Thursday, November 5, 2009

ఏమిటో జీవితం ........

Hallo Hallo Hallo ...... Andariki Namasakaram .....

I want to scribble here regularly, kani edo jarugutondi ...... Nakantu oka blog vundi ani nenu realise ayye sariki oka 3-4 weeks ala aypothunayi .....

Anyways, pattu vadalani vikramarkudu la, I say to myself, esari nunchi regular ga raddam le ani ...... kakapothe ayana chestadu, nenu anukuntanu .... intentions lo matram iddaram shame to shame .......

day to day life lo pedda teda ledu .... ade Melbourne, ade office, ade desk (actual ga desk marindi) ..... nenu emadhya realise ayyindi emiti ante ..... udyogam lenappudu, poddune lechi office ki vastunappudu naa moham lo expression okela vuntundi ...... daniki reason nenu anukovadam udyogam lekapothe dabbulu undavu kabatti appudu, entha dabbulunna saripovu kabatti ippudu face okela vuntondi ......

pelli ki mundu, pelli ki taravata neelo marpu enti ani, pelli ayyi 3 nellalu ayina roju okasaraina evaro okallu adige prashna ..... oka vedava navvu navvi (a prashna ku matrame ala navuthanu, ala ani nannu vedava anukokandi) oorukuntanu .... actual ga alochiste pelli ki mundu eppudu avthunda ani anukune vadni, ippudu emavthunda ani anukuntunnanu ......

engg ki, ippatiki roju vari navve mothadu lo baga ration vachesindi .....

job lo andari team leaders lage, maa vadiki kuda valla team lo evaraina navvithe kopam vastundi .... andukani calm ga vachi vadu pette chivatlu, manam box lo techukunna bhojanam tinesi inti ki vellipovali tappa ekkuvaga matladakudadu ..... kani veedi valla bayata kuda navvithe emavthunda ani bhayam vestondi ...... antha la nannu tana control lo pettadu maa team leader .... naku kuda peddaga siggu, sharam, thokka, thotakura levu kabatti, emadhye jeetham penchadu kabatti, vadu emanna, enni anna calm ga bharistunanu ....

eppudaina kasepu chadivi navvukune articles emadhya ekkada levu or naaku access ledu ..... I miss good humourous articles which would come in magazines like swathi etc .... may be because nenu Australia lo undadam valla emo ... ilanti sandharballo India lo unna bava, kaka, sai adrustavanthulu ani naa feeling ...... ayina Andhra lo telugu matladithe ne placards medalo vesi himsistunaru .... telugu chadivi, navvithe urukuntara .....

evariki telikunda appudu appudu navve prayatnam cheyali ..... meeru kuda mee swatantranni batti mee prayatanam cheyandi ..... idhi teliste maa TL gadu malli feel avthado .... "What do you mean by trying Ravi? ... Either you do it or you dont, Thats all " antadu ........ vadi amayakatvam valla vadiki ala anipistundi kani, prayatanam cheyadam tappa, result ni sasinchagalama? .. ala sasincha galige vadni aithe vaditho inni padthana ..... emito jeevitham ????? ......

untanu ......

itlu vidheyudu ....

----- Ravi Shankar Nanduri

emadhya eenadu cinema chusi kamal hassan la peru cheppakudadu anukunnanu, peru telika meeru ibandi padtharu ani ....

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

YSR ....... May his soul rest in peace .......

Andhra lost a leader .... Leader in true sense ..... Congress ki purva vaibhavanni techina leader .... Have to see what future holds for state .....

Life can be so unpredictable, but we still plan for years to come ...... Whatever you want to do in future, do a small part of it today ........ idanta taluchukunte, oka cinema dialogue gurthuvachindi ......

Aaj ek hasi aur baant loon .....
Aaj ek dua aur maang loon ......
Aaj ek zindagi aur jee loon ..... Kya patha Kal ho na ho ......

