Be Happy – We May Make Our Nation Happier.

Yesterday, it was 64^th Republic Day of our Great Bharat that is called as India.

With a lot of struggle almost by all the sections of our society, we achieved the freedom and the reins of governance came in the hands of the persons elected by the people. Our dreams were there and the zeal too for implementation. For long, our forefathers struggled in their simplicity and after getting freedom, in majority of the principles of governance the same attitude prevailed. But human psychology in the changing times did not permit and in result, we found that the simplicity was encroached upon by the greed of power and those who wished to have power used all kinds of methods to achieve and retain it anyhow. We forgot the ideals of Ram Rajya and those conceived by our freedom fighters.

Today, we find that in course of time, the public life has become a matter of formal obligations only; we face lack of our emotions with others and became more self-centric. The family values are diminishing. Generally, we assign this depreciation to growing effect of the western culture on the eastern culture. But it is not so, both cultures have their own merits. It is we who select what to adopt.

Presently, Bharat in all its aspects is plunging ever deeper into a multiplicity of crises that needs attention and questioning its governing principles, practices and institutions. Our democratic system is said to have four main pillars to stand on – Law Makers, Law Implementation Agency, Judiciary and Media. All the four pillars have got their roles well defined to maintain balance. If anyone(s) of them is found not performing the duties properly, that would definitely create problems.

Today, we find that in the law making bodies, there are a number of persons who have got criminal allegations against them. The politics has become so dirty that its practitioners, called politicians do not get into power by merit alone. They exercise and use money and muscle power. The law implementation body which we may call as the group of bureaucrats has lowered their goodwill to such extent that a simple person does not think simply that he would get his due rightfully unless he spends something extra either in shape of money, kinds or some other way. The majority of the bureaucrats have got such a gruesome system developed with the law making persons that does not provide relief to a common man easily. Judiciary is there where a common man was expecting some solace but that too has entangled itself in the methods and intricacies of the law so bitterly that a common person does not feel easy to afford an opportunity to get some relief from the web knitted by the politicians and the bureaucrats. Media has for some time been found active to disclose the wrongs being committed by the politicians and the bureaucrats but in course of time, some of them are enjoying gifts for the paid news and many times the truth comes in front only when the deal does not mature. In total, the present state of affairs does not speak well about the future in case we do not take corrective action immediately.

When we talk of the nation, we talk of the society as well. How we are maintaining our family, how we are dealing with other families or members thereof depends very much upon our innate behavior with them. We know that innate behavior is the inherent inclination of a living organism toward a particular complex behavior. Any behavior is instinctive if it is performed without being based upon prior experience (that is, in the absence of learning), and is therefore an expression of innate biological factors. Sea turtles, newly hatched on a beach, will automatically move toward the ocean. Honeybees communicate by dancing in the direction of a food source without formal instruction. Other examples include animal fighting, animal courtship behavior, internal escape functions, and the building of nests.

It appears that due to long period of slavery, our innate behavior did not change and even after getting freedom, we did not attach importance to our rights and duties as much they were warranted for being a responsible citizen of a free nation. The freedom was granted to us with a plethora of the problems like illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, social imbalances, gender differences etc.

It is a matter of some satisfaction that now, with the passage of more than six decades, a larger section of the people has started to understand the value of the rights granted under the Constitution. We have just seen the movements created by Anna Hazare, Ram Deo, Arvind Kejriwal and thereafter, the spontaneous reaction of the youth against the Dec 16 gang-rape. It indicates a beginning of the change when the youth appeared to have taught the older generation. But the Police including their top brass like DGPs, ministries and the governing class could not deliver what they were expected.

Today, we need total cleansing of our system. We need stiffer provision for banning entrance of the criminals into law making bodies, use of the money and muscle power into election process and ensuring better representation of the public instead of hair-thin majority, right of calling back, limited tenures, minimum education level, retirement age and other reforms for the persons aspiring to enter into law making bodies. Politicization of crime must stop. At present politicians are disqualified for elections if there is conviction; they should be disqualified once cognizance of offence is taken by the court, you don't have to wait for the trial to end. Police reforms a must for preservation of rule of law. Law enforcement agencies must not become tools in the hands of political masters.

For law implementation bodies, we need the persons’ answerability for the duties assigned for implementation of the policy by corruption free and time-bound working. For judiciary, I feel that this pillar, the judiciary has the primary responsibility of ensuring fundamental rights through constitutional remedies. The CJI can take suo motu cognizance and social activists should assist the court. The Chief Justice of the high court of every state should device appropriate machinery for quicker and cheaper delivery of the justice by setting up benches in divisional headquarters all over the States. The Judiciary must change its attitude of following the system as such. It should keep care that natural justice should come up in front of the cumbersome procedures and the victims should not continue to suffer.  The FIR of each crime must be registered online to avoid delay and corruption. The Government can designate cyber cafes and set up retail outlets for registering the FIR online anytime. The fee of the advocates must be decided reasonably and every member of the judiciary must declare the assets acquired from time to time.

