The poor shall inherit the junk
 
 
 I just saw a fascinating blog about how the Brits are dumping their waste in India.
Read it here http://www.badlani.com/blog/

Here's a quote from this blog: "Each week container ships leave Southampton and other British ports bound for China, India and the far east. Their giant, 40-tonne metal boxes are not full of new manufactured goods but with plastic waste from the great British food packaging industry".

This guy seems to be serious about what he's saying. The rest of his site reflects that.

Electronic voting machines save 8000 tons of paper


India isn’t ecologically conscious as yet; trees are cut down to make way for everything and animal and marine life habitat is being abused all the time. The reusable cotton bags we make are bought by customers all over the world – except in India.

But one thing that happened made me feel good. These elections were held using electronic voting machines and that, I believe, has saved 8,000 tons of paper and literally thousands and thousands of trees.

http://www.badlani.com/blog/more.php?id=9_0_1_0_M


The poor aren't inheriting the earth, just its trash
Here's a fascinating article from the Guardian, UK
 
Each week container ships leave Southampton and other British ports bound for China, India and the far east. Their giant, 40-tonne metal boxes are not full of new manufactured goods but with plastic waste from the great British food packaging industry.

We have become obsessed with food packaging, to the amusement of most of the rest of the world, where the idea of an inferior tea being sold inside a square of perforated paper packed inside an envelope itself protected by cardboard and in turn covered in Cellophane to be served in a polystyrene cup is much like Churchill's description of Stalinist Russia: a riddle inside a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

MORE...
The bananas world of packaging

So we'll soon get our milk in plastic bags - which is good news for the planet. Well, up to a point, says John Vidal

Friday August 24, 2001
The Guardian

Each week container ships leave Southampton and other British ports bound for China, India and the far east. Their giant, 40-tonne metal boxes are not full of new manufactured goods but with plastic waste from the great British food packaging industry. British food containers, bags, bottles, and trays are now big in Shanghai.

In a few years' time we can bet these same ships will be exporting millions of old plastic "pouches" - the flexi, collapsible milk containers that have taken over from the glass bottle or cardboard container in parts of mainland Europe and north America and are now being tried out in southern Britain by Dairy Crest, Britain's largest milk products company.

Dairy Crest loves its low-density polyethylene pouches, which are widely expected to take over from the ubiquitous rigid plastic and cardboard containers that milk usually comes in. The industry claims the pouches use just over half as much plastic as an equivalent rigid "jug", about a third as much "material" as a carton and 70 times less than a glass bottle. They argue that they are greener, cheaper and easier for the consumer - the holy trinity of today's food packaging.

Well, up to a point. Food packaging today is really about marketing, and few people want to think too much about what happens to their food and drink containers after they have been binned. Never mind the impact arising from the energy use, toxins and pollutants released at every stage in their production and transport, they can be disposed of at expensive landfill sites, where they will take 300-odd years to biodegrade, or incinerated, and ultimately there may be little option but to export them, because their chemical composition makes them economically practically unrecyclable in rich countries.

So, because the "pouches" cannot be re-used or refilled, they could end up travelling halfway round the globe to be hand-sorted by some of the poorest people in the world (some of them ending up as damp-proof courses or drain pipes) and then sent back to undercut our own recycling and building industries.

But this is the wacky world of the global food packaging industry which, like world trade, has been on a roll for 50 years. From being worth almost nothing, it is now a $100bn-a-year monster, growing 10%-15% a year. Every extra deal brokered by the World Trade Organisation, every extra food shipment, every new line of processed food means more packaging.

To put it in perspective, British farmers grow or rear about £70bn worth of food at farm-gate prices a year and the food packaging industry is now thought to turn over about £7.5bn. The gap is closing, and anything between 10% and 50% of the price of food can be now be in its packaging.

People in the US chuck away 2.5m plastic bottles every hour and less than 3% are recycled - and Britain is fast catching up. Of the 15m plastic bottles used every day, under 3% get recycled. Fewer than 1% of the billions of plastic bags we take our food home in each year are recycled and the majority are used only once. European law wants us to "recover" (which can mean incinerate) 50% of all our packaging and to recycle 25%, but Britain, predictably, is lagging seriously behind.

We have become obsessed with food packaging, to the amusement of most of the rest of the world, where the idea of an inferior tea being sold inside a square of perforated paper packed inside an envelope itself protected by cardboard and in turn covered in Cellophane to be served in a polystyrene cup is much like Churchill's description of Stalinist Russia: a riddle inside a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

"Why does a potato need to be sold on a big piece of polystyrene wrapped in polythene?" asks a baffled Guyanese friend.

"In my country, a cup of tea at the railway station comes in a clay cup which will hold liquid for just 10 minutes. You throw it on to the lines, where it dissolves within weeks," says an Indian. "But your plastic disposable cup, also designed to hold tea for 10 minutes, may take 500 years to decompose."

But British shoppers are no longer astonished that a piece of fish can be brought half way around the world to be sold on a tray inside two separate plastic bags which fit inside a Cellophane-wrapped cardboard box. Or that a pork chop may now be "double bagged" and packed in a microwaveable tray sealed with polypropylene film. Never mind the bottle of mineral water that needs four or five separate pieces of plastic: only when single oranges or bananas are found packed in thick, individual containers do some people think it has all gone too far.

That, says the industry, totally misses the point. Food packaging today, it says, is indispensable, not just for keeping produce "fresh", or to give it a longer shelf life and protect food, but to sell the food. The big trend in food packaging, say American food technologists, is for it to be made thinner and lighter, and this has led to a dramatic reduction in all countries' food packaging by weight.

But that doesn't mean there has been an environmental gain. In fact, it has just multiplied the number and volume of food-related packages - stressing collection systems and recycling programmes. And now the food industry is gearing up for "hi-tech" packaging. The latest wheeze is to engineer "dynamic active" packaging that can modify the atmosphere in which food is sold. So, with your plastic tray of meat may come a small plastic capsule of carbon dioxide, which is released when the food is put on sale, "enhancing" colour and flavour. This technology, says Wes Sawatzkyt of the Alberta trade office, "provides the ultimate in freshness, aromatisation, product appeal and convenience".

The American Plastics Council, which emphasises the positive side of the country's production of 32bn kilograms of plastic food packaging every year and plays down the fact that that packaging represents 50% to 80% of all litter, is now playing the "global good" card. "It makes perishable products more available in the hot, humid climate of the developing world and dramatically improves the diets of the people who live there," says a spokesman.

Although there are hundreds of initiatives for recycling plastic and other food packaging, the food packagers are relentlessly winning the waste war. European law may insist on more recyling, but it barely tries to minimise packaging. "There are laws against overpackaging," says Mike Childs of Friends of the Earth, "but sod all is happening because the Department of Trade and Industry has gone out of its way to be as unhelpful as possible."

They've left it to the trading standards officers, who have been given little guidance as to what constitutes overpackaging and who have prosecuted only one person in three years. A Northamptonshire butcher was fined £300 for having a piece of meat on an upside-down plastic tray inside another plastic tray.

"Now that's really getting to the heart of the problem," says Childs, who accepts that unless consumers become more aware, the three kinds of plastic used to wrap one cut of meat may be heading for China, along with with the flexi milk bottles, for many years yet.

