Abandon Yourself!

Alexander the Great, the Greek king, once led his troops across a hot, arid desert. After nearly two weeks of marching, he and his soldiers were near death from thirst, yet Alexander pushed ahead.

In the noonday sun, two of his scouts brought what little water they were able to find. It barely filled a cup. Alexander's troops were shocked with he poured the water into the burning sand.

The king said, "It is of no use for one to drink when many thirst."

Treating those who report to you as partners or associates will not work if it's only a scheme of a strategy. It must be a genuine heart-felt expression.

When we truly believe in the potential of people, they rarely disappoint us. That is one of the messages of Max DePree, in his perceptive book, "Leadership is an Art." He recommends becoming "abandoned to the strength of others -- of admitting that we cannot know or do everything."


Story That I believe in ---
Manjari

Famous People Says

When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters—one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.
John F. Kennedy

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Winston Churchill

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
Albert Einstein

Opportunity dances with those who are ready on the dance floor.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Provoking Thoughts

1)
A leader is person where his team mates are abounded by a sheet of trust.

2)
" Whenever you want to know how rich you are, don't count your money; just drop a tear from your eye and see how many hands are there to wipe it."

3)
The biggest change you can bring in the society is to change yourself.

4)
Before criticizing anybody, think are you worth doing so? if answer is yes! think again.

5)
Make life an experience to cherish..

Why should we pray?

WE WORSHIP god in innumerable forms, as his manifestations are innumerable. But there is one long documented question that sometimes overwhelm me in wonder and sometimes stuns me. And that is- ‘why should I pray’?

Some do it for self realisation, while others do it to see god face to face and attain ‘moksha’ (salvation). But I am still on my way to discover the absolute truth. As I have not yet found him, but I am still looking for him. And it is right to chase the reason as far as one could.

The more deeper I go into the thought, the more perplexed I become. I sometimes wonder is ‘god just an idea’, who was invented by someone to frighten people into subservience to the prevailing structure of power. Or to provide ease in times of fear and distress. I find myself totally submissive referring to him as being. I feel the need to understand the dimensions of this eternal truth.

The very existence of god is indefinable. No one knows how, where and why god exists.

And if his very existence is uncertain, then do we pray to Lord for faith alone? Is it true that we are more protected by his grace and not by our work and good deeds?

What is that extra credit, which one acquires while praising Lord? Will I commit a sin if I don’t worship him? And if I do, will it benefit me in any way? Will worshipping Lord really help me elevate my status in the paradise?

Should we believe that ‘god alone is real and all else is unreal’?

After analysing all these facts, should I bow before the Lord as a big question mark?

Or is it better to go as far as the reason could take me?

Aparana Chauhan

Age of Romanticism

“ Make me thy, even as the forest is :
What if my leaves are falling like its own !
The tumult of the mighty harmonies
Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,
Sweet tough in sadness
Be thou, spirit, fierce;
My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!”

The liquid ecstasy of the above mentioned words was indited in the period, popularly known as the ‘Age of Romanticism’ between 1800 –1850.

In the English Literature the 'Age of Romanticism' is also known as the ‘Second Creative Period of English Literature’. In the history this period recorded the victory of triumph in literature as well as of Democracy in government and politics.
The correlation between the two movements closely depicted the cause and effect theory in them.

The black letters in the history books loudly outcry the hullaballoo and disturbance of the 19^th century political violence in England. As soon as all that was over, humanistic study of a body of literature, suddenly developed a new creative spirit, mused deeply in the words of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Jane Auste Byron, Shelley; and other terrific writers that belong to that period. Their patriotic ebullience actually caused their age to become the second originative and creative period of English Literature, causing the English language to prosper and thrive in the whole world and flourish at a high point in the history of England.

The inwardness of the ‘Age of Romanticism’ was that literature must reverberate what was spontaneous and untouched in nature and in man, should be unconstrained and must be free to follow its own fancy in its own way.

Than another prominent attribute or aspect was that it was unquestionable and beyond doubt an age of poetry. The essence of this age lies in the poetic words of Scott, Wordsworth, Keats, Southey and others.

