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Tuesday, January 15, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Yet another ammo fire Bureaucratic PECking order Food and literacy |
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Task of reviewing the Constitution
Whither Lohri
lustre?
Scaling down war threats
1975, Peace: ANDREI SAKHAROV
Study suggests low dose of aspirin for heart patients
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Yet another ammo fire An army convoy, an explosion and nearly 70 ammunition-laden trucks blew up to high heavens near Bikaner on Friday. Such fiery tales have been retold in recent times with alarming regularity. Equally predictably, Defence Minister George Fernandes has said that "sabotage is not ruled out". At the same time, what cannot be ruled out is pure and simple carelessness. In fact, the way things have unfolded, insiders are more inclined to accept the second possibility. In either case, the nation has reasons to feel concerned and demoralised. Rather, the deadly firework is all the more alarming if it occurred without a helping hand from the enemy. The army that cannot transport its ammunition safely does not evoke too much of confidence. It is not as if there has been a system failure. Instead, there are some people who continue to persist with their casual, chalta hai approach which has no place in a war-like situation. Eyewitnesses speak of some people lighting a stove near the convoy as if the 235 trucks coming from Bathinda were carrying asbestos sheets instead of live ammunition. It is this attitude that is behind many of the glaring security failures in the recent past. It was pointedly known to everyone last month that the Parliament building was one of the prime targets of terrorists. And yet, an RDX-laden car was waved in by the security people only because it carried a red beacon and a shoddily made pass. Similarly, the security at the front of the Red Fort was impressive while its rear was left almost unguarded, leading to a major breach there. The destruction of the ammunition trucks would not have evoked so much of concern had it been an isolated incident. But it came close on the heels of similar tragedies on the Punjab and Rajasthan borders where a large number of army personnel were killed while laying mines. There, too, the accidents occurred mainly because enough precautions were not taken while carrying out the dangerous and delicate operation. At least army personnel are expected to be sticking to the security drill strictly while handling such lethal weapons. The country has suffered not only because precious lives and expensive weaponry have been destroyed but also because such incidents result in a loss of face. Incidentally, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) has strongly objected to Indian troops laying mines at the border. According to it, the utility of mines in a war is very limited while these pose a grave threat to a country's own troops as well as civilians. While army experts may have a different assessment, it is a fact that undetected mines have claimed thousands of civilian lives all over the world. A disciplined army like India's must take all precautions so that not only the mine laying operation remains safe for its own personnel but also the area does not become a deathtrap for civilians later. |
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Bureaucratic PECking order It is just as well that the creator did not seek the help of bureaucrats for fashioning this world. They would have found some excuse for putting on hold or even cancelling a seemingly feasible scheme. And not even six million years would have been enough for the creator to complete the job that he did in just six days. How else should one react to some bureaucrat's decision to discourage Punjab Engineering College from providing professional consultation to the corporate sector? A scientific institution anywhere in the world gets additional points as a centre of learning if it is able to provide useful guidance to existing and new enterprises. And PEC is now rated among the best non-IIT engineering colleges in the country. The system of consultancy works to the advantage of both the institution engaged for this task and the industry that seeks its help. Of course, the biggest beneficiaries of the system are the students. The more popular term for describing the benefit the system of consultancy offers to fresh graduates is campus placement. One should also not ignore the fact that PEC was earning beyond Rs 25 lakh per annum through its consultancy service. However, some bureaucrat in the Chandigarh Administration discovered an order framed in 1962 under which the amount of honorarium earned by a UT employee should not exceed Rs 2,500. Since the PEC faculty members too are technically UT employees, they have been told to fall in line or face the consequences. The upshot of the strange and ludicrous order issued by the Chandigarh Administration is not difficult to visualise. Even a class IV employee would expect more than the measly amount of Rs 2,500 per month for doing additional work allowed under the outdated 1962 rules. If the order is not withdrawn, students more than the teachers would be the ultimate losers. As it is because of rampant recession the volume of job offers to prospective graduates by the industry through the system of campus placement has been very poor this year. Even IIM graduates from Ahmedabad have had to bear the brunt of shortage of jobs. The system of consultancy helps the faculty