Year: 2024

How Can You Strive to be a Little More Happier ? And An Important Announcement

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We are into the sunset of March, and as I wait for the Sun to melt my resolves again this summer, I try to pull many a me’s within me. To take a cue from the happier poets and write about happiness; But how will it come without a company? Without anyone to share it with. May be by adapting, One more time. Going placidly amid the noise and haste, and understanding what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrenderby being on good terms with all persons, from your side. Speaking your truth quietly and clearly;and listening to others,even to the dull and the ignorant;knowing they too have their story. by Avoiding loud and aggressive persons,they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others,you may become vain and bitter;for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. By enjoying your achievements as well as your plans. By keeping an interest in your own career, however humble;it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of …

A Brief Visual History Of the Oldest Indian Festival of Colour and Water Holi

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A Joy filled, Colourful and Auspicious Holi to each one. The colourful festival of Holi, literally meaning ‘burning’, is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna and heralds the onset of spring season. Holi is One of the two Indian Festivals, amongst a plethora of them and other than Diwali that the world recognises. And for us here in India, it has quite a few meanings. Foremost and the simplest one is its arrival marks the end of a long and Cold winter, and that the time of colour and water has arrived. And since this beautiful festival starts with fire, the night before, symbolising the legend of Holika Dahan; a story of Truth and devotion’s victory over Evil. here on ROAD TO NARA, I will take my co-travellers on an outing sharing a Visual History of this Ancient and most colourful festival on Earth, Holi. Unraveling the Mystique of the Indian Holi Festival From All-Women to Coed, from Music and Fire to Water,From Feast to Bhang. Holi is Called by various …

The Web of Illusion and the Story of Origin of the Ancient Indian Calendar

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Sage Narada could travel instantly to any part of the world whether it was the skies, the earth or below the ground. He did not possess a home or a vehicle, and was notorious for mischievously engineering many misunderstandings. However, he would always side with the truth and his words were taken seriously. His presence was always welcomed by devas, asuras and humans. Narada advised everyone he met to become a sage like him and constantly pray to Vishnu. This upset his father greatly. Brahma said to his son, ‘Look, you are free to do whatever you want to do- you have few responsibilities and almost no attachments, but the common man on earth has much more to worry about and must undergo his share of suffering. Don’t think that you know what’s best for others, especially when you have no understanding of a mortal life, of marriage and children, of joy and sorrow. Narada, however, did not heed his father’s words and only smiled mockingly at Brahma before going on his way. A few …

Children Stories of Food and Picnic at School

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Children have been busy since the turn of the year at School. There were unexpected holidays due to extreme cold in December and most of January which sidelined and pushed away various activities that children were waiting for and well likewise we, the teachers. One amongst which and everyone’s favourite was Picnic that could not happen either in December or in January. Hence the first thing when Picnic dates di not match the weather, we decided to bring Parents in instead of taking children out for something that we called as ‘The Food Festival’, it was the first of its kind we organised at our small school. Here children got there own ingredients, spices and other things; prepared and cooked a few different snacks by themselves with the help of teachers of course, decorated their stalls, kept prices of them all and then sold various food items to the parents and other invitees. It was lovely and contagious to see their excitement enjoyed by one and all. It almost turned into a small lesson in …

List of 70 First Indian Women Masters in Various Fields Who Made History

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India, that is Bharat, is the birthplace of Spiritual Wisdom, of Imagination. Be it giving the zero, the decimal system or even the most sophisticated rituals of Body Science- Yoga, to the world. It is the birthplace of the Buddha, Mahavira, the 10 Sikh Gurus; to an extent Indian civilisation has also been the only culture where Women were given the status of Deities and have been prayed to as Goddesses. Ancient Indian texts have mentioned that wherever a women is not respected, there Lakshmi- the goddess of wealth does not stay. There is also a Sanskrit shloka that talks about the value that girls bring in comparison to boys in a way no where else is seen in the world. दशपुत्रसमा कन्या दशपुत्रान्प्रवर्द्धयन, यत्फलं लभते मर्त्यस्तल्लभ्यं कन्ययैकया It says, that One daughter is like ten sons. And that the result of the bringing up ten sons is achieved only by nurturing one girl. But of course life of a Women has never been easy at least in the Indian Subcontinent such as the pleasing …

Children Of War and A Look Into the Parallel Universe

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Once in many years comes a project that brings your life’s reality to a halt. Probably bringing a comma or a complete stop for sometime. Even though it isn’t a big deal to be trained in the visual medium today as everyone’s eyes roll over social media like clouds moving above us, most of the times everything passes as our heads are always elsewhere but that one moment when the thunder strikes, we come back to life. Our World is at war. Still not at its peak as the real WAR is still around a few years away, but as we read this article in 2024, the world is already on a boil and soon rather anytime it is expected to burn. Only if things, governments, war companies do not mend their ways but even for that the time has already gone. Ever since the US moved out of Afghanistan; West Asia and the Middle East has become ever so vulnerable. The ever going war in Africa, Syria, Yemen, ever since in Afghanistan, Russia-Ukraine. And …

A Special Valentine’s Day Story of One Beloved Diamond more Precious than the Kohinoor of India

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There is a story that is commonly told in Britain that the colonisation of India – as horrible as it may have been – was not of any major economic benefit to Britain itself. If anything, the administration of India was a cost to Britain. So the fact that the empire was sustained for so long – the story goes – was a gesture of Britain’s benevolence. New research by the renowned economist Utsa Patnaik –just published by Columbia University Press – deals a crushing blow to this narrative. Drawing on nearly two centuries of detailed data on tax and trade, Patnaik calculated that Britain drained a total of nearly $45 trillion from India during the period 1765 to 1938. It’s a staggering sum. For perspective, $45 trillion is approximately 17 times more than the total annual gross domestic product of the United Kingdom today. Yet Interestingly, When the Britishers were plundering India, they took away not only the Money, the artefacts, archaeological marvels, and not only the Costliest Diamond of the world “The Koh-i-Noor” but also the Timur Ruby. …