The most surprising characteristic of this period is that – women for the first time obtained the respectable and important status in Literature, as for the first time got the chance to be educated and be a part of the intellectual life of the society. Another major contributory component was perhaps the French Revolution (1789), which stirred Europe to its depth, characterized as it was strong emotion. For now the more emotional sex marked its importance on the pages of literature.

It was during this time when literary criticism made its appearance on the journals such as Blackwoods Magazine, The Edinburgh etc. As if now the writers got the chance to show his ability to the world. In short the ‘Age of Romanticism’ left an unerasable notion on the creative sensibility of future generations.

Aparana Chauhan

Blog, vlog and moblog ?

A blog is a series of web pages formed of basically short and frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically – like a journal and can be viewed in the HTML browser. When a particular blog or a write up is published, it is called ‘blogging’. And the entries made in a blog are called ‘posts’. The content and purposes behind the blogs varies greatly – from news about the an organization/ person/idea to links and commentary about other websites, to diaries, photos, articles, poetry, project updates and even fiction.

Blog usually acts like the jiffy messages to the web. There are personal blogs, than there are blogs that collaborative efforts based on specific topic or area. Some blogs are especially made for the work purpose, while some blogs are for play. There are different websites that offer a blog account. The most popular among them are Blogger, live journal, Type Pad, BlogHarbor, Word Press and ModBlog.

A blog can be defined by its incorporation of media : a blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, or one comprising photos is called a photoblog.

Blogs can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written by a mobile device for example a mobile phone or PDA is called a moblog.

Than a blog can also be defined by its genre. Such as, if a blog is specifically about the politics, it can be called a political blog, or if is about the economy, it can be called as the economic blog. A blog about travel is called a travel blog.

A blog can also be defined by the legal entity of its publishers. It can be a private blog as in most cases, or it can also serve as a business blog. They are either internally used to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for the marketing or the promotional purposes.

Aparana Chauhan

The Second Hit of My Life

(Restricted for comments)
As I sit down to nostalgically recollect my personal and professional experiences with her. I actually don’t know where to start. I have treasury of memories in my heart and mind. I have spent more than a year with her and it is beyond words to express what I feel for her and how much do I respect her.

I have seen all sort of people, but she is somewhat different from others. Dignified in bearing, stern in handling, she is the second hit of my life. I am amazed to see how can so many people praise someone at a time. I feel glad, I started my career with her. Atleast I have never seen a person who can be so beautiful in and out.

A total perfectionist, who has helped me grow, be tough and understand things. I will always be indebted to her for reposing faith in me and guiding me right through my time spent there. Throughout my life I’ll treasure the incredible moments I spent with her.

Shall I marvel at the God’s creation or Praise his grace. For having her in my life, who has really been so special.

And before I close this chapter. Seriously (& very respectfully) thanz for being with me……………

Yours Alice In WonderLand

Aparana Chauhan

The Fourth Estate

It is true that newspaper industry is facing challenges in current “ breaking news syndrome” and under pressure from many segments. Fortunately, pressure is not economical but creative. Necessity is the mother of invention: elbowing from electronic media, new models and new markets are now found for print media.

Last year in Delhi, three major media groups has launched their newspaper in a tabloid form and soon they joined the bandwagon. Not only in Delhi but from 2005 to 2006, nearly 2100 newspapers debuted in India, joining 60000 circulating. It is a general impression that in the era of lightening speed news services, newspapers are surely an endangered species in many parts of the world. The ground fact is more cruel. In most of the developed nations, newspapers are fighting a lost battle with the online news sources and unfortunately in most parts it surrendering to it.

In India scenario is far better. Newspapers still hold majority of market share because of less cognizance about new age media among general public. Although there are countless news channels promptly giving latest news with exciting(sometimes derogatory) visuals but Indian newspaper industry is still growing strong comparative to electronic media. The basic reason of the public faith towards conventional media because of the reader retention to a particular story. Electronic media today just playing the “ who done it first” game with each other, as a result they gradually loosing their credential.