Disaster jariginanduku every Andhrite badha paduthunte, maa colleague "Nuvvu TDP abhimanivi kada, how do you feel " ani adigadu ..... akkada TDP, Congress enduku vachindo ...... athani meeda vunna abhiprayam poorthi ga poyindi ...... okka mata entha difference testundo ee incident valla telsindi, I will be careful with my words after this experience .........

Life is going on smoothly ..... Living alone kabatti, there is a lot of time to read ..... Currently reading Vamsi's "Maa Pasalapudi Kadhalu" ....... Whenever I read a story from the book, I feel myself being in ramachandrapuram for a moment (Its my birth place, turpu godavari jilla) ..... chala pleasant ga, haayi ga vuntundi ...... its acting like a stress buster after a busy day of work .... I wonder if its the same feel for all the readers ..... I think so, because the book sold more than 5000 copies .......... Internet age lo its definitely a huge success ..........

Congrats to Prakash Raj for National award ..... Deserving actor ...... Kanjivaram cinema chudaledu kani, I watched "Iddaru" recently ........ Nijamga MGR, Karunanidhi ilane vundevaremo annantha ga chesaru lead actors iddaru ...... I dont know much about Tamilnadu politics kani, character matrame kanapadindi ani naa udhesam ..... Another mention is the small bit Prakash Raj played in recently released Josh ....... Just by acting, oka sadness ni create cheyadam was amazing .......

Thats it for now ..... Bye folks .... Keep having fun ......

Friday, August 28, 2009

Short post after a long gap .......

So back after two months ...... those who read this blog and those who know me probably know that I got married on 02/08/2009 ..... and thats the reason for this time gap between posts (or is there any thing else called Laziness ..... OK, lets not go there ..........)

So a few friends wanted me to post on my Marriage experience ........ emuntundi? ........ dont know if I could actually post it, will see ..........

Life is good actually great ........ I tell myself that I should be regular with this blog now ......... No apparent reason, but want to scribble here regularly ........ probably I want to check on myself once in a while .............

thats it for now ....... its friday evening and I need to go home ........

bye folks ............ keep having fun ........

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

evo nalugu matalu .....

Time - 2:10 PM 17th June 2009
Location - My office desk at AusPost, Lonsdale street

chala rojula nunchi blog update cheddam anukuntu, oka manchi topic meeda post veddam le ani agipoyanu, anthaga manchi topic dorikithe malli inko post veddam le ani random ga type cheyadam modalu pettanu .....

bava Aus lo Indians meeda jarugutunna attacks meeda naa abhiprayam rayamanadu ..... ikkada recent ga jarigina 8-10 incidents, Indians ni target chesinavi kadu ..... except for Shravan Kumar's case where alcohol played a major role, all incidents are related to street crime .... races madhyana difference prapancham lo anni chotla vuntundi, vunna kuda ela vuntunaru anedi decides how safe is society .... in that sense Aus is a nice place to live ... chinna chinna incidents valla motham desham ni tittukovadam, Melbourne safe place kadu ani decide aypovadam correct kadu ..... ide desam lo, Melbourne lo laksha ku paiga Indians and almost 10 yrs nunchi vuntuna vallu vela mandi vunnaru ...... aithe manaki jaragaledu kabatti chinna vishayam ani kotti pareyatledu ...... kani Indians ki security penchandi ani adagadam sababu kadu antunanu ..... Police vallani adigithe, general ga doppidulu avthunayi security penchandi ani adagali tappa, memu edo vachi mee deshanni udaristunam mammalni special ga chusukondi ani adagadam correct kadu ...... In fact, Melbourne lo vunna chala mandi foreign races lo Indians antene konchem chinna chupu .... deeniki boldu reasons ..... main ga cheppali ante loud manushulu, ringtones kani, matlade tiru kani, social sense lekunda behave chestaru ani ..... idhi nijame ... Be a roman in rome annaru ..... ikkada ki vachi vella peace ni disturb cheste evarikaina alage vuntundi ...... a chiraku konchem mandu padangane tingara gumpulaki inka ekkuvaga gurthu vachi a time ki porapatuna ye Asian kanapadda konchem tease cheyadam, bully cheyadam emadhya jarugutondi ........ so nights konchem jagartha ga vuntunam emadhya, police patrolling kuda perigindi ......

