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Tuesday,
August 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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No case for poll delay Himachal’s right move Peace efforts in Lanka |
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Significance of regional parties
Signatures and scrawls
New challenges to institutions
Fewer children walk to school
Jap women more punctual than men
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No case for poll delay The Kashmir Committee headed by former Law Minister Ram Jethmalani has come out with a very difficult suggestion. It wants the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, scheduled to be held from September 16 to October 8, to be delayed to allow more time to the All-Party Hurriyat Conference and other separatist groups to participate in the significant battle of the ballot. There are certain serious problems. One, as Mr Jethmalani himself has pointed out, it is for the Election Commission to act on the suggestion keeping in view the larger interests of the nation. This, however, seems to be beyond the purview of the EC, which should be bothered about the conduct of free and fair elections at a suitable time in accordance with its constitutional responsibilities. Since there is no apparent problem in the state to prevent people from exercising their right of franchise, the EC is unlikely to oblige Mr Jethmalani. Two, his advice has come too late in the day when the poll schedule has already been announced. Any decision to change the programme at this stage will send a wrong signal to the world community — that the Hurriyat and others in their camp are capable of rendering the exercise meaningless if they so desire. Besides this, the weather factor will also come into play after October. Three, India will cut a sorry figure in the comity of nations if the Hurriyat refuses to change its stand even after the poll process is delayed by imposing President’s rule. This is too risky a game to play when the whole world will be watching it. Four, what is the guarantee that Hurriyat leaders and others like Mr Shabir Shah of the J&K Democratic Freedom Party will not make any fresh demand to suit their gameplan to keep themselves away from the electoral arena? Mr Shah has been hinting at his participation for quite some time, but he has cleverly avoided taking a stand which goes against the collective approach of the Hurriyat, a pro-Pakistan conglomerate, though he is not a part of it. His promise to the Kashmir Committee that he can participate in an election held to prove his party’s standing among the public but not in an exercise aimed at forming a government shows his cleverness. In fact, this is no promise. He appears to be scared of going against the Hurriyat stand. He needs to be told that a party’s victory in the coming elections, which will be as free and fair as possible, as promised by the EC, will also prove the point he wants to make. There was some logic in the initial demand of the Hurriyat and other separatist outfits that they could try their luck only when the poll was held under President’s rule. Now that Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has offered to resign to pave the way for a Governor’s administration if this helps everyone’s participation, including that of the Hurriyat, there is virtually no pretext for any group to keep itself away from the democratic exercise as scheduled. The talk of delaying the elections is simply misplaced. |
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Himachal’s right move It is good for the Prem Kumar Dhumal government as well as Himachal Pradesh that a way has been found in the nick of time to steer clear of the district reorganisation issue, which had the potential of snowballing into a big controversy. The major role in defusing the crisis during the meeting of the state executive of the BJP on Sunday was played by national general secretary and party spokesperson Arun Jaitley. The fig leaf was provided by a communiqué from the delimitation commission headed by former Supreme Court justice Kuldeep Singh to put the matter on hold till the delimitation as per the 1991 census was complete. Now that the matter has been put in the cold storage, perhaps the BJP itself would realise that it was an ill-advised move. Quite expectedly, it caused a deep division within the party. The proposal was seen by one and all as a result of the Dhumal versus Shanta Kumar rivalry. The followers of the Union Minister were incensed that an attempt was being made to clip his wings. They protested vehemently, forcing the government to succumb ultimately. While the move was scuttled by this tension within the party, it was an imprudent suggestion even otherwise. First of all, it would have entailed a heavy financial burden, which the state is not in a position to bear at all. Second, it could have led to many administrative difficulties. Third, it would have fuelled the demand for formation of many more unviable districts, causing unnecessary dissension. No doubt, reorganisation of the districts formed part of the party’s election manifesto in 1998, but so did the issues of OBC reservation, antyodaya scheme, the state’s share from Chandigarh and royalty from the hydel power generation. Whatever the pressing reason for raking up this vexed issue might have been, the government was only trying to put the cart before the horse. The preventable controversy that it generated should be a lesson for all. Various pros and cons need to be measured more carefully before announcing such a major step. In a way it is providential that there was a furore within the ruling party itself which forced it to retract its steps. Perhaps it would have pressed ahead if that had not happened. In future, the government should be more sensitive to the perception and opinion of the public. Tinkering with the boundaries of the districts can be understandable on administrative grounds. But if it is sought to be done on political considerations, that too without doing sufficient home work, it is bound to boomerang. |