members remain in touch with the big boss in the corporate sector. These "contacts" play an important role in helping fresh graduates secure attractive job offers. There is another reason why the order should be withdrawn. Institutions are now being asked to raise their own resources for funding higher education. This is as it should be for discouraging drifters from taking advantage of the highly subsidised system of education. Now funds have to be raised through involving the corporate sector, as PEC was doing by offering it consultancy services, in academic activities. It would help evolve a system of education that is relevant to the job-market. The other option is to pass on the burden of receiving higher education to the students. Can most students afford the prohibitive cost of higher education? An honest answer to this question should be enough to convince the powers that be about the need to withdraw the order that discourages PEC teachers from helping the college in raising additional funds through the system of consultancy |
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Food and literacy The directive of the Planning Commission’s Working Group on Elementary Education for the Tenth Five-Year Plan to all state governments to replace the current system of distribution of foodgrains with a cooked meal/ready-to-eat programme in schools run or aided by the government needs a close look. The directive follows the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Centre, state governments and Union Territories must provide mid-day meal (cooked meals instead of dry ration as they are doing at present) to school children for at least 200 days. Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s ruling and the Planning Commission’s directive, it is doubtful whether the mid-day meal scheme — either cooked meal or dry ration — would achieve the twin goals of improving child nutrition and school attendance. By the Yojana Bhavan’s own admission, the scheme has failed to serve the intended purpose. Even in the states where the scheme is supposed to have been implemented effectively, the total enrolment in schools could go up to 20.43 per cent only. Four separate studies conducted between 1998 and 2000 testify to the same reality. Under the original scheme, 10 crore students in the country were to be fed. However, in practice, only two crore students in six states could derive the benefit of the scheme — Gujarat, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, some tribal belts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. The Planning Commission’s directive is impracticable for various reasons. One, it may not be easy for the school authorities to supply cooked food. Two, who will take care of logistics: coordinating the delivery of dry ration, constructing kitchen sheds, arranging for utensils to cook and serve lunch, maintaining a steady flow of wood for fuel and looking for cooks? And three, who will monitor the scheme? If the Supreme Court’s orders are to be implemented by February 28, there will be no teaching in some Punjab or Haryana schools which have just one or two teachers as they must start cooking the meal for students. Tamil Nadu is a success story but it took years and crores of rupees to perfect the scheme there. Some problems are also peculiar to states. Orissa, for instance, cannot afford LPG but has a problem of procuring fuelwood. In Punjab, though there are 13,000 primary schools, the scheme is said to be unattractive as a Punjabi boy would not like to eat sukhi roti. Alternatively, dal-rice, milk, egg, pinni, pinjiri or a toffee could help. The less said the better regarding the crooks in the system. Corruption has vitiated this scheme to such an extent that in Rampur village of Bihar, for example, foodgrains are reportedly being given away to bogus beneficiaries even though there is no school and no student! Since inability to raise resources for preparing the meals was cited by some states as the reason for not providing the same, Yojana Bhavan has said that the Centre should pick up 50 per cent of the conversion cost. It has also said that states may be provided funds in advance on a half-yearly basis so that they can procure foodgrains as per the FCI’s requirements. Other strategies include support to NGO initiatives and keeping teachers out of the implementation of the scheme. It may not be proper to question the merit of these suggestions before their implementation, but given the past experience and because of the sheer scale of the problems involved, doubts are bound to be raised on the success of the scheme. |
Task of reviewing the Constitution The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution is reportedly recommending several new provisions to strengthen and enlarge the scope of fundamental rights. The move is to expand the “freedom of speech and expression” contained in Article 19 and give a new dimension to the scope of life and personal liberty under Article 21 besides conferring certain rights to children under Article 24. The merits and demerits of these suggestions would be debated as and when the report of the commission is made public. But the more urgent need is to address certain basic and fundamental flaws in the Constitution that are detrimental to the sustenance and survival of India’s democratic fabric. Addressing the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly on December 9, 1946. Mr Sachidanand Sinha, its Provisional Chairman, approvingly quoted the resounding words of Joseph Story describing the Constitution of