The sad thing is that retailers, in pursuit of short term economics, miss an opportunity to do some very economical branding by using cotton bags. They get reused as many as 500 times and act as a walking billboard every time, making them an incredibly attarctive advertising and promotional medium. Our style A01 (http://www.badlani.com/bags/a01.htm) for instance, can be deployed for less that 50 cents.

Title : depression and insomnia
Posted : Jun 07, 2004
 
Q : I am 59 in reasonably good health. I suffer from depression and insomnia. Can brain respiration address these issues in my age group? Or is brain respiration mainly about the developing brain in children?

A :
Brain Respiration techniques can be useful to anyone. The current focus on beginning training with children has to do with the flexibility of the young mind. Children are more open to new ideas and have not yet built up preconceptions that can limit there growth. This does not mean an adult can not benefit from practicing the techniques.

Currently we have practitioners of all ages. Often, the older the practitioner, the more profound the change in health and well being. As we grow older, the habits and conditioning of a lifetime become stronger. Brain Respiration helps us break those habits; it helps us recondition ourselves into a healthier and happier way of life. We have many practitioners in there late 60’s and older. They all find that they have more energy, are much more active, and are generally healthier. It is not uncommon to see a 60+ year old doing pushups right next to a 20 year old.

We have some exercises specifically aimed at helping insomnia. They can be found at http://www.brainrespiration.com/brainrespi.../SelfHealing_21.asp. Dealing with depression is a little more complicated. There is not necessarily a specific set of exercises that deals directly with depression. First, one must determine the specific cause of the depression. Practicing Brain Respiration will help find the true root of the depression, and teach you methods for dealing with the specific problem. For some, simply exercising and energizing one’s self regularly (not to mention getting a good nights sleep) will be sufficient to remove depression. For others the cause may be deeper. In either case Brain Respiration will help.
 
 
 
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   Date Title
 
  Jun 07, 2004 depression and insomnia
  Jun 07, 2004 parkinson's disease
  Jun 05, 2004 back pain
  Jun 03, 2004 staying positive
  May 28, 2004 Alzheimer's Disease
  May 17, 2004 Anxiety
  May 15, 2004 daily news
  May 13, 2004 training
  May 13, 2004 2.5 million dollar challenge for spoon bending
  May 13, 2004 Why not give the credit where its due?
http://www.brainrespiration.com/brainrespi...ask_view.asp?idx=47

A bit on the IBM Mainframes...
by Hamy_the_Veggy
Posted on May 30, 2004 9:58 AM EST
Accessed 52 Times
Hot List Score: 25
 
 
 Mainframes... eeeeeeeuuuuu... Old god-forsaken-technology...
That's what many would have to say, I guess...
But few know about the mainframes new Avatars... apart from renaming them as Parallel Enterprise Servers and eServers, there's lots more to them now-a-days...

This year, the mainframe turns 40 years old, after introduction of the System/360 in 1964.

Here are a few articles about these powerful machines I found interesting...

The history of the IBM mainframe
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/eserver/zseries...volution_040704.pdf

The Dinosaur Myth. The mainframe had been declared dead, but here's what's actually happened
http://www.mainframeweek.com/extra/dinosaur.html

Enjoy !!

Religion and Society from Hindu Dharma
While adherence to the tenets of our religion entails certain inconveniences in our workaday life, following the rules of the dharmasastras,people feel, creates difficulties in social life. On this pretext reformers want to change the sastras.

Unfortunately, they are not aware either of the truths on which the dharmasastras are founded or their ultimate purpose. By "social life" they-the reformers-do not have in mind anything relating to the Self. They take into account political orders that keeps changing every now and then, the sciences, trade and commerce, fashion, etc. If our worldly existence alone were the objective of social life, the rules pertaining to it would also be subject to change. But our scriptures do not view social life as having such an objective alone. They (the sastras) are meant for the Self, for the Atman, and their goal is our release from worldly existence. That which has to do with mundane life is subject to change but not the truths relating to the Self. The injunctions of the sastras have the purpose of establishing changing society on the foundation of the unchanging Truth; they cannot be subject to change themselves.

If our goal were but a comfortable and happy life in this world, matters concerning social life could be changed now and again. But ours is an exalted goal and it concerns the Self. The rules of worldly life are in keeping with this high purpose and they cannot be changed according to our convenience. The sastras do not regard happiness in this world as of paramount importance. They teach us how we may experience joy in the other world even by suffering many kinds of hardships or discomforts here. So it is not right to seek changes in them to suit our worldly existence.

The views of the reformers must have been shaped by our present system of education and so it is no use blaming them. In other countries no contradiction exists between their religion and their system of education. Unfortunately, the schools established by the British in India had nothing to do with our religion. People were compelled to take to Western education for the sake of their livelihood. Soon a situation arose in which they came to be steeped from childhood itself in an alien system of instruction. They had therefore no way of developing acquaintance with, or faith in, our ancient sastras. And, since they were kept ignorant of their scriptures and their underlying purpose, they persuaded themselves to take the view that the sastras could be changed according to their convenience.

Our youngsters are exposed to the criticism of our religion and our sacred texts from a tender age. They are told that the Puranas are a tissue of lies, that the sastras help the growth of superstition. How can they have any attachment to our faith, to its rites and traditions?

Faith in religion and God must be inculcated in people from their childhood. They must get to know about great men who lived and continue to live an exemplary life true to the tenets of our religion. Faith in the works of the seers must be instilled in them, works based on the experience of the seers themselves, experience beyond a life of sensation, and pointing the way to spiritual uplift. They must also be helped to believe that the rsis formulated the sastas in such a way as to make worldly happiness and social life subservient to the advancement of the Self. Only then will people recognize that the rules of religion have a far higher purpose than the comforts and conveniences of temporal life.

Money, Money, Money…It’s not so funny…In a poor Man’s world…!


 Heads arise at the sound of wedding bells, but all must know that the lead up to a marriage isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Of course when you talk of marriage no problems would apparently be seen but the whole thing rumbles up at an unexpected time.

 The boy’s parent’s select a girl, by her looks, education/career, the religion, status and caste of her family, background of herself and her family and of course, the wealth of her family. If the boy and the girl accept and both families co – operate, the wedding will be fixed. Before the marriage takes place, the bride to – be, the mother, father and brothers and sisters, if present, will all be in a very alert position when the conditions of the marriages are being finalised.

 The senior most people of either side, chalk out the conditions, such as, the venue, time and date etc. But, before finalising the date, the groom’s side will give out their demands, which must be met, by the bride’s side, for the wedding to take place. The demands can include just about anything, such as new vehicles, houses, setting – up of houses, jewellery, clothing for the occasion and of course the most common demand, pocket money, purported to be required by the groom for wedding expenses. Please note, all the above demands, are in utter violation of the existing legislation prohibiting, ‘dowry!’ This is exactly how the arranged marriages of India are today in most families. This is really, a commercialisation of marriages and more and more families are practising this, fully well knowing that they are breaking the law of the land.


This practice, generally continues once the groom becomes the son in – law and the son in – law seeks the help of his in – law’s for higher education including, education abroad. Such of the parent’s who can’t afford to do this will be sometimes landing their children in tragic circumstances like divorce etc.