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Peace efforts in Lanka Notwithstanding the formal announcement of the schedule for peace talks in Thailand between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), it would be difficult for one to see this as a significant breakthrough. The discussions are to be held between September 11 and 17. And the government has in principle agreed to lift the four-year-old ban on the LTTE, 10 days before the commencement of the talks. However, doubts persist on the success of the negotiations because there are several imponderables and hurdles to cross. The Sri Lankan government has been repeatedly maintaining that there was no question of acceding to the LTTE’s demand for a separate homeland. It remains to be seen whether there will be any change in the LTTE’s stand on Eelam. Of course, reports suggest that during the Thailand talks, the Tigers are willing to take up for discussion political as well as core issues of the conflict. But before that, the Tigers want the issue of interim administration along with the daily problems faced by the Tamils such as those of the internally displaced people to be addressed first. The fact that the agenda for the talks is yet to be fixed is also giving rise to doubts and apprehensions. Doubts remain whether the gap in positions between the two sides on the issue of the agenda has been bridged. Apparently, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would like to tread with caution on the issue. On Sunday, he has advocated a “step-by-step” approach for the Thailand talks between both sides. He has also counselled “patience” and said the final goal is to find a solution which will bring in peace with “dignity” for all within an “undivided” Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, what is the cause for worry is the sharp differences between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mr Wickremesinghe. For decades, Ms Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance (PA) and Mr Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP), which at present holds a majority in Parliament, have been bitter rivals. There are reports that the President might dissolve Parliament in December after completing a year in office. If Ms Kumaratunga goes ahead with her pre-emptory action, it will plunge the island into a fresh bout of political instability which will not be in the interest of peace and tranquillity in the strife-torn nation. Do the two principal political parties in the country understand their responsibilities to act accordingly? The Norwegian team needs to be commended for having put in place a concrete plan of action to bring both sides across the table. It now depends upon both the government and the LTTE to join hands and give peace a chance. |
Significance of regional parties No doubt, the NDA coalition of 26 parties will ward off with great ease the Opposition attack on it on the petrol pump scandal. If you tell a man in the street about this, he’ll give you a bewildered look and curse you in choice abusive Hindi. That gifted and highly successful politician, Mr Bhajan Lal, hit upon the verity of Indian politics when he said in the eighties that corruption was not a public issue in Haryana politics. It’s not anywhere in the country. None of the allies of the BJP is going to attack its senior partner for the scandal; they may most likely ask the BJP leadership to share the loot with them in the future. The NDA coalition seems stable. It has a President of its choice and may perhaps have a Vice-President of its choice also. It even staved off a demand in Parliament by the Opposition and, more importantly, its weightiest ally, the Telugu Desam, for the dismissal of the Modi government in Gujarat. Here the issue was secularism, an issue that arouses deep passions, bitter controversy and violence. Many BJP coalition partners went along with its senior partner on the Gujarat issue, despite their misgivings about it. Their overriding concern was the continuance of the coalition. Why do these 25 odd parties stay in a coalition with the BJP when they have so little in common with it? I believe many regional parties, which comprise the NDA coalition, are concerned about stability and it is this concern of theirs that keeps the coalition going. It is now over two and a half years that it has been in power and the way it is going at the moment, it could stay in power till the end of the term of this Lok Sabha. The usual reason given for this is that the main Opposition party, the Congress, under the leadership of Ms Sonia Gandhi, appears to small and medium-sized regional parties a poor alternative to the BJP-led coalition. The BJP is a better coalition partner than the Congress for the parties which comprise the NDA. They feel that the Congress is too domineering and its leadership too personalised to care for their regional interests. No doubt, these are compelling reasons for shunning the Congress as a coalition partner. The regional parties that came together to form what was called the third front saw how imperious an insensitive Congress was towards them in 1996. The governments of Mr Deve Gowda and Mr I.K. Gujral, supported from outside by the Congress, were abruptly denied backing and they collapsed. Much to his grief, Chaudhary Charan Singh also discovered in 1979 the duplicity of Indira Gandhi. She