tribuneindia...Mailbag

EVERYBODY cannot hope to become rich. And fortunately, to lead a happy life one need not be a rich man. In this connection, one may simply ask one question and reply it oneself. Are all rich men happy? Or all poor men unhappy? The answer will certainly be “no”.

Just as physical health is maintained by following certain laws of nature without incurring any expense, similarly, happiness can also be maintained by following certain laws of nature without any cost. One has, however, to discipline oneself very hard in both cases.

To my mind, every person is required to plan his life for 100 years which should be divided into five years with a plan breaking them further into yearly targets. Knowing full well what one is required to do or achieve in one year, it becomes easy to understand what one has to do or achieve in a single day to lead a successful, healthy, happy and prosperous life.

The following are 12 resolutions which should be included in everyone’s daily schedule to be followed in order to live each day happily.

This day I shall take care of today only and let the future take care of itself. I shall take life as it comes and face its realities with courage and conviction. I shall take good care of my health being conscious that health and happiness go hand in hand. I shall not compare myself with any person whom I consider richer and happier than myself. I shall keep in mind that man of character leads a far happier life than a man of wealth. And I shall appreciate the good points of others, for this is the best investment in happiness.

This day, I shall do my work with love and do one thing at a time, with important things first, in the order of their priority. I shall adopt fair means to achieve my fair ends. I shall try to bring a smile of joy to the face of someone. I shall take some effective steps for self-improvement which will lead to improvement of my circumstances and environments. I shall not do anything against the dictates of my conscience, and while not under-estimating the importance of money in life, I shall not forget that money is not everything. My self-respect is dearer to me than money!

To put these 12 resolutions into practice is much easier said than done. But even the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step, the first one. And for any journey into the future, the starting place is only “today”.

Height of brutality

In his letter “Horrendous act” (June 23) Mr Moazziz Ali Beg has referred to the barbaric acts of ancient Assyrians. Perhaps he is not aware of such acts of some despotic rulers of India.

Ala-ud-din Khilji “shed more innocent blood”, writes Barni, “than ever Pharaoh was guilty of.” The Mongols, who had settled near Delhi and embraced Islam, rebelled against him. As a result of his terrible vengeance wreaked upon them, between 20,000 and 30,000 “new Muslims” were ruthlessly massacred in one single day.

Jahangir directed 700 men, who sided with Prince Khusrau, to be impaled alive on stakes.

Once Mohammad Tughlaq, during a hunting expedition, arrived in the district of Bairam. He told his officers that he had come to hunt men, not beasts. Thousands of innocent people were mercilessly slaughtered and their heads taken to Delhi and hung on the city walls.

The Persian invader, Nadir Shah, ordered a general massacre of the inhabitants of Delhi. According to S.M. Latif, between 1,20,000 and 1,50,000 people were butchered in seven hours.

However, things have changed after the Geneva convention. Yet the barbaric act of torture and mutilation of our six soldiers in Pakistan custody shows that this country has no respect for the Geneva accord.

According to a Hadith, once the Prophet of Islam saw a donkey with branded face. He called its owner and told him that God did not like branding of animals. But in Pakistan even human beings have been savagely treated.

On the other hand, instead of indulging in a tit-for-tat reaction, the Indian Army has, living up to its glorious tradition, given a decent burial to the Pakistani dead soldiers in the Dras sector.

BHAGWAN SINGH
Qadian

	M A I L B A G	Wednesday, July 21, 1999
weather n spotlight today's calendar