the USA: “The structure has been erected by architects of consummate skill and fidelity; its foundations are solid; its compartments are beautiful as well as useful; its arrangements are full of wisdom and order; and its defences are impregnable from without. It has been reared for immortality, if the work of man may justly aspire for such title. It may nevertheless perish in an hour by the folly, or corruption, or negligence of its only keepers, THE PEOPLE. Republics are created — these are the words, which I commend to you for your consideration — by the virtue, public spirit and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people in order to betray them.” A few days later, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru moved the “Objectives Resolution”, which called for a constitution “wherein all power and authority of the Sovereign Independent India, its constituent parts and organs of government, are derived from the people”. As early as 1922 Gandhiji had described “Swaraj” as merely a “courteous ratification of the declared wish of the people of India”. Visions of these two top Founding Fathers envisaged a people-based governance with a bottom-up decision making process that would give everyone “a place in the sun”. But after half a century into the working of the Constitution, the Republic of India is tottering and wavering because the “sincere and genuine among her sons and daughters are being increasingly banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate and the parasites are rewarded because they flatter the power dealers and betray the people”. Slowly and steadily India’s fabric of democracy is getting eroded and is being replaced by a system of topdown “kleptocracy” marked by slavish sycophancy, autocratic arrogance, unbridled greed and criminalised corruption. Why is this happening? Is it because of “lack of virtue, public spirit and intelligence of the citizens” of this country or is it because “the structure and foundation of the Constitution” is not as strong or solid as the Founding Fathers led us to believe? More importantly is India’s Constitution meant for “ we the people” as stated in the Preamble and whether in the constitutional scheme of things “all power and authority are derived from the people” as envisaged by the Founding Fathers? The unfortunate answer to these important questions is in the negative. Most of India’s citizenry “lack the virtue, public spirit and the intelligence” to defend democracy and freedom because they have just not received the needed education and opportunities for this. The structure and foundations of India’s Constitution are not as solid as it was made out to be and even this feeble structure has been under constant assault from the “marauders of democracy”. Most of all, the Constitution did not live up to the basic tenet of “making the people as the source of all power and authority”. Therein lies the fundamental failure of India’s Constitution and, therefore, of the many lofty ideals and pious rights enshrined therein. This is primarily because our Constitution is neither a product of a political revolution nor a process of evolution. It is the outcome of the research and deliberations of a body of eminent representatives of Provincial Legislative Assemblies, not those directly elected by the people. Naturally, therefore, the constitution making process adopted a top-down and pathwork approach and incorporated features that already existed in the various laws and statutes of the British Parliament and the constitutions in other countries. This grave fault was criticised sharply by some members of the Constituent Assembly who dubbed the draft constitution as a “slavish imitation of the West not suited to the genius of the Indian people”. But these criticisms were brushed aside. In the event the Constitution of India has centralised all powers in the government and made it a tool for the powers-that-be to rule rather than an instrument for the people of India to govern themselves. All legislative powers are vested in Parliament and state legislatures. Since the administrative apparatus and financial control are also co-terminus with the jurisdiction of Parliament and legislatures, concentration and centralisation of power and authority is near absolute. The Constitution did not provide for any system or instrument of governance at the grass-root level thereby depriving the people of any say in the day-to-day management of their affairs. Only in 1993 the establishment and election of panchayats and municipalities, respectively, were facilitated through constitutional amendments. But even to this day these entities are unable to exercise any of the powers and functions so benevolently given to them by the government! Our Constitution has not provided for the depth of people’s participation so essential for the success of any democracy. Mere casting of the ballot once in a while on the basis of promises made and manifestos issued by political parties does not “make the people as the source of all power and authority”. Constitution does not lay down any norms or discipline for political parties, who are the lynchpin of our democratic polity. Most political parties have become personal fiefdoms and a decayed version of the bureaucracy, and there is no inner democracy. People’s participation is not happening even at this most basic level of the democratic process. To add to this, the Constitution confers unprecedented security and protection to the higher judiciary and the civil services making them despotic, impervious and decadent