Terrorism... What to say of it

Just saw the heart wrenching news of terrorist attacks in Mumbar where upto 180 people were killed. Terrorists used bombs, Ak 47s, hand grenades etc as they wished. Our security apparatus completely failed in stopping this.. I dont know when we could stop a terrorist attack. The situation is going out of hand. The situation is resembling anarchy, wherein the terrorists are doing whatever they want.

But what do they want? Is this the only way to get what they want? It really seems that there is no end in sight.. Some miracle should happen and somehow the terrorism should be abolished...

The Mumbai Terror attack is really bad news and making me lose hope in our security....

But life has to go on.. We have to get on with our work... But not without putting up a fight with those heartless, inhuman terrorists who have been so brainwashed that they feel doing that is a great thing.

Hope that the government is able to take the terrorists, know about its workings and bring the perpetrators to book. The terrorists have to have a better way of letting know their problems, their issues than this.. This is not acceptable. Our politicians have to face themselves and ask the question if they are responsible for this by showing nepotism, favoritism and by turning blind eye to corruption which made the lives of all the underprevileged people difficult so that they have resorted to such means. Every MLA,MP to ward memeber should really try to understand his community to see if all the issues are addressed and they should instil hope and confidence that every person need not resort to arms to get simple things done and that it is possible for an honest person to live there. If conditions are so good, there is no way our people could be swayed by the terrorist ideologies. If you ignore the basics of good governance and rule of law, this is what happens. I am not anyway supporting the atocrities committed by the terrorists, but I want to emphasize on the point that it is high time the root cause of the menace be tackled.

Update: Just wanted to add the words said by Thich Nhat Hanh in Shanghai on the 19th of October, after the September 11th tragedy:

”Terror is in the human heart. We must remove it from the heart. The root of terrorism is misunderstanding, hatred and violence. This root cannot be located by the military. Bombs and missiles cannot reach it, let alone destroy it. Only through the practice of finding calm and looking deeply within can our insight reveal and identify this root. Only with the practice of deep listening and compassion can terror be transformed and removed. Darkness cannot be dissipated with more darkness. Only light can dissipate darkness. Those of us who have the light should display the light and offer it so that the world will not sink into total darkness."

Friendship --- My thoughts

I was a bit of loner during my childhood... May be I dreamt a lot and had my own dream world and hence couldnt identify with anyone else... ..

But after seeing, observing and reading about friends, I liked these excerpts taken from various sources

From Dave's blog:

I learned that a friend is someone I trust to be with me when I am at my weakest and most vulnerable. And they are people who, no matter how painful it is to see, are willing to be with me when I am so helpless and weak. If I would trust my life with you, and vice versa, we are friends. It’s not about whether you are trustworthy, or whether you are friendly, it’s the actual act of trust that is the basis of friendship. If I trust you to be truthful, then you’re a friend. If I find I must be careful how I say things, then it’s something other than friendship.

Friendship is not a state of mind, it’s an act. It’s something you do, it’s not about whether you’re good or not, it’s not a reflection of you, it’s a balanced relationship between people. That doesn’t mean it’s always balanced at every moment. Sometimes you “need a friend” and other times it’s the other way. It’s a trust that’s returned.

One of my best friends, when posed with this question answered it this way --- who will not let his friend go away from his life.. and will do any help when he requires.. to be frank
God gives Mother as our best friend.. and we choose a friend almost equal to her

This is the definition of a friend, should show unconditional love like a mother...but it cannot be so unconditional also... But it should be fine as long as trust is retained....

But if a friend does any mistake, it is our responsibility to say it is wrong, make them understand why it is wrong and give chance to correct them... If you always judge how can we love them.. Only this way does a relationship grow strong but not by leaving a friend at the first instance.


Read my latest post on friendship here

Get Beyond Code for free.

I just wanted to inform everyone that Rajesh Setty is giving away his book 'Beyond Code' for free as a gesture for this Thanksgiving. It is a very good book and a must read for every IT professional.
This is the excerpt from the foreword written by the management guru Tom Peters.
"The theory and practice prescribed in Beyond Code are right on. Read it as your life depends on it. It does"
I just started reading it and a few pages I have read have really added to my knowledge...
Go forward download it and read it here . Thanks Rajesh.

varaveena...

Currently listening a song from Vinayakudu called 'varaveena'. It starts with a nice classical tune and is mixed with a nice English bit and is very good to listen. The songs in the movie are very good. Naalo vedane is another good song. The music director is someone called Shyam Prasanna. Listen to the song and enjoy.

Love the lyrics.. So I am copying the lyrics here..