India lo media matram asalu responsible ga behave cheyaledu e case lo ..... Indians meeda jarigina attacks tho pate ikkada vere kuda jarigayi ..... vatlni dark lo vunchi, Australia ki ravadame tappu ani chupinchadam too much ..... academic ga US kante standards takkuva velladu ante correct emo kani, bathakaleru velladu anadam nyayam kadu ......

last post ki ippatiki peddaga updates emlevu .... last one week lo Surya cinemalu Surya s/o Krishnan and Ayan chusanu ..... Brilliant actor, I guess mana vallaki tamil actors ki vunna teda .... mana actors ki cinema vyaparatmakaina kala, vallaki kalatmakaina vyaparam .... but ee opinion I feel only abt actors ......

Sirivennela Sitaramasastry gari gurunchi oka post veddama ani plan ... but ghost writers tho rayistaru ani kondaru frds, ledu ani cinema field tho sambhandam vunna ikkadi frds, ila different opinions icharu, either wise ayana patallo naku baga nachina lines ki sambandinchi naa next post ... wish me luck and everyone out there, keep having fun .....

Bye now ....

Sunday, May 17, 2009

May 16th - D Day -


Yesterday I was completely glued to my desktop watching TV9 (Yes, I am still in Melbourne) .......

The increase in percentage of voting, entry of Chiru into politics were the reasons for the curiousity ......

But contrary to what many predicitied, entry of Chiru has not affected Congress, if not benefitted them ....... One thing that was surprising in this elections was that movie glamour did not work at all ...... Neither for TDP nor PRP ...... Mahakootami was considered as a strength in elections, but turned otherwise for both TDP and TRS ....

On a national level, Singh is King again squashing lot of issues BJP thought would favour them like securiy issues post 26/11 ....... The reason I think is because Indian voter has matured ....... Also reason could be that major vote bank is between age group 18 - 35 .......

Happy that Dr. Manmohan Singh is PM for next 5 years and welcome to Rahul Gandhi ...... Hope PM would cleanse his cabinet this time ...... His economic policies, I hope, would definitely help India in these tough economic period ....

On state level, its a mixed feeling as to what the next 5 years holds for us ...... May be not that much for NRI's like me, but whats in for state ... Definitely happy about results in Telangana .... Everyone who supports Samaikyandhra would be elated by this results .....


Hopefully this term would be good compared to last time on both state and national levels .....

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Youth in Politics - “If you think you can, you are right!”

Its been nearly two months now that in the backdrop of the Mumbai terror attacks, when terror was seen precariously that close, there was lot of talk, anger, frustration among public who felt helpless and violated that they eventually have brought down the leaders and many eminent people have raised concern about how educated youth should come into politics because there is a need for new force.

Politics is undoubtedly the biggest service to the nation. A lot of people believe its dirty, or atleast the people in the system are. So when a person voices his opinion that there needs to be a change in politics, the immediate reaction would be "Why dont you be the change you want to see in the world?"

No matter how badly anyone feels there needs to be a change in our system today, its highly difficult to achieve that. It’s because elections in this country are neither fought with passions and policies nor with candlelight processions. The truth is that Indian politics is not fought with ideology, but with muscle power and ruthless rigging in the interiors. Indian politics is a hierarchy of criminals and goons. At the grassroots, a local MLA wins through a bunch of goons. On top of a few such MLAs sits the MP;and on top of such mostly criminal and corrupt MPs sits the Prime Minister. And that a man sitting as the Prime Minster could be a poet, a literary genius, who knows 17 languages or an economist, but the reality is that he sits there because his party has a hierarchy of criminals; and the stronger this criminalisation is at the grassroots level, the tougher it is to defeat them.

Yet we should be hopeful that one day, the youth will come forward and make the difference... But before clean and honest youth can come forward, we need to give the youth the environment to fight on the basis of policies and passion and not on the basis of guns.

