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The story of Pinocchio is about a wooden puppet who dreams of becoming a real boy.

An old woodcarver named Geppetto makes a puppet named Pinocchio, who magically comes to life. Geppetto loves him like a son and sends him to school, hoping he will grow up to be responsible and good.

But Pinocchio is curious, impulsive, and easily influenced. Instead of going to school, he repeatedly gets into trouble. He meets dishonest characters such as the Fox and the Cat, who trick him, and he discovers that his bad choices have consequences. Most famously, Pinocchio’s nose grows when he tells lies.

During his adventures, Pinocchio is helped by the Blue Fairy, who encourages him to be truthful, brave, and kind. He also experiences some frightening consequences for his behavior. In the original story, for example, children who abandon their responsibilities for a life of endless amusement are transformed into donkeys.

Eventually, Pinocchio learns that Geppetto is in danger and goes looking for him. He finds Geppetto inside a gigantic sea creature (often portrayed as a whale in adaptations), and Pinocchio courageously helps him escape.

By the end, Pinocchio has changed. He becomes more caring, hardworking, courageous, and willing to sacrifice himself for his father. As a reward for proving himself, he is transformed from a wooden puppet into a real boy.

The original book, The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, is darker and stranger than the famous Disney version. At its heart, though, it’s a coming-of-age story: Pinocchio becomes “real” by learning responsibility, honesty, empathy, and love—not simply by wishing to be human.

Written and posted by Columnist Kamlesh Tripathi

Copyright@Shravancharitymission

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There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder…RONALD REAGAN
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Never let schooling interfere with education…MARK TWAIN
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When each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognise the good things that happen in their lives everyday that the sun rises…PAULO COELHO
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A dollar saved is a quarter earned…JOHN CIARDI
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Meditation depends on strength of mind. It must be unceasing even when it is engaged in work. Particular time is meant for novices…RAMANA MAHARISHI
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Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive… ELBERT HUBBARD
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The strong is not the one who overcomes the people by his strength, but the strong is the one who controls himself in anger… PROPHET MUHAMMAD (TOI 27/8/26)
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A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa…MARK ZUCKERBERG
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Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect…. CHIEF SEATTLE
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How long should a man’s leg be?
Long enough to touch the ground…JD SALINGER
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The child inside of you knows how to take things as they come, how to deal most effectively and happily with everything and everyone it encounters on this planet. If you can recapture that child like essence of your being, you can stay ‘forever young at heart.’ …WAYNE DYER
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Someone who tells you what to wear will soon also tell you what to think… HOMA NATEQ, IRANIAN HISTORIAN.
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Every man’s life is a fairy tale written by God’s fingers… DANISH WRITER HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON of ‘Literary Fairy Tales.
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We know what we are, but know not what we may be… WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
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The fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves… WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE IN JULIUS CAESAR.
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Posted by Columnist Kamlesh Tripathi

Copyright@shravancharitymission

The Invisible Arm of ‘Namaste’

Kamlesh Tripathi

    If you do not know how to greet, offer a namaste. If words fail you in the introduction, offer a namaste. A wise man once said, for a learned man, no land is alien. Just as with folded hands in a namaste, no person remains a stranger. Namaste softens the rigid edges of ego. It is an invisible arm, gently soothing the pride of another, opening doors to harmony, setting the tone for an amicable meeting. Namaste is usually spoken with a slight bow with hands pressed together, palms touching each other, and fingers pointing upwards, and thumbs close to the chest.  

    More than a greeting, it is a gesture of reverence. A silent acknowledgement of dignity, a language beyond speech. It carries a spiritual whisper: “I bow to the divine in you.” Echoing the timeless wisdom of the Rigveda and resonating through the verses of the Mahabharata.

     The gesture of folding hands during a namaste is called the Anjali Mudra. In addition to namaste, this mudra is one of the postures found in Indian classical dance, such as Bharatanatyam. It is also found in Hindu temples, mandapams and in yoga practice. In moments of tension, on a crowded street, and in rising anger, a simple namaste can dissolve conflicts, turning discord into friendship. With a gentle bow and folded hands, known as the sacred Anjali Mudra, palms unite, fingers rise, and the heart speaks through silence. Namaste is derived from Sanskrit, namas (bow) and te (to you). It means, simply and profoundly, “I bow to you.” And within that simplicity lies a universe of respect, humility, connection, and peace. In a world searching for understanding, perhaps the answer lies not in words, but in a quiet, graceful namaste. Excavations in the Indus Valley Civilisation sites have found male and female terracotta figures in Anjali Mudra like postures, doing a namaste. 