in dealing with people and rendering justice. The cumulative impact of all this is a deep sense of insecurity among the people at large. The young and the old alike are afflicted with concerns of job security, income security, health security, environmental security and security from crime. The nagging indignity and the choking of freedom the average citizen experiences in his dealings with the government minions accentuate this. The response of the ruling elite for this despair among citizens is to heap more of it in the name of “National security” by depriving whatever civil rights and liberties are still left. The fact of the matter is that the Constitution has not performed its basic purpose of being an instrument of the people to control and regulate the government. Instead it has become a tool of the government and the power-brokers to command and harass the people the way they want. As a result, the ordinary Indian who strives to contribute his mite to the economic and social well-being of the country faces obstacles at every turn. For instance, socialism as practised is “state capitalism” and economic autocracy giving overwhelming power to government functionaries over citizens’ lives and activities. Under this system of management, corrupt and unscrupulous parasites living on others’ labour flourish and honest entrepreneurs who stand on their own feet and stick to certain principles suffer ignominies. Incompetent and unprofessional governments indulging in wanton wastages and squandering of resources are unable to deliver basic services to the citizens. The country and its people are reduced to poverty and penury, making them incapable of “realising their potential”. This has been India’s tragedy during the last few decades. Nani A. Palkhiwala dedicated his book, “We, the People”, to “My Countrymen, who gave unto themselves the Constitution but not the ability to keep it, who inherited a resplendent heritage but not the wisdom to cherish it, who suffer and endure in patience without the perception of their potential.” This will continue to be so as long as this Constitution by which everyone swears continues to be so severely flawed and circumscribed. No amount of “rights” can remedy the situation. The writer, a retired IAS officer, is a well-known politico-economic commentator. |
Whither Lohri
lustre? First the thrilling past-time popularly known as gulli-danda disappeared from our social scene. The other casualty was langri-taang (racing on one leg to touch others around). This tragic culmination connotes an anecdote in which the monster one after another gulps as his food the people of his village. When will appear the saviour is not known. But presently the monster’s death blow has fallen upon Lohri —begging before January 13, the day of Lohri celebration every year. Begging, though, is a social stigma. Yet in the peculiar Indian way of life nobody looks askance at Lohri-begging. It is not always the rupees and coins which the people gleefully give to the kiddies who recite Lohri songs like “Sunder mundriye, ho; tera kaun bachara, ho;, dula bhathi walla, ho;. “Groundnuts, jaggery, popcorns, cheerave
(small mashed and beaten rice-flour flakes) are liberally squandered to Lohri wallas. The kids shout approbation for the generous houses with slogans like “Lohri jo anna, das rupaiya le kar jaana.” And without any qualms of the conscience the same children denounce the less generous (rather unkind ones) with “hookah bhayi, hookah, ye ghar bhookah.” And nobody minds being shouted as unkind as it all comes and goes with Lohri like the lovely colours of Holi. This is not to say begging is a virtue. Nor is it intended our kiddies become beggars. But what is painful to the eye is that all that was simple, pleasant and nice is being left behind in our mad race of
mod-ism. The modernity bug has bitten us. The bug turning into monster has had the desired results. As it were, the children, particularly in towns and cities, are hardly seen on the Lohri-begging spree. Staying glued to the small screen and videos, they have no exposure to healthy modes of entertainment. Moreover, they are somehow ashamed of indulging in innocent pleasures like Lohri-begging. Thoughtless urbanisation eating into open spaces has mercilessly contributed to the malady. And the so-called convent education has not lagged behind in robbing our children of simple pleasures —all to the advantage of the fast upsurge of modernity mania. Lohri comes and goes the cycle of time goes on. But, alas: when again will our neighbourhood resound with kiddies’ Lohri numbers? Begging on Lohri days was a relishing experience for me. How nice it was to take a vigorous round of some 60-70 houses a day: What an exhilarating assembly used to sit under some street light counting coins and then fairly distributing amongst ourselves equal shares — without any twisting questions of age, caste, class! How unifying an exercise of begging with friends from all rich and poor walks of society: And today much seems to have vanished from the Lohri scene, because the Maruti pace of modernity is much faster than the tonga speed of our indigenous pleasures fed and bred on our beautiful traditions. |