The key takeaway from the assembly election results is that the Indian voter should now place a premium on good governance at the local level as it happened in Delhi. Sheila Dikshit was endorsed yet again because the Delhi voter saw in her a hard-working,committed leader in making the national capital a better place to live in. Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Raman Singh won in their respective states, not because they were seen as Hindutva warriors but because they had shown a certain commitment to welfarist schemes and development programmes.

I hope there is a new vote bank out there, a vote bank of furious and articulate people. It is impossible for any politician to ignore this urban voter and rely on the rural masses alone. 26-11 has ensured that the Indian upper middle class emerge from its cocoon of privilege. The voices being heard at the Gateway of India are slowly gathering momentum. Over the debris of the Taj, the Indian elite may finally be coming of age.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Hasyabrahma Jandhyala ........

Pattakulandariki Sankranthi Shubhakankshalu .........

Sankranthi sandarbham ga blog lo emaina post cheddam ani anukuntundaga Sakshi paper lo ivala Jandhyala gari puttina roju ani oka article rasaru ........

Ayanaki vunna lakshala mandi abhimanullo nenu okadni .... Ayana comedy movies ni entha enjoy chesano, Anandabhairavi lanti movies ni kuda anthe haayiga chusanu .......

Cinema lo ayana mark, characters tho ayana chepinche matalu, vati valla
generate ayye hasyam, 25 years taravata kuda gurthupettukunnaru antene aa movies entha classics o ardham chesukovachu .........

Jandhyala garu belongs to that golden era of writers where they were given
considerable amount of appreciation along with other members too .... We are yet to find a writer of that calibre ...........

I think Telugu vadiki basic sarcasm nerpinchindi Jandhyala gari movies emo .....

For instance, Jagadekaveerudu Athilokasundari cinema lo oka dialogue .....
"Manava .... Ikkada amrutham leda"
"Amruthama .... (indicating with his hands)Kotlu dorukutundi patrana?"

Another instance, Akhari Poratam cinema lo ......
"Mee peru"
"Su ... Su ... Sunandamala"
"Ademiti 3 su'lu vunnaya"
"Ledanti okate"
"Naa peru V.Vihari .. rendu v'lu andoyi ... okati intiperu, rendodi vantiperu"
Nothing too pompous or wordy, just the right words to get out a chuckle.

If comedy was his main forte, then there was also another side to his pen which excelled in penning dialogues for many remarkable films like Siri Siri Muvva, Seetamalakshmi, Subhodayam, Sankarabharanam, Saptapadi, Subhalekha, Sagara Sangamam, and finally Aapadbandhavudu, Jandhyala made all of Viswanath's characters his own, imparting them the speak that truly justified their characters.

For example in Sagarasangamam, Kamalhassan's character explains the quality of Raghu's penmanship, Jandhyala uses - "panchaedryiyalnae kaadu, prapanchanni rayila nilipaevadu rushi, rayila padi unna prapanchanni ahalyalaa malichae vaadu manishi".

His association with Music Director Ramesh Naidu and Veturi was the one of the best in industry, creating many poetic songs. His proposed project on Annamayya with ANR didnt take off due to his sudden demise, but they brought out an album called "Annamayya Amrutavarshini", a compilation of 75 tunes from Ramesh Naidu to the already popular Annamayya padalu.

If K.Viswanath was responsible to retrieve values of dying arts in films, so
was Jandhyala in keeping healthy comedy in films. His command over language coupled with sense of humour is and will be a rare and unique thing to achieve for any other writer.