As the years progressed, the demands became more and more heavy which the parent’s of the girl are unable to meet. Not only did the son in – law’s parent’s propose such demands, but the son in - law often did as well. Because the girl’s family was not capable of meeting such demands, the marriage would shatter. People would start gossiping about the two families and it would be hard for the girl to get another good suitor. These two factors are the main reasons for most families giving into marriages with high demands and later on having a burden on the parent’s, financially and mentally.


This is what is happening to our Motherland and more and more families, everyday, are preaching it. The result of all this is that the youngsters of today are thoroughly confused with the word, ‘marriage.’ Fortunately some follow their own beliefs, which are nearly always correct, and act upon that.


A marriage should not have any demands as the true value of an arranged marriage disappears and all faith in it as well. Marriages should be for making a family and not for breaking a family.

Friendship blossoms as a river,

It flows with time,

It may indulge you in heckle,

And thus results in loss of pride,

May enter you in hearken,

It may break your heart with hatchet,

And we derive pleasure from it,

Even comits derogatory things,

It enlights and expand your thoughts with meanings,

Thus acts as a shield or latern,

Languid minds starts pumping up with enthusiasm,

Even the great secrets become placards,

It can retouch your character itself,

Even the resolute decision may become vulnerable,

It subdue ourself,

Absalute mountain seems to be simple pebbles to climb,

Formidable things looks simple,

It removes all the

Hypocrisy of individual,

And even the minds could shook with hurricane,

Small things coins itself into giant by exaggeration,

We dont care how others get exasperated due to it,

Natural life wuth simplicity converts into a pompous one,

Never cares about the hidden snag,

Which may approach us with the speed of snail,

It snap,snarl and snatch your ambition,

Enrich you with power to destroy the snipe,

Enrich you with power to be destroyed,

And even snore with a smile of friendship.

The buzzword today has changed from that of a month ago. In hushed whispers on the street, in houses and in meeting places , the villain of the piece has changed. The Iraqi dictator has been banished to near extinction. The new center of attention is nowhere as formidable in sight, indeed it is all but invisible. Hard to imagine something a few millionths of a meter across can create so much awe and fear across the globe, but read the papers or listen to the news and you see it splashed all over. What the hell am I talking about? Four letters…a dreaded name..Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

Everyone has heard about it…the new killer virus on the loose. The one thing that puts the fear of God in a lot of people, but have we examined the facts clearly?
What is SARS and why is it so serious? What impact will it have on us? From the point of an informed observer, let us try and look into that.

SARS is the name given to a mysterious form of respiratory disease, which is characterized by breathing difficulty, chest congestion, fever and cold like symptoms. It has the potential to develop into a serious situation in 10-20% of cases, where hospital treatment is required due to difficulty in respiration. Only in about 5-6% of cases does SARS turn fatal. Most of those are people with low immunity. SARS is currently being reported from 28 countries across the world, predominantly from East and Southeast Asia. A total of over 5,000 cases gives a fair idea about this new epidemic. SARS is believed to be caused by a virus referred to generically as a corona virus.

So is SARS a latter day successor to the Black Death? Will we see another pandemic sweeping across the globe leaving millions dead like the bubonic plague of the middle ages or the influenza virus of the early twentieth century? Most probably not. Two things determine the actually killing potential of a pathogen like a virus or bacterium. Firstly, how it is transmitted. Airborne transmission like influenza, the common cold or SARS is most dangerous as it is the easiest and most difficult to contain. Diseases transmitted through body fluids like AIDS or Hepatitis B, or through excrement like cholera is less likely to pass on unchecked. So, on this account, the SARS virus is very dangerous. It is transmitted in viral form, usually as droplets expelled when coughing or sneezing. It can remain viable for about 3 hours in the external world, although some strains of corona virus have been observed to survive for up to 24 hours.

The second parameter determining the mass killer potential of a pathogen is its virulence. This is a combination of what effect the pathogen has, how fast it develops and in what percentage of infected persons it develops fully. The Ebola virus is a sure killer, which in itself inhibits its spread, as its hosts often die before they can spread the virus. It manifests very quickly and so patients can be quarantined very quickly. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) on the other hand is also almost completely fatal, but it manifests far more slowly, hence paving the way for transmission over a longer period. The manifestation of something like Ebola is hard to miss, massive hemorrhaging is observed, and so diagnosis is fast. SARS is not very fatal, as we have seen. It manifests in about 2-7 days from infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control. However its initial symptoms can be mistaken for common respiratory illnesses, and this often has dire consequences, in more ways than one.

So SARS is nothing to be trifled with, but when we consider that over 20 million people are already affected with fatal AIDS or that malaria kills 2 million people annually., we have to give it careful consideration. It is definitely not the end of the World! But one would be forgiven for coming to that conclusion after a scan of the day’s news. Beijing turning into a ghost town, planes grounded all over Asia, entire populations in gauze masks, Air India pilots on strike and draconian measures even in Kerala. Is it all necessary? The answer is far from straightforward. Quarantine measures are necessary, to prevent further spread of the disease, but in moderation. The WHO and CDC recommend quarantine of persons intimately in contact with a patient. Others, such as those on the same flight as a patient are to be advised of the situation and instructed to report if they develop any symptoms. Non-essential travel to regions reporting outbreaks is to be curtailed. This doesn’t mean a blockade has to be enacted. Trade can continue with screening in effect. The suspension of public transport indefinitely is impractical, as is the closure of schools. Offices and other public places. Rather an aware public can detect victims amongst itself and reduce transmission, which is far better than paralyzing society. Common gauze masks are pretty much useless in filtering out viral particles although they can reduce the expulsion of potentially dangerous droplets when coughing or sneezing. The current images stirs up images of medical volunteers and soldiers, collectively referred to as “doughboys”, wearing similar masks during the influenza pandemic of 1919-24, which killed 20 million worldwide. Actually, only sophisticated filter masks with very fine filters can stop viral particles. These are being issued to medical staff in affected areas.

The main thing to remember is that fear of the disease can be more damaging than the actual disease itself. Already the financial losses from the SARS outbreak are running into the billions and it threatens to disrupt the entire regional economy, if not the global economy itself. Airlines, already reeling from the effects of the 9/11 crisis, are being pushed to the brink of collapse. Pilots have no greater chance of being infected than the general public, after all the virus isn’t smart enough to choose to fly! So, they should give a thought to the survival of their business before resorting to rash measures like work stoppages. But, most importantly, fear of the disease and the stigma it brings might force people with developing symptoms to keep mum, till too late. By then, they would have already transmitted the virus to others. The situation in tightlipped China is proof of this, where an official cover-up has helped the virus spread among an uninformed public. Thus, it is important for everyone to understand that SARS is not the end of the road, it is a serious illness but rarely fatal. With concerted action by the public, it can be brought to a halt. In fact, infection rates are already dropping in some countries like Canada and Vietnam. Reporting in sick ensures hospital care and prevents further transmission. Then again, watch out for particular symptoms like a high fever (> 38 º C), body aches and mild respiratory problems. Don’t blow a common cold out of proportions. Even when a case is identified, unless severe medical symptoms manifest themselves, personal isolation is good enough along with strict hygiene. Get expert advice if any symptoms occur. Again, it is important to remember that SARS is nothing but a severe version of the garden-variety respiratory infection, and patients should be spared any stigma.