Scaling down war threats Clearing of war clouds normally evokes two kinds of reactions — a great relief at the avoidance of death and destruction, and disappointment at the loss of a perceived opportunity to crush an enemy. More than disappointment, this time it has been a mix of hurt pride and a feeling of deliberately being let down by a combination of forces beyond their control. What strikes one most is the wide gap in the perceptions of the man on the street and that of security experts and commentators. The whole episode beginning with the massive troop mobilisation and the repetitive war threats by government leaders and ending with the sudden silence seem to have perplexed the common man. The mass cynicism has been so telling — among TV watchers, office-goers and those at the bus stops and market lanes. Yet this was something that totally went unnoticed. The new style of war reporting by TV channels, which at times gave the impression that the border firings had already begun and tanks were moving to blast the Pakistani targets, had raised high expectations of war. This was ably orchestrated by the dailies. Round-the-clock details of the Army contingents, the kind of arms, truck convoys, even the positioning of nuclear missiles had created a grim war atmosphere. Then we had the evacuation of the border areas and the BJP mahilas stopping the trucks to apply tilak on the foreheads of front-bound jawans. Graphics of relative arms strength and simulated computer presentations of the battle scenarios made it look like we are already in the midst of another war. Thus confused viewers should not be blamed if some of them had dubbed the sudden end of the whole war show as a “drama” by the politician. This has been the kind of reaction — apparently unreported — from the middle classes in this part of the world during the whole first week of the new year. Maybe, for them, this was like an abrupt end to one of their serials. For over a decade, the consumerist middle class and those who serve them are increasingly becoming non-participative and unattached in public affairs. Forget about the present war that never was. Even during the Kargil days, we missed the kind of surge, anxiety and public involvement one had witnessed during the wars of 1960s and 1970s. Volunteers had surged at the “LIC grounds” at Connaught Place and innumerable points to offer ready help. The contemporary middle class’ gladiatorial sports mindset makes them idle watchers of the tamasha. Our “kings of consumerism” get upset at mild inconveniences. They do enjoy the hourly presentation of the war on TV but angrily react at the pruning of the Republic Day parade. The sudden government decision to impose war surcharges has further infuriated them because that would raise the prices of consumer items. We don’t know how the voters in the four states will react to this sudden anticlimax to the patriotic fervour and war hysteria. There is a clear hiatus in the perceptions of those in the North and South Blocks and the functionaries of the ruling party with grassroots links. It took more time for the BJP leaders to adjust to its own government’s overnight decision to black out the war altogether. Many in the BJP feel furious about the manner in which the government had buckled under US pressure to call off the war efforts. These sections that echo the neo-middle class reaction, feel that there is little justification for cancelling the customary show of military might on January 26. Can’t the 1.2 million defence forces spare 2,000 men and a few equipment for a week or so for this uninterrupted annual event? Does the belittling of this symbol of national might not amount to betraying the government’s own panic? Such has been the public scepticism over an event most of us dismiss as minor. At some stage, questions being raised by these vocal but unheard sections will have to be addressed to. The Kargil war was imposed on us even if it was due to our leaders’ own lethargy and miscalculations. Was the present “war” — call it brinkmanship or any other name — really necessary to persuade the USA and thus pressurise Pakistan to disband its network for cross-border terrorism? Even if it brings the desired effect, is it really cost effective? If our case is that it has been a reactive move, could it have been more profitable to bring it to the notice of the “international community” and get the recalcitrant neighbour further exposed? Are we satisfied with the global assurances before we cried a halt to further military moves? It will not be easy to convince the people that the government was not under external pressure to play down the war mobilisation. Not only the publicity but the scale of mobilisation too was halted. The media, which had found it difficult to so suddenly lower the pitch, received frantic advice from the government. Senior newspersons and editors were to be persuaded at the ministerial level. True, the channels had done considerable damage by giving out tactical details. The heroes of the Kargil reports wanted to repeat it the same way without realising that the present battles are of a different kind. One such TV team was to be forced back from the border. At the moment, it is difficult to assess the impact of this turnaround on the electorate. But what is clear is that the alienation of the neo-middle class will be complete if the government goes ahead with its moves to impose a war surcharge. In those hysterical days, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha had valiantly announced that the “economy was fully” capable of meeting the war. But everyone knew that it was pure moonshine in tune with the political buildup. The limited Kargil war itself had cost the country an estimated Rs 10,000 crore. The 36 per cent rise in the defence outlay during the two-year period indicates the magnitude of the present military mobilisation. Pro-establishment analysts had taken pride in the