With a booming economy and expanding middle class, Indian economy have fired an explosion in consumer spending and advertising. Advertisers now generously put money in print media as well. Despite of much hoo ha about India’s reputation as an information technology powerhouse, Internet penetration in middle class household remains marginal. Even in the major metros like Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai, only a silver of the population can afford to have high speed Internet access in their home. Moreover, a vicious price war several years ago put newspapers prices in newsstands not more than 3 rupees a copy.

In spite of all the optimistic data about newspaper industry in India, there is no doubt that conventional newspapers are gravely jeopardized by fast mushrooming new media services like e-paper, mobile news alerts and DTH television. Adding insult to the injury, blogging, an unedited platform coming in vogue, has to be seen as an embryonic threat to already saturated newspaper industry. There are researchers everywhere searching new innovations to increase their brand equity. Newspaper stalwarts searching value suggestions in the newspaper business, they are finding new methods to reorient their business to gain audience, to strengthen their brand and captivate new grosses.

The International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) have prescribed some suggestions for South Asia market. They stresses on disengaging the value within the newspaper and follow the trend in the global newspaper industry that are relevant to India. They stresses on building brand and strategic growth of readership. INMA is all about business and strengthen the fourth estate by practising innovative techniques in the newspaper industry.

Creativity is a perpetual task and newspapers today also innovating themselves in new packages. The new innovations in newspaper industry have turning it into multi billion business. The competition is always good for any industry. The new media isn’t demolishing newspapers but actually enlivening them and making them more valuable.

Batasia loop on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Batasia loop on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Spoilt For Looks

Are we the realself or do we feel the pressure to look and be a certain way in the society. Today it’s not just about the personality but it’s all about the way we look.

We are pressurized and somewhat confused. And that is all because of the health revolution and trend followed by us chasing the big banner stars. We are totally grasp in the fever of health consciousness to become more and more yuppy. Look at the earlier days, one could eat and drink what-ever one wanted. There was nothing of this no crabmeats or no aalo tiki (potato recipe ) or no anything anywhere. And that was blithe.

Now a days we are happy harrowing our body by restricting ourself having no calorie diet. The gonzo turned more gonzo. Especially when it is clobbered into our heads that eating Cucurbita pepo for one week would do wonder’s to one body. Anyways 85% of this health wave business is about amour proper.

Could you just imagine what is the greatest miracle on this earth. More expensive the clothes, more poverty stricken one has to look to get fitted into those clothes. Every day thousand of beauty products are launched in the market. And we embraced happy self destruction by using these products without even knowing their side effects.

But for me Beauty comes from the twinkle in the eyes, a dazzling smile and a glow on the face that silently speaks of the good health. It comes from the inner self and radiates from within. These fancy products are just the illusion that can only burn the hole in the pocket but can not relieve you from the actual problem.

Aparana Chauhan

Chasing Happiness

What is happiness? Am I happy ? What should I do to be happy forever? In what way I can actually attain happiness. Does true Happiness exists? These are some of the questions that we all ask ourself.

No man is happy, who does not think himself so. A wise person says “Happiness at best, can be understood as a state of mind”. To be happy we do not need to look here and there. It is something that exists within all of us inside. If one really wants to be happy, it is necessary to abstain oneself from complaining about the past, or the present and the future. If one can’t overcome this habit, he/she ruins their past, present and the future. And this becomes the major reason for not being able to enjoy all three of them.

We ourself are the best source of happiness. What matters the most is not what matters to us, what matters is how we actually perceive the matters that happens to us.

To be very true I think happiness cannot be achieved through wordly comforts. We can only attain happiness if we over come all our desires and sorrows.

As well said “ Happiness is not the station you arrive at, but a manner one travelers”. Happiness is everything and above all. Who would not like to make his happiness eternal? But for that, man will have to give up running after transient goals and seek the eternal one. That is not easy in the face of wordly temptations.

For different people Happiness has different meanings. For me Happiness is liking what to do as well as doing what you like. It lies in finding something positive even in something negative. Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete happiness. One can be happy in his life, if one uses his capacities and capabilities to the greatest extent.