Then again, what makes SARS such a newsmaker? Perhaps, its ease of transmission is a factor and the mundane nature of infection. After all, a sneeze or cold is much less sinful than unsafe sex or sharing drug needles. The sight of entire nations wearing masks is good publicity too. With the grand show called the “War in Iraq” winding down, we needed another headline and it presented itself in the shape of a minute germ. While awareness helps, paranoia can hurt and even kill. This is another opportunity to focus our attention on the diseases that still stalk mankind. Malaria, AIDS, plague, influenza – they are all out there, killing millions every year. Yet, they only find space on the inside pages or as human-interest stories. New pathogens emerge all the time. The next great killer maybe lurking somewhere, or it maybe beginning its onslaught already. Still, we spend paltry sums on health care infrastructure and research. That has to change. Add to this, the threat of bio-terrorism, indeed it has been speculated that the SARS virus itself is a bio-weapon unleashed by a terrorist group or government, or perhaps an escapee from some research facility. While that debate continues, we have to step up our awareness of the maladies that confront us daily, and be better prepared for their assault. Even though SARS may lose its headline value with time, the next one is waiting in the wings!

Thank you for bearing with me this far. Please make sure that you are informed correctly about the SARS epidemic. You can get first hand information from the World Health Organization SARS web page (http://www.who.int/csr/sars/en/)
Or the CDC page (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/index.htm) .

By Ajay Prasad
Email: ajaypp@asianetindia.com

Comments :
      It is now clear that the carelessness showed in quarantining the family of Julie D'Silva has resulted in getting more people infected of SARS. The reason of an impending marriage is never an excuse for allowing the suspected persons to walk away freely. It should be noted that social well being of the society comes before the personal interests of a person. Instead of celebrating every SARS case by announcing special press briefings, authorities concerned should immediately wake up to this dangerous situation. Also, severe actions should be taken against those who had shown criminal negligence in delivering their official duties thereby allowing the SARS virus to further spread. The severe punishment announced by Singapore authorities for those not following the advise to quarantine, as well as other monitoring measures enacted in possible entering points of SARS infected persons, are an eye opener to Indian health authorities too.

"I am an illiterate!" said Padmini. Considering that she was a teacher, this was puzzling. "I needed an appointment for the U.S. visa interview and was told to get it from the Net. I had no clue as to how to access the Net, so I had to ask my grand nephew for help", she said!

Mastery of the three Rs alone is no longer enough. A fourth R — ComputeR, is essential.

It was around the mid 1980s that schools woke up to the reality of the fourth R. But catching up at the curricular content level, does not bridge the digital divide that exists in the education that the privileged kids enjoy and that which the underprivileged, receive. Insufficient infrastructure in terms of number of computers, coupled with an errant power supply in the rural areas, has resulted in the computer science becoming yet another teaching subject. At best, children are made to write notes on the computer terminology and features of a PC. They draw flow charts in notebook and write programs in languages.

At elite city schools, children do get hands-on experience. School projects and assignments are routinely done with the help of the Internet.

Parents and educators unanimously acknowledge the educational potential of home computers. With the result, a range of interactive educational CDs is available. The libraries in professional colleges are equipped with computers and students access them for reference.

Computer literacy is certainly the order of the day. But it is important that we learn to use it as its master; not end up being its slave.<232>





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Quest the hindu

Making more of less

Mallika Mani


How can we get the maximum benefit from the computers in school? A little ingenuity may be required from both the teacher and the student...





 
The exclusive preserve of the Computer Science teacher...

All the workshops I do on "Using IT in the classroom" stem from four basic beliefs:

1. Technology can often dazzle; use only what is relevant and necessary.

2. Technology should be used when it is the best tool to accomplish a specific learning objective.

3. Whenever possible, factor in old technologies too; chalkboards and texts are important

4. Technology is expensive and scarce; harness it for high potential tasks.

Though teachers who attend these workshops are motivated to use technology meaningfully, they say, "When I go back to my workplace, it is difficult to get access to a computer. Our computer lab is used exclusively by our computer science teachers to teach Computer Science. How do we even try what we have learnt" .

We need to take an audit of computer usage and ensure that it is utilised by most number of persons for maximum time. Some schools believe in keeping a usage log to ensure that resources are shared equitably.

If we plan to use technology for learning, efficient resource management is imperative. In this case the teacher would certainly top the list:

1. The Teacher

The teacher can use it for accessing databases, resources, lesson plans, and bulletin boards. She can use it for creating, setting offline tasks, parent messaging, publishing school website/ newsletter.

2. The classroom

If the computer is kept in a classroom or the audiovisual room, it can double up as an excellent multimedia chalkboard. In Raffles School, Bangkok, I watched the teacher, Seok Moi use it efficiently as an offline web source. The children were going to visit the local history museum and she used her computer creatively to walk them through a virtual pre-field trip. Offline dissection to virtual excursions, concept mapping to modeling the writing/editing process.

3. Students working in groups

Hands-on work can be organised for students in groups. But it needs detailed preplanning to ensure that learning objectives are clearly spelt and time and task are clearly stipulated. The tasks must focus on issues and necessitate peer interaction and group discussion. Web quests, CD resources, newsletters, presentations and digital photography are some classic examples. The success of such learning rests on teacher competence to plan in advance. From data collection, instruments to monitoring strategies, activity sheets to offline tasks — everything needs to be in place to achieve the learning objectives.

4. Paired or Individual Student

Two students working on a computer while the rest engage in other activities too is a distinct possibility. Round robin story telling, drill and review of grammar items, project presentations, and quizzes are some possibilities. However, access should be democratic and equitable for all the students in the class if true learning has to take place.

It is imperative that the teacher and the learner understand the process so that there are no quick fix routes to producing the product. Technology makes the teacher all-important as she sets the context, plans and facilitates the process and assesses the product. This role makes her the fulcrum in making learning happen whereas in a "teach from the text only" classroom, she is often subservient to a predetermined context . Paradoxically this paradigm gives equal place to the learners too; they are responsible for their learning.

(The author heads SRIKRITI — The Teacher Education Centre and can be reached at mallikamani@satyam.net.in)






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Quest

What's amiss with the new misses?



THE MODERN-AGE, mobile-flashing, up-market and sassy lady of the new millennium is a great symbol of empowerment of women. There's just one little catch. Empowerment doesn't just come from a part of the population getting their share of rights or maybe more. It needs an awakening in everybody. Women on the top in the corporate sector, politics and every field, earlier considered the domain of males, are a magnificent example of true empowerment, but, partially.

There still are some women left out of this progressive, lucky circle. The women in the remote areas of the country, who haven't even graduated to gas stoves from the old wood and charcoal fires can only fantasise about three meals a day for their family and maybe, healthy kids. The women who slog as domestic helps, construction workers and worst of all, those who are forced to sell their bodies to survive, don't they deserve their share of empowerment? How many of them have even the basic right of exercising choice, either in the case of their families or even in their own lives? Our society is still inhuman enough to treat domestic helps or servants as an inferior species and speak of prostitutes in hushed tones and ignore their presence while the males continue to exploit the ignorance.