reneged on the promise she made to Charan Singh to support his bid for power. But is it only the unhappy dealings with the Congress in the past and the kind of leadership it has at present that prevent the larger regional parties — larger compared to so many toddlers — like the Samata Party, the Janata Dal (Navin Patnaik), the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Telugu Desam from joining hands with the Congress? I think there are other reasons why they stay with the BJP. Certainly there is the lure of power. But they are together also because they find it in their interest to do so. There is yet another reason: the realisation that the break-up of the BJP-tied coalition by Ms Jayalalithaa in 1999 was disastrous. That experience stays in their memory. The larger coalition partners of the BJP — the Samata, the Shiv Sena, the Telugu Desam and now the BSP — find that power-sharing with the BJP serves their interest. There are numerous differences among them but none of them is sharp enough to cause a rupture of the coalition. Take the case of the Telugu Desam, the largest supporter (from out side) of the BJP and one whose backing is critical for the survival of the Vajpayee government. Relations between them have always been tetchy. They seriously differ over the temple and the Gujarat issues. In fact, they hold clashing views on the principle of secularism, the bedrock of our Constitution. Yet Mr Chandra Babu Naidu hasn’t withdrawn support for the Vajpayee government because he knows that ultimately his regional interests are best served by sticking together. Rice subsidy, foreign trips for his party MLAs and, above all, power without responsibility are considerable gains for him and at no cost to himself. Why wouldn’t Mr Naidu do what Ms Jayalalithaa did to Mr Vajpayee in 1999? In March, 1999, the mercurial AIDMK leader met Mrs Sonia Gandhi over tea in a suite in Ashoka Hotel. Brilliant mechanisations of Mr Subramaniyam Swamy and Mrs Jayalalithaa’s and Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s compelling urge to be Prime Minister without the realisation that such an urge, if not tempered by hard political calculations, could result in disaster, brought about the end of the first Vajpayee government. Mr Vajpayee as a coalition leader is brilliant. No one in the Congress, with the possible exception of Mr Narasimha Rao, can match his skills. He knows when and how much to concede to a truculent coalition partner (the Telugu Desam, the Shiv Sena or the DMK), how to divide his coalition partners and how to divide his partners and the Opposition. He has always been known for his oratory, not for his skills at managing coalitions. Perhaps, this man of oratory and vision never thought that he would have to manage a coalition one day. Coalition politics is here to stay. The Panchmarhi Declaration of the Congress under Mrs Sonia Gandhi said in 1999 that the party would shun coalition politics. It sounded foolish then and sounds nonsensical now. To believe that one party under one leader would sweep an election now is an impossibility. The Mandir-Mandal divide that set in our polity in 1989-90 effectively ended the rule of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Rajiv Gandhi won the 1984 election with more votes than his maternal grandfather did, and with three-fourths of seats in Parliament. Charismatic appeal is momentary, and Rajiv’s charisma, when faced with the harsh reality of Indian politics, rubbed off quickly. Regional parties will always matter from now on, and whoever wants to rule Delhi will have to learn the skills of forming a coalition with regional players. The writer is Senior Associate, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi. |
Signatures and scrawls It has been widely known that one’s signatures are a fair index of one’s character, above all, of one’s oddities and quiddities. Handwriting experts have thus been in business in some manner or other since man learnt to put pen to paper. Though signatures have a deeper significance, on the whole, one’s handwriting too yields clues, in general. Of course, there is always an element of uncertainty about the conclusions drawn by experts. For instance, to declare a person crime-oriented, a rapist, a sodomite an equivocator etc on the basis of tentative suppositions is to abuse the “science” of lexical sleuthing. Thus, at best, any such demning is highly dubious. Still, within the parameters of our argument, we may aver that one’s handwriting (from caligraphic beauty to a serpentine scrawl) does offer useful hints in regard to the person’s writing dramatics. “Style is the man”, said the French literary critic,
Buffon. Signatures cannot, in that sense, define the self or essence of the writer in question. For style is a highly conscious, cultivated process of thought and words, and the stylistic critics find it a product of the imagination in which the medium and the message get conflated. Some dilettantes, I know, have evolved quite a complex scrawl which “teases one out of thought”. Their letters thus become an ordeal and one may have to labour to reach the message, if any. Some classes of men — bankers, bureaucrats, artists etc — manage to work out signatures that show a degree of self-consciousness. And the motives can be varied and complex. I leave all such species of signatures aside for the present, for my primary concern is with the handwriting and signatures of dotoes who, in the first instance, triggered my uneasy muses. However, before I come to that class, I may as well comment on a couple of signatures that have perplexed me. I’ve a brochure celebrating the 400th birth anniversary of the English bard, William Shakespeare. The only signatures of the great man extant — in his Will — and one or two pieces of his supposed handwriting yield little to the imagination, though that hand, we know, produced the greatest plays and sonnets in the English language. Again, I’ve with me a signed copy of John Kenneth Gabraith’s political novel. The Triumph, which the celebrated Harvard economist and one-time U.S. Ambassador in New Delhi, gave me during our first meeting in his professorial “den” choked with books and journals. That was in 1969 when I was at Harvard for a year doing my book on Henry James. Galbraith, a