The Government should ensure that academic and vocational education be made compulsory for every child irrespective of the caste, color and creed. Health facilities are provided free of cost to all those who are living below poverty line. All marriages in the country, should be solemnized after ascertaining financial soundness and medical perfection of the both and mandatorily be registered in the presence of a magistrate and the magistrate will ensure that the marriage has been solemnized without any demand for dowry having been made and that the marriage has taken place with the full and free consent of both partners. Inter caste marriages must be promoted.

Juvenile homes should be run in the spirit envisaged in the Juvenile Justice Act so that juvenile homes should not become breeding grounds of all sorts of sex crimes. Trafficking of minor children must be made a serious offence, to be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years, but which may also extend to 10 years. If any police officer, public servant is found trafficking a child there should be a stricter sentence against him.

The girls should be given training in Krav Maga (a non-competitive eclectic self-defence system developed in Israel that involves boxing, muay Thai, jiu-jitsu and wrestling) and the boys upto 18 years must join NCC. Public places must be kept under constant vigil to avoid the bad elements’ working there. The people must be encouraged to use public conveyance. Cultural exchanges and sports must be promoted more. The government/NGOs must ensure that every city must have a well equipped library. Girls’ hostels, working women’s hostels, old age shelter houses and orphanages must be maintained well.

We can enumerate a number of steps more but we need sincere efforts for their implementation in national interests. Once we are able to introduce sincerity in our character for a noble and national cause, we would really be able to celebrate our national festivals more truly.

Be Happy – Gain Knowledge From Every Source.

Every one of us may need sufficient resources of earning to meet the basic needs like food, clothing and house to live in. After meeting basic needs, we take one step further and try to meet our social needs like maintaining our social network including contacts with our relatives, friends, clients etc through regular communications and exchanges. Thereafter, we come back to ourselves and organize for leading some luxurious life. In all these stages, finance works a lot. For that, we need expertise and resources. Nothing else, we just need to restore the memory of what we already know and how we can organize them in appropriate way.

We know that money cannot buy happiness, but we forget it easily in a consumer society when we see an attractive advertisement of a car, a computer and something else on our television screen or somewhere else exciting us for more spending and getting new and newer things for our enjoyments. As soon as it happens, we take up every step to gather affluence whether it is genuine or not.

We know that satisfaction simply is not for sale. The people, for whom money is a priority in life, tend to experience an unusual degree of anxiety and depression as well as a lower overall level of well-being. Why so? With good accumulation of money, we can ensure better medical treatment, better nutrients to keep ourselves healthy.

The demand of designer clothes, cell phones, SUVs, mutual funds-modern materialism seems the enemy of all. Advertising screams out insatiable consumption. Movies and television blast us with images of runaway wealth, instilling the notion that too much is never enough. The cycle of work and spend is sapping away all that matters in life. And prosperity continues to increase: we have more stuff each passing year.

People today find that the things they're buying and turning to are not fulfilling. Each person needs to be materially secure, of course. The cycle of consumption leaves us with an unlaced craving for transcendence. For some, consumerism is the new opiate. We are becoming so frantically time-stressed as to be close to losing our minds, while cell phones and laptops and similar devices are cited to represent the assumption that today there is never a moment away from the demands of job, kids, and stuff.

To the extent people are stressed for time, often it is the pursuit of the material that causes the condition. Wanting a 4,000-square-foot house with a three-car garage and two SUVs forces you to take on a huge mortgage and accept long commutes.

Then you find that you're rarely in the house because you are working to pay off the monthly note, or stuck on the freeway trying to get home. It would not be difficult to trade back some of this material superfluity for time and a less stressful day. In pursuit of materialism, some people still value "extrinsic goals" like money, fame and beauty.

Such people are not only more depressed, but also indicate more behavioral problems and physical discomfort, as well as scoring lower on measures of vitality and self-actualization. While not every study has investigated the full list of effects, the pattern that emerges from the research project as a whole is remarkably consistent. They encourage to try to strike it rich, but the more we seek satisfactions in material goods, the less we find them there.The satisfaction has a short half-life; it's very fleeting.

Moreover, the detrimental effect of extrinsic goals seems to hold regardless of age or even level of income: A preoccupation with money bodes ill regardless of how much money one already has. The effects also appear not to be limited to any one culture. The fact that pursuing wealth is psychologically unhelpful and often destructive comes through very strongly in every culture.

Money or affluence, per se, does not necessarily result in an unsatisfying life. Problems are primarily associated with living a life where that's your focus. Nevertheless, the negative psychological picture does seem to be associated with the extent to which people believe they are already on the way to attaining extrinsic goals. A study surveyed about 300 youths, some in the United States and some in Russia. In both countries, lower levels of mental health were found not only in people who wanted to make a lot of money but also in those who thought they were likely to succeed at it.

Another study found that college students who were already relatively high in the attainment of appearance, financial success and popularity were nevertheless lower in well-being and self-esteem. Those who aspired to affluence also had more transient relationships, watched more television and were more likely to use cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs than were those who placed less emphasis on extrinsic goals. They do not have self confidence to accomplish any target. They wish to achieve success through unethical means.

