Tag Archives: mahabharat

SHORT STORY: THE SOUL CONNECTION HAS DIVINE EYES

March 14, 2023Uncategorizedarrow, bird, chitraketu, ghatotkacha, god, haranyakashipu, holika, hunter, indra, jara, kamlesh tripathi, karma, karna, krishna, mahabharat, moral, prahlad, short story, shravancharitymission, spiritual, valkhilyasshravancharitymission

A hunter was once intimidating a small bird perched on a tree. He was feeling exalted that he is so powerful that he can shoot even a flying bird with his gun. The subdued bird on the other hand reminded him not to boast of his present corporeal form but to sober down just like a humble soul. He then narrated the story of the powerful King Chitraketu, where the soul of his just dead son, reminds him, in front of the august rishis assembled there that in his previous births, he was his father, and many a time Chitraketu was his father. Hence the present physical form of the hunter is just a passing milestone of his soul’s journey and nothing to boast about.

The hunter in return reminds the bird of how Lord Krishna is killed by a hunter named Jara who shoots an arrow that pierces Krishna’s foot mistaking him for a deer when he is resting. So, the corporeal or the personification of the human form is much more powerful than the non-corporeal immortal soul. ‘And what are you, you little bird in front of this mighty hunter’, he aggressed.

‘Oh, don’t you go by the size of my body? Haven’t you heard of the famous Valakhilyas … the thumb-sized sages who cursed and threatened Lord Indra to create another Indra because of his ignoble deeds with the power of their yagya (sacrifice) which terrified Lord Indra the king of the Devas so much that he ran to his guru for advice. So, don’t you mistake your current human form for your strength and my bird form for my weakness, because the bandwidth of our souls is equal? What I can see through my soul you can’t see through your body form’, replied the bird.

‘Well, then you haven’t heard of the great warrior Veer Ghatotkacha who increases the size of his body when he is killed by Karna who uses his Shakti (astra) in the holy war of Mahabharat. Ghatotkacha falls on the Kuru soldiers killing so many of them. One can do so many things with a versatile human embodiment but very less without it. And the soul is just an offshoot of the towering human embodiment.’

The bird reacted by saying, ‘Veer Ghatotkacha’s martyr was for a holy cause. But haven’t you heard of the demon king Hiranyakashipu? He is an adamant corporeal of vice. In contrast, his son Prahlad is a corporeal endowment of virtue and God’s consciousness. The father and the son lost their soul connection and that led to a huge disaster in their lives, didn’t you know that? Hiranyakashipu uses his ungodly embodiment to dissuade Prahlad from the path of righteousness and even tries to incinerate him by making him sit in the lap of his sister Holika who is invulnerable to fire but the reverse only happens. Holika is reduced to ashes by the blazing fire whereas Prahlad comes out unscathed. So hey you hunter tone down your arrogance and deal with me just as how a soul would like to deal with a soul.’ The hunter for a moment thought about the lost connection between the two souls, the soul of King Hiranyakashipu and the soul of his son Prahlad and got a glimpse of his old friend from his previous birth sitting up there on the tree as a bird.

We human beings mostly treat animals and even other human beings as a corporeal identity in life and never as another soul. This leads to friction and distaste. It also leads to inequality, obsequiousness and terror. The hunter would have shot the bird had he dealt with him as a bird but when he connected with the bird’s soul he found him to be an old friend and so he dropped his gun. Remember, the other being is a soul first just like you and me and a body identity later.

***

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it please

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers that includes both children and adults and it has a huge variety in terms of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate for the cause. The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our Publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 8 prestigious libraries of the US that includes Harvard College Library; Harvard University Library; Library of Congress; University of Washington, Seattle; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Yale University, New Haven; University of Chicago; University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill University Libraries. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in libraries and archives of Canada, Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai; Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida; India. Shoolini University, Yogananda Knowledge Center, Himachal Pradesh and Azim Premzi University, Bangalore).

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi; Available for reading in Indian National Bibliography, March 2016, in the literature section, in Central Reference Library, Ministry of Culture, India, Belvedere, Kolkata-700022)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity. That happens to be the undying characteristics of Lucknow. The book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival of 2014. It is included for reading in Askews and Holts Library Services, Lancashire, U.K; Herrick District Library, Holland and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, Mecklenburg County in North Carolina, USA; Black Gold Cooperative Library Administration, Arroyo Grande, California).

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. It was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is, humbly qualified. Yet he fights his way through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read not only for salesmen. The book was launched on 10^th February 2018 in Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day-to-day life. The book is available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available in Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

AWADH ASSAM AND DALAI LAMA … The Kalachakra

(The story of the man who received His Holiness The Dalai Lama and his retinue in 1959 as a GOI representative when he fled Tibet in 1959. The book was launched on 21^st November 2022 by His Holiness The Dalai Lama).

BHAVANS JOURNAL

Short stories, Book reviews and Articles published in Bhavan’s Journal: 1. Reality and Perception, 15.10.19; 2. Sending the Wrong Message, 31.5.20; 3. Eagle versus Scholars June, 15 & 20 2020; 4. Indica, 15.8.20; 5. The Story of King Chitraketu, August 31 2020; 6. Breaking Through the Chakravyuh, September 30 2020. 7. The Questioning Spouse, October 31, 2020; 8. Happy Days, November 15, 2020; 9. The Karma Cycle of Paddy and Wheat, December 15, 2020; 10. Power Vs Influence, January 31, 2021; 11. Three Refugees, March 15, 2021; 12. Rise and Fall of Ajatashatru, March 31, 2021; 13. Reformed Ruler, May 15, 2021; 14. A Lasting Name, May 31, 2021; 15. Are Animals Better Teachers?, June 16, 2021; 16. Book Review: The Gram Swaraj, 1.7.21; 17. Right Age for Achievements, 15.7.21; 18. Big Things Have Small Beginnings, 15.8.21; 19. Where is Gangaridai?, 15.9.21; 20. Confront the Donkey Within You 30.9.21; 21. Know Your Strengths 15.10.21; 22. Poverty 15.11.21; 23. Top View 30.11.21; 24. The Bansuriwala 15.1.22; 25. Sale of Alaska 15.2.22; 26. The Dimasa Kingdom 28.2.22; 27. Buried Treasure 15.4.22; 28. The Kingdom of Pragjyotisha 30.4.22; 29. Who is more useful? 15.5.22; 30. The White Swan from Lake Mansarovar 30.6.22; 31. Bhool Bhulayya 15.9.22; 32. Good Karma 30.9.22; 33. Good name vs Bad Name 15.10.22; 34. Uttarapath—The Grand Trunk Road 1.12.22; 35. When Gods Get Angry 1.1.23; 36. Holinshed’s Chronicles 15.1.23; 37. Theogony 15.2.23

