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 |   As the first blog entry got exhausted. My second book |
| Evolution of Love Part 2 |
| *Sudden Chinese decision shakes the corners of the entire world* China surprised the world today and decided to cancel the dollar peg in the stock exchange transactions and decided to deal officially and the official link to the Chinese yuan instead of the dollar, and this is a bold and important step in China's economic history. This means that the dollar has become non-existent in Chinese trading and the US dollar will fall strongly against the Chinese yuan and may affect it in global markets. And all the global markets were stunned by the decision. The news was discussed today on the BBC World English afternoon program. It is an economic war that could lead the world to a devastating war that cannot be neglected if America acts foolishly in the face of this decision !! China 2021 will lead the world. This is China's old dream and what it planned to achieve for decades or more. China plans a separate digital currency e-RMB, to take on fights with $ https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/china-starts-major-trial-of-state-... e-RMB, which is set to be the first digital currency operated by a major economy. A sovereign *digital currency provides a functional alternative to the dollar* settlement system and blunts the impact of any sanctions or threats of exclusion both at a country and company level,â last weekâs China Daily report said. Some government employees and public servants to receive their salaries in the digital currency from May. A decline in cash usage is expected to continue amid the growing popularity of digital payment platforms and as people avoid physical contact during the coronavirus pandemic. It may also facilitate *integration into globally traded currency markets* with a reduced risk of politically inspired disruption. |
| 1. " The Best and Most Beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be FELT with the Heart.....". 2. " For What it is Worth - Trust your Feelings. - I cannot promise that You shall never get hurt again, but I can Promise you - The risk is WORTH IT....." 3. " To tell someone not to be Emotional - is to tell them to be Dead "........ 4. " The point of Life isn't to Avoid pain - The point of Life is To Be ALIVE ! To FEEL. That means the Good and the Bad. There shall be be pain. But also JOY, and Friendship and LOVE - And It is WORTH IT.......". 5. " Do NOT keep all Feelings Sheltered - EXPRESS Them. Donât EVER let Life Shut You Up......" AND - A FACT OF LIFE..... 6. " Sensitive people are the MOST GENUINE and Honest people you shall EVER meet. There is nothing they wonât tell you about themselves if they TRUST your Kindness. However, the moment you betray them, reject them or devalue them - They become the worse type of person. Unfortunately, they end up HURTING Themselves in the long run. They DO NOT want to Hurt other people. It is against their very Nature. They want to make Amends and UNDO the wrong they did. Their life is a wave of Highs and Lows. They live with guilt and constant pain over unresolved situations and misunderstandings. They are Tortured Souls that are not able to live with hatred or being hated. This type of person NEEDS the MOST Love anyone can give them because their Soul has been constantly bruised by others. However, DESPITE the tragedy of what they have to go through in life, they remain the Most COMPASSIONATE people worth knowing, and the ones that often become activists for the BROKEN HEARTED, Forgotten and the Misunderstood. They are ANGELS WITH BROKEN WINGS - That only FLY WHEN LOVED......" SO VERY TRUE....... |
The 90/10 Principle - Stephen Covey The 90/10 Principle says, " 10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react " What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop the car from breaking down. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no control over this 10%. You determine the other 90%. How? By your reaction. You cannot control a red light, but you can control your reaction. Don't let people fool you; YOU can control how you react. Let's use an example. You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of milk onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened. What happens next will be determined by how you react. You curse. You harshly scold your daughter. She breaks down in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your wife and criticize her for placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus. You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. After a 15-minute delay you arrive at school. After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. When you arrive home, you find small wedge in your relationship with your wife and daughter. Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning. Why did you have a bad day? A) Did the cup of hot milk cause it? B) Did your daughter cause it? C) Did you cause it? The answer is C You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was determined by your reaction. A wrong reaction could result in losing a friend, getting stressed out etc. The 90-10 principle is incredible. Very few know and apply this principle. The result? Millions of people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and heartache. Next time you react to any situation, remember the 90-10 principle..... |