    “The light in me honours the light in you,” says Deepak Chopra, the new age guru. One of the most insightful interpretations of namaste comes from renowned English author Aldous Huxley, who explored Indian spirituality deeply. In works like The Perennial Philosophy, he reflects on the idea that the divine resides within every individual, an idea closely aligned with the spirit of namaste.

    According to professor and sociologist Holly Oxhandler, namaste is a Hindu term which means “the sacred in me recognises the sacred in you”. E. M. Forster, in his novel ‘A Passage to India’, captures the subtleties of Indian manners and gestures. While he doesn’t formally analyse namaste, his portrayal of respectful distance, non-contact greetings, and cultural sensitivity reflects the ethos underlying it. Likewise, German Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle speaks of recognising the “presence” or consciousness in others, again, philosophically mirroring the meaning of namaste.

    Even historians and Indologists writing in English, such as Stephen H. Phillips, have analysed the word namaste, linguistically and culturally, explaining how it conveys reverence, humility, and a subtle acknowledgement of the divine. So while namaste is rooted in Sanskrit and Indian tradition, its essence has been widely described in English, not always by name, but through ideas of inner divinity, humility, and universal respect.

        I bow not to form, nor name, nor face, but to the silent light in your inner space. Thus, namaste speaks what words cannot declare. It is a gratitude to each soul, irrespective of its flair. Namaste is a respectful form of greeting, acknowledging and welcoming a relative, guest or stranger. In some contexts, namaste is used by one person to express gratitude for assistance offered or given, and to thank the other person for their generous kindness.

    Since namaste is a non-contact form of greeting, some world leaders adopted the gesture as an alternative to handshaking during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic as a means to prevent the spread of the virus.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Courtesy Shravan Charity mission

The comparison between Jains in India and Jews in Europe reveals two remarkably similar minority communities with profoundly different historical destinies. Both occupied economically influential positions disproportionate to their demographic size. Both cultivated strong internal discipline, dietary codes, educational traditions and merchant ethics. Yet while Europe repeatedly produced violent anti Semitism culminating in genocide, India never generated a sustained exterminatory anti-Jainism. This reveals a civilisation difference.     Historically, Jain communities flourished across western and southern India as bankers, traders, financiers, jewel merchants, tax intermediaries and patrons of temples and manuscripts. They performed economic functions similar to Jewish merchant and banking communities in mediaeval Europe. Both contributed to various social institutions like schools, hospitals and cultural centres. But the similarities ended there.     The most important difference was theological location. Jews in Christian Europe were permanent outsiders. Jews were accused of rejecting Christ and became embedded in Christian imagination as witnesses to spiritual failure. This hostility was built into the religious structure itself.     Jains, by contrast, emerged within the broader Indic religious ecosystem. There was much in common between Brahmins and Jains: ideas of karma, rebirth, renunciation, pilgrimage, sacred geography, fasting, monasticism, cosmology and ritual purity. Jains mocked the Vedic ritual of sacrificing animals and eventually convinced many Brahmin communities to change their ways. A Shaiva king hostile in one generation could sponsor Jain monks in another. Boundaries remained porous.     The second difference lay in political structure. Europe increasingly developed centralised religious authority through the Church. Orthodoxy became tied to political order. Heresy threatened social collapse. Jews, meanwhile, remained outside Christian salvation history entirely. This enabled continent-wide expulsions and co-ordinated persecution: England in 1290, France repeatedly, Spain in 1492, numerous German territories.     India historically lacked a single centralised ecclesiastical institution capable of organising pan-Indian religious extermination. Power remained fragmented among kingdoms, sects, castes, temples, monasteries and regional traditions. Even when conflict emerged, it remained localised.     South India did witness anti-Jain movements between the 7th and 12th centuries as Bhakti Shaivism and Vaishnavism rose under royal patronage. Tamil Shaiva literature described debates, humiliations, and even legendary impalements of Jains. These stories reflected real competition for political patronage and public prestige. But they did not produce a Europe-style project of total elimination.     The reason was also economic. Jewish communities in Europe often became trapped within narrow financial occupations because Christian doctrine restricted usury among Christians. Kings borrowed heavily from Jewish financiers and periodically erased debts through expulsion or confiscation. During famine, plague, or war, Jews became convenient scapegoats. Economic resentment fused with religious hostility.     In India, Jain merchant power existed within a far broader and more decentralised commercial system. Trade and finance were distributed among many communities: Banias, Chettiars, Sahukars, Komatis, Marwaris, Brahmin accountants, Muslim traders and various caste networks. No single minority monopolised credit or commerce to the same extent.     Caste played a key role–every group kept distance, with rituals and food restricted to the courtyard. Many practices now associated with “Hindu” upper-caste life carried strong Jain influence: vegetarian prestige, fasting traditions, merchant ethics, temple donation culture and notions of purity and pollution.     Europe moved in the opposite direction. From medieval Christianity to modern nationalism, identity hardened. By the 19th century, anti-semitism transformed from theology into race theory. Jews were increasingly imagined not merely as wrong believers but as biologically dangerous outsiders. Modern nationalism, pseudo-science and industrial bureaucracy eventually culminated in the Holocaust.     Jains were never imagined as foreign invaders, racial contaminants or enemies of civilization itself. Jains certainly faced political displacement, temple appropriation, literary humiliation, loss of patronage and occasional violence. But Indian civilization historically preferred hierarchy, absorption and negotiation over extermination.     The contrast therefore revealed two different civilizational logics. Europe often sought unity through exclusion. India often managed diversity through layered coexistence and hierarchy. Realising the power and reach of Jains, 21st century politicians in India abandoned the term Hindutva and embraced Sanatan Dharma, to include Jains in their fold. Today, a foreign dignitary is served only vegetarian food, not the food of the majority, indicating the influence of the satvik ahimsa lobby, spearheaded by Jain munis.     The key conceptual difference between Jews and Jains is the idea of rebirth. Jews believed in one life, negotiating God’s laws and always being right. Jains believe in karmic balance sheet, subjectivity, conditionality, negotiation.

