Saturday, December 24, 2011


NARA'S NOTEPAD

VOLUME 8

JANUARY 2012

NUMBER 1

SUPPORTED BY
READERS LIKE YOU

SPONSORSHIP



I thank the following two friends for sponsoring

NARA’S NOTEPAD.

T. Upendran – Sept. Oct. and Nov. 2011 issues and

Dr. G. James Martin – Dec. 2011, Jan. and Feb. 2012 issues.



NARA

MEMO FROM NARA


2011 has passed away and 2012 has stepped in. Many good things happened and also many bad things happened during the past year. Yet NARA’S NOTEPAD kept its schedule and brought 12 uninterrupted issues most successfully for its readers. Good things are bound to happen when people dedicate themselves for the progress of the country. In every field we had achievements as well as failures. We are proud of our achievements whereas we are ashamed of our failures. A country with so much of diversity in human population, we are bound to meet some failures. As our need and aspirations augment, we have to meet the failures which are indeed the challenges we face in order to achieve better health and happiness for our people.

Some events worth remembering are: India won the Cricket World Cup 2011. West Bengal got a woman-Chief Minister overthrowing the CPI(M). Osama Bin Laden was assassinated by the Americans. The natural disaster of earthquake / tsunami swallowed so many lives in Japan. Mubarik of Egypt was overthrown by the Egyptian people and the Libyan President was mercilessly killed by his own people after bloody rebellions. Hospital fire and illicit liquor death in West Bengal are ever green in our memory. Royal wedding in UK and Bhutan took place with great joy. At the same time we cannot forget that India lost a number of artists, politicians and other veterans. In fact, we had sad news to feel bad and at the same time some good evens to feel proud.

Since we adopt a policy of democracy, everyone is free to talk and do whatever he or she wishes. Sometimes such wishes become detrimental to the governance. In the name of democracy, we form innumerable political parties, NGOs and civil societies. Today such organizations are not disciplined and fail to follow certain regulations to facilitate the State to function freely.

People in the helm of affairs, like ministers are involved in corruption cases, jailed and  attending court cases. Opposition parties are not    cooperating with the ruling party. They want to put stumbling blocks every time and everywhere. Majority rules. But minority takes the upper hand and thrusts their views by not allowing the majority to function. Such an altitude is not desirable in a democracy. Is it not true that India is undergoing a testing time – politically, economically and socially?

The Lok Pal bill, nuclear power plant shut down, Mullaperiyar dam issue, 2G scam, price rise, Foreign Direct Investment, elections in five states and many more are problems for the Central Government. Of course, every problem has its own solution! Only 2012 has to tell us. Let us hope the new year bring peace and happiness in the minds of all Indians belonging to various States.

TO QUOTE


The manner in which it is given is worth more than the gift. – Pierre Corneille

Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. – H. G. Wells

JUST TO LAUGH


My grandfather is eighty and still doesn’t need glasses.
He drinks straight out of the bottle.

Advertisement in Shop: ‘Guitar, for sale…Cheap…no strings attached.’

Fascinated by the military, my son went on line to research everything there was to know about the armed forces, from training to equipment. Looking up bullet-proof vests, he found one with an interesting warranty.

 It said:”Guaranteed or your money back.”

CAPUNISM





Grey Beckett, a Collegiate Assistant Professor of Social Sciences at the University of Chicago coined the term ‘Capunism.’ It is defined as ‘a political system which employs the best attributes of both Capitalism and Communism. This kind of government employs Capitalism’s ability to distribute wealth fairly but not evenly so that all citizens have a standard of living well above the poverty line and are gainfully employed at a job that provides value to the community and fulfillment of the worker.

ARE YOU A HABITUAL "WAITER?"





How much of your life do you spend waiting? There are two kinds of waiting. ‘Small-scale waiting’ is waiting in line at the post office, in a traffic jam, at a ticket counter, waiting for someone to arrive, to finish work, and so on. ‘Large-scale waiting’ is waiting for the next vacation, for a better job, for the children to grow up, for a truly meaningful relationship, for success, to make money, to be important, to become enlightened. It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living.

Waiting is a state of mind. Basically, it means that you want the future; you don’t want the present. You don’t want what you have got, and you want what you haven’t got. With every kind of waiting you unconsciously create inner conflict between you’re here and now, where you don’t want to be, and the projected future, where you want to be. This greatly reduces the quality of your life by making you lose the present.

 For example, many people are waiting for prosperity. It cannot come in the future. When you honor, acknowledge, and fully accept your present reality – where you are, who you are, what you are doing right now – when you fully accept what you have got, you are grateful for what is, grateful for Being. Gratitude for the present moment and the fullness of life now is true prosperity. It cannot come in the future. Then in time, that prosperity manifests for you in various way.

If you are dissatisfied with what you have got, or even frustrated or angry about your present look, that may motivate you to become rich, but even if you do make millions, you will continue to experience the inner condition of lack, and deep down you will continue to feel unfulfilled. You may have many exciting experiences that money can buy, but they will come and go and always leave you with an empty feeling and the need for further physical or psychological gratifications. You won’t abide in Being and so feel the fullness of life now that alone is true prosperity.                                      – Eckhart Tolle

STAGES OF LIFE


Throughout our lives, we face different chapters and turning points; marriage, job, promotion, unemployment, separation, growth, departure of children, death of parents, ageing and loss of one’s own powers and responsibilities. At each stage we are forced to revise our conception of who we are, since so much of what we may have thought was central to our personality in fact changes and moves away. This can, for some, feel like a tragedy that they never come to terms with. They refuse to face up to change and loss, and refuse to go through the mourning process that such reconciliation requires. In other words, they imagine that their finest self is the self of their supposed hey-day when they were at their most fit and strong and successful. They cling on, fruitlessly to this lost self and thus can never find themselves as they are here and now.     – Alex Howard


LINES I LIKED...



Ø  There are no mistakes in life…just lessons.

Ø  Perfect equality affords no temptation.

Ø  Mind without agitation is meditation.

Ø  It’s not in numbers but in unity that our great strength lies.

Ø  Don’t promise anything you cannot fulfill.

Ø  What is now proved was once only imagined.

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES





Get help: There are people who want to help you. Enlist their aid. The more help you get, the sooner you’ll succeed.

Tackle the obstacles one at a time: When you tackle all the obstacles, or just look at all the obstacles at the same time, it can overwhelm you. The feeling of being completely outgunned can take the wind out of your sails before you even get started. Pick one obstacle – an easy one – and tackle that first. Don’t even think about the rest of them. It’s likely that after you’ve tackled one obstacle, you’ll be in a better, stronger position to handle the next one, and so on.

Get some training or knowledge that will make you more able to deal with the obstacles. Read, study and practice! As you gain in ability the obstacles shrink in comparison.

VIEWPOINT


Due to the erosion of purchasing power households belonging to poor and middle income strata are forced to spend more portion of their income on food and a little will be spent on health and education; thus resulting in perpetual poverty.

Be proud in everything you do!

Meet you next month – February, 2012

 

Prof. A. Narayanan, Ph. D., FISPP


 Ph : 0422 2423017 Mobile : 98422 42301

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