Apart from its obvious implications for a culture that thrives on material gain, this whole line of research raises questions about the proclivity of some psychologists to analyze the dynamics of what is often called goal-directed behavior while, in effect, ignoring the nature of the goal. It reiterates homespun advice to follow one's dream, whatever it may be.

It is also known that neither income nor attraction is strongly correlated with a sense of well-being.  The sense of well-being correlates with our mental status. But what about our mental status? If that does not stand well, the physical health may not go on intact. A good emotional life maintains better health overall. For upkeep of your emotional health, pursuing goals that reflect genuine human needs, like wanting to feel connected to others, turns out to be more psychologically beneficial than spending one's life trying to impress others or to accumulate trendy clothes, fancy gizmos and the money to keep buying them.

Some parents provide excessive money to their children as a token of their love but do not attend them psychologically because of lack of time due to their professional/commercial/social and/or other engagements. When parents are cold and controlling, their children apparently focus on attaining security and a sense of worth through external sources.

This seems consistent with anecdotal accounts of very wealthy men who grew up in troubled homes. Such stories are sometimes cited as evidence that they made the best of a bad thing, turning out well despite or because of their unhappy childhoods. The problem with this interpretation is that they may not have turned out so well after all. They just turned out wealthy.

It is not entirely clear why a poor psychological profile would go hand-in-hand with a quest for extrinsic goals. It may be that unhappy people are more likely than others to chase after money and fame. Conversely, the very act of chasing after money and fame may reduce one's sense of well-being, perhaps because it makes you ignore the goals that could lead you to have more satisfying experiences. Yet another possibility is that extrinsic goals and poorer psychological health are symptoms of something else that is amiss.

We may need more thoughts tease apart cause and effect between mental peace and affluence. Young adults whose parents were divorced or separated demonstrated higher levels of both material values and compulsive buying. This suggests that such people use material objects as surrogates for absent parents. But it has also been experienced that the people who are more materialistic tend to be unhappy with their lives. This effect may be moderated or even eliminated for those who have close caring relationships.

Now, we may see how we can gain a balance between our emotional life and materialism. Undoubtedly, money, or we say affluence, plays an important role in organizing ourselves to meet our basic, social and other needs, including our emotional attainments too. But it is required to be handled carefully. There is one story narrated by Mr.Deepak Chopra, which tells us the importance of knowledge. I quote it in his words to spread his message.

Once upon a time in a faraway land, a young man went to the forest and said to his spiritual master, “I want to have unlimited wealth, and with that unlimited wealth, I want to help and heal the world. Will you please tell me the secret to creating affluence?”

And the spiritual master replied, “There are two Goddesses that reside in the heart of every human being. Everybody is deeply in love with these supreme beings. But there is a certain secret that you need to know, and I will tell you what it is.

“Although you love both Goddesses, you must pay more attention to one of them. She is the Goddess of Knowledge, and her name is Sarasvati. Pursue her, love her, and give her your attention. The other Goddess, whose name is Lakshmi, is the Goddess of Wealth. When you pay more attention to Sarasvati, Lakshmi will become extremely jealous and pay more attention to you. The more you seek the Goddess of Knowledge, the more the Goddess of Wealth will seek you. She will follow you wherever you go and never leave you. And the wealth you desire will be yours forever”.

There is power in knowledge, thinking, desire and spirit. And this power is within you and that is the key to creating affluence to make happy

Be Happy – Gain Knowledge From Every Source.

Be Happy – The Judiciary is Making Introspection.

For some time, we have been experiencing increase in crime-graph all over the country. There are many reasons for this increase. Some attribute changing social environment, some debit with increasing unemployment, corruption, slow judicial process etc.etc. Yesterday, I got an opportunity to see the proceedings in the Court of Hon'ble Kalimullah Khan,J. at High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. Upto lunch time, he was found very much keenly discussing the pros and cons of every case being put up to him, and delivering the orders then and there. As the watch struck 1 pm, he extended the sitting time and continued to hear. After 18 minutes, he got up and wished Happy New Year to all those who were present in the Court. Then, he went to the Chamber. We thought that before going on winter off, he would dispose of all the files listed in his Court for the day. Unfortunately, after a few minutes, the staff informed that after lunch, the court would not sit to hear the cases. The good wishes expressed by the Hon’ble Judge pierced the hearts of those who were there in the court with hope that before the winter off, they would get the judgments on their cases but there being no court after lunch, they would not get the opportunity and their cases would be heard next time, perhaps in the month of January, 2013. The year 2012 would end with a sad note of delay which could have been avoided. They felt cheated but could not express their protest, fearing of the contempt of court then and there.

Not only in the Court of Hon’ble Kalimullah Khan, J, such incidents occurred in other courts earlier also when the hon’ble Judges come to the courts very late, leave the courts much before the lunch time, come back much late after the lunch time is over, many time, they do not come back. Thus, such practices result into short time dedication to the adjudicating process which is responsible for the fact that the majority of the cases listed for that particular court remain unattended causing a lot of financial, physical and mental hardship to those perokars who come to court from far flung districts. If the judiciary decides that its members will dedicate the scheduled time sincerely to the courts for hearing all the cases listed for them for that very day, the pending list of the cases may reduce drastically resulting into lesser frustration in the minds of the litigants and reduction into the hatred being developed by the attitude of judiciary staff, the prevailing corruption and bribe-cum-high fee being charged by some of the advocates. This dedication can reduce the crime graph affecting the society also – they too are the part of the society and can be affected by the criminals at any time, taking benefit of the slow judiciary process.

