From 1528 to 2019 - we Hindus waited for 491 long years for this! And finally JUSTICE IS DONE!!
On Ayodhya
I came across some interesting facts about the Ayodhya case. A court ruling in 1951 confirmed that the no Muslims had offered prayers since 1936 in the structure that was called "Babri Masjid". Which means that for last 83 years Muslims have not used that place for prayers or any other religious activity. The same ruling confirmed that during that period (1936-51) Hindus have been praying at that place.
In 1949, when idols of Bhagwan Ram were discovered at the place, the gates to the structure were locked and Hindus were forbidden from entering the place. But Hindus continued to offer prayers to Bhagwan Ram from outside the gates. On the other hand Muslim had already foresaken the place, and it had no religious significance to them. No Muslim prayers were offered there.
So the so-called "Babri Masjid" wasn't a masjid like Jama Masjid of Delhi or your neighbourhood Masjid, where Muslims offer prayers every week. It was a place abondoned by Muslims, while being continually used by Hindus for prayers. Archeological evidence has by now conclusively proved that a grand Hindu temple, absolutely certainly, existed at that place. Given these facts, the name "masjid" is really a misnomer for that place.
The more you read about the Ayodhya case, the more you realize that the facts of the case are strongly in favour of Hindus. The Sunni Waqf Board has a very weak case that it is trying to defend. If the decision in Ayodhya case is based purely on the merits of the case then the result would go entirely in favour of Hindus.
In 1949, when idols of Bhagwan Ram were discovered at the place, the gates to the structure were locked and Hindus were forbidden from entering the place. But Hindus continued to offer prayers to Bhagwan Ram from outside the gates. On the other hand Muslim had already foresaken the place, and it had no religious significance to them. No Muslim prayers were offered there.
So the so-called "Babri Masjid" wasn't a masjid like Jama Masjid of Delhi or your neighbourhood Masjid, where Muslims offer prayers every week. It was a place abondoned by Muslims, while being continually used by Hindus for prayers. Archeological evidence has by now conclusively proved that a grand Hindu temple, absolutely certainly, existed at that place. Given these facts, the name "masjid" is really a misnomer for that place.
The more you read about the Ayodhya case, the more you realize that the facts of the case are strongly in favour of Hindus. The Sunni Waqf Board has a very weak case that it is trying to defend. If the decision in Ayodhya case is based purely on the merits of the case then the result would go entirely in favour of Hindus.
Labels:
Ayodhya
Swami Vivekanand and the Divine Mother
On the occasion of Durga pooja / Navaratri here's something from the life of Swami Vivekanand.
There is a beautiful Hindu temple called Sri Arulmigu Murugan temple in Jurong East, Singapore. The chief deity of the temple is Murugan or Kartikeya, the God of war. However, the temple also has other deities, one of which is a beautiful मूर्ती of Goddess Durga. It's the most magnificent image of Durga I have seen. Resplendent in gold, She evokes feelings of intense awe and reverence for the Goddess, who embodies divine शक्ती. Looking at the image mesmerizes you, taking you to a higher level of consciousness where you forget your worldly hassles and worries.
This glorious image of Durga, (the quality of this photo does no justice to which) reminds one of the interesting incident involving Ramakrishna Paramhamsa & Swami Vivekanand. It was 1884, when Vivekanand, then Narendra, was in his student years. His father died unexpectedly, and it pushed his until then well-to-do family into abject poverty. The responsibility to support the family financially fell on Narendra’s shoulders, as he was the eldest son. Narendra was tormented to see his mother and his younger siblings in states of destitution. He writes about those days as, “I was dying of starvation. Barefooted I went from office to office and was refused (job) everywhere. This was my first contact with the (hard) realities of life”.
Vivekanand asked Ramakrishna Paramhamsa to pray to Goddess Kali to help his family in these times of financial difficulties, but Ramakrishna told him to pray himself. Until then Narendra did not believe in Kali. Narendra was after all a product of the Bristish education system (which India is still following) that taught the kids to reject the tenets of Hinduism. So Narendra was skeptical. But having tried everything else and failed, he decided to plead his case with Kali and went to Dakshineshwar mandir.
As he entered the temple and looked at the image of Kali, he was overawed with a great feeling of devotion and love. He described the feeling as "ecstasy of joy" and felt She was "living and conscious, full of divine love and beauty". He prayed to the Goddess for divine knowledge and devotion, and for her eternal divine vision.
He met Ramakrishna Paramahansa and confessed that he had forgotten to pray to Kali for financial assistance. Ramakrishna advised Vivekanand to pray again, and told him to not forget to pray for his family’s financial well-being. So Vivekanand went to pray again. When he saw the image of Kali माता, he prayed, “Give me discrimination and divine knowledge. Grant me Mother your unhindered vision".
Ramakrishna advised him to make a third attempt. Vivekanand tried again but could not bring himself to pray to the Goddess for material things in life.
