vikramsjn's blog

संस्कृत विवि पर बिफरा काशी का विद्वत समाज

2011-07-31T22:11:00.001+05:30

संस्कृत विवि पर बिफरा काशी का विद्वत समाज

(दैनिक जागरण वाराणसी २८ जुलाई पृष्ट ८)

वाराणसी : संपूर्णानंद संस्कृत विश्व विद्यालय द्वारा संदिग्ध दस्तावेजों के आधार पर बालकृष्ण की डिग्रियों को फर्जी करार देने के मामले ने काशी के विद्वत समाज को उद्वेलित कर दिया है। अखिल भारतीय विद्वत परिषद, काशी विद्वत परिषद व विभिन्न संतों ने मामले की खुली निंदा करने के साथ ही विश्वविद्यालय प्रशासन को अपना घर दुरुस्त करने की सलाह दी है। साथ ही शासन से यहां व्याप्त गड़बडि़यों की किसी स्वतंत्र एजेंसी से विस्तृत जांच कराने की भी मांग की है। खास कर संस्कृत विश्वविद्यालय से निकले पूर्व छात्र तो विश्वविद्यालय के इस कदम से बेहद नाराज हैं। इन सभी का मानना है कि इस तर्ज पर विश्वविद्यालय कभी भी किसी की भी डिग्री को फर्जी करार दे देगा। यह खेल विश्वविद्यालय लंबे समय से कर भी रहा है। अखिल भारतीय विद्वत परिषद के राष्ट्रीय संयोजक पं. कामेश्वर उपाध्याय कहते हैं कि संस्कृत विश्वविद्यालय भ्रष्टाचार का बड़ा गढ़ बना हुआ है। इस भ्रष्टाचार को समाप्त करने की जगह कुलपति राजनीति करने में लगे हैं। पूर्णकालिक कुलपति बनने की चाह में वह कुलाधिपति को खुश करने के लिए कांग्रेस के विरोध में उतरे स्वामी रामदेव के सहयोगी बालकृष्ण की डिग्री को फर्जी बता रहे हैं। आखिर कोई उनकी बात पर कैसे भरोसा करे। विश्व विद्यालय को पहले अपने सारे दस्तावेज आनलाइन करने चाहिए, जिससे लोगों को पता तो चले कि कितने छात्रों को असली और कितनों को नकली माना जा रहा है। काशी विद्वत परिषद के महामंत्री प्रो. शिवजी उपाध्याय भी कुलपति के कदम की तीखी आलोचना करते हैं। उनके अनुसार कुलपति को पहले दस्तावेजों की जांच के लिए अपने द्वारा बनाई गई कमेटी की रिपोर्ट का इंतजार करना चाहिए था। इसके बाद ही कोई रिपोर्ट देनी चाहिए थी। कुलपति व विश्वविद्यालय के अन्य अधिकारी जिस तरह बालकृष्ण के मुद्दे पर बयानबाजी कर रहे हैं, उससे उनकी एकतरफा मंशा खुद साबित हो रही है। कुलपति को ऐसा कत्तई नहीं करना चाहिए।इस पूरे प्रकरण से आक्रोशित काशी सुमेरुपीठाधीश्वर स्वामी नरेन्द्रानंद सरस्वती का कहना था कि विश्वविद्यालय में लंबे समय से फर्जीवाड़ा चल रहा है। इसकी विस्तृत और स्वतंत्र जांच होनी चाहिए। उन्होंने कांग्रेस के नेतृत्व वाली केन्द्र सरकार को आड़े हाथों लेते हुए कहा कि आतंकवादियों को पालने व संरक्षण देने वाली सरकार बालकृष्ण व बाबा रामदेव को भ्रष्टाचार का मुद्दा उठाने की सजा दे रही है। सरकार से भिड़ना उन्हें भारी पड़ रहा है। बालकृष्ण ने खुद अपना पासपोर्ट नहीं बनाया है और न ही अपने अंकपत्र स्वयं ही जारी किए हैं। इसलिए यह गड़बड़ है तो सजा पहले उनको मिलनी चाहिए जिन्होंने इसे बनाया है। पहले पुलिस व एलआईयू के अधिकारी, पासपोर्ट अधिकारी, अंकपत्र जारी करने वाले कर्मचारी व प्राचार्य आदि को दंडित करना चाहिए। बाबा रामदेव व बालकृष्ण देशद्रोही नहीं हैं पर उनके साथ ऐसा ही सलूक हो रहा है। सरकार में दम हो तो मुंबई बम ब्लास्ट की साजिश की जानकारी होने का दावा करने वाले कांग्रेस नेता दिग्विजय सिंह की जांच कराई जाए।

Open Thread on a midnight drama and Live Chat @ 830pm tonight . || Satyameva Jayate ||

2011-06-05T21:51:00.000+05:30

Open Thread on a midnight drama and Live Chat @ 830pm tonight . || Satyameva Jayate ||
http://bit.ly/jZFoVW
http://satyameva-jayate.org/2011/06/05/baba-ramdev/

Distractions, Delusions, and Dharma

2011-04-08T08:29:00.000+05:30

One of the biggest challenge of life is to avoid distractions and delusions, and to focus on the truth (the dharma).

Distractions themselves can be classified into good and bad distractions - however, still they are distractions.

Cricket is not even a good distraction.

Things like Cricket, and the hype, sensationalism, selective reporting, sponsored reporting by the MSM (mainstream media), is a major distraction and delusion tool, into the hands of the corrupt and selfish ones (corrupt politicians, corrupt bureaucrats, and corrupt businessmen).

So boycott IPL for Anna Hazare, for Jan Lokpal Bill, for the real Bharat.

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat.
Vande Mataram.

Life is like painting

2010-06-23T12:09:00.002+05:30

Life is like painting and not arithmetic
Create your world of joy

-- Swami Sukhabodhananda

Reusable vs. disposable cups

2010-06-05T09:03:00.000+05:30

Conclusion: Disposable cups/mugs are produced with lesser energy, and do not require cleaning - BUT in the long run, reusable mugs/cups are better for the environment, than disposable ones.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

A Yogi's World

2010-04-07T13:24:00.001+05:30

Whenever Swami Ramdev talks about yog, yogi, dhairya... he often repeats a beautiful, inspiring and a deep mantra from Veda.
Sharing with you all, this nectar of knowledge...

The writing in Sanskrit may be slightly incorrect, and the meaning too may be slightly drifted.
But the main point to highlight are the great attributes - Courage, Forgiveness, Calm Mind, Truth, Compassion, Control of Mind, Knowledge, etc. A Yogi is filled with these, and lives in these.

धैर्य यस्य पिता क्षमा च जननी शान्तिः चिरं गेहिनी
सत्यं सूनुः अयं दया च भगिनी भ्राता मनःसंयमः ।
शय्या भूमितलं दिशाः अपि वसनं ज्ञानामृतम् भोजनम्
एते यस्य कुटुम्बिनः वद सखे कस्माद् भयं योगिनः ॥

dhairya yasya pitA kShamA cha jananI shAntiH chiraM gehinI
satyaM sUnuH ayaM dayA cha bhaginI bhrAtA manaHsaMyamaH |
shayyA bhUmitalaM dishAH api vasanaM j~jAnAmRutam bhojanam
ete yasya kuTumbinaH vada sakhe kasmAd bhayaM yoginaH ||

Meaning: To a yogi, courage is his/her father, forgiveness mother, calm mind wife, truth son, compassion sister, control of mind brother, earth bed, directions (disha) garment, and knowledge is food. With the foregoing as one’s family members, why would be one afraid of anything?

Note: Sanskrit writing, verse in Roman script, and meaning take from Hindu Words of Wisdom [Archive] - Hindu Dharma Forums

The Three Types of Urgent

2010-02-23T12:28:00.001+05:30

Three Types of Urgent - Blog - Get Everything Done

tags: time, management, urgent, mark, forster
- We tend to leave everything to the last minute. They on the other hand use all the time that is available to get a project completed
- We disorderly people do it a different way – we either never get around to doing any of them, or we try to do all of them at once. Either way it’s a disaster. The orderly person’s way is to list the things they want to do and then decide what order they are going to do them in. Then they knock them off one at a time

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Another perspective on Valentine Day, and Love

2010-02-14T21:55:00.003+05:30

Not sure how you all view or consider the Valentine's day.

However, following is view of Swami Ramdev on Valentine's day.

Note, its quite unlike the absurd reactions of the likes Shiv Sena, or Bajrang Dal. Also quite unlike like crazy saviour media coming to save the unmarried boys and girls having affairs in parks in colleges; Or media showcasing the Valentine's as great event about love. Rather is much more balanced - in my opinion. Do give it a thought, and try to be aware.

Shillong, Feb 14 (PTI) Underlining that every festival signifies the victory of good over evil, noted yoga exponent Baba Ramdev today called on the people to understand the significance of Valentine's Day.

"People are adopting Western culture forgetting the real meaning of Valentine's Day," Ramdev told a press conference after a yoga camp here marking the 175th anniversary of Assam Rifles.

Narrating the story of the medieval Christian Saint Valentine who had fought the royal monopoly over marriage to establish marriage as an institution for people, Ramdev said, "Present generation have forgotten the struggles of St Valentine for granting sanctity to the institution of marriage. He used to quietly organise wedding ceremonies in the churches for the common people."

"This day is not all about fun. St Valentine spread the message of marriage not that of socio-cultural decadence," Ramdev said.

"Nor it is an occasion to flout love on streets.

To give some still more perspective, following is video of Shekhar Kapoor's interview of Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev - On Love

Related:

Understand Valentine spirit: Ramdev

My name is unique

2010-01-27T18:23:00.000+05:30

... at least in USA

HowManyOfMe.com

There are

or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Hindi is NOT the ONLY national language of India

2010-01-10T12:07:00.000+05:30

Just read Hindi is NOT the ONLY national language of India, but what a pity...

What a pity - we resort to a foreign language if the sense, meaning or interpretation has variation between a nations own language and foreign temporary language.

A foreign language English, which is actually poor and unscientific than many of Indian languages, and Hindi too. Foreign language which does not have any words for many in Indian languages, and in Hindi.

Foreign language in which deep words like Yagya are translated to just 'sacrifice', and then interpreted the same. Foreign language and culture which has no concept of Dharma, and no word equivalent or as deep as Dharma.

What a pity Indians (English word of Bharatiya). What a pity.

Just because of various regional egos, we do not have a national language, which is actually national.
TB Macaulay and the Britishers have really done a great job of keeping the Bharat divided.

20 attributes for success in every venture of life

2009-11-15T14:19:00.000+05:30

Had heard a lot about Chanakya niti, but never read it.

Then few days ago, Swami Ramdev was explaining 20 attributes for success in every venture of life. This is brilliant, so sharing with you all.

The entire Nitishastra of Chanakya in English is available at www.hinduism.co.za site

6/15. Learn one thing from a lion; one from a crane; four a cock; five from a crow; six from a dog; and three from an ass.

6/16. The one excellent thing that can be learned from a lion is that whatever a man intends doing should be done by him with a whole-hearted and strenuous effort.

6/17. The wise man should restrain his senses like the crane and accomplish his purpose with due knowledge of his place, time and ability.

6/18. To wake at the proper time; to take a bold stand and fight; to make a fair division (of property) among relations; and to earn one's own bread by personal exertion are the four excellent things to be learned from a cock.

6/19. Union in privacy (with one's wife); boldness; storing away useful items; watchfulness; and not easily trusting others; these five things are to be learned from a crow.

6/20. Contentment with little or nothing to eat although one may have a great appetite; to awaken instantly although one may be in a deep slumber; unflinching devotion to the master; and bravery; these six qualities should be learned from the dog.

6/21. Although an ass is tired, he continues to carry his burden; he is unmindful of cold and heat; and he is always contented; these three things should be learned from the ass.

6/22. He who shall practice these twenty virtues shall become invincible in all his undertakings.

Be The Worst

2009-11-07T14:40:00.000+05:30

"It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours, and you'll drift in that direction."
-- Warren Buffett

This reminds of chapter 'Be The Worst' in The Passionate Programmer...