Further, why do the higher echelons of the judiciary effectively recommend for setting up benches of High Courts at divisional regions and that of Supreme Court at more places for quick delivery of justice? If it is done, we are sure that it may not cost the nation as much as the scams and slow judiciary process resulting into increasing crime graph are costing. The judiciary can increase the levy of judicial costs on the litigants to meet the expenses if the Governments do not support their recommendation of increasing the numbers of the benches financially.

For better society, the judiciary must make an introspection to improve itself also as it is an important part of the society and can be answerable one day when the crime supported by corrupt practices grows beyond control.

I think that the judiciary is already making introspection; it must now be accelerated further to bear the fruits earlier than it is too late.

Be Happy – The Judiciary is Making Introspection.

Be Happy - Be Courageous.

It is the poem that we memorized in our childhood and still inspires us to attain courage against the wrongs. A tribute to Rani Laxmi Bai, our freedom fighter!

सिंहासन हिल उठे राजवंशों ने भृकुटी तानी थी,
बूढ़े भारत में भी आई फिर से नयी जवानी थी,
गुमी हुई आज़ादी की कीमत सबने पहचानी थी,
दूर फिरंगी को करने की सबने मन में ठानी थी।

चमक उठी सन सत्तावन में, वह तलवार पुरानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

कानपूर के नाना की, मुँहबोली बहन छबीली थी,
लक्ष्मीबाई नाम, पिता की वह संतान अकेली थी,
नाना के सँग पढ़ती थी वह, नाना के सँग खेली थी,
बरछी, ढाल, कृपाण, कटारी उसकी यही सहेली थी।

वीर शिवाजी की गाथायें उसको याद ज़बानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

लक्ष्मी थी या दुर्गा थी वह स्वयं वीरता की अवतार,
देख मराठे पुलकित होते उसकी तलवारों के वार,
नकली युद्ध-व्यूह की रचना और खेलना खूब शिकार,
सैन्य घेरना, दुर्ग तोड़ना ये थे उसके प्रिय खिलवाड़|

महाराष्ट्र-कुल-देवी उसकी भी आराध्य भवानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

हुई वीरता की वैभव के साथ सगाई झाँसी में,
ब्याह हुआ रानी बन आई लक्ष्मीबाई झाँसी में,
राजमहल में बजी बधाई खुशियाँ छाई झाँसी में,
सुघट बुंदेलों की विरुदावलि-सी वह आयी थी झांसी में,

चित्रा ने अर्जुन को पाया, शिव को मिली भवानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

उदित हुआ सौभाग्य, मुदित महलों में उजियाली छाई,
किंतु कालगति चुपके-चुपके काली घटा घेर लाई,
तीर चलाने वाले कर में उसे चूड़ियाँ कब भाई,
रानी विधवा हुई, हाय! विधि को भी नहीं दया आई।

निसंतान मरे राजाजी रानी शोक-समानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

बुझा दीप झाँसी का तब डलहौज़ी मन में हरषाया,
राज्य हड़प करने का उसने यह अच्छा अवसर पाया,
फ़ौरन फौजें भेज दुर्ग पर अपना झंडा फहराया,
लावारिस का वारिस बनकर ब्रिटिश राज्य झाँसी आया।

अश्रुपूर्ण रानी ने देखा झाँसी हुई बिरानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

अनुनय विनय नहीं सुनती है, विकट शासकों की माया,
व्यापारी बन दया चाहता था जब यह भारत आया,
डलहौज़ी ने पैर पसारे, अब तो पलट गई काया,
राजाओं नव्वाबों को भी उसने पैरों ठुकराया।

रानी दासी बनी, बनी यह दासी अब महरानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

छिनी राजधानी दिल्ली की, लखनऊ छीना बातों-बात,
कैद पेशवा था बिठूर में, हुआ नागपुर का भी घात,
उदैपुर, तंजौर, सतारा,कर्नाटक की कौन बिसात?
जब कि सिंध, पंजाब ब्रह्म पर अभी हुआ था वज्र-निपात।

बंगाले, मद्रास आदि की भी तो वही कहानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

रानी रोयीं रनिवासों में, बेगम ग़म से थीं बेज़ार,
उनके गहने कपड़े बिकते थे कलकत्ते के बाज़ार,
सरे आम नीलाम छापते थे अंग्रेज़ों के अखबार,
'नागपुर के ज़ेवर ले लो लखनऊ के लो नौलख हार'।

यों परदे की इज़्ज़त परदेशी के हाथ बिकानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

कुटियों में भी विषम वेदना, महलों में आहत अपमान,
वीर सैनिकों के मन में था अपने पुरखों का अभिमान,
नाना धुंधूपंत पेशवा जुटा रहा था सब सामान,
बहिन छबीली ने रण-चण्डी का कर दिया प्रकट आहवान।

