Hindu texts are not only about Spirituality

Writings we now categorize as Hindu scriptures include not just books relating to spirituality but also secular pursuits like science, medicine and engineering. This is another reason why it defies classification as a religion. Further, it cannot be claimed to be essentially a school of metaphysics. Nor can it be described as 'other worldly'. In fact, one can almost identify Hinduism with a civilization that is flourishing even now.

Is a Hindu particularly a member of the Sanatan Dharm

As named by the Persians, a Hindu is one who lives around and beyond Indus river region. Sanatan Dharm is followed only if one believes in all the different Gods and Goddesses - these are not even the conventional Gods and Goddesses that the religions of the world talk about. These are Devtas, which represent natural elements, human emotions, desires, actions, among other things.

A common misconception most people have is that they think “Sanatan” and “Hindu” are the same identity. These are two different identities.  The word “Hinduism” does not even exist in proper sense, and was just a name coined for political and administrative convenience. In the ancient era, when the nomenclatures and the practice of placing a name to each and every aspect of life was prevalent, the concept of religion was absent, as the whole world was considered to be using the same culture and tradition. On the other hand, Sanatan Dharma (where "dharma" does not correspond to "religion" but "a code of proper conduct conforming to one’s duty and nature") is a Sanskrit term that can be translated variously as "eternal law”, “unshakeable, venerable order”, or “ancient and continuing guideline”.

Do you think Hinduism is an intolerant belief

Hinduism is fairly relaxed and tolerant, but that does not mean it is a free for all thoroughfare. The Vedas are called shruti(s) - which means that no kind of alteration is permitted. When we are initiated into the religious practice during Upanayan, we have to exactly recite the mantras as is. Can I improve Bhagvad Gita by inserting/deleting 30 new verses? On the contrary, if you change even one syllable in a Rig Vedic verse, you risk invalidating it.

There are 33 Crore Gods in Hinduism

The Vedas does not refer to millions of deities but 33 supreme deities. 33 divinities are mentioned in the Yajurved, Atharvaved, Satapathabrahman and in several other texts. The number thirty-three occurs with reference to divinities in the Parsi scriptures of Avesta as well. The word ‘koti’ in Trayastrimsati koti does not mean the number 'thirty-three crore'. Here koti means 'supreme', pre-eminent, excellent, that is, the 33 'supreme' divinities. The word koti has the same meaning as ‘Uchha koti’. In the Brihadaranyak Upanishad, Yajnavalkya has said that in reality there are only 33 Gods and Goddesses – 8 Vasus, 11 Rudras, 12 Adityas, and Indra and Prajapati (8 + 11 + 12 + 2 = 33) and Earth.

Embrace the Moment of Calm

Practising forgiveness is not only the right way to live -- it is also the healthy way to live. Medical experts tell us that anger accelerates the ageing process. Anger is indeed a very natural human reaction – and it is a mature emotion when we don’t allow it to last very long.

Anger held in the heart gnaws us from the inside, wears us down, operating like toxic waste that has seeped into our system. This leads us to a state of permanent stress. When we are nursing a grudge constantly, we get into the ‘fight or flight’ situation. We are in a continuous state that prompts us to either attack – give vent to our anger – or escape from an unbearable situation. Our physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual energies are so stressed, that we slip into overall lethargy. This accelerates the ageing process. In this sense anger is the extreme opposite of what was called the fountain of youth. One therapist calls it "The Tub of Ageing"

Holding on to anger also taxes our immune system – the complex system of immunity responds to stimuli from within and without. Even a relatively minor ailment like a cold can challenge the system and put it on high alert. External events like a traffic holdup, a child’s stubborn behaviour, the harsh temper of a superior, or a quarrel with your spouse, can have adverse impact on your immune system. Stress causes insomnia – and so can bitterness.

We still can’t explain or even understand how the body-mind-soul connection works. Our emotional turmoil is manifested in our body. We wage war with ourselves. Doctors have a peculiar word, somaticise, which means taking an emotional issue and unconsciously displacing it on to our own body. The result can be anything from a perforated ulcer to a cancerous growth.

Resentment, unforgiveness, hostility, guilt, anger, and enmity cause diseases related to heart, lungs, chest, stomach, intestines, ear, nose, and throat. These researches show that repressed resentment, anger and being unforgiving lead to definite problems in the organs of digestion, as well as in the head, eyes and ears. These negative emotions are “bottled up” inside us, and we keep “swallowing” their toxic contents, until they affect our health adversely.

