Thursday, July 3, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Celebrities are wont to be in the public eye, whether they are doing public or private time. That’s the price we pay, says a superstar, for with accolades and recognition come awards and adulation. What could be more exhilarating than being recognised wherever you go? It opens doors, you know. The rub is that it also includes ‘whatever you do or say’, not to speak of complete erosion of privacy. The more time you spend in the limelight, the more you are performer, and somewhere, that thin line between performer and the natural self gets blurred. The ‘Who am I’ question is never able to break free of the mundane for even in the make-believe world of every day existence, you are trapped between identities.Invoking one’s claim to fame can sometimes have just the opposite effect of what you might expect. On the road (especially in India) when one vehicle rams into another, very often one hears the more aggressive party shouting: “Do you know who I am?” Or, “Is this your father’s road?” The daughter of a yesteryear star in Tollywood was caught broaching the speed limit. She was almost yesteryear herself, having lived an accomplished life as a skilful professional. The rookie cop flagged her down and asked her to lower her window. “Madam, you seem to be in a tearing hurry?” Well, said the flustered driver, “I am a busy professional and am getting late for an appointment.” The cop pulled out his voucher pad and began filling it out with the penalty amount after examining her driving license. This was taking too long. How dare he? “Do you know who I am?” she burst out, glaring at the cop. Pat came the reply, “No Madam.”She continued, “I am the daughter of Mr Xyz!” “And who may that be, Madam,” queried the cop politely, with nary a trace of recognition. The driver couldn’t believe it! How dare he not know who her father was! The story ends with the hefty fine being paid and cop and driver going their separate ways. But the episode punched a huge hole into the lady’s ego, bringing her down to earth with a thump.Another kind of thirst for ‘recognition;’ is the practice of appending a long line of degrees and diplomas behind your name or using prefixes and suffixes like Sir, Dr, Er, Esq and so on. There is this medical doctor-couple I know who get most offended if they receive mail where they’re addressed by their full names but without the prefix of Dr. They go to the extent of not participating in a function or event if the ‘Dr’ is dropped from their names! And another who earned her doctorate in a subject she has no relationship with now but still likes to be called Dr Blah blah -- very tiresome indeed, carrying sandbags wherever you go, tied to your feet! What a drag.It all boils down to the ego, said my mother who was excited that I even discussed the subject. Why, aren’t you convent-educated girls familiar with the saying, ‘Pride goes before a fall?’ Now I never did get the right way of saying that – if pride goes, why should you fall? Shouldn’t you rise? When I looked it up, there were several variations, including, ‘Pride comes before a fall.’ Whatever; message received, over and out.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Adi Shankaracharya - Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia
Adi Shankaracharya - Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia
Birth
Sankara was born in a very poor family in the year 788 A.D. in a village named Kaladi, six miles to the east of Alwaye, Kerala. Sankara was a Nambudiri Brahmin. Rajasekhara, a Zamindar (a rich landlord), built a Siva temple in Kaladi and formed an Agrahara for Brahmins who were in the service of the temple. Vidyadhiraja was doing Puja (worship) in the temple. He had only a son named Sivaguru. Sivaguru studied the Shastras and married at the proper age. He had no child. He and his wife Aryamba prayed to Lord Siva to bless them with a son. A son was born to them in the Vasanta Ritu or the spring season at noon, in the auspicious AbhijitMuhurta and under the constellation Ardhra. This son was Sankara.
Sivaguru died when Sankara was seven years old. Sankara had none to look after his education. His mother was an extraordinary woman. She took special care to educate her son in all the Shastras. Sankara's Upanayana or thread ceremony was performed in his seventh year, after the death of his father. Sankara exhibited extraordinary intelligence in his boyhood. When he was only sixteen, he became a master of all the philosophies and theologies. He began to write commentaries on the Gita, the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras when he was only sixteen years old. What a great marvel!
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
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