This event is considered a turning point in the life of Swami Vivekanand, who on that day realized the true essence of मूर्ती पूजा. Swami Vivekanand thus became devoted to the Goddess Mother. Vivekanand has described this eventful revelation of goddess Kali as, "There is somewhere a Great Power that thinks of Herself as feminine called Kali and Mother. Kali is the Divine Mother of the Universe, who has embodied in Herself, creation and destruction, love and terror, life and death.”
It is to Her that we pray today!
There is a beautiful Hindu temple called Sri Arulmigu Murugan temple in Jurong East, Singapore. The chief deity of the temple is Murugan or Kartikeya, the God of war. However, the temple also has other deities, one of which is a beautiful मूर्ती of Goddess Durga. It's the most magnificent image of Durga I have seen. Resplendent in gold, She evokes feelings of intense awe and reverence for the Goddess, who embodies divine शक्ती. Looking at the image mesmerizes you, taking you to a higher level of consciousness where you forget your worldly hassles and worries.
This glorious image of Durga, (the quality of this photo does no justice to which) reminds one of the interesting incident involving Ramakrishna Paramhamsa & Swami Vivekanand. It was 1884, when Vivekanand, then Narendra, was in his student years. His father died unexpectedly, and it pushed his until then well-to-do family into abject poverty. The responsibility to support the family financially fell on Narendra’s shoulders, as he was the eldest son. Narendra was tormented to see his mother and his younger siblings in states of destitution. He writes about those days as, “I was dying of starvation. Barefooted I went from office to office and was refused (job) everywhere. This was my first contact with the (hard) realities of life”.
Vivekanand asked Ramakrishna Paramhamsa to pray to Goddess Kali to help his family in these times of financial difficulties, but Ramakrishna told him to pray himself. Until then Narendra did not believe in Kali. Narendra was after all a product of the Bristish education system (which India is still following) that taught the kids to reject the tenets of Hinduism. So Narendra was skeptical. But having tried everything else and failed, he decided to plead his case with Kali and went to Dakshineshwar mandir.
As he entered the temple and looked at the image of Kali, he was overawed with a great feeling of devotion and love. He described the feeling as "ecstasy of joy" and felt She was "living and conscious, full of divine love and beauty". He prayed to the Goddess for divine knowledge and devotion, and for her eternal divine vision.
He met Ramakrishna Paramahansa and confessed that he had forgotten to pray to Kali for financial assistance. Ramakrishna advised Vivekanand to pray again, and told him to not forget to pray for his family’s financial well-being. So Vivekanand went to pray again. When he saw the image of Kali माता, he prayed, “Give me discrimination and divine knowledge. Grant me Mother your unhindered vision".
Ramakrishna advised him to make a third attempt. Vivekanand tried again but could not bring himself to pray to the Goddess for material things in life.
This event is considered a turning point in the life of Swami Vivekanand, who on that day realized the true essence of मूर्ती पूजा. Swami Vivekanand thus became devoted to the Goddess Mother. Vivekanand has described this eventful revelation of goddess Kali as, "There is somewhere a Great Power that thinks of Herself as feminine called Kali and Mother. Kali is the Divine Mother of the Universe, who has embodied in Herself, creation and destruction, love and terror, life and death.”
It is to Her that we pray today!
Labels:
Hinduism,
Swami Vivekanand
An Elliptical Commute!
Recently we have been considering buying an elliptical trainer at home. Since we are too busy to go to a gym, having something at home could come handy. With that in mind I started my search.
There is this brand Life Fitness that makes exercising equipment. I checked their website. They had few ellipticals listed on their website. They didn't mention price for any of the models. I knew it was a pricey brand, and I wasn't looking for anything very costly. But I thought I better check out their store. Maybe there is something there good for me.
I took out few hours from my schedule last weekend. And visited their store.
Salesman: Good evening, sir!
Me: Good evening! Could you show some of the eliptical trainers you got here.
Salesman: Sure, sir! Over here, sir. This one is our basic model. It is priced at rupees three-and-half lakhs. And this one, sir, is the advanced version. It costs rupees seven-and-half lakhs.
Me: Can I commute to office on these?
Salesman: Sir?? Sorry, I didn't get you. You are looking for an elliptical?? Right?
Me: Yes. But the prices you are quoting are for cars. So I am wondering if I can go office on any of these ellipticals!!!
There is this brand Life Fitness that makes exercising equipment. I checked their website. They had few ellipticals listed on their website. They didn't mention price for any of the models. I knew it was a pricey brand, and I wasn't looking for anything very costly. But I thought I better check out their store. Maybe there is something there good for me.
I took out few hours from my schedule last weekend. And visited their store.
Salesman: Good evening, sir!
Me: Good evening! Could you show some of the eliptical trainers you got here.