""Ayyaa! prabhuvu vaari vyaakaranamlo truteeya tatpurusha (third person - he, she, it, they) ledu. Macchukki, monna vaarini karichina kukkaki picchi patti chacchindanukondi. nannu karichi nuvvu chacchipoyaavantaaru"

The lady who keeps experimenting with multi-cultural, cross-continental
delicacies, the woman who just cannot shut up about the latest movie that she chanced upon just a few hours ago right from the opening credits till the final Subham credit, the man who wasn't lucky enough to marry a lady who would cook a good meal and croon a good song for him and consequently has no other option but to take matters into his own hands, the gentleman who has a penchant for long walks that usually run for a little over tens of miles, an old man who has an habit of recanting his auto-biography for anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path, the unforunate mother who lost her child very young and so tries to grab on to his memories in other's words and actions, the aspirant poetess with
quite an optimistic bent of mind inspite of the many many refusals and the
reject letters from the publication companies, the middle-aged cop who is
completely besotted with Bandar that he fails to see the better side of any
other city, the door-to-door vacuum-cleaner salesman who enjoys live
demonstration of his product by completely dirtying the place first, detective Panduranga Rao who tries to equate his name to the other famous literary character which goes by the name of James Bond.

All these characters were exisitng in print media (quite a few from famous writer Malladi) before Jandhyala dared to bring them onto celluloid. And the result is known and was owned by everyone.

Pingali Nagendra Rao, the famous writer for Vijaya banner in the erstwhile
golden era of telugu cinema, was famous for coining words and phrases, making them feel and appear as though they were indeed were a part of our language - asmadeeyulu/tasmadeeyulu, alamalam, gilpam. Since Pingali, Jandhyala remains as the only writer who carried forward that tradition and coined a phrase, the famous one being 'Suthi'.

I hope he would be remembered with a smile for his contribution to TeluguCinema as long as it exists.

I will finish off my post with the origin of the word Suthi ......

"Tammudu Bharata, Pitruvaakya paripalana dakshudigaa,
aadina maata tappani oka baadhyata vunna kodukugaa,
prajala samskhemam ellapudu korukune aadarsavantamaina oka raajugaa,
dharmam naalugu paadaala nadapavalsina mugguru tammula annagaa,
nanu aa raajya padavi teesukolenu tammudu, teesukolenu"

"Annayya, raanu ani okka maata chepithe saripodaa, deeniki anta SUTHI enduku"

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Spirituality, Halo or Hoax ------- A Speech By Javed Akhtar

I am quite sure ladies and gentlemen, that in this august assembly nobody would envy my position at this moment. Speaking after such a charismatic and formidable personality like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is like coming out of the pavilion to play after Tendulkar has made a sparkling century. But in some weak moment I had committed myself.

There are certain things that I would like to make very clear at the very outset. Don’t get carried away by my name – Javed Akhtar. I am not revealing a secret, I am saying something that I have said many times, in writing or on TV, in public…I am an atheist, I have no religious beliefs. And obviously I don’t believe in spirituality of some kind. Some kind.
Another thing. I am not standing here to criticize, analyze, or attack this gentleman who is sitting here. We have a very pleasant, civilized relation. I have always found him to be an extremely courteous person.

One is talking about an idea, an attitude, a mindset. Not any individual.
I must tell you that when Rajeev opened this session, for a moment I felt that I have come to the wrong place. Because, if we are discussing the philosophy of Krishan and Gautam and Kabir, Vivekanand, then I have nothing to say. I can sit down right now. I am not here to discuss a glorious past of which I suppose every Indian is proud, and rightly so. I am here to discuss a dubious present.

India Today has invited me and I have come here to talk of spirituality today. Let’s not be confused by this word spirituality, you can find two people with the same name and they can be totally different people. Ram Charit Manas was written by Tulsidas. And the television film has been made by Ramanand Sagar. Ramayan is common but I don’t think it would be very wise to club Tulsidas with Ramanand Sagar. I remember, when he had written Ramcharit Manas, he had faced a kind of a social boycott. How could he write a holy book in such a language like Avadhi? Sometimes I wonder fundamentalists of all hues and all colors, religions and communities…how similar they are. In 1798, a gentleman called Shah Abdul Qadir, in this very city, for the first time translated Quran in Urdu, and all the ulemas of that time gave fatwa against him that how could he translate this holy book in such a heathen language.

When Tulsi wrote Ramcharit Manas and he was boycotted, I remember a chowpai that he had written.