SUNDAY SHILLONG TIMES:

1. POEM HAPPY NEW YEAR 8.1.23; 2. POEM SPRING 12.3.23;

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

INTERESTING FACTS EPISODE—3

December 29, 2022Uncategorizedaesop, aesop's fables, aesopica, auschwitz, Chitrakoot, facts, general knowledge, germany, gk, hitler, holocaust, homo sapiens, Jews, kamlesh tripathi, Lord Ram, mahabharat, mahatma gandhi, nazi, shoah, shravan charity mission, south africa, uttar pradesh, ved vyasshravancharitymission

Facts you didn’t know.

Lord Ram lived for over eleven and a half years in Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh out of the 14 years of his exile. Banda in U.P. has a Bamdeo temple that is said to have got its name after Ramdeo Rishi, a sage believed to be a contemporary of Lord Ram. Kalpi in Jalaun again in U.P., is the birthplace of Maharishi Ved Vyas. It has a Vyas-temple there. Muchkund caves in Lalitpur got their name from saint Muchkund who lived and meditated there. It is believed that Lord Krishna visited the caves during the Mahabharat era. Dharkundi in Chitrakoot is where Yudhishthira answered the questions of Yaksha. Chitrakoot is considered very significant mythologically, for it has the footprints of Lord Ram.

Aesop’s Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to modern times through several sources and continue to be reinterpreted in different verbal registers and in popular and belonged to the oral tradition and were not collected for some three centuries after Aesop’s death. Although Aesop’s existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, there are numerous tales credited to him that were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a storytelling tradition that continues to this day. Many of the tales associated with him are characterized by anthropomorphic (described or thought of as having a human form or human attributes) animal characters.

The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; around two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population. The murders were carried out in pogroms and mass shootings; by a policy of extermination through labour in concentration camps; and in gas chambers and gas vans in German extermination camps, chiefly Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka in occupied Poland. Germany implemented the persecution in stages. Following Adolf Hitler’s appointment as chancellor on 30 January 1933, the regime built a network of concentration camps in Germany for political opponents and those deemed “undesirable”, starting with Dachau the first concentration camp on 22 March 1933.

Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa after 23 years (1893-1915) He decided to live in Ahmedabad, and not in an Ashram in Delhi, the new capital of British India since 1912.

Homo-Sapiens appeared on earth around 130,000-200,000 years ago, whereas our planet is around 4.5 billion years old. This means we’ve been here for about 0.000028% of the Earth’s existence.

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our Publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day-to-day life. The book is available on Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available in Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

AWADH ASSAM AND DALAI LAMA … The Kalachakra

(The story of the man who received His Holiness The Dalai Lama and his retinue in 1959 as a GOI representative when he fled Tibet in 1959. The book was recently launched on 21^st November 2022 by His Holiness The Dalai Lama).

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

The Kingdom of Pragjyotisha

May 8, 2022Uncategorizedassam, brahmaputra, guwahati, kamlesh tripathi, kamrup, kingdom of pragjyotisha, kishkinda kand, mahabharat, ramayana, shillong, shravan charity missionshravancharitymission

The Kingdom of Pragjyotisha

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our Publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is, humbly qualified. Yet he fights his ways through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read not only for salesmen. The book was launched on 10^th February, 2018 in Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available in Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

Short stories, Book reviews and Articles published in Bhavan’s Journal: Reality and Perception, 15.10.19; Sending the Wrong Message, 31.5.20; Eagle versus Scholars June, 15 & 20 2020; Indica, 15.8.20; The Story of King Chitraketu, August 31 2020; Breaking Through the Chakravyuh, September 30 2020. The Questioning Spouse, October 31, 2020; Happy Days, November 15, 2020; The Karma Cycle of Paddy and Wheat, December 15,2020; Power Vs Influence, January 31, 2021; Three Refugees, March 15, 2021; Rise and Fall of Ajatashatru, March 31, 2021; Reformed Ruler, May 15, 2021; A Lasting Name, May 31, 2021; Are Animals Better Teachers?, June 16, 2021; Book Review: The Gram Swaraj, 1.7.21; Right Age for Achievements, 15.7.21; Big Things Have Small Beginnings, 15.8.21; Where is Gangaridai?, 15.9.21; Confront the Donkey Within You 30.9.21; Know Your Strengths 15.10.21; Poverty 15.11.21; Top View 30.11.21; The Bansuriwala 15.1.22; Sale of Alaska 15.2.22; The Dimasa Kingdom 28.2.22; Buried Treasure 15.4.22; The Kingdom of Pragjyotisha 30.4.22

(ALL THE ABOVE BOOK TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

INTERESTING FACTS: PADMAVYUHA & CHAKRAVYUHA

April 11, 2021UncategorizedAbhimanyu, arthashastra, buddhist, chakravyuha, jataka, kamlesh tripathi, kaurava, kautilya, mahabharat, manusmriti, padmavyuha, pandava, shravancharitymission, sisupalavadhashravancharitymission

Padmavyuha and Chakravyuha are strategies and tactics of war. What we in Hindi call Padmavyuha or Chakravyuha is a military formation used to surround enemies, depicted in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It resembles a labyrinth of multiple defensive walls.