Canadian, is a very tall, huge, hulking man, and his generous scrawl (his signatures, if you like) on my copy again give little away except that one begins to deduce constructions from it on the basis of one’s knowledge of his other books. And, finally, to my special misery — the prescriptions scrawled by the physicians or surgeons are decipherable only by the chemists. There, it appears to me, is a kind of compact between the writing finger and the dispensing hand. I say all this because in my 10 years of crippling illness. I’ve had to see scores of doctors. I wonder if they are given special instructions in this regard before their graduation. All one can surmise is that it’s a “freemasonry” of sorts, and none of the outsiders may quite be admitted to its “secrets”. Anyway, they do amuse me amidst much confusion. The interviews with doctors do reveal a variety of personalities — from being taciturn to the point of exasperation to the joking type that makes light of your litany of pain, when, therefore, I sit down to decipher the prescription chits or cards. I do tend to adjust the scrawl to the mannerisms of my doctors. Has “the Hippocrate’s oath” anything to do with this enigma? I wonder. |
New challenges to institutions Last week Gujarat had the distinction of being the testing ground for the efficacy of two constitutional institutions. In the first case, the Election Commission came under intense intimidation and pressure from high and mighty of the ruling establishment for what the latter alleged acting “at the behest of the Congress.” The second relates to the experiments on on-the-spot visits initiated by new President Abdul Kalam. Possibly for the first time, a ruling party at the Centre has charged the Election Commission with transgression of its authority to favour the Opposition. Apparently, the idea was to hoodwink the commission into ordering the assembly elections in Gujarat in September. Narendra Modi had dissolved the House with the hope that the prevailing communal divide will help him win the poll at a time when the other community remains virtually disenfranchised and scared. After Mr T.N. Seshan, election commissioners have maintained a high level of dignity and had averted his kind of confrontations and threatics. This was often taken as their being timid and powerless. Gone are the days when an Indira Gandhi could dissolve the House and order elections at the shortest possible notice. With her machinery well oiled — even posters with her pictures ready at all centres for distribution — such surprise polls gave her an advantage. The EC is no more an extension of the Law Ministry. The new balance of power has made them more free and bold. The present commission took two precautionary measures to ward off the charge of being politically partisan. After getting a report from its high-level team, the three commissioners themselves visited the state. The ruling party resorted to abrasive and intimidatory tactics to force the EC endorse its earlier deadline. The Home Minister himself launched the tirade by saying — mercifully since denied — that the EC had to go by the state government’s or his ministry’s official reports. But his general secretary hoodwinked the EC with the assertion that its job is only to hold the elections (as and when the ruling party asks for). This closely resembles the days of “committed” judiciary and bureaucracy which Advani himself had then assailed. V.K. Malhotra, the other spokesman, has been more crude. He charged the EC with acting at the behest of the Congress. Such armstwisting to subordinate an independent constitutional authority like the EC has tinges of authoritarianism and emergency style. President Abdul Kalam’s experiments with taking power closer to the people belong to a different category. As yet we don’t know whether his Gujarat visits were the beginning of the institutionalisation of a new presidential initiative. There are talks of a similar visit to Madhya Pradesh in early September. His interaction at the relief camps in Gujarat and visit to earthquake-hit Kutch don’t shed much light on his intentions. Is it to pay respects to his three econs from Gujarat or as a familiarisation visit? Or, as cynics say, is it only to prove that he too understands politics and the intricacies of administration and is concerned with the communal virus? Some believe that he wishes to be a people’s President and would break traditions rather than sitting in the confines of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Will he then make similar trips to drought and flood affected areas and Sati sites as a symbol of presidential concern and as a tool of dispensing justice to the suffering millions? A closer analysis of his first field visit sends confusing signals. All that is conclusive at this stage is Kalam’s love for the schoolchildren and the potentials he sees in their welfare. At Bhuj, he overstayed with the kids and then cut short the visit to the earthquake-hit areas where he spent only a couple of minutes. He had even left the Muslim relief camps before time. His adherence to a wholly conducted tour by Narendra Modi has been another pointer. He avoided searching questions when the visiting victims