Before starting my career in information technology, I was a professional jazz and blues saxophonist. As a musician, I had the good fortune of learning this lesson early on and sticking to it. Being the worst guy in the band means always playing with people who are better than you.

Now, why would you always choose to be the worst person in a band? “Isn’t it unnerving?” you ask. Yes, it’s extremely unnerving at first. As a young musician, I would find myself in situations where I was so obviously the worst guy in the band that I was sure I would stick out like a sore thumb. I’d show up to a gig and not even want to unpack my saxophone for fear I’d be forcefully ejected from the bandstand. I’d find myself standing next to people I looked up to, expected to perform at their level—sometimes as the lead instrument!

Without fail (thankfully!), something magical would happen in these situations: I would fit in. I wouldn’t stand out among the other musicians
as a star. On the other hand, I wouldn’t be obviously outclassed, either. This would happen for two reasons. The first reason is that I really wasn’t as bad as I thought. We’ll come back to this one later.

The more interesting reason that I would fit in with these superior musicians—my heroes, in some cases—is thatmy playing would transform itself to be more like theirs.

-- Chad Fowler in The Passionate Programmer

Loss of Lumbar Lordosis

2009-11-06T19:33:00.000+05:30

For many years, I had this problem that I could not sit for long without back support.

Since this almost always coincided with sitting cross legged, I thought that it was because I don't have habit of sitting cross-legged for long.

When I started doing Yog, I ended up sitting cross-legged long for about 1-2 hours. Overtime I also added Yog aasana into the routine, especially the back exercises. However, to my surprise there was not much improvement, thougt I had much releif. Still my case seemed that of an extreme.

So I visited orthpaedic doctor recently, and he got Lumbar Spine x-ray done. It was found that I had problem of 'Loss of Lumbar Lordosis'. The doctor, after discussion, concluded that this could mostly be because of the nature of work, of sitting for hours on chair, and not in the perfect ergonomic back support posture, and not taking proper breaks. He also told that it may set in earlier or later depending persons body constitution.

Loss of Lumbar lordosis is the state when the lower end curve of the spine (the lordosis), starts loosing its curve. This lower end curve is also called 'sway' and this problem is also called 'Sway back' and also 'Flat back'. The back is actually curved and forms a kind of spring to bear allow kinds of jerks we get all life long, and also protects the nerves running down.

He told that this problem has no medicinal remedy and solution is only Yog, and for temporary relief Diathermy and some massge/vibrations to of spine vertebrates.

So I want to share, that for people like us, its of utmost importance that we:

Sit in upright posture, with proper lower back support
Take break from chair for at least 1 min every 30 to 45 mins
Daily do the very essential essential minimum back aasana/postures - Bhujanga aasana, Shashaka aasana (these two were told by the Doctor's therapist, but there are many more simple ones like - simple Dhanur aasana, simple Setubandh aasana, simple Ushtra aasana*)
Ensure that you get adequate calcium, and also other essential vitamins and nutrients

* the word simple indicates that there is a simple and full form of the posture. The simple ones are simple for everyone. Full forms can be done by ones who do it with care, and prior experience of the simple ones, and their body has started stretching.

Take care of your back.

Affirmations for Belief Change

2009-10-25T13:40:00.001+05:30

Lately have been struggling to change myself, to bring some changes in my life, to improve, to set free of certain baggage, limitations. Was trying to figure how to create scaffold to ensure that I do change this time, and not just ride the change wave for few days and then forget.

Then just few days ago was thinking about Beliefs, and then Values and Virtues - it struck that my thoughts are working in cycles. This is actually common sense, but when one is in rushing water (life in this case), its difficult to have a clear sense. Anyway I realized it, and it felt like that instead of just reminding myself and trying to change my thoughts, I really should be working on my incorrect Beliefs, inculcate better Values, and implement more Virtues in by life.

Strangely, since then have come across lots of stuff that help me get started. So sharing all encountered till now, in the same order...

First I encountered Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) - a form of psychotherapy created by Albert Ellis in the 1950's.
Then encountered this post by Steve Pavlina - Remove a Limiting Belief in About 20 Minutes
Tried one of Morty Lefkoe's Recreate Your Life free belief change Encountered Affirmation CD site, and watched the video 'It Comes From Me'
Then also watched Affirmation 2006. It has Savage Garden's Affirmation song in background (lyrics here)

All the above set of events have been quite interesting. I went from state of cluelessness, and somewhat confusion - to sense of clarity along with quite some inspiration. Thanks to all those who have shared this stuff on net.

Hope this helps others.

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2009-10-25T12:33:00.000+05:30

Links for 2009-10-21 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 22 Oct 2009 12:00 AM PDT

What is Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)? - REBT Network: Albert Ellis | Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
whenever we become upset, it is not the events taking place in our lives that upset us; it is the beliefs that we hold that cause us to become depressed, anxious, enraged, etc.

Happy Deepawali

2009-10-16T19:05:00.000+05:30

Wishing all of you a very happy and prosperous DIWALI !!

Remember that this is a festival of light, not of sound and pollution!!

No where in Valmiki Ramayana or Tulsidas Ramayana there is mention of cracker usage (or anything such) to celebrate or rejoice.

This day should remind and inspire us to become like Shri Ram and Shri Krishna – and not to pollute and waste

Sure one may not reduce cracker usage outright, then at least reduce as much as possible.

Best wishes again.

On being vegetarian

2009-09-22T16:20:00.000+05:30

Just read this tweet of Steve Pavlina

@MetroPed Absolutely. Eating no animals means killing fewer plants. So does eating fruit since picking fruit doesn't kill the plant.

This is very interesting, and so very true.

This reminded me of a recent reply I gave to a friend on mail regarding my view on being a vegetarian.
Here it is:

My incomplete reasoning on being vegetarian….
I am not arguing you to be vegetarian, but sharing just for information sake and for the sake of discussion

the way i see it (or as i have come to believe or understand)
animals and plants both have souls, animals are more developed forms
and killing them certainly would release stuff in their body when in extreme pain
besides kiliing someone for taste is so very mean an low
plants on other hand do not always get killed by taking off fruit from them... the originating plant basically lives
btw in ayurveda they do mention animal meat for certain ailments.... but do not recomment it
and even when they recommend it they say that that animal should be free animal a happy and healthy animal only
then there is also the concept that animal food is tamsic and rajsic
I also consider non-veg or even spicy veg food to be addictions

Earlier I did not eat non-veg food just because I fealt filthy and dirty…. But then I used to eat stuff like cakes etc which may have some animal relation (eg egg used in cake)
But now realizing that consuming such foods leads to indirectly doing harm to animals…. I now have given that up strictly
An excuse is that increased no. of animals could then become a problem (a possible argument) but then there could other ways to keeping them in control

My reason for not taking non-veg food has never been religious
I have had pork chicken etc, but just because of curiosity
But I do value what our forefathers have said after much evaluation and study
And I don’t want to spend time doing the same evalutiona myself
Btw… doing kapal bhaati does bring some kind of change (I am not advocating for ramdev or pranayam), because I feel some changes in myself
Like I have started noticing more what are addictions… even eating sweets just for taste is also an addiction (in my opinion… now)

and here is one link from Steve Pavlina site
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/09/why-vegan/
this person experiments a lot , and does extreme experiments
he has read hundreds of self improvement and health books
from non-veg he moved to being vegetarian, then vegan, then now for past 1 year he is only on raw foods
and he says that his abilities have increased drastically by change in diet

I did a search of why vegetarian and of the various reasons these are the major ones
Religious beliefs is just one of them

1. The love of animals and not wanting to kill them to sustain our life
2. Environmental concerns
3. Disagreement with factory farming and killing
4. Religious beliefs
5. Concerns about antibiotics and steroid use in animal farming
6. Health concerns

btw I am also trying to give up leather completely

Effects of Cellphone tower 'electrosmog'

2009-09-02T19:16:00.001+05:30

We knew that mobile phone radiations must be dangerous, but phone companies were arguing otherwise - rather wanted us to believe otherwise.

Now here is recent study which says that not just man, but entire environment is in danger - because electrosmog caused by cellphone towers leads to destruction of entire beehive in just 10 days.

In Kerala it may wipe off all honey bees in 10 years.

More links:

Are Cell Phone Towers Honey Bees' Next Big Threat? New Study Says Yes.

Lecture: Financial Slavery in Independent India

2009-07-17T15:12:00.000+05:30

As per information from Aastha channel
There will be lecture of Rajiv Dixit (now economist & historian, but aeronautical engineer as per news article I have read) on Aastha channel

This Sunday ie 19th from 10am to 1pm
Title for lecture is ‘Aajaad Bharat Mein Aarthik Gulaami’

Rajiv Dixit used to speak in a program Rashtra Chetana on Aastha, the program was run from 2007 to 2008, and was produced by Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust
He is working full time for Bharat Swabhiman organization
Previously he was leading Azaadi Bachao Andolan, an all India organisation striving for achieving Real Swaraj.

Do your part to save mother Earth

2009-06-30T18:13:00.000+05:30

Two recently read articles about climate and adulteration…

Climate Change (by one of the best blogger on the net)
Veggies on steroids are softly killing you

Swami Ramdev has been saying one law will change the Bharat (India) in a day…

That strict/severe punishment be given to these five: Corrupt leaders, Terrorists, Rapists, Adulterators, and Pollutors.

Then he went on to say that what is of utmost importance is: Sahi ka samarthana, aur galat ka virodh (support what is right/correct, oppose what is wrong/unwright/incorrect).

Do read the two articles linked above, and become vegatarian to do your part save the world.

(Ahimsa is vital part of Ashtanga Yog)

Political parties responding to Ramdev's Swiss bank money issue

2009-03-29T21:23:00.000+05:30

Swami Ramdev was speaking about this issue for a long time now. The media reported him on this issue only after Obama got the Swiss banks to task, to reveal names and details of American money in their banks.

Google search reveals that he has been speaking about this probably sine 2005. However he has increased his pitch since Feb 26 this year - after Barak Obama's efforts to get details of American citizens money in Swiss banks.

Since that time, he has been repeating this issue very strongly. He has been saying...

“What are the policies of our national political parties when it comes to black money deposited in Swiss banks?”

“If this money has to be brought back to India, then these parties should announce that they will bring this money back to India whatever it takes,”

“This is one sureshot way through which one will know who is honest and who is not.”

“According to one estimate, money ranging from Rs.50-75 lakh crore (Rs.50-75 trillion/$1-1.5 trillion) is parked in Swiss bank accounts. So I dare them (political parties) to reply to this question. If they can’t reply that means the ranks of these parties are all dishonest, corrupt and they themselves have money deposited in Swiss bank accounts.”

“To bring about a change in its economy following the global meltdown and to bring in liquidity, the US has handed over a list of people with alleged financial irregularities to the internal revenue department. A federal commission there is seeking details of the accounts these people have in Swiss banks.”

Yesterday too, when wishing countrymen on Bharatiya new year, he once again raised this issue, and called for political parties to respond. He repeated that those parties that will not clear their position on this issue, will be the ones we will assume to have their involvement with that money in Swiss accounts.

Yesterday he also quoted the amount 72 lakh and 80 thousand, to be the exact figure of Indian money in Swiss banks.

Now some parties have started speaking on this issue. Reportedly JD-U Chief Sharad Yadav, and now Advani of BJP seem to have decided to make this election issue, and to mention this in their manifesto.

However, the it will be interesting to notice if they really keep their word after elections. But even they try to falter, Swami Ramdev and his Bharat Swabhiman organization, will hopefully bring them to task.

Testing Twitterfeed

2009-03-27T14:53:00.000+05:30

Testing twitterfeed

Jeevan Darshan by Swami Ramdev

2009-03-24T12:12:00.001+05:30

Many people on the net have been wanting to know more about teachings of Swami Ramdev – or what he is trying to do (since he is already well known about popularizing Yog, Pranayam and Ayurveda).

About 2-3 months ago, Swami Ramdev published a book – Jeevan Darshan (literally meaning Philosophy / View of Life)
This book written by Ramdev – Jeevan Darshan, is mostly a collection all that he says, and intends to say, and the thoughts he intends to seed in every citizen of India.

