E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

A national tragedy
The mid-air collision of two IL 38 transport planes of the Indian Navy on the Goa coast on Tuesday morning is yet another gory addition to the series of tragedies involving defence aircraft in recent months. What makes the latest incident more cruel and gruesome is the death of 12 crew members on board.

Padding of paddy MSP
It is really strange that the Centre always wakes up to the plight of a particular section of society only after its members have gone on an effective strike. History has repeated itself in the case of the farmers who have finally got a Rs 20 per quintal drought relief in addition to the minimum support price. It is just another name for an increased MSP which has been shown as drought relief only because a regular MSP increase requires the Cabinet nod.

World Cup team
The present Indian cricket team led by Saurav Ganguly is capable of winning the World Cup. Forget the disappointment of having to share the ICC Champions Trophy with hosts Sri Lanka. In both the games India, on its present form, was the clear favourite to win what is called the mini World Cup. In the match on Sunday the credit for restricting Sri Lanka to a manageable score of 245 should go to Ganguly. Until the 35th over the Sri Lankans were averaging a shade over five runs

OPINION

Gandhi & the prevailing circumstances
Relevance of his ideals and teachings
Jai Narain Sharma
Nature has been kind to India in one respect. It has endowed the country with the gift of producing great leaders in the darkest hour — leaders with the gift of grace who can arouse the trusting millions to great heights. Look at the galaxy of character and calibre India produced at the time of the struggle for Independence.

New mobile phones set to change world
LONDON: Picture this. You are on a bus, listening to music, but not on an MP3 player. A friend has sent a clip of the latest Ja Rule single to your phone. When the song is over, you load up a pirated copy of Road to Perdition from someone sitting in the Starbucks that your bus is passing.

Exercise will help you bounce back
LONDON: I had been feeling flat, bored and a bit out of the loop. It was as if the entire world was at a party, and I couldn’t find the door. I mentioned my mood when I went for a sports massage. ‘I need some va-va-voom in my life”, I said. I wondered whether I should take up t’ai-chi... But Andrew, my masseuse, didn’t think so.

EDITORIALS

A national tragedy

The mid-air collision of two IL 38 transport planes of the Indian Navy on the Goa coast on Tuesday morning is yet another gory addition to the series of tragedies involving defence aircraft in recent months. What makes the latest incident more cruel and gruesome is the death of 12 crew members on board. They lost their precious lives while the two aircraft were flying in formation as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of Squadron 315 nicknamed "Winged Stallions". Indian naval aircraft have so far maintained a fairly good track record. How and under what circumstances this tragedy occurred will take some time to unravel. We are not yet sure of some core facts of the collision. Defence matters are supposed to be kept secret till it is unavoidable. Officially, things are narrated more in a hush- hush manner than openly and transparently. Of course, a degree of secrecy in defence matters is understandable. All the same, the selection procedures as well as the deployment of certain categories of aircraft often create doubts. We are not certain whether the crash was due to a human failure or the fatigue factor concerning the machinery. It will take quite some time before more information is filtered through the veil of secrecy.

What is particularly disquieting is that these IL 38 aircraft are of Soviet origin. True, they provide strategic long-range cover to the naval surface and sub-surface units. The squadron has also the reputation of having achieved 30,000 hours of accident-free flying over the past 25 years. However, going by our experience of the erstwhile Soviet Union-made MIG 21 aircraft, with the problem of spare parts and technical expertise, which were once available from some of the republics of the former USSR, doubts are being raised about the air-worthiness of the aircraft. The Defence Ministry owes an answer to the people, who must be taken into confidence about various deals concerning the critical segments of the aircraft, irrespective of the fact whether they are being utilised by the Navy or the Air Force. Apart from overhauling the whole system of selection and upkeep of aircraft, the present accident needs a thorough probe.