हुआ यज्ञ प्रारम्भ उन्हें तो सोई ज्योति जगानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

महलों ने दी आग, झोंपड़ी ने ज्वाला सुलगाई थी,
यह स्वतंत्रता की चिनगारी अंतरतम से आई थी,
झाँसी चेती, दिल्ली चेती, लखनऊ लपटें छाई थी,
मेरठ, कानपुर,पटना ने भारी धूम मचाई थी,

जबलपुर, कोल्हापुर में भी कुछ हलचल उकसानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

इस स्वतंत्रता महायज्ञ में कई वीरवर आए काम,
नाना धुंधूपंत, ताँतिया, चतुर अज़ीमुल्ला सरनाम,
अहमदशाह मौलवी, ठाकुर कुँवरसिंह सैनिक अभिराम,
भारत के इतिहास गगन में अमर रहेंगे जिनके नाम।

लेकिन आज जुर्म कहलाती उनकी जो कुरबानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

इनकी गाथा छोड़, चले हम झाँसी के मैदानों में,
जहाँ खड़ी है लक्ष्मीबाई मर्द बनी मर्दानों में,
लेफ्टिनेंट वाकर आ पहुँचा, आगे बढ़ा जवानों में,
रानी ने तलवार खींच ली, हुया द्वंद असमानों में।

ज़ख्मी होकर वाकर भागा, उसे अजब हैरानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

रानी बढ़ी कालपी आई, कर सौ मील निरंतर पार,
घोड़ा थक कर गिरा भूमि पर गया स्वर्ग तत्काल सिधार,
यमुना तट पर अंग्रेज़ों ने फिर खाई रानी से हार,
विजयी रानी आगे चल दी, किया ग्वालियर पर अधिकार।

अंग्रेज़ों के मित्र सिंधिया ने छोड़ी राजधानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

विजय मिली, पर अंग्रेज़ों की फिर सेना घिर आई थी,
अबके जनरल स्मिथ सम्मुख था, उसने मुहँ की खाई थी,
काना और मंदरा सखियाँ रानी के संग आई थी,
युद्ध श्रेत्र में उन दोनों ने भारी मार मचाई थी।

पर पीछे ह्यूरोज़ आ गया, हाय! घिरी अब रानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

तो भी रानी मार काट कर चलती बनी सैन्य के पार,
किन्तु सामने नाला आया, था वह संकट विषम अपार,
घोड़ा अड़ा, नया घोड़ा था, इतने में आ गये सवार,
रानी एक, शत्रु बहुतेरे, होने लगे वार-पर-वार।

घायल होकर गिरी सिंहनी उसे वीर गति पानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

रानी गई सिधार चिता अब उसकी दिव्य सवारी थी,
मिला तेज से तेज, तेज की वह सच्ची अधिकारी थी,
अभी उम्र कुल तेइस की थी, मनुज नहीं अवतारी थी,
हमको जीवित करने आयी बन स्वतंत्रता-नारी थी,

दिखा गई पथ, सिखा गई हमको जो सीख सिखानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।

जाओ रानी याद रखेंगे ये कृतज्ञ भारतवासी,
यह तेरा बलिदान जगावेगा स्वतंत्रता अविनासी,
होवे चुप इतिहास, लगे सच्चाई को चाहे फाँसी,
हो मदमाती विजय, मिटा दे गोलों से चाहे झाँसी।

तेरा स्मारक तू ही होगी, तू खुद अमिट निशानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।

Be Happy – Attempt on every Opportunity.

An opportunity means a favorable situation, a good chance to proceed ahead or you can call it a combination of the circumstances which may deem suitable for you to attempt upon for a positive result. If you fail in your process to bring about a positive result by attempting upon some opportunity, your failure may give you experience to attempt upon another opportunity, if available, more intelligently.

Opportunities abound, but in order to see more of them appear in your daily lives you must first be willing to accept this to be the case. Further, you must be willing to go after those opportunities with all you have. Make no mistake, they're called "opportunities", and not guarantees for a reason.

How would you use a set of the circumstances prevailing before you as a set of opportunities? It depends upon you how to proceed on. That said, while it will require effort, and persistence on your part to succeed, take heart, for if it were not so, success would be far more common, and as a result, most likely, far less valued.

Friend, from this moment on, You need to commit to yourself, that to the best of your ability, in all you do you will give your best, fully knowing that someone, often those who hold the keys to greater opportunities are taking notice of how you handle the seemingly "small things" which life asks of you. Even when we think no one is paying attention, there's always someone that notices. Always.

Take it granted that you are working for yourself – whether it is a social activity or you are operating an industrial or trading unit. Sometime to feed the physical demands of yourself and/or your dependants, the mental need or sometime, that may be towards your attempt to upgrade your social status too.

But if we can give our dead-level best to even the "small" things, then inevitably we will have the opportunity to show how we can handle the bigger challenges, which by the way bring with them far greater payoffs & rewards for delivering solutions.