However, since the book is too much in demand, the ones published are mostly sent to people who are sponsoring it for free distribution.

It seems not many have come forward to distribute this book free in Lucknow.
In such situation it will take quite some time before we may get it from Patanjali Chikitsalaya. Even there, when the book reaches, the lot finishes very fast. I have information that they sent a lot at least at Risaldar Park Patanjali Chikitsalaya but it finished in no time.

So from this month, the monthly magazine of PYPT – Yog Sandesh, will have contents from Jeevan Darshan (may be the most important chapters).

The first such issue is now available on www.divyayoga.com site.
I would highly recommend everyone to March 2009 issue of Yog Sandesh.

Actually the softcopy version has always been free to download. On there site’s main page , at the bottom left is the link to the softcopy download.

I believe the contents of Jeevan Darshan will be comparable to the books like - As A Man Thinketh, and such others.
However it is actually even more straight-forward, and simple, than these timeless books.

But we only have it in part, in this months Yog Sandesh magazine
Do read it once.

Here is direct download link .

Update:
Have shared this March 2009 issue of Jeevan Dharshan at Scribd, and at Slideshare.

Bharat Swabhiman Trust's letter to all political parties

2009-02-20T17:00:00.000+05:30

Just came across this letter, sent by Acharya Balkrishna for Bharat Swabhiman Trust, to all the political parties in India: [Goanet] Fw: Bharat Swabhiman (Trust)

Reproducing contents here, incase its removed from mail archive server...

[Goanet] Fw: Bharat Swabhiman (Trust)

goasuraj
Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:06:19 -0800

----- Original Message ----- From: goasuraj

To: bhara...@gmail.com
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 7:12 PM
Subject: Re: Bharat Swabhiman (Trust)

BHARAT SWABHIMAN (TRUST)

Administrative Office: Patangali Yogpeeth, Maharshi Dayanand Gram, Near Bahadrabad, Haridwar - 249402, Uttarakhand, India Tel: 01334-244107, 240008, 246737 - Fax: 01334-244805, 240664 - Email: bhara...@gmail.com

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sl.No.: ......... Dated: 26th January, 2009

Respected Sir/Madam,

On this historic and pious occasion and in foretime of impending general elections of Lok Sabha, we on behalf of millions of nationalists, patriotic, valiant, sensitive and awakened Indians would like to know from your party which is representative & custodian of democracy in India, as to whether it will field nominees who are patriotic, honest, educated and responsible citizens or the corrupt, dishonest criminal, illiterate and irresponsible ones?

In national interest, we will fervently await an early reply from you. If we are unable to get a reply from you, we will be constrained to think that your party demonstrates disrespect to high ideals and values of democracy by fielding corrupt, dishonest, criminal, illiterate and irresponsible people as candidates in the coming Lok Sabha election. We equate such deeds as national crime.

Sir/Madam, let us admit here with both candour and politeness that if you party do disrespect ideals and values of democracy by choosing tainted, dishonest, criminal, illiterate, irresponsible and self-seeking people as your party's nominees, we will be forced to socially boycott your party at national level through all nationalist organisations and millions of patriotic, sensitive and awakened Indians under our national obligations.

On the other hand, if your party plumps for patriotic, honest, literate and responsible people as election candidates, we will act for the moral support of all nationalist organizations and inspire millions of the country's voters to exercise their franchise positively.

We only expect that your party will field candidates in consonance with national and constitutional responsibilities and welfare of the country vis-'a-vis refrain from choosing corrupt, dishonest, criminal, illiterate and irresponsible elements. You, by following the same, will be abiding by your 'Rashtra Dharam' (National Duty) and thereby protecting the pride and feelings of millions of Indians, steeped in patriotic fervor.

Please find enclosed herewith a booklet, 'Jeevan Darshan', which encapsulates the Philosophy, Objectives and Principles of Bharat Swabhiman (Trust) for your ready reference.

Once again, wishing you a very happy Republic Day.

Yours truly, For Bharat Swabhiman (Trust) Sd/- (Acharya Balkrishnan) General Secretary

Enclosed: As above
President/General Secretary
Goa Su-Raj Party
383-A, Pirazona, Moira,
Bardez-Goa
(Pin-403514)

REPLY:
(Letter Head) Goa Su-Raj Party

Dated: 7 Feb, 2009

Dear Sir/Rev, Acharya Balkrishnan,

At the outset, let me say that we have been honored to have received your above, painstakingly compiled, communication and we thank you profusely for selecting this rather small Goa's Regional Party for the same. However, what is small need not stay small forever, and we believe that this Party has the potential to be 'India Su-Raj Party', God willing.

Rank corruption and dishonesty has been the hallmark of our National Polity since its Independence 60 long years ago. But at Goa Su-Raj Party, we have come to believe that 'CORRUPTION' and 'DISHONESTY' in politics flows from two sides, (1) Through one's natural tendency to be corrupt and dishonest, to feather one's own nest and that of the next of kin, at the cost of the tax-payer, and, (2) The more sinister tendency to be corrupt and dishonest to enjoy total 'power' through wielding of 'religious fanaticism', especially when 'Religion' is termed as the 'Opium' of the masses.

The former can be easily controlled if the naturally corrupt and dishonest person or persons encounters tough stretches to trek in a more stricter, disciplined, transparent and accountable SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE, where the system absolutely refuses to be manipulated as according to the whims and fancies of the rulers in power. Example: The INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS PARTY OF INDIA. However, the later whips-up a naturally emotional passion in the more gullible and multitudinal citizenry of India through uts soft spot i.e. their religious sentiments, to attain power. Example: THE BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY, more specifically Shri. Lal Khrisna Advani, who single-handedly engineered the rise of the BJP through the demolition of the centuries old India's monument, the Babri Masjid. This small and insignificant Party has always voiced its bold opinion across the world through the electronic media that Shri. Advani belongs to the Tihar Jail for this massive crime and fraud unleased, engulfing the entire nation, and not on the seat of India's Prime Minister. Incidentally, the recent acceptance of responsibility for the demolition of the Babri Masjid by the then BJP's blue-eyed boy, now turned a pariah, Shri. Kalyan Singh does not change anything and seems to be the crocodile tears shed to open himself and his kin the endless opportunities to take this nation down. The question is 'who is going to pay for the turmoil that this peaceful nation was subjected to through the devious Rath Yatras and the subsequent demolition of the Masjid??

As a rule, this party believes that there are no bad people in this world. Only bad intensions, if one has a way to get away scot-free. Therefore, the urgent need of the hour is to lay down the bold 'system of governance' where a corrupt person/s cannot survive on the road to governance. And personages like yourselves and your esteemed organization can help tremendously, believing that your intentions are laudable.

This Party believes that in order to force the political parties to field 'clean' candidates, Article '49.O' must be implemented, where the voters have the option to vote for 'NONE OF THE ABOVE'.

This Party is also of the belief that no elected member must enjoy the so called 'OFFICE OF PROFIT' To show the way, this Party has incorporated this feature in its Party Constitution at Art. 38 (freely available to download from the party's website www.goasu-raj.org.) Also, as a glaring example of abuse of this is the resignation of Ms. Sonia Gandhi as the elected MP, recontesting from the very same constituency and getting re-elected, has made no sense where crores of ordinary tax-payer's hard-earned money has been splurged on this unnecessary election, only for her eminence to have saved her 'Office of Profit' and avert disqualification.

The other aspect of the electoral reforms badly needed to cleanse India's polity is " NO SECOND TERM " If this is incorporated, the ever pervasive 'vote- bank- politics' will vanish from the sacred soil of Bharat before anyone can say 'Jack-Robins'. This party has institutionalized the 'No Second Term', where the second term will be allowed only if the constituents so desire. But at no time a 'Third Term' is allowed. This provision will also help bring out young leadership to the fore which always remains frustrated for want of openings.

Your good intentions in circulating the above 'threat' to political parties of the nation is most lauded. We only hope that you will consider that 'CORRUPTION' and 'DISHONESTY' also emanates from acutely fanatical religiosity. India is a declared secular state where every religion has the right to exist and/or propagated with constitutional provisions to arrest misuse thereof. Your vast organization must ensure that RELIGION DOES NOT MIX WITH POLITICS such as what we have experienced at Ayodhya and Godra and now in the recent days at Orissa and Karnataka. After all, citizens of this great nation called India are the integral part of this nation and cannot be, and must not be, discriminated against if this nation has to grow to its ultimate potential to be the SUPER POWER of the world.

Nothing contained in this communication must be taken as offensive and intentionally one-sided. This Party has come into being to prove to the world that 'Politics of Governance' can also steer away from 'Politics of Religion' and remain even-handed.

Thanking you,

Yours truly,

Sd/-

(Floriano LObo)
Gen. Secretary/Spokesperson.

PS: We shall be pleased to go through the Organization's booklet in due course of time.

--------------------------------------------------------------
---Wanted for Goa---
honest ' fighters '
NOT honest ' hypocrites '

Contact:
goasuraj
(The Recruiting Agents)
9890470896

www.goasu-raj.org

America going Swadeshi

2009-02-15T11:49:00.002+05:30

Reading US senate imposes strict conditions on H-1B hiring in TOI, should not this be called the Swadeshi policy of America.

In another news G7 pledges to avoid protectionism, US Congress approved an $787bn economic recovery plan that includes a 'Buy American' clause.

Sure this indicates USA is going the Swadeshi way.

Related:

Bharat Swabhiman Trust - Structure, Plan, Objectives & Norms

2009-02-15T10:17:00.001+05:30

In case anyone is interested, and in case anyone is having difficulty locating Bharat Swabhiman Trust details (which was recently started by Swami Ramdev), here is the link to the webpage on Divya Yog site.

At the end of this page, there is link to PDF form to join Bharat Swabhiman Trust, to work with Swami Ramdev, and PYPT to do your bit to eradicate corruption.

Coke and Pepsi are Toilet Cleaners

2009-01-11T16:08:00.001+05:30

Swami Ramdev has been telling us for years that Coke and Pepsi are toilet cleaner. Now folks at lifehacker have reported that this has been documented at WikiHow.

One my senior colleague also told me that people in UAE also use Coke and Pepsi to clean car tyres.

Its pathetic, that this dangerous acidic and bone dissolving stuff is made and marketed with such fanfare and millions are spent on its marketing. And the governments throughout the world do not stop it because they are kept satisfied.

Thanks to Swami Ramdev, millions of people in India have almost given up Coke and Pepsi and such other western junk food. There are still many many more millions who still consume this toilet cleaner. Also thanks to lifehacker and wikihow, now many more will leave coke and pepsi

Raj Thackereys role on latest terror attack on Mumbai

2008-11-28T12:41:00.001+05:30

Some interesting tweets on Raj Thackerey's role on latest terror attack on Mumbai:

Raj Thackeray and his MNS comandos want to take over the operation in Mumbai, since the Army, Navy,Air and the NGS are not Marathis.

My wife suggests to send MNS for the terrorist operation. She doesnt realise that they only attack poor taxi drivers.

Where is the caretaker of Mumbai ,Raj thackerey today? Does he and his men act only when people speak hindi in Mumbai?

Via Where is Raj Thackerey When Mumbai is Bleeding

CNN-IBN a pack of cheats, liars, and traitors

2008-11-13T23:53:00.010+05:30

Long time ago when Rajdeep Sardesai used to host Big Fight, I used to find his feat interesting. However, I never liked the term or approach - pitching people against each other, where not much conclusion was arrived. I always considered it to be sort of cock-fight of politicians and outspoken people, and an interesting means for the news channel to increase viewers. The positive side was that audience could some information, and how these leaders look like mud-slinging on each others, and some of their arguments.

However I always had typical feeling about Rajdeep Sardesai. He was impressive, but doubtful.

Now its becoming clear. Time and again he is proving that he is a cheat, and a liar. He believes in sensationalism, and seems to have sold himself.

When CNN-IBN was started, it looked nice and I expected that they will raise the bar, and will show what is good journalism. Then as time passed they proved that the channel is still following the sesationalism philosophy of Rajdeep. This time his wife Sagreeka Ghosh too has added to destructive mission.