strategy of putting Pakistan under additional economic-military burden. The resort to the unusual step of issuing an Ordinance to remove the cap on excise duties to mobilise funds reveals how we ourselves have become victims of this game. Aimed at hiking duties to meet the war spending and the Budget deficit, it was expected that people will accept the additional burden in true patriotic spirit. But the corporates were the first to protest. They warned that since investment plans were made on excise calculations, its sudden raise will worsen the recession and discourage foreign investors. An increase of excise without corresponding raise in Customs — WTO albatross won’t permit the latter — will further put domestic products at a disadvantage. Hence the Finance Minister dropped the original idea and put the entire burden on the public sector oil firms. Already, tax collection for the year has slipped by 2.47 per cent this year, mainly due to the recession. Each day’s prolongation of the war mobilisation and alert of the forces in the present scale costs hundreds of crores. The middle class will know the real price they have to pay for the war only after the assembly polls. |
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Study suggests low dose of aspirin for heart patients A major new research shows that people at high risk of heart attack or stroke should be given one or two baby aspirins a day instead of the standard maximum strength adult aspirin. The study also concluded that the aspirin can help a wider range of people with potential heart trouble. Aspirin is the cornerstone of blood thinning treatment for people who have had a heart-attack or stroke, but is not normally used for those who haven’t had a heart-attack or stroke but suffer from risky conditions such as diabetes, chest pain, irregular heart beat and diseased leg arteries. The research found that aspirin reduced the risk of heart attack or stroke, or death from those, by 25 per cent whether or not the patients had already had a heart-attack or stroke previously. The findings come from an analysis that combines the evidence accumulated over the years on the effectiveness of aspirin and its alternatives in staving off heart trouble. Coordinated by scientists at Oxford University in England, it encompassed 287 studies involving more than 200,000 people. The most crucial advance offered by the study is in defining the appropriate dose of aspirin for long-term therapy, said Dr Eric Topol, cardiology chief at the Cleveland Clinic, who was not involved in the analysis. Most doctors and heart specialists use a dose of 325 mg of aspirin per day when applying it as a blood thinner. That’s the dose in a maximum strength adult aspirin tablet.The latest analysis shows that between 75mg and 150mg works just as well, with less internal bleeding.
AP A ‘protein chip’ to detect cancer early developed A “protein chip’’ that detects ten types of cancer early from a drop of blood has been developed by a Chinese company. “Current methods of detecting cancers from scans and biopsies are usually useful only in the middle and later stages,’’ Dr Hu Gengxi told The Straits Times. Using a drop of the patient’s blood, the Shanghai HealthDigit Company’s patented product is capable of testing for cancers in organs such as the liver, lung, prostrate, stomach and intestine, Hu said. Results are available in as little as two hours and before any symptoms show up, he noted. The chip uses proteins called antibodies that recognise and grab hold of specific proteins present in the blood of cancer patients, Hu told the newspaper. Another technique reveals which proteins are present, pointing out the types of cancer, he said. “Our protein chip uses multiple markers for each type of cancer to ensure accuracy and can detect cancer in the early stages where it can be more effectively treated,’’ Hu was quoted as saying.
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Your Self is the support of the sun and stars, it is the self of every drop of your blood, it is the Self of the whole body, it is the Self of every hair of the head, You are this Infinite Self; you do not only support and keep up this body, but you are the Self of all space and all time. You need not put too much stress on the outward chanting OM, but through feeling you should realise, "I am Infinity, all space I am, all bodies are full of me; all desires of friends or foes are mine, all desires are mind". Here is a person of whom I am jealous.... now think "That rival I am". Give up all separateness; realise that this little jealous Self you are not. Suppose you love some one and you find that another loves the same one, then comes the thought of jealousy; encourage it not; the loved one you are, the other one who also loves the idol of your heart that you are also; his joys are your joys... In order to realise the Truth you must realise yourself as Truth. — Swami Ramatirtha, In Woods of God Realisation, Vol. IV *** I went to the gambling house where I found only pious persons, when I reached the monastery, I found all (manner of) deceit. I knocked on the door of a temple; a voice came from inside: Come in O Iraqi, you are our companion. — From Waris Kirmani,
"Khusrau and the Tradition of Persian Ghazal". *** Self reverence, self knowledge, self control These three alone lead life to sovereign power. — Alfred Lord Tennyson *** The spirit is the true self, not that physical figure which can be pointed out by your physical finger. — Cicero, De Re Publica |
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