“Dhut kaho abdhut kaho rajput kaho ki julawa kohu
Kohu ki beti se beta na biahab, kohu ki jaat bigaar na chahu
Mang ke khaibo, mehjid ma raihbo, lebe ka ek na debe ka dohu”

Ramanand Sagar, when he made his television serial, he made millions. I am not undermining him, but obviously he is much lower in the rung.
I will give you another example. Perhaps it would be more direct and more appropriate. Gautam came out of a palace and went into wilderness to find the truth. But nowadays we see, the modern age gurus, come out of the wilderness and wind up in the palaces. They are moving in the opposite direction. We can’t talk of them in the same breath. So let us not hide behind names which are dear and respectable for every Indian.

When I was invited to give this talk, I felt that yes, I am an atheist, try to be a rationalist in any given situation, Maybe that’s why I have been called. But suddenly I have realized that there is another quality that I share with Modern Age gurus. I work in films. We have lot in common. Both of us, sell dreams, both of us create illusions, both of us create icons, but with a difference. After three hours we put a placard – the end. Go back to reality. They don’t.

So ladies and gentlemen, let me make it very clear that I have come to talk of this spirituality that has a supermarket in the world. Arms, drugs and spirituality – these are the three big businesses in the world. But in arms and drugs you really have to do something, give something. That’s the difference. Here you don’t have to give anything.

In this supermarket you get instant Nirvana, Moksha by mail, a crash course in self realization, cosmic consciousness in four easy lessons. This supermarket has its chain all over the world, where the restless elite buy spiritual fast food. I am talking about this spirituality.

Plato in his dialogues has said many a wise thing, and one of them is – before starting any discussion decide on the meanings of words. Let us try to decide on the meaning of this word spirituality. Does it mean love for mankind that transcends all religion, caste, creed, race? Is that so? Then I have no problem. Except that I call it humanity. Does it mean love of plants, trees, mountains, oceans, rivers, animals? The non-human world? If that is so, again I have no problem at all. Except that I call it environmental consciousness. Does spirituality mean heartfelt regard for social institutions like marriage, parenthood, fine arts, judiciary, freedom of expression. I have no problem again sir, how can I disagree here? I call it civil responsibility. Does spirituality mean going into your own world trying to understand the meaning of your own life? Who can object on that? I call it self-introspection, self assessment. Does spirituality mean Yoga? Thanks to Patanjali, who has given us the details of Yoga, Yam, Yatam, aasan, pranayam…We may do it under any name, but if we are doing pranayam, wonderful. I call it healthcare. Physical fitness.

Now is it a matter of only semantics. If all this is spirituality, then what is the discussion. All these words that I have used are extremely respectable and totally acceptable words. There is nothing abstract or intangible about them. So why stick to this word spirituality? What is there in spirituality that has not been covered by all these words? Is there something? If that is so then what is that?

Somebody in return can ask me what is my problem with this word. I am asking to change it, leave it, drop it, make it obsolete but why so? I will tell you what is my reservation. If spirituality means all this then there is no discussion. But there is something else which makes me uneasy. In a dictionary, the meaning of spirituality is rooted in a word called “spirit”. When mankind didn’t know whether this earth is round or flat, he had decided that human beings are actually the combination of two things. Body and spirit. Body is temporary, it dies. But the spirit is, shall I say, non-biodegradable. In your body you have a liver and heart and intestines and the brain, but since the brain is a part of the body, and mind lies within the brain, it is inferior because ultimately the brain too shall die with the body, but don’t worry, you are not going to die, because you are your spirit, and the spirit has the supreme consciousness that will remain, and whatever problem you have is because you listen to your mind. Stop listening to your mind. Listen to your spirit - the supreme consciousness that knows the cosmic truth. All right. It’s not surprising that in Pune there is an ashram and I used to go there. I loved the oratory. On the gate of the lecture hall there was a placard. Leave your shoes and minds here. There are other gurus who don’t mind if you carry your shoes. But minds?…sorry.
Now, if you leave your mind what do you do? You need the Guru to find the next station of consciousness. That hides somewhere in the spirit. He has reached the supreme consciousness, he knows the supreme truth. But can he tell you. No sir, he cannot tell you. So can you find out on your own? No sir, you need the guru for that. You need him but he cannot guarantee that you will know the ultimate truth… and what is that ultimate truth? What is the cosmic truth? Relating to cosmos? I have really not been able to understand that. The moment we step out of the solar system the first star is Alpha.Centueri It is just four light years away. How do I relate to that!! What do I do!!