What do I have to prove my point? To start with they selectively report and distort, to achieve their purpose. If I go about detailing such cases then I will have to run a blog for just that.

Here, however, is one of various extreme case that must have made everyone very angry - Indian Mujahideen and other terrorists have been using Urdu/Arabic, and text from Kuran, to declare/demand law of sharia. However only a single case where Hindus are involved has hardly surfaced, and still not proved, that CNN-IBN is doing what these brutals have been doing - its trying to associate Hindu rather Vedic icons and symbols to terrorism.

I would not shy from saying that CNN-IBN has evil and partisan designs behind this. They never flashed Muslim Terror, or Green Terror through the various other terrorists attacks (I certainly agree with Muslims who are annoyed that Muslims are linked to terrorism and terrorists have no religion, but there the case is lot different. There terrorists quote and relate and take inspiration from Jihad, a concept in Kuran, probably misunderstood or incorrectly applied by the such terrorists). However Hindus were primarily never involved in terrorism, nor do they ever relate terrorism to their religion because Hindu religion firstly does not have a concept like Jihad, and on the contrary it has concepts to uphold the Rashtra.

CNN-IBN is trying to link the two - vedic icons/concepts and terrorism. The above image shows as if Hindu Terrorists are using the OM symbol in their work - which is absolutely incorrect. This shows the extent to which the media, has degraded and stooped - particularly this CNN-IBN of Rajdeep Sardesai.

Just for the fact, site search of CNN-IBN does reveal articles with the words Muslim Terror, but only in conversations, whereas here the channel is working hard to coin the term Hindu Terror and linking Saffron color with terror by coining the term Saffron Terror. Never was Green Terror, or Muslim Terror was used with such zeal by CNN-IBN as now they are doing to link word Hindu with terror.

Rajdeep Sardesai, if you ever read this, shame on you. You are so very pathetic and such a dreaded evil minded person.

Update:
Note how Rajdeep Sardesai makes a point to mention the word Saffron Terror. When in conversation with Hemant Karkare he first used word Terror then repeated to mention Saffron Terror.

Note how CNN-IBN overreactively and zealously want to link terror with Hindus. Just a red line on hazy picture of one of Mumbai Terror attack terrorists is interpreted by CNN-IBN if that could be linked to Hindus. Pioneer later clarified that the terrorists used vermilion and red thread to show off that they were Hindus, to escape Police suspicion, when entering India from sea route.

Note how desperately CNN-IBN want to link Karkare's death with Malegoan investigations, rather wants to blame it on Malegoan investigations. Whereas it could equally be possible that he may have been in political pressure too.

Related:

Person - Character - Decisions

2008-11-02T10:04:00.006+05:30

मनुष्य का चरित्र उसकी क्षमता से नही अपितु उसके सन्कल्प से अभिव्यक्त होता है ।

In English,

A person's character is revealed by his decisions, and not by his abilities. or

A person's character is not revealed/determined by his abilities, but by his decisions.

Don't know who said it first, but heard it first from Swami Ramdev, and then also from some articles on internet.

MF Husain should be behind bars

2008-11-02T09:47:00.006+05:30

Like many other Indians and Hindus today, I too have been an ignorant for many early years of my life. I am sure that I still am ignorant, but I am waking up to the reality.

One such issue is the entire case about MF Husain's paintings.

About a two years ago, I used to think that Hindu fundamentalists and dividing politicians are against MF Husain for his paintings. However, there was always a curiosity to actually see why there is so much an issue about his paintings. But the busy-ness of life, and the struggle around kept me from actually figuring and going to the root of the issue.

Then I came across Husain's pictures on Hindu Janjagriti Samiti, and Sanatan Sanstha (here) - and I was shocked. The obscene rendering of Hindu deities and Gods, shows (as I believe) that MF Husain is really a sick person. If not sick then he certainly has malafide intention. I am surprised that this person is not behind bars, and still more surprised that media, artists and some elite support him. As far I can understand at this point of time, and by what I have seen, all such work of MF Husain should be burned, and this person anyway be put behind bars, or sent to mental asylum and given some treatment for his sick mind.

Another proof that Christian organizations are targeting Hindus

2008-11-01T10:01:00.006+05:30

I am 34 years of age, and till the first 32 years of my life I have been mostly ignorant of the Christian aggression to convert, and subvert other religions and such concepts.

Passing by couple of sites today I again found mention of 'Southern Baptist Mission'. This and many such names have come time and again in mention on various sites, regarding Christian aggression to convert and intolerance towards other religions.

I was not sure if all the news was true.

So when today I encountered article Diwali: Satanic Baptists want to proselytize, conquer, convert, and subjugate Hindus, quoting Washington Post 1999 issue, I decided to verify - and it was true.

So now I am sure, and can tell to everyone with still more surety and proof that Christian organizations have evil designs, and there true mission is to convert increase their number. In this process they demean other religions, and even promote terrorism.

Please note I am not saying this of the common Christian man. I am not saying anything against Jesus Christ. Christ was certainly a very great person, and we respect him as we respect Shri Ram or Shri Krishna, but the theology or may be the concept that has been developed in Christianity after Christ is leading to division, is dividing, and breaks societies/countries.

Here is the abstract from Washington Post (and search query)...

Southern Baptists, Expanding Effort, Target Hindus for Conversion
Article 3 of 6 found
Hanna Rosin Washington Post Staff Writer
October 21, 1999; Page A19
Section: A Section
Word Count: 424
The Southern Baptists expanded an aggressive new proselytizing campaign this week, publishing a short prayer book aimed at converting Hindus to Christianity. The prayer book is the second published by the Southern Baptists' International Mission Board this year, and has again provoked charges of arrogance and religious insensitivity. Last month, leaders of the nation's second-largest denomination offended Jewish leaders by distributing a book urging its members to
Click for complete article

Goa Inquisition

The Kandhamal Issue

2008-10-11T09:43:00.003+05:30

These days media is also one of the problem. They escalate, overblow, amplify issues. Besides, they report partially and with bias. Only occasionally there is fair and positive coverage of issues.

I just came across a brief yet good article on the Kandhamal issue Talk It Out. Reproducing here (emphasis mine).

Fri, 10 Oct, 2008,03:15 PM

The problem in Kandhamal district of Orissa is two-dimensional.

One is communal and the other is social.

The communal side of the issue is that the unabated evangelisation perpetrated by the Church & Missionaries in the name of freedom to propagate their religion is a sheer abuse of the Constitutional provisions. The social side is the demand of the converted ‘Pana’ Scheduled Castes for the ‘tribal’ benefits enjoyed by the ‘Kandh’ Scheduled Tribes.

It is not fair on a Scheduled Caste community to claim the benefits, which are enshrined only for Scheduled Tribes, just because they speak the same language.

Also when the Church & Missionaries commit themselves that they would provide education, employment and health care and convert the Pana SCs, they do it in the name of ‘equality’.

Instead of living up to their commitments, the Church apparently instigates the converted Panas to demand the ST benefits on par with the Kandhs. So, it not unnatural for the Kandhs to feel agitated.

The evangelical missionaries, with the help of hired Maoists, are reprtedly instigating riots, as they fear the reconversion of Panas to Hinduism, especially after the sustained social service undertaken by Hindu social organisations and religious leaders.

This is what lead to the brutal murder of Swami Lakshmanananda after several attempts before. This heinous murder of a nonagenarian Swami and his four disciples on the auspicious day of Krishna Jayanthi landed as a huge assault on the pride & self-esteem of the Hindu tribes, who had been revering him.

When a spontaneous retaliation occurred, the Church and Missionaries, tacitly resorted to internationalise the local issue and gain sympathy from western countries by playing ‘victims’. As the ‘secular’ media has also been projecting only one side of the story, the complex catena of events has been mis-presented.

Anarchy will prevail as long as the laws are violated and the Constitutional provisions are abused. Abusing the freedom to propagate religion, converting people en masse through allurement, coercion and deceit, denigrating Hinduism and demanding reservation benefits on religious grounds are some of the violation of laws and once such violations are stopped peace will automatically return.

The Christian leadership must recognise the root cause of the problem, identify the foreign-funded rogue organisations within their community, which indulge in irresponsible evangelisation and prevail upon them for a peaceful solution.

Having this in mind, the opposition leader L K Advani has taken the initiative of starting the dialogue process, when he met Archbishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi, Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Orissa, Rev Dominic Emmanuel of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese and Swami Chidanand Saraswati of Paramarth Niketan, Rishikesh, on Wednesday, proposing an inter-faith dialogue to prevent the recurrence of inter-community conflict.

The joint statement appealing for peace and dialogue seems to be encouraging; the Catholic Leaders must show sincerity and seriousness in addressing the root cause of the issue and reining in the evangelical businesses. The opposition leader has done what the Prime Minister has failed to do and he needs to be appreciated for that.

The central government must grab this initiative shown by the opposition leader as a good opportunity and continue the peace process by cooperating with Advani instead of trying to find fault with the Orissa government. The Advani initiated dialogue process must proceed towards achieving the objective pf peace and tranquility for people.

Shiva's dance is the dance of subatomic matter

2008-09-14T11:23:00.007+05:30

Via Satyamave Jayate just came to know that CERN has 2m tall Shiva Nataraj (the Lord of Dance) statue.

The parallel between Shiva's dance and the dance of subatomic particles was first discussed by Fritjof Capra in an article titled "The Dance of Shiva: The Hindu View of Matter in the Light of Modern Physics," published in Main Currents in Modern Thought in 1972. Shiva's cosmic dance then became a central metaphor in Capra's international bestseller The Tao of Physics, first published in 1975 and still in print in over 40 editions around the world.

...

More recently, Fritjof Capra explained that "Modern physics has shown that the rhythm of creation and destruction is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons and in the birth and death of all living creatures, but is also the very essence of inorganic matter," and that "For the modern physicists, then, Shiva's dance is the dance of subatomic matter."

It is indeed as Capra concluded: "Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics."

Another serial bomb blasts

2008-09-13T20:30:00.015+05:30

Another series of terrorist bomb blasts in one of the major city of India, and the present (weakest, and may be most stupid and disabled) PM condemns blasts and appeals for calm.

Every time there are terrorist attacks the present ruling party Congress leaders just go about condeming the attacks. They do not have any guts to say a word against the attackers - Indian Mujahideen, SIMI, and such organizations.

Condemning and just appealing for calm from citizens, who remain calm anyway is not going to solve this problem Mr Poor Chicken Hearted Cheat and Pseudo Secularist PM - hang terrorists like Afzal Guru instead of appeasing to maintain your votes.

The fact that Gujrat Police has had success against terroists there, proves that they are able, but Congress/UPA does not seem interested in working for the solution - they are against federal organization to deal with terroists and terrorism, and are also against giving authorities to states. This clearly shows that Congress/UPA, to secure votes, is down to such levels. I would say that Congress/UPA is now Anti-Nation - they themselves are good enough as terrorists (because they support them).

Swami Ramdev once mentioned that great Sanskrit philosopher poet Bhartrihari (brother of King Vikramaditya) called Politics to be a Vaishayaa (prostitute) - now I can actually see why. The bastardly acts of these politicians will bring this great country down, unless we take charge, and bring the real bastard (the corrupt, pseudo-secular, minority appeasing, and bank caring) politicians to task - and this will have to start with voting UPA out.

Acorn interesting, rather aptly, calls Shivraj Patil and Manmohan Singh mujra-hideen - who do tired old routine after mujahideen do theirs.

Prudent Indian says that zombie Shivraj Patil is more dangerous than Afzal Guru.

SWARAJ has a post, not related to terrorism, indicating that this behavior of governments is because of Communal Socialism.

Related:

Yet another post that India presently is plagued by Pseudo-Secularism

2008-07-05T09:51:00.002+05:30

And that Congress, Communists, PDP, and media are all party in it:

Amarnath Atrocities Hurt Hindus

Haj Pilgrims vs Amarnath Pilgrims India

2008-07-05T09:44:00.000+05:30

Dissecting biased Guardian article about Ramdev

2008-06-23T23:21:00.010+05:30

I was not satisfied by my previous post, in response to article about Ramdev in Guardian written by Randeep Ramesh.