Ancient Indians had perfected the art of arraying, displaying, arranging, and lining of troops, called the ‘vyuha.’ In the Rig Veda, there are many references to substantiate this. A war hymn says that Maruts (ie soldiers) moved in linear formation like birds. Another hymn says, they assumed the shape of a man, a horse, or a pigeon at different times. There are references to battle formations in the Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda.

The Mahabharata has the most detailed description of the ‘vyuhas’ (ie. the battle arrays). Two great acharyas—Shukra and Brahaspati—had propounded many of these vyuhas. During the eighteen day war, Pandava and Kaurava commanders formed as many as thirty vyuhas, including Vajra, Krauncaruna, Ardhacandra, Syena, Makara, Garuda, Vyala, Sakata, Cakra, Suci, etc. While deciding to form a particular vyuha, they considered their own objective, and the deployment of the enemy’s forces.

On the 13^th day of the Mahabharata war, the Kaurava commander deployed his army in ‘Chakravyuha’ to trap and kill the Pandava commander ‘Abhimanyu.’ On the fourteenth day of war, the Kauravas combined Cakra-Sakata-Padma and Suci vyuhas to repel and beat the attack launched by Arjuna. There are references to vyuhas in the Ramayana and the Buddhist Jatakas (Buddhist literature) also.

Vyuhas are described in far greater detail in the Arthashastra. In the sama-vyuha (even array) the five constituents—centre (ura) two flanks (kaksas) and two wings (paksas) were provided with an equal number of troops. In the visamavyuha (uneven army) the number of troops deployed at the centre, the flanks and the wings were not the same. In misravyuha (mixed array), the chariot, elephants, horses and foot soldiers were deployed together at the centre, and at the flanks and wings, while in suddhavyuha (unmixed array) only one of these arms was deployed.

This four-fold classification of the vyuhas relates to the strategic deployment of various arms. But the most significant contribution of the Arthashastra relates to the tactical deployment of units, according to the code of Brahaspati. Kautilya has classified the tactical deployment of troops in four basic arrays, namely danda-vyuha (staff array), bhoga-vyuha (snake array), mandala-vyuha (circle array) and asamhata-vyuha (diffused array). Each of these types had many variations, as danda alone, could be formed in seventeen ways, bhoga in four ways, and both mandala and asamhata in three ways. Kautilya has also described some miscellaneous arrays.

It is notable that a detailed description of battle arrays is also available in works such as the Manusmriti, Kamandaka Niti, Agni Purana and Sukraniti. Later works like the Sisupalavadha and Prithiviraja Raso also refer to the use of some of these vyuhas.

Chakravyahu is something that we even use in terms of strategy in our day to day lives.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our Publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 8 prestigious libraries of the US that includes Harvard College Library; Harvard University Library; Library of Congress; University of Washington, Seattle; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Yale University, New Haven; University of Chicago; University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill University Libraries. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in libraries and archives of Canada, Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai and Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, India. Shoolini University, Yogananda Knowledge Center, Himachal Pradesh. Azim Premzi University, Bangalore).

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available in Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

Short stories and Articles published in Bhavan’s Journal: Reality and Perception, 15.10.19; Sending the Wrong Message, 31.5.20; Eagle versus Scholars June, 15 & 20 2020; Indica, 15.8.20; The Story of King Chitraketu, August 31 2020; Breaking Through the Chakravyuh, September 30 2020. The Questioning Spouse, October 31, 2020; Happy Days, November 15, 2020; The Karma Cycle of Paddy and Wheat, December 15,2020; Power Vs Influence, January 31, 2021; Three Refugees, March 15, 2021;

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHRAVAN

January 23, 2021Uncategorizedagyat vas, baka, chitraketu, crane, kamlesh tripathi, king, mahabharat, nakul, osho, shravan charity mission, shravan tripathi, vidyadhar, water, yaksha, yudhistirshravancharitymission

SHRAVAN TRIPATHI (23.1.93 – 24.2.2009)

Dear Shravan. On your 28th birthday, I’m flooded with warm and gratifying memories of yours. Not years ago, when you were alive, but now yes, you do, remind me of King Chitraketu’s son, who expired, soon after he was born, but sermonised his father into the biggest lesson of the world in just a day, and that was. ‘All relationships are, because of your mortal body, and as you leave your mortal remains behind, you also leave behind, your relations—it sounds harsh. Thereafter, everyone is all by himself and has to suffer, as per his karmas.’

They say a God’s day is equivalent to 12 human years. You lived for 16 years. Your short life span taught me many things in that one-an-a-half, God’s days. You’ve been through all the dimensions of life—prime being the frontiers of birth and death. Birthday is of course a celebration—but death a huge frustration, especially, for the ones left behind. How tricky is life. No matter, how much you plan, life has its own plans. ‘Do not plan anything. Things will take their own course.’ Says Osho. The sixteen years that I spent with you were par-excellence. From your babyhood, childhood to your teens it was just fantastic. And how the family together fought the battle of cancer is something we can’t forget.

Your sad and untimely demise takes me yet to another iconic story. Yeh Mahabharat se hey. At the end of 12 years in exile in the forests, time had come for the Pandavas to live in Agyat Vas—incognito. One day, while searching for the mysterious deer, Yudhishtir, was exhausted and thirsty. His brother Nakul, thus ventured out, to fetch water for him where he found a beautiful lake. The lake was devoid of any living creature except a crane (Baka). When he attempted to take water from the lake, the crane spoke, “Listen Nakul! The water of this lake will turn into poison if you take it without satisfactorily answering my questions.” But Nakul defied the crane and drank the water and died on the spot. So did, Yudhisthir’s other brothers, when they went, looking for Nakul. Finally, Yudhistir followed, in desperation to find his brothers. He arrived at the same lake where he was interfaced with the same crane who revealed himself as a Yaksha—a spirit. Yudhistir answered all the questions of Yaksha and then had the water and even got his brothers back. Well those were the powerful men of those times about which I can only visualise and dream. I wish I had the answers to get you back even when you weren’t the Nakul who drank that water.