Padding of paddy MSP

It is really strange that the Centre always wakes up to the plight of a particular section of society only after its members have gone on an effective strike. History has repeated itself in the case of the farmers who have finally got a Rs 20 per quintal drought relief in addition to the minimum support price. It is just another name for an increased MSP which has been shown as drought relief only because a regular MSP increase requires the Cabinet nod. Surely, the occurrence of a drought was not such a secret that it could not have been factored in earlier decision. Since the announcement by Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh has come immediately after a delegation comprising former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party head K. Yerran Naidu called on the Prime Minister, its timing has also taken an unmistakable political hue. But if the announcement of the MSP earlier had been greeted with “too little, too late” slogans, the drought relief might also end up leaving everyone dissatisfied. While the farmers have said it is too meagre, food economists are frustrated that the government has proved to be weak and incapable of taking a tough stand. However, since farmers fetch more votes than hard-boiled experts, it is the voice of the former - and politicians aligned with the NDA government — which is going to be given greater weightage. Now that their case has been upheld, without letting much of the credit go to Congress Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, more will certainly be in the offing.

Mr Badal has given sufficient indication of that. The Union Cabinet is soon going to consider other demands such as rollback of the 5 per cent increase in fertiliser rates and waiver of the interest on agricultural loans, besides deferring payment of the principal amount. With the Prime Minister himself wearing a pro-kisan pugree, it can be safely assumed that a positive response is forthcoming. There are other demands too. The delegation has sought Rs 66 per quintal bonus for paddy, relaxation in quality specifications with regard to moisture content, linking MSP to the general price index and the announcement of a comprehensive package for drought-hit farmers. Whatever may be the outcome, one thing is for sure. The tactics of using MSP as a tool to enforce the diversification of crops has gone for a six. The shift to other crops from the wheat-paddy staple will remain as elusive in the future as it has in the past.

World Cup team

The present Indian cricket team led by Saurav Ganguly is capable of winning the World Cup. Forget the disappointment of having to share the ICC Champions Trophy with hosts Sri Lanka. In both the games India, on its present form, was the clear favourite to win what is called the mini World Cup. In the match on Sunday the credit for restricting Sri Lanka to a manageable score of 245 should go to Ganguly. Until the 35th over the Sri Lankans were averaging a shade over five runs. They looked like setting a target of 300 runs for India to chase. They had wickets in hand to go for the bowling. However, the deft bowling changes made by the Prince of Kolkata saw the Sri Lankans fall short of even the five-run mark. The trademark Virendra Sehwag attack in the two overs that were bowled before rain stopped play raised visions of an easy Indian victory. In Monday's replay Zaheer Khan bowled Sanath Jayasurya with the very first ball to put Sri Lanka on the backfoot. A target of 223 was well within the reach of India. Those who argue that the final could have gone either way because of Sri Lanka's superior bowling need to be reminded of the drubbing they received in the tri-nation one-day tournament in England. And also of the imposing target that India chased successfully to beat England in England. Earlier It had beaten the West Indians on their soil to show glimpses of its potential. India came close to notching up a hat trick of one-day victories on foreign soil, but the rain gods had written a different script for the ICC Trophy final.

Be that as it may, it is now time to get down to the task of removing certain obvious shortcomings. One is the absence of a regular wicket-keeper. There is one batting slot that is vacant because neither Dinesh Mongia nor V. V. S. Laxman has delivered. This slot can easily go to a wicket-keeper who need not bat like Adam Gilchrist, but should at least be capable of showing shades of the grit of Moin Khan. Otherwise, Rahul Dravid will have to do double duty until the World Cup in South Africa. The Laxman-Mongia slot can also go to a fifth bowler. Unhappily as of today, there are only Zaheer Khan and the Turbanator from Punjab called Harbhajan Singh select themselves without much fuss. Anil Kumble may prove to be a liability on the pacey South African wickets. Ashish Nehra needs to be more consistent for sharing the new ball with Zaheer. Javagal Srinath can add to the bench strength, but should be played only if he delivers in the opening games. Tinu Yohanan and J. P. Yadav and other promising bowlers should be tried out during the home series against the West Indies. Sanjay Bangar too should be given a chance to prove his worth as a bowling all-rounder. In Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly the team has capable batting all-rounders. What it needs is another Kapil Dev for removing the obvious chinks in its armour. If the bowling remains as suspect as it is today, then Ganguly should opt to chase on winning the toss. With Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif coming at number six and seven the present team has become the best team when it comes to chasing even stiff targets. The same cannot be said about its ability to defend. Had Herchelle Gibbs not retired because of cramps, South Africa and not India would reached the ICC Trophy final.