What I reported in previous post was true as it happened to me. But I felt that article on Guardian written by Randeep Ramesh needs to be examined and responded more closely. Primarily because it seems to have some malicious intentions, of spreading lies, and developing incorrect opinion against Ramdev.

So here I go again...

Please note: I could actually go on here giving cases and proving the writer wrong, but I will restrict myself to the minimum, because otherwise this will be a very long post. And also because there is lots of lie in the Guardian article to respond to.

Writer states 'commanding the rapt attention of 500 devotees of his brand of yoga'

Ramdev never said it’s his brand of Yoga. He repeats this again and again that what he has received and learned he is simply sharing it with the masses. He mentions time and again that all that is good in him is because of his guru, and his weaknesses are his own. He mentions time and again that his intellect has developed only after studying numerous Vedic scriptures from his guru. He gives all credit to Patanjali writer of Yoga Dharshan and Maha Bhashya. He says this time and again and just recently too in a broadcast on Aastha Channel he was saying to all that never say 'Ramdev ki jai' instead always say 'Bharat Maata ki jai'. He always calls himself ‘kinchan fakir’.

Writer states 'crowd is made up mostly of middle-class Indians, many suffering from chronic conditions for which traditional medicine has little to offer but comfort'

Yes this is true that his gathering has mostly middle class Indians. But writer does not mention that there are many upper middle class Indians too attending his camps.. It seems that intention of the writer is to indicate that middle class Indians don't have proper understanding and easily fall prey to babas. Let me mention that on the inauguration of Yog Gram Brij Mohan Munjaal, Chairman of Hero Honda was also present. He lauded the great and immense effort of Ramdev and Acharya Balkrisna and PYPT. The writer of the article does not mention at all (probably intentionally) that at least a significant land for Yog Gram has been provided by a Muslim plant chemistry scientist Mr Farrukh and his brother. They both were present at the inauguration, and lauded the tremendous and relentless efforts of Ramdev to spread awareness about health and Yoga. Mr Farrukh is an intellectual and not just another middle-class Indian as writer of guardian.co.uk article wants to project.

Now about that 'traditional medicine has little to offer'

Reframing this phrase, actually the writer intends to say that Ayurveda and Yoga have little to offer, except comfort.

First off, the writer hasn't provided any proof or data on this. On the contrary, there is tremendous knowledge and evidence that Allopathic or Modern Medical treatments are not always correct. They mostly try to suppress the problem, instead of resolving it. Modern approach relies heavily on scientific approach, and totally ignores the vast amount of knowledge that is there in the ancient scriptures.

Just making up a smart sounding statement does not prove any point.

To give just one example from an old book, in Penguin published book of 'Ayurveda and Longevity' Robert E Svoboda (himself an Ayurveda Vaidya and Acharya, and now also studying Chinese medicine system) states a case where he himself saw a Cancer patient being treated and then cured by Ayurveda.

Writer mentions 'Each "patient" has paid 7,000 to 40,000 rupees (£90 to £500) to be among the first to spend a week at the swami's newest venture'

Yes this is true that the minimum amount to be paid is 7000, but there is doubt in what writer mentions about the maximum amount to be 40000. Further, www.divyayoga.com site clearly states that the maximum amount is 21000, then could this amount of 40000 really be true. May be this amount of 40000 is for NRIs, who can actually donate more than those in India - if this is true then it should have been clearly stated.

Besides writer does not at all mention the facilities being provided there. As far as I know they will be conducting all the necessary and certain special tests before the start and just before the completion of the camp. Of these some will be costly. Secondly they are also providing consultation with Vaidyas during the camp, and also regular monitoring of there medical condition by Allopathic doctors too. Those attending the camp will also be provided with proper, nutritious and organic diet, as per persons requirement and health. Where on earth can you get such elaborate treatment for just 7000 Rupees.

Besides those who pay 15000 or 21000 at times also do it as a donation or contribution to the noble cause. So that Ramdev gets more money to spend on research and to improve health of people in India. Please remember that the allopathic or regular doctors give advice only when the problem/ailment has occurred to a person, and is ready to pay for consultation fee. Whereas Ramdev is making people aware to take care of their health daily without charging anything. The various Patanjali Yog Chikitsalaya across country too do not charge a dime for consultation.

Writer also does not mention that Ramdev has been working relentlessly to make people aware about health, yoga, and nationalism for 14 years (his organization is 14 years old). If nothing he has been aggressively and relentlessly working for this aim for past 5 years - this is the time since I have been noticing him.

Initially I used to think that Ramdev has only Yoga to offer. But he has well spent the collected money. By opening Patanjali Yoga Chikitsalaya, starting this Yog Gram, and also numerous programs on Aastha on Veda, Updanishad, Dharshan, Sanskaar. As far as I know, it is in the history of television for the first time that such great and enlightening programs are being telecast about Veda, Updanishad, Darshan, Sanskaar. But the writer probably is just not aware of all this, because he simply projected his own prejudice, suspicion, opinion and intentions in his article.

I will give my own example in more detail, I attended Ramdev's camp in 2003, and donated only Rs 100 for an 8 day camp - is it too much? Thereafter I again attended his camp in Lucknow in 2007, and minimum donation amount was still Rs 100. Last year July he started these great programs on Aastha about Veda, Upanishad, Darshan, and Sanskaar - these have simply changed my life. These have brought me out of frequent depression, occasional low self-esteem, and self-doubt, and have made me realize the great texts of India - is it less? It is after watching these great programs for about over 3 months that I realized the great work and wonderful application of money Ramdev is into. Now soon I will be contributing at least 11000 to PYPT, or may be I will attend his camp in Yog Gram for 7000 - so won't that be really called a donation.

Swami Ramdev's pitch is that pranayama, the ancient Indian art of breath control, can cure a bewildering array of diseases. "Asthma, arthritis, sickle-cell anaemia, kidney problems, thyroid disease, hepatitis, slipped discs - and it will unblock any fallopian tubes,"

Yes, this is certainly disputed, and is probably the only issue of dispute against Ramdev's claims. However there is lots of information not mentioned here. I don't remember the exact year, but sometime in 2005 or 2006 a special small camp was organized in Lucknow where SGPGI doctors conducted a controlled examination regarding the improvements to the patients. The findings were that Yoga and Pranayam has major success in resolving high blood pressure, depression, kidney problems like very high cretanine, and also heart problem by reducing cholesterol. The results were made public.

Thereafter the second camp in Lucknow also had SGPGI doctors examining select (about 25 patients) and the result were similarly positive and substantial. This is great in itself. Yes it has been known for years that Yoga is helpful in BP and heart problems, but how many were really well aware of this fact. People were becoming lazy and depending completely on allopathic medication and taking BP tablets for years. Last year my uncle suddenly passed away at just age of 55, he was taking BP and cholesterol and other such tablets for years. My another uncle took these tablets for an year and now has complications, for which he again had to take medication.

Moreover, almost every camp of Ramdev has people reporting that their asthma and arthritis thyroid is getting cured - but firstly they are not his agents or anyway related to Ramdev, secondly many have also taken Ayurvedic medicine from his Patanjali Yoga Chikitsalaya. Thirdly many come with before and after reports. Fourthly Ramdev is working to get those cured scientifically examined to further substantiate and support these claims, and this is the purpose of Yog Gram, where various pathological tests and other test machines are being used.

Almost all his congregation have been drawn through his shows on India's Aastha channel

Now this too is partial and incomplete information. Writer seems to indicate that there is some alliance between Ramdev and Aastha - well maybe, but what’s wrong in this. At least they are showing what is good, increasing awareness of people towards Yoga and health and good behavior and patriotism. Certainly this is thousand times better than Saas-Bahu serials. Secondly he is not just getting congregations through Aastha, but also giving in return of what he has received, for example the Veda, Upanishad, Darshan, Sanskaar programs.

Every morning, the swami appears on television chanting prayers and explaining that ailments, physical and mental, can be treated by what looks like little more than sharp intakes of air and painful-looking body contortions

Again... firstly he just doesn't chant some arbitrary prayers, he chants prayers, rather mantra and shlokas from Veda, and he also explains their meaning. Secondly he doesn't just explain that ailments physical and mental can be treated but also provides lots of other useful health related information and asks to stay away from unhealthy food habits, and unhealthy living. He also provides information about self and personal improvement, and also asks people to give up tobacco, drinking liquor and cigarettes. He also asks them to be patriotic and nationalistic and to not be divided by beliefs, and regions and color and to think and live for the nation. To quote one of his oft repeated statement 'हर व्यक्ति यह सोचे मैं एक व्यक्ति नहीं मैं भारत हूँ । मैं एक व्यक्ति नहीं मैं एक संस्कृति की अभिव्यक्ति हूँ । मैं जागता हूँ तो भारत जागता है । मैं चलता हूँ तो भारत चलता है । ' (Everyone should think that I am not just a person but I am Bharat, I am not just a person but I am expression of Bharat's sanskriti, When I wake my country will wake, when I move ahead Bharat will move ahead)। Ramdev time and again repeats that no one should think negative not even for a moment। He repeats time and again to not be afraid even for a moment, and to have full faith and love for God Almighty.

what looks like little more than sharp intakes of air and painful-looking body contortions

This is a big lie - none of these intakes of air are supposed to be sharp, nor any of these is painful. Pranayam is not aerobics, nor it is aasana, or streching exercise that may tire a person. I myself can do pranayam for hours without getting tired. It rather improves concentration and is just a regulated and careful method of breathing - especially the way it is taught by Ramdev, where he clearly states that no one should ever hold his breath during pranayam.

As I have mentioned above the writer has just projected his prejudice, intentions and opinion in the article written by him. I will not be surprised to know if he was paid to do so, or has such other malicious intentions. In fact just by this one article Randeep Ramesh has lost his credibility. I will never ever believe his reports/articles and will always be suspicious of articles on Guardian.

Conclusion

I am not even half way through this Guardian article, and can see that this is full of lie, misinformation, prejudice, and intentions to spread FUD. I have already written a lot, and can still go on, and still have lot more information to share about good things being done by Ramdev. May be I will come back with part 2 of this article, but I will finish for now.

I have made myself very clear. I am neither a journalist, nor I have donated a dime to Ramdev except the Rs 100 + 100 for his yoga camp. In return I have received a lot - I have reduced 4 kg of weight without any additional exercising, my right leg ligament behind knee is improving (without any other medication), I do not have depression anymore, and I have received some great and insightful knowledge about Veda, Updanishad, Dharshan, Sanskaar programs by PYPT.

All that I have written above is when I visited no place, nor collected information from any source except the broadcasts on Aastha Channel. Ramdev once mentioned that the policy they follow in all their work is of पराक्रम, पारदर्शिता, दूरदर्शिता, विनयशीलता (Boldness, Transparency, Farsightedness, and Humility) and that is very evident from the fact that almost all that he does is publicly telecast via Aastha Channel. For a person of such high values, and relentless effort Randeep Ramesh writes that he cracks 'Rustic Jokes' - sure he does cracks jokes, and that is to connect with the varied people around him, what is wrong in that, and are they really rustic?

I would like to say to all that don't take the stuff you read in the press at face value, instead figure it out yourself, confirm it yourself. The media today is heavily biased and many times is used by cheats to develop opinion against good cause. So as I listened to Ramdev once "Truth is what is examined by you, not what you listen from others. Do not believe what I tell you, instead do it yourself, verify it yourself".

Jai Hind, and Satyameva Jayate (Only Truth Will Prevail).

Negative, biased article against Ramdev ji, and my experiment

2008-06-15T15:45:00.008+05:30

I had been feeling and noticing that English media (news and television) seems always biased against many Nationalists, and Hindus and Hindu beliefs (may be others too, but I am not aware enough to mention any other group here). Swami Ramdev and his organization and his efforts being one of them.

They seem to always bring out the negative, and it seems that they never bring out anything positive in them.

Then yesterday I encountered this article in www.guardian.co.uk about Swami Ramdev and his current running Yoga camp in Yog Gram.

This article, in my opinion, is full of misinformation, and is heavily biased. It is not informative, but suggestive. It seems to have one sided information, and facts and figures have not been produced.

