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(Un)Forgotten Heros

(Un)Forgotten Heroes With the passing of Gandhi Jayanthi, a number of thoughts hit me hard and made me realise a few points about the national hero of India. Before I go ahead and explain my critique of this man, let it be understood that Gandhi was and is a national hero and I consider him a man of extraordinary spiritual calibre. However, in light of all his achievements, the actions and sacrifices of a large number of heroes must not go unforgotten. Gandhi was given the leadership of the congress, and he was(and is) exalted to the point of a near god. This is a common occurrence with the Indian masses. A little media coverage, a couple of biographies, and suddenly, the individual has a temple built for him/her (consider, for example, actor turned politician MG Ramachandran, actress turned politician Jayalalitha, actress Kushboo etc). This was also the case of the good Karamchand Mohandas Gandhi. He was given such overwhelming fame and recognition for his acti...
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India where she was, where she is. What she can be. . .

India, the land of the legendary Aryans. The dispensers of Dharma. The land of the righteous King Rama, King Yudhisthira, King Siddhartha *Who became the Buddha*. The land which gave birth to the very concept of spiritual enlightenment, where the intellect of beings like Aryabhatta made mathematical achievements seem trivial. The land where god is said to have incarnated and walked a number of times. Where poetry of saints like Thulasidasa, Kalidasa and Thirukurral enriched the culture of the nation, is now in tarnished ruins. Bharatha Varsha (original name of the land of the Aryans) is crying tears of blood as she sees her populace die a slow and miserable death. What, then was the cause for the destruction of such a land? What was the sole reason as to why India was bought down? Just as the Atirathi (invincible warrior) Karna was atrociously murdered by several people, so too has Bharatha Matha been culled by the hordes of abusers who continue to rape the land. Having lived in Ind...
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LUST: The emotion that launched a thousand ships

You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. . ( Gospel of Matthew  5:27–28)   Lust is a common emotion felt by every single entity. It is the desire to live. When extended, it becomes the desire to grow, reproduce, make the world, the world. Lust it the single emotion which causes growth for any particular field. The world lust has been misused by Abhramic religions to connotate purely and only sex, but by extension, lust is anything which is motivated by desire. This includes a lust for power, lust for blood, and so on.  Before we get into the depths of understanding the destructive nature of Lust, we must first examine its crucial difference with sinister cousin Greed. Take for example, a delicious cake. Enjoying the taste and thoroughly eating the cake, licking it from the plate would be an example of lust. Greed on the other han...
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Capitalism: Pro or Con?

We live in a world where the top 1% control 40% of the worlds wealth and resources. It is funny to note then, that, in this world, the number of impoverished nations far outweigh those of the developed nations. Over the past 50 years the poor to rich ratio has increased from 34:1 to 74:1* and over 64% of the nation live under $1 a day*. Out of all the institutionalised belief systems, which includes religious institutions, educational institutions, government institutions, none is more dangerous, manipulative, exploitative and destructive than the monetary system. The saddest aspect of this is that we take for it granted.  The Monetary system: There are 2 main methods by which wealth is distributed. For those who have had a good understanding of the two main methods of governance would know that wealth is either distributed via a centralised means (Communism) or via decentralised (Capitalist) means. Thanks to history, it is clear that a centralised method of wealt...
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The Cost of India’s democracy

India, a socially and culturally rigid civilisation for the past 3000 years was given the gift of free thought when the invading party, the British left the country on 1947. The country, spurred on by its founding fathers, great thinkers like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Chakravarty Rajagopalachari had bright hopes of a brilliant future. There was a positive mentality with the general population and the prospect of an illustrious future for their children and theirs. However, much to the general populations dismay, today India is considered a failed state. The basic amenities such as electricity and clean drinking water a luxury for the rich. The governments corruption is so deeply rooted into the nation that it is taken for granted to offer bribes, and accept that its lower middle class are to be down trodden. Population and pollution are so out of control that sickness and disease is more common than air and water. Now this list can go on and continue to berate the nation ...
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Envy: The poison Ivy of man

Envy: A definition Considered one of the seven sins, within Catholic Christianity, and usually one of the most common cause of human misery is Envy. The irony is that this emotion causes no perceived physical pain. Aristotle defines envy as " as the pain caused by the good fortune of others," and Socrates goes far to mention that "it(Envy) is the ulcer of the human soul." In order for envy to work there must be an Envier and an Envied. The reason for this being such a destructive force is that it wishes to inflict misfortune on others. In the case of Aristotle, the good fortune could be extended to knowledge acquired, wealth, fame or beauty. These are, usually, the most common cause of envy among humans. Yet there must be a reason as to why this is considered a dangerous and destructive force.  Jealousy Vs Envy Jealousy is both reasonable and belongs to reasonable men, while envy is base and belongs to the base, for one makes himself get good things by jeal...
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Law, Religion and Governance: An introspection

When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion -Abraham Lincoln. Today we are living in a society which, many people whole heartedly agree as the golden age of civilization, internet, technology, and entertainment have greatly improved our life. Yet, the drought in Somalia has led to the death of hundreds of thousands of lives. In the African republic of Congo, child soldiers are brutally killed on a day to day basis. Leaving the African continent, we can see that Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan have death, destruction and devastation as a common theme. Whenever the world news is turned on, we see the dictators who rule with an iron fist of tyranny, bringing misery to its nation. So now, one must certainly question, are we living in a golden age? Or are we living in a civilization worse than the dark ages of humanity? There is a common ground on all failed civilizations, an imbalance on either Law, Religion or Governance. This imbalance gen...
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