Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

PARMESHWAR VS THE PRIDE OF DEVTAS

    Once there was a war between Devtas (Demigods) and Asurs (Demons). And in that war by the grace of Supreme God Almighty Devtas achieved victory. Asurs who perpetuated in destroying the decorum of God Almighty and the religious scriptures lost in this war. Albeit, this great victory was because of the blessings of God Almighty, Devatas could somehow not comprehend the real reason for their victory. They thought it was purely because of their own power and might, and that no one else had anything to do with it. But Supreme God Almighty did not lose time in understanding the arrogance of Devtas. And, to put down their false pride he soon appeared in the form of a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Yaksha (broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, who are caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots.)

    Devtas could not understand this quaint form of God, looking like a Yaksha and were awe struck. They sent Agni-Devta (Fire-demigod) to find out about Yaksha. When Agni reached there, Yaksharoop (God in form of Yaksha) asked him, ‘who are you?’ Agni said—‘you don’t know me. I’m famously known in the world as ‘Agni-Devta.’ Yaksharoop then asked—‘You call yourself famous and powerful—but what kind of power do you yield?’ Agni replied, ‘I have the power to burn the entire universe into ashes.’ Upon hearing such arrogant words from Agni Yaksharoop kept a small straw in front of him and said—‘kindly burn this.’ Agni tried but couldn’t. He tried again and again but failed each time. And finally in anger he burst into flames from his toe to his head, yet he couldn’t burn the straw. In the end he got extremely frustrated and embarrassed and returned where he came from and told the Devtas, ‘I couldn’t find anything God like in that Yaksha.’ It was a blatant lie.

    Thereafter, Devtas decided to send Vayu-Devta immediately to check on Yakshaswaroop. But he again asked, ‘who are you and what kind of power do you possess? Vayu-Devta replied, ‘In this entire universe I’m known as Vayu-Devta. I’m almighty and with my power I can make anything in this universe fly.’ At this Yakshaawaroop pointed towards the same straw lying on the ground and asked him to fly it. Vayu-Devta utilized all his strength but could not even move it by an inch and in the end filled with shame he too returned to the Devtas. When devtas enquired, ‘what happened, could you find out who this Yaksha is?’ he sadly replied, ‘I couldn’t?’

    Finally Devtas politely requested Devraj Indra, ‘God! You alone can delve deep in this matter regarding Yaksha?’ Indra-Devta acceded to their request and said, ‘very well’ and left to meet Yakshaswaroop but before he could even reach him he had disappeared from there. But noticing the devotion and inquisition with which Devraj Indra had come, Bhagwati Goddess Uma suddenly appeared in front of him. Indra asked, ‘Mother! Who is this Yaksha?’ Bhagwati Uma replied, ‘This Yakshaswaroop is the Supreme God Almighty. You may not know, but only with his blessings and lilashakti (divine mesmerization) Asurs were defeated in that great war that you fought, and let me tell you, Devtas only had a minimal contribution in that great victory, but you all were not aware of this and dwelled in false pride and arrogance. And, therefore, only to smash the destructive pride in you Devatas, Supreme God Almighty has emerged in the form of Yaksharoop. You all need to understand that in this universe the might of the warriors, the strength of the mighty, the enlightenment of the litterateurs, the meditation of tapasawis (Sages in deep meditation) and the energy of the energetic; all of this comes only from only one source and that is the Supreme God. And through his divine plays emerges the righteous powers of which you get only few droplets. He is the nerve centre of all the happenings in the universe and he alone is the ruler of the universe in the real sense. And therefore priding about oneself is only misleading.’

    Bhagwati Uma’s words were an eye-opener for Indra-Devta. He was embarrassed on his mistake and the mistake of other Devtas. And after returning he narrated the actual reason of their victory and that made all the Devtas realize their false pride and that in turn made them happy.

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HOUSE WIFE OR A CAREER WIFE

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

    Savita looked a little restless when her husband, who was new in a job, introduced her as a ‘housewife’ after three of his junior colleagues introduced their wives as ‘career-wives’ in the office gathering that was partying around the annual target achievement ball. Savita later tried to dilute her introduction by talking more about her academic career than her career as a homemaker. But it got me thinking while I was standing in a corner. What is the future of and Indian housewife?

    Oxford dictionary defines a housewife as a married woman, whose main occupation is caring for her family, managing household affairs and doing housework: the traditional division of labour between the husband as breadwinner and wife as housewife.     Chambers on the other hand defines housewife as a woman who looks after the house, her husband or partner, and the family, and who often does not have a paid job outside the home. Merriam Webster describes a housewife as a married woman who is in charge of her household. But in urban India we generally refer, a housewife as gharwali, a person who manages the house but doesn’t have a career. And in converse a husband is called a gharwala, but he bloody well has to go out and make a career.