`Bold' themes


Another issue to worry about is the understanding and portrayal of sexuality. It is true that our country boasts of the Kama Sutra and it is great that women have a choice of dress and freedom of will. But, the message going across is that every woman on the road is a mannequin on display. The talented film-makers in the country choose to portray sex lives of people, intimate, flesh revealing plots around murders, rapes and extra-marital affairs associated with carnal pleasures. These `bold' themes do not generate awareness but only serve as cheap and vulgar entertainers for front-benches in cinema theatres. Are these a part of expanding moralities or falling standards and a lack of ideas? Does a family sitting down to watch TV together need to fumble around for magazines and refreshments every time a commercial break shows the new movie promo of a woman's encounters with her two sexual partners?

How exactly are women freed? Out of one mould of being caged they are now in another mould of being mere sexual objects or dressed up dolls. Why does a woman wearing skimpy clothes have to sell electronics on TV? If female sexuality was so far repressed, does it warrant it becoming the sole subject of films, music videos even? Why does a "flashing scene" on a late night American show become news in the national newspapers here? What's wrong with FTV when our indigenous music videos are copies of porn movies of the West?

Women are not meant to be married off as soon as possible to get a `burden' off; neither do they need a groom bought for them with dowry. So what if the girl is past 30 years of age and yet unmarried; is marriage the sole motive of her existence? If she is educated and working, can she not live happily like that till she finds someone right for her who likes her who she is, not just for how she looks?

Not favours


Women's rights are not favours done by men for women. Male chauvinism is not very appreciated by women. Letting the lady of the house make decisions is not by the man's choice, it is the lady's right to have a say. Let us not confuse obscenity and vulgarity with liberty and emancipation. Let us consciously try to implement the laws the country has for the protection of women. Protecting or helping a woman from a mob trying to molest her or humiliate her is a responsibility of every self-respecting citizen present there. Do not let eve-teasers go unpunished, they will only grow into molesters. Report any case of rape, or abuse you are a victim or witness of. It is a general appeal to the public to help a girl in need rather than stand by and watch the fun.

If a girl has been a victim of rape, she has nothing to be ashamed of. It was not her fault. She was a helpless victim of cruel intentions and circumstances. She should not be ostracised, rather, be supported and helped. Not all women can learn defence tactics but we can have a more understanding, sympathetic and cooperative society that differentiates between an unfortunate victim of a brutal, abhorrent, inhuman act of force and a consented sexual act. They should be rehabilitated into their old life with the help of society and the family in their own home rather than being ousted into a home for destitutes.

We need to grow up and change our outlook. Women are much more than weepy, dumb, decked up decorations meant to look "hot and sexy" and not utilise their brains. They are human beings, with brains, the ability to use them well, feelings and thoughts.


PRIYANKA RATH



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WTO & international law



ONE DIMENSION of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that has, perhaps, gone unnoticed is the contribution it has made to the domain of public international law. The character of international law has always been a moot issue. Right from the days of John Austin, who reduced international law to positive morality, to this day, notwithstanding the strides made by public international law, people have often vacillated in calling international law "law" in the true sense of the term.

This hesitation stems from the fact that international law has been found wanting in all three processes that characterise any process of law making. These three processes are: the process of making the law itself, the process of settling disputes on the basis of the law made and the enforcement of decision relating to the disputes. All these three processes have been overwhelmingly dominated by international diplomacy and politics. This has often made the critics question the legitimacy of "international law."

If one contrasts this with the rule-based system established under the aegis of the WTO, which is a part of public international law, one finds considerable difference. As far as the first process in law making is considered, there is not much difference. Rule making in the WTO is also dominated by international diplomacy and politics.

But, there is a perceptible difference in the other two processes of law making. This difference is attributable to the formation of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) under the WTO. The purpose behind establishing the DSB was to have a body that would administer the rules and procedures and provide security and predictability to the multilateral trading regime.

According to James Bacchus, former Chairman of the Appellate Body (AB), a body under the DSB to hear the appeals from the panel cases, there are two characteristics that make the DSB a unique judicial settlement body. In fact, it is these characteristics that divorce the second and the third elements in the law making process from international diplomacy and politics.

The two characteristics are: the compulsory jurisdiction of the DSB and the ability to enforce the judgment. The DSB has compulsory jurisdiction because all member nations under the WTO have agreed that any dispute with another member over any treaty matter annexed in the WTO agreements will be settled by the DSB. The DSB has the ability to enforce the judgments by authorising one member to the dispute to impose economic sanctions on the other, if the other party fails to comply with the rulings given by the DSB.

Unparalleled and unprecedented


The presence of these two characteristics in the DSB makes it an unparalleled and unprecedented judicial settlement body in international law. It is unparalleled because it is miles ahead of the only other judicial settlement body that exists at the multilateral level i.e. the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague. The ICJ has limited compulsory jurisdiction and a very weak enforcement mechanism. It is unprecedented because international law has not witnessed such a comprehensive dispute settlement body before.

These two distinguishing characteristics of the DSB have given the belief to the member countries that the international trading system established under the WTO will not suffer at least on account of the second and third processes in law making. It is this belief that is exhibited in the fact that both developed and developing countries take recourse to the DSB on a regular basis.

There is enough statistical evidence to prove this assertion. According to the AB's Annual Report for 2003, issued by the WTO in May this year; from 1996 to 2003, different member countries appeared before the AB on 386 occasions either as an appellant, appellee or third participant. In this period India appeared before the AB on 18 occasions in different capacities. Since its inception, the DSB has settled hundreds of trade disputes between various WTO members.

My purpose is not to glorify the DSB or the WTO. My intention is just to demonstrate the unique contribution that public international trade law as envisioned in the WTO has made to the larger domain of public international law. The functioning of the DSB has shown for the first time that disputes can not only be settled according to law but also be enforced according to law.

Today, in the form of the WTO we have a model that imparts a relatively stronger legal character in the literal sense of the term to the body of "international law."




PRABHASH RANJAN



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A siphonophore

Has mouths galore

While some of them feed

Others breed!

Siphonophores are denizens of the open seas. They are notable for having moulded the simplest of raw material into sophisticated predatory machines. Their basic building blocks are nothing but tiny sacks of two layers of cells, with just a single opening to ingest food and expel waste. These simple ancestors of siphonophores live on lake or sea bottom, feeding on tiny animals. There is little division of labour amongst their cells, so they cannot form elaborate organs or build complex bodies. Siphonophores have escaped this limitation by constituting large, complex colonies, making it possible for individual colony members to specialise. Some of them accumulate gas and serve as floats. Others specialise in budding off new colonies of reproducing sexually. Yet others constitute long tentacles, studded with stinging cells to capture prey. They grow up to several meters long and may hunt good sized fish. On occasions they reach enormous densities. Co-operation has clearly paid rich dividends for these primitive animals, enabling them to colonise wholly new habitats and tap entirely novel sources of food!





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Young World

It's called `virtual water' ....

Though trade in virtual water may seem feasible now, it will not be without adverse consequences, says SOWMYA KERBART SIVAKUMAR.





BLOOMBERG NEWS
 
A change in dietary habits can significantly change virtual trade balances.

THE Third World Water Forum held in Kyoto, Japan, last year was marked by the popularity of a phrase that had emerged in the 1990s. It became central to discussions on global food trade during the decade and added a new dimension to the debate on world water management. Though academic in origin, its simple, practical and intuitive appeal brought upon the realisation that, in a world heading for a deep water crisis, it may be time to talk of food and water beyond conventional relationships.