| SADHGURU In making Dhyanalinga a powerful force đ„đ„ â a sacred space which is beyond religion, beyond belief, beyond dogma, beyond scripture â there were wonderful, dedicated human beings, human beings who did not think of themselves twice. What do I have for them? I donât have these sappy words in my vocabulary. There are many forces in the existence which are normally beyond human perception and human capabilities, which need to be dealt with gently. People do months of homams and havans â rituals and sacrifices â to invite them so that they can have their blessings. I kidnapped them â all kinds of beings, demons, goblins, yogis, disembodied beings, gods, goddesses. I didnât sit and pray and invite them, I just did everything forcefully. And they donât get kidnapped without taking a toll. They are not forcefully made to come without venting their stuff. I knew if I used my energies like that, it would destroy my body. But anyway the body was not the issue at that time. So I went about doing things which were only towards making Dhyanalinga happen, but completely destructive for myself. Because anyway it was the last phase of my life, they couldnât catch me anywhere to torture me. The confluence of these energies made the consecration possible. He [referring to his Guru] didnât ask me whether Iâm going to do it or not â he just assumed that I have to do it. This one commitment that I have to establish my Guruâs dream was more than norms, ethics, and safety. Everything I kept aside because my commitment to him is larger than my commitment to life. Whatever the scriptures would judge me as, all the other beings â those who are called devas and gods â are extremely happy with me. In India, in the Sanskrit language, when we say âgod,â we are not referring to the Supreme Being. The word âdevaâ literally means âa radiant being.â There are many radiant beings. They say their population is also growing. Shiva himself said that either their blessing will see humanity through, or their displeasure will end the human race. It all depends on whether the devas are happy or not. I see they have been extremely happy with me. |
| Jai Sri Gurudev! đđđđïžđș A famous yogi came to visit Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji in Kartarpur. He was impressed with such a lovely community and he said to the Guru âWow, this is heavenly! what a beautiful community!â Guru Nanak said âYou will see just how beautiful.â The next day Guru Ji announced to the whole village, âWe will all go on a walk together!â Everyone got ready for the walk, but something strange began to happen in the air. Dark clouds began to fill the sky and the wind started blowing very harshly. When Guru Nanak came out of his house, he had a very wild look in his eyes. He had some ferocious dogs with him that were barking madly. He was wearing heavy clothes and had a sharp knife in his hand. Without saying anything Guru Nanak Ji started walking with great speed. The people thought, âWhat is going on? Guru Ji is not acting normal.â Some of them got spooked and didnât want to follow him on this strange walk. Something didnât seem quite right to them. But many people felt that Guru ji had given them an order to follow him for the walk. So they listened to the master and tried to catch up to his fast pace. The walk was longer than normal. They didnât take the usual paths so it was difficult to go along. But wait! What was this!? They started to notice there were copper coins laying on the ground! Guru ji must have put them there. They thought, âHe must be rewarding us for our obedience in following on this strange journey.â So they took their share of copper coins and went back to the safety of their homes. Those who were left kept going for quite a while longer. This was starting to become a much, much longer walk then they had expected. The Guru was walking on, and on, and they kept up. But it was starting to be too much. Just then they saw something completely unexpected. There were silver coins laying on the ground! They thought, âGuru Nanak is great! Weâre very lucky that we waited longer and went through the extra effort. Now we have silver coins! They picked up the coins and left. Not many people were left at this point. Those who stayed surely had a lot of devotion to keep walking this far and not stop to pick up the copper and silver coins. Then guess what happened next? Gold coins appeared on the ground! The people who picked up loads of gold coins were very happy. âIt was well worth it to follow the Guru today,â they thought. Guru Ji kept madly walking on and by this time the only ones left were two Sikhs, Bhai Lehna, the Yogi and the Guru. They kept on walking. They came to a corpse lying in the road. It was covered with a sheet and it smelled really bad. âOkay!â said the Guru. âStop here. I want you to eat this corpse.â The two Sikhs didnât know what to do with such a weird command, they simply turned and ran away. Bhai Lehna Ji only knew to obey his Guru out of love, he said âWhere shall I start? At the head or the toes?â Guru Nanak yelled, âStart in the middle!!â Bhai Lehna devotedly went to the corpse to do as he was told, and when he lifted the sheet off the body something had changed. The awful smell of the dead body had turned sweet. Under the sheet all he saw was Prashad! He took a handful of the Prashad and he offered it to the Guru. Now Guru Nanak looked at the Yogi and said âSee, I have many followers but only one true student.â The Yogi said âThis man is like your âangâ, a limb of your own body, he is a part of you.â Guru Nanak named Lehna âAngadâ. The Sikh who was so devoted he was the same as the Guru. Angadâs humility and devotion completely ate up his ego. That is why he became worthy of sitting on the throne of Guruship and carrying on the light of Guru Nanak. Through his devotion Lehna became Guru Angad Dev Ji. |
