Remembering our heroes : August-2022

This year is a special one. This is the 75th year of our freedom. It gives a reason and an opportunity to recall the great sacrifices made by our Freedom fighters. There is a reason why we should recall and remember them and their sacrifices.  The governance in India started winding down after the second world war. It became certain that the British will not continue to rule 0ur country for a long time in future. But when they will go and in what state they will leave our country became uncertain. Knowing the potentialities of our country Britain didn’t want to leave us without any chaos. This is because they didn’t want us become their nemesis in the future. The last couple of years of their rule were spent solely in creating an atmosphere of utter chaos in the civil society. When we got freedom, the situation was not a comfortable one to rule. Soon after the independence India was forced into a war with its erstwhile part and new enemy Pakistan. The war lasted for more than an year. Then in 1962 Our country was again forced into a war with the Chinese. Both these wars were not our making. This unexpected war left our country in bruises. Before we could recover from the vagaries of this war within three years, in 1965 we waged a war with Pakistan again. Then again in 1971 a war with Pakistan which left them battered. Knowing very well that cannot beat us in regular war, they carried on covert war after that, instigating many secessionist movements like the Khalistan. This was till 1999, when they again indulged in their usual audacity when they sent their men as mercenaries to attack us in Kargil.  The antagonism between Hindus and Muslims was one of the most significant works of the British administration. It has impacted the way our country is being administered in the last 7 decades. Not only the Hindu - Muslim divide but also the fractures in our society among Hindus themselves was also engineered to perfection during the British days. Thus, the administration in independent India was not a path filled with roses. Insurgencies, narco-terrorism, secessionist movements, cyber terrorism, caste and communal politics, the hostile atmosphere among various communities which was engineered to create dissension in the society, linguistic chauvinism, regional parochialism, all these are intended to undermine the sovereignty of our country. It will be difficult for the administration to handle these threats on its own. The civil society’s support is needed to tackle all these. The single antidote which will help us fight all these is Nationalism. There is no better source of infusing Nationalism to our people than recalling the valiant stories of the freedom struggle. The remarkable incidents which shaped the freedom struggle are to be retold to our younger generations time and again. We should also remember to tell them about the unsung heroes of our freedom movement. We should make them understand that it is a concerted effort by people from all parts of our country. The internal and external security of our Nation can be safeguarded in the times to come, only by doing this mammoth task of re igniting the patriotic fervour among our people.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                  V.V.Balasubramanian

                                                                                                                                                         YB-ET

Guru Purnima :July 2022

Man is a veritable dynamo of enormous spiritual power, says Swami Vivekananda. This spiritual power is normally latent. We need a Guru to unfold this power and also to harness it in a proper way. Our society has always laid a great emphasis on the relationship between Guru and Sishya. It is not something akin to the contemporary teacher student relationship. Our traditional system provided for not just educational support but also emotional and spiritual guidance from the Guru to the shishya. It is a divine bond which has withstood several millennia of uninterrupted continuity. Though the political landscape has seen several changes in the past this tradition has survived without any changes.

This tradition is said to be one which starts from the Mahadeva himself. For Example the invocation sloka for the smarthas says that,

 Sadasiva samarambham Sankaracharya madhyamam asmad acarya paryantam vande guru paramparam

Meaning salutation to the lineage starting with lord Sadasiva, with Adi Sankara in the middle and continuing up to my immediate teacher.  Veda Vyasa carried the mantle from Lord Shiva himself and he is considered as the first Human Guru. It will not be an over statement if we say that our nation was designed and sustained by our Guru tradition. Because the duty of a Guru is to make every student aware of his divine nature. This will refine them and make them good subjects. A society will change when all its individuals get transformed. When the society becomes good, the Nation becomes good. So to transform a Nation the work should start from the individual. In this guru’s influence becomes a tremendous value addition to the whole of humanity. This applies to the contemporary world too. The present-day world’s crisis is very much a creation of character deterioration. To come out of this problem we have to take refuge in the great teachings of our Gurus. If we want to see a resurgent world tomorrow, then this is the course which we have to follow for sure. This is one of the burning desires of Swami Vivekananda who wanted to see our country back in her saddle as the Jagat Guru. The voice of peace and benediction will flow from her for the benefit of the entire Humanity.

                                                                                                                                V.V.Balasubramanian

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Yoga for Universal Motherhood : June 2022

 “Asato ma sadgamaya, tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, mrithyor ma amritham gamaya..” These are three simple but profoundly meaningful utterances or ‘keys’ our Seers have supplied for total emancipation of man, for his ascent to Divinity. Swami Vivekananda has, in his own inimitable way, expressed them for our easier understanding, stressing on ‘expansion’ which is the central theme of Yoga. To quote Swami Vivekananda- “Expansion is life, contraction is death, Knowledge is life, ignorance is death, Love is expansion, hatred is death”.

This expansion from the micro to the macro level is the essence of human life, exemplified by all the four Yogas- Karma, Bhakti, Raja, Jnana yogas. If a woman can understand this essence of Yoga and model her life based on that she would raise herself into a Universal Mother- the ultimate goal of womanhood.