But more than that there is this story that really inspires me. There was once a cave that lived underground as most caves do. The cave had spent its entire life in darkness. It had never seen light. One day, a voice came up to him and said, ‘Come up … into the light. Come up … and enjoy the sunlight.’ ‘I don’t know what you mean by light. All I have ever known and seen is darkness.’ The cave replied. ‘Come and see it for yourself,’ said the voice again. The cave mustered up enough courage and climbed up slowly from the depths of the earth. Suddenly, it reached the top of the earth and was surrounded by the magnificent light, the likes of which he had never seen before in his life. ‘This is beautiful,’ said the cave. And after enjoying the light for a while the cave said to the sunlight, ‘Now it is your turn to come with me and see the darkness.’ ‘What is darkness?’ Asked the Sunlight. The cave answered, ‘come and see it for yourself.’ The Sunlight decided to visit the cave’s home. And as the Sunlight entered the cave, it said. ‘Now show me where your darkness is.’ But with the Sunlight, there was no darkness to be found.

In your short life span you came as that sunlight, and you did spread so much light, the nimbus of which can be seen and felt even now. What else Shravan? Rest in piece.

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 8 prestigious libraries of the US that includes Harvard College Library; Harvard University Library; Library of Congress; University of Washington, Seattle; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Yale University, New Haven; University of Chicago; University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill University Libraries. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in libraries and archives of Canada, Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai and Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, India)

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available in Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

INTERESTING FACTS: NORTH EAST-THE DIMASA aka KACHARI KINGDOM

January 9, 2021Uncategorizedahom king, arunachal pradesh, assam, bengal, bhim, cachar, chinese ming dynasty, ghatotkacha, hailakandi, hidamba, hidimbesvar, hidimbi, Hindu, kachar hills, kachari kingdom, kamlesh tripathi, kamrupa, mahabharat, manipur, north east, shravan charity mission, the dimasa kingdom, timisa kingdom, tripurshravancharitymission

The Dimasa aka Kachari Kingdom also known as Kachari Hidimbā and Timisa kingdom was a major, late medieval, or an early modern kingdom in Assam—Northeast India, ruled by Dimasa kings, called Timisa in the Ahom Buranjis (the Ahom texts).

The Dimasa kingdom and others (Kamata, Chutiya—kingdoms) that developed in the wake of the Kamarupa kingdom were examples of new states that emerged from indigenous communities in Medieval Assam, and that transformed these communities. The British finally annexed the kingdom: The plains in 1832 and the hills in 1834. This kingdom gave its name to undivided Cachar district of colonial Assam. Assam was a province of British India, created in 1912 by the partition of Eastern Bengal and Assam. Its capital was in Shillong. The Assam territory was first separated from Bengal in 1874 as the ‘North-East Frontier’ non-regulation province. It was incorporated into the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam in 1905 and re-established as a province in 1912.

After independence the undivided Cachar district was split into three districts, in Assam: Cachar, Dima Hasao and Hailakandi district, formerly North Cachar Hills, Cachar district, Hailakandi district. The Dimasa kingdom finds mention in Chinese chronicles. The Undivided Cachar district is congruous, to Govinda Chandra’s, the last king of the Kachari kingdom, a domain in the southern part of Assam.

In the 18th century, a divine Hindu origin was constructed for the rulers of the Kachari kingdom and it was named Hidimba, and the kings as Hidimbesvar. The name Hiḍimba continued to be used in the official records when the East India Company took over the administration of Cachar.

The origin of the Dimasa Kingdom is not clear. According to tradition the Dimasa had their domain in Kamarupa and their kings belonged to a lineage called Ha-tsung-tsa or Ha-cheng-sa, a name first mentioned in a coin from 1520. Some of them had to leave due to a political turmoil and while crossing the Brahmaputra some of them were swept away. Therefore, they are called Dimasa (son of the big river). The similarity in Dimasa traditions and religious beliefs with those of the Chutiya Kingdom a late medieval state that developed around Sadiya a town in Tinsukiya district of Assam, and adjoining areas in Arunachal Pradesh, supports this tradition of initial unity and then divergence. Linguistic studies too point to a close association between the Dimasa language and the Moran language that was alive till the beginning of the 20th-century, suggesting that the Dimasa kingdom had an eastern Assam presence before the advent of the Ahoms. The Dimasas had a tradition of worshipping Kechai Khaiti, the war goddess, common among all Bodo-Kachari people such as the Rabhas, Tiwas, Koch, Chutias, etc. According to an account in a Buranji, the first Ahom king Sukaphaa (1228–1268) encountered a Kachari group in the Tirap region (currently in Arunachal Pradesh), who informed him that, they along with their chief had to leave a place called Mohung (salt springs) losing it to the Nagas and that they were settled near the Dikhou river. This supports a tradition that the eastern boundary of the Kachari domain extended up to Mohong or Namchang (near Jeypore, Assam) beyond the river Dichang, before the arrival of Ahoms.

It is perceived that the Chinese Ming dynasty had political interactions with the Dimasa Kingdom, which canonized it, as a tusi in 1406 named, “Di-ma-sa Pacification Superintendency.”