Now, I am not a journalist. I do not watch lots of television either. Besides, I am neither very pro-Ramdev, nor against him.

I am rather a skeptic.

Anyway. So at the start of December 2007, I was passing by TV and noticed Ramdev saying that "Truth is what is examined by you, not what you listen from others. Do not believe what I tell you, instead do it yourself, verify it yourself", this brought an interesting idea in my mind - of trying what Ramdev preaches or claims on myself, to verify his claims. I had noticed Steve Pavlina's Polyphasic Sleep experiment, and thought that may be I get some reality stuff to share on this blog. If nothing I will have Ramdev ji's claims verified.

So, I planned to do just Kapal-Bhaati, Anoolom-Vilom for one month and track the results. The experiment lasted only 2 weeks, and got terminated because of serious career/work crisis (my friends and colleagues at DBI know what I mean). I did not share the findings with anyone except my family. Now for the first time I sharing it in public:

I started feeling very light,
I had proper and regular motions,
lost 2 Kg of weight (85 to 83), and
Was energetic than before

After the career turmoil had somewhat subsided, I was on some soul-searching, and some inside-out exercise. In the process, depression crept in, and later I also noticed weakness all over my body. I used to feel sleepy during morning in weekdays, and also when driving to office. Did not feel like going to work, and had pain in body all throughout the day. But all this time my soul-searching, and inside-out exercise continued.

When I noticed that my body was getting heavily taxed, and depression was taking serious toll, I again thought of starting the abandoned experiment.

So I started again at the start of May and have been following since then. Here are the findings till now (consider it one month):

I am more health conscious
Have lost another 2 kg of weight (83 to 81), without any dieting
Have given up tea (my intake was at least 3 cups of tea, with biscuits)
Occasional constipation has not recurred ever since second week of May
Depression is gone
I had a problem since last one year, that my right leg ligaments behind knee, had acute pain when I used to get up after sitting for long hours - it is almost gone

I think my findings are pretty substantial, or rather very substantial. I am very happy that I did this experiment.

Of course, those who do not know me in person can think that I am framing may be some part of it. But if my friends in Lucknow or relatives want to verify then they could contact my family. And I am sure they should have noticed at least the reduced weight over this month.

So basically I am saying that as far as I am concerned, I tried it on myself and got good results. Whereas the article gives very negative outlook of Ramdev and his efforts. Its extremely biased, and looks full of misinformation. Please do not believe, what you just read, unless its from a authentic and reliable source. Instead as Ramdev ji said "Truth is what is examined by you, not what you listen from others. Do not believe what I tell you, instead do it yourself, verify it yourself"

Update:
Today is 18th Feb 2009, and now my weight is 75 kg. And still I have not changed my diet yet, nor reduced it. Its really a suprise that every time I do Kapal-Bhaati Pranayam for about 2 weeks in row sincerely for about 45 mins each day, everytime I lose about 2-3 kgs of weight.

The weight loss has been slow because I have been irregular or skipping pranayam many times.

Speed and Haste in Life

2008-02-24T09:11:00.002+05:30

There is more to life than increasing its speed.
- Mahatma Gandhi

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2008-02-22T22:32:00.002+05:30

Links for 2008-02-21 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 22 Feb 2008 12:00 AM CST

Top 10 Ways to be Screwed by "C"
The Memory Management Reference
Welcome to The Memory Management Reference! This is a resource for programmers and computer scientists interested in memory management and garbage collection. For an introduction, see the Beginner's Guide.
C programming.com - Your Resource for C and C++ Programming
web site designed to help you learn the C or C++ programming languages, and provide you with C and C++ programming language resources
Mahatma Gandhi Album: The Great Experimenter
A Collection of the views, ideals, life and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi in multiple media
Biographies of Saints, Teachers and Seekers in the Indian Tradition
This page is devoted to introducing westerners to teachers from different Indian religious traditions. It consists of pictures and short life-stories of charismatic seekers, saints, teachers, and gurus from the 19th and 20th centuries who trace their reli
Languages map
indoeuro.jpg (JPEG Image, 1062x678 pixels)
How to Write a Resume

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-09-24T21:41:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-09-23 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 24 Sep 2007 12:00 AM GMT-06:00

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-09-23T21:32:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-09-22 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 23 Sep 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Education: Learn a Foreign Language with Mango - Lifehacker
Blogger Play
will show you a never-ending stream of images that were just uploaded to public Blogger blogs
ZSoft Uninstaller 2.4
better and easier way to uninstall programs on your computer. ZSoft Uninstaller can be used as a Add/Remove applet replacement, but not only that, it can also
winPenPack.com: List New Items
collection of free and open source portable programs optimized for use with a USB pen drive and also directly from a folder of your Hard Disk
Universal Spyware and virus tracker
Why do Hindus light a lamp at home before the altar of a deity? | Hindu Blog, Exploring Hinduism
When we are lit by self knowledge, the negative tendencies (oil) melt away and finally the ego (wick) perishes. When the ego perishes, we realize that we are all part of Brahman and that life is a continuity
Essentials of the Upanishads
This is a detailed essay on the Upanishads, one of the types of source texts of Vedanta, giving relevant quotes and background information.
Dummies Guide to Google Blogger Beta
Blogger in Draft

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-09-21T21:40:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-09-20 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 21 Sep 2007 12:00 AM GMT-06:00

Rounded Corners
adds rounded corners that look identical to the rounded corners as in GMail™. With one line of code and one css line a standard GWT panel or other widget will have the rounded corners.
Book review: Google Web Toolkit Solutions
www.shaivam.org

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-08-29T22:23:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-08-28 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 29 Aug 2007 12:00 AM CDT

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-08-13T21:36:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-08-12 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 13 Aug 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Emerson's Earliest Interest In India - by Robert C. Gordon, PhD
Ralph Waldo Emerson could justly be called the first Boston Brahmin, since he was the first American to champion the wisdom of ancient India, and was born and bred in Boston

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-08-10T21:34:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-08-09 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 10 Aug 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Google Cheat Sheet (Version 1.06)
This two page Google Cheat Sheet lists all Google services and tools as well as background information. The Cheat Sheet offers a great reference to grasp of basic to advance Google query building concepts and ideas.
Sanskrit Spiritual Scriptures
On this page, you can listen to Sanskrit chanting and recitation with English translations for some of the most powerful, holy, and ancient spiritual scriptures from India, including Bhagavad Gita, Shiva Sutras, Spanda Karikas, Bhaja Govindam, Shiva Tanda

Comparison of Hinduism and Christianity

2007-07-24T23:08:00.000+05:30

A reasonably detailed article about comparison of Hinduism and Christianity

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-07-08T21:34:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-07-07 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 08 Jul 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Hindi Shusha Fonts, Downloads and Help
ऐसे नहीं चुने जाते अजूब | Webdunia News
यूनेस्को पहले ही कह चुका है कि सात अजूबों के लिए बनाई जा रही सूची पूरी तरह से अवैधानिक है और वह निज
UNESCO confirms that it is not involved in the "New 7 wonders of the world" campaign
There is no comparison between Weber's mediatised campaign and scientific and educational work resulting from inscription of sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List*. List of "7 New Wonders of World" will be result of a private undertaking, reflecting only
New 7 Wonders of the World – All Fools Rush In ~ Hindu Blog
The New Seven Wonders of the World selection is being made by free and paid votes, through telephone or online. So if a nation or individual is willing to buy votes, it is readily available. Where is the impartiality in the new 7 wonders campaign?

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-07-01T21:32:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-06-30 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 01 Jul 2007 12:00 AM CDT

C++ Coding Standard
GNU Coding Standards
C# Coding Style Guide
PEP 8 -- Style Guide for Python Code
bLADE Wiki - bLADE Wiki
Note-taking with a freeware personal wiki
When will Sun’s JDK start following code conventions? | Atif Khan’s Blog » Blog Archive
If you look under the hood of JDK, you will find a completely different picture
How To Write Unmaintainable Code

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-06-30T21:33:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-06-29 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 30 Jun 2007 12:00 AM CDT

WIYOO?: Batch formatting Java source code with Eclipse - Olivier Dangréaux's IT blog
since version 3.2 of Eclipse, it is possible to apply the formatting of Java code to a set of source files. This functionality is accessible via the command line

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-06-24T21:33:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-06-23 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 24 Jun 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Free Audio & Video website hosted by ISKCON Chowpatty, Hare Krishna!
more than 4000 files of audio lectures, bhajans & videos by ISKCON devotees

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-06-23T21:33:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-06-22 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 23 Jun 2007 12:00 AM CDT

ITRANS (version 5.30)
package for printing text in Indian languages using English-encoded input
The Darsanas
Are meant for the erudite scholars who are endowed with acute acumen, good understanding, power of reasoning and subtle intellect. The Itihasas, Puranas and Agamas are meant for the masses. The Darsanas appeal to the intellect, while the Itih

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-06-22T21:35:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-06-21 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 22 Jun 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Freeware by Christian Maas
Chronos Tcopy CMSort Random file generator Name to Clipboard TTFMan Split32 Invert Game CRLF BatMaker CMdelete
Freeware Hex Editor XVI32
downloaded over 18,000 times per month from my homepage (i.e. without mirrors, freeware archives etc.). Between April 15, 2000 (first release) and January 31, 2003 XVI32 has been downloaded 258,666 times from my homepage. Even people at Microsoft use XVI3

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-06-21T21:36:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-06-20 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 21 Jun 2007 12:00 AM CDT

WISDOM OF CHINA AND INDIA Contents
These texts are included in the WISDOM BIBLE, the greatest collection of wisdom ever published.

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-06-18T21:36:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-06-17 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 18 Jun 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Meditation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seven Blunders of the World

2007-06-17T00:52:00.000+05:30

Via Museums of the Mind

"Seven Blunders of the World"

Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Knowledge without character
Commerce without morality
Science without humanity
Worship without sacrifice
Politics without principle

—Mahatma Gandhi

Update:
Stephen Covey comments on Seven human failings as enumerated by Gandhiji

Chanted Bhagavad Gita, and Sanskrit text

2007-06-16T18:40:00.000+05:30

I read Bhagavad Gita for the first time in year 2003, from Eknath Easwaran's translations abridged version. This was a very nice, simple, and concise book. However I intend to go into depths of it - meaning, interpretation, recitation.

At the same time I have always seriously intended to learn Sanskrit. But, not made a start yet.

It seems, listening to chanted Gita (in mp3 format), along with Sanskrit text will keep me moving to get these two goals.

Additionally, this Sanskrit dictionary too will be indispensable.

'Vote'

2007-06-16T18:07:00.000+05:30

Vote: The instrument and symbol of a free man's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country
-- Ambrose Bierce (American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist, today best known for his Devil's Dictionary.)

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-06-12T21:35:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-06-10 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 11 Jun 2007 12:00 AM CDT

HOWTO: Django on Windows | import this. » Blog Archive
Tutorial on how to start from scratch and end up with a working Django install

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-06-10T21:33:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-06-09 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 10 Jun 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Welcome to RadioVeRVe!
(ootips) Association, Aggregation and Composition
Thinking like a Genius
The Agile Unified Process (AUP) Home Page
simplified version of the Rational Unified Process (RUP). It describes a simple, easy to understand approach to developing business application software using agile techniques and concepts yet still remaining true to the RUP

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-06-07T21:35:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-06-06 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 07 Jun 2007 12:00 AM CDT

English words similar to Sanskrit
Those who know English can easily remember the following Sanskrit words

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-06-03T21:33:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-06-02 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 03 Jun 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Scripting with Eclipse Monkey - Aptana
* About Eclipse Monkey * About the Eclipse Monkey sample projects * Installing Eclipse Monkey * Creating the Eclipse Monkey sample projects * Creating a new Eclipse Monkey script * Adding metadata to an Eclipse Monkey script * Tips and tricks for writing

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-06-01T21:35:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-05-31 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 01 Jun 2007 12:00 AM GMT-06:00

SCons: A software construction tool
software construction tool—that is, a next-generation build tool. Its an improved, cross-platform substitute for the classic Make utility with integrated functionality similar to autoconf/automake and compiler caches such as ccache. (an easier, more rel
A-A-P Recipe Executive
program that builds other programs, much like the venerable make(1) program. However, Aap uses the power of Python to make the "recipes" (instructions on how to build a program) more readable and more flexible. Aap can also replace the age-old autotools a

Simple Stress Management

2007-05-20T11:18:00.000+05:30

Via SACRED SPACE: Unburden Yourself-Editorial-Opinion-The Times of India

A lecturer was giving a lecture to his students on stress management. He raised a glass of water and asked the audience, "How heavy do you think this glass of water is?" The students' answers ranged from 20 gm to 500 gm.