OPINION

Gandhi & the prevailing circumstances
Relevance of his ideals and teachings
Jai Narain Sharma

Nature has been kind to India in one respect. It has endowed the country with the gift of producing great leaders in the darkest hour — leaders with the gift of grace who can arouse the trusting millions to great heights. Look at the galaxy of character and calibre India produced at the time of the struggle for Independence.

When the hour was struck the man was found — Mahatma Gandhi — the greatest of our leaders. He lit the imagination of the entire nation. He created man out of dust. He taught the unforgettable lesson that “cynicism corrupts” and “absolute cynicism corrupts absolutely”. He made us realise the profound truth that single-minded pursuit of money impoverishes the mind and shrivels the imagination.

The life story of Gandhi is of the greatest relevance to every human being who aspires to rise above the average level and lead a meaningful life with the watchword “From good to better daily self-surpassed”. Gandhi was not merely a moralist but one who believed that man has a great future and that he is evolving towards a higher and nobler destiny. He knew the power of the many vital and sensual urges of man. He has also confessed with remarkable frankness his own weakness in this matter. But what makes a study of his life most helpful is the unceasing attempt he makes to conquer these weaknesses and establish the superiority of moral and spiritual endeavour.

From an erring, faltering, stumbling youth, Gandhi rose to the eminence of being called “amoral genius” by no less a person than the celebrated British philosopher CEM Joad. This eminence he achieved not by accident or luck or good fortune but by a determined and steady effort at self-discipline. His outer life and actions were but the reflection of this inner struggle to hold fast to truth, to truthful living and to achieve good ends only through good, virtuous, non-violent means.

While he was a saint and a holy man in aspiring to be clean and pure, he was not satisfied with his own individual salvation. He was an activist of the highest order. Like the compassionate Buddha, he was inspired by the passion for relieving every kind of suffering and for wiping out the last tear from the eyes of the last man. That is why his most favourite song and refrain was, “He alone is a true devotee of God who understands the pains and sufferings of others.” His tireless striving to remove the source of every kind of suffering arose out of this extreme sensitiveness to the pain of sentient beings, of course, including man.

If Gandhi’s life, thoughts and actions are extremely relevant and useful, his teachings as regards social life and its proper organisation are equally positive and constructive. He did not even for a moment forget that man is essentially a social being. Man’s relationship to sentient beings and man’s relationship to material things may be said to be the subjects of his incessant research during a long, eventful and multifaceted life. While the fundamental lines of research, namely, the truth about the law of being and its search through love alone, were once and for all decided, his mind was always open like a scientist to new discoveries. That is why we find so much freshness in the way he deals with ever new situations.

Going along the path he had chalked out for himself, he discovered a social philosophy which could be characterised as a synthesis between the needs, urges and aspirations of the individual and the society of which the individual was an inseparable and indivisible part. He called it Sarvodaya — the rise and well-being of all. While it is the duty and responsibility of society to plan for the fullest possible development of the best in every individual, it is equally necessary that the individual render back unto society what he, in fact, owes to society. Thus there has to be a balancing of rights and obligations between the individual and society which they compose. A society will be but an abstract concept if we do not think in terms of individuals who form it. An individual is equally an abstract without a society to live in. Gandhi, therefore, gave the greatest importance to the flowering of the individual in a properly ordered society, and not merely to organisation and systems. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and a system is good and efficient only to the extent of the goodness and efficiency of the individuals working it. Gandhi applied these principles to all human organisations and systems, economic, political and social.

Man, the individual, is the centre of Gandhian system of thought. The objective is the moral and spiritual development of man. Man is primarily his consciousness, his capacity to self-conscious, and his built-in potentiality to judge between good and evil, between what will help him in his evolution to higher levels of being and what will obstruct his path. This gives him a leverage, not only to aspire after higher levels but to endeavour to attain the same. He believed in this self-effort, and the path he outlined lay through ethical, moral and spiritual disciplines. The keynote of his ethics is love, which means near identity of interest with every sentimental being, this love has to be expressed in the form of service and sacrifice.