The earliest genesis of this catchy phrase, "Virtual Water", can be traced to Israeli economists. By the mid-1980s, they realised that it simply didn't make sense from an economic perspective to export scarce Israeli water. This was what, they argued, was happening every time water intensive oranges or avocados were exported from their semi-arid country. The term "virtual water" was finally coined at a seminar at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London in about 1993. In fact, the idea had been described even earlier by Professor J.A. Allan as "embedded water" but, in his own words, "did not capture the attention of the water managing community".

Put simply, we all know that water is required for the production of food such as cereals, vegetables, and meat and dairy products. The amount of water consumed in the production process of a product is called the "virtual water" contained in the product. This water is "virtual" because it is not contained anymore in the product. For example, to produce a kilogram of wheat we need about 1,000 litres of water. Meat, on an average, requires about five to 10 times as much. Table 1 (Source: Zimmer D., and D. Renault 2003) gives the virtual water content of some common products.

Let us build on this a bit further and link food, water and trade. If a country exports a water-intensive product to another country, it amounts to exporting water in a virtual form. This "virtual water trade" is nothing but the virtual water content of the product times the trade volume of that product. What this means for the importing country is that it does not have to consume that amount of water in domestically producing the product.




 

If the importing country is already facing water scarcity, this represents real water savings and less pressure on its water resources. If the water-exporting country has abundant resources, the entire flow becomes an efficient instrument in improving global water use efficiency. Thus virtual water trade has been touted as a "very successful means by which water deficit economies can remedy their deficits".

In reality, things don't happen so neatly. Take a look at the global virtual water flows today. The global volume of crop-related virtual water trade is estimated to be about 695 gm{+3}: per year on an average between 1995 and 1999. This accounts for about 13 per cent of the total world water use for agricultural production. Table 2 presents the list of the top-10 virtual water exporting and importing countries between 1995 to 1999. The figures show that India is predicted to be heading for some serious water shortages in the future. One of the top five exporters, its net virtual water exports were to the tune of 161.1 (10{+9}) cubic meters in this period! The problem with the so-called water-abundant countries is whether they will remain so in the future if they continuously "export" their water resources. For instance 1/15 of the water available in the United States is used today for producing crops for export — in Thailand, this rate reaches one quarter. Thus virtual water exports may seem feasible now, but not without its adverse consequences for these countries in the future.

There are also some extremely important issues that come forward while talking of virtual water trade as a solution to water scarcity, mainly from the point of view of the importing countries.

Financing of imports

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in its report Global Water Outlook to 2025: Averting an Impending Crisis, points out that under a business-as-usual scenario, "developing countries will dramatically increase their reliance on food imports from 107 million tons in 1995 to 245 million tons in 2025. The increase in developing-country cereal imports by 138 million tons between 1995 and 2025 is the equivalent of saving 147 cubic kilometres of water at 2025 water productivity levels, or eight per cent of total water consumption and 12 per cent of irrigation water consumption in developing countries in 2025."

However, it also cautions that "The water (and land) savings from the projected large increases of food imports by the developing countries are particularly beneficial if they are the result of strong economic growth that generates the necessary foreign exchange to pay for the food imports ... . More serious food security problems arise when high food imports are the result of slow agricultural and economic development — that fails to keep pace with basic food demand driven by population and income growth. Under these conditions, countries may find it impossible to finance the required imports on a continuing basis, causing a further deterioration in the ability to bridge the gap between food consumption and the food required for basic livelihood." This is likely to be especially true of the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia and North Africa.

Food security and food self-sufficiency

"A country must be food secure (self-sufficient) before any trade can begin. Can empty bellies attempt to trade, especially if the needs are sizeable and `purchase power' is lacking?" asks M. Gopalakrishnan, Secretary General, International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), New Delhi, in response to the Synthesis paper on Virtual Water Trade, by Professor Paul van Hofwegen and team (2003).

His question perhaps sums up succinctly the concerns of countries like India, where an interplay of forces and compulsions will determine if virtual water trade is indeed a solution at all. According to him, "some countries which have to import food for one or other reason, if economically well off (high GNP) can import food/products (virtual water import). But countries (such as Sub-Saharan) having food deficiency and low GNP or those countries having food sufficiency (India and China and similarly placed developing countries) with low and low-middle GNP may not prefer to practice virtual water trade. Their socio-economic and other societal compulsions may not allow it." An added concern for populous countries (India, China, and Indonesia etc.) is to maintain a minimum level of self-sufficiency "so that the impact of exigencies like drought and very large scale import requirements do not affect the global trade situation."




 

Echoing this view, Daniel Zimmer, Director, World Water Council, emphasised the difference between "food security" and "food sovereignty", at Kyoto. Many countries could resort to virtual water trade in order to achieve a sufficient food supply for their people, but many governments do not want or simply cannot afford to become dependent on global trade. "This is crucial for countries like India and China ... they feel that because they have such large populations, the world market would not be able to supply their food demands in any crisis and so, as much as possible, they want to take care of their own food needs," he said.

Food subsidies

A related issue is the size of export subsidies for agriculture in the European Union countries and the United States. The huge subsidies make the price of their products very cheap and affordable to importing countries and hence facilitate efficient virtual water trade. But as pointed out by international experts, "... on other hand, it creates a very destructive phenomenon: local products cannot compete with these imported products, which do not reflect the real cost of production ... . Local farmers cannot compete with such economic and productive forces; abandoning their own food production forces, some countries become more and more dependent on external food products ... but what happens if the grain-producing countries cut subsidies to their farmers, potentially leading to significant price increases?" This controversial issue has also been hotly debated in the recent World Trade Organisation Summit at Cancun, Mexico, and revolves around the underlying links between water, agriculture and politics.

Impact on livelihoods

Virtual water trade as a policy option also has implications on local situations and people. As rightly pointed out in the Discussion Paper Virtual Water Trade — Conscious Choices by Paul van Hofwegen and Daniel Zimmer (August 2003), "... it (virtual water trade) should contribute to local, national and regional food security requiring appropriate trade agreements which respect a nation's right to decide on their way to achieve food security but also local distribution mechanisms ensuring access to food."

When a country opts consciously for virtual water imports to alleviate its water problem, it is also making a choice of altering its cropping patterns in a significant way. This could deprive farmers and their families of their livelihoods unless alternatives are developed in terms of other crops or alternative employment. In their absence, this choice could have a serious fallout, as unemployment is a problem most of the virtual water importing countries already face.

Another impact of going for water savings through virtual water trade could be an alteration (for the worse) in the organisation and ownership of means of production within the country. The case of Punjab exemplifies this. Dr. Sudhirendar Sharma, director of the Delhi-based Ecological Foundation, in an article for the portal indiatogether.org, reveals that the Punjab Government is seeking the Centre's support for Rs.1,280 crores to wean away farmers from the traditional paddy-wheat cropping system. The objective: To save 14.7 billion cubic metres of water every year. The Government's game plan: To use this money to give farmers an incentive of Rs. 12,500 per hectare, relieve some one million hectares under paddy-wheat rotation and replace it with alternate crops like pulses and oilseeds. "This incentive will also move farmers towards a buyback arrangement with private companies", the article notes. The effects of such massive corporatisation of farming in crops, that too where minimum support prices have not even been declared (for pulses and coarse grains), needless to say, is bound to introduce a high level of insecurity among the farming community.