narrated their continuing insecurity and lack of minimum facilities. At some places, he simply accepted the petitions without a word. It is interesting to know what will happen to such petitions because they will be the main instrument through which he could achieve the objective of his inspection tours. Otherwise, it will be reduced to the fate of old raja’s ceremonial visits to his prajas. For a meaningful follow-up his office should have a special section to take them up with the governments concerned. If such an institutionalised arrangement is set up at Rashtrapati Bhavan, one will have to watch for its eventual outcome. Presidential visits to survey natural or man-made calamities are a novel experiment. It can be a powerful symbolism and an effective tool if diligently used. Disillusioned with the slippery politician and indifferent bureaucracy, such gestures could make the President a hero of sorts. This will have its own implications, savoury or unsavoury. So far, major political parties have hailed Kalam’s initiative. But this need not be interpreted as a wholehearted endorsement. Much of it has been due to its novelty. Every political party wanted to wait for the way the President responds during such visits. Each one of them hopes to use them against the respective political adversary. Had he breached Narendra Modi’s Lakshman rekha and went out of the way to make critical remarks about the riot victims’ fate, the BJP might not have taken it kindly. Similarly, had Kalam hailed the Modi administration, the Opposition might have certainly found fault with his inspection visits. What Abdul Kalam has begun is a presidential activism of the sort that others had despised. He can possibly continue with it so long as he is able to maintain the smooth equation with both the ruling party and the Opposition. There is every possibility that at some point of time the new initiative may turn controversial. Kalam’s visits have little similarity with Rajiv Gandhi’s tours to tribal and backward areas after he took charge as Prime Minister. Held in full view of the public, follow-up actions were initiated. Gopi Arora was in charge of the implementation of an entire scheme which, however, had soon to be abandoned. Each President can have his own style depending on his equations with the Prime Minister. How Rajendra Prasad’s plans for hearing people’s grievances and accepting petitions were frustrated by Jawaharlal Nehru is widely known. The argument then was that the constitutional scheme does not permit that kind of presidential activism. If allowed, it could lead to parallel power centres. The practice since then has been that the Presidents forwarded to the government whatever petitions or requests they get for necessary processing. Zail Singh has been the most controversial President with his running battles with the government which often took ugly turns. Mr K.R. Narayanan expressed his moral displeasure through subtle references in his addressess to the nation. He tried to arouse public opinion by sending certain decisions back to the Cabinet for reconsideration. But he had never sought to transgress his powers. For Abdul Kalam, the real test will come when the coalitional politics with all its inherent uncertainties and dirty realpolitik brings up complicated situations. Mr Venkataraman and Mr Narayanan had tackled them in their own subtle style. For this reason, each signal from the Raisina Hill will be seen with curiosity. |
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Fewer children walk to school Traffic hazards and long distances are preventing millions of children from getting the exercise they need by walking and biking to school, US health officials said on Monday. In the first nationwide survey of its kind, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that only 25 per cent of children aged 5 to 18 walked or bicycled to or from school at least once a week in the previous month in 1999. The majority of children were driven to school in private vehicles or school buses, according to the CDC, which has made increasing the number of school-related walking and bike trips a part of its national health objectives for 2010. Thirty minutes of moderate physical activity, including walking or biking, several times a week is considered enough exercise to substantially reduce the risk of obesity and other health problems in children. Health experts, however, have been warning for years that American adults and children are not getting enough exercise. “At a time when sedentary activities such as watching television, playing video games and using a computer compete for children’s free time, we need ways to build physical activity into children’s daily routine,” said Jessica Shisler, a health education expert with the CDC. Travel distance was cited by parents as the most frequent barrier to their children walking or biking to school, said the CDC, which recommends that children walk to school if the trip is one mile (1.6 km) or less. Parents also said the dangers of being struck by a car or other vehicle along school routes was another key reason they did not send their children to school on foot or by bike. Adverse weather and crime were other deterrents. Catherine Staunton, a CDC injury prevention expert, said concerns about accidents were justified since pedestrian and bicycle injuries were among the leading causes of death for children. The CDC said improving traffic safety by promoting use of bicycle helmets and issuing guidelines for child pedestrian supervisors could spur more children to walk and bike to school. The agency also encouraged parents and local officials to consider mapping safe walking and biking routes and constructing new schools in residential neighbourhoods.