According to a legend, Hachengsa or Hasengcha was an extraordinary boy brought up by a tiger and a tigress in a forest near Dimapur who replaced the existing king following some divine oracles, which indicates the emergence of a strong military leader able to consolidate power. Subsequently, the Hasengcha Sengfang (clan) emerged, beginning with Khorapha (1520 in Dimapur), the Dimasa kings continued to draw lineage from Hachengcha in Maibong and Khaspur till the 19th century. This legend of the origin of Hachengcha is recorded in an unpublished manuscript written by the late Rajkumar Janmejoy Barman, a member of the royal clan of the Dimasas.

By the 13th century, the Kachari kingdom extended along the southern banks of Brahmaputra River, from Dikhow River to Kallang River and included the valley of Dhansiri and present-day Dima Hasao district. Dimapur was built by Raja Chakradhvaj after being driven from Ghergaon (present-day Dergaon) in Jorhat district. According to the Buranjis who called the kings Khun Timisa, the Kachari settlements to the east of Dikhou withdrew before the Ahom advance. The Chutiya Kingdom existed in the Northeast, and the Kamata Kingdom and the Baro-Bhuyans, to its west.

In Dimapur, the remains of the Kachari city are still evident. The locals around Dimapur refer to the remains as the “Chess Pieces” of Dima Raja or the King of Dimasa. Only a few ancient temples and that too, only in upper Assam, were then built of masonry, whereas, the remains at Dimapur, for instance, which flourished, centuries before the Ahoms arrived, show us that Kacharis knew, all about the art of brick making and permanent buildings.”

The Ahoms settled in the track between the Chutiya and the Kachari Kingdoms that was inhabited by the Borahi and Moran people. The first clash with the Ahom Kingdom took place in 1490, in which the Ahoms were defeated. The Ahoms pursued peace, an Ahom princess was offered to the Kachari king, and the Kachari took control of the land beyond Dhansiri. But in the meanwhile the Ahoms were getting powerful and they pushed the Kacharis back, west. In 1526 the Kacharis defeated the Ahoms in a battle, but in the same year, they were defeated in a second battle. In 1531 the Ahoms advanced up to Dimapur, the capital. The Dimasas in accordance to their animistic faith believed cows (Mushu) to be “Gushu” (impure). This belief is still held by the Dimasas. When the Ahom army attacked the Kachari army, they took the cover of cows. The king of the Kachari Kingdom along with his mother and many royals were murdered after the Ahoms reached the city. The Ahoms later installed Detsung as the king of the Kachari Kingdom with yearly taxes of 20 Elephant and 1 lakhs of rupees (mudras). But in 1536 the Ahoms attacked the Kachari capital once again and ransacked the city. The Dimasa abandoned Dimapur and retreated south to set up their new capital in Maibang. “Mai” means “Paddy” and “bang” means “Plenty or abundance”.

At Maibang, the Dimasa Kachari kings came under Hindu influence. The son of Detsung took a Hindu name Nirbhay Narayan, and established his Brahmin guru as the Dharmadhi that became an important institution of the state. The titular deity of the Dimasas changed from Kechai Khaiti to Ranachandi in the 16th-century as a result of Hinduisation. The royal family came under Hindu influence at Maibang, though the first conversion of a Kachari king to Hinduism is recorded in Khaspur, much later. According to a legend coined at that time, the royal family descends from the famous Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima of the Mahabharata fame, and Hidambi, a princess of the Kachari people.

Chilarai the younger brother of Nara Narayan, the king of the Kamata Kingdom in the 16th century, attacked the kingdom on or after 1564, during the reign of either Durlabh Narayan or his predecessor, and made it into a tributary of the Koch Kingdom. Where, the size of the annual tribute was— seventy thousand rupees, one thousand gold mohurs and sixty elephants, and that testifies to the resourcefulness of the Kachari state.

A conflict with the Jaintia Kingdom over the region of Dimarua led to a battle and the defeat of the Jaintia king (Dhan Manik). After the death of Dhan Manik, Satrudaman the Dimasa Kachari king, installed Jasa Manik on the throne who manipulated events to bring the Dimasa Kacharis into conflict with the Ahoms once again in 1618. Satrudaman, the most powerful Dimasa Kachari king, ruled over Dimarua in Nagaon district long before it was ruled by Tiwa tribal chief Jongal Balahu, which included, North Cachar, Dhansiri valley, plains of Cachar and parts of eastern Sylhet. After his conquest of Sylhet, he struck coins in his name.

By the reign of Birdarpan Narayan (around 1644), the Kachari rule had withdrawn completely from the Dhansiri valley and it had reverted to a jungle forming a barrier between their kingdom and the Ahom Kingdom. When a successor king, Tamradhwaj, declared independence, the Ahom king invaded Maibong and destroyed its forts in 1706 and the king had to take refuge in Khaspur.

Kacharis had three ruling clans (semfongs): Bodosa (an old historical clan), Thaosengsa (the clan to which the kings belonged to), and Hasyungsa (to which the kings relatives belonged).

The king at Maibang was assisted in his state duties by a council of ministers (Patra and Bhandari), led by a chief called Barbhandari. These and other state offices were manned by people of the Dimasa group, who were not necessarily Hinduized. There were about 40 clans called Sengphong of the Dimasa people, each of which sent a representative to the royal assembly called Mel, a powerful institution that could elect a king. The representatives sat in the Mel mandap (Council Hall) according to the status of the Sengphong that provided a counterfoil to royal powers.

Over time, the Sengphongs developed a hierarchical structure with five royal Sengphongs though most of the kings belonged to the Hacengha (Hasnusa) clan. Some of the clans provided specialized services to the state ministers, ambassadors, storekeepers, court writers, and other bureaucrats and ultimately developed into professional groups, e.g. Songyasa (king’s cooks), Nablaisa (fishermen).

By the 17th century, the Dimasa Kachari rule extended into the plains of Cachar. The plains people did not participate in the courts of the Dimasa Kachari king directly. They were organized according to khels, and the king provided justice and collected revenue via an official called the Uzir. Though the plains people did not participate in the Dimasa Kachari royal court, the Dharmadhi guru and other Brahmins in the court cast a considerable influence, especially with the beginning of the 18th century.