Aparana Chauhan

The Triumph of Risks

There are three caterpillars on the leaf of the tree. If one of them decided to jump off the leaf, onto the ground, how many caterpillars are left on the leaf?

The answer is THREE!

Shocked….
Thinking Why?

Simple that’s because caterpillar decided to jump! But it didn’t!

Don’t you think we are exactly the same as the caterpillar. Who decides to this, do that, make plans, but finally ends up doing nothing?

Be True to yourself, and most of you will find the answer YES!

In day to day life, we make out so many decisions. Some Hard ; Some easy.

If you think silently you will come to know that “Most mistakes are not made by wrong decisions”.

“But most mistakes are made because of the indecisions”.

We have to live with the consequences of our decisions and that is Risk !!

• To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
• To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
• To reach our to another is to risk involvement.
• To expose feelings is to risk exposing our true self.
• To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk the loss.
• To love is to risk not being loved in return.
• To live is to risk dying.
• To hope is to risk despair.
• To try is to risk failure

Bur risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does noting, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live. Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has fortified his freedom. Only a person who risks is free.

In the end, “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist is to open change; the realist adjusts the sails”.

Aparana Chauhan

Globalization

With the spread of Globalization, Information Technology is passing through the superhighway serving as a base to the endless innovative stations. And yet there is no sign that this growth will become obsolete in the next many many years to come. Latest inventions and technologies have brought revolution in the IT world. Just like the newspaper you have the new technology every day.

Users of information technology make up the majority of the world’s population with no obstacles to access anywhere. And all this has made the whole world a better place to live. With the explosive growth of internet and world wide web, IT has become global in character. Early inventions in the computer software, hardware and telecommunications have caused widespread access to the information. Information about any phenomenon that takes place anywhere in the world is made known to a person at any time.

IT today provides the strong communication network that has further leads to the expansion of the global market that reshape the economies and social life of the countries. On the other hand advances in IT have revolutionize the life of the society. Information when processed gets converted into the knowledge. Knowledge is the power in the modern intellectual society. Knowledge leads to wisdom and brings in prosperity, creativity, and the best of health, plenty of wealth and a comfortable life. Therefore in society’s life change is the only constant and if today it is the information society, tomorrow it becomes knowledge and the wisdom society later on.

Aparana Chauhan

Thoughts of Enlightenment

“Everyday, think as you wake up,
Today I am fortunate to have woken up,
I am alive, I have precious human life.
I am going to use
All my energies to develop myself,
To expand my heart out to others,
To achieve enlightenment for
The benefit of all human beings,
I am going to have kind thoughts towards others,
I am going to get angry,
Or think badly about others,
I am going to benefit others
As much as I can”.

This was Lord Buddha’s parting message to his disciple, Ananda. ‘Budh’ means to awaken or to acknowledge. Buddha was greatest quester ever born on earth. He was the one who never bowed to anything. He intrepidly reasoned as far as the reason could take him. This type of fearless and impassioned search for the enlightenment is never been seen in the human history.

The four truths that were recited by the Lord Buddha were - He argued that the mundane life we lead is nothing but suffering as all things are ephemeral. Even what we apprehend as pleasure or privilege are not sustainable. The second truth is that the cause of pain is our desires to dominate, to impose, & cause discord. The third one is he the need to over come this self centered delusion of ourself. The fourth one chalks out the eight fold path as the way out of this self seeking cycle.

Mindfulness is what will help us to distinguish between the permanent elements of life and the trivia our mind is used to. Buddha’s only perception for mind clutter is self examination. The story of life is the reminder that one needs to separate the abiding principles of life from trivia. You need not to go any way but be the lamp unto yourself.

Self enquiry ultimately leads to the knowledge of truth. And we are all seekers of truth in one or the other way.

Buddha taught that all the struggling was the characteristic of false pride. All desires are dust and ashes. He thought that Trishna was the root of world sorrow, Stress and strain, noise and pollution, hatred and violence were wreaked havoc. The men of today must take refuge in Buddha, the saviour.