Reuters
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Jap women more punctual than men In Japan, where punctuality is a must in the workplace and railway delays can often be measured in seconds, women are keeping one step ahead of men by setting their watches fast. A survey by leading watch maker Citizen Watch Co suggests women may be even more punctual than men. It found female workers in Tokyo tend to set their watches two or more minutes ahead, while men usually set theirs to the exact time, Kyodo news agency said. The difference in time-setting habits “may indicate that women are more mindful of punctuality,” Kyodo quoted a Citizen Watch official as saying. In the survey in the Tokyo metropolitan area between June and July, 52 per cent of 176 working women polled said they set their wristwatches forward, compared to just 33 per cent of 154 men. Such men and women said they set their watches forward by an average of 2.7 minutes. By comparison, 63 per cent of men and 43 per cent of women said they set their wristwatches accurately to the second.
Reuters ‘Dead’ Italian caught stealing Pasquale Antonino Iacopino committed suicide on July 21 and was buried by his grieving family on the island of Sicily. On August 13, Iacopino was caught robbing tourists, was tried and then vanished. Confused? Well, so is the Italian police. The saga began in April when Iacopino’s mother reported that her 48-year-old son had gone missing. The weeks passed and nothing was heard of him until last month when a man jumped into the path of a train and died. There were no identification papers on the body, but Signora Iacopino heard of the incident and feared it might be her son. A trip to the morgue confirmed her fears. Both she and her husband identified the body and brought their son home to the Sicilian city of Messina for burial. A few days later the police caught a man on the nearby island of Vulcano as he was stealing from bathers’ rucksacks on the beach. The offender was carrying identification papers which showed clearly that he was Pasquale Antonino Iacopino from Messina. He went before the magistrates who found him guilty but did not jail him. By the time the police realised they had arrested a “dead man”, Iacopino had vanished into thin air. In a bid to resolve the mystery, Ansa news agency reported that the Italian authorities on Sunday disinterred the man’s coffin and were preparing to carry out DNA tests on the body. The southern Italian newspaper Gazzetta del Sud quoted friends of Iacopino as saying they were convinced they had sighted him after his funeral. But the paper said the parents remained convinced that their son was dead and buried.
Reuters
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Problems in life will always exist, but through the recognition of your own heart a higher awareness comes about, and you are able to see a greater purpose in everything that happens. Difficulties and challenges are not there to ruin your life. They are there to make you strong, to make you experience the love of God, the company of God. Having made the right effort, you must learn to guard the fruits of your efforts with great care. —Swami Chidvilasananda, Gems from the Magic of the Heart.
*** Problems grow on mind like leaves on trees. You can go on pruning the leaves; that is not going to destroy the tree. On the contrary it will help the foliage to become thicker; more and more leaves will be coming... Cut one leaf and the tree will accept the challenge. Mind can go on trying to solve the problems, but it cannot solve the problems, but it cannot solve them... That is why philosophy has utterly failed. From Aristotle to Wittgenstein, thousands of brilliant people have wasted their whole brilliance for the simple reason that they were trying to solve single problems rather than going to the very root of all. The mind is the only problem. —Osho
Guida, Spirituale.
*** Problems are your interpretations of situations. The same situation may not be a problem to one person and may be a problem to somebody else. So it depends on you whether you create a problem or you do not create a problem..... Just stand aside and look at the problem. Is it really there? or have you created it? Look deeply into it, and you will suddenly see it is not increasing.... it is becoming smaller. The more you put your energy into observation, the smaller it becomes. And a moment comes when suddenly it is not there. —Osho, The Tantra Vision, Vol. I |
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