The lecturer said, "It does not matter on the absolute weight. It depends on how long you hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it is OK. If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance. It is the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes".

"If we carry our burden all the time, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on, the burden becoming increasingly heavier. What you have to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again".

"We have to put down the burden periodically, so that we can refresh and are able to carry on. So before you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it back home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burden you are having now on your shoulders, let it down for a moment if you can. Pick it up again later when you have rested..."

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-05-18T21:36:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-05-17 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 18 May 2007 12:00 AM CDT

India - Rigveda: UNESCO-CI
being among the first literary documents in the history of humankind, they transcend far beyond their identity as scriptures

Quote: Illusion & Reality

2007-05-13T10:21:00.000+05:30

God made the illusion look real and the real an illusion. He concealed the sea and made the foam visible, the wind invisible, and the dust manifest. You see the dust whirling, but how can the dust rise by itself? You see the foam, but not the ocean. Invoke Him with deeds, not words, for deeds are real and will save you in the afterlife.

- Rumi, ‘Mathnawi’

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-05-11T21:35:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-05-10 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 11 May 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Global Warming: Early Warning Signs
XUL Tutorial
Pyrex
lets you write code that mixes Python and C data types any way you want, and compiles it into a C extension for Python

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-05-09T21:35:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-05-08 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 09 May 2007 12:00 AM CDT

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-05-08T21:35:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-05-06 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 07 May 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Python: Lambda Functions
Python supports creation of anonymous functions at runtime, using construct called "lambda". This is not exactly same as lambda in functional programming languages, but it is very powerful concept that's well integrated into Python and is often used in co
Darjeeling tea will now be called just Darjeeling, just like Champagne (wine produced in Champagne district)
Darjeeling tea will now be called just Darjeeling, just like Champagne (wine produced in Champagne district), Bordeaux (wine produced in Bordeaux region), Tequila (spirit made in Tequila, Mexico) or Cognac (brandy produced in Cognac)
Dr. Dobb's | AJAX: Selecting the Framework that Fits | May 1, 2007
Dobb's Journal reviews 5 AJAX frameworks: Dojo, Prototype, Scriptaculous, Direct Web Reporting, Yahoo! User Interface Library, and Google Web Toolkit. 'Dojo provides more features and HTML widgets than YUI and Prototype' but eventually 'settled on the Yah
Python main() functions
some suggestions on how to write a main() function that's easy to invoke in other contexts, e.g. from the interactive Python prompt when you feel like experimenting.
Introduction to Python: File I/O
File Management in Python
Python makes file management surprisingly easy, especially when compared to other languages. Peyton McCullough explains the basics

Links for 2007-05-05 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 06 May 2007 12:00 AM CDT

SQLObject
popular Object Relational Manager for providing an object interface to your database, with tables as classes, rows as instances, and columns as attributes. SQLObject includes a Python-object-based query language that makes SQL more abstract, and provides
path Python module
provides a single class that wraps the functionality in the os.path module. You wouldn't think that would be so helpful, but in practice I find it much more pleasant to write and to read.
mxDateTime - Date/time types for Python
These types were created to provide a consistent way of transferring date and time data between Python and databases. Apart from handling date before the Unix epoch (1.1.1970) they also correctly work with dates beyond the Unix time limit and thus is Year
Python re Module - Use Regular Expressions with Python - Regex Support
Python's built-in "re" module provides excellent support for regular expressions, with a modern and complete regex flavor,. The only feature currently missing from Python's regex syntax are atomic grouping and possessive quantifiers.
pydoc.org: Python Documentation Online
Use this site as a handy central index of the documentation for all versions of Python from 1.5 to 2.4. You can also search all the docstrings in the standard library.

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-05-03T21:33:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-05-02 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 03 May 2007 12:00 AM CDT

10 Golden Lessons From Steve Jobs at Ririan Project
selection of some of the most insanely great things he said, golden lessons to help you succeed in life

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-04-30T21:33:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-04-29 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 30 Apr 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Ant Sync Task - That Was Easy!
While digging around recently I noticed a 'sync' Ant task and bookmarked it away for further reading. Today I finally had some time to check it out and it was really easy to implement!
Sync Task
Synchronize a target directory from the files defined in one or more Resource Collections.
Java Tips - How to use Sync task
Synchronize a target directory from the files defined in one or more filesets.
code:ant [thecrumb]
Bertrand's weblog: Simulating rsync in ant

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-04-26T21:35:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-04-25 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 26 Apr 2007 12:00 AM CDT

SWIG Tutorial

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-04-24T21:34:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-04-23 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 24 Apr 2007 12:00 AM CDT

HINDUISM: The world's third largest religion
Hinduism differs from Christianity and other Western religions in that it does not have a single founder, a specific theological system, a single system of morality, or a central religious organization. It consists of "thousands of different religious gro
Henotheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
term coined by Max Müller, to mean devotion to a single "God" while accepting the existence of other gods. Müller stated that henotheism means "monotheism in principle and a polytheism in fact."
Sanskrit Texts and Stotras
contains a wide variety of Sanskrit texts and stotras in the pdf format, which you can view or print for your personal use. Most of the texts are in Devanagari script, some with English translation
Sanskrit, Tamil and Pahlavi Dictionaries

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-04-23T21:34:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-04-22 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 23 Apr 2007 12:00 AM CDT

English Pronouncing Dictionary with Instant Sound Free Online
An English Pronouncing Dictionary with Instant Sound
Sandboxie - Front Page
Tired of dealing with rogue software, spyware and malware? Tired of spending countless hours removing unsolicited software? Try Sandboxie.
SysExporter: Grab data from list-view, tree-view, combo box, WebBrowser control, and text-box.
allows you to grab the data stored in standard list-views, tree-views, list boxes, combo boxes, text-boxes, and WebBrowser/HTML controls from almost any application running on your system, and export it to text, HTML or XML file
GWT Components - Auto-Completion Textbox

Teamwork Skills

2007-04-22T16:13:00.000+05:30

While looking for forming-storming-norming-performing model of team development, I encountered list of teamwork skills on Wikipedia.

Since these are so very important, I am simply pasting them here as a reminder for everyone:

Aside from any required technical proficiency, a wide variety of social skills are desirable for successful teamwork, including:

Listening - it is important to listen to other people's ideas. When people are allowed to freely express their ideas, these initial ideas will produce other ideas.
Questioning - it is important to ask questions, interact, and discuss the objectives of the team.
Persuading - individuals are encouraged to exchange, defend, and then to ultimately rethink their ideas.
Respecting - it is important to treat others with respect and to support their ideas.
Helping - it is crucial to help one's coworkers, which is the general theme of teamwork.
Sharing - it is important to share with the team to create an environment of teamwork.
Participating - all members of the team are encouraged to participate in the team.

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-04-21T21:33:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-04-20 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 21 Apr 2007 12:00 AM CDT

... for Some Value of "Magic": Python is Not a Religion
there is absolutely no need for religious wars when it comes to choice of programming language, and that the appropriate question to ask is "is Python a good way to solve my problems"
Python Advocacy
What is Python?, What does the source look like?, In which application areas is it being used?, more questions...
Dougma (dŭg·mə) n. - the truth acording to Doug » of Advocacy and Idiocy
The job of an Advocacy Coordinator is not one of an advocate, but one of an educator, healer, and organizer. This is not about the Python language. This is about the people who want to use, or are using the Python language. Python can speak for its self.

ब्लॉगर की नयी लिप्यान्तरण सुविधा

2007-04-15T19:07:00.000+05:30

अपने हिंदी भाषी बंधुओ कि जानकारी के लिए मैं यह वर्णन करना चाहता हूँ कि गूगल ने ब्लॉगर को हिंदी लिप्यान्तरण समर्थ कर दिया है ।

उल्लेखनीय यह है कि गूगल की लिप्यान्तरण प्रणाली, बाक़ी दूसरे गूगल उत्पादों की तरह, चतुर व अभिज्ञ है ।
इस कारण ब्लॉगर में देवनागरी में लेख लिखने के लिए:

जटिल लिप्यान्तरण पर ध्यान देने की आव्शकता नहीं है । केवल अंग्रेजी से सम्मिलित अक्षरों से व्यक्त होने वाले उच्चारण पर ध्यान देना होगा ।
इसकी दूसरी विशेषता यह है कि यह व्यक्ति विशेष के लिप्यान्तरण प्रवृति के स्वयं अनूकूल होती जाती है ।

अधिक जानकारी के लिए निम्नलिखित को देखें:

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-04-10T21:36:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-04-09 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 10 Apr 2007 12:00 AM CDT

What issue tracking system is best for you? - Java World
A review of Bugzilla, Trac, and JIRA By John Ferguson Smart, JavaWorld.com, 03/14/07
An introduction to Maven 2 - Java World
How applied best practices can optimize the Java build process By John Ferguson Smart, JavaWorld.com, 12/05/05
Eclipse, NetBeans, and IntelliJ: Assessing the Survivors of the Java IDE Wars
comparison of the latest versions of the major IDEs in the Java development space: NetBeans, Eclipse/MyEclipse, and IntelliJ IDEA. Find out how well each performs in four common areas of development: Swing, JSP/Struts, JavaServer Faces, and J2EE/EJB 3.0
Vimplugin Wiki : Home Page
Eclipse plugin that brings the power of the editor Vim to the Eclipse IDE. Based on vim tip #1031 (thanks to Pavel Tavoda)and relies heavily on JTA, a swing-based java terminal emulator and the SWT_AWT bridge of Eclipse 3.1.
HelpNDoc | IBE Software
Generate HTML Help Generate Help Web Sites WYSIWYG Word processor Advanced keyword editor Easy to use Extremely low learning time Free for personal use
Welcome to Eclim
bring Eclipse™ functionality to the Vim editor. Eclim is less of an application and more of an integration of two great projects. The first, Vim, is arguably one of the best text editors in existence. The second, Eclipse, provides many great tools for d
viPlugin for Eclipse | ... 'cause editing still is the way to code
viPlugin adds vi(m) functionality as a layer on top of an open editor like the JDT, CDT, ...19.8 USD

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-04-07T21:33:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-04-06 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 07 Apr 2007 12:00 AM CDT

ET survey busts Sachar panel report : sachar committee report, muslims, economic condition, survey, contradiction, household income, expenditure : IBNLive.com : CNN-IBN
In contrast to the Sachar panel findings, the ET study says Hindus and Muslims are not only very close when it comes to average household income, expenditure or savings, they match each other even in terms of ownership of select consumer goods

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-04-05T21:34:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-04-04 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 05 Apr 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Table designs based on CSS and DIV elements -- css.nu
# Introduction to CSS "tables" # Example of a 2 by 3 table layout # A three column table layout # A 10 column table layout
Cascading Style Sheets Gallery for HTML Tables
glish.com : CSS layout techniques
CSS Techniques; CSS Resources; CSS Tutorials
Bring on the tables | 456 Berea Street
do your best to avoid using tables for layout, but for tabular data, tables are what you should use. I’d like to talk about how tables should be used when marking up tabular data
Using CSS to Create a Two-Column Layout - replace tables with css layout form tutorial

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-31T22:33:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-03-30 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 31 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CDT

TimeSnapper 2.3: Extract Text Using Optical Character Recognition
The killer feature this time around is Optical Character Recognition. You can now select text straight out of the images you capture. We've been keen to include this feature since day 1, and finally it's in!
Jon Galloway : Free OCR software? You may already have it...