The region of Khaspur, was originally, a part of the Tripura Kingdom, which was taken over by Koch (Koch dynasty of North East) king Chilarai in the 16th century. The region was ruled by a tributary ruler, Kamalnarayana, the brother of king Chilarai. Around 18th century Bhima Singha, the last Koch ruler of Khaspur, didn’t have any male heir. His daughter, Kanchani, married Laxmichandra, the Dimasa prince of Maibong kingdom. Once the last Koch king Bhima Singha died the Dimasas migrated to Khaspur, thus merging the two kingdoms into one. Kachari kingdom under the king Gopichandranarayan, and the control of the Khaspur kingdom, went to the ruler of the Maibong kingdom, as inheritance from the royal marriage and established their capital in Khaspur, near present-day Silchar. The independent rule of the Khaspur’s Koch rulers ended in 1745 when it merged with the Kachari kingdom. Khaspur is a corrupted form of the word Kochpur. Gopichandranarayan (reigning1745-1757), Harichandra (reigning1757-1772) and Laxmichandra (reigning1772-1773) were brothers and ruled the kingdom in succession.

Connect with Hindu Mythology

The widely believed legend that was constructed by the Hindu Brahmins at Khaspur goes as follows: In Mahabharat during their exile, the Pandavas came to the Kachari Kingdom where Bhima fell in love with Hidimbi (sister of Hidimba). Bhima married princess Hidimbi according to the Gandharva system and a son was born to princess Hidimbi, named Ghatotkacha. He ruled the Kachari Kingdom for many decades. Thereafter, kings of his lineage ruled over the vast land of the “Dilao” river (which translates to “long river” in English), now known as Brahmaputra River for centuries until 4th century AD. It is believed that Kacharies participated in the Mahabharat war too.

British occupation

The Dimasa Kachari kingdom came under Burmese occupation in the late early 19th-century along with the Ahom Kingdom. The last king, Govinda Chandra Hasnu, was restored by the British after the Yandabo Treaty in 1826, but he was unable to subjugate Tularam Senapati who ruled the hilly regions. Senapati Tularam Hasnusa’s domain was Mahur River and the Naga Hills in the south, the Doyang river on the west, the Dhansiri River on the east and Jamuna and Doyang in the north. In 1830, Govinda Chandra Hasnu died. In 1832, Senapoti Tularam Hasnu was pensioned off and his region was annexed by the British to ultimately become the North Cachar district. In 1833, Govinda Chandra’s domain was also annexed to become the Cachar district.

In the early nineteenth century, after being dislodged from Meitrabak (present-day Manipur), its princes made Cachar a springboard for the reconquest of the territory. In 1819, the three brothers occupied Cachar and drove Govinda Chandra Hasnu out to Sylhet (now in Bangladesh). The kingdom of Cachar, divided between Govinda Chandra Hasnu and Chaurajit in 1818, was repartitioned after the flight of Govind Chandra among the three Meitrabak princes. Chaurajit got the eastern portion of Cachar bordering Meitrabak which was ruled from Sonai. Gambhir Singh was given the land west of Tillain hill and his headquarters was at Gumrah, Marjit Singh ruled Hailakandi from Jhapirbond. The British annexed the Dimasa Kachari Kingdom under the doctrine of lapse. At the time of British annexation, the kingdom consisted of parts of Nagaon and Karbi Anglong; North Cachar (Dima Hasao), Cachar and the Jiri frontier of Manipur.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 8 prestigious libraries of the US that includes Harvard College Library; Harvard University Library; Library of Congress; University of Washington, Seattle; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Yale University, New Haven; University of Chicago; University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill University Libraries. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in libraries and archives of Canada, Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai and Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida, India)

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories available in Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

BOOK REVIEW: ‘SHIKHANDI … And Other Tales they don’t tell you’ by Devdutt Pattanaik

June 21, 2020book corner, book launch, book review, Book review and excerpts, book review, book synopsis, book stall, book synopsis, book talk, facts, novel, Uncategorizedbiblical, chinese, devdutt pattanaik, god, greek, hijra, Hindu, kamlesh tripathi, mahabharat, mesopotamiam, penguin, queer, ramayan, shikhandi, shravan charity mission, zubaanshravancharitymission

Copyright@shravancharitymission

‘SHIKHANDI … and other tales they don’t tell you,’ by Devdutt Pattanaik.

The subject title was published in the year 2014 by Zubaan in collaboration with Penguin Books. The price of the book is Rs 299. Although, I had heard about this book some time ago I had not read it. I took the book to hand only recently. It comprises of some 176 pages.

The book deals with the discovery or Invention of Queerness. There are different types of people in the world with different types of physiology. There are races, religions, communities who define queerness in their own peculiar manner. Before planning to write this book I’m sure the author must have done a great deal of homework. He must have studied various communities, races and religions to spin out the content of this particular book. I find a growing trend in some publishers these days where they place the name of the author more prominently on the cover page, and in bigger fonts, than the title of the book which only goes to show that the publisher has more confidence on the brand of the author on account of his or her accumulated titles than the subject book’s content. But this obviously comes after the author has made a mark for himself. Is this one such case I wonder?

The author has made a few daring attempts in the book to put Hindu Gods and Godesses in utter starkness that makes them look frivolous which the author could have avoided. And that also gives one a feeling that the intention behind that act of God is not comprehensively understood or narrowly missed by the author well enough, even when, he has gone through Hindu texts, and some fifty-four select bibliographies that he mentions in the book. The author runs all over. From queerness to hijras, cross-dressers, Gods, mythology and the short stories therein, and then finally it appears as if the author has lost direction. Where, one starts missing the central theme of the book, but was it even there one wonders. In some pages, one wonders, if it is just a collection and free-fall of short stories which is not what the book was intended to be. Even the emotions of characters are not elaborately emoted. The author goes on to say that India is an agricultural community and so it was common to see women as mere fields with men as the farmers who sow seeds.