Consider the following example. Let's say you want to teach someone to drive a vehicle. Furthermore, let's say you have two vehicles yourself, an older one, which drives fine, but has some age on it. And another, a new sports car. It's your pride and joy. Which vehicle are you going to take the first time driver out in? That's a no-brainer. The older of the two vehicles. Then, if you're feeling generous, after they've got driving all figured out you may let them drive your new sports car.

The same is true with life's opportunities, the ones which yield the bigger payoffs. We can't expect to just start off -- without someone entrusting us with the "keys to the kingdom" when we are just beginning. They have to get to know us, we have to prove to them, through our actions that we're capable of accomplishing whatever they ask of us. As we do, we build trust, and build a track record that we can in fact accomplish whatever we are tasked with.

We need to study each and every opportunity to ensure success towards our goal, if that opportunity is attempted upon. If we do, we can save a lot of time, energy and money in the process. Hit and Try is a good method if you do not have any previous experience or a guide to do so. When you do it by this process, you must attempt on the smaller risks, then go to the higher ones.

Be Happy – Attempt on every Opportunity.

Be Happy – Give Up Your Worries.

Would you kindly recall or ask someone senior in your family to tell you what you had brought on earth when you took birth? You had brought nothing along with you. And you will carry nothing with you when you will expire. When you brought nothing into this world and you can not take back anything whether that be earned by you out of your own efforts or you may get as inheritance, why should you worry about the future of your materialistic achievements/possessions?

Nothing matters so much that we should throw ourselves into a state of panic about it. No happening is so important that we should let ourselves be exiled from inner peace and mental calm for its sake. There is nothing to worry about.  Let yourself really feel this message.  Let it sink deeply into your bones and reside inside your heart.  You are always being provided for and taken care of by Him.  We need to consider and agree that there is a divine power running the bigger show.  Behind the scenes it is always there making sure that you receive exactly what is needed, so that your fullest potentiality comes through. 

The Universe is pure intelligent energy in form.  It makes sure that everything unnecessary in your life will not happen. The events, people and situations that must manifest in your future are all part of your "divine schedule".  Nothing is by accident or coincidence because God simply doesn't make mistakes.  Your job is to relax, be grateful for every lesson you're given, and enjoy the journey as much as you possibly can to the very end. But you need to care for every thing what you are provided for. If you don’t, you may not get an opportunity to get further.

Whenever we worry about ourselves, our kins, our assets etc. it means that we are not trusting in life, ourselves or God.  We stop believing that there is a highly intelligent all loving conscious force that is here now, leading us deeper into our very being and higher into our greatest ecstasy. Worrying is the warning light that goes on when your mind has taken control over you.  You suddenly start to believe every little thing the mind tells you!  You start believing that you are a small inferior limited being with horrible karma, untrustworthy insights, no real direction and very little power.  You forget that you are an unlimited soul who is intimately connected to an all powerful deeply intelligent God Source that loves you all the time.  When you stop and get curious about Him, and begin to deeply honor this connection, you'll stop worrying and start trusting. You'll begin to understand that there is a bigger source of "you" that lives within you and all around you and it the force that's truly in charge of it all. 

An interesting thing you might notice is that no matter how many times you try not to worry, your mind still returns to its old habit again and again.  This is because one cannot permanently stop this type of deep fearful pattern with pure mental force and will power.  There is only one thing you can do to stop the worry habit permanently.  This is to take a higher spiritual path and transcend the mind entirely.  This is only done by realizing the truth of who and what you really are.  When you see how amazingly big, bright, brilliant, and loving you actually are, the mind becomes a bit embarrassed of all the ridiculous things it was worrying about and starts paying more attention to the divinity inside. 

 With enough introspection there will come a day when you will step back from the mind.  You will notice that all these thoughts flying through your mind are only momentary indicators pointing you to the life you're creating, and have nothing to do with the divine master who is creating it behind the scenes.  Every time you start looking deeper into your essential divine nature, you'll discover that who you are cannot be limited by any ideas or concepts at all.  You are what is forming the concepts, the creativity behind the play, designing and dreaming everything!  You are the source of creativity who is painting the canvas each moment of life, telling the colors to dance, sing and splash in every direction....and best of all your main job is to enjoy the show!  Seeing this deeper truth is your one-way ticket to transcend the mind and find total freedom from worry forever.

The more time you spend each day noticing what is beyond thought, behind the mind, and creating the consciousness that you are, there will come a day when the mind drops away falling by itself completely!  You'll be free from all the fearful impressions that used to arise in the mind and find a more creative spontaneous approach to life.  The worrying habits the mind was addicted to will seem like painful shoes that were always too small to wear. You won't be able to try them on again!  You'll discover a more natural state of living,  that lives in the vibration of trust.  You trust that whatever future the Universe provides is the right one for you. 

You are here to master your life.  You can do this when you realize that you are the creative witness who is directing and producing the movie you are viewing!  This means you simply stop believing in all the fear-based illusions you are fed from the outer world and your inner world.  All those worried thoughts you have are based in the idea that you're not an infinite being with divine manifesting power.  Once you stop giving away your power to the world and to your mind, you discover what is truly real.  The piece of rope that you once thought was a snake, you now know it is just a rope.  You are not afraid to pick it up and play with it.  You also have the choice to drop it, step over it and move on to something more amazing. 