Virtual water and diets

It may be said in conclusion that, in spite of all its shortcomings, the concept of virtual water has certainly lent a new perspective to discussions on water management and the interlinkage between water, food and trade. It has also extended itself to newer concepts like "water footprint", which has an intuitive appeal even to the layperson.

The water footprint of a country is its real water use — its domestic use plus the net virtual water import — which is a useful indicator of the nation's demand on global water resources. Water footprints can also be calculated at an individual level; it is simply the sum of the virtual water content of all products consumed. Thus a meat diet implies a larger water footprint of about 4,000 litres of water a day, versus 1,500 litres for a vegetarian diet. Change in dietary habits of people can thus significantly change virtual trade balances. For example, if all the Chinese started eating like an average U.S. citizen, the virtual water trade balance of Central and South Asia, which is already a net importer of virtual water, would escalate severely! Thus being aware of our individual water footprint can help us use water more carefully.





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Magazine

There are 11 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

      1. Swami Vivekananda's doubts
           From: Suresh Shenoy <sureshrshenoy@yahoo.com>
      2. Vivekananda Mailing List-6/6/04
           From: Ananta <sarada@global2000.net>
      3. Re: Animals and Moksha.
           From: kandaaran@aol.com
      4. Re: SRK and other religions
           From: kandaaran@aol.com
      5. Re: Swami Vivekananda's doubts
           From: Girish <girish_srv@yahoo.com>
      6. Request..Re: SRK and other religions
           From: srinivas.kondareddy@polaris.co.in
      7. Re:SRK and other religions
           From: "kalidas1957" <cintamani@lycos.co.uk>
      8. Re: Swami Vivekananda's doubts
           From: "Vivekananda Centre" <vivekananda@btinternet.com>
      9. Sri Ramakrishna and Islam
           From: "somdev48858" <somdev48858@yahoo.com>
     10. Re: Digest Number 1810
           From: Edith Tipple <edtipple@earthlink.net>
     11. Re: Source of new souls?
           From: "hari_priya_rao" <hari_priya_rao@yahoo.com>


________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 1
   Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 10:03:31 -0700 (PDT)
   From: Suresh Shenoy <sureshrshenoy@yahoo.com>
Subject: Swami Vivekananda's doubts


Swami Vivekananda's doubts

 

Swami Vivekananda (SV) is considered as an Incarnation of Shiva. The the book 'Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master' says he had the experience of Samadhi a number of times after he met Sri Ramakrishna (SRK), the first one by a mere touch of SRK.

 

Yet, we read that just before the Mahasamadhi of SRK, SV doubted if SRK was really an Incarnation as he claimed. The thought was read by SRK and he replied in the affirmative. Yet the fact is that: In spite of all his previous interaction with his Guru SRK and his own spiritual experiences which were of very high order, SV doubted SRK's divine origin. How this can be explained? If he himself, who proclaimed his Guru to the world as Incarnation, couldn't believe it, how others will be convinced?

 

The matter didn't stop there, in his days as a wandering monk, the Swami wanted intensely to become a disciple of Pavahari Baba, a lonely saint. A vision of the Guru (who had already left the world) prevented him from doing so. This becomes very hard to take when we consider the status of SRK / SV as Incarnations.

 

I welcome your views on these questions.

 

Sincerely,

 

Suresh



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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 2
   Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 00:00:13 -0400
   From: Ananta <sarada@global2000.net>
Subject: Vivekananda Mailing List-6/6/04

My Master used to say, "All is God; but tiger-God is to be shunned. All
water is water; but we avoid dirty water for drinking."

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 3
   Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 17:08:14 EDT
   From: kandaaran@aol.com
Subject: Re: Animals and Moksha.

Dear Jagganath,

Thank you for the wonderful recollections and stories. I went to Sri Ramana
Maharshi's Ashram many years ago (over 30) and recall the sacred view of
animals. Gurudeva would say that these were old souls working on some specific
karma through an animal body instead of coming back to the planet at that time
as a human.

Om Namah Sivaya,

Love,

Kanda


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 4
   Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 17:59:21 EDT
   From: kandaaran@aol.com
Subject: Re: SRK and other religions

Dear Suresh,

Once I flew out of India from New Delhi to Tehran and met some Mullahs that
explained their religion to us. One of the points they expressed was there is
one God and his name is Allah. From the Hindu view there is one God, the
creator of many souls and gods in His creation.

Personally my practice of Raja Yoga started in 1970 and the version of Raja
Yoga by Swami Vivekananda recommended by my Guru was Raja-Yoga copyright 1955,
by Swami Nikhilananda, Trustee of the Estate of Swami Vivekananda and was
printed in the United States of America. The revised edition that I have is dated
1973. I do not recall the statement about Mohammed. Personally I would
recommend that anyone practising Raja Yoga be initiated by a Guru, for me it was
very important in the early years of practice.

Om Namah Sivaya

Love,

Kanda


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 5
   Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 10:40:55 -0700 (PDT)
   From: Girish <girish_srv@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Swami Vivekananda's doubts

As an analogy (admittedly imperfect), consider Sri Rama's life - his sorrow when his wife was abducted, his worry and anger when his brother was felled by Indrajeet and his equanimity when told that he would not be crowned.
Here is an incarntion of Vishnu going through these human emotions. Why would we be surprised if Swami Vivekananda too went through these human emotions ? The fact that he went through what most of us go through serves as a guidepost to us. And it also showed that he "walked the talk" - did not accept anything without questioning at face value, but once he was convinced he never let go of his faith.
Others on the list would undoubtedly be able to have a better interpretation of these incidents.
 
Regards,
Girish

Suresh Shenoy <sureshrshenoy@yahoo.com> wrote:

Swami Vivekananda's doubts



Swami Vivekananda (SV) is considered as an Incarnation of Shiva. The the book 'Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master' says he had the experience of Samadhi a number of times after he met Sri Ramakrishna (SRK), the first one by a mere touch of SRK.



Yet, we read that just before the Mahasamadhi of SRK, SV doubted if SRK was really an Incarnation as he claimed. The thought was read by SRK and he replied in the affirmative. Yet the fact is that: In spite of all his previous interaction with his Guru SRK and his own spiritual experiences which were of very high order, SV doubted SRK's divine origin. How this can be explained? If he himself, who proclaimed his Guru to the world as Incarnation, couldn't believe it, how others will be convinced?



The matter didn't stop there, in his days as a wandering monk, the Swami wanted intensely to become a disciple of Pavahari Baba, a lonely saint. A vision of the Guru (who had already left the world) prevented him from doing so. This becomes very hard to take when we consider the status of SRK / SV as Incarnations.



I welcome your views on these questions.



