BOYCOTTS AND SANCTIONS:

Yes, the boycott is working. Since February, it has deprived Russians of their choice of burgers at MacDonald; they miss Pepsi too. The absence of Burger King, Starbucks, Kit Kat, Snickers, Mars, and M&M poses a challenging time that downsizes their snacking freedom. So are Carlsberg and Heineken. Dove, the soap, got its last wash. Canada Goose refuses to provide extreme weather protection. T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, H&M, Crocks, and Adidas have stripped the Russians from fashion wear and gear. The exit of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express poses aches and uneasiness with Ruble-loaded bulky valets and purses. Hyatt and Hilton are frightening to Russian kids as haunted houses.

Sanctions are working, too, not only in Russia but spread their impacts all over the globe. Pains and pinches, hardships and hunger strike the poor of the world, especially in African countries. The Ruble may be up, but the Russian economy is down and will hit bottom soon. Putin gets punished, along with most Russians, including the super-rich, Oligarchs. Their luxury yachts seized and mansions abroad will be shelter homes for the homeless. Russia’s bank assets in millions or billions, frozen like a solid block of ice, but the funds are liquid for the West and multinationals. Gas prices are smashing the records here, there and everywhere. Thanks to the sanctions, the Sheikhs are smiling, and so is the war industry, with skyrocketing profits. Keep the sanctions on that will work to bankrupt Russia someday this year, next year or beyond.

-Promod Puri

 

  

 HOW WE SPEND TIME:

How do we use time from the morning when we get up till bedtime?

The question is simple in its response by tallying all the activities from daily routine to daily grind with occasional or regular breaks of recreation and entertainment. Work, study, walk and exercise, eat and sleep, and the everyday chores, etc., make a sequence that confirms the logistic of the schedule.

Laundering, washing, cleaning, surfing the internet or the waves, travelling, trekking, etc., are all time-consuming hustles.

These constitute physical activities linked to our health, families, friends, society's needs, interests, obligations, and imperatives.

Time is a valuable but limited resource, only 24 hours. Out of it, we reserve a big chunk, 33 percent, on sleep during our lifespans.

Time-use in the real sense is a commitment toward social, economic, and other issues and affairs.

But "doing nothing," an expression we often hear, also gets a cut from time.

Perhaps, some bliss in this leisure non-act. "There is never enough time to do all the nothings" carries some ideology as time, if one enjoys wasting, is not a wasted time.  

Time for "doing nothing" differs from "killing time."

The latter is a tool to slay time by doing an aimless or dull activity like waiting at the airport when the flight gets delayed. Here, the time does not fly but seems quite stretched out.

 Still, time flows with activity.

When there is no physical activity, time grabs something from the thoughts generated in our mental faculties. It gets itself wrapped in all kinds of thinking originating from the realm of our cognitive senses. Mental productivity presents logical or illogical ideas or opinions, taking our time or wasting our time.

The topics of thought are varied, from old memories to relations with family, friends and foes, concerns or worries, bliss and joys, or just the simple pleasure of gossiping. Talking about other people's lives, behaviour, and temperament, good and evil (in their absence) offers the social indulgence that people find the time to get pleasure from it.

Also, in the time-consuming non-physical exercise are engagements and discussions on serious and trendy topics that are political, economic, social, or religious.

Altogether, time moves in the company of both physical and mental doings. To be precise, time gets divided between the two.  

The physical body can take a break when shifting from one activity to another. But the brain does not, being busy all the time. It invariably works. If it rests, it is dead. Close to 100 billion neuron cells are active in receiving and delivering messages, communicating with each other, creating and dispensing thoughts that the cerebral part of the body is a nonstop multi-tasking workshop triggering actions in the time module.

The brainwork goes while "doing nothing" or in the physical sense of dictating to do something in the environmental world.

Physical activities get considered obligatory as per our demands and urgencies. The mental deliveries of thoughts, ideas, opinions, reflections, or reasonings get channelized as how we use time or waste time in useful or wasteful thinking.

Meditation also takes time. But here, it does not bind itself with thought. The meditator tries to empty the brain without thought, retain a mantra or just an object of focus. The exercise seeks routes to halt thought production. Or it simply ignores the traffic of thinking to let it flow in and out smoothly.

Thought, task and time go together.

Thought itself is a task to devote or spend meaningful time in the personal company of self. After all, studying self or knowing the psychology of 'I' is worth spending some time.

by Promod Puri

 “WHO IN THE WORLD Am I?”

That is a big puzzle that confronts us once in a while.

The question does not relate to our standing or relevance in society.

Nor does it search for an identity amid people. Or in the company of living and non-living environments, the universe, and the celestial world.

It is just establishing and developing the authenticity of Self.

It is an earnest attempt to find life under the true Self, personal values rather than assigned by external demands of society.

The exercise involves discarding the false Self that reflects our behaviour as perceived by others. In this exploration, we may see that the self-image created was false or fake to please others.

The authenticity concept arises from the insight that human beings generally live or exist in an inauthentic way.