Aparana Chauhan

Follow Your Passion

What do you do? Most of the people ask you the same dull question when you are introduced to them and more often than not, you are talking about your work profile, your work place, future plan etc. but there are few people who think different and duck the trend and react by unfolding their passion, not their job. I have seen people who worked overnight and spent most of the time practising music. There are people who are blissfully unaware of their surroundings but lost in some kind of work that never drain them. This is actually a passion. A person with a passion takes more from life each day and give back more to life as well. It is sheer ecstasy that gives a fresh purpose to life.

People have misunderstood passion with hobby. Passion is one step ahead, it is an obsession. I knew a person who loved angling. Every Sunday he spent 4 to 5 hours in fishing. I have one friend whose passion is politics. He takes out time from his professional life and dedicates himself in party work. We all love to travel but very few of us are passionate about that. One of my friends, who is in well settled job, is planning to leave his job and join as a tour guide. This is passion!

There are people whose profession itself requires constant creativity; a passion helps to tap the creativity. Passion could be anything, even self contemplation and quest for spiritual fulfillment can be a passion that helps to broaden one’s outlook. Passion is actually to satiate senses and when you satisfy some part of your life, only then you will start to look beyond biases and accept people and life better.

Passionate people do not look for excuses, they look for opportunities. No matter how late they are in office or other work, they magically take out time for their passion. Another thing I have noticed that there are people who are dream stealers –who will either dissuade you or discourage you from following your passion. Simple advice is to keep a distance from them. It’s important to find like minded people to share. Even if you aren’t Charles Dickens, your ‘awful ‘write ups could win you friends. No one is perfect. This fact has to be remembered.

In today’s complicated world passion instill energy and keep you charged up. After all passionate people are the ones who stand out in a crowd.

By - Shubhajit

Talent In Oblivion

This is the story of one of my students. A deplorable but extremely motivating tale about a 16 year old girl who overcame her ordeal to achieve remarkable feats in Indian gymnastic arena.

I had started giving tutions for pocket money at a very early age. I recall the day when this shy girl called Jhinuk with her father came to me for some assistance in humanity subjects. She was simple looking Bengali girl with fair complexion and curly short hair. Jhinuk like her name, was not an ordinary girls, she has achieved incredible feats in the field of gymnastics though she underwent a fatal accident at the age of 11 almost threatened her dreams become a gymnast.

While performing on a vaulting horse, Jhinuk met with an accident, which resulted in her right hand being broken. It was a terrible time for her and the traumatic experience almost threatened her sports career. With a steel plate inserted in her arm, doctors felt it was nearly impossible for her to continue her gymnastic dream.

However, undeterred by the obstacles that lay before her, her enthusiasm, inexorable spirit and love for gymnastics saw her through the traumatic times as she finally returned to the sport she loved the most, and managed to carve a niche for herself.

Though average in studies and coming from a modest family, her hard work and ‘never say die’ attitude stunned me and earned the respect and admiration. After she came back from her forced exile, she won consecutevely three national championships, one on sub junior level and two in junior level. She also secured sixth position at the third Children of Asia Games in Russia in the year 2005. Not only that she stood fair rank in 18th Commonwealth games in Australia.

I always admired her parents whose improbable hardwork that helped her turn an almost impossible dream to reality. Unfortunately, in India focus lies mainly on cricket and tennis and inadequate support from the government as well as the media forces people to think twice before taking up a sport like gymnastics at a professional level. however, Jhinuk wanted to dispel all negative thoughts and concentrate on her career and be an illustrious sportperson.

I don’t know where she is right now and whether she is continuing with her gymnastics or not? I can only wish her a fruitful and happy life.

( While my brief stint with Times of India in Kolkata, I published a story on Jhinuk Basu on December 29 in the year 2006)
- Shubhajit

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

During My childhood days my father used to cite example of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde too often while giving gyan to us. I never intended to listen to my father and he also knew that his children were unable to comprehend the subject at that age. But still he by choice threw his philosophies to us. After gaining much experience from life, I toes my father’s line and fathomed why he used to deal with such subjects, which were beyond obvious for any child.