The author has captured the content of this book in thirty chapters mostly out of Hindu mythology—Mahabharat, Ramayan including South Indian and other religious texts such as Purans, Bible and Greek mythology. The author builds the content of queerness on the premise that—Patriarchy asserts men are superior to women. Feminism clarifies women and men are equal. Queerness questions what constitutes male and female. Queerness isn’t just modern, Western or sexual, says mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik. Take a close look at the vast written and oral traditions in Hinduism, some over two thousand years old, and you will find many overlooked tales, such as those of Shikhandi, who became a man to satisfy her wife being put under a cover. Playful and touching—and sometimes even disturbing—these stories, when compared with their Mesopotamian, Greek, Chinese and Biblical counterparts, reveal the unique Indian way of making sense of queerness. Net-net the book is about the queer retelling of, Indian myths, by the author. But I also have a different take on this book.

The book would have been more powerful had ‘Queerness’ not been the title or the central theme of the book. For it is dominated more by short stories where queerness spins out as a by-product. And the stories needed to be presented with more of a foreground and background. Author ne dil khol ke nahin likha hai yeh kitab. He has tried to stuff in a lot of content in very few pages and therefore the book doesn’t impact you.

I would give the book six out of ten.

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 7 prestigious libraries of the US, including, Harvard University and Library of Congress. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in Libraries and archives of Canada and Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai)

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity. That happens to be its undying characteristic. The book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival of 2014)

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories. It is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

SHORT STORY: MAHAMANTRI VIDUR

March 23, 2020Uncategorizedbeasts, creepers, dhritrashtra, honey, kamlesh tripathi, kaurav, mahabharat, mahamantri, moral, parable, serpent, shravancharitymission, snake, vidurshravancharitymission

We all know Vidur the intelligent Mahamantri of Kuru king Dhritrashtra. This short story is about him.

After the bloodshed at Kurukshetra post the holy war of Mahabharat a grieving King Dhritrashtra wonders, what the purpose of life is all about. Vidur, his prime minister, then tells him the story of a man in the jungle running away from wild beasts, who falls into a steep ditch. But by stroke of luck he falls on creepers growing there and that breaks his fall to the deep bottom of the ditch. So, he dangles there, when he sees a large serpent waiting for him at the bottom of the ditch, to bite him.

And, that is not all. On the ground the beasts are still on the prowl waiting for him to come out of the ditch. Further, the man notices black and white mice, nibbling the roots of the creepers that holds and supports the man. This is when some bees from the top, fly towards the ditch, obviously to sting him, and from their hive, drops of honey, fall on the leaves of the creepers, and almost without thinking, the man’s fingers reach out to taste the honey. The honey is incredibly sweet and tempting and, despite facing certain death in all directions, the man can only think of how the honey tastes and wants more.

Vidur’s interpretation of the story that he narrates to Dhritrashtra is very offbeat here. He says, the jungle is our danger-filled world, the serpent the time that patiently waits for us, and the white and black mice are the days and nights that eat into the creepers of our life’s journey. The honey is the pleasure that we get from this world, along with the intense desire to live on an on, that keeps us, dangling, despite the definite death that we all see and face ahead.

Indeed there is a lesson to learn in everything that we do in life, and every circumstance that we face in life. The story only tells us that.

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

MIRAGE

(Published in February 2020. The book is a collection of eight short stories. It is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Notion Press)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

SHORT STORY: CHANGE

October 7, 2019UncategorizedArjuna, beliefs, bhishma pitamah, john locke, kamlesh tripathi, krishna, lesson, mahabharat, moral, parable, shravancharitymission, valuesshravancharitymission

As we grow old ideas always undergo a sea-change. Our perceptions about everything changes with the passage of time. Just before the Battle of Kurukshetra, Arjun told Krishna with rigid and overconfident obstinacy: If a situation arises where I’m required to kill Bhishma Pitamah. I’ll rather die than even think of killing him.’ Krishna smiled and said to Arjun, ‘Drigo charam pashyanti’ –Let’s see, only time will decide.’ Needless to say, Arjuna, the apple of Bhishma’s eye, finally had to kill the venerable warrior during the battle.

‘Change today’s thoughts. Then only can you blossom into a competitive individual,’ said English philosopher John Locke.

Khandanmandanam iti nihitam jeevanasya rahasyam—‘The essence of life lies in the refutation of one’s own values and beliefs.’

Beliefs get fossilised when we refuse to change them.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

INTERESTING FACTS & QUOTES EPISODE-23

June 19, 2019column, facts, General awareness & Knowledge, gk, Indian Agriculture, interesting facts, quote, quotes and lines, Uncategorizedamericans, bengaluru, bihar, bmc, buckingham palace, cartel, cash transaction, china, composer, crude oil, delhi, demonetizing, drawbridge, economy, england, eric arrthur blair, flood prone, forest, george orwell, global merchandise, gst, hasan suroor, hongkong, hyderabad, india, kamlesh tripathi, labour laws, magadha, mahabharat, mithila, motihari, mozart, mumbai, plumbing, rain fed, shravancharitymission, single, soil, sweden, talisman, umbrella movement, UN, vaishali, washington irving, watershravancharitymission

Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, was a famous English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. He was born in Motihari, Bihar, India on 25^th June 1903 of all the places.

Very few are lucky to be a Mozart the world famous composer of classical era who found passion for music at the age of three. The way to tell you’ve found a passionate work is when it doesn’t feel like work.

Around 30% Americans get less than seven hours of sleep per night, and among single mothers, this rises up to 47%.

India is one of the world’s most flood prone countries with 113 million (11 crore) people exposed to floods. According to a UN report India’s average annual economic loss due to disasters is estimated to be around $9.8 billion, out of which more than $7billion loss is due to floods.