Social relationships, cultural values, and norms construct an inauthentic Self. The recovery of the authentic Self requires a radical reexamination of cultural contexts, habitual lifestyles, and ways of thinking. It also involves a positive progression of authenticity across time.

Authenticity is a feeling that develops with its persuasive use; being true to Self and seeking what is morally good help create sincere and natural authenticity of Self.

-by Promod Puri

 INTRODUCTION OF GITA STUDY IN SCHOOLS WILL LEAD TO CRAM LEARNING FOR  KIDS:

Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita has become part of school studies in Gujarat starting this year.

Other states in India ruled by the Bhartiya Janta Party are likely to follow the Gujarat lead in instituting Hindu religious beliefs among the students in their early years.

The introduction of 'moral education' through studies in Gita in the educational system as part of the school curriculum affirms the impression that such teachings would make students proud of India's traditions and glorious past.

Hindu nationalism indeed cheers such selective educational entries while overlooking India's secular fundamentals.

However, an equally concerning factor relates to the cognitional levels of kids from grade 6 to 12 as to how they will learn and discern the text in Gita.

Besides its ritualistic practices, Hinduism, where Gita occupies a central stage, needs mature handling in its study, interpretation, and insight.

Hinduism is also a democracy of conflicting, contradicting, and controversial thoughts and theories offered by its various schools of theological orders. Gita is not an exception but a part of such voluminous ideologies and disciplines.

Gita's most known message and compelling theme are Karma, which involves faithfully and sincerely performing our duties and obligations without attachment to results.

"You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 47)

In short, the Gita doctrine affirms only He governs the result or harvest of action or 'karma,' supposedly based on the merits and demerits of the Karm or activity.

Gita belongs to the Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism.

In contrast to Gita's message, the Mimamsa school favours an unconditional release of an activity and its outcome from divinity. It rejects the involvement of the Supreme in creating action and its result.

Known for its philosophies based on hermeneutics, meaning critical interpretation, the Mimamsa is a pioneer of Hindu thought of realism and is a forerunner to Vedanta. 

Mimamsa argues that causation, the cause of action, is natural. And it is sufficient to induce the ultimate result. Accordingly, it is a futile exercise to engage divinity to initiate the cause and determine its outcome.

The old Mimamsa school finds common ground and relevancy in contemporary Hindu thought on the concept or the law of Karma. Moreover, it identifies its logical relationship with science. 

Newton's law of motion: Every action leads to a reaction and applies to Karma's law.

When we bring Newton's law or the law of Karma as propagated by the Mimamsa School into the classroom, it generates a conflict with what Gita proclaims. Students study with passion and some positive aims, but Gita poses a gospel uncertainty that arrests their aspirations.

Another critical point regarding the Gita reading by young students relates to the caste system.

While the contemporary Indian society struggles for the "annihilation of caste," Lord Krishna proclaims, "I created the four categories of occupations according to people's qualities and activities. Although I am the Creator of this system, know Me to be the Non-doer and Eternal." (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 13)

We agree that the classification does not base itself on birth. Instead of people's qualities and activities, Gita's dogma gets easily perceived with Manu's birth-based caste divisions. The discriminatory lecturing damages the casteless social order envisioned through the moral education we expect the young students to receive.

Besides, as we move to the rest of the Gita chapters, we find them engaged in profound philosophies covering spiritual subjects, creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe; the flight into the celestial worlds of His multi-facet universal form; life after death, etc.

These chapters constitute many esoteric values that are hard to comprehend for school kids who lack critical enquiries and even for teachers trying to impart studies in Gita.

What will eventually happen with the aim of politically-motivated exploration of India's pride and glorious past through the Gita teaching program is that the students would do the rote learning or memorize the text as they do in most fundamental religious schools.

-Promod Puri

 

 

-Promod ONE BRAVEHEART MUST YIELD AND SURRENDER TO END THE HORRORS OF WAR:

Let him overpower and occupy Ukraine, amass more to his vast kingdom, paint the way he paints his 'red' sprawling empire.

The man is blazon with fake worries about NATO expansion threatening Russian security.

With that excuse, he marches his troops to Ukraine for expanded domination over more people and more land in the region.

But for how long would he carry on with his deeds of power greed?

At age 69, going to be 70 in October, heaven prohibits, he would not live and rule till eternity.

Underneath this universal truth lies the percept nothing is permanent in this world.

What looks to be permanent today prepares the stage for the following change.

However, till the next stage, with a mind of a demolition derby, the Russian behemoth levels whatever comes in front of him, the residential buildings, schools, hospitals, etc.

The infuriated spree continues, bringing miseries, calamities, and devastation to the country he wants to be under his arms.

But in this crusade, humanity gets crushed, people die, collapsed buildings transform into graves.

Continuous strikes and thunders of missiles and bombs make the citizens homeless and refugees in minutes; millions in desperation seek shelter in neighbouring lands.

Worst of all, when we grasp for a moment the feelings of an innocent child gazing at the rolling scene of devastation, destruction, and deaths.

If asked, "do you know or understand all this, and why the war around?"

The answer is naive "No!"