| I CHOOSE - A PRAYER - (by - Max Lucado) - TO GUIDE US TO GO THROUGH LIFE.............. I Choose LOVE...... NO OCCASION justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves. I Choose JOY..... I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God. I Choose PEACE..... I will live Forgiven. I will forgive so I may LIVE I Choose PATIENCE..... I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll invite him to do so, Rather complain that the wait is to long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with JOY and COURAGE. I Choose KINDNESS..... I will be kind to the poor, for they are ALONE Kind to the rich, for they are AFRAID. And kind to the unkind, FOR THAT IS HOW GOD HAS TREATED ME...... I Choose GOODNESS....... I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I accuse. I choose GOODNESS..... I Choose FAITHFULNESS...... Today I will Keep my PROMISES. My debtors will not regret their trust. My Friends will not question my word. And my Family will not question my LOVE..... I Choose SELF-CONTROL....... I REFUSE to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I choose SELF-CONTROL... Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness and Self-Control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will GIVE THANKS. If I fail, I will seek HIS GRACE. And then when this day is done I will place my head on my pillow and rest. AMEN TO THAT.... |
| Useful tips to avoid catching the infection from asymptomatic people & highly contagious mutating nature of Covid -19 ! 1. Avoid frequent visits to buy essentials-buy for a week to ten days. 2. Wear a mask if you have to go out / home made / scarves / handkerchief will do. 3. Wash hands frequently to the count of 35 which is about 20-25 seconds. 4. Wash vegetables / fruits with the skin ones with liquid soap & water (other vegetables keep in RO water with little salt in the sun for 7-8 hours) 5. All outside packaging wipe down with any disinfectant 6. Mild exercise 30 mins a day 7. Breathing exercises 10-15 min a day 8. Drink lots of water / room temperature & Eat as much fruits & green vegetables. 9. Avoid home delivery of food - all kitchens are unhygienic as no sanitation measures are followed by kitchens & delivery boys. 10. Avoid getting close to sick people with cold / cough /sneeze 11. Last but not the least - Try to help the old & the needy while maintaining social distance & precautions . Stay Safe / Stay Healthy đ |
1) â But Compassion IS NOT about solutions..It IS ABOUT â Giving ALL the Love that you have GotâŠâ 2) âThere comes a time in Life that all you NEED is Just Someone to LISTEN to you Without Judging or Telling you what you Should have done and Should do, but Simply Just LISTENING to youâŠ.......â 3) âThe next time you wish you could Find the Right words to say to someone who is hurting, JUST REMEMBER that Dogs are a Man's best friend Without EVER speaking a word to them. Simply Be Present and have EMPATHYâŠâŠ.." â 4) âNo one Cares how much you Know, until They KNOW how much You CAREâŠâŠâ. 5) â Remember that EVERYONE You meet â Is Afraid of Something, LOVES Something AND has Lost SomethingâŠ..â And for US to ALWAYS Remember⊠6) âThe Most Beautiful people we have Known are those who have Known Defeat, Known Suffering, Known Struggle, Known Loss, and Have Found their way out of the depths. These persons have an Appreciation, a Sensitivity, and An Understanding of Life that fills them with Compassion, Gentleness, and a DEEP LOVING CONCERN. Beautiful people DO NOT just happen........" ISN'T THAT TRUE ?..... |
| Four friends A, B, C, D need to cross a bridge.. A maximum of 2 people can cross at a time.. It is night and they have just 1 lamp. People that cross the bridge must carry the lamp to see the way.. A pair must walk together at the speed of slower person⊠Speeds of A: 1 minute to cross bridge B: 2 minutes to cross bridge C: 8 minutes to cross bridge D: 11 minutes to cross bridge Now question is⊠âwhat is the total minimum time required by all 4 friends to cross the bridgeâŠ.? |
| "May I have a light?" I looked up to see a! Japanese â more or less my age â with an unlit cigarette in his hand. I reached for my lighter. He lit up. We were on a train travelling from Berne to Geneva in the autumn of 1980. âIndian?â he asked. âYesâ I replied. We got talking. He was an official in the UN and was returning to home and headquarters at Geneva. I was scheduled to lecture at the university. We chit-chatted for a while; he gave me some useful tips on what to see and where to eat in the city. Then, having exhausted the store of âsafely tradable informationâ, we fell silent. I retrieved my book â âDefeat into Victoryâ, an account of the Second World War in Burma by Field Marshal William Slim. He opened the newspaper. We travelled in silence. After a while he asked âAre you a professor of Military History?