engineered for religious faith. Our genetic blueprint has made faith in the Infinite Absolute a part of our nature. Research has shown that those who pray and visit a temple or a church or a gurdwara have lower blood pressure than those who do not. Those who are religious and socially involved have a 14-fold advantage over those who are isolated or lack faith. Prayer operates along the same bio-chemical pathways as does the relaxation response. Prayer affects ‘epinephrine’ or ‘stress hormones’ leading to a relaxed heart rate, respiration and other benefits. The act of focussing the mind on a single sound or an image brings about a set of physiological changes which are the opposite of ‘flight’ or ‘fight’ response. Prayer builds our inner environment and sharpens our intuitive discriminative faculty that enables us to decide which of the two lines of reasoning is right. Prayer creates a climate for growth. This energy is self initiated and feeds upon itself. You get into a state of synergy. This is the state in which the whole is more than the sum of the parts. When we pray, we link ourselves with the inexhaustible source of power that controls the universe. We get a part of this power apportioned to our needs. We seek to augment our finite energy by addressing ourselves to the infinite source of all energy. By prayer we build more internal security and we become more self directed. For prayer, keep a secret chamber of silence within yourself. While praying, do not let moods, trials, battles or disharmony enter this chamber. Keep out all hatred, revenge and desires. This is the chamber of stillness and calm. Prayer awakens you to the miracle of existence. Silence and prayer are the elements in which great things fashion themselves. Prayer brings about a consciousness which transcends science, a development spurred by our rendezvous with mortality. Prayer bridges the gulf between the awards of a logical mind and the perceptions of an intuitive soul. It brings harmony between two universally conflicting elements — emotion and reason. Amazing things happen when we pray. It establishes internal controls which begin to give us spontaneously the responses we desire and need. The superconscious law of success is put into operation through man’s prayer and by his understanding of the Lords’ omnipotence. Do not stop your conscious efforts or rely wholly on your own natural abilities, but pray for divine aid in all you do. The runways of the mind are cleared for the smoothest take-off and landing of our projects. A mind at poise is the sure instrument for material success, the smooth and straight runway for spiritual take-off. Prayer builds strength within against the stresses of life. Immense power has always been part of the formless world. You cannot broadcast with a broken microphone, so you cannot send prayers through a mental microphone that has been disturbed by restlessness. By deep calmness, repair your mind’s microphone and increase the receptivity of your intuition. Then you will be able to broadcast to Him effectively. If God does not respond to our prayer, it is because we are not earnest. We offer Him dry imitation prayers, which is no way to claim His attention. Cleanse your mind of all negation, such as fear, worry and anger. He knows whether your heart and mind are dry of devotion and whether your thoughts are darting wildly anywhere. Make prayer a regular part of your life and it will change things that need changing. The biblical injunction to ‘pray without ceasing’ refers to a continuous, earnest, never-let-up form of prayer. It is another way of emphasising the immense power of prayer. Continuous, indepth praying is required to develop power in prayer. Trouble and anxiety drive us to prayer and prayer drives away trouble and anxiety. Prayer is the mightiest power on earth. Prayer’s power has been proven many times. Abraham Lincoln said: “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day”. An eminent physician once remarked: “Prayer is a force as real as terrestrial gravity. As a physician I have seen men, after all therapy has failed, lifted out of disease and melancholy by the serene effort of prayer. It is the only power in the world that seems to overcome the so-called ‘laws of nature’. The occasions on which prayer has done this have been described as miracles”. It is not necessary to explain things to God. For He knows our needs before we speak and is more ready to give than we are to ask. Storm by nature is transient. Stillness triumphs over the heated. Prayer stamps with indelible mark our actions and demeanor. A tranquility of bearing, a facial and bodily repose are observed in those whose inner lives are enriched by prayer. When in prayer you clasp your hands, God opens His. Kashtian sab ki kinare pe pahunch jaati hai, Nakhuda jin ka nahin hota, unka khuda hota hai (The writer is a senior IPS officer of Haryana). |
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Truth, for any man is that which makes him a man. —Saint-Exupery, Wind Sand and Stars. **** Whatever satisfies the soul is Truth. — Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass. Truth cannot be taught. It has to be discovered within your own soul. — Osho, I am That **** Truth is the seat of God. Truth is God... Truth is the law of freedom, falsehood the law of slavery and death. Truth is justice, fairplay, adherence to the fundamental laws of ethics... Truth is the gateway to the kingdom of God. — Swami Shivananda, Bliss Divine. **** God is not a person. God is the force. He is the essence of life. He is pure and undefiled consciousness. He is eternal. And, yet strangely, enough, all are not able to derive either benefit from or shelter in the all-pervading living presence. ***** Electricity is a powerful force. Not all can benefit from it. It can only be produced from following certain laws. It is a lifeless force. Man can utilise it if he labours hard enough to acquire the knowledge of its laws. ***** The living force which we call God can similarly be found if we know and follow His Law leading to the discovery of Him in us.... The Law, in one word, may be termed Brahmacharya. — Mahatma Gandhi, Harijan, June 2, 1947 ***** You are mistaken if you think I do not believe in God.... I seek God in man, in human freedom.... — Mikhael A. Bakunin |
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