- Part 2

26Oct 2013 by Sanjay Kapoor No Comments

DISASTER AT UTTRAKHAND

ecology, Mythology, natural disasters, nature, religion

THE WRATH OF LORDS ? On way back from Joshimath, we had the pleasure of visiting the Dhari Devi Temple, and it being Doorga Pooja and Dushehra on that day, there could not have been a better day. This is a temple, in the waters of Alakhnanada, near the town Kaliasur, and Dharidevi is supposed to be Goddess Parvati. What we visited is the new temple being built, above the old one, on stilts in the river, with the same original Statue. It was a delight having dharshan of the vibrant, charming and elegant, though small statue, in black stone of Dhari Devi. Mythology has it , that when Ganga was to descend to the earth, it was too forceful , and hence Shiva decided to send it several streams,…

26Oct 2013 by Sanjay Kapoor No Comments

BADRI VISHAL

Ganga, Mythology, pilgrimage, religion, travel

THE HOLY SUJOURN As you all know, we recently went on a trip to Badrinath. It was work and holiday, short and hectic, tiring and tedious, risky and scary but really adventurous and memorable. Badrinath is an ancient pilgrimage spot for hindus, about 300 Kms from Haridwaar, in the Garhwal hills, and one of the Chaar Dhams of Uttrakhand.(The other three being Kedarnath,Gangotri and Yamnotri ) First day was the almost ten hour drive, from Rishikhet to Josjimath, with two minor halts and a lunch halt at Gauchar. In spite of being such a long drive, it was enjoyable, along the serpentine Ganga and Alakhnanada rivers. Was a pleasure watching the rivers change shape ,width, depth, colour s from white, blue to black and flow from still to gushy and…

26Oct 2013 by Sanjay Kapoor No Comments

SWAMY CHIDANAND

INDIAN HERITAGE RESEARCH FOUNDATION, Mythology, Parmarth Ashram Rishikheth, religion, sprituality, Swamy Chidanand

THE DIVINE ENCOUNTER It often happens that a man hitting for silver hits upon gold...........but it almost never happens that when you are looking for nothing, you find diamond! This is what exactly happened to me on 13th October this year, at Rishikesh when I had the privileged luck to meet Swamy Chidanand Saraswati, the founder of India Heritage Research Foundation, at the Parmarth Niketan Ashram. In my life of over five decades, by the blessings of my parents, grace of God, guidance from teachers, love from family and support from my innumerable friends and well wishers, by all social parameters, I have done well and cannot complain. In academics, profession, career, family, social front and all other fields one can say, that I have been sailing smoothly. In spite…

26Oct 2013 by Sanjay Kapoor No Comments

LUNCHBOX Revisited

love, Marriage, movies, relationships, social trends, society

Lunch Box REVISITED! LUNCHBOX appears a virtual love story on surface, but to my small mind it appears that it has tackled many other issues like, marriage, virtual relationships, aging and the universal principle of “life goes on” The movie has been a little harsh on married life or may be that, that is the black truth about it, in today’s time, that we are not willing to accept. There are five circumstances of marriage in the movie, the mans, the lady’s, the auntys, the lady’s parents and the man’s junior’s. The man is a widower, and lives a boring monotonous life, within the social norms, where sorrow and solitude has been brought in his life by death of the spouse. In the second instance, in the marriage of the…

26Oct 2013 by Sanjay Kapoor No Comments

LUNCHBOX

love, Marriage, movies, social trends

LUNCHBOX !! Lunchbox is a marvellous movie! Set on the backdrop of the world famous Lunchbox delivery system of Mumbai, it is a simple story of virtual love, which revolves around the unexpected mistake in the system, which rarely happens, where the Lunchbox reaches somewhere else, other than its meant destination. The story is of an unhappy housewife, whose marriage seems to have reached a stage of stagnation, where the husband spends least time at home and expresses no interest in the wife and is probably having a love affair with someone else too. The wife decides to infuse some life in the dying marriage, by cooking some good food, on recipes taken from her neighbour friend, an elderly lady. The Aunty, who is only heard in the movie,…