Gandhi saw that there was enough of truth, evil, injustice and exploitation in human relationships and public affairs. He was determined that all that must go. He wanted to devise ways and means which would be consistent with the principles he had laid down for himself as being the best. He was as heroic in fighting the evil and injustice in the world outside as in conquering the evil and weakness in his own mind. The means he adopted satisfied his double demand — that they should be truthful as also pure, moral and constructive.

The average leader of men, especially in a democratic society, has continually to adapt himself to his environment and to choose what he considers the lesser evil. Some adaptation is inevitable. But as that process goes on, occasions arise when that adaptation imperils the basic ideal and objectives.

The amazing thing about Gandhi was that he adhered, in all its fullness, to his ideals, his conception of truth and yet he did succeed in moulding and moving enormous masses of human beings. He was not inflexible. He was very much alive to the necessities of the moment and he adapted himself to changing circumstances. But all these adaptations were about secondary matters. In regard to the basic things, he was inflexible and firm as a rock. There was no compromise in him with what he considered evil. He moulded a whole generation and more, and raised them above themselves. That was a tremendous achievement.

During his life-time innumerable stories and legends had grown around him. Now he seems almost a legendary figure, one in the great line of India’s sages and heroes. A new generation has grown up to whom he is a great name to be revered, but nevertheless a name. Not many people are alive who have had direct experience of the vivid, virile and magnificent personality. The legend will grow and take many shapes, sometimes with little truth in it. As is India’s way, we have already added him to our pantheon and celebrate the day of his birth and the day of his passing away. We shout “jai” when his name is mentioned, and perhaps feel a little elated in the process and that we have done our duty to him.

The younger generation in India, enjoying the fruits of Gandhi’s countless sacrifices and his ceaseless labours, will hardly know the magic of his personality. He was a leader of his people, unsupported by any outward authority, a politician whose success rested not upon craft or guile but simply upon the moral grandeur of his soul, a victorious fighter who pushed back the mightiest empire on earth without the use of force; a spirit of profound wisdom and captivating humility, armed with a strong will and inflexible resolve; a frail man who confronted the brutality of military strength with the dignity of a simple human being.

The writer is associated with the Department of Gandhian Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

New mobile phones set to change world

LONDON: Picture this. You are on a bus, listening to music, but not on an MP3 player. A friend has sent a clip of the latest Ja Rule single to your phone. When the song is over, you load up a pirated copy of Road to Perdition from someone sitting in the Starbucks that your bus is passing.

You watch Jude Law and Tom Hanks for a few minutes on your phone’s colour screen before sending the latest copy of a video game to a friend. You compete with him until an email icon with your boss’s face on it appears on the screen. You click on your inbox, read the email and use your phone to do something you used to do a lot but don’t do so much any more — make a call.

Sounds like a scene from The Matrix II? Think again.

The two most powerful modern technologies — the personal computer and the mobile phone — have been spending a lot of time together lately and the relationship is bearing fruit. A new breed of ‘smart phone’ is on sale and the phone companies, which have already turned us into contact-obsessed neurotics, taught us the joy of text, got our children mugged on the way home from school, and made us worry about brain tumours (and pay for the privilege) want us to take a giant leap into the future of mobile communications.

The new mobile revolution will be televised — in colour — on the screens of the latest Nokia and Sony Ericsson mobile phones. The handsets, supported by third generation (3G) networks, offer TV and video clips. The sound is ‘real’, turning your handset into a personal stereo. The games arcade will move into your pocket, with the latest video releases emailed to your phone. Web browsing is already up and running with your handset permanently online at superfast speeds and, as T-Mobile’s Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi remind us every night, your phone is also now a digital camera you can use to take and send pictures anywhere, anytime.

The phone companies have promised the future before, only to end up over-hyping and under-delivering. Remember WAP? This time, observers say, it’s different.

‘The phones may be small, but they are a giant leap,’ says Gareth Mason, editor of What Cellphone magazine. ‘They are new products doing new things. We’ve had the dotcom revolution; this is the wireless revolution.’ Stuff magazine puts it simply: ‘Something wonderful has happened.’

The new toys may look and sound good but, with 80 per cent of us already using a phone of our own, will we shell out for a new one? Sceptics point out that the new handsets cost about US dollars 450 to buy, with a 12-month contract, and more than $US 600 on their own. Call charges will remain the same but surfing the net will be pricey, sending a photo is four times more expensive than sending a text message — 40p per image — and transmitting video and playing games will cost even more.

