Earning mode to Learning mode.

What makes life more interesting to live? What is it
that every Human being wants to live? What is money
for? What is education for?

Well, here I go again with more questions that keep
resonating in me day in and day out. This time I am
going to try and make it more mundane and sound more
like a normal person. Ahem, this is in attempt to
honor some of my friends, who read my blogs and
comment, “Well it was a decent read, but what are you
trying to say?”

When I reach out to people who are perceived to be
successful, to get an understanding of what life is
all about, the common response is “Life is about
taking up challenges and by that learn more.” If that
was so, what is the use of money and formal education?
Well, honestly I believe they are the prime tools that
put you in the seat to face these challenges and
acquire knowledge. Ultimately, what we yearn for in
life is some recognition. An individual’s worth is
measured by the difference he brings about to the
immediate society he is associated with. It could be through
money, it could be through service. The end quotient
remains the knowledge he acquired through the process
of reaching out to the society.

Incidentally I was reading RS blog, NRI babble and
yet another article on Hindustan Times, Are NRI’s Non
Returning Indians. Pulling both these articles into
the context we have here, why would we really want to
stay in the US? Earn more?!?!?! Great!!! So, what
happens if you earn more? You have this power and
vision to aspire for more?
Excellent!! Then again this contiues as a cycle until
it hits a platue when we realize life is not all about
earning money, the focus slowly shifts to acquiring
knowledge (well, for most of us it should). This is
when we shift gears, change our approach to life and
start engaging ourself in projects that shows visible
change in the society we associate with.

• Gandhi did this when he was in his late 30’s
• Bill Gates did this when he was in his early 40’s
• Vivekanada did in his late teens
• Mohan Bhargava in Swades when he returns to US from
his India visit just to quit his job to go back full
time to get associated with the immediate society to
learn more.
• Well, my next door uncle is in his 60’s don’t know
when this change will occur on him.

This paradigm shift is what is documented by Manu in
his Varashrama Dharma as a shift from Gruhastham to
Vanaprastham. A sense of liberation from just held by
your family to reaching out to the society (in those
days it used to be the forest) to acquire more
knowledge.

So where am I? Debating, if I should really experience Gruhastham to
appreciate Vanaprastham and Sanyasam!!!

mein Nathuram bhol raha hoon

“karmaNyev adhikArsthe ma phaleshu kadhachana”

Scene1: Kurukshetra, the battle between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Arjuna feels helpless to have a recontre with some of his most revered and beloved people. Krishna assumes the role of the Guru, to sermon Arjuna of his duty. He preaches the Gita, which has the essence of the do’s and don’ts for a life. The point to note here is, once Arjuna accepts Krishna as his Guru, he is in complete assonance to what the Guru delivers to him. This very virtue in him helped him come out of his imbroglio.

Scene 2: January 30th 1948, the day The Mahathma was assassinated by a very learned Hindu nationalist. Well, I do not want to call him a fundamentalist, as from my view point he did have a fair argument to support his action. Refer “May it please you Honour”. Nathuram Godse, assumed the exact same virtues of Arjuna, accepted Veer Savarkar (Veer Savarkar, I believe, also gave this very same argument to influence people to jon the movement) as his Guru and was in complete accedence to whatever his Guru wanted him to do. He believed fullest in what his Guru preached.

I personally feel, it is for an individual to choose his path of karma. If, what Arjuna did was not a murder and an action to protect Dharma, I IMHO feel Nathuram also did what he believed is required to protect Dharma. Nowhere in his trail testimony does he mention anything ill about MK Gandhi. For that matter he did respect him for his effort to fight for India’s freedom, like how Arjuna respected Dhrona, Bhishma and others.


"If devotion to one's country amounts to a sin, I admit I have committed that sin. If it is meritorious, I humbly claim the merit thereof. I fully and confidently believe that if there be any other court of justice beyond the one founded by the mortals, my act will not be taken as unjust. If after the death there be no such place to reach or to go, there is nothing to be said. I have resorted to the action I did purely for the benefit of the humanity. I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to lakhs of Hindus."
Nathuram Godse


My verdict: Nathuram Vinayakram Godse is innocent!!!!

Disclaimer: I am not a Hindu fundamentalist. I am just a passerby, who would like to have a fair retrospect sans awe to M. K. Gandhi.