Talisman is an object, typically, an inscribed ring or stone, that is thought to have magic powers, and brings good luck.

In a country with a median age of below 30, where, a million people enter the work force every month, sudden demonetizing can be devastating.

Even after a full scale up, a fully, financially, digitized economy, like Sweden, still conducts, about 20% of its money transaction in cash.

England: Running a palace is becoming tougher and tougher. It seems that London’s Buckingham Palace is in urgent need of essential repairs, mainly in the plumbing department. However, a number of British taxpayers—over 85,000 of them, who have signed a petition to that effect- are reluctant to foot the bill for the job.

Drawbridge—is a bridge that can be lifted so that ships can pass.

For far too long, emerging economies such as India have been at the mercy of a supplier’s cartel. It’s therefore time now to change the rules of the game—this is especially in the context of oil.

China and India are the second and third largest oil importers respectively. When they negotiate together their combined influence in the oil market will help them get a good deal. But will it ever happen?

The global market of merchandise exports today is approximately $15 trillion. Share of India in these exports is only 1.6% compared to that of 12% of China.

References to Bihar regions like Magadha, Mithila and Vaishali can be found in ancient texts and epics. The world’s first known republic was established in Vaishali in 6^th century BC.

The ‘Umbrella Movement’ was a political movement that emerged during the Hong Kong democracy protests of 2014. Its name arose from the use of umbrellas as a tool for passive resistance to the Hong Kong Police’s use of pepper spray to disperse the crowd during a 79-day occupation of the city demanding more transparent elections, which was sparked by the decision of the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress (NPCSC) on 31 August, 2014 that prescribed a selective pre-screening of candidates for the 2017 election of Hong Kong’s chief executive.

Soil and water are not commodities, but life-making material.

The element composition of the human body is 72% water and 12% earth.

Since most of our rivers are forest fed, the best way to resuscitate them is with more vegetation. But the organic content of soil has fallen drastically and the rapid pace of desertification is alarming.

Soil depletion in this country is so acute that nearly 25% of the Indian agricultural land will not be cultivable in the next 3-5 years.

In 40 years time, it is estimated that over 60% of our land will be uncultivable.

The only way to increase organic content of our soil is through tree cultivation and animal waste. If we destroy that our capability to generate food, will be heading towards a disaster.

Due to lack of vegetation and indiscriminate urban expansion, we are witnessing alarming cycles of food and drought. In the last 12 years, nearly three lakh farmers have committed suicide.

There are many reforms that India could carry out to become more competitive in manufacturing. These would involve changing its cumbersome labour laws, cutting corporate taxes to levels seen in East Asian countries and improving the transportation networks.

Bullet train in India is likely to cost $17 billion which is a third of India’s annual defence budget.

India was famous for having many sick industries but no sick industrialist. But I guess the trend is changing now with Mallaya and Nirav Modi in spotlight in the U.K.

Bengaluru, once a city of 2,500 lakes, boasted of an efficient storm water drainage system of interconnected lakes. If one lake overflowed water would automatically flow into another lake. But with increasing encroachment and solid wastes blocking the channels, floodwater cannot flow to the next water body. Drawing similarities are Hyderabad that has reported extinction of 375 lakes, and Delhi where 274 of 611 water bodies have dried up due to neglect and exploitation.

Not a single Indian city has drainage system that can promptly evacuate intense monsoon rainfalls that occur over short time periods.

A large part of BMC (Bombay Muncipal Corporation) revenue amounting to Rs 61,000 crore is locked up in fixed deposits and are not being deployed for civic amenities.

Almost all Indian cities are water-scarce in dry seasons and prone to severe flooding during monsoons. Cities like Delhi, that witness floods every monsoon, are also, some of the most water-stressed cities of the world.

Singapore, a monsoon country, has for the most part, solved urban drainage and water scarcity problems by installing a proper functional drainage system and collection of rainwater harvest.

When a poor man gets government money, it’s called subsidy, when a rich man gets it, it’s called incentive.

GST replaced 17 state and central taxes to make India one common market.

Vidur the royal counsellor in Mahabharat, tells the king that he should sacrifice a person for the sake of a village and a village for the sake of a nation.

The National Mental Health Survey 2016 published by NIMHANS recently showed that 13.7% of Indians are likely to have some mental illness during their lifetime.

INTERESTING QUOTES & LINES.

The worst form of democracy is a million times better than an ideal form of dictatorship.

Muslims are Islam’s biggest enemy—says Hasan Suroor, London based journalist.

All labour is precious but some are more precious than others: “Believe me, the man who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow, eats oftener a sweetener morsel, however coarse, than he who procures it by the labour of his brains—Washington Irving, American author.

Buddha said that the past is—already gone and the future is not yet here; there is only one moment when you can be fully alive, and that is the present moment.

If one’s mind is agitated, one’s breathing will not be calm.

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

Shravan charity mission

Our NGO works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases especially cancer: We cover our blog with short stories, children's stories, articles, book reviews, vignettes, spiritual, episodes, poetry, analysis, news report, general knowledge, quotes for the benefit of our readers.

Tag Archives: mahabharat

SHORT STORY: THE SOUL CONNECTION HAS DIVINE EYES

INTERESTING FACTS EPISODE—3

The Kingdom of Pragjyotisha

INTERESTING FACTS: PADMAVYUHA & CHAKRAVYUHA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHRAVAN

INTERESTING FACTS: NORTH EAST-THE DIMASA aka KACHARI KINGDOM

Connect with Hindu Mythology

British occupation

BOOK REVIEW: ‘SHIKHANDI … And Other Tales they don’t tell you’ by Devdutt Pattanaik

SHORT STORY: MAHAMANTRI VIDUR

SHORT STORY: CHANGE

INTERESTING FACTS & QUOTES EPISODE-23