Parents are concerned at the lax controls on web surfing. And while the new photo technology may be great for sending pictures of yourself by the pool on holiday to your friends back home, it will also enable your boss to see that, when you’re ‘stuck in traffic’, you’re actually still stuck in bed.

The phone companies and operators, including T-Mobile, formerly known as one2one in the UK and owned by German telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom, and Hutchison 3G, dismiss fears that smart phones are too much tech with a big bill attached. ‘Technology and consumer behaviour are always evolving,’ says Ray Haddow, Nokia’s head of product marketing. ‘In past years, we’ve introduced colour screens, text messaging, specialist ring tones and email. Consumers have accepted all those and it will be the same with the latest services. It will happen in exactly the same way that we have all moved from radio, to black-and-white television, to colour television.’

Sony Ericsson’s head of marketing, Peter Marsden, agrees. ‘Just as DVD players have replaced video machines and enabled us to do so many more things with movies at home, so people will come to realise that the days when the mobile phone was just for phoning your wife and telling her you’re going to be late home are long gone.’

Haddow and Marsden might sound confident, but behind the hype they, and their Scandinavian bosses, are anything but relaxed. For the phone firms, there is much more at stake than photographs, films and ‘fun on the run’. Their future — not to mention the future of the telecoms sector — is riding on the slinky new gizmos.

Telecoms firms have spent $US 35 billion in the UK alone on the licences to provide the new services, several billions more to manufacture the handsets and get the whole thing up and running, not to mention the hundreds of millions they are now spending on ads to convince us that it’s

all such a great idea. Steffi and Andre don’t come cheap. Add it all up and it’s clear that they are going to have to sell an awful lot of handsets.

The only consolation for the cash-strapped companies is that they have no choice. Katrina Bond, principal analyst at Cambridge-based researchers, Analysys, who has just completed a six-month study of the European mobile market, explains: ‘After years of growth, the number of mobile phone subscribers has stopped going up. Pretty much anyone in Britain who wants a mobile has got one. The use of those phones is not rising fast enough for operators to grow their business using phone calls alone, because call charges are coming down. The only way they can make more money is to get us to see our phones in a new way — as something more than just to make calls.’

If the new mobile lifestyle takes off, what do we have to look forward to? After text, what’s next? Higher bills, spam images, a video games boom, more harmonious ring tones, emails from estate agents, a battle for the rights to send sporting highlights to handsets, phone dating, interactive phone sex, more scare stories about radiation affecting the brain, and a tabloid campaign against ‘phone perverts’ seem certain.

But What Cellphone’s Gareth Mason, who has just finished a study of the new mobile future, says users are already learning some uncomfortable new lessons.

‘Deception is a lot more difficult if your phone has images and sound. If you say you’re somewhere you’re not — ‘working late in the office’, ‘stuck on the bus’, ‘at the airport’ — a simple ‘send me a picture will you?’ will expose the truth.’

Fortunately, software firms are already producing programmes that allow users to pre-record and store’as-live’ video clips of them at different locations, with sound, for emergency use. Mason also says some firms are introducing anonymous instant messaging services ‘which are designed to be innocent fun. But we tried them in the office and they quickly turned nasty. Who can resist sending anonymous messages to their worst enemies?’

Nokia and Ericsson smart phones are already on the shelves. New models from Motorola, Sharp, Samsung, Siemens and Panasonic will follow. Vodafone, BT’s 02, Orange and T-Mobile support all the whizzy new services and Hutchison 3G aren’t far off. The run-up to Christmas will be the busiest in the industry’s history, with an multi-million-pound advertising blitz to persuade us to splurge on this phone or that phone. ‘We’re going to be swamped,’ says Mason.

If the outbreak of phone wars makes you reach for the off button, don’t worry. You’re actually way ahead of the game. Forecasters say the next trend is for no phones. What better way to affirm your independence than by renouncing the mobile altogether. You’re not in? Tough. They can wait. Now where’s my notebook and pen?