    But, tables have turned in India now where things have really opened up for women especially in the urban areas. Be it education, skill development, entrepreneurship and the works. Traditionally, Indian women were tied to their homes and families as part of family tradition and also because there weren’t too many opportunities. But India has moved on since then and there exists ample opportunities now for them to create their own identity in the Indian workforce of 500 million strong, and where 60% of Indian population is below 35 years of age and each ear 10 million jobs are required to keep the young Indian population afloat . So then the big question is will the 21^st century woman in all her vanity and egomania love being called a housewife or a career wife?

    India loves following the west. So let’s take the American workforce per se. It comprises of 47% female workers and 53% male workers (a close race) and therefore Supermom is not a myth after all, and Super Dad is beginning to become a realty in India (Vodafone campaign).

    Last but not the least will the existing housewives (now mothers) of India prefer their daughters being addressed as a housewife or a career wife and what about the husband—a housewife or a career-wife and what about the wife—a house-husband or a career-husband?

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STORY: MEETING YOUNG BRAVE HEARTS IN APOLLO HOSPITAL DELHI

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By Kamlesh Tripathi

    Some things are hard to write about. Some causes are hard to pursue. Some realities are hard to accept. But that’s life.

    Yesterday, we were in Apollo Hospital, Delhi, to offer financial help to a couple of children combating cancer quite stoically and that too with a brave smile. As a cancer activist let me confess, I often draw courage from such brave young children who fight cancer to the hilt. And I rate them as the ultimate in the rungs of courage.

    Tanmoy Anand was the first child we met there. A male toddler, barely, a year and nine months, and suffering from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), hailing from Bihar. And it made me feel as if God is really cruel. Tanmoy appeared a bundle of innocence, joy, pain and hope. We wish him fast recovery.

    The second child that we came across was Wamik Habib from Baramulla, Kashmir. He is a ten year old son, of one Mr Habibullah, a shopkeeper. Wamik was full of energy and no one could imagine he is suffering from Burkitt’s Lymphoma as he was busy speaking to his folks back in Kashmir while camping in the hospital with his father. We wish him a speedy recovery too.

    Life strikes a different chord when you meet someone who is on the wrong side of health and as a result of which the philosophy of life changes at once. Each time I cross a hospital I feel God has left a very thin line between the patients inside and me, and I must be grateful to God for that.

    Thanks to all our esteemed donors.

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ARTICLE: BOLLYWOOD BETWEEN DIAMOND AND PLATINUM JUBILEE

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By Kamlesh Tripathi

Bollywood between diamond and Platinum jubilee  

Remake: epic serial ‘Mahabharat’ starring superstars

    ‘Bollywood’ is the sobriquet for the Hindi film industry based out of Mumbai. The term is also loosely used as a synecdoche to refer to the whole of Indian cinema. It has made millions and trillions through cinema and has a huge Indian following and the same has now even rippled abroad. It has been in existence for more than eighty five years now. Raja Harishchandra was the first silent feature film made by Dadasaheb Phalke in 1913. By 1930s, the Indian Film Industry was producing over 200 films per annum. And ever since then it has never looked back. It is one of the largest film producers in India, representing 43% of net box office revenue, while Telugu and Tamil cinema represent 36% and the rest of the regional cinema constitutes 21% as of 2015. It is also one of the largest centers for film production in the world and it is formally referred to as ‘Hindi cinema’ and is one of the biggest movie industries in the world in terms of the number of people employed and the number of films produced in 2011, over 3.5 billion tickets were sold across the globe which in comparison is 900,000 tickets more than Hollywood.

    Hitherto Bollywood has functioned quite enviously under different banners for more than eighty five years and has given us some wonderful movies. But it is about time it now comes under one united banner to give India the entertainment of a lifetime—the real dhamaka of the century.

    Bollywood missed the lifetime occasion of a diamond jubilee celebration and platinum is still far away, but by then many superstars of today may hang their boots. So now is the right time to produce a mega serial where all the diggajes of Bollywood can come together and act, and for the sake of Bollywood’s commemoration they should act free. And if we delay it further we may miss out on many such great actors coming together as they may call it a day. The idea is to make them act together in a mega project which may not be possible in a three hour movie. I would therefore suggest a remake of the great epic ‘Mahabharat’ which is still the most popular serial ever made in Indian history.

    Imagine how would you feel watching Mahabharat scripted by the all time famous duo of Saleem-Javed as was done in Sholay, music by A.R Rehman, songs by Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsale, Anuradha Podwal, Anup Jalota and Bhupendra (unfortunately Kishore and Mukesh are no more) and my caste to name a few would be: Amitabh Bachchan as Bheeshma Pitamah, Nana Patekar as Dronacharya, Anupam Kher as Mahatma Vidur, Ajay Devgun as Krishna, Amir Khan as Karan, Shahrukh Khan as Yudhistir, Salman Khan as Bheem, Kritik Roshan as Arjun, Ranbir Kapur as Nakul, Abhishek Bachchan as Sahdev, Javed Jafri as Shakuni, Danny as Dhritrasth (ideal would have been Amrish Puri but sad he is no more), Jaya Bachan as Gandhari, Shabana as Kunti, Priyanka Chopra as Draupadi.