Dr. Jekyll is a character from Louis Stevenson novella that deals with duality of human nature. It’s about a good Dr. Henry Jekyll and misanthropic Mr. Edward Hyde. The phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" implies a person who shows profoundly different behavior, from changing contexts, as if almost another person. Though a fiction but relevant to human behavioral science. According to it every human being has a tendency to show two faces. In a simplest term we call it hypocrisy. It’s a fundamantal attribution error. It’s human nature that person tend to find excuses to explain their own actions by their circumstances, still to impute of others to born characteristics. Hence, at the end judging poorly others while justifying ones own actions. I have spoken at length on this subject with few of my friends and unfortunately my general idea about this particular psychological disorder have run into a stone wall of public disapproval.

Hypocrisy is a natural instinct of depraved human being. If it is true then ain’t we all depraved characters. Betraying a jaundiced eye, each and every moment we are bolstering more tougher shells by showing different faces but substantially overlook our degenerating kernel or in simple terms soften our inner self. Everywhere, at home, office, in friend circle, we pose different characters at the same time. It’s very difficult to read faces now a days because character changes with every changing circumstances. The most awful part of it that we are so used to use people by masquerading ourselves under the wire. Why don’t we speak our mind? Whom we fear? Why we deliberately changing masks in front of people who are not more important than ourselves?

I have started with my father and ending this short metaphysical article with my father. He is a successful man ( considering his circumstances) and used to tell me that "you can always dupe people around you but will never to yourself."

Mount Everest

Geographical Location : Mount Everest is the rocky snow cladded peak of the Himalayas. It is located on the Nepal Tibet border and stands at the height of 29, 028 feet. It is the highest mountain in the world.

Other names of Mount Everest : Mount Everest is popularly known as 'Sagarmatha' meaning Goddess of the Sky in Nepal and 'Chomolungma' meaning Goddess of the Universe in Tibet. People of the Khumbhu valley also call it Jomolangma, as according to them, a goddess, one of the five sisters of long life resides here.

History of Mount Everest : Mount Everest the highest mountain in the world, is named after Sir George Everest, the surveyor general of India. It made its presence known on earth over 60 million years ago. The first expedition to the Mount Everest was made in the year 1924, since than several attempts were made to the summits. The expedition till now has taken more then 400 lives. It was declared as the world's tallest mountain in 1852.

Climbing and Discovery of Mount Everest : From 1830 to 1843 Sir George Everest, the Surveyor General of India, made attempts to record the location of the the Everest. In the year 1856, Andrew Waugh identified Mount Everest to be 8840 meters high. Than exact after the 10 years, in 1865 Peak XV, was renamed as Mt. Everest in the honour of Sir George Everest.

Later on in the 19th century George Mallory and Andrew Irvine attempted the summit. The men were last seen heading towards the top of Mount Everest but thereafter they were completely engulfed by the clouds. In the year 1999, Mallory's body was found, but no such evidence, that could reveal weather they completed their journey to the Everest or not.

The first ones who broke all the records and reach the top of Mount Everest, were Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who received immense popularity overnight. Another most interesting historical record was made in May, 1978 by Habeler and Messner who made the heroic effort to reach the top without using any supplemental oxygen. More than 600 climbers from 20 countries have climbed to the summit by various routes.

Tourists activities :
Trekking and Hiking : Mount Everest is the never ending adventure for the trekkers lovers and hikers too. Trekking at Mount Everest is quite a challenging one. You may face several difficulties while climbing, so you need to be physically fit and fine. The trekking route provides you the most beautiful sceneries and unparalleled views, which are quite amazing. The most appropriate time to trek the base camp of the Mount Everest is pre- monsoon springtime and post monsoon autumn.