Children have rights too that include their survival and best interests.

At least for the sake of a tender, ignorant child, representing the next generation inhabiting the planet earth, the call of humanity seeks an immediate stop of the brutal war, even if it means to surrender.

Surrendering sounds like defeat.

But in this defeat lies the victory, a liberation from the horrors of war.

Surrender is an ethical and moral imperative that blocks the right to kill on a massive scale.

Wars, after all, are crimes against humanity.

One brave heart must raise the white flag to end the havoc and bloodshed called war.

 

 THE CASE FOR WORLDWIDE ABOLISHING Of THE ARMED FORCES AND DISMANTLING OF ARM FACTORIES

In this article, I'm not going into the genesis of the Russia-Ukraine war. Neither do I debate if 'de-Nazification' in Ukraine carries any rationality. Or Ukraine battles the Russians to save its democracy. And around in the region from the onslaught of Putin's autocracy.

But to briefly re-portray the very nature of war and the reckless role armed forces play executing the deadly and destructive aftermaths in their offences and defences operations.

In these consequences, humans behind the machines indiscriminately kill fellow human beings. In reality, they bury their consciousness before the dead gets buried. Flattening the buildings a few moments before was live with people, old and young, children and toddlers who run out for safety. They die in the rubbles as cemeteries, seriously getting hurt and crushed during the dreadful moments. Survivors become homeless and refugees. In just a few minutes, the brutalities of war create miseries and calamities that people endure for a long time.

In the deafening din of almost non-stop shelling, birds cage themselves in the safe corners of bombed and razed buildings. They look up, a battleground in the sky.

As in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, most wars get triggered by one single authority. Armed with their deadly military hardware, from fighter planes to rolling tanks delivering their gunfire, the brutal march of the combating forces opens with indiscriminate killings and destructions.

The whole scenario draws a horrible and devastating look. The war we can helplessly see live on TV screens and I-phones, a melodrama of catastrophes created with all the advanced and sophisticated artillery and machinery enacted by battle 'heroes.'

It presents the cruel nature of war. Its tragic impacts are much more severe than accomplishing the stated and symbolic aims of self-defence and the 'just' motive.

Leaders can talk and talk and talk. But with mindset commitments, there is no resolution. War becomes a necessity because there is no trust in human nature.

Humanity suffers as nations step into senseless fights, hoping that war will bring peace. It does not.

They say wars are necessary when every other option becomes impractical. True?

Instead, the statement poses a real challenge to our ordinary intelligence, considering that war is not an option either. 

Wars are crimes against humanity. The tradition of war eliminates our peace and safety irrespective of our diverse nationalities. In this commitment, the contemporary global society, to which we all belong as one humanity, must resolve to do away with the menace of war. It is a blight on humanity in this age while we collectively pride ourselves on intelligence, knowledge, and scientific achievements.

The consequential resolution demands that every nation on Earth dissolves its armed forces. No young man and woman thus ever enter the profession that is knowingly a destructive and murderous job.

The resolution in red letters also demands worldwide shut down of manufacturing factories producing weapons of mass killing and mass disastrous. With a sole focus on profit, these manufacturers supply weapons indiscriminately to both sides, the aggressor and the aggressed. The trillion-dollar war industry will collapse, but let it be, to save humankind and our environment.

The concepts of no armed forces, no manufacturing of weapons of all sorts, are not ideological, utopian, bizarre or new. Twenty-four countries globally, from Costa Rica to Ireland, already have demilitarized themselves, some of them decades ago. Nor do they have the manufacturing plants to produce all the soft and hardware contributing to the horrors of war. These wise nations present a world's role model without violent, destructive, and deadly conflicts.

Let us do it for peace to ourselves and our environment.

-by Promod Puri

 

 

 BURQA, HIJAB CUSTOM NEED REVIEW

Muslim students and teachers forced to remove their burqas and hijabs in Karnataka and other BJP-ruled states led to considerable controversy in India. Both say wearing these outfits is their fundamental right to cover their bodies the way they want or according to their social or religious customs or traditions.

Are hijab and burqas integral to Islam? Certainly not.

In some Muslim countries like Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Tunisia, and Turkey, the hijab is banned in schools, universities, and government buildings. In other Muslim countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Brunei, Maldives and Somalia. However, in Muslim countries like Iran and Afghanistan, the hijab is required.

Despite utmost respect for individual freedoms, as long as these do not harm society, I can accept wearing the hijab, but not the entire body covering from head to toe with a burqa.

Both seem to be mandatory creation of men in the traditional patriarch societies where they curtailed women's freedoms.

And over the centuries, these dictums became the accepted norms for women to cover their bodies.

The burqa and hijab custom has created a mindset attitude among Muslim women that it is their freedom to wear these items. They seem caught up in this tradition created by men.

Muslim women sticking to the burqa-hijab custom need to rethink. These outfits are not healthy as their non-exposure denies them the essence of getting vitamin D from the sun rays, the only source that supplies the essential vitamin.

Muslim men don't wear burqa and hijab. Why this custom applies to only women?

-Promod Puri