    These are only few names and characters with my limited knowledge and once you start detailing it many more icons will surface to take on many more challenging characters of Mahabharat.

    But will this ever happen? Well nothing is impossible and the way we like watching Mughle-Azam even after half a century and Sholay even now, this serial if ever produced shall be watched for time immemorial.

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STORY: GOD LIKES SIMPLE WAYS

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By Kamlesh Tripathi

    Once, the head of a Bheel (tribal) community by the name of Bheelkumar Kannap landed up in a temple located in a remote jungle after hunting.

    Temple housed an idol of Lord Shiva. And upon noticing the idol of Shiva in a degraded state Kannap got a little emotional. He was simple at heart and felt—‘Shiva is alone in this jungle with countless wild and notorious animals. Hope no animal comes in the night and attacks him.’ By now it was evening and obviously getting dark. Concerned about Shiva, Kannap loaded his bow with an arrow and decided to guard the temple by standing across the door, where he spent the entire night.

    At dawn, Kannap thought of doing puja in the temple; but truly speaking he didn’t know how to perform a puja. So he went to the jungle and killed an animal and roasted its flesh on fire for prasad. He then climbed a tree and broke open a honeycomb and collected honey. Thereafter he collected everything in a leaf-bowl and then plucked some flowers and stuck them on his unruly hair and plaits. He then filled his mouth with water from the nearby river and reached the temple to perform his puja. The idol had some dry leaves and flowers rotting around it. Kannap removed them with his feet; because his hands were tied up, because with one hand he was holding his bow and with the other he was holding the leaf-bowl filled with roasted flesh and honey. He washed the idol with the water in his mouth. And then he pulled out the flowers from his hair and started respectfully placing them in front of Shiva and thereafter he placed the leaf bowl in front of the idol. And in his simplicity he thought the puja is over, and then with his bow and arrow he started guarding the temple.

    In all of this Kannap forgot his home, his family, and so much so that he even forgot his hunger and his sleep. In his endeavour to safeguard his beloved God and performing the puja he as if forgot his world and his own self and even his body.

    But, surprisingly, in that very temple every morning, a Brahmin also used to come from a distant village to perform puja and after the ritual he used to go back. He normally came when Kannap was away in the forest, hunting. And on finding morsels of flesh in the temple the Brahmin was saddened. He walked up to the river and got some fresh water and cleaned the temple. And he bathed again to perform the puja. But this was not a matter pertaining to a particular day. When the Brahmin found the temple in this condition every morning he decided, ‘today I’ll hide and see as to who is this person who is polluting and soiling the temple every day.’

       Brahmin hid himself in the temple and started gazing to and fro from the camouflage. After a little while he was astounded to see a scary appearing bheel (tribal) carrying a bow and arrow on his shoulders. And after seeing him he did not have the guts to say anything. And when Kannap entered the temple he was shocked to see that one eye of the idol was bleeding. He slowly kept the leaf-bowl on the ground and started weeping—‘Who is this devil who has hurt my God in the eyes?’

    Immediately, Kannap loaded his bow with an arrow and ran out of the temple. He wanted to kill the person who had inflicted injury upon the idol; but he could find no one, soon he kept his bow and arrow on the side and started collecting some grass and leaves. And in a little while he had collected a heap. He then returned to the temple and started crushing the grass and the leaves that he had collected, and started applying it on the eyes of the idol. But even by doing so Kannap was not successful in stopping the bleeding. This made Bheelkumar Kannap extremely uneasy. But just then he remembered what another bheel (tribesman) had one told him—‘In the wound of a person if the same body part of a different person is placed then the wound heals immediately.’ Kannap was happy to remember it and he decided to act immediately. From his quiver he quickly pulled out an arrow and with that he scooped out his own eye even when it pained to the hilt and placed it on the eye of the idol and pressed it hard. And, from his own wound, from where he had pulled out his eye blood had started oozing out but he was unaware of the pain. On the contrary he was feeling happy that it had stopped the bleeding from the eye of the idol.

   But the agony was not over as just then the other eye of the idol too started bleeding. But Kannap by now had the therapeutic solution for it. He kept the toe of his foot on that eye of the idol, so that after he scoops his second eye and goes blind it will not be difficult for him to find the second bleeding eye in the idol. And with his arrow he scooped out his second eye. But before that suddenly there was divine illumination in the temple, and from the idol Lord Shiva emanated and embraced Kannap; and said,

    ‘Dear Brahmin! Puja and its complex methods don’t make me happy. What really, makes me happy is the earnest and respectful feelings of a devotee towards me.’ Lord Shiva addressed the Brahmin hiding there. And by now Kannap’s eyes had healed as that became Ashutosh’s (Shiva’s) prasad, and along with him he went to his divine abode. The Brahmin too because of Bheelkumar Kannap’s simple ways that God liked got darshan of Lord Shiva.

And that is why it is said, ‘it is so simple to be happy, but so difficult to be simple.’

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