So the emperor is wearing robes that only the wise can see. And the emperor is becoming bigger and bigger. And there are more and more wise people who are appreciating the robe.

I used to think that actually spirituality is the second line of defence for the religious people. When they get embarrassed about traditional religion, when it starts looking too down-market, they hide behind this smokescreen of cosmos and super consciousness. But that is not the complete truth. Because the clientele of traditional religion and spirituality is different. You take the map of the world, you start marking places which are extremely religious, within India or outside India, Asia, Latin America, Europe…wherever. You will find that wherever there is lot of religion there is lack of human rights. There is repression. Anywhere. Our Marxist friends used to say that religion is the opium of poor masses, the sigh of the oppressed. I don’t want to get into that discussion. But spirituality nowadays is definitely the tranquilizer of the rich.

You see that the clientele is well heeled, it is the affluent class. Alright, so the guru gets power, high self esteem, status, wealth…(which is not that important), power…and lot of wealth too. What does the disciple get? When I looked at them carefully I realized that there are categories and categories of these disciples. It’s not a monolith. There are different kinds of followers. Different kinds of disciples. One, who is rich, successful, doing extremely well in his life, making money, gaining property. Now, since he has everything he wants absolution too. So guru tells him - whatever you are doing, is “niskaam karma” – you are playing a role, this is all “Maya”, the money that you are making everyday and the property that you are acquiring, you are not emotionally involved with it. You are just playing a role. You come to me because you are in search of eternal truth. Maybe your hands are dirty, but your spirit and soul are pure. And this man, he starts feeling wonderful about himself. For seven days he is exploiting the world, and at the end of the seven days when he goes and sits at the feet of the guru, he feels – I am a sensitive person.

There is another category. That too comes from the affluent class. But he is not the winner like the first one. You know winning or losing that is also relative. A rickshaw-wallah if he is gambling on the pavement and wins hundred rupees will feel victorious, and if a corporate man makes only 300 million dollars, while his brother is a billionaire, he will feel like a failure. Now, what does this rich failure do? He needs a guru to tell him – who says that you have failed? You have other worlds, you have another vision, you have other sensibility that your brother doesn’t have. He thinks that he is successful…wrong. The world is very cruel, you know. The world tells you honestly, no sir, you have got three out of ten. The other person has seven out of ten. Fair. They will treat you that way and they will meet you that way. There he gets compassion. There he plays another game.

Another category. And I will talk about this category not with contempt or with any sense of superiority, not any bitterness, but all the compassion available one that is a very big client of this modern day guru and today’s spirituality, is the unhappy rich wife.

Here is a person who put all her individuality, aspirations and dreams, and her being at the altar of marriage and in return she got an indifferent husband. Who at the most gave her a couple of children. Who is rather busy with his work, or busy with other women. This woman needs a shoulder. She knows that she is an existential failure. There is nothing to look forward to. She has a vacuous, empty, comfortable yet purposeless life. It’s sad, but it is true.

Then there are other people. Who are suddenly traumatized. They lose a child. The wife dies. The husband dies. Or they lose the property, they lose their business. Something happens that shocks them and they ask – why me? So who do they ask? They go to the Guru. And the guru tells him that this is Karma. But there is another world if you follow me. Where there is no pain. Where there is no death. Where there is immortality. Where there is only bliss. He tells all these unhappy souls – follow me and I will take you to the heaven, to the paradise, where there is no pain. I am sorry sir, it is disappointing but true that there is no such paradise. Life will always have a certain quota of pain, of hurts, a possibility of defeats. But they do get some satisfaction.