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“Wintry Peacock” by D.H. Lawrence – Summary:

“Wintry Peacock” is a short story by D.H. Lawrence that explores themes of memory, longing, and the disconnect between past and present. Set in the English countryside during winter, the story reflects Lawrence’s deep sensitivity to nature and human emotion.

Summary:

The narrator, staying in a country house during winter, notices a peacock roaming the snowy grounds — an unusual and vivid sight against the bleak, white landscape. The peacock seems out of place in the wintry setting, symbolizing lost beauty, exoticism, or a forgotten past.

Intrigued, the narrator inquires about the bird and learns it once belonged to an Indian officer’s wife who had lived there. She had brought the peacock from India, but after her departure, the bird was left behind, much like a remnant of a bygone, colonial life.

The story ends on a reflective note, with the peacock becoming a haunting emblem of memory, change, and the quiet melancholy of things that no longer belong but remain lingering in the present.

In the story “ Elsie and Alfred are local villagers who provide important background information to the narrator. They are a married couple living near the estate where the narrator is staying.

Elsie:

Elsie is a servant or local woman who has a close connection to the estate. She is talkative, curious, and somewhat gossipy — typical of Lawrence’s portrayals of rural working-class women. She tells the narrator the story behind the peacock, including how it was brought from India by an officer’s wife who used to live at the house. Elsie seems emotionally connected to the house’s past and carries a sense of lingering nostalgia.

Alfred:

Alfred is Elsie’s husband. He plays a smaller role in the story but is mentioned as a practical, no-nonsense man who helps take care of things around the house. He is less sentimental than Elsie and represents a more grounded, rural perspective.

    Mrs. Goyte is a key but absent character in D.H. Lawrence’s short story “Wintry Peacock.” Though she never appears directly in the narrative, her presence is felt through the memories and conversations of other characters — particularly Elsie, who tells the narrator about her.

Who is Mrs. Goyte?

• Wife of an English officer who had served in India.
• She once lived in the house where the story takes place.
• She brought the peacock from India — a symbolic act reflecting her emotional or cultural attachment to her past life there.
• Mrs. Goyte left the house (and the peacock behind) after a personal or emotional crisis — likely a breakdown related to grief, isolation, or marital issues.

What does she represent?

• Colonial displacement: Mrs. Goyte, like the peacock, is a symbol of the British colonial experience — exotic, fragile, and out of place in wintry England.
• Emotional alienation: Her story suggests psychological suffering, possibly due to trauma, loss (some interpretations suggest a lost child), or the coldness of post-colonial English life.
• Memory and loss: She lives on only in the memories of others. Her abandonment of the peacock mirrors her own emotional abandonment.

Symbolic connection to the peacock:

• The peacock, beautiful but out of place in the snowy English countryside, mirrors Mrs. Goyte’s own inner displacement.
• It acts as a ghost of her presence, making her a haunting figure in the story.

Written and posted  by Columnist and author Kamlesh Tripathi