Salesman: Sure, sir! Over here, sir. This one is our basic model. It is priced at rupees three-and-half lakhs. And this one, sir, is the advanced version. It costs rupees seven-and-half lakhs.
Me: Can I commute to office on these?
Salesman: Sir?? Sorry, I didn't get you. You are looking for an elliptical?? Right?
Me: Yes. But the prices you are quoting are for cars. So I am wondering if I can go office on any of these ellipticals!!!
Labels:
Humour
On Abrogation of Article 370, and 35A
In the discussions on today's events there is one interesting
statistic from the (erstwhile!) state of Jammu & Kashmir that is
easily overlooked.
In Lok Sabha 2019 elections, Farooq Abdulla's
National Conference bagged less than 8% of the votes of people of
J&K. Mehbooba Mufti's PDP got less than 3% of the votes. BJP bagged
whopping 46% of all the votes polled in the state. BJP's candidate from
Jammu, Jugal Kishore alone bagged over 8.5 lakh votes, which is 3 times
the total votes bagged by all National
Conference candidates put together (~2.8 lakhs), and 7 times more than
the votes bagged by all PDP candidates put together (~1.2 lakhs)!
(Source: Election Commission of India's official website http://eciresults.nic.in).
In a democracy the best way to judge the mood of the people is through
elections. And LS 2019 results from Jammu & Kashmir clearly show
that the Muftis and the Abdullahs no longer represent the voice of the
people of the state. With BJP, which had promised to revoke Article 370,
winning close to half of the votes in the state, no one can argue that
people of Jammu & Kashmir were opposed to abrogation of Article 370
& 35A.
Labels:
BJP,
Elections,
Jammu and Kashmir
Lok Sabha 2019 Prediction
The
day Mumbai went to polls, I spent some time in the evening to guess
what could be likely election results. Here are my guesstimates:
Congress : 80-90
Cong Allies: 40
UPA : 120-130
BJP : 250-260
BJP Allies: 50
NDA : 300-310
Others : 110
Congress : 80-90
Cong Allies: 40
UPA : 120-130
BJP : 250-260
BJP Allies: 50
NDA : 300-310
Others : 110
My Favourite English Movies
I watched Alfred Hitchkock's Rebecca last week. And then I watched it again the next day! It's an engrossing suspense movie that won the Oscar for Best Movie in 1940. Despite knowing the ending of the movie, since I watched it once, I enjoyed watching it again the next day! That's the thing about really great movies - you never get tired of watching those movies again and again. It's a simple rule that I use to differentiate great movies from good ones. You enjoy watching good movies once or twice only, but you can watch great movies many times and still enjoy watching them again.
I don't watch too many movies. I am very choosy about the movies that I decide to watch. So I often pick Oscar winning movies, which I think are safe bet. Especially movies that have won Best Picture award. Most of the Best Picture Oscar winners were extraordinarily good movies.
I want to watch all of the Best Movie Oscar award winners from 1927. As yet these are the ones that I have watched. And here's how much I liked each of those, rated on a scale of 1 to 5:
1939 - Gone With the Wind - 4.5
1940 - Rebecca - 4
1941 - Casablanca - 3.5
1953 - From Here to Eternity - 4
1957 - The Bridge on the River Kwai - 5
1959 - Ben-Hur - 4
1960 - The Apartment - 3.5
1962 - Lawrence of Arabia - 5
1965 - The Sound of Music - 4.5
1966 - A Man of all Seasons - 4
1972 - The Godfather - 4.5
1974 - The Godfather: Part II - 4
1979 - Kramer vs. Kramer - 3.5
1980 - Ordinary People - 4.5
1981 - Chariots of Fire - 5
1982 - Gandhi - 4
1985 - Out of Africa - 5
1987 - The Last Emperor - 4.5
1988 - Rain Man - 3
1989 - Driving Miss Daisy - 4
1991 - The Silence of the Lambs - 3
1992 - Unforgiven - 3.5
1993 - Schindler's List - 4
1994 - Forrest Gump - 4.5
1995 - Braveheart - 3.5
1996 - The English Patient - 2.5
1997 - Titanic - 4
1999 - American Beauty - 2
2000 - Gladiator - 5
2001 - A Beautiful Mind - 4.5
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - 3
2010 - The King's Speech - 2.5
Movies that I have rated 4 or 4.5, those I have either watched several times, or wouldn't mind watching several times.
Movies that I have rated 5 are the ones I am crazy about! If I have any of these movies available, I watch these whenever I have some time to spare. Often if I have fifteen minutes of free time, I pick one of these movies and watch from any random point in the movie. I just love these movies:
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- Chariots of Fire (1981)
- Out of Africa (1985)
- Gladiator (2000)
Apart from these there is couple of other English movies, which I have watch umpteen times, and yet never get bored of watching. But those weren't listed above because those are not an Oscar winners in Best Movie category. These two movies are To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and Love Story (1970).
What are your favourite movies?
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