Somebody may ask me if they are feeling better, if they are getting peace then what is your problem. It reminds me of a story that I have read. It’s an old Indian story told by a sage, that a hungry dog finds a dry bone and tries to eat it and in the process bites its own tongue. And the tongue is bleeding and the dog feels that he is getting nourishment from the bone.
I feel sad. I don’t want them, these adults, to behave like this because I respect them. Drugs and alcohol are also supposed to give mental peace and serenity, but is that kind of piece or serenity desirable or advisable? The answer is no. Any mental peace that is not anchored in rational thoughts is nothing but self-deception. Any serenity that takes you away from truth is just an illusion – a mirage. I know that there is a kind of a security in this which is like the security of a tri-cycle. If you are riding a tri-cycle you can’t fall. But adults do not ride tricycles. They ride bi-cycles. They can even fall. It is a part of life.

There is one more kind. Like everybody who is the member of the golf club is not fond of golf. In the same way everybody who is seen in an ashram is not a spiritual person. A film producer who is an ardent follower of a guru, whose ashram is about two hours from Delhi once told me that you must go to my Guru. You will see the who’s who of Delhi there. Let me tell you my Guruji is another Chandraswami in the making. Now this is a contact point for networking.

I have great respect for people who are spiritual, or religious, and in spite of this they are good people. And I have a reason. I believe that like every emotion or feeling, you have a limitation.
I am feeling slightly pressurized about time, can I get another five six minutes please…may I sir… Rajiv Mehrotra

“yes you can”

You can see upto a point. And you can’t see further. You can hear upto a point, but beyond that you won’t be able to register sounds. You can mourn upto a point and then you will get over your mourning. You will feel happy upto a point and then you will be through with your happiness. Same way, I am sure that you have a certain capacity for nobility also. You can be as noble and no more. Now suppose if we count this capacity for nobility in the average man as ten units, now anybody who goes to pray in a mosque five times is consuming his five units, there anybody who goes to the temple or sits in the feet of the Guru, he is consuming his quota of nobility there. And in a totally non-productive manner. I don’t go to pray. I don’t pray. If I don’t go to any guru, or mosque or temple or church, what do I do with my quota of nobility. I will have to help somebody, feed somebody, give shelter to somebody. People who use their quota in worshipping, praying, adoring religious figures and spiritual figures, in spite of that, if they are left with some nobility, hats off to them.

You may ask me, that if I have this kind of ideas about religious people, why should I show such reverence for Krishan and Kabir and Gautam? You can ask me. I’ll tell you why I respect them. These were the great contributors in the human civilization. They were born in different points of time in history, in different situations. But one thing is common in them. They stood up against injustice. They fought for the downtrodden. Whether it was Ravana, or Kansha or the pharaoh or the high priests or the British Samrajya in front of Gandhi – or the communal empire of Firoze Tughlaq in the times of Kabir, they stood against that.

And what surprises me, and confirms my worst feelings, that today, the enlightened people who know the cosmic truth, none of them stand up against the powers that be. None of them raises his voice against the ruling classes and the privileged classes. Charity, yes, when it is approved and cleared by the establishment and the powers that be. But I want to know which was that guru which took the dalits to those temples which are still closed to them. I want to know which was that guru who stood for the rights of the Adivasis against the thekedaars and contractors. I want to know which was that guru who spoke about the victims of Gujarat and went to their relief camps. They are human beings.

Sir…It is not enough to teach the rich how to breathe. It is the rich mans recreation. It is the hypocrites’ pretension. It is a mischievous deception. And you know that in the oxford dictionary, mischievous deception is a term that is used for a word, and that word is…HOAX.

Thank you.


Point enti ante "People who use their quota in worshipping, praying, adoring religious figures and spiritual figures, in spite of that, if they are left with some nobility, hats off to them"

Gudilo pujalu, prardhana entha important o ...... Social service kuda anthe important.

Sarvejana Sukinobhavanthu ......