26Oct 2013 by Sanjay Kapoor No Comments

HEALTHCARE

medicine

DONT HANG THE DOC !! I seriously wonder ,why the Doctors are always blamed when it comes to improper health care of the country.(The Doctor only knows Economics-Outlook, Feb 18,2013) I would like to emphasise here, that the doctor plays a very small role in the medical care being rendered, its cost and availability. Most of the time, the doctors ,are struggling themselves ,where ever they are working, to execute their duty to provide proper treatment............! Planning the medical care and setting the infrastructure is the responsibility of the government and most of the corporate hospitals are owned and run by non medicos, who decide not only the rates of the treatment but even the list of basic investigations and its sequencing. The complete medical fraternity cannot be…

26Oct 2013 by Sanjay Kapoor No Comments

PUNISHMENT FOR RAPISTS

crimes, society

BEASTS DONT NEED HUMAN TREATMENT !! Agree with most of what Angolie Ela Menon, has expressed in her article, The Violated Body, (Outlook, Feb 18,2013) Rape in itself is a heinous crime, but some rapes are exceptionally ghastly. while she has placed rape by father ,second on the list, I feel that it should not only top the list of these worst of worst act,but should stand alone in the list, as nothing can even reach it, in terms of its ugliness !And there is no doubt that even hanging is less for such criminals. Its sad to note that such rapes and those by other male family members, relatives, neighbours and family are very common and go unreported due to social stigma and the threat of the rapist…

26Oct 2013 by Sanjay Kapoor No Comments

KEJRIWAL

politics

HOW FAR WILL HE GO ?????????????????? Kejriwal is trying to scare all, and many seem to be afraid of him, but I have my sincere doubts ,as to how long will his scare last ?(COVER STORY,INDIA TODAY-Oct 29,2012) Mr kejriwal came into prominence as Anna’s right hand man in beginning of last year and worked well with him initially, but soon started drifting, as he appears to have a mind of his own and wants to be second fiddle to none........................to the extent that he totally separated himself from the parent Anna movement to initiate his own independent political party, India Against Corruption! Like Anna he has very noble thoughts and intensions but seems that he too is going the way of Anna Movement.................Unplanned strategies, undefined goals, lack…

26Oct 2013 by Sanjay Kapoor No Comments

BLOOD DONATION

health services

DONATE BLOOD AND SAVE LIFE ! The need of BLOOD can be understood the most by two people, the patient who needs it and his family.......and....the treating doctor !(Bloody Waste-Cover Story, The Week, Sept 09) Less numbers of blood bank, poor storage facilities and non availability of means for fast testing for AIDS infection are major issues hindering the availability of blood, but the most significant hurdle is the mindset of the common man. It’s not the uneducated, but even the educated are hesitant in donating blood, or even if they do, its a lifetime occasion, for the need of someone very close. Its sad that our syllabi in schools and college, media and various awareness camps fail to awaken these sleeping human, who let the blood waste…

08Aug 2012 by Sanjay Kapoor No Comments

BLOODSHED IN BODOLAND

politics, TERRORISM

THE EXODUS CONTINUES ! A fire exploded at Kokrajhar and even before anyone could react, it spread for hundreds of miles all around and engulfed a significant part of Bodoland (India’s Biggest tragedy-a Bridge too far, Cover Story, OUTLOOK, Aug 13,2012) It continued for days fuelled by firing, killing, arson and every inhuman act one can think of...........leaving innumerable homeless and forced to move to unknown destinations...........a mass aimless exodus ! All this didn’t happen overnight, the fire was simmering since long, the smoke was being seen and smelt by all concerned except for our protective machinery including the police, law and the government, who in the true spirit of being Gandhian , are deaf, dumb and blind !Had heard and seen pictures of mass exodus during the Indo-Pak partition…