chakravarthy

You may not have heard of Shu-ilishu but he is a man of great significance. He reaches out to us from almost 4,300 years ago, through a small Akkadian cylinder seal now housed at the Louvre Museum in Paris. On the seal, you will find an image of him talking to two men. The inscription describes Shu-ilishu as the interpreter of the Meluhhan language. 'Meluha' was, in all probability, the term used by ancient Mesopotamians for the Indus Valley region, and the presence of an oficial 'interpreter' there indicates just how important the steady flow of good from the Indian sub-continent was.  Precious and vibrant lapis lazuli stones, carnelian beads, wood and even dogs would go across via old trade routes and ports like Lothal (in modern-day Gujarat) to Akkad, capital of the Akkadian Empire (03rd millennium BCE) and now in modern-day Iraq. There are also references to a settlement of Meluhhans in the city of Guabba in Sumer, in Mesopotamia.  The story of Shi-ilishu and ...

(1). Three things are necessary to make every man great, every nation great: (a). Conviction of the powers of goodness. (b). Absence of jealousy and suspicion. (c). Helping all who are trying to be, and do good. ( Swami Vivekananda ). (2). The Main Condition For Realisation Is Purity : Our whole individuality must be purified. At the present time, it has become most impure, coloured, as it is, by physical and mental desires, passions, instincts, etc. To the purified mind, the Lord reveals Himself in a flash. So, what stands between us and realisation, is just that impurity. Nothing else. If we were pure, realisation would reveal itself in a moment. Never blame anybody else, never blame circumstances, but go and blame yourselves. The fault is yours and yours alone. Peace can be had only by refusing to become identified with any of the limiting adjuncts. There are friends and friends. You should make the SELF your friend and give up all false friends, however, plesant they are....

[ Based on a conversation with Chris Impey, a Professor of Astronomy, published in PHYS.ORG on 17th June, 2020. The author has been teaching Tibetan Monks and Nuns for over a decade ].  These are trying times. A global recession sparked by the corona virus pandemic, and widespread civil unrest, have created a combustible mix of angst - stressors that heighten the risk for long-term health woes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued guidelines to cope with this anxiety. Among them is meditation. Buddhists have been familiar with this strategy for thousands of years. And as the CDC example shows, scientists increasingly believe they can learn from Buddhism.  Momentum for dialogue between Buddhism and Science comes from the top. When Tenzin Gyatso - now serving as the 14th Dalai Lama - was a child in rural Tibet, he saw the moon through a telescope and marvelled at its craters and mountains. His tutor told him that, according to Buddhist texts, the ...

(1). Garlic : Garlic has a protective effect on your kidneys and other organs. Regular consumption has been found to lower the concentration of lead and cadmium in kidneys, heart, liver, spleen, and blood stream. Garlic also has diuretic properties that help you eliminate excess sodium from your body. And not only that, but allicin, the active ingredient in garlic, has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties. that means it can greatly assist your kidneys in cleansing and filtering blood of harmful invaders.  (2). Turmeric : Fans of Asian cuisine are quiet familiar with turmeric, which is the herb that gives curry its distinctive flavour and colour. The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin, which is known to reduce the effect of inflammatory molecules and enzymes that trigger chronic kidney disease. Curcumin actually holds back the growth and spread of all kinds of microbes, easing the strain on your kidneys. One of word of caution applies to people wh...

On 15th June, 1947, the All-India Congress accepted the British plan for the partition of India in New Delhi. The plan for the Partition, also known as the Mountbatten Plan was declared by the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten. The partition of India in August 1947 is no doubt one of the most tragic and violent events the sub-continent has witnessed in recent history. British India was partitioned on the basis of religious demographics which went on to create the Soveriegn States of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India (later the Republic of India). The Dominion of Pakistan (which was created as a homeland for Indian Muslims) was later further divided into the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The creation of Pakistan was advocated by the All-India Muslim League (which was founded in Dhaka in 1906) by Muslims who were of the opinion that Muslim members of the Indian National Congress did not enjoy the same rights as Hindu mem...

[ Courtesy: An article written by Parsa Venkateswar Rao Jr., Delhi based commentator and analyst, published in Editorial column of Deccan Chronicle dated, 15th January, 2018 (Monday) ]. It seems everyone had over-reacted to the unprecedented press conference that four senior Supreme Court judges held on 12th January, 2018 (Friday). The judges had stated their case quiet carefully though the justification they gave about the danger to democracy and their obligation to the nation had its element of justifiable rhetoric. They did not reveal much, and they referred only to the issue of allocation of cases by Chief Justice Dipak Misra. They defined the function of the Chief Justice as being that of first among equals, and his right to set the roster doesn't allow him to be arbitrary. On the third day, it seems that the rebellion that seemed to have shaken the Supreme Court of India turns our to be quiet nearly the proverbial storm in a teacup. Justice Kurian Joseph's statement t...