The Cost of Attention A Powerful Story to Transform Children into Conscious Adults

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Its nearing four months of my grandfather’s death. He lived for 104 years and barely narrated any story in his later years but a few on insistence. And there was this one story, probably the most beautiful, the most essential one that can make any child into an attentive adult, that he had narrated when we used share a chemistry. This story had that power and possibly that is why I still remember it. As I have to choose a story a week for the Saturday Story Session at my school, I was reminded of one remarkable lore that I came across in my lifetime and I feel everyone can take something out of it. Once a king in South India had to send his son to a mystic, to a master, to learn awareness. The king was old. And he said to his son, “Put your total energy into it because unless you are aware, you are not going to succeed me. I will not give this kingdom to a man who is asleep …

Happy Birthday Ma and Other Stories: Summing Up January

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February is a special month in Life. Ever since my arrival on Earth, nature has given me people in Feb I feel I belong to. Now two, but the one who gave me birth, who showed me to serve first. She, who I realised became my inner voice, who gifted me the eyes to decipher the right from wrong and the mind to believe in myself that I can create, I can do and that I can become whatever in life I wanted to, I am. That I am because of her. And all what i can go on writing, as various people have on earth for their mothers. How much ever I may write but these words weigh nothing and will never amount to anything for how mothers are to us. Just like all the mothers of the world, they are nothing but rivers, that from wherever they pass, they nourish. And if I dig deeply and i did, I found that all along throughout my childhood it was she who has been a …

Amazing Unheard Facts about Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan and What Its Success Meant for all Indians

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Ramayana became the 1st serial of the TeleVision world, which earned a place in the Limca Book of Records as the world’s most watched Television series. For millions of Indians, life came to a standstill for 45 minutes every Sunday morning. At 9.30 am, people settled down to watch this epic serial, the greatest hit in Indian TV history. The budget for Ramayan was Rs.9 lakh per episode, making it the most expensive show produced at that time! The shooting for Ramayan went on for over 550 days! Arun Govil received such intense love and adoration for his portrayal of Ram that he had to give up smoking in public! Ramanand Sagar’s serial Ramayana comes in the 1st category in the history of television. It was telecasted on Doordarshan, on 25 Jan 1987. When it first came on TV, no one imagined that it would get so much fame. Ramayan, which was actually the second show that Ramanand Sagar created for TV (after Vikram Betaal), remains one of the most iconic shows to have been made …

What is Success and How Did the Great American Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson Describe Success after writing ‘Brahma’ ?

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I was surfing through the net reading out loud some classic poems by English writers when I came across a poem named ‘Brahma’- being Indian, which naturally fuelled my curiosity. Emerson wrote this poem in 1857. Furthermore, as I started reading about Emerson, essays on him gave me sweet surprises, in that era and time, Emerson was challenging the traditional thought. In 1835, he married his second wife, Lydia Jackson, and settled in Concord, Massachusetts. Known in the local literary circle as “The Sage of Concord,” Emerson became the chief spokesman for Transcendentalism, the American philosophic and literary movement. Centered in New England during the nineteenth century, Transcendentalism was a reaction against scientific rationalism. Emerson’s first book, Nature (1836), is perhaps the best expression of his Transcendentalism, the belief that everything in our world—even a drop of dew—is a microcosm of the universe. His concept of the Over-Soul—a Supreme Mind that every man and woman share—allowed Transcendentalists to disregard external authority and to rely instead on direct experience. “Trust thyself,” Emerson’s motto, became the code of Margaret …

The Will of the God- The Greatest Indian Short Story Ever

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I started my first job at a hospital in Alibaug. Each case provided me with new knowledge more than my books. Every patient even now teaches me something. One afternoon an injured woman came who was pregnant after 11 years of marriage. A bull roaming around the streets of Alibaug had knocked her stomach with its horn. It was a scary sight with part of the woman’s stomach injured and a baby’s hand peeping out of the crack of the uterine wall. My mind was in turmoil. The mother’s life could be saved because the stomach wound was not serious. But to sew up the wall of the uterus was unthinkable as it was impossible to put the child’s hand back inside. The family’s mandate was clear. Save the mother’s life. But how would I ignore the call of that little hand which appeared to be asking for help. The operation theatre had a skeleton staff. Apart from me there were two nurses, a compounder and a helper whose job was to sterilize tools. He …

Reset Restart- 25 Lessons to Walk On In 2024

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My dearest co-travellers, from Nara family to yours, Happy Happy Happy 2024. 2023 was a strange year for me that even carried some most memorable gifts too. And as I press on this note to myself, these lessons that are not goals, neither resolutions but something that shall lead to a better day, better moments. As I reflect on the year that is history, I feel the need to share some lessons I learned or that have been reinforced over thIe pasttwelve months, that I must focus on before I think of any achievements or that light. Here you go: 1. God first. God always. God alone! 2. That value is in to serve, to solve, to uplift the ones in need. 3. Pray. Reflect. Act. 4. That reading for at least an hour each evening is 1000x better than scrolling. 5. Owning my mornings. 6. That the quality of my habits will determines the caliber of my future. 7. That a good night’s sleep prevents bad decisions. 8. Read a little. Write more. Think most. Meditate …