Wildlife Exploration : Explore the exotic flora and fauna of the Mount Everest. You can make a visit to the popular Sagarmatha National Park, declared as the world Heritage Site in 1979. The park is known for its rare species of snow leopard and red pandas. Juniper, blue pines, firs, bamboo and rhododendron contribute to the rich floral system of the park. The main attractions of the park include musk deer, wild yak, Himalayan black beer, langur monkeys, hares, mountain foxes, Himalayan wolves and red panda.

Birding : The Sagarmatha National Park is also the birding paradise. You can carry the pair of binoculars to engage in Bird watching. It is home to 118 species of birds. The most important among them include Danphe, Blood Pheasant, Red billed chough and Yellow billed chough. Sagarmatha is one of the most beautiful place you will find on earth.

Visit to the Khumbu Valley : The Khumbu valley mostly inhabited by the Sherpas, has marvelous, incomparable beauty. Beautifully surrounded by the snowy peaks, the valley is the zenith of natural beauty. The people in the valley are quite religious, who have been following Tibetan Buddhism from generations. The people here are engaged in various occupations such as trekking, mountaineering, portering and other religious practices.

Aparana Chauhan

Positive is Power

Our life is really like the roller coaster. One has to come across many challenges, hurdles, ups and downs as well as the cheerful, happy, jovial side of the life, to know – what really is life? Or why I am here? Or what life is all about, that some people say it’s worth living…

We always try to curse the cosmic forces conspiring against us, when there are any difficulties strewn along our path. But instead of that we should try to bring forth the optimistic side of our life. Whatever is happening on this planet and in our life is a feature film and we play the role of the protagonist. In almost all the films, the hero or the heroine is shown to come across all the challenges and difficulties, which are eventually overcome, and they come out victorious. So, in that manner we should think that we will also overcome any thorns crossing our way.

Only the man with the right attitude and positive thinking can succeed in their life. The song of the soul is – “I am the master of my heart. Nothing can damage me but myself”. Even if one is entangled in the worst possible situation, one must not think of the problems but the solutions. Happiness is first an attitude. In fact, an optimist is never mentally sick. That is what the father of modern science, Sir Williams Osler said, “The cure of tuberculosis is more on what the patients has in his head than what he has in his chest”.

We can’t shut our eyes from reality. But the proportion of sorrow and joy is not much different from that of day and night. You can’t prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head but atleast you can prevent them from making nests in your hair.

I believe whatever happens, it surely has as reason or significance attached to it….and it’s definitely for the good.

By Aparana Chauhan

Pluralism in India

India is the world’s most complex and comprehensive pluralistic society. The country harbours a vast variety of races, tribes, castes, religions, languages and customs. Pluralism in a society is presence of multi religious, multi ethnic, multi lingual and multi cultural categories. It is the cultural diversity that is India’s pride on the world map.

India has always been a pluralist people, even when it was an essentially Hindu civilization. Hinduism is most diverse religious tradition in the world, with its Vedic, Tantric, Shaivite, Vaihnav and other sets, both ancient and modern. It also provided the ground for the Buddhist, Jain and Sikh traditions. It spawned perhaps the greatest diversity of spiritual teachings globally.

The unique feature of the Indian life style is its unity- in – multiplicity. And to strengthen this unity, our constitution makers in their wisdom ensured a secular, democratic and cultural framework protected and guaranteed by law. Despite the diverse role played by the colonial power over two centuries and the handiwork of extremists and politicians who represent vested interest essentially, almost all communities live here in harmony.

Indians are connected through the profound and creative cultural symbols of identity and communication, food, ritual, clothing, music, dance, craft etc. In other words we connect through the pluralistic fabric of the society. Pluralism does have many practical problems too and it is not all smooth sailing in any pluralistic society.

In the third world countries, the failure of the nation to deliver the needs and aspirations of the people have made pluralism the major source of tension, conflict and violence. In an increasing number of cases, cultural minorities are converting themselves into political minorities in order to seek recognition and protection of their distinctive identities. Witness the history of Kashmir or the ethnic group in Manipur; or the power of ULFA in Assam.

The challenge therefore is to manage pluralism without giving up the goal of national integration and without further emasculating the state. Cultural pluralism can be best managed by the democratic framework.

By Aparana Chauhan