Normally a woman is steeped in plurality and duality- projecting herself to attract attention and adoration. Marriage changes a wee bit of this attitude as she learns to share her joys and sorrows with her husband, the love for whom becomes the very essence of her being. There starts her journey from plurality and duality towards oneness or Advaita, the crest jewel of human thought. When she attains motherhood, her ‘duality’ slowly starts melting away and to the extent she is unselfish in her love and identified with her family- through love, sacrifice and service, her motherhood starts blossoming effortlessly, spontaneously, ie, she sets herself on the path of expansion, transforming herself into a Yogini. Selfish motivations which characterized her earlier life drop away as love in its purest form starts engulfing her. As she starts tasting the glory of true motherhood, divinity manifests in her slowly but surely elevating her on the ladder of evolution. She is on the way to acquire the halo of “SRI MATA”. That is not all. Her ‘Yoga’ is still not complete. She has to discover another dimension in her life- “Devakaryasamudyata”, ever engaged in upholding Satya and Dharma, the cardinal principles of Sanatana Dharma. This is the ‘devakarya’, entrusted specially to the mothers. It is they who should make Advaita satya practical in life through her love, sacrifice and service and pass these cardinal values on to the next generation. It is then that she becomes worthy of being the Queen of her home. Next elevation is, she is recognized as Simhasaneswari- the Queen Empress adored by the world at large for her universal qualities. This amazing evolution of an ordinary girl through wifehood, motherhood and on to Divine Motherhood is the most glorious of all Yogas. This supreme Yoga is what we see exemplified in the life of Holy Mother Sarada Devi, the Divine Consort of Sri Ramakrishna. 

Every woman has in her sparks of Lakshmi, Saraswathi and Parvathi. It is up to her to make them sparkle in her life- through her actions, words and thoughts, creating wealth, knowledge and happiness all around. The woman who has mastered this great Yoga of the ‘Science and Art’ of being a true woman is indeed the rarest of being. All glory to Motherhood.

                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                            Dr M Lakshmi Kumari

Swamiji’s role in inspiring people to fight for the freedom.: May 2022

 Whenever a discussion happens about Swami Vivekananda’s impact on Indian Society a question will get posed invariably about the role os Swamiji in the freedom struggle. While it is settled without any doubt that many of the freedom fighters were actually inspired by the thoughts of Swamiji, and as a result they got themselves involved in the freedom struggle, we will see what his contributions are. During those days our country was impoverished by the frequent artificial famines created by the British authorities, that our people lacked the mental and the  physical energy and financial resources to carry the fight straight to the powerful imperial kingdom.  Swamiji said that, if India were to get freedom immediately, there were too few proper men to protect it or realize its value. So Swamiji stressed on man-making as the foremost necessity for national rebuilding. Without a properly trained army one cannot wage a war. So Swamiji’s prime focus was on building Men with Character. He wanted Men to be Courageous, Selfless, Honest and Intelligent. As a result of Swamiji’s work and campaign several Leaders endowed with such qualities came on to the Political arena to fight against the British. People like Bala Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji were a few examples. Mahatma Gandhi said that his patriotism increased several times after reading the books of Swami Vivekananda. Bengal was at the forefront of the freedom struggle those days. Lot of youth were inspired by Swamiji’s message and they plunged into the freedom movement.  But Swamiji being a Sanyasi  didn’t stop at mere political freedom. His message is not just for the Bonded Countrymen, but for the entire Humanity. Swamiji said:

“The idea of freedom is the only true idea of salvation--freedom from everything, the senses, whether of pleasure or pain, from good as well as evil. More than this, we must be free from death; and to be free from death, we must be free from life. Life is but a dream of death. Where there is life, there will be death; so get away from life if you would be get rid of death. “

This which is a part of his lectures, published as ‘Lectures from Colombo to Almora’, demonstrate his nationalistic fervour and spiritual ideology. All freedom fighters in jail had one copy with them to ignite the patriotism in their mind. The situation was so influential that it created terror in the minds of the Britishers and British govt wanted to ban and close Ramakrishna mission. However, it was saved due to the divine intervention of holy mother, Sarada. She clarified to the British authorities that Mission was a spiritual organisation and it has got nothing to do with politics. We now enjoy the political freedom. But culturally and spiritually we are still under slavery. As a never ending fountain of inspiration Swamiji is still the solution for coming out of this mental slavery.

                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                 V.V. Balasubramanian

YB-ET

Operation Ganga

When Russia started invading Ukraine it shook the not just the life of Ukrainians, but also the Indians who have gone there to study. It is said that there are around twenty thousand Indians who are living there, among them around eighteen thousand are students.  Indians comprise the largest group of among the International students who are studying in Ukraine. We account for nearly 24% of their International students. Indian embassy gave warnings and asked our students to leave much in advance. But unfortunately, the students didn’t heed the call given by our embassy. As a result, when the situation deteriorated the task of rescuing our nationals from Ukraine became tough.  Our external affairs ministry swung into action swiftly and what followed was a script which will make even a Hollywood adventure movie pale in comparison. 

For the first time in the history of Wars, a country which is in War with another one, heeded to the request made by another country which is not involved in the fight. When India requested for a cease fire Russia immediately agreed and also helped in rescuing our students. India didn’t take any side in this issue. But it sent several tranches of humanitarian aid to the affected country. These contained medical equipment and relief materials and these were delivered via Romania, Slovakia and Poland.  Unlike India, many other countries left their people in the lurch, during this crisis. The excellent rapport which our Prime Minister has with many of today’s global leaders actually paved way for this evacuation operation to become successful. India's evacuation programme, Operation Ganga, has been the most active among all nations which have their citizens in Ukraine. Once upon a time, people from all over the world used to flock towards India in their pursuit of Knowledge. We have done very little since Independence in improving the quality of our educational system and Institutions. Its high time we bring it back to its old glory. Indian students shouldn’t feel the need to go overseas for their studies. The onus is on us to bring back such glory days.

V.V.Balasubramanian

YB-ET