â âNoâ I replied- âjust interested. My father was in Burma during the warâ. âMine tooâ he said. In December 1941, Japan invaded Burma and opened the longest land campaign of the entire war for Britain. There were two reasons for the Japanese invasion. First, cutting the overland supply route to China via the Burma Road would deprive Chiang Kai Sheikâs Nationalist Chinese armies of military equipment and pave the way for the conquest of China. Second, possession of Burma would position them at the doorway to India, where they believed a general insurrection would be triggered against the British once their troops established themselves within reach of Calcutta. Entering Burma from Thailand, the Japanese quickly captured Rangoon in 1942, cut off the Burma Road at source and deprived the Chinese of their only convenient supply base and port of entry. Winning battle after battle, they forced theallied forces to retreat into India. The situation was bleak. The British were heavily committed to the war in Europe and lacked the resources and organisation to recapture Burma. However, by1943 they got their act together. The High Command was overhauled; Wavell was replaced by Mountbatten and operational control was given to General William Slim, a brilliant officer. Slim imbued his men with a new spirit, rebuilt morale and forged the famous 14th Army, an efficient combat force made up of British, Indians and Africans. The Japanese, aware that the defenders were gathering strength, resolved to end the campaign with a bold thrust into India and a simultaneous attack in the Arakan in Burma. In the ebb and flow of these large events chronicled in Military History, my father, a soldier, played a part â first in Kohima in clearing the Japanese from the Naga Hills, then in Imphal and finally in the deeply forested mountains of Arakan. Destiny took him there. In the blinding rain of the monsoons in 1943, the Supreme Allied Commanderâs plane landed at Maugdow where the All-India Brigade of which his regiment was a part was headquartered. Mountbatten was accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Browning, who had been my fatherâs Adjutant at the Royal Military College in Sandhurst. He and the two other Indian commanders â Thimayya and Sen - were introduced to Mountbatten who made casual but searching enquiries regarding their war experience. Thereafter he was closeted in the âconference tentâ with the senior commanders for a long time. As they came out he turned to Reggie Hutton, the Brigade commander and said, âAll right Reggie let your All-Indian Brigade do it. But, by God, it is going to be toughâ. Then turning to the three of them he said, âGentlemen, the Japanese are pulling out of upper Burma. You have been selected to intercept their withdrawal from there into the South. You will concentrate at Akyab, proceed to Myebon by sea, capture Kangaw, penetrate Japanese-held territory and convert the Japanese retreat into a rout. Is that clear?â It was. My Japanese friend who had been listening intently leaned forward and asked âDid you say your father was in the All India Brigade?â âYesâ, I replied. Our conversation paused for a while as the waiter served coffee and croissants. Later, picking up the threads he persisted âWas he a junior officer at the time?â âNot reallyâ I replied. âHe was a Battalion commanderâ. He digested the information and said âWhich regiment?â âThe Punjab Regimentâ I replied. His face turned colour. Maybe it was a play of light and shade or maybe it was just my imagination but I thought he was going to be ill. âAre you okay?â I queried? He nodded. âPlease carry onâ. After marching through hostile territory, the brigade finally landed at Myebon. Their dis-embarkation was not opposed. They proceeded to Kangaw little knowing that forty-eight hours later they would be locked in a battle which was to last for a fortnight and claim the lives of three thousand men. Mountbatten had been right. The withdrawal route of the Japanese was dominated by âHill Feature 170; Melrose. It was firmly held by the Japanese and gave them the enormous advantage of having the âcommanding heightsâ. Worse, intelligence reported that they had two brigades. The Indians had one. Brigadier Hutton realised that if the withdrawal had to be cut, the hills would have to be captured irrespective of the numerical disadvantage. He took the call. The first attack by the Hyderabadis under Thimayya mauled the enemy but did not achieve the objective. The second by the Baluchis under Sen met a similar fate. It was then that âReggieâ asked the Punjabis to make a final effort. Artillery and air support was coordinated. The zero hour for the attack was set at 0700 hours on 29 January 1944. At dawn as the leading companies moved forward, the Japanese opened machine gun fire. The Artillery provided cover and laid out a smoke screen. The Punjabis began to climb the hill. Safe from amongst well dug bunkers the Japanese rained fire on them. The Indian casualties mounted as men began to drop. The air cover which was a key part of the plan failed to materialise - bad weather and bad luck. Taking a calculated risk, the commander pushed on. They were hardly a hundred yards from the top when the Japanese threw everything they had at them. In the face of such unrestrained fierceness, the advance faltered hovering uncertainly on the edge of stopping. For the commander, it was the moment of truth â to fight or flee? As he saw his men being mowed down by machine gun fire a rage erupted within him. Throwing caution to the winds he ran forward to be with them. The scales âtippedâ. The troops rallied, âfixed bayonetsâ and charged into the Japanese with obscenities and primeval war cries. A fierce hand to hand combat ensued. Neither side took or gave a quarter. The Japanese fought like tigers at bay. The conflict went on unabated through the night. The Japanese counter-attacked in wave after wave but the Indian line held firm. Then the last bullet was fired and there was silence. Many years later Mountbatten would describe what took place as âThe bloodiest battle of the Arakanâ and correctly so. The price of victory was two thousand Japanese and eight hundred Indians dead in the course of a single encounter. Fifty officers and men would win awards for gallantry. The battalion commander would be