Varaveena Mrudu Paani Vanaruha Lochana Raani

Suruchira Bambhara Veni Suranuta Kalyaani

God !! do u know this cutie pie is an angel

All you got to know is there is some one waiting

you just have to find them,you just have meet them

Nirupama Shubha Guna Lola Niratishaya Prada Sheela

Varadaapriya Ranganaayaki Vaanchita Phala Daayaki

When u find that lovely person

Your heart sings and swings every movement

Thats when you feel,yes this is love(2)

Saraseejasana Janani Jaya Jaya Jaya vaani

Do you what love is all about,love is all about

Do you what care is all about,care is all about

Do u know when Cupid strikes your heart

Do you know when you really feel the love, do u really know

When u find that lovely person

Your heart sings and swings every movement

Thats When You feel,yes this is love(2)

Saraseejasana Janani Jaya Jaya Jaya vaani

Thanks to Cinefolks for the lyrics.

The Aim Of Life

I have wondered many times what is the aim of life? I think everybody would have wondered about this at some or the other point of their life... I turned to our scriptures to find the answers for this question. Eventhough every book talks about 'mukti' or salvation as the ultimate goal of the life of a hindu, I am not satisfied with that.
But for sometime let us accept that it is the aim of life. Then what is the most direct way of reaching god. Let us say that we have to reach God as early as possible. Then if we look at people who have attained moksha, Dhruva is the youngest person. He did it by doing narayana japa. Even 'Bhaja Govindam' written by Shankaracharya was written advising a very old person trying to learn sanskrit to stop doing that and think of God and do his bhajans (Bhaja Govindam). So the fastest and easiest way to attain moksha is utmost dedication to and worship of God. Then why should we go through the usual shodhasa samskaras(birth,...,education..., marriage,... death) in our life? They say that because it is not possible for everyone to give the utmost dedication to God so early in life, hence we need to go through the shodasha samskaras they will understand life and hence they will walk on this path. But if we know the direct path to our destination, why will we choose the other path? We may even argue that the direct path is a difficult path, and that the indirect path is little easier. But the person who marries cannot understand that he is getting attached to one person and is ready to create a web of attachments around himself which will take a lifetime to untangle. So this proves that even this is not an easy path owing to the attachments we will have if we go in this path. Hence it makes sense for us to take the first path only though it feels as if we are losing a lot.

I have said that I am not satisfied with the theory. If the sole aim of a human is to reach God or salvation or mukti whatever we call it and there is nothing else for humans to do here except worshipping God, then why should he create people at all? If God is the one who created us and wants us to reach him, then why should he create us at all? Here people talk about karma siddhanta that we are born because of the papa/punya phalas of our previous birth. Then I ask how did it accumulate its papa and punya, Initally it should have been a blank slate right? Why is he created then? Is it just that Gods wanted to see a game? Doesnt it look strange to be born freely, do what ever we want but being awarded points for being good or bad respectively, and again being born, not freely but with the points we accumulated in the previous game, and this happens cyclically till our good overwhelms the bad and we reach God. Doesnt it seem like a game and we are just coins in His hands? This is the limiting point of the theory. People argue this way too - why do you argue about where you came from, as you know the end point try to reach the end point of salvation. But when I am not convinced of the starting point, how can I be convinced of the end point? Hence I feel that acheving moksha is not the real aim of our life.

Hence I have rejected the claim the aim of our life to do something in other world, which brings us to the logical conclusion of doing something in this world. So what should we do?
we can aspire to become many things. I believe in atleast basic humanity and hence my aim atleast should be -
"In the time of your life, live - so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite variety and mystery of it." This is the least we can do. But the higher thing is leaving the earth better than how we have come here. So we have to do something which adds value to the world, something which can help humanity outside our family, which is service to mankind in our own small way we can. But lets not forget the duty we have to our parents, siblings, spouse and children. We should understand that we should not be just bound by the duty to our parents, siblings, spouse and children, but to venture out and do something so that we can say ' I have helped in making earth better than the way it was when I came into it'
Let me end it with Ravindranath Tagore's quote
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.
and Gandhi's quote
Service to man is service to God.

Robert Frost says
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future's sakes.


which gives advice on acheiving it the best way that is uniting what we do to satisfy the duty to our family and that which adds value to the mankind doing what we love to do.

This brings us to the point where we can ask
> What are we doing as a vocation? - this you might get an answer easily as you might be earning somehow
> What are we doing as a avocation? - what is the thing that you love to do? and doing you might answer this easily too...
> How to unite them together to add value to mankind? Answer this and our life is solved. :)