Forgiveness sets us free. It allows us to be freed from the grievances, penalties, and shackles of past mistakes. It heals the one who forgives – and the one who is forgiven.

Indian Management System

Is the management education system in India equipped to handle the new set of challenges? Are we producing leaders who can look beyond best practices and trigger change?

Some time back, Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google Inc., shot off a letter to the Washington Post with a warning, “the US has an Innovation Deficit”. Can India afford to ignore the warning? More specifically, can our management education system ignore it?

While it is not always easy to disentangle the causes and effects of globalisation, one thing has stood out over the last one decade as we move towards a world of more open and more interconnected economies: That we need more dynamic leaders, more responsible corporations and therefore an education system that is developed for the creation and use of knowledge, and for converting challenges into opportunities.

Indeed, the pressure to perform is relentless and all-pervasive. Is the management education system in India equipped to handle the new set of challenges? Are we producing leaders who can look beyond best practices and trigger change? It is easy to be ambitious but difficult to keep the momentum and act. Is there a will to identify competitive advantages through strategies that foster employee motivation and build capacity for organisational improvement?

The answer is yes and no. The biggest asset for India is its demography — a young workforce, which is fluent in English and raring to go. The spread of information technology has also opened up newer possibilities — and spurred innovation in many spheres. That is where the management schools of India can step in — create an education system that will spur economic growth, produce thought leaders who can stimulate the whole process of innovation.

With an eye to meet the new challenges, India’s top business schools are renewing their focus on curriculum design, faculty development, and the cultivation of strategic partnerships. It will not be an exaggeration to say business schools in India are at the threshold of unprecedented change in their bid to offer state-of-the-art learning and personality development facilities that are mission-appropriate and meaningful to the stakeholders. A new focus on ethics, stress on environmental sustainability and introduction of new off-campus learning initiatives are new things that B-schools have added to their MBA curricula this year.

These are just a few examples; the real change will come when India’s corporations become true partners in building the management education programs. Besides supplying ideas and knowledge, they can make valuable inputs in terms of financial investment and on-site experience for students, making them future ready and equipped to cope with real-world situations.

Child Labour... A "kalank"

"The child is father of the man" or he is the future of tomorrow. But no more. With the growing exploitation and the way we are depriving him of his basic rights, the future seems dark and grim. Child labour is one of the worst forms of exploitation. It has been going on since long without being noticed. Asia has 61% of the world's child labourers. Despite the help offered by few organizations, it's largely taken for granted and no substantial effort has been put in this direction to overcome it and give the children of this world a better chance.

Exploitation of children in commercial sex trade remains the worst form of child labour in Asia. UNICEF estimates that 1 million children are lured into sex trade in Asia every year wherein 40% were sold by parents, 15% by their relatives. Traffickers of both children and adults feed largely on the desire of poor families and many young people for economic and personal advancement through migration for work.  Thailand is the base for children trafficked from Laos, Cambodia, Burma, and China. The children work as prostitutes, household helpers, in factories, farms, fishing vessels, drug trafficking.

Bonded child labour is extensively rooted in socio-cultural and political structures in parts of South Asia. Bonded children are delivered in repayment of a loan who then work like slaves in agriculture, domestic work, brick kilns, glass industries, tanneries, gem polishing and many other manufacturing and marketing industries. Child abuse in name of domestic work is rampant in Asia. The young are exposed to hazards while doing heavy household work and are usual victims of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse and is most difficult to see as they are restrained within the privacy of our homes.

The rise in the incidences of internal armed conflicts in several Asian countries has resulted in even more exposure of children to armed groups as soldiers, spies, porters and helpers in camps, subjected to abusive treatments in Burma, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Nepal.

Ordinary people can also help fight for the cause by learning about the issue, help organizations that are raising awareness, providing direct help to individual children. It can be decreased by increased family incomes; education- impart skills to help them earn a living, family control-so that families are not burdened by children.

The ILO's International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) has explored many programs to help child laborers. Strong advocates of this approach are Boyden, Myers and Ling; Concerned for Working Children in Karnataka, India; many children's "unions" and "movements" and the Save the Children family of NGO. Helped in this effort by setting up credit schemes, supported education schemes, got appropriate legislation on child labour implemented.

Let us also contribute in this direction so that no more children work on the streets. Let us all pledge to give them their childhood back, their lost innocence and smile. Let us give them education to light their hearts and this world to make it a better place to live in.