decorated with the DSO for âunflinching devotion to duty and personal braveryâ. But all that was to happen in the future. At that particular moment on the field of battle, the commander was looking at the Japanese soldiers who had been taken prisoners of war. They had assembled as soldiers do, neatly and in order. On seeing the Indian Colonel, their commander called his men to attention, stepped forward, saluted, unbuckled his sword, held it in both hands and bowed. The Indian was surprised to see that his face was streaked with tears. He understood the pain of defeat but why the tears? After all, this was war. One or the other side had to lose. How could the Japanese explain to the Indian that the tears were not of grief but of shame? How could he make him understand what it meant to be a Samurai? Given a choice he himself would have preferred the nobler course of Hara Keri than surrender. But fate had willed otherwise. The ancestral sword in his hands had been carried with pride by his forefathers. Now he was shaming them by handing it over. All this was unknown â unknowable - to the Indian commander. He came from a different culture and had no knowledge of what was going on in the mind of his adversary. Yet there was something in the manner and bearing of the officer in front of him which touched him deeply. He found himself moved. Without being told he somehow intuited that the moment on hand was not merely solemn but personal and deeply sacred. He accepted the sword and then inexplicably, impelled by an emotion which perhaps only a soldier can feel for a worthy opponent, bent forward and said clearly and loudly in the hearing of all âColonel I accept the surrender but I receive your sword not as a token of defeat but as a gift from one soldier to anotherâ. The Japanese least expecting this response looked up startled. The light bouncing from the tears on his cheeks, reflected an unspoken gratitude for the Indianâs remark. Coming as it did from the heart, it had touched his men and redeemed their â and his â honour. The Punjabis â Hindus and Muslims - who had gathered around also nodded in appreciation. Battle was battle. When it was on, they had fought each other with all their strength. And now that it was over there was no personal or national animosity. Maybe the Gods who look after soldiers are different from those who look after other mortals for they bind them in strange webs of understanding and common codes of honour no matter which flags they fly. The moment passed. He looked at the Signal Officer and nodded. The success signal was fired. Far away in the jungles below, Brigadier Reggie Hutton looked at the three red lights in the sky and smiled. His faith in his commanders had been vindicated. He would later explain that at stake that night was not only the battle objective but the larger issue as to whether Indians âhad it in themâ to lead men in war. There had been sceptics who felt that his faith was misplaced. He looked at Melrose and smiled. Its capture had vindicated his faith. I looked out of the window lost in my thoughts. Suddenly I heard a sob to find that my Japanese friend had broken down. He swayed from side to side. His eyes were closed and it was clear that he was in the grip of an emotion more powerful than himself. He kept saying âkarma, karmaâ and talking to himself in his own language. After a while he looked up with eyes full of tears and holding both my hands said in a voice choked with emotion, âIt was my father who gave battle to yours on Melrose. It was he who surrendered. Had your father not understood the depth of his feelings, he would have come back and died of shame. But in accepting our ancestral sword in the manner that he did, he restored honour to our family and my father to me. That makes us brothers â you and I. The train pulled into Geneva station. We got down. What had to be said had already been spoken. He bowed. Goodbye I said. Keep in touch. Incidentally, would you like me to restore the sword back to your family. He smiled, looked at me and said âCertainly not. The sword already rests in the house of a Samuraiâ. That was the last I saw of him. Usha tells me that the probability of our meeting defies statistics. She should know. She studied economics and statistics. There was a World war going on. Good. My father was in the Indian army; his father was in the Japanese army; perfectly okay. They fought in the same theatre of war â Burma; understandable. They fought in the same battle; difficult but believable. The war finished, they went back to their families; plausible. But that their sons grew up in two different lands, happened to go to Berne at the same time, board the same train, get into the same compartment, share coffee and cigarettes, have a conversation on something that had happened four decades ago, discover their fathers had fought on opposite sides in the same battle â that undoubtedly is insane. Personally, I do not believe that there are outcomes in life which are necessarily bound to happen?Yet, sometimes I am not so sure. You can never connect events by looking into the future; you can only connect them by looking at the past. Maybe it is comforting to believe that because the dots connect backward, they will connect forward also. I donât know. Perhaps in the end, you have to trust in something. The sword has a pride of place in our home. Whenever I see it, my mind goes back to the jungles of Arakan where in the midst of the madness of war, two soldiers were able to touch each other and their compatriots with lasting humanity |
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