If you want to live a life without fear, that is truly free from poverty, panic, arguments, and worry, you'll need to do something dramatic and radically new.  You'll need to expand your consciousness and give up your ingenuine aspirations. Earn yourself enough what you deserve and need without snatching other’s right. If you wish to live peacefully, let other live so. Give up your worries for the causes beyond your reach.

Be Happy – Give up your worries.

Be Happy – Join Crusade Against Corruption (Part 2)

Be Happy – Join Crusade Against Corruption (Part 2)

Continued after previous post Be Happy – Join Crusade Against Corruption (Part 1)

Despite these weaknesses, the global coverage of these data-sets has led to their widespread adoption, most notably by the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

In response to these criticisms, a second wave of corruption metrics has been created by Global Integrity, the International Budget Partnership, and many lesser known local groups, starting with the Global Integrity Index, first published in 2004. These second wave projects aim not to create awareness, but to create policy change via targeting resources more effectively and creating checklists toward incremental reform. Global Integrity and the International Budget Partnership each dispense with public surveys and instead uses in-country experts to evaluate "the opposite of corruption" – which Global Integrity defines as the public policies that prevent, discourage, or expose corruption. These approaches compliment the first wave, awareness-raising tools by giving governments facing public outcry a checklist which measures concrete steps toward improved governance.

The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country/territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 - 10, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 10 means that a country is perceived as very clean. A country's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries/territories included in the index. A cursory look at the status of the various countries indicates that the growth of population and per capita income plays a vital role in the level of the corruption in the respective countries.

The following were found the top ten countries in 2011:

Sr.No.    Country              Score     Population       Per capita income   Density

1            New Zealand      9.5         44,39,400       $36,648              16.5/km² 

2            Denmark            9.4         55,43,453       $37,151              128/km²

2            Finland               9.4         54,10,233       $36,236              16/km²

4            Sweden              9.3         95,14,406       $56,956              20.6/km²

5            Singapore           9.2         51,83,700       $59,711              7,315/km²

6            Norway              9            50,02,942       $53,470              15.5/km²

7            Netherlands        8.9         1,67,40,554    $42,183              404.5/km²

8            Australia             8.8         2,27,08,496    $40,234              2.8/km²

9            Switzerland         8.8         79,52,600       $43,369              188/km²

10          Canada              8.7         3,48,97,100    $40,541              3.41/km²

Of SAARC countries, we find the ranking as below:

38          Bhutan             5.7       7,20,679              $6,112                 18.0/km²

86          Sri Lanka        3.3       2,02,77,597         $5,673                 308.5/km²

95          India                3.1       1,21,01,93,422    $3,694                 369.9/km²

120        Bangladesh      2.7       15,25,18,015       $1,790                 1,033.5/km²

134        Pakistan          2.5       18,04,73,000       $2,787                 226.6/km² 

134        Maldives         2.5       3,17,280              $8,731                 1,102.5/km²

154        Nepal              2.2       2,66,20,809         $1,388                 199.3/km²

180        Afghanistan      1.5       2,55,00,100         $956                    43.5/km²

The big five powers do have the following status:

16          UK                 7.8       6,22,62,000         $36,605               255.6/km²

24          US                  7.1       31,42,35,000       $48,386               33.7/km²

25          France             7          6,53,50,000         $35,613               116/km²

75          China              3.6       1,34,73,50,000    $8,382                 139.6/km²

143        Russia             2.4       14,31,17,000       $16,736               8.3/km²

In India, Mr.Anna Hazare with his team and Baba Ram Dev took up this issue and launched movements at great length. Among other measures, Right to Information Act and the proposal of a Lok Pal Bill are in the same direction. At international level, in the 1990s, initiatives were taken at an international level (in particular by the European Community, the Council of Europe, the OECD) to put a ban on corruption: in 1996, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, for instance, adopted a comprehensive Programme of Action against Corruption and, subsequently, issued a series of anti-corruption standard-setting instruments:

• The Criminal Law Convention on Corruption.
• The Civil Law Convention on Corruption.
• The Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption.
• The Twenty Guiding Principles for the Fight against Corruption (Resolution.
• The Recommendation on Codes of Conduct For Public Officials.
• The Recommendation on Common Rules against Corruption in the Funding of Political Parties and Electoral Campaigns 

The purpose of these instruments was to address the various forms of corruption (involving the public sector, the private sector, the financing of political activities, etc.) whether they had a strictly domestic or also a transnational dimension. To monitor the implementation at national level of the requirements and principles provided in those texts, a monitoring mechanism – the Group of States Against Corruption (also known as GRECO) (French: Groupe d'Etats contre la corruption) was created. Further conventions were adopted at the regional level under the aegis of the Organization of American States (OAS or OEA), the African Union, and in 2003, at the universal level under that of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

If we go through the roots we find that amongst all circumstances, some of the following are also responsible for the rampant corruption:

Information deficits

• Lacking freedom of information or Transparency.
• Lack of investigative reporting in the local media. Some of the media employees promote paid news.
• Contempt for or negligence of exercising freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
• Weak accounting practices, including lack of timely financial management.