By arrangement with The Guardian 

Exercise will help you bounce back

LONDON: I had been feeling flat, bored and a bit out of the loop. It was as if the entire world was at a party, and I couldn’t find the door. I mentioned my mood when I went for a sports massage. ‘I need some va-va-voom in my life”, I said. I wondered whether I should take up t’ai-chi... But Andrew, my masseuse, didn’t think so. ‘Ta’i-chi’s great for people who want to feel grounded, but that isn’t your problem,’ he said. ‘What you need is something more invigorating, like dancing.’ So I signed up for salsa classes — and got back into the party.

Without knowing it, Andrew was doing what many sports psychologists and psychiatrists are hoping will become common practice: he was prescribing a physical exercise for a specific psychological state. So, in the future, therapists may well suggest that you fight your depression with a course of kick-boxing rather than Prozac, and family doctors might recommend that you bin the Valium and take a spiritual retreat in the mountains instead.

We’ve long been aware that exercise has benefits beyond the physical ones; that activity can relax or invigorate you, and promote psychological well-being by reducing stress, anxiety and depression. Now some trainers and sports psychologists are going further and examining how to identify the correct exercise for a client’s specific state of mind and personality.

Professor Stuart Biddle, an exercise and sports psychologist based at Loughborough University, England, has researched the effects of exercise on moods. One of his findings was that if your problem is low self-esteem, weight training should be your bag. ‘Working with weights builds strength,’ he says, ‘and creates a more desirable body image.’ So the person begins to evaluate themselves less on how they look physically (though this aspect will probably be improved) and more on how capable they feel.

Thomas Collingwood, a PhD exercise psychologist based in Texas, who designs fitness programmes for police officers and problem youths, also found that weight training was the answer when it came to enhancing confidence. Anger management, meanwhile, demands bursts of explosive activity, from sports such as boxing or tennis. This is because anger stimulates the body to release adrenaline, which causes heart rate and blood pressure to rise and muscles to contract — the physiological changes required if you are to defend yourself.

Research shows that the ‘punch-bag’ method of releasing frustration and anger through hitting a boxing opponent or tennis ball, can help with aggression issues; the more active (or aggressive) sports can be cathartic and a valuable outlet, says Craig Mahoney, a professor of applied sports psychology.

Last year, Mahoney set up ‘exercise referral’ schemes with the UK’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS) in London, Northern Ireland and Wolverhampton, in the English midlands. He trained family doctors in how to prescribe exercise (‘Most of them don’t have a clue on the subject,’ he sighs), and the benefits it can have, not just on physical ailments such as diabetes, hypertension and coronary heart disease, but on mental health.

‘We’ve long known exercise can help physical conditions,’ says Mahoney. ‘Now we’re becoming more aware of how it can alter our moods specifically; how the more relaxing forms, such as yoga and t’ai-chi, can calm people down, and the more active ones, such as squash or karate, hypes them up.’

The Guardian 

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

The mind is like the lake; it is constantly being set in vibrations which leave an impression on the mind; and the idea of the ego or personal self, the “I”, is the result of these impressions. This “I”, therefore, is only the very rapid transmission of force and is in itself no reality.

—The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. VI. Introduction to Jnana Yoga

* * *

One who indulged too much in ego is reduced to dust in no time.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib

* * *

Scriptural discipline can hardly restrain one’s mind from sensual pleasures even as the fibre of a lotus stalk cannot rein in an elephant in rut.

Like an armour that affords protection to a coward, whose mind is not steady, austerities that only distress the body are of no help.

Like mercury bubbling when heated on fire, a person distracted can never remain steady even for an instant for meditation.

A group of aspirants during their practice of austerities, will find it who found to difficult to bring their mind away from sensual thoughts like bringing a herd of elephants away from the forest.

— Somaprabha Suri, Yashastilaka-Campu (10th century C.E.)

* * *

Through fasts and ascetic practices, the mind cannot be controlled.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Ramakali M1, page 905

* * *

Ascetics are nothing but masochistic people, absolutely ill, psychologically ill.... Lying on a bed of thorns is not a contribution; it does not make life more beautiful, it does not enrich existence in any way. Just fasting for months in not a creative act — it is destructive, it is really suicidal.

— Osho, I am that

* * *

A man’s behaviour is the index of the man and his discourse is the index of his understanding.

— Ali Ibn-Abi-Talib, Sentences