Sincerely,



Suresh



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Sri Ramakrishnaya Namah
Vivekananda Centre London
http://www.vivekananda.co.uk
Yahoo! Groups Links






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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 6
   Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 11:08:57 +0530
   From: srinivas.kondareddy@polaris.co.in
Subject: Request..Re: SRK and other religions


Hi Suresh,

Even though, i am not providing a correct answer to your question, i
request you to not to write in shorts about our Saints(for e.g. SRK, SV
etc).

regards
Srinivas




                                                  
                      Suresh Shenoy
                      <sureshrshenoy@y To: Ramakrishna@yahoogroups.com
                      ahoo.com> cc: (bcc: srinivas.kondareddy/Polaris)
                                               Subject: [Sri Ramakrishna] SRK and other religions
                      06/05/2004 09:20
                      PM
                      Please respond
                      to Ramakrishna
                                                  
                                                  





SRK's Experiences of all religions



In the SRK The Great Master, it is written that SRK practiced all major
religions and attained the goals of those religions and thus proved that
all religions lead to the same goal, that is God. Among the religions he
practiced, Islam is also there. He practiced it with the help of a Muslim
devotee. After some weeks or so, he saw the vision of Prophet Mohammed and
saw him entering his body (SRK's).



This seems quite straight-forward, but there are problems. When I read this
several years ago, I had little idea of the Muslim religion. Now I have
learnt about major aspects of that religion and I am reading the Quran. I
find that there are no spiritual practices that Islam approves / preaches.
It is mainly a way of life with "5 pillars" like prayers 5 times a day,
Zakat, Hajj, etc. There is no concept of meditation, etc. God is not
knowable and Prophet is just a human being who received messages from the
angel Gabriel represented by God Allah. There is no question of
God-realization or vision of Mohammed. So it is really puzzling how it can
be proved from SRK's experience that Islam leads to god realization. Islam
says you cannot see or hear God and you can know Him only after death in a
place called heaven where the life is fully material with heavenly maidens
called "hourries". As per the authentic majority religion called (Sunni)
Wahabi, one cannot become Muslim unless one
 whole-heartedly accepts that Allah alone is the true God and Mohammed is
His only prophet. Without this, Muslim life doesn't even start. Hence the
experience of SRK seeing Prophet cannot be accepted as per Islamic
teaching. In that case, how this can be accepted as a proof of that
religion leading to God realization, when that religion itself denies
'God-realization' as false?



Secondly, in Raja Yoga, (Read in Vol 1 of Complete Works of SV, page 184)
SV says that Mohammed practiced Raja Yoga incorrectly, and as a result he
was a mentally deranged man. The result was misunderstood vision and a
religion which opened to superstition and bloodshed. Now, my question is:
how the above view that SRK's experience of Islam as a religion leading to
God and this SV's view of Mohammed match? If we take the view expressed by
SV, we can wonder if the religion founded by a mentally deranged man can
flourish and after 1350 years command 1 billion people in 57 countries? It
is officially a major religion and is said to be "the fastest growing
religion in the world".



I keep this question for a open discussion. This is not aimed to insult
Islam or Hinduism, but to seek an answer to a genuine question. I am
constantly studying the works of SV and SRK literature and have found some
discrepancies which needs answers. I will write more about such problems
slowly.



sincerely,



Suresh



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Sri Ramakrishnaya Namah
Vivekananda Centre London
http://www.vivekananda.co.uk
Yahoo! Groups Links











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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 7
   Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 19:17:58 -0000
   From: "kalidas1957" <cintamani@lycos.co.uk>
Subject: Re:SRK and other religions

I would like to say that insofar as orthodox Islam is concerned
there is, as you say, no method of spiritual awakening in the sense
of meditation etc, and no real concept of God realization. However,
within the Muslim Sufi tradititon such methods do exist, for
example the practice of 'Zikr', repitition of a simple prayer that
seems at least outwardly to bear some resemblance to Japa or Mantra
Yoga. Also other methods are employed such as quite complex dances
and so on.
Perhaps some other group members may have more information on this.

Hari Om.

Kalidas.




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Message: 8
   Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 18:53:47 +0100
   From: "Vivekananda Centre" <vivekananda@btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: Swami Vivekananda's doubts

Dear Suresh

Further to your last three emails posted on the list.

We wish you well in establishing a Sri Ramakrishna devotee
group in Dubai. We hope that some of our list members who are
based in Dubai (or the Middle East) will contact you directly.

Further to the other two emails you have posted to the list:-
One on the question of 'Islam' and its validity and the other about
doubts Sw Vivekananda may have had about Sri Ramakrishna.

It is good to discuss such matters but we must advise caution
when coming to simplistic conclusions on such issues.

What form of Islamic experience Sri Ramakrishna had is not easy for us
to judge or explain. Nor are we in a position to evaluate the inner workings
of Swami Vivekananda's mind when he may have expressed doubts about
his master's God-head. "To understand a Vivekananda one has to be of
the same calibre as Vivekananda.'

regards
jay


jay




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Message: 9
   Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 20:36:52 -0000
   From: "somdev48858" <somdev48858@yahoo.com>
Subject: Sri Ramakrishna and Islam

This post is in reply to Suresh's previous post about Sri Ramakrishna
and Islam.


Sri Ramakrishna was introduced to Islam by Bengali Muslims who were
Sufis. Sufis are a mystical branch of Islam that incorporated quite a
bit of Hindu bhakti philosophy. I do not think that Sri Ramakrishna
was ever told about Sunni Wahabism. Until recently Wahabism did not
have much hold in the Islamic world. Petro-dollars changed all that.
As far as I remember from my reading, Sri Ramakrishna said that when
he was practicing Islam he did not have the urge to go to Kali
Temple. One day while meditating he saw the vision of a bearded man
who came towards him and entered his body. He assumed that it was
Mohammad. Muslims of course do not accept this because worshipping
any human form is sacrilegious to them. To Ramakrishna it meant that
Mohammad was also an avatar.
It is for the devotee to believe what he wants to. A Muslim devotee
will not accept Ramakrishna as a prophet. A true devotee of Sri
Ramakrishna will accept Mohammad as a prophet.






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Message: 10
   Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 14:38:33 -0700
   From: Edith Tipple <edtipple@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Digest Number 1810

> Dear Suresh,

Your note is very interesting. Regarding the passage below, does it not sound Christian (except for the "hourries")? According to Christians, one cannot become Christian unless one accepts Jesus Christ as the only savior. Perhaps Fundamentalist Christians would not accept SRK's experience of Christ without his first being baptized. In other words, there is a difference between scriptural dogma and spiritual "conversion" or "realization". Perhaps that is what the problem is here.
Edith


> Islam says you cannot see or hear God and you can know Him only after death in a place called heaven where the life is fully material with heavenly maidens called "hourries". As per the authentic majority religion called (Sunni) Wahabi, one cannot become Muslim unless one
> whole-heartedly accepts that Allah alone is the true God and Mohammed is His only prophet. Without this, Muslim life doesn't even start. Hence the experience of SRK seeing Prophet cannot be accepted as per Islamic teaching. In that case, how this can be accepted as a proof of that religion leading to God realization, when that religion itself denies 'God-realization' as false?
>
>
>




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Message: 11
   Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 22:06:28 -0000
   From: "hari_priya_rao" <hari_priya_rao@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Source of new souls?

Hello Sheetal/Ashok,
Other than man, all animals merely do their "duties" without any
attachment or expectation, hence they proceed to better lives and
finally the human birth. They do not acquire any new karma, but are
merely exhausting all that they have accumulated. So they ultimately
reach the human life, from where they try to get liberated....




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Sri Ramakrishnaya Namah
Vivekananda Centre London
http://www.vivekananda.co.uk
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