Lack of measurement of corruption.

• Tax havens which tax their own citizens and companies but not those from other nations and refuse to disclose information necessary for foreign taxation. This enables large scale political corruption in the foreign nations.
• Lacking control of the government.
• Lack in civic society and non-governmental organizations which monitor the government.
• An individual voter may have a rational ignorance regarding politics.
• Weak and slow pace of reform.
• Weak rule of law.
• Weak legal profession.
• Weak judicial independence.

Lacking protection of whistleblowers.

• Lack of benchmarking, that is continual detailed evaluation of procedures and comparison to others who do similar things, in the same government or others, in particular comparison to those who do the best work.
• Non-availability of the opportunities and incentives.
• Public funds are centralized rather than distributed. For example, if $1,000 is embezzled from a local agency that has $2,000 funds, it is easier to notice than from a national agency with $2,000,000 funds.
• Large, unsupervised public investments.
• Sale of state-owned property and privatization.
• Government licenses needed to conduct business, e.g., licenses, encourage bribing and kickbacks.
• Long-time work in the same position may create relationships inside and outside the government which encourage and help conceal corruption and favoritism. Rotating government officials to different positions and geographic areas may help prevent this.
• Costly political campaigns.
• Interaction with officials creates the opportunities for corruption.
• War and other forms of conflict correlate with a breakdown of public security.
• Social conditions
• Family-, and clan-centered social structure, with a tradition of nepotism/favouritism being acceptable.
• Lacking literacy and education among the population.
• Frequent discrimination and bullying among the population.
• Tribal solidarity, giving benefits to certain ethnic groups.

How should we fight against corruption?

We can take all the steps whatever be necessary to eliminate this illness. Some suggestions are given below:

1.  The Indian Right to Information Act 2005 is perceived to have already engendered mass movements in the country that is bringing the lethargic, often corrupt bureaucracy to its knees and changing power equations completely. It should be made more popular and implemented effectively.  Other Countries which do not have so far, may also have such laws.  .

2.  Using regular surveys of households and businesses in order to quantify the degree of perception of corruption in different parts of a nation or in different government institutions may increase awareness of corruption and create pressure to combat it. This will also enable an evaluation of the officials who are fighting corruption and the methods used. The Peruvian organization Ciudadanos al Dia has started to measure and compare transparency, costs, and efficiency in different government departments in Peru. It annually awards the best practices which has received widespread media attention. This has created competition among government agencies in order to improve.

3.  In the Indian political system, it has become usual that the leadership of national and regional parties are passed from generation to generation creating a system in which a family holds the center of power. Some examples are most of the Dravidian parties of south India and also the Congress party, which is one of the two major political parties in India. Such practice should not be promoted further so that opportunities to other competent persons be available.

4.   We may reduce the role of the state in people's lives by using the Internet for sending in required information, like applications, First Incident Reports, proceedings of the courts and tax forms, and then processing this with automated computer systems will reduce the interaction with the government staff. This may also speed up the processing and reduce unintentional human errors.

5.    All the financial transactions of every single penny must be documented.

6.    Holding Unaccounted money in hand, bank account or invested in some tangible/intangible assets be declared as an offence with severe punishment. It should be confiscated immediately and deposited with the treasury as soon as it is traced out. Those who are found to be keeping unaccounted money must be fined so terribly that they may not repeat the offence.

7.   Taxation be simplified to ensure a reasonable and transparent tax structure, backed by clean and clear enforcement and the tax/duties rates be kept so low that a general person may easily afford.

8.      Accounting of public expenses be kept open to all.

9.      Reasonable Ceiling over the real estate holding be enforced.

10.  Introduce state-funding as part of election reforms to avoid the high cost of elections and candidates' dependence on money, which make them to compromise them from the very outset.

11.  Liberal and contemporary laws be framed in easy language so that citizens can understand and respect.

12.  We should ensure to minimize discretionary powers of ministers and bureaucrats to reduce scope for misuse of such powers to favor some, especially in lucrative areas such as award of government land. Where discretionary powers are unavoidable, there must be sufficient checks and balance. After a deal is done, the relevant documents should be put up on the Net.

13.  Government and PSU staff, judiciary staff and police be paid market-indexed salaries commensurate with their responsibility to minimize the 'need' for bribes.

14.  Gambling of any kind, lottery and all those methods which ensure easy money or flattened margins on the goods/services being traded must be eliminated.

15.  Police reforms and stronger judicial accountability be introduced within a shortest time frame before the frustration of the public burst out.

16.  The businessmen if they are found to be indulged in bribing officials or unfair trade practices like unusual profit margin, black marketing, hoarding, cutting down the measurements, packing quantity etc and/or adulterating be blacklisted for not less than 10 years and barred from Government Contracts.

17.  Transparency and stricter scrutiny of government tenders/orders, including auction/sale of public-owned assets should be ensured.

If you feel necessary, kindly add up your suggestions to the above list and ensure that we must follow them if we want this earth to be heaven for all.

Live and Let others live peacefully and happily. Be Happy – Join Crusade Against Corruption.