Spark Igniting Minds

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Cruelty

My in-laws are ardent believers of goddess Yellamma. They consider Yellamma as their family diety. My mind does not reciprocate to their devotional feelings. From the very beginning, I have strange feelings of gramadevathas like yellamma, sateri, hatti lakkamma etc., To be very frank,I'm scared of such goddesses. I was newly married then. I could see lot of people gathering at the nearby Yellamma temple. The temple was hardly any distance from my home. I thought some puja must be on. Out of curiosity, I went to the temple. I saw a decorated sheep tied to the tree. Ouch!! I guessed what it's going to be! The sheep was not sad. It was coolly grazing the grass around the tree. It was unaware what would happen to her in next few minutes. It was brought in front of the idol. I could very well imagine the horror scene. As a man lifted the sickle I closed my eyes. My heart squeez...

Taking stock of the situation

Are you new to the office and feel negated and ignored? Are you de-linked from the set up and the situation is going out of control? Are you not being posted as to what's happening in the company? If this is happening to you, don't just shut yourself and keep aloof from the office on-goings. You have every right to partake in the activities and get involved. Don't ever think that you're poking your nose in somebody's business. Take stock of the situation by following few steps: 1. Speak to your boss frankly about the situation you are in. Impress upon him to open a float file where all the in-charge personnel sign. You, as a second in command sign after all the others and before your boss signs. Now you will be aware of all the out-going letters. 2. Call for a meeting of all staff working under you. Show your leadership skills by impressing on them that you're always there for them at time of crisis. Mak...

The Wedding Day!

The day was Vijayadashami. It is said any ritual on this day leads to success as it is an auspicious day in our Hindu calendar. This was the day set for my marriage 24 years ago. Normally wedding rituals here in Karnataka start one day before. But mine was in the Vedic style. So rituals had reduced. However, we two had decided to make it more simplistic and had booked a small hall. The time fixed was late morning. People and people. Relatives, friends, well-wishers. The hall was overcrowded. I could see people sitting closely one next to other. I was in a different plain altogether. I was happily involved in the rituals and it looked very filmy to me. It was like a life time dream in reality. I was not considerate of what was happening, how things were managed, who have come and what difficulties others are facing and what are their feelings. My small brother who was a seven year old was very upset seeing this crowd and he kept on cry...

Today's education

Theory, theory and theory. No scope for practical education. Children are bored to mug up and reproduce. All that's mattering is how much they score? what's the percentage they get? Teachers are not encouraging the children to think and come out with new ideas. Story telling, discussions and reflections are absent in the classrooms. With lecturing and listening, innovation in children is taking a back seat. To top it all, parents are crazy to get their children into engineering and medicine careers. Other careers are undermined. Apart from these, the reservation policies are demotivating. With the trend of mugging up and vomiting, the scope for scientific inquiry and critical thinking is diminishing in children. Entrepreneurial education, value education and global issues have no place in the syllabus. Is this the type of education that we have to provide for our future contributors? Does this education help t...

Individualism Vs. Oneness

We are all born as individuals on this earth, life teaches us individuality. It makes us think as isolated entities in the universe. We become so individualistic that the wholesomeness is disintegrated. As social beings life teaches us to live with people of our families and those with whom we interact. In reality we are a part of the big whole. The society brings us together and economy keeps us apart. The universe brings us together but our thinking keeps us apart. Our thought processes acts as the biggest blocks to feel unified with the whole. It is not easy as said. Accepting the wholesome phenomenon is not that easy. Many questions arise to accept this because of the material facts. We have to make a living. We have to earn for ourselves and our family. We need protection, we need a house. One can’t be judgmental saying that it is not the right thing to do. It is the way of life. ...

How to overcome anguish

Suraj was the only child of Hari and Vani. In their small world of three, Suraj, was an apple of the eye. Suraj performed well in his studies and brought home the medals that he won in many competitions at school. As they were feeling on the top of the world, a sudden mishap got them down!! Suraj was snatched away by the God of death. This pained their hearts. The mother couldn't control herself. Her grief grew more and more. She touched his belongings, felt them, embraced them and finally cried to her hearts content. Somehow Hari seemed stronger than Vani. He got involved in his work and this slowly made him to come out of the deep agonizing pain. Vani went to depression and became a permanent psychiatric patient. No amount of consolation and reassurance lessened her pain. Well wishers suggested them to adopt a son of the same age. They did not agree. They felt that this will only increase their ...