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-30T22:36:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-03-29 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 30 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CDT

JavaServer Faces (JSF) Tutorial Net.
Collection for Newbie; Ajax4jsf; Faces and AJAX; Faces 1.2; JSF vs Struts, JSF with Struts; AJAX Examples; Integration with Other Technologies; Developing JSF Components; MyFaces ; Component Libraries; Discussions ; Resources; Faces Technology in Use
Code Generation Library - Code Generation Library
powerful, high performance and quality Code Generation Library, It is used to extend JAVA classes and implements interfaces at runtime. This library is free software, freely reusable for personal or commercial purposes
g.georgovassilis - Using the GWTHandler
If you have used Spring before and are already using GWT for serious applications you might have considered using Spring controllers instead of GWT's RemoteServiceServlet. There are plenty good reasons for doing so actually.
Issue 389, RPC delegation support - active? - Google Web Toolkit Contributors | Google Groups
GWT Widget Library

Links for 2007-03-28 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 29 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CDT

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-28T22:33:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-03-27 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 28 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Blat - Command Line Emailer saves me time | Computer Zen
Sri Rama Navami | SACRED SPACE | The Times of India
Sage Vasishta: Is there a thing called sky independent of emptiness? Even so, there is no 'thing' called world that is independent of Brahmn the Absolute. Just as coldness is inseparable from ice, what is called the world is inseparable from Brahmn
Rama As An Avatar Of The Sattvic Human | SPEAKING TREE | The Times of India
The three names of Rama | Spirituality - Indiatimes
Ravana means a mind that moves away from the nucleus drifting away by the centrifugal force, dissipating mental energies in all 10 directions. Ravana can be defeated or destroyed, only when one takes shelter in Rama. So one under whom Ravana automatically

राम नवमी

2007-03-27T14:59:00.000+05:30

श्री राम के जनम दिन पर सब को हार्दिक शुभकामनायें ।

आज के दिन श्री राम का स्मर्ण करें और धर्म का पालन करें ।

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-21T22:34:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-03-20 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 21 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Virtual PC 2004 | Coding Horror
If you are wondering just how this software can make your life easier, allow me to quote from the product FAQ
Virtual PC 2004 tips | Coding Horror
The Single Most Important Virtual Machine Performance Tip | Coding Horror
always run your virtual machines from a separate physical hard drive
Automatic Login for Virtual Machines | Coding Horror
Creating Smaller Virtual Machines | Coding Horror
producing the smallest possible Windows XP Virtual PC image
Here's a great list of tips on Optimzing Performance with Virtual PC (VPC) | Computer Zen
Performance Tuning, Additional Disk Optimizations, Computer Zen
Virtual PC Tips and Hardware Assisted Virtualization | Computer Zen

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-19T22:35:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-03-18 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 19 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Roundup Issue Tracker
simple-to-use and -install issue-tracking system with command-line, web and e-mail interface. Based on winning design from Ka-Ping Yee in the Software Carpentry "Track" design competition. Current stable version of Roundup is 1.3.x which has quite a compr
Mylar & Roundup Issue Tracker | [News.eclipse.technology.mylar]
Is it possible for me to use Mylar with our roundup issue tracker as task repository?
Roundup Issue Tracker - PyCon 2005 Presentation
Author: Richard Jones Date: 2005/03/16
CallForTrackers - PythonInfo Wiki
Jira was first choice of committee. A lot of people complained about using a closed-source and hosted bug tracker, so a call was posted for volunteers to help administer a Roundup installation. Enough volunteers came forward, so work is now proceeding on

Bram Moolenaar's presentation - Seven Habits of Effective Text Editing 2.0

2007-03-17T23:58:00.000+05:30

On February 13th 2007, Bram Moolenaar gave a presentation on Vim (at Google office) - 'Seven habits of effective text editing 2.0'.

The news update is at Vim site and the links of the video and the pdf presentation can be found at vimannounce Yahoo group.

The pdf presentation is very short simple and still useful.

Very briefly it states:

Detect inefficiency
Find a quicker way
Make it a habit

and the seven habits are:

Moving around quickly
Don't type it twice
Fix it when it's wrong
A file seldom comes alone
Let's work together
Text is structured
Sharpen the saw

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-14T22:35:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-03-13 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 14 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CDT

Languages By Keyboard
How to tell a person's language of choice by looking at their keyboard

Links for 2007-03-12 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 13 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CDT

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-12T22:37:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-03-11 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 12 Mar 2007 01:00 AM CDT

Isha Upanishad | Sri Aurobindo Ashram - E-Library
Sanskrit verses, with explanation in English
Why Can't Programmers... Read?
It never fails to amaze me at how some companies I’ve worked with (or at) praise developers who are fast, even if they do the wrong thing because they failed to understand the spec or include so many bugs as to have made the spec irrelevant
Why Can't Programmers.. Program? | Coding Horror
After a fair bit of trial and error I've discovered that people who struggle to code don't just struggle on big problems, or even smallish problems (i.e. write a implementation of a linked list). They struggle with tiny problems

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-11T22:35:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-03-10 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 11 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CST

Isha Upanishad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sanskrit poem (or sequence of mantras) from the Upanishads and is considered Śruti by followers of a number of diverse traditions within Hinduism. It is one of the smaller texts of the Upanishads (18 verses in total) but also one of the most often quoted
Sri Isopanisad | Bhaktivedanta VedaBase
Dhyanalinga multi religious, meditation shrine - a powerful space for meditation
Set amidst the dense forests at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains, is the Dhyanalinga Multi religious Shrine, the first of its kind to be completed in over 2000 years

Copying contents of vim register

2007-03-11T21:30:00.000+05:30

Following command copies the contents of register q to copy register
:let @*=@q
Once copied, these contents can be used any where else, by simple paste.

One example use is to update a macro.
Following command updates register q
:let @q="Paste-copied-contents-Then-edit-as-required"
which then can be fired/executed by @q in command mode.

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-09T22:33:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-03-08 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 09 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CST

Metrics 1.3.6 - for Eclipse

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-07T22:35:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-03-06 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 07 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CST

Christian evangelists targeting India (Rape of India by David Kostinchuk)
At the present time North India is considered the core target of evangelists in their effort of world evangelism. They justify this to Christians by using derogatory remarks like " 900 million Hindus are spiritual bondage" (Baptist Press 10/99)
A Conversion (Religious) MNC - Christian Aggression
How can, such organised trade be accorded freedom to convert ? Just as there are laws to prevent the exploitation of as sale of consumers, there must be laws to regulate this business of religious conversion

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-06T22:33:00.000+05:30

Links for 2007-03-04 [del.icio.us]

Posted: 05 Mar 2007 12:00 AM CST

Holi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Safe Holi campaign — kalpavriksh.org
Working towards a completey natural and safe Holi!

del.icio.us/vikramsjn

2007-03-04T22:32:00.001+05:30

Links for 2007-03-03 [del.icio.us]

Srimad Bhagavatam
1: Creation 2: The Cosmic Manifestation 3: The Status Quo 4: Creation of the Fourth Order 5: The Creative Impetus 6: Prescribed Duties for Mankind 7: The Science of God 8: Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations 9: Liberation 10: The Summum Bonum 11: General H
Open The Third Eye On Mahashivaratri | THE SPEAKING TREE
In logical terms, everything begins from nothing and ends in nothing. It evolved itself out of nothingness and it is again going into nothingness. This nothingness is Shiva
Banish Depression From Your System -Editorial-OPINION-The Times of India
If your sadness is reminding you that you are incomplete, it is good; make use of your sadness to grow. - By Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

A Guru Rating Service !!!

2007-02-17T11:26:00.000+05:30

While searching over for Isha Foundation website of Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev, I encountered something very very surprising - a Guru Rating Service.

I was stunned, confused, and annoyed. Digging further I found that the site is actually quite detailed and lists and rates many or most Gurus. Every name that I knew or had ever come across was on the site.

The site seems to be well maintained and extensive, with links to the official website of the Gurus (if any), and any articles relating to them.

However it was a surprise, not expected. How can anyone rate a Guru !

The site itself mentions the brickbats received on the very first page

How tragic! How weird! Rating the non-dual teachers - how tragically American

I have the same view.

However, as the site quotes another review, '... it was inevitable'.

Enchanting Sanskrit

2007-02-11T20:08:00.000+05:30

Few days ago a Sanskrit university students were outraged by UP Governor's preaching on learning English.

News agencies reported this incident in various different manner. Some were pro Governor, and some other just tried to state facts, adding that Governor was giving a well meaning advice.

Honorable Governor was not incorrect in advising the students to learn English as well. But it seems that he demeaned Sanskrit to make his point. I don't know exactly what he said, but TOI reported that he said - learning Sanskrit would just make students good for doing pujas, Sanskrit is not language of god, and Sanskrit is a language of bail-gadi yug.

I believe he may have outraged the students to a great extent that the response was so unanimous and strong - even from the faculty.

Coincidentally, just a few days ago I came across an article about Sanskrit - Enchanting Sanskrit. It primarily details decline of Sanskrit, its importance, and attempts for it revival.

Here are a few striking points from this article:

In 1835, Lord Macaulay produced his "Minute of Indian Education" in which he stated, "What we spend on the Sanskrit colleges is not merely a dead loss to the cause of truth; it is bounty money paid to raise up champions of error [that is, Sanskrit scholars]." He said Sanskrit literature is, "barren of useful knowledge" with "the most serious errors on the most important subjects."
One of the factor that contributed greatly to the neglect and "death" of Sanskrit was the treatment it received at the hands of academics. "Nowhere will you find a language being taught in a foreign language," says Sri Krishna Sastry. The easiest and most effective way is the conversational method. Ironically, Sanskrit was being taught through English and in textbook fashion. As a result, students, instead of learning the language and developing affinity, moved away from it.
Knowledge of Sanskrit is imperative to understand Ayurveda, but Indian government first made it compulsory that students of modern sciences as majors would only be admitted to Ayurvedic courses. However at the same time CBSE made Sanskrit an optional subject. As a result, students with science background who study Ayurveda at college level, do not know Sanskrit, resist studying it, and instead use translated texts.
Sanskrit was initially compulsory for five years of Ayurveda course, was reduced to one year of study. Now science students are even protesting this one year of Sanskrit study.
Dr Rahul Peter Das of Martin Luther University in Germany believes that learning Sanskrit helps students understand mathematics better.
It recommends three-language formula as: Regional + Classical (Sanskrit) + International (English)

I believe every Indian should read this article.

Related Links:

Unlocking the Splendors of Sanskrit

Blog from Microsoft Word

2005-08-17T17:01:00.000+05:30

Blogger now has an addin for Microsoft Word, to create/edit posts and drafts right from Word.

Blogger: Download Blogger for Word
Blogger Help : Blogger for Word FAQ and Known Issues
Blogger Help : About Blogger for Word

Have used it just for a few posts, but this is my experience till now.

What I like:

No need to visit blogger.com to post on the blog, just work in Word

All the features of MS Word now available when drafting your post – spell checker, grammar check, and formatting too.

Works thru the firewall, without any problems

What I did not like:

‘Open Post…’ dialog is not resizable. Moreover the ‘Title’ column too is not resizable. This makes difficult to read the post title, and thus ‘Open Post…’

Guess the issues will be resolved soon, and we will have cool capability to blog from Microsoft Word itself.

Firefox and must have extensions

2005-08-17T13:03:00.000+05:30

Quite some time back I moved over to using Firefox. Initially I had some issues (basically related to usage), but now I am Firefox fan. Now, I hardly ever open IE.

Firefox has rich collection of freely available extensions. There an extension for almost everything you could think.

The extensions I use are as follows:
* autocopy
* yahoo companion
* dictionary search
* adblock
* tabbrowser preferences
* mouse gestures
* flashgot
* googlebar
* linkification
* foxylicious
* print preview
* quicknote
* ieview
* targetalert
* greasemonkey
* sessionsaver
* del.icio.us
* spellbound
* webmailcompose
* live http headers
* aardvark
* download manager tweak
* scrapbook
* duplicate tab
* resizeable textarea
* hit-a-hint
* feedview
* super dragandgo

The ones underlined are must haves.

Thanks to all Firefox developers and Extension developers for developing such a fine product.